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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1998)
U*< 1 J- » ■* c**< • -■ - jf 'A is ? -^ w *?« j » - .¥ ' ¿: Page A3 ...* , - * . MAY 13,1998 ---------------------------------------------------- (El|c |Jnrt lattò (Observer----------------------------------------------- Former NAACP leader urges non-profit groups to “ Build bridges” B Jack i Jill west i(p the hill & played* near palps and whs. A line was down S M soqil M IJ W . Kites and balloons should be flown in open areas away from lines Relissa. açe II Myrlie Evers-Williams (right) chatted with Oregon State Sen. Ave! Gordly during The Spring Symposium o f Portland State University's Institute for Non-profit Management. (Photo by Neil Heilpern) C ontinued F rom F ront Evers-W illiams said, “ Be open minded enough to bring in experts who are not members ofyour groups. Their wisdom is priceless.” “Learn to also cut out the nega tive in your organizations." “As volunteers we are special, giving o f our time, our energy and our m oney,” she said, “but all o f us are fighters with strong feelingabout what we do and how things should be done.” “The public sees us as saints, because w e help save and nurture people in communities through the though tim es.” “ Let’s be sure this deep feeling about our purpose in life makes this the best place in the world to live and pass that feeling to the next generation o f volunteers.” “ As w e b u ild b rid g e s, one m ay be v ery stro n g and a n o th e r m ay be ju s t a w obbly fo o tb rid g e th at feels u n safe to c ro s s ,” said E v e r-W illia m s. "B ut they are b rid g e s o f u n d e rsta n d in g , c o m p assion, a linkage that ties A m eri cans to g eth er and sets an exam ple for th e rest o f the w o rld ." Pointing to a strong economy where the jobless rate is down, she noted that although the African American community is benefiting there is still an earnings gap between racial groups. “We still need to nurture the soul and spirit, as well as make sure some people are no longer hungry.” She told o f her son’s return from a trip to India, his description o f abject poverty and suffering, and his aware ness that “som eofus criticize America, but even at its worst we are blessed.’’ “Most o f us have moved away from the idea that everything ¡sowed to us,” she said, “and now we em brace the idea o f what do we owe our society." The two-day event at the Port land Convention Center also in cluded talks by former Sen. Mark O. Hatfield and Sharon Kitzhaber, wife o f the Oregon governor. Several smaller group discus sions were held to explore topics about funding sources and strate gies, working with government and higher education, organizational change, building mediation and eontliet resolution skills and de veloping prospects into major do nors. They also reviewed crisis man agement, leadership in com m uni ties ofcolor, volunteerism in a time o f non-joining, and philanthropy for the next millennium, lessons from Third World nonprofit orga nizations and how nonprofits re spond to welfare reform. Keep clear of trees or structures close to power lines Treat all lines on the ground or overhead as energized Is T h e re A D o cto r In T h e H o u se , If N o t, W hy N o t? I ll by M c K inley B urt O nce again w e see that there are a num ber o f copies o f a "P ortland O bserv er” article series that will be posted on school bulletin boards and on the w alls o f som e youths hom es. W hat an excellent feed back, and speaking o f diversity, com m ents and q u estions seem ed alm ost equ ally divided betw een b la c k s and w h ite s-stu d e n t and te a e h e r (l’m in the phone book: my “ last” nam e is Burt). That pause in the series w orked out pretty w ell-to allow tim e to sort out and evaluate the many que ries and suggestions generated by the first article (A pril 29). It dealt m ainly w ith “ Program s to en co u r age M inority Students To Seek H ealth C areers” and I cited two such m ajor program s i had either brought to Portland (federal), or had designed and im plem ented at a local m ed ical c e n te r (P ro v i dence). That pause in the series worked out pretty w ell-to allow tim e to sort out and evaluate the many que ries and suggestions generated by the first article (A pril 29). It dealt m ainly w ith "P ro g ram s to encour age M inority Students To Seek H ealth C areers” and I cited two such m ajor program s I had either brought to Portland (federal), or had designed and im plem ented at a local m ed ical c e n te r (P ro v i dence). Several persons active in the m edical field quickly realized the full scope and im pact o f my p ro gram s; “an im portant model and this should b e a n incentive for o th ers to ge, busy. We are absolutely am azed at this initiative by a non- m edical person when a need was perceived. We will be in to u ch .” Do that, because I have developed som e new and innovative designs and could use profession advice and help. T h e o th e rtw o d e v e lo p e d over a q u arter m illion resources. In the interim , there is m uch we all can do sim ply by netw orking and using our good offices to con nect people with opportunity. I cite as an exam ple the fact that I learned the daughter o f a teacher at the Black Education C enter had suffered a terrible head injury in an autom obile accident. This is a school w here I have been a re source person o ff and on for 25 years, so I rushed right over. It turned out that I was quite late in hearing o f this aceident-already the young w om an had been suc cessfully operated upon by a very talented A frican A m erican neuro surgeon associated with Emanuel Hospital. A brilliant reconstruc tion and the patient looked (and acted) as though nothing had hap pened. O ur Dr. Reuben P. M orriss had again dem onstrated why h e ’s rated at the top o f his specialty. N ow , for the connection. A m o n th la te r at a m e e tin g o f “ P o rtlan d ’s B uilding o f A frican A m erican H istory” group. A m em ber had brought along a young Jefferson High School student who was described as a brilliant Junior and interested in m edicine-w ished to becom e a “neurosurgeon." My first conversation with this young lady, “A lisha M oreland," assured me that with her intelligence and drive she w ould be ‘all she could b e .’ Y o u 're probably ahead o f me here. I im m ed iately con tacted Dr. M orriss and assured him that 1 had met just the young person for whom he would be the perfect m entor and counsel. I re-introdueed them and th ey o f f to a v ery su c c e ssfu l m entorship. If the name “ A lisha M oreland" sounds fam iliar it is probably due to media coverage o f her se le c tio n as R ose F estival Q ueen at Jefferson High School. Super qualifications as brilliant in scholastics and a top com petitor in three sports. L et’s netw ork with our youths. It works. Several readers com m ented that in last w eek ’s article (p.A -2), a H ittite rulers was 3000 years too early in his extraordinary request o f the A frican m edical fraternity: “ ...a com ical exchange o f letters occurs when Pharaoh Ram eses II tries to diplom atically explain that he cannot furnish a drug which will enable a 60 year old w om an to conceive.” I quoted from, “The Physicians o f Pharonic E gypt,” Paul C halioungui, T he Al-Ahram C enter for Scientific T ranslations, C airo, Egypt, 1983. And others w ere equally amazed to learn the “ caduceus,” the uni versal m edical sign that precedes all our prescriptions is not Greek at all, but is found as early on as 7000 years ago in Ethiopia, Nubia and Punt, right across the Red Sea in w hat w e now call A rabia (by archaeologist), see "M agic, Myth and M e d ic in e ” D.T. A tkinson, M.D. Prem ier Books, NY 1958. T he follow ing m aterial isexcel- lent for youth interested in the m edical scienees-or for inclining them in that direction: • ’’G ifte d H a n d s ’ : T he Ben C arson S tory," by Ben Carson, Z o n d e rv a n P u b lis h in g H ouse, (H arper C ollins) 1990. This is the inspiring story o f the young black man from the inner-city who at age 33 b e c a m e o n e o f th e top neurosurgeons in the world (John H opkins). *” MD: T he M aking o f A Doc to r," NOVA A dventures in Sci ence videotape (Station W GBII. 1-800-255-9424) A very good in troduction to the rigor and dedica tion required. •" B io lo g y : T he N etw ork o f Life," Mix, Farberand King, Harper C ollins Publishers, 1992. The best biology gook o f its type I have seen, this com prehensive, 800 page volum e. 8 1/2 X 11 is divided into 4 m ajor sections. Unit I: The Sphere o f L ife, Unit II: The Language o f Life, Unit III: The Evolution o f Life, and Unit IV: The System s o f L ife; provides an excellent re source. high school or college. C onclusion o f scries. Stay away from substations or anything marked Danger: High V o lta g e ___ \ \ y ih utdoor electric safety is important to all of us — especially this time of year when we’re outside more. With the help of some of last year’s winners in Pacific Power’s Electric Safety Contest, we want to make you aware of some of the potentially hazardous situations you and your kids can get into while working or playing outdoors. N n o a c c id e n t! B > PACIFIC POWER « « ■ > '. « , ;
