Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, February 03, 1999, Page 5, Image 5

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    Page A5
FEB. 3, 1999
(Che f in ri lattò © h seru er
riven to Damnation
he aw ard w inning Im ago T heatre drives tow ard T railer
Park Paradise, a w acky autom otive tale o f good and evil
in a m usic-theatre event burning w ith anim ation and
special effects.
Director Carol Tri file, creator o f Im ago’s G inger’s G reen has
placed Snake and Apple in a M ad Max World in pursuit o f Adam
and Eve on the road to Limbo. The original work prem ieres
W ednesday, January 27 at 7:30 at Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th, and
continues Thursdays through Sundays through February 28. Show
times are Thursdays at 7:30, Friday and Saturdays at 8, Sundays at
7. Ticket prices for Thursday and Sunday are $ 12 students/seniors
and $ 15 general admission. January 27th is the only W ednesday
show. For tickets call Imago 231-9581, ext 1, or Fastixx 224-8499.
This w ouldn’t be an Imago show without a flair for stagecraft
and Trailer Park Paradise delivers a road trip that promises twists,
turns and high speed chases. A special effects car engineered by
Lance W oolen is hit with an artillery o f animation and live action
footage designed and photographed by Jerry Mouawad, Rob
Bonds, Anne Abele, M ark M agee and Lars C. Larsen. Light
designer Jeff Forbes enhances the trip.
In Trailer Park Paradise, Tri file teams with co-artistic director
Mouawad to write the original play. Long time collaborators W altz­
ing Mice will blast away with a live rock quartet o f original music
with lyrics by Tri file. Mouawad and Tri file star in the lead roles o f
‘Snake’ and ‘A pple’ and are joined by ensemble members Peter
Campbell as ‘A cne’ (aka Adam), Megan Evans as ‘Evette’ (aka
Eve), Jonathan Godsey as ‘C al’ (aka Cain) and Marc W eaver as
‘The A uthor’. Weaver and Campbell lastjoinedTriffleand
Mouawad in Imago’s acclaimed No Exit.
W altzing Mice, composers Katie Griesar and Kahlil Aishi are
joined by bassist Paul Regan (who lalst appeared in G inger’s
Green) and percussionist Sharri Miller.
T
Driven to Damnation is a wacky automotive tale o f good and evil in a
music-theatre event burning with animation and special effects.
Family Art Adventures
Workshop
Make a Special Valentine’s Gift at OCAC
The s ta ff o f Art A dventures
on the Hill, O C A C ’s ch ild ren ’s
camp and w orkshop program ,
has planned a special book arts
workshop for the whole family.
Parents and children can work
together and create pop-up val­
entines cards, m ake stam ping
and stenciling art and try out
some sim ple printing projects.
The Fam ily Art A dventures
W orkshop is Saturday, F ebru­
ary 6 from 2-5 PM in O C A C ’s
book arts studio. The workshop
is $10 per fam ily m em ber and
space is lim ited. To register call
K atie W isdom W einstein at
297-5544, ext. 113.
This is the first in a series of
family workshops sponsored by
Art A dventures. The next fam ­
ily w orkshop in Saturday, May
6 ,2 -5 PM, when the fam ily (or
Dad and the kids) can create a
one-of-a-kind gift for M other’s
Day.
OCAC began the art program
for children and fam ilies in the
sum m er o f 1998 with an art day
camp for children, 6-13, and
teen w orkshops. The cam p b e­
gins its second season in the
m eadow s and studios o f the
cam pus on June 21. The week
long sessions for children, 6-
13, combine art and creative play
in a classic “ cam p” setting with
w ater slides, volley ball and
skits. Teenagers participate in
intensive workshops where they
can focus on a particular m edia
whether their goal is art college
or exploration o f their artistic
talents.
The opportunity to influence
the creative lives o f young
people reflects O C A C ’s 90-
year history as a local resource
for education in the visual arts.
Over the years, countless a rt­
ists have begun their artistic
exploration on our cam pus and
that tradition continues with Art
Adventures.
Oregon C ollege o f Art and
Craft, accredited by the National
Association o f Schools o f Art
and Design, provides studio-
based education in Book Arts,
C eram ics, D raw in g , F ibers,
M etal, Photography and Wood.
OCAC offers a Bachelor o f Fine
Arts in Crafts, a three-year C er­
tificate in C rafts and on-going
Open Program classes. A long
with year-round studio instruc­
tion, the C ollege offers public
workshops, a lively exhibition
program and support for re ­
gional artists whose work is car­
ried in The Gallery Shop. OCAC
receives support from the N a­
tional Endowm ent for the A rts,
the Oregon Arts C om m ission,
and the R egional Arts and C u l­
ture Council.
(
Minority Students Need To See
Opportunities, Not Obstacles
Many African American, His­
panic American and other minority
students who have the ability to at­
tend college need to more carefully
balance the cost of a higher educa­
tion against its lifelong benefits be­
fore they decide it’s the wrong
choice, too unfamiliar or too ex­
pensive, experts say.
As tuition and fees have risen
back with the good news as well,
they say, enrollments. But it may be
time to fight back with the good
news as well, they say.
“I understand the concerns faced
by many of these students who come
from low-income backgrounds,"
said Larry Griggs, director of the
Educational Opportunity Program
at Oregon State University.
“It’s a fact that college costs more
than it used to,” Griggs said. “The
students may be the first ones in
their family to ever go to college,
it’s unfamiliar, and the cost of four
or five years of higher education
might be more than their family’s
annual income. It’s a scary proposi­
tion and a lot of young people feel
like they are stepping off into the
unknown."
While Griggs says that society
needs to do everything it can to
provide financial assistance and
keep college affordable, it’s equally
true that the students need to look
at all of the benefits - not just the
costs - and recognize that going to
college is probably the best single
investment they will ever make.
“Without a doubt, our brightest
students need to invest in their own
lives and leam about all the advan­
tages a college education will give
them,” Griggs said.
Studies back up this argument.
According to data from the U.S.
Census Bureau, in the mid-1990s a
male college graduate can expect to
earn about $700,000 more that a
high school graduate over a 40-year
working lifetime. Men graduating
from a four-year, public institution
such as OSU with a bachelor’s de­
gree can expect to earn back $28.40
for every dollar spent on tuition,
fees, room and board. Females will
earn back $18.60.
At the same time, high school
graduate incomes in real, inflation-
adjusted terms have been dropping
steadily since the early 1970s, the
data show.
Concerns that minority students
and many others may be hearing all
the bad news about the cost of
college and not enough about the
benefits recently prompted a con­
sortium o f 1,200 colleges and uni­
versities around the nation to be­
gin a “College is Possible” cam­
paign.
For people seeking more infor­
mation, this initiative has set up a
web
site
-
www.CollegeIsPossible.org - and a
toll-free number at the Department
of Education, 1-800-433-3243. It
includes suggestions on costs, fi­
nancial aid, sources of assistance
and what students should do to pre­
pare themselves for college.
And admissions specialists at
OSU also are geared up to help stu­
dents examine the costs and payoffs
of a university education. They can
be reached toll-free at 1-800-291-
4192.
Fighting negative perceptions is
a big part of the battle, some experts
say. A study by the American Coun­
cil on Education found that African
Americans were 83 percent more
likely to hold such beliefs.
Those impressions apparently
carry over to enrollments. In 1996,
the last year for which Census Bu­
reau data is available, 36.2 percent
o f traditional college-age whites
were attending college, compared
to 27 percent of African Americans
and 20.1 percent of the Hispanics in
similar age groups.
Other new, innovative programs,
such as OSU Statewide, can also
help to bring college educations lit­
erally into every town and home in
Oregon, if that’s what students need
or prefer.
The changing demographics and
challenges of the future, Griggs said,
make it more essential than ever that
everyone be brought into the edu­
cated mainstream.
Singing For Our Lives
A Musical Revue o f Songs A bout Civil Rights, Freedom
This show is a must for anyone
who loves the songs that changed
the world, gave us inspiration, or
helped us laugh in the face o f
adversity. Singing For Our Lives
will feature the songs that shaped
the “civil rights/anti-w ar” gen­
erations. It will feature a large
cast o f MJCC favorites and new
talent who will perform a wide
variety o f ensemble, small group
and solo versions o f music by:
Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Pe­
ter Paul & Mary, Joni M itchell,
Tom Lehrer, Crosby Stills Nash
& Young, Jacques Brel, Holly
Near, Tracey Chapman, Sweet
Honey in the Rock and many
more.
♦Performances are Saturdays
March 6 '\ 13,h & 20,h at 8:00
PM; Sundays March 7* & 21” at
2:00 PM and March 14"1 at 7:30
PM; and Thursdays March 11'*&
18,h at 7:30 PM (H a lf-P ric e
Thursdays).
Singing For Our Lives is the
perfect show for groups to at-
T R I- M E T
N EWS
Tri-Met Board Changes
Meeting Times
The Tri-Met Board o f Directors will meet at new times beginning in February.
Regular monthly meetings now begin at 9 a.m., typically on the fourth Wednesday of
each month. Board briefings are scheduled at 9 a.m., usually on the second Wednesday of
the month. The public is invited to the meetings.
In an effort to reach out to the communities it serves, the Board will host regular
meetings at various locations throughout the metropolitan area. Meeting locations are
available by calling 238-4887.
Persons requiring meeting materials in alternative formats and/or sign language inter­
preters should contact Tri-Met at 238-4952, TTY 238-5811, or fax 239-3092 between
7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. weekdays at least two working days prior to the meetings. Meeting
rooms are accessible. For information about traveling to the meetings on Tri-Met, please
call 238-RIDE.
W hat’s ahead
With MAX trains and 26% of our buses at capacity during rush-hour, Tri-Met hopes to
add additional MAX trains and buses to increase capacity. Introducing additional service
and improving the overall quality of service is planned for the future. Tri-Met will invite
public comment on the agency’s future plans during open houses beginning Feb. 22.
“Increased ridership is the best measure o f Tri-Met’s success,” said Fred Hansen Tri-
Met General Manger. “To continue this trend, we need to expand our system to continue
to meet our growing ridership base. As we do this, transit will continue to play a key
role in helping this region grow smart.”
For information about riding Tri-Met, contact 238-RIDE, or www.tri-met.org
Peace.
tend together. The musical revue
will be set-up Coffee House -
style, around ten-seat tables with
optional coffee and dessert of­
fered. A special group rate o f $2
off each ticket is available for
groups o f ten or more. Reserve
an entire table (or two), or pur­
chase at least ten tickets at once
to receive this great deal.
For information call the MJCC
box office at 244-0111, 6651
SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR.
97219.
238-RIDE
How we g e t t h e r e
m a tte rs .
TTY 238-5811 • www.tri-met.org