M arch 17, 1999
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S T O P
T H E
S IL E N C E
In te rn a tio n a l H IV /
AIDS Awareness
This week. Rev. Jackson continues
his mission to N lgena as Special Envoy
for the Prom otion o f Democracy in
Africa. He has m et with President­
elect G eneral O lusegun Obasanjo,
military ruler General Abdulsalam i
Abubakar, and O basango’s defeated
rival O lu Falae seeking to resolve
remaining issues from last w eek’s
democratic elections in N igena. While
there. Rev. Jackson will also seek to
raise HIV /A ID S awareness
Rev. Jackson said, “ A ID S has
r e a c h e d a le v e l o f h o r ro r n o t
w itnessed since the Bubonic Plague
o f the M iddle A ges that w iped out a
quarter o f E urope’s population. The
calam ity is so unim aginable that it
has virtually gone w ithout notice."
In the th irty -fo u r n atio n s south
o f the S ahara in A frica, as m any as
one in four adu lts is in fected w ith
HIV. W ith o n ly 1 0 % o fth e w o rld ’s
p opulation, these n ations have 26
m illion o f the 30 m illio n infected
w ith H IV across the w orld. N inety-
one percen t o f the w o rld ’s A ID S
related deaths have o cc u rre d in
these 34 countries.
In Botswana, the hardest hit country
in Africa, life expectancy stood at 61
years only five years ago. Now it has
dropped to 47 years and is expected to
drop further to 41 years betw een 2000
and2OO5. In Zimbabwe, nearly one o f
every five adults is currently infected.
South A frica, relatively isolated in
the years o f apartheid, is now the
epicenter o f the plague. 3.2 m illion
people are estim ated to be infected,
including a staggering 45% ot the
military by South African government
estimates. One o f every five pregnant
w om en tests HIV positive.
It is possible to turn the tide. In
U ganda, an aggressive program ot
p u b lic e d u c a tio n d r a m a tic a lly
reduced the incidence o f infection.
T h a ila n d also im p le m e n te d an
aggressive program that dramatically
reduced the number o f AIDS victims.
Now South African and the other
nations o f southern Africa face the
sam e challenge.
T here is am ple ev id en ce that
aggressive earlytreattnentofHTV/AIDS
can p ro d u c e p o s itiv e re su lts.
Anecdotally, one need look no further
than Magic Johnson to see that a good
diet, exercise and access to the best
drugs andmedical care can make living
with HIV a productive, quality life.
The unfortunate reality is that we
cannot let the good new s lull us into
a false sense o f security. W e are a
long w ay from defeating this disease.
W e m ust remain vocal and continue
to do w hatever it takes to m ake the
latest w onder drugs (that can keep
people who are infected w ith HIV
healthy for years but cost betw een
$ 10,000 - $ 15,000 per year) available
to the greatest num ber o f people w ho
need them.
U.S. Surgeon G eneral Dr. D avid
Satcher will be the guest speaker at
R ainbow /PU SH H ead q u arters on
Saturday. M arch 13, 1999. He w ill
discuss the state o fh ealth in A m erica
and the w ar against HIV/AIDS. Ifyou
are unable to attend the forum , you
can listen to the broadcast live over
th e
I n te r n e t
at
w w w .rainbow push.org.
Age-related vision changes
H
ealth
Focus
James L. Phillips, M.D.
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas
No m atter how young and fit you
feel at age 40, you might begin to
notice vision changes. But, you are
not alone. N early 90 percen t o f
people age 45 or older are wearing
glasses all or m ost o f the tim e
V ision ch an g es asso ciated with
aging vary from person to person.
Som e people begin to experience
b lurred vision w hile others might
notice more frequent eye strain and
fatigue.
O phthalm ologists at Baylor C ol­
lege of M edicine in Houston say that
these conditions are part ot the nor­
mal aging process. As we age, the
lens of the eye begins to lose its abil­
ity to focus on close objects.
Ifyou aren’t unusually nearsighted
or farsighted and d o n 't have a signifi­
cant astigm atism , o v er-th e-co u n ter
reading glasses may solve problem s
related to focusing on m aterials up
close. The slightly m agnified lenses
are often all that is needed to help the
eyes focus on fine print and relieve
eye stress.
Reading glasses are made for the
average face, so they might not line
up properly with your eyes. An eye-
care professional can make the nec­
essary adjustm ents.
Even if reading glasses solve your
vision problems, you should still have
T R I-M E T
a com plete eye examination each year.
M iddle age is when the most com mon
form o f glaucom a begins to appear.
B aylor o p h th alm o lo g ists rec o m ­
m end annual g lau co m a screen in g s
beginning at age 40 to r most people.
Since the disease is more com m on in
persons with a fam ily history and in
A fric a n -A m e ric a n s, th e se g ro u p s
s h o u ld b e g in a n n u a l g la u c o m a
screenings at 30.
Exam s can also uncover other pos­
sible eye problems that are more com ­
mon as we age, such as m acular d e­
generation and diabetes-related vision
com plications.
G ood vision is im portant w hether
you are 40, 60, 80 or older. D o n 't let
undetected problem s rob you o f your
sight. See an ophthalm ologist or op­
tom etrist each year.
N EW S
Chew Related Cancer Survivor
Tells Story In New Spot
Rick Bender lost h a lf o f his face
from the use o f chew tobacco and
now he is helping the O regon Health
Division w ith its efforts in reducing
the use o f this dangerous product.
•Smokeless tobacco use among young
males in Oregon schools is dangerously
high,” Katrina Hedberg, M.D. O.H.D.’s
Chronic Disease Epidemiologist said.
'Our most recent Oregon survey shows
over20% ofl I* grade male students and
9° o o f 8* grade males use chew tobacco
products. This is a tragedy.” Thirteen
percent or46,000ot 18-34 year-old males
use chew tobacco.
O HD is releasing two new chew
tobacco radio ads, the first anti­
to b a c c o m e d ia to b e c re a te d
specifically for O regon’s program.
Previous ads were created in other
states and revised for Oregon use.
These new radio ads are designed to
get the attention o f users and potential
users and motivate them to quit or not
start. Rick Bender provides the voice
and his story in “Lucky Rick,” one o f
the ads. He tell listeners he started
using chew when he was 12 and had
much ofhis face removed when he was
27. The cancer that ate aw ay his face
Hie
was caused by the use ofchew tobacco.
T he O regon H ealth D iv isio n ’s
Tobacco Prevention and Education
Program kickedoffthe latest ads in its
effort to reduce tobacco use. Ihe
radio spots use hum or and personal
stories to raise aw areness about the
d a n g e rs o f ch e w to b a c c o , an d
encourage users to quit.
To help tobacco users quite, the
State also offers a toll-free quit line.
A nyone ready to quit should call 1-
877-270-STOP
Heb Severson, an internationally
recognized expert on chew tobacco
from O regon Research Institute in
Eugene, pointed out chew is not a
safe alternative to smoking.
“ Sm okeless tobacco contains a
witches brew o f toxic and cancer
causing chem icals that no person
should be exposed to. M any believe
th a t
s m o k e le s s
to b a c c o
m a n u fa c tu r e rs m a n ip u la te th e
nicotine in chew to hook young
u se rs," S erv erso n said. “ S tarter
products contain relatively sm all
am ounts o f nicotine w hile products
for the experienced user contain
extrem ely high levels."
Bender Story
M y name is R ick Bender, and they call m e the man
without a face. I guess there is a good reason behind
it. Let me tell you a little about myself.
I was bom in San D iego in 1962 and now live in
Roundup, M ontana. At the age o f 1 2 1 started using
‘spit tobacco" (com m only know n as chew tobacco).
There w ere several things that influenced me to use
tobacco, probably the biggest w as the gam e o f
baseball and the ads on TV.
At the age o f 2 6 1 was diagnosed with cancer because
o f my use o f spit tobacco. In the month o f April 1989,1
underwent my first surgery to remove the cancer. During
the next 2 years I underwent 3 more surgical procedures.
The end result was the loss o f 1 /3 o f my tongue, 7i o f my
jaw and partial use o f my right aim as well as almost my
life. 1 am still fighting the effects o f all this to this day.
Since my last operation in June o f 1 9 9 0 ,1 have
devoted my life to educating others about this tobacco
product that w idely thought o f as a safe alternative
to smoking. I have w orked with the O ffice o f the
S u rg e o n G e n e ra l o f th e U n ite d S ta te s an d
p ro fe s s io n a l b a s e b a ll. I h av e te s tifie d at a
Congressional sub-com m ittee hearing on the subject
and h a v e a p p e a re d o n th e “ T o d a y S h o w ,
N ickelodeon” and m any national and local news
broadcasts. This has becom e my life’s work.
You see, I shouldn’tbehere. M y doctor, after seeing
the extent o f my cancer did not expect m e to see my 30*
birthday. But I am still here and have a second chance
it life. The way I look at it w e’re all here for a reason and
Traveling to Portland International Airport (PDX)
becomes more convenient today as of (Monday,
March 1) when Tri-Met buses begin providing direct
service to the terminal.
Passengers on Tri-Met bus route 12-Sandy
Boulevard can use a new bus stop located on the
outside lane of the upper roadway. Passengers
previously transferred to an airport shuttle bus to
reach the terminal.
“With the use of Portland International Airport
growing dramatically, w e’re pleased to provide
travelers and area employees with a viable option
for getting to the airport,” Fred Hansen, Tri-Met
General Manager said. “We applaud the Port of
Portland for helping make our service more
convenient for our custom ers.”
Tri-Met’s route 12-Sandy Boulevard travels between the
airport and downtown Portland daily from about 5:30
a.m. until 11:30 p.m. MAX light rail trains connect with
route 12 buses at Hollywood Transit Center. For more
exact schedules or Tri-Met trip-planning information,
contact 238-RIDE or www.tri-met.org.
“ R ace is th e m o st im p o rta n t
underlying issue in all juvenile justice
discussion,” M ark Soler said recently
at a C hildren’s D efense Fund/Black
Com m unity Crusade for Children
sponsored action forum in Detroit.
“ I f th e U n ite d S ta te s w e re
incarcerating W hite children to the
same extent it is incarcerating children
o f color, there w ould be protesting in
the streets," he told us. Soler is the
president o fth e Youth L aw C en terin
W ashington, D.C. and served as the
m oderator o f the fifth forum o f our
series on children, race, and poverty.
M ore th a n 2 0 0 ju d g e s , ch ild
advocates, and concerned community
m em bers gathered at the Hartford
M em orial Baptist C hurch in D etroit
recently to discuss w hy m inority
y o u th s a re d is p r o p o r tio n a te ly
confined and how com m unities can
address the injustices occurring.
“ Poverty is a critical factor, but it
do esn ’t account for everything that
w e’re seeing,” Soler said, adding that
m iddle-class Black parents live with
the threat that “their sons can be
stereotyped just like the poorest Black
youths in the inner city are.”
Children o f all races who are poor are
CASCAD E
AUTOAUCTTON
Preview I
Open *18 AM
D ir e c tio n !
1 -8 4 Cast : Exit
TRI-MET
14 Left to Sandy
238-RIDE
Bldv. Right 1,5
Milea. Auction
T T Y 2 3 8 -5 8 1 1
•
m a tte rs .
w w w .tri-m et.org
in c lu d in g
p r e v e n tio n
an d
intervention program s foryouths that
have been succeeding in Detroit.
Six young adults, several o f w hom
had been involved in the juvenile
justice and foster care system , told
inspirational stories o f their hardships
an d triu m p h s. T h e ir in d iv id u a l
ex periences included sexual and
p h y s ic a l
abuse,
n e g le c t,
a b a n d o n m e n t, u n tre a te d m e n tal
health conditions, confinem ent in
youth detention facilities, and more,
all from an early age. All have risen
above their life’s challenges w ith
support from others and are currently
successful high school and college
s tu d e n ts as w e ll as y o u n g
professionals They bravely shared
their stories about how they w ere
ultim ately able to beat the odds
through the kinds o f support system s
that must be m ade available to all
children all over the country.
“Building prisons is becom ing a
m ajor industry in this co u n try ,"
Jesselyn McCurdy, BCCC ’s program
cooidinatorof the Juvenile and Family
Court Judges’ Leadership C ouncil,
told the forum. “But prisons d o n ’t
generally produce productive young
p e o p le .
C o m m u n ity -b a s e d
p r e v e n tio n
a n d in te r v e n tio n
programs do." Instead o f investing
more and m ore m oney in the prisons
and punitive m easures called for by
those w ho subscribe to the m yth o f
200 Pura Saia Unita
With No Minimum!
the “ su perpredator,” w e need to
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Free Bidder Packaged
prom ote prevention program s we
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Conalgnmentx
know work, like after-school and
Welcome!
m e n to rin g p ro g ra m s th a t k e e p
DMV Trip Permita
children out o f trouble.
Avallatile Day ol Sale)
It is way past time to get serious
Mechanical Servie»
about saving young lives ruined or
,1 Contracta Available,
snu ffed o ut by p o v erty -in d u c ed
violence and crim e. And we are long
o v erd u e in se rio u sly ex a m in in g
SkaaU e CASCADE
A m enca’sjuvenilejusticesystem that
AUTO AUCTION
23 58 5 NE Sandy Btvd
often metes out injustice to young
Portland Or
people o f color. If you w ant to help,
(503) 4 9 2 -9 2 0 0 contact Jesselyn M cCourdy at the
B lack C o m m u n ity C ru sa d e for
Children, 202-662-3577.
disproportionately represented in the
juvenile justice system partly because
they are usually represented by lawyers
whose crushing caseloads do not allow
them to dedicate adequate time to the
children’s defense. The A merican
juvenile justice system is becoming
increasingly two-tiered, Solerexplained.
“There is a private psychiatric system
for middle- and upper-class children
and a public incarceration system for
poor children."
Panelists at the forum included
Frank Zimring, professor o f law at the
University o f California at Berkeley
and a u th o r o f A m erican Y outh
Violence; Jerome Miller, author o f
Search and Destroy: African American
Males in theCrim inal Justice System;
Bernardine Dohm, director o f the
Children and Family Justice Center at
N o rth w estern U n iv ersity and an
international advocate on behalf o f
children and families; and Constance
Rice, formerly the regional director o f
theNAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc.,
and one o f the most experienced civil
rights litigators in the country.
Participants learned m ore about
juvenile law in Michigan and examined
a lte r n a tiv e s to in c a r c e ra tio n ,
Public Vehicle Auction
Friday, March 26h
2 P M -6 P M
Saturday, March 27b
How we g e t t h e r e
maybe mine is to go out and educate people about spit tobacco.
Ifl can get just one person each day to quite using or not start using
spit tobacco it will make my second chance at life worthwhile.
Juvenile Injustice
B y M arian W right E delman
TRI-MET buses fly directly to PDX
The other radio as uses w estern
music to set the stage for a disturbing
and humorous description o f facial
parts that are rem oved as oral cancer
surgery become necessary.
Bender is currently conducting a
speaking tour in six Oregon counties
about his addiction to chew, and how
it changed his life. Bender in the past
has worked with the Office o f the
Surgeon General, Professional Baseball
and has testified at congressional sub­
committee hearings. Clatsop,Columbia,
Lincoln, Polk, T illamook, and Y amhill
Counties have worked together to bring
Bender and his story to tell in their local
communities.
The Oregon Tobacco Prevention
a n d E d u c a tio n P ro g ra m is a
com prehensive effort to reduce the
use o f tobacco and ex p o su re to
se co n d h a n d sm o k e. It in c lu d e s
pro g ram s in local co m m u n ities,
schools, businesses, mediaand special
populations. The program is funded
by a tobacco tax increase approved by
voters in 1996. Ten percent ofthe new
revenue is allocated to tobacco use
prevention and reduction.
on Left.
1-84 Weat: Exit
16B. Ahead on
Rigid .5 Milea.
Saturday, March 27th: I QAM
Over 200 Unita From
Volunteers of America
National Kidney Foundation
Pacific Power & Light
Northwest Natural Gas