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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1999)
April 28,1999 Page 7 ^orttani» (Observer Students Stem Violence With Help of Student Mediutors Agencies Unite to Stop Truants From Cash Rewards fbr Crime Tips Raised Old-Tashioiied Mtay Depending on the severity of the crime reported, citizens of Kingman, Arizona receive $50 to $1,000 if their in formation leads to an arrest. The infor mants an' also guaranteed anonymity The Crime Stoppers and Mohave S ilent W itn essP ro g ram in New Mexico are similar in that both have a police phone number for reporting crimes and callers are given an identi fication number at the start of the call by computer voice mail or by a per son answering the call. After police officers have investi gated the report, the caller checks back, quoting the identification num ber. If an arrest was made, the caller is asked where he or she would like to meet someone to receive a reward. In Keshena,Wisconsin, the program organizers are studying the feasibility of transferring the reward money at a local bank drive-through window. The caller would simply state the identifi cation number at the bank to receive a prepared envelope with cash in it. So far, officials say neither of the programs has experienced a prank call or had a case of a person abusing the system to get back at someone else. T h e good news is th a t w hen For Amanda Lalu, 12, it was the im p le m e n te d p ro p erly , c o n flic t almost-daily occurrence of fistfights at her school - and a routine spectacle resolution and peer m ediation pro gram s can reduce the n um ber of of nosebleeds, black eyes and hair conflicts reported to teachers and pulling that made her enroll in an 80- adm inistrators by 80 percent, ac hour program in conflict resolution. cording to findings by the national S p o n so re d by th e A m eric an Friends Service Committee (AFSC), center. O ne popular model is commonly the program trains youths nation referred to as HIP, an acronym for w ide in conflict reso lu tio n tech Help Increase the Peace. T he model niques. A lthough the AFSC pro involves “skill building” techniques gram is decades old - it was started such as active listening and making in 1917, inspired by Q uaker ideals eye contact, as well as learning how of nonviolence - the training has not to rely on reflex reactions when taken on new urgency in the wake of a series of school shootings across in a tense situation. Some law-enforcement experts the country in the past year. see conflict resolution as preferable to other anti-crime strategies that T m Victims a id have caught on in the schools. For Perpetrators Work example, several studies have con cluded that the installation of “tar Together to P rese« get-hardening” devices like m etal detectors are ineffective and often Violence dow nright detrim ental to a school’s Five years ago, Twinkle Rudberg well-being. lau n ched an o rg an izatio n called - Robin Antepara Leave O ut ViolencE (L.O.V.E.) to give teen-age victims of violence, as well as perpetra to rs an d w it nesses, the skills an d w ill to c h a n g e th e ir lives. E very y ea r ab o u t 40 teen- C ascade C am pus,T uesday, M ay 4, I I a .m . - 4 p.m . agers who have been involved in violence are re More than 70 great employers. c r u ite d from Workshops on interviewing, career M o n tre a l transitions, and electronic resumes. schools o r are referred by so Job opportunities. Free admission! cial workers and These employers, and many more, will be there. school co u n se NECA -IB EW Electrical Training lors or teachers. AAA Oregon/ldaho O D S Health Plan American Family Insurance At the h eart of Oregon Health Sciences American Red Cross the project is a Oregon Lottery Brooks Temporary Services Oregon Police Corps twice-weekly fo City of Salem Oregon State Police Double Tree/Promus Hotels rum w here the PacifiCare Electric Lightwave, Inc. Portland Emergency 9 1 1 y o u n g p e o p le Express Personnel Services Portland Fire Bureau learn to express Fred Meyer Portland General Electric Friends of the Children th e m s e lv e s Providence Health System Hanna Andersson Corp. Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield through photog Internal Revenue Service Renaissance Holdings raphy and jour Kaiser Permanence Sears Legacy Health System nalism. T C I Cable LSI Logic O r g a n iz e r s Tektronix M t Hood Beverage Co. UPS say that a unique Multnomah Co. Sheriff Wells Fargo Bank Nature's Northwest d im e n sio n of the program is Cascade Campus that it involves 705 N Killingsworth, 1-5 Exit 304 both victims and For information, call (503) 978-5290 p erp e tra to rs of Sponsored by Tektronix and Today’s Careers violence. ///¿ w Kail 1999 Spring__ Career and Job Fair Becoming Criminals A student contemplating playing a little hooky in C orpus C h risti, Texas can be fairly sure of one thing. It won’t get overlooked. Agencies have discovered that col laboration is the key to dealing with truancy and juvenile delinquency. Since 14 d ifferen t o rg an izatio n s teamed up as the Coastal Bend Alli ance for Youth five years ago, juve nile crime has dropped by 35 percent. T he Coastal Bend Alliance for Youth represents five school dis tr ic ts , a p o lice d e p a rtm e n t, a sheriff’s department, a runaway shel ter and an alcohol and drug abuse center, among other organizations. “A gencies have a tendency to carve out their own little areas and protect them ,’ said M ariah Boone, a licensed social worker and pro gram director of the Truancy Re duction Im pact Program (TRIP) TRIP operates out of an office in the YMCA building. From 9 AM to 3 PM, police officers who pick up truants bring them to TRIP. There, r A-»*'. * '» • violence in schools. m e w » » BJUBOOMWEICOMESBIUESIECEMD bicollo THE DEBBIE HASTINGSBAND TERRY ROBB ♦ ALBERT REDA UHEILiWIWOXSOMACOUSTICTm^ OVIR BÂIIB00M 1332 W. BURNSIDE PORTLAND, OR Portland Community College <7**3 > someone from the Sheriff s D epart ment is called in to supervise the tru ant, as required by law, and to pro cess the truant into the center. Next, a school counselor from one of the five school districts that take turns staffing the office inter views the truant and contacts his or her parents and school. T he truant is then referred to a counselor from one of the particip atin g agencies who will determ ine if the truant is facing any special difficulties, such as alcohol or drug abuse or violence or neglect in the home. If so, fam ily counseling is recommended. At the end of the day, the truant is signed over to his or her mother or father, who is asked to report im mediately to the child’s school to meet with the school’s administrator. E ditor’s note: Special thanks to the contributing writers of ANS for these ideas of impact. We would like to hear about your innovative solu tions and program s to correct the ¿ ». W n .*»•< . .» •. » CONCERT LINE: (503)_J7* * 625 '• • Ti .¿h j - - / ' *» , ■ " t. • .♦ *.