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,
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violence in schools.
m e w » » BJUBOOMWEICOMESBIUESIECEMD
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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
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