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.
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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
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CONCERT LINE: (503)_J7* * 625
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