*1ay 19, 1999
-----------------------------—---------------- - (Tbc florthmb (Bbsemer
Oregon to Get
New Area-Code
PORTLA N D , O R EG O N — The
dem and for separate telephone lines
to link dedicated Internet lines, faxes,
and burglar alarm s has ju st about
used up the telephone num bers in
O regon’s five- oh-three area code.
So now part o f the state is getting a
new one. O fficials have decided to
over-lay the area code, instead o f
Perfusionist Keeps Hearts Going
carving out a separate area for it. Jim
Haynes w ith U-S W est says new
phone lines in the current five-oh-
three area will get the new area code,
w hich is nine-seven- one. H aynes
says the new area code will go into
effect this com ing January, and will
m ean dialing ten-digits even to make
local calls.
New Math Approved
For Portland Schools
PORTLAND, OREGON
P o rtla n d P u b lic S ch o o ls w ill b e ­
com e one o f th e la rg e st d istric ts in
th e n a tio n to u se a n ew d istin c tiv e
m eth o d to te ac h m ath. T he school
b o ard has a p p ro v e d th e m e th o d
know n fo ra llo w in g elem entary and
m id d le sc h o o ls to re ly on stu d e n t
d isco v ery and n ot te ac h er lectures.
T he m eth o d has m an y su p p o rters
n a tio n w id e an d is co m m o n in
sm a lle r d istric ts. It allo w s te a c h ­
ers to go into g reater depth in few er
top ics. A scho o l o ffic ia l say s it
w ill co st ab o u t 7 0 0 -th o u san d d o l­
lars to train te ach ers. T h e n ew s y s­
tem w ill be used in k in d e rg a rten
th ro u g h th e eig h th grade.
More Racial Charges
At University
C O R V A L L IS , O R E G O N —
B enton C o u n ty D istric t A tto rn ey
S cott H eiser says his in v e stig a tio n
o f an alleg e d ra c ia l in c id e n t o n the
cam p us at O re g o n S tate U n iv e r­
sity d oes not find en o u g h ev id en c e
for a h a ra ssm e n t o r in tim id a tio n
charge. O SU se n io r F red erick H ar-
To The Editor
ris says he w as w alking hom e w hen
a p air o f fresh m en m ade racial
ep ith ets and threw firecrack ers at
him . He co m plain ed four years ago
that w hite students had insulted him.
U niversity P resid en t Paul R isser
says the school w ill co n tin u e to try
to im prove its racial clim ate.
Continued from page 4
H eaven, S pirit, C reator — but all
missing the point. The point, accord­
ing to the true w isdom o f every culture
is - We are, in our deepest nature,
connected to everyone and everything
out there and in here.
I f o u r re lig io u s co m m u n ities
w ould act responsibly instead o f ha­
bitually or traditionally, we would
sto p rep e atin g such se lf-p ity in g
phrases as, "W e w ere conceived in
sin, bom in sin and there is no health
in us" found in one form or another
throughout the world. This expresses
the hopelessness o f people (slaves)
w ho feel they can do nothing but wait
for a savior to com e and rescue them .
W ell.H eorshehas come repeatedly
throughout history saying - We Are
One - there is no separation - we are
connected to the intelligent energy that
is still forming the universe, which is
alive in infinite forms including allofus.
North and South, East and West,
Jew, Gentile, Oriental, Red, Black,
White - we are all beautiful and unique
expressions, in our true nature, o f the
whole, by whatever name you choose
to call it.
Finally, we make a plea for perspec­
tive. Just as millions o f automobiles.
trucks, trains, planes and pedestrians
move safely across die face o f the earth
daily, while the few involved in sensa­
tional accidents are reported eveiywhere,
so also the vast majority o f young people
are not sick but are beautiful, positive
contributors to our lives. Digging out
their newsworthy creativity requires far
more sensitivity and effort than reporting
what is handed out by police, fire and
emergency personnel.
If we can awaken at least a curiosity
about our com mon true nature, which
is awesome and magnificent in our
judgement and the j udgement o f many
throughout history, then young people
(and old) will not be threatened by
jibes and insults, but will see these as
coming from ignorance o f w ho we and
they really are. All may become patient
with one another, allowing time to
mature which is simply seeing more
and more connections.
Violence will evaporate, just as the
fear o f the unknown evaporates with
making it known. So also will violence
begin to evaporate with the com ing o f
im proved aw areness o f w hat is real
in hum an nature.
Subm itted by a group o f deeply
concerned citizens.
il
W h at d o es it tak e to save a life?
V icto ria M artin , C C P , k n o w s first­
h an d . A c e rtifie d c lin ic a l
p e r f u s io n is t, V ic to ria is a key
m e m b e r o f th e P ro v id e n c e St.
V in ce n t M ed ical C e n te r c a rd io ­
v a s c u la r su rg ica l team th at w o rk s
d a ily to sav e h ea rt p a tie n ts ’ liv es
The w ord perfusion has its roots in
the Latin w ord perfusus, w hich de­
rives from “to pour over and through­
out.” Today, that ancient meaning
still applies to the relatively young
medical profession o f the perfus inist—
a profession first introduced ju st 40
years ago with the advent o f open-
h e a rt su rg e ry . D u rin g su rg e ry ,
perfusionists like Martin virtually take
over the role o f the heart and lungs
w hile the surgeon operates.
“ I ts ’ an ex citin g feeling to take
on a ch allen g e that seem s so large,”
say s M artin. “E ven th o u g h the su r­
geon is cap tain o f the ship, y o u still
h av e an in terestin g ro le to p lay as a
p erfu sio n ist. Y o u ’re alw ay s aw are
o f y o u r aw eso m e resp o n sib ility .”
D uring open-heart surgery, the
heart m ust be stopped so the sur­
geon can perform the n ecessary re­
pair. To mam tain normal body physi­
o logy w hile the heart is stopped, a
b ypass h eart/lung m achine takes
o v e r, c irc u la tin g (o r p e rfu sin g )
blood throughout the body.
O n ce the p a tie n t is h o o k ed up
v ia tw o ca n n u la s th a t d ra in an d
re tu rn b lo o d to th e p a tie n t, the
p e rfu sio n ist c o n s ta n tly m o n ito rs
k ey su b sta n c e s an d v ita l sig n s—
b lo o d g a se s, e le c tro ly te s , b lo o d
p re ssu re , p u lm o n a ry a rte ry p re s­
su re, te m p e ra tu re , an d m o re— all
w h ile m a k in g c a lc u la te d a d ju st­
m en ts th ro u g h the b ypass m achine.
Breast
Feeding
Bill
Senate
SA L E M , O R E G O N — O regon
m others w ho choose to breast feed
th eir ch ild ren m ay soon have the
law on th eir side. O reg o n ’s Senate
has un an im o u sly passed a bill that
w ould m ake it a crim e to harass
w om en w ho nurse in public. P ort­
lan d D em o c ratic S en ato r G inny
B urdick says m others that breast
feed in public are frequently d is­
crim inated against or harassed. The
m easu re now goes to the House.
M artin w orks four d ay s a w eek,
d oing on av erag e tw o su rg erie s a
day. D ep en d in g on the h eart rep a ir
in v o lv ed , each su rg ery tak es from
tw o to eig h t hours. M artin has
w orked at P ro v id en ce St. V in cen t
sin ce 1979, startin g h er ca re e r as a
resp ira to ry th e ra p ist in ca rd iac re ­
co v ery , then g rad u a tin g from p e r­
fusion school in 1989. In the past
10 years, she has a s siste d in h eart
su rg eries for n ew b o rn s all the w ay
up to o cto g en arian s.
“O pen h eart su rg e ry is a team
e ffo rt," says A lb ert S tarr, M .D ., a
P ro v id e n ce St. V in ce n t ca rd ia c
su rg eo n an d d ire c to r o f the P ro v i­
d en c e H eart In stitu te. “ A s a c a r­
d iac su rg eo n , i t ’s v ery rea ssu rin g
to k now th at you h av e the m ost
h ig h ly -sk ille d p h y sic ia n s, n u rses,
and tech n ician s like V icto ria w o rk ­
ing w ith you to g iv e p a tie n ts the
b est p o ssib le c a re ."
For m any years, M artin w as the
only fem ale p erfu sio n ist at P rovi­
dence St. V incent and she is still one
o f o n ly s ix c e r t i f i e d fe m a le
perfusionists in the city. T here are
se v en fu ll-tim e p e rfu s io n is ts at
Photo By Dave Lawton
Life saver. Victoria Martin, a certified clinical perfusionist at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, keeps patients'
hearts running during open heart surgery with a heart/lung bypass machine.
Health Professionals Invited To
Diversity Conference
M aking in te rcu ltu ra l co m m u n i­
catio n in h e a lth ca re se ttin g s m o re
effectiv e an d re w a rd in g is the goal
o f a o n e-d ay co n fe re n ce sp o n so red
by K aiser P e rm a n e n te on T u e s­
d ay , Ju n e I s’, fro m 8 a.m . to
S ;30p.m . T he c o n fe re n c e w ill be
at th e S h erato n A irp o rt H otel in
P o rtlan d . K ey n o te sp e ak e r is d i­
v ersity c o n su lta n t an d train er Janet
B en n ett, PhD . A ftern o o n sessio n s
w ill focus o n cu ltu ral co n flicts in
th e w o rk p lac e an d c u ltu ra l co m ­
p eten c e w ith C h in ese -A m e rica n ,
M e x ican -A m erican an d A fric a n -
A m erican p atien ts. C o st is $125
for all-d ay a tte n d a n c e o r $70 fo r
after-n o o n sessio n s only. F o r m ore
in fo rm atio n o r to re g iste r p le a se
call K aiser P e rm a n e n te ’s S h an a
K lem ch u k a (5 0 3 ) 8 1 3 -4 4 6 1 .
PERS Limits Proposed
SA LEM , O REG O N — T he O r­
egon Senate Judiciary Com m ittee has
okayed a m easure to slim dow n the
retirem ent package for new ly-hired
O regon teachers, police and other
governm ent workers. The Republi­
can-backed bill passed on a party
line vote. It w ould reduce govern­
m ent payroll costs by low ering re­
tirem ent checks. Senate M ajority
L eader G ene D erfler says it w ould
correct w hat he called an “overly
generous system ". D em ocrats says it
will m ake recruiting m ore difficult.
Athlete Eating Disorders Studied
PO R TLA N D , O REG O N — A
Portland physician is leading a five-
year study designed to reduce eating
disorders and drug use am ong teen
Providence St. V incent, as w ell as
three physician assistants, and seven
students— m ore than any other P ort­
land hospital because o f the high-
level o f heart surgeries co n d u cted at
P rovidence St. V incent
“ It’s a very intense and special­
ized field,” says Martin. "T here aren ’t
a lot o f us, but w e play a critical role
in almost every open heart surgery.
It’s a very challenging career.”
Providence St. V incent is part o f
Providence H ealth S ystem , w hich
offers a co m p reh en siv e array o f
health and ed ucation services.
age fem ale athletes. D octor Linn
G oldberg says that fem ale athletes
are using diet pills, steroids, and laxa­
tives to achieve a thinner look w hile
trying to enhance their athletic abil­
ity. S he’s studying fem ale athletes
w ho participate in everything from
gym nastics to softball.
$20 Cash
for children & parents in a
health-related project
One child and one adult from your
family will receive $20 each for a 10-
minute confidential interview survey
atyourhome. Questions cover health
topics, including alcohol and drug
use. African American and White
children (9 ,1 1, or 13 years of age)
and one of their parents can take
part in this study.
For details, call (503) 731-3273
Oregon Research Institute
M
ultnomah
C ount » H ealth D epartment
:
« S i
Ï 5
’
Q uit tobacco
for good
- C all toll
1-877-270-STOP
S panish 1-877-2NO-FUME
TTY 1-877-777-6534
P aid for by the O regon H ealth D ivision
free