Page A 6
M a y 26, 1999
ïfyv purttani* (fìbeeruer
Final Opportunity
for Oregon Teens
to Apply for Miss
Teen All American
National Title
Pagent Officals have set June 11Ih as
the final deadline for entry into the 2151
Annual Miss Teen All American Pagent
and uige all young women in the State to
apply to take part in the excitement and
glamour leading to the National Title.
According to Mane Sweeney, President,
"This is the premiere Pagent for teenag­
ers in Amenca and has the greatest num-
berof formercontestants in the modeling
and enteitan mien t industnes today ' ' ’ The
MISS TEEN ALL .AMERICAN Pagent
will be staged Thursday, August 5* thru
Sunday. August 8*. 1999 at the Miami
Airport Hilton & Marina in world-fa­
mous Miami, Florida.
There is no talent competition and
no experience necessary. Contestants
are ju d g e d in th ree ca te g o rie s:
Swimwear, Evening Gown and Per­
sonal Interview. To qualify , a young
w oman must be age 13 thru 19 as o f
August l sl, 1999; never married and a
resident o f the U.S., its possessions or
Canada. To apply, young w omen
Grades 7 through 9
A com m on stereotype holds that
teenagers are rebellious, are ruled by
peer pressure, and court danger even
to the point o f self-destructiveness.
A lthough teens do often seem unre-
cep tiv e to th eir p aren ts as they
struggle to becom e independent,
teens need parental support, involve­
m ent, and guidance m ore than ever.
Y oung teens can experience extreme
and rapid shifts in their bodies, emotional
lives, and relationships. Adolescence is
oftena confusing and stressful time, char­
acterized by mood changes and deep
insecurity, as teens struggle to figure out
who they are and how to fit in while
establishing their own identities. It’s not
surprising that this is the time w hen many
young people try alcohol, tobacco, and
other drugs for the first time.
Parents may not realize that their
must send a recent photo, name, ad­
dress, telepohone number, date ofbirth
and a short bio by FA X or MAIL to:
DEPT. D - MISS TEEN ALL
AMERICAN
603 Schrader A venue
W heeling, W V 26003-9619
FAX: 1-304-242-8341 - Phone:
1 - 3 0 4 -2 4 2 - 4 9 0 0
-
e -m a il:
teenallam @ aol.com
M ISS TEEN A LL AM ERICAN
1999 will receive a fabulous array o f
prizes including $5,000 CA SH, a
Personal A ppearance Contact, Jew ­
elry, Luggage, a fur Coat, a $500
Shoe W ardrobe, Travel O pportuni­
ties and m uch more!
Mrs. Sweeney stated, "A LL C on­
testants at the M ISS TEEN ALL
A M ERICA N Pagent will be inter­
view ed by representatives from the
T V /F ilm in d u stry and M odeling
A gency P ersonnel... people who can
help these young w om en with their
careers, w hether they win or not!"
young teens feel surrounded by drug
use. N early nine out o f ten teens
agree that "it seems like m arijuana is
every w here these days.” Teens are
tw ice as likely to be using m arijuana
as parents believe they are, and teens
are getting high in the places that
parents think are safe havens, such as
aro u n d school, at hom e, and at
friends’ houses.
Although teens may not show they
ap preciate it, parents profoundly
shape the choices their children make
about drugs. Take advantage o f how
much young people care about social
im age and appearance to point out
the im m ediate, distasteful conse­
quences o f tobacco and m arijuana
use — for exam ple, that smoking
causes bad breath and stained teeth
and m akes clothes and hair smell.
THt STANDARD DAIRY BUILDING
L O O K I N G F O R A F E W G O O D BUSINESSES!
A re You:
Serving an urban lifestyle?
Creating a sense o f community?
Developing close allegiances?
Be part of an "Urban Village"
Help create this exciting cooperative
center for urban living
Alita Dawson
Miss Teen All American 1998
S U P P O R T IN G D IV E R S IT Y & C O O P E R A T IO N
Parents Can Help Reduce Underage Drinking
_ .
G i est O pinion B> G ary W eeks
D irk ioh of the THUOT Ml VI
(»
Hi man R emr Mt »
n our w ork at the D epartm ent o t
H um an Resources to help O r
egonians achieve independence
an d se lf-su fficie n cy , alco h o l and
o th e r drug abuse is a p roblem w e
se e e v e ry d a y . A m o n g y o u n g
p eo p le, by far the b ig g e st p roblem
is alco h o l abuse.
W e e stim a te that 50 percen t o f
th e 18,000 fam ilies receiv in g p u b ­
lic a ssista n ce from the D H R A dult
and F am ily S ervices D ivision have
a lco h o l o r d ru g problem s. A nd in
ca se s w here ch ild ren are rem oved
from th e ir hom es b ecause o f abuse
o r n eg lec t, m o re than 62 p erc en t
o f th e p are n ts in the hom es have
su b sta n c e -a b u se problem s.
D H R case w o rk ers know' th e ir
c lie n ts ’ p ro b lem s d o n ’t ju s t ap ­
p e a r su d d e n ly in adulthood. T hey
sta rt w hen p eo p le are young, p a r­
tic u la rly in th e teen years.
F or ex a m p le , kids w ho drink
try alco h o l for the first tim e at an
a v e ra g e age o f ab o u t 12. A nd kids
w h o sta rt d rin k in g b efo re age 15
d ra m a tic a lly in c re ase th e ir risk o f
b ec o m in g a lc o h o lic s as adults.
In O re g o n , o n e in fo u r e ig h th -
g ra d e rs has u se d a lc o h o l in th e
p a s t m o n th , an d am o n g I T" g ra d ­
e rs th e ra te is m o re th a n 4 0 p e r ­
c e n t. A t c o lle g e s , b in g e d rin k in g
b y stu d e n ts is at e p id e m ic le v e ls
- m o re th a n 6 0 p e rc e n t o f m a le
c o lle g e a th le te s a d m it th ey b in g e
d rin k .
I
Binge drinking - having more than
five drinks in a sitting - is one o f the
m ost dangerous drinking activities
because it can easily result in quick
death from alcohol poisoning.
A lco h o l is the n u m b er-o n e su b ­
s ta n c e - a b u s e p r o b le m a m o n g
youths. I t’s ch eap and easy to get,
an d kids d rin k to have fun, reliev e
stress and bo red o m , o r to esca p e
from p erso n al problem s.
In D H R , w e cam p aig n v ig o r­
o u sly to p re v e n t kids from u sing
a lco h o l, and w e su p p o rt pro g ram s
that p ro v id e trea tm e n t to kids and
a d u lts w ho n eed h elp w ith d e p e n ­
d en c y prob lem s.
T he O ffic e o f A lcohol and D rug
A buse P ro g ram s is D H R ’s lead
p ro g ram on su b stan ce problem s.
A m ong other th in g s, O A D A P co n ­
trac ts w ith local g o v ern m e n ts and
o th e r en titie s to p ro v id e p re v e n ­
tio n an d tre a tm e n t se rv ic es, and
d istrib u te s g ran ts to lo cal co m m u ­
n ities and N ativ e A m erican trib e s
to o p e ra te th e ir ow n program s.
T he A d u lt an d F am ily S erv ices
. .
,
D iv isio n and O ffic e for S erv ices
to C hildren and F am ilies w ork hard
to help fam ilies w ith alco h o l p ro b ­
lem s by referrin g them to p laces
th at p ro v id e treatm en t.
A sp ecial task g ro u p ap p o in ted
by G ov. John K itz h ab e r rec en tly
stu d ied the p ro b lem o f u n d erag e
d rin k in g an d m ade sev eral re c o m ­
m en d atio n s for so lu tio n s. M ost o f
the reco m m en d a tio n s rely h eav ily
on local in v o lv em en t and actio n .
G o v ern m e n t can do o n ly so
m uch, esp ec ially in areas su ch as
p re v e n tin g y o u n g p e o p le fro m
sta rtin g to use alco h o l.
R esearch an d ex p e rien c e show
that p aren ts are th e first line o f
d efe n se in any e ffo rt to ch an g e
b eh a v io r by y o u n g p eo p le. P ar­
___ «¿»A
en ts are
in th e best p o sitio n to see
sig n s o f p ro b lem s first, an d they
h av e the m ost in flu e n ce o v e r th eir
k id s, ev en i f so m etim es it d o e s n ’t
seem lik e they do.
P aren ts can do se v eral things.
F irst o f all, p aren ts sh o u ld never
fu rn ish alco h o l to th e ir ch ild ren .
S om e p aren ts b eliev e the kids "are
g o in g to d rin k a n y w a y ," so i t ’s
b e tte r to let them d rin k at hom e.
F u rn ish in g alco h o l to k id s is not
o n ly illeg al, b u t it also sen d s a
d an g e ro u sly w ro n g m essag e that
d rin k in g is O K .
In addition to not allow ing kids to
drink at home, parents w ho use alco­
hol should be good role m odels by
drinking responsibly, such as with
m eals, and not drinking excessively.
T
a l l i in
n n g t to
n L
ir U s a ab
h n o n u t t d
r i n k k i in
i g
T alk
k id
d rin
w h ile d riv in g an d o th e r d an g e rs o f
alco h o l use is v ery im p o rtan t. I t’s
not alw ay s ea sy to ta lk to k ids,
esp ecially te en -ag e rs, b ut the m es­
sag es w ill g et th ro u g h .
Parents should alw ays w atch for
sig n s o f alco h o l u se. su ch as a
sudden chan g in g b eh a v io r o r a te n ­
d ency to be w ith d raw n . A n d know
w here y o u r kids are g o in g an d w ho
th e ir frien d s are.
P lease talk to y o u r k ids. T he
O regon Prevention R esource Center
in Salem has helpful inform ation on
how to talk to kids about alcohol.
Just call 1-800-822-6772.
G ary W eeks is d ire c to r o f the
O reg o n D ep artm en t o f H um an R e­
sources.
NOW
L E A S IN G
NE M LK JR. BLVD.
at
STANTON
Retail commercial spaces, artist co-ops, live/work spaces
available through leasing agent
For additional information contact
PHYLISS GAINES (503)249-1952
All units have direct access to internet
w c r.c o .c o m or w w w .s td a iry .c o m
THt
C IT Y
AT Y O U R
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SAVE up to $1.00 lb.
I
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Lim it 1.
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We re open
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Red Flames or Perlettes.
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