June 16,1999
Page A4
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Opinion Article
S enator J ohn I. im
The recent, w ell-publicized acts o f
violence in our schools in places like
Littleton and Springfield have caused
m any parents to be concerned about
thesafetyoftheirchildren. There is no
quick fix solution, but I do believe
that there are som e com monsense
things parents, schools, and school
districts can do to cut down on vio
lence and bring order back to our
classrooms. O ne o f those things is to
provide local school districts with the
option to use school uniforms.
The use o f school uniforms to bring
order, discipline, and promote an atmo
sphere ofleaming in classrooms is not a
new idea. Most o f the industrialized
nations use school uniforms recently
have had enormous success in public
schools in states across the nation.
In Long Beach, California, the third
largest school district in California with
58,500 elementary and middle school
students, the school district has had a
phenomenal decrease in acts o f vio
lence and property theft since their imple
mentation o f a district-wide school uni
form policy. In a one-year period after
implementing the policy in 1994, over
all school crime in Long Beach de
creased 36 percent, fights decreased 51
percent, sex offenses decreased 74 per
cent, weapons offenses decreased 50
p ercent assault and battery offenses
decreased 34 percent, and vandalism
decreased 18 percent
Since that tim e, school crim e has
decreased another 5 5 percent in Long
Beach and the atm osphere for learn
ing has improved. As Long Beach
P o lice C h ie f W illiam E llis said,
“Schools have few er reasons to call
die police. T h ere’s less conflict be
tw een students. Students concentrate
m ore on education, noton w ho’s wear
ing the $100 shoes o r gang attire.’’
The success that Long beach has
had is not uncommon and support o f
school uniforms is broad. In a recent
poll o f elementary school principals,
7 5 percent said that uniforms influence
classroom behavior, 80 percent said
uniforms make students safer, 81 per
cent said uniforms reduce negative peer
pressure, 76 percent said uniforms in
crease parent participation, 52 percent
said uniforms improve school spirit,
and 86 percent said uniforms improve
the image o f the school.
I believe that a safe and disciplined
learning environment is the first re
quirement o f a good school. School
uniforms would improve safety, pre
vent gang members from wearing gang
colors, prom ote discipline, reduce
negative peer pressure, improve stu
dents’ concentration on school woik,
help school officials identify intruders
on school grounds, and in most cases,
reduce the cost o f school wardrobes.
A lthough I d o n ’t believe that
school uniform s are a “cure all” for
school violence, I do believe that
they are an im portant tool in the
hands o f parents and school boards
to keep children safe and improve
academ ic perform ance. I have spon
sored SB 751, the School Uniform
Bill, w hich ju st recently passed the
House. N ow that SB 751 has passed,
I am optimistic that individual schools
and school districts will look closely
at the possibility o f having a school
uniform policy in their school. I f just
one tragedy is prevented such as the
one that happened in Springfield,
then the im plem entation o f school
uniform s will have been worth it.
Flag Day Came Without Our
Right To Protect “Old Glory”
B y B it c h M iller
June 14 w as Flag Day, It’s The
day our nation sets aside to pay spe
cial honor to the A m erican flag and
its role in our co untry’s history.
I have been fortunate to travel ex
tensively in the past nine months. My
travels have taken m e across our na
tion and to several foreign lands. No
matter where 1 find myself, I can look
out o f a window and som ew here in my
field o f view will be an A m erican flag.
That makes me proud and always
brings me a sense o f w ell being.
Tw o w eeks ago I w as in India
napolis for the dedication o f the only
m em orial in our nation to recipients
o f the M edal o f Honor. D uring the
im pressive cerem ony, the backdrop
was a panoram a o f A m erican flags
held proudly by veterans. Scouts,
m em bers o f the m ilitary and other
patriotic organizations. D uring the
o f their constituents, but they d o n ’t,
th a t’s the real tragedy.
R em em ber the grade school les
sons reinforced by the num ber o f
stars and stripes. R em em ber the story
o f Francis Scott Key and the w riting
o f"T h e Star-Spangled B anner.” Re
call the scene o f “O ld G lory” being
raised on M ount Surabachi. A nd take
pride in the lump in your throat that
com es w ith the realization that our
A m erican flag is m uch m ore than a
sym bol or a piece o f cloth.
This Flag Day has past but w e can
still call our senators and urge them
to do the right thing and vote for a
constitutional am endm ent to return
to us the right to protect our flag. I
d o n ’t believe th at’s too m uch to ask
o f every citizens.
Butch M iller is the National C om
m ander o fT h e A m erican Legion, the
n atio n ’s largest w artim e veterans
organization.
Guest Opinion
It’s Worth A Shot
B y D r . G rant H igginson , M D , M P H ,
S tate H ealth O fficer
tor of the
and
D efvty A dministra
O regon H ealth D ivision
An im portant new senior health
education cam paign for senior citi
zens is being rolled out in Oregon,
and it can save lives.
O ver the recent decades, w e have
seen monum ental progress m ade to
w ard elim in atin g and preventing
deadly diseases. For example, sm all
pox has been eradicated from the
planet, polio has been w iped out ofthe
W estern H em isphere, and measles
transm ission now occurs very rarely.
These successes can all be traced to
the development o f effective vaccines.
M ost o f our efforts in recent d e
cades to reduce vaccine-preventable
diseases has focused on protecting
o u rch ild ren through im m unization.
M any o f us forget that adults, too,
are at risk o f dying from infectious
diseases that can be prevented. Pneu
m ococcal disease is one o f these,
and it kills 4 0,000 A m ericans every
year. Y et there is a safe, effective
and inexpensive vaccine that w '1
prevent these deaths. T he real trag
ed y is that right here in O regon,
even though M edicare pays for the
vaccine, about 46% o f our senior
citizens rem ain unvaccinated.
Because o f this, a new statewide
effort aim ed at educating consum ers
about pneum ococcal disease is un
derway. “ It’s W orth a Shot!” is the
name o f the cam paign and it was
launched on M ay 25, Senior Health
and Fitness Day. “ It’s W orth a shot”
Letter To The Editor
It has com e to o u r attention that
m em bers o f our com m unity are b e
ing so licited outside retail stores to
support “M eals On W h eels”, W e’re
afraid that m any w ill assum e their
m oney w ill go to support the w ork
o f local M eals-O n-W heels program
associated w ith Loaves and Fishes.
It w ill not.
The group collecting in the name
o f “M eals O n W heels” is a church
group from California and is not as
sociated w ith us in any way.
A t L o av e s an d F ish e s , w e rely
on the w o rk o f n ea rly 7 0 0 0 v o lu n
te ers, in d iv id u a ls an d c o m p an ie s
alik e to a c c o m p lish o u r w o rk o f
p ro v id in g h o t m eals an d c o m p a n
io n sh ip to alm o st 4 0 0 0 se n io rs
daily.
Please b e aw are th at w e are not
objecting to the c h u rc h 's charitable
w ork, o nly the co n fu sin g use o f our
nam e. W e do, from tim e to tim e,
solicit co n trib u tio n s by a m ail cam
paign on o u r o fficial letterh ead
bearing o u r logo. In ad d itio n , we
o ccasio n ally request d onations by
placing co in can isters in local b u si
nesses. H ow ever, w e n ev er solicit
o utside o f stores.
I f anyone has questions, please
call L oaves and F ishes at 736-6325.
Letter to the Editor
T he B ranch & W oods fam ily
w ould like to thank the com munity
for their prayers, cards, food, flow
ers, and other acts ofkindness during
through a constitutional am endment.
T oday, a decade later, w e are still
fighting to regain the peo p le’s right
to protect the A m erican flag. Polling
over the decade has rem ained con
stant: nearly 80 percent o f A m eri
cans favor an am endment. Forty-nine
state legislatures have passed resolu
tions petitioning C ongress to pass
the am endm ent and send it to the
states for ratification.
W hy then are w e still fighting for
this right? W hy has the H ouse twice
overw helm ingly passed the am end
m ent only to have it defeated by a
few votes in the U.S. Senate? W hy
do som e Senators continue to pro
pose a statute w hen they know it
w o n ’t w ork?
T he answ er seem s sim ple to me:
W e the People are not holding our
elected officials accountable for their
actions. W e believe w e elect our
law m akers to represent the m ajority
dedication cerem ony, the president
o f the Medal o f H onor Society, Paul
Bucha, told a crow d o f thousands
that the A m erican flag was m uch
more than a m ere piece o f cloth. Our
flag is the hope o f the w orld and the
solem n cover that drapes the caskets
o f the nation’s fallen heroes.
I find it ironic that for 10 consecu
tive Flag Days the A m erican people
have joined together to celebrate the
lessons o f “O ld G lory” w hile sim ul
taneously toiling to return to us the
right to protect the A m erican flag
from physical desecration. That pro
tection was stolen from us by a 1989
Supreme C ourt decision.
The A m erican people, Congress
and the President quickly reacted to
that decision and passed a law - a
sim ple statute - to protect the A m eri
can flag. The sim ple statute would
not work and the only w ay to return
protection to the A m erican flag was
encourages the elderly and those with
chronic illnesses to get vaccinated.
E d u catio n al m essag es are b eing
spread across O regon through distri
bution ofposters, brochures and other
materials to physicians, other health
care providers health departm ents,
senior centers, and nursing homes.
The cam paign w ants seniors to
know six im portant things:
• pneum ococcal disease can be life-
threatening,
• there is a safe and effective vaccine,
• it can be given at any time ofthe year,
• the vaccine is usually a once-in-a-
lifetim e shot,
• the vaccine is covered 100% under
M edicare part B, and
• if in doubt about whether you’ve re-
cian s an d p u b lic h ealth o fficials
stro n g ly reco m m en d the vaccine
for ad u lts ag ed 65 o r o ld er, an d for
all 2- to 6 4 -y ear-o ld s w ho have a
ch ro n ic illness.
If you are 65 or older, celebrate
Senior H ealth and Fitness by con
tacting your doctor or health care
provider to find out if you should be
vaccinated with the pneum ococcal
vaccine. I f y o u 're not yet 65 but
know a senior O regonian, please
share this inform ation w ith them.
T o find o ut m o re a b o u t the “ I t ’s
W o rth a S h o t” c a m p a ig n , o r p n e u
m o co ccal d isease and v accin atio n ,
c o n t a c t th e O r e g o n H e a lth
D iv isio n ’s im m u n izatio n P rogram
at 5 0 3 -7 3 1 -4 0 2 0 .
t
T R I - M ET NEW S
Tri-Met Offers Youth Summertime Bargain
Youth can again enjoy unlimited travel at a bargain price this
summertime on Tri-Met. “The Pass,” which goes on sale
Thursday, May 20, also offers discounts at local merchants.
With “The Pass,” youth 18 and under can ride Tri-Met’s
buses and MAX light rail trains all June, July and August for
just $43. That’s half the regular price of three monthly
youth passes. The special pass is available at
participating schools, and Tri-Met sales outlets including
Fred Meyer, Safeway and most Albertson’s stores in the
Portland metropolitan area.
Pass holders qualify for these special discounts:
McDonald’s: Free dessert with purchase of an Extra Value
Meal. Offer excludes McFlurry dessert.
Ice Chalet at Lloyd Center & Clackamas Town Center: $1
off general admission.
OMSI: $1 off general admission.
North Clackamas Aquatic Park: $1 off general admission.
“We’re really pleased to bring back this affordable way of
helping youth meet their summertime travel needs,” said
Fred Hansen, Tri-Met General Manager. “We expect The
Pass to continue to be a big hit.”
More information about The Pass and Tri-Met is available
by calling 238-RIDE.
TRI-MET
238-RIDE
How
our tim e o f G rievem ent in the loss o f
Byron Branch Sr. “ D irty B”. May
God forever bless you.
The Branch & W oods Family
ceived it, get vaccinated and document it
Each year in the U nited States,
pneum ococcal disease accounts for
an estim ated 3,000 cases o f m eningi
tis (infection o f the lining around the
brain and spinal cord), 50,000 cases
o f bacterem ia (bloodstream infec
tion), and 500,000 cases o f pneum o
nia. A ny o f these can be lethal.
A n ou n ce o f p rev e n tio n is w orth
a p o u n d o f cure. T his is esp ecially
true w hen w e co n sid er the fact that
b ac te ria , in clu d in g the on e that
cau ses p n eu m o co ccal d isease, are
b eco m in g in creasin g ly resistan t to
an tib io tics. V accin atio n is on e o f
the b est w eapons w e have in our
arsen al against fig h tin g com m uni-
cab le diseases. T hat is w hy p h y si-
we
get
th e re
m a tte rs .
TTY 238-5811 • www.tri-met.org