Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, August 18, 1999, Page 5, Image 5

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    August 18, 1999
(Tl^e ÿtartlanh (ßheeruer------------------ -—
Page A5
Divorce Gap Narrows Over Time
D o m in o s m a k e s
Adult Children of Divorced Parents M ore Likely Than Predecessors to Stay Married
s u rp ris e
0
T he A ssociated P ress
C H IC A G O - A dult children o f di­
vorced parents are less likely to dis­
solve their ow n m arriages than they
w ere tw o decades ago, researchers say.
W hile divorce has becom e m ore
accepted in A m erican society, the gap
in the divorce rates o f adults w ho w ere
raised in broken hom es and those from
intact fam ilies has also narrow ed, ac­
cording to a study presented during the
A m erican Sociological A ssociation’s
annual m eeting in C hicago this week.
T he research w as b a se d o n a N a­
tional O pinion R esearch C ou n cil su r­
vey o f 21,963 ad u lts th at sp an n ed
m o re than 20 years.
In 1973, ch ild ren o f d iv o rce w ere
n early th ree tim es m o re lik ely than
th eir co u n terp arts from intact fam i­
lies to d iv o rce, the stu d y said. B y
1996, that n u m b er w as d o w n to 50
p ercen t m o re likely.
Nicholas Wolfinger, a sociologist at
the University ofU tah w ho authored the
study, said the trend will probably con­
tinue into the next century as the children
o f recent divorces grow into adulthood.
‘ ’Thirty or 50 years ago divorce was
so rare, so unacceptable, that only the
w orst m arriages broke up,’ ’ W olfinger
said W ednesday. " O f course, the chil­
dren o f those marriages carried the ex­
periences o fgtow ing up in terrible fam­
ily circum stances with them into their
ow n marital relationships.
N ow , co u p les g en erally o p t for
d iv o rce b efo re th eir ch ild ren have to
w itn ess the d ev astatio n an d th ere­
fore have the o p p o rtu n ity to h av e
h ealth ier relatio n sh ip s, h e said.
A nother factor in the decline is that
few er adult children o f divorced p ar­
ents are getting m arried at all, the study
found. That is a turnaround from the
m id-70s, when the sam e group w as 36
percent m ore likely to get m arried than
children o f intact families.
W o lfin g er said d iv o rce still has
an effect on the n ext g e n e ra tio n ’s
relationships.
" I d o n 't think that the d iv o rce
rates for people from d iv o rced fam i­
lies and intact fam ilies w ill ev er b e the
sam e, ’ ’ he said. ‘ ’D ivorce w ill alw ays
be hard o n kids. It’s ju s t not n early as
hard o n them as it used to be. ”
Meal Income Guidelines Announced
T he O re g o n D e p a rtm e n t o f E d u ­
c atio n a n n o u n c e d th e p o lic y fo r free
and re d u c e d m eals fo r stu d e n ts in
sch o o ls p artic ip a tin g in th e N atio n al
S chool L unch B re a k fa st P ro g ram s.
F ree and re d u c e d -p ric e m eals are
av a ila b le fo r stu d e n ts u n d e r e lig i­
b ility re q u ire m e n ts d e te rm in e d by
h o u se h o ld size a n d in co m e. Q u a li­
fy in g stu d e n ts re c e iv e th e m eals
w ith o u t c h a rg e o r at a re d u c e d p rice
o f no m o re than 4 0 c e n ts for lunch
and 30 c e n ts fo r b re a k fa st. L ast
y ear a p p ro x im a te ly 4 4 p e rc e n t o f
the a p p ro x im a te ly 1 77,000 stu d en ts
eatin g sc h o o l lu n ch es d aily receiv ed
m eals free, w h ile ab o u t 11 p e rc e n t
p aid re d u c e d p rices. C h ild re n from
h o u se h o ld s w h o se in co m e is at o r
b elo w th e se lev els a re e lig ib le for
free o r re d u c e d m eals.
In A u g u st, A d u lt an d F am ily S er­
v ices w ill sen d a n o tic e /c e rtific a -
tio n le tte r to h o u se h o ld receiv in g
F ood S tam p s a n d /o r T e m p o ra ry A s­
sistan ce for N eed y F am ilies (T A N F )
b e n e fits a d v is in g S c h o o l Lunch./
B re a k fa s t M ilk P ro g ra m s .
The
sch o o l ca n accep t th is n o tic e /c e rti-
ficatio n le tte r from stu d e n ts in lieu
o f the a p p lic a tio n form . N o o th e r
a p p lic a tio n o r v e rific a tio n o f e lig i­
b ility is re q u ire d for th at stu d en t.
H o u s e h o ld s th a t r e c e iv e fre e o r
r e d u c e d - p ric e d b e n e fits m u s t r e ­
p o rt to th e s c h o o l w h e n th e ir in ­
co m e in c re a s e s m o re th a n
$50 p e r m o n th o r $ 6 0 0
p e r y e a r, w h e n th e r e a re
d e c re a s e s in h o u s e h o ld
s iz e , o r w h e n th e y n o
lo n g e r r e c e iv e F o o d
S ta m p s o r T A N F b e n -
Jefferson
Democrats:
Continued from Page A3
age, o th er than th eir fam i­
lies. O ne w ith o u t the o th er
at this p o in t can b e real
hard to m aintain. W ith o u t
a fam ily su p p o . tit g y o u it
can b e c o m e v ery h ard to
stay fo cu sed o n y o u r e d u ­
catio n a n d you can g et sid e­
track ed v ery easily. S o m e
students w ill ju s t quit ifth ey
feel th at th ey are d o in g e v ­
ery th in g o n th eir o w n , so
e v e ry o n e in th e fa m ily
n eeds to get in v o lv ed in
th e ir c h i l d ’s e d u c a tio n .
H us w ill m ake things easier
Meal Income Guidelines
For Reduced Meals
Household Size
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
For e a c h a d d itio n a l
Fam ily m e m b e r a d d
Annual
Month
Week
15,244
20,461
25,678
30,895
36,112
4 1 ,3 2 9
4 6 ,5 4 6
51,763
1,271
1,706
2 ,1 4 0
2,575
3 ,0 1 0
3,445
3 ,8 7 9
4 ,3 1 4
294
394
494
595
695
795
896
996
+ 5 ,2 1 7
+4 3 5
+ 101
Free Meals
Household Size
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
For e a c h a d d itio n a l
Fam ily m e m b e r
Annual
Month
Week
10,712
14,378
18,044
2 1 ,7 1 0
2 5 ,3 7 6
29,042
32,708
36,374
893
1,199
1,504
1,810
2,115
2,421
2 ,7 2 6
3,032
206
277
347
418
488
559
629
700
+ 3,6 6 6
+306
+71
e fits . I f a h o u s e h o ld m e m b e r b e ­
c o m e s u n e m p lo y e d o r i f th e h o u s e ­
h o ld siz e in c r e a s e s , th e h o u se h o ld
c a n c o n ta c t th e s c h o o l to se e i f it is
d e liv e ry t o “one
o f our m a n y ,”
c o m m u n ity ’s
u n s u n g h e ro e s .
Pictured (left to
right) Sean Foley,
Domino's Pizza,
Linda White, Exec.
Dir. Blazer's Boys &
Girls Club, Yvette
Davis, Volunteer,
Boys & Girls Club,
Jon Ferguson,
Dominos Pizza.
Prepare for Back-to-School
With a Dental Checkup
With less than a m onth left o f sum ­
m er vacation parents are preparing for
that all-important first day o f school.
R em em ber to add a visit to your family
dentist to the “T o D o" list o f school
preparations. "Just like physical exam,
dental checkups are a key part ofprepar-
mg children for going back to school
since teeth and gum s change during the
W onder Y ears," explained Dr. Connie
M asuoka, president o f the Multnomah
Dental Society. By the age o f six, a
child’s jaw s are grow ing to make room
forperm anent(adult)teeth. During the
next six years, the prim ary (baby) teeth
will be replaced with perm anent teeth.
With regular dental check-ups your den­
tist can m ake sure a prim ary tooth has
not been lost too early - before the
perm anent tooth is ready to appear. If
the tooth is lost too soon nearby teeth
can tip or m ove into the vacant spot, not
leaving room for the perm anent tooth to
grow properly. T o avoid this problem,
your dentist may recom m end using a
space m aintainer to reserve space for
the perm anent tooth. "Som e people
m ay think baby teeth are not important.
The fact is that these teeth help your
child to chew properly, speak clearly
and they guide the perm anent teeth into
thecorrectposition,” statedDr. Masuoka
besides monitoring the developm ent o f
your child’s teeth, the dental checkup
allows the dentist to exam your child’s
gums. A ccording to the A cadem y to the
A cadem y o f Penodontology, gum dis­
ease is becom ing m ore o f an issue for
children during their formative years.
N inety-seven percent o f school-aged
children now experience som e degree
o f gingivitis, the early stage o f gum
disease characterized by swollen, bleed­
ing gums. C hildhood gum disease is
preventable with daily brushing, floss­
ing and regular visits to the d en tist
Parents should chec k their child ’ s tooth­
brush for blood and report any they see
tothedentist. Ifleft untreated, gingivitis
can progress to a more senous form o f
juvenile gum disease that can cause
bone loss under the teeth or extrem e
pain and heavy bleeding. A visit to your
dentist will set your child o ff on the right
foot for the com ing school year. It is
also also a lesson m good finances
because regular dental visits translate
mto early detection and less expensive,
cost-effective treatment. Delayed ex­
am s and treatment can result in dental
disease that can do m ore dam age be
m ore costly in the long run.
e lig ib le fo r b e n e f its .
In so m e
c a s e s , fo s te r c h ild re n a re e lig ib le
fo r m e a l b e n e fits re g a r d le s s o f
h o u s e h o ld in co m e.
S ummer E vents
F latlands
T h u rs d a y , J u l y 15
T h eresa D em erest & G ood C om p an y
T h u rs d a y , J u l y 2 2
S o n gw riters in the R ound w ith C ra ig C aroth ers
S u n d a y , J u l y 2 5 a t 7 :3 0 p m • $ 7 .0 0 a d m is s io n
T h e J a ck M cM ah on B and
T h u rs d a y , J u l y 2 9
T h e J essie Sam sel B and
T h u rsd a y , A u g u st 5 a t 7pm
R etta & the Sm art F ellas
T h u r s d a y , A u g u s t 12
U N C F F u n d raiser w ith Tom G rant
T u e sd a y , A u g u s t 17
I& I
for ev ery o n e.
L e t’s m a k e Je ffe rs o n
H igh S ch o o l a place w h ere
students w ill w ant to co m e
fo r years to com e. “ L e t’s
ch an g e the critics th o u g h ts
and the v iew ers o p in io n s,"
says Jesse M cC oun.
W h a t a tu rn a ro u n d it
w ould be i f the m edia w ould
j u s t f o r o n c e s e e th e
p ro g ress th e school is m a k ­
ing and th e stu d en ts th at
are w illin g to give 110%
ev eryday to m ake a ch an g e
Portland's New Hit Music Station
McMenamins Kennedy School
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