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Committed to cultural diversity, http://www.portlandobserver.net
Volume XXIX, Number 34
SEPTEMBER I, 1909
(Tin' ^ a r tla n h (JÍTttserüer
■■■nHHHWHni
ZfT o nt m u n ito
LLUt I e n b a r
Back II School Jam
The NAACP Youth Council and Youth
& Arts A chievem ent Program presents the
Back 11 School Jam. This is for the high
school and college crowd. The event will
I be D J’d by M ark Mack from Jam m in 95.5
| and will be held at the Alberta St. Station,
1829 NE Alberta St. on Friday, September
10lh from 8PM until Midnight. Price is $7.
Pre-purchase o f tickets will be at Armoni s
and Galore Paging. It’s gonna be o ff the j
hook!
Interstate Max Forum
There will be a two-day interactive mini-
| conference on Friday, Septem ber 24 from |
6:30PM to 9PM and on Saturday, Septem­
ber 25, from 9AM to noon at the Ockley
| Green M iddle School, 6031 N. M ontana I
(Tn-M et bus 5). The conference will cover |
the same topics as C om m unity Forum 1
but with updated information. The forum
will conclude with a wrap-up session to tie
together ideas and suggestions from the
two forums. Free childcare available.
The Disco Ball
Once again it’s tim e to shake your booty,
flash the polyester and stom p those plat­
form sh o e s! Jo in th e L o tu s an d
j Z 1 OOSundav, Septem ber 5,h for the biggest
O utdoor disco party under the stars! The
entire parking lot behind the Lotus is trans­
formed into a giant disco tech. Equipped
with three full bars and Bar BQ food. "Satin
Live O rchestra" will be performing live.
The party starts in high gear at 9 PM, band
starts at 10:30 PM.
Oregon Stamp Show
A Show for Postage Stamp Collectors |
will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sun-
day, Septem ber 17-18 & 19atM .G .M aison
j Armory. 6700 SW O ak Street, Tigard, O r­
egon 97223. This three-day show features
leading W est Coast stamp dealers and their
extensive, collectible postage stamp in­
ventories. Rare postage stamps and postal
history o f the United States and foreign
| countries will be displayed. For further
information, call Steve Crippe at 425/487-
2789.
Off-Leash Areas
Former Jefferson Dancer Takes
‘Center Stage’ As Program’s New
Artistic Director
P O R T L A N D , O R , A u g u s t 2 3 , 1999
— D a n c in g b a r e f o o t a n d m o v in g to a
fresh n e w b e a t, S te v e G o n z a le s is p o ise d
to b r in g in n o v a tio n a n d e x c ite m e n t to
th e J e f f e r s o n D a n c e r s , J e f f e r s o n H ig h
S c h o o l's c e le b r a te d d a n c e c o m p a n y .
J e f f e r s o n ’s n e w a r t i s t i c d i r e c to r
k n o w s h o w to c a p tu r e y o u th f u l e n e rg y
a n d p u t it c e n te r s ta g e . H e ’s d o n e it
b e f o r e — 15 y e a r s a g o , as a s tu d e n t —
w h e n h e w a s a J e f f e r s o n D a n c e r.
T h e N e w Y o rk U n iv e r s ity g r a d u a te ,
w h o b e g in s w o rk in g w ith J e ffe rs o n s tu ­
d e n ts w h e n s c h o o l o p e n s th is y e a r , h a s
w o rk e d as a p r o f e s s io n a l d a n c e r an d
c h o r e o g r a p h e r fo r th e p a s t fiv e y e a rs .
A s a d a n c e r f o r M O M IX , an in te r n a ­
tio n a l d a n c e c o m p a n y b a s e d in N e w
Y o rk , h e h a s p e r f o r m e d a r o u n d th e
w o rld . H e a lso h a s e x p e r ie n c e te a c h in g
m a s te r d a n c e c la s s e s to s tu d e n ts o f all
ages.
T h e o p p o r tu n ity to r e jo in th e c o m ­
p a n y w h e re h e to o k h is First d a n c e ste p s
p r o v e d ir r e s is t ib le to G o n z a le s .
"T h e Je ffe rso n D an c ers m ad e such
an im p a c t o n m y lif e , ’ s a y s th is y o u n g ­
e s t o f n in e c h ild r e n , w h o w a s th e firs t
in h is f a m ily to g r a d u a te fro m h ig h
s c h o o l. “ D a n c in g in th e c o m p a n y g a v e
m e s e lf - e s te e m a n d h e lp e d m e o v e r ­
c o m e s o m e o f th e o b s ta c le s 1 h a d to
fa c e .”
P o r tla n d P u b lic S c h o o ls S u p t. B e n
C a n a d a sa y s th a t, “ T h e h irin g o f a p ro v en
p ro fe s s io n a l lik e S te v e G o n z a le s sh o w s
th is d i s t r i c t ’s o n g o in g c o m m itm e n t to
th e J e f f e r s o n D a n c e r s , a n d to a ll o f th e
a r ts p r o g r a m s in o u r
s c h o o ls . I ’m a firm b e ­
lie v e r in th e p o w e r o f
th e a r ts to s ti r c h i ld r e n ’s
im a g in a tio n s , b u ild th e ir
c o n f i d e n c e , a n d h e lp
th e m d e v e lo p th e s k ills
th e y n e e d to m a k e th e ir
d r e a m s a r e a lity . S te v e
is a p e r f e c t e x a m p le o f
h o w th o s e d r e a m s c a n
c o m e t r u e .”
T he Je ffe rso n D a n c ­
e rs h a v e e a r n e d n a tio n a l
r e c o g n itio n f o r a r tis tic
in n o v a tio n a n d p r o f e s ­
s io n a lis m s in c e th e p r o ­
g ram b e g a n 25 y ea rs ago.
G o n z a l e s h o p e s to
“ b o o s t th e p e r f o r m a n c e
le v e l u p a n o tc h , d r a w ­
in g o n th e s tr e n g t h s o f
o u r s tu d e n ts to d e v e lo p
an e v e n b e t te r p r o d u c t,”
h e sa y s.
“ C o m in g fro m N e w
Y ork City, w here hundreds
o f d a n c e c o m p a n ie s c o ­
ex ist, 1 k n o w that the m o re
d a n c e c o m p a n ie s th e re
are, th e b e tte r,” G o n z a le s
says. H e p la n s to in c o rp o ­
ra te id e as fro m h is p ro ­
fessio n al c a re e r - p ro p s,
in n o v a tiv e lig h tin g , "lo ts
m o re to lo o k a t” - in u p ­
c o m in g p ro d u c tio n s to r
th e Je ffe rso n D an cers.
National Summit of Mental Health
Consumers and Survivors
Portland Parks & Recreation will be |
holding a public hearing on Off-Leash ar­
eas in Portland’s Parks. The public hear-
| ings are to get input from members o f the |
com m unity on this issue. The next two
I meetings will be on W ednesday, Septem-
| ber 15,6:30- 8:30PM at the Portland Build­
ing, Room C and Saturday, September 18,
9AM - N oon at W arner Pacific College,
Egtvedt Room. F or m ore inform ation,
I please call 823-5457.
Legs for Life
Portland V ancouver-area healthcare sys-
:ems w ill conduct free screenings for
people who are suffering leg pain to deter­
mine if they are at risk for a com mon
condition known as Peripheral Vascular
Disease (PVD). The screenings are set for
Septem ber 14 to 25. A nyone suffering
from leg pain or other PVD symptoms is
invited to attend a free screening at a site
convenient to them. For further information
about making a screening appointment (re­
quired) and about individual site dates, times and
addresses, call 503/833-3727.
Conflict Resolution &
Violence Prevention
Oregon Peace Institute will offer a work­
shop on "The Use o f Art in Conflict Resolution
and Violence Prevention " Facilitated by Rebecca
Singer, the Executive Director of Artrageous.
on Thursday, September 23, 1999 troni 6 :3 0 -
9 PM at the First United Methodist Church in
Room 160. 1838 SW Jefferson Street, Port­
land. Please register by calling OPI: 503/725-
8292. A $10 donation would be appreciated
s t E M IS S IO N S : ( (im m iin itv
< a liiiiL n in tu ì in a lim i " i l l be given
p rim ilv il d a in i tw o weeks
before the event date.
Bv Y ema M easho
F orm ing a united national voice w as the
point o f d iscu ssio n at last w eek ’s four day
long N ational S um m it o f M ental H ealth
C onsum ers and S urvivors held in P o rt­
land. F unded by several state and county
governm ents, the sum m it accom m odated
over 4 5 0 consum ers and survivors that
cam e acro ss the nation to talk about how
they can com e to g eth er to influence m en ­
tal health p o licies b oth in their local co m ­
m unities an d the national level.
O rg an izers believ e the sum m it w ill give
them the opportunity to develop action
plans for issues that can becom e the basis
for the n atio n al p latfo rm o f co llectiv e
voice o f consum ers and survivors.
"T h e sum m it w as d evised as an o p p o rtu ­
nity for a big b rain sto rm in g session to
bring the best m inds to g eth er for four
intense, creative days and focus them on
the issues affecting the consum er su rv i­
vor m o v em en t,” said Joseph A. R ogers,
execu tiv e d irecto r o f the N ational M ental
H ealth C o n su m ers’ S elf-H elp C learin g ­
house. “ W e w ant the sum m it to be the
k ic k -o ff o f a sig n ifican t dialogue that c o n ­
sum ers can continue at various national
m e e tin g s.”
In a jo in t effort w ith the clearinghouse,
O re g o n ’s O ffice o f C on su m er T echnical
A ssistan ce (O C T A ), a consum er-run o r­
ganization p roviding technical assistan ce
to co n su m ers an d p ro v id ers o f m ental
health services statew ide, cam paigned to
bring the sum m it to O regon.
In o rd er to dev elo p a system w hich is
m ore resp o n siv e, m ore hum ane and u lti­
m ately m ore econ o m ically efficient, says
K e v in F itts , d ir e c to r o f O C T A , th e
c o n su m e r's voice should be the guiding
light to b ring about changes in the system
“ In m any o th er areas o f com m erce, the
pro d u cers o f the product o r serv ice go to
great lengths to investigate w hat it is cus­
tom ers w ant and sell that to th em ." said
Fitts. “ H ow ever, w ith public h ealth care in
A m erica, it has been w hat you get is what
they serve you and that should change. The
people, the u sers, the consum ers and the
recip ien t o f that serv ice should be able to
direct that ch an g e."
T he C learin g h o u se dev eloped 12 m ajor
planks ad d ressin g issues ranging form ad­
vocacy to o rg an izin g and financing, force
and co ercio n treatm ents to alternatives
and trad itio n al m ental health services, to
m u lticu ltu ral issues and com m unity sup­
port.
For m any atten d ees, the national sum ­
m it w as an o p p o rtu n ity to voice th eir co n ­
cern ab o u t w hat has been d one to accom ­
m odate th eir needs in their com m unities.
" M in o ritie s a re v ery p o o rly re p re ­
sented." said L illian Roberts o f V ancouver.
W ashington. “ I f w e want service, it is like
p u llin g te e th .”
A N ativ e A m erican and m ental health
co n su m er h erself. Roberts attended the
m u lticu ltu ral issue plank and participated
in d raftin g the action plan for the cultural
d iv ersity p lank
"D u rin g o u r discussion, som e issues
have been bro u g h t to the ta b le th at n o ­
b o d y has sp o k e n o f b efo re," said R o b ­
e r ts .
S om e h av e co m p ared the m en tal health
co n su m e rs an d su rv iv o rs m o v e m en t to
th e c iv il rig h ts m o v em en t and the gay
an d le sb ia n m o v em en t
“ T h is is a c iv il rig h ts m o v e m en t to
talk ab o u t how w e can take o u r liv es and
ta k e b ack o u r h ea lth c a re ." sa id Fitts.
“ T h is is a stru g g le sim ila r to the civ il
rig h ts m o v e m en t w here m e n tal h ealth
Joseph A. Hogers or uiearin^iuusc w
--------- - >------- ;
(right) were part of the Portland summit mental health to create a national
platform.
an d p sy c h ia tric p a tie n ts are trea ted as
se co n d cla ss c itiz e n s and w h en they do
sp e a k th e ir v o ic e is n o t re sp e c te d ."
A lth o u g h th e c o n tro v e rs ia l b ill o f
fo rc e an d c o e rc io n p a s se d th is le g is la ­
tiv e se ssio n in N ew Y o rk , th e issu e o f
fo rc ed tre a tm e n t re m a in e d on e o f the
p la n k s th at in te re ste d atten d e es.
“ W hen th e sy stem u se s fo rc e o r c o e r­
c io n an d m a n d ate s tre a tm e n ts, I th in k it
co m es as a re sp o n se to a sy stem th at is
b r o k e n a n d d o e s n o t m e e t p e o p l e ’s
n e e d s,” said F itts.
“ I w as im p re sse d by th e h ea rt and soul
o f th e gro u p th at co n v e n ed for the n a­
Photo by Yema Measho
tio n a l su m m it,” sa id S c o tt S n e d e c o r,
c o n s u m e r n e tw o rk in g c o o r d in a to r o f
O C T A . “ T h e w o rk w e sta rte d at th is c o n ­
feren c e w ill p ro v id e us w ith th e m o m e n ­
tum to c o n tin u e as a v o ic e fo r h u m an
rig h ts ."
W o rk in g h a n d -in -h a n d w ith the C le a r­
in g h o u se , O C T A w ill c o m p ile the in fo r­
m atio n th a t w ill b ec o m e th e n a tio n a l
p la tfo rm . I f you are in te re ste d in g e ttin g
th e co p y o f th e p u b lic a tio n o r id e n tify
as co n su m e r o r su rv iv o r an d w o u ld lik e
y o u r v o ic e to be h eard , c o n ta c t O f TA at
5 0 3 /2 3 1 -3 0 5 2 o r c h e c k o u t th e ir
w eb site at w w w .o ro c ta .o rg