Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
January 26, 2000
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Brooks learning to take control of his emotions
Celebrate Chinese
New Year
A SM X1 VlUlJEht ss
D uring Friday’s Jefferson vs. Benson boys basketball game,
Brandon Brooks took over in the closing moments o f the first half.
Jefferson’s point guard pierced Benson's zone defense and
found team m ate A ntone Jarrell fora basket A dunk by backcourt
partner Aaron Miles, a steal by Jarrell and a three-pointer by
Brooks ignited the huge crowd at the Chiles Center.
As the hal fended. B rooks’ running jum per capped a 12-4 run by
the Democrats, whom USA Today rates as the nation’s fourth-
best high school team.
A tth e c e n te ro fitw a sth e 5 -fo o t-l I Brooks: splitting the defense
with the quickness that led recruiting services to rate him as the
third-best point guard on the West Coast; defending B enson's
fine forward, Robert Day; strutting beforea wild Jefferson crowd
Brandon Brooks is on tire. And his is a flame that bum s within.
At times, the senior’s fiery nature has gotten the better o f him.
As a freshman, he clashed with then-Jefferson coach Bobby
Harris and quit the team. He transferred to Grant and led the
league in scoring his sophom ore year But his outbursts led PIL
coaches to leave h i m o ff the al I - league team . He has had academic
troubles and has been suspended for fighting. Last year, he
returned to Jefferson and began to settle dow n, though he sat out
gam es this season for disciplinary problems
Brooks is am ong the most controversial players ever to play in
the Portland Interscholastic League He also is am ong the most
talented. He is an explosive scorer and fierce com petitor. He
blends speed with great court awareness. It's his passion,
though, that makes Brooks stand apart.
As with many o f us. B rooks' greatest strength is his greatest
weakness. At 18. h e’s just learning to control the flame.
“T hat’s all in the past,” Brooks says o f his outbursts. “ I’m doing
what I’ve got to do now, and that is all that m atters.”
Brooks has the ability and the w ork ethic to play at a top college
program. Colleges, however, were skeptical hecould meet NCAA
academ ic requirem ents
But Brooks surprised some recruiters by getting a 93(1 on his SAT
last tall. M arshall Haskins, his coach at Jefferson, says Brooks
will be eligible if he gets C 's this year.
The Taoist T ai C hi Society o f O regon
in v ite s the p u b lic to jo in them in
celebrating the arrival o f the Y ear o f the
Dragon. T he society will be hosting a
Chinese New Y ear’s Celebration featuring
a traditional C hinese dinner, speakers
and Tai Chi dem onstrations on February
6, at the G reat China Seafood Restaurant,
336 NW Davis, Portland at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 per person w ith proceeds
going to the educational scholarship
fund, w hich allow s the T aoist Tai Chi
Society to im prove the quality o f the
training offered. T ickets are available by
calling the society at 220-5970.
Dead
Mathematicians’
Society
The Dead M athem aticians’ Society at
Mt. Hood C om m unity C ollege presents a
w in te r lecture se rie s, “T he Infinite
Enrichm ent Series.” T he series began
with a January 20th lecture, "Solving the
C u b ic P o ly n o m ia l U sin g C a y le y ’s
M ethod," by Bill H lstead, a m athem atics
stu d e n t. O n T h u rs d a y Ja n u a ry 27,
“ Im plications o f D NA Technology on
the Tree o f L ife,” will be presented by
M ic h a e l B o y e r, an e n v iro n m e n ta l
specialist in transition. O ther lectures
follow on February 17 and 24. All lectures
are on Thursdays at 4:05 p.m . on M H CC’s
B randon Brooks defends a g a in st Benson H igh Sch o o l in the Friday gam e that led USA Today to nam e them the
fo u rth best team in Am erica.
(Please see 'Brooks' page B3)
m ain cam pus in Room 1571, and are free
an d op en to the p u b lic . F or m ore
inform ation contact Bill Covell at 503/
491-7437.
Seminar highlights Passages from Martin Luther King Jr.
Poems Over
Broadway!
On Friday, January 21, Willamette University held a rousing celebration called
"Passages o f Martin Luther King. " The beloved Civil Rights leader was honored at
the annual event held at the Smith Auditorium to a sold-out crowd This free event
was sponsored by the school’s Multicultural Law Students Association.
The highlight o f the evening was a docu-drama given bv local talents like Oregon s
Governor John Kitzaher portraying John F. Kennedy and Assistant Attorney Okainer
Christian Dark as Coretta Scott King. Other historical characters represented bv
locals were Daddy King. Malcolm X and Stokelv Carmichael. The actors and
actresses delivered with a passion that was reminiscent o f the era s turbulence.
A nother highlight o f the evening was the gospel songs performed by the Gospel
Music Workshop o f A merica. Their stirring performances served as the background
music o f the entire docu-drama.
Dr. Clayborne Carson was the producer o f this year's event. His background as a
Poem s O ver B roadw ay! is a monthly
open m ike poetry reading for poets o f all
ages, skill levels and styles. W ith an
intimate, relaxed and non-confrontational
atm osphere, it’s g reat for first-tim e
readers. Poetry lovers will enjoy meeting
and hearing poets from the area read their
work. The event will b eat Barnes & Noble
at NE Broadw ay and 13th on Friday,
February 11 at 7 p.m.
Free Photography
Contest
Stanford professor. Civil Rights historian, director o f the King Papers Project, and
senior advisor fo r the PBS series "Eyes on the Prize " made him the idea! candidate
to organize such a grand event.
A reception immediately followed in the Truman Wesley Collins Legal Center that
included food, drinks, a discussion by Dr. Clayborne Carson and an award given to
form er Oregon Supreme Court Justice. Edwin J Peterson by Willamette University's
Multicultural Law Students Association fo r his commitment to diversity.
The International Library ofPhotography
is pleased to announce that over $60,000
in prizes will be aw arded this year in the
I n te r n a tio n a l
O pen
A m a te u r
P hotography C ontest. Photographers
from the P ortland area, particularly
Dr. C layborne Carson
f
V
• A
i
►
I
I__ L
G overnor John Kitzhaber
beginners, are w elcom e to try to win their
share o f over 1,300 prizes. The deadline
for the contest is M arch 31. The contest
is open to everyone and entry is FREE.
Y ou
can
v is it
th e ir
w e b s ite
at
w w w.picture.com .
Learn to Meditate
Free Learn to M editate 3-week course
offered by the Sri C hinm oy Centre.
D iscover how m editation can sim plify
y o u r life and deepen your sense o f
happiness, m any techniques taught by
e x p e r ie n c e d m e d ita tio n te a c h e rs .
D ow ntow n L ibrary (801 SW 10th),
Sundays, January 30, February 6 and 13,
1 : 3 0 - 3 p.m. Phone 503/471-1588 to
register.
Grand Floral Parade
Tickets are now avai lable for the Portland
Rose Festival G rand Floral Parade held
on Saturday, June 10 at the M emorial
Coliseum at IOa.m.Pricesare$23,$2Oand
$ 11.50 (includes convenience charge -
add $.50 forphone/intem et orders). Call
Rose Q uarterTicket Office at 227-2681 or
any Ticketm aster.
Portland Community Design makes changes in head office
Bv Ln Pl.KLMAS
OlXllLÍOKILAM)i>BSl.lOtR
H aving done m ore to shape the look o f
housing in Northeast Portland in the last
decade than any other person. Peter W ilcox
is ready to seek greener pastures.
W ilcox will leave his post as head o f Portland
Com m unity Design at the end o f this month.
He will turn over the reins o f the non-profit
urban design firm to Suzanne Zuniga.
“I felt that Suzanne w as the right person to
be my successor, and that I had better take
advantage o f that," W ilcox says. “A fter a
decade here. I’m ready for change and new
challenges.”
O fficially incorporated in 1991, Portland
Com m unity Design has played a role in
creating 350 new housing projects, m ost o f
them for low-income families in inner Northeast
Portland. The group has w orked w ith such
non-profit developers as H O ST C om m unity
D e v e lo p m e n t, N o rth e a s t C o m m u n ity
D e v e lo p m e n t C o r p o r a tio n , P o rtla n d
C om m unity Reinvestm ent Initiatives, and
Rose C om m unity D evelopment
PCD and W ilcox also started the planning
process that led to the redesign o f parts o f
N ortheast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard,
and the restoration o f on-street parking to
parts o f the street. Both played a role in the
O uter Southeast C om m unity Plan and the
revitalization ofthc Belmont Business District
in inner southeast Portland
The agency is w orking on the G arfield
Cherry Tree Three project at Northeast ( iarficld
A venue and Failing Street, and the proposed
12-unit project at Northeast Killingsw orth
Street and 44th Avenue. The latter, a joint
venture with Habitat for Humanity, will include
a park and com m unity garden
Prior to formation o f PCD, W ilcox drafted
the Ten Essentials, the base o f city design
standards for building in inner N ortheast
Portland. The essentials include a useable
front porch, building at grade instead o f
flattening the site down to sidew alk level, and
using natural material for siding. He also put
together a national com petition to design
houses for two vacant lots in the com m unity;
the w inning designs becam e the seven-unit
D aw son Park row houses at N ortheast
W illiam s A venue and M om s Street, and the
three-unit G oing Street Row H ouses on
Northeast Sixth Avenue near King School
H ow ever, he realized that A I A. volunteers
alone “w ere no, nearly m eeting the needs o f
low -incom e com m unities for good housing
design." Thus he organized PCD.
Perhaps the gro u p ’s single m ost important
project has been Albina C om er at Northeast
M artin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and San
Rafael street. The first housing venture on the
boulevard in decades, it contains 42 units
built around a central courtyard one flight up
Below arc A lbina C om m unity Bank, the San
Rafael Cafe and PC D ’s own headquarters.
“ I, dem onstrated you could successfully
build housing on Ml K when m ost people
said you couldn’t," chiefcity planner Michael
H arrison, creator o f the Albina C om m unity
Plan, says.
W ilcox, how ever, says his biggest
disappointm ent is the features he had to cut
from the project due to cost over-runs.
Aside from his innovative approach.
Wi Icox has been k now n for his w i 11 i ngness to
work with local com m unities. In creating the
Stanton Five infill project for HOST, PCD
drew up nine different dev clopm en, schem es
until they found one nearby neighbors fel,
they could live with.
“ Peter is a really fine gentlem an.” HOST
director Howard Nolte says “ He alw avs has
the interest o fth c neighborhotxl at hear, He
understands no, only wha, looks good, but
w ha, will vork in the housing m arket .”
Some o fth c things that Wilcox and PCD
pioneered - low-cost housing tha, is also
com patible and w ell-designed, high-density
housing on MI K and mixed use buildings -
arc now being pursued by others. W ilcox and
Zuniga say Zuniga says she would like PCD
to p u rsu e m ix e d -in c o m e h o u sin g and
"sustainable" design The latter approach
seeks to minimize use o f scarce resources like
fuel
“ Instead o f using the best heating system
(Please see 'Housing' page 2)
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