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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2000)
August 30, 2000 Page A3 (Elje ^ìortlanò COhseruer Portiani» v /b s e ru e r Health/Education PSU’s Senior Adult Learning Center announces Fall registration for tuition-free classes for senior adults CONTRIBUTED STORY to n T he P ortland O bserver Registration for fall Q uarter w ill officially begin Septem ber 20th for O regon seniors w ho are taking advantage o f tuition-free classes at Portland State University. The Program is open to any O regon senior aged 65 o r over and they m ay audit any o f the U niversity’s regular classes at no tuition on a space- available basis. O ffice hours w ill be from 1 -3 p.m. M onday through T hursday beginning S eptem ber 20th. The Senior A dult L earning C enter o f the Institute on A ging w ithin the college ofU rban and Public A ffairs is located in the new U rban C enter Building (Room 470H ) at fcW 6T h and M ontgom ery in dow ntow n Portland. T he cam pus is easily accessed by bus and in the future w ill be streetcar accessable as well. For m ore inform ation contact the Senior A dult L earning C enter at (503) 725- 4739. M essages w ill be returned. Seniors m ay also visit the cam pus. Participation...an African American necessity by A vatar T h e three areas that I stress as a fitness instructor are consistency, versatility and focus. Tailoring an exercise program based on your level o f fitness w as m entioned in m y last article. O ne o f the big disappointm ents I ’ve had in the last 24 years o f m y career has been a general lack o f participation in exercising by the A frican A m erican com m unity. M y fellow brothers and sisters, this is an area that is in bad need o f developm ent. It is depressing to see so m any young adults w ho are out o f shape. V ery plainly, this is not good. Let s look at the alarm ing statistics revealed by the A m erican Stroke A ssociation: C a rd io v a sc u la r d ise a se an d stroke are the leading causes o f death for African men and women—claiming the lives o f over 100,000 annually. Com pared with whites, A frican- A m e ric a n s d e v e lo p h ig h b lo o d pressure at an earlier age, and is m ore severe than any decade o f their life. As a result, A frican-A m ericans have a 1.5 times greater rate ofheart disease and 1.8 tim es rate o f fatal strokes. 68.3 percentofAfrican-American fem ales are overw eight and 38.2 p e r c e n t a re o b e s e . A fr ic a n - A m ericans are one o f the least active groups in term s o f overall physical inactivity. T here is a difference betw een being physically big and being in shape. I have seen som e big people that are in shape. I realize that w e all com e in different sizes and shapes, but m ost o fu s d o n ’t have a plausible excuse to b e o u t o f shape. W e o w e it to ourselves as contributors to a vibrant com m unity o f people to take pride in our fitness. T o do otherw ise is to lack self-love, the greatest love o f all. I f w e consider that for generations, our slave forefathers had little to look forw ard to day after day, but the sizzling heat o f the sun, the raw -hide w hip o f the overseer and long row s o f cotton. B ut ju st as unearned suffering is red e m p tiv e , the e x p e rie n c e served to m ake us a stronger race. Make ap ian for exercising and set goals. Find the answ ers to w ho, w hat, w here, and w hen relative to fitness options; G et a physical, m ake a schedule, buy som e basic equipment and get a free trial period at a health club. I ’m not saying that you have to follow m y guidelines strictly, but get started by yourself or w ith a partner as soon as possible. W ake up everybody! It’s tim e to start a n ew d ay w h ere w e sto p th e backward thinking and look ahead. G et out and take the opportunity to pay y o u rself first by exercising - it’s a good thing. Heart analysis finds many die suddenly with no signs • R esearchers to Study More Patients to F ind G enetic Markers fo r Sudden Death CONTRIBUTED STORY for T hl P ortland O bserver Some people w ho experience sudden cardiac death m ay have had no previous heart sym ptom s and their p r o b le m m a y n o t h a v e b e e n detectable to a cardiologist, says a new study published in Circulation, the journal o f the A m erican heart A ssociation. In a first-e v er cadaveric analysis o f people w hose hearts su ddenly stopped, research ers at Portland H ealth Sciences U niversity and The Edwards Registry in St. Paul, M inn. Found that about a third o f all sudden cardiac death patients had either norm al hearts or nonspecific abnorm alities that w ould not not indicate a problem . “ W hat this tells us is that w e need a better w ay to diagnose patients early to determ ine if they m ay have a heart problem , then get them treatment right aw ay,’’said Sum eet Chugh, M .D ., assistant professor o f cardiology in the O H SU school o f M edicine and principle investigators o f the study. F o r the an aly sis, C h u g h an d his colleagues exam ined 270 hearts from patients w ho had died o f sudden cardiac death. T hey also collected data on the circum stances o f the patien ts’ death and review ed their m edical records. In 95 percent o f the c a se s, th e h e a rts sh o w ed so m e s tru c tu ra l a b n o rm a lity , su c h as coronary artery disease, aortic valve m alform ations; aerial septal defects or left ventricular hypertrophy. W hile about tw o-thirds o f these cases could have been treated b y surgery or m edications, in another 30 percent o f the cases the cause o f death m ay or m ay n ot have been related to the abnormalities. T he analysis also found that in five percent o f overall cases, the patients ’ hearts w ere structurally norm al, and that about h a lf o f the o f those patients had never reported a sym ptom o f a heart problem s. “T hese people may have h ad a genetic condition that, w hen com bined w ith another trigger such as obesity, drug use or epilepsy caused theirdeath. For cases like these, w e need to be able to find the genetic m arkers to identify patients w ith these susceptibilities.” C h u g h is n o w w o rk in g w ith colleagues to design a study using live patients to identify unknow n heart problem s. “ W ith inform ation from the hum an G enom e Project now p u b lic ly a v a ila b le , w e c a n use microarray technology to help identify th ese g en etic m a rk e rs,” he said. C hugh hopes to develop a registry o f heart cases in O regon to use this state as a m odel for studying the causes o f sudden cardiac death. Suffering from teleconfusion? Here's a simple, local, k friendly solution! > Integra TELECOM BE HEARD. Visit our website: www.lntegratelMom.coai LOCAL, LONG DISTANCE & INTERNET FOR BUSINESSES Call Integra Telecom today at 503-748-7777 African American think tank releases HIV guiding principles C U M JU B LIEBSIQ R l for T he P ortland O bserver The A frican A m erican A ID S P olicy and T raining institute announced the release o fth e U jim a principles: T en G uiding Principles For T he D evelopm ent o f A frican A m erican H IV /A ID S Policies and Strategic Plans, at an A ID S Panel s p o n s o re d b y T h e C o n g r e s s io n a l B la c k C a u c u s a n d H o s te d b y C ongressw om en M axine W aters, (D -C A ); “The R epublican Party has selected their standard bearer this w eek” says Phil W ilson D irector o f A A A PT I. “A m ericans are about to choose the first president o f 21 St Century. B ut there is still unfinished 20th century business. AID S is not over yet, especially in B lack com m unities. It is critical that A ID S be a part o f the policy debate o f this election season. A frican A m ericans in particular, m ust develop guiding principle to help us design effective H IV / AID S policies and action plans.” T he U jim a Principles are based on the 3rd principle o f K w anzaa, Ujima. It m eans collective w ork and responsibility and rem inds us o f our obligation to the past present and future. T h U jim a Principles are m eant to provide a fram ew ork for A frican A m ericans to consider in the developm ent o f local, regional and national H IV /A ID S policies and strategic plans. T he ten principles are: 1. Sex, D rugs and Rap. 2. K now the Enem y, K now the V irus. 3. K now your status. 4. E m pow er W om en and stop m other to child transm ission. 5. Black M asculinity m ust be redesigned: fatherhood m ust be energized. 6.Provide healthcare. 7. C orrectional H ealth care m ust be im proved. 8. Stigm a m ust stop 9. V accines m ust be found. 10. Y ou got to have faith. The A frican A m erican A ID S Policy and T raining Institute is a non-profit education organization that conducts activities designed to (i) reduce new HIV infections in A frican-A m erican com m unities, and (ii) increase access to treatm ent resources and/or (iii) im prove quality o f life for A frican-A m ericans living with H IV/AIDS. A A A PTI is the only N ational black H IV T hink T ank in the U nited States. The A A PTI w ill issue statem ents concerning A ID S in the Black com m unity every day the D em ocratic N ational C onvention. F or m ore inform ation, or for the full text o f the ten principles, contact A A A PT I at (213) 353-3610, em ail: angelao@ aaainstitute.org, or on-line at w w w .blackA ID S .org. PHDs fj j ; H)RjjlKEi2RILANIi_i2BS£RYiR W ould you like to get a first-hand lo o k a t so m e o f O re g o n ’s to p em ployers and in the process develop a killer resum e? T hen look no farther than Portland Com munity College’s Job F air2000 at the Portland M etropolitan W orkforce T r a in in g C e n t e r ’s B u ild in g 2 (room l 12),located at 56OON.E.42nd Ave. The event, w hich attracted nearly 325 M sto ry , M **vure4 On »»wjMR /or, S,tlLL Ma Y Nqt But everyone can get the 411 at M c D o n a ld 's where you can expand your m ind and fill your stomach. G e t tw o brand new Little K no w n Black H istory Facts Booklets. Know ALL The FacTs Top Oregon em ployers to greet jo b seekers at PCC people to its inaugural fair last year, w ill take place betw een 11 a.m .an d 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept 14 and feature m o re th a n 20 c o m p a n ie s w ith w orkshops on resum es, interview s and applications. “ It gives people an opportunity to m ake personal contact with employers w ho are actively looking for people to fill jo b s,” said Sara Neil, em ploym ent specialist w ith P C C ’s C ontinuing Education. “ It also helps connect our o w n s tu d e n ts w ith p ro s p e c tiv e em ployers." * They re new facts, instead o f the stuff you already know. But hurry, it all jumps off o n A ugust 25th. Each book is only $1.29, so supplies w o n 't last long. With the purchase ot any regular priced menu item Current pnees and participation based on independent operator decision Pnees may vary AnD iF y Ou doN't Kn low, noW yoll ,kNow. st»** y y / J ; we love to see you smile" 1 McDonald s Corpc
