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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2000)
Committed to Cultural Diversity www.portlandobserver.com September 27, 2000 (Ehc ^ a rtla n h (©bscruer SECTION /TT n m Police confront protesters m u n ity V - U t I c it b a r The Salmon Festival Salm on w atching is a unique N orthw est activity and the Salm on Festival on S atur day and Sunday, O ctober 14 and 15, will o ffe r guided salm on v iew ing tours at M etro’s O xbow R egional Park. Children gam es and activities, exhibits, arts, m usical entertainm ent, horse-draw n w agon rides and great food round out the festival each day from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 797-1850. An Auction of Japanese Antiques H isha o f Japan and the Japan A m erica Society o f Oregon will be having their Fourth A nnual A uction o f Japanese A ntiques on T uesday, O ct. 3 and W ednesday, Oct. 4. G oing for sale are handcrafted tansu furniture, reed screens, scroll paintings, calligraphy, ceram ics, lacquer w are, bas ketry, textiles and m ore. A uctions on both nights w ill be preceded by a preview o f the auction item s. Preview s begin at 2 p.m . and auction starts at 7 p.m. C all 331 -0811. MBL y * MIT: Red Cross Boating Education Course Red C ross w ill offer B oater Education at A m erican R ed Cross, O regon Trail Chapter at 3 131N. V ancouver A ve. in Portland. The class w ill be held on M onday, O ctober 2 from 6 p.m . to 10 p.m. T he course teachers the basic know ledge needed to operate safely and legally on O regon waters. For more inform ation or to register, call 503/280- 1440. To learn m ore about O regon Trail C hap ter, visit w w w .redcross-pdx.org. Insights on Conflict Resolution Explore the use o f draw ing to look at conflict in a different way. Participants will get insights about them selves and about conflict, and will learn creative approaches to conflict resolution. D raw ing m aterials w ill be provided. N o artistic experience or ability is required. Pre-registration is neces sary through the O regon P eace Institute at 725-8192. C ost forthe four-w eek w orkshop w hich is every T hursday from O ctober 5 - 26 is $40. Doernbecher Generation Jam G et 'em before th ey ’re gone! Tickets are now on sale for the 3 rd annual D oernbecher G eneration Jam on Saturday, O ctober 7. The D oernbecher Foundaiton Junior E x ecutive Board is turning the A ero A ir han gar at the H illsboro A irport into a concert and dinner hall forthe event, w hich features music by Hit Explosion. Tickets are $50 ($20 is tax deductible) and are available through the D oernbecher Foundation office by call ing 503/294-7101 or 1-8OO-8OO-9583. Raffle tickets w ill be sold at the event. Dealing With Challenging People T he H o llyw ood S en io r C e n te r w ill be h o lding a w orkshop to p ro v id e n e ig h b o r hood ac tiv ists w ith a tool box o fp ra c tic a l te c h n iq u e s fo r d e a lin g w ith d iffic u lt p eo p le and d ifficu lt situ atio n s. T h ey w ill ex a m in e w hy peo p le can be “d iffic u lt" an d m eth o d s you can use to c o n tro l y o u r What's ahead fo r Benson High School (above)? AU buildings in the Portland School District are being evaluated fo r future use. Photo by Michael Leighton/Portland Observer Portland Schools Ponder Future of Buildings A com m unity-based task force is holding public m eetings over the next few w eeks to discuss choices that Portland Public Schools faces regarding use o f its buildings. Faced w ith tight budgets and declining enrollm ent, the school board has asked staff to identify w ays to reduce facility costs and/ or increase revenues through the use o f its buildings. E n ro llm en t d eclin e in P o rtlan d Pubic Schools is the driving issue facing the task force. Portland is attracting m ore adults w ithout children, and fam ilies w ho do have children are having few er o f them. E nrollm ents has dropped from a high o f 80,000 students in early 1960s to 54,700 last year. Projections suggest the district m ay dip to 45,000 Stu dents by 2010. T here does not appears to be a significant change in the n um ber o f students enrolled in private schools o ver the past decade, accord ing to dem ographers from Portland State University. W hile enrollm ent has declined, schools use m ore space for special services than they did several years ago. In addition to tradi tional classroom s, schools now have special classes for disabled and non-E nglish speak ing students, health clinics, tutoring pro gram s and art and m usic offerings. In addition, com m unity use o f Portland schools is on the rise. Portland schools are used for hundreds o f after-school and evening com m unity program s for children and adults. M any o f the facilities are used for evening and w eekend com m unity events and organi zational m eetings. In m any cases, theses are provided at no charge, or for a nom inal fee. The issues are com plex, and decisions will not be easy. P arents, students, sta ff and Activists say turn underutilized schools into community centers “T ry to close neighborhood schools and th ey ’ll have a struggle on their hands,” says C ecil Prescod, chair o f the N ew Party, a local g ra ssro o ts p o litic a l o rg a n iz a tio n . “ W e stopped the school board last year and we w o n ’t let them sneak one past us this year.” Prescod points to the latest m ove on the part ofSuperintendent Ben Canada to build school closure m om entum through a “ Best Use o f Facilities Task Force. T he school advocates say that closing schools in low -incom e, racial m inority and im m igrant com m unities w ould severely dis rupt student’s achievem ent. “H ow can we close the achievem ent gap by closing neighborhood schools? The re sult is transportation problem s, leading to attendance and parent involvem ent prob lems. The neighborhood schools? The result is low er achievem ent and higher drop-out rates,” says parent activist and school board candidate C arrie Adams. L eader o f the group have called on the board to rent o u t space in underutilized schools and further develop “ lighted school- house” ideas. The N ew Party, through board m em ber Joseph Tam , introduced such a resolution in 1999. “ Thenational ‘lightedschoolhouse- m ove m ent show s us the w ay to save costs, as well as im prove academ ic achievem ent, keep chil dren out o f trouble, and im prove opportuni ties for fam ilies,” said Tam . T he resolution called for "revitalizing, underutilized neig h borhood schools as com m unity hubs w here governm ent agencies and other com m unity program s share space and pay rent as w ell as adult education, health, recreation and other serv ices are offered” com m unity m em bers are encouraged to par ticipate in the process by attending m eetings and sharing ideas. Superintendent Ben Canada has appointed a task forceof30parents. students, staff, community leaders, building users and citizens to study tFie issues and bring him recommendation A t the m eetings, the task force w ill ask com m unity m em bers to give feedback on different options, including school configu rations, enrollm entpoliciesandsizeof schools. Six more meetings are scheduled from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the school cafeterias o f the follow ing schools: S e p t.28 Jefferson, 5210 N. K erby Ave. O ct.3 M arshall. 3905 SE 91 St Ave. O ct. 5 G rant, 2245 NE 36 Ave. O ct. 10 Franklin. 5405 SE W oodw ard St. O ct. 17 Lincoln. 1600 SW Salm on St. O ct. 19 Roosevelt, 6941 N. C entral St. In addition to the communitymeetings. all task force meetings are open to the public. Thedistrict’s website has a host o f information, including a schedule o f meetings, school-by-school enroll ment projections for the next 10 years, and reports on the physical condition o f every school. For more information, visit www.pps.k 12 .orcall 916- 3304. New Plaza Houses College of Urban and Public Affairs 3075. The 137,000-square-foot U rban C enter & Plaza houses P S U ’s nationally recognized C ollege o f U rban and Public A ffairs, as well as distance learning facilities and retail space. The construction w as funded through a unique public and private partnership. The building, designed by architect T ho m as H acker, is the first m ajor construction project o f the U niversity D istrict since ap proval by the C ity o f Portland, creating a catalyst for future developm ent and public/ private partnerships in the south end o f dow ntow n. Portland State U niversity, a nationally V olunteers needed as on-call rape victim advocates with the M ultnom ah County D is trict A ttorney’s V ictim A ssistance U nit for evening/w eekend shifts. T raining goes for five evenings from Tuesday through Thurs day, from 6 :3 0 -8 :3 0 p.m. and begins T ues day, O ctober 3 at the M ultnom ah County Courthouse. For m ore inform ation and to register, contact a victim advocate at 988- 5447. (AP) — Scores o f protesters threw eggs and bottles and police responded w ith pep per spray and arrests during a dem onstration T uesday to show solidarity w ith protests in the Czech Republic against the International M onetary Fund and the W orld Bank. At least 20 people were arrested after a police officer was assaulted and protesters painted an anarchist symbol on a billboard, according to Lt. Mike Hefley, a police spokes man. At least two police cars w ere spray- painted with the w ord “ Pig.” M ost o f those arrested w ere charged w ith interfering w ith a police officer. “One person from the crow d stated they w ere anarchists,” Hefley said. Hefley said about 80 protesters took part in the rally. But several hundred onlookers ig nored police orders to disperse. M any could not leave the area because Portland buses and light rail w ere shut down. Protesters — som e o f w hom said they w anted to reclaim the street forpeople instead o f cars — threw eggs and glass bottles at m ounted officers holding them back. Police responded w ith pepper spray, and tried to surround the group. At one point, about a dozen protesters sat in a line in front o f police in riot gear. O fficers rem oved them. “ W e ju st w ant peace against the brutality, the harassm ent, the anim al cruelty, w e have a right to be here. W e d id n ’ t bring any w eapons o r anything,” said B randy Carroll, 16. Protester Jill K rym kow ski, 26, said people w eren ’t there to bring attention to police w eren ’t there to bring attention to p olice brutality. "M ost o f the people w ho are gath ered are here because o f P rague and the IM F and global capitalization," she said. At a sm all fountain near the rally, C ole Kane tried to w ash pepper gas o ut o fh is eyes. “T hese are m ostly nonviolent p eople, they didn’t w ant an y o f this,” the 24-year-old P o rt land m an said. “ I told the police, cool out, none o f these kids w ant to fight y ou.” The protest also w as a show o f so lid arity with local union groups, according to 24- year-old Brian Schulz o f Portland. “H uge am ounts o f public tim e an d re sources shouldn’t be spent stopping them because these people w ould ju st m arch p eace fully up and dow n the streets otherw ise,” he said. At one point, the crow d grew angry after a police officer on a m otorcycle bum ped one protester in the shin. T he protesters — a crow d stretching three b lo ck s — b ro k e through the police line and m oved up a m ajor Portland street, bringing traffic to a standstill. M ore than four hours later, protesters gath ered at Portland State U niversity and then dispersed. The dem onstration was one o f several rallies held in the U nited States in sym pathy w ith protests in the Czech R epublic. In Prague on Tuesday, thousands o fp eo p le dem onstrated outside the IM F and W orld Bank sum m it, throw ing firebombs as p olice responded w ith clubs and tear gas. Portland State Urban Center Dedicated ow n reactions. The w orkshop will be on M onday, O cto ber 23 from 7-9 p.m. at the Hollywood Senior C enter located at 1820 NE. 40lh. Call Joleen C lassen at 823-3202 o r Brian Hoop at 823- Volunteer Rape Victim Advocates 50r acclaim ed leader in com m unity-based learn ing, is located along the tree-lined South Park B lo c k s o f d o w n to w n P o rtla n d . T h e U niversity’s position in the heart o fO reg o n ’s econom ic and cultural center enables PSU stu d en ts and faculty to apply sch o larly theory to the real-w orld problem s business and com m unity organizations. Portland State offers over 100 undergraduate, m aster’s and doctoral degrees, as w ell as graduate certifi cates and continuing education program s, PSU serves m ore students and confers m ore m asters’ degrees annually than any other O regon university. Pitrtland State Univo \it\ \ \< >> «. 'bun t
