Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
September 27, 2000
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SECTION
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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.
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