Page A3
April 18, 2001
(Elje ^Jorilanh © bseruer
Boys & Girls Club Youth Honored
E very one knew thatN itaL ikesw as
a w inner. N ow it’s official. T he four-
year m em ber o f The B oys & G irls
Club has been selected as the c lu b ’s
2001 Y outh o f the Year.
The Y outh o f the Y ear program
recognizes superior leadership skills,
academ ic achievem ent, obstacles to
overcom e and outstanding service
to Boys & G irls Clubs and the com ­
munity.
N ita, a senior at H illsboro High
School and m em ber o f the H illsboro
Boys & G irls C lub, is secretary o f
N ike Swoosh Club, a m em ber ofK ey-
stoneClub, BlazerCommunity Builder
Y outh C oips and Leaders in T rain­
ing. She is the T orch c lub advisor and
is involved in m any com m unity ser­
vice projects.
N ita cam e to the Club on the advice
o fa family friend. “At the time, I didn ’t
have m uch self-confidence, and my
grades and social skills needed work,
says N ita. T oday, N ita know s ju st
about everyone around the club, and
she stops and talks to every person
each day sh e’s there. A fter graduat­
ing from high school this spring, N ita
w ants to attend either Portland C om ­
m unity C ollege or A rizona State. She
is interested in politics and w ants to
Akpan, Katrina Schell and Morgan Daugherty are recognized fo r their
achievement and service to the community.
be the first w om an president.
A ccording to N ita, club m em bers
and sta ff are like a large second fam ­
ily, but so is N ita ’s prim ary fam ily.
T here are 18 children in h er fam ily.
N ita is one o f four adopted children.
In addition, there are 12 foster ch il­
dren and two biological children in
her family.
“ M y goal is to prom ote the C lub to
show w hat it’s done for m e and w hat
it can do can for you. W ithout it, a lot
o f kids w ould be in trouble, “ says
Nita.
L ikes w ill com pete against other
B oys & G irls C lub youth for the O r­
egon state Y outh o f the Y ear title. If
Likes w ins, she will receive a $25,000
scholarship for post-secondary ed u ­
cation from O prah W infrey’s A ngel
Network. This will mark the third year
that the talk show h o st’s A ngel N et­
work provided scholarships for youth
o f the year w inners.
Fiveregional winners selected from
among the state winners will com pete
for the national honor in W ashington
D.C., where the President will offi­
cially install the national Youth o f the
Year in a W hite House cerem ony in
September. Nita was one o f four final­
ists representing Boys & G irls Clubs
o f Portland’s four m ain Clubs.
Each candidate is an excellent ex ­
ample o f the C lubs’ success in help­
ing young people achieve their fall
potential.
“These are four great young people
who have come to Boys & G irlsC lubs
and found a place to blossom ,” said
Virginia Hensen, Executive Director.
“ Each has faced challenges in their
lives and been able to use the Club as
a w ay to excel. The other three final­
ists are M organ D augherty, W attles
Boys & Girls Club Y outh o f the Year;
Eno Akpan, Blazer Boys & Girls Club
Y outh o f the Y ear; and Katrina Schell,
the Fred M eyer Boys & G irls Club
Y outh o f the Year.
Law Would Lower
Age Requirement
for Legislature
Cassandra M iller can vote,
drive, serve in the military and buy
cigarettes.
The 18-year-old high school
senior can do most everything
adults can do — except serve in
the Oregon Legislature.
Miller and more than a dozen
others testified before lawmak­
ers recently to support a bill ask­
ing voters to lower the age re­
quirement for legislators from 21
to 18.
“ If younger representatives and
senators were elected, Oregon’s
youth would have a venue through
which to express fresh ideas and
opinions,” Miller said.
Secretary of State Bill Bradbury
proposed HJR16 after a student
at a town hall meeting last spring
asked why 18-year-oldscan't run
for state office. Bradbury, who
didn’t have an answer, said the
bill would "chip away" at the po­
litical disillusionment many young
voters feel.
Six percent of the votes in the
1998 primary’ election were cast
by 18- to 34-year-olds, Bradbury
said. Yet in the 17 states with
lower age requirements for the
Legislature, there was a 5 per­
cent higher turnout in the 1996
general election among 18- to 24-
year-olds than in states with higher
age limits, he said.
The average age in the Oregon
Legislature is 53.8 years.
“W e’ve got to engage young
people in the political process now
if we want to build a good, strong
fo u n d atio n for th e fu tu re ,”
Bradbury said.
Banners To Beautify Portsmouth
Beautiful street banners are
coming to north Portland’ Ports­
mouth neighborhood!
Area residents initiated the
“ w a lk in g to g e th e r ” b a n n e r
project to beautify the Ports­
mouth neighborhood, nurture
community awareness and pride.
celebrate the diversity o f the
com m unity, and enhance the
sense o f com m unity ownership.
Banner designs will be created
in com m unity sessions facili­
ta te d by a rtis t P in g -K h a w -
Sutherland. Designs will then
be reproduced into patterns,
which will be transferred to ny­
lon banners sewn by local vol­
unteers. The colorful banners
will be hung along m ajor Ports­
mouth streets this summer.
Portsm outh Vision 20/20, a
local Target Area neighborhood
im provem ent program spon-
sored by the Bureau o f Housing
and Com m unity Development,
received a grant from the Re­
gional Arts and Culture Council
to coordinate a com m unity ban­
ner project. For more inform a­
tion, contact Celestial Cassman
at 503-283-1096.
Teens Need School Voucher For Driver Licenses
Spring is here and sum m er
is ju st around the co rn er. At
O regon DM V, that m eans a
lot o f teenagers are gettin g
ready to try for th eir d riv ers
license. “ W e w ant teen s to
be prepared when th ey com e
in ,” sa id L o rn a Y o u n g ’s,
O D O T D eputy D irec to r for
DM V. “ O ne thing they need
to be certain to have is the
Statem ent o f Enrollm ent form
filled out by th eir school. If
they d o n ’t have that, w e c a n ’t
issue a perm it o r a lic e n se .”
L eg islatio n w ent into effect
last Septem ber requiring youth
u n d er 18 to show that they are
en ro lled in school in o rd er to
obtain driving privileges. That
can be done w ith a S tatem ent
o f E nrollm ent form , availab le
though local school d istric ts
and ed u catio n al school d is ­
tric ts. T eens w ho have co m ­
pleted high school or who have
a G ED can show their diplom a
or a c e rtific a te o f com pletion.
I f you plan on com ing into
DM V to get y o u r O regon li-
Mental Health
Provider Names
New CEO
C hoosing a course o f
c o n sisten cy and sta b ility ,
U nity Inc. - the s ta te ’s
largest nonprofit p rovider
o f m ental health serv ices
appointed W ayne M iya as
president and c h ie f ex ecu ­
tiv e officer.
A re tire d P a c ifiC o rp ,
Inc. m anager, M iya 54,
replaces Jam es G. G aynor
w ho has been nam ed D i­
recto r o f M ental H ealth
S y s te m R e d e s ig n by
M ultnom ah C ounty.
The U nity B oard o f D i­
re c to rs a ls o h a s a sk e d
D ouglas E. B abb to serve
an u n p re c e d e n te d th ird Wayne Miya
year as c h a ir o f the v o l­
in 1999, he has a 30-year c a ­
u n teer board. B abb, 51, is a
reer
with PacifiC orp.
sen io r a sso c ia te for C onkling
He
held various m an a g e ­
Fiskum & M cC orm ick, Inc. a
m ent positions in c u sto m e r's
P o rtla n d - b a se d c o n s u ltin g
service and hum an resources.
firm sp e cia liz in g in public a f­
A native o f Salt Lake, U tah,
fairs, s tra te g ic c o m m u n ic a ­
M iya earned his BA in M ath ­
tio n s and research.
em atics at the U niversity o f
M iya, a B eaverton resident,
U tah, w here he also received
is an e x p e rie n c e d b u sin e ss
an M BA.
m anger. B efore his retirem ent
«
cense or instruction perm it for
the first tim e, m ake sure you
obtain a com pleted form w hile
school is still in session.
T e e n a g e rs n e e d to show
com pliance w ith the re q u ire ­
m ent w hen applying for an in­
stru c tio n a l p erm it, a p ro v i­
sional driver license, a special
s tu d e n t d r iv e r p e rm it, an
em ergency driv er perm it or a
m oped restricted d riv er p e r­
mit. The requirem ent isn ’t nec­
essary w hen applying for an
iden tificatio n card.
T h o s e w h o a re h o m e
schooled or exem pt from a t­
ten d in g school also need to
obtain the form through the
school d istric t or educational
service d istrict.
“ A p erso n o n ly needs to
show the form the first tim e
th e y ’re issued a d riv er license
or a p e rm it,” Y oungs said.
“ That should be it, unless their
license is can celled , revoked
o r suspended for n o n -atten ­
d ance at sc h o o l.”
Good mood lighting.
Dimmers are another way
to save energy.
And it's important that w e all find as many ways as we can to reduce
our energy use. By working together, we've been able to make a difference
and keep the power flowing. But the cold weather's not over yet.
We still need to be thoughtful about how and when we use electricity.
Installing dimmers in areas where they make sense, like the dining
room and bedroom, will help lower energy use. The amount you dim
equals your energy saved. For example, dimming lights by 15 percent
cuts energy consumption by 15 percent.
Here are some other tips that can save you energy and money
on lighting:
■ Turn off extra lights, especially
between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
And get in the habit of
switching off the light every
time you leave the room for
more than a few minutes.
Let’s all do our part.
W a it ’til late to use electricity.
Call us at I -800-222-4335, and ask for
a copy of our Bright Ideas booklet
for more energy-saving tips.
■ Clean lightbulbs and fixtures.
Dust can reduce light output by
as much as 10 percent!
■ Put compact fluorescent bulbs
in light fixtures that are used
more than three hours a day.
These bulbs use one-quarter
the energy and last 10 times
longer than regular lightbulbs.
■ Install motion sensors or timers
to automatically turn lights on
and off. Motion sensor lighting
is great for outdoors and in
your workshop or laundry
room. Timers are the right
choice if you’d like an indoor
light switched on and off at
specific times.
■ Use low-wattage bulbs when
you can. Bright lights are
often not needed in hallways
and closets.
■ When working at a desk or
workbench, use task lighting.
Other lights in the room can
then be turned off or dimmed
# PACIFIC POW ER