A p ril 18, 2001
Page A 4
(Ftp? Jlnrtlanb Oibseruer
as Opinion
Puritani)
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Alcohol Often Least Talked About Threat to Our Lives
(The
|Llortíanh
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O regon . P ariaership E xecl -
i in e D irector
USPS 959-680
Established 1970
ST A F F
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d it o r
P
C
in
h ie f
,
u b l is h e r
C h a r le s H. W a sh in g to n
E d
i t
o R
L arry J . J a c k so n , Sr.
B
M
u s in e s s
anager
G ary A n n T aylor
A sst P ublisher
M ich ael L eig h to n
C
opy
E
d it o r
Joy R am os
In the never-ending blitz o f m e­
dia interest surrounding kids and
drugs, it often seems com m uni­
ties have barely a m inute to catch
their breath from one ‘epidem ic’
to another.
L ately the m edia has been
flooded with stories about Ec­
stasy and Raves. Newsweek re-
portsonthedangersofO xycontin
and Vicodin. Families and com ­
m unities are inundated with new
information about the latest drugs,
their dangerous effect and their
connection to teens.
It’s important to raise aw are­
ness when drugs invade our com ­
munity. However, in this frenzy,
we must not lose sight o f the fact
Judy Cushing
that alcohol rem ains the single
largest threat to O regon’s kids.
The truth is that alcohol is the
m ost prevalent, least talked about
threat to our hom es and com m u­
nities. W e take it for granted that
adults keep beer and wine in the
home, often only for a social oc­
casions or holidays. W e rarely
think about how our behavior is a
model for our kids. How m any o f
us really stop to have a family
discussion about the alcohol in our
hom es— what it is, its effects, and
what it means — with our kids?
April is Alcohol A w areness
Month. It’s an opportunity to high­
light our commitment to prevention
and treatment o f alcohol abuse.
Here are some tips for raising alco­
hol awareness in your home and or
community: Talk with your kids.
We know that in households where
parents talk to their kids about alco­
hol. kids are far less likely to drink.
Prom and graduation time are the
perfect opportunity to have a fam­
ily discussion in your home. Model
M isuse o f M ascots a Serious Problem
O utrage am ong the A m eri­
can -In d ian com m unity over the
m isuse o f cultural sym bols as
sports m ascots has prom pted
the U .S. C om m ission on C ivil
R ights (C C R ) to consider w ith ­
holding federal funding to pub­
lic elem entary, m iddle and high
schools that refuse to adopt a
n o n -o ffen siv e im age.
E lsie M eeks, the first A m eri­
can-Indian com m issioner on the
C CR , suggested that the com ­
m ission recom m end that civil-
rig h ts e n fo rc e m e n t a g e n c ie s
help elim inate offensive im ages
and the use o f such term s as
“red sk in s” or “ red ra id e rs.”
“ S chools have a re sp o n sib il­
ity to edu cate th eir students,
not p erp etu ate m isre p re se n ta ­
tions o f any cu ltu re o r p eo p le,”
M eeks said. M eeks, a m em ber
o f the Pine R idge R eservatio n
in South D akota, also w orks
for the Lakota fund, prom oting
b u sin esses a c tiv ities on re se r­
vations. C ynthia K ent, a re p re -
sentative o f the C ouncil on N a­
tiv e A m eric an M in istry e x ­
pressed h er concern that the
use o f cu ltu ra lly o ffen siv e im ­
ages is a serio u s problem . “ A l­
m ost one th ird o f U .S. schools
use som e kind o f in digenous
re lig io u s s y m b o l, im a g e o r
nam es,” she said. “ H a lf o f these
are e le m e n ta ry sch o o ls. O ur
children are not m asco ts— this
has got to sto p .” A ccording to
the In terfaith C en ter on C o rp o ­
ra te R e s p o n s ib ility (IC C R ),
f
C
r e a t iv e
D
ir e c t o r
R o b ert P a rk er
4 7 4 7 N E M a r tin L u th e r K in g,
Jr. Blvd.
P o rtla n d , OR 9 7 2 1 1
5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
F ax 5 0 3 - 2 8 8 - 0 0 1 5
e-m ail
n ew s@ p o rtlan d o b server.co m
a 4 » cription@portlandobBener.com
good behavior. Your behavior can
be the model your kids follow for
the rest o f their lives.
D on’t leave alcohol in un-moni-
tored areas around your home.
Invite a prevention speaker or
counselorto your school, business,
or community center.
If you or someone you know has
a problem or has questions about
alcohol, call the confidential, toll-
free HelpLine at 800-923-HELP.
Teens can also get free confiden­
tial informational 877-553-TEEN.
Alcohol-related death remains
the number one killer o f teenagers
in Oregon. More than suicide, more
than any other drug, alcohol is pub­
lic enemy number one when it comes
to teen deaths.
Now is the time to talk about
alcohol with our families, ourchil-
- 1 i
th e r e a re m o re th an 3 ,0 0 0
sch o o ls using im ages o f A m eri­
can In d ian s; N ew York state
sch o o ls m ake up 135 o f those
institutions. R ichard M ills, com ­
m issio n e r o f N ew Y ork state
ed u catio n , said this is a p ro b ­
lem . “ The use o fN ativ e-A m eri-
can sym bols or d ep ictio n s as
m asco ts can becom e a b arrier
to b u ild in g a safe and nurturing
sch o o l co m m u n ity and im p ro v ­
ing academ ic achievem ent for
a ll,” M ills said.
•«
Budget for the Wealthy, Not the Poor
E d ito r 's n o te: The f o l lo w ­
in g is an o p in io n p ie c e fr o m
T he R e g is te r -G u a r d in E u ­
g e n e on B u s h ’s b u d g et:
T h e firs t b u d g e ts p re se n te d
b y new p re s id e n ts say m uch
ab o u t th e ir id e o lo g ie s , v alu es,
v is io n s a n d p rio ritie s .
T h e p ic tu re th a t e m e rg e s
m o st c le a rly from P re sid e n t
B u s h 's first d e ta ile d sp en d in g
p la n is o n e o f a le a d e r d o g ­
g e d ly d e te rm in e d to cu t tax es,
p rim a rily fo r th e w e a lth y , at
th e e x p e n s e o f p ro g ra m s th at
serv e all A m e ric a n s and are
m o st n e e d e d b y th e p o o r.
I t ’s s c a rc e ly s u rp ris in g th a t
B ush w a ite d fo r C o n g re s s to
leav e to w n b e fo re re le a s in g
h is b u d g e t.
I f th e e v e n ly d iv id e d S en ate
h ad b ee n m o re fu lly a w a re o f
th e p o te n tia l c o s t o f B u s h ’s
huge tax cut, law m ak ers w ould
h a v e b e e n ev en b o ld e r th an
th e y w e re in s h rin k in g it from
$ 1.6 trillio n d o w n to $ 1.2 tr il­
lion.
T h e p r e s i d e n t ’s b u d g e t
fo rc e d him fo r th e first tim e to
d e ta il th e s p e n d in g re d u c tio n s
n e c e s s a ry to a c h ie v e h is tax
cu t, and th o se re d u c tio n s are
so b e rin g in d eed .
T h ey ra n g e from re d u c tio n s
in fu n d in g fo r c h ild re n ’s h o s ­
p ita ls , lo w -in c o m e e n e rg y a s ­
sista n c e an d co m m u n ity p o ­
lic in g to cu ts in c h ild -a b u se
p r e v e n tio n , in n e r - c ity e c o ­
n o m ic d e v e lo p m e n t, e n v iro n ­
m e n ta l e n fo rc e m e n t, h o u sin g
an d jo b tra in in g .
T h e B ush b u d g e t p ro v id e s
s t a r k c o n t r a s t w ith th e
p r e s id e n t’s re a s s u rin g rh e to ­
ric ab o u t c o m p a s s io n a te c o n ­
se rv a tism — th e n ee d to re v i­
ta liz e in n er c itie s , to “ leav e no
ch ild b e h in d ” a n d to be a g o o d
ste w a rd o f th e e n v iro n m e n t.
dren... our communities.
Ask yourself this question, if
one-in-four kids age 12 in Oregon
used alcohol in the last month, is
your child one o f them?
Wliile other drugs assume the
media spotlight, alcohol continues
to be the accepted, sexy, danger­
ous drug— that nobody talks about.
You can have a huge and lasting
impact on the biggest drug influ­
ence Oregonians face. Make the
time to talk to your family during
Alcohol Awareness Month.
Judy Cushing is Executive Di­
rector o f the Oregon Partner­
ship. Oregon Partnership is a
statew ide non-profit organiza­
tio n d e d ic a te d to s u b s ta n c e
abuse prevention and treatment
referral.
Clinton Gets
Mixed Grades on
Civil-Rights
W hile form erPresidentC lintonof-
ten dem onstrated leadership on civil-
rights issues, he also m issed a lot o f
opportunities to affect change, accord­
ing to a report card issued by the U.S.
C om m ission on Ci vil Rights last week.
Clinton received high m arks for
using executi ve orders to prom ote non­
discrimination in federal programs and
funding, and for improving the diver­
sity o f the federal courts and govern­
m ent offices. B ut he lost points for
failing to address racial disparities in
capital punishm ent and forblundering
on the issue o f gays in the military.
“President Clinton w as an active
participant in efforts to eliminate dis­
crimination o f all forms,” the report
said. But the shortcom ings o f his ten­
ure m ean his prom ise to build a “bridge
to one A m erica” w as, ultimately, “a
prom ise only partly fulfilled.”
The report also recom m ends ways
the Bush administration can continue
“the nation ‘ s com m itm ent to equal op­
portunity under the law.”
T he C om m ission on Civil Rights is
a bipartisan and independent agency
originally established under the Civil
Rights A ct o f 1957 and then re-estab­
lished undertheCivilR ightA ctofl 983.
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