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P o rtla n d
(Obi
Aprii 25, 2001
(The 'Jtfortlanb (íOheemer
Health/Education
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G ettin g a G rip on A lcoh ol P rob lem s School Exclusion Could
A rea residents recently partic ipated
in National Alcohol Screening Day, an
educational program that allows people
to seek help w ith alcohol problems
“Tens o f thousands o f Oregonians
suffer from alcohol abuse or alcohol
dependence,” says Barbara Cimaglio,
adm inistratoroftheO fficeofD rugand
A lcohol A buse o f the Oregon Dept. o f
H um an Services. “Thousands more
drink at times or in ways that can place
them selves or others at risk."
To help people recognize the signs
o f an alcohol problem and seek treat
m ent, the department joined mental
health workers in sponsoring the third
annual National Alcohol Screening
Day, April 5.
Participants learned about the lull
range ofalcohol problems, completed
a b rief w ritten screening to assess their
alcohol use or that o f someone else,
and had the opportunity to talk pri
vately with a substance abuse health
professional.
Individuals who scored positive on
the screening were given the names
and telephone numbers o f local treat
ment facilities. Cimaglio said that signs
o f alcohol problem s include the fol
lowing: Drinking to calm n e n es, to
forget worries or boost a sad mood;
guilt about drinking; unsuccessful at
tem pts to cut dow n/stop drinking; ly
ing about or hiding drinking habits;
causing harm to oneself or someone
else as a result o f drinking; needing to
drink increasing am ounts in order to
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Barbara Stanbrow, a licensed mental health professional, recently donated her services at the Therapy Studio,
1016 N. W. 17'h Ave., fo r free, anonymous screenings for alcohol problems as part o f National Alcohol Screening
Day.
(P hoto by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver )
achieve desired effect; feeling irritable,
resentful or unreasonable w hen not
drinking; and medical, social, family or
financial problems caused by drinking.
To learn mote you can log on the Internet
www.OiegonCounseling.Org or call 1-
800-THERAPIST. This is a free refer
Students Get Better About Paying Loans
T he percen tag e o f O reg o
nian student bo rro w ers d e
f a u l t in g on t h e i r lo a n s
dropped to an all-tim e low
o f 3.5 percent in 1999.
T h a t’s acco rd in g to a re
port from the O regon S tu
fault rate hit 22 percent in
1992. Since then, O re g o n ’s
rate has stead ily d eclin ed ,
re a c h in g its lo w e st ra te
since the beginning o f the
federal student loan p ro
gram .
dent A ssista n c e C o m m is
sion. The loan default rate
w as dow n from a record
low o f six percent in 1998.
O r e g o n ’s d e f a u lt ra te
p e a k e d at 16 p e rc e n t in
1990, and the national d e
ral service to get the nam es and cre
dentials o f qualified therapists who
have skill and experience w ith your
specific concerns.
More than 6,800 children were
sent home from Oregon schools
and childcare facilities in Febru
ary because they were missing
required shots.
Although the number o f exclu
sions was significantly higher than
in previous years, it could have
been much worse, according to
Grant Higginson, M.D., acting ad
ministrator at the Oregon Health
Division.
“This year 35,713 exclusion or
ders were issued and 19 percent
o f the children who received those
letters ended up being sent home,”
Higginson said.
“This compares to an average
o f 14 percent to 18 percent o f kids
sent home over the past five
years.”
“This was the first year that
new immunization requirements
for seventh-graders went into ef
fect. When you consider how
many more students had to meet
the requirement, we did an excel
lent j ob in getting children caught
up on their shots so they could
stay in school, “ Higginson said.
He credits the hard work o f
schools, parents, m edical pro
viders, the m edia and county
health departm ents who cam e
together to get children im m u
nized.
New im m unization rules re
quire that students in seventh
grade have a second dose o f
m easles vaccine, a shot for
chickenpox or a history o f hav
ing chickenpox disease, and be
up-to-date on their hepatitis B
vaccine series. Children in kin
dergarten and children’s facili
ties are now required to meet
the chickenpox requirem ents.
“ It isn ’t too soon for parents
to start immunizing younger chil
dren with the additional required
vaccines. W e’ll have another
large group o f children starting
seventh grade in ju st a few
m onths, so it’s never too early,”
Higginson said.
Parents seeking im m uniza
tions for their children should
contact their private provider,
county health clinic or call O r
e g o n S a fe N e t at 1 -8 0 0 -
SAFENET, or 1 -800-723-3638.
In the P ortland m etro area,
SafeNet can be reached at 503-
988-5858.
NAACP Video Addresses HIV
The Portland NAACP Branch
has available the HI V/AIDS video
series, co-produced by the Na
tional NAACP Health Committee
and DuPont Pharm aceuticals
Company for training and educa
tional purposes. The video tittles
are: “House on Fire”, “Sister’s
Keeper” and “Coming to Life”.
The three part series and a train
ing guide are available upon re
quest.
The
NAACP
H ealth
Committee’s mission, goals and
objectives is to address health
concerns and work towards the
improvement o f health for all
African Americans. For infor
mation and video requests, con
tact Crystal Busch, Health Com
mittee Chair, 503-253-8556.
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