Page A6
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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