August 8,2001
Page A3
<ïbt JJorilanò ©h server
Study Says Early Americans From Japan
(A P) - The first people to
cross a land bridge from Asia
and settle in the A m ericas may
have been descendants o f an
ancient group w ho once lived
in Japan, according to a new
stu d y .
R esearchers exam ining and
m easuring the bone structure
o f nearly 10,000 ancient hu
m an s k u lls c o lle c te d fro m
around the w orld say the first
A m ericans w ere m ost closely
related to the Jom on, a preh is
toric people w ho lived in Japan
thousands o f years ago, and to
a later group, the Ainu.
C. L oring B race o f the M u
seum o f A nthropology at the
U niversity of M ichigan said the
skull m easurem ents and other
evidence suggest the m em bers
o f th e J o m o n - A in u g ro u p
crossed w hat is now the Bering
S traits and m igrated through
out the A m ericas, from A laska
to the tip o f South A m erica.
“T hese w ere not the people
w ho now live in Japan,” said
Brace, lead author o f a study.
“T hose people m igrated to Ja
pan later from Asia, but you
c a n s till fin d tra c e s o f the
Jom on am ong the Japanese.”
Brace said the Jom on had
som e characteristics o f E uro
peans, along w ith A sian influ
e n c e s.
At the tim e o f the first m i
gration, 15,000 years ago, ice
covered much of the northern
world, causing the worldw ide
sea level to drop by hundreds o f
feet. The Bering Strait, w hich
is not m uch deep er than 60
feet in m ost places, was not
there. Instead, there was a dry
land bridge from A laska to Si
beria.
Brace said characteristics of
the first migrants are now clearly
seen in many of the American
In d ia n trib e s, in c lu d in g the
Blackfoot, Sioux and Cherokee.
Comment Sought on Health Plan Changes
The Oregon Health Plan pro
ew legislation will
vides
coverage for people on
add up to 50,000
Oregonians to the public assistance. It also pro
coverage for about 93,000
Oregon Health Plan, vides
but re
people
who are not in a tradi
duce coverage to pay for more
people using the insurance
plan.
As a result, community
forum s are scheduled
statewide to learn how
people would prefer ben
efits to change. Two pub
lic meetings will be held in
the Portland area, starting
»
with a session on Wednes
day, Aug. 8 at Tuality
Hospital in Hillsboro, fol
lowing by a meeting Tues
day, A ug. 28 at the
Adventist Medical Cen
ter, 10123 S.E. Market St.
Both sessions will run from
6 p.m. to 8 p.m..
“We will ask per,pie how
they rank various benefits
such as physician services,
dental care and prescrip
tion drugs,” said Dr. John
Santa, administrator of the
state Office for Oregon
Health Plan Policy and Re
search, which staffs the
state commission. “We
also want to hear opinions
about costs such as higher
premiums, deductibles and
co-pays.”
N
tional Medicaid category or who
earn too much for assistance
but whose household incomes
are still below the federal pov
erty level ($ 1,179 a month for a
family of 3).
That expanded coverage,
now in its eighth year, would
grow to cover Oregonians with
a household income of up to
185 percent of the federal pov
erty level ($2,181 a month for a
family of 3).
Expanding the number of
people covered, which is ex
pected by late 2002, will be
financed by a combination of
reducing the benefit package
and seeking federal matching
funds.
A C T IO N
s
y
Abdullah
Takes Job
Promoting
Health
<;■ «
________
Shareefah Abdullah
Southw est W ashington
H ealth D istrict has hired
S h a re e fa h A b d u lla h o f
V ancouver as its first com
m unications specialist.
A form er media relations
m anager for the Am erican
H e a rt
A s s o c ia tio n ,
A bdullah will handle inter
nal and external com m uni
cations.
“W e’re pleased to add
Shareefah to the health dis
trict team,” executive direc
tor Kay Koontz said.
Abdullah holds a law de
gree from N o rthw estern
School o f Law of Lewis and
C lark C ollege in Portland
and a bachelor’s degree in
political science from the
Univ. of Massachusetts at
Boston. She wrote neighbor
hood and business news for
the Colombian in Vancouver,
before joining the American
Heart Association.
She is a member of the
Public Relations Society of
America and former president
of the Portland Association
of Black Journalists.
<
z
z
w w w .o fe g o n lo tte r y .o r g
O re g o n L o t t e r y S p o rts A c tio n is N O J a s s e tta te d w ith ,
sp o n s o re d o r a u t h o m e d by th e N a tio n a l F o o tb a ll L e a g u e
o r any o t h e r pro fessio n al s p o rts le a g u e o r o r g a n is a tio n .
L o t t e r y g am es a r e b as ed on c h a n c e , sho u ld b e p layed
fo r e n t e r t a in m e n t o nly a n d sho u ld h o t be
p layed fo r in v e s tn s e n t p u rp o ses.
O d d s v a ry by th e n u m b e r o f e v e n ts p la y e d
E stim ated Payout • 40 V