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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2001)
“ffiûdÿitig, P<wt£and’ô CanwiunitLeô” n m in u n i t n a I e n ò a r Kids are Upward Bound at PSU Turkey Trot Join the Oregon Road Runner’s Club on Nov. 22, from 8 a m . -1 1 a.m. in their annual Thanksgiving fun run through the zoo. For registration information, call the Oregon Zoo at 503-646-7867. Residents cited for seeing diversity as strength and building an inclusive agenda The Juvenile Rights Project Parents and guardians of school-age children can receive training to edu cate their own and their children’s rights in Suspension and Expulsion procedures and in Special Education issues at the Matt Dishman Commu nity Center, located at 77 NE. Knott on Tuesday, Nov. 27, from 6:30 p.m. - 8 p m Call503-823-3179. Decorating the Oregon Way Using fresh materials from the garden can add fragrance and ambiance to the holiday season. Calling on the talents of one of O regon’s very best floral designers, the Oregon Garden is an nouncing a special class called “Home for the Holidays: Decorating the O r egon W ay” by Jack Richards. The class will be on Tuesday, Nov. 27, from 5-8:30p.m . Call 503-874-8100. Tree Farm Guide A free Choose & Cut Guide to U-Cut Christmas tree plantations in Oregon and Washington has been prepared by the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association. The 2001 guide lists 41 Oregon U-Cut tree farms and 40 U-Cut tree farms in Washington. For addi tional information regarding the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, visit our website at www.nwtrees.com or call503-364-2942. Classical Chinese Garden Portland Chinese Garden will host a discussion and tour on the cultural, practical and aesthetic assets of bam boo on Dec. 1, from 9:30 a.m .-1 1 :3 0 a.m. The lecture and tour includes admission tot he Garden and refresh ment during the lecture. To register, contact the Garden office at 503-228- 8 1 3 1 , ex t. 0 o r go o n lin e to www.portlandchinesegarden.com. Empower the Immune System Now is the time to know the natural antidote that empowers the immune system and does not cause danger ous side effects. A slow moving exer cise for self-healing from China called Pan Gu Shengong will be taught from Wednesday, Nov. 28-Friday, Nov. 30 at the Davis Business Center, located at4370NE.Halsey.from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Call 503-691-1915 or go online to www.pangushengong.org Community Energy Project Learn how to take control of your water and sewer bills. The Community Energy Project will be having a free workshop on W ater Conservation on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at the Multicultural Senior Center, located at5325 NE. MLK Blvd., from 10:45 a.m. - 1 1 :45 a.m. Each Portland household receives an in structional workbook and a free kit of materials worth $25. To register, call 503-284-6827. M arian Wright Edelman to Speak Y Child Care, a division o f YMCA of the Columbia-W illamette, and Stand for Children, A m erica’s only nation wide grassroots voice forchildren will present the “Strong Kids, Strong Fami lies, Strong Communities Speakers Forum." Marian Wright Edelman, presi dent and founder of the C hildren's Defense Fund will be speaking on M onday, Dec. 3 at the Trinity Episco pal Cathedral, located at 147 NW. 19*h S t, from 7-8 p.m. Call 503-946-5437. Providence Festival of Trees T h is year, the Providence Festival o f T rees features over 50 beautifully deco rated C hristm as trees and h o li day displays. The display w ill be at the O regon C onvention C enter, E x h ib it H all A from Friday, Dec. 7 - Sunday, Dec. 9. Call 503-215-6070. d— -- ---- , Portsmouth is Neighborhood of the Year Students attend a symposium to explore careers in math and science at Portland State University. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver A large group o f inner-city kids have a better understanding of careers in the fields of mathematics and science thanks to a day-long series o f speakers, work shops and activities at Portland State University. The students attended a Nov. 12 sci ence and math careers symposium, spon sored by the college’s Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search program. Guest speakers met in small student groups to describe their jobs, explain what was needed to prepare for their occupa tion and to share personal stories on how they went about creating a career path. Anything o f interest about science, math and careers was discussed. A number o f special activities and demonstrations gave students a glimpse of the kind of satisfaction that math and science jobs can bring to the people in these fields. PSU ’s Upward Bound and Education Talent Search program serves young people who are from low -income families or who are the first members o f their fam ily’s generation to attend college. The college regularly provides tutor ing, after school and Saturday classes and workshops, an extensive summer camp and a summer education program. The programs also assist students through the college and financial-aid appli cation process, provide help on studying for college entrance exams, and otherwise monitor the kids’ progress and success. Children’s Center Builds on Success A child care center serving primarily low and limited-income families in north and northeast Portland will grow to serve more children and families thanks to valu able financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation has given the Penin sula Children's Center,4720 N. Maryland, a $250,000 grant to help retire the center’s mortgage and free up funds for programs and services. “The foundation’s support, combined with a 3-year capacity building grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust, provides us with the resources necessary to undergo significant capacity building and organi zational developm ent,” said M arcia Mulvey, Peninsula executive director. Mulvey said the ultimate goal is for the center to increase and enhance its pro grams and services and “in turn strength ening our 30 year commitment to the com munity.” Founded in 1970 and certified by the Oregon Child Care Division, Peninsula provides a full range of childcare services for children ages six weeks to 12-years- old. An infant, toddler, preschool and be fore and after school programs serve more executive director of the Peninsula Children 's Center. than 350 children a year. By charging sliding-scale tuition based on family income and providing transpor- tation for before and after school pro grams, the center meets a vital need for working families. In 1990, the Portsmouth district of north Portland was more known for drive-by shootings and gang violence associated with Columbia Villa, the public housing complex within its borders. Bui Thursday, M ayor Vera Katz acknowledged a major turnaround by naming Portsmouth the Spirit of Portland Neighborhood of the Year. What a difference 10 years can make! Since the peak of gang violence, countless volunteer activists, non profit groups and government agen cies have worked to turn this neigh borhood around. The late County Com mission Chair Gladys M cCoy was an im portant early leader in changing the area with her much-heralded ef forts in the Villa. Now Columbia Villa is in the midst o f a $ 135 million federally funded revitalization ef fort. Other m ajor efforts are under way. The neighbors lobbied hard for Portsmouth’s inclusion in the In terstate Max Urban Renewal Dis trict. Portsm outh residents also prodded die city into getting a major planning effort for Lombard Street started. But most residents believe the Spirit o f Portland award recognizes the neighborhood for the smaller and more meaningful community- based work done more recently. “The neighbors worked together to recognize that this is a multi lingual, multi-ethnic neighborhood that is very low incom e,” said Cornelius Swart, Grant Director o f the neighborhood revitalization pro gram Portsm outh Vision 20/20. “The neighbors saw that as a strength instead o f a liability, and built an inclusive agenda based on that.” The achievements of neighbor hood residents include building play ground equipment in Columbia Park, a community new sletter in four languages mailed to every resident, and street banners in five languages. Residents have worked tirelessly with groups like Friends o f Trees and area public schools for years to help enhance the neighborhood and include children in the experience. “It’s been a lot of hard work,” says Susan Landauer, chair of the Community Association of Ports mouth. “But it all pays off when people take pride in where they live.” WSU Vancouver Hosts Forum on Afghanistan Since the Sept. 11 East Coast attacks, Americans have been struck by the im portance of a part of the world they know little about. The stakes are high. The central and south Asia region includes hundreds o f ethnic groups, four nuclear weapons states and a history of intense conflict. W a sh in g to n S ta te U n iv e rsity Vancouver plans a forum Dec. 6 titled “Afghanistan and Its Neighbors: Under- standing the Region,” that will discuss the political, social and cultural complexi ties of Central and South Asia. The forum is set for 7 p.m. in the Stu dent Services lecture hall and is free and open to the public. Featured speakers include Anita Weiss and Lynn Renken. Weiss is a professor o f international studies at University of Oregon. She is an expert on Pakistan and South Asia and was conducting research in Pakistan on Sept. 11. Her most recent book, “Power and Civil Society in Pakistan," links poli tics and culture in the world’s sixth largest nation and only Islamic nuclear state. Renken is the program director for Mercy Corps, a poverty relief organiza tion based in Portland. As the director of Mercy Corps’ ongoing project in Afghani stan, she will explain the dynamics of Afghani people and politics before, dur ing and after U.S. military operations there. 1 Members of the WSU Vancouver fac ulty will also comment on current events from the perspective of the other nuclear powers in the region, India. China and Russia. There will be time for questions from the audience. The forum is sponsored by the WSU Vancouver programs in public affairs with support from the WSU Vancouver Diver sity Task Force. Formore information, call 360-546-9640. I