Committed to Cultural Diversity www.portlandobserver.com “ffivulping, S u itla n d n m nt n nt to a If u b a r Washington's Humane Society The H om e 4 the H olidays pet adoption cam paign is still going on to place orphaned anim als with loving families and individuals during the holiday season. H undreds o f pets are avail­ able to adopt until Sunday, Jan. 6 at the Southw est W ashington H um ane So­ ciety, located at 2121 St. F rancis Lane in Vancouver. Call 360-693-4746. ô -. November 28, 2001 Catntnunitieô” Dance Company Presents ‘Hair Stories’ Performance explores politics of African-American hair Portland New Party Celebration Portland New Party invites you to a N ew Y ear’s N ew Party w ith festive food and bubb lin g b e v e ra g e s on M o n d a y ,D e c .3 1 ,fr o m 8 p .m .- 1 a.m. There w ill be an open-m ike K aroake starting at 9 p.m. Please bring food or beverages for the potluck. Call 503- 281-3951. Urban Bush Women make theirPortland debut with ‘Hair Stories,' a dance and musical performance that mixes political aggression with humor. World AIDS Awareness C atholic Charities AIDS M inistry will host the largest display o f “T he Q uilt in O regon” on Nov. 3 0 ,Dec. I,2 a n d 3 . AIDS M inistry requested 3 0 , 12’x l 2 ’ Q uilts including Ryan W h ite's quilt and panels representing local people. T he finished, hem m ed panels repre­ sent the average size o f a grave. The display w ill be held at the All Saints School, located at 3847 N E. G lisan St. Call 503-231-4866. Bonding the Family Together B o nding the F am ily T o g e th e r is a tw o and a h alf-day sem in ar for fa m i­ lies to d isc o v e r the key strateg ie s for b u ild in g su ccessfu l co m m u n ic a­ tion an d rela tin g to each o th e r in a h ealthy w ay. T he co u rse w ill be held at the B oys & G irls C lu b P ortlan d B lazers, lo cated at 5 2 5 0 N E. M artin L u th er K ing Jr. B lv d .o n D e c . 1 4,15 and 16. C all 503-963-9495. Tree Farm Guide A free Choose & Cut G uide to U-Cut Christm as tree plantations in Oregon and W ashington has been prepared by the Pacific Northwest Christm as Tree Association. The 2001 guide lists 41 Oregon U-Cut tree farm» and 40 U-Cut tree farms in Washington. For addi­ tional information regarding the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, visit our w ebsite at www.nwtrees.com or call 503-364-2942. Classical Chinese Garden P o rtlan d C h in ese G ard en w ill h ost a d isc u ssio n and to u r on the c u ltu ra l, p ra c tic a l and a e sth e tic a s se ts o f b am b o o on D ec. 1, fro m 9 :3 0 a .m .- 11:30 a.m . T he lectu re and to u r in ­ clu d e ad m issio n to the G ard en and re fre sh m e n ts du rin g the le ctu re. T o reg ister, co n tac t the G ard en o ffice at 5 0 3 -2 2 8 -8 1 3 1 , ext. 0 o r g o o n lin e to w w w .p o rtlan d c h in eseg a rd e n .c o m . Community Energy Project Learn how to take control o f your w ater and sew er bills. T he C om m unity Energy Project will be having a free w orkshop on W ater C onservation on T uesday, Dec. 4 at the M ulticultural SeniorCenter, located at 5325 NE. MLK Blvd., from 10:45 a.m. - 1 1 :45 a.m. Each Portland household receives an in­ structional w orkbook and a free kit o f m aterials w orth $25. T o register, call 503-284-6827. Urban Bush W om en, a no-nonsense troupe o f A frican-A m ericans, is com ing to Portland to perform ‘H air Stories,’ a hum oro u s, p o ig n an t co m b in atio n o f dance, test and music. T h ree p erfo rm an ce s are sch ed u le d at 8 p.m . each nig h t on D ec. 1 3 ,1 4 and 15 at P o rtlan d S tate U n iv e rsity ’s L in ­ coln H all. T he p ro d u ctio n m arks the The troupe’s repertory is suffused with furious energy, sexual freedom and pow ­ erful and vocal interplay. ‘H airStories’ explores A frican-Ameri­ can w om en’s hair and its relationship to im ages o f beauty, social position, heri­ tage and self-esteem . The “N ew Y ork T im es” has heralded Urban Bush W om en, and its founder Jaw ole W illa Jo Z ollar. as “triple-threat perform ers w ho dance, sing and act w ith a... searing sense o f truthfulness.” T ickets for the Portland perform ances are available at the PSU Box O ffice on Southw est H all at Fifth A venue and at all T icketm aster outlets. For inform ation and group sales, call W hite Bird at 503-245- 1600. Young Ladies Leadership Group Celebrates Victory Sisters in Action for Pow er, a com m u­ nity-based, multi-racial, multi-issue orga­ nization, celebrated a victory for trans­ portation equity at a Nov. 16 gathering. The group recently w on concessions from T ri-M et to reduce fares for students. Sisters in A ction for Pow er believes that a strategy for transportation plan­ ning and decision m aking must address the concerns and needs o f people m ost effected by public transit, including youth, low incom e people and people o f color. The group argues that transportation serves as a political and social link b e­ tw een housing, education and em ploy­ ment, am ong other things. As a girl-driven, intergenerational o r­ ganization, Sisters in Action for Pow er has developed an innovative youth lead­ ership developm ent program to ensure and support the full participation and leadership o f girls under the age o f 18. The program allow s for the sharing of pow er and decision making am ong young and adult wom en. The women become e mpowered as lead­ ers in the organization, in a mixed aged circle o f w omen and girls, in their peer groups, as well as in their community. North/NE Bus Schedules to Change M ore w eekend service and other im ­ provem ents to relieve w eekday crow ding are part o f series o f bus service changes to begin Oct. 2 in north and northeast Portland. Since 1998, T ri-M et’s w eekend rider­ ship has grow n 50 percent on Sundays and 26 percent on Saturdays as m ore people ride for shopping and recreational trips. The w eekend changes w ill bring 15- m inute service, seven days a w eek to the Line 8 - 5 th A venue route, w ith tw ice as many Sunday trips as before. The line jo in s 12 other prim ary bus lines w ith se r­ o p en in g to a 2 0 0 1 -0 2 W h iteb ird /P S U D ance S eries. U rban Bush W om en is a com pany o f seven A frican A m erican dances dedi­ cated to exploring the use o f cultural expression as a catalyst for social change, making possible the transform ation o f struggle and suffering into the b itter­ sw eet jo y o f survival. vice running at least every 15 m inutes throughout the day, seven days a week. Otherchanges inpact the Line 1 -Greeley route w ith w eekend service doubling to every 30 m inutes. W eekend service on the Line 10-NE 33rd A venue route also doubles to 30 m inutes. The Line 6-M artin Luther King Jr. Bou­ levard route gets a new Sunday schedule. The Line 5 Interstate gets tw o more evening trips to V ancouver on w eekdays, and L ine 40-M ocks C rest gets an extra w eekday afternoon trip from Southw est 6th & Salm on. continued on page AH Sisters in Action for Power is a group o f women and girls o f color that campaign for economic, racial and gender equality. photo by J ohnny H lfe / T he P ortland O bserver More People Choose to Abandon Cars (A P ) - Portland ranks am ong top 25 percent o f U .S . cities in getting to w ork w ithout driving there alone, according to U.S. Census Bureau findings. A quarter or more o f O regon’s m etro area residents reported using an alter­ native m eans o f com m uting, mostly carpooling, riding the bus, w alking or bicycling. “T here are tw o things I hear from everybody w h o ’s hiked in other cities and then m oved here: ‘I see so many bikers h ere ,' and, ‘It’s so m uch easier to bike here than in oth er cities w here I have lived,” ’ said Brita Johnson, volun­ teer coordinator w ith the Bicycle T rans­ portation Alliance. T w elve percent o f Portlanders ride the bus to w ork, com pared to a national city average o f 9 percent. M ore than 2 percent o f Portland com m uters cycle to work, com pared to a national average o f ju st .6 percent. T w elve percent o f Portland resi­ dents car pool, 4 percent w alk and 4 p er­ cent eschew the com m ute altogether and w ork at home. A ltogether, 37 percent o f Portland com m uters used alternate transportation. T he figures reported by the C ensus Bureau com e from the C ensus 2000 Supplem ental Survey. The survey w as given by m ail, by phone and in person to 700,000 households throughout 2000. M ore than 9,000 M ultnom ah C ounty households took part, m aking it one o f the m ost-sam pled counties in the n a­ tion. Because the survey did not reach every household, as an official census does, and excludes group living q u ar­ ters, the results are estim ates. T he survey also did not list light rail as a choice. People w ho get to w ork m ainly by M A X train w ere forced to continued on page AH