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December 12, 2001
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Beginning on Friday, Dec. 21 until
N ew Y ear’s Eve, M others A gainst
D runk D riving w ill be hosting the
M ADD C ab program . This is a free
service intended to provide a safe,
sober ride hom e to anyone who may
have had too m uch to drink and
drive. It w ill operate nightly from
7:30 p.m. - 2 a.m. For more info., call
503-284-M A D D (6233) and ask for
M arie Brown.
Healthy Solutions for
Loneliness
The O regon H ealth & Science U ni
versity will be giving an educational
talk on “Healthy Solutions for Lone
liness.” D uring the talk, the speaker
will offer som e helpful solutions on
how to approach feelings o f lo n eli
ness and isolation that we all expe
rience at different tim es in our lives.
The event w ill be at the K ing C ity
Tow n Hall, located at 15245 SW.
116th Ave., from 1 0-11 a. m. Call 503-
494-0060.
Schools May Overhaul Desegregation Policy
A two-decades old policy fails to balance schools, close achievement gap
(AP) — A voluntary desegregation
plan for inner city schools has failed to
increase the racial mix or close an achieve
ment gap between minority and white
students, officials say.
More than 20 years after the plan went
into effect, Portland schools are more
segregated than they were in 1980, said
Deputy Superintendent Pat Burk, the
school district’s senior academic officer.
“I think it would be an appropriate time
to evaluate the effectiveness of what we ’ re
doing,” Burk said.
The 1980 desegregation plan empha
sized voluntary busing, enrichment pro
grams to overcome the effects of poverty
on achievement, and magnet schools to
draw white students into predominately
black neighborhoods of north and north
east Portland.
The city has spent tens o f millions of
dollars to carry out the plan. But 11 of the
12 largely African American schools re
ceiving money for desegregation still have
a higher proportion of minority students
than in 1980, officials say.
In addition, gaps in reading and math
scores between white and black students
are nearly as wide as they were two de
cades ago despite an increase in overall
achievement for students of all ethnic
backgrounds.
Burk is pushing the school board to
face.
The plan was adopted in 1980 after
federal courts began to reject mandatory
busing to integrate schools. Portland was
among many large urban school districts
to switch to voluntary integration pro
grams, even as more white families moved
to the suburbs.
There is nothing magic about being white, but it’s those
schools that have better teachers, a better academic
climate and kids who are all expected to go to college,
—Gary Orfield of the Harvard Civil Rights Project.
overhaul the plan before state funding
expires in 2005.
In 1997, Portland persuaded the Legis
lature to pick up the bulk of the funding for
desegregation, now about $7 million. The
54,000-student district— the only one in
Oregon compensated for integration ef
forts — convinced lawmakers that it car
ried a burden other districts didn ’ t have to
Gary Orfield of the Harvard Civil Rights
Project said that segregated schools are
almost always bad for minority children.
“Nine times out o f 10, segregated
schools will have concentrated poverty,”
Orfield said. “T hat's almost the opposite
o f the income of mostly white segregated
schools.
“There is nothing magic about being
white, but it’s those schools that have
better teachers, a better academic climate
and kids who are all expected to go to
college," Orfield said.
He said research also shows that m i
nority students in integrated schools do
better on achievement tests and perform
better in college.
Portland test results this year show
that both white and black fifth-graders
have made gains in reading. But white
students had higher average scores, and
the average test score gap between the
two ethnic groups had closed by only one
point from 1998 and 2001.
“We clearly have not eliminated the
achievement gap,” Burk said.
Steve Buel, who helped write Portland's
desegregation plan as a school board
member in 1980, said the board was heavily
criticized for putting money into schools
in minority neighborhoods to achieve
equity.
“T hat’s not a popular thing in this
city,” he said.
Haircuts for Kids
I t’s holiday cheer w ith all the trim
m in g s . N o rth an d N o r th e a s t
Portland’s children will receive free
haircuts ju st in tim e for the holidays
thanks to the generosity o f 25 local
hairstylists. The haircuts w ill be
given on M onday, Dec. 24, from 9
a.m. - 5 p.m. at The Salvation Army
M oore Street Corps and Com m unity
Center, located at 5325 N. W illiams.
Ave.
Huge flood
lights installed
by the National
Electrical
Contractors
Association and
the International
Brotherhood o f
Electrical
Workers Local
48 and other
volunteers make
the historic
Stemwheeler
'Portland'an
evening
attraction.
The Women & Money Workshop
The W om en & M oney w orkshop is
a free event that provides basic fi
n a n c ia l p la n n in g e d u c a tio n f o r i
women. This is a one-day w orkshop I
designed to help w om en take c o n - 1
trol o f their financial future. The I
w orkshop will be held on Saturday, I
Dec. 15, from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m . at the I
B lack U nited Fund o f O regon. I o - 1
cated at 2828 NE. Alberta. Call 5 0 3 - 1
282-7973.
Water Conservation Workshop
The Com m unity Energy Project will I
be holding a free w orkshop on W a - 1
ter C onservation. Learn how to take I
control o f your water and sewer bills. I
This w orkshop provides in fo rm a - 1
tion on how to detect and repair I
leaks, w ater conservation ideas in I
and around your hom e, plus details I
on P o rtlan d ’s incredible w ater s y s - 1
tern. The workshop will be at 422 NE. I
A lberta St. on T hursday, Dec. 1 3 , 1
ffo m 6 -7 :3 0 p .m .C a ll503-284-6827. 1
Hollywood Senior Center
C elebrate the C hristm as holiday I
w ith the H ollyw ood Senior C enter I
as they venture up the C olum bia I
G orge to have a fantastic dinner at I
the Colum bia G orge H otel in Hood I
River. T here is also the opportunity I
to shop at D eck the H alls C hristm as I
shop, w hich is close by. The event I
w ill be on T hursday, Dec. 2-, from 3 I
p.m. - 8 p.m. Call 503-288-8303.
Salvation Army Gift Giving
V olunteer elves for the Salvation I
Army will sort, stock and distribute I
thousands o f donated toys, c lo th - 1
ing and food at the C hristm as d is tr i- 1
bution center on Friday, Dec. 21 and I
Saturday, Dec. 22 at 1625 NE. Sandy. I
photo by H arold
H utchinson for
A ckroyd
P hotography
Historic Tug Made Into Evening Attraction
A new glow sparkles each evening
from the downtown waterfront, placing a
piece of Portland history in spectacular
view.
The recent lighting of the stemwheeler
'Portland,' was made possible thanks to
the National Electrical Contractors Asso
ciation and the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers Local 48 and other
volunteers.
“W hen we w ere approached with
the idea it was an exciting opportunity
to use our professional contractors to
help with som ething everyone who
drives by dow ntow n at night can en
jo y ," said Bill E llis of M cCoy Electric
an d
NECA
c o n tr a c to r .
“ T he
Sternw heeler Portland is so large and
visible that it reaches out to you and
says. This is a part of P ortland’s his
ing the next step and fully lighting the
vessel was only a dream of the museum.
A generous donation of nearly $50,000 in
volunteer time, supplies and equipment
made it happen.
The floodlights will be automatically
controlled to minimize energy usage and
maximize the efficiency of the state of the
art lighting fixtures that offer the latest in
energy saving technology.
Home Weatherizing Combats Rise in Energy Costs
I
Southwest Washington
Humane Society
The Home 4 the H olidays pet a d o p - 1
tion cam paign is still going on to I
jlace orphaned anim als with loving I
fam ilies and individuals during the I
holiday season. H undreds o f pets I
are available to adopt until Sunday, I
Ian. 6 at the Southw est W ashington I
Humane Society, located at 2121 St. I
Francis Lane in Vancouver. Call 3 6 0 - 1
693-4746
tory’” .
T h e ‘Portland’ was built in 1947 and is
a classic Columbia River stemwheeler
design, unique to the Columbia River
system. She worked for the port for 31
years as a
ship-assist tug before retiring.
The Oregon Maritime Center and
Museum has worked hard to restore the
vessel and keep it in mint condition. Tak
A volunteer from Portland General Electric fastens weather stripping to the
door o f a southeast Portland home as part o f a campaign to help senior and
disabled residents lower their energy costs.
photo by J ohnny
H i ff /T hf P ortland O bsfryfr
I
Armed with caulk guns and rolls of
heavy-duty vinyl, 60 volunteers from
Portland G eneral E lectric scattered
through Portland Dec. 1 to weatherize
homes o f senior and disabled residents.
The event marked the com pletion of
a yearlong effort betw een the utility
and the Com m unity Energy Project to
w eatherize nearly 60 hom es in Port
land neighborhoods.
In light o f the recent increase in
energy prices, PG E has oolstered its
participation in the project, which helps
custom ers w ho need assistance trim
their m onthly electric bills by installing
energy efficiency measures.
“M any o f these folks are on fixed
incomes, so the savings they realize
can be used for food, housing and
other living costs. It’s a w in-w in situ
ation - residents benefit and PG E e m
ployees benefit by being involved in
their com m unity," said Bob C haples,
executive director o f the C om m unity
E nergy P ro ject, h e a d q u a rte re d on
A lberta Street in northeast Portland.
The volunteers add w indow insula
tion: sim ple fram es w ith heavy duty
clear vinyl that fit over existing w in
dow s. They caulk around w indow s,
add foundation covers and take other
sim ple steps to help keep the heat in and
the w inter chill out.
“This is a project that really touches
the heart." said V ickie R ocker, PG E
com m unity affairs representative.