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Hand-Made Products from Africa
African-American History Month is
being celebrated at Wild Life, Gifts
and Home Furnishings, The store,
open almost three months, is featuring
products from Africa. Utilitarian as
well as decorative, most items are hand
1 made and purchased from fair-trade
organizations. The store is located at
SE. Hawthorne Blvd,open from 10a.m.
- 7 p.m. every day. Call 236-3862.
Downtown Bicycle Tour
Trek Bicycles presents the W orst Day
o f the Year Ride on Feb. 9, starting at
9 a.m. from the Lucky Lab Pub. This is
an 11-mile bicycle tour o f downtown
Portland - rain or shine. W ith three
stops along the way and piping hot
chili, cornbread and chowder back at
the Lucky Lab at the end, this is an
event not to be missed. To register, go
online to www.W orstDayRide.com.
Home and Garden Show
The GMC Portland Home & Garden
Show is one of the largest shows in the
country and the top show in the North
west. The show will be at the Portland
Expo Center, from Feb. 20 - 24. For
information, call 246-8291 or online at
w w w .Q lQ U ghlintradeshow s.com
Convention Center Kids Auction
“Planting Seeds for the Future... Help
Our Kids Grow” has been selected as
the theme for this year’s auction for
Boys & Girls Clubs o f Portland. The
March 2 event is the biggest fundraiser
of the year for the organization. Luxury
items include jewelry, a sea cruise and
hotel stay in Hawaii. Silent auction
begins at 5 p.m. and oral auction be
gins at 7:15 p.m. Call 232-0077.
National Pancake Day
The International House of Pancakes
is flipping for National Pancake Day
The family-friendly restaurant chain
will offer a free short stack of pancakes
for all guests visiting any Oregon IHOP
location between 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. on
Tuesday, Feb. 12. All of the IHOP
restaurants are participating.
Old Town History Project
The Old Town History Project pre
sents a series o f 4 3 -minute walking
tours o f Old Town led by former resi
dents, business owners and workers.
All tours begin at 12:13 p.m. at the Old
Town History Project’s storefront
gallery at 612 NW. Davis St. and end
in a local restaurant for an informal
group discussion and no-host lunch.
On Feb. 8, JoAnne Hong will give a
presentation called “Chinese New
Years Remembered.” Call 225-0198.
George Fox Scholarship Day
An inside track on competitive schol
arships to attend George Fox Univer
sity is being offered on the Newburg
campus on Feb. 8 and 9. Scholarship
Day runs from Friday evening, 4 p.m.
in the Edwards-Holman Science Cen
ter atrium until Saturday afternoon.
Call 1-800-765-4369.
Students Cry ‘No More Cuts’
Student leaders say funding has been trimmed as much as possible
(A P ) - W ith c h a n ts o f “N o m ore
c u ts,” a n d “C u ts a re n ’t funny, g iv e us
m o n e y ,” a b o u t 8 0 0 stu d en ts rallied
T h u rsd a y to urge the L eg islatu re to
leav e sch o o l fu n d in g alone.
B ra v in g a so lid rain in d o w n to w n
P io n e e r C o u rth o u se S quare, stu d en t
lead ers sp o k e b e tw e e n band p e rfo r
m an ces to say p u b lic school fu n d in g
h as b een trim m e d as m uch as p o s
sible.
“T hey spend m illions on otherthings
an d the b ig c o rp o ra tio n s a re n ’t being
ta x e d ,” said K im m ie K ent, stu d en t
b o d y p re sid e n t at G ra n t H igh S chool
o f P o rtland.
S in ce 1991, she said, the stu d en t-
te a c h e r ra tio has g ro w n from 18 -to -1
to 2 8 -to -1. S he said pu blic fu n d in g is
$ 9 0 0 less p e r stu d e n t now than it w as
10 y ears ago.
“W h e re are y o u r p rio ritie s? ” she
asked. “I f they c u t m ore you co u ld
lo se so m e o f y o u r te a c h e rs.”
“I f y o u listen to o n e thing w e say
to d ay let it be th is,” said Jam es W ill
ia m s , s tu d e n t b o d y p r e s id e n t a t
P o rtla n d ’s L incoln H ig h School. “W e
h a v e h a d e n o u g h . W e h av e seen
e n o u g h in ad eq u ate ed u c a tio n to last a
lifetim e.
“ A n y fu rth e r cu ts w ill be a d eath
sen ten ce fo r p u blic e d u c a tio n .”
W ith a $704 m illion hole in the state
b u d g et, the L e g isla tu re m ight c o n
sid e r b o rro w in g a b o u t $ 1 0 0 m illio n
fro m th e school tru st fund w hen it
m eets F rid a y in a special session.
G ov. Jo h n K itz h a b e r said T h u rs
Students from southeast Portland's Environmental Middle School rally with other students to urge state lawmakers
not to cut funding from schools In order to make up a state budget deficit.
photo by
day h e has “g rav e co n c e rn s” about
taking m o n ey fro m the school fund to
b alan ce the b u dget but stopped short
o f saying he w ould veto a m easure
th at d id so.
S ev eral stu d en ts at the rally w ere
vague w hen ask ed w here the extra
m oney should co m e from o r w hat
should be c u t if school spending isn ’t.
M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver
O th ers had a plan.
“I think they sh o u ld add a sales
tax ,” said L au ra G ay, a G rant senior.
S tudents used lunch hours, le a d e r
ship c la sse s and a fte r-sc h o o l se s
sions to m ake sig n s and fliers for the
rally.
It d o e sn ’t take m uch to co n v in ce
c lassm ates w h at b u d g e t cu ts w ould
do to G rant students, w ho already
stru g g le w ith som e classes o f m ore
than 4 0 students. A t tim es there a re n ’ t
e n o u g h desks in the room .
F ranklin stu dents said they w ere
c o n cern ed about layoffs.
“W e are going to lose som e o f the
teach ers w e really lo v e,” said R ithy
K hut, 17, a ju n io r.
Sharing Cultures with Russian Dancers
A re a r e s id e n ts y o u n g an d o ld r e
c e n tly g o t a d o se o f w o rld c u ltu re
th a n k s to a v is it b y “T h e R u ssia n
C o lle c tio n ” d a n c e e n s e m b le fro m
S a n F ra n c is c o .
T h e tro u p e p e rfo rm e d at A tk in so n
E le m e n ta ry S c h o o l a n d w ere g u e sts
o f S y lv ia Z in g e s e r, p u b lis h e r o f
“ N o rth w e s t T e e n s ," at M a & P a
S tr o n g ’s R e s ta u r a n t at 4 1 3 4 N .
V a n c o u v e r in th e O re g o n A s s o c ia
tio n f o r M in o r ity E n tr e p r e n e u rs
B uilding.
Z in g e s e r ’s lo n g -tim e frie n d an d
R u s s ia n c h a r a c te r d a n c e in s tru c to r
L e o n id S h a g a lo v b ro u g h t the g ro u p
to P o rtla n d .
T h e " R u s s ia n C o lle c tio n ” w as
fo u n d e d in 1945 as th e “ R u ssia n
F o lk E n s e m b le ” , u n d e r th e d ir e c
tio n o f D im itri A v ra m e n k o .
Portland graphic artist Tony Petrarca (from left), student editor Zeno Latin and
other area residents enjoy a dinner at Ma & Pa Strong's Restaurant in north
Portland with members of “The Russian Collection."
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
D u rin g its Jan . 18 p e rfo rm a n c e
at A tk in so n S chool, the d a n c e rs c a p
tiv a te d the a u d ie n c e , ra n g in g fro m
c h ild re n to a d u lts.
N a ta lia B o riso v a , th e g r o u p 's a r
tistic d ire c to r a n d m istre ss o f c e r
e m o n ie s, d e liv e re d an o v e ra ll p e r
fo rm a n c e th a t w as m e sm e riz in g .
Y u ri S ig a lo y a n d A le k s e y
P ro k o s h in p r e s e n te d the ‘fu n at
h e a r t’ o f R u ssia n d a n c in g .
L a st b u t d e fin ite ly n o t le a st, M r.
S h ag alo v p reform ed elo q u e n tly w ith
A m y B row n in tw o c o u p le s ’ d an ces.
“T h e R u ssian C o lle c tio n " a c c o m
p lis h e d so m e th in g v ery sp e c ia l at
th e sch o o l. T h ey to o k an a u d ito riu m
full o f peo p le and in v o lv e d e a c h and
e v e ry o n e o f th e m , a llo w in g all to
le a v e th e ir w o rrie s b e h in d an d ju s t
h a v e fun.
OMSI’s Brain Exhibit
OMSI is having an exhibit entitled
Brain: The World Inside Your Head”
until May 5. Designed to appeal to all
ages, “Brain" will employ innovative
special effects, 3-D reproductions,
virtual reality, hands-on learning ac
tivities, and interactive technology to
teip demystify the inner working of
the brain. The exhibit will be at 1945SE.
W ater Ave. Call 797-4000.
Free Load Tasting
Childhood lead poisoning is a major
and preventable health hazard in chil
dren. Free testing will take place on the
second Saturday o f each month, from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Common Bond, 4616
North Albina. Blood lead testing of
children should be performed at ages
and 2 or at least before age 6 if no
previous testing has been done and
any risk factors for lead poisoning are
»resent.
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African Americans Tackle AIDS
Information and health fair set for Thursday at Miracles Club
L o cal A frican A m erican s w ill tackle the H IV
and A ID S crisis w ith a public ou treach p rogram as
part o f N atio n al B lack H IV and A ID S A w aren ess
and In fo rm atio n D ay.
T h e A frican A m erican H ealth C oalitio n and the
M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty H ealth D ep artm en t are c o
h o stin g an op en ho u se and in fo rm atio n fair T h u rs
day , Feb. 7, fro m 1:3 0 p .m . to 4 :3 0 p .m . at M iracles
clu b , o n the c o m e r o f M artin L u th e r K ing Jr.
B o u lev ard and M ason.
O n ce b eliev ed to be a disease ex clu siv ely a f
fecting h om o sex u al w hite m ales, A ID S has rapidly
b eco m e one o f the leading causes o f death am ong
A frican A m ericans. In fact, A ID S is the n u m b er
o n e c a u se o f d eath fo r A frican A m erican s b e
tw een th e ages o f 25 and 44.
“T h is is a p rev en tab le d ise a se ,” says C o rlis
A
M cK eev er, e x e c u tiv e d ire c to r o f the A fric a n
A m erican H ealth C oaltion. “W e w ant to get o u r
com m unity talking about w hat can be done and let
peo p le know that there are services and resources
available to them ."
T he M iracles C lub event w ill include inform ation
on H IV and A ID S, prevention and services a v a il
able for people living w ith the virus. In addition, the
health d epartm ent’s H IV P revention P rogram w ill
be offering free H IV and H epatitis C testing.
"W e want people to start thinking about th eir risk
fo r H IV . If som eone gets tested and know s th eir
H IV status, then they can take p o sitive steps to
p ro te c t them selves and prevent the spread o f the
d ise a se .” said L oreen N ichols, m an ag er o f the
health departm ent’s H IV and H ep atitis C c o m m u
nity program s.
New Crisis Hotline Opens
M ultnom ah County has opened a new 24-hours
a day, 7 days a w eek mental health crisis hotline at
503-988-4888 or toll free at 1-800-716-9769 with
culturally com petent and language appropriate
services.
The hotline is ready to serve consum ers expe
riencing m ental health crises including anxiety,
depression, loneliness and thoughts o f suicide.
Callers can expect a professionally trained, cul
turally competent mental health clinician to listen and
provide counseling by phone. They can help a caller
decide where to go for immediate assistance.
O ther responsibilities include arranging tran s
portation to either an em ergency room, urgent
walk-in clinics, or another appropriate facility;
provide inform ation about no appointm ent neces
sary urgent walk-in clinics; and refer callers to
com m unity m ental health treatm ent providers o f
fering appropriate culturally com petent and lan
guage-sensitive services.
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