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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 2002)
Page A3 April 17, 2002 Kid Drinking Confronted Rose Festival Ambassadors Begin Tour continued First Lady Sharon Kitzhaber dedicates underage drinking exhibit at OMSI First Lady Sharon Kitzhaber called upon Oregonians today to make the prevention o f underage drinking a statewide priority. The First L ady’s comments were made at the dedication of a new exhibit on underage drinking at the Oregon Museum o f Science and Industry in Portland. She was joined by Nancy Stueber, OMSI president, BarbaraCimaglioofthe Department of Human Services, and Pamela Erickson, Oregon Li quor Control Com mission direc tor and pas, chair of the Oregon Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, to declare April, Alco hol Awareness Month. “The extent of alcohol con sumption by children ages 9 to 15 is alarming. Preventing underage drinking must become our prior ity,” said the First Lady. “Drink ing alcohol should no, be a rite of passage to adulthood.” A ccording to research, the early use of alcohol can impede a child’s healthy physical, mental and social development. And, a substantial number of children who begin drinking before the age o f 13 will develop alcohol depen dence a, some point in their lives. Sharon K itzhaberisco-chairof the National Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free. Her remarks referred to recent findings from O regon’s Healthy Teen Survey 2001 by the Oregon Department o f Human Services. The survey indicates that 43 per cent of the state’s 11 th graders are likely to consume alcohol in the next month. “O reg o n ’s collaboration is w orking under the same um brella, 'W ise up - Straight talk about alco h o l.’ We w an, people to u n d erstan d that alco h o l is a d an g e ro u s drug that is th re a t e n i n g th e h e a lth o f o u r y o u th ,” sa id N ina R o b art, e x ec u tiv e d ire c to r o f the O regon C o a litio n to R educe U nderage D rinking. "R ight now , kids are say in g i t ’s easy to get a lc o hol. T h e b est w ay to red u ce u n d era g e d rin k in g is to keep a lc o h o l a w a y fro m y o u n g p eo p le w ith in our hom es and com m unities.” For more information about wha, adults and youth can do to prevent underage drinking, visit www.ocrud.org orcall 1-800-923- I llJ T outstanding women who were selected from 14Portland-area high schools by their respec tive student bodies. Each mem b er re p re s e n ts h er sch o o l throughout the m onths of May and June at many com m unity ev e n ts, including m eetings with business leaders, visits to hospitals and meetings with a variety o f civic groups. To q ual i fy for the court, young women must be full-time stu dents, members of their gradu ating classes, have grade point averages of at least 2.75, demon strate good citizenship and have good attendance records. T he candidates are ev alu ated on character, com m uni cation and presence. The court members were elected over the past few weeks by vote o f their respective student bodies. R an d all R ealty C orp, is proud to sponsor the Rose F estiv al C our, sc h o larsh ip program . Each court m em ber Work Begins on Native American Center at PSU Gary Cumpston (from left) of Bank of America, PSU President Daniel Bernstine, and students Francene Ambrose, president of American Indians Science and Engineering Society, and Damion Barnett, coordinator of United Indian Students in Higher Education, celebrate the ground breaking for PSU's new Native American Students and Community Center. photo by B rent P ortland State U niversity re cently broke ground on the co n struction o f the N ative A m eri can S tudent and C om m unity Center. “T his project represents an im portant cultural and educa S chauer /PSU tional asset fo ro u rco m m u n ity ,” sa id PSU P re s id e n t D an ie l B e r n s tin e at an A p ril 5 groundbreaking cerem ony. “It has been extrem ely rew arding for P ortland State U niversity to be involved w ith elected offi- fro m Front U l » POSSIBILITIES Theme and logo for the 2002 Rose Festival court. receives a $3,000 college schol arship. For more inform ation on the Rose Festival, call 503-227- 2681 o r go o n lin e to w w w .rosefestival.org. UPT0W^~D0WN/T0WN. OUT TOTHL^ALL. cials, students, private donors and the N ative A m erican tribes in m aking this project a reality.” The center will stand as a symbol of PSU ’s com mitm ent to goodw ill, diversity and com m u nity pride, according to D onald Sampson, the center’s campaign chair. “ T he center w ill serve as foundation for other program s and enrich Portland State, the city and state o f O regon. We will see its benefits far into the fu tu re,” Sam pson said. T he C enter will be the only one o f its kind in the Portland m etropolitan region, hom e to 14,000 A m erican Indian and A laska native people. T he site will serve as a cu l tural hom e for native students, supporting their enrollm ent a, PSU and enhancing their aca dem ic studies. The center will also provide a resource room equipped with com puters for students, class room s, m eeting and conference spaces, and an opportunity for all w ho visit the C enter to learn about N ative A m erican tra d i tions and historical and co n tem porary issues of im portance to indigenous people. TAKE TRI-MET. Health Service Providers Merge Consolidation serves North/Northeast African Americans Tw o local mental health pro viders have joined forces to serve area residents with mental health and substance abuse services. The Center for Com munity Mental Health, a 28-year-old or ganization with a special com mit ment to the African American com m unity, has m erged with Tualatin Valley Centers. Locally, Tualatin Valley Cen ters has been providing services a, M cCoy A cadem y, Self-En hancem ent, Inc.,Colum bia Villa. James John Elementary School, and the Center for Community Mental Health. 1, is a participating m em ber of the Northeast Rescue Planning Action Committee and a founding member of the Leo Ni Leo and African American G am bling Treatment programs that were part o f the Center for Com munity Mental Health. “Reaching this important deci sion has been a careful and delib erate process by both o f our boards and management staff. It has been important to both agen cies that any affiliation be based Advertise with diversity Z/i lattò (If)h server call 503.288.0033 «em ail: ads@portlandobserver.com on shared vision and mission that preserves and whenever possible, expands the services of both or ganizations to reach even further into our com m unity,” said Mary Monnat, president and chief ex ecutive officer of Tualatin Valley Centers. “After much consulta tion and review, it was concluded that, in essence, we are stronger together than either one of us could ever be standing alone.” Agency officials said while the name “CenterforCommunity Mental Health" will be going away, Tualatin Valley Centers will maintain programs familiar in the community, including the Conquest Center, Project forCom- munity Recovery, the Leo Ni Leo program for African American male youth with addiction and/or mental health issues, and the Nickerson Cen ter for early childhtxxl and adoles cent day treatment. sSR WfflKi« Get there and back with a 6-hourTri-Met QuikTik. You can purchase a Quik Tik atTri-Met ticket vending machines or from your bus driver. TRI-MET 503-238-RIDE RACIAL & ETHNIC APPROACHES to COMMUNITY HEALTH A PROGRAM OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH COALITION 2800 N. Vancouver Avenue, Suite 100, Portland Oregon 97227; 503 413-1850 SDonsored bv the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ¡5 A community action plan to decrease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 1? WHY? STAY ED... the Oregon African American community. The program, "A Healthy Community Starts with You: Community-Driven Strategies to Lower Risk Factors for CVD", addresses the root causes of the CVD disparity. In Oregon an African American is twice as likely as a white American to die from a stroke and almost one & 1/2 times as likely to die from a heart attack. African Americans have a higher incidence of premature death, diabetes, stroke, heart attack and high blood pressure. For more information on our intervention strategies to provide health education, strengthened social support networks, and advocacy skills to combat racism and to help decrease the disparity of preventable chronic diseases.