April 24, 2002 Hage A3 New Principal Hired at Benson Albany educator described as leader who can take on tough issues C hristie P linski has been hired as the next principal at Benson H igh School. P linski has served as principal at South A lbany H igh S chool for the past three years. School district officials said a team o f students, staff, and Benson com m unity m em bers forw arded her candidacy from a strong ca n didate pool. Plinski is a form er high school E nglish teacher and counselor. She has a B achelor o f A rts degree in E nglish and education from the U niversity o f P uget S ound and a M aster o f S cien ces deg ree in co unseling from O regon State U niversity. “S h e’s an educational leader w ho can com m unicate a vision, listen to others, and take on tough issues,” said Pat B edore, superin tendent o f A lbany schools. M em bers o f the Benson staff selection com m ittee described her as a tim ely, focused and very prag m atic leader w ho has experience w ith diverse cultures. A Benson student involved in the hiring process described her as “an extrem ely nice person with a w arm personality. She stood out from the rest. (It) seem ed like she cared a lot about w hat we thought about the schoo l’s good q ualities and also the things that needed to be im proved. She also knew a lot about the different technical p ro fessions, w hich I found to very interesting.” Plinski w ill begin m eeting the B en so n s ta ff an d c o m m u n ity soon. She w ill officially assum e the duties as B en so n ’s principal on July 1st. Night Work Begins on Interstate Rail N ighttim e utility w ork started M onday for the Interstate M ax light rail project at N orth G oing and Interstate. T ri-M et officials said one lane w ill rem ain open in all directions during the construction period, w hich w ill run from 6 p.m . until 5 a.m. on M ondays through T h u rs days for tw o to three w eeks. T he w ork is being done at night to m inim ize the im pact on the com munity. T he n o isiest w ork, such as concrete cutting and com pacting, w ill be done during the day. C o n struction crew s w ill take precau tions to m inim ize noise during evening and early m orning hours. C onstruction on the Interstate M ax project began in O ctober2000 and is now m ore than 50 percent com plete. T he project adds 10 M A X sta tions betw een the E xpo C enter and the Rose G arden and will operate through dow ntow n Portland. It is scheduled to open S ep tem ber 2004. McGovern Helps Dedicate New Food Bank Terrorism linked to hunger in northeast Portland address (A P) — F orm er U.S. Sen. George M cGovern used the dedi - cation o f a new food w arehouse in northeast P ortland Sunday to talk about the link betw een hun ger and terrorism in developing countries. In his dedication speech for the O regon Food B a n k 's new 1 0 8 ,0 0 0 -sq u a re -fo o t sto rag e building, M cG overn said that terrorists can exploit gaps in national w ealth to recruit young p e o p le w h o fe e l d e s p e ra te enough to resort to acts o f vio lence. “If I w ere President Bush, I w ould put som e o f the hom e land security budget into red u c ing the m isery and hunger in d e v e lo p in g c o u n t r i e s ,” M cG overn said. M cG overn, a D em ocrat from South D akota w ho lost the 1972 presidential election to R ichard N ixon, is now a U nited N ations global am b assad o r on w orld hunger. M cG o v ern ’s efforts to fight h unger w orldw ide go back d e cades. As he finished his tour as a W orld W ar II bom ber pilot in 1945, he dropped food packets to hungry people in Europe at the o rder o f his com m anding officer, G en. N athan Tw ining. A s a s e n a t o r in 1 9 6 8 , M c G o v e rn d ev elo p ed le g isla tio n for a p ro g ram that sent U .S. farm su rp lu se s to u n d e rd e v e l o p ed co u n tries. T hen he team ed with then-Sen. Robert D ole, R -K an., to establish no-cost and reduced-cost school lunch program s, a broader food stam p program for low -incom e A m ericans, and the W om en, In Budget Forces Portland Community College Tïiition Raise The board o f directors o f Port land Com m unity College, facing college budget cuts o f approxi mately $2.3 m illion a year, voted Thursday night to increase tuition by $5 per credit hour to $45 per credit hour beginning summer term. The board next m onth is ex pected to also increase the technol ogy fee by 50 cents per credit hour, an increase from $2.50 to $3. Grow Your Own Business Fair Monday Start up business resources will be m ade available to east county residents M onday w hen G resham hosts an econom ic developm ent fair at the G resham City H all C on- f e r e n c e C e n te r , 1333 N .W . E astm an P arkw ay, from 9:30 a.m. to noon. O rganizers said if you have thought about starting your ow n business but d o n ’t know w here to start, o r if you already have a business and are ready to grow or expand, then this is a m ust-see event. P resenters at the fair include The Oregon Food Bank dedicated its new warehouse in northeast Portland Sunday with former presidential candidate George McGovern. fants and C hildren program to provide produce and milk to preg nant w om en and m others with children. P resident Bill C lin to n ap pointed M cG overn as the U.S. representative to the U.N. food program, and he later was nam ed a U.N. global am b assad o r on world hunger. T w o years ago, M cG overn pushed for the U.N. W orld Food Program to develop a school lunch program in underd ev el oped countries to help im prove health and literacy rates. O n Sunday, M cG overn told the crow d o f 200 w ho gathered to dedicate the $11 million w are house o f the im portance o f U.S. food stam p program . H e also condem ned cuts to the program m ade in the 1980s. “T hat program is essential to low-income people in America,” he said, adding that increasing the m inim um w age also w ould com bat hunger in the U nited States. The new rates will bring the annual bill for a full-time student to $2,025. T his is approxim ately a 13 percent increase in tuition for a full-time stude nt. Tu i tion at com m unity col - leges around Oregon ranges from $38 to $50 per credit hour. “T h e board is striving to keep tuition as low as we possibly can w hile still providing high-quality education to o u r residents. W e k n o w th at m any stu d en ts are struggling right now to afford college, and that any increase will be tough. It’s a balancing act for all o f us to m anage cuts, services and revenue increases,” said M ike H ereford, board chair. H erford said the college has had more than five years o f enroll m ent grow th, but state funding increases have not kept pace with P C C ’s rate o f growth. T he cuts in state funding to PCC and other com m unity co l leges across the state range from 3.6 to 4.5 percent. PCC now re ceives 55 percent o f its revenue from state sources, 25 percent from tuition and 16 percent from local property taxes. T he rem ainder com es from federal funds, grants and other sources. It ’s n o t w h e t h e r y o u w in o r lo s e Shelly Parini, Gresham Economic D evelopm ent M anager; a repre sentative from the M t. H ood C om m unity C ollege B usiness C enter; and D ennis L loyd with the Sm all B usiness A dm inistra tion. O th er p articip a n ts in clu d e G resham ’s Business A ssistance Program , East County O ne Stop, G resham A rea Cham ber o f C om merce, G resham D ow ntow n D e velo p m en t A sso c iatio n , H is panic Chamber o f Com merce, Job C orps, and W om en E ntrepre neurs o f O regon. but h o w Jobs Rebound Slightly (A P ) - N ew figures show jo b s are again opening up in the area, but unem ploym ent is still w ell above the national rate o f 6.1 p er cent. T he unem ploym ent rate in the P ortland m etropolitan area fell a half-percentage-point in M arch— to 8.4 percent. T he m etro area, w hich includes V ancouver, W ashington, added a net 1,900 jo b s in M arch, well above the 700 new jo b s added in February. But those num bers still fall far short o f restoring J anuary ’ s loss of2 0 ,2 0 0 jo b s. M anufacturing continued its losing streak, shedding 800jo b s in M arch. T h e g a m e i s j u s t a g a m e . . . It’s how you play that makes it fun, or frustrating, or dangerous. It’s true for all types of games — including gambling. Three percent of Oregonians have a gambling problem — and when they play, it’s more than a game. The way they play puts them and their families at financial and emotional risk. Help For Energy Bills Trickles In , The O regon H ousing and C om m unity Services w ill release addi tional funds to help approxim ately 2,000 low -incom e households pay th eir energy bills and prevent ser vice disconnection. R ecipients m ust qualify for the d ep artm ent’s energy assistance program s. O re g o n ’s h ig h p e rc e n t u n em ploym ent rate, com bined w ith h u g e in c re a se s in the c o sts o f e le c tric ity an d n a tu ra l gas, c r e ated an o v e rw h e lm in g d em an d on c o m m u n ity a ssista n c e p ro gram s. Jim S lu sh er, P re sid e n t o f C om m u n ity A ction D irecto r o f O re g o n , said a lth o u g h m any low in co m e h o u se h o ld s w ill b en e fit fro m the d e p a rtm e n t’s c o m p a ssio n a te effo rts, an ad d itio n a l 3 0 ,0 0 0 lo w -in c o m e h o u se h o ld s are still on ag en cy w aitin g lists h o p in g to rec eiv e som e assista n ce . S lusher estim ates that nearly 10,000households have had their pow er disconnected thi s w inter, w ith m any m ore likely to com e this spring unless m ore funds becom e available. If someone you know is playing out of control, call the Problem Gambling Help Line: 1-877-2-STOP-NOW Licensed treatment providers are there to listen, help and make referrals to local treatment centers 24 hours a day. Or log on to www.oregonlotteryhelp.org for; » Warning Signs ■ Treatment Centers ■ How to Get Help ■ Reaching Out Federal Judge Backs Oregon Suicide Law P O R T L A N D , O re . (A P ) — A fe d e ra l ju d g e ru le d th a t th e U .S . J u s tic e D e p a rtm e n t la c k s th e a u th o r ity to o v e r tu r n a v o te r-a p p ro v e d O re g o n law a l lo w i n g p h y s i c i a n - a s s i s t e d s u ic id e s . J o n e s s a id A s h c r o f t a t te m p te d to “ stifle an o n g o in g , ea rn e st an d p ro fo u n d d eb a te in the v ario u s sta te s c o n c e rn in g p h y s ic ia n - a s s is te d s u i c id e " w ith a N o v . 6 d ire c tiv e d ec la rin g th a t a ssiste d su ic id e w as not a “ le g itim ate m ed ical p ra c tic e .” r I TREATM ENT IS J F R E E , C O N F ID E N T IA L AND (