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 .”
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F R E E , C O N F ID E N T IA L
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