Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, September 11, 2002, Image 9

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    September I I , 211(12
w m vv.portlaudohserver.com
Committed to C u ltu ra l Diversity
(The ^ o rtía n h (©bseruer
ommunity
a le n d a r
C
Learn Anger Management
Learn and practice strategies to
control anger, reduce stress,
and set lim its in K a ise r
Perm anente’s “Dealing with
Anger” class. The eight ses­
sions are held on Wednesday
nights, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.,
beginning Oct. 2 - Nov. 20.
C lasses are held at K aiser
Permanente’s Interstate M edi­
cal Office Central, 3600 N. Inter­
state Ave. in north Portland.
Call 503-286-6816.
Columbia River
Watershed Festival
The Columbia River Watershed
Festival will feature speakers,
musical groups and more than
two dozen kid-friendly interac­
tive exhibits. It will focus on
(low hum ans can develop a
spiritual and ecological vision
for the Colum bia River W ater­
shed in the Pacific Northwest.
The event will be on O ct. 5,
from 10 a.m . - 3 p.m., South­
east Park, located at 12th and
Stark in Portland.
River City Celebration
Harbor jet-boat tours, interac­
tive trade exhibits, historical
displays, lantern-making work­
shops, food booths, entertain­
ment and an evening illuminated
procession along the c ity ’s
Eastbank Esplanade await visi­
tors to Portland’s "River City
Celebration & Illuminata Parade
of Light'’on Saturday, Sept. 21,
from noon - 10:30 p.m. The
daylong festival will be at the
e a st en d o f P o r tla n d ’s
Hawthorne Bridge, where S.E.
M a d iso n ST. m e e ts the
Willamette River bank.
St. Andrew
Catholic Church
^St. A ndrew C atholic Church
O utreach M inistries is h o ld ­
ing a Parish N eighborhood
' “G iv e a w a y ” on S a tu rd a y ,
Sept. 14, fro m 9 a .m .~ 12p.m.
The giveaw ay will be held in
the back parking lot, behind
the com m unity center or in
the gym if raining. G iveaw ay
item s will include clothing,
shoes, dishes and furniture.
Call Greg at 971 -244-0339.
Resort to Fitness
Learn Nia, a hybrid movement
class that incorporates m ar­
tial arts and m odern dance.
It’s a great form o f aerobic
exercise. N ia is being taught
at Resort to Fitness th ro u g h ­
out this month, located at 2714
N.E. Broadw ay. For a sched­
ule and to register, call 503-
287-0655.
Victims
Assistance Program
Volunteers are needed as on-
call Rape Victim Advocates with
the Multnomah County District
Attorney’s Victims Assistance
Program forevening and week­
end shifts. Training is five
events, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.,
b e g in n in g O ct. 1 at the
M ultnom ah C ounty C o u rt­
house. Call 503-988-3222 to
volunteer.
Beaverton City Library
The Beaverton City Library is
sponsoring a series o f p ro ­
gram s to ad d ress areas o f
concern for consum ers such
as with money, buying a home
and other security m easures.
All program s are free. On
T uesday, Oct. 8, from 6-8:30
p.m., W ells Fargo Home M ort­
gage in H illsboro w ill give a
talk on “ Home Buying: U n­
derstanding M ortgage and Fi­
nan ces.”
SECTION
B
Black Actor in
Bicentennial Role
Only African American actor in
documentary shares his views
R on W eber
F or T he P ortland O bserver
With their muscles straining, backs ach­
ing, and bare feet bleeding, they trudged on.
It took men of steel to carry the heavy boats
and tons of supplies over sharp rocks,
through steep wooded forests, and across
miles o f open plains.
Up ahead lay Indians, bears, treacherous
mountains, and dangerous white water rap­
ids. As their overloaded boats crashed
through the rocks and rapids, amused Indi­
ans stood high on the terrain above, waiting
for the crazy white men to drown, attempting
a feat even the best of them would not dare.
When the boats safely came to rest down
stream, baffled Indians watched as York, a
large black man, put down his paddle, and
proudly strode todry land. Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark would be nearby. Viewing
the boats, supplies, weapons, and clothes
the men wore, one would guess the time to
be in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth
century.
Surprisingly, it was the 21 st century, and
York would be Toby Tyler of southern Cali­
fornia. As an avid hiker and backpacker, the
role that called for a muscular African Ameri­
can man, fit Toby to a tee.
Portland’s OMSI is currently showing
the film, produced by National Geographic
and narrated by Jeff Bridges, through Feb­
ruary 2003. The large-screen format allows
the viewers to get a front row seat as they
watch the Corps of Discovery’s only black
member help bring this dramatic true story to
life. Hold tightly onto your seats as the
landscape in front of you explodes into view
via "a priceless IM AX camera hurtling over
a sixty-foot precipice toward the Missouri
River below.”
by
W hile having two real-life siblings and
looking forward to children of his own, Tyler
felt very close to his fellow cast members,
calling them “family.” Although he was the
only black actor on set, the rest of the cast
made him feel right at home. His job was just
the same as York’s was 200 years ago: to
work as a team member and help accomplish
the mission.
The role demanded elbow-to-elbow hard
physical labor, depicting the grueling leg­
endary expedition with other actors that
bonded them tighter than most traditional
roles. The additional “twist” of working near
uncontrolled forest fires sometimes made
the production of this film difficult. Smoke
filled the air and shooting in some areas was
delayed as much as six months, but they
hunkered down and got the job done.
In a recent interview, Tyler, a former foot­
ball player for Utah State, expressed how
hard it was to “pull away” from the cast after
the shoot was finished.
“W orking as a team carrying and pulling
those boats upstream helped us get close.
We were tight,” he said.
Having a grandfather who was a boatman
in Gulfport Louisiana helped fuel Tony’s
interest in working on this film.
Tyler got his start in acting while doing
theater work at Utah State. Here he often
“lived the life of a solitary writer focusing on
social drama.” He has acted in many roles,
including Yellowstone, Black Knight, and A
Place In The Sky, where he met the director
and producers of the Lewis and Clark film.
His roles have been very diverse, ranging
from a cook to a weatherman for the Tuskegee
Airmen.
To prepare for the York role, Toby im­
mersed himself by reading Lewis and Clark
Toby Tyler from the movie “Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West, ’ now showing at
OMSI.
journals, Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted
Courage, and a detailed packet of informa­
tion provided by National Geographic.
“Understanding what York went through
helped me better play the role. This part also
helped me understand the importance of our
country’s history,” he said.
In a d d itio n , T oby stu d ie d O prah
W infrey’s performance in Beloved.
Oprah was said to have “gone deep and
called on spirits,” to help her in this award-
continued
on page B2
Anderson Named Dean
o f M inority Affairs
Doctor on mission to enhance minority opportunities at OHSU
and stu d e n ts,” C assel said. “T his w ill
stre n g th e n both the school and the
e n tir e O H S U m e d ic a l c o m m u n ity .
S tep h an ie has the sk ill and train in g to
lead this effo rt, and we are delig h ted
that she is w illin g to jo in the d e a n ’s
office sta ff.”
A n d erson, an a ssista n t p ro fe sso r at
the school, proposed the position partly
b ecause o f her ow n experien ce as an
• eth n ic m in o rity ph y sician .
“ I re a liz e d if I w ere feeling iso lated,
how m ust a busy re sid e n t or m edical
stu d en t fe e l? ” A nd erso n said. “O ur
goals are to im prove the sense o f c o m ­
m unity on O H S U ’s cam pus as w ell as
prom ote the v isib ility o f OH SU and its
su p p o rt o f m in o ritie s.”
O H S U ’s O ffic e o f D iv ersity and
M u ltic u ltu ra l A ffairs recru its and su p ­
ports m in o rity stu d e n ts fo r all four o f
O H S U ’s schools. T he School o f M edi­
cine is the first O H SU school to create
Dr. Stephanie S. Anderson
its ow n ad m in istra tiv e position for m i­
n o ritie s to co m p lem en t the w ork o f the
Dr. S tep h an ie S. A nderson has been
nam ed a ssista n t dean o f m in o rity a f­ u n iv ersity -w id e office.
A nderson is ex c ite d about the lo n g ­
fairs in the O regon H ealth and S cience
term p o ten tial.
U n iv e rsity S chool o f M edicine.
“The m inority physicians w e're tra in ­
A n d erso n is ch arg ed w ith helping
the school recruit m inority faculty, re si­ ing today are those w ho will go on to
d en ts and stu d e n ts; retain them by im ­ prom ote diversity training and take care
o f the m in o rity co m m u n ities that so
p ro v in g c ro ss-c u ltu ra l co m m u n icatio n
m uch need p h y sic ia n s,” she said.
and n etw o rk s on cam pus and w ith the
A nderson receiv ed her M.D. from
P o rtla n d co m m u n ity ; and m ake O H SU
n atio n ally know n for its recruitm ent and the U niversity o f C alifornia at San F ran ­
c isc o and co m p leted her internal m e d i­
re te n tio n o f m in o ritie s at all levels.
T he ap p o in tm e n t w as a n n o u n ced by cine resid en cy tra in in g at Santa C lara
Valley M edical C enter in California. Her
Dr. C h ristin e C assel, dean o f the School
p ro fessional interests include w o m e n 's
o f M ed icin e.
health as w ell as m edical student and
“O ne o f my m issio n s is to enhance
re sid e n t ed u catio n .
o p p o rtu n itie s for o u r m in o rity faculty
4
L
A.
Kiona Tift
with the gold
medal she
won in Ti
Kwon Do.
Fifth Grader Trains For Junior Olympics
Kiona Tift is only 9 years old, but al­
ready she has a black belt in Ti Kwon Do
and has traveled internationally.
, The fifth grader at Prescott Elem en­
tary School in Parkrose is currently train­
ing for the 2003 Junior O lym pics in
Florida. Her home gym is the Family
Martial Arts and Fitness Center in north­
east Portland.
Kiona won a gold medal at the W ash­
ington State Championships last year, and
also competed at the world champion­
ships in Seoul, Korea.
She has spent many years of dedication
to get where she is today.
Kiona started Ti Kwon Do when she was
just 3 years old in Tacoma, and has earned
special recognition for her athletic accom­
plishments from Washington Gov. Gary
Locke and the Pierce County Council.
A Native American, she also dances in
pow wows.
Kiona is the daughter of Ana Garcia and
QuwayneTift.
4