November 06,2002______________________________ (Cfje ^ortlanh
ODbgerlier___________________________ PaseAS
Health/Education
Road Network Will Quickly Post Kidnappings
Governor
adopts the
Amber Alert
system to help
find missing
children
( A P) — G ov. Jo h n K itz h ab e r n ic atio n s tech n o lo g ies are p o w
h as la u n ch e d a n ew , sta te w id e erfu l to o ls " to h elp fin d ab
A m ber A lert sy stem to help find d u cted ch ild ren , th e g o v ern o r
said.
ab d u c te d ch ild ren .
U n d e r th e A m b er A lert sy s
K itzh ab er, w h o sig n ed an e x
ec u tiv e o rd e r esta b lish in g the tem , a k id n a p p in g an y w h ere in
sy stem la st w eek , said tim e is O re g o n w ill set th e new sta te
c ritic a l a fte r an ab d u c tio n and w id e sy stem in m o tio n .
L aw e n fo rc e m e n t ag en cies
th a t the new sy stem w ill let
w
ill
sen d a le rts to all rad io and
a u th o ritie s n o tify th e p u b lic a l
te
lev
isio n statio n s w ith d escrip
m o st im m ed ia te ly .
tio
n
s
o f th e m issin g ch ild ren ,
“T h e ey es an d the ears o f the
th
e
ir
a
b d u c to rs and o th e r in
pu b lic an d a d v a n ce d co m m u
Griffin Finishes Work
at Human Services
*
Donnie Griffin of Portland will
leave his position as deputy direc
tor of the Oregon Dept. o f Human
Services by the end o f the year.
Bobby Mink, the director o f the
state agency, praised Griffin for
taking a key role in the department ’ s
first major reorganization since its
creation in 1971.
He said Griffin, an expert in orga
nizational change, kept his pledge
to work as his chief deputy for 18
months to tw o years.
“W ith D onnie’s help, w e’ve
m oved DHS to a new structure
ch ild is b eliev e d to be in im m i
fo rm atio n .
It w ill be up to th e in d iv id u al n en t d an g e r an d that the alerts
T V and rad io statio n s to d ecid e w o n ’t be u se d in m ost cases
w h eth e r to carry b ro ad c ast re in v o lv in g cu sto d y d isp u tes.
A m b er A lerts started in A r
p o rts ab o u t the A m b er A lert.
In fo rm a tio n ab o u t an a b d u c lin g to n , T ex a s, afte r the 1996
tio n also w ill be p o sted on 38 ab d u c tio n o f 9 -y ea r-o ld A m b er
elec tro n ic “rea d er b o ard s” that H ag erm an . A n eig h b o r saw her
a re lo c a te d alo n g O re g o n ’s k id n a p p in g an d gave good in
in terstates and m ajo r state h ig h fo rm a tio n to p o lice, but o ffic
ers d id n ’t g et th at in fo rm atio n
w a y s.
P o lice o ffic ia ls said the A m o ut to th e p u b lic. A m b er’s body
b er A lerts w ill be u sed if the w as fo u n d fo u r d ay s later.
Bridge Builders, Latinos Earn Support
Legacy health fund to support programs for at-risk youth
The Bridge Builders, an African
American mentoring and scholars
program, and the Susannah Maria
Gurule Foundation, a Latino lead
ership group, have both earned
g ra n ts fro m L eg a cy H ea lth
System’sCommunity Health Fund.
The Bridge Builders is dedicated
Donnie Griffin played a key role to strengthening the African Ameri
can community by administering
in the Department of Human
African-centered rites o f passage
Services major reorganization.
programs that promote spirituality,
He w ill continue to serve on scholarship, entrepreneurship and
O reg o n ’s B oard o f E ducation, to community building.
w hich Gov. John K itzhaber ap
The group will receive $250,000
pointed him in 1997.
over the next three years to estab
lish the Mays Scholars program,
named after Benjamin E. Mays—
the past president o f Morehouse
College.
The program will enable high
school age students, with assis
tance from their adult mentors, to
implement a rite of passage pro
gram for eighth grade boys. Re
search shows that middle school
students tend to have less adult
supervision while being exposed
to
greater numbers of high-risk
m inutes o f physical daily activ entrances or d eliver item s
choices.
to
cow
orkers
instead
o
f
in
ity, or five miles. Use a pedom eter
Fifty eighth grade school boys
to help track your steps and take teroffice mail to help in
will meet twice every month to par
the stairs, park farther away from crease your steps.
ticipate in interactive workshops.
that w ill give O reg o n ’s m ost v ul
nerable residents easier access
to the services they need,” M ink
said.
C indy B ecker o f Salem was
nam ed to fill the post on T h u rs
d ay . B e c k e r, 5 1, p re v io u s ly
served as the d ep artm en t’s chief
adm inistrative officer.
G riffin said he plans to devote
m ore tim e to his fam ily, to co n
tinue w ith a variety o f com m unity
service activities, and to focus
on future opportunities closer to
his hom e in Portland.
Did you Walk
A rea residents are en
c o u r a g e d to ta k e th e
10,000-step challenge.
W alking is a great way
to lose w eight and im prove
your cardiovascular health.
Providence Portland M edi
cal C enter fitness experts rec
ommend walking 10,000 steps
a day, w hich is equal to 30
M a jo r G reg W ille fo rd o f the
O reg o n S tate P o lice said ab o u t
h a lf the states now h av e A m b er
A lert sy stem s, and th a t o n ly 14
such alerts h av e been issu ed in
recen t years.
“H o p efu lly , it w ill be very
s e ld o m u s e d ” in O r e g o n ,
W illefo rd said, ad d in g th a t h av
ing such a sy stem in p la ce co u ld
actu ally p ro v id e a d e te rre n t to
ch ild ab d u ctio n s.
Steps Today?
attend varsity games, learn African
drumming, step dancing, military
drills and go on a field trip to a local
historical site.
“Throughout the world differ
ent cultures have ritualized the pas
sage into manhood and made it a
community event,” said The Bridge
Builders founder Kevin Fuller. “In
each culture, the rite of passage
process connected the initiate with
In addition to
youth presentations,
there will be outreach
efforts fo r parents to
enhance their
parenting skills.
...
a mentor, indoctrinated the virtues
o f that community, forced the can
didate to be accountable for his life
and helped the initiate to make mean
ing out o f his life. This cultural and
gender specific approach to rites of
passage will be similar to great in
stitutions that have helped African
American young men to become
scholars - Morehouse in Atlanta
and Richard Allen Academy in New
YorkCity.”
The Susannah M aria Gurule
Foundation will receive $263,060
over the next three years to estab
lish Las Hermanas, a culturally spe
cific project that will train 30 young
Latinas per year in leadership/ca-
reer development and health edu
cation.
These young women will then
provide outreach and health edu
cation to 100 Latinos per year
through group presentations and
small group platicas (talks) to be
held at churches, schools and other
community gathering places.
In addition to youth presenta
tions, there will be outreach efforts
fo r p a re n ts to e n h a n ce th e ir
parenting skills.
“Currently, there are no Latino
community based health preven
tion and education programs in the
metro area,” said Sonja Steves, vice
president of marketing and commu
nity relations for Legacy Health
System. “A successful health pre
vention and education program for
Latinos must be built on long-term
relationship building not only with
the youth but also with their fami
lies.
Group Develops Studies on Racism
Multi-cultural
education follows
new Oregon law
Oregon Uniting, a non-profit
organization specializing in racial
reconciliation and justice, is devel
oping a curriculum for Oregon Pub
lic Schools educating students on
O re g o n ’s in te rra c ia l h isto ry ,
spurred by educational bills m an
dating multi-cultural education.
The curriculum will address the
long neglected history of people of
color in the state. It will help all
students better understand the past
racial inequality laws thus shed
ding light on the current situation
of inequality and increasing racial
awareness and empathy.
“Our educational efforts will not
promote separatism and intergroup
conflict as some critics predict,”
said Niki Toussaint, director of
Oregon Uniting. “Its purpose is not
to diminish the achievements of
W estern Europeans, but rather
emphasize that, in spite o f trem en
dous barriers, many groups played
a significant role in the develop
ment of our state.”
A team of seasoned veterans -
including Carolyn Leonard, former
coordinator of multicultural and
multiethnic education for Portland
Public Schools and current PPS
Compliance officer for Portland
Public Schools, and Floyd Pepper,
curriculum development specialist
- are developing the initial curricu
lum to be implemented in Oregon
schools.
“As school populations in O r
egon become more diverse, racial
issues w ill co n tin u e to rise ,”
Leonard said. “Understanding and
acknowledging historical reasons
for racial inequality will help all chil
dren to heal and move on from
today’s racial roadblocks.”
T he curriculum w ill be pilot
tested in several P ortland-area
schools this January.
T h e o r g a n iz a tio n a lre a d y
works extensively with Grant High
School, R igler E lem entary and
Lane M iddle School to facilitate
d ia lo g u es in v o lv in g stu d en ts,
parents, teachers and school ad
m inistration officials focused on
racial issues and ju stice, in creas
ing racial integration and h ar
mony.
O regon U niting, based in P ort
land, was founded in 1998 to pro
mote racial reconciliation and ju s
tice through interracial dialogues,
educational program s, assistance
in racial issues w ithin a com m u
nity and various racial aw areness
events. It connects, inform s and
encourages racially diverse O r
eg o n ian s to w ork to g eth er to
build ju st, unified com m unities.
F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n , v is it
w w w .oregonuniting.org.
Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health
A program ot the African American Health Coalition, Inc.
Sponsored by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
. Wellness Within REACH: Mind, Body, and Soul
Activity Calendar
M on
Tues
W ed
T h u rs
Sat
F ri
Salsa
Matt Dishman
77 NE boit
6d)0-7d)0pin
EKs
Salvati« Army
5325NW®a«.
African Dance
Water aerobics
Old School
2:00-3:00pm
Dance
1 0 -1 1 «
Hampton
6:00-700pm
Addo
Kendrick
Jefferson High School Glass of '72
Natati
3535 NE15th.
We«h(Room
Aerobics
Yop
Aerobics
Water aerobics
Aerobics
6 3 0 -7 3 0 pn
730-B30pm
630730p m
2:00 - 3:00pm
6 3 0 7 3 0 pm
1011«
Nickerson
0'Kmnie
Nickerson
Hampton
Nickerson
TBD
Peñada Park
Walkmi Gronp
700NP(rtU
07
Wilkin« Gronp
R
12:30 pm
Nickerson
Nickerson
---------------------- -
Saturday
Basketball
PerthM
12-lpa
Basketball
12-lpm
Radja
N ovem ber 9 ,2 0 0 2
7:00 p.m. - Midnight
Billy Reeds Restaurant & Bar
2808 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon
$25 per person at the door
Buffet provided - No-host bar
To RSVP: (503) 249-1721 ext. 205
or www.classmates.com
Calm
WsUunj Groap •
705 N Umimemtk
6-30-7:30am
Cason
Walkmi! Group
6 -3 0 7 3 0 «
Cason
“ Must be 21 or older to participate Please check with AAHC before showing up to the first class
503-413-1850. Please receive approval from your doctor before beginning exercise class
All claaae* are free of chargel
African American Health Coalition, Inc.
2800 N. Vancouver Ave., Suite 100 • Portland, OR 97227 • Phone:503-413-1850
E-mail: cortissm@aahc-portland org • Web: www aahc-portland org