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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2003)
w Black History Month Former Blazer Finds Game Mike Harper returns to the court as family man. See story in Sports, page B6 See feature stories, inside vf R z ic d c ' ‘City of Roses Volume X X X III • i- im o ........... .......... i i ____i - i _____ Established In 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity N u m b er 8 ’VVeekin TheReview Stolen disguise is a no go A w om an w ho caused a fender bender in Stuart, Fla. fled into K m art bathroom and tried to con ceal her appearance with hairdye m akeup and a change o f clothes stolen from the store, au thorities said. P o lice said th ey fo u n d M elissa A nne N unziato, 28, in the bathroom , along w ith em pty boxes and price tags for the sto len item s in the trash. In spite o f her attem pt to disguise, the other driver identified her and N unziato w as charged w ith leaving the scene o f an accident, theft, o b struction o f ju stic e by d isguise and driving w ithout a license Offer: Free car with marriage A N ew Jersey man is prom ising a free sports car to the wom an who marries him. Sandy Grossman was serious about finding a bride by V a le n tin e ’s D ay, an d d ro v e • around in a 1959 C adillac am bu iance topped with a billboard ad vertisem ent for a bride. The elec- ' trie sign prom ised “Free Sports C ar W ith M arriage” and listed his e-m ail address, photo and vital stats: “43, 5 ’ 11, 175 pounds and NEVER M A RRIED .” H eonly re ceived five e-m ail responses (and no “I d o ’s”) since his cam paign began earlier in die month. “I’m a rom antic,"-he said “ I think this is the ideal w ay to find som ebody.” A church that charges W orshippers can now pay their church collection with a charge card - at least in one village in northern Sweden. InNorrfjaerden just outside Piteaa, 560miles north o f Stockholm , the church is offer- , ing its w orshippers “a m odem opportunity” to m ake a contribu tion. Pastor Karin Sandlund said she had often joked about fixing a card reader to the collection bag With her husband, w ho w orks for a bank in N orrfjaerden. “W e thought it w as tim e to give the younger generation an alterna tive. The church m ust keep up with things,” Sandlund said. 14-year-old girl is the Thai fetus-thief A 14-year-old T hai girl has been charged w ith robbery after co n fessing to police she helped steal fetuses from a hospital m useum for use in black m agic rituals, p o lic e s a id . T h ip a w a n P ra k a ith o n g s u rre n d e re d h er teenage d aughter to authorities and the youth confessed she had been paid to serve as a lo o k out w hile her friends stole fe tuses and skulls from the m u seu m o f T h ailan d ’s oldest m ed i cal school at Siriraj H ospital. Wednesday • Februaiy 19, 2003 M eek Future in Doubt Parents, teachers react to possible closure of northeast school by D avid P lechl T he P ortland O bserver Ken Berry, principal at Meek Elem entary, talks a little faster than usual these days. H e has to. A s head o f one o f fo u relem en - tary schools identified by the Portland School D istrict for possible closure. B erry is busy answ ering p aren ts’ q uestions and allaying th eir w orst fears. "T h ere are tw o paths right now ,” Barry said. “T he path o f the regular school year, and the path o f u n certainty.” S uperintendent Jim S ch erzin g erw ill an nounce Feb. 27 w hich schools are recom m ended for closure. T he school board will finalize the decision M arch 17. In the m eantim e, papers are piling up on B erry ’s desk and his voice mail is full. Still, he takes the tim e to an sw er p aren ts’ q u es tions one by one. T hrough it all, he rem ains thorough and thoughtful, but blatantly realistic about the future o f the school, located at 4039 N.E. A lberta Court. B erry said he w ill support the direction the school board w ants to go w hile doing his best to keep the threat o f closure from inter rupting his m ission as principal. “ W e have b u dget constraints but w e also have budget responsibilities,” he said. “W e need to m ake sure o ur academ ic p ro gram is on target. I’m ju st trying to work with the stu d en ts first.” T he decision to clo se M eek is based upon the d istrict’s Space A llocation C o m m ittee recom m endation on the m ost effi cient use o f funds. Ed B e tte n c o u rt, d ire c to r o f stu d e n t achievem ent for the M adison R oosevelt cluster o f schools, told parents at a m eeting last w eek that the m ove is necessary in the face o f a $50 m illion budget shortfall. Principal o f Meek Elementary Ken Berry listens as district officials tell parents and teachers that the school may close at the end of this year as part of a plan to cut district operating costs. “ By closing four schools w e ’ll save one m illion dollars the first y ear and one and one h a lf m illion every y ear after th a t,’ he said. m ent to top ju s t 150 students next year. “ I n a larger school there are other op p o r tunities and support system s that aren ’t ■ There are two paths right now - the path o f the regular school year, and the path o f uncertainty. — Meek Elementary Principal Ken Berry H e also to ld parents the optim al size o f a school should be around 300 students. Small by m ost standards, M eek expects enroll- available in a sm aller school,” B ettencourt said. I f the school is closed, students at M eek w ill transfer to V ernon E lem entary. Parents questioned the recom m endation. T hey say M eek ’s sm all size has contributed to its success as a school. C harline R om ig has tw o grandsons en rolled in head start at M eek. She said few er students m eans few er distractions. If the school closes, she fears the personal touch w ill be lost. "Y o u w alk in and alm ost every teacher can call you by nam e,” Rom ig said. “ How m any schools can you say that abo u t?” T eachers at M eek agree that the sch o o l’s sm all size m akes for an ideal learning envi ronm ent. continued on page A J Powerful Puppets Kids on the Block program packs a punch at school bullies Surgeons see a rise In penis extensions Penis extensions are the top cos metic surgery treatment for British m e n w h ile w o m e n c h o o s e 1 iposuction or breast en largement, m edics said. The Harley Medical Group, which runs lO privateclin- ics in Britain, released figures for 2002 w hich show ed m ore than a third o f operations on men were for penis extensions, follow ed by nose surgery and liposuction. www.portlandobserver.com PHOTO BY W YNDE D y ER/T h E PORTLAND (>BSt RVER Oregon Association o f Minority Entrepreneurs President and Founder Sam Brooks guides Asian business leaders from Seattle around the OAME facility in north Portland. The Seattle group plans to start a business incubator program that’s similar to OAME. OAME to Serve as Model Seattle’s Asian business leaders look to Portland for answers by W ynde D yer T he P ortland O bserver A sm all group o f am bitious A sian b usi ness from S eattle cam e to north Portland •’ t — ~ ,|a y to tour the O regon A ssociation o f ty E ntrepreneurs facility and learn am uel B rooks, O A M E ’s A frican ;an president and founder, w as able he organization o ff its feet, the advice o f C onrad Lee, U nited Sm all B usiness A dm inistration Re- A d m inistrator for A laska and the : N orthw est, representatives o f the : V ietnam ese M erchants O rganiza- rtd the C hinese Inform ation Service r plan to design their ow n business ito r i n Seatt I e o ff O A M E ' s success fu 1 I here in Portland. I “ I f it w orks for one com m unity it can w ork for o thers,” Lee said. “ I see O A M E as one o f the best exam ples o f a multicultural organization that fosters econom ic devel o pm ent by bringing people together." Seattle’snew m ultibillion-dollarlightrail project w ill disp lace at least 200 hundred sm all business ow n ers in predom inately A sian com m unities. T he city has offered the businesses, social service agencies and residents m ore than $50 m illion in com pen sation for their d isplacem ent, but Lee sees this as a m ixed blessing. “T his is a brand new opportunity to build a strong co m m u n ity ,” he .aid. "B ut having a resource like that and not knowing w hat to do w ith it can cause m oney to be trickled aw ay,” L ee’s fear is that unless the small busi ness ow ners co llab o rate acto ss cultural and linguistic barriers, the now -prosper- continued yf on pane AS becom es the victim , and C lare, his friend w ho teaches him that it's okay to report a bully to som eone w ho can stop the activi ties. A fter the presentation, children get to ask the puppets questions. by W ynde D yer “ It’s a m agical opportunity w hen the chil T he P ortland O bserver dren connect w ith the puppets,” Fouts said. C alling nam es, starting rum ors, stealing “ W hen they talk to E ddy and C lare it's like lunch, pushing, punching and ju s t plain old th ey ’re talking with their buddies - it’s to m eanness - school bullies tally different than one- are an age-old problem . on-one adult tochild com A t El M onica Elem entary m unication.” School in B eaverton the B ecause o f a statew ide children in M rs. W ells’ m andate that all schools second grade class know in O regon provide for their the problem all too well. stu d en ts som e form o f Last T hursday they got a school safety an d a n ti visit from a pair o f K ids on bully education, the K ids the Block A w areness P ro on the B lock A w areness gram puppeteers and their Program on school b u l — Ramona Fouts, puppeteer puppets, E ddy and C lare, lies has been in high d e to help them learn how to mand. say, “Y o u ’re not the boss o f m e!” M any o f the 152 schools the program b re sse d all in black and acting from a visits with its 15 inform ational puppet show s script, perform ers H arriet Saxe and Ram ona on everything from sexual abuse to divorce, Fouts dazzled the classroom with a pow erful to drug and alcohol prevention and cultural puppet scenario. difference, are on the w aiting list ju st to get The story involves E ddy, w ho w as once continued an page A 10 the w itness o f an act o f bullying and later I t ’s a magical opportunity when the children connect with the puppets. Nightclub Stampede Kills 21 1,500 inside Chicago club rushed for locked doors (A P) — H undreds o f scream ing guests rushed the exits o f a crow ded C hicago night club M onday after security guards used a chem ical spray to quell a fight, and at least 21 people w ere crushed to death or sm oth ered in the panic, officials and w itnesses said. continued on page AO Maria Lopez reacts outside the Epitome Night Club Monday Feb. 17, 2003 in Chicago as she searches for information about her Fiancee.
