Committed to Cultural Diversity www.portlandobserver.com February 25. 2004 Myths of Africa M etro Illustrations shared during Black History Month Æl!C ^Iorttanì» (©bseruer See Focus, page B3 Missy Elliot and Christina Aguilera help fight HIV and AIDS. See Focus, page B2 SECTION C o m in u n i t y a I e n d n r Trees Need Friends Friends o f Trees will plant trees an d s h ru b s in th e H o u g h / Rosm ere and V ancouver neigh borhoods on Saturday, M arch 6. If you want to be a help to your com m unity and environm ent, call 5 0 3 -2 8 4 -T R E E o r visit w w w .friendsoftrees.org. Health For Everyone The 6th annual Health Fair featur ing “Health Issues that Affect E veryone” is from 9:30 a m. to 2:45 p.m. Saturday, M arch 13 at the A insw orth U nited C hurch o f Christ, 2941 N.E. A insw orth • United Church o f Christ. The event is free, and lunch is pro vided. For more information, call 503-284-8767. Government Contracting A one-day conference for small, m inority, d isad v an tag ed and w om en-ow ned b u sinesses to learn how to participate in fed eral g o v ern m e n t co n tra ctin g p ro sp ec ts is held T h u rsd ay , M arch 1 8 fro m 7 :3 0 a .m .to 5 :3 0 p.m. at the D oubletree Hotel- Jantzen Beach. The session is sponsored by the U.S. Dept. o f H ousing and Urban D evelop m e n t. R e g is te r o n lin e at w w w .h u d .g o v /w ash in g to n or by phone at 1-877-741-3281. A Healing Song S an k o faa H ealth Institu te o f fers a free d ia b ete s support group from 6 to 7:30 p .m . every th ir d T h u rs d a y a t A lb e r ta Sim m ons Plaza, 6707 N E. MLK Blvd. For m ore inform ation, call 503-285-2484. What’s Fido Thinking? Learn about w hat goes through your pooch’s m ind at Canine 101 through the Oregon Humane Society, 1067 N.E. Colum bia B lv d .C lassesisat 11 a.m. Satur days, M arch 6 and 20. D ona tions are $ 10. F or m ore inform a- • tion, call 503-285-7722. Mood Enhancement Learn about how food affects m ood at N ew Seasons M arket, 5320N .E.33A ve.,ffom 5to7p.m . Sunday, Feb. 29. For reserva tions, call 503-288-3838. Daffodil Bouquet Treat yourself or loved ones to a beautiful daffodil bouquet and help cancer research with a Port land State Cascade Campus Phi Theta Kappa fundraiser through the A m erican C ancer Society Daffodil Days. All orders are due by March 5. Flowers cost $ 12 with a vase and $7 without. For more information, call 503-295-6422or e-mailjanne.ault@ ptk.org. photo by M ark A Victorious Start by J aymee R, C uti T he P ortland O bserver Northeast charter school finds success MMMMMMMMMM V ictory M iddle S chool’s inventive ap proaches to learning seem to be paying off. City eyes street changes, more housing “T h e y ’re going to ch an g e the zoning from R5 to R l , w hich w ill give us five tim es the (h o u sin g ) d e n sity ,” she said. “W e d o n ’t h av e en o u g h b u sin ess to fill the sto refro n ts w e alre ad y h av e.” B arry M anning, p ro ject m an ag er for by L ee P eri . man T he P ortland O bserver the gro w th p lan , said w h a t's p ro p o sed is m odest in co m p ariso n to o th e rc ity n eig h b o rh o o d s. A p roposed plan fo r urban grow th in the St. Jo h n s-L o m b ard n eig h He said the m ix ed -u se d ev e lo p b o rhoods o f north P o rtlan d goes m ent on L om bard is prom oted but before the public during a open not required. h o u se S a tu rd a y , Feb. 28, A d v iso ry co m m ittee m em from 10a.m. to 12:30p.m. at b er Pat O p d y k e said traffic the St. Jo hns C om m u n ity circles in the St. Johns tow n C en ter, 8427 N. C entral c e n te r c o r e w e re p r o St. p o s e d f o r p e d e s tr ia n T he plan has been safety an d keeping the approved by the P ort n e ig h b o rh o o d ’s land P lanning C o m u n iq u e ch aracter. End Tobacco Dependence m is s io n , b u t h a s d ra w n o p p o s itio n a lo t o f d if f e r e n t from a com m ittee of p eo p le to have a lot lo c a l o f different perspec K aiser P erm anente o ffe rs fit ness tips and w eight m a n ag e m ent by ea tin g fo r vitality, h e a lth and p le a su re w ith a tw elv e-serie s class on F re e dom From D iets from 6:3 0 to 8 :3 0 p.m . T h u rsd ay s starting M arch 4 thro u g h M ay 20. continued y^ on page H6 ■MM M M IM M M M M M M End tobacco dependence per m anently in a six-series class from 6:30 to 8 p.m. M ondays from M arch 15 through April 12 at K aiser P erm anente’s North Interstate S ervices B uilding, 7201 N. Interstate Ave. C ost is $125. For more inform ation, call 503-286-6816. Quit Your Diet The ch arter school sponsored by the O regon D epartm ent o f Education says it has im proved learning, nipped behavioral prob lems in the bud and has plans to expand. C urrently serving 102 sixth graders, with a 15 to one student to teacher ratio, the school plans to add a seventh grade in the fall and w ants to add a high school in the distant future. T he school operates out o f the B lazer’s Boys and G irls C lub on Martin L uther King Jr. Boulevard in northeast Port land. School leaders say placing two teachers in each classroom and planning acurriculum a year in advance has im proved concentra tion and grades am ong students, but most notable is the innovative disciplinary tactics dream ed up by the school’s principal. Students w ho m isbehave are not sent to the principal’s office or even to detention. Instead, they are assigned to the Learning C enter, w hich operates as a regular class room , follow ing the sam e curriculum as the m ainstream class, with one poignant differ ence: a behavioral specialist observes the class and keeps kids on task. “They behave better because they have strong discipline and really focus,” said Rich Blizzard, principal at Victory. “The Leam- ing Center is one o f the highest achieving classroom s in school." W hile fighting and backtalk were a prob lem earlier in the year, according to Blizzard, m ost o f the problem s have ceased. "T hey’ve com e to trust teachers instead o f solving their problem s them selves,” he said. O ne o f the advantages o f operating within the B oy’s and G irl’sC lu b is latching on to its rew ards system. V ictory’s best citizens be com e Victory Stars and earn Club Bucks, good for pizza parties, dances and gam e days. V ictory’s diverse student body is co m posed o f 80 percent African Americans, with Caucasians and Latinos m aking up the re m aining 20 percent. According to Blizzard, the racial m akeup has been a non-issue at his school. “ Race isn ’t really an issue. The issue is really if kids develop the m indset to pick up a book and contribute to their own learning. W e’re making strong progress in that direc tion. Kids are taking their own learning seri ously,” he said. V ictory’s approach to non-native English speakers is unique, as well. Instead o f hav ing a separate instruction for Spanish-speak ing students, at Victory, an English as a Second Language teacher is present in a m ainstream classroom. “All those students are m ainstream ed in with the rest o f the students, giving them full access to content as well as language sup port,” said Joshua Zeller, a class group in- St. Johns Growth Plans Racism NAACP Meetings T he Portland Branch o f the N A A C P will hold two m onthly executive com m ittee m eetings, one on the second Thursday o f the month and the Thursday be fore the fourth Saturday o f the m onth. G eneral m em bership m eetings are held on the fourth Saturday o f each month. For more inform ation,call 503-284- 7722. W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Robert Boyer, a former mediator at the King Facility in northeast Portland, visits Victory Middle School at the Blazer Boys and Girls Club to present Portland African-American history to a new generation. He told o f the struggles and triumphs o f local African Americans past and present, including those who once lived in the lost city o f Vanport. B “T h e re ’s room for re s id e n ts h e a d e d by lo c a l tiv e s ,” rea lto r and activ ist s a id . S haron N asset. m o st p eo p le s u p A central focus O pdyke “ I b e lie v e p o rt th is.” has been a p ro N eith er the St. posal to install cu rb ex ten sio n s at se Jo h n s B o o sters, the N orth Portland B usi lected locations on N orth L om bard S treet, ness A sso ciatio n nor the St. Johns N eigh a m ove the o p p o sitio n g ro u p feels will b o rhood A sso c iatio n s h av e taken p o si in terfere w ith traffic m ovem ent. tions on the plan. N asset also o b jects to the d e v e lo p St. Johns chair Robin Plance said the m ent o f three and fo u r story hou sin g plan do esn ’t do enough to address truck com plexes, claim ing they will interfere with traffic through the neighborhtxxl. but she ex istin g b u siness ren o v atio n and e x p a n sion. does support a redesign o f the “ivy island" I » in the heart o f dow ntow n St. Johns. Persists in Housing Market Campaign combats homeowner and rental discrimination by J aymee R. C uti T he P ortland O bserver H ousing discrim ination still exists nation wide decades after a fair housing act was enacted to correct the racial disparities, ac cording to new study by the U.S. Dept. o f H ousing and Urban Developm ent. C arolyn Peoples, H U D 's assistant secre tary for fair housing and equal opportunity, addressed the issue in a visit to Portland. D espite the Fair H ousing Act o f 1968, people o f color seeking housing are being turned aw ay o r preyed upon by unscrupu lous sellers making unfair and costly offers, Peoples said. N ationally it’s estim ated that 75 percent o f w hites ow n hom es, com pared to 50 per cent o f African A m ericans and Hispanics. T he Fair H ousing Act prohibits discrim i nation based on race, fam ily status, color, religion, national origin, gender and disabil ity. HUD has em barked on a new cam paign to inform the public o f those rights. “W e learned that w hite sales are consis- I visits Portland to address discrimina tion in the housing market. tently favored o ver m inorities in hom e sales and rental housing,” Peoples said. She said A H UD public service announce m ent called “A ccents," will condem n a b la tantly racist practice w here property ow ners tell people o f color housing is no longer available o ver there phone, after identifying them as m inorities based on their accents and speech patterns. O ther attacks will be m ade against the financial barriers preventing m inorities from securing housing such as m oney for down paym ent and closing costs and a lack of know ledge about the hom e buying process. In response, H U D is helping buyers with dow n paym ent costs and providing coun sel ing a, hom e buying centers to walk people through the process. “W e bring in appraisers, real estate agents and lenders to provide a person with some know ledge, so w hen th e y 're ready to buy a hom e, they w o n ’, be victim s o f predatory continued y^ on page R6