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Uganda Dance Troop Inspires
Ensemble of African musicians coming to Portland
Sec story, Metro section
(DhserUer
City of Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
V olum eX XXIII • N u m b e r?
Wednesday • March 03.2004
T1Weekin
TheReview
A Man
“’'"Answers
Angry Men at Risk of Stroke
Hotheaded men who explode with
anger seem to be at greater risk o f
having a stroke or dying, new re
search shows. A ngry w om en, on
the other hand, d on’t run as high
School leader
offers education
solutions
a risk o f having a stroke or heart
problem s, according to a study in
the A m erican Heart A ssociation
journal Circulation.
‘Passion’ Proves
Big Moneymaker
by J aymee R. C u n
T he P ortland O bserver
A fter o p en in g w ith an a s to n ish
O ne school official has some
very straightforw ard ideas for re
ducing youth gang and drug in
volvement, curbing crim e and street
violence and m aking Portland the
first city to close the achievem ent
ing $ 125.2 m illion over five days,
M el G ib so n ’s “T he P assion o f
the C h rist” is p o sitio n ed to get
even b igger as the R om an C ath o
lic seaso n o f L ent lead s up to
E aster on A pril 11. T he b o x -o f
fice total pushed “T he P assio n ”
past “T he L ord o f the R ings:
T he R eturn o f the K in g ” fo r b ig
g est d eb u t e v e r by a film o p e n
in g on a W e d n e s d a y - A sh
W ed n esd ay , in th is case.
Mars Was Wet
Enough for Life
Mars was once soaked with water,
enough to support life in a “good,
habitable environm ent,” N ASA
scientists said T uesday after re
view ing data from the M ars rover
O pportunity, although they said
the finding d oesn’t prove that life
existed.
photo by
Marines Enter
Haitian Capital
J aymf . e R. C vti /T hf . P ortland O bserver
As cochair o f the Portland School Board, Lolenzo Poe focuses on Improving the performance of
disadvantaged students in the district as well as reducing juvenile crime and breaking down
racial barriers in the city.
. R ebels rolled into Port-A u-Prince
gap
Lolenzo Poe, the African-Ameri
can co-chair o f the Portland Public
School board, said a strong school
system is the way for Portland to
live up to its reputation as one o f
the most livable cities.
Poe w elcom es the overall in
crease in learning in our public
school system , but says a stub
born ach iev em en t gap persists
am ong children o f color.
“For a city that talks about liv
ability and em braces diversity, it
looks like Portland may be hypo
critical, at best," said Poe, who be
gan his term as chair o f the school
board in January.
Poe and fellow school board co-
chair Julia Brim -Edw ards split the
duty o f conducting board m eet
ings. Brim -Edw ards is also respon
sible for accountability o f funds,
bond m easures and com m unity re
lations w hile Poe concentrates on
academ ic achievem ents and union
relations.
“So many problem s in society
will go away if we close the achieve
ment gap," said P oe. “From a purely
se lfish so c ietal and ec o n o m ic
standpoint, education is the best
prevention o f gang and drug in
volvem ent.”
According to Poe, boosting the
accom plishm ents o f m inority stu
dents is possible.
“I believe we can be the first
urban district to close the achieve
ment gap,” said Poe, him self a prod
uct o f Portland Public Schools. Poe
has lived in northeast Portland all
his life and graduated from Jefferson
High School in 1970.
The district has im plem ented the
Education Action Plan, enforced
by Portland’s C hief A cadem ic O f
ficer Patricia Pickles, another A fri
can-A m erican educator. The plan
aim s to close the achievem ent gap
at each district school and m eet
federal education benchm arks by
2007.
Poe fights the racist barriers
engrained in the local population.
"W e do not have the same ex
pectations and vision o f rigor for all
kids,” said Poe. “ I’m not calling
anyone a racist, but I think the
fundam ental expectations are not
the same and we have to stop that.”
Poe also has a solution to bal-
continued
on page A2
the capital and were m et by hun
dreds o f residents dancing in the
streets and cheering the ouster o f
President Jean-B ertrand Aristide.
The United States denied allega
tions A ristide was kidnapped by
U.S. forces eager for him to resign
PCC Narrows Search
Finalists considered for top college job
and be spirited into exile.
fro m W e ste rn M ic h ig a n U n iv e rsity , a
b a c h e lo r ’s d e g re e in so c ia l sc ie n c e
U.S. Border
Vulnerability Reported
fro m M ic h ig a n S ta te U ni v ersity an d an
a s s o c ia te ’s d e g r e e fro m M u sk e g o n
Chronic delays in the integration
o f FBI fingerprint files with data
C o m m u n ity C o lleg e .
bases used by the Border Patrol
re c to r o f th e Illin o is B o a rd o f H ig h e r
leave the U nited States vulner
E d u c a tio n . P rio r to th at, h e se rv e d as
D a n ie l L a V ista is th e e x e c u tiv e d i
able to entry by foreign crim inals
p r e s id e n t o f M c H e n ry C o m m u n ity
and terrorists. Justice D epartm ent
investigators found.
C o lle g e in C ry sta l L ak e, III., as c h a n
c e llo r o f B a ltim o re C o u n ty C o m m u n ity
C o lle g e s in T o w so n . M d ., a n d p re s i
d e n t o f th e C o lle g e o f L a k e C o u n ty in
Battle over Chinese Girl
Raised from Infancy In U.S.
G ra y s la k e , III.
A 5-year-old C hinese-A m erican
L a V ista e a rn e d a d o c to ra l d e g re e in
girl at the center o f a custody fight
sp e e c h a n d d ra m a tic a rts fro m S y ra
has bonded with the A m erican
c u s e U n iv e rsity , a m a s te r’s d e g re e in
couple from Tennessee w ho raised
E n g lish lite ra tu re fro m th e U n iv ersity
her from infancy and should stay
o f D a y to n a n d a b a c h e lo r o f a r t's
w ith th em , a co u rt-ap p o in ted
guardian said.
d e g re e in E n g lish from S ie n a C o lle g e in
N ew Y o rk .
Dr. Preston Pulliams
Ja m e s M id d le to n is a v isitin g sc h o lar
fo r th e C o m m u n ity C o lle g e L e a d e r
P o rtla n d C o m m u n ity C o lle g e ’s b o ard
â g
¡B r 1
o ”7
o ©
35 O'
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c s o ,
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c
I
s h ip
D e v e lo p m e n t
In itia tiv e s at
o f d ire c to rs h a s se le c te d th re e Finalists,
C la r e m o n t G r a d u a te U n iv e r s ity in
in c lu d in g an A fric a n -A m e ric a n e d u c a
C la re m o n t, C a lif. B efo re that, he serv ed
to r fro m N ew Y o rk , fo r th e p o sitio n o f
as p re sid e n t o f th e M a rin C o m m u n ity
P C C p re sid e n t.
C o lle g e D istric t in M a rin C o u n ty , C a
P re sto n P u llia m s is c u rre n tly v ice-
lif., as c h ie f a c a d e m ic o ffic e r at th e
c h a n c e llo r fo r C o m m u n ity C o lle g e s fo r
P e n n sy lv a n ia C o lle g e o f T ec h n o lo g y
photo by
th e S ta te U n iv e rs ity o f N e w Y o rk . H e
in W illia m sp o rt, P a., an d th e d ire c to ro f
Rose Garden Going Broke?
p re v io u sly s e rv e d as p re s id e n t o f O r
In teg rated S tu d ies at W illia m sp o rt A rea
a n g e C o u n ty C o m m u n ity C o lle g e in
C o m m u n ity C o lle g e , W illia m sp o rt. Pa.
M id d le to n , N .Y . as p re s id e n t o f th e
M id d le to n e a rn e d a d o c to ra te o f
H ig h la n d L a k e s C a m p u s o f th e O a k la n d
a rts in E n g lish la n g u a g e an d literatu re
C o m m u n ity
in
fro m th e U n iv e rsity o f M ic h ig a n , m a s
B lo o m fie ld H ills, M ic h ., a n d v ic e p re s i
te rs d e g re e s in E n g lish fro m b o th the
C o lle g e
D is tric t
d e n t fo r stu d e n t a ffa irs at th e C o m m u
U n iv e rsity o f Io w a a n d th e U n iv ersity
n ity C o lle g e o f P h ila d e lp h ia .
o f L e e d s (E n g la n d ), a n d a b a c h e lo r’s
H e e a rn e d a d o c to ra l d e g re e in e d u
d e g re e in E u ro p e a n lite ra tu re from the
c a tio n fro m th e U n iv e rsity o f M ic h ig a n ,
a m a s te r 's in c o u n s e lin g a n d p e rso n n e l
)
continued
on page A2
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Oregon Arena Corp., the company that owns the Rose Garden,
filed for bankruptcy protection Friday. Company officials said
the arena, owned by multibillionaire Paul Allen, has lost $20
million in nine years and was headed toward a default on
interest payments. Allen's ownership o f the Portland Trail
Blazers was not part o f the bankruptcy filing, but the team also
has been losing money in recent years because of high player
salaries, declining attendance and explosive NBA taxes for
exceeding player payroll limits.
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