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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2004)
PaseA4____________________________________________ Fortiani» (©bseruer_______________________ O pinion May26.2004 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of The Portland Observer M ost o f our Youth Excel Negative images cast wrong assumptions Disastrous Approach in Iraq Need strategy to end bloodshed, contempt Bv U.S. R ep . E lijah E. C ummings Instead o f applauding Secre tary Rum sfeld for his obvious failure in leadership, President Bush w ould have better served A m erica and the world com m u nity by acknow ledging that for the past year and three m onths his A dm inistration has pursued a disastrous course in Iraq. F u rth e rm o re , the P resid en t should have articu la ted that a new strateg y m ust be adopted if A m erica is to em erge from th is w ar w ith o u t m ore b lo o d s h e d , d e c e p tio n m ent at the Pentagon and in te rn a tio n a l on evidence o f abuse co n tem p t. o f Iraqi prisoners, he T he horrific to r r e p e a te d ly in v o k e d ture o f Iraqi prison the w ord ‘c o u ra g e .’ ers is m ore e v i T here is no question dence that the war that our soldiers on the in Iraq is not creat battlefield are d em on ing peace, freedom strating extraordinary or dem ocracy, but courage. H ow ever, I is p e rp e tu a tin g a ask, when will politi Cummings g r e a te r se n s e o f cian s at the highest hostility and m is levels o f our govern trust tow ard A m erica around the ment show the sam e courage in world. tak in g resp o n sib ility for th eir D uring the P resident’s state failed leadership in Iraq? **AII classes are free of charge! African American Health Coalition, Inc. Presents for your health, Wellness W ithin REACH Activity Calendar Aerobics Mallory Ave. Christian Church Mon, Wed, Fri, 6-7am, Pierce • 5:30-6:20pm, Granville • 6:30-7:30pm, Nickerson Low Impact Aerobics Daniel’s Memorial Church lue, 7:15-8:15pm, Granville Kickboxing Humboldt Elementary Tue, Thu, 6-7pm, Keller Pilates (Contact AAHC) M att Dishman Tue, 8-9pm Stretching/Body Sculpting W a te r Aerobics (Contact AAHC) Columbia Pool, M att Dishman, Salvation Arm y M att Dishman Tue, Thu, 7-8am, Lois African Dance M att Dishman Sat, 10-1 lam, Addo Tai Chi (Contact AAHC) St John’s Comunity Center Tue, 6:30-7:30pm Body Conditioning W ild Oats Market Sat, 9:30-10:30am, Nickerson W alking Group Peninsula Park Sat, 12:30pm, Woods Chieago_Step M att Dishman Fri, 6:30pm, Kendrick W eight MentJConditioning U. of Portland Indoor Track Tue, Thu, 9 - 10am, Hasan (Class courtesy o f H it t Dishm in) Yoga W ild Oats M arket - Tue, Thu. 7:30-8:30pm, O'Rourke Columbia Pool. 7701 N Chautaqua Peninsula Park, 700 N Portland Daniel’s Memorial Church. 1234 NE Killingsworth Salvation Army, S32S N Williams Humboldt Elementary. 491S N Gantenbem St John’s Community Center. 8427 N. Central Malory A n Oinsttan Church (Gym). 126 NE Alberta II. of Portland Indoor Track, 500 N Willamette Matt Dishman, 77 NE Knott Wild Oats Market, 3S3S NE ISth "M ust be 21 or older to participate. Please contact AAHC before showing up to the first class and for more information at 503-413-1850 or kdempsey@aahc-portland.org. Please receive approval from your doctor before beginning exercise class. I X - R ¿9 t I “" i » IJ L X « W r I W »cl»l an d Ethnic A pproach«« t a C o m m u n ity H aa H h A Program of Itio African Amoncan Health Coalition Inc Sponsored by the Centers lor Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Contact AAHC at 5 0 3 -4 1 3 -1 ISO or visit our web site at wwwaahc-portland.org I again renew the C o n g res sional Black C aucus’ call for Sec retary Rum sfeld to offer his res ignation for the good o f the na tion and as a dem onstration of g oodw ill to the in tern atio n al com m unity. I also call on President Bush to exhibit courage and leader ship in this situation by holding him self and his A dm inistration accountable for these very real and unacceptable failures. U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., is chairman o f the Con gressional Black Caucus. Bv J udge G reg M athis try. Now comes word from the U.S. The U.S. Department o f Educa Department of Education that our tion recently issued a positive re youth are excelling in engineering, port on African-American youth that a curriculum that requires the mas was barely covered by the media. tering of math and science. The report concluded that black The study compared the high youth were the only school graduates ethnic group to sus of 1972,1982, and tain an increase in en 1992, in determin gineering graduates ing how many of in the last three de th em atte n d e d cades. c o lle g e an d African-American graduated with an youth are often pro en gineering d e jected in the media as gree. In 1972, only thugged out, drugged 1.7 p e rc e n t o f out, sex fiends. ,f you black high school w atch the even in g g ra d u a te s m a new s, you w ill no jo red in en g in eer doubt see a troubled J u d g e G re g M a th is ing. By 1992 the black youth being ar p erc en ta g e had rested for some crim e or another increased to 12.6 percent. The larg before the broadcast ends. When est increase o f any ethnic group. you open your daily paper, you will The reason this report is media no doubt read about the same. When worthy is because an engineering de you listen to music or watch music gree provides our youth a gateway and videos, you will hear and see some opportunity to enhance some of the African-American youth degrading words most important industries. Out themselves and their women through of this crop of engineers could come their art. These are the negative and the next George Washington Carver or destructive images that are being the next Bill Gates. projected most by the media as rep C ongratulations is in order for resentative o f black youth. all the organizations, parents and However, the tnith is most o f our schools w ho have encouraged youth are not thugs and sex addicts; our youth to excel in engineering. indeed our youth are leaders, cham We m ust continue to encourage pions, and engineers too. our youth to excel in math and For decades, we have seen our science so that they can d eter youth excel in athletics, entertain m ine the w o rld ’s future, in ad d i ment and culture. Indeed in recent tion to their own. In the m ean years, w e’ve seen a surge o f young tim e, we m ust dem and a more political leaders emerge from our balanced m edia portrayal o f A fri community all throughout the coun can-A m erican youth. Judge Greg Mathis is chairman o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel Board and a national board member o f the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Fast-Food Chains Can Fight Obesity Discontinuing ‘Supersize’ option is a good start B Y IX R . M E L K .O H N only make this prob “Oh, and ‘Super- lem w orse. size’ that, please." C o n sid er th at a I f y o u h a v e n ’t la rg e r p o rtio n o f u sed th o se w ords fries and larger soda y o u r s e lf , th e n can add 380 calo y o u ’ve been behind ries. A lthough that som eone in line who d o esn ’t sound like did. m u ch , c o n s u m in g The concept, p io those calories only n eered by once a w eek can add M cD onald’s, allow s Dr. M el Kohn fiv e a " d a h a lf a fast-food custom er p o u n d s to y o u r to order a larger portion for a w eight in a year. those num bers on the menu to h elp p e o p le m ak e in fo rm e d choices. Likewise, most fast-food meals com e with fries and high calorie sodas. T hese restaurants could help m ake it easier for us to keep our caloric intake dow n by m ak ing the default accom panim ent to our m eals low er calorie items such as a sm all salad, piece of fruit, a low -fat m ilk or bottle of water. Fries and sugared sodas w ould still be available, but w e’d Increasing the share o f advertising that promotes healthier foods, especially for children, would contribute greatly to our long-term health. __________________ _______ I relatively modest additional cost. M ake no m istake: I’m not ab o u t to a tta c k the G o ld en A rches. Indeed, because o f its convenience my family and I find ourselves pulling into fast-food establishm ents from time to time. But the d istressing fact is, fast food can be very high in calories, and increasing caloric intake is a m ajor contributor to the n atio n ’s grow ing o besity problem . And obesity was only recently identified as approach ing to b acco ’s place as the pre m iere cause o f prem ature death am ong A m ericans. E aten re g u la rly , fast food contributes to obesity because it's so energy dense that m ost of o u r bodies d o n 't get enough exercise to burn up the excess calo ries. L arge portion sizes The good new s is this is a prob lem with a solution. M cD onald’s, by announcing that it will d isco n tinue the “supersize” option, al ready has taken a step in the right direction. M ore can be done. For exam ple, how many people know that a l/3 -p o u n d burger has 740 calories, but the 2/3-pound burger w eighs in at 1,200 calories? By now, m ost consum ers in stin c tively know that fast-food m eals are high in calories. have to ask for them specifically to get them. A d v e rtisin g h e a v ily in f lu ences what we consum e, includ ing uncounted burgers, fries and sodas. H ow ever, only about 2 percent o f that w as for fruits, vegetables, grains and beans. In creasing the share o f advertising that prom otes healthier foods, especially for children, w ould contribute greatly to our long term health. But. unlike highly accessible So, M cD onald's, thank you nutrition labels on packages at the for making it a little easier for my grocery store, fast-food outlets fam ily, and m illions o f others, to often d o n 't m ake it easy. G ranted, eat more healthfully. H ere's hop some chains have posters or b ro ing it's only the start o f an indus chures in their stores, but often try trend to help us make wise that inform ation is inconvenient choices when we eat out. and hard to use. If restaurants Dr Mel Kohn is the state epi want to m ake the healthy choice demiologist in the Oregon De the easy ch o ice, they can put partment o f Human Services. I
