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Summer camp makes learning fun.
See Metro, Section B, inside.
‘City of Roses’
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Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXIV • Number 28
TiWeek¡n
TheReview
California Clears Fire Area
Dry, windy weather hampered
efforts to contain a wildfire in
northern Los Angeles County
that has forced thousands of
people to flee their homes, one of
several fires that crews were bat
tling in the state. Nearly 1,600
homes in Santa Clarita had been
evacuated since the fire began
Saturday, but there were no im
mediate reports o f injuries or
structural damage.
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • July 21, 2004
Health
OutKast’s Andre 3000
‘World's Sexist Vegetarian’
hip hop? Maybe it's the veggies.
Andre 3000o f O utK ast has been
voted the “W orld’s Sexiest Veg
etarian” in PETA’s annual online
poll. He shares the honor with
actress Alicia Silverstone.
Withdraw Frees Hostage
A Filipino truck driver held hos
tage in Iraq for nearly two weeks
w as freed T uesday, a day after
his nation w ithdrew its final
peacekeepers from Iraq - a move
that m et the kid n ap p ers’ d e
m ands but angered U.S. and
Iraqi officials.
CBS Fights Super Bowl Fines
CBS will fight any fines leveled
against its television stations
over Janet Jackson’s startling
Super Bowl performance, a top
executive with parent company
Viacom Inc. said. CBS faces a
Federal Com munications Com
mission fine of $550.(XX)ora maxi
mum penalty o f $27,500 for each
of 20 CBS-owned stations.
Kobe Awaits Word
With jury selection less than six
weeks away in his sexual assault
case, Kobe Bryant is waiting for
the ju d g e's decision on an issue
that could greatly affect trial strat
egy and witness lists: Whether
the alleged victim 's sex life can
be used against her.
FOX’S Slogan Challenged
Fox News’ use of the slogan “Fair
and Balanced” constitutes de
ceptive advertising, two political
advocacy groups claim ed M on
day in a petition filed with the
Federal T rade Commission. Lib
eral MoveOn.org and historically
nonpartisan Common Cause as
sert that Fox N ew s' reports are
d eliberately and consistently
distorted and twisted to promote
the Republican Party and an ex
treme right-wing viewpoint.
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P hoto bv D avid P lechi TT he P ortland O bserver
Smooth Carter, with her stack o f Oregon Health Plan premiums, worries for the future o f her state provided medical insurance, saying the program is being stripped
down to its “bare essentials. “
Oregon Health Plan Shrivels
B y J aymee R. C u n
Titii P ortland O bserver
Oregonians without health care are feel
ing the impact o f the failure o f Measure 30, a
$350 million tax package, which was voted
down by voters last February.
Although the Oregon Health Plan sur
vives in a scaled down form, covering preg
nant women, the disabled and children living
in poverty, it no longer accepts applications
for Oregon’s working poor.
On June 30, the Oregon Health Plan closed
its enrollment to new applicants, and will
reduce its clientele from 120,000 to a mere
24,000 by next January.
“T h ey ’re still sick. N ow th e y 'll have to
go to the em ergency room , w hich will
drive up prem ium s for the rest o f us and
they still w o n ’t get preventative ca re,”
said M aribeth H ealey, d irecto r o f O reg o
nians for H ealth Security, com m enting on
the drastic num ber o f people w ithout
m edical insurance.
Over the last two years, 968,000 O rego
nians have been uninsured, representing
one out o f three non-elderly Oregonians,
according to a new report by Families USA,
a national nonprofit health care advocacy
organization.
This creates a unique situation for 76
percent o f the state's uninsured population
who are working, without health coverage
from their employers.
Sm ooth C arter, for exam ple, says she
has been jo b hunting, but fears she will
lose her health care once she has a reli
able incom e.
“I'm really worried that I'll be dropped
from O H P,” Carter said. “I’ve just inter
view ed for a jo b , but it doesn’t have
healthcare coverage. If I get the job. I'll be
dropped from OHP because I’ll make too
much to qualify, but not enough to pay for
private insurance. So my reward for finding
a job will be to lose my healthcare coverage.
T hat’s ju st crazy."
Carter, i poet and activist, volunteers for
Sisters o f the Road Café and Crossroads,
working with homeless people and those
suffering from mental illness. She has spoken
at City Hall about issues affecting the unin
sured.
The Oregon Health Plan, once a national
model for health care coverage, has suffered
drastic cuts over the last two years. Since
March 2003, nearly 50,(XX) Oregonians have
been dropped from OHP-Standard plan.
For
m o re
in fo rm a tio n ,
v isit
w w w .oregoniansforhealthsecurity.org or
www.oregonaction.org.
Loving Care Goes a Long Way
Finding respect and responsibility through teamwork
Bv J ohanna S. K in «;
T he P ortland O bserver
W hat do you expect to see when you
w alk into a restaurant and th e re’s a strag
gling troop o f 50 little ones doing what
kids do best, having fun?
T he thought o f row dy, loud and obnox
ious young people may be overw helm ing,
but try to visualize them as civilized, w ell-
behaved team players.
T his is exactly w hat you get from the
young people involved in T L C TnT. This
program for students and their fam ilies
prom otes self-esteem and is designed to
offer everyone a chance to experience fun,
love and accom plishm ent.
H eaded by Faye Palm erton and Roy
Pittm an for the past 18 years, these quality
com m unity volunteers believe that all ch il
dren, teens and parents need a little tender
loving care and support to try and think,
hence the nam e TLC TnT.
T he main trust o f the program includes
six, one-w eek sum m er day cam ps. Each
w eek more than 100 youth betw een the
ages o f five and tw elve participate in self
esteem and team building activities, as
w ell as field trips.
V isits to local restaurants like Burger
King and D om inos Pizza, Lloyd C enter
M all, O regon 7,oo, the North and N orth
east Police Precincts, and regular rides on
T riM et, help kids learn the right way to act
M ark W ashin «; ton /
T HE PORTLAND OBSERVER
photos bv
Kids at north Portland's Domino's Pizza say, “I helped," after learning how to
make pizza and behave in a public restaurant.
in public. T he activities are geared
tow ard building aw areness o f ed u ca
tion, literacy, responsibility and team
work.
For a young person w ho has never
been to a library, visited acom m unity
center or been given caring, con stru c
tive direction about how to behave prop
erly in a public setting, these activities help
kids feel im portant w hile still having fun.
“We give them our expectations and help
them to he successful,” said program co o r
d in ato r Roy Pittm an. “T oo m any tim es
young people are poorly labeled as disre-
I
Little ones learn to cook and cooperate
at Domino's Pizza, with the help o f a high
school mentor.
spectful troublem akers, we believe d iffe r
ently about our kids because they are d iffe r
ent. T hey show respect and they get re
sp e c t.”
H elping staff the cam ps are high school
continued
on page A 6