JJortlanb (ßbscrucr PageA2 August 18, 2004 Presidents Lead PCC .A, Gresham Police Chief Carla Piluso and Portland Assistant Police Chief Stanley Grubbs speak out against assault weapons at a demonstration at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Roxy Dollar of a northeast Portland V says she feels guns make a home unsafe for kids. She supports renew­ ing the ban on assault weapons, which expires on Sept. 13. J ohanna S. K ing / T he P ortland O bserver photos by in targeting high schools such as continued fr o m F ront Jefferson and R oosevelt to make and small businesses to work. his college a natural bridge to T he co lleg e has aw arded a higher education. third o f contracts to m inority- and “The bottom line is to do what w om en-ow ned businesses, to ta l­ we can to help students be suc­ ing $8.7 m illion to date. cessful in this com m unity. Until Pulliams also wants to raise we feel that students have goal to scholarship funds for the college be successful after high school, by soliciting donations from alumni. we w o n ’t be m eeting this goal," “We at PCC have a real need he said. for more scholarship dollars, to PCC is still accepting new ap ­ meet the financial challenges. It’s plicant for the fall term. Financial part o f being accessible and af­ assistance is available. For more fordable,” Pulliam s said. inform ation, visit w w w .pcc.edu ForG atew ood, his priorities lie orcall 503-244-6111. oting is Your Right Any citizen w ho is 18 years old on Election Day is eligible to vote. Even convicted felons can vote if not currently in custody o f the Oregon Dept. o f Corrections. If you are in any other part o f the criminal justice system, such as a county jail, you have not lost your voting privilege. S a tu rd a y , A u g u s t 28 GLENWOOD PARK 8E 87 th & C laybourne Moms Rally Against Assault Weapons brought its national tour to Port­ land last week to bring attention to the expiration of an assault weap­ ons ban. The federal Assault Weapons by J aymee R. C uti Act bans the manufacture and sale T he P ortland O bserver A van packed with mamas with o f semiautomatic assault weapons, a cause parked at Pioneer Court­ including the AK-47, Uzi andTEC- house Square with the message to 9. The act expires Sept. 13, unless keep assault weapons off the streets. renewed by Congress. G resham Police C hief Carla The Big Pink Rig, a 26-foot rec­ reation vehicle, staffed by mem­ Piluso, who spoke at the event, said bers of the Million Mom March, these weapons could escalate a Police join group supporting ban M M H H M B M M I Decisive Action to Stop Sudan Genocide Wanted ■ A chorus o f civil rights activists “At our July National Conven­ Now the United States tion in Philadelphia, NAACP del­ and business leaders are express­ ing concern and calling for swift Holocaust Museum has egates voted unanimously to d e­ and more decisive action from the clare the killings in Darfur acts of United States to put an end to the agreed with us that the genocide,” Bonds said. “Now the genocide in the Darfur region of the crisis there constitutes a United States Holocaust Museum Sudan. has agreed with us that the crisis full-fledged genocide In a letter to U.S. Secretary of there constitutes a full-fledged State Colin Powell, NAACPchair- emergency. genocide em ergency.” inan Ju lian Bond adm onished — NAACPchairman Julian Bond The NAACP resolution called Powell and the Bush Administra­ upon U.S. and world leaders to re­ tion and asked them to remember the U .S.’s failure to act, allowing spond to the crisis by disarming the the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and the murder of thousands. militia and allowing humanitarian M att C atin g u b , co n d u c to r u s b a n k .c o m Afternoon events begin at 3 p.ni. Features performances, inform ation booths, activities tables anti food booths You do the math Oregon Symphony concert at 7 p in. S p o n so re d by violent domestic situation. bullets that will pierce our vests.” “Guns and domestic violence, A renewal of the assault weap­ guns in relationship to youth and ons ban is supported by police guns in gang activities is our high­ chiefs across the nation, said Port­ est priority in Gresham this sum ­ land Assistant Police Chief Stanley mer,” Piluso said. Grubbs. Accordi ng to data gathered from “This is not an issue against the FBI, a home with a gun is eight personal possession of firearms," times more likely to have a homicide he said. “This weapon was not caused by a firearm. designed for hunting or home pro­ Piluso expressed a specific con­ tection. It’s a military weapon de­ cern over m ilitary-type assault signed to kill as many people as weapons, saying, “these are the quickly as possible.” & Health Net T h u rs d a y , S e p te m b e r 2 TOM McCALL WATERFRONT PARK C arlos K alm ar, co n d u c to r This rate is only good for a limited time! Don’t miss this window o f opportunity! In downtown Portland, bowl area south o f the Hawthorne Bridge [1 0 ,0 0 0 .0 0 (Kain date: September 3, 2004) S p o n s o r e d by »w....... " 'if KOI I «• ZÎÜ • W Æ,'f ^îorthnth QObserucr Established 1970 USPS 959-680 ________________________________ 4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 E ditor -I n -C h ie f , P ublisher : Charles H. Washington E dito r : M ichael Leighton R e p o r t e r : Jaymee R. Culi D istribution M anager : M ark W ashington C reative D irector : Paul N eu feld t O ff ic e M anager : K athy L inder , payments til January 20051 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. 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OR Subscriptions are $60.00 per year 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015 news&xxtJaDdobserver.com subscnptxxx^xxtlandobsewr.coii ads^Jxxyandobsçiwr.com d^fiçds&portlandobsewr.coiri I Stop bv vour local branch or call us a t 1-888-444-BANK for more information. 'S ee Banker tor details Mem ber FDtC i [TCbank Mar Service (¿¡taranteen Five Star Guaranteed Health Disparity Found Inadequate care for Medicare patients cited Portland Youth Philharm onic concert at 5 p in. w ith Mei Ann Chen, conductor Oregon Symphony concert at 7 p.m. Features 1812 O veiture w ith cannons and firew orks workers full access into the coun­ try, as well as seeks travel and fi­ nancial sanctions, and a ban on Sudanese oil, until the current cri­ sis is addressed. Reminding Powell o f the mur­ ders in Rwanda, Bond said, “Fail­ ure to act in the Sudan will add countless thousands more to the death toll, and will make a mockery of our stated aims of spreading peace and democracy throughout the w orld.” çj**) The NAACP is expressing concern over findings of health care disparities in medical care given to elderly African Americans versus whites. In a report released in the Aug. 5 New England Journal o f Medicine, researchers found inadequate healthcare for black Medicare patients. More than 25 percent o f African-American Medi­ care patients visited physicians who could not con­ sistently deliver high-quality care, com pared to less than 20 percent o f white patients. The study reported that only 22 percent of all U.S. primary care physicians accounted for 80 percent o f all visits by African- American patients. “While these findings are preliminary, the current state of affairs regarding health disparities is unac­ ceptable,” said Kweisi Mfume, NAACP president and chief executive officer. “We urge the leaders of this study to continue their investigation for greater comprehensive and accurate conclusions concern­ ing the disparities between the African-American community and the society at large. All Americans ought to have a reasonable expectation that our nation will be committed to ending such gross differ­ ences in the availability o f quality health care.” The NAACP Call to Action on Health initiative details disparities in such diseases as cardiovascular, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and cancer. The initiative calls for a reduction in health care disparities by at least 25 percent over the next five years by focusing on health management and prevention efforts on raising aware­ ness of health risks, unbiased research and develop­ ment, and changes in healthcare policy. The study also found that African-American eld­ erly patients were more likely than whites to see physicians who could not consistently refer patients to high-quality specialists, diagnostic imaging, and hospital admissions. More than 85 percent of white patients' visits occurred with physicians who are board certified, compared to less than 80 percent of African-American patients.