Com m itted to C ultural D iversity September 15. 2004 Blazer Great Relishes Hall Induction M etro Clyde Drexler joins Dr. J ’ in elite group ïl!‘ JJortianì» © bseruer See Sports, page B2 SECTION C o ni in u n i t y a I e n cl it r Orchid Show See hundreds of beautiful and unusual orchids at the Fall 2004 Orchid Show and Sale from on Oct. 16 and 17 at the Washing ton County Fair at the Main Ex hibit Hall at 873 N.E. 34 Ave. Admission is $3 for more infor mation, call 503-649-41 18. Paddle the Willamette C elebrate with W illam ette Riverkeepers during the Port land Paddle canoe and kayak event from W illamette Park to the Ross Island to the East Bank Esplanade to the Port land Boathouse on Oct. 2 at 8:30 a.m. For more information, call 503-223-6418. Benefit Show David’s Harp is a program offer ing opportunities for indepen dence and an improved quality of life for adults with mental ill ness with a benefit concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 at Parkrose United Methodist Church, 11111 N.E. Knott. Tickets are $20 to the 12,h Avenue Hot Club quintet that plays blends of ‘30s and ‘40s jazz. For more information, call503-25 M975. AIDS Walk 2004 Help save lives by participating in AIDSWalkO4 on Sunday, Sept. 26, presented by Nike. This 5k event starts at 8:30a.m. at Pioneer Courthouse Square and ends at the same location. Activities run through noon. For more informa tion, call 503-223-9255. B Homebuying Reality Local seminars help potential homeowners W ells Fargo has team ed up with Re alty T rust to help inform the public that home buying makes sense and this is the time to do it. “A lot o f people have m isconcep tio n s,” said W ells Fargo Branch M an ager Darryl Sym onds. “ K now ing you have access is half the b a ttle .” The Sharing A dvantage Program , dem onstrating a partnership betw een the lending and housing com m unity, brings m onthly home buying sem inars to com m unity members. “We can take som eone who is on the fence and tell them to forget what they heard about closing costs or bad credit preventing them from buying a home, and instead tell them, this is why you should buy,” said Sym onds of the sem i nars. The program draw s in nonprofit o r photo by M ichael L eighton /T he P or i land O bserver ganizations such as churches, com m u Herbert Williams (from left), a broker with Realty Trust, partners with Wells Fargo hom e mortgage consultant Charles nity centers and boys and girls clubs, Funches and branch m anager Darryl Sym onds for a H om ebuyer's Sem inar this Saturday at Mallory Avenue Christian Church. to dem ystify the intim idating process o f buying a home. 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Mallory Avenue Crusade at Northeast 53,d Avenue and ing sem inars, contact Herbert W illiams, The next two Wells Fargo Homebuyer’s Christian Church, 126 N.E. Alberta St., Prescott. a broker with Realty Trust at 503-416- Seminars are on Saturday, Sept. 18 from and from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. at St. Jude Holy For more inform ation about upcom- 2040 or Symonds at 971 -409-6730. PCC Looks Ahead at New Opportunities Gallery of Visual Arts photo by M ichael L eighton / T he P ortland O bserver View art from talented local art ists of all ages throughout the month of September at the Inter state Firehouse Cultural Center: 5340 N. Interstate Ave., from 9 a.m .-6p.m ., free. Demolition begins on the last Alberta Farm Market o f two old structures on the Marketing healthy, affordable, high quality food, the Alberta Cooperati ve Grocery offers sea sonal produce from local grow ers, ready-to-eat food and weekly entertainment. Open from 10a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, located on 1500 N.E. Alberta St. For more infor mation, call 503-287-4333. Cascade Campus o f Portland Community College in north Portland. Crews last week used a wrecking crane to knock down the old wing of Terrell Hall for new facilities. Also planned is the October Experience Cultural on Alberta Come to Alberta Street and dis cover a thriving urban commu nity at the annual community faironSept. 18 for an outpouring of street spirit, with a parade, music, food and a dazzling dis play of arts and crafts. Learn more at www.artonalberta.org. Get nt, Stay Healthy! Sankofaa Health Institute offers a free diabetes support group from 6 to 7:30 p.m. every third Thursday at Alberta Simmons Plaza, 6707 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For more informa tion, call 503-285-2484. Home Improvement The largest show if its kind on the West Coast featuring the latest trends, the newest prod ucts and expert advice for re modeling, new construction and home improvement is coming to the City of Roses Sept. 23 - 26 at the Oregon Convention Center. Visit www.remodelshow.com for ticket information. Choose To Adopt A free inr unation meeting for pro' .ctive adoptive parents is held the third Wednesday of every month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Belmont Public Library, 1038 S. E. 39,h A ve. For more i nforma- tion, call 503-226-4870 or visit www.openadopt.com. Home Improvement The Community Energy Project holds free workshops on water conservation and weatheriza tion. For more information, call 503-284-4962. demolition o f the Fragmeier Building for the future Moriaty Arts and Humanities Building on the corner o f Killingsworth Street and Albina Avenue. College year begins Sept. 27 with new buildings, programs Portland Community College will open its doors to students on Monday, Sept. 27. Despite three years of budget cuts, stu dents can expect plenty of opportunities to get a top-rate education as the college sys tem has successfully carried out a major expansion of facilities on its campuses with five new buildings. The college’s new district president, Preston Pulliams, will be on hand to welcome new and returning students. In addition, the Cascade Campus in north Portland has a new campus president with Algie Gatewood. PCC turns 43 this year. The college began offering classes in 1961 at the old Failing Elementary School in the Ross Island area with a dozen students earning diplomas the following year. The college is a local success story, now serving more than 83,000 full- and part-time students in a multi-campus sys tem. “Portland Community Col lege ’ s national reputation for excellence is what attracted me to the job," said Pulliams. “I attended a national community college conference here 11 years ago and was very impressed with Portland and the college. I look forward to sharing the PCC story this year and in the years to come.” Thanks to the 2000 voter-approved $ 144 million bond measure for new space, tech nology and building repairs, PCC has ex panded its facilities by 370,000 square feet and has so far invested $ 100 million in bond program funds. Hundreds of people have been in on the expansion effort. Staff and construction contractors are busily readying the facili ties, moving offices, laying carpet, outfitting smart classrooms, installing phones and other activities to welcome students. The PCC Cascade Campus, serving north and northeast Portland, will bring three new buildings on line this fall. The $15 million investment includes a building devoted to technology studies, a building to house programs such as fire science, criminal jus- continued on page H2 Columnist Shares ‘Life on my Own Terms’ New CD touches on abuse, healing Award-winning newspaper columnist S. Renee Mitchell not only writes prose for The Oregonian, she is also a playwright, an ac tress and a self-published poet who has performed her original work in Portland, Washington, D.C., and New York City. “I enjoy writing a column for a living and it pays the bills,” says Mitchell, a single mom of three children. “But poetry is really what feeds my spirit.” This summer, Mitchell decided to take the advice of many of her admirers who have heard her perform. This month, she officially releases her first spoken word CD under the stage name, NaelNay! Black On Track Records, a Portland company that produces primarily hip-hop artists, put together the original soundtrack. “The music alone is bumping,” says Michael Hampton. CEO of Black on Track. “But Nae!Nay!’s powerful, and sometimes seductive, delivery really takes hip hop to a whole ‘nother level.” Most of the 10 singles on Mitchell’s CD, titled Life On My Terms, flow from personal experience. Brown vs. Board of Education talks about how 50 years after the groundbreaking ruling that outlawed segre gation in public schools, Mitchell still en counters some whites who still harbor racist views about the intelligence of black people. The chorus reminds us of how much progress is still needed: “Integration hasn’t cured racism or closed the achievement gap and that’s a fact. The Brown ruling changed America, but it didn’t change minds.” Mitchell’s emotional poem, Deafening Silence, deals with black-on-black crime. Earlier this year, she performed the piece to a standing ovation at a community forum on gang violence. And the powerfully haunt ing lyrics of “Hit Me” are about surviving verbal abuse. “You don’t have to hit me to hurt me,” Mitchell writes. “My internal pain lasts eternally / You don’t have to say those words to make yourself heard / You’re giv ing me treatment that I don’t deserve I You don’t have to hit me.” "People have asked me why I chose to talk about some very painful, personal things that I’ve experienced,” Mitchell says. “But I believe that’s the only way you can truly begin the healing process. People call it S. R enee Mitchell courage. I call it self-preservation." Not all of the CD’s poetry is serious, though. Mitchell has a few fun pieces, such as the comical “Don’t Touch My Hair," and continued on page R6