Committed to Cultural Diversity
September 22. 2004
M etro
Exhibit Celebrates
Hispanic Heritage
11,1 ^orttani» CObserucr
See El Observador, page B3
SECTION
C
O 111 Hl II 11 I t y
a I e n d a r
Stay Warm
T h e C o m m u n ity E n e rg y
Project holds a free w orkshop
on w ater conservation from
6:30 to 8 p.m . on W ednesday,
Sept. 29 and a lead poisoning
prevention workshop from 6:30
to 8 p.m. on T uesday, O ct. 5 at
422 N. E. A lberta St. C all 503-
284-6827 for m ore w orkshop
tim es and locations.
Mailman is Postal Service Ambassador
Sickle Cell Telethon
Area residents are encouraged
to join in the fight against Sickle
Cell Anemia disease by calling
in your pledge o f support during
a Saturday, Sept. 25 telethon from
4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Multnomah
County Cable TV.
Aquatic Fitness
P rovidence has a full schedule
o f fitness classes including w a
ter exercising at the Providence
A quatic C en ter, 4805 N.E.
Glisan. F oraschedule,call503-
215-6301.
AIDS Walk 2004
H elp save lives by p articip at
ing in AIDSW alkO4 on S un
day, Sept. 26, presented by
Nike. T his 5k event starts at
8:30 a. m. at Pioneer Courthouse
Square and ends at the same
lo c a tio n . A c ti v itie s ru n
through noon. For m ore infor
mation, call 503-223-9255.
Women In NAACP
W om en in N A A C P, a new
women'sgroup, meets from 10:30
a.m. to 1 p.m. the first Saturday of
each month at the American Red
C ro ss B u ild in g , 3131 N.
Vancouver. For questions, call
503-249-6263.
Children’s Healthy
Growth Clinic
A free 40-m inute session on
Rolfing, a holistic system of
soft tissue m anipulation and
m ovem ent to insure health
grow th and m ovem ent pat
terns, is available for children
ages zero to 10 on Saturday
Oct. 23, from 1-5 p.m. at W ild
O ats M arket, 2nd floor, 3535
N.E 15th. For questions about
thisclinic, call 503-753-7653 or
em ail rolfer@ earthlink.net.
Multicultural Health Fair
Wild Oats Natural Marketplace
at 3535 N.E. 15 Ave. hosts a
Multicultural Health Fairon Sat
urday, Oct. 2 from 1 to 5 p.m.
In Charge
The A m erican Red C ross O r
egon Trai 1 Chapter offers When
I’m in Charge, a 2.5 hour course
that prepares ch ild ren ages
eight to 11 how to respond to
and be safe in situations. The
next class is held W ednesday,
Oct. 20 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at
M t. H ood M edical C en ter,
24800 S.E. Stark St., Gresham .
The fee is $ 18. To register, call
503-280-1440.
PHOTO
COURTESY OF
U.S. P ostal
S ervice
Portland Letter Carrier Karl Keeton, a new national spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, delivers the mail on his downtown route
Dedication to customer
service earns honor
A Portland letter carrier with a stellar record
for 34 years o f service is now a national postal
ambassador.
African-American U.S. Postal Service em
ployee Earl Keeton is one of only nine letter carries
from the country that are appearing in a new USPS
‘Working tor You" advertising campaign.
Keeton will demonstrate the postal service’s
commitment to customer service in national
television, radio and print advertisements and
also make personal appearances to promote
postal services.
He was selected from among 800 postal em
ployees who auditioned for the honor.
"There is no one betterqualified toexplain the
products and services offered by the U.S. Postal
Service than our own em ployees,” said Post
master General John E. Potter. “The same letter
earners who are so well regarded by many of our
customers will now officially represent us in our
advertising, showing that there are many ways
to access postal services without ever having to
leave your home or office.”
Madison Teen on School Board
Suleima Cortez sticks up fo r student needs
by J aymee R. C uti
T he P ortland O bserver
The Portland Public School
Board’s newest member has the
student’s best interests in mind.
After all, she’s a student herself.
Suleima Cortez, 17, a Madison
High School senior, was selected
to represent the needs o f the stu
dents by making presentations to
the board, establishing a student
summit at all area high schools,
attending all board meetings, and
even voting on crucial matters
affecting students.
C ortez’s leadership style is
democratic. She meets with stu
dent summit leaders to take the
needs o f all students into consid
eration.
My opinion is only my per
sonal opinion, but I have to repre
sent all students in the district so
I have to find out what their needs
are,” she says.
Cortez says her job is to inform
every student, so they can partici
pate in changes that affect them
most.
“One o f the things I want to
focus on this year is getting infor
mation from high school to high
school and getting information from
the district to all the students be
cause students are the ones that
are affected.”
Cortez says she loves what she
does. Besides her involvement with
the school board and attendance at
the Superintendent Student Advi
sory Committee, Cortez runs track,
tosses javelin, throws shot put,
holds the position o f multicultural
director for M adison’s student
body and p articip a tes in Las
Hermanas, acommunity group pro
moting Latino health.
“I’ve always been involved with
things related to business or poli
tics,” Cortez said.
Next year, Cortez plans to attend
he University o f Oregon and study
international relations. She says her
experience with the school board
will likely have an affect on the
direction her career takes.
“I’ve thought about education
for a career, but maybe I want to
minor in something related to help
ing students,” said Cortez.
Suleima Cortez participates
in a government class at
Madison High School in
northeast Portland. The
multicultural director o f her
student body, Cortez is the
newest student member of
the Portland School Board.
PHOTO BY
M ark W ashington /
T he P ortland O bserver
Forces of Nature
OMSI presents Forces of Na
tu re , N a tio n a l G e o g ra p h ic
Chases M other Nature’s Dark
Side, at Omnimax from Oct. 8
through March. For more infor
mation, call 503-797-4000.
Fox Chase Artwalk
The businesses o f Fox C hase
C orners, at N ortheast 30 A v
enue and K illingsw orth Street,
sponsor A rtw alk for the entire
fam ily,beginning Nov. 14from
11 a.m. to4p.m . For more infor
m a tio n ,
e - m a il
milagms@milagrosboutique.com.
Run Cheetah
The cheetah’s race for survival
is on exhibit at the C entral
L ibrary’s C ollins G allery, 801
S. W. 10 Ave., through Oct. 24.
An a rtist’s reception is at 2
p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9 in the
gallery. For m ore inform ation,
visit w w w .cheetah.org.
Urban League puts Focus on Education
Annual dinner to
feature schools chief
Portland Schools Superintendent Vicki
Phillips will be the U rban L eague of
Portland’s keynote speaker at its 2004 Equal
Opportunity Day Dinner.
The recently hired administrator has been
asked to talk about “Educational O pportu
nity and Equality," the theme of this year’s
event, reflecting the Urban L eague's com
mitment to building a community that pro
vides opportunity to all.
Phillips arrived in Portland in August
after serving as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of
Education since January 2003. She is a
strong advocate for education reform and
has worked to improve schools as a teacher,
as leader of a non-profit education founda
tion, and as superintendent of a mid-sized
urban school district.
"W e are very excited
She has con sisten tly
about this year’s event and
w o rk ed to red u c e the
the opportunity to honor
achievement gap between
Brian Rohter." said Charles
students o f different in
Wilhoite, chair of the Ur
com e levels and ethnic-
ban League of Portland’s
groups.
board of directors and prin
A h ig h lig h t o f the
cipal with Willamette Man
Wednesday, Oct. 13 din
agement Associates.
ner will be the presenta
The local com pany that
tion of the Urban L eague's
Rohter leads began five
Equal Opportunity Award
years ago and now in
Portland School District
to Brian Rohter, president
cludes five stores and more
Superintendent
Vicki
Phillips
and co-founder o f New
than 800 employees. New
Seasons M arket. The award is gi ven t n appre - Seasons Market has a proven track record of
ciation for and in recognition of his important building a diverse work force, investing in
contributions to equal opportunity.
underserved communities and promoting
A no-host reception begins at 5:45 p.m., sustainable and strong local agriculture.
followed by dinner and the program at 6:45
“T his y ear’s honoree and them e also
p.m. at the Portland Hilton Hotel. The dinner's help remind us of our local Urban L eague’s
emcee is KGW news anchor Brenda Braxton.
longtim e efforts to build equality through
education and econom ic o p p o rtunity,"
W ilhoite said.
The dinner is strongly supported by
P o rtlan d ’s business com m unity. S pon
sors o f this y ea r’s dinner include: Intel,
K aiser Perm anente. NW N atural. OHSU,
Portland G eneral Electric, Portland Trail
Blazers, Providence H ealth System , The
S tan d ard , T hom ason A uto and W ells
Fargo.
Proceeds from the dinner will directly
benefit Urban League of Portland programs.
For ticket information, call the Urban League
of Portlandat 503 280-2611.
The nonprofit, com munity-based organi
zation headquartered in north and northeast
Portland. The League helps em power Afri
can Americans and others to achieve equal
ity in education, employment and economic
security through a combination of direct
services, outreach and advocacy.
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