C e le b ra tin g Blac k I lis to r y M o n th
Committed to Cultural Diversity
February 9. 2005
New England Patriots
Win Superbowl
M etro
Deion Branch Given MVP
^ Jarliani» ffib s c rtie r
See Sports, page B3
SECTION
C
o in in u n i t y
a le n d ar
Get Fit, Stay Healthy!
Sankofaa Health Institute offers I
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.
Riding the Waves of
Change Lecture
Portland Community College will I
present a free lecture by Karen
Howells on how to transition the
psychological process o f adjust­
ing to change at the Multnomah
C o unty C en tral L ib rary on
Thursday, Feb. 10 from noon to
1 p.m. For more information,call |
503-614-7308.
Love the Pooch
Problem pooch classes are a must I
take for anyone who may be new
to the world of pet parenthood
or is interested in considering
adopting a new friend. Come to
the Oregon Humane Society to
find out why your dog does those
silly little things. Meetings are
every first and third Saturday of
the month at 11 a.m. For more |
information, call 503-285-7722.
Women in NAACP
W omen in NAACP meets from I
10:30a.m. to 1 p.m. the first Sat­
urday o f each month at the
American Red Cross Building,
3131 N. Vancouver. For ques­
tions, call 503-249-6263.
Business Meeting
Join North/Northeast Business I
A ssociation m eetings on the
first Monday of each month from
6 to 8 p.m. at Albina Community
Bank, 2002 N.E. Martin Luther
King Blvd. Morning networking
meetings are the third Wednes­
day of each month from 7:30 to 9
a.m. at the Blazers Boy sand Girls
Club, 5250 N.E. Martin Luther
King Blvd. For more informa­
tion, call 503-249-0487 or visit |
www.nneba.org.
AIDS Awareness
A lbina M inisterial A lliance I
sponsors a bi-monthly Support
and Education group for Afri­
can Americans living with HIV/
AIDS at Maranatha Church at
4222 NE 12th Street. The first
group will meet Thursday, Feb.
10 at 7 p.m. and will continue
every second and fourth Thurs­
day o f the month. For more infor­
mation. call Elnathan Hudson at |
503-285-0493ext 217.
Asian New Year
PortlandCommunityCollegewill I
celebrate the Asian New Year
with music,entertainment, food,
vendors and door prizes at the
Southeast Center on Monday,
Feb. 21 in the Great Hall. This is
a free event open to the public.
For more information, call 5 0 3 -1
788-6262.
Giving Minority Students Hope
Life and law
profession
explored with
role models
by K atherine K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
W ithout a role model, it can of­
ten be difficult to mold oneself into
the individual they want to be. A
few Portland students are getting
the chance to meet these heroes as
local teens are paired with adults to
offer the support and guidance they
need to pursue their dreams.
The Portland Opportunities In­
dustrialization Center, a middle and
high school program at 717 N.
Killingsworth Ct„ is exploring the
law profession by working with
mentors from the Minority and
Black Student Law Association at
Lewis and Clark College of Law.
The law students became in­
volved when Roberta Phillips, presi­
dent of the association, met with a
teacher to see how she could get
herself and other students involved
in the mentoring program.
Phillips used to teach high
school before she entered law
school.
“I felt there was more with the
community I could be doing. I felt
there were kids that could benefit
from meeting law students of color,”
she said.
Portland OIC students come from
diverse backgrounds. Many o f the
students were referred to the school
because o f low academic achieve­
ment, behavioral issues or poor
attendance, which makes the need
for someone to look up to even
greater.
“T here’s not much difference
betw een us,” Phillips said. “E v­
erybody has som ething to give.
Just spending time with som e­
one builds your character. The
kids feel valued. T h at’s som e­
thing you can ’t tell them - you
have to show them .”
Phillips said her goal was to
get kids to think about higher
education.
“Maybe if it doesn ’ t feel so alien
to them they won’t be intimidated,”
We
photos by K atherine
K ovacich /T he P ortland O bserver
Roberta Phillips (right), president o f the Black Student Law Association at Lewis and Clark College o f Law, takes a group of
students from north Portland's OIC school on a tour o f the campus library.
It's important that we don't let children fall through the cracks. Once
we label kids high risk, if they're at risk fo r anything it's being ignored.
- Roberta Phillips, President of Black Law Association, Lewis and Clark College of Law
she said. “ It’s important that we
don’t let children fall through the
cracks. Once we label kids high risk,
if they’re at risk for anything it's
being ignored.”
Marcus Chong Tim, a second
year law student, works with Joshua
Britton, a junior at Portland OIC.
“ I like to share my experiences.
Josh wants to go to college and I
help him see where he wants to go,”
Chong Tim said. “Community in­
volvement is very important. These
kids are the next generation - we
need to encourage them to go on to
higher education. It’s possible.”
Britton said it’s cool having a
mentor to learn about different
things.
“ I never thought about law
school,” he said. “W e’ll be friends.
H e’s a good person.”
Junior Joshua Britton (left) with his mentor Marcus Chong Tim, a
second year student at Lewis and Clark College o f Law.
During an introduction between
the mentors and students at Lewis
and Clark College of Law, they were
asked to describe each other.
Words like “ambitious,” “creative”
and “considerate” were used, and
it was found that many young stu­
dents hoped to attend college to be
doctors, lawyers or computer tech­
nicians.
Currently there are 15 Portland
OIC students paired with mentors.
Once a week, the pairs meet after
school to work on homework, talk
about life and its opportunities, play
board games and create art.
Juanita McGull, a sophomore at
the school, said that while taking a
law class in high school, she learned
o f the mentoring program. She
thought it would be a good way to
meet someone involved in law.
“I thought w e’d have things in
common,” she said. “We learn new
stuff about each other every week.”
McGull said her mentor Connie
continued
on page fi 6
College Textbook Prices On the Rise
Local study finds
unnecessary price
increases
by K atherine K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
Sustainable Food
Imagine a classroom without textbooks.
A workshop to explore ways to I It’s like a car without gas, and publishers are
make foods affordable, nutritious
taking advantage o f supply and demand in
and culturally appropriate is
a way that burns holes in the pockets of
from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, | starving college students across the nation.
Feb. 19 at St. Andrew Commu­
A recent OSPIRG study showed that
nity Center, 4940 N.E. 8,h Ave.
nearly a fifth of a student’s yearly college
Cost isaSIO donationand lunch | costs are buying the textbooks required for
will be provided. Call 503-221 -
study in class. An average o f $900 a year is
1054ext. 203 to register.
spent on textbooks at a public four-year
university.
Preschool Open House
Amy Connolly, O SPIRG ’s statewide af­
T illam ook C ooperative Pre­
fordable textbooks coordinator and sopho­
schools holds its open house on |
more at Portland State University, became
Saturday, March 5 from 10 a.m.
interested in the campaign when she had to
to 2 p.m. at 935 N.E. 33 Ave. I
buy a fxxik for $ 160 with supplements that
Financial aid is available. For
were never used in class.
more information, call 503-234-1
“I really had no money to buy books,” she
1691.
said. “So it was the mere fact that I could not
purchase my books in time. Students were
Used Bookstore Sale
T he M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty I being ripped off by a publishing company
that claimed to want to help in the collegiate
Library’sTitle Wave Used Book­
experience.
They’re in it for themselves."
store at216N.E. Knott Street will
Connolly
said that OSPIRG, a statewide
hold its I7,h anniversary sale
student
run
organization,
helped put out a
during the month of March. Sales
report
last
year
as
well,
primarily
forthe West
will change daily. Hours are
Coast.
This
year's
report
is
more
extensive
Monday through Saturday from
I0 a.m .to 4 p .m . For more infor-1 and reaches to a national level.
Textlxxik prices are increasing at four
mation, call 503-988-5021.
times the rate for all finished goods, accord­
ing to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Pro­
ducer Price Index.
Publishers will often make new editions of
a book that are often unnecessary with only
a few cosmetic changes. The fundamental
information is often still there in a used Nxik.
A new edition will cost, on average, 45 per­
cent more than a used copy o f a previous
edition.
M “ *« M
It a really unfortunate,
given the rise o f tuition.
Textbook costs are the main
other component o f receiving
a quality education.
- Amy Connolly. OSPIRG's statewide
affordable textbooks coordinator
photo by
K atherine K ovacich /T he P ortland O bserver
Book prices like those on the shelves at the Portland Community College book
store bring sticker shock and make the cost of an education difficult to obtain.
"It's really unfortunate, given the rise of
tuition," Connolly said. “Textbtxik costs are
the main other component of receiving a
quality education."
Features like CD-ROMs and workbooks
allow the publisher to bundle a btxik, which
is lOpercent more than one that’s unbundled.
Half of all bundled books surveyed did not
have an unbundled option on the shelf.
The p u b lish ers' reasoning for new ,
bundled books is because of new technol­
ogy, Connolly said.
continued
an page R6
I