Committed to Cultural Diversity
A pril 20. 2005
www.portlandobserver.com
M etro
'jjn rtlau it (Observer
Clean Up Your ‘Hood
Earth Day is on Saturday, April
23 and the north Portland com
munity will hit the streets for liter
and illegal dumpsite pick-ups.
The St. John Lutheran Church,
4227 N. Lombard, will have space
to collect unwanted items. Come
and volunteer and do your share.
For more information please
contact Mary Jaron Kelly at
5 0 3 -8 2 3 -4 0 9 9
or
e m a il
mkelley@ci.portland.or.us
Fat Girl Clothing Exchange
W hat’s old to you is new to
someone else. On Sunday, April
24 from noon to 5 p.m, come
exchange your clothes with other
plus-sized women. This event
will be held at the NECommunity
Centeron 1630 N.E. 38 Ave.Just
off o f 39lhand Sandy Blvd. Sizes
will range from 1 x-6x. Proceeds
go to Fat Action Troupe Port
land whose focus is to promote
a fun high self-esteem for the
community of size. For more
in fo rm atio n , co n ta c t info@
fa tg irls p e a k s .c o m or v isit
w w w .f a tg ir ls p e a k s .c o m /
frockswap.
Remembering Memory Loss
Is memory loss normal or not?
The Providence Center on Ag
ing presents free community
forums in May regarding this
subject. Learn from Dr. Michael
Mega how new activities like
bingo or learning a new language
can boost your brain. For more
inform ation visit w w w .prov
idence.org/aging.
Neil Kelly Awards
Luncheon
On May 6 at 11:30 a.m. four stu
dents and five businesses will
be honored for their excellence
in community issues. The Ro
tary Club o f Albina and the
North/Northeast Business As
sociation sponsor this event.
Tickets are $50 and $30 is a do
nation.
Be a Hospice Volunteer
Providence Hospital offers free
training for volunteers at least
18 years old who can commit
four hours a week for a year. Pre
registration is required. For more
information or to get an applica
tion packet please call Cynthia
Cohen, volunteer coordinator at
503-215-5774
Women Mentors
Women in Community Service
is seeking volunteer mentors for
female offenders at Coffee Creek
Correctional Facility. Mentors
provide support and encourage
ment to women transitioning
from prison back into the com
munity. Mentors must be female,
24 or older. Training is provided.
Call 503-570-6614 for more infer-
mation.
Portland Children’s
Museum Activities
Portland Children’s Museum will
hold a variety of art activities for
children throughout the month,
including mediums using mo
saic, African arts and culture
and garden stepping stones. Call
503-223-6500 or visit the web at
www.portlandchildrensmusciun.ixg.
Get Fit, 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. BI vd. For more informa
tion, call 503-285-2484.
years»,
•S community service
.
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Shannon Guther is a breakdancer, DJ and co-owner o f the new Wax Café and break dance studio on North Interstate Avenue and Webster Street.
photos by N icole
H ooper /T he P orit . and O bserver
You
Served
Breakdance studio
and café opens
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
W here else in Portland can you learn the
“pop and lock” and get a peanut butter
milkshake?
Along North Interstate Avenue, there is
hotel after hotel, but on the com er of Webster
Street, you can’t miss the bright school bus
yellow building of Wax. In only four months,
break dancer and DJ Shannon Guthrie and
barista Sara Moskovitz have transformed
Wax (which is an “old school" term for vinyl)
from an underage clubhouse to sophisti
cated café and break dance studio.
Both are friends from San Diego who
originally met through a hip-hop portal called
Urban Empire to promote hip-hop enthusi
asts with underground events at locations
available for rent. Now with a site of their
own, the co-owners are bringing hip-hop to
the local community.
On W ednesdays, break dancing class
attracts kids from the age o f 3, to adults 50
years old, but most guests are in there 20s
and 30s. Because Wax is no longer an
underage club, many high school kids have
Wax owners Shannon Guthrie and Sara Mokovitz serve up some hot moves and "cups o f Joe.
drifted away.
The original plan, with partial financing
from the Portland Development Com m is
sion and other loans, was to open a restau
rant with nighttime events where underage
dancers and music lovers could com e and
learn hip-hop.
But on mainstream hip-hop nights, the
demands of kids proved to stressful not only
for the owners but for the neighborhood.
There were complaints about noise.
Sara and Shannon made an effort to hear
the concerns at the Overlook Neighborhood
Association meetings. They sent letters to
the residents in the area, explaining the mis
sion of the club and welcoming them to come
check it out.
Moskovitz describes some of the com
plaints as “straight up racism.”
“We only get the cops calling when there
is a group of black kids’ waiting to get into
the club, never when the crowd is mostly
continued
on page R6
Transition to
College Made Easier
Center for Student Success serves area kids
by K atherine
K ovacich
T he P ortland O bserver
Think doing taxes is hard? Try filling out
aFA FSA form .
For many high school students, tackling
this paperwork for financial aid toward col
lege is a daunting task. So much so that many
students don’t even bother and end up
without the plethora of finances they could
have had they filled it out.
This is where the Center for Student Suc
cess steps in.
Walk into Suite 135 at 1500 N.E. Irving St.
and you’ll find a multitude of computers, a
library of books and a knowledgeable staff
all waiting to help those in need of assis
tance with college financial aid forms. The
resources include help with entrance exams
and essays, and advice on making a decision
on w hereto go after high school graduation.
Workshops and campus visits are also com
mon. And it's all free.
The center has helped Benson High
School senior Andy Ngo get his college
applications filled out and snag three schol
arships. H e'll be studying film production at
UCLA in the fall.
“It’s made things a lot easier. When I was
beginning, I was so nervous," Ngo said.
“They helped me every step of the way.”
Ngo is the first of his family to apply for
a four-year college and said that when he
asks for help from his parents, they don’t
quite see the importance. He also said that
with parents who don’t speak English, try
ing to get the necessary information for
financial aid would’ve been difficult without
the help of the center.
Ngo looks forward to college as a chance
to be independent and on his own.
“ You don’t learn everything in high
school,” he said.
“We want to help low income and first
generation college students. These are the
people who have not had enough informa
tion in this process or have not been encour
aged to apply," said Jim Eddy, manager of
Portland’s Center for Student Success.
Eddy explained that when high schools
don't offer a course load to prepare for a four-
year degree, a downward spiral o f low-
achievement is continued.
“Upper to middle income and wealthy
parents send their students. 70 to 80 percent
of the time, to acollege," Eddy said. “Middle
and lower income families send them at a
continued
on page R5
photo by K atherine
K ovai kti /T he P ortland O bserver
Benson High School senior Andy Ngo plows into the resources on college pro
grams at the Center for Student Success. Ngo said the assistance is helping him
make his way to UCLA.
I