Committed to Cultural Diversity
January 3, 2007
Life and Art
M etro
Cl'e ^¡.ìortlanò (Bbseruer
Intertwine
A celebration
Milagro Theatre
presents 'Frida'
of women
choreographers
See Focus, page B3
See El Ohservador, page B6
________ SECTION
E
Students Named to National Academic Team
Give credit to PCC
Cascade instructors
O nce in aw hile, when y o u 'v e gone the
extra mile for your school and neighbor­
hood. good things com e back to you.
T h a t' s the case for tw o Portland C o m ­
m unity C o lleg e C ascad e C am pus s tu ­
d en ts w ho w ere recen tly h onored for
th eir ac h iev em en ts in the classro o m and
th eir le ad ersh ip on cam p u s and in the
com m unity.
Lisa Hummel o f southeast Portland and
Debra Lynn Porta o f north Portland, both
second-year students, were nam ed to the
A ll-U SA Academ ic Team by Phi T heta
Kappa, a nationw ide com m unity college
honor society. Both w om en will receive a
$ I,(X X) scholarship and travel to Nashville,
Tenn. in April for Phi T heta K appa's na­
tional conference.
Both w om en said their experience at
P C C ’s north Portland cam pus has made
Portland Community College
students Lisa Hummel and Debra
Lynn Porta are recognized for their
volunteer work and activism at
north Portland's Cascade Campus.
them aw are o f an inner potential for
achievem ent that they d id n ’t know ex ­
isted before they began their studies.
"B eing in student leadership has made
all the difference.” said Hummel. "I never
thought of m yself as a leader; I was alw ays
more o f a follower. The opportunities I'v e
found here have given me the courage to
strike out on my ow n."
Porta described a sim ilar sense o f self-
discovery when she recalled her activities
at Cascade. She has been active in student
governm ent, helping to organize a voter
registration drive and a voter education
program. Her efforts led to her being named
d irecto r o f leg islativ e affairs for the
college’s student body association.
B efore she g rad u ates next spring she
plans to o rg an ize a series o f student
forum s aim ed at raising aw aren ess o f
cu rren t ev en ts and d ev elo p in g a su p ­
port stru ctu re for veteran s returning
from the w ar in Iraq.
“ I'm lo oking forw ard to seeing these
program s co m e to fru itio n , especially
help in g the retu rn in g so ld iers,” said
Porta, w ho plans to tran sfe r to P ortland
S tate U n iv ersity to pu rsu e a degree in
so cio lo g y .
continued
on page B5
Diverse Company Builds on Success
State bridge
program brings
opportunity
G ood fences m ay m ake good n e ig h ­
bors. F or Big J C o n stru c tio n , good
fences also provide good busin ess o p ­
p o rtu n itie s.
T he M edford, O re. co m p an y is one o f
o nly a handful o f A fric an -A m erica n
ow ned heavy c o n stru c tio n co m p an ies
in the state and h ig h lig h ts the need for
w o rkforce d ev e lo p m e n t w ithin the O r­
egon D ep artm en t o f T ra n sp o rtatio n .
Big J C onstru ctio n has installed th o u ­
sands o f feet o f fencing alo n g In terstate
5 u nder a c o n tra ct that aim s to re p a ir or
re p la c e h u n d re d s o f a g in g b rid g e s
across the state w hile stim u la tin g the
sta te ’s econom y.
As p art o f that effo rt, O regon B ridge
D elivery P artners, O D O T ’s program
m an ag em en t firm for the bridge p ro ­
gram , p req u a lified ap p ro x im ate ly 120
sp ecialty c o n tra c to rs fo r w ork on the
program . A bout h alf o f tho se firm s are
ow ned by m in o rities o r w om en.
For Big J, the bridge p rogram w ork
w as a sp rin g b o ard o f o p p o rtu n ity . As a
su b c o n tra cto r to C H 2M H IL L , in 2005
Big J secured a $ 1 4 2 ,0 0 0 co n tra ct to
install fe n c in g a lo n g s e c tio n s o f 1-5 from
R oseburg to S utherlin, and in 2006 the
firm receiv ed a $ 9 7 ,0 0 0 c o n tra ct to in ­
stall additional fencing in the sam e area.
As a resu lt o f its involvem ent w ith
p o m m unity
C a 1 e n d a r
Nutritional Cooking
O nT uesday,Jan.9,from 6:30p.m .to8p.m .,
the National C ollege o f Natural M edicine
will host a free nutrition class and cooking
dem onstration by the N ikechcfat 2 2 1 N.E.
Freemont St. Call 5 03-4 1 3 -1850 for reser­
vations, seating is limited.
Martin Luther King Mass
A Rev. M artin Luther King Jr. memorial
mass will be celebrated Saturday. Jan. 13,
a, St. M ary'sC athedral o f the Im m aculate
Conception, located at N orthw est 18th
Avenue and C ouch Street. All are invited
to attend.
Financial Aid Seminar
A ssistance and expert advice to assist in
gaining financial aid will be available on
Saturday. Jan. 20. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at
Mount Hood Com m unity C ollege, in the
college library on the second floor in Rtxim
3333. Call 503-491-7262 forinformation.
Weight Loss Series
New Seasons Market a, Northeast 33rd and
Killingsworth Street will host free weight
loss classes on Jan. 31, Feb. 28. March 28.
Jesse Williams III (second from right) leads one of only a handful o f African-American owned heavy construction
companies in the state. He is joined by his Big J Construction crew (pictured, from left) Joe Christensen, Mark Lecher.
David Smith and Jim Wamboldt.
and April 25 from 7 p.m. to 8 :3 0 p.m.
Season for Giving
The African A m erican Health Coalition, a
non-profit that touches the lives o f m il­
lions o f A frican A m ericans each year,
rem inds you to support your com m unity
organization. All donations, grants, and
gifts are tax deductible. F orm orc inform a­
tion, visit aahc-portland.org.
Diabetes Support Group
Legacy Em anuel Hospital hosts a diabe­
tes support group the first and third T hurs­
days o f every month, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.,
in Room 1027.
Hospice Volunteers Needed
Legacy H ospice Services is looking for
volunteers for the Scappoose/ St. Helens,
Beaverton and Oregon C ity/G ladstone
areas. W intertrainingclasses startJan. 18.
C o n ta c t 5 0 3 - 2 2 5 -6 1 5 7 o r e m a il
atcox@ lhs.org.
Bradley-Angle House
The Bradley-A ngle House needs volun­
teers to help its outreach against dom estic
violence. W om en of color and bilingual
w om en are encouraged to call. For more
information, call 503-282-9940.
Girl Scouts Screen Video
Friday, Feb.2, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the
Kennedy School theater, the Girl Scouts
will raise funds for its Family G iving Pro­
gram with the screening o f the locally
produced video “A Circle is Round". Call
503-287-5140or503-977-6805 for more in­
formation.
Parenting Classes
N ew borns d o n 't com e with instruction
manuals but parents and parents-to-be
can attend classes through Providence
Health System s to learn about a variety o f
to p ic s fro m p ain an d c h ild b irth to
breastfeeding to infant CPR and much
more. F o ra schedule o f events, call 503-
574-6595 or visit: providence.org/classes.
Hatha Yoga Class
In O ther W ords Books and Resources
hosts Hatha Yoga classes for beginners
and all levels, every M onday. Tuesday
and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at In
O ther W ords. 8 N.E. K illingsworth. All
genders and ages and donations welcome.
Work Against Abuse
Com m unity A dvocates invites those in­
terested in protecting children from abuse
to become an event volunteer, event o u t­
reach, technology expert, graphic artists
or office support team m em ber. F orinfor-
mation.call 503-280-1388.
Women in Community Service
the bridge program . Big J m ore than
d o u b led its n um ber o f em p lo y ees and
sig n ifican tly ex p an d ed its cap acity to
handle in creasin g ly co m p lex en g in ee r­
ing and co n stru ctio n jo b s.
"W e added an en g in eer, a field su ­
p ervisor. an o p era to r and laborer— e x ­
p anding o u r team from three to seven
p eo p le." said o w n er Jesse W illiam s III,
w ho established his firm in 1997. "B eing
part o f the bridge program has increased
o u r ex p o su re to som e o f the larg er c o n ­
tracto rs. W e are hoping th is will open
the d o o r to m ore su b co n tractin g o p p o r­
tu n itie s .”
W ith the increased capacity and larger
w orkforce, W illia m sc lab o rated o n what
this m eans for Big J.
"A s o u r focus has chan g ed this year
to a w ider v ariety o f heavy civil e n g i­
neering p ro jects, we are looking fo r­
w ard to m eeting the ch allen g es o f in ­
creasin g the co m p lex ity o f o u r project
sco p e." he said.
P rojects the com p an y has recently
taken on include d esig n in g and b u ild ­
ing a tim b er o b serv atio n stru ctu re for
the U.S. Fish and W ild life S ervice, re ­
surfacing the Rogue R iver B ridge for
the USDA Forest Service, installing new
d oors and w indow s for an A ir N ational
G uard hangar, and securing a sig n ifi­
cant co n tract w ith the B ureau o f Land
M anagem ent to fab ricate and install a
floating boat dock system .
“ We w ant to be know n as g o -to e x ­
perts w ho p erform q u ality w ork w ithin
the tim efram e o f the jo b ." said Jim
W am boldt, Big J m anager.
spond in person or over the phone, out­
rea ch an d e d u c a tio n a l e ffo rts , an d
fundraising and adm inistrative duties. Call
503-232-4176 for more information.
Volunteer female mentors are being sought
by W omen in C om m unity Service to work
with incarcerated w omen at the Coffee
Creek Correctional Facility. The women
provide support and encouragem ent for
inmates transitioning from prison back
into the com m unity. For inform ation, call
503-570-6614.
Portland C om m unity Land Trust helps
first time and low -incom e hom ebuyers
purchase hom es at below market price.
Attend a free, one-hour class to learn more
about
th e
p ro g ra m .
C o n ta c t
Kelly@pclt.org or call 503-493-0293.
Black History Museum
Stroller Class for Moms
The Black History M useum o f Oregon is
seeking brilliant minds o f concerned indi­
viduals to help in restructuring the m u­
seum foundation's com m ittee. For infor­
mation, call 503-284-0617.
Are you a new mom or have a toddler?G et
som e exercise and meet other moms at the
free Stroller Strides class. 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Tuesdays and Thursday at Peninsula Park.
All you need is a stroller, water, a ma, or
towel and com fortable shoes. Call I lelen at
5O3-26O-5OI8 for more information.
Oregon Food Bank
The Oregon Fixxl Bank seeks volunteers
on M ondays from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
and Tuesdays. 9 a.m. to noon, to sort and
repack perishable ft xxls. Cal 1503-282-0555.
ext. 272 or visit O regonftxxlbank.org.
Volunteer for Crisis Line
W ant to make a difference in your com m u­
nity? Volunteers and advocates are needed
fo r,h e Portland W om en's Crisis Line. The
needs include on-call advocates to re­
Home buying Classes