Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
M etro
Jefferson Holds
Their Own in 5A
See Sports, page B6
11,1 ^¡.lortlauit Of)bseruer
March 14. 2007
ycciirs
of
~community service
B
Responders Lack Emergency Supplies
_______ SECTION
/c o m m u n ity
C a le n d a r
Bike Fair at PCC
P o rtlandC om m unityC ollegeishostinga
Bicycle Safety Fair from 10a.m. to 2 p.m.
on Saturday, M arch 24 in front o f the
Public Service Education B uilding at the
Cascade C am pus in north Portland. C hil
dren will receive a free bicycle helm et
(w hile supplies last) and get to navigate
a bicycle safety course.
Camp Fire Party
Saturday, M arch 17, from noon to 2 p.m.,
the Cam p Fire USA Portland M etro Coun
cil will host their97th birthday party with
fun for all ages. Activities include live
entertainm ent, gam es, prizes, m usic, and
even bi rthday cake. Cal 15O3-224-78OO for
details.
End the War Now Rally
Sunday, M arch 18, at 1:30 p.m. at the
South Park Blocks, local residents will
mark the 4th anniversary o f the Iraq W ar
with a peaceful march through dow n
town Portland.Call 503-230-9427 for more
information.
Spring Beach Cleanup
Saturday, March 24, from 10a.m. to I p.m..
thousands o f volunteers are needed to
help restore the coastline to a pristine
condition. V olunteers can call 800-333-
7658 or visit solv.org to register.
Zoo Teens Needed
T he Oregon Z oo needs 300 high school
students for the sum m er to assist in ed u
cating zoo visitors. If you love anim als
and teaching others, call 503-220-2449.
Spring Break Art Journeys
M onday, M arch 26 thru Friday, March
30, the Portland Art M useum hosts the
instructional art series for children ages
7-12. C ontact 503-226-2811 or visit
portlandartm useum .org, for more infor
mation.
Short on food,
water, first aide
B oles
F or the P ortland O bserver
by J E
Portland M ayorTom Potter, in response
to directives from the federal governm ent,
issued em ails to all city bureaus about 15
m onths ago, telling bureau heads and all
em ployees they should be ready for the
"Big Earthquake," or any other disaster,
according to M ario Rubio, official spokes
man for the mayor.
Did the bureaus get ready ? We decided
to check up.
Could N ortheast Precinct stay open
after a big earthquake hit? Could its staff
keep it running? How about the average
fire station? Are the supplies in place to
support those hard-w orking first-respond
ers?
O r would Portland see a fiasco like New
O rleans in the Katrina disaster, where so
many police officers did not get institu
tional support they needed, so they turned
in their badges?
At the N ortheast Portland Police Pre
cinct, 449 N.E. Em erson St., the new s was
bad. W ith m o reth an 120 staff, the precinct
hasapproximately 1,00016.9-ounce bottles
o f w ater on hand on a day. A ccording to
Cm dr. Bret Sm ith, the am ount o f w ater is
not enough to support the staff for three
days. Food was also scarce - sim ply none.
Smith w as able to locate and cover a
tabletop in his office with small gadgets
and tools for w orking a rescue detail. First
aid items like kneepads and hand wipes
were also found. The precinct could not
support its own staff and certainly not the
communities.
P hoto by N icole R onal H ooper /T he P ortland observer
if. David Woodhouse kneels next to two 55-gallon drums o f water at Fire
Station 8, 7134 N. Maryland Ave. The drums are enough to sustain the fire
station crew for a few days during a disaster, but expired two months ago.
Sm ith believes, on the other hand, that
the citizens “need to take ow nership o f
their own safety and take responsibility
for them selves so they d o n ’t becom e d e
pendent on governm ent to lake care o f
their needs.”
The responsibility o f the police is law
enforcem ent, m ore than rescue, he pointed
out.
At Fire Station 8, 7134 N. M aryland
Ave. behind the Interstate Fred Meyer,
tw o 55-gallon drum s o f w ater and tw o
cases o f C -R alions decorate the most re
mote and darkest co m er o f their basement,
enough to sustain the men o f the station
over a long w eekend o f disaster, accord
ing to Lt. M artin G etch. T he drum s are
supposed to be changed every six months,
but they expired tw o m onths ago.
If the city ’s w ater system was out of
order, firem en could obtain w ater to put
out fires from sw im m ing pools and the
W illam ette River, he said. Fire stations
also have em ergency portable generators
forobtaining truck fuel from their supplier.
Pacific Pride, if the electricity supply is
interrupted.
Police C h ief Rosie Sizer said in a later
interview that a federal grant would cover
som e o f these needs. However, a spokes
man for the T actical and O perations Divi
sion in the Police Bureau said that grant
had no food or w ater in it and that federal
regulations prohibit purchase o f these
supplies.
Both precinct and firehouse haveem er-
gency generators sufficient to operate the
buildings.
N either G etch nor Smith was fam iliar
with the fresnel lens, an inexpensive solar
collector suitable for steri lizing w ater and
starting fires w ithout flames. And neither
man was fam iliar with the advantages o f
freeze-dried foodoverC -R ations(M R E s).
Used Book Sale
W ednesday, M arch 28, from 8 a.m . until
6 p.m.. the M ultnom ah County Library
used book store at 2 16 N.E. Knott St. will
celebrates its 19th anniversary by offer-
ingall used m erchandise at 55 percent off.
Ghana Women’s Art Exhibit
WSU V ancouver. 14204 N.E. Salmon
Creek Ave., hosts a pow erful W est A fri
can art exhibit with guest lecturer and
w ell-know n G hanaian a r t historian Nii
Q uarcoopom e. The gallery hours are
M onday thru Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9
p.m. and Fridays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more
information, call 360-546-9580.
Life After High School
Monday, Apri 19, from 9:30a.m . to 3 p.m.,
PSU ’s Sm ith Ballroom , will host the C a
reer and Educational O pportunities Fair,
a venue for local businesses, trade ap
prenticeships. sum m er work program s
and educational organizations to present
career opportunities available within their
organizations. For more inform ation call
503-230-9427.
Fostering Diversity
Thursday, April 26 thru Friday, April 27,
Mt. Hood C om m unity C ollege and Port
land State U niversity, will host the two-
day conference to address critical diver
sity-related issues in the Portland and
G resham com m unities, w ith educational,
business and cultural leaders. Call 503-
4 9 1 -7254 for more information.
Community Support
The African A m erican Health C oalition,
a non-profit that touches the lives o f
m illions o f African A m ericanseaeh year,
rem inds you to support your com m unity
organization. All donations, grants, and I
gifts are tax deductible. For more inform a
tion. visit aahc-portland.org.
Diabetes Support Group
Legacy Emanuel Hospital hosts a diabe
tes support group the first and third Thurs
days o f every month, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.,
in Rixtrn 1027.
Bradley-Angle House
The Bradley-A ngle House needs volun
teers to help its outreach against dom es
tic violence. W om en o f color and bilin
gual w omen arc encouraged to call. For
more information, call 503-282-9940.
Parenting Classes
N ew borns d o n 't com e with instruction
m anuals but parents and parents-to-be
can attend classes through Providence
Health System s to learn about a variety of
topics. For a schedule o f events, call 503-
574-6595 or visit: providence.org/classes.
Portland's international soccer team “Abyssinia," a First Division champion in the North American Ethiopia Sports Federation League, consists o f players and
coaches from around the world. The team hopes to grow local support to bring the league playoffs to Portland in 2008.
International Team Unites Cultures
Division winner brings goodwill to city
P ortland’s cham pionship soccer club
“A byssinia" is uniting players from around
the world in a spirit o f unity that tran
scends world politics and religion.
The team has taken to the practice field
again as it begins a new season following
last y e a r's First D ivision trophy in the
North A m erican Ethiopia Sports F edera
tion League. Now its players and coaches
hope to grow local support to bring the
league playoffs to Portland in 2008.
“ Regardless o f our origins, the co m
mon language o f soccer or ‘football’ brings
out the best qualities in leadership, team
work, sacrifice, com m itm ent, punctuality.
friendships and hard w ork." says Uzoma
Izunagbara, an A byssinia team defender
and native o f Nigeria.
All the te a m 's players live in Portland
but have countries o f origin that include
Ethiopia, M ali, C am eron, G hana. Senegal
and Nigeria. A byssinia is the name given
to E thiopians during the biblical time of
King Solom on.
A team leader, recruiter and assistant
coach on the Portland team for 20 years.
Fereja Seifu says the club is proud o f
accepting upstanding players o f all ethnic
backgrounds.
The dedication to sportsm anship is a
tribute to the league's founder Fesseha
W olde Emanuel o f Los Angeles, a native
Ethiopian w ho starred in the 1968 O lym
pics and was a professional soccer player
for the L.A. G alaxy and contem porary o f
the great soccer player Pele.
Seifu is helping coordinate local spon
sorships to bring the league cham pion
ships to Portland. He is also building su p
port for E m anuel's AGAR Foundation
helping orphan anil im poverished ch il
dren in Ethiopia.
A contribution o f $150 forexam ple pays
for an Ethiopian child Io attend school for
a year, a school uniform and a meal each
continued
on page H5
Fereja Seifu
I