&
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Rihanna
Florida Repeat
M etro
Îlîl ^ lo rtlan h © hseruer
p o m m u n ity
C a le n d a r
Zoo Spring Break Fun
T hrough Saturday, April 7, the Oregon
Z oo will host tropical island fun and
events for spring break. For m ore infor­
m a tio n . call 5 0 3 -2 2 6 -1 5 6 1 o r visit
o regonzoo.org .
Vancouver Outdoor Market
Saturdays and Sundays, thru O ctober 27,
the V ancouver O utdoor M arket will fea­
ture fresh produce, food, and arts and
crafts. The market also offers free W i -F i.
Saturday m arket hours are from 9 a.m. to
3 p.m. on Sundays the hours are 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
Healthy Kids Fair
Saturday, April 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
Legacy Emanuel Hospital: Atrium, 501 N.
G raham , will host the 23rd annual fair to
introduce children to the hospital and
caregivers. Scheduled activities include
egg hunts, photos with the E aster Bunny,
healthy kid checks, and much more. This
is a free event.
Rabbit Romp
Saturday, Apri 17, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the
O regon Zoo, 4( M) I S . W . Cany on Rd., w i 11
host an E aster egg hunt every 20-m inute
for children ages 3 -10 years old with a
special hunt for toddlers 2 and under.
Visit oregonzoo.org or call 503-226-1561
for more inform ation.
Life after High School
A C areer and Educational O pportunities
Fair, a venue for insight into local busi­
nesses, trade apprenticeships, sum m er
w ork program s and educational opportu­
nities takes place M onday, April 9, from
9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Portland State
U niversity Sm ith Ballroom , dow ntow n.
For more information, call 503-230-9427.
Elephantastic
Saturday and Sunday, April 14 & 15, the
O regon Z oo invites guest to celebrate
Packy the elephant’s 45th birthday; ac­
tivities include special perform ances by
P acky’s pachyderm -pals, with cake for
everyone at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Free with
zoo adm ission.
Financial Aid Workshop
Saturday, April 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m..
the Mt. Hood C om m unity C ollege O ffice
o f Financial Aid will host financial aid
w o rk s h o p s in the C o lle g e L ib rary ,
Room 3333. T he sem inars begin at 9:30
a.m. and continue each halfhourthrough-
out the day. Call 503-491-7262 for m ore
information.
Neighborhood Clean Up
Saturday, April 21. the North Portland-
Earth Day clean-up project invites resi­
dents to drop off unw anted recyclable
goods to 4 3 4 0 N . Lombard. For more drop
o ff sites and inform ation on how you can
helpclcan up the neighborhood, call 503-
823-4099.
in NCAA Tourney
with same
starting five
Barbados
beauty grows
as young artist
see Sports, page B6
A&E, page C3
Want a Free Computer?
Spend 24 hours
with Free Geek
by N icole R onal H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
B ecom in g a geek can get you a free
co m p u ter. S tarted in P o rtlan d on Earth
Day in 2000, the n on-profit organization
has been helping the co m m u n ity learn
about co m p u ters but also g iving fa m i­
lies access to tech n o lo g y for free.
N ow there are seven Free G eeks across
the country. It all originated when Free
G eek Founder O so Martin had too many
com puters and started shelving them in
his dining room.
T he first Free G eek is sta tio n e d in a
large w areh o u se in the S o u th east In ­
d u stria l A rea. L ast y ear, th ey w ere
robbed o f m ore than $ 3 ,0 0 0 o f laptop
eq uipm en t. But th eir sp irit w a s n 't sto ­
len and th eir m ission is still about h elp ­
ing the co m m u n ity . T he co m m u n ity
helped them ev en m ore as a resu lt w ith
d o n atio n s and v o lu n te erism for th eir
build o r ad o p t pro g ram .
The build program serves as a learning
experience, but ends with a benefit. V ol­
unteers build five com puters and get the
sixth one free. If a volunteer sim ply wants
a com puter, they can volunteer at Free
G eek for 24 hours. In addition to their
effort, volunteers are given free technical
support for a year.
“ W e do an am azing service and people
get to learn the technology to be more
com petitive in the jo b m arket,” said Shawn
Furst, Free G eek volunteer program coor­
dinator, who believes that volunteering
breaks barriers in technology.
The w arehouse is full o f gadgets and
photo by M ark
W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver
Shawn Furst welcomes the public to Free Geek in southeast Portland. She's the first stop on the mandatory tour for
new volunteers.
gizm os that the average person may not be
able to make sense of. It’s a new world
inside those doors and a new vocabulary.
For the technically challenged, w alking in
Free G eek could be intimidating. However,
the organization tries to give access to
everyone.
"M an y w om en m ay think that they
can n o t build a co m p u ter. But so m e­
tim es w e find those w ho are se lf d o u b t­
ers are often the o n es w ho catch on the
fa ste st,” said Furst.
How can you help Free Geek if you
already have a com puter? Feel free to
bring your junky com puter to Free Geek
just be prepared to pay the $10 recycling
fee. Ten percent o f Free G eek’s income
com es from m onitor recycling, but mostly
from their thrift store or the G eek Prom, an
continued
on pane R5
Urban League’s Mundy in New Orleans
African American Council
Y o u’re invited on the third T uesday o f
each m onth from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
when the African A m erican Advisory
Council m eets at the King Facility, 4815
N.E. Seventh Ave. Call 503-823-(XXX)for
more inform ation.
A p ril 4. 2 0 0 7
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
On ‘Flight of
Friendship’ to
aid recovery
U rban L eague o f Portland President
an d c h ie f e x e c u tiv e o ffic e r M arcu s
M undy is am ong a large g ro u p o f O r­
egon ian s in N ew O rlean s this w eek to
o ffe r aid and support to resid en ts o f the
city still reco v erin g from the d e v a sta ­
tion left by H urrican e K atrina.
M undy, w h o has fam ily m em bers
living in N ew O rlean s, leads an U rban
L eague d eleg atio n on the "F lig h t of
F riendsh ip ,” an in itiative that has m ore
than 100 O reg o n v o lu n ­
teers help in g in N ew O r­
le an s' recovery.
T h e v o l u n te e r s a r e
spendingtim e m eetingcivic
and co m m u n ity leaders and
w o rk in g on reb u ild in g and
b eau tificatio n p ro jects in
s o m e o f th e w o rs t h it
neig h b o rh o o d s. H ig h -p ro ­
file O re g o n ia n s on the trip
in c lu d e
G ov.
T ed
K ulongoski. M ayor T o m
P o tter and S tate T reasu rer
R andall E dw ards.
C h risto p h er L ew is. 23,
and A shley W illiam s, 21, Marcus Mundy
fo rm er resid en ts o f New'
is ab so lu tely
O rlean s that w ere d isp laced by H urri-
cane K atrina, are part
o f the U rban League d el­
egation. L ew is cam e to
Portland w ithout fam ­
ily o r friends in the a f­
term ath o f K atrina. W il­
liam s cam e to Portland
w ith h er m o th e r an d
seven siblings after they
lost ev ery th in g in the
storm . Both have since
b e e n s u p p o r te d b y
C ath o lic C harities.
C o m m en tin g on the
U rban L e a g u e 's p artici­
p a tio n o n th e tr ip .
M undy said "T h e U r­
ban L eague o f Portland
r n m m i t t w l t n < iin n n r t in o
the effo rts o f the N ational U rban L eague
an d U rb an L ea g u e o f G re a te r New
O rlean s as they w ork to rebuild N ew
O rlean s and rev iv e the w elfare o f its
citizen s.
“ N ew O rle a n s is im p o rtan t to so
m any o f us. W e all have a responsibility
and a d uty to see that the city is re ­
stored. T he A m erica I grew up in re­
q u ired carin g for o th ers and civic p a r­
ticip atio n . I w ould like to believ e that
w ere P o rtlan d th e v ictim o f such a
tragedy, o th ers w ould step u p." he said.
F light o f F rien d sh ip w as o rg an ized
by S ho and Loen D ozono o f A zum ano
T rav el; R andall E dw ards. O reg o n State
T reasu rer; B ruce S am son, sen io r e x ­
ecu tiv e o f N W N atural; Brent S tew art
o f U nited W ay; and M ercyC orp.
Urban Scavenger Hunt
Saturdays and Sundays, April 21-22 and
April 28-29, the Give a Buck for Buckman
A ssociation will host an architectural
urban scavenger hunt to he I p raise aw are­
ness to preserve the historical neighbor­
hood. Join the fun, learn som ething new
and m ake a difference. Visit pyung.com /
dev orcall 503-236-2214.
TriMet Tests
Transit Signs
Women’s Health Conference
Saturday, April 28. from 7:30 a.m. to 4 :3 0
p.m., at the Oregon Convention Center,
New York colum nist. Jane Brody, will be
discussing issues related to w o m en 's
h e a lth .
To
r e g is te r
v is it
ohsuw om enshealth.com orcall 503-494-
0712.
TriMet installs innovative raised-char­
acter signs in downtown Portland to
help riders who have a visual impair­
ment find their bus. The signs are
embossed and printed on high-grade
plastic to resist chemicals, light and
graffiti. Thirty-seven of the signs will
be tested over the next two years to
determine whether these or similar
signs will be incorporated into the
Portland Mall Light Rail Project.
Fostering Diversity
T hursday, April 26 thru Friday, April 27,
Mt. H( xk 1 C om m unity C ollege and P ort­
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, with educational,
business and cultural leaders. Call 503-
491 -7254 for more information.
I
HWY EXPRESS
Japanese Gardens Plant Sale
Saturday, April 28. from 10a.m. to 3 p.m.,
the Japanese G ardens, 6 11 SAV. Kingston
Dr., annual plant sale will take place.
I