Committed to Cultural Diversity
www.portlandobserver.com
M etro
A p ril 25. 2 0 0 7
Sportsmanship is
No Alternative
Basketball program brings
opportunities
11,1 Idurtlanb ODbseruer
See Sports, page B6
o m m u n ity
C a l e n d a r Engineering Extravaganza
Spiffin’ Up MLK
Saturday, A p ril 28, fro m 9 a .m . to 12 p.m.
the com m unity is needed to jo in together
in pride toclean up litterand g ra ffiti along
M artin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. V o lu n ­
teers w ill meet at 3 117 N.E. M L K B lvd.at
8a.m. Formore information, visitsolv.org.
PIL Basketball Classic
Saturday, M ay 26,at SEI, 3920 N. Kerby,
you are invited to encourage and support
high school athletes com peting in the
Portland Interscholastic League Basket-
ballC lassic. Doorsopen at 2:30p.m . w ith
tip -o ff at 3 p.m. Proceeds to benefit the
Joyce Washington M em orial Scholar­
ship Fund. C all M ark W ashington at 503-
288-0033 for more information.
Salem Hoop's League
The Salem H oop's M en's Basketball
League starts M ay 2. Registration is $450
per team w ith 10 games guaranteed. The
Registration deadline is A p ril 30. Call
Price Johnson at 50 3 -3 7 1 -4667.
Urban Scavenger Hunt
Saturday and Sunday, A p ril 28-29, the
G ive a Buck fo r Buckman Association
w ill host an architectural urban scaven­
ger hunt to help raise awareness to pre­
serve the historical neighborhood. Join
the fun, learn something new and make a
difference. V is it pyung.com /dev o r call
503-236-2214.
African American Council
Y o u 're invited on the third Tuesday o f
each month from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to
the A frica n Am erican A d viso ry C ouncil
meeting at the K ing F a cility. 4815 N.E.
Seventh Ave. Call 503-823-0000 fo r more
information.
Fostering Diversity
Thursday, A p ril 26 through Friday. A p ril
27, M t. Hood C om m unity College and
Portland State U niversity w ill host a tw o- j
day conference to address critica l d iv e r - !
sity-related issues in the Portland and
Gresham com m unities w ith educational,
business and cultural leaders. Call 503-
4 9 1 -7254 form ore inform ation.
Intel program
sneaks fun into
science
Plenty o f students know that science
can be fu n , b u t fo r y o u n g s te rs at
Binnsmead M iddle School, science means
b u ilding their own dance pad, rigging se­
cret alarms and even revam ping old clas­
sics like sending pong balls sailing through
the air.
The Binnsmead students took part in
creating these inventions on A p ril 12,
when Intel invited the southeast Portland
school and others from the metro area to
the technology campus in H illsb o ro fo r
Design Squad day.
The group o f nearly 500 kids got to be
engineers fo r inventions that show the
fun side o f science and met cast members
o f the “ Design Squad,” a reality television
series that airs Sunday afternoons on
Oregon Public Broadcasting. The show
aims to excite m iddle-school students
about science and engineering by .com­
bining elements o f reality T V w ith fun and
educational engineering challenges.
For the visitin g students, one member
in particular o f the Design Squad, Nate
B all, provided an incentive fo r them to
pursue a career in science and technol­
ogy. B all, who was born and raised in
N ew port, Ore., recently won a $30,000
L e m e lso n -M IT student prize fo r his life -
saving invention.
Dubbed the "O scar fo r Inventors," the
prestigious prize recognizes young in ­
ventors who turn their ideas into innova­
tions that change the w orld. B a ll's w in ­
ning invention, the A tlas Powered Rope
Ascender, enables a fu lly loaded firelighter
Ladaysha Ford, a student at Gregory Heights Middle School, and Brittany Jones, a student at Fernwood Middle School,
build an electronic dance pad at an Intel Oregon. About 500 students from Portland-area schools participated in the
event, designed to spur interest in engineering and in a new engineering-oriented reality show for kids on 0PB called
"Design Squad."
to reach the top o f a 30-story b u ilding in
only 30 seconds, compared to the six m in ­
utes o r more it often takes to trudge up
stairs w ith heavy equipment.
B ill M acKenzie o f Intel says the com ­
pany hopes to encourage m iddle school
students and other youth to become young
innovators like Ball.
“ A t Intel, we put a lot o f our resources
into encouraging student interest in math
and science," he said. "W e support tech­
nology training fo r teachers, student in ­
ternships, mentors, robotics competitions,
computer donations to schools and in ­
school volunteerism ."
T o fin d out more about opportunities
foryo u th a t Intel, lo g o nto w w w .in te l.co m /
comm unity/oregon/calendar. him.
Free Comic Book Day
Saturday, M ay 5, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m..
Bridge C ity Comics, 3725 N. M ississippi
A ve., welcomes guest o f all ages to an
adventure into the w o rld o f com ic books,
w ith hundreds o f free com ic books and
autograph signings by Adam Gallardo
and Rick Remender. Call 503-282-5484 or
visitb rid g e cityco m ics.co m .
82nd Avenue of Roses Parade
Saturday. A p ril 28. at 9 a.m.. beginning at
the Eastport Plaza, 4(XX) S.E. 82nd Ave.,
the parade w ill travel north on 82nd turn­
ing west at S.E. Y a m h ill, disbanding at
S.E. 78th Ave. For more inform ation or to
participate contact 503 -7 7 1 -3 8 17.
SOLV IT Challenge
Saturday, A p ril 28, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
Portland General E lectric presents the
SO LV-ITC hallenge. the largest Earth Day
clean up event in the m etropolitan area, j
Volunteers are needed. V is it solv.org or
call 503-844-9571.
Women’s Health Conference
Saturday, A p ril 28. from 7:30a.m. to4:30
p.m. at the Oregon C onvention Center,
New Y ork colum nist Jane B rody w ill dis­
cuss issues related to w om en’ s health.
T o register, call 503-494-0712 o r visit
ohsuwomenshealth.com
Healing Revival
Wednesday, M ay 9 through Friday. May
I I . at 7 p.m., the A lle n Temple C M E
Church. 4236 N.E. 8th Ave., welcomes the
com m unity to a ‘ Spring R evival' fo r re­
newal, recovery and rejuvenation o f the
spirit. For more inform ation, call 503-287-
0261.
Strike Against War
Saturday. M ay 26. at 7 p.m., the Freedom
Socialist Party and Radical Women invite
you to the Bread and Roses Center, 8 19
N. K illin g sw o rth St., fo r a grassroots e f­
fort to make Portland a "sanctuary c ity ”
fo r soldiers refusing to deploy to Iraq.
The forum w ill be preceded by a buffet at
6 p.m. fo r an $8 donation. C all 503-240-
4462 fo r more inform ation.
Vancouver Outdoors Market
Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 27,
the Vancouver Outdoor Market w ill lea
lure fresh produce, hxxl and arts and crafts.
Hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays
and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays
Vernon Brazzle protests the replacement of postal workers with private contractors by his rousing rendition of "We Shall Not Be Moved" during a rally
last week in front of the Main Post Office. Brazzle, a retired letter carrier, was known as "the singing mailman " because he so often was singing as he
delivered mail for decades in the Sabin and Irvington neighborhoods of northeast Portland.
Postal Workers Protest Loss of Jobs
Oppose efforts at
privatizing mail
delivery
One hundred fift y le tte r carriers
and th e ir custom ers w alked a picket
lin e at Portland's M a in Post O ffic e to
protest the p riv a tiz a tio n o f m a il de­
liv e ry .
"L ow -w age, no benefit, non-career
mail delivery is not our idea o f how to
provide customer service and protect
the m a il." said L.C. Hansen, president
o f (he local lettercarriers union, N A L C
Branch 82.
In s o lid a rity w ith a same-day picke t
A p ril 17 at the US Postal Service H ead­
quarters in W ashington, D .C ., local le t­
te r ca rrie rs urged C ongress to pass
House R esolution 282, w h ich ca lls on
the USPS to disco n tinu e the practice o f
co n tra ctin g out m ail d e liv e ry services.
Last month, mail deli very to a new 374-
unit housing development in the c ity o f
Beaverton was outsourced to a private
contractor.
The lettercarriers argue that across the
United States, the postal service is now
experim enting w ith hiring cut-rate private
contractors to d eliver new buildings, aux­
ilia ry routes and even existing city d e liv ­
ery routes when they are vacated by postal
employees.
These temporary contracts go to the
lowest bidder, usually paying less than
h a lf the salary o f a union letter carrier, w ith
no sick leave, vacation, health insurance
o r retire me lit.
The union workers say the contractors
use their own personal vehicle and hire
their own substitutes w hich are not super­
vised or trained like regular career letter
carriers.
According to Hansen, customers on
these contract routes arc not only subject
to unequal service but are more like ly to
suffer mail and identity theft o r other
property crimes, due to the in sta b ility o f
the workforce.
The local branch o f the National A s­
sociation o f Letter Carriers is encourag­
ing th e ir custom ers to con ta ct the
Beaverton Postmaster John Lee. local
politicians, and Congressional represen­
tatives.
Leaders fo r the postal workers also
say the pressure to privatize mail d e liv ­
ery is com ing from the national Postal
Board o f Governors, appointed by the
president anil that congressional action
m ay be re q u ire d to sto p p o sta l
privatization.
Job Fair to Bring 100 Employers to Local Community
At PCC Cascade
One hundred employers and inform a­
tive workshops w ill be' the featured items
at this year's Portland C om m unity College
Cascade Job Fair
The I Oth annual fair w ill be held from 11
a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, M ay I in the
Physical Education B uilding gym at the
Cascade Campus, 705 N. K illingsw orth St.
The event is free and open to the com ­
m unity . Job fai r sponsors i nc hide Comcast.
w ritin g workshops during the day.
The keynote speaker is M arty Nemko.
author of. "C ool Careers for Dum m ies.''He
w ill be presenting. "C ool Careers and How
Fred Meyer. Oregonlive. H offm an C on­
struction. N ikeand United Parcel Service.
Job-seekers are encouraged to bring
toG etO ne,” al 10:30a.m. and 3 p.m. in the
their resume. There w ill be several resume
auditorium o f the campus' M oriarty Arts
and Humanities B uilding. Nemko. voted
the San Francisco Bay Area's best career
coach, is a contributing ed ito r fo r U.S.
News.conTs Careers section.
Em ployers represented at this year's
f a ir in c lu d e A m e ric a n Red C ro ss.
Beaverton Schixtl D istrict. B rixtks S ta ff­
in g . Bureau o f L a n d
continued
M a n a g e m e n t,
on page HS