September 5. 2007
Page A3
'jjJnrtlanb (Dhseruer
Dear Deanna!
Giving
Back
Dr. Wesley Harper and Pas­
tor Mary O verstreet were re­
cently honored at the Portland
Rotary Club for their work bring­
ing help to fami lies i mpacted by
Hurricane Katrina.
O v e rstre e t, the p a sto r o f
Powerhouse Tem ple Church o f
God in Christ, was thanked for
her continuous extended com ­
munity service efforts and for
her work with many families
displaced by the 2005 GulfCoas,
storm.
Harper, form er co-chair of
the local Rotary C lu b ’s Katrina
Relief C om m ittee, traveled to
New Orleans with a team o f
volunteers to provide emergency
assistan ce to the devastated
region.
I'm dating som eone new and he
has a ch ild . M y b o y frie n d 's
daughter is 10 years old and she
has no m anners or hom e training.
W hen they com e to my house she
puts her dirty feet on the sofa, and
leaves her cups and candy w rap­
pers everyw here. I nicely asked
her to remove her things one day
and he becam e upset with me.
This is a problem and I see the
relationship w on’t go any further
until this is addressed. How do I
deal with this sensitive subject? -
-Andrea; Charleston. S.C.
Dear Andrea:
The Portland Rotary Club thanks Dr. Wesley Harper and Pastor Mary Overstreet for their emergency
assistance to families impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
You need to let your boyfriend
know that your hom e is not a barn
and his child will not treat it as
such. The next time they visit,
handle your business and tell her
to rem ove her feet, clean after
herself or w hateverelse you need
todo. If your boyfriend says som e­
thing use that o p p o rtu n ity to
share your expectations. M oving
forward if he or his daughter ig ­
nores the rules you provided,
addresses it once more and if they
d o n ’t com ply, dum p them both
and keep it moving.
Dear Deanna!
Awareness for a Silent Killer
continued
from Front
treatm ent has com e a long w ay,”
and hopes that people will learn
from her story the im portance o f
early detection.
“ It’s a silent killer, because it
hides in p eople’s bodies, so the key
iseducation,” she says, taking com ­
fort in the fact that she is not alone
in her predicam ent. O ne in 12 A fri­
can A m erican carries the disease,
m aking it more than possible to fill
up Bethesda C hristian church in
north Portland with affected com ­
m unity m em bers for an Oregon
Health Sciences U niversity-hosted
sem inar on W ednesday, Sept. 29.
O utside o f such occasional sup­
port-group events, “it’s like agam e
o f dice, because you never know
w ho’s a carrier,” she says.
Parents w ho carry the trait have
a 25 percent chance each concep­
tion o f a chi Id afflicted by sickle-cell
disease. But T aylor w orries about
more than the illness itself when
counseling parents about their re­
productive choices.
Sickle-cell patients have faced
em ploym ent discrim ination, and
only this April did federal legisla­
tion pass barring businesses from
using a p erson's genetic inform a­
Food Origin
Demands Intensify
continued
from Front
tect them selves.
In D avison's case, labeling al­
lows him to follow a strict diet that
he uses to control his disabling
condition: "I say I was diagnosed
with m ultiple sclerosis, because if I
say I have m ultiple sclerosis, w est­
ern science c a n ’t do anything for
than b en e fits.”
D avison acknow ledges the dif­
ficulty o f getting everyone to agree
on regulations from his ow n e x p e­
rience, saying, "R ight now w e’re
learning how to write policy gover­
nance, and that’s taken up a lot o f that,” he says.
Ratherthan waiting forC ongress
my tim e, because it’s not easy.”
D avison argues that the small to release a 2008 Fann Bill with some
effort involved in the actual label­ labeling enforcem ent, D avison en ­
ing reaps huge psychological and courages consum ers to vote with
physiological benefits for consum ­ their feet by shopping elsew here if
ers, especially am ong those who a store isn't responding to cries for
are concerned about the health ef­ labeling.
“ I’m not that old. but it occurs to
fects o f foods. He notes that the
governm ent should provide a cer­ me that you w ant to align yourself
tain m inim um o f protections and with som ething that’s done right,
inform ation so citizens can be in­ be it a w inning team or a business.”
form ed about theirchoices and pro- he says.
G U A R D IN O
G ALLER Y
July 26-A ugust 28
Kim M u rto n 8< Kelly Neidig
Pictured above: Murton's Hi, How are ya ?" clay
• Changing M o n th ly E xh ibition s
• Contemporary Art 8< Craft in Gift Shop
• Custom Fram ing
O PEN six days a w eek
2939 NE A lb e rta • P o rtla n d , OR 97211
503 281-9048 • w w w .g u a rd in o g a lle ry .c o m
tion to deny insurance coverage or w ho are uninform ed and think that
jo b opportunities.
sickle cell will cost them more
Congress saw the need to protect m oney.”
against genetic discrimination in­
In celeb ratio n o f this y ea r’s
creasing with advances in science aw areness m onth and increased
after it spent $3.7 billion on the Hu­ genetic-discrim ination protections,
man Genome Project, giving parents T aylor and the Portland O bserver
an accurate prediction o f whether are inviting sickle-cell sufferers to
their child is “normal” or not. But share their stories. To show the
such information has long led to hardships o f this disease along with
problems for sickle-cell patients in the possibility o f leading a som e­
the workplace or with health insur­ what normal life with regular blood
ers. according to Taylor.
transfusions and low -im pact em ­
“ M ost o f them are hiding their ployment, call 5O3-288-OO33.
disease, because th ey 're afraid it
For more information about the
w ould cost them their jo b s,” she seminar, orthe Sept. 22nd telethon in
says. "There are some em ployers Gns.ham.call Taylor at 503-249-1366.
Ask Deanna !
M
Real People,
Real Advice
An advice
column
known for
reality based
subjects!
ship. In staling that y o u ’ve slipped,
in a relationship, one tim e o f any­
thing wrong is one tim e too many.
Her trust will be built o ver a period
of tim e and with consistency. Be
patient and your character and in­
tentions will be revealed and she'll
either accept you or deny you.
Dear Deanna!
I ended a violent relationship with
a man I truly loved. He abused me
verbally and physically all the time.
I walked out one day and left my
clothes and everything I owned. It
has been a few years and I ran into
him at church. He appears to be a
changed man. I’ve had a few co n ­
versations with him and he wants
another try. I’ve w atched him in his
new life and I thi nk we have a chance
at happiness. How can I protect my
self if he goes back to his old behav­
ior? --Anonymous; Baltimore. Md.
I used he a guy that played the
field quite a bit. I’v em et someone Dear Anonymous:
nice and I w ant to settle down D o n 't fool yourself into thinking
with her, build a future and per­ that just because h e's in church
haps have children or adopt. She clothes h e 's changed. Unless he's
tells me on a regular basis be­ addressed the root that causes his
cause o f my past sh e's scared to ugly behavior, you have a situation
trust me. I'v e slipped a few times sim ilar to putting a band-aid on a
but I'm working hard to be faith­ chim ney to repair the roof. You
ful. be com m itted and show her need to w atch a lot longer and keep
that I'v e changed. I’ve offered to him at arm s length and do not move
go to counseling, I stay at hom e in with him or be intimate until
and I tell her everything but noth­ you’ve seen a consistent pattern of
ing is working. W hat do I do? -- change. A fter awhile, if this is an
act, h e'll get tired and the real man
Ry'an; On-Line Reader
will surface again.
Dear Ryan:
The universe has a way o f balanc­
ing itself and now the exact thing
you always ran from is running
from you. You have to m ake
changes within yourself and not
try to change ju st for this relation-
Ask Deanna is written hy Deanna
M. Write Ask Deanna! Email:
askdeanna I <&>yahoo.com or 264
S. LaCienega Blvd. Suite 1283
Beverly Hills. CA 40211. Website;
www.askdeanna.eom
Gambling Can Put You
at Odds with Yourself.
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DON’T LET THE GAME PLAYYOU.