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Page A4
O pinion
December 26, 2007
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
Beer Can Spoil Holiday Cheer
Planning
required when
serving alcohol
by K aren W heeler
way you won’t be adding to the
eye-popping statistics of Oregon’s
serious underage drinking prob­
lem.
There’s something else to re­
member: In Oregon, it’s illegal for
anyone to serve more alcohol to
someone who is showing signs
I of having too much to drink. And,
L there’s the third-party liability law,
I which means that if you allow an
1 intoxicated person to leave your
The winter holidays
are
a tim e
for
celebratory gatherings
of family and friends,
food and drink, and
high spirits. But there’s one ingre­ party, you may be liable for any
dient that can quickly spoil the holi­ damages or injuries your guest
causes to others on the way home.
day cheer - alcohol.
Here are some tips for holiday
Give serious thought to the food
and drinks you’re serving; consider party givers:
Avoid making alcohol the main
keeping the party alcohol-free.
However, if you decide to add focus of social events. Entertain
alcoholic beverages to your holi­ guests with music, dancing, games,
day menu, a bit of planning and food and conversation.
Many adults prefer nonalcoholic
preparation can keep your event
beverages,
so offer plenty of alco­
merry and bright.
hol-free
choices
such as sparkling
If offering liquor,- be responsible.
Avoid making alcohol the
main focus of social events.
Entertain guests with music,
dancing, games, food and
: conversation.
Prepare for that relative who tends
.to imbibe too much. At the same
time, make arrangements for non­
drinkers and young people. This
kind of planning will ensure that
your guests have fun and don’t
turn into party problems or, worse
yet, holiday statistics.
Traffic studies tell us that an
average of four persons a year for
the past 10 years have died on
Oregon roads during the Christmas
holiday. When New Years statis­
tics for the decade are added in, we
learn that 41 percent of the fatal
holiday highway crashes involved
alcohol.
Keeping alcohol out of the hands
of young people is always the way
to go - and it’s the law. During
holiday parties, keep an eye on the
liquor cabinet or punchbowl when
kids are around. Research tells us
that one place youth procure alco­
hol is at parties where parents and
other adults have left them unsu­
pervised.
Instead, offer teen guests chal­
lenging games, activities like a
white-elephant gif, exchange, fun
beverages and good food. That
water, juice drinks and sodas.
Provide guests with nutritious
and appealing foods to slow the
effects of alcohol. High-protein and
carbohydrate foods such as cheese
and meats stay in the stomach much
longer, which slows the rate at
which the body absorbs alcohol.
Avoid salty foods that encourage
people to drink more.
Measure the correct amount of
liquor into drinks (no doubles) and
don’t serve anyone who is under
age or appears to beimpaired. Don’t
serve alcoholic punch or other bev­
erages that make it hard to gauge
how much alcohol one consumes.
Don’t force alcoholic drinks on
guests or rush to refill empty glasses.
Stop serving alcoholic bever­
ages at least one hour before the
end of the event. Serve coffee, alco­
hol-free beverages and desserts at
that time.
Before the party, recruit people
who won’t be drinking to help en­
sure that everyone has a safe ride
home.
Don’t Imprison the Next Generation
By criminalizing
ordinary student
misbehavior
by M onique
L. D ixon
W hen our children are being
a rre ste d in o u r sc h o o ls for
j “crim es” such as fighting that
[ used to warrant in-school de­
tention, a short suspension or a
phone call to parents, it is a sign
there is a no, only a failure in our
school systems, but in our ju s­
tice system as well. Students of
color are being suspended from
public schools at much higher
rates than their white peers. This
phenom enon, recently coined
“learning while black,” adds a
new, unexplored dim ension to
the issues of racial profiling and
providing legitimate educational
I opportunities for poor and m i­
nority children.
The crim inalization of ordi-
! nary student m isb eh av io r is
nothing new. It has been the
Karen Wheeler is addictions reality of school discipline prac­
policy manager for the Oregon tices in A merica since the late
Department of Human Services
1980s when schools adopted
“zero tolerance” policies.
But, states and school dis­
tricts took the notion to new
extrem es by passing laws that
required the suspension or ex ­
pulsion o f students for the pos­
s e s s io n a n d /o r use o f any
w eapon, drug, or the com m ission
o f other serious violations on or
o ff school grounds. W ith many
school-discipline policies written
in am biguous language, it has
been left up to adm inistrators to
judge on a case-by-case basis
what could be deem ed a serious
violation.
The problem is clear. Many
school adm inistrators have the
statutory authority to exercise
discretion in cases that do not
involve guns, drugs or assaults
on the faculty. Instead they are
choosing to have elem entary-
school children arrested for play­
ing with paper guns.
Som ething has to be done to
reverse the highly destructive
trend of throw ing children out of
school for acting like children.
Guns, w eapons and drugs should
never be allow ed into or on school
grounds, yet in the afterm ath of
Columbine, for many minority stu­
dents, fighting, not doing your
homework and other nebulously
defined in fra c tio n s could get
these stu d e n ts kicked out o f
school and landed in the ju v e ­
N O W D E L IV E R IN G
Y o u r fa v o r ite n e ig h b o r h o o d g r o c e r y s to r e n o w d e liv e r s
g r o c e r ie s r ig h t to y o u r h o m e o r o ffic e .
t
w w w .n e w s e a s o n s m a r k e t.c o m
you click, we deliver, (or pull up for pick up)
tended to punish - firearm s and
nile-justice system.
We should ask ourselves what drug offenses. And, if they were
safeguards are in place to pre­ applied to all students equally,
vent a disproportionately doled no m atter their race, ethnic origin
out, reactionary punishm ent in­ or socio-econom ic status.
But school districts across the
stead o f using discretion?
Clearly there will be less sym ­ country went to extrem es when
pathy for the “foul-m outhed,” they team ed up with law enforce­
disruptive child, and some would ment to create another educa­
argue that is the way it should be. tio n al track in this c o u n try 's
In other words, im perfect ch il­ schools - the “schoolhouse to
dren do not deserve a chance for jailhouse track” - by imposing
Something has to be done to
reverse the highly destructive
trend o f throwing children out of
school for acting like children.
redem ption or an opportunity to two doses o f punishm ent: Sus­
improve them selves ju st throw pensions or expulsions and a trip
them to the police and the prob­ to juvenile court - for what used
to be considered acts o f typical
lem is handled.
C ivil-rights and racial justice adolescent misconduct.
T herefore, handcuffing a 5-
organizations such as A dvance­
ment Project have com e to under­ year-old girl for having a tem per
stand that it requires collective tantrum in herSt. Petersburg, Fla.,
action to stop these immoral acts school and the egregious inci­
dents in Jena, La., are more the
o f incarcerating our youth.
Z ero-tolerance policies seem rule than the exception.
Monique L. Dixon is a senior
reasonable as a m atter o f school
safety, and would be acceptable attorney with Advancem ent
if they were applied to only those Project, a Washington-based ra­
serious offenses they were in­ cial justice organization.
HIV Prevention
Thank you for the article on the HIV prevention efforts taken by
minority communities (Portland Observer, Dec. 5). Since the beginning
of the epidemic, the rate of AIDS diagnosis for Hispanics/Latinos has
continuously increased at disproportionate rates.
Hispanics/Latinos have major misperceptions about HIV transmis­
sion and face numerous barriers such as stigma, lack of access to health
care, and cultural and physical isolation. While 80 percent of the patients
diagnosed with HIV and AIDS are white and non-Hispanic, an increasing
percentage of newly diagnosed cases are among racial and ethnic
minorities. These clients are often the most isolated from primary care and
support services.
Cascade AIDS Project has been providing training and capacity­
building assistance to agencies serving this underserved group. One of
the main obstacles we face is the stigma that often accompanies the
disease and the lack of awareness that exists in regards to risk and
prevention.
Nevertheless, since the beginning of the program LUES (Latinos
United Fighting AIDS), we have trained numerous community health
educators and we have provided education to Latino youth, middle
school students and their parents.
An important component of this program involves working with
Latino youth at Oregon Council of Hispanic Advancement. These
amazing kids have provided us with incredible feedback that has allowed
us to produce social marketing materials in the media to educate the
Latino population in general. We have produced radio broadcasting
materials and a video. We are conducting a campaign on the radio in the
near future and will air a PSA on local Hispanic TV.
Once again, I really appreciate your efforts to support this cause.
Roberto Astorga
Ixttino education coordinator
Cascade AIDS Project