March II, 2009
Page A2
Fresh Drive to find Big Brothers
Wanted:
Positive adult
role models
W hen m en m et on a recent
S aturday at C ham p io n s B ar
b ershop on N ortheast M artin
L uther K ing Jr. B oulevard, it
w a s n ’t ju s t a b o u t g e ttin g a
haircut; they ran into a c a m
paign th a t’s recru itin g v o lu n
teer m entors to be Big B ro th
ers.
T he effort is an attem pt to
rev erse dism al p a rtic ip a tio n
rates by black adult role m o d
els in the local Big B rothers
Big S isters C olum bia N o rth
w est m entoring program . The
p h ila n th ro p ic g ro u p se rv e d
o v er 317 A fric an A m erican
ch ild ren in 2008, but only 16
percent of these children w ere
m a tc h e d w ith an A f r ic a n
A m erican Big B rother or Big
Sister. O f the volunteers in the
a g e n c y ’s p r o g ra m s , fe w e r
th a n 2 p e rc e n t are A fric a n
A m erican m en.
In o r d e r to r e v e r s e th is
trend. Big B rothers Big S is
ters and the A frican A m erican
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
fratern ities A lpha Phi A lpha
Pamela Weatherspoon, African-American Mentoring Programs director for Big Brothers Big Sisters, gets help recruit
a n d K a p p a A lp h a P si are
ing adults to serve as mentors for youth in the community from Art Williams (left) and Jamaal Lane, co-owners o f
partn erin g to take a fresh ap
Champions
Barbershop on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
p ro a c h at r e c r u itin g b la c k
S in c e th e e a r ly 1 9 9 0 ’s, sh arin g activ ities and ex p eri-
“We are ex cited about this Fraternity and C ham pions Bar-
men to be p ositive adult role
s a id
P a m e la
m odels for A frican A m erican these fratern ity b ro th ers have en ces that have a lastin g im - partnership with A lpha Phi Al- b e r s h o p ,”
reach ed out to young m en by pact.
pha Fraternity, Kappa A lpha Psi W eatherspoon, African Am eri-
boys.
can M entoring Programs Direc
tor with Big Brothers Big Sis
ters. “W ith our collective ef
forts, we can really have a last
ing difference on the youth in
our com m unity.”
Nationally, Alpha Phi Alpha
and Kappa A lpha Psi began us
ing barbershops as venues for
recruiting men to become Big
B rothers four years ago with
positive results. This is the first
y ear th at fra tern ity b ro th ers
have participated in barbershop
recruitm ent in Portland.
“Big Brothers Big Sisters has
continuously w orked hard to
im prove the lives o f children,”
said P hillip R ogers o f A lpha
Phi Alpha Fraternity. “It doesn’t
take a lot to be a Big Brother,
and it really does a lot to im
prove the futures o f young Af
rican A m erican m en.”
B ig B ro th e rs B ig S iste rs
helps children reach their po
tential through professionally
supported, one-to-one relation
ships with m entors that have a
m easurable impact.
Founded in 2002, Big Broth
ers Big Sisters Columbia North
w est has becom e the largest
one-to-one m entoring program
in O re g o n , th e la rg e s t B ig
Brothers Big Sisters agency on
the West C oast and the eighth
largest in the United States.
For more inform ation about
volunteering or supporting the
group, visit bbbsnorthw est.org.
Local Organizations Announce College Scholarships
The cost o f attending a four-
year institution has skyrocketed
in recent years, how ever there
are scholarships that will help
defray the cost o f getting that
degree. But, d o n ’t delay. The
application deadlines are close!
The A lbina Rotary Founda
tion has sent out applications to
North and Northeast Portland
high school counselors for the
2 0 0 9 N eil K elly M e m o ria l
Scholarship.
T h e s c h o la r s h ip o ffe rs
$ 1 ,(XX) to help fund a four-year
degree. Four are given out an
nually to North and N ortheast
high school seniors, and can be
renew ed each year during the
recipients’ entire undergraduate
educations.
To be eligible students need
to have a 2.75 GPA. The foun
d atio n is m o st in te re ste d in
funding students w ho have a
real need, and have show n a
genuine com m itm ent to their
com m unity in North or N orth
east Portland.
T h e a p p lic a tio n s are du e
April 3, and can be picked up
at a school counselors' office or
d o w n lo a d e d
at:
w w w.albinarotary.org.
High school seniors can also
apply for AI Forthan M emorial
R eco v ery S ch o larsh ip s. The
scholarships are awarded by the
O regon chapter o f the Volun
teers o f Am erica M en’s Resi
dential Center. T h ere are six
$1 ,(XX) scholarships.
Scholarships will go to one
senior at Jefferson, M arshall,
Roosevelt, and Madison. A fifth
will be av ailab le to a senior
from another P ortland public
high school, and the sixth will
go to se n io r in M u ltn o m ah
County who com es from a fam
ily that has grappled with drug
or alcohol addictions.
Portland
Development
Commission
Announcement of Available Funds
for Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area
The Portland Development Commission (PDC) announces the Interstate
Corridor Urban Renewal Area (ICURA) Community Livability Grant
Program. This grant program focuses on ICURA community facility projects and
historic or cultural preservation projects. Some examples of community facility
projects are community-based art, music or cultural centers, community health
centers, child-care facilities, community meeting space and senior centers.
For the complete announcement and application material go to:
www.pdc.us/communitylivability
Drop-In Workshops
Applicants can attend one of four manditory workshops for information regarding
project eligibility, the application, and the committee evaluation/selection process.
March 25, 2009: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Kenton Firehouse, 2209 N. Schofield Street, Portland
April 8, 2009: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Legacy Emanuel Hospital, Lorenzen Center, 2801 N. Cantenbein, Portland
Applications are due April 28, 2009, by 5:00 p.m.
Total Funds Available: up to $300,000
Funding Source: Fiscal Year 2009/10 ICURA Budget - Community Livability
For information about the Com m unity Livability Grant Program,
contact Susan Kuhn at PDC, 503.823.3406 or e-mail kuhns@pdc.us.
Invesling in Portland's Future
PDC
PORTLAND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
The application is due April
6. To obtain a scholarship ap
plication contact Julia Peters at:
5 0 3 - 8 0 2 -0 2 9 9 ,
or
v is it
w w w.voaor.org.
Returning veterans also have
the opportunity to get a degree,
tu itio n free, from C oncordia
University.
T he u n iv e rsity recen tly a n
n o u n c e d th a t it h as sig n e d
o nto to the P o st-9 /11 V eterans
E ducational A ssistance A ct o f
2008, w hich p ro v id es a su b
sidy that is eq u iv alen t to the
p rice tag o f the m ost ex p e n
sive public u n iv ersity in the
sta te fo r v e te ra n s re c e iv in g
C h a p te r 33 b en e fits (e d u c a
tio n a l b e n e fits p ro v id e d by
th e m ilita r y ) . T h e su b sid y
w o n ’t co v e r the full co st o f
C oncordia, but the university
recently announced that it will
pay for h alf the difference and
the other h alf will be picked up
by the Yellow Ribbon Program,
a federal program that provides
further funding for veterans.
For m ore inform ation, co n
tact the Office o f A dm ission at:
503-280-8501.
Supreme Court
Nixes Minority
Legislative District
continued
from Front
sented. A district like the one
in North Carolina should be
protected by federal law "so
long as a cohesive minority
population is large enough to
elect its chosen candidate
when combined with a reli
able num ber of crossover
voters from an otherwise po
larized m ajority," Justice
David Souter wrote for him
self and Justices Stephen
B reyer,
R uth
B ader
G insburg and John Paul
Stevens.
Civil rights groups that
urged the court to uphold the
North C arolina plan said
such districts help to dimin
ish racially polarized voting
over time because the can
didate who is the choice of
black or H ispanic voters
must draw some white sup
port to win election.
In April, the court will
hear a more significant chal
lenge to another provision of
the Voting Rights Act, re
quiring all or parts of 16
states with a history of ra
cial discrimination to get ap
proval before implementing
any changes in the way elec
tions are held.
The court's familiar ideo
logical split in this case
stro n g ly suggests that
Kennedy could hold the key
to the outcome in the April
case as well, said Nathaniel
Persily, an election law ex
pert at Columbia University.
In another e le c tio n -re
lated case, the c o u rt let
stand an appeals court de
c is io n th a t in v a lid a te d
state law s regulating the
ways independent p re si
dential candidates can get
on state ballots.
A rizona, jo in e d by 13
other states, asked the court
to hear its challenge to a rul
ing throw ing out its resi
dency requirement for peti
tion circulators and a June
deadline for submitting sig
natures for independent can
didates in the N ovem ber
presidential elections.
Independent presidential
candidate Ralph Nader sued
and won a favorable ruling
from the 9th U.S. Circuit
C ourt of A ppeals in San
Francisco.
The cases are Bartlett v.
S tric k la n d , 0 7 -6 8 9 , and
Brewer v. Nader, 08-648.
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