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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 2013)
Local News Safer Streets The Albina-Killingsworth Safe Neighborhood Commission was honored by the Portland Police Bureau with a “Commendation Medal” on April 16 for its successful efforts to make the neighborhood surrounding the intersection of North Albina Avenue and Killingsworth Street a safer place to live, work, and study. The Commission, based out of Portland Community College’s Cascade Campus, is made up of local residents, business owners, and educational institutions and government agencies such as PCC, Jefferson High School, POIC, the Police Bureau, and TriMet, among others. Pictured from left in the front row are PCC-Cascade Campus President Algie Gatewood (holding award); Humboldt Neighborhood Association Chair Paul Anthony; PCC Board member Kali Thorne Ladd; Celeste Carey, of the city’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement; JHS Vice-Principal Ricky Allen; PCC Public Safety Director Ken Goodwin; PCC Public Safety Sgt. John Thompson; POIC’s Val Polk; and PCC Public Safety Lt. Derrick Foxworth. The award was presented at David Douglas High School during the Police Bureau’s annual awards ceremony. Killer continued from page 1 hatred as a sickness in the community. Hennekens points to firearms related deaths for specific examination. Citing data from the publically available Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database, he says it’s not just a problem for young Black men. The overall rates of homicide in the U.S. are seven times higher than they are in other developed countries and the rates from firearms are 20 times higher. Even in the young age groups, the mortality rates from firearms are 43 times higher, says Hennekens. “Combating the epidemic of mortality due to firearms without addressing firearms is analogous to combating the epidemic of lung cancer due to cigarettes without addressing cigarettes,” he says. “There have been a lot of emotions that are very high on both sides of this question and I think we need more reliable evidence as soon as pos- sible. “We want to optimize the health of the public, we want to look at the existing evi- dence and do the research necessary to test the questions and weigh that in view of the constitutional right of individuals to bear arms.” Hennekens says he’s glad that academic medical research will play a role in the national plan to reduce mortality from firearms. Medical centers should be a cen- tral part of the research to prevent these occurrences, instead of just being the insti- tutions that delivery of care, he says. “I think it was Mark Twain who said, ‘You can always tell when academics are in dispute because the emotions are high and the stakes are low,’” says Hennekens. “Well here, the emotions are high and the stakes are high but we have an absence of a suffi- cient body of evidence on which to make the best judgments on what to do.” this country: the American Medical Associ- ation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control… “You’ve heard fluoride is a chemical – Meies Matz: “Why are we choosing this when we have other alternatives. This deserves a bigger conversation. There are good people on both sides of don’t see them drinking a lot of water. So is making everyone ingest this really the best way to help children of color? If we really want to help kids of color then we need more dentists –dentists where the first question isn’t what kind of insurance do you have?” “We want to be thoughtful. We want to weigh the pros and cons. We have so many chemicals in our envi- ronment already that adding more is not a good thing. “We have reasonable alternatives. We could use dental therapists. We have fluo- ride tablets in schools. We had a successful sealants program, but what did our Legisla- ture do? They cut it. Our political leaders are weak. What would be more effective would be to get better politicians. Fluoride continued from page 1 in their “low fluoride” group had higher concentrations of fluoride than anywhere in the United States. “We have lots of experience with fluoride. Portland already has 0.1 parts per million of fluoride in our water. What we’re talking about is increasing it to 0.7 parts per mil- lion. It’s perfectly safe.” Kellie Barnes: “There has never been a randomized controlled study that has shown fluoridation is safe and effective ever. That’s the gold standard in medicine. Sure- ly we deserve that.” “The National Academy of Sciences study clearly identified some populations who are at risk, such as people who drink a lot of water, people with thyroid disease, people with kidney disease, individuals with dia- betes, babies, and the elderly.” Phil Wu: “Water fluoridation is agreed upon by all the major healthcare groups in I see children drinking those Big Gulps –they have all kinds of stuff but I don’t see them drinking a lot of water Well, everything is a chemical. Water is a chemical. Our entire bodies are made up of chemicals. “It’s safe. It’s effective. It’s the best way to help underserved, low-income children and communities of color in overcoming a health disparity. this debate. We’re intelligent people and it’s a bummer we disagree on this. But we prob- ably disagree on a whole lot of other things too. Jo Ann Hardesty: “In the neighborhood I live in, I see children drinking those Big Gulps –they have all kinds of stuff but I Video continued from page 1 Center trains individuals to use digital video production and editing equipment as a means of communication and community development. Students learn to record oral interviews using professional equipment and state of the art techniques: basic story structure; conducting an interview in the The workshops are open to the general public 18 years and over field; learning the fundamentals of lighting, audio, and editing. The workshops are open to the general public 18 years and over. Questions? Email npmtc@comcast.net. April 17, 2013 The Portland Skanner Page 3
