The Oregon Women's Report - Women's News from Oregon

Weekend Health Quick Quote:

HealthDay News — When used to treat pain, acupuncture offers only limited relief that may not be clinically relevant.  So say Danish researchers who examined data from 13 acupuncture pain studies that included more than 3,000 patients. The studies compared real acupuncture, placebo acupuncture and no acupuncture for a wide range of painful conditions such as knee osteoarthritis, migraine, low back pain and postoperative pain.

Guest Submission

A nuthatch takes a sunflower seed from your bird feeder. You watch as it flies to a nearby branch, and, using its beak, hammers the seed open. (Its name, “nuthatch,” is derived from nut hack or nut hatchet because of this behavior.)

You watch it repeat this action over and over, one seed at a time. What is your reaction? Does this bring a smile to your face? Do you feel more at ease?

Those few moments spent watching the nuthatch are valuable. Maybe you learned something new about how a nuthatch feeds, or maybe it simply brought a moment of calmness and satisfaction. Whatever your response, you benefitted from observing that small part of nature.

Read the full article and discuss it » | (1 comment)

by Kay Helbling

The backbone of the U.S. economy is not stocks and bonds or even low unemployment rates and productivity levels, the backbone of the economy is the volunteer. No one understands that more than the stay-at-home moms or even working moms for that matter. If we’d have to pay workers to perform the hours that are given freely by those who deliver food to the needy, care for the elderly, coach the children, or teach the students, our markets competitive edge in the global community would take a beating.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics, without volunteers we’d be paying over 60 million people who performed over 8.1 billion hours of service last year.  I’ll do the math. At the estimated U.S. volunteer labor rate of approximately $20 an hour, that is $162 billion of saved salaries. And that is just those reported service hours.

By Erika Weisensee

The beginning of a new year is always a good time to get organized. Motivated to start actually using my home office again, I spent some time these past few weekends sorting through papers and photos and other random stuff that clutters my intended workspace. I filed things away, put photos in a storage box, rearranged bookshelves, and boxed up things I no longer wanted.

My husband helped out, sorting through his own papers and reorganizing the desk drawers. As we were doing this, we realized that our once tidy office had become a depository for broken or obsolete electronics. Our den was an e-graveyard!

If you’re on a roll…make sure its whole wheat
Fiber and Your Health.
By Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN, ACSM,

You’ve heard it before.  Eat more fiber.  Do you know why?  Do you know what it is?  Do you think you need more fiber as you get older?  Are you aware of the health benefits of fiber, the types of fiber and how much you need each day?  I’m going to answer these questions for you and also give you some specific “fiber options” that you can make a part of your day because fiber is an essential ingredient of a healthy diet.

By Naomi Inman

A little lipstick goes a long way.  If you voted in this last election, you can thank Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon’s architect of women’s suffrage, who lived one of the most remarkable lives I’ve ever known.  On the day she was born in 1834, her mother sobbed over the fact that she had brought another woman in the world, to endure a life “almost too grievous to be borne”—that is, the life of a woman.

Yet Abigail’s life work amounted to a reversal of this gloomy forecast.  A product of both the tragedy and triumph of the Oregon Trail, Abigail landed in the Willamette Valley in 1852 at age 18, where she lived out 63 faithful and furious years.  She married a good man, had six children, farmed hundreds of acres, churned butter, taught school, wrote weekly articles, wrote a novel, established a millinery shop and other business, and established a weekly newspaper.  She did all this by her late thirties and was only getting started.

Quote of the Week
Provided by Daily Health News

“Distinct patterns of facial injury occur in women who suffer domestic violence, U.S. researchers report.  The findings could help health-care workers identify victims of intimate partner violence, they added.   Dr. Oneida A. Arosarena, of the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and colleagues reviewed the medical and dental records of 326 women (average age 35) treated for facial trauma. Of the 45 (13.8 percent) patients who were assault victims, 18 were documented victims of domestic abuse, while 24 of the 26 remaining assault victims could not or did not identify their attackers.   Other common causes of facial injuries among the women in the study included motor vehicle crashes (42.6 percent), falls (21.5 percent), and unknown or undocumented causes (10.7 percent). The researchers found that assault was typically associated with jaw (mandible) fractures, complicated cheekbone fractures (zygomatic complex fractures), cracks or breaks in bones surrounding the eyes (orbital blow-out fractures), and brain injury.”

Submitted by: Gienie Assink, Springfield Oregon

You know what I love BEST about Thursday nights??

You guessed it.. AH HAH… Karaoke at The Embers Bar and Grill off of Hwy 99 in Eugene.

Soo…I’m sure you have all gathered by now, I’m a little ”loud” natured, and you could also probably guess the crowd I hang with rolls the same way. 

So what do loud people do in their spare time! We Karaoke of COURSE! 

Now, I’m SURE there are other places around Oregon that have Karaoke on Thursdays.. BUT in my humble opinion…The Embers is the best! Why.. you ask??

Submitted by Kay Helbling

The Albertina Kerr Center in Portland is not a high end fashion boutique. It’s a thrift shop. It does not staff successful retail buyers. Instead, the Center is predominantly run by over 400 volunteers. Clothing is not adorned by runway models. Instead, you’ll find volunteers—ordinary men and women who’ve kept themselves in extraordinary shape. So, what makes it one of the most successful and “in demand” showings in town? I would sum it up in two words: purpose and poise.

Albertina Restaurant’s daily lunches and fashion shows have become the place to have lunch in Portland. Patrons enter a building filled with history. It opened its doors in 1907 as the Albertina Kerr Nursery, a protective home for abandoned children and providing adoptions of newborns.  

By Erika Weisensee

I first heard the term “date night” about a decade ago when I was just out of college and dating my husband. We went to movies and concerts and sports events and out to eat and out with friends whenever we wanted. Back then, the concept of “date night” seemed strange to me. I almost pitied couples that had to make such a concentrated effort to spend time together. Now, I understand it.

Life happened. We got married, bought a house, assumed more responsibility at work, and had a baby. Along the way, dating gave way to seemingly more and more frequent trips to Home Depot. But, like a wise family member told me after I became a mother, “You’ve got to make time for each other.” We took that advice, recently becoming believers in a ritual we once thought unnecessary.

By Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN, ACSM
Your Personal Trainer:

Four of us went out to eat that night, a celebration of the New Year and a friend’s birthday.  Each of us ordered a different item from the menu, no appetizers, no soup, just the entrees.  My husband and I shared a salad.  We brought home two “Doggie Boxes.”  The next evening, I made beef stroganoff for three from the left over piece of my mother’s rib-eye steak.  The following day, I divided the rest of the leftovers to make lunch for three.

Eating out can be a challenge given the size of the portions served.  What was once served on a dinner plate for one is now often served on a platter that would easily serve four!  As portion sizes have increased, so have “people” sizes.  Fewer people can sit side-by-side on benches, bleachers, couches and pews because the human “beam” is broader than it was twenty or thirty years ago. 

By Sharon Lacey,
Portland Comedian

I still remember the day my daughter quit believing in the tooth fairy.
“But honey, the tooth fairy left money under your pillow this morning, right?”  I cajoled.
“Mom, you left a check.”
“Well….just don’t cash it ‘til Friday.”

Written By: Gienie Assink, Springfield Oregon

So its January… the start of a brand new year, and we all know what that means????  Or do we??

If you have a senior in High School this year, I bet you do!

The start of January means its time to start filling out paperwork for college… and oh how immense that pile of paperwork can be!

Submitted by Kay Helbling

Sunday marked the 2nd annual Day of Awareness for recognizing problems of human trafficking in the world. In Oregon, many organizations are stepping forward to bring awareness to the issue and more importantly to extend hands of help to the victims of this horrible, yet somewhat ignored crime. But, is it enough?

In her presentation to the state’s Criminal Justice Committee, Caroline Holmes, a member of the FBI’s Human Trafficking Task Force, pointed out two startling facts. First, that the incidence of human trafficking is not being tracked in Oregon and second, that Oregon currently has no training on this issue. (Oregonsatf.org, 8-7-08)

Your Personal Trainer:
By Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN, ACSM

The long-term goal of exercise is to make it an integral part of your life.  The challenge after getting started is to keep going and to stay motivated.  Regular exercise should become a routine, but not routine!  Varying your workout not only leads to physiological improvement, it can also help to stave off boredom.

Last week, I introduced the F.I.T.T. Principle (frequency, intensity, type and time) as it applied to beginning an exercise program.  Whether you are just into the second or third week of your New Year’s resolutions or are a veteran exerciser, this principle applies to you.  As a new exerciser, instead of looking at the whole year ahead, think one month at a time and renew your resolve each month by adding or changing an exercise.  As a veteran exerciser, renew or invigorate your routine if it’s been the same for awhile.  Here are some reasons why and some tips on how to make some changes.

By Cathy Rae Smith
Co-founder of Culture magazine.

Ooooh-la-la, j’adore couture! For any of you that also adore couture, there is a bit of heaven just up the Gorge across the river. The Maryhill Museum is home to Parisian haute couture (high fashion) in one-third scale from 1946 – the Theatre de la Mode.

Paris had been the undisputed fashion capital of the world. Then World War II erupted, leaving the fashion world to languish as Paris was shrouded under the stranglehold of occupied forces. After the defeat of Nazi Germany and the liberation of the City of Light, the Parisian fashion industry determined to join together and launch a couture collection to stimulate business. The best couturiers – Dior, Balmain, Chanel, to name a few – joined in the effort creating original ensembles. Their designs, though created in miniature, were done to couture standards to the minutest details: all hand-sewn, tiny buttons that actually button, gloves, hats, shoes, handbags.

By Gienie Assink, Springfield Oregon

Organization is the key to having a productive and happy family life.  Once family members are organized, life becomes easier, in terms of knowing what to expect and who is responsible for what.

The environment in the home becomes less frantic and stressful as well.  Simple organization will also lead to free time, which is a family’s most precious commodity these days.

So how do you become organized? 

The first step in organizing is to have a family discussion.  Ask yourself, “If this is how we want it to be—how will it be?  How would we live?”  Answering these questions will help you and your family set goals.

By Ken Niezgoda,
Founder of Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention

Myth is as dangerous as fact when it comes to violence against women. The key to staying safe is to separate truth from urban legend and other misconceptions.  One of the first questions I ask women when I teach a violence prevention class is “What steps do you currently take to avoid violence and rape?”  Inevitably I will hear one or more of these answers:

“I avoid dark streets and alleys.”
“I don’t go out at night.”
And even…
“I dress in ‘guy’ clothes when I go out alone so that I don’t attract attention.”

Your Personal Trainer:
Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN, ACSM

It’s time.  You’re ready, ready to start that fitness program you’ve been thinking about but you’re not sure how to begin. Getting started is often the hardest part because of so much conflicting information and downright misinformation about exercise.  One way to take that first step and to make it personally yours is to follow the F.I.T.T. principle.  This acronym stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type.  If you are a novice exerciser, the F.I.T.T. principle can help you develop a program.  If you’re already exercising, it provides a framework for making some changes in your program.  This week, I will focus on how you can use the F.I.T.T. principle to take that first step.  Next week, I will discuss ways to add variation to your program using the F.I.T.T. principle to progress.

By Guest Opinion,

The results just came in and the top selling musical artist of 2008 went to Taylor Swift a country/pop singer.  Swift is a talented musician and quality role model for young girls.  In 2008 Hollywood promoted the value of the often neglected women audience with the much talked about debut of Sex and the City.  The movie did not disappoint as it brought in $152 million in the box office .  This was just shy of the year’s top 10 films.   Less hyped was the musical Mama Mia which still brought in an amazing $143 million.

Also new gains were made with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin as the closest any women have ever achieved to winning the presidency and vice presidency positions.    Michale Phelps may have stolen the spotlight, but Dara Torres was a single mom age 41 who broke Olympic records for being the oldest woman ever to compete.