Making MUSIC On behalf of Asian refugees Continued from p. 5 attention to these traditions. It can be a resource for people and ideas." In every corner of Gilmore's rambling home in Wilsonville, south of Portland, there is evidence of her devotion to musical preservation. A dulcimer she made herself sits on the entry hall table. a triangle on a kitchen chair, and a marimba near the office and laundry in the basement. The longtime music teacher, who helps children create music she calls "found sound" from everyday objects, has learned to play all her collected instruments. "There's something about stringed and percussion instruments," she says. "They seem to resonate inside me." But the sound more frequently heard around Gilmore's house is the ring of the telephone. A board member calls with a few fund raising ideas; the leader of a jug band agrees to play at a MUSIC benefit; a PSU professor invites her to guest lecture in his Afghan politics class. There is much to do to direct the vision she now shares with 50 MUSIC members. It will take money - more funds are still needed to complete the Afghan film; and time - Gilmore will have less of it when she goes back to teaching this fall. But there is no shortage of enthusiasm and compassion in the woman who is making music wherever she goes. (joan Johnson is a freelance writer who earned a B.S. in political science and urban studies from Portland State in 1978.) ATTENTION WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF OUR NEW STORE IN PORTLAND! PORTLAND N.E. lombard al N.E. Hlh (51)3) 285-7311 by Cynthia D. Stowell City Hall is probably not the place to work if you like to receive pleasant phone calls. Sara Cogan ('83 MPA) expected her share of disgruntled callers when she took her job as Portland's refugee coordinator two years ago. But if Cogan's constituents have a fault, she says, it's that "they thank me too much." The people most often in contact with Cogan are members of Oregon's refugee population, which currently numbers around 18,000, seventy-six percent of whom live in the Portland area. Cogan and one other refugee coordinator in Commissioner Charles Jordan's office help P.S.U. ALUMNI WAREHOUSE PRICED TIRES. SHOCKS. WHEELS. BATTERIES FULL SERVICE/INSTALLATION CENTERS WITH NIASE CERTIFIED TRAINED MECHANICS USE THIS AD AS YOUR WAREHOUSE PASS. JOIN TIRE SYSTEMS GROUP DISCOUNT PURCHASE PROGRAM . FREE TIRE MOUNTING' FREE TIRE ROTATION FREE BATTERY INSTALLATION' FREE SAFETY CHECK FREE ALIGNMENT & SUSPENSION INSPECTION with their resettlement by keeping information flowing among the refugee community, local governments and the general public. Cogan does this by coordinating cross-cultural training, editing a newsletter, locating grant money, keeping an eye on public policy, and fielding phone calls. "I have never been griped at in two years," said Cogan about her refugee callers. The enthusiastic coordinator doesn't pretend that tensions never existed. When the first wave of Southeast Asian refugees washed over Oregon, swelling the population from near zero in 1981 to 21,000 the next year, "the initial reaction was shock," she said. Even now, her office gets occasional complaints from the intolerant, but Cogan says Portlanders have been quite receptive to the newcomers. "Prejudices have not been reinforced by political leaders or the press," Cogan remarked. Also working in the favor of the refugees, 95% of whom are Southeast Asian, is the fact that "they're very nice people," she says. "I don't know how else to say it. They're survivors." Another boon to community relations is the fact that the refugees in Oregon have not drained tax dollars or "mainstream agencies," says Cogan. A model refugee business program developed by Cogan was recently funded by the Ford Foundation and other private donors, with just a fraction of the funding supplied by the City of Portland. Cogan is excited about this economic development effort, which features technical assistance to refugee business persons as well as a loan program. "It will create more jobs, not take jobs away," she predicted, pointing to the ripple effect that new businesses would have on Oregon's slumped economy. The Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, Hmong, Mien and ethnic Chinese who comprise Oregon's Southeast Asian population have tended to open restaurants and groceries, but they are being encouraged to diversify. As she talks about the people she serves and the progress that's been made, iI's dear that Cogan is "up" about her job. "I like working in local government. I feel like I've had an impact," she says. "We've been able to budd an information base, trust and understanding so that problems don't become crises." "The complexion of our community is going to continue to change," she predicts. "The community has to be prepared to serve and respond to the non-whites, the non·English speakers" who come to Iive here. Wherever Cogan is when the next waves come, she will probably be involved in public service. The native Portlander. whose first career was pursued Quietly in the archives of a California library, came to politics as the mother of Portland Public School pupils. "How do you get changes made in the public sector?" was the question she began to ask. She looked for answers in Sheldon Edner's class in public policy at PSU, and stayed on to gel her master's in public administration. Cogan has looked at the political process up dose as a campaign worker and as the political action vice president for the Portland Women's Political Caucus. But she values her privacy and her time with her three sons and husband, Nathan Cogan of PSU's English Department, too much to seek elective office herself. And after an exhausting week at the Democratic Convention as a Hart delegate last month, Cogan is glad for the relative serenity of her City Hall office. 7
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