This content was published: March 10, 2004. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
TWO ITEMS: Science or quackery: PCC class helps you decide
Photos and story by James Hill
ALOHA, Ore. – We count on expert scientific opinion to help us make voting, health, finance, and other important choices in our lives everyday. Yet how do we know when opinions are truth – or hype? For the first time, Portland Community College will offer a non-credit class that debunks popular but misinformed scientific claims and shows us how to do the same. Science, Pseudoscience and Medical Quackery is your chance to acquire the tools you need to pull the wool off your eyes when receiving expert opinion. Learn how to evaluate scientific and scientific-sounding claims so that you can assess their validity using simple tools to analyze what you read and hear. The result is an ability to make better decisions for yourself and your family.This new class features a husband-and-wife instructor team, who are both experienced science professionals. Diana Gordon received the outstanding biology teacher of the year award for Oregon in 1998; Steve is a physician specializing in internal medicine with Kaiser Permanente."We believe that our class has the potential to make a life-long impact on our students’ health, finances and responsible citizenship,"said the instructor team.The two-week class will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays, April 13 and April 20, at PCC’s Washington County Workforce Training Center, 18624 N.W. Walker Road. Cost is $25 plus a $5 materials fee payable to the instructors.For more information, contact PCC Community Education at 503-533-2917.###Turn fleece into ?pets’ with needle-felting classBEAVERTON, Ore. – Take the afternoon to play with handfuls of lovely, curly fleece and create your own white wooly dog! An upcoming Portland Community College non-credit workshop will show you how.Needle-felting is a commercial application that clever crafters took and made their own. When a barbed needle is repeatedly plunged into wool, the barbs tangle the fibers and felt the wool into whatever shape you desire. In one three-hour workshop you will master this technique and take home a finished project."No previous crafting skills are required,"said Amy Reardon, PCC Community Education manager. "All you need is a desire to sink your hands into soft wool tendrils and take home a charming, whimsical critter."Sandocal McNair will teach White Dog Woolies! Beginning Needle-Felting from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 10, at PCC’s Washington County Workforce Training Center, 18624 N.W. Walker Road. Cost is $30.For more information, contact PCC Community Education at 503-533-2917.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »