News by Jennifer Walker ...Items lying along the freeway included nylons and stolen credit cards.

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous News | Send mail to The Voice Multnomah adopts stretch of highway Paul Griffin, Marissa Newby, Cheryl Dillon, Kristin Kendall, Tim Uthmann, Laura Mullins, Michelle Peel, Debi Brown, and Carrie Woodworth pick up litter along Interstate-205. -Anonymous, photo. Multnomah Bible College has adopted a section of the freeway for litter cleanup. The section that will bear MBC's name stretches from the Glisan Street exit to the Sandy Boulevard exit on Interstate-205. The director of communications at MBC said he believes that participating in the Adopt-a-Highway program "convey[s] a message of community awareness." The first cleanup took four hours to complete. The communications department, development, International Renewal Ministries and the administration were represented. The communications director said items lying along the freeway included nylons and stolen credit cards. MBC employees also found cardboard, foam, fast-food containers and pornography. Laura Mullins, external relations coordinator in the planned giving office, said she felt amazed at the amount of trash people throw from their cars. The Oregon Department of Transportation monitors the Adopt-a-Highway program for Oregon. When the school decides on a litter pick-up date, ODOT provides volunteers with orange vests, bright yellow trash bags and two litter-patrol signs. MBC provides gloves and 15 grapplers to pick up the trash. Volunteers' safety is an important issue for both MBC and ODOT. Ms. Mullins said she felt safe despite rumbling semis because she knew that no casualties in Oregon have occurred to volunteers under the program. But that doesn't eliminate the danger. To keep their volunteers safe, ODOT provides a list of precautions. They tell volunteers to stay clear of medians, on-ramps, offramps and walls that are located next to traffic. They instruct volunteers to pick up litter facing the flow of traffic so oncoming cars are visible. ODOT also warns its volunteers to leave behind strange-looking containers, which could be filled with explosive devices or methamphetamine lab toxins. Volunteers also bypass tires and hypodermic needles. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous News | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2001 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.