Army to look at promotion
rates for black colonels
By SUSANE M SCHAFER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The Army's
promotion rate to colonel for
white officers this year was about
, ? double that of blacks, a matter of
"extreme concern" to Pentagon
, .leaders, Defense Department
spokesman Kenneth Bacon said
?..Thursday.
A lengthy study has been
ordered of the files of all individu
als concerned "to see if there were
< any differences in their assign
ments, their training, their mentor
ing ... that could explain this
difference," the spokesman said.
-' <' The list, which came out in
February, is the Army's pick of
- officers for its top jobs and leader
'' ship positions, and the group from
which its generals will later be cho
sen.
" ' Bacon did not have specific fig
; pres to offer for comparison with
previous years, but he said this
year there "was a much greater ...
difference than has occurred in the
past, in the recent past. So that's
' one of the reasons it stood out so
dramatically."
A preliminary look of the pro
motion system did not find any
racial bias among those who took
part in the board that chose the
officers for promotion. Bacon
said. <??
The process involves a highly
confidential system in which an
officer's records are used to judge
candidates for promotion. The
records include an official photo in
uniform, the officer's list of assign
ments, evaluations, qualifications
and educational history.
"We regarded this as an aberra
tion in a military that works very
hard to provide absolutely equal
opportunity to everybody," Bacon
said. "We regard it clearly as a
matter of great concern, and it's
one that we're working very hard,
one, to understand, and two, to
correct."
The spokesman said that there
will be no changes in the current
list due to the review. The review
was undertaken, he said, "to make
sure that there's not a pattern that
begins very early in a soldier's
career that might deny people of
some race the command opportu
nities or career opportunities that
would be necessary conditions for
their promotion."
Bacon was asked whether the
Army had a goal of "equal oppor
tunity or equal outcome."
"The goal is equal opportuni
ty," the spokesman said. "But to
have equal opportunity, you have
to have it at every stage of the
career. And what we want to make
sure is that that, in fact, exists."
"If we find ... it is a question of
changing assignments, if it's a
question of changing training, if
it's a question of the types of spe
cialties that people go into and
leads them more quickly to dead
ends later in their career, we want
to make sure that we understand
what's happening and try to cor
rect it," Bacon said.
For 1996, the last year for
which figures were available, the
Army had 9,293 black officers, or
about 11.3 percent of the total.
Blacks made up a much higher
portion of the enlisted ranks,
about 30 percent or some 122,600
soldiers in that same year.
Atlanta mulls cancellation of Freaknik
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Freaknik, the annual black col
lege spring festival known for its
traffic jams, sporadic looting and
frisky flirting, may have worn out its
welcome in Atlanta.
The committee that organized
Freaknik '98 is urging Mayor Bill
Campbell to withdraw city backing
when the sprawling street party rolls
around next year.
Television footage of sexual
shenanigans during this year's
Freaknik, held April 17-19, prompt
ed the request. Mobs of men were
shown grabbing, groping and prac
tically disrobing women.
George Hawthorne, who heads
the mayor's welcoming committee,
said he pulled a woman from a
swarm of 20 to 30 men who were
trying to strip her.
"She had her underwear around
her knees and her dress was up over
her head," he said. "If it had not
been for me intervening she would
have potentially been raped in
broad daylight."
Past Freaknik crowds reached
250,000. This year's event drew an
estimated 50,000, police said.
Atlanta's entire force of 1,500 offi
cers was called in to work 12-hour
shifts.
Four rapes, six sexual assaults
and four shootings were reported
during the event. Police made 481
arrests, 45 for felonies.
Even some students say
Freaknik has become a bit too
unruly. ?
"1 don't think it should come
back anymore," said Ty Little, a
senior at the University of Georgia.
"If you're going to have it, have it
somewhere else. It just gets too out
of control."
Campbell tried to discourage the
event until criticism from black
leaders prompted him to for the
welcoming committee in 1996. The
city has since sponsored concerts
and other events to help control the
party.
Video broadcast last week on
WSB-TV showed several women
being chased by men who were
grabbing the women's buttocks. One
woman was seen flailing her arms to
fight off a mob. Another fought to
get away from men who lifted her
dress as she was posing for a photo
graph.
If Atlanta cancels its annual
Freaknik weekend, Daytona Beach
could be overwhelmed during Black
College Reunion, city leaders said.
"Obviously, if they cancel their
weekend, they (students) would
have no place to go but Daytona,"
Dean O'Brien, chairman of Day
tona Beach's Black College
Reunion Development Committee
said Wednesday. "I don't think we're
ready to handle that."
Daytona Beach City Commis
sioner Charles Cherry expressed
doubt Wednesday that a decision by
Atlanta officials would eliminate
crowds in that city since there are
five black colleges there. But he said
Daytona Beach would likely get
out-of-state students who would
normally go to Atlanta.
"Those college students coming
into Atlanta from outside, however,
will now come into Daytona," he
said. "That certainly will swell the
crowd (here)."
The Daytona Beach event began
14 years ago as an educational,
social and cultural get-together for
graduates of traditionally black col
leges and universities.
In recent years, it has grown into
a rolling, wall-to-wall gridlock party
of more than 100,000 people along
South Atlantic Avenue.
Daytona Beach Mayor Bud
Asher has created a task force to
review the future of Black College
Reunion.
"It's disgusting and it's danger
ous, but it's everywhere you have
college students," said Sharita
Trimuel, a senior at the University
of Georgia. "Panama City Beach,
Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach - it's
the same thing, only this time it's in
the city."
African American teen dies near hospital when staff refuses to help
By LINDSEY TANNER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO - It might seem like
the safest place to get shot would
be outside a hospital emergency
room. But it wasn t so for 15-year
old Christopher Sercye, hit by
apparent gang gunfire while play
ing basketball in an alley just steps
from Ravenswood Hospital.
His friends and a frantic neigh
bor sought help from hospital
workers, but they said policy
barred them from treating people
outside. Frustrated policemen,
who called an ambulance and also
sought help inside, finally brought
the boy in, nearly half an hour he
was shot, but it was too late.
A bullet had perforated
Christopher's aorta and he died
about an hour after the shooting.
"It's a ridiculous policy," James
A. Maurer, deputy chief of patrol
for the police district that includes
the hospital, said Monday. "They
don't leave the campus? What's
that? They're standing out there
having a smoke when the kid is in
the alky bleeding."
Late Monday, John E. Blair,
president and chief executive offi
cer of Ravenswood Hospital,
rescinded the policy that had pre
vented emergency room personnel
from going outside to treat the
youth.
"I have instructed my staff to
provide treatment to anyone who
needs it in the immediate vicinity
of the hospital when they are no
paramedics or medical technicians
available," Blair said in a written
statement.
"Above all, I want to make sure
that if a tragedy like this ever
occurs again, we have a different
result."
Blair said in an interview that
he decided to change the policy
after talking with workers.
"I meet with emergency room
personnel, many of the folks who
were on that evening," he said.
"They were sadden by the event,
concerned about their own inabili
ty to administer medical treatment
under the circumstances."
Blair said the 90-year-old hos
pital handles 27,000 emergency
room patients a year.
"I had never seen anything like
this in my 30-year career," he said.
Blair had said earlier Monday
that the hospital is not a trauma
center equipped to handle cases
like Christopher's and staffers do
not leave their duties to treat peo
ple outside.
Blair said the hospital planned
to check with the city of Chicago
on the number of calls made to
911. Authorities were reviewing
reports that friends, police and
\
hospital staffers all called 911
before an ambulance finally
arrived as the boy was being taken
inside the emergency room.
Maurer said police did not
bring Christopher in immediately
because they are trained to not
move seriously injured people, but
to wait for paramedics.
"We can't pick him up and
carry him. WTiat if the bullet
moves?" Maurer said.
Finally, Maurer said, an officer
concerned about the teen's condi
tion commandeered a wheelchair
and brought Christopher inside
the emergency room.
Ravenswood staffers "probably
would have been helpful to go out
and see what they could have done
for this patient," said Dr. Edmund
Donoghue, Cook County's med
ical examiner.
To have survived, Christopher
would have needed an immediate
operation to repair his aorta,
Donoghue said.
But, he added, there's no way of
knowing whether Christopher
could have survived had he
received immediate treatment from
Ravenswood doctors. And
Donoghue noted that under
Chicago's trauma response system
- prompted by the 1984 fatal
shooting of high school basketball
star Ben Wilson - Christopher
would have been taken to the near
est trauma center, about two miles
away, had an ambulance arrived
beforeN he was taken inside
Ravenswood.
Criticism erupted after the 1984
shooting because Wilson was
taken to the nearest hospital,
instead of a more sophisticated
facility that some said could have
provided better treatment.
Hospital spokeswoman Milli
Striegl said Christopher "went into
cardiac arrest at the hospital.
Everything was done to resuscitate
him but unfortunately all attempts
were unsuccessful.''
A Fire Department spokesman
denied any delay in dispatching an
ambulance, saying that one arrived
at the scene just four minutes after
the department learned of the
shooting.
Three teens who prosecutors
said have gang affiliations were
charged with first-degree murder
in the shooting. Christopher was
described as an innocent bystander
who was not the intended target.
Amidst all the finger-pointing, 1
neighbor Donna Dudley just !
shook her head.
"If we cannot be responsible as
human beings to help each other,
it's a shame," she said. "Nobddy . (
should J>ave to lie in an alley dying
next to a hospital."
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North Carolina is growing, with lots of new residences and businesses,
increasing the demand for fax machines, computer modems,
and phones.
? -4.1 '
< To accommodate this growth, the Triad and surrounding area has a
new area code. As of June 15, 1998, you must use the new area code,
l" 336, instead of 910 for calls to and within the highlighted area.
If you live in the Triad area and your phone number begins with any of
? I the prefixes listed at right, your area code will change.
t :
Please make a note of this change and remember that you may also
need to reprogram telecommunications equipment like cell phones and
; Z PBX's (consult your vendor), speed dialers, fax machines, etc., to make
sure your calls reach the residence or business you want them to reach.
:? Local numbers and rates will not be affected by the change. If you have
*; any questions about area code 336, please call us at 1 800 964-7941. Or
visit us at www.bellsouth.com/areacode for more information.
?* . V
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206 242 292 344 378 418 476 538 581 632 674 713 745 776 812 869 900 957
207 243 294 345 379 420 478 541 584 633 676 714 746 777 013 070 909 961
208 246 297 348 300 421 492 542 585 634 679 715 <747 778 016 871 913 963
209 248 299 349 381 427 495 543 586 635 680 716 748 779 017 873 917 969
210 249 301 351 302 430 498 544 591 636 681 717 749 781 819 874 918 970
212 250 302 352 384 431 499 545 593 637 682.718 750 782 821 877 920 971
213 257 312 356 385 434 502 546 595 638 683 719 751 783 824 878 921 972
214 258 314 357 386 441 503 547 597 643 684 720 752 784 030 879 922 973
218 260 315 359 387 446 504 548 598 644 685 721 757 785 832 000 923 977
221 261 316 361 388 447 505 549 599 650 687 722 758 .786 835 88 ) 924 970
222 263 317 362 393 448 506 550 601 651 688 723 759 787 837 882 927 981
224 264 318 363 401 449 507 553 605 656 689 724 760 788 838 883 931 982
225 266 319 364 402 454 508 554 606 657 691 725 761 789 841 884 932 983
226 269 320 365 403 460 510 556 607 658 694 726 764 795 847 885 936 984
227 271 321 366 404 461 513 558 613 659 696 727 765 797 849 886 939 985
228 272 325 367 406 463 514 559 616 660 697 728 766 798 851 887 940 992
229 273 332 368 407 465 516 562 621 661 698 729 767 801 852 888 941 993
230 274 333 370 400 466 519 565 622 663 699 730 768 802 853 889 943 994
234 275 334 372 409 467 526 566 623 664 705 731 769 003 854 896 945 996
237 279 335 373 410 468 527 570 625 665 706 732 770 805 855 898 946 998
238 282 337 374 412 469 534 573 626 667 707 733 771 806 856 902 951
239 284 330 375 413 472 535 574 627 668 700 735 773 808 857 903 953
240 286 339 376 414 474 536 578 629 670 710 741 774 809 859 905 954
The prehxet indicated in plain tax) charged to the 336 oreo code on Decembei 15. 1997 The cetular prefaee
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@BELLSOUTH'
Nobody knows a neighbor like a neighbor?