NASA
from page Al
just talking the talk. The
agency has put its money
where its mouth is. Over the
past few years, NASA has
partnered with more than 100
schools throughout the coun
try to form so-called "Explor
er Schools." The schools are
designed to cultivate the next
generation of space travelers.
Teachers at the schools regu
larly attend training at NASA
facilities, and NASA person
nel have made Explorer
Schools their second homes.
There are three Explorer
schools in Forsyth County:
Paisley, Philo and Walkertown
middle schools. It was stu
dents from those schools who
were on hand to hear Gregory
speak last week.
Gregory said NASA is also
working diligently to make
sure that its employees at
every level reflect the racial
diversity that America expects
to see at a federally funded
agency.
Senior management is
already doing well in terms of
diversity, Gregory said. The
agency has formed a number
of outreach efforts with histor
ically black colleges and uni
versities to make middle man
agement and entry level more
diverse.
"We have a long way to go,
but I think we are making
progress. I think you will see a
representative population in
the agency that you would
expect and I would expect," he
said.
Gregory joined NASA
after an illustrious Air Force
career that included SSO air
combat missions. He retired as
a colonel in 1993, after 30
years and after logging more
than 7,000 hours in more than
50 aircraft. But even with all
of his extraordinary experi
ences, Gregory said his heart
still beats a little faster with
excitement each time he walks
into NASA headquarters.
"Every day you go to
work, it is like going to a play
ground," Gregory said, citing
the many experiments and
exciting projects that take
place at the agency eacli day.
But every day has not been a
walk in the clouds at NASA.
The agency has not had a
manned space mission since
February 2003, when the
Space Shuttle Columbia disin
tegrated on re-entry to Earth.
After his address, Gregory
told The Chroniftle that the
shuttle will return to space in
February or March of next
year. But he says the shuttle's
days are limited.
"The space shuttle will be
used almost exclusively to
build the international space
Station, (which is) 40 percent
constructed," Gregory said.
He said the shuttle, with its
large cargo departments, is the
only vessel large enough to
carry materials for the space
station. In the future, a space
craft that is more human
friendly and focuses less on
cargo room will be designed
and eventually used by NASA
for space exploration, Gregory
said.
Program helps foreign-born students
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE
Since 2000, some 3,000 for
eign students (800 this year
alone) have come through the
Newcomer Registration Center
for International Students. Here,
they and their parents learn
everything they need to know in
order to enroll in the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County school
system.
For some families, filling out
an application or reading the bus
and school schedules is tedious
because they cannot read or
write in English. While many of
the students come from Latin
America others hail from Rus
sia, Greece and Africa.
Graciela A. Calles coordi
nates the newcomer program,
which is housed in Kennedy
Middle School, and she says it is
the first program of its kind in
North Carolina. The program is
a huge help to students and their
families who aren't acclimated
to the American educa
tion system.
"We're the first point
of entry for the students
that come from different
places or students who
come from the united
States but speak another
language," said Calles.
Immigrant students
in kindergarten through
1 2th grade who have not
yet enrolled in school
have their language skills
assessed, documents translated,
and their school and grade
placements are determined as
i ! O Photo by Courtney Oaillard
? Connie Harvey discusses a science project with a student in
the Newcomer Academy.
well.
Parents are also given infor
mation on residential zones,
school attendance
Callat
rules, nomework
help, transporta
tion, testing
requirements and
graduation
requirements, and
a variety of com
munity resources.
In order to reg
ister a student,
parents ntrist pro
vide identifica
uon, legai cusioay
document, proof of address,
birth certificate, immunization
records and an academic tran
Homeless
from page A I
the task force will look like
(members have not been
selected yet) or how it will go
about eliminating chronic
homelessness in Winston
Salem. Malloy said the city is
fortunate in that it is home to a
number of agencies that have
been fighting homelessness
for decades.
"We are not starting from
scratch," he said. "We are not
going to try to reinvent the
Mangano
wheel. In
Winston
Salem,
w e
already
have any
number
of transi
t i o n a 1
housing
sites that
a ^ e
already
in place.
Winston-Salem was one of
13 cities awarded a $500,000
federal grant last week to fight
chronic homelessness. The
grant came from the Depart
ment of Housing and Urban
Development's HOME Invest
ment Partnerships Program.
The grant will be used as seed
money for the 10-year plan,
the city said.
Philip Mangano, the exec
utive director of the U.S. Inter
agency Council on Homeless
ness, was in Winston-Salem
last week to announce the
grant and meet with local
homeless advocates and city
leaders. Mangano said Win
ston-Salem is the latest of
many cities that are imple
menting long-term plans to
battle homelessness. Short
term, Band-Aid solutions have
kept the homeless problem
alive for more than 20 years,
he said.
"We want to invest in the
lives of homeless people (in
order) to end their homeless
ness." he said.
But Malloy says for there
to be true success, the invest
ment from the federal govern
ment will have to be much
more substantial.
"The half a million dollars
is good. ..but I think the funds
are rather meager as far as
tackling the problem. What we
are getting here is almost like
a drop in the bucket to put out
a forest fire," Malloy said.
Mangano said more money
for homeless programs could
come as part of a program in
President's Bush's 2005 budg
et called the Samaritan Initia
tive. Joines said the city will
compete for more dollars to
help its plan along.
"Getting this plan in place
will help us be competitive for
those dollars," Joines said.
Longtime local homeless
advocates are cautiously opti
mistic about the plan and the
federal government's commit
ment to help end chronic
homelessness. Longtime
homeless advocate Ginny Britt
was among those who met
with Mangano last week. She
Ginny Britt leads
a workshop on
the homeless at
an event last
month. Britt says
to do away with
the problem it will
take real, con
crete initiatives
from the federal
government and
other entities.
pressed him about why the
Bush administration is push
ing to end homelessness while
cutting federal housing subsi
dies, which make it possible
for poor people to afford a
place to live.
"That is going to put more
people out on the street," Britt
said after the meeting. "To me
it is an oxymoron."
Mangano said hard ques
tions should be asked related
to homelessness. but he pro
Call for
Enhancements
The N.C. Department
of Transportation's
Enhancement Pro
gram is seeking
grant applica- ^
tions for bicycle,
pedestrian, ?
beautrfication /T|
and historic / J
resources / SST
projects. All I y
proposals
must include a general
description and cost
estimate. Suggestions must
be submitted by
2004 to be considered.
Proposals should be faxed to
(336) 748-3370 or e-mailed
to wendym@cityofws.org
For more information about
the Enhancement Program,
go to wwwncdol.org/
planning/development/
Enhancement/
For more O
information * " '
call Wendy
Miller at
727-2707 wfnslon-Sakm
(hi
vided no answer to Briti's
question. Britt said if any city
can make a success of its 10
year plan, it will be Winston
Salem. She says the city's
housing wing, led by Monica
Lett, has worked with home
less agencies in the past to
make dreams realities.
She said a head count at
local shelters recently estimat
ed that about 33 percent of the
homeless population is consid
ered the chronic homeless.
script.
Out of the 47,342 students in
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
Schools, 5.216 are Hispanics.
6 1 6 are Asian and 1 1 3 are Amer
ican Indian. 5
Beth Donaldson teaches
English as a Second Language
(ESL) to students in the New
comer Academy, also housed in
Kennedy, which serves students
who have recently arrived in this
country but aren't fluent in Eng
Donor '
from page A I
peration period. He was dis
charged after a day and was driv
ing within a week.
"I would like to think that she
would have survived, but there's
no telling how long she would
have been on the (organ donor
waiting) list." Uoyd said. "Live
donation is a tough thing to do.
and we want to convince many
people to do that... .We can't take
our organs with us. This body is
merely a shell."
April is Organ and Tissue
Donor Awareness Month, and
nearly half of the more' than
83,(XX) Americans who are wail
ing for transplants are minorities.
More than 2,8<K) of those on the
waiting list live in North Carolina.
African-Americans are 17
times more likely than Cau
casians to develop high blood
pressure, which can lead to kid
ney disease and the need for a
kidney transplant. Race is not a
criteria for matching donors;
however, it can increase the
chance of a successful transplant.
Boyd says that some of his
relatives, all of whom supported
his decision, admitted that they
couldn't sacrifice a piece of them
selves. literally, if they were in the
same position. He cites fear and
miseducation about the donor
process for the apprehension
many blacks feel about organ
donation.
"It was unspoken (gratitude).
Our relationship has always been
close, and it never really changed.
After the surgery things returned
to normal." said Boyd. "It hasn't
been a big deal, and I really didn't
want it to be."
According to Robin Voss,
Boyd's willingness to donate an
lish or Spanish. She says many
foreign students can speak Eng
lish hut cannot read and write it
fluently.
"What we're doing here is
an accelerated program where
we're trying to teach them study
skills and prepare them for high
school. ...The goal is gradua
tion," said Donaldson, who
spent a year teaching in Tokyo.
She understands the feeling of
being immersed in a new coun
try and culture and unable to
speak the language. Upon arriv
ing in the region she didn't
speak Japanese, but after time,
she picked up the language
enough to communicate with
her students.
Some students, says Donald
son. have gaps in their education
where they have not attended
school on a regular basis. Many
Ju\e missed consecutive grades
aiichtire not at the proficient level
they should be when they arrive
in the United States. The lan
guage barrier poses the biggest
problem for most of the immi
grant students. But once they
develop their English speaking
skills their performance is equal
and sometimes greater than their
American counterparts.
"They're in the same boat.
They've all had gaps in their
education, but they're very
eager to learn. "Donaldson said.
organ is rare in the African- Amer
ican community. Voss, director of
emergency and trauma services at
Forsyth Medical Center, says
blacks and Hispanics rarely
donate. Last year, organ dona
tions from six families saved 21
lives at Forsyth Medical Center.
Every 13 minutes a new name is
added to the organ donor waiting
list. ?
"Seventeen people die every
day waiting for a transplant."
Voss said.
Forsyth specializes in tissue
transplants and frequently per
forms corneal transplants at the
hospital. While Forsyth does not
perform organ transplants, it does
collect organs for people on the
national waiting list.
Designating donor status on a
driver's license is not legally
binding, says Voss, like an actual
donor card. Beginning on Mon
day, you can sign up for a donor
cards in the lobby at Forsyth
Medical Center.
"Make sure that you have the
conversation with your family
(about organ donation) so that
they will understand that is your
wish. ...If you're willing to
(donate) so somebody else can
live, I think that's very impor
tant." Voss\atd.
Boyd says his sister is a
healthy, energetic teenager look
ing forward to high school who
has managed to remain on the
honor roll throughout her health
ordeal.
"Since her surgery, she hasn't
returned to the hospital only with
the exception of monthly blood
work. It has been a tremendous
improvement, just a 100 percent
turnaround," said Boyd.
For more information, call
Carolina Donor Services tit I
S00-200-2672.
( APRIL 22 IS
I EARTH DAY!
On Earth Day,
everyone's helping ...
REDUCE...
REUSE...
RECYCLE!
trP Curbside Recycling
For Winston-Salem homes, townhomes, apartments, and small businesses
YES
Newspaper-magazines, telephone
books, junk mail, office & notebook
paper
Chipboard (e.g cereal and other dry
food boxes, brown/gray egg cartons,
paper towel rolls, etc.)
Corrugated cardboard (flatten & tie
in 3x3-foot or smaller bundles) and
place beside the recycling bin)
Place all paper & chipboard in a separate bin or
brown paper bag DO NOT use plastic bags.
Aluminum & steel food &
beverage cans
Glass jars & bottles (clear,
green & brawn)
#1 & #2 plastic jugs &
bottles
Discard caps, Ms & spray pumps, rinse
containers and place in recycling bin -
NOT in plastic bags
? Newspapers inside plastic delivery
bags
.I
? Wax- or aluminum-coated boxes
? Pizza boxes & others with grease Of
food residue
? Aluminum foil, pans, trays or scraps
? Aerosol or paint cans
? Broken glass, plate glass, light bulbs,
mirrors, drinking glasses, or ceramic
containers
? Motor oil/antifreeze containers,
styrofoam. plastic bags, trays, cups or
tubs (e g Margarine tubs)
Five Top Reasons to
Recycle Jk Buy Products
with Recycled Materials
O Recycling saves trees
O Recycling protects wiWtrfe habitat and saves
? natural resources
O Recycling lowers the use of toxic materials.
O Recycling reduces water pollution.
O Buying products made with recycled
materials creates demand for more recycled
products
Questions? Missed collections?
Call 72-EARTH (723-2784)
Also call for schedules, bins, bin decals &
recycling guides.
If your recycling bin was out by 7 a\m. and
was not emptied, please check for a red *
courtesy notice before calling.
If your apartment do not offer recycling, ask
your property manager to set up a
recycling program Only management can
authorize service
for apartment
complexes