7A
International / The Charlotte Post
Thursday, November 13,1997
Internet beats stamps in Trinidad
INTERNATION PRESS SERVICE
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and
Tobago - The advent of the
Internet is being blamed for the
diminishing importance of
Trinidad’s postal service.
For years, inadequate facilities,
poorly managed operations and
decreasing revenues have con
tributed to serious problems in
the service. Now, with declining
computer prices and greater
Internet access - a situation
fueled by keen competition among
computer companies and Internet
service providers — the postal ser
vice is facing an unprecedented
chedlenge.
Consumers are finding that e-
mail and private delivery services
such as DHL International,
Federal Express, and United
Parcel International are faster,
more reliable, and in the case of e-
mad cheaper. For instance it costs
a Trinidadian 50 cents to mail a
letter to the United States and 42
cents throughout the Caribbean.
But depending on usage, sending
an e-mail message could be a frac
tion of that, as on average it costs
about $11 per month for Internet
service of up to 10 hours.
The postal service employs close
to 1,300 persons and spends
about $8 million annually, more
than 75 percent on wages and
salaries. In turn, it earns under
$6 nulhon, a figure which even
with recent postage increases is
declining.
' Wesley Gibbings
Zambia’s teenage pregnancies
becoming a problem
LUSAKA, Zambia - A United
Nations study on teenage preg
nancies in Zambia estimates that
two-thirds of Zambian women
have either had children or are
Penny
recycling
program
Continued from page 6A
.The redesigned $20 note will be
ihtroduced next year. The
rSdesigned $50 note and subse
quent denominations will also
include a large dark numeral on
a fight background on the back of
the note. This will make it easier
for the more than 3.7 million
Americans with milder forms of
visual impairment as well as
users in low-light situations to
identify the currency.
National Penny Recycling
campaign underway
The third annual National
Penny Recycling campaign will
continue through Dec. 31.
Penny Lovers of America Inc., a
non-profit education and charita
ble organization, was formed in
1984 “to promote character,
scholarship and patriotism
among the nation's young peo
ple.”
The organization conducts the
penny recycling campaign to
raise scholarship funds for
underprivileged and disadvan
taged students struggling to get a
college education. Grea Neverson
and Teresa Jones are two stu
dents from Washington, DC pub
lic schools who were recently
selected the first scholarship
recipients.
Each received an award of 610
pounds of pennies or $1,000.
Secondly, pennies are collected to
belp alleviate the “penny short
age” plaguing many financial
institutions, merchants and
retail establishments. A national
goal of one million pounds of pen
nies has been established for this
campaign. For more information,
call (732) 873-3827.
Out of town?
Reach out
and touch
! The Post at
(888) 376-
POST
pregnant by the time they are 19.
The study says teenage pregnan
cies contribute significantly to the
high fertility rate of 6.5 children
per woman. The Zambian govern
ment has said that it hopes to
reduce the fertility rate to 5.4 by
the year 2000, but the U.N. has
said this will not be possible
unless some serious action is
taken to educate people on birth
control and family planning.
The report said that under
Zambia’s present conditions of
widespread poverty, fertility rates
were unlikely to decline.
“Experience from other coun
tries suggests that the improve
ment of people’s economic well
being is usually the major factor
in the lowering of fertility rates,”
the report says. The Society for
Family Health, a local non-gov-
emmental organization, recently
launched a program called
“Operation Reach” aimed at
reducing the nximber of teenage
pregnancies and unwanted
births.
The program involves incorpo
rating traditional birth atten
dants and community health
workers in the distribution of
family planning pills and con
doms. They also hope to take con
traceptives to the far flung areas
of the country, instead of concen
trating only on the urban areas.
Anthony Mukwita
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‘97 Black Guide
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