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http://www.thecharlottepost.com Cljarlotte 1B Fitness helps aged and ailing for life THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JACKSONVILLE, N.C.- Edie Yaney has always been active. Years ago, she was a busy mom keeping up with her kids and more recently, a busy grandma, keeping up with her two grandchildren. She currently spends her weekdays at the Onslow Senior Services where she teaches fitness classes in Pilates, aerobics, strength training and even line danc ing to local seniors. Edie doesn’t like to sit stiU, there’s too much to do and too many people to help. “My motto is ‘never give up,”’ she said. “If you can’t do it one way, then tiy doing it another-just keep tiying.” Watch the energetic, fit 55- year-old lead an aerobics class and you’d never guess that 18 years ago it was near ly impossible for her just to raise her arms over her head. At the age of 37 she was diag nosed with rheumatoid arthritis. She said symptoms of the disease came about gradual- ly-she had begun to notice that her body was changing. “I was tiying to get my laun dry done and I couldn’t grip the clothes in my hand,” she remembered. “My knuckles were turning blue. I didn’t know what was happening to me.” Neither did her doctors. Her entire life, she had always been fit and active, but her body began to weak en and “shut down.” “I couldn’t get up out of a chair, I couldn’t cut a piece of steak, I couldn’t do my hair,” she said. She kept seeking medical help, however, “the doctors weren’t sure,” said Edie, who was living in Virginia at the time. “My X- rays and blood tests were aU coming up negative for arthritis. Finally, they went by the pain I was experienc ing in my joints and how they looked.” In 1987, after spend ing 29 days at Duke Medical Hospital, doctors determined that Edie had rheumatoid arthritis. “I was devastated,” she said. By that time, Edie had moved to North Carolina, although her children were finishing up school in Virginia. Though she was in severe pain, she tried to remain hopeful. She kept working at a local women’s clothing store and had placed a special outfit on layaway for her daughter’s graduation. She said the day she picked up the outfit was one of the lowest points of her fife. “The dress I had put on layaway was a size 10, but I had to exchange it for a size 14. It was the medicine they were giving me, in just 30 days, I had gone up that many dress sizes,” she said. “I thought to myself, “That’s it. I’m not going to live like this.”’ Edie began devising her ovm fitness and exercise rou tine. Her gym? Her home. Her equipment? Cans of food. “Td get cans of soup out of my kitchen and try and lift them. I finally got where I eould lift them over my head,” said Edie. She said it took her six months to get her lower body to the point where See LOSING/2B LIFE / THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2004 l/(. Hot summer fun as close as border Carowinds rolls out new rides, attractions By Chens F. Hodges cheTis.hodges(&thecharlottepost.com Soaring gas prices may put a damper on some vacation plans, but a trip to Paramount’s Carowinds will take you to another world with its new attractions. Fly through the air on the new Borg Assiimlator, the first flying rollercoaster in the Carolinas, said park spokes woman Natividad Lewis. The new coaster has on heen in opera tion for a few months and is the first roller coaster to carry a Star Trek theme. Carowinds is also giving park-goers a chance to take a look at what it takes to make movies in “Paramount’s Magic of the Movies Live.” “This is the ultimate behind the scenes look at the movies,” Lewis said. The two movies that the show goes behind are “Sleepy Hollow” and “Titanic.” In the interactive family show, mem bers of the audience are called up to the stage to don costumes and use props to make sounds from the Paramount Pictures films. Park guests will also he able to meet stars of Nicktoons every day a 5 p.m., including Spongebob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer” and the Fairly Odd Parents. Kids will be able to take pic tures with the characters. Beginning June 12 through July 11, Lewis said, the will be a daily Nickelodeon Celebration Parade. Guests become part of the parade as it makes five stops along the route. Children will be able to get involved in activities such as bubble making, pie throwing and water spraying. This year, Levris said, the park has partnered with the House of Blues and there are plans to have more concerts. The park has already played host to R&B and gospel acts like Joe and Fred Hammond. And Carowinds Water Works is a great way to cool down on a hot day. The water park opens daily at 11 a.m. and swim suits are required for entrance to the park. Some of the main attractions at the water park include the Carolinas Ramblin’ River, a 1,000 foot long lazy river that runs though North and South Carolina; the Abyss, a black hole experi ence that plunges riders into total dark ness as they ghde through giant tubes to a splash pond below and Big Wave Bay, a 700,000-gallon, 25, square foot wave pool that provides a surf-hke experience. Visiting on weekdays may cut down on the long lines to ride some of the newest rides at the park. The park is open for daily operations and opens up for business at 10 a.m. Figurines a testament to history, collecting By Bethonie Butler THE CHARLOTTE POST HBCU OR PWC? PHOTO/WADE NASH Darlene Merriweather, manager of African American Art in Eastland Mall, holds a ceramic “mammy” cookie jar. The late British prime minister Winston Churchill once said: “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” And many collectors of Hack memorabilia share Churchill’s sentiments. Blackface caricatures infused with stereotypes dating back to the post-Reconstruction era are evidence of some of the most destructive portrayals of black people. They have also become a popular collector’s item for both whites and blacks. Darlene Merriweather, manager of the African American Art store in Eastland Mali, said images of black cooks and Aunt Jemimah figures, often found as cookie jars, are known as “booty chefs.” Merriweather said she collects such pieces because they remind her of how far blacks have come. Please see COLLECnBLES/3B College choiee ean be tough By Bethonie Butler THE CHARLOTTE POST Near or far? Big or small? What to major in? These are just a few of the questions prospective college students ask when deciding which school to attend. And for some, another question enters the equation: histori cally black college or pre dominantly white? America’s 105 historically black colleges have strong traditional value. At one point HBCUs were the only option for black college stu dents, especially in the South. And according to the United Negro College Fund, over 75 percent of today’s black professionals are HBCU graduates. Fifty years after the Brown V. Board decision outlawed segregation in U.S. pubhc schools, the biggest advan tage for students is the expanded academic and social options to choose from. N.C. Central University sophomore Akela Crawford of Charlotte said she chose the Durham HBCU because she had attended predomi nantly white grade schools and sought a different atmosphere. Crawford noted that many of her classmates had gone to predominantly black high schools and wanted to go to similar colleges. ‘Most students in Charlotte go to in-state schools,” she said. “They either go to Winston(-Salem) State, Johnson (C. Smith), A&T or Central.” Garinger High School senior Phillip Shelton applied to several North Carolina universities before deciding on N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro. He said A&Ts HBCU status influenced his decision. “I just see it as a plus,” Shelton said. “That is just more my type of environ ment.” Olympic High School senior Eric Nelson said of the six colleges to which he apphed, four were HBCUs. In the end, he opted for the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. “I felt at home there,” he said. “They really knew how to treat a person.” For students seeking a lower student to teacher ratio, the small class size of HBCUs may be an advan tage, although A&T is one of the nation’s largest HBCUs with an enrollment of just over 10,000. While predominantly white institutions may be provide a significantly differ ent environment for black students, many have aimed to provide mentoring and leadership programs to enhance the academic expe rience. Anita Blowers, director of the Office of Student Success and Retention at UNC- Charlotte said the university has several programs that acclimate black students to college life. Blowers cited UTOP, or University Transition Opportunities Program, and SAFE - Student Advising for Freshman Excellence - as two such programs. According to UNCC’s web site, UTOP helps minority See OPnONS3B
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