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3A NEWSAE^e Charlotte $o«t Thursday, May 4, 2006 100 Black Men gala benefits academics, tutoring Continued from page 1A Youth, a mentoring and edu cation program, works with about 50 students annually from grades 7-12. The goal is to encomage students to graduate from high school and obtain a post-secondary education and to prepare them for success beyond academia. “The whole philosophy aroimd it is if we could move these kids educationally if we could move them culturally, then certainly we could move them in society,” said Lenny Springs, foimding president of the Charlotte chapter of 100 Black Men. “The success of the kids that are in the mentoilng program has jxist been astronomical.” This year, there are nine Charlotte area high schools seniors who are mentees of the program and who are eli gible to receive the scholar ship money raised from the event. Thomas Washington, vice president of special events for the chapter, feels the gala is important because it presents opportunity “to raise funds for scholarships so that mentees have an opportunity to attend the col lege of their choice.” Over the years, students have been sent to colleges such as Johnson C. Smith University Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill as a result of the program. Proceeds will be used for scholarships and Washington says that die organi2ation ejqiects to raise $50,000 this year. The gala, combined with the 100 Spring Thnnis Classic XIV, which will take the same weekend, is the largest fundraiser event for the chapter. In addition to raising money for their scholarship fund, a second purpose of the event is to recognize individu als contributii^ to the com munity in various categories. “We have an initiative called ‘Four For The Future’ which represents tiie four areas in which each of our chapters should participate within their respective communities in our efforts to better those communities and further the cause of our young men,” said Kraig J. Holt, president of 100 Black Men. ‘We feel that it is important to highlight people in oim community whose goals and ideals are in line with our own.” Awards will be given to four individuals: Curtis Carroll, principal of Harding ' University High School (edu cation) First Tee organizer Walter Moigan (mentoring); the Rev. Claude Alexander (economic devdopment); and Dr. David Jacobs (health and wellness). While the soiree has grown every year since it began, Washington hopes to further bridge relationships with var ious outlets to let people know that the 100 Black Men are here and what they are accomplishing. Signs that interest in the organization and this event, in particular, is on the rise are reflected in the numbers, according to Springs. “Obviously with the Charlotte Chapter growing in membership and growing in the number of kids we men tor, certainly the Blade Tie has grown from a standpoint of attendance ... [and] from a standpoint of corporations that paitidpate and sponsor the event,” he said. Springs recognizes the unique challenges facing young black men today point ing out the inequality in edu cation, an uneven playing field sodally and the preva lence of single mother house holds. It is because of issues such as these that he devel oped his specific vision for the future of 100 Black Men. “In the future, two or three Ihings need to happen,” he said. “One, we must continue on that path of mentoring and providing an opportunity for education. In addition to that, I think that in today’s environment we must also prepare our young men, not only educationally, but we have to start talking to our young men about business ownership.” MAY Member MADNESS ■ 3 Months “Benefits” for 3 Bucks DENTAL PLAN Incluaes: Vision, Prescription, Chiropractic Care All for $23 (3 mo) • Call Mr. Vaughn NOW! 704-277-4077 • www.greg2008.simpleasabc.com Study urges boost in health insurance Continued from page 1A sured fall into one of two groups: a family with an income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty guide lines ($38,700 for a family of four) or links to a small employer with fewer than 25 employees. The task force issued 13 recommendations, including expanding coverage to three groups most likely to lack coverage: workers in small businesses, low-income indi- viduab and individuals with pre-existing health problems. The top recommendations include: • Supporting the state’s healthcare safety net. • Promotion of healthy lifestjdes and disease preven tion and wellness initiatives. • Development of a Healthy North Cairolina insurance program for small employers and uninsured workers. • A limited benefit ejqjan- sion of Medicaid with cost sharing for low-income, work ing adults. • Creation of a high-risk pool for people with pre-exist ing conditions. “We know that it will be hard to afford expanded cov erage unless we can reduce the rising costs of healthcare,” said Carmen Odom Hooker Odom, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services secretary and co-diair of the task force. “One of the best strategies to reduce the growth in healthcare costs is to encour age people to live healthier lifestjies. Ultimately, people have a personal responsibili ty to be better stewards of their own health, but we can Studies show workers who are unhealthy are less pro ductive, which affects the state’s economy Uninsured children are more Ukdy to be sick, and this affects their ability to perform well in school. Lack of adequate health insurance coverage also con tributes to personal bank ruptcies, affecting both fami lies and businesses. “Sustained economic devel opment in North Carolina depends on our ability to enstire that our workforce has access to quality health care,” said Mark Holmes, vice • president of NCIOM. “Without healih insurance, workers are less able to receive the health care they need, and when workers are sick, they are less produc tive.” As the number of uninsured rises, so does the economic strain on healthcare institu tions. North Carolinians with coverage pay more in health insurance premiums to help cover the costs of care provid ed to the uninsured. ‘Fveryone stands to gain if ijiore North Carolinians have health insurance coverage” said Tbm Lambeth, co-chair of the task force and senior fellow at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. “Just as everyone stands to gain, aU of us can help ensure ffiat more North Carolinians have health ir^urance covers^e. 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(Off 1-77 & I-85)Charlofle, N.C 704.596.7^ 7 & I-85)Charlofle, N.C 704.596.7427 IS cash • We Give Our Customers The Best l^rice! the insurance industry” Smoking gap between blacks, whites persists By Hazel Trice Edney NATIONAL .NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON Cigarette smoking and lung cancer mortality rates overall are dedining in the U. S., but lui^ cancer death disparities between the races —blacks and whites - ranain alarm ing, leading health care and anti-smoking experts say “We haven’t dosed the gap. While everybody’s improving, the gap is not dosing. The five-year survival difference is still in the range of 10 to 15 percent for blacks and whites. So while it’s an impipvement for aU groups, the difference or the disparity remains,” says Dr. Hafold Freeman, a respected surgical oncologist and director and foimder of Harlem’s Ralph Lamen Cancer Center for Cancer Care and Prevention. He Kqjlains, ‘Tt’s like you have the fiont wheels and back wheels of a car, but no matter how fast you go, the back wheels are never going to catch up.” The association of state attorneys genial reported in March, ffiat data derived fiom federal government tax col lections shows a 4.2 percent decline in dgarette sales last year and a drop of 20 percent since the attorneys general reached a legal settlement with tobacco companies in 1998. Anti-tobacco activist Sherry Watson-Hyde, executive director of the National Afiican American Tobacco Prevention Network, is happy that the rates have declined for African- American smoking, though not deeply enou^. “Black male lui^ cancer rates have been over the top,” Watson-Hyde says. Even with the state tobacco settle ments, she said the tobacco industry still finds new ways to ensnare smokers with fla vored cigarettes special pro motions. The NAATPRN and other anti-tobacco organizations, such as the American Legacy Foxmdation, which has awarded a three-year grant of $4.5 million to a coalition of six national black organiza tions, including the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation, for tobacco prevention and cessa tion programs, focus largely on reverse marketing by edu cating African-Americans on the dangers of tobacco smoke. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention ■ reports that while the annual WTiite Irmg cancer death rate is approximately 58 percent per 100,000 diagnoses, tiie rate for blacks is 64 percent per 100,000. Cancer experts say the rates have remained consistently disparate - with in the 15 percentile over the past two decades - even when fluctuating. Black and white women are about the same at 40 percent for black women and 42 for white. • Tbbacco use is the major cause of lung cancer in the United States. About 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men and nearly 80 percent of lung can cer deaths in women in the U. S. are due to smoking. Why are black men dying of Itmg cancer at such , higher rates? And what is being done about it? Freeman believes race play a role. “Race is a determinant in how people get treated for cancer even when they’re at the same economic status; not just lung cancer, but in general,” he says. “The biggest challenge in America for disparities is to get stan dard treatment for everybody, to make it available some how.” He sa}^ that unless a sys- t«n is created that targets people’s ability to get early medical intervention regard less of their ability to pay the disparities will remain. A publicly funded “patient nav igation” program that he started 16 years ago for breast cancer patients should be a model for the nation for aU types of cancer, he says. The pubhc program pays for breast cancer screening for women regardless of their socio-economic status. ‘T improved the five-year survival rate' at Harlem Hospital fixim 39 percent to 70 percent for breast cancer in poor black women,” he says. “They remained poor. They remained black. We did n’t change that. But I changed what we did for them.” Some say that the behef by some African-Americans’ that surgery contributes to the death of cancer patients may be contributir^ to high cancer death rates. Doctors say surgery for lung cancer is the most effective curative proce dure. But a report by the American Lung Association Please see SMOKING /6A I Mann I Travels Withyou all the w(^ HCarnival. The Fun Ships. Book any 5-night or longer 2006 cruise on CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES and receive $50 off per bookingl 704.547.1240 to speak to one of our Honeymoon & Vacation Specialists 9009-2 JM Keynes Drive University Place Charlotte v.Maim'n'aveb. A GREAT RATE TODAY. A GREAT RATE TOMORROW. 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