http://www.thecharlottepost,com
Cljarlotte ^ost
THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2006
JAMES B. DUKE MEMORIAL LIB
JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITV
CHARLOTTE. N C 28210
LIFE
3 - 2006
Section
IN RELIGION
Faith leads to
apology for inac
tion in the face of
racism
Rockets’
red glare
can be
dangerous
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
As Americans gear up to
celebrate July 4, the nation is
stocking up on hot dogs for
cookouts, flags for waving,
and fireworks, for, well, fire
works displays. While fun
and food are on everyone’s
minds, safety isn’t always. In
2004, fireworks accidents
sent 6,600 people to emer
gency rooms during the
Independence hohday week
end alone, according to data
from the U.S Consumer
Product Safety Commission.
There were almost 10,000
fireworks-related injuries for
the whole year, a 300 injury
increase from 2003. For this
reason. Prevent Blindness
America, the nationis oldest
eye health and safety organi
zation, urges revelers to leave
the fireworks to the profes
sionals.
’We can’t stress enou^
how dangerous fireworks are,
especially to children,” said
Daniel D. Garrett, senior vice
president of PBA. Safety
Commission data shows that
40 percent of all fireworks
injuries are to people ages 15
and youi^er. Most injuries
■ tend to be to the hands and
fingers, but the second most
common type are contusions,
lacerations, debris in, and
bums to the eyes. Eye
injuries often take longer to
heal and could result in pa--
manent vision loss. “No one
ever intends to get hurt while
playing with [fireworks],”
said Garrett, ‘hut they really
are an accident waiting to
happen.”
Fireworks and rockets can
be very unpredictable, as you
can’t always predict their
flight path or when fhey will
explode, but sparklers creat
ed the greatest number of
injuries in children 14 and
younger in 2004.
“No one would dream of
handir^ a torch burning at
1,800 degrees to a child, but
that essentially is what a
sparkler is,” said Garrett.
“That’s hot enough to melt
gold.”
Smelting aside, commission
reports show that even
devices considered to be “safe
and sane” are dangerous, and
data Sum the U.S. Eye Injury
Registry shows that
bystanders are more often
injured by fireworks than
operators themselves.
Fireworks can explode in
the hand, throw sparks into
the face, cast hot fragments
onto limbs and ignite cloth
ing.
The list of injuries fium
2004 include five victims
struck in the eye by bottle
rockets, 1,100 sparkler made
injuries, and eight people
killed due to fireworks.
Males tended to suffer three
times the injuries as females.
PBA suggests attending the
spectacular firee event offered
here in Charlotte. “Safe
Summer Celebrations’^ with
creative ideas on how to cele-
'brate without fireworks.
If you still feel like you must
fire off your own display PBA
offers a safety qufr on’its web
site with information on how
to handle accidents. If some
one’s eye is injured in a fire
works accident and there are
spedss in the eye,
• DO NOT rub the eye
• Lift the upper eyelid out
ward and down over the
lower hd
• TVy to let tears wash out
specks or particles
If speck doesn’t wash out,
keep eye closed, bandage
PHOTOS/BAQ, BORROW,STEAL
Bag, Borrow or Steal Is an online shopping site that allows customers to borrow or buy top of the line handbags
without long-term commitments.
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
The srunmer wedding
and party season is imder-
way TOth your dresses
and outfits together, now
you need the perfect acces
sories. If you’re running
low on cash, a Seattle com
pany has a solution that
will allow you to update
your look without break
ing the bank.
“The easiest way to
describe it is Net Mix for
designer handbags,” said
Bag, Borrow, or Steal
director of merchandisir^
Website has high-end bags
without busting the budget
and- fashion director,
Brenda Kaufl&nan. Bag,
Borrow, or Steal is an
online membership ser
vice that allows con
sumers to borrow designer
handbags for extended
periods. The website gives
fashion conscious con
sumers access to thou
sands of bags they would
not have access to oth^-
wise, or might not have
been able to afford at
retail.
“Leasing luxury is the
way of the future,” said
Kaufftnan. ‘Tt’s always
worked with cars.”
Bag, Borrow, or Steal
was founded in 2004 by
Lloyd Lapidus and Greg
Pippo, who saw their
wives, sisters, mothers
constantly looking for
handbags to ccmplete an
outfit or to carry for a spe
cial occasion. “They real
ized there was somethii^
to this,” said Kauf&nan.
AU bags available on the
site have been purchased
by Bag, Borrow or Steal
through designers or
authorized dealers.
Here’s how it all works.
The existing membership
system has three levels;
Tyaidsetter, Princess, and
Diva. Starting at $19.95 a
month, up to $99.95, each
level allows access to a dif
ferent “doset” of handbags
Please see HIGH/2B
Don’t forget manners at summer gatherings
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
We’ve aU been there - in a
meeting, movie, or dinner
where someone answers
their cell phone. Maybe
they expressed that they
were busy and hung up, or
maybe they talked for a
while. Either way when did
we lose Ihe ability to enjoy a
social outing, without tak
ing a phone call, or respcaid-
ing to a text message? Is it
appropriate to send an
email invitation to a wed
ding? Are the rules of deco
rum that former newspaper
columnists wrote about out
dated, or have we just lost
our manners?
“Over the past 15-20
years, people have become
much more casual about eti
quette,” said Jim Carter,
president of Ophdia DeVore
Associates at Ophelia
DeVore Enterprises. The
son of model Opheha
DeVore, who first began
offering etiquette training
for women of color in 1946,
Carter heads the organiza
tion which now indudes eti
quette, charm and overall
presentation for men and
women, as well as profes
sional training for corpora
tions.
DeVore, by using her mod
eling backgroxmd, started
her program to make a
statement for the real iden
tity of women of color. They
were more than just labor
ers, housekeepers or bearers
J ETIQUETTE/2B
More black couples jump into swinging set
By Cheris F. Hodges
cherK.hodges®t/iechartofteposf.com
Believe it or not, conserva
tive banking Charlotte is a
major hub for swingers and
many of them are black.
That’s probably one reason
why Greensboro author
Torrian Ferguson’s novel
“Swingers” is one of Dynasty
Bookstore’s best sellers.
Ferguson had no inten
tions of writing - it isn’t even
his passion. But when some
one told him about the
issTies that he and his wife
were having after they tried
swingir^, Ferguson’s inter
est was peaked.
‘T didn’t think that this
was something that African
Americans did,” he said.
Ferguson was evai more
shocked to find that in
Greensboro there were
swinging parties.
Those in attendance ran
the gamut of blue collar
workers to executives. “I
assumed that only soccer
moms did this,” he said.
Ferguson, who doesn’t
swing, said he doesn’t judge
swingers and doesn’t consid
er himself an expert on the
subject. But it is clear more
blacks are beginning to take
part in this lifestjie.
According to
Carolinapassion.com, swing
ing, sometimes referred to as
the swinging lifestjie or sim
ply the hfestjde, includes a
vride range of sexual activi
ties conducted between
three or more people.
Swinging can include watch
ing others have sex, having
sex with your partner while
being watched (called “soft”
swinging), or exchanging sex
partners, which is the most
common definition.
T^ically swinging activi
ties occur when a married,
or otherwise committed, cou
ple engages in the above
mentioned activities with a
couple or single individual.
These acts may or may not
occur in the same room and
may or may not include
bis®mal interaction.
Some ‘lifestjie” activities
are highly organized. Most
major cities have at least one
major swing club in a per
manent location, often keep
ing a low profile to avoid
negative attention. Swingers
also meet through hfestjie
magazines, personal ads,
swinging house parties, and
the Internet.
The web site also lists
Charlotte as being the
largest ’swinging city in the
Carohnas, followed by
Raleigh, Greensboro,
Durham, Winston-Salem
and FayetteviUe-
South Carolina cities
Charleston, Columbia,
Greenville and Rock HiU
also made the list.
As with oth^ instances of
integration, black couples
Please see CHARLOTTE/3B
Taming
Type 2
Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes dispropor
tionately affects African
Americans, and many people
are unaware that they have it.
Symptoms hke firequent urina
tion, excessive thirst, tiredness,
and weight loss may occur.
However, aU too often there are
no symptoms untU diabetes
has been present for many
years. One can stiU test or
screen for diabetes, even when
symptoms are not present. The
American Diabetes Association
recommends that testing for
diabetes should be considered
every 3 yeai's in adults over the
age of 45, espedaUy if you are
overweight. If you have some
of these risk factors, your doc
tor may test you earUer: age
greater than 45 years; obesity,
parents, brothers, or sisters
with diabetes; Httle regular
exercise; being a minority dia
betes during pregnancy or
delivery of a baby weighing
more than 9 pounds; previously
identified impah'ed fasting ^u-
cose (pre-diabetes); hi^ blood
pressure or diolesterol; or his
tory of heart disease or stroke.
How is diabetes diagnosed?
Diabetes is diagnosed using
several criteria. Ifyouhavethe
usual symptoms, a blood test
showing a ^ucose level of (200
mg/dL confirms the diagnosis.
Alternatively, youi* doctor wfll
ask you to not have any food or
• hquids after midnight and
come in the next morning for a
blood si^ar level. If your fast
ing glucose is at or above
126mg/dL on at least two dif
ferent days, you have diabetes.
Pregnant women should have
what is called an oral ^ucose
tolerance test in which an
extremely sweet beverage is
administered, and subsequent
ly a blood test is given. If her
^ucose is (200 mg/dL, a woman
may have gestational diabetes.
How is diabetes managed?
During a medical evaluation
for diabetes, the doctor should
take a complete history and
physical. This discussion
shoiUd include questions about
any symptoms of diabetes you
may be having; any prior heart,
brain, kidney or liver disease
you have experienced; and any
medications you are taking.
You should also be asked about
smoking, alcohol use, family
history of heart disease, exer
cise habits, and the type of
foods you like to eat. Your
height, weight, blood pressure
will be measured; and your
heail, skin, feet, and nervous
. system will be examined. Your
doctor may administer a blood
test to check for the average
level of glucose in your blood.
Your urine should also be
checked for protein.
A test often used to measure
glycemic (blood sugar) control
is the glycosjdated hemoglobin
(HbAlc) test. HbAlc is formed
when blood glucose binds to
hemoglobin (which carries oxy
gen) in red blood cells. This
binding occurs even in non-dia
betic people at a level less than
6%. Glycosylated hemoglobin,
while not indicative of current
blood sugar level, serves as a
useful marker of diabetes con
trol over the prior 3 months.
According to the American
Diabetes Association, the goal
for persons with diabetes is an
HbAlc less than 7%. The high
er it is the more likely you are
to develop diabetes-related
compHcations such as heart
3 TYPE 2/3B