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Page 7 August 2013 The AC Phoenix I Am Trayvon Martin: A Future Doctor's Perspective From The Wall Of Mr. Corey Shy to medical school. Who is to say that could not have happened to Trayvon Martin if he was still alive? He could have been the next doctor, lawyer, engineer, teacher ,etc. My prayers go out to his family and friends. Please share my story so people can be more conscious of their racial profiling. Everyone has the potential, as long as they are alive, to achieve greatness and make a positive impact on this world. Student Loans and American Skills: Different Times, Two Different Reactions By William Spriggs I am Trayvon Martin.. The picture on the left was taken when I was 17 years old, had just graduated from high school, and really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Based on my appearance in this picture, you probably would have labeled me a thug or a troublemaker. I only graduated in the top 50% of my class and I took my ACT 4 times. A promising future in col lege doesn't look too likely at this point, does it? But at age 17 (Trayvon's age when mur dered), I didn't realize how much I would be Judged and stereotyped for the clothes I wore and my physical appear ance. Two months after that picture on the left was taken, I entered college and quickly realized that I wasn't pushing myself to be the best I can be. I hardly studied in high school, but as as fresh man in college I began to study daily. As a matter of fact, I did so well that I was able to participate in a summer medical internship at Yale University. I then went on to graduate from Prairie View A&M University Magna Cum Laude and in two weeks I will be attending Texas A&M Health Science College of Medicine to become a medical doctor. The picture on the right is where I am now just four years later at the age of 21. The reason I am sharing this with you is because I COULD HAVE BEEN TRAY VON MARTIN!!! The defense team could have gone onto the internet and found pictures of me that were similar to Tray von's pictures and characterized me as a thug. They would have then portrayed me as the aggressor, which, as such, lead to my death. If that would have happened, then I would not have had the opportunity to reach my true call ing, which is a medical doctor. My White Coat ceremony is in four days and it marks the next step in my journey. I could have been laying in a casket with a black suit, instead of being in a white coat trying to save lives. When I was 17, no one would have imagined that I would be doing so well and on my way Assistant Chief Connie Southern Captain Connie F. Southern Promoted to Assistant Chief Captain Connie Southern to assistant police chief. Southern will oversee the Investigative Services Bureau and will assume her duties Aug. 19. Southern, a 26-year veteran of the Winston-Salem Police Department, currently serves as commander of Criminal Investigations Division of the Investigative Services Bureau. Southern graduated with Winston- Salem Police Department Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) class 19 in 1987. In 1990 she was promoted to senior police officer, in 1994 to ser geant, in 2003 to lieutenant and in 2007 to captain. During her tenure she has served in the Patrol Division, Special Investiga tions Division, Professionai Standards Division and Criminal Investigations Division. Southern, 47, has an associate's degree in Applied Science in Law Enforcement Technology from Forsyth Technical Community College. She has complet ed numerous courses in management, leadership, and criminal investigations throughout her career. Southern is an avid runner and cyclist for many charitable events within the community. She is actively involved with animals and provides a home to three horses, four dogs, three cats and a bird. William E. Spriggs On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union shocked America with the successful launch of Sputnik I, the first man-made object launched into Earth orbit. The 20th century quickly became passe, the race was on for the 21st century and America realized the race would be won with technical skill and know-how. So, the response was quick. By Septem ber 1958, President Eisenhower and the 85th Congress, with the Senate almost evenly split between 49 Democrats and 47 Republicans voting 62-26, put in place the National Defense Student Loan program. Concerned that America could not pro duce enough skilled people if college was left to the wealthy, the loan pro gram was to make sure that talented but less well-off American children could have access to a college edu cation to make sure we would have enough teachers to keep class sizes down, scientists and engineers to meet the technical challengesand skilled lin guists for a global society. The maximum loan a student could take out was $1,000 a year and $5,000 over a lifetime. That figure needs to be put in context in two ways. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $8,060 today, compared with the current program's cap of $5,500 a year. But, to put $1,000 in the context of college tuition, in 1958 tuition to the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania was $1,050 a year for undergraduates. The loans were backed by the U.S. Treasury, so the legislation fixed the payback at the cost of money to the U.l government-3 percent. To put that 3 percent in context, in 1958, the prime rate that leading banks charged good corporate clients was 4 percent and home mortgage interest rates were running close to 5 percent. There was built-in loan forgiveness for students who entered the K-12 teaching corps. So, to summarize, in less than one year, a Republican president and a Demo cratic Congress put in place a program to expand college opportunity so that an American child could borrow and pay for tuition to any college in the United States, including the Ivy League, and borrow the money at a rate less than the prime rate for American cor porations or home mortgage rates of the day. Now, in 2013, the 21 st century is here. What policy makers understood in 1958 would happen is upon us. We live in a global economy where the success of a nation is dependent on the ability to train a highly skilled work force. And what is the reaction? Well, the Senate passed an immigration reform bill that will increase the flow of highly skilled workers into the United States by esti mates of 40,000 a year. And, Congress left town for district days to celebrate American Independence, letting the interest rate on college student debt double to 6.8% at a time when the prime rate is 3.25 percent and mort gages are around 4.3 percent. On Tuesday, the president met with the Congressional Black Caucus which raised the regulatory changes the Department of Education made that resulted in denying college loan access to middle income African American families by arbitrarily changing the way their creditworthiness was deter mined. African American famiiies that had been receiving loans then were denied loans, throwing students out of school midway in their studies. More than 15,000 of these famiiies had stu dents at historically black colleges and universities-the schools that graduate almost one in three African Americans [continued on page 9] ANNOUNCING HAPPY ADS BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES SPECIAL OCCASIONS Share Your Happiness Call 336.635.4096 And Ask For An Ad Taker Who Will Bs Happy To Help You.
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