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Winston-Salem Greensboro High Point
Vol.XXVI No. 50
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1938 DAVIS LIBRARY
itfcHAPEL HILL
The Choice for African American News
THURSDAY, JULY 27,
ILMLL NC 27514-8890 . ,
’:^U students, faculty join world community to tackle AIDS
BYT. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Photo by Kevin Walker
* the WS5U delegation: front row from left - Cathy Can-
i-a Miles; back row from left - Charlena Garrison, Thelma
Tosha Jackson and Hamby Radwan.
A delegation of people from
every comer of the globe descended
on Durban, South Africa, earlier
this month. They came to tackle a
subject that has grown from obscu
rity to an issue of global propor
tions in less than two decades -
AIDS.
Winston-Salem was well repre
sented among the reported 14,000
people who took part in the XIII
International AIDS Conference.
Ten students and faculty members
from Winston-Salem State Univer
sity’s School of Health Sciences
made the trek to Durban, a mod
em, booming city on the South
African coast.
Fresh from their trip, members
of the WSSU delegation said last
week that the conference was an
eye-opener, a one-of-a-kind educa
tional and personal experience that
they say they will never forget.
“I can’t believe I was not dream
ing,” said Thelma Westbrook, one
of four WSSU students who
attended the conference. “I got to
one of the largest and most impor
tant conferences in the world and it
was in the Motherland.”
Westbrook and the other nine
were chosen by Sylvia Flack, who
heads the school, and department
heads within health sciences school.
The team members chosen repre
sent each department in the divi
sion, from nursing to physical ther
apy.
Faculty members Carol Hardin
Boles, Cathy Canzona, Charlena
Garrison, Hamby Radwan, Sandra
Miles and Irene Phillips made up
the team, along with students West
brook, Tasha Jackson, Dino Jones
and Ashot Shirazyan.
“Fm real proud of this group;
they have not only made our
School of Health Sciences, but also
this university look good with the
work that they have done,” Flack
said.
The expense-paid trip came
about through a MIRT (Minorities
International Research Training)
project that links WSSU with Johns
Hopkins University and Brown
University for educational and
research purposes.
Flack said the trip was especial
ly significant for the WSSU team
because the AIDS epidemic is rear
ing its ugly head like never before in
the Tarheel state. Currently, North
Carolina ranks seventh among the
states with the highest number of
reported HIV/AIDS cases.
But the conference was sobering
proof for the delegation that North
Carolina is not alone in its fight to
put a leash on the disease. The
group talked about the many dis
cussions they had with people from
countries throughout the world
about the way AIDS has affected
life and culture.
“It really showed me that AIDS
is not affecting just one part of the
world,” said Jackson. “It’s really
touching everyone.”
The place that is feeling the
most effects from AIDS is the con
tinent in which the conference was
held. According to the Centers for
See Conference on A4
Atkins Class of ‘50 recalls a half-
century of change and progress
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
lla Lentz and two boys behind her listen intently as children's librarian Heather McCutchen
''Scarlette Beane,"
itfmers Market wows kids
L COLLINS
§ RONICLE
® en-year-old Carmella Lentz got a sur-
® ist Thursday morning.
^' mother, Teresa Lentz, took Carmella
liireschool storytime at the Downtown
rs Market, at Sixth and Cherry streets,
i usually come up here and go shopping
ly fruits and vegetables,” Teresa Lentz
preschool storytime was a bonus.
Je was surprised,” Carmella’s mother
Photo by Paul Collins
mella likes to read. “She likes funny
She likes books on animals, adventure
books about far-away lands,” her moth-
mella, a rising second-grader at Sher-
^orest Elementary School, was dressed
in pink shirts and a pink Myrtle Beach T-shirt
this day. She walked to the front of the audi
ence of 30 or so children and adults and sat on
a mat in front of Heather McCutchen, a chil
dren’s librarian at the Central Library. Behind
Carmella, two little boys sat on their mother’s
lap.
McCutchen began the program by men
tioning vegetable gardens, then having the
children sing “The Farmer in the Dell.”
“Good job,” McCutchen said at the end,
applauding and smiling broadly.
“Has anybody heard this story, ‘The Hun
gry Caterpillar’?”
“In the light of a moon, a little egg lay on a
leaf And one Sunday morning the warm sun
came up and POP, out of that egg WHOOPS
came a little caterpillar,” McCutchen began in
an animated voice.”
See Storytime on AS ui o\j nave veu
iicials: Enforcing child support is key
" clerk of court, child support divi-
Time was neither free-flowing
nor abundant for graduates of
Atkins High School last weekend.
Alumni of the school invaded the
city from every part of the nation
for Millennium Celebration, a
large scale reunion that attempted
to bring together as many people
as possible who graduated from
the school.
While socials, formal cere
monies and impromptu reminisc
ing sessions were continuous at the
Adam’s Mark Winston Plaza, a
few alumni managed to sneak off
to the campus of Winston-Salem
State University early Saturday
morning for a small-scale reunion
of their own.
The Class of 1950 scheduled its
regular reunion to coincide with
the millennium event. Although
members of the class say they
knew their mini-reunion would be
greatly overshadowed by the larg
er, all-inclusive event, they said
they could not let the 50th anniver
sary of their high school gradua
tion pass without any fanfare at
all.
“We are celebrating 50 years of
progress for our class,” said class
president Samuel Tucker, who flew
in from his home in New York to
attend both reunions.
The Class of 1950 holds many
distinctions, according to Tucker.
It was the first class to have
yearbooks and was the largest
freshman class to enter the school
at the time.
Naomi Jones served as chair
person for the reunion. Jones, who
still lives in the city, said members
of the Class of 50 have served the
Photo by Kevin Walker
Betty Hines reads the program at the Class of '50 reunion Saturday,
nation well through jobs in fields
like education, law and medicine.
“We got a great education at
Atkins, went to some of the best
colleges and had great careers,”
Jones said.
Aurelia McFadden retired
from the City-County School Sys
tem in 1987 after more than 35
years of service. McFadden said
Atkins High was more than a
school, it was a cultural institution
for African Americans during its
lifespan.
McFadden said students knew
that grand things were expected
out of Atkins alumni because of
that reputation.
“Our accomplishments speak
to that (reputation),” she said.
The fact that Atkins High
School is no more is still a sore
spot for many alumni; the Class of
1950 is no exception.
“We were robbed of some of
our history,” McFadden said. “The
powers that be did not even make
an attempt to preserve the trophies
and things like that.”
Atkins was converted into a
middle school in the early ‘70s.
With the closing of its doors
also came the closing of an era.
“We lost in desegregation. We
lost Atkins. Even though we were
segregated, we had an excellent
education, bar none. We were the
best,” Tucker said.
Patrick Hairston said he has
yet to apply all of the knowledge
he gained at Atkins.
“People were there to help you
challenge your mind,” said Hair
ston, who also chose to remain in
Winston-Salem after graduating.
See Atkins on A10
WNS
:le
50 parents, law enforce-
Jtals, social workers and
als attended a “town hall
St Thursday night to dis-
0 improve child support
Jn. Linda Garrou, who
the 20th District, called
^ which featured a panel
P m local, state and fed-
ents. Panelists includ-
Court Judge Chester
>ter Holton, US. attor-
a Biggs, executive assis-
attomey; Barry Miller,
ton of Social Services,
i support enforcement;
tbbins, N.C. Attorney
Wice. Division of Social
-ynn Roberts, assistant
clerk of court, child support divi
sion, Forsyth County; Denise
Hartsfield, Forsyth County Divi
sion of Social Services, child sup
port attorney; and Assistant Sheriff
Alan Gentry.
Garrou began the meeting by
asking the panelists to explain how
the system works, and then the pan
elists answered from members of
the audience.
Among the difficulties in child
support enforcement that panelists
pointed out were heavy caseloads,
difficulty in locating defendants, dif
ficulty sometimes in computing the
defendant’s income, budget con
straints and inadequate manpower
for enforcement.
For example. Assistant Sheriff
Alan Gentry talked about the diffi-
SeeTown hall on A10
Photo by Paul Collins
Assistant Sheriff Alan Gentry (right) explains some of the problems
and challenges his officers face in child support enforcement.
National Night Out
will try to fight crime
BY CHERIS HODGES
THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem is joining
9,000 other communities to fight
crime next month.
Aug. 1 is National Night Out.
Neighborhoods in the city are
invited to participate in the
event, which is nationally spon
sored by the National Associa
tion of Town Watch. Over 30
million people are expected to
participate in the evening,
dubbed as “America’s night out
against crime.”
National project coordinator
Matt Peskin said, “The National
Night Out campaign is an extra-
ordinary
way to
build
neighbor
hood unity
and
strengthen
police-
community
partner
ships. We
invite
neighborhoods nationwide to
join forces with us to give crime
and drugs a going-away party.”
National Night Out is
designed to heighten crime and
Burke
See Night Out on A4
FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS CALL (336} Z22-S624 • MASTERCARD,, VISA AND AMERICAN EXPRESS ACCEPTED