Forsyth Tech's new
technology building
set for 2005 completion
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Forsyth Technical Com
munity College is construct
ing a five-story, 85,000
square-foot technology build
ing on its Main Campus at
2100 Silas Creek Parkway.
The building is scheduled to
be completed by spring 2005
and ready for occupancy in
the fall of that same year. The
new building will house the
college's Thomas H. Davis
iTEC Center.
The cost of the building is
about $8.7 million (construc
tion only - not including fur
nishings or equipment). In
addition to the iTEC Center,
which encompasses Forsyth
Tech's computer related pro
grams, the building will have
29 classrooms/labs, four wet
labs, three lecture rooms, one
training room, a bookstore,
the student government asso
ciation office and a student
vending area. About 60 facul
ty/staff offices will be housed
there.
The new technology build
ing was made possible though
a state bond referendum
passed in 1999 and a Forsyth
County bond referendum in
2000. This is the first new
building construction on the
Main Campus since 1996.
To watch the construction
progress, go to
www.forsythtech.edu and
look for the "Main Campus
Expansion" link at the lower
left portion of the screen.
Weight
fmm page A2
Another review thai com
bined data from several large
population follow-ups sug
gests a little extra weight
might actually be a good thing
for American blacks. Both
men and women appeared to
live a bit longer than usual if
their BMIs were in the over
weight but not obese category.
Some question the signifi
cance of the racial compari
son. They say that since
blacks die younger than
whites, the studies might
underestimate the health
effects of weight or fail to
account for weight loss that
results from underlying dis
eases.
"1 don't think a direct
comparison of the relative
mortality risk in blacks and
whites is helpful," said Shiri
ki Kumanyika. an epidemiolo
gist at the University of Penn
sylvania. "You would have to
know the circumstances that
influence death across the
BMI distribution in the bla^k
population."
Still, if blacks truly suffer
fewer consequences of modest
weight gain, she and others
speculate that differences in
body fat distribution might
partly explain why.
Fat is thought to be most
dangerous if it is packed
around the internal organs.
This kind of fat is most bio
logically active, throwing off
cholesterol levels and forcing
up insulin levels.
Overweight blacks tend to
have lower levels of harmful
triglycerides and higher
amounts of protective HDL
than do similar-size whites,
and this might be due to
where their fat is deposited.
Blacks tend to carry a larger
proportion of their fat in a
layer under the skin rather
than deep in the belly.
Parsons
from page A8
cation available."
According to Sandra E.
Timmons. president of A Better
Chance, "Richard Parsons
serves as a role model for aspir
ing executives of all races, but
his success has earned him a
leadership role among African
Americans. The qualities that
make him successful - his
focus, vision, concern for the
community and ability to moti
vate others - are the attributes
we look for in A Better Chance
Scholars. These things make
him especially worthy of our
corporate award."
A Better Chance was
founded in 1963 by 23 private
schools wishing to diversify
their student populations. It has
expanded its network to more
than 225 affiliated college
preparatory schools. Past recip
ients of the A Better Chance
Corporate Award include: John
T. Dillon, chairman and COO,
International Paper Co.; Har
vey Golub, chairman and CEO,
American Express Co.; Dou
glas Daft, chairman and CEO,
Coca Cola; and Earl G. Graves,
chairman and CEO, Earl G.
Graves, Ltd.
Grant
from page A8
nalists, Stewart said.
"Students at HBCUs are
understanding more about jour
nalism and news because of
Black College Wire," Stewart
said. "With the addition of the
internship program and other
projects, we can do even more
to help African-American jour
nalism students get started in the
business."
Black College Wire contains
news, opinion, feature and
sports stories from HBCU stu
dent newspapers. Other publica
tions may use the stories if the
news service is credited, Stewart
said.
Portions of the grant will go
to Hampton University for First
Amendment Watch, Howard
University for audio streaming
and The Maynard Institute for
Journalism Education for Web
management. Black College
Wire also receives in-kind sup
port from Washington Post
Newsweek Interactive.
The John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation promotes
excellence in journalism world
wide and invests in the vitality
of 26 U.S. communities.
Photo by Courtney Uaillard
Middle school stu
dent Imana Bilal
prepares a hand -
made rocket for
launch with the help
of a teacher, Sarah
Fletcher.
Summer science and math program
encourages kids to reach for the stars
B\ COURTNEY GA1LLARD
THE CHRCffllCLE
Middle school students
couldn't travel to the Kennedy
Space Center for a day so they
turned the back field of Atkins
Middle School into a temporary
launch site last week where they
fired off handmade rockets for
the SciMax program. SciMax.
short for Science and Math
Excellence, is a two-week
enrichment program for middle
school students funded by the
National Science Foundation.
The students, who posed as
members of space crews, spent
three days constructing the rock
ets. After counting down the
liftoff, a student and a teacher
would send the spacecraft off.
Onlookers cheered the rocket on
as it made its ascent. All heads
looked upward to see it shoot to
the clouds with great speed. For
these kids it was a fun lesson in
rocket science. The students will
also spend a few days building
comets out of dry ice and ammo
nia as part of a lesson on the solar
system.
Winston- Salem/Forsyth
County Schools partners with
Wake Forest University and Win
ston-Salem State University to
offer the program. WSSU School
of Education Dean Donna Ben
son said, academic camps like
SciMax are becoming popular
with kids because the kids enjoy
learning when it's made fun.
"Everything is hands-on and
performance-based," said Ben
son. "We're really pleased."
Nearly 80 high school stu
dents also took part in the Math
Science Education Network
(MSEN) at Atkins. This program
was introduced to N.C. schools
1 5 years ago.
Sue Davidson signed up her
granddaughter, Dysteni Shepper
son. for the SciMax program
because she's spending the sum
mer with her grandmother.
Davidson said her granddaugh
ter's participation in organized
educational activities on her sum
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mer break can only help her dur
ing the next sstjool year.
"Math .and science for
females is just tremendously
important." .said Davidson. "My
focus is to have her involved in
something that is intellectually
stimulating. She's been coming
home so excited and motivated."
While Shepperson may not
be considering a career as a rock
et scientist, she's learned a lot
about what makes rockets soar.
The rising fifth-grader is one of
50 middle school students who
took part in SciMax. She says she
would even be interested to
return to SciMax next summer.
"It's fun and I've made a lot
of friends here. You have to pay
attention in class, but it's kind of
easy when you have nice teach
ers." said Shepperson. "It's good
for kids because some will just
watch TV and play video games
(over the summer), but this is fun
and educational."
Kids aren't the gnly ones in
the classroom during the suni
mer. Teacher* are participating ih
a SciMax of their own where
they are instructed on how to
teach science and math.
Curt Rathburn. a WS/FCS
teacher, said SciMax is designed
to engage students in science and
math in such a way that tfiey
won't get bored or find them
selves daydreaming about sitting
poolside.
"They get excited and that's
what the school system is trying
to do by partnering with Win
ston-Salem State and Wake For
est. to bring that about." said
Rathburn.
Walter Johnson, a SciMax
teacher, said you won't find the
kids buried in books or taking
notes in class during SciMax
because the approach of this
camp is hands-on work.
"We're preparing the students
for things they're going to learn
throughout the school year so
they'll have a little more of an
advantage on the other children.
We try to keep it away from
paper and pencils. A lot of our
activities are hands-on," said
Johnson.
SciMax will also conduct a
camp at Konnoak Elementary
and a camp at Wake Forest for
high school students.
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