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Photo by Layla Farmer
Jim Toole is one of the lead
ers of the HEAT effort.
Group
turns up
'HEAT'
on health
Initiative aims to bring
attention to care gap
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE __
Growing up in upper crust
Buena Vista, Jim Toole didn't
know a thing about health care
disparities. As an affluent,
Caucasian male, he didn't have
reason or occasion to.
"As a boy, my mother was
very active across Highway 52
and I was aware of the chal
lenges that East Winston faced,
(but) I just never knew about
health disparities," explained
Toole, co-chair of the Forsyth
County Department of Public
Health's HEAT (Health Equity
Action Team). "It shocked me;
I was shocked and frankly I
was very hurt, I was disgbsted
that this could be going on
under my nose in my own
hometown and nobody told me
about it, or people had been
telling me about it all along
and I didn't hear."
Three years ago, Toole
decided to take action to try to
change the disparities in health
care that often led to people of
the eastern side of Highway 52
(which is the city's unofficial
racial dividing line) to have
shorter life spans and more
sickness.
"I made it my goal at that
point to figure out a way to
take that message across 52 to
. See HEAT on A9
Hair flap ignites theater boycott
Protestors outraged by girl's suspension
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE ?
Incensed, they said, that
even in 2008 a person's
outward appearance can
still be considered more
important than the content
of one's character, a group
of about two dozen people
held protests signs outside
of The Grand movie theater
for more than three hours
Saturday afternoon.
The actions of the the
ater's manager three weeks
ago triggered the picketing.
The manager suspended
employee Meyosha Love,
17, for 10 days when it was
determined that Love's bur
gundy-colored braids vio
Shushu Jeffreys hands a
flier to a motorist.
lated a company policy that
states that employees' hair
color must be "naturally
occurring."
Love - who is working
two jobs this summer to
save morfey before she
starts her freshman year at
N.C. State University this
fall - publicly voiced her
displeasure with the sus
pension in a widely-circu
lated interview on WXII
Channel 12. After the story t
made its way around the
nation, via wire services,
Love was allowed to return
to work. But for the group
of protesters, a clear mes
sage had already been sent
and the damage done.
Krishauna Hines
Gaither, one of the protest's
See Boycott on All
Photos by Kevin Walter
Kezia Bobo protests in front of The Grand.
Conference attracts 1
leaders from HBCUs
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Leaders of Student Government
Associations of Historically Black
Colleges and Universities from
across the nation gathered last week
at Winston-Salem State University
for a four day conference.
SGA presidents and other offi
| cers attended leadership training
Bass worked feverishly to fill the
void, planning this new conference
in about six weeks. Most events
were based at WSSU, although
A&T did have some hosting duties.
About 30 attendees from
HBCUs both large and small attend
ed. Cordara Taylor is the SGA pres
ident of Talladega College, a small,
private school in Arkansas with just
350 undergraduate students. This
sessions, team building
activities, completed
, community service proj
ects and heard from sev
eral invited speakers.
WSSU SGA President
Harold Respass, one of
the organizers of the con
ference, said he and other
attendees plan to put what
they learned during the
conference into action.
"We want to have a
conference that is ...
focused on something that
Cordara Taylor
will be his first year as
president; it was also the
first time he had attend
ed any sort of SGA con
ference. He said he
hoped the event would
provide him with new
insight into his responsi
bilities as president.
"I think conferences
like this actually give
everyone kind of a
broader aspect as to
what goes on at different
universities, just to see
we can actually oring oacK to our
campuses that materializes, like
programs and initiatives," said
Respass, who added that the event
also allowed participants to pick
one another's brains and have a lit
tle fun, as well.
Repass organized the event with
North Carolina A&T State
University SGA President Marcus
Bass. Conferences aimed specifical
ly at SGA officers at HBCUs are
few and far between. So when one
major conference was canceled, the
Nissan-HBCU Student Government
Leadership Program, Respass and
what others do," said Taylor. "I
think we're all here to basically
help each other; we all have a big
job to take on."
Tamisha Jackson, SGA president
at Maryland's Bowie State
University, agrees that SGA offi
cials have awesome responsibilities.
There are challenges too. she said.
For instance, at Bowie, which has
more than 5,000 students, budgetary
concerns are a major issue because
she says the school doesn't receive
as much money as other state col
leges. Jackson believes it is her job
See SGA on A4
WSSU Photo by Garrett Garim
WSSV's Harold Respass addresses fellow SGA leaders.
Attention
Grabber
Photo by Layla Farmer
It was hard for
shoppers to miss
this 13-foot-tall
shopping cart
outside of a local
Wal-Mart this
week. The cart is
part of a
statewide cam
paign to promote
locally-grown
produce and
other S.C. -based
products. Read
more about the
event on page
A12.
'Mission' Accomplished
New Life Center dedicated
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Although it took less than two years to complete, the her
itage of the Winston-Salem Rescue Mission New Life Center
was more than 40 years in the making.
"This is really a special day, even more so than you might
know," Executive Director Dan Parsons told the consider
able crowd that gathered outside the new Trade Street build
ing for the official dedication Tuesday morning. "Forty-one
years ago (on) this date in 1967, the Winston-Salem Rescue
Mission began ... at the corner of Eighth and Trade streets.
Today, we're celebrating 41 years of helping the homeless
and the needy of the Winston-Salem community."
More than 30 residents will move into the New Life
Center next week. The opening of the new edifice will ease
the strain on the existing, adjacent Rescue Mission building,
and on other shelters around town, as Mayor Allen Joines
pointed out. 0
"Last winter, we found ourselves in a situation with not
See Center on A9
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Photo by UyW
Thirty residents will soon move into the center.
j- : if "?*
In Memory of
Charlene
Russell Brown
*
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better "
Httgscll ffluneral ffiatm
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
k
822 Carl Russell Ave.
(at Martin Luther King Dr.)
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
(336) 722-3459
Fax (33?) 631-8268
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