Safety
from /Hi iff 37
you can check to make sure
your child's safety seat is
properly installed and that
your child is properly buck
led-in, call SeatCheck toll
free at .1-866-732-8243.
All infants should ride
rear-facing until they have
reached at least 1 year of age
AND weigh at least 20
pounds. At this point, they
should ride in a forward fac
ing safety seat in the back seat
of the vehicle. NEVER place
^ child in a rear-facing car
.safety seat in the front seat of
a vehicle that has an airbag: if
the airbag deploys, it could
kill the child.
When your child becomes
too big for a safety seat (or
when he or she reaches 40
pounds), you must purchase s
"booster seat. Booster seats are
devices that position the child
so that seat belts fit properly. -
According to "North Carolina
law, children must ride in
booster seats until they reach
80 pounds or 8 years of age.
Need proof that booster seats
are helpful in keeping your
child safe? Consider this: one
stud) showed that booster
seats reduced the risk of
injury in an accident by 59
percent for children ages 4 to
7, compared with seat belt's
alone!
Seat belts remain of
utmost importance in keeping
your family safe in the car.
Children, like all passengers,
need both lap belts and shoul
der belts. The lap belt should
fit snugly across the thighs,
and the shoulder belt should
lie flat against the shoulder
and chest, not the neck You
should never allow children to
share seat belts; each child
should have his or- her own
seat belt. The driver of the
vehicle is responsible for
wearing a seatbelt as well as
for making sure all children
age 16 and younger in the
vehicle are wearing seatbelts.
What else can I do to keep
my family safe in the car?
There are other important
things you should keep in
mind when considering your
family's safety:
- Do not drive while under
the influence of alcohol or
drugs. In 2()07, 12,998 people
died in alcohol-related crash
es, and 15 percent of child
fatalities in 2(X)7 occt d in
alcohol-related crashes.
- Set a good example:
wear your seatbelt, too. It's
not just common sense; it's
the law!
The safest place for your
child to ride is in the back
seat. Riding in the back
reduces your child's risk of
being injured by a deployed
airbag. A recent study demon
strated that the risk of serious
injury in the event of a car
accident was reduced by 40
percent for children under the
age of J 6 when they were rid
,ing in the back seat versus the
front seat.
- Children 12 and younger
should never be placed in a
seat in fronVof an airbag. The
force of' the airbag, if it goes
off. can kill a child. Again,
keep your kids m the back
seat'
- Never let your children
ride in the back (cargo area) of
a pickup truck; this is illegal
in North Carolina!
- Always obey all traffic
laws and signals. Oftentimes
we think of these as in incon
venience, but they are in place
to keep us and everyone else
on the road safe.
Remember: Keeping your
child safely restrained in your
car or truck until the age of 8
or 80 pounds is the LAW in
North Carolina. Always wear
your seatbelt properly.
Following these laws will
help reduce you and ^your
family's risk of becoming a
statistic.
- Information compiled
by Jdimie Hunter, MPH. and
Sarah Langdon, MPH
Do you need further infor
mation or have questions or
comments about this article?
Please call toll-free 1-877
530-1824. Or. for more infor
mation about the Maya
Angel ou Center for Health
Equity, please visit our web
s i t e
http://www.wfubmc.edu/minor
ity health.
Money crunch means changes at WSSU
Some will lose
their jobs under
restructuring plan
CHRONICLE STAH Kl.W m I
Winston-Saleni Stale
University Chancellor Donald
Reaves hopes that a restructur
ing plan announced this week
will get the school on better
economic footing.
WSSU plans to eliminated
16 currently-filled positions
and will not fill 30 vacant posi
tions. The reshuffling will also
involve reorganizing certain
programs and other opera
tional changes that could
reduce the . total operating
budget for the university by $7
million to *$9 million in the
next fiscal year. The school is
preparing itself for a reduction
in state funding.
"Eliminating positions is
never easy," Reaves said in a
statement. "These decisions
are extremely difficult because
they affect our employees, the
university family and the com
munity. Vet, we believe we
have no choice at this time but
to take the steps necessary to
ensure the future of our stu
dents and WSS.U."
Under the restructuring,
the Child Development Center
? - *SSl PhtX.
Chancellor Donald Reaves says more cuts are possible.
and Laboratory School at ihe
university will close on Aug.
2 1 . eliminating eight jobs.
Parents currently using the
Center will receive a tuition
reduction for the remaining
weeks of operation and infor
mation on other options for
their children.
Another eight administra
tiye or professional positions
will be eliminated in various
areas of the university.
Additionally. 21 employees
will he impacted by program
reorganizations, with 13 being
reassigned to new areas and
eight maintaining their exist
ing positions as part of a dif
ferent group.
"Given the current eco
nomic conditions that all
schools in the University of
North Carolina System. are
facing, we have to take the
steps oecessary to reduce our
operating costs," said Reaves.
"We are adjusting our budget
through reorganizing certain
areas, realigning specific func
tions and developing a cost
savings plan in conjunction
with jt>b eliminations. In addi
tion to adjusting our budget to
deal with the reduction of
funds received from the state,
?we will reallocate resources to
support our major priorities.
"Our first commitment is
to improv ing student retention
and graduation rates, and that
will require an incremental
investment in our University
College, We will be. expand
ing our efforts to provide sup
port for incoming freshmen to
help ensure their future suc
cess at WSSU. We also will
enhance, funding for Campus
Safety and University
Advancement. Having a s?*fe
campus and raising funds
needed for student scholar
ships and additional program
support are two of our other
key priorities."
Reaves said the school will
continue to investigate ways to
save -money..
Latino
from pqge A6; . 7~
parents who develop a -strong bicultural
perspective Rave teen children who are
less likely to teel anxiety and face fewer
social problems. For every increase in a
parent's involvement in United States cul
ture, we saw a 15 to 18 percent decrease in
adolescent . social problems, aggression
and anxiety one year later. Parents who
were more involved in U.S. culture were
in a better position to proaetively help
their adolescents with peer relations,
forming friendships and staying engaged
in school This decreases the chances of
social problems arising."
The findings are from a longitudinal
ctll/iv/. Kl; ! TNIP'f ! -iJtniX A/</>nltiir'it(,\r> an/I
Health Project, which is supported by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control anil
Prevention (CDC) and directed by
Smokowski. The findings are presented as
part of a scries of articles featured next
Smokowski
month in a special issue of The Journal of
Primary Preventions Collaborative initia
tive between (J NC' and the CDC, The spe
cial issue presents the latest research on
how. cultural adaptation influences Latino
including involve
ment . in violence,
smoking ajid sub
stuncc use. as well
us overall emotional
well-being ? and
offers suggestions
for primary preven
tion programs that
support minority
families.
"Bicultural ado
lescents tend to do
better in school, report higher self esteem,
and experience less anxiety, depression
and aggression." said study co-author
Martica Bacallao, an assistant professor at
the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, whose work is also featured
in the special issue. "It is interesting that,
in order to obtain these benefits of bicul
turalism. adolescents and parents often
need to do the opposite of what their nat
ural tendencies tell them. Parents who are
strongly tied to their native cultures must
reach out to learn skills in the new culture.
Adolescents who quickly soak up new
cultural behaviors should slow, down and
cultivate the richness in their native cul
tures:" .
Smokow ski added: "The burgeoning
size of the Latino population and the
increasingly important roles that Latino
youth will play in American culture are
worthy of community attention:
Communities can either invest in preven
tion to nurture Latino youth as a national
resource or pay a heavy price later in try
ing to help these youth address social
problems such as substance use, aggres
sion or dropping out of school; all of
which often results from the stress of
acculturation."
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