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IfdlP" 1 THE CHARE >TTE POST
4. ? r m wmm m.'m*
AVONNETTE CECILE MCCULLOUGH
_Piedmont varsity cheerleader
Avonnette C. McCullough
Is “Beauty Of The Week”
By Teresa Burns
Post Staff Writer
..Thirteen isn’t a very
large number, especially
when it comes to age. No
matter, because for our
beauty, Avonnette Cecile
McCullough, age does not
determine her wisdom. At
the V&e of 13 she has
already realized that
caring, understanding and
thinking of others are im
portant aspects of life.
“I also think that we
should always try to reach
our highest goals,” she
smiled. One of her goals is
to become an attorney.
“I’ve always been interest
ed the Held of law,” she
admitted.
Ms. McCullough also en
joys cheering, swimming,
shopping and playing the
piano. She has even
modeled some for Ivey’s"
department stores. As a
Piedmont Junior High
School ninth grader, she is
a member of the Executive
Committee, Varsity Cheer
leading squad, the Annual
Staff, Project Aries, the
Volleyball team, the
French Club, and the Stu
dent Advisory Committee.
She is a sharp young
lady, ready for anything.
She likes working with ex
periments and trying
things that are new
as she points out. That’s
why presently, her favorite
subject is science.
“I like meeting new
people and finding new
friends,” our Virgo beauty
commented. One impor
tant characteristic about
Ms. McCullough is that she
doesn’t sit around waiting
for friends to come to her
She is secretary of her age
group in the Jack and Jill of
America Association She
also attends First Baptist
Church where she is pre
sident of the 4-H Club, and
a member of the Youth
GrouD.
Michael and Randy Jack
son are her favorite enter
tainers. She simply enjoys
their music. And her
mother, Ruth McCullough,
is her favorite person. “She
is a friend to me,” Ms.
McCullough explained,
“and she has taken a lot of
responsibility.” Our
beauty’s father is Oren
McCullough.
Ms. McCullough is 95
pounds of bubbling enthu
siasm, excitement and
innocence. With this com
bination no one can deny
that she is a living doll.
ijn Ambulance services
Proposed Regulations
>
Would Expand Medicare Rules
The Department of
Health and Human Ser
vices Monday proposed to
expand coverage of ambu
lance service for hospital
ized Medicare patients.
Current ambulance ser
vice regulations provide
coverage for transporta
tion, under certain circum
stances, only to another
hospital, to a skilled
nursing facility or to the
beneficial's home.
The proposed regulations
would include coverage for
ambulance transportation
to such facilities as clinics,
therapy centers or physi
cians' offices to obtain
necessary diagnostic or
therapeutic services not
available at the hospital in
which the beneficiery is a
patient.
Current rules specify
that Medicare will only pay
for ambulance services to
the nearest institution with
appropriate facilities. The
proposal would add the
availability of a physician
or physician specialist cap
able of providing the need
ed care of treatment to the
criteria for deciding whe
ther an institution has ap
propriate iacuiues to pro
vide the care needed by the
beneficiary. For instance,
some small rural hospitals
may not have a physician
on duty 24 hours a day and
therefore might not be
equipped to provide the
type of care required. In
such an instance, Medicare
would cover ambulance
trans
transportation to a more
distant hospital where a
physician was available.
“This proposal repre
sents a program improve
ment that would make the
Medicare ambulance ser
vice benefit more respon
sive to patient needs and
consistent with develop
ments in medical care that
have tended to centralize
certain diagnostic and
therapeutic services,” said
Health Care Financing
Administrator Howard
Newman, and we are so
* V
liciting comments and sug
gestions on the need that
may exist in other situa
tions.
Nation’s Health Spending
Continues Upward Spiral
Patrol Issues
Labor Day
Warning
The North Carolina State
Highway Patrol cautions
motorists to refrain from
drinking and driving
during the long Labor Day
weekend.
Patrol Commander John
T. Jenkins said, “Alcohol
creates an illusion of well
being which tends to make
some motorists think that
they can drink and drive.
This irresponsible attitude
greatly increases their
chances of having an ac
cident and seriously injur
ing themselves or someone
else."
Crime Control and Public
Safety Secretary Burley
Mitchell echoed Jenkins’
sentiment. “Driving during
and after drinking is ex
tremely dangerous and po
tentially very expensive in
terms of injury, death,
property and insurance
rates."
jemtins stressed, uur
troopers are becoming
more proficient in detect
ing drinking drivers. Dur
ing the Labor Day week
end, we will have every
available member on duty
and will be attempting to
remove every alcohol
impaired driver that we
possibly can.”
The holiday begins at 6
p.m. Friday, August 29 and
ends at midnight Monday,
Sept. 1.
Post HigiilightK
“Back To SchooP
In Section B
When Charlotte-Meck
lenburg Schools re-open on
Sept. 2 will your child be
ready?
“The Charlotte Post" is
highlighting back to school
features in this week's
tabloid section (IB - 12B>.
Teresa Burns interviews
five students on how they
spent their vacations and
their attitudes on returning
to school Principal Robert
Davis speaks out on
changes in the Street Aca
demy.
Local Groups Receive
Awards Totaling $72*500
By Eileen Hanson
Special To The Post
..What started out as a
negative situation for Char
lotte's black community,
turned into something posi
tive last week as an Atlanta
businessman presented
grants of $72,500 to groups
designated by the Charlotte
Broadcast Coalition.
At a press conference
and reception August 22 at
Johnson C. Smith Univers
ity, Robert Wussler, repre
senting Atlanta millionaire
Ted Turner, presented
$25,000 to JCSU’s Com
munication Arts Depart
ment, and three grants of
$12,500 each, the first of
four annual grants.
In presenting the grants,
Wussler dedicated them to
the late Bill Lucus, a black
baseball player for the At
lanta Braves who died last
year.
The awards to commun
ity groups were presented
to The Afro-American Cul
tural Center; the Southern
Advocate newspaper; and
a combined project of the
Client Council of Southern
Piedmont, the Residents
Advisory Council and the
Vote Task Force.
The groups were chosen
because of their involve
ment in the struggle for
equal rights for minorities.
"Sometimes people don’t
want to identify with us. We
don’t mind stepping on
toes, no matter how big
they are,” said Coalition
spokesperson Carrie
Graves. "We are giving
these grants to those who
walked in the streets with
us for the Wilmington 10,
the Charlotte 3, for Food
Stamps and other human
rights issues. We are join
ing hands in the battle for a
better future."
Dr. Herman Thomas,
Chairman of the Afro
Center Board, said the
grant would be used to
further the Children’s Art
Program and the general
work of the Center, lo
cated in Spirit Square.
Receiving the award on
behalf of the Southern Ad
vocate, a monthly regional
newspaper which started in
Charlotte two years ago,
Jessie McCombs said, “We
must use our news media to
spread the truth."
Receiving the third grant
were Betty Sue Huntley
and Luciel McNeel of the
Clients' Council; Hattie
Harris of the Residents
Advisory Council, and
Lonnie Graves of the Vote
Task Force.
On receiving the grant to
Johnson c. ^mith Univers
ity, President Dr. Wilbert
Greenfield announced that
the university will soon
build a Fine Arts building
which will house the De
partment of Communica
tion Arts.
"W'e would like to see a
Turner Studio for Com
munication Arts, so what
Ted Turner and the Char
lotte Broadcast Coalition
have done here today will
live on and on," said Dr
Greenfield.
According to Depart
ment Chair Barbara
Moran, the grant, which
will total $100,000 over four
years, will enable JCSU to
modernize its TV training
studio and introduce color
capability The program
currently has 129 students
majoring in the fields of
broadcasting, print jour
nalism, speech and drama
“We will use the money
to improve our communi
cations program and to
better prepare students for
the job market," said Dr
Moran
____a
a 4-year agreement be
tween the Coalition and
Turner Broadcast Sys
tems, Inc made in April In
1978 the Coalition, which
monitors the treatment of
blacks by local broadcast
media, filed discrimination
charges against WRET,
Channel 36, then owned by
Turner
In petitions to the
Federal Communication
Commission, the Coalition
accused WRET of not
hiring enough blacks in
decision making positions
and not adequately repre
senting the black commun
ity in its programing The
charges were dropped
after the April agreement,
which cleared the way for
Turner to sell the station to
Westinghouse.
The Coalition also an
nounced that three scho
larships of (3,500 each will
be awarded next month to
black students in communi
cations or journalism. Re
cipients will be selected by
the three original groups in
the Coalition - the Charlotte
Equal Rights Council, Peo
ple United for Justice and
the National Organization
for Women
For application forms,
contact the Charlotte
Broadcast Coalition, P. O.
Box 34004, Charlotte, N.C.
28234 or call 3744)657
t
Congress Tighten Food
Stamp Eligibility Requirements
Special To The Post
WASHINGTON - People
applying for food stamps
could be asked to provide
more proof of information
on their application under
a rule proposed by the U.S.
Department of Agricul
ture.
Currently, all persons ap
plying for food stamps
must document their in
come, social security num
ber and certain medical
and utility expenses. Per
sons who are not U.S. citi
zens must prove that they
are legal aliens who have
been admitted to this coun
try for permanent resi
dence, according to Assist
ant Secretary of Agricul
ture Carol T. Foreman
States are also permitted
to require all applicants to
provide proof of their
assets. In addition, states
H t
must require proof of a
number of other eligibility
factors, such as rent or
household composition,
whenever the information
provided by the applicant
is questionable.
The pros posed rule would
give states authority to
conduct additional verifi
cation by allowing states to
require proof from every
185 Work He gin*
applicant of all shelter ex
penses, all child care ex
penses and household size,
ine proposed rule would
allow states to require do
cumentation of these fac
tors, whether or not the
information supplied bv the
applicant appeared ques
tionable.
In addition, the regula
tion would put into effect i
provision ot food stamp
legislation enacted in May
that allows to develop a
profile of the types of food
stamp cases and eligibility
factors that are most sub
ject to error, Foreman
said States would then be
able to require verification
of all information and food
stamp cases that fit into
these categories shown to
be "error prone "
Motorist Urged To Drive With Care
North Carolina Depart
ment of Transportation
Secretary Tom Bradshaw
this week issued a plea to
all motorists using 1-85 in
Charlotte to drive with ex
treme care and obey the
posted speed limit in the
construction area between
•
the catawoa Kiver bridge
northerly to Little Rock
Road.
Resurfacing work has be
gun on 3.6 miles of the
interstate road in this area
For the next several weeks
traffic will be merged into
a single lane, northbound.
while work continues!
Bradshaw said, ”1 am
asking that the trucking
industry take a leadership
role by setting the example
in holding the speed limit to
45 miles per hour through
this area.”
to
$212 Billion
Spent For
Health Care
In 1979, the nation spent
an estimated $212.2 billion
for health care, an amount
equal to 9 percent of the
gross national product,
Health and Human Ser
vices Secretary Patricia
Roberts Harris announced
today.
On a per capita basis.
1979 health spending, from
all sources, amounted to an
estimated $942 per person.
And of that amount, S406 or
42 percent represented pu
blic spending
These latest comprehen
sive spending estimates
were compiled by HHS
Health Care Financing
Administration and are
published in the current
issue of HCFA's quarterly
journal, the Health Care
Financing Review
outlays for health care be
nefits by the Medicare and
Medicaid programs admin
istered by Hl'FA amounted
to $29.i billion and $21.7
billion respectively, com
bining to pay tor 27 per
cent of all personal health
care in the nation. Bene
fits for hospital care alone
amounted to $29.7 billion
for both programs
Highlights in the report
+■ Health spending in 1979
increased 12.5 percent
from 1978 levels, up from
the 11 percent growth seen
in 1978
+ Expenditures for
health care included $54 4
billion in premiums to pri
vate health insurance, $60.9
billion in federal payments
and $30.5 billion in state
and local government
funds.
+ The $85.3 billion bill for
hospital care represented
40 percent of total health
care spending in 1979.
These expenditures in
creased 12.5 percent over
1978
♦ Spending for physician
services increased 13 4 per
cent to $40 6 billion - 19
percent of all health care
spending
+‘ All third parties com
bined -- private health in
surers, governments, phi
lanthropy and industry -
financed 68 percent of the
$188 6 billion in personal
health care in 1979, ranging
from 92 percent of hospital
care services to 64 percent
of physicians' services and
39 percent of the re
mainder
* Direct payments by
consumers reached $60 bil
lion in 1979 This repre
sented 32 percent of all
personal health care
expenses.
The HCFA report of the
latest tabulation of money
spent for health care in the
United States in 1979 con
tinues a series of annual
reports begun in 1964 The
series comprises the na
tional health accounts of
the United States and is the
most complete and com
prehensive compilation of
health expenditures avail
able.
To obtain a copy of the
publication, available
starting in September, a
request should be made for
the Health Care Financing ,
Review, fall issue, and ad
dressed to: ORDS Publi
cations, Room IE9 Oak
Meadow Building, 6340
Security Blvd., Baltimore,
Md. 21235 *
Receiving awards for their organiza
tions’ work in the struggle for equal
rights are Lonnie Graves (Vote Task
Force), Luciel McNeel and Betty Sue
Huntley (Clients Council), Hattie Harris
(Residents Advisory Council), Jessie
McCombs (Southern Advocate), Dr
Wilbert Greenfield (Johnson C. Smith
; .
Some minds are like con
<*«te - they're either all
fiixed up or permanently
f
University), and Herman Thomas (Afro
American Cultural Center). Presenting
the awards on behalf of Turner Broad
casting Systems, Inc. is Robert Wussler
(center). The awards were designated by
the Charlotte Broadcast Coalition. Inc.
(Photo by Eileen Hanson)