Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / July 13, 2006, edition 1 / Page 6
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6A NEWS/I!%e CiarlDttt Thursday, July 13, 2006 Heart-healthy solutions sought in Charlotte Continued from page 1A the African American community obtain the knowledge and skUls necessary to live longer, healthier lives,” said Waine B. Kong, the asso ciation’s chief executive officer. “This is an important effort in. our community If we are effective, thousands of residents in Charlotte’s African American commimity will become more productive, have a better quality of life and strengthen their ties with family mem bers. there is nothing more important than that.” Stroke and cardiovascualar disease are the leading cause of death of blacks. On average. more than 10 black Charlotteans die daily from heart disease. The Charlotte initiative is part of an eight- city tom in which community leaders are coached on the risks of heart disease as well as providing screenings and healthy hvii^ tips. On July 29, the Charlotte campaign continues with the Super Community Health Fair at Eastland Mail, 5471 Central Ave. It wlH include screenings for blood pressure, choles terol, ^ucose, weight and body mass index. For information on the initiative, call Melanie Clark at (704) 965-5440. Bennett president to retire THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GREENSBORO Johnnetta Cole, who took over as president of troubled Bennett chaired by Angdou and far mer U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, R- Kan., and has passed the halfway mark. Cole said. Now, Cole said, she hopes Winfrey - who she called an “extraordinary force in American and international affairs” — can help give a big boost to the effort. During four years as presi dent, Cole, the former presi dent of Atlanta’s Spelman College, has helped stabilize Bennett. When she took over in 2002, the school was run ning a $2 million budget deficit and was on academic probation. She scored an early coup when she recruited Dole to lead the big fundraising cam paign; Dole’s wife, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., had become concerned about Bennett after visiting the school during her 2002 announcing' Thesday that Cole Oprah 'Whffiey and Maya Angelou will headline a bene fit gala for the school this fall. In remarks at a state-of- the-school briefing, Cole said she will stick to her original plan and retire from the school’s presidency in Jime. She said she first wants to see the historically black school finish off a $50 million fundraising campaign to secure its future. That effort is being co- TUSKEGEE AIRMEN World War n fliers blazed trail for today’s astronauts By Judy Carlock 7UC50N (ARIZONA) CITIZEN TUCSON, Ariz. - Thirty minutes before the July 1 launch of the space shuttle Discovery and retired Lt. Col. Luke Weathers watches intently Beside him lies a pristine copy of a 2003 Time magazine memorializing ihe crew of the space shuttle Columbia. One of the smiling faces is that of Ronald McNair, -the second African American in space. A CNN announcer says that aboard the shuttle Discovery - whose takeoff would end up getting postponed to July 4 - is the second Afiican American woman in space. The labels sound dated. Cf course there are black astronauts. Why wouldn’t there be? Weathers, 86, is part of the reason that fact might be tak^ for granted. The framed prints on the walls of his immaculate Cro. Valley home help tdl the story: In 1942, black leaders pressured the U.S. military to train a corps of black pilots at TViskegee Institute in Alabama. They weren’t just fighting Nazis. They were fighting bigotry and segregation at home. The Tiskegee Ainnen had something to prove: that black Americans wanted and could handle the most challenging mil itary jobs. For their achievements, they will receive the Congressional Gold Medal in a White blouse ceremony later this year. Weathers was motivated by more than patriotism when he joined the Army Air Corps. “They were getting ready to draft me,” he said. ‘T didn’t want to be cannon fodd^.” The Memphis na'tive, who had completed coursework for a degree in science and biology used what infliaence he could to receive a spot as a cadet. He became one of450 pilots sent over seas, and one of almost 1,000 who graduated, “This was called the Tuskegee Experiment. We’re goir^ to prove to you that you can’t do it so you’ll stop hollering,” Weathers later told a newspaper. “The Ihir^ was that whites didn’t think blacks could fly It’s just that simple.” Cver two years in Eiunpe and northern Africa, they damaged or destroyed more than 400 enemy aircraft. The fighter pilots never lost a bomber that they were escorting. Some got their first ejqserience with integration in Geaman PCW camps. Bigotry didn’t bother Weathers. “I felt sorry for the racists,” he said. 'T knew who I was.” He does not teU war stcaies, but dearly rdishes the memory of a tiixunphant return to Memphis and prominent coverage of a parade in his honor _ the first time, he said, the local paper had ever featured a black person. One print on the wall shows phots preparing to take off fixjm their base in Italy Weathers points out the plane he piloted. It is called “Lucifer” in the painting, but Weathers said he had no name painted on his plane. “I was a marked target fix)m the standpoint of German intel ligence,” he said. The black community in Memphis had mount ed a major war bond effort, and he feared he specifically would be targeted “to take some of the wind out of their sails.” In a painting banging at the Pentagon, Weathers, in a P-51 Mustat^, escorts a damaged B-24 bomber to safety in England. On Nov. 16,1944, Weathers and two other pilots escorting the bomber were attacked by eight German planes. Weathers reportedly flew into the Germans head-on, taking down one plane with machine-gun fire. Then he dived, pulled out of the dive and found one German pilot still bdiind him. ‘T chopped my throttle and dropped my flaps to cut my speed See AIRMEN/7A Senate campaign. Frustrated by internal dis sent at the college, Cole said in April 2005 that she would resign as president. But an outpouring of support changed her mind and she decided to stay Last fall, Bob Dole and for mer President Bill Clinton - on whose transition team Cole served in the early 1990s - hosted a fundraising event for the campaign at the college. In her remarks Tuesday, Cole said the U.S. Department of Education recently gave the school’s financial aid program an excellent rating and that the school has seen significant growth in alumnae giving and has renoyated three his toric campus buildings. “How pri'vileged I am to be the prudent of this ever so special institution that has such an important mission, and that has come this far by faith, by hard work and by the support of so many fiiends,” she said. Bennett was co-educational when it was founded in 1873, but became a private school for black women in 1926. The school has a current enroll ment of 570. Center City Streetcar Corridor Public Meeting The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) will hold a public meeting lo discuss updated Information on the streetcar project. Project information on the capital costs, environmental effects, and the top two sites for the proposed maintenance facility will be shared with Ihe public lor feedback. Boards will be present displaying renderings of the proposed maintenance laclllly sites. We hope to see you Iherel Tuesday, July 18,2006 Charlotte-IVIecklenburg Government Center 600 East 4th Street Charlotte Room 267 • 6:30 p.m. The Center City StreeKar re proposed to run along Trade street, BeaHies Ford Road. EltzaiieSi Avenue, and Cental Avenue. Please consult the CATS Trip Planner at www,ridetransit.org for Pus routes nearest the meeting location. For more information, call (704) 336-RIDE or visit wmv.rictetransit.org A GREAT RATE TODAY. A GREAT RATE TOMORROW. Money market rates this amazing are usually too good to be true. They're often "Teaser Rates" to get you to open an account; Not this one. Simply open a Premium Money Market Performance Account—available to clients who have or open one of our select relationship checking accounts—and start earning 4.50% APY* today. 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