2A
«»o
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Friday starts year of change for CMS
Continued from page 1A
student performance and is
funded by a $21 million Gates
Foundation grant. Gaiinger’s
smaller schools will start
with 100 ninth-graders and
add 100 annually
“This initiative was not only
an ^citing and challenging
process, but a total rebirth for
the school,” Garinger princi
pal Jo Ellen Farrell said “My
students, staff and parents
have completely embraced
the smaU-schools concept, so
there is a lot of positive ener
gy buzzing around campus.”
Garinger will add three
more specialized schools in
2007-08, then shut down its
traditional program.
Garinger, along with West
Charlotte, Waddell and West
Mecklenburg, were spared
the possibility of closure by
Wake County Judge Howard
Manning, who threatened to
shutter campuses that had at
least five con
secutive years
of pass rates
below 55 per
cent. The state
turnaround
director report
ed that the
Initiatives boost enroUment
Manning
Continued from page 1A
prehensive colleges that con
fer bachelor’s degrees.
‘We are pleased that U.S.
News & World Report has
recognized our outstanding
academic programs and stu
dents by including JCSU on
their list,” university
President Dorothy Cowser
Yancy said.
Smith’s fi:eshman boost is
attributed to improved mar
keting and programs
designed to prepare high
school students for the transi
tion to college.
“They’ve beeoi working with
students to fill out their
financial aid a lot sooner,”
Benny Smith said. And pro
grams like our Freshman
Academy is hdpir^ prepare
them. AH those little things
are adding up”
Advertisements placed in
Ebony magazine have also
been particularly effective at
spreading the JCSU story
“Apparently we’re getting a
lot of students who’ve seen
the ad because ifs a national
ad,” Smith said.
On the Net
Johnson C. Smith University:
wwyvjcsu.edu
AIDS scourge ‘outpaces’ cure
Continued from page 1A
chair of the recently-condud-
ed International AIDS
Confarence here, put it this
way; “Tbday 25 years into
this epidemic, we have a real
opportunity to deliver hke
never before. We have more
resources than ever, more
knowledge than ever, more
political commitments than
ever. StUl, the epidemic con
tinues to outpace us.”
Another set of figures illus
trates Gayle’s point. The
number of people living with
HTV/AIDS - 38.6 million - is
double the total for 1995. In
2005, an estimated 4.1 mil
lion people became newly-
infected with Hiy including
540,000 children. During
that same year, 2.8 million
people died of AIDS-related
illnesses.
Dr. Peter Piot, UNAIDS
executive dii-ector, stated
without equivocation:
“TVagically, the end of AIDS is
nowhere in sight.”
HIV stands for Human
Immunodefidaicy \Yrus, the
disease that causes AIDS. It
destroys catain blood cells
necessary for the normal
functioning of the immune
system, the mechanism that
defends the body against ill
ness. AIDS stands for
Acquired Immunodeficiency
It occurs when a person’s
immune system is so weak
ened by HIV that cancers and
diseases develop.
Vaccines to prevent HTV
infection or strengthen the
immune system’s abUity to
defend itself are being tested
arovmd the world. Under the
most optimistic projections, a
successful vaccine is still
years away
Absent an effective vaccine,
those hopiing to curb - or at
least make a dent in the
HtV/AIDS pandemic - are
relying on more aggressive
prevention programs and bet
ter delivery systems, espe
cially in rural areas around
the world.
As Phill Wilson, executive
director of the Black AIDS
Institute in Los Angeles, said
at this year’s international
convention: “AIDS is a Blade
disease.” Globally and within
the United States.
According to UNATDS, a
joint United Nations program
that combines the resources
of 10 UN organizations with
those of the World Bank,
AIDS has already daimed
the lives of more than 25 mil
lion people. The epidemic has
taken its greatest toll on sub-
Saharan Afirica.
Tliough it has only 10 to 11
percent of the world’s popula
tion, the region has almost
two-thirds of people living
with HIV/AIDS - 24.5 mil
lion. Sub-Saharan Afiica is
home to 87 percent of the 2.3
million children living with
HIV/AIDS. In South Afiica,
5.5 million people are living
with AIDS, or almost 1 in 5.
The Caribbean is the sec
ond-most affected region in
the world. AIDS is the lead
ing cause of death among 15-
44 year-olds. In both sub-
Saharan Afiica and the
Caribbean, addressing the
problem is complicated by
other factors, including
poverty, discrimination,
unemployment, stigma and
gender inequality
People of Afiican decent
face a similar fate in the
United States;
• Although Afiican-
Americans are only 13 per
cent of the U.S. population,
they represent 49 percent of
all AIDS cases diagnosed in
2004;
• The AIDS rate among
blacks was 10.2 times that of
whites in 2004;
• Of new cases of AIDS
reported among women,
black females accovuited for
67 percent of the cases, white
women 17 percent and
Hispanics 14 peacent and
• Although Afiican-
American teens represent
only 15 percent of U.S.
teenagers, they were 66 per
cent of all new AIDS cases
reported among teens.
While there is no vaccine on
the horizon, the medical com
munity is not standing still in
the face of those stark figures.
“We want to call on every
one here and aroimd the
world to help speed up what
we hope will be the next big
breakthrough in the fight
against AIDS - the discovery
of a microbidde or an oral
prevention drug that can
block the transmission of
Hiy” Bin Gates told dele
gates here.
CMS schools
had plans in
place that went
beyond N.C. standards.
• The drive to bring more
men into students’ education
is picking up momentum.
More than 80 men attended
a rally last Saturday at
Greenville Memorial AME
Zion Church. The goal is to
encourage men to voltmteer
for school activities as well as
take an active role in acade
mics.
For information on the pro
gram or to volunteer, call
Blanche Penn at (704) 890-
4101 or Dwayne Collins at
(704) 777-4313.
'PHOTO/CALViN FERGOSON
The Rev. Dwayne Collins leads a drive to recruit more men
into Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as volunteers at
Greenville Memorial AME Zion Church.
Carolina Medical Associates
Welcomes Ek. James McGhee
He joins Dr. Aviniisli Shah, Dr, Maher Agha, Dr. Jeanea Hundley and Dr. Susan Echterling,
Dr. McGhee has practiced in
the Charlotte area for 12 years.
He is accepting existing and neiv
patients in primary care medicine.
For appointments coll
704-542-2191
7108 Pineville-Motthews Rd.
Charlotte, NC
704-372-3126
2115 E. 7th St.
Charlotte, NC
CAROLINA MEDICAL ASSOCIATES
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