Pirates prepare for play
Rage 8
Rogers honored by state
Rage 8
Ft. Bragg hosts youth camp
Rage?
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its pec7,t^,^ tt - -
^ -r--- T ilulul 01 *-itC
i~EKWUlMANiS COUNTY LIBRARY
r ■ O N ACADh-MY ST
I jm HERTFORD NC 2/944
■OO'i.
July 26, 2001
Voi. 69, No. 30 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perquimans
Wbekly
Summer
Academy
doses at PCMS
All students
: promoted to
next grade
SUSAN R. HARRIS
About 50 middle school
students just got out of
school Friday.
The students each chose
to participate in the
school’s second Summer
Academy Some attended to
get extra help so they could
pass a course failed during
the school year or test high
enough to reach promotion
standards on end-of-grade
tests. Others passed both
their classes and the tests,
but still realized the need to
get a little extra help to be
better prepared for the
upcoming school year.
Principal Anne White
said the Academy followed
a two-week remediation
period offered by all of the
county schools to give stu
dents a chance to polish
skills and pass state tests.
Some students passed their
tests after the two-week ses
sion and chose not to attend
the four-week Summer
Academy
While the summer pro
gram was not mandatory it
was open to all students
and attendance leading to
successful test completion
was the only way for stu
dents who did not test pro
ficient on the inititial state
tests to be promoted, White
said.
White said that the mid
dle' school offers several
ways for students who are
not performing up to grade
level to get extra help dur
ing their three years there.
The SOS After-School
Program has a remediation
component and is open to
all students four after
noons most weeks during
the school year. There are
also Saturday Academies
which help students with
core subjects on selected
weekends. Also, help is
available on the remedia
tion days built into the
school calendar. Finally, the
Summer Academy was
begun last year as yet
another means to help stu
dents perform at grade
level.
Seventh grade teacher
Pamela Griffin was the
Summer Academy coordi
nator. She was out of town
this week, so White said
she did not have access to
Griffin’s final Academy
numbers. She speculated,
however, that at least three-
fourths of the students
enrolled in the Summer
Academy were there in
order to be promoted. AU of
those who did need the ses
sion in order to pass did
achieve high enough test
scores to earn promotion.
Students attended school
Monday—Thursday for
four weeks.
The Academy focused on
reading, math, goal setting
and character traits. Each
students had two math and
three reading sessions
beofre lunch. In the after
noon students participated
in band, goal-setting, com
puters and physical educa
tion. Many of the students
did not particpate in band
during the school year, so
got an opportunity to
appreciate music. They
were also taught the funda
mentals of voUeyball and
basketball. The learned to
get information using the
computer. Goal-setting and
Students experienced a variety of learning opportunities during Summer
Academy, including table etiquette which was used during a lunch aboard the
Spirit of Norfolk, and music, taught by Director of Instrumental Music David
Ziemba.
taking steps to reach those-
jl goals was learned
through information pro
vided by the Extension
Service.
In addition, students
learned water safety and
got to ride in sail and motor
boats with members of the
Osprey Yacht Club of
Albemarle Plantation. The
visited the planetarium at
Elizabeth City State
University, and practiced
etiquette skills taught by
former teacher and county
commissioner Evelyn
Stubbins during a lunch
eon aboard the Spirit of
Norfolk.
The Academy culminat
ed with an Exit Program
and luncheon last
Thursday.
Hertford
woman
killed in
wreck
SEAN JACKSON
The Daily Advance
A Hertford woman was
killed July 18 in Chowan
County when her car
crossed the center line and
collided head-on with an
oncoming vehicle.
Judith Sauer Gibson, 63,
of 1 Little Circle, died from
injuries sustained in the
accident that occurred at
1:25 p.m. on N.C. Highway
32 about 8 miles north of
Edenton.
According to the report
of N.C. Highway Patrol
Trooper C.T. Griffin,
Gibson was traveling south
in a 1998 GMC automobile
when she ran into a 1998
International 18-wheel
truck driven by Milford
Randolph Rhodes, 53, of
wmiamston.
Gibson reportedly had
lost control of her vehicle,
crossed the center line,
swerved to avoid another
north-bound vehicle, and
slammed into Rodgers’
truck. Gibson’s car spun
around and hit the truck’s
fuel tank and axle.
However, there was no fuel
leak, according to Faye
Gray, a spokeswoman for
the Highway Patrol.
Gibson was pronounced
dead at Chowan Hospital.
Griffin’s report said
Rodgers suffered minor
injuries, but was not trans
ported to a hospital. Hjs
truck sustained $22,000 hi
damage. Gibson’s car h^
$28,000 worth of damage.
Neither vehicle was
exceeding the speed limit
at the time of the accident.
No charges were filed
against Rodgers.
Edenton vets reprimanded following death of rottweiler
MARIEL BETANCOURT
The Daily Advance
The North Carolina
Veterinary Medical Board
'reprimanded two Edenton
'veterinarians following the
death of a 5-year-old male
rottweiler.
On June 7, the veteri
nary board reprimanded
both Timothy L. Jones and
R. Christian Ford, both of
Chowan Animal Hospital,
because the two failed to
adequately treat the rot
tweiler's serious infection,
and because they also
failed to complete blood
work requested by the dog's
owner.
According to the veteri
nary board's letter, the two
violated a state law outlaw
ing “incompetence, gross
negligence, or other mal
practice in the practice of
veterinary medicine.” The
letter of reprimand will
remain in their records,
but no further disciplinary
action will be taken by the
state. Neither doctor
refused the reprimand or
requested a hearing after it
was issued.
The reprimand follows a
Dec. 4 complaint from Judy
Wilder of Perquimans
County, whose dog Booger
died Aug. 8 after a neuter
ing procedure performed at
Chowan Animal Hospital.
Jones and Ford did not per
form a pre-anesthetic exam
prior to the neutering, as
Wilder requested.
The dog developed a seri
ous condition following
surgery, which could have
been prevented had the doc
tors performed the pre
anesthetic exam. Wilder
wrote the veterinary board.
The exam could have
shown the dog had a seri
ous condition that would be
aggravated by surgery.
Wilder said.
“Dr. Jones and Dr. Ford
are misrepresenting them
selves when they encour
age clients to sign consent
forms in order to check for
pre-existing conditions
before surgery, yet do not
follow through with the
pre-testing,” Wilder wrote.
“...I feel Booger died a pre
mature death due to gross
neglect and unethical prac
tices.”
Wilder's dog died 11 days
after the neutering, and
before his death Wilder
said she and the doctors
observed he suffered pain,
stopped eating, vomited,
lost use of his legs, had
labored breathing, urinat
ed on himself and devel
oped a blood sugar level of
285 — almost triple that of
a normal dog.
Though she took Booger
to Chowan Animal
Hospital several times dur
ing his illness, doctors sent
him home each time after
treating him with medica
tion and fluids. Jones
examined Booger 45 min
utes prior to his death, and
sent him home with Wilder.
In a Dec. 11 letter, he told
the veterinary board: “I did
not think the dog was in
danger of dying.”
Now Wilder — who has
taken her dogs to Jones'
clinic for more than 20
years — said she wishes
she'd sought other care dur
ing Booger's illness.
“It's been a devastating
thing for my family ' espe
cially me,” Wilder said dur
ing an interview. “I trusted
in (Jones) so much. ... I
don't think he did anything
to kill my dog, but I feel like
he had to know how sick he
was and what direction he
was going in. He needed
more attention than they
had given him.”
In his Dec. 11 letter to the
veterinary board. Ford said
an underlying condition
not identified prior to sur
gery, when combined with
the stress of surgery, may
have caused the dog's
death.
“The decision to perform
(pre-anesthetic) tests are at
the discretion of the doctor
administering anesthesia,”
Ford said.
The form Wilder signed
the day of Booger's surgery
may have misrepresented
the hospital's policy on pre
anesthetic exams, Jones
said during an interview.
“We have changed the
form,” Jones said. “It's
worded better. ... We made
some mistakes, no doubt
about it.”
The form Wilder signed
authorizing a pre-anesthet
ic exam stated Chowan
Animal Hospital “wUl per
form these tests and bill
you for them unless you
decline them by signing
below.” Wilder checked two
boxes, one reading “Yes,
complete blood count,
blood urea nitrogen (kid
ney function), SGPT 34
(liver function), total pro
tein and glucose” and
another reading, “I approve
the pre-anesthetic testing.”
She signed and dated the
form.
Ford and Jones said they
could not perform the pre
anesthetic exam as request
ed because the dog became
aggressive.
“He's a big dog,” Jones
said. “He's a rottweiler, and
he's male and he can be
aggressive. ... You have to
give him sedatives to quiet
him down and handle him
without putting people at
risk.”
Also, because Booger
was a regular patient, the
two doctors felt certain he
had no pre-existing condi
tions, Jones said. Jones
chose to anesthetize and
then neuter him.
Once a dog is sedated, a
pre-anesthetic exam can't
be completed, said veteri-.
narian Steven Stelma, a
member of the North
Carolina Veterinary
Medical Association.
Stelma said he, too, has
faced the difficult decision
of whether to operate with
out a pre-anesthetic exam
or call an aggressive dog's
owner and perhaps
reschedule the surgery
“You just don't know
what to do,” Stelma said
from his clinic in New
Bern. “I've had to say, let's
go ahead with the surgery
and hope it's safe. ... You're
in a no-win situation as a
vet. It's a tough caU.”
At Stelma's clinic, a
death relating to surgery
has not occimred since Oct.
1999, which Stelma said
equals one death per more
than 5,000 procedures.
Sometimes, even following
a favorable pre-anesthetic
exam, dogs can die during
or after surgery, he said.
“Even if (Jones and
Ford) had done the testing,
it's possible it wouldn't
have revealed a problem,”
Stelma said.
“Unfortunately, bad things
can happen even if every
body does everything exact
ly right.”
fv
Only a post-mortem
exam could provide more
clues as to why Booger
died, said Stelma, and such
an exam was not complet
ed. But the dog's blood
sugar level of 285 indicates
a pre-anesthetic exam
could have been of help, he;
added. ; •
“That 285 is pretty highf
and that may have indicat
ed a problem that existed
before,” Stelma said.
“There could have been
something that could have
been picked up before sur-
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 87
Low: 72
Partly cloudy
Friday
High: 84
Low: 72
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 86
Low: 71
Partly Cloudy