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Students aren't playing |_
computer games
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KM's Michael Bell I
| helps flood victims |
3-A
Red Cross
ladies golf win
VOL. 105 NO. 33
DR. SAM HOUSTON
T'S A MIRACLE
Kings Mountain's Chad Baity
is back home, and in school
Chad Baity, 7, smiled. He said
he was "sort of glad” to be back in
school on opening day of the fall
term Monday.
The blonde boy wore his fa-
vorite shirt and jeans and used a
walker to keep up with his first
grade classmates and participate in
the regular school day routine.
Monday was Chad's first day in
school since January 20 when he
became ill suddenly in the West
school cafeteria and was rushed to
Carolinas Medical Center in
Charlotte. After seven months of
extensive treatment and rehabilita-
Thursday, August 19, 1993
YEE
Kings Mot, _.., sx: 28086 +50¢
KM man heads Hunt's education commission
Kings Mountain's Dr. Sam
Houston will run the new 25-
member state panel that is sup-
posed to make Governor Jim
Hunt's education reform a reality.
Houston, 48, moves to Raleigh
from Mooresville next week to be-
come executive director of the new
Standards and Accountability
Commission at an annual salary of
$85,000.
"I'm excited at this challenge,”
said Houston, who has been super-
intendent of Mooresville School
System since 1983. He won nation-
al and state recognition in 1990
when Mooresville established one
tion Chad came home to his par-
ents, Brent and Cindy Baity; and
sister, Brooke; and was welcomed
by a new baby brother, Westly
Adam. The Baity lawn on Gaston
Street was filled last week with
welcome home signs.
Flash bulbs were also popping at
West School Monday as Chad's
teacher, Karla Bennett, recorded
the homecoming for history.
Chad's father said that Chad was
excited but otherwise Monday was
a normal school day for a first
grader.
of the state's first year-round
schools.
The new Standards and
Accountability Act passed this
summer by the General Assembly
and the cornerstone of Hunt's edu-
cation reform package sets up a 25-
member commission comprised of
employers, educators, community
leaders and parents to set rigorous
new standards for high school
graduation. The commission will
spend 18 months determining what
skills a highly-skilled, highly-
trained worker would need and
would set new standards accord-
ingly.
ES
Center.
Chad Baity draws at his desk at West School on the first day of
the fall term of school Monday. Baity is back home and in school
after a long stay at Carolinas Medical Hospital and Rehabilitation
The commission will then devise
a new system of measurements to
make sure those standard are being
met. Benchmarks, based on the
standards, will be prepared for the
assessment by the senior year. By
1996, all seniors in North Carolina
will be required to meet the stan-
dards and by the year 2000, meet-
ing the standards will be required
for graduation.
"Dr. Houston's outstanding
record as superintendent of the
Mooresville public schools quali-
fies him to take on one of the most
important jobs in the state--making
sure our high school graduates can
West School teachers Suzanne Grayson, Principal Sherrill
Toney, Juanita Lutz, Jane Crawford and Kathy Murgita, left to
right, are excited about the addition of computers to the third,
fourth and fifth grade classrooms.
“Kings Mountain Schools
Ca
enter the computer age
Why can't schools be the way
they were when I was there?
It was good enough for me, so
it's good enough for my kids.
As with many of our country's
valued traditions, public education
can prompt people to speak long-
ingly of "the good old days."
But the schools that served
America well 50 or even 20 years
ago are not the schools that will ad-
equately prepare students to be
successful in the 21st century, says
Dr. Jane King, Assistant
Superintendent for Public
Instruction in the Kings Mountain
district schools.
"Today it takes a lot more to be
successful and as society has be-
come more complex, so have the
demands on and the response from-
our educators,” said King. "The
global economy means students
will need better language skills and
more knowledge about diverse cul-
tures and computers are the way of
the future."
King and representatives of
Jostens Learning Systems intro-
duced Kings Mountain faculty
members to new computers as an
innovative teaching tool last week
First Bone 'Marrow-thon'
set Saturday at Red Cross
Paul Elliott, 38, had never been sick a day. in his
life until December 1991 when doctors told him he
had acute myeloid leukemia.
The gift of a stranger Saturday at the first-cver
seven-county "Marrow-thon" at thé Cleveland
County Red Cross Chapter from 9 a:m.-2 p.m. could
provide the cure for the Shelby man who admits the
task of finding an unrelated donor that matches is
like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
But Elliott is fighting his disease through faith in
God and the support of his family and Zoar Baptist
Church and coping by talking on the telephone and
on ham radio, urging people to turn out for the free
testing, and relaxing at his piano.
He will personally greet and register donors will-
ing to donate their healthy bone marrow to someone
whose only chance for lifc is a transplant.
The process of being tested takes about 10 minutes
and involves a registration process, a blood sample
withdrawal of two tablespoons of blood and the sign-
ing of a release form that says the donor is willing to
make a marrow donation if matched with a patient.
The test usually costs $60 but Saturday's test is free.
The cvent is sponsored by Carolinas Blood Service
Region of the American Red Cross, WCNC-TV
Channel 36 and MIX 104.7 (WMXC-EM).
Sandi Bollick, Red Cross blood recruiter, said that
a search of 20,000 potential donors may be needed to
find a single match. "Even so, the search is a worth-
while one, because each successful match literally of-
fers the patient a chance of a lifetime."
Bollick said the American Red Cross has been
working with the National Marrow Donor Program
since 1987 and has registered more than 35,000 in
the Carolinas, 62 of whom have actually made a mar-
row donation. The registry gives hope to thousands
of patients who need a bone marrow transplant to rc-
place discascd marrow. The odds of matching ranges
from onc in 100 to onc in 1,000,000.
"In my casc the ‘match must be 100 pereent,” said
Elliott.
A former clectrical engineer at Jefferson Smurfit
(formerly Container Corporation), Elliott's condition
has been in remission. In mid-February 1992 he
started his second round of chemotherapy treatments
and his spleen was removed the day after a success-
ful bloodmobilc his church sponsored for him. In
laic October 1992 he was in N. C. Baptist Hospital
for 53 days and again recently for 37 days. His treat-
ment requires red blood transfusions cvery two
weeks and HLA platelet transfusions once a week.
See Bone, 7-A
in training sessions at Grover
School and Kings Mountain
Middle School. The children tool a
look at the computers this week
during the first week of the fall
term of school.
King said that in 1965, a car me-
chanic needed to understand 5,000
pages of service manuals to fix any
car on the road. Today, he or she
needs to wade through 456,000
pages of technical text. She said
one of America's major advertising
agencies now requires a college de-
gree to work in the mail room and
the General Equivalency Diploma
which many high school, dropouts
have pursued is no longer accepted
by the U.S. Army. Far more than
simple arithmetic is needed to
work well in the modern factory,
she said, and in schools today
technology is being tapped more
* and more as a learning resource.
"All of us look back with some
fondness for our own years in
school," said West School Principal
Sherrill Toney. "But we have to re-
alize that our children need schools
that meet the demands of the 21st
See Computers, 12-A
earn a living," Hunt said. "I'm ex-
pecting him to help bring about
fundamental changes in our
schools and I am confident he has
the talent, drive and experience to
do just that."
As executive director, Houston
will work with the members of the
commission as they build consen-
sus on what students should know
and be able to do to compete in the
modern economy. He will design
the process and procedures to en-
sure compliance with the legisla-
tive mandates set forth in the act.
He will also oversee staff and con-
tractual services, manage the bud-
get and meet regularly with com-
mission members:
"It's an opportunity to help the
governor make an impact on edu-
cation statewide," said Houston.
Son of Humes and Dot Houston
of Kings Mountain and also the
son of the late Deebie Suber
Houston, Dr. Houston served from
1985-88 as adjunct professor at
UNC-Chapel Hill. He was assistant _
superintendent of the Davidson
County Schools from 1981-83. He
earned his B.S. in 1965 and his
M.A. in 1966 from Appalachian
See Houston, 12-A
Liver transplant gives
hope to KM's Chambers
_ Phyllis Ann Chambers, 38, un-
derwent her second liver transplant
in a month Saturday at Research
Center of the University of
Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.
Her family is requesting prayers
from the community.
Ruth Morris, of Ebenezer
Village, said her sister's condition
is critical but stable.
A month ago Chambers received
the liver of a 19-year-old but her
body rejected it. The second liver
transplant went well, according to
relatives. Doctors are now treating
Chambers for acute pancreaitis. :
A big wall in the Research
Center is lined with pictures of pa-
tients who badesuccessful liver
transplants. The Kings Mountain
Chambers family wants Phyllis’
picture to go up soon so they can
take her home.
Chambers was transferred to the
Charlottesville hospital in mid-
June from a hospital in Bethesda,
Maryland. The experimental drug
she had been taking had slowed
Hepatitis B which attacks the mus-
cles and nervous system.
Diagnosed with the liver disease a
year ago, she had been on the ex-
perimental drug Fialuridine once a
week since February and had
shown no apparent side effects.
Chambers’ mother, Helen
Gordon, of Kings Mountain, and
Chambers’ daughter Tameka and
Tameka's 11-months-old son,
Desuan, are staying at the hospital
in Charlottesville. Chambers’ sister,
Ruth Gordon Morris, drove back to
Kings Mountain this week to en-
roll Chambers’ children, Aquilla,
an 8th grader, and Larry, a 7th
grader, at Kings Mountain Middle
School.
Morris says that travel to and
from the hospital have drained the
family's budget and there is no
money. for school clothes for the
children. With the addition of her
sister's children to her household,
Morris now cares for six children,
including her three teenagers and a
PHYLLIS CHAMBERS
eight-year-old. "I lost my job be-
cause I had to be off so much to go
to the hospital," said Morris, of
Ebenezer Village. X
Last week Morris and a cousii},
Herman McClain of Detroit,
Michigan, opened an account at
First Union National Bank hoping
to raise funds for the Chambers
family. Donations to help defray
the costs of medical expenses may
be forwarded to Chambers Fund, in
care of FUNB, Kings Mountain,
28086. Clothes for the family will
also be appreciated. Aquilla, a girl,
wears size 7, Tameka, a girl, wears
size 5 and Larry, the boy, is 12
years old. Morris can be contacted
at 734-0217.
Morris said there is no treatment
for Hepatitis B and researchers
have been trying to find a drug to
fight it. She said to enter the
Fialuridine test, the patients must
have had the virus for at least six
months. Her sister is the only fe-
male who has tested the drug.
There was no payment for partici-
pation in the National Institutes of
Health trial of Fialuridine which
had shown no damaging side ef-
See Chambers, 5-A
y
Music is relaxing for leukemia patient Paul Elliott. The first-ever Marrow-thon Saturday at the
Cleveland County Red Cross Chapter in Shelby will seek a successful match for Elliott, who needs a life-
saving transplant. Elliot will be on hand to register donors. The test is free to healthy persons 18-55,