October 3rd, 2013 edition

Boys & Girls Clubs partners with schools

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis American

When Amanda Richardson, then 16, first walked into what was then called the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club three years ago, she didn’t think she would find a single person she could talk to.

To her surprise, she found a loving family among the club’s staff and students.

Born to a drug-addicted mother, Richardson and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother, who was abusive, she said.

“Daily abuses with a cane were the only signs of affection she offered,” Richardson said. “Imagine feeling a hot iron on your back and being told not to move. I lived in terror every day from my grandmother, the person who was supposed to love and protect me.”

Her nightmare finally ended, she said, when her brother received a severe beating that sent him to the hospital with a severe head wound.

Marauders on parade

Central State University’s Marching Marauders made their way down Washington Avenue during the Gateway Classic Parade on Saturday morning.On the field at the Edward Jones Dome that afternoon, Tennessee State University did all the marauding, beating Central State 73-6 before an estimated crowd of 10,000 spectators.

McKee goes back to aldermen

North City skeptical as McKee takes amended TIF agreement to board

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Of The St.Louis American

Last Friday, developer Paul McKee Jr. and his wife, Midge McKee, met with a dozen North City residents who live near the Northside Regeneration office at 11th and Howard streets.

Although the neighbors came with many concerns, both McKees felt like they left reassured of the $8 billion redevelopment plan for 1,500 acres of North City, which could be set in motion if the Board of Aldermen approves the project’s amended

“After the meeting, me and the rest of the residents talked.We felt like he just said things we wanted to hear.”

– Elizabeth Brooks

$391 million TIF agreement this month. After receiving approval from the TIF

Commission to “start the clock” on the last two development areas (C and D) on Sept. 11, the McKees have been meeting with various groups who voiced concerns at the TIF hearings. On Tuesday alone, they had three meetings scheduled, including a congregation, a group of residents and a ward meeting.

Even so, the McKees still struggle to earn the residents’trust.

Elizabeth Brooks, who has lived on the 2700 block of Howard for 10 years, was one of the residents that met with the McKees on

By Sandra Jordan Of The St.Louis American

Missouri health officials received the news

The extension preserves $30 million in annual funding for community health care in the St.Louis urban core through December 31, 2014.

By Kenya Vaughn

PELAGIE, A7

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St.Louis members Makaila Cooper and Darriell Savage get after-school tutoring from program assistant Grace Conner at the club’s Herbert Hoover location on North Grand.

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Wiley Price

Pelagie Green Wren

Gucci Mane gets six month bid

Last month Gucci Mane was arrested for disorderly conduct after getting into a confrontation with police in Atlanta.

According to TMZ, he was lashing out on a friend who flagged down a patrol car to get some help. Gucci Mane reportedly cursed out and threatened the police – and was promptly placed under arrest.

Gucci Mane was carrying a small amount of marijuana and a handgun at the time. He was booked on concealed weapon, disorderly conduct and marijuana possession charges. On Friday (Sept. 27), he was sentenced to six months in jail on Friday for probation violations stemming from the incident.

In addition to his six month sentence Gucci Mane, who recently revealed a 10-year addiction to cough syrup, is scheduled to stand trial for assault after hitting a

U.S. solider in the head with a bottle later this year.

Lamar’s daddy cut off after trashing Kardashians?

Last week Lamar Odom’s father gave an interview trashing the Kardashians for ruining his son’s life.

Following the interview Lamar trashed his dad in a Twitter rant that was later claimed to have been done by hackers. TMZ.com was contacted by Lamar’s father Joe Odom who told them Lamar went ballistic over his comments about the Kardashians and stopped paying his $2,900 a month rent. Lamar has paid Joe’s rent for the past four years, but he’s said to be done doing so at the end of the month.

Will Janet be the next Angelina Jolie?

Several sources say newly married Janet Jackson, 47, and billionaire husband Wissam Al Mana are seeking to adopt at least two children, from Jordan and possibly children from civil

war-ravaged Syria. It’s going to happen and real soon,”

a family member told The New York Post’s Page Six.

“Janet has always been concerned about the welfare of the world’s children and it’s important to her that she affords a baby the opportunities that have been afforded her,” another source said.

The Jackson source also said Janet hasn’t ruled out getting pregnant, even at 47. “She’s kept herself in great shape,” the source said.

Fresh paternity suit for Michael Jordan

NBA icon Michael Jordan has just been sued by another woman claiming he’s the father of her baby.

Jordan reportedly says the woman is out for fame and fortune, but it didn’t stop Laquetta Theus from filing a paternity suit in Georgia, claiming she gave birth to a daughter fathered by Jordan in August 2010.

“Michael Jordan, when are you going to support your 2-year-old daughter?” Theus wrote on her Facebook profile. “You drop 10 million on your nice wedding ... that was nice but don’t you think it time that you support your daughter?”

Theus’ lawsuit is strikingly similar to a suit was filed against Jordan earlier this year by

Pamela Smith, who made nearly identical claims. Smith’s claim has already been tossed out. As for Theus, Jordan was said to have filed legal docs claiming her kid’s paternity has already been established – and he is not the father.

Wig companies snatched by Tyra Banks lawsuits

Tyra Banks is firing back at some wig companies that have been using her name on certain wig styles without her permission.

According to TMZ, the model-turned-mogul just filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County against 10 companies that make wigs, claiming they’re all unlawfully copying her “name, photograph, image, and identity,” as well as her trademarks.

Several of the companies have Tyra’s photos and Tyra-inspired wigs on their websites. For example, there’s “The Yaki straight [TyraBanks style] wig” the “Tyra Banks custom lace wig #046,” and the “Tyra Banks inspired human hair wig,” which goes for $300. Banks is said to be suing for an injunction to stop the sale of the infringing products, and at least $10 million in damages.

Sources: TMZ.com, New York Post, Twitter.com, Facebook.com

Janet Jackson

WUSTL

and

researchers release

By Robert Joiner Of The Beacon

Michael Jordan probably had no idea of the trouble he was causing some 7th graders who couldn’t afford the athlete’s overpriced sneakers.

“Not wearing Jordans was when my problems really started,” recalls Malik Avery, now 18. “In fact, I didn’t wear any designer outfits because I couldn’t afford them. So I got picked on a lot.”

At the time, Avery was a student in the Riverview Gardens School District. Not fitting in made him a persistent target of bullies, and he says he eventually became suicidal. “I tried to defend myself, but that only made things worse, both physically and emotionally,” he said. “It became a major strain. I never had peace. So I dropped out.”

The relationship between mental health and the dropout rate among area AfricanAmerican students is one topic explored in “How does health influence school dropout?” –the second of a series of briefs from a project called “For the Sake of All,” funded by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health

The initial brief showed how poverty and low levels of education affected health. The latest report focuses on how the health of youngsters affects the area’s dropout rate. The rate imposes a hidden cost on

society, according to the brief’s author, William F. Tate, chair of the Department of Education at Washington University. As examples, he says preventing 1,000 African-American dropouts in the St. Louis area would:

• Increase the regional gross product by $15 million a year

• Allow the diploma holders to spend up to $21 million more on homes.

• Add an extra $1.1 million in state and local tax revenue each year.

Such positive outcomes would require sustained public and private investments in counseling and mental health and other services for youths, the brief says. Avery is an example of how even modest investments can make a differences in the lives of youngsters. He now has a high school diploma but he’s undecided at the moment on a path to more education and a job.

He says his fate began to change after he quit the

Riverview Gardens School District, moved in with a relative in St. Louis and became part of St. Louis Public Schools’ high school graduation initiative. There he found a lifeline of hope through the district’s dropout recruiter, Charlie E. Bean, who is counseling 350 kids who are at high risk of dropping out.

“Malik was suicidal a couple of times,” Bean recalls. “It was mentally and emotionally exhausting for him because he was bullied. This is a mental health issue that lots of kids face. They aren’t strong enough to deal with that, along with the stress of family and the stress of grades. They give up because they are used to people giving up on them.”

Bean estimates that he has reached roughly 3,000 students through the district’s initiative, connecting with wayward youngsters through social media and word of mouth.

“I give them what they have been dying for. I give them hope,” Bean said. “When they

have that, a lot of the negative things go away. They are able to move on with their lives.

Malik was a kid in the corner, in a shell, when I met him. He has come out of that shell, partly because of the work done here.”

Tate’s brief also calls attention to other health and mental health initiatives that are making a difference in the lives of children in city and county schools. One challenge, he reports, is that many such programs nationwide are too uncoordinated to be as effective as they could be.

One example of a coordinated school program in St. Louis, he says, is the schoolbased health clinic at Roosevelt High School, set up through a grant from the Boeing Co. to Mercy Children’s Hospital St. Louis and St. Louis Public Schools.

Another more far-reaching program is the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund, which provides mental health and substance abuse services for

Malik Avery works with Charlie E. Bean, a dropout recruiter for St. Louis Public Schools, as part of the district’s high school graduation initiative

Photo by Robert Joiner

youths. Tate says the fund is committed to developing an integrated service system as an alternative to sending young people to emergency rooms to cope with mental health problems.

Like the first brief, this one is part of the work of a team of African-American researchers from Washington University and Saint Louis University. The briefs will culminate with a report and a conference next year on the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education ruling.

Tate says the region can’t afford to ignore the challenge posed by high numbers of dropouts. He said more than 2,000 black students in the 9th through 12th grades in St. Louis and St. Louis County schools were listed as dropouts last year.

“Young people’s health influences their ability to learn and to complete school,” Tate writes in the brief. “This is because health and education are closely related. This relationship is of particular concern to African Americans in the St. Louis region.”

Mental health problems are one of three health conditions that might lead a kid to quit high school, Tate says. The data from the Missouri Department of Mental Health show that

suicidal tendencies, like those expressed by Avery, are not uncommon. According to Tate’s brief, at least 12 percent of 6th through 12th graders in St. Louis and St. Louis County schools considered suicide last year.

“A large majority of children with mental health challenges are not identified or treated,” Tate writes. “Over time, mental health problems increase the risk of school dropout.” He also points to research showing that stigma associated with adolescent mental health problems can deter some parents from seeking help for these children.

Another school dropout challenge, the brief says, involves physical health problems, such as asthma. Tate cites data showing that asthma-related emergency room visits are seven times higher for African-American teens than for white youths in the St. Louis region.

A third challenge, the brief says, is risky behavior. Tate writes that African-American students who perform poorly in school are more likely to abuse drugs, engage in sexual activity and other potentially harmful activities. “And these new health risks lead to a higher dropout risk,” according to Tate. Now uplifted through city school services, Avery finds no pressure to own a pair Jordans, and he has no desire to own them in any case.

“I wanted something more than that, something beyond hanging out in that environment,” he says. “I am happy that I found the city school program. Without it, I never would have gotten my high school diploma. I guess you can say this has made me stronger. If this hadn’t happened, I probably would be dead.”

Reprinted with permission from stlbeacon.org

Health exchanges open as government shuts down Editorial /

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder has finally accepted reality and set his sights lower than the governor’s office, as he has formed a committee to explore a run for the U.S. House. It makes sense that he announced this decision on the same day that a band of hardline, right-wing House Republicans forced a partial shutdown of the federal government, rather than pass a spending bill that included funding for programs instituted by the Affordable Care Act. Kinder – who has a history of pandering to urban voters in St. Louis – has now affiliated himself completely with the extreme, government-hating right wing of the Republican Party. These ideologues have been winning the small, safe, gerrymandered congressional districts that collectively made this partial government shutdown possible. That Kinder would be filing against an incumbent Republican, U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, also makes sense, since he is following in the footsteps of a desperate minority that seems willing to destroy their party, if not our nation, to support their position. Completely playing his now-established role as farright buffoon, Kinder told reporters on a conference call, “I would hope there would be active resistance to this law,” referring to the Affordable Care Act. “I would really hope that people will not sign up,” he added, referring to the health insurance exchanges created by the law. This is a man with health insurance provided by taxpayers telling people without health insurance that they should not explore health insurance options that their government is newly making available to them. It’s this kind of ignorance and hypocrisy – like the House Republicans still drawing a taxpayer-funded salary, while their antics put on furlough public health experts and first responders – that created widespread outrage this week. By contrast, Gov. Jay Nixon – who clearly is focused on a political future larger than

the claustrophobic confines of a congressional district –encouraged people in Missouri to explore the new options for health care provided by so-called Obamacare. Nixon told reporters that the health insurance exchange provides “another option for Missourians to find competitively priced insurance” and “is an important opportunity.” Nixon urged, “And they should explore those options. I think it is especially important that they do it.” Nixon also continues to show leadership in trying to push the Republican supermajority in the Legislature to expand Medicaid in Missouri and claim $8 billion in federal revenue over the first six years of implementation of the Affordable Care Act. To date, Missouri Republicans have been so relentlessly – and mindlessly – opposed to health care reform and President Obama himself that they are willing to leave all that money

Commentary

unclaimed, rather than expand health care access for the neediest people in this state. Nixon told reporters he is still hopeful that “we can not only provide a cost-competitive opportunity for them through the exchanges, but also, very importantly, draw down those federal dollars and strengthen and increase the opportunity for health care improvements through Medicaid.” Meanwhile, in the real world, the health insurance exchanges are open through March 3, though if consumers want their coverage to start on January 1, they have until Dec. 15 to sign up. Anthem and Coventry Health Care are selling insurance on the exchange in Missouri, offering between them a choice of 20 different health plans. We join the governor and other sensible voices in encouraging the uninsured to visit www. healthcare.gov and explore their options.

Obama’s new realpolitik

If President Obama ever was a foreign policy idealist, he’s not one now. The address he delivered last week at the United Nations amounted to a realist manifesto for defending U.S. “core interests” – using force, when necessary – without trying to impose American values on unready or unwilling societies.

The speech laid out an Obama Doctrine for confronting a rapidly changing world full of dangers new and old. “I believe America is exceptional,” the president said, citing the nation’s historic willingness to offer “the sacrifice of blood and treasure ... for the interest of all.” But his updated vision of U.S. leadership was tightly focused and unsentimental.

In the Mideast, Obama said, the United States will use military action if necessary to secure “our core interests in the region.” He identified these as defending allies against aggression, ensuring the free flow of oil from the region, dismantling terrorist networks and preventing “the development or use of weapons of mass destruction.” He specifically relegated democracy, human rights and free markets to a lower tier. We will continue to promote these ideals, he said, but with the knowledge that “we can rarely achieve these objectives through unilateral American action.”

Obama went beyond rejecting the “freedom agenda” that George W. Bush pursued with such martial zeal. The president specifically declared that “the United States will at times work with governments that do not meet, at least in our view, the highest international expectations, but who work with us on our core interests.”

He cited Egypt as an example, saying he will maintain a “constructive relationship” with the new government as long as it respects the peace agreement with Israel and cooperates in the fight against terrorism.

In other words, Obama has no intention of calling the coup that deposed Mohamed Morsi’s government by its proper name, which would trigger a cutoff of U.S. aid. Likewise, the White House can be expected to continue its silence about the ongoing repression of the Muslim Brotherhood. Implicit throughout Obama’s speech was that the early promise of the Arab Spring – an unstoppable wave of democracy spreading throughout the region, fueled by nonviolent “people power” – has been replaced by alarm at eruptions of Islamic extremism and sectarian violence. Obama’s words at the U.N. suggest that henceforth such realpolitik will be the rule. The president committed U.S. power and prestige to two long-shot initiatives. Trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict looks, to me, pretty much an impossibility at this point, but not a waste of time.

Negotiating an end to the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Supporting new teachers at SLPS

program, on the other hand, is clearly the right idea at the right time.

By all accounts, the stranglehold sanctions on the Iranian regime are causing real pain. The new moderate leadership seems to have been given unprecedented freedom to negotiate a loosening of the vise. President Hassan Rouhani may not have the will or the latitude to reach a settlement in the next three months, as he claims, but it would be a tragic mistake not to find out.

At the same time, the Syria experience showed how reluctant Americans are to contemplate another Mideast war.

I don’t mean to suggest that Obama would hesitate to order an attack on Iran, if all else failed, because preventing the mullahs from obtaining the bomb is one of his “core interests.” But the overwhelming public rejection of military action in Syria has to be seen as an instruction to explore every avenue of negotiation.

“I’ve made it clear that even when America’s core interests are not directly threatened, we stand ready to do our part to prevent mass atrocities and protect basic human rights,” Obama said. “But we cannot and should not bear that burden alone.”

The president challenged other nations to join in the “multilateral use of military force” when possible and necessary, as in Libya, or else “reckon with the cold logic of mass graves.” Sounds like cold realism to me.

There is a common thread that ties together successful people. Nearly every successful adult I know can look back and remember a teacher who influenced them, pushed them and believed in them.

As the superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools, I am proud to say there are brilliant teachers like these throughout the district who are dedicated to serving our youth.

We all wish great teachers could keep teaching forever, but the district must always be aware that today’s inspirational educators will be tomorrow’s retirees.

In the past – due to the size and scope of our district – new, qualified teachers sometimes slipped through the cracks. Since 2009, we have been providing targeted professional development and mentoring to first-year teachers, but we still lost some talented individuals because we were not providing the level of day-to-day support they needed to thrive.

Starting this year, we launched an initiative for all first-year teachers. The Teachers Matter project team

includes top administrators from human resources, operations, academics, student support services, finance and accountability, along with the highly respected principal of Gateway STEM High School.

Working together and drawing on their individual strengths, the team members developed an initiative to welcome new teachers to St. Louis Public Schools and provide tangible, ongoing support not only from district staff but also at the school site, where it is often most valuable.

For all new teachers who were in place the first day of school, we welcomed them to SLPS with a T-shirt featuring the initiative’s slogan “Teachers Matter Because Students Matter” and a $50 gift card to purchase school supplies to outfit their classrooms.

We have opened up the lines of communication, sending helpful, practical tips to new teachers and encouraging feedback. We have scheduled “New Teacher Voice” sessions, during which I will meet with new teachers each quarter to learn about their challenges and brainstorm ways the district can better meet their needs.

New teachers will also be asked to fill out surveys on a regular basis to help gauge job satisfaction. Human resources will also play an important role in this initiative, examining

Letters to the editor

North Side: also 100 percent

The American stated that the Brentwood School District and City Garden School were the only two school districts in the region to receive a 100 percent rating from the State of Missouri. There was a third, North Side Community School, located on the North Side in the 1st Ward with a year-round school year.

We have 350 students, grades P-K through 5; 98 percent are African-American; 96 percent qualify for free or reduced meals with 700 hot meals cooked and served daily.

Some other outstanding characteristics of the school: MAP scores substantially higher than any North Side school, neighborhood school (all students live within three miles of campus), fully independent, older students (grades 2-5) have extended hours (until 5 p.m.).

Ross Woolsey, director of operations, North Side Community School

‘Hurry up and pass this’

A familiar thing happened at City Hall last week. A committee of the Board of Aldermen was presented a bill prepared by the Mayor’s Office. The bill involved complicated issues and millions of tax dollars. As is all too common with this administration, we aldermen were asked to hurry up and pass this multi-milliondollar appropriation without delay.

I told the budget director. “The administration spends all the time it needs crafting the exact language it wants and the exact structure it wants, and then sends the bill to us and says, ‘Hurry up and pass this.’” Either we are a deliberative legislative body, or we are not. I am very thankful for the leadership of Chairman Terry Kennedy who decided to slow the process down and allow us time to ask the needed questions.

Alderman Antonio French, St. Louis

Band-Aid for Normandy

The state Board of Education recently announced the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) budget request for the 2015

its practices to streamline and improve the application process for new hires and researching salaries in the area to make sure the District is staying competitive.

One of the most difficult parts of any new job is learning the ropes. Just as every office has a unique culture, every school has a culture of its own, as well. To tackle everyday questions and concerns, each district principal has identified a seasoned teacher in his or her school who will assist first-year teachers as they explore and settle into their new environments. Known as “induction coordinators,” these experienced educators will serve as the point-of-contact for new teachers, ensuring a strong and well-prepared start to the school year, along with instructional, personal and professional support.

Just as we are excited to see the fresh faces of students bounding off the buses each year for the first day of school, we are excited to see fresh faces leading our classrooms, as well. We welcome all firstyear teachers to SLPS and look forward to hearing from them as they explore their new careers at Saint Louis Public Schools and become part of our family.

Kelvin R. Adams, Ph.D., is superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools.

All letters are edited for length and

fiscal year. Included in the budget was a request for $6.8 million to assist the Normandy School District with paying tuition and transportation for students transferring out of the district. The district is required to pay these costs as a result of the Missouri Supreme Court’s decision that allowed students in unaccredited school district to transfer into accredited districts located in the same county or an adjoining county. DESE’s recommendation is like offering a BandAid to a patient who needs surgery. I support a quality public education for every student in their own local school district. The state has a responsibility to help lift up struggling districts like Normandy in order to give them a chance to regain their accreditation.

State Rep. Joshua Peters St. Louis

Stupefying to believe

Jamala Rogers and Zaki Baruti, co-chairs of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression, say the St. Louis police department should be a department of city government, not a division within the Department of Public Safety. They say the police department shouldn’t be subject to control by bureaucrats, and their coalition also wants “checks and balances” on police. It is stupefying to believe that a structure of government which works well in cities throughout America will somehow not work well in St. Louis. Having police, fire and other emergency services within the Department of Public Safety is a standard for city governments. Checks and balances on the police department begin at the employment office. As long as the citizenry is tolerant of nepotism, favoritism and cronyism in the hiring of cops, police job assignments and promotions, city politics will continue to flourish in the department.

Michael K. Broughton, Green Park MO Register to vote

September 24 was National Voter Registration Day. The League of Women Voters works to ensure that all eligible voters – particularly those from

traditionally underrepresented or underserved communities – have the opportunity and the information to exercise their right to vote. We urge all citizens to register to vote, update their voter registration information if they have moved or changed their name, and get prepared to participate in the upcoming elections. The League is ready and willing to assist you.

Kathleen Farrell and Linda C. McDaniel, co-pres., League of Women Voters of STL

Columnist

Eugene Robinson

Guest Columnist Kelvin R. Adams

Sheila Harrison wants to give Republicans their pink slip for shutting down the government. Photo by Wiley Price

Three STL-area public schools earn Blue Ribbons

Three St. Louis County public schools have been selected as 2013 Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education: Brentwood High School, Brentwood School District; Sappington Elementary School, Lindbergh Schools, St. Louis; and W.W. Keysor Elementary School, Kirkwood R-VII School District.

The national award honors schools whose students achieve at very high levels or who have made significant progress to close gaps in achievement, especially among disadvantaged and minority students.

Five other Missouri public schools were honored: Bolivar High School, Bolivar R-I School District; Lee’s Summit West High School, Lee’s Summit R-VII School District; Nixa High School, Nixa R-II School District; Spokane High School, Spokane R-VII School District, Highlandville; and Willow Springs High School, Willow Springs R-IVSchool District.

Atotal of 286 schools ? 236 public and 50 private ? earned national honors this year, according U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Since 1982, nearly 7,500 of America’s schools have received the Blue Ribbon Schools Award. The state and national programs are part of a larger effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about best school-leadership and teaching practices.

Free dental clinic forqualified kids

Southern Illinois University’s School of Dental Medicine is urging parents of qualified children between the ages of 3 and 13 to attend this year’s Give Kids ASmile Day from 7:30 a.m. to noon, Monday, Oct. 14 at the school’s main clinic in building 263, 2800 College Ave. in Alton.

Free dental care, including examinations, Xrays, cleanings, fluoride treatments, fillings and extractions, will be provided by SIU School of Dental Medicine faculty and students, members of the Madison and St. Clair district dental societies, and Lewis and Clark Community College dental assisting and dental hygiene faculty and students. Professionals and volunteers from the community also will participate.

Children qualified to participate in the event are those eligible for free and reduced-priced meal programs.

For more information, contact Sherie Gottlob at 618-474-7200 or sgottlo@siue.edu. While preregistration is preferred, it is not required. Walkins are welcome between 7.30 a.m. - noon.

Dancing to Aloha

Zarah Vaughn,4,danced to the music of Aloha Mischeaux recently during the U.City Fair in Heman Park.

Obedience training for children

By A.Bolanle Ambonisye For The

St.Louis American

We allow our children to disobey us time and time again before they actually do as we instructed.

We think we are giving our children “chances,” but what we’re really doing is teaching them to ignore and challenge adult instruction.

The problem with that is children get the impression they only need to follow instructions when they feel like it. The more times we have to tell them to do the one thing, the less effective our voice becomes. Because our job is to grow our children into adults who do what is needed when it is needed, we are doing our children a disservice by allowing them to believe the rest of society is going to sweet talk and bribe our immature, hardheaded little angels into doing what they are supposed to do.

We are setting them up for a grueling existence, and the worst part is they won’t understand why they’re getting punished by life.

School success is directly proportionate to the student’s execution of the instructions given him/her. Effective teachers are not going to coddle and cajole students to do their work. They don’t have that kind of time.

your emotions. This isn’t personal. It’s practice.

Set aside time to have your children practice following your instructions: obedience training, if you will. Give them a few simple jobs to do every day, and use your creativity to make sure they complete them the first time you tell them to do it. It is very important that you keep your emotions in check as you carry out obedience training, even as you give them consequences for disobedience. This isn’t personal. It’s practice.

Concentrating on reversing this way of teaching our children to fail will strengthen our children’s foundation of academic and life success and at the same time dramatically improve our relationships with our children. Please let me know how things are working out. I’d love to hear from you.

A. Bolanle Ambonisye, www.freematerials4parents.com, facilitates “Tapping Our Parental Power” parent empowerment workshops. She can be reached at bambonisye@yahoo.com.

A.Bolanle Ambonisye

Peep

Photo by Wiley Price

HEALTH

Continued from A1

extension of Gateway, which provides a temporary bridge for uninsured St. Louisans until Medicaid is expanded,” said Robert Fruend, RHC’s president and CEO.

“We will still be able to pay for 30,000 specialty care visits a year and nearly 50,000 in primary care and dental visits for otherwise uninsured adults.”

The extension preserves $30 million in annual funding for community health care in the St. Louis urban core through December 31, 2014. Fruend said the funds will assist in providing a bridge for safety net providers and more than 22,500 uninsured patients until Medicaid is expanded in Missouri.

“We remain hopeful and committed to Medicaid-eligibility expansion in Missouri, which offers a long-term solution to access and coverage for the medically underserved,” Fruend said.

The Smiley Urgent Care center at St. Louis ConnectCare can still receive funding through Gateway.

“Urgent care will still be a benefit in Gateway 2.0,”

CLUBS

Continued from A1

Her grandmother relinquished custody, and the children went into foster care.

Richardson’s foster parent encouraged her to join the club, where she soon took on leadership roles in various activities. In Smart Girls Club, she found her voice and felt comfortable sharing her story of abuse, she said. This spring, she won the Missouri State 2013 Youth of the Year competition.

Fruend said. “We assume ConnectCare will still choose to be in the network.” On Oct. 1, ConnectCare ended its specialty care services, which have been absorbed by other health providers.

Anew stipulation on the Gateway to Better Health extension from the federal government, however, requires Gateway to provide outpatient health coverage only to persons who are at 100 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), beginning January 1, 2014.

“We are going with a medical home model for those in poverty, and that was a change required by the federal government,” Fruend said. The previous income limit was 133 percent of FPLfor primary care, and 133 percent and 200 percent of FPLfor specialty care services. For approximately 4,000 individuals currently enrolled, they will no longer be eligible for Gateway coverage beginning January 1, 2014, Fruend said. Community health centers, RHC staff, and its partners are working to transition those individuals to other coverage options, which will include the federal health exchange marketplace at www.healthcare.gov.

Fruend said there is active

“The club taught me that I can succeed no matter what obstacles are in my way, and I can move onto college,” she said. “The club helps kids stay out of violence, gangs, drugs and other things that go on in the streets.”

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, as the club is now known, is crucial to helping children like Richardson, said Flint Fowler, the organization’s executive director of 17 years. But there are many more neighborhoods that need access to activities for children during non-school hours.

enrollment in Gateway at area health centers and come January 1, those leaving Gateway for the health insurance exchanges will open additional capacity to serve individuals meeting the income guidelines. For more information on the Gateway to Better Health Demonstration project, visit www.stlrhc.org.

Health insurance exchanges open

Enrollment in the federal health insurance exchanges began October 1 nationwide at www.healthcare.gov. With 2.8 million visits to the site on day one, visitors experienced slow and unavailable pages, as health officials expected and will work out.

Health centers, libraries and hospitals have trained staff on site to help persons enroll. At the Delmar site of Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Center in St. Louis, there was a steady stream of women and some men seeking information on what is supposed to be, for most people, lower-priced insurance options now available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“I’m looking for something that includes dental, mostly

Established in 1967, the organization now has five sites and serves 3,500 children, age 6 to 18, through after-school and weekend programs. About 95 percent of the children are AfricanAmerican and the majority of them come from families that make less than $30,000 a year. By 2017, Fowler would like to grow the organization to 10 sites, serving 7,000 children.

“Participating in the Boys & Girls Clubs helps them develop a plan for life, be prepared for college, be able

preventive,” said Donna Morgan of St. Louis, who is uninsured.

Since open enrollment peri-

to manage relationships, have the sense of a moral compass and understand the importance of personal fitness,” Fowler said.

In 2012, the organization reported $3.96 million in operating expenses and $4.3 million in revenues and support –their largest single source of revenue coming from the United Way of Greater St. Louis.

Partnering with schools

For 40 years, the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club

University City resident David M. Ben-Aroya picks up information about the health insurance exchange from Terry Purtty,a certified application counselor, at Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers on Delmar on Oct.1,the first day the federal marketplace opened.

was the organization’s only location – on North Grand Boulevard at the Sportsmans Park Site.

In 2007, organization leaders worked with the Adams Park Community Center in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood to open a satellite program. This spring, the organization started serving about 100 members at the O’Fallon Park Recreation Center, operated by the YMCA, in North City.

As with many nonprofits, the club struggled to sustain its programs in the face of the economic downturn. But that hasn’t stopped the organization from expanding.

Rather than building new facilities, club leaders decided to establish clubs at school facilities, taking a cue from a Boys & Girls Club initiative in Milwaukee.

In 2008, the organization partnered with Hazelwood Southeast Middle School to offer programs in the Hazelwood community. This summer, it opened another satellite at Twillman Elementary, also in the Hazelwood School District.

“We believe that the work that we do outside the school day helps to extend the

school day,” Fowler said. At the school sites, club staff members can share information with school administrators about the students – and vice versa. In doing this, they can work directly together to get the students what they need to excel, Fowler said. This is one topic that speakers will discuss at the Leadership Conference for the Midwest & Southwest regions of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, from Oct. 2 to 4, at the Hilton at the Ballpark.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis is hosting the event, which is expected to attract more than 600 senior staffers, board members and others.

Akey speaker is Michelle Brooks, an assistant superintendent for Boston Public Schools. She will talk about ways that schools and clubs have worked together to engage families and students. Boston is also the founding city of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

“Clubs have been in that area for over 100 years,” Fowler said. “They know a little bit about running clubs.”

od is October 1, 2013 until March 31, 2014 on the federal health insurance exchange, Morgan said she will go online

later after the kinks are smoothed out. The insurance goes into effect on January 1, 2014.

Photo by Wiley Price

PELAGIE

Continued from A1

Former student Leslie Owens Harrington described a student’s life in that academy, Pelagie Green Wren Studios.

“We sat with bloody toes, hair in a bun, tattered shoes, holes in your leg warmers, smiles from ear to ear,” Harrington said.

As a former student as well as cousin, Franklin knows first-hand the impact Wren had as an instructor. Her teaching gave Franklin the foundation to secure a fouryear dance scholarship and acceptance into the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

part of the legendary Rockettes and opened their own studios.

Before she became a renowned instructor, Wren became the first AfricanAmerican chorus member of the Muny Opera House in 1962. In fact, she was the first black chorus member in a resident company in the nation, as her longtime friend and Muny dance partner Gary Hubler pointed out.

“We sat with bloody toes, hair in a bun, tattered shoes, holes in your leg warmers, smiles from ear to ear.”

– Leslie Owens Harrington

“It’s the same foundation I pass onto my students at the Joffrey Ballet School – where I am a master teacher in the Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Department,” she said.

Franklin is just one of many success stories among the alumni. They have worked in such companies as Ailey, The Dance Theater of Harlem and Philadanco. They have danced on Broadway in productions such as Fela! They have extended their high kicks as

McKEE

Continued from A1

Friday for two hours. As they explained the Northside plan, she noticed that her home was not illustrated in the renderings. This sparked fears that her home would be eliminated in the redevelopment, perhaps through eminent domain.

In fact, McKee’s counsel Paul Puricelliaddressed this matter bluntly in a brief to the Missouri Supreme Court, where he quotes from the redevelopment agreement: “The use of eminent domain will not be allowed pursuant to this Redevelopment Plan.” The plan also states, as Puricelli reminded the court with direct quotation, that Northside “has not identified any owner-occupied residences for acquisition through the use of eminent domain.”

Still, Brooks and many others are scared.

“After the meeting, me and the rest of the residents talked,” Brooks said. “We felt

“There were performers in the Muny chorus who didn’t want to perform with her simply because she was black,” Hubler said. “But along with the death threats, she got letters international letters of support – including a telegram from Leontyne Price.” She had no biological children, but her sons and daughters in dance wept throughout the service.

“We are the fruits of her labors,” said Harrington.

Her stars formed a line to share their stories. The service raced against time as many felt compelled to share their thoughts. She was quoted and even lovingly mimicked by an alumni corps that stretched nearly five decades.

“Make the mirror sweat, or you’re not dancing hard

like he just said things we wanted to hear.”

Their concerns go beyond eminent domain. Brooks said some of McKee’s properties are threatening to damage or have already damaged other buildings.

“We want to see him take care of these homes that are about to fall over on other people’s houses,” she said.

Despite their long list of qualms, Brooks said the neighbors were happy to hear about the plans for job growth in the area. For construction jobs, the goal is to have one out of four workers be residents in the development area.

“I liked him saying that,” she said.

She also approved of his plans for historic rehabbing, which includes transforming one building into a center for entrepreneurs.

McKee said a 2009 lawsuit, only recently resolved by the Missouri Supreme Court, delayed development plans for more than three years, and he is more than ready to move forward.

enough,” Harrington said while delivering her best impersonation. “If you can’t keep up, miss girl, someone

In 2009, the TIF Commission approved Northside’s $391 million TIF for the first two development areas, Aand B. Soon after, several residents sued the City of St. Louis and McKee, chal-

else will have your job.”

The lessons, apparently, stuck.

“I’m asking that all dancers

lenging Northside’s TIF agreement and redevelopment plan. The project was tied up in court until April 2013, when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in McKee’s favor.

The next step for the project

today who are present properly salute Ms. Wren the way she taught us in her dance classes,” said Chris Evans White.

is getting approval from the Board of Aldermen for an amendment to the TIF bill. On Friday, a bill authorizing the TIF will be submitted to the board for recognition, mostly likely sponsored by Ward 5

“The

Alderman Tammika Hubbard. McKee said he is confident that the board will approve the bill.

worse we’ve ever done was a 28-2 vote,” he said. “People understand.”

And so they stood – on cue, of course – extended their right arm, lifted their shoulders and bowed toward her casket.

St.Louis American file photo

Students Shari Morris,Johnathan Mixon and Bridgette Richardson from Pelagie Green Wren Studios display their training in this file photo.Many of Ms.Wren's former students remembered her emotionally at the celebration of her life held Tuesday at Wade Funeral Home Twin Chapel.She passed September 19,2013 at the age of 71.

United Way gives $248K in one-time grants

Five youth agencies in ESL receive $25K each American staff

No amount of drinking is safe during pregnancy

Also, Northside Youth and Senior Service Center, Inc. received a $7,500 one-time grant for Sweet Sensation, a social enterprise program designed to provide employment opportunities, entrepreneurship and small business development skills to underserved teens through the design and operation of a beekeeping business.

Gene Slay Boys Club of St. Louis and the Youth and Family Center also received a $5,000 one-time grant each for “Young Urban Male Intervention,” including

Five agencies in East St. Louis providing activities for local youth were among 32 nonprofit organizations received a total of $248,444 in one-time Community Enhancement Grants from United Way of Greater St. Louis. Christian Activity Center, Mount Sinai Family Life Center, Nu Chi Foundation, Law Enforcement Foundation of Illinois and Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House each received a $25,440 onetime grant to provide youth activities in East St. Louis, including on-site summer camps, life skills workshops, field trips, community service projects and after-school programs.

programs for tutoring and youth development.

The one-time grants were presented to United Waymember and nonmember organizations. The grant recipients were determined by teams of volunteers.

“These grants go toward improving agencies programs and increasing resources to help people in our community and enable United Way to partner with even more community nonprofits to build a stronger, healthier region,” said Midge McKee, volunteer chair of the Community Enhancements Grant panel. For more information, contact 314-421-0700 or visit www.stl.unitedway.org.

St. Louis Health Department presents

Most of us know what bullying is because we’ve seen it happen to friends and classmates, or we’ve experienced it ourselves! Bullying takes place when one person threatens, excludes, scares or hurts someone else, usually repeatedly. (This can be done physically or emotionally and can take place face-to-face, on paper or electronically.) Why do you think one person might bully another person? To fit in To look cool To feel in-charge To avoid being picked on themselves (You might think that by grouping yourself with the bullies –maybe they won’t pick

You decide. Listed below are situations that school kids experience every day. Which do you think are actual examples of bullying?

Mary and her friends create a list of the “Ugliest Girls” in school and post it on Facebook.

Lamar enjoys cornering younger kids on the playground, just to show them who’s in charge.

Shondra avoids walking through the back hallway of the school because she knows that Angie and her friends seem to purposefully always “bump” into her, making her drop her books.

Karyn loudly announces in class that everyone except Sheri is invited to her birthday party next week. Yes, you guessed it - these are all forms of bullying.

Advice from Midwest Regional Fetal Alcohol Symptom Training Center

By American staff

Each year, nearly 40,000 babies are born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disorders are caused by mothers’ alcohol consumption during pregnancy and range in severity. Some infants with the most severe form of FASDs have serious physical, psychological and developmental conditions that continue into adulthood.

Leigh Tenkku, associate research professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri – Columbia and director of the Midwest Regional Fetal Alcohol Symptom Training Center, says no amount and no type of alcohol is safe for women to drink during pregnancy.

“Women should not drink alcohol if they are pregnant and, especially, if they are thinking about becoming pregnant,” Tenkku said.

“Women do not find out they are pregnant for up to six to eight weeks into their pregnancies, and the most damaging effects of alcohol on the fetus occur within those first weeks of life.”

FASDs, like autism spectrum disorders, occur on a spectrum of severity and do not improve over time. However, unlike other birth defects or developmental disorders, FASDs easily can be prevented.

“Of all known birth defects, FASDs are 100-percent preventable if moms refrain from drinking alcohol,” Tenkku said.

“Medical professionals should support no alcohol during pregnancy and should

n “Women should not drink alcohol if they are pregnant and, especially, if they are thinking about becoming pregnant.”

– Leigh Tenkku

counsel women who are considering becoming pregnant to not drink when they are trying to conceive.”

Tenkku is the director for research and director of the doctoral program for the School of Social Work, which is part of the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences. She has received more than $1 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support her ongoing work as director of the Midwest Regional Fetal Alcohol Symptom Training Center. For more information about FASDs, visit http://www.nofas. org/factsheets/ or http://www. cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/index. html.

Disappointments and dangers of advocacy journalism

In the advocacy journalism business, one advocates on principle, though necessarily this involves providing protective fire – or proactive attack – on behalf of specific individuals at specific times. With people being flawed, advocacy on principle will sometimes leave the advocate disappointed after the fact, in light of the actions of individuals for whom one had advocated. If this sort of thing keeps you awake at night, then advocacy journalism is not for you. As a wise man once said, “Of course, you end up getting stabbed in the back. The question is whether you get anything good done before you do.”

The EYE has spoken up recently in advocacy of St. Louis Community College Chancellor Myrtle E.B. Dorsey. No need to go back through all that now, but it explains why we were disappointed when Dorsey took a powder on the community college system, its students and (yes) its faculty by leaving office eight months before her contract expired, during which time she will be granted paid personal leave. She could have stayed in the saddle and tried in her lame duck status to do some good for the students and the institution she said she championed, but instead she lamely fled the field of battle.

Ghost of Archibald

Not that the EYE blames Dorsey for wanting to get out of Dodge. She might spend some of that paid personal time up in northern Michigan chatting with former Missouri History Museum President Bob Archibald

Celebrating Garvey

The EYE thinks eight months of personal time on the college payroll is a pretty good deal, and wonders if there were any other parts of a suspect deal that were not disclosed.

Now, in terms of accomplishment and service to St. Louis, Dorsey is nowhere near the stature of Archibald, but they have something in common. They both have been hoisted on the petard of St. Louis’ advocacy daily newspaper. The Lee Enterprises-era Post-Dispatch has evolved this weirdly aggressive and relentless approach to what they want you to believe is a Major Story, and the EYE has to admit, the paper still has enough local relevance that it has succeeded in publicly humiliating the individuals who have received that Major Story treatment. If the EYE shared the Post’s sense of who is a Major Story bad guy more often, it would be easier to admire their power. Archibald gets one last thanks from us. One of the reasons he resigned from the museum as abruptly as he did, rather than remain in the saddle and keep feeling arrows sink into his flesh, was his enemies were scheming to have the History Museum defunded or under-funded on his watch. So Archibald quit, and then made a number of personal calls – it took some swallowing of pride to make those calls – wherein

East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks Jr. recently hosted a private reception for Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, the South African ambassador to the United States, and scholar Dr. James Peterson at East St. Louis City Hall. In attendance were members of the Universal African Peoples Organization (UAPO) and many business and political leaders of the city. The ambassador visited St. Louis for the UAPO’s 24th annual program celebrating the life and legacy of Marcus “Mosiah” Garvey, the Pan-Africanist visionary, held at the St. Louis Gateway Sports Foundation.

he asked that people continue their support of the museum and apply some pressure for the Zoo-Museum District commissioners to continue approving taxpayer support. It paid off. On Monday the commissioners of the Zoo-Museum District, an august body that includes some of Archibald’s staunch enemies, voted for the History Museum to continue to receive the maximum tax rate (of 3.99 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation). One of Archibald’s enemies, Charles Valier, flipped to vote for the maximum tax rate, leaving the side of his fellow heavy in the Archibald whack, Gloria Wessels, who along with Jerry Glick voted no. Tax rates for the other four institutions were passed unanimously, the Beacon reported, with no discussion. The rates for the Zoo and the Art Museum will be 8 cents, while the Science Center and the Botanical Garden will have the same 3.99-cent rate as the history museum.

Valier did speak some sense in this matter. He told the

Beacon that legislative approval should be sought to expand the Zoo-Museum District beyond St. Louis and St. Louis County to surrounding areas like St. Charles, Franklin and Jefferson counties.

“We have high attendance from all those areas,” Valier told the Beacon. “At some point, the citizens of those communities have to realize they have a responsibility.”

Yeah, like Charlie said.

Charlie horse

As for not punishing the museum for the blown-out-ofproportion mistakes made by Archibald – a president who improved the organization enormously and put it on the international map of history museums – Valier said, “The time comes when you have to stop beating a dead horse.”

He said it – Charlie said it. They were beating Archibald, and now he’s a dead horse – or at least a horse put to pasture in upper Michigan, waiting to hear from Myrtle Dorsey.

lobbyist

Another guy who might know how that dead horse feels is former state rep. and failed state senatorial candidate turned lobbyist Rodney Hubbard Jr

Remember, Rodney was outed by the Post as the (allegedly) unnamed ghost lobbyist in a federal indictment that sent some of the people whose names were specified to prison. The EYE heard the same rumor, that Rodney was the ghost lobbyist paid through a city parking contract without doing any work. Everybody hears a lot of rumors in this business.

It’s a major statement for a mainstream media source to report as fact a rumor that someone is guilty of a crime for which a prison sentence might be handed down. The Post did that with Hubbard, even printing his face. That’s a form of advocacy journalism. Hubbard was never indicted for a crime, and federal investigators do not confirm rumors. They collect evidence until they can fill in the blanks with names and seek an

indictment. Clearly, they don’t have the goods on this ghost lobbyist, whoever he or she is.

Hubbard and son

However, Post reporter Virginia Young did a great job recently in a story where Hubbard’s name – and that of his mother, state Rep. Penny Hubbard – very properly was called out.

Young reported that Mother Hubbard was the key swing vote in two veto overrides, during the Missouri Legislature’s recent veto session, where her son Rodney was a paid lobbyist on the same side for whom she voted.

Mother Hubbard, a Democrat from St. Louis, joined the Republican majority in overriding Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill limiting lawsuits against the Doe Run Co. Young reported that Mother Hubbard changed her vote the day her son Rodney landed the lobbying job with Doe Run, according to Missouri Ethics Commission records. Mother Hubbard also changed her position on a bill limiting lawsuits by uninsured motorists, giving that override the minimum number of votes needed to pass. The Missouri Insurance Coalition, which led that veto override effort, also had hired son Hubbard as a lobbyist just before she changed her vote.

“I don’t even know how she voted on the issues because she wasn’t on my list” of legislators to lobby, Rodney told the Post Come on, Rodney ... Antics and implausible explanations like that will, indeed, lead journalists to believe rumors that you’re a crook. However, we still want to remind the Post that they practice a dangerous form of advocacy journalism when they selectively print unsourced rumors that some people are guilty of felonies for which they have not been charged. Take it from a fellow practitioner of advocacy journalism: The one thing worse than defending someone who wasn’t worthy is attacking someone who wasn’t guilty.

Ghost

Photo by Erica M. Brooks

Albert James Thomas

Albert James Thomas was born on February 8, 1918 in Clarkston, Georgia (near Atlanta) to Elijah and Annie Lee Jackson

Thomas. Albert was the second child of four children born to this union. His early education began in Chicago, Illinois. His family moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1925 where his education continued at Marshall Elementary School and Sumner High School.

Al Thomas Moving & Storage Company was established in 1946 and operated from three locations

in the 4400 block of Dr. Martin L. King Drive (Easton Avenue) and one location at 5201 Delmar Blvd. St. Louis, Missouri. The business began with twenty-ive furniture store accounts. Through the years the company has provided moving service to many individuals, private companies and government agencies such as The Wainwright Building and St. Louis Public Schools.

Al was actively involved in the business until 2012. Al’s hobbies were boating, ishing, and hunting. He served as President of Gateway Gun and Rod Club. The members mentored young men on gun safety and the skills of hunting, ishing and camping. Al Thomas generously donated moving and hauling services to churches, fraternal organizations, and not-for-proit agencies.

Al has been heralded for many achievements, he cherished the 2004 “Inspiration and Legacy” Award presented by the Harmony Grand Chapter Order of Eastern Star.

As the last chapter of his life approached, Al was saluted by scores of family, friends and health care professionals. After his brief illness, Al peacefully transitioned on September 25, 2013, 7:15 P.M. at his home in Florissant, Missouri surrounded by his loving family. Al Thomas leaves to cherish his memory a loving and devoted wife, Elizabeth; 3 sons Gerald Eugene Thomas (Dail), Albert Kenneth Thomas (Earline), & Thomas Gregory Hicks (Marquitta); two daughters, Janie Tinnon & Carolyn Larkin (Jerome); nine grandchildren; one brother; one daughter-in-law; seven great grandchildren, and a host of family and friends.

Visitation: Thursday, October 3, 2013; 4-7 pm at McClendon Funeral Home, 12140 New Halls Ferry Rd.; Funeral: Friday, October 4, 2013; 11 am at New Sunny Mount Baptist Church, 4700 West Florissant.

Neil M. Abbott

Neil M. Abbott, fortiied with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church, on September 24, 2013 peacefully passed from this world to Heaven having lived a beautiful life full of friends and family. Loving husband of the late Rachel Whitted Abbott; devoted father of Regina F. Johnson, Nicholas Abbott, Carla (Rod) Perry and Tricia (Barry) Marton; cherished grandfather of Machele (James) Freeman, D.J. Johnson, Christina Rachel Perry, Charles Roderic Perry, Chelsea (Ian Bruns) Marton, Bradley Oates and Brianna Marton; dear great-grandfather to Christina,

Kenneth, Marcus, Hayden, Brooklyn, and Janaiah; dear brother to Ruth E. Crayton, the late Marc C. Abbott and Jonelle Phillips; dear uncle, friend and neighbor.

Minnie B. Smith

Minnie B. Smith was born September 23, 1923 to the union of Robert and Signora Barton. She was the youngest of twelve children born to this union.

Minnie was born in Cherokee, Alabama. She was reared in St. Louis, Missouri by John and Leona Evans whom she affectionately called “Uncle John and Aunt Mae”. She graduated from Vashon High School, Class of 1943. She graduated from Stowe Teachers College with a Bachelors of Arts in 1947. While at Stowe she was initiated into Beta Delta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Upon her graduation from college she was a member of The Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri.

In June of 1947 she enrolled in the University of Iowa to begin working on her Master’s Degree.

In 1949 Minnie married William Edward Smith and to that union two daughters were born; Carol and Claudia. They were married for 21 years, until his passing in 1970.

She began working for the St. Louis Public School System during her senior year of college and continued to work as a Primary Classroom Teacher for the next 38 years until she retired in 1985.

She dedicated her life to Christ at an early age. She was a member of St. James AME Church, St. Louis, Missouri for over 60 years.

Following her 80th Birthday,

Minnie decided to leave St. Louis and spend six months with her daughter Carol and her family in Euclid, Ohio and six months with her daughter Claudia in Kansas City, Missouri, every year until her passing.

Her husband, mother, father, brothers (Percy, Moses, Sam Robert, Earl, Owen) and sisters (Pearl, Elvira, Lucille, Cora , Gurniece “Bernice”, Ellen) preceded her in death.

She departed this life on Sunday, September 22, 2013, just a few hours before her 90th birthday.

She leaves to cherish her memory; daughters, Carol Beasley (Bennie) of Euclid, OH, Claudia Smith of Kansas City, MO; two granddaughters Heather and Lindsey Beasley and a special Soror/granddaughter Tarena Daniels. She had several adopted daughters in Kansas City, Missouri. A host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, cousins, and life-long friends will forever cherish her memories.

Anyone wishing to contact the family please email: hbeasley1908@gmail.com.

Deborah Lynn Jones

November 4, 1966–September 20, 2013

Deborah Lynn Jones was born to Alfred and Aretha Motton on Friday November 4, 1966 at 4:55 p.m. in Firmin Desloge Hospital. Friday, September 20, in the early hours, she joined them with our Lord Jesus Christ. Her sister Almethia Motton preceded her in the journey home.

Deborah confessed her belief in Christ and was baptized at a young age. For most of her life she was a member of Cabanne United Methodist Church until they moved, and then she became a regular visitor of St. Paul A.M.E. Church. Deborah loved the Lord and loved singing gospel songs. Her strong belief in faith, love of her family, friends, and even

those she barely knew; was the driving force which allowed her to always lend a helping hand or ear to those in need. Deborah attended Soldan High School where she was a cheerleader, member of the choir and participated in various activities. Upon graduation she attended Central Missouri State University where she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree. In 1986 she became a member Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., Alpha Delta Chapter. Deborah returned to school and studied at Lincoln University and obtained her Master’s Degree. She worked in the ield of Social Work with several community organizations in St. Louis; her last employer was Paideia Academy where she served as the head counselor. Working with children was Deborah’s true passion. She met and married her love, Kevin Kirk Jones on August 11, 2001. There were no children born to this union. She waves goodbye to: her husband, Kevin; six sisters, Barbara Scott, Shirley Howard, Sharon Barnett, Aletha Motton, Donna Johnson (Marvin) (Redield, AR), and Regina Pierce (Booneville, MS); one brother, Alfred Motton Jr.; two stepchildren Kal-el WatersJones and Jazmine WatersJones King (Randall); motherin-law, Dorothy Mae Jones; four sister-in-laws Karen Jones, Linda Hawkins (Charles), Janice Jones and Sharon Motton; and a host of uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, cousins, friends, her sorority sisters near and far and especially her line sisters-Quelon, Cheryl, Pam, Marla and Tammy; and another close sorority sister, Camilla. To those who knew her best she would say, “Smooches or Peace, Love and Collard Greens.”

Deborah Jones

Minnie Smith

Albert Thomas

Neil Abbott

Death penalty on its deathbed

The State of Missouri is preparing its killing machine once again. Martin Link was the last execution in 2011. Ever since, the Missouri Attorney General has been pushing for more dates from the Missouri Supreme Court. Those dates have not been forthcoming for several reasons.

First, the cocktail of drugs used for lethal injections has dried up. That’s because the makers of the drug have either prohibited its use for executions or the manufacturers have simply stopped making it. So Missouri moved to using one drug, Propofol. Yes, the drug that killed our beloved Michael Jackson in 2009. The drug remains untested for use in executions. This apparently doesn’t mean a thing. After all, this is the Show-Me State.

One of Attorney General Chris Koster’s arguments for speed was that Missouri’s stash of people-killing drugs was about to expire. Three units of Propofol are left and they have expiration dates. One expires in October, another in May 2014 and the last one in 2015. Propofol is made in Europe, a staunch anti-death penalty continent. In fact, the European Union is so opposed to the death penalty that it has threatened to ban the drug for export to the U.S. There are also court challenges by death row inmates and others on the untested use of Propofol for executions. These should be resolved before the state proceeds.

The people of the U.S. are trying to catch up with the rest of the civilized world in abolishing the death penalty. Right now, the U.S. is in the company of the likes of China, Saudi Arabia and North Korea

for killing its citizens. Over the last five years, executions in this country have dramatically decreased. Missouri has had just two executions since 2005. Nationally, there are 3,146 people on death row and only 23 executions so far this year. Additionally, 18 states plus the District of Columbia have done away with the death penalty. World Day Against the Death Penalty will help to provide a strategic focus. Allen Nicklasson is scheduled to be put to death on October 23; he is the co-defendant of Skillicorn in the 1997 killing of Richard Drummond. Joseph Paul Franklin is scheduled to die on November 20. Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is poised to mobilize for a vigil should the state move forward with the execution of Nicklasson.

One of the major findings by the Special Master in the Reggie Clemons case was that the prosecution withheld crucial evidence. This speaks to another compelling reason why jurors are reluctant to give out death sentences. The hundreds of death row inmates who have been exonerated have pulled the covers off the unethical and often unconstitutional methods used by overzealous prosecutors who are climbing the ladder of judicial mobility. The collateral damage they do is unconscionable – financially, emotionally and socially. I believe we are close to driving the final nails in the coffin of the death penalty. We must continue to seek humane ways and processes for dealing with the multiplicity of problems our society faces. As we plainly see all around us, violence begets more violence.

Sept. 4, 1942 – Sept. 19, 2013

Pelagie Green Wren passes at 71

By Gloria S. Ross For The Beacon

When 19-year-old Pelagie Green kicked up her heels in the Muny chorus during the 1962 season, she was the first African American to do so.

Her history-making debut came nearly 50 years after trees and shrubs had been cleared between the giant oak trees in Forest Park for the performance of Shakespeare’s As You Like It

The Muny had long had black actors and audience members, Pelagie among them. But she was a dancer, and she longed to be on that big outdoor stage. While a student at what is now HarrisStowe State University, she got her wish.

Pelagie Green Wren, a classically trained ballerina who went on to teach several generations of young people ballet and tap, died Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, at her home in the Central West End. She was 71.

Wren had not set out to make history; she just wanted to dance. While her North St. Louis playmates were jumping Double Dutch rope or playing sidewalk hopscotch, she was already taking dance classes. The years of study paid off with the audition that won her a role in the Muny chorus.

Like many dancers at the time, she was hired for the full Season 44, not just one show. There were 10 musicals that included Bye, Bye Birdie, Annie Get Your Gun, Oklahoma! and The Wizard of Oz “I got no negative feelings from anybody,” she told the Post-Dispatch. “Everybody was too busy trying to learn the new numbers for that

kind of nonsense.” Not all of St. Louis desegregated as easily as the Muny. Wren received death threats. Her family took precautions to keep her safe.

A black St. Louis police officer was assigned to protect her. Charles Mortel Wren, who became a major and later served as police chief in East St. Louis and Pine Lawn, chose to protect her for the rest of his life. The two were married seven years after they met until his death last September.

After graduating from Harris-Stowe State College in 1965, Wren taught visual and performing arts and physical education in several St. Louis public schools, including Vashon High School, Sumner High School and Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School, from which she retired in 1997.

In the early ‘70s, she opened a dance studio at St. Peter AME Church. She soon moved the Pelagie Green Wren Academy of Dance to larger quarters on Delmar in midtown. Her students were showcased in popular performances at the Kiel Opera House (now Peabody).

“She demanded perfection,” her nephew Steve Darby said. Famous protégés include Rockette Karilyn Ashlynne Surratt and choreographer and dancer Hettie Vyrine Barnhill. Barnhill began dancing at Wren’s studio when she was 3. She made her Broadway debut in the Tony Awardwinning musical Fela!

“If it weren’t for (Ms. Wren), I would have never made it where I am today,” Barnhill told The American She choreographed plays, including productions for the

Black Rep, and continued training dancers for several years after retiring from teaching school.

Wren, who was born in St. Louis on Sept. 4, 1942, was the only daughter of Marguerite Poste Green, a nurse, and James Hudlin Green, a letter carrier. She graduated from old Xavier High School, an all-girls Catholic school.

She was named for her great grandmother, Pelagie Rutgers, so she had always known that she was a descendant of the wealthy landowners for whom Rutger Street south of downtown is named.

Tall and regal, even when

Thursday,

not on stage, she often wore her long hair pulled back into the classic “dancer’s bun” and favored dancers

- leotards and legwarmers, sometimes topped by a tutu. In addition to her husband of 43 years, she was preceded in death by her parents and two half-brothers, Isaac Darby and Poste Kirkland Darby (wife Wanda J. Darby of St. Louis

Her

and AfterWords, an obituarywriting and design service.

attire

survives).

survivors include another half-brother, Roswald Darby, of Tampa, Fla. and a stepdaughter, Jess Marie Wren of Los Angeles. Gloria S. Ross is the head of Okara Communications

Jamala Rogers

Pelagie Green Wren, a classically trained ballerina who went on to teach several generations of young people ballet and tap, died

Sept. 19, 2013, at her home in the Central West End. She was 71.

Harry’s Big Adventure: My Bug World! presented by Terminix® is a multisensory experience

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

If we divide the word, “breakfast” into two words we have BREAK & FAST. To “fast” means to go for a long period of time without eating. By the time morning comes, most of us haven’t eaten for sometimes ten hours or more!

Our body needs a nutritious, healthy breakfast to start the new day. Kids who eat a healthy breakfast are better able to focus at school, tend to eat better (healthier) throughout the day and will

Exercise

Take advantage of the many teacher programs we offer at the Zoo to supplement your students’ classroom experience. The Zoo Outreach Program offers instructors who can bring live animals to YOUR classroom. We offer a variety of teacher kits you can check out, and we offer other resources (videos, books, etc.) FREE for you from our library. We even designed a cool poster you can hang in the classroom! We’re here to help you succeed, and there are even scholarships available. Just visit stlzoo.org/teachers or call us at (314) 646-4544 to learn more.

Healthy Kids Kids

have more energy. Try including whole grains, fruits and proteins into your breakfast for a nice healthy start to your day!

Debra Parran, BSN, RN, TNS, CPEN, CPN PrEsENt:

Try This: Make your own healthy granola bars or small baggies of trail mix. Many recipes can be found online and having them ready-to-go will make mornings easier!

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 5 Turn

Here’s a crazy idea. Why not turn those chores into exercise? Play your favorite music, put on headphones and “Clean to the Beat!” Cleaning your room can be almost fun, set to music. Bending over, stretching, reaching and picking-up are all excellent ways to increase your flexibility. Why not

sweep, mop, vacuum or rake with music, a smile and a quick pace. As long as you’re careful to still complete the job well, you can add some physical activity, get your heart rate up, burn some calories and have the satisfaction of combining chores, exercise and fun!

Learning

Go to http://www. stlamerican.com/newspaper_ in_education/ and download our Weekly Fitness Challenge Journal page. Keep track of your positive daily health choices and earn rewards!

Where do you work? I work at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Where did you go to school? I graduated from Immaculata High School in Chicago, Illinois, and St. Louis University. I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree in 1984. There are also two-year programs available earning an Associate Degree in Nursing (AND) that result in registered nurse licensing as well.

What does a registered nurse do? Working at a Level-1 trauma center emergency room, my scope of practice can range from simple health concerns that require love and a bandage to trauma nurse specialist skills that involve performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), placing intravenous catheters (IVs) and drawing blood. Above all, a nurse needs to anticipate what the patient will need next. Nurses play a crucial role in the medical team in making a difference in the outcome of a patient’s health.

Why did you choose this career? I have a love for science, helping and interacting with people, and variety. There are so many choices in nursing ranging from working with newborns, labor and delivery, pediatrics, operating room, trauma and the list goes on.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? My day is different every day. You never stop learning in this job. You are a constant life-learner as the world of nursing and medicine makes new discoveries. You also have the chance to become an entrepreneur. You discover things that could make your job easier and create a better outcome for your patients. Many nurses have patents or pending patents on products that can improve the overall delivery of healthcare.

Learning Standards: HPE 6, NH 3

Presented By

Landfill plans to isolate radioactive waste

Trench would separate underground fires from Superfund site

By Rebecca S. Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

The managing company for the Bridgeton Landfill said it will construct an “isolation barrier” to separate radiationcontaminated material at the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site only 1,000 feet away, according to the EPA.

In December 2010, an underground fire was detected at the inactive 52-acre Bridgeton Landfill. Last fall, residents and environmental activists started complaining about an awful odor and raised questions about health concerns. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources conducted air tests and found that the fire was letting off harmful gases. The air testing showed increased levels of benzene, a known carcinogen, and hydrogen sulfide, a neurotoxin. Many in the region are also fearful that the Bridgeton fire

will move towards radioactive waste buried in West Lake Landfill and endanger the entire St. Louis area.

EPA Region 7

Administrator Karl Brooks said the agency has not yet seen the detailed plans for the barrier that Republic Services proposes to construct. Science and engineering experts will review formal plans when they receive them, he said. Dumped illegally in 1973, the radioactive waste from Mallinckrodt Chemical Works’ production of uranium for atomic bombs during the 1940s is buried in the West Lake landfill, west of Interstate 270 on St. Charles Rock Road. Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE) has been

long advocated for the federal government to remove the radioactive waste, which is located in the river floodplain. Coalition leader Ed Smith said the removal of the radioactive wastes “is the only guaranteed plan to ensure the current, or future subsurface landfill fire, will not hit the concentrated volumes of the originally deposited radioactive material at the Bridgeton/West Lake Landfill.”

On May 14, Missouri

Attorney General Chris Koster announced that his office had negotiated a legal order with Republic Services, “requiring the company to take a series of steps to contain and control odorous gases at the Bridgeton Landfill, address the underground smoldering, and

provide temporary relocation assistance to local residents affected by the odors,” according to the EPA.

The state’s legal order also requires Republic Services to compensate the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for its costs related to environmental sampling and monitoring.

Smith and other advocates criticized Koster’s negotiations with the company. In an Aug. 28 letter to the Department of Natural Resources, Smith stated that Republic Services’ contingency plan, submitted on Aug. 13, demonstrated the company’s “inability or unwillingness to put public health and safety first.”

In the letter, Smith stated that the coalition supported the creation of an “isolation system in the neck of the landfill.” They warned against allowing Republic Services to drive the project schedule and agenda in preventing this health and environmental catastrophe.

“MCE continues to support the full removal of Republic Services from primary decision-making processes at the landfill,” Smith said, “because Republic puts the interests of the company ahead of the local communities it has adversely impacted for more than a year.”

‘Welfare reform 2.0’ would hurt the poor

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 20 percent of St. Clair County, Illinois residents lived below the national poverty level in 2012.

And minorities in St. Clair County (as usual) were disproportionately impacted, with 40 percent of African Americans (about 32,270) and 27 percent of Hispanics (about 2,500) suffering from economic disenfranchisement. However, only 10 percent of whites (about 41,400) suffered the same plight.

At press time, U.S. House Republicans were preparing to vote to cut food stamps by $40 billion over the next 10 years. These cuts would summarily push about 4-6 million low-income people (including millions of very lowincome unemployed parents, who cannot find work) from the SNAP (food stamp) program and create mass hysteria among the poor.

anti-crime efforts by U.S. Attorney Steven Wigginton, if you want to see a major increase in crime, then just let the GOP succeed in passing these senseless cuts and crime will indeed increase; especially in the ‘hood.

The GOP’s budget-cutting measures amount to hurting those who are already hurting the most.

The impact on communities like East St. Louis, Washington Park, Centreville and Alorton would be immediate and immeasurable.

These deep cuts to the food stamp program are being defended by House Republicans like Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas), who was quoted as saying, “It’s welfare reform 2.0. It’s pretty exciting…I think it’s a very compassionate approach”.

That, of course, is absurd on its face when one considers that every dollar provided for the food stamp program puts $1.70 back into the U.S. economy, according to research done by Moody’s Analytics.

Try explaining Huelskamp’s convoluted logic to a poor black food stamp recipient in “East Boogie” or a poor Hispanic food stamp recipient in Fairmont City, and they will glare at you with the same contempt that I had upon hearing such lunacy.

And with all due respect to all of the commendable local

When poor people are forced into a position of desperation, they don’t go to the suburbs to rob, pillage and steal. They will invariably rip-off their neighbors who do work or senior citizens who rely upon fixed income.

The ripple effect will be that those merchants who have set up shop in poor communities will receive less income from the food stamp program and will experience more shoplifting and robberies because some people will do whatever they feel is necessary to feed their families.

This, of course, will burden an already overworked law enforcement community in these disproportionately impacted communities and cause the local merchants to increase the already ridiculously prices of their merchandise in order to compensate for the spike in crime.

Let’s just hope that the U.S. Senate can bring some sanity to this debate and prevent what would surely be an event of devastation and overwhelming suffering to the poor of this nation.

Email: jtingram_1960@ yahoo.com; Twitter@ JamesTIngram.

James Ingram

BUSINESS

‘Head Start’ to policy leadership

Stacy E. Johnson sees director appointment as ‘stepping stone’

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St.Louis American

Stacy E. Johnson, the new chief program officer/Head Start director for the YWCA Head Start/Early Head Start program, and her staff have one goal: to prepare children for future learning. Johnson wants every child to know that they are cared for and will be nurtured in a safe environment. She took over on August 19, filling the void left by Betty Robinson, longtime YWCAHead Start director who passed away in July of 2013.

As Robinson’s health declined, Johnson served as interim Head Start director; and

“We’re in the process now of looking at where we can make cuts that would have the least impact to children and families.”

– Stacy E.Johnson,YWCA

prior to that, she was assistant director. Her previous positions, she said, has taught her one thing – her new role will be extremely demanding.

“It’s just a difference when you know that

the buck stops with you now,” she said.

One of her short-term objectives as director is to have a successful Federal Peer Review for the upcoming school year. Every three years, the government sends a team of people to all grantees during a certain period to review Head Start/Early Head Start centers, making sure they’re in compliance with all federal regulations.

In addition to having a successful Federal Peer Review, Johnson vows to make sure that the maximum amount of income-eligible children and families have access to its

See JOHNSON, B2

Jimmy Williams:

McDonald’s franchisee is St. Louis American’s 2013 Entrepreneur of

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis American

Acouple months ago, local entrepreneur and restaurant franchiseeJimmy Williams purchased a McDonald’s in his hometown of East St. Louis, where he once worked as a crew member.

This is his seventh McDonald’s franchise in the Metro East area and the St. Louis suburbs.

“No day is ever the same when you have a large number of employees that you work with,” he said. “I say ‘work with,’ because no one works for me –they work with me.”

In the next month, Williams will open his eighth location, near Interstate-70 and Broadway.

Williams said it’s been a big year for him as an entrepreneur. And fittingly, Williams will receive the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Salute to Excellence in Business awards and networking luncheon on Thursday, November 14, held at the RitzCarlton in Clayton. The networking reception begins at 11 a.m. and the luncheon program starts at noon.

Jimmy Williams

“I think that the word ‘passion’is so very important,”

Williams said. “You have to want to be an entrepreneur. In my business, it’s important to have a passion about people and food.”

Williams operates the franchises through Estel Foods, Inc., a business based in East St. Louis that he founded and owns. Williams grew up in East St. Louis and his father, James E. Williams Sr., was the first African-American mayor of the city. As a teenager, Williams’first job was at McDonald’s in East St. Louis. After earning his political science degree at Dickinson

PEOPLEON THE MOVE

James “Jay” Redd has joined Lathrop & Gage LLP’s St. Louis office as an associate in the business litigation practice group. Redd represents both individuals and businesses in litigated and non-litigated disputes in a variety of matters including breach of contract actions, consumer aprotection and consumer fraud defense, non-competition and trade secret disputes, and creditors’rights.

Glenda Baskin Glover, president of Tennessee State University, was the featured speaker during Worship Service on Sunday at Washington Tabernacle Baptist Church. The event was part of the Distinguished Lady Week, coordinated by the Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. St. Louis Chapter. Tennessee State was in St. Louis to compete at the St. Louis Gateway Classic. Glover previously served as chairperson of the Department of Accounting atHoward University.

Yolanda West was recently elected to the St. Louis Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (CoCAN) Board of Directors. West is a program coordinator at Saint Louis Crisis Nursery Centene Center. CoCAN promotes advocacy, education and legislative action in order to improve the lives of children atrisk of abuse and neglect.Saint Louis Crisis Nursery provides respite care for children, birth through age 12, who are at-risk of abuse and neglect.

Phillip B. Williams is one of five young poets awarded a $15,000 scholarship from thePoetry Foundationand Poetry magazine. Williams is a Master of Fine Arts candidate in creative writing in at Washington University and the author of the chapbooks Bruised Gospels and Burn. The Ruth Lilly Fellowships, open to all U.S. poets between 21 and 31 years of age, areintended to encourage the further study and writing of poetry.

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

Pre-bid conference forCentral Riverfront portion of Arch project

The Great Rivers Greenway District will host a pre-bid conference 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7 in the first floor conference room of the St. Louis City Municipal Court building, 1520 Market St. This as an initial step in the construction of the Central Riverfront portion of the CityArchRiver 2015 project. Immediately following the conference, a DBE/MBE networking session will be held.

The bids will be publicly opened and read 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 at the district’s offices, 6174 Delmar Blvd. For more information, visit http://www.greatriversgreenway.org/projects/publicbids-rfqs.aspx.

HigherLearning Commission approves Webster’s Ghana campus

Webster University’s new Ghana campus was approved by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), it was announced Monday. Student recruitment will begin immediately and classes will start January 14, 2014.

Webster University also has traditional residential campuses in Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand and the United Kingdom, as well as a network of international partners in more than two dozen locations.

“I say ‘work with,’ because no one works for me – they work with me.”

– Jimmy Williams

College in Pennsylvania, Williams went into the U.S. Navy. He served as a Navy officer and pilot for eight years. While stationed in San Diego, he ran into a few St. Louis businessmen. He told them of his ambition to own and operate a McDonald’s

See WILLIAMS, B6

“Universities like Webster are opening opportunities for business exchange around the world,” said Joe Reagan, president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber. For information, visit www.webster.edu/ghana.

Nominations open forTop 25 African-American Businesses

The St. Louis American is now accepting nominations from local businesses to be named one of the area’s Top 25 African-American Businesses for 2013. Finalists will be selected based on several criteria, including revenue, business practices, employee and vendor diversity, and community involvement. Substantial emphasis will be placed on those companies who are giving back to the community, through philanthropic efforts, support of community service organizations, and mentorship. To nominate a locally-owned African-American company, please see the nomination form on Page 5A, visit stlamerican.com, or email kjones@stlamerican.com. Nomination deadline is October 11.

James Redd

Glenda Baskin Glover

Phillip B. Williams

Yolanda West

Stacy E.Johnson,the new chief program officer/Head Start director for the YWCA Head Start/Early Head Start program, said she and her staff have one goal:to prepare children for future learning.

Photo by Wiley Price

Seniors: be on high alert forscams

By Jason Alderman

I look forward to the day when we no longer need to warn senior citizens about scams designed to separate them from their hard-earned money. I’m not holding my breath, however.

According to the FBI, senior citizens make attractive targets for con artists for a variety of reasons:

ï They’re more likely to have a nest egg, own their home and have good credit.

ï Seniors are less likely to report fraud because they don’t know where to report it, don’t realize they’ve been scammed, or are too ashamed at having been duped – possibly fearing they won’t be trusted to manage their own finances going forward.

ï When elderly victims do

JOHNSON

Continued from B1

services and that quality teachers are recruited and retained.

The YWCAMetro St. Louis Head Start/Early Head Start provides comprehensive child development services that increase the school readiness of children ages birth to five years old. In 2012, nearly 4,000 income-eligible families were served through 11 centers, 16 childcare partner sites and one delegate agency, the Urban League. It is the largest program in the St. Louis area and the second largest in a four-state region that includes Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. It is licensed by the state of Missouri and nationally accredited.

Johnson considers herself to be a “Head Start- lifer.” She first began her career with Head Start 28 years ago, when

report crimes, they often make poor witnesses because of faulty memory.

ï Seniors are more susceptible to products promising increased wealth, cognitive function, virility, physical conditioning, anti-cancer properties and so on.

Here’s a roundup of common telemarketing scams targeting seniors and how you can avoid them: Be wary, even if callers appear legitimate. Caller ID “spoofers” pretending to represent your bank, credit card company or government agencies may try to trick you into revealing personal information under the pretext of fixing a security breach. When in doubt, hang up and contact the organization yourself.

Other common telemarketing scams include:

she was “fresh out of college.”

Of those 28 years, she has spent 20 in managerial positions that date back to when she worked for the Kansas City School District’s Head Start program.

Johnson holds a master’s in early childhood administration from National-Louis University in Evanston, Ill. and a bachelor’s in child development from Truman State University. She has participated in the Johnson & Johnson Management Fellow Training program and serves as a Federal Peer Reviewer.

She foresees one major hurdle she and her staff will have to overcome – federal budget cuts. Last school year due to budget cuts, the YWCAwas forced to close its Manchester Center in South City, and reduce its enrollment by 160 children. It’s highly likely that budget cuts will again be on the books in 2014, she said. “We’re in the process now of looking at where we can

PERSONAL FINANCE

ï You’ve supposedly won a free prize but are asked to pay for handling, postage or taxes. By law, you never have to pay for any legitimate prize.

ï Get-rich-quick schemes, like those involving Nigerian princes trying to smuggle funds out of their country using your bank account in exchange for a cut of the amount.

ï The “Grandparent Scam,” where someone pretending to be your grandchild calls in a panic, claiming to have been arrested or injured (often abroad) and asking you to wire them money – and not tell their parents because they’re embarrassed.

ï Soliciting funds for fake charities, especially after natural disasters.

ï Companies offering seniors free medical equipment or services. After you provide your Medicare number, they forge a doctor’s signature and bill Medicare for unneeded goods or services you never actually receive.

ï Some particularly brazen thieves will even offer to help you recover money you’ve lost to other scammers (who are often part of the same operation).

Although direct telephone contact is common, scammers also use mailers, email, texts and advertisements to lure

potential victims into contacting them for further information. Afew tip-offs these offers – whatever the channel –might be bogus:

ï The offer sounds too good to be true.

ï High-pressure sales tactics – they won’t take no for an answer have sensible-sounding answers for your every question or hesitation.

ï You must make a decision “right now” because the offer will expire soon.

ï Claims that you are one of just a few people eligible for the offer.

ï Your credit card number is requested for verification.

Never provide credit card or other personal information by phone, letter or email unless you made the initial contact.

ï You are urged to provide money quickly and not given

make cuts that would have the least impact to children and families,” she said, “and at all

costs – staff.”

Johnson said her aspiration was never to be a Head Start/Early Head Start director. She envisions herself as a “change agent” in Washington,

D.C. making policies for the betterment of all national Head Start programs, but understands she must first pay her dues.

“My aspiration is to contin-

time to consider the offer.

ï There is no risk. All investments have some risk, except for U.S. Government obligations.

ï They refuse to provide detailed written information.

ï You are asked to trust the telemarketer. Like your mother always said, “Don’t trust strangers.”

The Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) has a Scam Alert Blog that exposes the latest scams, as well as a site where you can file a complaint if a business doesn’t make good on its promises or cheats you out of your money.

Jason Alderman directs Visa’s financial education programs. To Follow Jason Alderman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ PracticalMoney

ue to climb,” she said. “There are steps that have to come before that, things that you need to learn and experience. This is just one of those stepping stones.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Stacy Johnson took over on August 19, filling the void left by Betty Robinson, longtime YWCA Head Start director who passed away in July of 2013.

“If anyone turns on our coach, I would be the first one to punch him in the mouth.”

– New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck,defending coach Tom Coughlin after the team’s 0-4 start

PREP FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

With Earl Austin Jr.

The Tennessee State football team scored its most points in nearly 15 years and defeated the Marauders of Central State,73-6, in Saturday’s Gateway Classic.The Tigers tallied a season-high 539 yards in the rout,including 311 yards on the ground.TSU’s 539 yards were the most for the team since its 76-0 drubbing of UT Martin on Oct.24,1998.

Three big games

Weekend showdowns have conference championship implications

tive Southwestern Conference.

This weekend’s schedule is highlighted by three big games that have conference championship implications. The big large-school showdown will take place in Belleville on Friday night when Belleville West host Edwardsville in a Southwestern Conference tilt. Both teams are currently 5-0 and playing the part of league heavyweight. Belleville West is coming off a big 55-38 victory over host O’Fallon in a game in which it forced seven turnovers. The Maroons have

Something has got to give in this one.Both teams are 5-0 heading into this showdown.

some prime-time athletes, led by quarterback Sherand Boyd, linebacker Tori Millander and two-way standout Brian Hill. Edwardsville has been rolling behind the stellar play of junior quarterback Dan Marinko and top athletes such as Craig James, D’Anthony Knight, Darius Crochrell and Isaiah Michl. The winner will take over first place of a very hyper-competi-

Strategies – and degrees – of success vary in STLfranchises

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

As fighting between Democrats and Republicans bring the federal government to a screeching halt, much to the chagrin of the folks they supposedly represent, it’s evident the two groups are polar opposites in terms of their ideology in running the country. Meanwhile, in the St. Louis sports world, though the two most-powerful sports entities are not feuding,

The sky is blue.The Cubs are terrible. St.Louis is baseball’s land of milk and honey.

they most certainty fall on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to sustaining a winning franchise. St. Louis has long been considered a “baseball town.” In fact, the Gateway City has been dubbed the “Best Baseball Town in America” by so many publications and pundits over the years that we now

accept it as fact. The sky is blue. The Cubs are terrible. St. Louis is baseball’s land of milk and honey. For me, there’s no secret why the Redbirds rule the roost when it comes to St. Louis sports. They just keep on winning. Despite being considered a small-market team, the Cardinals have won the second-most World Series titles in MLB history (behind the ubermarket New York Yankees, of course). Even when they don’t win the big one, the team is consistently competitive. Since

In the small schools, Duchesne will meet Christian-O’Fallon on Friday night in a battle of the two top teams in the Archdiocesan Athletic Association. Christian-O’Fallon has one of the area’s most explosive offenses. They are averaging well over 50 points a game. Duchesne will counter with a very stingy defense that has given up only 23 points this season. Something has got to give in this one. Both teams are 5-0 heading into this showdown.

On Saturday, John Burroughs (5-0) will take

See FOOTBALL, B5

Rams lack offense and imagination

~ See ‘Claib’s Call’ page B4 ~

RAMS ROUNDUP

No more warm fuzzy feeling

The last time the St. Louis Rams played a football game, they absorbed a 35-11 loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers in a nationally televised game. It was the second consecutive humiliating performance by this football team. The Rams are starting to have that dazed look that we’re used to seeing. And just that fast that little fuzzy warm feeling everyone had a few weeks ago has subsided and every person has an opinion about this young football team.

Rams’coach

Jeff Fisher is dealing with his first major crisis situation since taking over the job.

Rams’coach Jeff Fisher is dealing with his first major crisis situation since taking over the job. The first crisis is his offense coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. His job is to come up with a competent game plan every week. We haven’t seen it. In a recent interview with Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch, Fisher was quoted saying he wants the Rams to run the ball more and put more emphasis on running the ball. It is amazing how much faith he has in the Rams ground attack or lack thereof. None of the running backs are getting the job done. It’s not as much of the offensive’s line fault as some might think. The running lanes are there, but the decision-making has been poor. Daryl Richardson isn’t running the same as he did last year. When he got a crease of daylight he was off and running. Now, he slows down too much when approaching the hole and sometimes winds up losing yards. And as the Rams approach their fifth game of the season they have not yet had a 100-yard rusher. This is going to be interesting as this continues to play out. Fisher wants to run the ball, but they have no running game. The coach probably wouldn’t feel that way if his quarterback would make a play. With Fisher wanting to run the ball more, he’s trying to protect quarterback Sam Bradford from himself. That’s how I see it. I can’t blame him. Sam Bradford has no excuse for that level of

The St.Louis Cardinals have done a lot celebrating in October over the years.Since 2004 the Cardinals have won 10 more post-season games than the next closest team,the New York Yankees, 41-31.

See RAMS, B5

Palmer L. Alexander

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

With Palmer Alexander III

Earl Austin Jr.

CLAIB’S CALL

With Mike Claiborne

Rams lack offense and imagination

Now that week 4 of the NFLschedule is behind us and the Rams, there are a few things that need to be said. There are those who tried to prepare us for the football season with their at the time “astute” observations. You know, the ones who attend practice and tell you how good a guy looks in shirts and shorts. “He has great speed and really runs good routes.” Amazing. How about the one where “he has a great burst to the ball”? My favorite is “the Rams are not showing much of their offense in the pre-season as they do not want teams to see too much too early.”

Most of those who reported and broke it down had no real idea on what they were watching, hence the big build-up on a break-out year. Mind you, there are a handful who report on football in this town who have a real idea on what is going on. It is a short list. As for the fans, in some cases an even shorter list. When I say “fans,” I am talking about the ones who go to the game or call talk shows and remind you that they “played a little ball.”

The way some Rams have been physically manhandled is mystifying.

I guess MathewsDickey counts here.

As for those who remind you that “they could do better than what is going on at field level,” I know it will be hard to let that warehouse gig go to aid the Rams. But maybe keeping the day job is best for all concerned, as good warehouse people are harder to find than you think. As I see the Rams, this is not the start that many envisioned. The Rams have shown a lack of discipline when it comes to penalties, they have been physically pushed around more than they should, considering the talent they have in some positions, and they do not appear to be prepared to play on some Sundays. In short, this is a team effort in causing things to go south so

early. What is most glaring is the lack of offense and imagination. Quarterback Sam Bradford has endured a lot since he arrived in St. Louis, including bad coaching, bad blocking and bad receivers that have put him at the head of the class when the blame game starts. While there are some defenders, the detractors are starting to have more of a voice. Bradford has to own some of this because that’s

what quarterbacks do in the NFL. That is why they are paid more than everyone, and it is why they find themselves reaping much of the glory when 10 other guys do their job.

As for the rest of the team, there is a heaping helping of blame for them to put on their plate. The way some Rams have been physically manhandled is mystifying. As I look around the NFL, I see a pattern. There are some teams that are getting creamed on a regular basis. Look at how many lopsided scores have taken place in the first four games of the season. There is a chance that we will have a winless team this season, if not two, as Oakland and Jacksonville are also at the point where “hapless” is almost a compliment.

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

the year 2000, the Cards have reached the playoffs 10 times, including this year’s finish atop the National League standings. The team only posted one sub-.500 finish during that time, finishing 78-84 in 2007, still good enough for third place in the NLCentral.

The Cardinals have won on the backs of big-named, highpriced stars like Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols as well as on the shoulders of under-appreciated, nondescript stars like David Eckstein, David Freese and Matt Carpenter. Unsurprisingly, the Cardinals continued success has translated into consistent sell-outs, a high level of fan interest over overall warm, fuzzy feelings about the franchise.

The strategies for success have been varied. During the Walt Jocketty and Tony LaRussa era, the strategy was to bring in big names and big bats via free agency or trade. The team wasn’t as focused on drafting and developing players because it didn’t need to be. Walt the wizard knew how to pull his magical strings to

The way the game is played and coached is changing right in front of us. The lack of teams getting into what would be termed “football shape” is starting to stand front and center. There is no question about how fast and strong players are, even without performanceenhancing drugs, but ANYONE who has played this game at any level will tell you that being in football shape is quite different than running extra wind sprints or lifting 20 more pounds than you once could. The lack of contact in a meaningful manner in practice has finally caught up to the game. There was a time when there were teams who did not have a lot of contact but found ways to stay in reasonable

bring over championship-caliber players. Current GM John Mozeliak prefers to focus on drafting and development. He won’t hesitate to spend the big bucks to land a key component but would much rather reward a longtime contributor like Yadier Molina than going fishing for the latest, overpriced superstar each offseason. Meanwhile, a few blocks down the road, the St. Louis Rams are struggling to find consistency and keep the Edward Jones Dome filled with fans. The Rams are already at a disadvantage because the team does not have the same, long-illustrious history in St. Louis. The Los Angeles Rams had a good run in the 1970s, with its famed defense. But in St. Louis, the team has only posted a few successful and exciting seasons. The franchise’s lone Super Bowl victory in 1999 seems like more of a flash in the pan stroke of good luck than something built by design. The Colts essentially gave away Marshall Faulk in his prime and Kurt Warner fell from behind a grocery store shelf into the starting lineup and produced one of the most magical seasons in sports history – one that sadly, could never be duplicated.

shape as well, as maintaining the mental approach to make up for the body pounding. It appears that all of those players are now out of the league and in many cases coaching. And while they may be good coaches, there are some things that cannot be taught in a class room or a walk-through.

Welcome to the new NFL.

Safety is what they are striving for, to prevent the next lawsuit, at the price of what we knew the game once to be. As for the Rams, the team has a reasonable collection of good players who can play better. They have to go at this thing differently, as should the coaches. The current offensive approach and the sad sack tackling on defense will certainly guarantee one thing: the

Since the Rams 12-4 finish in 2003, the team has failed to finish a single season with a winning record. They did limp into the playoffs with an 8-8 record in 2004, but St. Louis football fans have endured nearly a decade of losing football. Bad drafts, awful coaching and terrible free agent signings plagued the franchise for years.

Things should be getting better with the seemingly smart and competent leadership from Head Coach Jeff Fisher and GM Les Snead, but the team’s current 1-3 start has some fans questioning whether the team really is headed in the right direction. To be fair, the youngest team in the NFLis clearly in the midst of a rebuilding process. To be blunt, that rebuilding process is now approaching doubledigit seasons. Back at Busch, the Redbirds said goodbye to a Hall of Fame-bound coach and first baseman and simply reloaded on the fly for more title runs. The Rams long, drawn out stadium talks don’t help their situation. Nobody really knows what’s going on regarding a new Rams facility. It’s seems like more Hatfields and McCoys Democrats and Republicans with the current

put him at the

lowest home attendance in St. Louis for pro football since the final days of the Cardinals (and even then we were naive enough to think by some act of God or Congress they would stay). Fans have to have a reason to come, and so far the Rams have not given them that as the hope factor is dwindling. It’s not too late, but the Rams are running out of time. It is my hope that when the self-anointed experts come out with an assessment of the Rams, they base it more on true fact than wishful fiction. It is an easy trap to fall into, because some like to hear themselves talk and read what they wrote. But can we temper our emotions and evaluations for a bit and let things play themselves out?

ownership and local government. The negotiations between the Cardinals owners and the City of St. Louis weren’t nearly as long or secretive when they upgraded from Busch Stadium 2.0 to 3.0. Sure there were random, blasphemous threats about moving the team across the river or out into the ‘burbs but everyone knew the Redbirds would stay right downtown. Nobody really knows where the Rams will land once the stadium lease plays out. Many, myself included, figure they will remain in town, but nobody is sure So it’s not surprising that while the Cardinals have found its way back to the playoffs and have championship aspirations, Rams fans are hoping the team can find its running game and defensive backbone to beat the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. For now, it seems the two franchises will remain polar opposites. The difference between sports and politics, however, is that the Cardinals shutting down the city would be great for St. Louis.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk and on Google+.

Mike Claiborne

Quarterback Sam Bradford has endured a lot since he arrived in St.Louis,as bad coaching,bad blocking and bad receivers have

head of the class when the blame game gets started.

INSIDE SPORTS

With Earl Austin Jr.

NBAin STL

Chicago Bulls vs. Memphis Grizzlies on Monday

The National Basketball Association makes its return to St. Louis next Monday with a preseason game between the Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies. The game will be held at the Scottrade Center at 7 p.m. Next week’s contest will feature two of the league’s top contending teams. The Grizzlies are coming off a franchise record 56 victories and a trip to the Western Conference finals. Memphis features an old school team built on defense and the strong inside play of Zach Randolph and Mark Gasol. Point guard Mike Conley has emerged one of the league’s best at his position. For the Bulls, everyone is awaiting the return of All-Star guard Derrick Rose, who missed the entire 2013 season with a knee injury, which he suffered in the 2012 playoffs. Without Rose and a host of other key injured players, the Bulls still managed to make it to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, where they were eliminated by the world champion Miami Heat. If Rose regains his MVP form from two seasons ago, the Bulls will be in the mix as one of the Heat’s biggest challengers in the East. On the local angle, Saint Louis University fans will get a chance to see former Billiken forward Willie Reed in action. The 6’10” Reed played two seasons for the Billikens before leaving the program. Reed played last season for Springfield in the National Basketball Developmental League. He did so well in the D-League, that he earned a call-up to Memphis at the end of last season. He is now trying to win a roster spot for the Grizzlies this season.

Tickets are still on sale for the big preseason game. You can visit ticketmaster.com or go to the Scottrade Center.

R.I.P,Francis Peay

Former University of

RAMS

Continued from B3

For the Bulls,everyone is awaiting the return of All-Star guard Derrick Rose,who missed the entire 2013 season with a knee injury,which he suffered in the 2012 playoffs.

Missouri standout Francis Peay died on September 21 after a lengthy illness at the age of 69. Peay had lived in St. Louis for the past three years. Anative of Pittsburgh, Peay was an All Big Eight Conference tackle for Mizzou. Peay was a firstround draft selection of the New York Giants in the 1966 National Football League Draft. He went on to play nine seasons in the NFLwith the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. He joined the coaching ranks after his playing days. He became the head coach at Northwestern University in 1986, thus becoming the second African-American head football coach in the history of the Big Ten Conference. Peay followed Dennis Green at Northwestern after Green was the first African-American coach to lead a Big Ten program. Peay stayed at Northwestern for five seasons. Amemorial service for Francis

I wonder if Fisher is having second thoughts about Sam Bradford. This is supposed to be his team. He’s supposed to put this team and this franchise on his back. Instead, he helped put his team on its back, not sustaining drives, giving away downs and points. I thought the Rams were

Peay was held last Thursday at Armbruster Mortuary on Clayton Road.

Josh commits

St. Mary’s High basketball standout Josh Robinson has given a verbal commitment to attend Austin Peay University. The 6’3” Robinson is one of the top guards in the St. Louis metro area. As a junior, Robinson averaged 25.4 points a game, which was second in the area a year ago. He also averaged 6.6 rebounds and two assists while shooting 49 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free throw line. Bayless High standout guard Patrick Triplett gave a verbal commitment to Brown University of the Ivy League. The 6’3’Triplett averaged 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 50 percent from the field.

Brian Hill

Prep Athletes of the Week

Belleville West – Football

The 6’2” 210-pound senior dominated on both sides of the ball in the Maroons’55-38 victory over O’Fallon last Friday night.

On offense, Hill scored three touchdowns on runs of two and 19 yards and a reception of 20 yards. On defense, he had eight tackles, one sack, two interceptions, one which he returned 97 yards for a fourth touchdown.

For the season, Hill has scored a total of 15 touchdowns. He has 488 yards of total offense. On defense, he has 34 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions.

Belleville West (5-0) will host Edwardsville in a Southwestern Conference showdown on Friday night.

Cameron Hilton

Webster Groves – Football

The junior standout enjoyed a big game in leading the Statesmen to a 28-7 victory over previously unbeaten Parkway Central. Hilton had five receptions for 95 yards and scored two touchdowns from four and 12 yards. Hilton also played a big part in the Statesmen’s defensive effort with two interceptions. For the season, Hilton has a team-high 19 receptions for 356 yards and seven touchdowns. He also leads the team with three interceptions.

Webster Groves (3-1) will visit Parkway West on Friday night.

very generous in the contract extensions of Chris Long and James Laurinaitis, and Bradford has one year remaining after this season. And judging by what I’ve seen since he’s been quarterback, the Rams could probably do better for what they are paying for.

(You can catch Earl Austin Jr. talking high school football on the Fox 2 Prep Zone every Friday night at 10:20 a.m.) play, at home, against a division opponent, and on a national stage. He had plenty of chances to make a play and failed.

Continued from B3 on Westminster Christian (5-0) for the championship of the Metro League. The Bombers kept their season rolling with a 42-0 victory over rival MICDS last weekend while Westmister escaped with a 20-18 victory over Priory on a field goal as time expired.

Top performances last week

Francis Howell Central’s Kendall Morris continued his torrid rushing pace last Friday night as he ran for 304 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns in the Spartans’37-21 victory over Francis Howell North. Morris scored on runs of 69, 80 and 76 yards. He now has 1,110 yards rushing after just five games, which is best in the St. Louis area. East St. Louis broke its three-game losing streak in a big way with a 52-3 victory at Belleville East. The Flyers got back into the win column for the first time in a month by doing it the old-fashioned way, running the football. The Flyers rushed for 526 yards on

the afternoon. Senior Gregory Taylor led the way with 311 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns. In was Taylor’s first game as a running back. He had been playing wide receiver. Junior Nate Strong added 209 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Junior Kevin Batt of Hazelwood Central rushed for 252 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns to lead the Hawks to a 42-27 victory over Ritenour in a Suburban North Conference showdown. For the season, Batt now has 965 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns.

WILLIAMS

Continued from B1

franchise. The businessmen helped Williams get into the McDonald’s training program in 1996.

In 1998 Williams bought his first McDonald’s restaurant in Granite City, Illinois.

“It’s a great place to start a career – and to have a career,” Williams said. When Williams was working at McDonald’s during high school, he said, he learned much from Dr. Ben Davis, the previous owner of the restaurant he now owns.

“From the beginning as a crew person, I learned valuable lessons at McDonald’s that stuck with me and have been part of my success,” he said.

By 2001 Williams had added two more restaurants to his business, one in Pontoon Beach, Illinois and another Granite City restaurant. In 2006 Williams added the first new building to his business when he built a McDonald’s in Bellefontaine Neighbors.

In 2010, Williams opened a store in Jennings, which is the

first McDonald’s franchise in Jennings in 22 years. And in 2011, he opened a location north of downtown St. Louis on Tucker Boulevard and received much praise from city leaders.

“It’s very significant for the minority business community to have an African-American owner making this multi-million-dollar investment in the downtown area,” said Michael McMillan, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and former license collector and alderman. “It sets an example to all young people and city residents in the community of what can be done by black businesspeople.”

Between the seven locations, Williams employs more than 400 people.

“How do I keep score?” he said, when asked of his goals and accomplishments. “I keep score by how many people we can help.”

For six years, Williams served on the Executive Board for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Metro St. Louis, where he served on a committee that raises money for construction of Ronald McDonald Houses in St. Louis. He con-

C

OMMUNITY BRIEF

‘What

tinues to work closely with the organization.

Williams also works with the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation and MatthewsDickey Boys’& Girls’Club.

Williams said his family is his top priority. His wife, Janet Jackson Williams, is also from East St. Louis. He has a son, James III, and a daughter, Casi. His mother, Lillian Croom Williams, turned 91 this year. Williams said he’s indebted to his family and his East St. Louis community for helping him along the way.

“It’s all about people,” he said. “I get to interact with a lot of people each and every day. Many individuals in East St. Louis have helped me in my successes.”

The 14th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon will be held Thursday, November 14, 2013 at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis, networking reception at 11 am, luncheon program at noon. Tickets are $100 for VIP/Preferred seating, $75 for general admission. Call 314533-8000 or visit www.stlamerican.com for more information or to purchase tickets.

is the state of Black St. Louis?’

Urban League Young Professionals forum Oct. 9

The Urban League Young Professionals of Metropolitan St. Louis (ULYP-STL) is hosting a panel discussion entitled, “The State of Black America: Post-1968,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 9 in the AT&TFoundation Multipurpose Room of the

Missouri History Museum. Confirmed panelists include Jason Purnell, assistant professor, Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis; Rev. Starsky Wilson, president & CEO, Deaconess Foundation; Marcus Creighton, senior advi-

sor, MetLife. From 6-6:30 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to meet and network with one another. The official program will begin at 6:30 p.m. Acopy of the 2013 State of Black America report can be obtained at www.nul.org.

Financial Focus

By Aaron Ezell

It’s harvest time again. Of course, harvest season may not mean that much to you if you don’t work in agriculture. Nonetheless, you can learn a lot from those who do — especially in your role as an investor. Here are a few of these lessons to consider:

ï “Feed” your portfolio. Through the proper combination of fertilizers and irrigation, farmers seek to maximize the growth of their crops. And if you want to give your portfolio the opportunity to grow, you need to “feed” it with the right mix of investments. This generally means you’ll need to own a reasonable percentage of growth-oriented vehicles, such as stocks and stock-based securities. Keep in mind, though, that the value of these types of investments will fluctuate, sometimes sharply — and there’s no guarantee you won’t lose some or all of your principal.

ï Be patient. Crops don’t grow overnight. Farmers know that they will put in countless hours of work before they see the fruits of their labors. And they know

As an investor, you can’t control the economic “climate,” but you can make adjustments.

ï Diversify. Farmers face a variety of risks, including bad weather and fluctuating prices. They can help combat both threats through diversification. For instance, they can plant some crops that are more drought-resistant than others, so

From the ‘Ghetto’ to the Garden

Deborah and

By Ciera Simril

For The St. Louis American

The Missouri Botanical Garden will celebrate its 22nd annual Best of Missouri Market this weekend, October 4-6. This local shopping event will host 30 diverse vendors and more than 120 Missouri food producers.

Among those vendors will be Deborah and Freddie Lee Jr., makers of Freddie Lee’s Ghetto Sauce. They hit upon the idea of this hot sauce after having a conversation about moving out of the ghetto. They were making sauce for family and friends one day when they sat together outside after finishing the

Dating detox

Bowing out of

the

game to get focused – and find love

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“I’m sick of looking these men in the face when I know I am wasting my time and being used for my company.”

She confessed that for the past six months she has been on a bare minimum of two dates a week – and more regularly than not she had been on a date every other day.

“Three dates a week … girl, how do you keep a job or clean your house?” I said.

“Who are you telling?” she said. “Plenty of times I would pack a bag and change into my date clothes at work. It would be after midnight when I get home.”

Now before I go any further, I feel like I have to state the obvious –when I say “dates,” I don’t mean sex.

I’m talking about going out with people on a regular basis – to movies, concerts, dinners, special events – where there is no potential for a venture into serious relationship territory.

Her intention with each of these guys is to transition into something official, but when it doesn’t they just kind of lock her in to spend time and she doesn’t refuse.

“I’ve been going in circles,” she

The Geto Boys hit the Coliseum stage on Sunday

batch. It was a hot summer day. Deborah remembers seeing a speeding car and hearing gunshots, followed by police cars with sirens screaming.

Freddie looked at Deborah and said, “One day God is going to bless us to get out of the ghetto.” That was when Deborah realized what they should name their hot sauce “Freddie Lee’s Ghetto Sauce.” Freddie told her they needed to pray on the name. When they woke up looking at each other, they began laughing again about the name of the sauce. After the laughter, they discusses memories of their childhoods and growing up. And

The Tennessee State takeover

Erinn Westbrook brings it as Bree

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“Bree is going shake things up –she is going to bring a little bit of drama to this season,” singer/actress Erinn Westbrook said of her new role on the Fox network hit “Glee.” Westbrook is from one of the nicest families in St. Louis, but she wowed viewers as the new main mean girl last week when “Glee” returned to television.

“This is the fifth season and there have been other mean girls – and there have been comparisons to previous characters,” Westbrook

said. “I want them to see me bringing a certain type of spiciness to the cast and to see the energy – that is very unique to me, Erinn –that I bring.”

Bree is the head “Cheerio,” the cheerleading squad that creates catty chaos among the show’s characters. She uses the form she perfected as varsity cheer captain for John Burroughs School, and a blend of all of her favorite teeny bopper film and television antagonists.

“Glee” was a breakout hit for Fox when it debuted in 2009, and a cultlike following instantly ensued. The “Gleeks” tune in by the

The Missouri History Museum’s presentation of “1968 The Exhibit” opens on Saturday, October 5 and will run through January 2014.

Last Poets performance kicks off exhibit for pivotal year in U.S.

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

If there is a year that stands alone as worthy of its own exhibit, it’s 1968.

Black America had tragically lost its King – and yet another Kennedy was gunned down at the height of his popularity.

The country was in the throes of a losing battle in Vietnam. Inner cities – including St. Louis and East St. Louis – were battlefields in their own right as riots raged. There seemed to be constant conflict in every angle of American

St. Louis native Erinn Westbrook plays Bree on the Fox network hit “Glee.”

Freddie Lee Jr. got their first break with Freddie Lee’s Ghetto Sauce when The Wine and Cheese Place began carrying their product. Now their sauce is sold at over 30 different locations in St. Louis city and county.

See SAUCE, C5

See POETS,

How to place a calendar listing

1.Email your listing to calendar@stlamerican.com OR

2.Visit the calendar section on stlamerican.com and place your listing

Calendar listings are free of charge, are edited for space and run on a space-available basis.

concerts

Fri., Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m. (7 p.m. doors), New Music Circle presents The Marty Ehrlich Rites Quartet, The Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand. For more information, visit www.newmusiccircle.org or call (888) 662-7851.

Oct. 4 – 5, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents Laurence Hobgood Quintet feat. Ernie Watts. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com or call (314) 534-1111.

Sun., Oct. 6, 7 p.m., The Missouri History Museum welcomes The Last Poets. The Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell. Tickets available at mohistory.org or by calling (314) 361-9017.

Oct. 9 – 12, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents Lou Donaldson Quartet. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com or call (314) 534-1111.

Thur., Oct. 10, 9 p.m., WuTang Clan’s Raekwon Performing Live. The Coliseum, 2619 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 531-2920 or (314) 287-2656.

Fri., Oct. 11, Michel’le live at the Coliseum. Everyone free before 9 p.m. For more information, visit www.michellestl.eventbrite.co

m

Sun., Oct. 13, 8 p.m., Café Soul welcomes Raheem DeVaughn to The Pageant, 6161 Delmar. For more information, visit www.thepageant.com

Sun., Oct. 20, 5 p.m., The Royal Vagabonds Foundation, Inc. presents St. Louis’Own Cheryl Brown Proceeds benefit Royal Vagabonds Scholarship Fund.

Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 488-4769 or (314) 882-3419.

Oct. 9 – 12, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents A Night in Treme feat. The Donald Harrison Quintet Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com or call (314) 534-1111.

local gigs

Saturdays, 3 p.m., The Kendrick Smith Quartet, Premier Lounge, 5969 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. For more information, call (314)385-5281 or e-mail crusadersforjazz@hotmail.com.

special events

Fri., Oct. 4, 11 a.m., Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel’s 6th Annual Charity Golf Tournament. Proceeds benefit the Give Kids the World Village. The Give Kids the World Village is a 70acre resort tailored to children with life threatening illnesses. Normandie Golf Club, 2799 Normandy Dr., 63121. For more information, call (314) 890-3101.

Fri., Oct. 4, 6 p.m., Macy’s and Clinton Kelly present A Girls Night Out Fashion Tutorial. Grab your best gal pals and join the makeover master himself, Clinton Kelly, for a special night of fashion, food and fun! Macy’s St. Louis Galleria, 1155 St. Louis Galleria, 63117.

Sat., Oct. 5, 9 a.m. (preview night Fri., Oct. 4 5:30 p.m. –7:30 p.m.) Clubhouse Shop’s 2013 Fall Estate Sale. For more information, visit www.clubhouseshop.com

Sat., Oct. 5, 8 p.m., All In 1

CALENDAR

Entertainment and Unique Magic Catering present “Where are They Now?” Old School Reunion Party. You are invited to the biggest mature old-school celebration party of the year, hosted by The Real J.R. Come out and have a good time like you used to as we take you through the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and today’s music. Machinist Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63044. For more information, call (314) 473-9250.

Fri., Oct. 4, 6 p.m., Near Southside Employment Coalition presents 30th Anniversary Fundraising DinnerCelebration with musical guest Coco Soul. The Christy Banquet Center, 5856 Christy Blvd., 63118. For more information, call (314) 8654453.

Oct. 4 – 5, Dance St. Louis presents PNC Arts Alive New Dance Horizons II. It’s the story of fours! Dance St. Louis has commissioned four renowned choreographers from around the country to collaborate with four St. Louis professional dance companies to create four distinct, clever and moving world premieres. Touhill Performing Arts Center, One University Blvd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 516-4949.

Mon., Oct. 7, 7 p.m., Austin Pettis hosts Monday Night Football Bowling Event to Benefit the Austin Pettis Foundation. Tickets will include 2 hours of bowling, shoes, pizza, silent auction and

Café Soul welcomes Raheem DeVaughn to The Pageant. See CONCERTS for more information.

Monday Night Football with Austin and teammates. Teams of 6 bowlers can reserve lanes for $150/lane. Brunswick Zone Chesterfield, 176 Four Seasons Shopping Center, 63146. For more information, call (734) 341-6859 or visit www.AustinPettisFoundation.o rg.

Oct. 13, 11 a.m., Southern Mission Baptist Church (SMBC) 5th Annual Classic CarShow. 1800 Oak Tree St., St. Peters, MO. For more information, call (314) 5213951.

Sun., Oct. 20, 6 p.m., Pretty In Pink Fashion ShowGala with a Taste of Elegance featuring a unique line of African garments and & The Great Gasby Fashion Showcase, The Jewel Box in Forest Park. Pink and Black attire preferred. For tickets or more information, call (314) 537-0239.

Oct. 12 – 13, 11 a.m., St. Louis Kids Expo. Events and activities include, free bike helmets, pony rides, fitness demonstrations, and more. North County Recreation Center, 2577 Redman Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 995-8625 or visit www.stlkidsexpo.com.

Sat., Oct. 19, 6 p.m., 2013 Epsilon Lambda Charitable Foundation Black & Gold Scholarship Ball. The mission of the Epsilon Lambda Charitable Foundation is to promote and uplift the education of youth and the advancement of community. Crowne

Plaza Hotel Airport, 11228 Lone Eagle Dr., 63044. For more information, call (314) 531-0051.

Sat., Oct. 19, 9:30 a.m., The Professional Organization of Women Scholarship Breakfast In honorof Frankie Muse Freeman. This year P.O.W. will award four non-traditional female undergraduate students with a $5,000 scholarship and laptop. Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel, 800 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call (314) 963-5287 or visit www.powincstl.org.

Sat., Oct. 19, 6 p.m., 2013 Epsilon Lambda Charitable Foundation Black & Gold Scholarship Ball. The mission of the Epsilon Lambda Charitable Foundation is to promote and uplift the education of youth and the advancement of community. The Foundation sponsors annual scholarships to high school seniors in the St. Louis, Missouri area who plan to attend a four-year college or university. Crowne Plaza Hotel Airport, 11228 Lone Eagle Dr., 63044. For more information, call (314) 531-0051.

Sun., Oct. 20, 11 a.m., 2013 Harvest Festival. Celebrate the best autumn has to offer: delicious eats from St. Louis area restaurants, a farmers’ market featuring fresh local produce, arts and craft wares, family activities, and more. Laumeier Sculpture Park, 12580 Rott Rd., 63127. For more information, call (314) 615-5278 or visit www.laumeier.org.

Sun., Oct. 20, 4 p.m., Entertaining Around Heaven All Day. This is the 4th Jazz Heaven Series. Aseries filled with music, songs and poetic artistry to highlight the lives of some of the most legendary vocalists, musicians, artists on whose shoulders we still stand. Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Etta James, Charlie Parker, Phyllis Hyman, Lou Rawls just to name a few. Ethical Society, 9001 Clayton Rd., 63117. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit http://www. wendylgordonsings.com.

Sun., Oct. 20, 4:30 p.m., The East St. Louis Branch of the NAACP presents 59th Annual Freedom Fund Awards Banquet: Game Changers. Renaissance Grand Downtown St. Louis, 800 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call (618) 271-4698 or

email eslnaacp@eslnaacp.org

Oct. 26 – 27, WOWNational OutdoorRecreation & Conversation School presents Exploring, Discovering, Learning. Discover how much fun the great outdoors can be at an overnight camping experiencing. Activities include fishing, archery, rocking climbing, and more. Also, experience the outdoors during an overnight campout. Registration is required and the deadline is October 11. Forest Park. For more information, call 1-800-334-6946.

Oct. 26, 11 a.m., Natural HairExpo, 4227 Race Course Ave, St. Louis, MO. 63110. Light refreshments, prizes, raffles, products, facials, jewelry. For tickets call 314-566-9401

Thur., Oct. 3, 7 p.m., St. Louis Public Library hosts author Marshall Cohen, author of Rough Cuts: AMan, APlan, and a Gym – Uplifting Stories from the St. Louis Hood. Cohen is the founder of Lift for Life Gym. In this frank, moving and humorous memoir, Cohen shares his struggles and the all-too-real stories of kids at the gymfrom the plight of a homeless girl too ashamed to admit her circumstances, to the inspiring but heartbreaking story of a boy with sickle cell anemia. Books for sale courtesy of the author. Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 206-6779.

Fri., Oct. 4, 7 p.m. The new “Poetry on the Plaza” series will begin, and continue every Friday, at Old Post Office Plaza downtown across from the historic Old Post Office building at 9th and Locust. Sat., Oct. 12, 11 a.m., St. Louis Public Library hosts author Michele Bonnell, author of Tunnels, Cappuccino, and a Heist. Carondelet Branch, 6800 Michigan Ave., 63111. For more information, call (314) 206-6779 or visit www.slpl.org.

Tues., Oct. 15, 6 p.m. EBR Writers Club Presents 23rd Annual ‘Break Word with the World’(forTrayvon), A Multi-arts Focus on Poetic & Social Justice, Room 2083, Building B, of the SIUE-East St. Louis Higher Education Center, 601 J. R. Thompson Drive.

Wed., Oct. 16, 6 p.m., St. Louis Public Library hosts author Ifeoma Onyefulu, author of Ais for Africa and One Big Family: Sharing Life in an African Village Oneyfulu will discuss these books and others. Her highly acclaimed children’s books celebrate Africa’s traditional village life and thriving urban culture. Carpenter Branch, 3309 S. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 206-6779 or visit www.slpl.org.

Thur., Oct. 17, 6 p.m.,St. Louis Public Library and Left Bank Books host author John Bemelmans Marciano, author of Madeline and the Old House in Paris. Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 206-6779 or visit www.slpl.org.

Fri., Oct. 18, 7 p.m., St. Louis Public Library hosts authors Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin, authors of Five Days in November. On November 22, 1963, three shots were fired in Dallas, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and the world stopped for four days. Now Secret Service Agent Clint Hill commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the tragedy with this stunning book containing more than 150 photos, each accompanied by Hill’s incomparable insider account of those terrible days. Central’s Auditorium, 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 206-6779 or visit www.slpl.org.

comedy

Oct. 5, The Fox Theater welcomes Chris Tucker. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103.For more information, call (314) 5341111 or visit www.metrotix.com

Sun., Oct. 6, 7 p.m., The Just Social Club presents Rock the Mic Comedy Show. Club Illusion, 526 E. Broadyway, East St. Louis, IL., 62205. For more information, call (314)

922-2104 or (314) 607-5576.

theatre

Oct. 8 – 20, The Fox presents Evita. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award®-winning musical returns. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1678.

Sat., Oct. 12, 11 am. Gifted Productions will be holding auditions fortheirholiday production “The Unhappy Toy Shop,” searching for children ages 6-13, The Ivory Theater7620 Michigan AvenueSt. Louis, MO 63111. For more information, call 314-352-4857 or314-6318330.

Oct. 25 – 26, 7 & 9 p.m., COCA presents The Turn of the Screw. Recommended for teens and adults. 524 Trinity Avenue, 63130. For more information, call (314) 7256555 or visit www.cocastl.org

Fri., Oct. 25, 7 p.m. (6 p.m. doors), Gifted Productions presents “Tell Them Today,” free admission, Friendly Temple M.B. Church, 5515 Dr. MLK Drive. For more information, call314-352-4857.

arts

Oct. 5 – 6, Historic Shaw Art Fair. f135 artists from around the country who work in a large variety of media and styles. Bring one can of food for each ticket, and receive $1 off each ticket.Canned food drive will benefit Isaiah 58 Ministries. Flora Place and Tower Grove Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www.shawartfair.org.

October7 through November1, “Curious Industry,” a new installation by poly-media artist Eto Otitigbe that combines sculpture, performance and moving image, will be on display Oct. 7-Nov. 1 at the Gallery of Contemporary Art at St. Louis Community College-Forest

Park, 5600 Oakland Ave. The opening reception will be 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, with a performance at 7:30 p.m. The gallery is located in the Library building. The gallery is open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or by appointment.

Sat., Oct. 12, 12:00 p.m., Art on the Town. Annual gathering of St. Louisartists, performers and musicians. Experience the talent of over 100 artists and performers, stroll through charming local shops and galleries and enjoy a closing concert at 5pm with The Reserve – featuring Javier Mendoza.Gallery crawl begins at 6:30. Allen Ave., 63119. For more information, call (314) 968-6500.

lectures

Sat., Oct. 5, 12 p.m., The Institute forCommunity,

New Music Circle presents The Marty Ehrlich Rites Quartet.See CONCERTS for details.

Youth & Family Services, Inc. (The Institute) invites you to attend a Free GrantWriting Workshop Workshops are Free but seating is limited. Please register. Julia Davis Branch Library, 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 600-0694.

Wed., Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m., St. Louis Zoo presents Women, Warriors & Witchcraft: Carnivore Ecology and Conservation in Tanzania’s Ruaha Landscape. This lecture provides a fascinating insight into how researchers started Ruaha’s first carnivore research and conservation initiative, against a backdrop of tribal conflict, poverty and fears of witchcraft. Living World Theatre: St. Louis Zoo, One Government Dr., 63110. For more information, call (314) 533-8586.

health

Sat., Oct. 5, 7:30 a.m., Clear Channel St. Louis’Sista Strut. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit http://www.kmjm.com/ pages/sistastrut

Sat., Oct. 5, 8:30 a.m. Metro East Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes, a one-day fundraising walk benefiting the American Diabetes Association.SIU Edwardsville Parking Lot A. Registration is available now at www.diabetes.org/stepoutmetroeast.

Sun., Oct. 6, 8 a.m., Miles for Hope hosts 2nd Annual Moving Towards a Cure. 5K Run and 1M Survivor Walk. Proceeds go towards finding a cure for brain tumors. Tremayne Shelther, Creve Coeur Park, 13725 Marine Ave., 63146. For more infor-

mation, visit www.milesforhope.org.

Sun., Oct. 6, Pedal the Cause Bike Ride. Our mission is to provide funding for cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children’s Hospital through our annual cycling challenge. 100% of the funds raised STAYin St. Louis! There are also different trip lengths for cyclists to ride. Soldiers Memorial Park. For more information, call (314) 7871932 or visit www.stlouis.pedalthecause.org

Fri., Oct. 11 – Sun., Oct. 13, Barak Christian Church Singles Empowerment Ministry Presents: Restoration Retreat and Conference. Theme: “Lord Restore My Soul,” Guest Speakers include: Prophetess Sandra D. Bates and Dr. Craig Cobb. 7370 North Hanley Road, Hazelwood, MO 63042. For more information please contact Min. Sharon Parker at 314-517-1117 (cell) or email sharon@mldcoachingservice. com

Oct. 18, 7 p.m., Happy GuitarMusic & Arts Foundation inaugural benefit concert featuringGregg “Happy Guitar” Haynes, featuring his 10 piece band, the area’s finest musicians & vocalists The Special Guest will be Saxophonist, Merlon Devine of Washington D.C. West Side Missionary Baptist Church, located at 4675 Page Avenue, St. Louis, MO. Sat., Oct. 19, (Nov. 16 & Dec. 21) 1:30 p.m., Jacob’s LadderMinistries Presents “Flying High in the Friendly Sky: Is there an Addict Hiding in you?” An interactive Workshop discussing the problem of addictions in the church, the workplace and schools. St. Louis County Library – Florissant Valley Branch, 195 New Florissant Rd. Florissant, Missouri 63031.

Westbrook caught the acting bug early. As a small child she would drape herself in feather boas and sequins, pretending to be her favorite characters in books, plays and movies.

“The first real experience came for me at 12 when I was at Chesterfield Day School and I was Annie in the sixth grade musical,” Westbrook said. “I had tried out for it and really wanted it. And there were a few people who were like, ‘You can’t be Annie because you would look funny in the wig.’ There weren’t that many African Americans in the school.”

But she tried out and got the part.

“Being on that stage performing (singing, dancing and acting), I just knew that I wanted to do all of those things for as long as I could,” she said.

“From that moment, it became a serious passion for me and I knew I was going to pursue it with everything I had.”

And while she’s been consistently working as an actress and model, she still found the time to earn a BA in English and drama from Harvard University and advanced certification in

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said. “I just kept hearing other women talk about how hard it is for them to find one date, and I felt bad complaining about going out all the time, because at least I had somebody paying attention to me. All of my girls seem to have a problem getting in where they fit in, so I felt like I had a leg up and settled with my situation.” But the truth is, while she has the regular self-esteem boost by these men who seem to feel like she’s entertaining, nothing substantive has come of it. She’s just as single as

Spanish.

“For me, it’s important to show people that you can also still go to school and follow your dreams after,” she said.

She credits her success – in academics and acting – to her parents, Kelvin Westbrook and Valerie Bell.

“I’ve had wonderful examples in my parents who have encouraged me to accomplish things,” she said.

The role of a lifetime

She was in church when she got the call for “Glee.”

“I knew that I was going to be getting the news, and I just wanted to be okay

her friends who don’t have a healthy dating life. And that operates against her goal of getting married sooner than later.

Well, the self-professed serial dater has decided to embark upon a “dating detox” for the next 30 days. “I mean, what’s the point?” she said. “Yes, I get a good meal, a free show and decent conversation, but at the end of the night I go home alone and I feel like I’m not any closer to a relationship. I actually feel like, ‘Why haven’t they decided to take this to the next level – is it me?’ Then I get into ‘woe is me’ mode. The whole thing is silly.”

So she’s shutting down her rolodex. A polite, but direct

with whatever I was told,” Westbrook said. “I really just prayed on it. In those types of situations, you have to just let go and see what happens.”

Her call time was the very next morning. She has been at it ever since.

“I’m enjoying being on set, and I really enjoy the character that I’m playing,” Westbrook said. “I was a huge fan of the show prior to joining the cast. I dreamt that something like this would be part of my narrative – I hoped and I prayed that this would happen – but to be honest I never expected anything this big. It’s a tough business.”

She would love to eventually have a healthy rotation of

note was sent to her half-dozen “regulars” informing them not to contact her and she would be out of commission.

But her fast isn’t just for her old faithful fellas; she’s shutting out any new prospects too.

“All I was doing was trading one for the other,” she said. “I would rotate a new guy in, and when it was all said and done it would be more of the same. It’s easy to get comfortable when guys are consistent, even when he wouldn’t be talking about anything either.”

She admits that it was fun – even affirming – for a long time, but she compares empty dating to empty calories.

“It meets a craving, but at the end of the day you just end

n “For me, it’s important to show people that you can also still go to school and follow your dreams after.”

– Erinn Westbrook

movies, music and Broadway on her regular agenda – in addition to working on the production side.

“But right now I’m just taking it all in and enjoying the moment, Westbrook said. “I’m taking it day by day and seeing how life unfolds.”

And the “St. Louis girl true and through who loves toasted ravioli and Ted Drewes” assures us that there will never be a dull moment with Bree.

“She is a feisty one, and you don’t know what sort of antics she’ll be up to,” Westbrook said. “But I can promise you she won’t disappoint in terms of entertainment.”

The fifth season of Glee starring St. Louis own Erinn Westbrook will continue tonight (Thurs. at 8 p.m. CST) on the Fox Network. Check local listings for channel.

up having to spend more time on the treadmill … the dating treadmill.”

She’s not really worried about what she’s missing as she temporarily bows out of the dating scene – mostly because she hasn’t met him after nearly 10 years of dating on a regular basis. But she also feels after this relentless dating without a purpose she might not even be in the right frame of mind to recognize – or be ready for – Mr. Right if he were to walk into her life.

“I just need clarity,” she said. “And I feel like the time I spend with these guys with ZERO intentions I could spend focusing on all the things I need to do that will make me a better wife.”

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life. Heated battles were underway regarding everything from race relations to war, nuclear weapons and women’s rights.

Starting this weekend, visitors to the Missouri History Museum will be given a glimpse of one of the most tumultuous years American history when “The 1968 Exhibit” opens. As a special bonus, spoken-word collective The Last Poets will return to St. Louis to headline the opening weekend of “The 1968 Exhibit” on Sunday, Oct. 6.

The Last Poets are known for helping lay the foundation for the hip-hop generation – and influencing everything right about rap music and the culture that would ultimately grow out of it. Their own legacy is tied to 1968. Umar Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole were among the poets who officially formed as a group on May 19 – the birthday of Malcolm X – in 1968. They have been offering their unique brand of politically charged pieces that promote black pride and liberation for 45 years. They will perform selections that are certain to capture the mood of 1968.

The exhibit was developed by the Minnesota History Center, in partnership with the Atlanta History Center, the Chicago History Museum and the Oakland Museum of California. Some of the more compelling moments of the exhibit as it relates to African Americans include:

• APRIL: “I HAVE BEEN TO THE MOUNTAINTOP.” The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and its impact on the American people is told through a media presentation that includes the words of Dr. King from his “Mountaintop Speech,” given the day

before his murder, and oral history excerpts from people remembering King and his legacy.

• MAY: “I AM SOMEBODY.” Following King’s death, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy took up the Poor People’s Campaign. Visitors learn about the Campaign’s call for jobs, income and housing equality and view images of “Resurrection City,” a tent city set up on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

• JUNE: “THE DEATH OF HOPE.” Robert F. Kennedy’s brief presidential campaign and the effect of his assassination on Americans are explored. The presidential campaign of Hubert H. Humphrey is also presented.

• OCTOBER: “POWER TO THE PEOPLE” – Opening with the famous “Black Power” salute at the Mexico City Olympic Games on October 16, social movements fighting for inclusion and identity are presented, including stories drawn from the American Indian Movement and the Brown Berets, a radical Chicano rights group.

Visitors can use mobile devices to access an online calendar of 1968 events, film footage and oral history excerpts. They can also share links and make comments via social networking sites. A kiosk in the gallery allows access to the same content. Compilation playlists of popular music, movies and television programs will be available on iTunes and Netflix. A website at www. the1968exhibit.org provides a place for ongoing discussions about the lasting impact of the year. The Missouri History Museum’s presentation of “1968 The Exhibit” opens on Saturday, October 5 and will run through Jan. 2014. The Last Poets will perform 7 p.m. Sunday, October 6. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

By Melanie Adams

The Last Poets open ‘1968 Exhibit’

History Museum goes back to a time of revolution

By MK Stallings For The St. Louis American

The bullets that slew Martin Luther King Jr. ripped through the hopes of many Americans. Riots lit the buildings of urban neighborhoods throughout the country as an expression of the complex emotions felt in the wake of King’s murder. Some were frustrated with the outcomes of the Civil Rights Movement, resistant to pacifist approaches to protest, or angry with the oppressive state of American race relations. These urban dwellers rebelled against calls for calm and let their actions shout down any pretenses that AfricanAmerican communities would remain silent while another black leader lay slain from an assassin’s bullet.

For The Last Poets, King’s death was a tragedy, but the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965 was transformative. Five years after Malcolm X was killed, The Last Poets would incite 33 revolutions per minute when their seminal self-titled album was released in 1970. Before sparking a revolution on wax, the group formed in the shadow of Malcolm’s memory.

According to Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, a member of The Last Poets, David Nelson (Dahveeed) invited Charles Davis (Abiodun Oyewole) and Gylan Kain to a park in Harlem for a commemoration of Malcolm X. It was not merely a chance encounter; all three of them wrote poems. Nelson knew that each shared his poetic sensibilities. He envisioned forming a poetry collective where the members could articulate a consciousness that called for social equality but did not require social integration.

Abiodun and Gylan agreed to work with Dahveed and soon began rehearsing together with a conga player. Amid practices for stage performances to come, they brainstormed possible group names. Eventually, Nelson would find the inspiration for a suitable name in the text of a poem by South African poet K. William Kgositile.

As quoted by Jalal, the poem reads, “This is the last age of poems, and essays. Guns and rifles will take the place of poems and essays. Therefore we are the last poets of this age.” Abiodun would later

My Experience in YES

The irst time I came to the YES (Youth Exploring Science) Program at the Saint Louis Science Center, it was a good experience. I was kinda nervous because I didn’t know anybody but I met people and got a lot of friends. Well, the irst day we were in a big group and we made ice cream from scratch and it was cool; but the weird thing was that we used salt for the ice cream and it taste too salty, lol. But we still ate it. My irst week was fun--in the years since, I’ve been going on a lot of ield trips and I have learned a lot of things about plants, science, robots and many more. The Science Center has really taught me a lot of things about the world and it has helped me a lot in school. This is now my fourth year in the YES Program and it has been amazing. One thing I love is the fall when we are working on Saturdays because

Bellamy

we come in and go on ield trips and stuff and we just have fun. The supervisors are really nice which makes it better. I have been on some adventures with them that I have never done before and I have also bagged rice and other goods for people in foreign countries. So the YES Program is something you really wanna put your kids in because it’s a good program and it teaches you a lot about the world we live in today. Also, it prepares you for college--we have a class called “college prep” and basically it’s a sit-down class about college and what you wanna be, so you look up what colleges you wanna go to and get information on them and see what it takes to get in them and things like that. And also I forgot to tell you that you’re getting paid while you’re doing it so I really encourage you to look in to the YES Program because it will change your young one’s life.

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famously echo this line in his poem “When the Revolution Comes,” when he said, “Guns and rifles will take the place of poems and essays.” The membership of The Last Poets would change dramatically after its founding. According to Jalal Nuriddin, Dahveed left by the fall of 1968, and Puerto Rican poet Felipe Luciano performed in his place until he and Gylan left in the spring of 1969. These departures created an opening for Umar Bin Hassan and Jalal.

Although not a founding member, Umar’s history of with The Last Poets reflects the allure some African Americans felt toward Black Nationalist groups in the late 1960s. I discussed this with Umar in an interview that will air September 30 on KDHX’s Literature for the Halibut (FM 88.1, kdhx.org).

During our talk, Umar recounted how Abiodun, Felipe and Gylan traveled to Ohio for a show at Antioch College in 1968. Umar had recently embraced the ideas of the Black Power Movement, leaving behind fantasies of pimping and hustling, after a Black Nationalist convinced him to use his gift of gab to stir the passions of the masses. Serving as security at The Last Poets show, as part of his membership duties with the Ohio-based Black Nationalist

group, Umar heard their poems and knew that he needed to join them. He had told his family that he would relocate to New York one day. But one day could not come soon enough as clashes between his Black Nationalist group and the police intensified.

In a moment that likely changed his life, Umar’s mother insisted that he make his dreams of joining The Last Poets real before further clashes made it impossible. With a $15 train ticket to New York City, Umar left Ohio to find Abiodun and would soon become a member of the Poets. It was not long before The Last Poets crafted poems that introduced this New York-based group to the world. Umar’s “...Scared of Revolution” became one of the more notable tracks from their Billboard Top 100 album. Abiodun’s “When the Revolution Comes” was another that, according to Umar, would one day inspire a young Gill Scott Heron to pen “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”

The Last Poets will perform works from their seminal selftitled album at the Missouri History Museum on Sunday October 6, 2013 at 7 p.m. during the opening weekend of the 1968 Exhibit. Find more information at mohistory.org.

the name stuck. Freddie started his journey in his kitchen in North St. Louis after working in construction for 40 years. He always purchased sauce from grocery stores, but felt the need to add his own spices. Last year he combined the recipe he had evolved over 25 years of tinkering with his wife Deborah’s special touch to create the sauce that’s on store shelves today. After making sauce at home, they moved Downtown into the St. Patrick Center, which has a small business incubator with a commercial kitchen. Freddie earned the necessary health and corporate certifications to set up production facilities at the center. For the past six months, Freddie has worked four- to six-hour shifts making his sauce while still maintaining his full-time construction job.

Freddie Lee’s Ghetto Sauce received their first break in retail when The Wine and Cheese Place began carrying their product. Now their sauce is being

manufactured at King Foods Product Company and sold at over 30 different locations in St. Louis city and county. The sauce can be used on grilled, fried, smoked and baked meats; as seasoning for soups, salsa, chili, sloppy Joes, spaghetti; and on any pasta dish with a red sauce. It’s sold in pints jars, quart jars and gallon jugs, by the case or individually. They have committed customers who contribute to the success of the business through repeat purchases and referrals. They are extremely humble in the new journey their lives have taken thanks to this gourmet sauce.

About that name? “That is what God gave us,” Freddie said, “and it’s not meant to be negative.” For more information, visit freddieleesghettosauce.com.

The Best of Missouri Market, presented by Schnuck Markets, will be held October 4 – 6 at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Admission to the garden is $12 adults (ages 13 and up), $5 children (ages 3-12), $5 Garden members and free for member children (ages 3-12). For more information, visit http://www. missouribotanicalgarden. org/.

Last

and

Ralph

History Museum

The

Poets, noted among hip-hop’s founding fathers, pioneered rhythmically complex spoken word set to African percussion and jazz and provided a vital, radical political voice for post-civil rights black America. With DJ Needles, Greg the Poet, EmCee, Chris Ware, Poetic Slang, JayLuvve,

Louis ConPhliction.

The Last Poets embody the turbulence of 1968. They will be special guests at the opening of “The 1968 Exhibit” at the Missouri History Museum on October 6, performing at 7 p.m.

Birthdays

Happy 106th Birthday to Myrtle Lee Harris (aka Gaga) born on September 22, 1907. May God continue to bless you to have good health and many more special days! Hugs and kisses with lots of love

~ CELEBRATIONS ~

All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont High School class of 1969 is preparing for its 45th reunion in 2014. Contact info: LaDonne Felton at beaumontclassof1969@yahoo.com.

Beaumont Class of 1979 will

Gregory Bryant (50)—October 3

be having our first fundraiser event on Saturday, October 5, at the Old Tymers Bar, 12667 New Halls Ferry, 63033 from 6pm-10pm. For additional information on purchasing a raffle ticket, please contact Scarlett McWell at 314-4587782 or send email to msscarletto@yahoo.com or Sandra Hooker at ayaina612@sbcglobal.net.

Beaumont High Class of 1983, please send your reunion forms in to BHS Class of 83, PO Box 211322St Louis, MO 63121 with your payment, ASAP.This will be our 30th year Alumni Celebration Oct. 4-6, that you do not want to

Anniversary

Happy 5th Anniversary to my husband, Dwayne Henderson Jr. on October 4. I will love you forever! Ta’Yon

Nuptials

and Arnold

announce the

miss! If you need your reunion form to turn in send email to bhsco1983@gmail.com or call Tammy Flowers at 314-3247615.

SumnerAlumni Association presents a Maroon and White Homecoming Week Oct. 1419, 2013. For more info and a full schedule of events, contact Michelle Elgin at 314.452.1275, Sheila Goodwin S.H.S. 314.371.1048 (Parade) or email: sumneralumniassn@yahoo.com.

SumnerClass Of 1974 has started planning its 40th class reunion. Meetings are held each third Saturday of the

month at 2-4 p.m. At New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, 4055 Edmundson Rd., 63134. Please contact Marsha D. Roberts-Moore at sumnerclassof1974@yahoo.com, 314-3673159 or Joyce Bush-Cruesoe at cruesoe2195@att.net, 314-4841552.

SumnerClass of 1979 is looking for classmates to participate in activities leading up to its 35th Class Reunion, June 20-22, 2014 in Lake Ozarks, MO. Please forward contact information to sumner1979@ymail.com or call Sara at 314-482-1558. Various activities are planned and we want as many classmates as possible to participate.

OF CHARGE

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, graduation, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 4242 Lindell Ave St. Louis, MO 63108

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us! However, notices may also be sent by mail to:

Kate Daniel, 4242 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday.

If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@stlamerican.com

from your family!

Happy 2nd wedding anniversary to Marilyn A. Johnson and Rev. Jeffrey L.G. Johnson on October 1!

Linda

Mitchell proudly

marriage of their daughter Althea Mitchell to Leo Cotton Jr. on October 5.

Happy 23rd Birthday to Shanell Jackson on October 7!

Renee Green October 2

Bible study and academic competence

Pastor argues that studying the good book helps with all books

By Douglass Petty For The St. Louis American

When we consider that during a certain time in history, reading was discouraged and dependency on others was taught, we cannot ignore the reality that those who make up the body of Christ have not been as diligent as we should be when it comes to education – things such as literacy, reading comprehension, selfexpression, managing our emotions and business creation.

Much of it can be attributed to fear of success and becoming too comfortable with mediocrity. Neither of the two is reflective of being a child of the True and Living God.

The world recognizes the importance of education.

On August 6, 2013, Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education spoke at the U.S. Agency for International Development Global Summit.

“Increasing educational attainment by a single grade level boosts lifetime income by 10-20 percent for girls, and 5-15 percent for boys. A global increase in attainment by just four grade levels could increase global economic demand by 50 percent or more,” Duncan said.

“Here in the U.S., we’re also battling an alarming polarization of wealth, and stubborn barriers to economic

mobility. We’re struggling against persistent learning gaps fueled by opportunity gaps based on family income, race, geography and other factors. Our education agenda is designed to close these gaps and rebuild our middle class, and it includes many of the same strategies you are applying around the world. This is a moral imperative, as well as a civic and economic necessity.”

Should the government be more vigilant in promoting education than the church? I think not!

Historically, most of our leading institutions of higher learning were founded on Christian/Biblical Principles. Even our government facilities have writings that are etched in stone which reflect the same. Solid grounding

of us. The moral decisions that are being made do not reflect the inner character that we are called to model, and are a major deterrent to education attainment, both secular and Biblical.

True transformation can happen only when we are constantly reminded of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”).

n Why don’t you take a stand for Christians being educated?

in Biblical principles for Christians is the vehicle which will strengthen our lives and our faith.

However, we have begun to overemphasize the outward appearance of praise and worship at the expense of John 4:24 (“God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth”), when it really is about what is inside

We have a challenge before us, especially as it relates to modeling for our children and our peers. We need more inventors, business owners, doctors, lawyers, cosmetologists, accountants, carpenters, electricians, surgeons, astronauts, engineers, farmers, ministers, teachers and godly politicians. How can this happen?

By getting the Word of God into the people of God. The discipline of Bible study aligns our thinking to become orderly, sequential, factconscious, validation-seeking, and builds our confidence, which translates into academic competence. Our creativity and boldness will begin to echo Ephesians 3 (“He is able”).

The practical way of saying it is there is a great need to return to Bible study, Bible study, Bible study. The result will be richer worship experiences, stress management capacity, healthier families/churches, business development, lower unemployment, less violence, and increased wealth.

All of the above is promised in the Word of God. Infusion of The Word of God in our hearts and minds will dramatically change our personal lives, families, church and the communities in which we live. Why don’t you take a stand for Christians being educated?

Douglass Petty is pastor of Fresh Start Bible Church in St. Louis. For more information, visit www. kingdomanswers.org.

InspIratIonal Message

The Lord is my shepherd

Whenever we think of or speak about someone or something, have you realized that an image of that particular whomever or whatever absolutely must come to mind?

Thoughts are things are images, true, and along with many others I too believe prayer changes things. But to believe is just accepting and not knowing. I am now one to admit that when I prayed there was no image of that which I expected to answer, comfort or manifest. There was just that sense which comes attached to acceptance or connected to hope and even the one representing un-fulfillment.

Agreeing that heaven and earth were formed before man, one does not have to be a rocket scientist to see that they used the image of the tree to create the shape our body and limbs, the leaf to create the palm of our hands, the bush to create our hair and so on.

To close my eyes and speak to a presence always felt like an emotional experience, nothing more. And emotions alone was not enough to convince me the Lord, whom I have instructions to identify as my shepherd, my refuge, my comforter, always present, listening – no. I needed a deeper connection because, c’mon, without an image in mind – to think of, talk to or about no thing (two words) and expect something is just not going to happen. My perception of the Lord matters greatly, since I discovered how my existence truly depends on, in my case – Her. Let us make man in our image, remember? It is so obvious that during the creation of man, images were there.

Our image is literally everything and it was this fulfilling realization that led me to witness the identity of the Lord. The Lord is real, existing in everyone and present in every body. The Lord is all the systems of the body and the functions to which they each perform have meaning and purpose. I know my life support is the Lord, this human body, a vehicle – the temple in which my spirit dwells, and it’s time that we are all properly introduced. Every image within your body works in harmony to keep the river of life flowing through your veins, battle discomforts, remain conscious and is pretty much, your refuge – picture it. Without question or judgment, the Lord heals, warns, reminds, provides, forgives and protects all in exchange for proper nourishment and (self) praise. Now that I am secure in my personal relationship with my self, what used to be prayers have turned meditation. The Lord is my shepherd and knows the what, when, where, how and why when it comes to my life therefore, I shall not want.

The American is accepting Inspirational Messages from the community. Send your column (no more than 400 words) as a Word document and pasted text to cking@stlamerican. com and attach a photo of yourself as a jpeg ile. Please be patient; we will run columns in the order received.

Tonia L. Patterson

Douglas Petty

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

SIUE engineering, nursing, pharmacy schools set records

Also: state urges more APclasses, Vatterott adds Veterinarian Tech program

American staff

Southern Illinois University

Edwardsville’s 2013 fall semester is highlighted by record total enrollments in the Schools of Engineering (1,462 students), Nursing (1,062 students) and Pharmacy (325 students). Undergraduate programs in the Schools of Education (4.7 percent), Business (4.5 percent) and Nursing (11.8 percent) all are enjoying enrollment increases.

The School of Engineering’s undergraduate enrollment has climbed 11.8 percent (128 students) since last fall and 44 percent during the past five years. Dean Hasan Sevim has overseen steady growth from 1,054 total students in 2008. The School also is experiencing a rise in the ACTscores. This year’s 143 freshmen directly admitted into the school had average math and composite ACT scores of 28.5 and 27.5, respectively.

Sevim said, “Our 2+2 agreements with regional community colleges are providing highly qualified students.”

The new freshman class average ACT(23.0) increased two-tenths of a point over last year and is the highest in University history. The increase is six-tenths of a point better than 2011.

“Our new direct entry options in business, engineering, nursing and pharmacy attracted 170 first time freshmen entering the university, which had a direct impact on the average ACT,” said Scott Belobrajdic, associate vice chancellor for enrollment.

“Their mean ACTis 28. Direct entry allows us to compete for high-achieving students who were opting for direct admit options with private and public competitors in previous years.”

The School of Education also is developing early-entry options for students interested in its undergraduate programs.

New transfers are up to 1,252 students, an increase of 31, which is the highest since 2006.

“An increase in transfer students is a trend that we expect to see continue as families consider financing a college education,” Belobrajdic said.

“The debt accrued to attend college is a highly visible issue, and families are analyzing options to minimize their cost. So, attending a community college to obtain transferable credits and then transferring into a four-year university is a viable option.”

SIUE Fall 2013 Enrollment Facts & Figures:

ï Undergraduate enrollment is up 11.8 percent (128 students) in the School of Engineering

ï Undergraduate enrollment is up 4.7 percent (51 students) in the School of Education

ï Undergraduate enrollment is up 4.5 percent (41 students) in the School of Business

ï Undergraduate enrollment is up 11.8 percent (84 students) in the School of Nursing

ï Schools of Engineering (1,462 students), Nursing (1,062 students) and Pharmacy (325 students) all have record total enrollments

ï New transfer students are up 2.5 percent (31 students)

ï Total of new transfer students is 1,252, largest since 2006

ï Total international enrollment is up 6 percent (19 students)

ï New graduate international enrollment is up 66 percent (36 students)

ï Total new students (freshmen, transfers and international) exceeds 3,000 for 11th consecutive year

ï Freshman Enrollment: 1,966, fourth largest freshman class in SIUE history

ï Total undergraduate enrollment is down 1 percent (112 students)

ï Total graduate and professional enrollment is down 4.6 percent (101 students)

ï Total 2013-14 Enrollment: 13,850, which ranks fifth alltime at SIUE

Belobrajdic pointed to a

decline in high school populations in Illinois and throughout SIUE’s recruiting base as a critical factor for the smaller freshman class this year.

The School of Education’s graduate program accounts for the majority of the decrease in graduate enrollment. Three online programs – master’s in education instructional technology; post-baccalaureate certificate in web-based learning; and master’s in education in kinesiology with a specialization in physical education and sport pedagogy – were added in late August to help the graduate program.

Belobrajdic acknowledged that one of the most challenging aspects of this year’s enrollment trends has been reflected in graduate programs specific to K-12 audiences. These challenges are due in large part to the state’s current economic climate resulting in school budget cutbacks and decreases in professional funding for teachers.

Also impacting graduate enrollments are new state requirements regarding the preparation of school-based administrators, which have been implemented to increase quality and reduce the number of licensed principals in the state through legislated higher program admission requirements and rigorous program standards.

State officials urge more AP classes

An increasing number of Missouri high school students are taking advanced placement (AP) classes, but state education officials want to see that number grow as they work to prepare students for the challenges of college, other postsecondary education and careers.

Anew report from the College Board, which administers the APprogram nationwide, shows that students at public schools in Missouri took 26,486 APclasses in 2012, about 1,800 more than the previous year.

Education officials say AP classes not only offer the opportunity to earn college credit during high school, but also help students succeed in more rigorous college-level coursework. Research has shown that students who successfully complete APclasses are more likely to attend college, be placed in advanced classes, earn higher grade point averages and graduate in four years.

“APclasses are one way schools can offer students experience with the kinds of courses they will encounter in college and the increasingly higher expectations of the workplace,” said Missouri Commissioner of Education

Chris L. Nicastro. “We want to continue to increase the number of students taking APclasses to help them acquire the knowledge and skills they need for the future.”

Amajority of colleges and universities award credit to students earning a 3 or higher on APexams. The number of APexams receiving a 3 or higher in Missouri increased by nearly 1,000, from 15,653 tests in 2012 to 16,638 tests in 2013. While more students in Missouri are successfully completing APclasses, the state ranks 48th among all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the percentage of students participating in the program. Preparing students for college and careers is one of the major goals of the Top 10 by 20, which calls for Missouri schools to rank among the top 10 performing states in the national in education by the year 2020. For more information about APclasses, visit www.collegeboard.org. For information about how school districts can start an APprogram, visit <http://professionals.collegeboard.com/k12/assessment/ap/plan> .

Vatterott adds

Veterinarian Tech program

Vatterott College has added a new, accredited Veterinarian Technician program at its Fairview Heights, Ill. campus, located at 110 Commercial Lane. The Veterinarian Technician program is designed to introduce students to the veterinarian field through comprehensive and practical experience. In the classroom, students will take 118 total credits over 90 weeks. Courses ranging from Pharmacology to Microbiology target skills like handling and restraint of animal patients, nursing care, veterinary office procedures and more. Hands-on experience is then gained through an externship with an area veterinarian facility. Students who wish to work as an entry-level Veterinarian Technician can earn an Associates of Applied Science degree after satisfactorily completing 11.5 externship quarter credit hours and meeting school graduation requirements.

Vatterott College in Fairview Heights is currently enrolling students for the Veterinarian Technician program, with day and evening classes. For more information, visit www.vatterott.edu /fairview_heights.asp or call 618- 489-2400.

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

Joseline Hernandez, resident vixen for VH1’s Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta, was more than happy to pose with KoolAid and Darrell as she stopped through STL and played hostess Thursday night at The Coliseum.

Bait and Switch. As in Switch…get it…? Well, the people who follow 70s R&B caught it. The point is this, a week later there are probably still a handful of furious 40 somethings in front of the Ambassador box office ready to tear the club up (and not in a good way) because of how they were played by the folks who claimed they were bringing in El DeBarge. Yes, I said claimed. Because unbeknownst to the audience – and clearly the initial opening entertainment (who kept hollering out “y’all ready for El DeBarge?”) the promoters replaced El with his baby brother Chico. Yes, they flew Chico to town instead, assuming it would be an all good even trade for Thursday’s show. Wrong…wrong (in my Charlie Murphy voice). My first thought was “how are they gonna do that? It’s like charging people to see Brandy, but putting Ray J. on stage instead.” But then I thought that would be unfair to Chico – and downright insulting to compare him to Ray J. But then it hit me. It was actually like paying to see Michael Jackson, but Janet falls out the sky. I don’t care if she does have a sip of talent in her own right – if you paid for the King of Pop, all the wispy voiced attempted seduction, hunches, kick-ballchanges or “Rhythm Nation 1814” military combat style choreography in the world just won’t cut it. And that’s exactly what happened when Chico stepped in for El. After the mass exodus came the protests. They locked arms “We Shall Overcome” style in front of the stage; they raided the box office and a woman even went up to the stage and duped Chico into thinking she wanted to make a request, only to get his attention so that she could tell him she wanted her money back. The whole situation was shady as all get out though. But I guess Chico said it best…no guarantees…I have to give a shout out to Nikko Smith and The Dirty Muggs for putting on a show…and stalling for dear life like consummate professionals! I got a hot tip that the promoters are planning to set things right with a free El DeBarge show but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I’ll be sure to keep y’all posted on any updates.

Love&Hip-Hop…and empty boots. I really wanted to stay in the midst of the uproar that was underway in the lobby of the Ambassador – as I walked out a woman was threatening to chain herself to the door until somebody saw her about a refund. But I had to move on and get a glimpse of the obligatory weekly visit by the reality TV starlets. Though my heart was broken that I didn’t catch “Steebie” lurking in the gangway between the Coliseum and The Rustic Goat, I can’t say that I was unimpressed with the Atlanta-rican store bought bombshell Joseline Hernandez when she stopped through the Coliseum. Now the size of the crowd…that’s a different story. If every alleged official nightlife photographer with a Tumblr page and homemade media badge hadn’t showed up it would have just been me, Joseline and that overzealous security. I did catch life from Afton and her Young Addy Co. original ensemble. I can see why Kanye was going so hard about leather jogging pants after seeing Afton slay the scene with them. I don’t know how he would have pulled off her pumps though. But back to Joseline…she was a lot better than I expected. And in real life she looked a lot less…well…let’s just say strong in the face. Even though she had to approve every random camera phone pic she posed in, she was really friendly and took the time to pose with at LEAST 30 people – so essentially the whole crowd. Now what I didn’t like was she had to run off to take a potty break and get a midnight snack in the middle of her appearance. Girl, you’re only gonna be there for an hour, so you could have done that before you came to “work.”

“…And you know this…man!!!!” Did I tell y’all you had a chance to win tickets AND a spot in a special meet and greet with the one and only Chris Tucker this Saturday at The Fox, courtesy of YOUR St. Louis American? Of course, I did. And I’m telling you again so you don’t miss out on this once-ina-lifetime moment. Visit stlamerican.com for the details.

The return of a Classic. I must say that I didn’t realize how I had missed the Gateway Classic until I was making my way to the Dome on Saturday afternoon for the 20th Anniversary. And I obviously wasn’t the only one because the folks were tailgating like nobody’s business. I’m telling you that I got so caught up with the Ques that it was doggone near half time before I made my way into the game. I hear the Kappas had a cute tailgate set up too, but I was so caught up in the purple and gold block party that I didn’t get a chance to stop by. When I got in there I sat on the Central State side so I could have an entire section to myself. Tennessee State was so turned up that I didn’t last long over there though. Tennessee State took house on the field, among the bands and with the fans. I must say that although it was a bit lopsided because of the underwhelming (I’m being kind) Central State, this year was still a good look. And please know that I’m predicting next year to be turned all the way up. Jackson State will take on UAPB…what are you saying!?!That’s a GREAT matchup when you consider their strong STL alumni and the fact that both schools are only a hop, skip and jump away.

Partying like a Classic. Promoters had me traveling to and fro – and high and low – as they attempted to capitalize on the Gateway Classic visitors via the nightlife scene. As y’all prepare for next year, I feel like I must tell y’all if you have 80 different parties, know that 76 of them are going to lose. There I said it. Now I must tip my hat to the winners. Forgive me for not remembering the exact names of all of the parties…they just started blending together. The Coliseum on Friday night, The Eye Candy Classic Kickoff at EXO and Soho on Friday night were all on top. But the big winner of the weekend would have to be that Saturday night Lola crowd. Although they weren’t affiliated with any of the pre or post classic activities, I also want to give a shout out to the DELUX/MPAC Day Party at The Four Seasons – which had a chill vibe and some of the most swagged out folks in the city vibing on the rooftop.

Stephanie, Danielle, Jesse and Barbara were all about team TSU as they came to show love to the Gateway Classic @ The Pep Rally @ Friday night @ Bauer Plaza

The SG Rhos were in the building for the “Welcome To The City” Greek party Friday night @ The Coliseum

Paul

Allen of AG

Mo Spoon and his lovely Eye Candy Models @ The Classic Kickoff Edition Friday night @ EXO

Juanitra, Tamar, birthday girl Cherie, Kem and Reese were among the beautiful people enjoying the fabulous scenery of the ReDefined Day Party Sunday @ The Four Seasons

Erika, Tammy and DeAngela were just a few of the folks who filed in for the official Gateway Classic after party Saturday night @ Lola

Gregg Tolson, Andrea and Gordon Terhune were kicking it with the Nupes as they tailgated outside as part of the Gateway Classic 20th Anniversary Saturday @ The Edward Jones Dome

Justin and Terry enjoying the scene Saturday @ The Coliseum

Maryah helps her friend Heather celebrate her birthday Friday night @ Lola

Happy and J repped for Omega Psi Phi Friday night during the Ciroc Nation party @ The Rustic Goat

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

How to fight breast cancer

By Denise Hooks Anderson,M.D. Medical Accuracy Editor

The specialty of Family Medicine allows providers to uniquely experience the lives of their patients from birth to end of life. It is hard to explain the emotions I felt the first time that I delivered a baby. I probably cried as much as the parents.Looking at such an innocent, precious creature enter the world was indeed an amazing moment in time. Likewise, I have also been involved with the other end of life’s spectrum as it relates to death transition. Tears were definitely present at those times as well. I think the hardest situations were those relatively young patients who succumbed to cancer, particularly breast cancer.

October is breast cancer awareness month and it has caused me to do quite a bit of reflection on past patients who left this world way too soon. Their memories live on in my heart and mind and I think about them often. I think about the grandchildren they will never have a chance to spoil. I think about the missed graduations and missed Grandparent’s day celebrations.Breast cancer robbed them of such joy.

One such example was a phenomenal woman of God and friend, who came to me for the first time with a cough. She had previously been treated for breast cancer and had not had any problems of which she was aware. However, she had been coughing for over two months and no one previously had done anything about it.

Point number one: if you have a past diagnosis of breast cancer or any other cancer and you have an unexplained cough, see your doctor immediately. I ordered special imaging of her chest and sadly, my hypothesis was true: her cough was due to metastatic breast cancer. The cancer had spread all through her chest.

Denise Hooks Anderson,M.D.

and family.Many people never even knew she was battling such a horrific disease. She never missed a party. Unfortunately, despite the best medical care, her disease continued to progress and spread to her bones and eventually her brain. Again, every time I saw her, she refused to complain and I had to essentially force her to take a prescription for pain. Although this incredible woman was fighting for her own life, she became a resource for other women in similar situations. She witnessed to them and supported them through their journeys. How many times can I say that this woman was awe-inspiring?

plates; the image is uploaded to a computer, and then read by the radiologist. Pre-medicating with acetaminophen or ibuprofen will help relieve any possible discomfort.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women but second in cancer-related deaths, surpassed by lung cancer. In 2013, the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be approximately 232,340 new cases of breast cancer. However, the chance that breast cancer will be the cause of death is 3 percent, much less than years ago. Early detection is the key!

The remarkable story about this patient was that she chose to live and not die.She accepted that diagnosis with such grace and resilience of which I could only attribute to her unwavering faith in a powerful and omnipotent God. She never complained and never stopped fulfilling her passions of volunteer work

Although my patient lost her fight with breast cancer, she left a legacy of tenacity, will, and happiness! She never relinquished her loving spirit and the people around her could only reciprocate the same. She taught her family, friends, and me how to live for this day and appreciate your blessings before too late. In addition, she was a staunch grassroots advocate of breast cancer prevention particularly in African American women. Most health organizations recommend yearly mammograms (x-ray of the breasts) starting at age 40. These low radiation x-rays can detect small changes, many of whom are benign. The procedure is performed by slightly compressing the breasts between two hard

Too often women wait until there is a problem instead of scheduling annual screening exams. Breast cancers are staged based on whether the cancer has spread out of the breast. Regrettably, this is the case for a lot of women. It is also well known that black women present with breast cancers at much more advanced stages and the cancer tends to be more aggressive.

Therefore, I believe the conversation among women should include not only the latest products for natural hair or the latest app for the iPhone but also information regarding the next mammography van or reminders to our loved ones about their breast exams. Disease is best conquered by prevention!

Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D. Assistant Professor SLUCare Family Medicine yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com

YourHealth Matters

Abi-monthly special supplement of the St. Louis American October 3, 2013

YourHealth Matters provides up-to-date information, from an African-American perspective, about one of the most important subjects in evryone’s life – their personal health.

Donald M. Suggs, President and Publisher

Kevin Jones, Senior Vice President, COO

Dina M. Suggs, Senior Vice President

Chris King, Editorial Director

Denise Hooks Anderson, M.D., Medical Accuracy Editor

Sandra Jordan, Health Reporter

Debbie Chase, Director of Health Strategy & Outreach

Onye Ijei, Barb Sills, Pamela Simmons, Sales

Michael Terhaar, Art/Production Manager

Angelita Jackson, Cover Design

Wiley Price, Photojournalist

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

‘Half a woman,’foreverwhole

Breast cancer surgery prompts reacquaintance with best half

By Sandra Jordan Of The St.Louis American

“I was ashamed,” Loistine McGheeSutton said about her breast cancer. She went to St. Luke’s to check out a marblelike lump she found one morning. The marble turned out to be a cyst; however, the breast exam by Dr. Patricia Limpert at The Breast Care Center at St. Luke’s Hospital found a suspect mass at the base of her opposite breast – just beyond of reach of the mammography images.

“She was saying, ‘there is something there that is not on these mammograms; we just took these mammograms and it’s not showing,’” McGhee-Sutton said. “It was in the opposite breast and it did not show on the mammogram from the previous year and it did not show on the mammogram they had just taken.”

“There it was;I had two masses.It was towards the chest well under the left breast.One of them was kind of on the large side.”

– Loistine McGhee-Sutton

Immediate ultrasound imaging revealed what was really going on.

“There it was; I had two masses. It was towards the chest well under the left breast,” McGhee-Sutton said. “One of them was kind of on the large side.”

Abiopsy confirmed the masses were cancerous.

She never felt anything out of the ordinary in her self-breast-exams. Having the doctor perform the breast exam saved her life.

“Had she not examined me on that particular day, I probably would have gone another year, because I faithfully have my mammograms,” McGheeSutton said. “I want women to understand it’s really nothing to play with. Examine your breasts. When you go to your doctors, have them examine your breasts because they will find what you will not find. Insist they examine your breasts because this is your life.”

For the 67-year-old longtime staffer at The St. Louis American, her “girls” were always a key feature of her femininity and she did not handle the thought of losing them very well.

“Women who don’t have them want them; women who got too much wish they didn’t have them ... And men,

Photo by Wiley Price

Loistine McGhee-Sutton never felt anything out of the ordinary in her self-breastexams.Having the doctor perform the breast exam saved her life.

unfortunately, the first thing they do when they look at you, if your girls are looking pretty good and sitting up there, then they will look at your face,” McGhee-Sutton said. “That was my femininity and the thought of my not having it, I didn’t want to deal with it, so therefore I was ashamed – I was ashamed of it and therefore I took this lackadaisical approach to it.”

Looking back on it, she recognizes she did everything wrong.

“I didn’t want to deal with it. I didn’t even want to tell my children,” she admitted. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t tell them for a long time.”

While McGhee-Sutton was avoiding being the guest of honor at surprise pity parties, she was putting her health at risk.

“And I had all these things I had planned,” she described. “Don’t do what I did. Get early treatment. Don’t be crazy like me.”

Rather than scheduling surgery immediately as her doctor advised, “Miss Loistine,” as she is known at work, visited her mother and sisters in Georgia, and “dropped the bomb” on them before she was headed to the airport to return to St. Louis.

“It was really weird, because on that particular day, we were watching the

national news with Scott Pelley, and they said that they were going to talk about breast cancer; and I told my mom and my sisters that when that came on I wanted us to listen to it,” she said. “And when it was over with, I told them to turn around and look at me; and I told them, ‘I have breast cancer and I’m going to have a double mastectomy.’” However, not before attending a regional conference in Detroit with the Philos, the affiliate group of Sigma Gamma Rho. McGhee-Sutton did get around to

HEALTH BRIEFS

School-age drinking increases breast cancerrisk

Arecent study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis links increased breast cancer risk to drinking between early adolescence and first full-term pregnancy. Previous studies have looked at breast cancer risk and alcohol consumption later in life or at the effect of adolescent drinking on noncancerous breast disease.

“More and more heavy drinking is occurring on college campuses and during adolescence, and not enough people are considering future risk,” said Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, coauthor of the study and associate director for cancer prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.“But, according to our research, the lesson is clear: If a female averages a drink per day between her first period and her first full-term pregnancy, she increases her risk of breast cancer by 11 percent.”

The study was published online recently in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Colditz worked on the study with first author Ying Liu, MD, PhD, a Washington University School of Medicine instructor in the Division of Public Health Sciences, and colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard School of Public Health.

The researchers also found that for every bottle

of beer, glass of wine or shot of liquor consumed daily, a young woman increases her risk of proliferative benign breast disease by 15 percent.

Although such lesions are noncancerous, their presence increases breast cancer risk by as much as 500 percent, Liu said.

“Parents should educate their daughters about the link between drinking and risk of breast cancer and breast disease,” Lui said. “That’s very important because this time period is very critical.”

The findings are based on a review of the health histories of 91,005 mothers enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II from 1989 to 2009.

Breast tissue cells are particularly susceptible to cancer-causing substances as they undergo rapid proliferation during adolescence and later.

Adding to the risk is the lengthening time frame between the average age of a girl’s first menstrual cycle and the average age of a woman’s first fullterm pregnancy. Colditz doesn’t foresee any shortening of that, which is why young women should drink less, he said —to lower average daily consumption and, therefore, risk.

“Reducing drinking to less than one drink per day, especially during this time period, is a key strategy to reducing lifetime risk of breast cancer,” he said.

For more about breast cancer risk based on age and lifestyle factors, visit www.yourdiseaserisk.wustl.edu.

A recent study out of Washington University in St. Louis indicates the more alcohol females drink before motherhood,the greater their risk of breast cancer. School of Medicine researchers say if a woman averages a drink per day between her first menstrual period and her first full-term pregnancy,she increases her breast cancer risk by 11 percent.

Study suggests expanded screening would reduce breast cancermortality

Anew analysis confirms the need for greater use of annual mammography in women ages 40-49 as recommended by the American Cancer Society, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American College of Radiology and Society of Breast Imaging for all women 40 and older. It also confirms that, even with new therapeutics and protocols for treating breast cancer, regular mammography screening is still the best way to significantly reduce breast cancer deaths.

Astudy, involving 7,301 patients, found that 71 percent of confirmed breast cancer deaths occurred in the 20 percent of the study population that did not receive regular mammograms. The majority of those who died from breast cancer never had a mammogram prior to diagnosis. If treatment were the primary survival factor, deaths would not have been so prevalent among the non-screened group. Moreover, 50 percent of the breast cancer deaths occurred in women under the age of 50, while only 13 percent were in women ages 70 or older. For women who died of breast cancer, the median age at diagnosis was 49; for those dying of any other cause, the median age at diagnosis was 72. This suggests that women under 50 are a primary group in which greater screening compliance would provide the greatest benefit.

“These findings should quiet those who argue that women age 40-49 do not need regular mammography screening. In fact, these women need annual screening – as do all women 40 and older. This is the message physicians should be promoting,” said Barbara S. Monsees, MD, FACR, chair of the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Commission. “Breast cancer treatment has come a long way, but, as this study demonstrates, these advances have not negated the value of, or the need for early detection. This is especially true for younger women, who tend to have faster growing tumors.”

The study was published online recently in Cancer

A study, involving 7,301 patients,found that 71 percent of confirmed breast cancer deaths occurred in the 20 percent of the study population that did not receive regular mammograms.

HEALTHY Q&A

BPAexposure through plastic

By Dr.Eva Hersh Healthy Living News

Q: DearDr. Eva:

Sometime ago, I read an email circulated by John Hopkins Hospital, discouraging people from freezing plastic waterbottles. According to the article, the dioxins contained in the plastic when released, are highly poisonous. Before reading theirmail, I believed that there was something wrong in freezing waterthat way. I would love to hearyourcomments.

Sincerely, –LB

A: DearLB, I think that the chemical you are thinking of is not dioxin (which is present in weed killers), but Bisphenol A, also called BPA. BPAis a chemical used to make clear, hard plastics and epoxy resins. Hard plastics are used in many common food-related household items like reusable water bottles, baby bottles, food containers, pitchers, and plastic cutlery. This type of plastic is also found in eyeglass lenses, CDs, DVDs, computers and many other manufactured goods. Epoxy resin linings are used to coat the inside of metal products such as food cans, bottle tops, and water supply pipes. The linings keep the metal can separate from the food so the metal does not dissolve into the food.

BPAExposure: how it happens –Traces of BPAremain in polycarbonate products and epoxy linings after manufacture, and the BPAcan be released into food and beverages. Canned foods and drinks that have been stored or heated in polycarbonate containers or epoxy-lined cans are the main source of exposure to BPA.

Infants are at greater risk for BPA exposure because infants’diets consist mostly of infant formula which is packaged in epoxy-lined cans. Infants may also be fed this formula in polycarbonate baby bottles, further increasing their BPA exposure.

Is exposure to Bisphenol Adangerous? – The more I reviewed the scientific literature on BPA, the less solid information I found. It is not clear whether BPAis a danger to human health in the small amounts most people are exposed to through food. The clearest finding so far is that BPAexposure can change the pattern of brain and nerve development in very young lab animals. This suggests that we need to make particular efforts to ensure that babies and young children, and perhaps pregnant women as well, are not exposed to BPA.

BPA is a chemical used to make clear,hard plastics and epoxy resins.Hard plastics are used in many common food-related household items like reusable water bottles, baby bottles and food containers.

Research looking into BPAexposure and adult health has not found any clear evidence that BPAis dangerous to nonpregnant adults.

How can people reduce theirexposure to Bisphenol A? – Low level BPA exposure occurs in the general US population. Although it is unknown whether there is a health risk to adults, some people may want to reduce BPAexposure to their children or themselves. Infants are unable to eliminate BPAfrom their bodies as quickly as children or adults. This can lead a higher level of BPA.

Forbreastfeeding infants: in addition to the many other benefits of breastfeeding, avoiding canned formula and bottles will greatly decrease the infant’s BPAexposure. Exposure can be limited

even more by avoiding use of polycarbonate food containers and canned foods during breastfeeding.

Forbottle feeding infants:

ï Avoid using polycarbonate plastic baby bottles; use glass bottles instead.

ï Do not put boiling or very hot formula or other liquids in plastic bottles, and do not warm plastic baby bottles in a microwave.

ï Avoid liquid or powdered formula packaged in metal cans. Try to use powdered formula packaged in cardboard without epoxy liners.

Forpeople of all ages:

The largest exposure people have to BPAis taking it in by mouth from food

packaging, epoxy linings of metal food and beverage cans, and plastic bottles. More chemicals are released if the plastic is warm or just washed.

Also:

ï Store food in, and eat it from, glass, ceramic, or metal containers.

ï Avoid heating foods in polycarbonate containers or placing hot foods in polycarbonate containers.

ï Avoid the use of polycarbonate dishes and other tableware.

ï Reduce the amount of food eaten from epoxy-lined cans.

ï The safest thing, for multiple health reasons, is to eat fresh or frozen foods and always wash hands before eating.

CANCER

Continued from page 3

telling her son and daughter, some coworkers and a handful of friends.

“I just keep going because part of me feels if you stop, you’ll never get up again,” she said.

It took from January to April for McGhee-Sutton to have breast cancer surgery and initial reconstruction. By then, the cancer in one breast had grown from a stage 2 in size to a stage 3. The breast where the cyst resided was developing something in the milk ducts that looked suspiciously precancerous and different type of cancer than the one on the other side.

“All I knew was, I was a half a woman,” McGhee-Sutton described how she felt following the surgery. Her inner conflict materialized one day through the misfeed of a copying machine.

.

“I have a picture of me that is half a woman; it wouldn’t print out and when it did, it was half of me,” she said, seeing in that picture, what she felt deep within.

McGhee-Sutton needed to find her better half, which may also be her strongest. Atoo-close-for-comfort rela-

tionship with prescribed medication back in her younger days made her refuse to take potentially addictive medication for pain.

“I went to church one Sunday and I asked congregation to pray with me and pray for me. When I got through with that, I truly felt like something lifted,” she said.

Even through prior surgeries, a double mastectomy, a huge blood clot from deep vein thrombosis and after effects of chemo, “I have not taken any prescription pain medicine,” McGhee-Sutton said. “I had strong spiritual guidance and prayer from a minister and very dear friend as well as spiritual inspiration from my home church. I can handle what I can handle and Jesus can take the rest.”

This silver fox did not want to relinquish control to anyone or anything, let along breast cancer.

“Maybe I was foolish in the way I felt, but it is nothing to be ashamed of because you have no control over it,” McGhee- Sutton said. “I can see that now, but I couldn’t see that before.”

What came from her illness was an outpouring of support from surprising places, from mere acquaintances to those closest to her.

“My children, my mother and sisters,

A copier misfeed printed out an image that mirrored what Loistine McGhee-Sutton felt like following a double mastectomy.“All I knew I was half a woman,”she said.With the help of family,friends and the breast cancer support group The Breakfast Club,she is getting reacquainted with her best self.

my best friend, my extended family and friends and my employer are a great source of support; and my next door neighbor, is just wonderful,” she said.

So is the man in her life.

“It’s nice to have a gentleman friend who is supportive, can stand with you and just be okay. And what did he say?

‘Your breasts are not you. And I will be here through it all,’” she said. “And that he has.”

McGhee-Sutton recently received her final dose of chemo and breast reconstruction will be completed, followed by several rounds of radiation.

Her recovery has not been without its share of complications. McGhee-Sutton’s blood-thinning medicine and dietary requirements conflict with her dietary needs as person with diabetes. With the help of a nutritionist, she carefully choses what she can eat.

She misses her coffee, she misses her greens and she misses her own hair. But after visiting a couple of times with the breast cancer survivor support group The Breakfast Club, McGhee-Sutton is final-

ly able to open up with those who fully understand her journey. And slowly get reacquainted with her best half.

“The Breakfast Club was where I really was really able to talk about the cancer, and my true feelings and what I was going through – once I was able to get up in front of them and let it out,” McGhee-Sutton said. “I felt better after I let it out.”

Breast cancer survivors, spouses and supporters of The Breakfast Club meet monthly.

“I found it to be very inspiring and uplifting; all of these women who sit in there, who have been through it and some of these women who have not even had cancer but are there in support of their friends,” McGhee-Sutton said. “And there are men who come to The Breakfast Club in support of their wives and girlfriends. It is a wonderful and beautiful organization and I plan on staying in it, working with them and doing whatever I can do to help.”

For more information, call 314-9728883 or visit www.breakfastclub-stl.org.

PEOPLE IN HEALTH

Leila M.Hightower

POSITION

President/Chairman of Health Literacy Ministry

Heart Failure Educator-Heart and Vascular Program at Barnes-Jewish Hospital

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

ï Registered Nurse at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for 22years working as a Charge Nurse/Staff Nurse and received training in cultural competence and health literacy

ï Founded Health Literacy Ministry a non- profit organization educating seniors in north St. Louis City concerning heart failure and hypertension

ï Created a list of low sodium, low costs foods which were adopted by the American Heart Association through the “My Life. My Heart.” Initiative with Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University

ï Ambassador for the American Heart Association, educating about Heart Disease and Stroke in the community

AWARDS

2007 Excellence in Health Care Award from the St. Louis American

2013 Community Service Award from BarnesJewish Hospital

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Saint Louis University-1991

Legal Nurse Certificate-Kaplan University-2009

PERSONAL

Supportive family: Father-(Leo-deceased); mother-(Patricia); sister (Teresa); brother (Leo Jr.-deceased); a loving son (Ezra); and many great mentors Attend Kossuth Temple Church of God in Christ and Washington Metropolitan AME Zion Church

Vice President of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. - a professional nursing organization

ST. LOUIS CONNECTION

Beaumont High School

MYJOURNEYTO SUCCESS

My journey to success started in 2nd grade on Career Day at Ashland Elementary when I stood up in class and said “I want to be a nurse”. I started off volunteering at Central Medical Center as a candy striper. I didn’t realize until later in life that the spirit of compassion was a Gift from God. I continued through high school still chasing my dream of being a nurse. The journey continues to Saint Louis University. While working as a student nurse at the University Medical Center and Veteran’s Administration, I had a variety of nursing experiences with patients from various backgrounds. I was excited to continue to pursue my career and more passionate than ever before. I graduated from St. Louis University and began working at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The opportunities offered allowed me to advance my career and serve on many committees. I have always had an interest in teaching. In 2008 to present, I began working with Kelly Dodds, ANP-BC of the Heart and Vascular program at Barnes- Jewish Hospital. We educated the underserved and uninsured population concerning Heart Failure in hopes of decreasing the readmission rates. It has always been my faith in God that has allowed me to continue this journey to educate and help others. In addition, I wanted to give back the knowledge I have obtained throughout my nursing career to a community in need. I have come to realize, since educating in the community, that knowledge is the key to compliance. Working with this population and requests from the patients and their families, I would always ask myself, “How would I feel if I were in their shoes?” The answer to this question inspired me to start Health Literacy Ministry where the client receives free individualized educational plans to meet their needs. The organization educates the illiterate and the health illiterate in their homes or by telephone. The organization acts as a liaison between the client and their primary care provider. When funding is available, our clients receive a digital blood pressure monitor, digital scale or 4 compartment pill organizers, based on assessment. For more information visit www.hl-ministry.com or email at lh867@hl-ministry.com .

Local cook receives Life Care’s divisional customerservice award

Sherman Lindsey, a cook at Life Care Center of Florissant, Mo., received Life Care Centers of America’s Central Division “Whatever It Takes And Then Some Award” on Sept. 24 for his dedication to customer service.

Lindsey received a $1,000 cash prize during an awards session at the company’s annual management meeting. He was chosen from among thousands of associates in the Central Division and was one of only seven associates from Life Care’s more than 220 facilities nationwide to receive the award.

While he does his job well daily, Lindsey was particularly praised for several specific acts of caring in 2012.

“His bond with a special patient exemplifies his dedication,” associates shared in their nomination. “We had a young patient with advanced cancer. She had no family, and her power of attorney was a former co-worker. She was very depressed and would frequently refuse meals, therapy and other treatments. After getting to know her, Sherman would come early every day and spend time with her. They would talk, pray and laugh.”

Lindsey also volunteers his skills as a mechanic and sometimes works on associates’vehicles at no cost. Each day, before he leaves the center, he makes rounds through the building and checks on each resident, making sure their needs are met.

During the ceremony, Lindsey said, “What really motivates me is that I love all our residents. I put myself in their position.”

“Dedicated caregivers routinely go far above and beyond their job descriptions, and Sherman Lindsey certainly demonstrates by his example their professionalism and compassion for the residents they serve,” said Beecher Hunter, Life Care president. “We are proud of Sherman and the thousands he represents in their selfless approach to the needs of others.”

The Florissant facility, located at 1201 Garden Plaza Drive, is one of 11 skilled nursing and rehab facilities in Missouri managed or operated by Life Care Centers of America.

Sherman Lindsey

Thurs. Oct .3 – Fri. Oct. 4, 4th Annual Health Literacy Missouri Summit and Health Literacy Tribute Awards, Doubletree Hotel St. Louis at Westport. For more information, visit www.healthliteracymissouri.org.

Fri. Oct. 4, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., Free Dentistry Day forFairview Heights, Ill. community at Smiles by Design, 5953 North Illinois Street. Patients can choose from either one free cleaning, extraction or filling. Appointments are first-come, first served. For more information, please call 618-233-6700 or visit www.freedentistryday.org.

Sat., Oct. 5, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Matthew-Dickey Boys’& Girls’ Club, 4245 N. Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO 63115; Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Sun. Oct. 6, 9 a.m., JDRF2013 Walk to Cure Diabetes-St. Louis, Upper Muny Parking Lot in Forest Park. For more information, call 314-729-1846 or visit www.walk.jdrf.org.

Sun., Oct. 6, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Friendly Temple MB Church, 5515 Martin Luther King Dr., St. Louis, MO 63112; Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Sun., Oct. 6, 9:15 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. , Free Flu Shots & Health Fair, St. Augustine Catholic Church, 1371 Hamilton Ave., 63112. Flu shots for adults and children; free screenings for hearing and vision problems, head and neck cancer, diabetes and blood pressure checks by Saint Louis University medical students. For information, call 314389-0008 or email sluhrc@gmail.com.

CALENDAR

Mon., Oct. 7, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Monsanto YMCA, 5555 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63112. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Tues., Oct. 8, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m., Free Flu Shots, The Wesley House, 4507 Lee Ave., St. Louis, MO 63115; Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Thurs., Oct. 10,12 noon - 5 p.m., Free Flu Shots, St. Louis Metropolitan Urban League – Jennings, 8960 Jennings Station Rd., St. Louis, MO 63136. Ages 6 months & up by BarnesJewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Thurs. Oct. 10, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., AWARE forAll St. Louis, a Clinical Research Education event, Missouri History Museum in Forest Park by the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation. Register by calling 1-877-633-4376 (MEDHERO) or emailing aware@ciscrp.org.

Fri., Oct. 11,12 noon - 6 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Eden Theological SeminaryThe Commons, 475 East Lockwood Ave., St. Louis, MO 63119 Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Sat., Oct. 12,10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Child Safety Day @ The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Sun., Oct. 13,9 a.m. - 2 p.m., St. John’s AME Church - St. Charles, 547 Washington St, 63301. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Mon., Oct. 14, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Emerson Family YMCA, 3390 Pershall Rd., St. Louis, MO 63135. Ages 6 months & up) by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Tues, Oct.15, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Central Baptist Church, 2843 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Thurs., Oct. 17, 12 noon - 5 p.m., Free Flu Shots, St. Louis Metropolitan Urban League – Vandeventer, 935 N. Vandeventer, St. Louis, MO 63108. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Sat., Oct. 19, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Beyond Housing - St. Vincent’s Community Center, 7335 St. Charles Rock Rd., St. Louis, MO 63121. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Sun., Oct. 20, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m., Free Flu Shots, Vietnamese Health FairResurrection Church, 3900 Meramec, St. Louis, MO 63116. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Mon., Oct. 21, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m., Free Flu Shots, South City Family YMCA, 3150 Sublette, St. Louis, MO 63139. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Tues., Oct. 22,10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Free Flu Shots, BRIDGE - Centenary United Methodist Church,1610 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103 Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Sat. Oct. 26, 9 a.m.American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, St. Louis Forest Park/Upper Muny Parking Lot. 5K and 1 mile run. For more information, call 1-800-2272345 or go online to makingstrides/acsevents.org.

Sun. Oct. 27, 12Noon – 2 p.m. & 3 p.m. – 5 p.m., Spare Nothing For The Cure, Brunswick Zone in Chesterfield and St. Peters, Mo. $25 per bowler and $150 per lane (team of six bowlers). For more information, call 314-569-3900 or visit www.komenstlouis.org.

Sat., Nov. 2, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Free Flu Shots, St. John’s United Church of Christ Health Fair, 4136 N. Grand, St. Louis, MO 63107. Ages 6 months & up by Barnes-Jewish & St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

Sundays, 10 a.m. – Alcoholics Anonymous Group 109 meets in the 11th floor conference room at Christian Hospital, 11133 Dunn Road at I270/Hwy. 367. This is an open meeting for alcoholics, drug addicts and their family and friends.

Mondays, 7 p.m. – “Tobacco Free for Life” support group – free weekly meetings at St. Peters Mo. City Hall. Supported by SSM Cancer Care; RSVP initial participation to 636-947-5304.

First Thursdays, 10 a.m. – Family Support Group by NAMI St. Louis, The Alliance on Mental Illness at Transfiguration Lutheran Church, 1807 Biddle Street. No registration needed; no cost. For more information, call 314-9624670.

MRI does not benefit women with early breast cancer

AMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center study shows that the use of MRI before or immediately after surgery in women with ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, was not associated with reduced local recurrence or contralateral breast cancer rates. The findings were presented in September at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium.

While no clinical practice guidelines exist for the use of MRI around the time of surgery, some surgeons use the screening tool to obtain a clearer picture of the cancer before surgery is performed or immediately after surgery to check for any residual disease. Previous studies have shown that using MRI in this

capacity for women with invasive breast cancer does not have a clinically significant impact on local recurrence or contralateral breast cancer rates; however, the impact on women with DCIS is not well studied.

“MRI use varies widely by institution and surgeon preference,” said Melissa L. Pilewskie, MD, first study author and breast surgeon at Memorial SloanKettering. “MRI is an expensive test with a high false-positive rate that can lead to additional and sometimes unnecessary procedures, so its use should be examined carefully. These findings add to the growing list of evidence that suggests that MRI does not provide a clear benefit for DCIS patients.”

Researchers identified 2,321 women who had had breast-conserving surgery for DCIS between 1997 and 2010 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Of these patients, 596 had received an MRI either before or immediately after surgery and 1,725 had not. The rates of local recurrence and contralateral breast cancer were compared at the five-year and eight-year mark in each group.

After five years, local recurrence rates were not significantly different between the two groups (8.5 percent with MRI vs. 7.2 percent without MRI). Similarly, eight-year recurrence rates were not significantly different (14.6 percent vs. 10.2

percent). Even after controlling for nine other patient variables such as age and menopausal status, no difference in risk of local recurrence was seen. Results also showed that there was no statistically significant difference in contralateral breast cancer rates (3.5 percent vs. 3.5 percent at five years and 3.5 percent vs. 5.1 percent at eight years).

Dr. Pilewskie also stressed that not all women with DCIS receive radiation therapy, which is often used to reduce recurrence rates after breast-conserving surgery. Yet, even in the subgroup of patients who did not receive radiation therapy, MRI was not associated with improved long-term outcomes.

PARPinhibitoris potential cancertherapy

The oral drug olaparib was found to be effective against advanced pancreatic and prostate cancers. Results of the study, led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel, was presented recently at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago. It was the largest clinical trial to date to examine the effectiveness of PARPinhibitor therapy in BRCA1/2 carriers with diseases other than breast and ovarian cancer.

The multi-center research team, including investigators from across the United States, Europe, Australia and

Israel, studied nearly 300 patients with inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations who had advanced cancers that were still growing despite standard treatments. Study participants, comprised of patients with breast, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and other cancers, all took olaparib.

Five of 23 pancreatic cancer patients (22 percent) and four of eight prostate cancer patients (50 percent) responded to the therapy, as measured by objective clinical criteria. Importantly, the therapy also appeared to halt disease progression even in those whose tumors did not shrink: an additional eight (35 percent) of the pancreatic cancer patients studied had stable disease at 8 weeks after begin-

ning olaparib, as did two (25 percent) of the prostate patients. Overall survival at one year was 41 percent for the pancreatic cancer patients, and 50 percent for the prostate cancer patients.

For patients with breast and ovarian cancer, the study confirmed the previously reported activity of olaparib, although tumors treated in this study were much more advanced than in prior studies. For example, in 193 patients with ovarian cancer in whom cisplatin was no longer effective for controlling advanced disease, 31 percent had partial or complete tumor regression on olaparib, and 64 percent were alive at one year. Among 62 patients with metastatic breast cancer

patients who had already received at least three chemotherapy regimens, 13 percent responded to new therapy and 45 percent of patients were alive at one year.

“This study underscores a new paradigm in cancer therapy. We can better fashion treatments for our patients based on a personalized assessment of the genetic factors underlying the cancer,” senior author Susan Domchek, MD, director of Penn’s Basser Research Center for BRCA. “PARPinhibitors such as olaparib represent the most promising new treatment for individuals suffering from cancer based on inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations.”

Straight talk about sex and cancerprevention

Dr. Jennifer Wilkinson, resident physician, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, discusses this month’s cancer prevention topic in the 8 Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer series.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are not something that we often want to talk about, but they can have a big impact on a person’s life. In addition to physical discomfort and emotional upset, STIs can also cause certain cancers. Here’s what you need to know.

HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, can reduce your immune system and increase risk for can-

cer. There is another virus spread by sexual contact that increases your cancer risk – the human papilloma virus (HPV). HPVis actually a group of more than 40 viruses that can be spread through direct skin-to-skin contact. Low-risk HPVs can cause genital warts. High-risk HPVs can cause cancer of the cervix, vagina, penis, anus and throat.

Is HPVlikely to affect you? Studies show that HPVis one of the most common STIs in women and men. In fact, most sexually active men and women will get at least one type of HPVat some point in their lives. Most HPVinfections have no symptoms and go away within 1 to 2 years, but some do progress to cancer.

The most reliable way to prevent

HPVand lower your cancer risk is to avoid skin-to-skin oral, anal or genital contact. If you are sexually active, then a committed monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner is best. Condoms can reduce the risk, but some areas remain exposed.

For more tips on how to prevent cancer by protecting yourself from sexually transmitted infections, visit: Eight Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer: http://www.8ways.wustl.edu

Center for Disease Control HPVInfo: http://www.cdc.gov/hpv/

Center for Disease Control HPVAssociated Cancers: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/hpv/basic_ info/

The Program forthe Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD) at the Siteman CancerCenteris working to eliminate local and regional disparities in cancereducation, prevention and treatment through community outreach, research and training. To learn more about cancerorto get involved with PECaD, call 314747-4611, email PECaD@wudosis.wustl.edu orwrite to us at SCC-PECaD, Campus Box 8100, 660 S. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO, 63110. Look forfuture articles in HealthMatters.

Injuries soarfrom distracted walking

It’s estimated that more than 1,500 pedestrians were treated in emergency rooms in 2010 for injuries related to using a cell phone while walking, according to a recent nationwide study.

The number of such injuries has more than doubled since 2005, even though the total number of pedestrian injuries dropped during that time. Additionally, researchers believe that the actual number of injured pedestrians is actually much higher than these results suggest.

“If current trends continue, I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of injuries to pedestrians caused by cell phones doubles again between 2010 and 2015,” said Jack Nasar, coauthor of the study and professor of city and regional planning at The Ohio State University.

“The role of cell phones in distracted driving injuries and deaths gets a lot of attention and rightly so, but we need to also consider the danger cell phone use poses to pedestrians.”

The study found that young people aged 16 to 25 were most likely to be injured as distracted pedestrians, and most were hurt while talking rather than texting.

Nasar conducted the study with Derek Troyer, a former graduate student at Ohio State. It appeared in the August 2013 issue of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention

The researchers used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, a database maintained by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), which samples injury reports from 100 hospitals around the country. These reports are used to estimate total injury occurrences at emergency rooms across the country.

They examined data for seven years (from 2004 to 2010) involving injuries related to cell phone use for pedestrians in public areas (not at home).

Findings showed that in 2004, an estimated 559 pedestrians were treated in emergency rooms for injuries received while using a cell phone. That number dropped to 256 in 2005, but has risen every year since then. Meanwhile, the total number of pedestrians estimated for treatment in emergency rooms dropped from 97,000 in 2004 to 41,000 in 2010.

Nasar said he believes the number of injuries to distracted pedestrians is actually much higher than these statistics suggest.

He said a more accurate count of injuries to walkers might come from comparing distracted walking to distracted driving, which has been much more heavily studied.

Nasar compared CPSC estimates for injuries related to drivers distracted by cell phones with actual data from emergency rooms across the country. Recent research examining increases in traffic accidents related to cell phone use suggests that the number of crash-related injuries in emergency rooms is actually about 1,300 times higher than CPSC national estimates, Nasar said.

Moreover, Nasar said he believes emergency room numbers underestimate actual injuries because not every person who is injured goes to an emergency room.

“But I think it is safe to say that the numbers we have are much lower than what is really happening,” Nasar said.

As might be expected, young people are the most likely to be injured by distracted walking. The 21- to 25-year-old age group led the way, with 1,003 total injuries during the seven years covered by this study. The 16- to 20-year-olds were not far behind, with 985 total injuries.

For pedestrians, talking on the phone accounted for about 69 percent of injuries, compared to texting, which accounted for about 9 percent.

Nasar said he doesn’t think the lower texting injury rate is because texting is necessarily safer than talking and walking. Instead, it is probably because fewer people actually text while walking than talk while on foot.

Behavioral

Christian Hospital offers free and confidential psychiatric and chemical dependency evaluations at the Christian Hospital Center for Mental Health. For more information, call 314-839-3171.

Christian Hospital Key Program offers support and education to patients with chronic mental illness to prevent increased severity of symptoms and to reduce the need for inpatient re-hospitalization. Call confidentially to 314-8393171 or 1-800-447-4301.

Crime Victim Advocacy Center provides no cost support for persons who have been affected by criminal acts. Emil peggy@supportvictims.org, visit or call the 24-hour hotline 314-OK-BE-MAD (652-3673) or visit www.supportvictims.org.

Bike helmet safety

The St. Louis County Health Department provides free bicycle helmets to St. Louis County residents between ages 1 and 17 by appointment only. Proof of residency is required. For the location nearest you, visit www.tinyurl.freebikehelmets.

HEALTH RESOURCES

Breast Cancer Gateway to Hope offers no-charge medical and reconstructive treatment for uninsured breast cancer patients in Missouri. Contact 314-569-1113.

Dental

Free Dental Hygiene Clinic - No charge dental exams, x-rays, cleanings and other dental services for children and adults provided by dental students at Missouri College. Patients needing more extensive dental work (fillings, crowns, etc.) will be referred to local dentists. For information, call 314-768-7899.

Diabetes

SSM St. Mary’s Health Center provides free, Diabetes Support Group sessions the second Tuesday of every month from 6 – 7 p.m. It’s located at Meeting Room 1 on the second floor, 6420 Clayton Rd. in St. Louis. To register, call toll free 866-SSM-DOCS (866-7763627).

Health Partnerships

The CenterforCommunity Health and Partnerships: Building Bridges for Healthy Communities works to develop and support beneficial community-academic partnerships to address the health

needs of the St. Louis. For more information, email publichealth@wustl.edu; phone 314-747-9212 or visit publichealth.wustl.edu.

Information

Missouri 2-1-1 offers referral and information on a wide range of social service and helpful resources. Call 2-1-1.

Medical

St. Louis ConnectCare offers walk-in services Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and most holidays. For more information, call 314-879-6300.

Salam Free Saturday Clinic, 10 a.m. –2 p.m. at the Isom Community Center at Lane Tabernacle CME Church, 916 N. Newstead, St. Louis, Mo. for those who are uninsured. For more information, call 314-533-0534.

Nutrition

Food Outreach provides food, meals and nutritional education/ counseling to eligible persons living with HIV/AIDS or cancer in St. Louis. For more information, call 314-652-3663 or visit www.foodoutreach.org.

St. Louis Milk Depot - SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is a breast milk depot. Milk Depot staff will store and ship your milk to IMMB. For more information, call (314) 242-5912.

Prostate Cancer

The CancerCenterof The Empowerment Network at 6000 W. Florissant in St. Louis provides information on prostate and other types of cancer, and services and support. For more information, call 314-385-0998.

Prescription Cost Help

St. Louis ConnectCare Retail

Pharmacy – offers a $4 generic prescription program. Hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Fri., no weekends or holidays. Located at 5535 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis, Call 314-879-6208.

Schnucks Pharmacies – now offers certain prescription prenatal vitamins for free and offers no-cost generic prescription antibiotics at select locations.

Respiratory Health

Free lung function screening - Christian Hospital Breathing Center at Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Rd. For more information, call 314-953-6040.

New dental school partners with Grace Hill

By American staff

At its August 2013 meeting, the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) adopted a resolution to grant initial accreditation to A.T. Still University’s Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH), a new dental school and only the second in the state.

Initial accreditation was the final step needed before the school could welcome its inaugural class and begin classes on October 1. Selected from 954 applicants, the student body will comprise 22 women and 20 men from 19 states, including nine students from Missouri.

The mission of ATSU’s Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health is to increase access to oral healthcare for Missouri’s most vulnerable populations. The number of dentists in the state is declining, while the underserved population and demand for dentists are rising.

Central to the new school’s curriculum is extensive, in-depth clinical training

inside community health centers (CHCs), as called for in a 2011 Institute of Medicine report. In Missouri, CHCs care for 420,000 vulnerable residents, or 25 percent of the total number of low-income and uninsured citizens.

Collaboration with CHCs for on-site clinical education is the most effective way to break down the barriers to care faced by Missouri’s underserved populations.

Graduates of ATSU’s Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health will earn a certificate of public health, in addition to a doctor of dental medicine degree. Partnerships with CHCs are expected to increase retention within the state’s oral health workforce by encouraging graduates to practice public health dentistry.

Students will not have to wait until they graduate to begin filling the gaps in Missouri’s dental care. During their third and fourth years, they will be embedded inside Missouri CHCs, where their clinical education will include treating patients under supervision of faculty

A.T. Still University is opening the Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ATSU-MOSDOH), a new dental school and only the second in the state.

dentists. This will allow the centers to reach an additional 11,500 patients each year.

ATSU-MOSDOH’s most comprehensive CHC relationship will be with St. Louis’ Grace Hill Health Center, which provides primary medical, dental and behavioral health services to a large segment of the city’s low-income and uninsured population.

Beginning in the summer of 2015, GHHC in partnership with ATSU, will operate an expansive new 85-operatory dental clinic. After spending two years

on ATSU’s Kirksville, Mo., campus, students will relocate to St. Louis for third-year clinical experiences at the ATSU-GHHC-operated clinic. During the fourth-year, students will divide their time between St. Louis and additional CHC locations throughout Missouri and the Midwest.

The Missouri Foundation for Health provided support to ATSU’s new dental school by awarding $3 million in grants toward its development.

For more information, visit www.atsu. edu/mosdoh.

Students commemorate 9-11 anniversary

U.S. military personnel and first responders visit Beaumont High School

American staff

On the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Beaumont High and Multiple Pathways @ Beaumont Army JROTC students remembered and celebrated those who lost their lives, and paid tribute to first responders.

The event was produced by the Beaumont Career and Technical Education (CTE) High School Army and included music, videos, a rifle demonstration, a flag ceremony, and speeches by St. Louis City Fire Department Captain Mike Killingsworth, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Captain Mary EdwardsFears and Beaumont Principal Terrell

Henderson.

Captain Killingsworth and Captain Edwards-Fears both highlighted the bravery of first responders in their speeches. They also informed students and other attendees about changes that have taken place in the country’s security measures over the past 12 years

Principal Henderson was personally affected by the 9-11 attacks. One of his cousins worked in the Second Tower and lost her life. He recalled struggling with grief as life seemed to continue as normal in St. Louis – nearly 1,000 miles away from the remains of the Twin Towers. He encouraged his students to practice safety and always be sensitive to others.

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More than 20 representatives from local fire, police, and military attended a commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks at Beaumont Career and Technical Education High School.

More than 20 representatives from local fire, police, and military attended the ceremony and were recognized with plaques and a standing ovation by students, staff, and community members. The ceremony concluded outdoors in

front of the school, where some 3,000 flags were on display on the lawn in remembrance of each victim of the attack. The flag was lowered to half-staff, and a wreath was posted at the base.

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their premature births, one in 2010 and the other last year.

“Miss Linda is awesome,” Valentine says. “She helped me to make sure my children were doing what they were supposed to be doing at certain ages.”

Spina is impressed by the progress but concedes that both youngsters have a way to go. “Because of their prematurity, they were substantially developmentally delayed. I’d say they have caught up about 80 percent.”

One got special care at a nursery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the other at Children’s Hospital.

An ongoing challenge at NFN involves helping people learn to navigate the system and access frequently limited services, ranging from special medical care to nutritious foods, that are essential to strengthening babies and families as well, Spina says.

An example is a case cited by Claire Devoto, NFN’s development director. She mentions a mother who had been jailed in Illinois on a drug charge and later discovered she was pregnant. With triplets. The children were born near Chicago, and the mother’s parents lived in Missouri beyond De Soto. The grandmother stayed a few weeks in a Ronald McDonald House near where the triplets were born.

Eventually the grandmother took the three girls to her home in Missouri, where Jane Adams, a member of the Nurses’ team, stepped in to help. Home to the grandparents is a drafty log cabin that needed to be insulated for the sake of the triplets. Some men in the area volunteered to do the work.

The grandma suffered a heart attack last year and was treated at a hospital in St. Louis. Devoto went to the hospital to visit the grandmother. “And here comes the grandfather pushing these three babies in a big stroller, coming to see grandma. These girls are 2 years old now. They turned out lovely, just lovely.”

In the absence of help provided by Adams, the children might have been removed from the family home, Devoto says. Devoto went the extra mile, too. Being moved by the case of the triplets, she made a special picture book of the children so the family can preserve the memories. She has now decided to make similar picture books of children of other families served by NFN.

Spina is dismayed, she says, because she feels that many issues, such as access to health care through Medicaid in Missouri, have become politicized.

“There are some days when it’s really difficult for me to find a resource to help the mothers and children,” Spina said. “But I love what I do. To me it’s a privilege to be invited to someone’s home and make a difference.”

Edited for length and reprinted with permission from stlbeacon.org.

UM Extension brings 4-H to the city

Programs offer education, community service, practical skills

By Linda Geist For The St. Louis American

When University of Missouri Extension youth specialist Jody Squires was honored Sept. 13 at the 26th annual St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala, the work of MU Extension St. Louis City also was honored.

While 4-H typically has been thought of as an activity for rural youth, Squires and others have used 4-H programs to improve the lives of inner-city kids and help 2,100 youth in the St. Louis area by working and sharing with caring adults through the “Revolution of Responsibility.”

St. Louis City’s 4-H programs include

TechXcite, an after-school engineering program created by Duke University. Through the program, 20 groups of 4-H members in middle school learn about prosthetic limbs, harvesting solar energy to power cars, wireless remote control burglar alarms and more through afterschool events, clubs, homeschool groups and summer camps.

The Missouri 4-H LIFE (Living Interactive Family Education) program helps incarcerated parents, their children and family members maintain and strengthen relationships.

The College Within Reach program is credited with helping at-risk youth stay in high school and reducing barriers for them to attend college. The program emphasizes education and community service and teaches practical skills such as managing finances, communication and teamwork. Members visit colleges and take field trips, and can get help preparing for college admissions tests.

St. Louis youth can participate in 4-H’s Science, Engineering and Technology project, which encourages participants in the National 4-H Science initiative. This

bold national effort seeks to engage 1 million young people to meet increased demand for science and technology professionals. Through a partnership with Pakt Community Center in Ferguson and Storman Academy in North St. Louis County, a robust robotics program sparks 85 young people’s interest in STEM careers.

The 4-H Neighborhood Leadership Academy helps youth develop and enhance skills in a community setting. Participants learn skills to help them secure funding for projects in their neighborhoods. The program is in its 12th year.

“Girls Night In” offers 4-H girls the

Since 2000, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, University of Missouri Extension and others have partnered to develop a set of initiatives towards creating a healthy, dynamic and sustainable community.

opportunity to learn about citizenship, leadership and life skills in a fun setting. MU Extension 4-H also partners with the Special School District of St. Louis County.

In addition to these innovative programs, St. Louis also has traditional 4-H clubs in the city and the county.

MU Extension in St. Louis offers other services in areas such as business development, community development, disaster recovery, financial education, gardening, housing education, labor education, conservation, nutrition and health, and others. More information about MU Extension in the St. Louis area, visit extension.missouri.edu/stlouis.

Nurse practitioners ‘make a difference’

Nurses for Newborns bring resources to needy families of infants

By Robert Joiner Of The Beacon

With years of experience as a nurse and a nurse practitioner specializing in women’s health, Linda Spina has gained a lot of insight into why babies are born too soon, weigh too little and, in some instances, die prematurely. She also has learned that conventional wisdom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when it comes to saving at-risk newborns.

On a hot summer afternoon recently, she drove into a hardscrabble neighborhood near the intersection of Goodfellow and Natural Bridge to see a side of infant care that’s largely invisible to most area residents.

“It’s a sad case,” Spina says.

The house lacks air conditioning, and the soft voice of the mother, Charitta Harral, 24, is nearly drowned out by the whirling sound of a window fan as she talks about caring for an infant born at 24 weeks and weighing only 1 pound and 11 ounces. Now 10 months old, young Ja’cailen remains unable to raise his slightly misshapen head, and he has difficulty breathing. His twin brother didn’t make it.

Harral’s mood brightens at the sight of “Miss Linda,” the name some young mothers use when referring to Spina, director of clinical practice at Nurses for Newborn.

For more than two decades, the agency’s team of experienced nurses has become a lifeline to babies and families

across the St. Louis area and in 20 Missouri counties beyond. The group conducted more than 13,400 RN visits in Missouri last year. Its services cover health in a broad context, extending to issues such as nutrition and obesity, which can develop into long term problems for children. Baby formula and food, along with diapers and wipes, are among items that can be donated to the organization.

The group’s care givers and advisers educate such families on how to reduce child neglect and abuse, how to use alternatives to costly and avoidable emergency room and hospital care for some child illnesses, and how and where to find other resources to help them raise healthier babies.

All these missions are vital in a state where every day, on average, eight babies die before their first birthday, 89 are born weighing under 5.5 pounds, 26 are born too early (under 37 weeks), and many of the mothers are poor.

One widely held assumption is that lack of prenatal care is a big reason for premature births. The issue is far more complicated, Spina said after visits, weeks apart, to Harral and to another mother struggling with raising children born prematurely.

“Both mothers got very good prenatal care,” but they had to cope with stress hormones that were “really constant in their lives,” Spina says. “They had to cope with the stress of profound poverty and all that that entails. More and more research is showing a correlation (between) these stress hormones and how they affect a woman’s ability to carry a pregnancy to term.”

With a laptop and a scale in tow, Spina found a seat in the living room in Harral’s home and picked up young Ja’cailen, checking his vital signs, weighing him and asking lots of questions about what the mother had done and hadn’t done since the last visit. At one point during the meeting,

Claire Devoto, development director at Nurses for Newborn, and Linda Spina, director of clinical practice at Nurses for Newborn, show off a picture book that Devoto made of children of a family they’ve helped.

Photo by Robert Joiner

Harral showed she was becoming more skillful in caring for the boy, reaching instinctively for a nebulizer when the child became agitated, suggesting breathing difficulty.

Weeks later, in another poor neighborhood on King Drive west of Union Boulevard, Spina is visiting Felicia Valentine, the mother of two boys born prematurely. Valentine lives on a street where commotion is constant. During Spina’s visit, a crowd gathered on the sidewalk next door after a police cruiser pulled up, followed by the arrival of an ambulance. One resident looks out a second floor window and speculates: “It’s a shooting.”

Valentine stayed focused on her talk with Spina about the progress her sons were making and her own progress with personal issues. When Spina asks her about a drug problem, Valentine points with pride to a living room wall certificate showing she has completed a residential treatment program for abusing hard drugs.

The nurses are on call day and night, so it helps that they have turned to social media to keep in touch with some families. Moms like Valentine like that approach, mentioning that whenever a question or concern arises, she simply texts Spina.

What’s striking is how much the organization has helped children like Valentine’s two boys adjust in spite of

Organizer nets ‘Champion for

Good’ award

Dobbie Herrion, Academic Support Center manager at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley, recently was named a Champion for Good by Allstate Insurance Company as part of its Give It Up for Good campaign.

This initiative urges people to share the good in their community by recognizing and highlighting the unsung heroes who dedicate themselves to enriching the lives of others.

Herrion founded Neighborhood Nets, a community development program dedicated to bringing pride back to playgrounds by putting a net on every bare basketball rim in the St. Louis area and eventually the world. Herrion says they have put up 60 nets and one basketball rim so far.

Work, productivity and the minimum wage

When employers pay wages that are too low, society must pay

By William Spriggs For The St. Louis American

On Aug. 29, across the country, thousands of workers in low-paying jobs stood up to demand $15 an hour. Most were at fast-food restaurants. There are many people who support the need for these workers to be paid more. They understand the unfairness of multinational corporations profiting on the wages of low-wage work. And on Labor Day, they probably reflected on the value of work and honoring the people who literally built this country.

To many people it is almost obscene that the CEO of McDonald’s, for instance, gets a compensation package worth $13.8 million a year; a giant raise from his 2011 pay of $4.1 million, a pay level that equals 915 full-time, full-year minimum wage workers at McDonald’s.

Still, understanding that the price of the hamburger was probably much more affected by giving the CEO a $9 million raise than the meager demands of the people serving them their food, many people scratched their heads at the notion the workers’ wages could be set at $15 an hour, a level they now equate with more “skilled” workers. This reflects the breakdown in our nation’s understanding of the value of work and the productivity of America’s workers.

The day before the strike, Aug. 28, the nation paused to recall the 50th anniversary of the March for Jobs and Freedom in Washington. It was a big celebration that masked the divisions of the country at that time and surrounded the movement to gain dignity for Americans held in the shadows from the light of America’s middle-class freedoms. We should not forget the final endgame of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s journey for justice five years after the march, when he was assassinated in Memphis continuing his struggle for dignity and freedom for sanitation workers.

In 1966, in line with the demands of the March for Jobs and Freedom, the minimum wage was increased and its coverage extended to include certain state and local government employees; those who worked in hospitals, nursing homes and schools. It did not include sanitation workers. But, it did boost the

minimum wage to $1.60 an hour in 1968. The Center for Economic Research and Policy has compared that minimum wage to changes in wages, prices and productivity to put it in context. Adjusting for inflation, today that would be $10.52 an hour.

In 1968, 40 percent of the sanitation workers in Memphis qualified for welfare payments because their wages were too low to pull their families out of poverty. Reflecting on that, Dr. King was moved to give the ultimate Labor Day sentiment.

“If you will judge anything here in this struggle, you’re commanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the worth and significance of those who are not in professional jobs, or those who are not in the so-called big jobs,” Dr. King said.

argue that if we are concerned with the poor, then we should simply subsidize low wages; in short, put working people on welfare as was the case in Memphis in 1968.

n It makes far more sense that these huge corporations pay wages that reflect the productivity of their workers.

But subsidizing low wages is inefficient. It actually subsidizes what low-wage companies produce. When employers pay wages too low to support workers, it is society that then must pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program so the workers can eat, and housing assistance so they have a roof over their heads, child care block grants so someone can watch over their children, Medicaid so they have access to health care and grant them tax relief with Earned Income Tax Credits to prevent the government from further impoverishing them.

levels of employment.

Workers in St. Louis recently joined national protests in favor of raising the federal minimum wage.

“But let me say to you tonight, that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity, and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity, and it has worth. One day our society must come to see this. One day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker if it is to survive.”

We have, as a nation, come to accept low wages. And there are many who

It makes far more sense that these huge corporations pay wages that reflect the productivity of their workers. Since the late 1970s, America has gone on a crooked path. The productivity of America’s workers has gone up, but the pay of America’s workers has gone flat. That difference, between what Americans can produce and what Americans earn creates a gaping problem: if people can’t buy what is being made, then increasing their productivity can only lead to lower

From 1980 to 2007, the solution was to let workers borrow enough money to make up for that gap, so demand would meet the rise in productivity and we could keep employment up. And in 2008, the notion that household debt could rise, with incomes staying flat, to fill the gap came to a stop. Now, we must return to paying workers for their productivity to fill the gap between increased productivity and earnings.

Even if we believed that low-wage workers have not kept up with average productivity advances – note that a McDonald’s worker today produces far more sales per square foot and hour than a McDonald’s worker in 1968 – and we set the minimum wage to reflect only half the gain in average productivity since 1968, then today the minimum wage would have to be $15.34 an hour.

So the worker serving you food at that wage would not themselves need help with food stamps to buy food. And, more importantly, we would be moving back toward paying workers so they can afford to buy the goods coming from increased productivity, rather than getting rid of workers when productivity goes up for the lack of buyers.

Spriggs is chair of the Economics Department and a professor of economics at Howard University, as well as the former executive director of the National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality.

Follow Spriggs on Twitter @ WSpriggs.