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Ron WaltersWho Broke the Government?

Born in Orlando on July 31, 1962 to Marian, ateacher’s aide, and Wesley, Sr., and an aircraft engineer,Wesley Trent Snipes was raised in the South Bronx,although the family moved back to Florida before hewas able to graduate from NYC’s famed, Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music and Art. Still, Wesleywent on to study drama in college at SUNY Purchase’sprestigious acting conservatory.

However, he dropped out during his junior year topursue his passion professionally. In Hollywood, theversatile thespian’s stage and Shotokan karate trainingcame in handy in helping him land a variety of roles.The accomplished actor/black belt’s long list of creditson his enviable resume’ include the Blade Trilogy,Jungle Fever, White Men Can’t Jump, U.S. Marshals,Waiting to Exhale, Mo’ Better Blues, New Jack City,Murder at 1600, The Fan, Demolition Man, Passenger57, To Wong Foo and The Art of War.

Wesley’s many accolades include a couple of NAACPImage Awards and making People Magazine’s 50 MostBeautiful People in the World List. And he and his sec-ond wife, artist Nikki Park, are raising their four chil-dren both in the U.S. and South Korea. Here, he talksabout his latest film, Brooklyn’s Finest, a gritty, NYCcrime saga, directed by Antoine Fuqua, which co-starsDon Cheadle, Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, EllenBarkin, Lela Rochon, Will Patton and VincentD’Onofrio.

Kam Williams: Hey, Wesley, thanks for the time. Wemet last year in New York when you were receiving anaward at the Jacob Javits Center.

Wesley Snipes: Oh yes, wonderful. KW: Laz Lyles asks, what drew you to Brooklyn’s

Finest’s script, especially with the screenwriter

By Herb BoydNNPA SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—Hurricane-ravagedPort-au-Prince continues to rebound even as the rainy season earnestlyapproaches the Island of Haiti.

This week, U. S. officials are scurrying to deliver portable toi-lets, hurricane-resistant tents, and plastic tarps, which HaitianTourism Minister Patrick Delatour has said he prefers for thecoming torrential rains, possible hurricanes and mudslides.Already, eight people were killed over the weekend in floodingafter a downpour - and the rainy season has not fully started inearnest.

Weather is key in Haiti right now as the rainy season is set tostart in early April and last for several months. The forecast forthis week fluctuated between sunny to partly cloudy; then moredownpours at the end of this week. Temperatures are fluctuat-ing between the mid 70s at night and into the 90 during the dayhours.

Racing the rains, former President Bill Clinton, the UnitedNations Special Envoy for Haiti, recently convened a telecon-

By Hazel Trice EdneyNNPA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - A littlemore than a year ago, Feb. 17, 2009,newly inaugurated President BarackObama took his first corrective actionto quell the escalating economic cri-sis.

That action was to sign theAmerican Recovery andReinvestment Act (ARRA), knownas the stimulus bill, a $787 billionpackage to create and preserve jobsand spur economic growth.

But, one year later, a non-partisanstudy by the Kirwan Institute for theStudy of Race and Ethnicity at OhioState University has found thatdespite the President’s noble efforts,the economic stimulus has not onlyfailed to boost the economy forAfrican-Americans and other histori-cally disadvantaged people, includ-ing women, but it has produced stark-ly disparate results between whiteworkers and people of color and

★STIMULUS, Page 4

By Aswad WalkerDEFENDER

With a reputation as a reformer and innovator preceding him,new HISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier, comes to Houstonwith a litany of awards and accolades for the job he did

improving school districts in North Carolina and most recently, SanDiego. Yet, the changes Grier has proposed to business-as-usual at HISDhave come under fire from some teachers. Still, as was evidenced by hisrecent State of the Schools Address, Grier is intent on instituting whatev-er changes he believes will guarantee that all students in HISD areequipped with a great teacher in their classroom, a student-focused prin-cipal, and the support systems necessary to transform HISD into notonly the nation’s best urban school district, but the best of all thenation’s school districts.

The Defender recently spoke with Grier about his agenda.Defender: With all the success you’ve had in San Diego why take on

Houston?

★GRIER, Page 4

Wesley’s Snipes Finest!

TerryGrier

Haiti rebounds despite rainy season

Stimulusfails to helpBlacks?

★HAITI, Page 9

By ReShonda Tate BillingsleyDEFENDER

It was a night for incumbents asseveral politicians won the quest tokeep their seats inthe March 2, 2010Primary.

Many hadexpected thatTexas Gov. RickPerry would be infor a dog fightagainst Sen. KayBailey Hutchison.But Perry, whotapped into theanti-Washington ire, easily coasted tovictory with 51 percent of the vote toHutchison’s 30 percent. He managed

Photo: Richard Muhammad/The Final Call

Haitian workers continue to press for normalcy as the people prepare for therainy season.

SheilaJackson Lee

MarchPrimarywrap-up

★SNIPES, Page 3

ONE ON ONE WITH HISD SUPT.

Dr.

★PRIMARY, Page 9

2 MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDER

MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDER 3

[Michael C. Martin] being a first-timer?

WS: Well, it wasn’t as much thescript, as it was working with thiscast and with Antoine Fuqua. So,I’d have to say that the idea ofworking with them motivated memore so than the script.

KW: Why so?WS: I wanted to work with the

ensemble of great actors thatAntoine Fuqua had assembled. Heand I had talked about doing afilm together maybe about three orfor years prior to actually workingon this one. We were trying to findthe right project. He was workingon other things. I was working onother things, and was out of thecountry. Then there was a windowif opportunity, and he said, “Wes, Iwant you to play this.” I had somereservations, because of that NinoBrown reference [the character heplayed in New Jack City]. But hebasically explained to me, “that’spart of the reason I want you to dothis. The characters have someovertones of that old Nino’s typeof lifestyle.” When he told me thatDon [Cheadle] would be playingthe other character, and who elsewould be in the cast, I was like,“Well, let’s do this!” [Chuckles]

KW: Richard Gere… EthanHawke… Ellen Barkin...

WS: It’s always great when youcan work with an ensemble ofvery, very talented people. AndEllen and I had worked on TheFan together.

KW: Don’t you sometimes have aclash of egos, when you have somany stars on the same set?

WS: I didn’t experience that. Iactually love the ensemble envi-ronment. That’s what I come from,the so called “bus and truck”repertory theater. So, you put mein with a group of artists, and it’slike a breakdance battle. “Let’sgo!”

KW: I know that your familymoved back to Florida while youwere attending a prestigious act-ing academy in NYC. How did youprevent that disruption from spoil-ing your dreams?

WS: After I finished high school,the first chance I got, I caught aGreyhound bus back to New Yorkwhere I ended up being acceptedto a program in drama at the StateUniversity at Purchase.

KW: Children’s book author IreneSmalls says that from TheWaterdance to Blade you havehandled many different roles. Shewants to know which one is yourall-time favorite?

WS: That is. KW: Jimmy Bayan asks where in

L.A. do you live? WS: [LOL] What, does he want

to come over for dinner? I’m a

universal man, but tell Jimmy I’mback and forth between the Eastand West Coasts a lot.

KW: Documentary directorHisani Dubose is interested inknowing how you positioned your-self to play Blade, the first high-impact, black superhero. She saidshe knows that your company,Amen-Ra, co-produced it, but itstill must have been a major task.

WS: It was challenging. It wasone of our firsts, and it was earlyon in the game. I had an inklingthat it was something that hadn’tbeen done before, and some of mymanagement at the time didn’tapprove of the idea. They actuallytold me I shouldn’t do it. But Ireflected on the fact that we hadnever seen a film like that before,not just a black superhero, but ablack, vampire superhero who

fights martial arts. I thought, “Wegotta try this, even if just for thefellas around the way.”

KW: Larry Greenberg, says, afterI receive my black belt in Kempo, Iam considering looking at anothermartial art form. Which one wouldyou recommend?

WS: Shu-to Kwon Do. [Laughs]No, that’s a joke. I would recom-mend, Yoga.

KW: Yale Grad Tommy Russellasks: “Do you think Obama will beable to resuscitate the health-care reform bill?”

WS: Resuscitate it? Doesn’tsomething have to be alive first toresuscitate it?

KW: Tony Noel asks, as a martialartist, who do you see as the nextgeneration of martial arts actorscoming into prominence?

WS: That’s a difficult question.

It’s hard to tell because a lot ofmartial artists aren’t strong actors,and a lot of actors aren’t strongmartial artists. But we hope to beable to produce some of themthrough our company in the nearfuture.

KW: Is there any question no oneever asks you, that you wish some-one would?

WS: Nothing that comes tomind.

KW: The Tasha Smith question:Are you ever afraid?

WS: Yeah!KW: The Columbus Short ques-

tion: Are you happy?WS: I am full and well. KW: The Teri Emerson question:

When was the last time you had agood laugh?

WS: [LOL] Yesterday.KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson

question: What was the last bookyou read?

WS: ”From Fatigued toFantastic” by Jacob Teitelbaum.

KW: The music maven HeatherCovington question: What are youlistening to on your iPod?

WS: The Larry Levan Story, thewhole series.

KW: When you look in the mirror,what do you see?

WS: A beautiful expression ofGod having a wonderful humanexperience.

KW: What is your favorite dish tocook?

WS: Grits and eggs. [Chuckles]KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question:

What is your earliest childhoodmemory?

WS: [Whistles] Oh man…Playing with my babysitter’s toes.

KW: If you could have one wishinstantly granted, what would thatbe for?

WS: Long-lasting health. KW: Thanks again, Wesley, and

best of luck with Brooklyn’s Finestand all off your endeavors.

WS: Thank you.

Snipescontinued from page 1

Wesley Snipes and Don Cheadle star in “Brooklyn’s Finest,” in theaters March 5th.

4 MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDER

failed to correct long-standing racialdisparities.

“I know that a lot of the programsthat were developed in the 1930s and40s were developed in such a way thatdidn’t target people who were themost marginalized, such as African-Americans, Latinos and other groupslike Native-Americas. And I was con-cerned that unless we did that duringthis deep recession, you could actual-ly end up with a set of programs thatwould not only not serve those com-munities well, but also push thosecommunities further behind,” saysJohn Powell, executive director of theKirwan Institute, telling why thestudy was done.

He compared the stimulus to thoseestablished during days of Jim Crowwhen racially disadvantaged groupswere not even considered in econom-ic initiatives. The report tells why hiscomparison is not extreme.

“While overall unemployment hasstarted to decline (and decline forwhite workers), Black workers maysoon reach the 2010 unemploymentrate, which was once projected tooccur if a stimulus or recovery billwas not enacted,” the report states.“This suggests that many of theemployment gains from AmericanRecovery and are not reaching work-ers of color.

The report continues, “Whiteunemployment has started to decrease(from a peak of 9.4% in October 2009to 8.7% in January 2010), while Blackunemployment rates continues to rise(from 15.5% to 16.5% during thesame time period). Latino unemploy-ment rates have also decreased slight-ly but remain very high, decreasing

from 13.1% in October 2009 to 12.6%in January 2010. ”

Among other disparities listed inthe report:

- One in five children were living inpoverty in 2008, and poverty rates forchildren of color are climbing above40 percent in some states;

- While one in 10 workers areunemployed nationally, one in sixBlack workers and one in eight Latinoworkers are unemployed;

- Nearly half of all subprime loanswent to African-American and Latinoborrowers, even though many quali-fied for prime loans;

- African-American and Latinohomeowners are expected to lose$164 – $213 billion in assets due tothe housing crisis;

- The percentage of children inpoverty is likely to peak at 21 percentin 2010;

- Neighborhoods and communitiesare also being reshaped by the detri-mental impacts of the housing crisisand recession;

The report, released late last month,comes just as President Obama – thenation’s first Black president - pro-posed 2011 budget seeks to boost pro-grams aimed to improve the quality oflife for African-Americans, accordingto the White House Office of PublicEngagement.

The Kirwan report comes as no sur-prise to African-Americans who arewell aware of the economic painsexperienced first-hand. Many haveexpressed disappointment in Obama’slack of a targeted plan in the Blackcommunity; including civil rightsleaders Ben Jealous of the NAACP, AlSharpton of the National Network andMarc Morial of the National UrbanLeague, who two weeks ago trudgedthrough a snow storm to a WhiteHouse meeting with President Obama

just to express what most American’salready know: That his “rising tidelifts all boats” theory about unem-ployment, expressed in a press confer-ence, is apparently not working.

Neither is it working for Black con-tractors and businesses, the KirwanReport confirms.

“Minority and disadvantaged busi-ness contracting is a critical source ofjob and wealth creation for marginal-ized groups and communities. Manyconcerns have been raised about theability of minority firms to successful-ly compete for contracts,” states thereport, titled, “ARRA and TheEconomic

Crisis: One Year Later HasStimulus Helped Communities inCrisis?”

It continues, “Although consistentstate level data on ARRA contractingto minority firms is not widely avail-able, figures from federal procure-ment indicate troubling and disparatecontracting patterns. While Black —,Latino —, and Women — ownedbusinesses represent 5.2%, 6.8%, and28.2% of all businesses respective-ly,12 as of February 1, 2010, they hadonly received 1.1%, 1.6%, and 2.4%of all federally contracted ARRAfunds. Of the $45 billion in direct fed-eral contracts allocated by February 1,2010, less than $2.4 billion (5% of thetotal) were allocated to Black —,Latino —, and Women — ownedbusinesses.”

Black contractors have long com-plained that they were not gettingtheir fair share of state and federaldollars. That complaint continuedspecifically about the economic stim-ulus dollars. Also, Black-ownednewspapers point out how they’vebeen consistently shorted in allocationof advertising dollars from federalagencies such as the U. S. Census

Bureau as well as private corporationsthat received stimulus money, includ-ing car dealerships.

White House sources have conced-ed that the absence of tracking eco-nomic stimulus dollars has added tothe problem of assuring fair dissemi-nation.

But, fair contracting laws, includingTitle 6 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,prohibits discrimination on the basisof race by federal government agen-cies — either intended or unintended.

Powell, also one of the researchers,says that studying the fairness of thedissemination of the stimulus moneywas hindered because “the adminis-tration did not require the tracking ofdata based on either race nor gender &Here we’re spending almost a trilliondollars and they have all of theserequirements for tracking informa-tion, but race and gender was left out.We felt that that’s a bad sign. So wedecided that we would try to track it. ”

Powell says the mistake that theWhite House has apparently made isto attempt to meet a universal goalwith the same process.

“The way you might have dealtwith it is if you say, ‘We want toreduce unemployment in every com-munity across the country.’ How youwould do that in the Black communi-ty, how you would do that in theNative-American community, howyou would do that in the rural commu-nity, the process is different. The goalis universal, but the process is differ-ent because the people are situateddifferently.”

Powell says he does not buy the“We have to serve all Americans”excuse for not recognizing diversity.

“For some people, the escalator isfine. Some people may need to takestairs. But, some people may need anelevator. And that’s not to say that the

people who use the elevator are get-ting any special [treatment]. They’resituated differently in relationship tostructures. And that’s significant forAfrican-Americans.

Among the solutions suggested inthe report:

- Rather than scale back job track-ing efforts, add measures which con-sider the quality and duration of

employment, as well as the race,gender, and zip code of job recipients.

- Unbundle large contracts for smallbusinesses. Breaking up large projectswill allow for more small businessparticipation in the recovery.

- Set and mandate specific,Minority Business Enterprise andDisadvantaged Business EnterpriseGoals for every department.

- Use targeted reinvestment in hard-hit areas, first source hiring, appren-ticeship and job training.

- Increase employment opportuni-ties for ex-offenders.

- Consider that the mandate toexpend ARRA funds as quickly aspossible, with special priority given to‘shovel-ready’ projects and projectsreceiving private investment, may begiving short-shrift to civil rights com-pliance, particularly Title VI and TitleVIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

- An equitable jobs bill is stillrequired to stem the economic crisisfacing marginalized

communities.“The racial wealth gap in this

country is stark and real,” says AnitaSinha of the Advancement Project, inan essay included in the report, “Andto think that stimulus dollars may belining the pockets of the usual sus-pects while passing over low-comepeople of color’s access to job trainingand placement opportunities is dis-maying.”

Stimuluscontinued from page 1

Dr. Terry Grier: I was happy in San Diego,and the search committee from Houstoncalled and originally I said I was not interest-ed; that I had to continue the work we started(in San Diego). A few months went by andthey called back again and said your namekeeps coming up from different places assomeone we should talk to. I said thanks, butno. I then started seeing in different meetingspeople I knew from around the country whoasked if I had looked at the Houston job.Then our teacher union elected three newboard members to our five member board,and more and more the decisions that werebeing made were adult decisions; not deci-sions I personally felt had been made in thebest interest of the children. I started reflect-ing on Houston and thinking about people Ihad known in my past; how much I respectedBilly Reagan’s work; one of the country’sgreat educators, Rod Paige, and the work Rodhad done here. I had known Kaye Stripling alittle bit, and Abe Saavedra was well-respect-ed. So I visited HISD’s website and readabout the School Board’s core beliefs, valuesand goals. And I thought, whoa, this is allabout students. So I decided to come, sitdown and talk with the Board. The minute Isat down and started talking with them, everysingle board member, said things that resonat-ed in me. And that’s how it started.

Defender: You come to HISD with a reputa-tion as a reformer and innovator? What arethe most important areas in HISD in need ofreform?

Grier: Several. Our drop-out rate is too highand our graduation rate is too low. That is ofparticular significance if you are a child froman impoverished background. Our children ofcolor in this district have a significantly high-er dropout rate and lower graduation rate thanour Anglo students and students not on freeor reduced lunch. So it’s not only a racialdivide; it’s a socio-economic divide. One ofthe things we have already done that I believewill pay dividends, is put a graduation coachand new computer lab in every high school.Also, students who have failed courses can goonline and work until they demonstrate amastery of skills at a certain level to get cred-it for that course. In San Diego last year, ourstudents recovered over 4,500 courses thatthey had taken and failed—with a B average.It took them 76 days on average to recoververses them sitting there all 180 days. It gavestudents hope. Students could also workonline at home, come in on the weekends,stay until 7pm, work during the summer, andmake those credits up and graduate. Anotherfocus… just last week we opened HISD’sfirst middle school for over-aged students—middle school students two to three yearsolder than their counterparts. These are kidswho have been held back for whatever rea-son. Our goal is to accelerate their learningwith great teachers and a great principal.

These are seventh graders that we’re workingwith and hope that at the end of this semesterand sessions in summer school they will beable to advance to the ninth grade and getthem back on track to graduate. Those aretwo things that we’ve looked at, and there aremany more.

Defender: What are your other top priori-ties?

Grier: We want to see our schools continueto be recognized by the Texas Department ofEducation as exemplary. That’s going to bereally tough this year because we, for the firsttime in Texas, are having to count the SpecialEducation students’ test scores into our calcu-lations. Also, last year you could have a cer-tain percentage of your students scoring at aparticular level and you would be a recog-nized school. That bar has been raised by fivepoints. So it’s going to be harder this year. Ofcourse we always have goals of raisingparental involvement and having safe schools.

Defender: Speaking of safety, KTRK TV,Channel 13 did a report recently with anundercover reporter highlighting a lack ofsecurity at HISD schools. What is yourresponse to that?

Grier: My response is “Thank you forbringing it to our attention when things arenot as they should be,” and please know thatwe will take their findings seriously and workimmediately to address them. It’s sad it tookthe media to bring it to our attention. Frankly,we should have been looking at those kindsof things ourselves. But we need to always beopen to anyone who can point out to usthings that are not as they should be.

Defender: With reform often comes a back-lash from those uncomfortable with change.How do you deal with that backlash when itcomes from teachers and/or parents?

Grier: Change is painful. Good communica-tion is like novacaine when you’re at the den-tist. You’ve got to have something to deadenthe pain or its going to be a long day. Withchange, if you don’t communicate well bothinside and outside the organization, thenyou’re going to have a long day.Communications has to be the key. We’re notdoing a good enough job of that. We’ve got tostep it up so parents understand what we’redoing and why. We want our parents to knowthat we are absolutely committed to having agood school for your child. I don’t think that

parents should have to bus their kids out oftheir neighborhoods to go across town to getwhat they perceive to be a better education.That has to change. There are always twosides to that. We’ll have parents that want usto hire a certain person as principal or teacherfor their school. They may be great people,wonderful church goers and bedrocks in thatcommunity but may not have the skills thatare important to being a good principal. Iknow we’ve got some key administrativepositions open right now in HISD. I recom-mended to our interview committee severalpeople that I’ve known in districts where Iworked who I thought might fit well in thosejobs. Guess what? They didn’t make thegrade. So when we’re offering employmentit’s not enough to know someone.

Defender: Will you do here some of thethings you’ve done elsewhere, like reduceclass sizes and increase the number of APcourses taken by minority students?

Grier: We’ve told all of our high schoolsthey must offer at least 10 AP courses by nextyear and 15 two years from now. That’s goingto be a requirement to increase academicrigor. I’m not interested in excuses. I’m notinterested in you telling me the kids aren’tready. What I am interested in is what you’regoing to do to get them ready. Are you goingto reach down to your colleagues in the mid-dle schools? Are you going to have summeracademic boot camps for these kids?

Defender: How were you able to do morewith less—improving test scores even with adrastically reduced education budget?

Grier: We asked principals to focus onclassroom instruction. I think the most impor-tant way to improve test scores is to makesure all students have a great teacher in theclassroom. You’ve seen a lot of controversylately about using test scores to evaluateteachers. I think we have to have ways todetermine which teachers are doing a greatjob and which ones aren’t. The ones that arestruggling, we need to provide training for.But if they will not or cannot improve theyhave to go. They cannot continue to work ineducation. You and I both know that themajority of those teachers teach in poorerneighborhoods. All of our children deservequality teachers.

Defender: Any other words you’d like toshare?

Grier: Some of our efforts have fallen shortfor our students, and that just cannot contin-ue. Particularly in Fifth Ward we have aninvestigation going on at Key Middle Schooland Kashmere, and that’s been painful. Someof our findings are not good. I think whenthose findings come out some of our peoplein the community are going to be disappoint-ed at some of the things that were going onthere. But hopefully, they’re going to be sup-portive of our efforts to make sure they don’thappen again.

Griercontinued from page 1

Background

EducationDr. Grier earned his bachelor’s and master’s degreesfrom East Carolina University and his doctorate ineducation from Vanderbilt University.

Awards■ North Carolina Association of School

Administrators and the North Carolina SchoolBoards Association’s 2008 North CarolinaSuperintendent of the Year Award

■ American Association of School Administrators’Effie H. Jones Humanitarian Award in recognitionof his exceptional contribution and commitmentto diversify the field of public education withhigh-quality leaders

■ North Carolina Association of Supervision andCurriculum Development’s Distinguished EducatorAward

■ Congressional Black Caucus’s ET3 Tech ChampionAward

Accomplishments Supt. - Guilford County Schools (Greensboro, NC)■ Cut dropout rates in half■ More than doubled the college scholarships avail-

able to high school seniors■ Tripled minority student enrollment in Advanced

Placement (AP) classes■ Increased the high school graduation rate to 80

percent

Supt.- San Diego Unified School District■ Saw student test scores improve dramatically in a

year when the district budget was cut by $200million

■ Opened Southern California’s first virtual, onlinehigh school

■ Increased the number of AP exams taken byminority high school students

■ Passed a $2.1 billion school construction/renova-tion bond package with 69 percent voter approval

■ Improved student performance on the CaliforniaStandards Tests to an all-time district high withscores rising more in one year than in the threeprevious years combined

HIGHLIGHTS: DR. TERRY GRIER

New HISD Superintendent of SchoolsTerry B. Grier read to students in CarriePrince's kindergarten class at theSchool at St. George Place.

Somebody bailed outChiney Ogwumike for achange.

Cy-Fair’s senior post, thenation’s No. 1-ranked girlshigh school basketball player,had just missed two freethrows in the final minute ofthe Region II-5A title gameagainst Bryan that wouldhave given her team a four-point advantage.

Junior guard CassiePeoples had her back thistime.

Cy-Fair coach AnnRoubique said Cassie wantedthe ball in her hands becauseshe knew that she could drawa foul.

With eight seconds left inthe biggest game of hercareer, Peoples connected ontwo free-throw attempts toprovide the final margin (54-50) and give the LadyBobcats their fourth consecu-tive trip to the UniversityInterscholastic League Class5A state basketball tourna-ment.

Peoples finished with 10points and four assists.

When Cy-Fair defeatedCollege Park in last season’sRegion II Class 5A final atthe Ferrell Center, Peopleswas in a wheelchair nursingher newly broken leg. Shemissed the final three gamesof Cy-Fair’s season.

This year, she was in thegame, the ball was in herhands and the game was onthe line.

Ogwumike said she could

Jordan to Buy BobcatsWord out of Charlotte,

N.C. is that Michael Jordanhas reached an agreement tobuy the Charlotte Bobcatsfrom Bob Johnson, the for-mer owner of BET. Jordanhas been a minority ownersince 2006, with final say onbasketball decisions. Hisownership group is MJBasketball Holdings LLC.

M.J.was in competitionwith former HoustonRockets executive GeorgePostolos, who also had anownership group together tobuy the team.

Johnson purchased theexpansion tea,m whichbegan competition in the2004-2005 season, for $300million. He became the firstBlack majority owner of amajor professional sportsteam. Unfortunately,Johnson has lost money withthe franchise from the verybeginning. The team, in thehotbed for college basketballcountry, has struggled todraw fans and attract spon-sorships. Reports are thatJohnson has accumulated$150 million in team debtand will lose millions thisseason.

Michael Jordan achievedunprecedented success as aplayer. He was a five-timeNBA MVP and 14-time All-Star, winning six NBAchampionships. He has alsoexcelled as a corporate pitchman, selling everything fromathletic shoes and apparel,energy drinks and evenunderwear. Now he’ll begina completely different roletrying to make the Bobcats awinner, and the franchiseand Charlotte’s downtownarena profitable.

How successful will

★ARDISON, Page 6

★EDISON, Page 6

MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDER 5SPORTS

Max Edisonon

Sports

Darrell Ardison

on H.S.Sports

By Max EdisonDEFENDER

He is quite simply one of the premierefilmmakers of this generation. SpikeLee, whose original films, powerful

documentaries and memorable roles haveentertained us for over thirty years, was intown recently as the keynote speaker forHouston Community College Black HistoryGala.

As passionate as Lee is about the business offilmmaking, he is just as rabid about his lovefor sports. The movie He’s Got Game show-cased his love for basketball. The documen-taries, Jim Brown: All-American and the 2009release of Kobe Doin Work are examples thatonce again indicate his love for sports. A loveaffair that Lee himself is quick to acknowl-edge.

“I’m a filmmaker and most filmmakers dofilms on the stuff they love,” Lee explained.“I’m very fortunate, I love sports and I makefilms and sometimes I’m able to combine thetwo.”

Not only has Spike Lee been an outstandingfilmmaker, but he has also been an outspokensocial activist, using his celebrity to advancethe cause of any number of relevant socialissues. Having worked with sports icons likeMuhammad Ali and Jim Brown the inevitablequestion arises; why aren’t today’s high profileBlack athletes (Tiger, Lebron, Kobe, etc.)doing more to advance “the cause”.

“It’s just a different time. People like JackieRobinson, Joe Louis, Jim Brown, Bill Russell,Jack Johnson, they did the stuff so athletestoday would not have to go through those hard-ships,” Spike shared. “There’s no doubt wewere second class citizens, but it’s a differenttime now. We have a Black president now. Justlike it’s hard to compare athletes in differenteras, I would say it’s just as difficult to com-pare the actions of today’s stars.

“Many guys do stuff they don’t publicize,”Lee continued. “I know Michael Jordan does aton of stuff, but he’s not doing it for publicityso you never hear about it.”

By Darrell K. ArdisonDEFENDER

The scenario with the Bellairegirls coming back from double-digit deficits in the 2010 playoffshad become all too familiar. YetHightower head coach DeborahMize was in no mood for anyrepeats.

Not a repeat of when Bellaireeliminated the Lady Hurricanes(55-37) from last year’s regionaltournament. Certainly not a thirdconsecutive impressive come-back in this year’s playoffs withHightower victimized again.

Wearing the favorite’s role inthe Region III-5A Tournament atthe Campbell Center, Hightowerheld off a furious Bellaire rallydown the stretch and BrittanyMatthew converted four clutchfree throws in the waningmoments to seal a 70-64 victoryand earn a berth in the state bas-ketball tournament in Austin.

“I am never comfortableagainst a team that can shoot 3-pointers like Bellaire,” Mizesaid. “The only time that Ithought we had this game wonwas when Brittany hit those freethrows at the end.”

Hightower (34-2) will face SanAntonio Jay in Friday’s lateClass 5A semifinal (8:30 p.m.).Top-ranked Cy-Fair (34-1) playsCedar Hill in the early game(3:30 p.m.). The LadyHurricanes are making their firststate tournament appearancesince 2003.

With a sizable height advan-

tage, Hightower led by as manyas 13 points with the 6-foot-2twin tandem of Tyler and TaylorGilbert having their way aroundthe basket. Tyler finished with 21points, 15 rebounds and fiveblocked shots. Taylor tallied 15points, 15 caroms and oneblocked shot.

Yet Bellaire had overcomelarge deficits in the prior twogames against Clear Lake and

Alief Elsik to record playoff vic-tories. Behind a brilliant 40-pointperformance from freshmanpoint guard A.J. Alix, the LadyCardinals were poised for anoth-er comeback.

With a much shorter benchthan his counterpart, Bellairecoach Michael Kramer beganemploying a full-court press thatproduced immediate results. Alixscored 17 third-quarter points

and the Lady Cardinals slicedtheir deficit to four points (50-46) starting the fourth quarter.

“Sometimes we have problemswith the press because we’re notpatient enough. We don’t see thefloor because we’re concentrat-ing on the defenders coming atus and we just panic,” said seniorguard Jasmine Brewer, who

★HIGHTOWER, Page 6

Hightower coach Deborah Mize and Fort Bend ISD AD Keith Kilgore

★SPIKE LEE, Page 6

Hightower holds off Bellairefor ticket to State

Talkin’ Sports and Kickin’ it with Filmmaker

Spike Lee

6 MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDERSPORTS

Advertise in theDefender

think back at all the times in thegame when they could have lost it,but that Cassie made it happen withher two free throws.

Although Ogwumike missed herlast two free throws, her play in thesecond half proved large for the LadyBobcats. The Stanford Universitysignee had 12 points and seven

rebounds after intermission and fin-ished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Cy-Fair guards Danika Cervenka,Tara Warren and Aarika Reyna cameup big in the first half whenOgwumike was being double- andtriple-teamed by the Lady Vikings.

It wasn’t an easy road throughRegion II for No. 1 state-ranked Cy-Fair. The Lady Bobcats defeated thestate’s No. 3-ranked school in thefinals (Bryan) after disposing of the

state’s No. 2 team (Dallas Skyline) inthe regional semifinals.

ETC.The Westbury Christian girls

defeated Argyle Liberty Christian 73-69 to win the TAPPS Class 4A statecrown. The Westbury Christian boyswon a second consecutive state cham-pionship with a 78-59 victory overSecond Baptist in an all-Houston-areaTAPPS 4A title game.

Ardisoncontinued from page 5

Jordan be? No one knows for certain, but he must avoidthe mistakes made by Johnson.

“If he’s going to be an absentee owner, just like Bobwas, it’s not going to work,” said Felix Sabates, aNASCAR team owner who also holds a minority stakein the Bobcats. “I think if Michael makes a commit-ment and shows dedication, he can be very successful.He’s a big icon in this part of the country.”

Count Bobcat guard, Stephen Jackson in as a currentplayer who endorses the new ownership change.

“I think it’s great, an opportunity for me to continueto play for a guy who I’ve looked up to my wholecareer, the best to ever play the game,” Jackson said. “Ithink he’s going to get this team, the right guys on thecourt, and go in the right direction to be a consistentteam in the playoffs.”

Needless to say NBA commissioner David Stern is allsmiles at having his Hall of Famer become an owner.

“We have been anticipating an agreement for transferof a majority interest in the Bobcats and are pleased it

has occurred,” Stern said in a statement. “Bob Johnsonbrought the excitement of the NBA back to Charlotteand I am certain that as Michael Jordan returns to hishome state as the principal owner of the Bobcats theteam will continue its growth as a success on the court,as a business success and as a valued communityasset.”

Jordan has already hand picked the current Bobcatmanagement hierarchy, with former teammate RodHiggins as G.M. and former Tarheel player and champi-onship coach, Larry Brown on the bench.

“Everybody wanted to see him involved and I can’timagine the NBA not having Michael Jordan involved,”Coach Brown said recently while watching the NorthCarolina-Wake Forest game. “He’s been great for us towork with, he lets us do our job and he’s the best.”

Jordan has had lukewarm success on the managementside of the coin. While running the Washington Wizardshe drafted Kwame Brown number one overall in 2001.In 2006 he directed the Bobcats draft Adam Morrisonwith the third pick in the draft. Both players have beena pair of the biggest first round draft busts in recent his-tory.

Edisoncontinued from page 5

Speaking of Michael Jordan, Nike,using a Spike Lee movie character,introduced the world to the Air Jordanline in a series of television commer-cials in the mid-80’s and the rest isadvertising history! Many of today’syouth are more familiar with Lee’scharacter with Jordan than his count-less hit movies.

“My biggest regret is I wish I hadtaken stock and not the cash backthen,” Spike recalled.

The overwhelming success of theAir Jordan brand is a phenomenon thatamazes Lee to this day.

“It was all accident. When I playedMars Blackmon my character in She’sGotta Have It, Mars loved the AirJordans and I had no idea it would turninto something so big. The best thingabout it is I have a great relationshipwith Michael Jordan, forget about themoney, the best thing is that me andMichael are real good friends.”

Spike Lee was born in Atlanta, buthe grew up in New York. I first methim during the 1994 NBA Finalsbetween the Knicks and the Rockets.We all know the Rockets won thatseries in 7 games and went on torepeat in 1995. You would think after16 years Spike would be over theheartache of that series, but he isn’tand I wasn’t about to let him forget it!

“We (Knicks) had won game 5 inNew York, we were up 3-2 and wecome back to Houston for game 6 and7 and we lost two in a row. It was onlya couple of years ago that Pat Rileyfinally admitted that he messed it upby not taking John Starks out of game

6. We should have won that series.”With the trade of Tracy McGrady

from the Rockets to New York, Lee,the life-long Knick fan, believes thiscould signal the beginning of the greatNew York Knick renaissance.

“We’ve got Tracy McGrady and his$23 million contract comes off the capat the end of this year,” Lee explains.“The Knicks will then have more capspace than any team in the league. Wecan get 2 max dollar players. Wewould be a force to be reckoned withthen. We don’t have to spend all themoney after this season though. Thefollowing season Carmelo Anthony,Chris Paul and Kevin Durant will befree agents, so if we don’t get what weneed this summer, we’ll get it nextyear.”

Lee’s current project is a sequel tohis documentary, When the Levee’sBroke. While in Houston he plans tovisit with survivors of HurricaneKatrina who evacuated from NewOrleans and continue to reside in theHouston area. Of course with such anoble cause in front of him, he stillfound time to gloat over the recentsuccess of New York sports.

“I still love film and I’m still verypassionate. I still love sports. I’mhappy for New Orleans that they wonthe Super Bowl. The Yankees recentlywon their 27th World Championship.The Jets look promising with a rookiequarterback. We got to keep goingevery day. There’s still a lot of storiesyet to be told.”

Spike Leecontinued from page 5

made several key shots tokeep the Cardinals atbay.“After we realized that wecould dribble the ball up thecourt and get the ball to ourbig girls, that’s what we didand that’s what worked forus,” Brewer said.

Brewer convert-ed two field goalsin an 8-0 spurtmidway throughthe fourth quarterto give the LadyHurricanes a 64-55 advantage.

“A team goal forus before the gamewas to get on theglass the entiregame,” said TylerGilbert. “If wedidn’t do anythingelse we weregoing to catchrebounds and make second-chance shots.

“We were confident cominginto the game. Bellaireknocked us out of the regionaltournament last year and weknew we had to bring theintensity,” Gilbert said.“Coach Mize said that goingto the state tournament hadbeen a dream since her firstyear of coaching. We wantedto make it happen for her.”

Bellaire (23-10) wasn’tabout to go out without afight.

Raven Burns and BiancaWinslow sandwiched basketsaround two by Alix to pull theLady Cardinals within twopoints (66-64) with 34 sec-onds remaining in regulation.

That’s when Matthewswished the four biggest freethrows of her life.

“We were hoping we wouldget to see Bellaire again,”Mize said. “I believe our play-ers felt like they had some-thing to prove against them.”

With two freshmen and twosophomores in his startinglineup, Kramer was happy his

team advanced to the regionalfinal for a second straight yearand looks for better things inthe foreseeable future.

“We weren’t supposed tomake it this far this year, butwe’ve got a great group ofyoung ladies that just keepgetting better and better,” hesaid. “We’re proud of whatthey accomplished.”

H i g h t o w e radvanced to theregional final byd e f e a t i n gWestside 55-48 inthe semifinals.

“Westside had agreat defensivegame plan for usand they executedit really well,”Mize said. “I did-n’t think we com-peted as well aswe’re capable ofand in the playoffsyou have to be

ready to perform.”After defeating the likes of

state-ranked Wheatley,Worthing and previouslyunbeaten Yates in the play-offs, La Marque saw its“Cinderella” bid come to anend at the hands of regionalfavorite Del Valle.

The Cardinals (36-2) stalledfor the final four minutes, 20seconds of the second quarterand the score tied at 12 apiece.

In the second half Del Valletook advantage of the ball-handling skills of senior pointguard Joslinn Douglas (17points) and poor shootingfrom the Lady Cougars (10-of-42 from the field) to claimthe Region III-4A title with a43-33 victory at the CampbellCenter.

La Marque trailed 22-18going into the final eight min-utes of the contest and pulledwithin two points at the 4:46mark, but could never inchany closer.

It marked La Marque’s firstappearance in the regionalchampionship game.

Hightowercontinued from page 5

CLASSIFIED

MENTAL HEALTH MENTAL RETARDATION AUTHORITY OFHARRIS COUNTY will be accepting Proposals for the following:

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS SOFTWARE

Specifications may be secured from MHMRA of Harris County, Purchasing Departmentlocated at 7011 Southwest Freeway, Suite 100 in Houston, Texas 77074 and/or viaMHMRA website www.mhmraharris.org beginning Tuesday, March 9, 2010. A Pre-Proposal Conference is scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 10:30 a.m., 7011Southwest Freeway. Responses to Request for Proposal must be submitted to thePurchasing Department, Suite 100, 7011 Southwest Freeway, Houston,Texas 77074 by10:00 a.m.,TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010 in a sealed envelope marked "PROPOSAL -DO NOT OPEN UNTIL – TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010,“LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYS-TEMS SOFTWARE”. Any questions pertaining to this solicitation should be addressedin writing to Marguarette Washington, Senior Buyer via fax (713) 970-7682 or email tomarguarette.washington@mhmraharris.org cc: sharon.brauner@mhmraharris.org.MHMRA reserves the rights to reject any and/or all proposals it deems to be in its bestinterests, to waive formalities and reasonable irregularities in submitted documentsand is not obligated to accept the lowest proposal.

Spike Lee used one of his movie characters to introduce the world to AirJordan back in the mid-80s.

Hightower guardJasmine Brewer

Tyler and Taylor Gilbert, Hightower’s twin post tandem.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALSThe Houston Housing Authority hereby solicits proposals from contrac-

tors for the operation of the Child Care Centers as specified in RFP No. 10-

02, RFP No. 10-03, RFP No. 10-04 and RFP No. 10-05.

RFP NO. 10-02, OPERATION OF OXFORD PLACE APARTMENTS CHILD

CARE CENTER

RFP NO. 10-03 OPERATION OF KELLY VILLAGE CHILD CARE CENTER

RFP NO. 10-04 OPERATION OF LINCOLN PARK APARTMENTS CHILD

CARE CENTER

RFP NO. 10-05 OPERATION OF HISTORIC OAKS OF ALLEN PARKWAY

VILLAGE CHILD CARE CENTER

Interested offerors may obtain the Request for Proposals packages on

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 by contacting:

ANNA SIMOTASPURCHASING OFFICER

HOUSTON HOUSING AUTHORITY2640 FOUNTAINVIEW, SUITE 408

HOUSTON,TEXAS 77057(713) 260-0554 FAX: (713) 260-0556

The Request for Proposals will be available on the Internet at

www.housingforhouston.com on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.

The proposals must reach the Houston Housing Authority no later than

4:00 P.M. (CST) on March 25, 2010. Proposals received after the deadline

will be rejected unless the conditions allowed for late submittals exist for

consideration as specified in the RFP.

A Fair Housing and Equal Employment Opportunity Agency. For assistance: Individualswith disabilities may contact the 504/ADA Administrator at 713-260-0528,

TTY 713-260-0547 or 504_ADA@housingforhouston.com.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALSRFP NO. 10-08

HOPE VI CONSULTING SERVICES FOR WILMINGTON HOUSE

The Houston Housing Authority hereby solicits proposals from quali-

fied professional consulting firms to provide services for the

Development of a Hope VI Grant Application for Wilmington House as

specified in RFP No. 10-08.

Interested offerors may obtain the Request for Proposals

package by contacting:

ANNA SIMOTASPURCHASING OFFICER

HOUSTON HOUSING AUTHORITY2640 FOUNTAINVIEW, SUITE 408

HOUSTON,TEXAS 77057(713) 260-0554 FAX: (713) 260-0556

The Request for Proposals will be available on the Internet at

www.housingforhouston.com on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.

The proposals must reach the Houston Housing Authority no later than

4:00 P.M. (CST) on March 23, 2010. Proposals received after the deadline

will be rejected unless the conditions allowed for late submittals exist for

consideration as specified in the RFP.

A Fair Housing and Equal Employment Opportunity Agency. For assistance: Individualswith disabilities may contact the 504/ADA Administrator at 713-260-0528,

TTY 713-260-0547 or 504_ADA@housingforhouston.com.

Visit defendernetwork.com

Colds are caused by viruses and are notcured by antibiotics. In fact, doctors aresteering patients away from unnecessaryantibiotic use since overuse leads to thedevelopment of bacteria resistant to theusual antibiotic treatments. Still, parentswant to help relieve cold symptoms and tohelp their child be more comfortable, par-ticularly at night. When rest, fluids and thehumidifier don’t seem to bring enoughrelief, do over-the-counter (OTC) coldmedicines work?

“Most children are not helped signifi-cantly by OTC preparations, but if you

find one that is helpful for your child thenit is safe to use,” said Dr. CarlaGiannoni, otolaryngologist with TexasChildren’s Hospital.

Texas Children’s offers these tips for smart use of OTC cold and allergy medicines:

Decongestants: Decongestants aremost effective for the common cold ifused for no more than two to three days torelieve symptoms. Decongestants shouldnot be used in conjunction with antihista-

MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDER 7OUR HEALTH

About Texas Children’s Hospital Texas Children’s Hospital is committed to a community of healthy children by providing the finest

pediatric patient care, education and research. Renowned worldwide for its expertise and

breakthrough developments in clinical care and research, Texas Children’s is ranked in the top

ten best children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information on Texas Children’s Hospital, visit www.texaschildrens.org.

A Defender & Texas Children’s Hospital Alliance

Children have a tough time understandingthe concept of “strangers.” If they’ve seensomeone at their school or in their neighbor-hood before, they may not think of that person as a stranger because they’ve seenthem before. Also, if the person doesn’t lookmean or scary, they may not seem like a dan-gerous person to a child. And remember totalk to older children and teenagers. Theyare at risk too.

Here are some tips for parents andguardians to help safeguard children byteaching them what to do if they areapproached by a stranger.• Know where your children are at all times

and when they should be home.• Know who your children’s friends are,

where they live and how to get in touchwith them.

• Never leave a small child alone at home orin the car, even for a few minutes.

• Teach your children that dangerous peopledon’t necessarily look mean. They oftensmile and act friendly. Teach your chil-dren not to be tricked – be smart.

• Strangers are not only people your chil-dren don’t know, but also people theydon’t know very well.

• Discuss with your children how to identify safe adults who they can go towhen they are in danger – people likepolice and firemen.

• Use role-playing and “what if” situationsso children can practice what to do in different situationsTeach children to never talk to, help,

accept anything from or give information topeople they don’t know very well.

• Tell your children that if a person followsor grabs them, they should yell loudly.Teach them to shout, “I don’t know you”so people know they are in trouble.

• Tell your children it is OK for them tofight back and make as much noise as theycan to get help.

• Make sure your child knows how to reachyou in an emergency. Teach your childrenhow and when to call 911.

Over-the-counter antihistamines are effective for easing the symptoms of allergies.

★COLD MEDICINES, Page 8

Asthma is a chronic lungdisease that causes swellingand irritation of the airways.This makes the airwavessmaller so it is harder tobreathe. Here are somesymptoms of asthma:

• Cough• Shortness of breath• Wheezing• Chest congestionAvoiding triggers helps

improve asthma and reducesthe need for medicine.Asthma triggers are thingsthat cause asthma to flare upor get worse. Common trig-gers include:

• Weather changes• Pollen• Dust or mold• Tobacco smoke• Strong odors• Viral infections• Pets• Exercise• AnxietyEveryone with asthma

needs “quick relief” or “rescue” medicine to usewhen you have an asthmaattack. The medicine allows

airways to open so you can breathe easier. Somepeople also need “controller”medicines to use daily todecrease inflammation in theairways to help prevent asthma attacks.

An asthma action plan is awritten guide to help keepyou well and deal with asthma problems. You makethis plan with your doctor.The plan may change as your asthma needs change.You should have a copy athome, school and with other caregivers.

An asthma action planincludes:• A daily care plan to

help keep you well andhelp meet your goals for asthma control.

• A rescue plan to help youdeal with increasing symp-toms quickly.

• A guide for asthma emer-gencies to help you knowwhen to call the doctor and when you need emergency help.

Asthma triggersand management

Parents of children with asthma should create an asthma action plan with their child’s pediatrician.

Parents should teach children to nevertalk to, help, accept anything from orgive information to strangers.

Safeguard your children against thedanger of strangers

Do over-the-countercold medicines work?

Each year, nearly 700 children under 14years old die in home fires. The majority ofchildren are injured or die in homes withoutworking smoke alarms. The leading causesof fires are playing with matches andlighters, and heating sources such as spaceheaters, fireplaces and radiators.

Protect your family by making yourhome safer by:• Checking for potential fire dangers

before a fire starts• Installing smoke alarms in every sleep-

ing area and on every level of your home• Keeping matches, lighters and gasoline

locked away and out of children’s reach

• Keeping children away from cookingand heating appliances

• Turning off all cooking and heatingappliances after use

• Putting out cigarettes before leavinghome or going to sleep

• Not overloading electrical outlets• Replacing old, worn out electrical cords• Testing smoke alarms once a month and

changing the batteries at least once a year

Take the time to discuss what your family should do in case of a fire.• Plan and practice at least two escape

routes out of every room of the home.• Agree on an outside meeting place.

Teach your kids to:• Crawl low under smoke, feel doors

before opening them in case there is firebehind them and go quickly to thenearest exit.

• Stop, drop and roll on the floor if yourclothing catches fire. Do not run!

• Call the fire department or 911 from aneighbor’s house.

• Tell a fire fighter if someone is missing.Never return to a burning building.

Information adapted from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign

8 MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDEROUR HEALTH

mines. Common side effects of decongestants include hyperac-tivity or sleeplessness, so avoid giving your child these medi-cines just before bedtime. A common brand is Sudafed®.

Antihistamines: Over-the-counter versions are very effec-tive for easing the symptoms of true allergies such as hay fever,and are less expensive than prescription formulas.Antihistamines are best used when symptoms are seasonal orintermittent. Because antihistamines often cause sleepiness,these drugs may affect school performance or a teen’s ability todrive. A common brand is Benadryl®.

Cough expectorants: Look for one that contains the drugguaifenesin only. Ask your doctor for the amount you shouldgive your child to equal the dose found in prescription drugs.Be sure that your child drinks plenty of fluids while taking anexpectorant or it won’t work. A common brand name is Robitussin®.

Cough suppressants: Humidity and fluids are recommend-ed to relieve a child’s cough rather than cough suppressants.

Other suggestions for the use of OTC cold medicines include:

Buy “plain” drugs. Don’t buy OTC drugs that contain mul-tiple medicines that will work at cross-purposes. For instance,avoid expectorant/antihistamine and cough expectorant/coughsuppressant combinations.

Avoid double-dosing. Read labels so that you know whetheran OTC drug contains acetaminophen. If the drug you’ve cho-sen already contains acetaminophen, you don’t need to giveyour child an additional dose for fever or aches. Do not giveaspirin or other salicylates to children or teen-agers.

Buy generic. Generic drugs are more likely to contain onlyone ingredient and include exactly the same dose of medicineas branded OTCs.

Avoid misuse. Consult your pediatrician before giving anyOTC drug to children under age 2. In addition, educate your-self about which OTC medicines currently are popular withteens looking to get high. Ephedrine or dextromethorphan aretwo such drugs.

While OTCs cause few major side effects in children, time-honored home remedies such as hot water mixed with lemonand honey actually may be more effective.

“Fluids actually work better than some OTC medicines sincethe doses are so low,” said Dr. George Mallory, associate pro-fessor of pediatric pulmonology at Baylor College ofMedicine, the training institution for many of Texas Children’sphysicians. “In addition, OTC medications can be expensive,and there’s growing evidence that immunity in childhood isbuilt by exposure to mild illnesses like colds.”

So, use OTC medications judiciously, then help your childget comfortable, stock up on some favorite (non-caffeinated)drinks, watch a video, read some stories and let the cold run its course.

Cold Medicinescontinued from page 7

If you need to improve your child’s read-ing skills, here are some suggestions to helpyour child understand more of what he orshe is reading.

Have your child first think about the sub-ject he or she is going to read about. Askyour child what they know about the subjectand what they want to learn about the subject.

Have your child skim over the section he orshe is going to read. Ask your child if theysaw anything familiar and anything new.

After your child has read, ask your childwhat he or she had learned about the sub-ject. Ask your child about their overallthoughts or impressions of what was read.

Have your child recall to you what theyhave just read. As your child reads, haveyour child stop often and put into his or herown words what was just read. At the end ofeach section or chapter, have your childrecall or review the main idea.

Teach your family the importance of fire safety

Improve your child’s readingskills and understanding

Reading with your child everyday is a good way to teachthem to enjoy books.

It is important for parents to startteaching and encouraging their childrento read before they enter school.Children as young as six months canbegin to enjoy books. Here are somesuggestions on how parents can helptheir children understand language andbegin to make connections betweenwords and meanings.

Birth to one year of age• Play with your baby by telling them

rhymes, talking to them and singing tothem. This helps your baby learn spoken language.

• Look at picture books with your baby.Point and name the objects that thebaby sees, such as “Look at thepuppy” or “See the baby!”

• Give your baby soft or board books.One to three years of age• Tell rhymes, talk, sing and play with

your child.• Read to your child every day.• Let your child read to you by naming

or pointing to the objects in the bookor making up a story.

Preparing your baby to learn to read

MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDER 9

to avoid a runoff even though nearly onein five voters cast ballots for the thirdcandidate - Debra Medina, a GOP partyactivist who has strong libertarian lean-ings and supporters in the tea partymovement.

Perry’s victory will pit him againstformer HoustonMayor Bill White, acalm consensus-builder, in theNovember generalelection. White easilydefeated six opponentsto win his party’s nom-ination. His biggestchallenger, millionairebusinessman, FaroukShami only garnered17 percent of the vote.White beat Shami andfive others with 76percent of the vote.

White, in his meas-ured and deliberatestyle, saluted the twoRepublicans who chal-lenged Perry for theGOP nomination, say-ing that he admirestheir courage for tak-ing on a “career politi-cian” who knowsevery “trick in thebook.”

Many believe thatWhite, a lawyer andbusinessman with money to spend on anexpensive race, represents theDemocrats’ best hope in years at win-ning the governorship.

Democrats haven’t won a statewideoffice since 1994, when George W. Bushwas elected governor and theRepublicans started their Texas takeover.

Another closely watched race was thedemocratic primary for the 18thCongressional District. IncumbentSheila Jackson Lee also coasted to a vic-tory with 70 percent of the votes.

Jackson Lee was facing competitionfrom Houston City Council memberJarvis Johnson and attorney Sean

Roberts.Jackson Lee has served in the U.S.

House of Representatives since 1994.Before then, she served two terms onHouston City Council and as a munici-pal court judge.

Johnson, a graduate of Texas SouthernUniversity, has served on City Councilsince 2005 and is the chairman of theHuman Services and Technology AccessCommittee.

Other notewor-thy races includethe contentiousState Rep. District146 race.Democratic incum-bent Al Edwardslost his seat toBorris Miles by amere 11 votes.

Edwards hadserved the districtfor several yearsuntil Miles beathim out in 2006. In2008, Edwardsreclaimed his posi-tion and oustedMiles, who wasfacing charges ofbrandishing a gunduring his bid toseek re-election.Miles was acquit-ted on thosecharges last year.

In Fort Bend,two other closelywatched raceswere those for Fort

Bend Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 andState House, District 27. Joel Clouser,held onto to his JP seat with nearly 56percent of the vote. He was being chal-lenged by Tony Sherman, who received44 percent of the votes. Incumbent DoraOlivo lost her seat in the State House,District 27 seat to attorney and MissouriCity NAACP president Ron Reynolds.Despite what some called extreme nega-tive campaigning by Olivo’s camp,Reynolds won solidly (58 to 42 percent).

The Associated Press contributed to thisreport.

Primarycontinued from page 1

ference with United Nations officials involved in lead-ing the emergency and humanitarian response inHaiti. According to a release that followed the confer-ence, they assessed the relief operations, highlightedunmet needs - particularly in areas outside of Port-au-Prince and in advance of the rainy season - andencourage closer coordination with the Governmentof Haiti and with each other.

It’s not just the weather, but conditions potentiallycaused by the weather that’s concerning the citizensand relief workers. Those conditions could mean thespread of disease, human waste and even human bod-ies, many of which did not receive proper burial in theinitial aftermath of the earthquake. Nearly 200,000were killed.

Meanwhile, life in the capitol continues to strugglefor normalcy. After you get beyond the fact that Haiti,particularly Port-au-Prince, is a modern day ruin—which is not easy when around each new corner is amore devastating scene—there is the amazing vitality,ingenuity and creativity of the Haitian people.

This ability, this undying resilience, was evidentfrom one end of the city to another during a whirlwindvisit to the city by a team of Black journalists in midFebruary. Here and there were welders, their torchesmelding torn metal; masons mending broken walls;carpenters repairing doors and roof tops; painters put-ting a fresh gloss on ravaged buildings; and the count-less vendors setting up shop in front of totally dam-aged structures.

And exactly one month after the catastrophe, thespirit of recovery was seen in the hundreds of peoplewalking along the streets and roads, many of themdressed in white, on their way to various sites ofmourning, ready to remember the dead and dying asthey celebrate another day of living.

“We are determined to put our homes and our livesback together,” said a young man, who stood with hismother and father outside a tent where bricks provid-ed a makeshift foundation. “Our home was complete-ly destroyed, so this will have to do until we can dobetter.”

Even for this reporter, who visited Mississippi andLouisiana after Hurricane Katrina and stood as an eye-witness to the collapse of the World Trade Center,spending four days traveling with a delegation ofAfrican-American media representatives amid therubble of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding neigh-borhoods is to experience a tragedy of almost incom-parable proportions.

It was mindboggling to see the President’s Palace,an architectural wonder, its twin domes crushing the

floors below; the beautiful National Cathedral wherePresident Rene Preval was inaugurated in 2006 withonly the historic statues as a reminder of its splendor;and all of the city’s municipal buildings in silent pilesof dusty cement with rods of steel protruding likerusty fingers.

Immediately the question becomes why somebuildings remain standing while others crumbled inthe 7.0 magnitude earthquake? “Many of the build-ings that collapsed were built without consideration ofthe building codes,” said Delatour, Haiti’s Minister ofTourism, a trained architect who studied at HowardUniversity and is leading the recovery effort.

Fortunately, thousands of lives were spared becausepeople weren’t at home and asleep when the earth-quake rattled the land at 4:53p.m. on January 12.

One concern for Haitian construction companies ishow to build a home or an office building capable ofwithstanding an earthquake and, at the same time, hur-ricanes, which most of the current buildings that fellwere constructed to endure. It will take several yearsand $3 billion to complete the recovery, Delatourspeculated, “Though it could be much more becauseit’s hard to factor in everything at the moment,” headded.

Meanwhile, it is estimated that some three millionHaitians are homeless or dwelling in tents and othermakeshift quarters, often waiting desperately fordecent shelter, food, and medical attention.

Nothing was more depressing than to see the longline of injured people outside one of the city’s fewfunctioning hospitals, where emergency rescue unitshave set up tents to provide additional space for theinjured.

Food and water distribution remain troubling chal-lenges to the various organizations although it hashelped somewhat that women are now given couponsto pick up such foodstuff as 50 pound bags of Haitianrice, which they balance on their heads as if it were apillow.

At other points, the distribution is not so orderly andthe crush of people, a veritable stampede, swarming tocatch packages of protein snacks tossed from trucks,present a great danger to the weak, aged and disabled.

When it comes to shelter, the distribution of foodand water, and tending to the medical needs of thepeople, Carlene Dei, head of the USAID mission, saidgreat strides had been made, “but there is still so muchmore to be done.”

NNPA News Service Editor-in-Chief Hazel Trice Edney con-

tributed to this story.

Haiticontinued from page 1

March 2010Primary Results

Governor (Republican)Rick Perry (I) 51.1%

Kay Bailey Hutchison 30.3% Debra Medina 18.6%

Governor (Democrat) Bill White 76.1%

Farouk Shami 12.8%

State Rep., District 146Borris Miles 50.1%

Al Edwards (I) 49.9%

U.S. House District 18(Democrat)

Sheila Jackson Lee (I) 67.0% Jarvis Johnson 28.3% Sean Roberts 4.7 %Fort Bend, JP Pct. 2

Joel Clouser (I) 55.6% Tony Sherman 44.4%

State House District 27 Dora Olivo (I) 42.4% Ron Reynolds 57.6%

Attorney Jarvis Hollingsworth and HCCChancellor Dr. Mary S. Spangler

Donna and Dr. Michael P. Williams HCC Trustee Bruce A. Austin

Jodie Jiles, Spike Lee and Sonceria Messiah-Jiles

Dr. Wendy Johnson and HonoreeGeorge Johnson

HCC Trustee Christopher Oliver and Valarie Oliver

DO THE RIGHT THING……HoustonCommunity College chose award-winningdirector, actor, writer, producer and author,Spike Lee’s movie title, “Do the Right Thing”as their theme for the 2010 Black HistoryGala. By doing the right thing in supportingscholarships, a lot of money was raised thatwill ensure educational opportunities for thefuture of our young people. Spike Lee wasalso the keynote speaker at the gala anddelighted the audience with his savvy story-telling style and extensive knowledge in filmmaking. The Joyce M Reynolds LifetimeAchievement Award was presented to theCEO and Publisher of the Defender MediaGroup Sonceria (Sonny) Messiah Jiles andher husband Jodie L. Jiles, who currentlyserves as Managing Director of RBC CapitalMarkets Corporation. The success of theevent could be seen on the smiling faces ofChancellor Dr. Mary Spangler, President ofHCC Central Campus Dr. William Harmon,HCC Trustees and gala chairs, Bruce Austin,Christopher Oliver and Dr. Michael P.Williams. Some of the gala attendeesincluded Dr. Samuel Smith, ControllerRonald Green, Judge Hilary Green, JudgeVanessa Gilmore, Council Member WandaAdams, Valencia and Kenneth Linton, JohnGuess Jr., Valarie Oliver, Rosemary and Dr.Art Tyler, Donna Williams, DerrickMitchell, Debbie Dillard, MargaretSamuel, Susan and Sam Guess, AttorneyJarvis Hollingsworth, Dr. Kenneth Holden,Marcus Robinson, Gloria Walker, BryceKennard, June Deadrick, Stefani Farrisand paparazzi John Gilmore and VickyPink, to name a few. Melanie Lawson andKhambrel Marshall served and Masters ofCeremonies and Yvonne Washington andThe Mix provided the entertainment. Greatevent and continued success!........EMPOW-ERING VISSIONARIES……..That’s exact-ly what the National Black MBA-HoustonChapter is doing and by 2012, the chapter willbe the premier business organization servingBlack professionals. They recently celebratedtheir 13th Annual Leadership EmpowermentScholarship and Awards Banquet at ThePower Center. This year’s keynote speakerfeatured Editor in Chief Emeritus of Essenceand Founder/CEO of National CARESMentoring Movement, Susan L. Taylor.Honorees in the following categories includedGene Norman, Journalism, Pastor O. E.Ledet, Community, Dr. Raymond Johnson,Education, Thomas Jones, Jr., Corporate,George Johnson, Entrepreneur, DebraJohnson, Law/Government, Dr. Alvia J.Wardlaw, Fine Arts, Dr. Theresa Robinson,Science/Medicine and Nia Abdullah,Sports/Media. Several hundred folks attend-ed the event including Chapter President Dr.Wendy Johnson, National Chairman of theBoard of Directors William W. Wells, Jr.,Dr. Bob Thomas, Rev. Dr. Evelyn Johnson,Austin Tenette, Carl McGowan, ArtisBrown and Leaders of Tomorrow studentsSamia Joyce Fouda and Ivan Butler.Congratulations and continued success to youalso!.........LEADING THE WAY……TheHouston Wellness Association celebratedBlack History Month by honoring outstandingHouston African-Americans who have beenpioneers in the field of health and wellness.Founded in 2006 and as a not-for-profitorganization, its mission is to advance thehealth and well-being of our community andthe economic vitality of our wellness sector.This year they profiled the following hon-orees, Dr. Melba Swafford, retired anesthesi-ologist, Dr. Romanuel Washington, Jr., thefirst Black chiropractor in Texas, Dr.Bernard Harris, Jr., the first African-American to walk in space, Dr. ZebPoindexter, Jr., the first African-Americangraduate of The University of Texas DentalBranch of Houston and later became theschool’s first African-American faculty mem-ber, Karen Jackson, Founder/CEO of SistersNetwork, and the Honorable LateCongressman Mickey Leland. We salute allhonorees!.......THE STORK CLUB…….TheBroussard’s house just extended two feet.Jayden Bernard Broussard was bornFebruary 26, 2010 weighing 7 lbs. to theproud parents, Brittney and Jeremy. Thenext time you see Ms. Chag and wonder whyshe has this big grin on her face, well, it’sbecause Jayden is her first great-grandson andher second great-grandchild. Welcome to theworld little one. God Bless!....... Have agreat week and remember to watch CROSS-ROADS on Channel 13 Sunday morning withMelanie Lawson for your event covered byMs. Chag. Also check out our website atdefendernetwork.com to view the “Event ofthe Week.”…..From Chag’s Place to yourplace, Ciao Darling!

10 MARCH 7 – 13, 2010 | DEFENDER

Dr. Kenneth Holden and Judge Vanessa Gilmore

Honorees Pastor O. D. Ledet, Debra Johnson and Dr.Theresa Robinson

Marcus Robinson, Gloria Walker and Dr. William W.Harmon

Dr. Wendy Johnson and Honoree Gene Norman

Priscilla Gray, Paul Charles, Susan Taylorand Dr. Wendy Johnson

Honorees Nia Abdallah, Dr. Raymond Johnson and Dr. Alvia Wardlaw

Henderson Smith, Dr. Romanuel Washingtonand Cynthia Nickerson

Honorees Dr. Melba Swafford and Dr. Romanuel Washington

Dr. Wendy Johnson and Honoree Thomas Jones

Brittney, Jeremy and Baby Jayden BroussardJew Don Boney and Kelly Hodges

Honoree Dr. Bernard Harris, CynthiaNickerson and Jonathan Lack

Ms. Chag and Jayden