FINKELSTEIN
ance.
MICHIGA CHILDRE
AV A 0 ·TO.LO
'Michigan has the fattest children in
" the nation."-Vernice Davis
Anthony; Public Health Director.
Pre ident Bill Clinton'
health care plan allo a lot of
uthority at the tate level.
Michigan Democrats have intro­
duced 11 bill in th House Pub­
licHealth Committee ince May,
calling for universal health cov­
erage for anyone who has lived
in Michigan for six months.
But because of the hared
leadership in the House, the bills
will not be brought up again un­
til at least February, when Rep .•
Michael Bennane, D- Detroit,
will lead the committee again
Bennan introduced six of the
bills.
Rep. John Jamian, R-Bloom­
field Hills, also will propose' a
health care plan next year.
Kathy Holcomb, Jamian'slegis­
lath'9 aide, said t crucial dif·
ference is that Jamian does not
believe the system is in crisis.
• 34 percent of Michigan's boys, and
33' percent of Michigan's girls
are overweight, compared to 25
percent nationally.
"THE SYSTEM WE have
now is a good one, andjust needs
to be fixed up a little," Holcomb
said.
Vernice Davi Anthony,
Michigan director of public
health, said be· concerned
about the budget cape in th pro­
posed federal plan that limit
health care spending, the mini­
mum services the tate must of­
fer and the penaltie for
pending more than the allow-
• 40 percent of Michigan's children
have high cholesterol, compared
to 25 percent nationally.
THE D OCRATIC plan
does not yet indicate how the
program will b funded. Judy
Karandjetf, a legislative analyst
for the Ho Democratic Party,
said t funding probably will
come from reallocating tb
money already being spent.
"There bould b cost avinp
in that you're treating peopl
source: study conducted by the University of Michigan
CNS: Seth Erickson
earlier rather than when they're
icker, " he said.
Bennane id during a eom­
mittee meeting that an actuarial
analysis of the plan howed it
would save 1 billion I' than
the state currently spends,
mostly in administrative costs .
Both parties have agreed on
some of the administrative de­
tails, Karandjetf said. Holcomb
. d although the partie may
disagree over the state of the
system, in the end there will
definitely be a compromise,
The United States and South
Africa are the only two w tern
industrialized nations that do
not guarantee affordable health
care.
"Internationally, we're get­
ting our butts kicked on this is­
sue," Bennan said
"WE DON'T FEEL it' a eri-
•
ca
By DAVID 0
,
xDid.tUliCW 1J:acDllU84.J.aJ: w hi
and Afri­
can American femal . But for
Black males, their life expectan­
cies decreased.
"Dan Quayle was not com­
pletely off base and I think peo­
ple are beginning to recognize
that," Anthony said.
As vice president, Quayle em­
phasized the importance of tra­
ditional two-parent families.
He drew criticism when he at­
tacked the television show
"Murphy Brown" for encourag­
ing, he contended, young women
to become single mothers.
Anthony agreed with Quayle'
that negative influences - vio­
lence on television, drugs, guns­
-bombard the traditional family
unit everyday. As a result, she
says violence has become a seri­
ous health problem,
LANSING (eNS) - Was Dan
Quayle right after all?
Well, the frightening growth
of societal violence may validate
the former vice president's call
for a return to traditional two­
parent families, contends the
state's .. top public health official.
Public Hea lt.h Director
Vernice Davis Anthony said the
breakdown in traditional family
structures has contributed to an
increase in violence, one of the
most serious health problems
facing Michigan citizens ..
Especially African American
males.
In Michigan, the homicide
rate for YOUQg Black males is
approaching 250 homicides per
100,000 Black males. In com­
parison, the national figures for
young Black males is about 115
per 100,000.
VERNICE ANTHONY
th m at night, from random
shootings 0 crack dealing in
their n ighborhood . They can't
t w y from it."
Al hou h medical re-
r h ha v made numerous
ad v n m n in the past, ob­
today say violence has
d vancements.
"In th 30 yearswhere we
saw incredible strides in terms
of m ical care, advances in
tr tment and curing of di -
, th life expectancy for a
ubstantial proportion of our
population d and that'
a tr gedy," said Robert Floe­
hIke, M U istant prof r
of i tri
Artl t Bennie White (I) painted this portrait of noted journalist Carl T. Rowan (r-at 0 pictured)
for the Detroit Public School . The Carl T. Rowan Community School I located at 8085 Doyal
here In Detroit to encourage future African American Communicators.
ANTHONY AND other ob­
servers point to numerous sta­
tistical trends:
In 1988, homicide becam
one of the 10 leading cau of
death in the U.S.
Among 15-to-45-year-old
Black males, homicide is the
leading cause of death.
Homicide is also the lead­
ing cause of death among 15-to-
34-year-old African American
females.
The overall U.S. homicid
rate has increased by more han
60 percent ince 1940.
be
o
g
00
c
a
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - wondered whether more whites
One basketball player at Tal- on Black campuses mean 1
lad ega College tands out. He's education for Blacks.
a white tudent attending a his- Willie Jackson, 'director of in-
torically Black college. stitutional analysis at Tuskegee
And Stev Ii d i n't alone. University, aid public institu­
He's among a growing number of tions would be more likely than
white students drawn to mostly private schools to have a hitt in
Black campuses for lower tui- the racial makeup because of the
tion and cholarships, among effects of desegregation suits.
other incentiv . At Tuskegee University,
"My major is business ad- nearly 100 of its 119 white stu­
ministration and they've got dents are enrolled in veterinary
really good program," said medicine. Similarly, Alabama
Head, 21. e- A&M's education school has
He said Talladega College been sue sful in attracting
also has "a real good incentive whites.
program here where if you don't Alabama State University in
graduatewhenyoureligibilityis Montgomery gives "minority
up, you can continue to go to scholarships" to whi , id Joe
school and (b) n a sistant Reed, trust chairman. Ala­
coach until you yourd gree." bama A&M Univer ity in
Since 1976, the number of Huntsville also r cruits tu-
whit attending th nation' dents from white communiti ,
123 Black in itu ion ha said Jerom t. Jon , a college
nearly doubled from .18,389 to pokesman.
36,203 in 1992. In ring num­
bers of white also r enrolling
in Alab rna' 13 Black colleges
and univ rsi i
for institutional research, said
the school's accreditation by the
National Council For Accredita­
tion of ' Teacher Education
makes ita ttracti ve.
Low tuition costs also attract
whites to Black colleges.
For example, the 1991-92 in­
state tuition at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham was
$2,050 and at Auburn Univer­
sity was $1,596, according to the
U.S. Department of Education's
National Center for Education
Statistics.
At Alabama State and Ala­
bama A&M, tuition was $1,268
and $1,298, pectively. Th3
same pattern follows for private
Black chools compared with
pri va white schools,
"Th white students now
liz that they can get a b r­
gain - quality education at a
low r f , . ially in th e eco­
nomic trying tim ," said Ada
EIam, arch consultant at
the National Association for
Equal Opportunity in Higher
Education.
have been able to compete for
white students through desegre­
gation lawsuits, which seek
more public funding for Black
institutions.
Alabama State and Alabama
A&M stand to gain from a 1991
desegregation ruling in which a
federal judge found vestiges of
discrimination in the state's
higher education ystem. .
Thejudge ordered the state to
bring appropriations to tradi­
tionally Black universities
closer to the state's largely white
universities.
KEt WHO has,
r arch on the subject,
ad th t vi lence unqu tion-
a ly i a u of the higher Af·
rican Am rican mortality rate.
"Th num rs are telling," b
said "I think w as a nation
n to look at violence as w
would nything else. We need to
addr i nd th n we can im­
prov th h lth of our nation. �
"THE VIOLE C is horren­
dous," said Bob Trojanowicz, di­
rector of the National Cen r for
Community Policing at Michi­
gan State University. "It affects
every aspect of many people's
liv ,
"It affects them when they in­
teract in th daytime. I aff
PHlLAD LPHlA ( ) - A
group of the city's Black bu i­
n and economic development
leaders have formed an African­
American Charnb r of Com­
merce of Philadelphia.
The new chamber, scheduled
to open next month, will have
offices downtown, Organizers
o THE 6 9 white stud n
at Alabama A&M, 589 are
graduate s udents, mostly in
education. Gertrude Hicks, Ala­
bama A&M assi tant director
B CK CHOOL also
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