TODAY news - Apr 24, 2003

Thursday, April 24, 2003 TODAY

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Black alumni of LLU and LSU honors alumna of the year for 2003

B. Lyn Behrens, MBBS (left), president and CEO, Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center, congratulates Donna Green-Goodman, MPH, and her husband, Eddie. Ms. Green-Goodman was named alumna of the year for 2003 by the Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities.

The Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities (BALL) named Donna Green-Goodman, MPH, alumna of the year at the annual BALL banquet held February 22 at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Ms. Green-Goodman is the eldest child of Donald and Shirley Green. She was raised in Huntsville, Alabama, where she completed a bachelor of science degree in home economics at Oakwood College with an emphasis in nutrition. She received a master’s of public health degree in health education and promotion from Loma Linda University.

Ms. Green-Goodman began her professional career in Georgia with the cooperative extension service as an area coordinator for the expanded foods and nutrition education program (EFNEP). She was responsible for starting programs in McDuffie, Hancock, Greene, and Taliaferro counties. Her experience at the local level led to the position of EFNEP/health specialist at the state level of the extension service where she assisted counties across Georgia with the implementation of EFNEP and the integration of non-traditional audiences into the program offerings of the extension service.

After working with the health promotion resource center and Morehouse School of Medicine, Ms. Green-Goodman spent time as a health educator in the Sunlife Maternity Clinic of the Sumter County Health Department in Sumter, South Carolina. Her primary effort there was to provide smoking cessation education for the clients.

Shortly thereafter, she coordinated the health science program at Morris College in Sumter. In addition to teaching a number of courses, she also provided hands-on learning experiences for the students. Under her leadership students provided health education opportunities to the college campus and the Sumter community, via a number of venues including a radio program, “HEALTHTLK,” on the college radio station.

After leading the program at Morris College, Ms. Green-Goodman was the training coordinator for project ASSIST with the South Carolina department of health and environmental control. A return to Georgia gave her the opportunity to work again with Morehouse School of Medicine in the cancer prevention awareness program (CPAP), where she co-authored an article, “Health Values and Practices Among Seventh-day Adventists,” American Journal of Health Behavior 1997 21(1) 43-50. After contracting with the Georgia state office of nutrition as a health promotion specialist, she taught health and family/consumer economics in Lithonia, Georgia.

Currently, she and her husband manage Lifestyle Principles, Inc., a lifestyle for better health center in Decatur, Georgia, that teaches people how to improve their health and overcome chronic disease. She has been blessed to provide a variety of health education lectures, interviews, and food demonstrations for a large number of churches and other organizations including Cascade United Methodist Church, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Ben Hill United Methodist Church, Decatur Seventh-day Adventist Church, St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Essence Magazine, Trinity Broadcast Network, Babbie’s House, American Heart Association, Association of Black Cardiologists, American Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society, National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer, City of Atlanta, Georgia Office of Minority Health, Georgia Primary Health Care Association, Georgia Department of Health & Human Resources, National Medical Association, South Carolina Department of Health, National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Institute, and NAD Health Ministries Conference.

Diagnosed with aggressive, invasive, metatstatic breast cancer in July, 1996, she credits her healing to God’s mercy and subsequent lifestyle changes. Ms. Green-Goodman’s experience with breast cancer was included in the August, 1999, issue of Essence Magazine in an article on cancer-fighting foods. She has written a book titled Somethin’ To Shout About! Celebrating Health and Healing Through Diet and Lifestyle, (Orion Enterprises, 1999), that documents her experience, provides tips on healthful living, and includes 100 delicious plant-based recipes. Most recently she contributed a week of devotional readings on health to the 2003 Women of Color Devotional Bible, Nia Publishing, and is the current Foods For Health editor for Message Magazine.

Health education and promotion are a way of life for Ms. Green-Goodman. She believes that lifestyle changes are vital for health and well-being, and that the people we serve are more likely to change if they see us practicing what we preach.

When not involved in health education, Ms. Green-Goodman is quite involved in “homemaking” for her husband, Eddie, and son, Edward IV, affectionately called “Ivey.”

In light of her personal and professional contributions, BALL is pleased to confer on Ms. Green-Goodman the title Alumna of the Year—2003.

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Public affairs staff members receive Communicator Awards

Staff members from the office of media and public relations, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and from the office of University relations, Loma Linda University, won a total of nine Communicator Awards in the 2003 print media competition.

Winning in the award of distinction category were Kimberley Jeske Kuzma, director, media and public relations, LLUMC, in the writing/feature article category, for a story “LLUCH Foundation sponsors volunteers;” Preston Smith, publications editor, media and public relations, LLUMC, in the writing/news release category, for the press release “Rehabilitation outpatients to carry the Olympic torch;” Waldena J. Gaede, associate director, University relations office, LLU, in the magazine category, for SCOPE; Dustin R. Jones, special projects editor, University relations office, LLU, newsletter category, for SIMS Outlook; and Kristin D. Smith, MS, special projects editor, University relations office, LLU, magazine category, for Allied Health Connection.

The award of distinction is awarded for projects that exceed industry standards in communicating a message or idea.

Receiving the honorable mention award were Lonna Quast, web editor, University relations office, LLU, website category, for LLUAHSC website; Dustin R. Jones, special projects editor, University relations office, LLU, magazine category, for LLU Nurse; and Richard W. Weismeyer, director, University relations office, LLU, newsletter and direct mail categories, for the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Foundation Kids Konnection.

Honorable mention awards are granted to those entries that meet the high standards of the industry.

Winners of the Communicator Awards come from advertising and public relations agencies, corporate communications departments, educational institutions, government entities, designers, writers, video production professionals, broadcast and cable operations, and other businesses and individuals throughout the country.

The Communicator Awards is an international awards competition that recognizes outstanding work in the communications field. Entries are judged by industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.

A total of 3,730 entries throughout the United States and several international countries entered the competition.

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BALL gathers to celebrate 20 years of academic excellence

Tony Brown, CEO, Urban America Television Network, speaks to guests of the 20th annual scholarship banquet sponsored by the Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities on February 22.

The Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities (BALL) celebrated their 20th anniversary on Saturday, February 22, at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. More than 350 alumni and friends of Loma Linda University (LLU) and La Sierra University (LSU) came together for the evening.

Tony Brown, CEO, Urban America Television Network, the keynote speaker for the event, delivered an address that was both informative and challenging.

Named the 2003 alumna of the Year was Donna Green-Goodman, MPH, (see page 1 for more on Ms. Green-Goodman).

Special recognition was given to two individuals during the evening—William M. Hooker, PhD; and Charlie Jo Morgan, RN, PhD. They were presented with crystal awards and certificates that read:

The Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities honors William M. Hooker, associate dean for student affairs, School of Dentistry, Loma Linda University, who, by his personal and professional advocacy of diversity and inclusiveness in this academic community, has demonstrated his support of the vision and mission of BALL; and who has helped initiate and implement meaningful responses at this University that have forwarded the cause of diversity and opened doors of opportunity and service for many BALL alumni.

The Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities honors Charlie Jo Morgan assistant professor of nursing, School of Nursing, Loma Linda University, teacher, administrator, nurse practitioner, and consultant who, for more than four decades, has modeled and promoted academic and professional excellence; and steadfast supporter of this organization, who has served as chair of the scholarship committee and who has continually and tangibly demonstrated in numerous ways her commitment to the vision and mission of BALL.

During the banquet six students from Loma Linda University and La Sierra University received scholarship awards. Pictured here are the LLU recipients Anthony R. Frazier (left), School of Nursing; Vivian Young (center), Graduate School; and Carolyn Scallion (second from right), Graduate School. B. Lyn Behrens, MBBS (second from left), president and CEO, LLUAHSC, and Charlie Jo Morgan, RN, PHD, assistant professor, School of Nursing, are also pictured.

Scholarships ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 were awarded to six students that evening. LSU awardees included Natalee Letts, arts and sciences; Susanne Miller-Haughton, arts and sciences; and Kwame Appiah, business. LLU awardees included Anthony R. Frazier, School of Nursing; Carolyn Scallion, Graduate School; and Vivian Young, Graduate School.

BALL was formed in 1980 as a support system for minority students. Gaines R. Partridge, EdD, along with other interested alumni, formed the organization to address the needs of Black students at Loma Linda University.

The mission of the Black Alumni of Loma Linda University is to be instrumental in promoting and facilitating Christian professional health science education of Black young men and women at Loma Linda University and La Sierra University.

About the speaker

Tony Brown is chief executive officer of Urban America Television Network (UATV), which has about 30 million viewers. In 2002, Mr. Brown also became the first recipient of the National Director’s Legacy Award for Journalism from the United States Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency.

Within weeks of that honor, this widely recognized outside-of-the-box thinker was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ prestigious Silver Circle. With this honor, he joins such television icons as Walter Cronkite who “have made enduring contributions to the vitality of the television industry and set the highest standards of achievement for all to emulate.”

This media entrepreneur has been an innovator in many areas. He was the first and founding dean, as well as professor, of the School of Communications at Howard University where he established a highly distinguished academic and professional record. Tony Brown has distinguished himself as a producer, writer, educator, television commentator, and film director.

This television commentator and self-empowerment advocate’s life embodies the American dream. In his powerful and highly personal upcoming April, 2003, book, What Mama Taught Me, he describes the seven core values given to him by his mother, that have sustained his life and given it meaning. In other words, he writes, Mama, a maid and dishwasher in Charleston, West Virginia, gave him health, wealth, and happiness.

Also written with Mr. Brown’s signature strength and vitality are two powerful books, Black Lies, White Lies: The Truth According to Tony Brown, which sold 100,000 copies, and Empower the People. Brown is an active advocate of market solutions to social problems.

But it is for his work as a journalist that he is best known. He is the commentator of the PBS series “Tony Brown’s Journal,” the longest-running of all PBS series. Mr. Brown’s weekly television series was selected in the New York Daily News as one of the top 10 television shows of all time that presents positive Black images. Adding to Mr. Brown’s many exploits as a media expert, “Tony Brown Chicago” can be heard on WLS (890 AM), the Chicago ABC Radio Networks affiliate and Disney ABC-owned stations. He was selected by Talkers, the prestigious radio trade magazine, as one of “the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America.”

Called “television’s civil rights crusader” in a cover story by Black Enterprise magazine, this educator and lecturer coordinated a march in Detroit, Michigan, that featured Martin Luther King Jr. and drew an estimated 500,000 people perhaps the largest civil rights march in America. USA Today recently selected him as one of the top five leaders to analyze the status of Black America.

Mr. Brown was born in Charleston, West Virginia, where he graduated from Garnet High School. He received his bachelor’s degree in sociology and his master’s degree in psychiatric social work at Wayne State University in Detroit. He has received numerous honorary doctorate degrees for his achievements in civil rights, education, economics and journalism. His motto is “self help.” His call to action is very explicit: No black lies, no white lies—only the truth!

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Well-known T’ai Chi Ch’uan instructor teaches at Drayson Center

Harvey Kurland (right) does a technique known as “push hands” with fellow T’ai Chi Ch’uan instructor Tchoung Ta-Tchen.

One of the more popular “internal” forms of Kungfu is the art of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, and it is being offered at Drayson Center.

A weekly 6:00 p.m. class designed for beginners, with the second half of the evening for those more advanced, started on Thursday, April 10.

A second weekly class, targeted specifically to seniors, began on Friday, April 11, at 11:00 a.m.

“ There is still time to join,” says Harvey Kurland, MSc, MFS, CSCS, Sfiu, instructor at Loma Linda University Drayson Center. “However, I would suggest joining within the next week or so because the class builds on a progression of skills.”

Mr. Kurland has been studying the art of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, also known as Taijiquan, since 1970. He has been teaching classes in the art since 1976, and has offered T’ai Chi Ch’uan at Loma Linda University Gentry Gym and Drayson Center since 1990.

“ T’ai Chi Ch’uan is a low intensity aerobic exercise that approximately equals walking about three miles per hour,” he reveals.

“ For younger individuals, it is ideal for reducing stress, as well as promoting relaxation and good posture,” Mr. Kurland continues. “It has even been shown to reduce blood pressure for some.”

For older individuals, T’ai Chi Ch’uan helps to improve balance and flexibility.

According to Mr. Kurland, one study by the National Institutes of Health showed that taking part in T’ai Chi Ch’uan reduced the likelihood of falling by older individuals “by as much as 47 percent.”

“ I’ve also seen studies where experts suggested that T’ai Chi Ch’uan could actually strengthen the immune system,” Mr. Kurland adds, “helping people to not be sick as often.”

Mr. Kurland graduated from the University of Washington with a master’s degree in exercise science and sports medicine. He is a member of and certified by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NCSA), and the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). He is certified at the level of “Sifu” in the art of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, which he explains is a “teacher of teachers.”

“ While T’ai Chi Ch’uan is a form of defensive martial arts, most people take classes in it for the health benefits,” Mr. Kurland points out. “It usually takes about 20 to 30 sessions for most people to learn the basics and start to see real benefits.”

Mr. Kurland remembers one 90-year-old student who came to a class with the assistance of her walker. “Within two months she was walking with a cane,” he recalls. “She eventually was able to walk without assistance.”

The benefits of T’ai Chi Ch’uan are well-documented, according to Mr. Kurland. Those interested in finding out more about the classes offered at Drayson Center should call (909) 558-4275.

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Thursday, April 24, 2003 TODAY