WS Chronicle

LJVM Coliseum sale

To the Editor:

I realize I am not necessarily the brightest, haven’t had a course in high finance, and nor do I have a dog in this fight. However, I would like for someone to explain to me the fairness of offering Bowmen Gray Stadium, valued at $9.8 million to Winston-Salem State University, a public institution, for $7.1 million, while the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, valued at $33 million, is being offered to a private institution, Wake Forest University, for a measly $8 million.
I believe that both offers should be further studied and consideration given to a fair market value offer for both institutions before effectuating a sale of them.

Dr. Virginia K. Newell
Former Alderman

Teens helping teens

To the Editor:

My friends and I are a part of a program at the Forsyth County Department of Public Health called the Teen Initiative Project (TIP). We have been training to be Peer Educators for TIP since October 2012, learning about ways to help prevent teen pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections. May is Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, and we want to bring attention to this issue and ask your readers not to let the month go by without talking to their kids about ways to prevent teen pregnancy. Although teen pregnancy rates in North Carolina have fallen by 12 percent since 2010, it still remains a big problem. In 2011, 13,909 girls between the ages of 15-19 years old became pregnant in North Carolina; 554 of those girls were right here in Forsyth County. That same year, there were 2,774 abortions in North Carolina; 98 were in Forsyth County. TIP researched this information from the State Center for Health Statistics.

Parents need to talk to their children about their values and expectations regarding sex. Parents should inform their children about birth control and condoms and teach them how having children early can affect their lives. We know that some parents are uncomfortable with talking about sex, but it needs to be done. If the parents are uncomfortable with talking to their children, then they can send them to programs like TIP where they will learn how to set goals, make healthy choices, say “No” to sex, protect their sexual health and become leaders in their community. The TIP Peer Educators are always willing to talk to their child’s youth group or after school program about abstinence and protecting their sexual health. The health department also offers classes for parents on how to talk to their kids about sex and making healthy choices. No parent should let this month end without doing something to help protect their child from becoming a parent too soon.

TIP Peer Educators