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Show 9 The Daily Herald Monday, March 9, 1002 Unwanted HIV-positive babies find a home ATLANTA (AP) — Seven ro- bust toddlers play in Vanessa Mc- in two foster homes in Atlanta and one in Savannah. It also operates Knight’s back yard, blowing bub- the state's only day care center for bles into the wind and rolling in the grass. All were diagnosed at birth as having the AIDS virus. Some will outgrow the diagnosis; others won‘t live beyond childhood. ‘ ‘I try not to dwell on that part,“ said Mrs. McKnight, a foster mother for ChildKind. “You just love them for as long as you can.” ChildKind, a non-profit organization, has placed 22 HIV-positive HIV-infected children. ChildKind is the only organization in Georgia and one of the few in the nation that targets HIV-positive babies. It takes in such babies who are in state custody because they are orphans, have been abandoned or have mothers who are in drug treatment, said program director Gail Evans. Some are temporary wards whose mothers or relatives may eventually claim them. Others, like a 2-year-old boy at Mrs. McKnight’s home, were re- jected for adoption. He was put up for adoption at birth, but when his adoptive parents discovered he had thekAlDS virus, they sent him By JEANE DIXON For March 10 ARM (March 21-April 19): Become more aware of others' sensitive feelings and tone down your remarks. Work on your own, in your own fashion A newcomer on the social scene arouses your claioslty. Introduce yotn'self. TAURUS (April fl-May 20): You may attract more attention than you expect atameeting.Acceptachallengeand run with it. You will leave the competition in the dust! Recent domestic pressures will subside. GEMINI (May 21-June to): Do not let atasteafsuecessgotoyourhead! You need to your act or ect your skills. aking an oceasl timeoutfmnworkhelpsyoustaysharp. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Stick to your floutine evtntoif igdasometimes bores you. youwan u teyoura once, now is the time! Make somgpgglld changes. A new romantic interest is featured. LEO (July Zl-Aug. 22): Secret dreams of romantic or career success can come true if you communicate your thoughts tosomeoneinaposttiontohelp.At work, menu-ate on projeaing a professional image. VIRGO (Aug. 238m. 22): A conflict between bane and career could arise. You may have to work overtime’to bringaprojectinmtime.Showhigherups that your word is your bond. Meets deadline. . LIBRA (Sept. Met. 22): Plot your next move with care. Cooperating with influential associates may be your best strategy. Attending a social event could lead to an encounter. SOOItPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your leadership skills shine through, allowing for moth sailing at work. Instant rapport is possible with a newcomer. Pay more attention to era-rent fashions when shopping for clothes. -SAGI‘I'1‘ABIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Steep yourself in creative work today. You will find that it centers you, giving youaatrongsenseofpurpose.Someone influential expresses an interest in supporting your efforts. CAPRIOORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): It would be smart to let someone else lead today. A partner may be better at spotting trends than you are. Stick to what has proved practical in the past. AQUARIUS (Jan. til-Feb. 18): Get bill ’paymentslnthemailandtendtoa credit matter you may have overlooked. You might have to shift funds around. Recheck your work to avoid embarrassing or costly mistakes Pm (Feb. 19-March 20): Someone lswllllngtohelpyougetafinancial matter squared away. Do not fall into the same kind of trap the next time aroundBewillingtopoolldeaswith loved ones. ac . “You can't catch AIDS from baby drool,“ said ChildKind volunteer Sadie Britt, holding 15month-old boy-and—girl twins. “If you could, we‘d all be dead by now.” when doctors determine which babies actually are HIV-infected and which just appeared to be infected at birth. “Only a quarter or a third of the babies will be actually infected with the virus," Oxtoby said. “Of those who are infected, some will become sick in the first year, others will be well even until school age, but most will show some symptoms by age 2. ’ ’ About 6,000 HIV-infected women have babies each year, the CDC said. Only about 2,000 of those babies will actually carry the AIDS vinIs. Before ChildKind was formed in 1989, many HIV-positive babies in Georgia lived in hospitals because they had no where else to go. There are no estimates of how many are in hospitals now. Mrs. McKnight went to college to become a teacher. That was before she volunteered at Childkind and was asked to become a foster mother. She and her husband James, a psychologist, don‘t know Not all the children will develop which of their foster babies will get AIDS. AIDS. But they have little time to spend If a mother has AIDS, her baby tests positive because babies carry on worries. On this day, Mrs. McKnight their mothers' antibodies, said Margaret Oxtoby, a pediatric took a short break from several AIDS expert at the federal Centers hours of washing, folding and putting away her babies‘ clothes. for Disease Control. ‘ ‘Sometimes I don‘t have time to By about age 2, babies develop their own immune systems and re- breathe,” she laughed. “They‘re ject maternal antibodies. That’s into everything. And now they’re Dear Ann Lenders: I am responding to the lady who objected to people jogging and children playing at the cemetery where her son is buried. ’ We live next to a beautiful cemetery and go for walks there often. The peaceful surroundings, the occasional jogger, the squirrels, the dogs and, yes, even the children make it a pleasant place to be. If the residents could talk, I‘m sure they would want us to be there, knowing how much we enjoy it. My wife and I have had many wonderful conversations in that cemetery while admiring the fall leaves, spring flowers and fountains in summer. We often read the headstones and speculate about the deceased and their families. Last Halloween, we shared the warm feelings one family must have had for its mother when we found a pumpkin placed on a grave with the message, “We Miss You, Mom,” signed with the children’s names. I miss my mom, too, but her grave is 1,500 miles away. I came away feeling closer to her that day. — Dave in Seattle Dear Dave: What a beautiful letter. Hundreds of readers wrote to share their thoughts Advice Columnist Irvine, Calif: I would much rather be buried where there is small cemetery in Jackson, Tenn. When I go to Jackson, I always enjoy visiting my brother’s grave, because there is life there — the cemetery is the children’s favorite playground, it seems. Their happiness lightens my grief. Name of City Withheld, Calif: I work in a large cemetery and it is a lot safer to walk in these peaceful surroundings than to take a chance on this city’s streets where I'm scared to death of getting mugged or hit by a drunk driver. This cemetery is a garden of Eden by combywhyanisewite T00 many DETRILS! no one! no one! one roll a mono! no one! norms! ' tare FOR an appointment.“ . ~.. . . have blue and purple socks on and they’ll have thrown their shoes out the window! The chaos keeps her from even thinking about the remote possibility of contracting the virus. “I know the first thing you‘re supposed to remember if a baby is bleeding or needs a diaper change is to take precautions, and I recommend that everybody should use gloves," Mrs. McKnight said. “But I myself don’t grab gloves. They’re my children and I just do what I have to do." Two or three volunteers help with daytime care for the babies, who range from 15 IO 27 months old. A volunteer spends the night when any of them are sick, or when Mrs. McKnight is caring for infants. “They’re all mine. i love them all; they all call me Mama and James Pop," Mrs. McKnight said. She has no biological children, and plans to adopt at least one foster baby, an outgoing 27-monthold girl who begs even strangers for hugs and kisses. AIDS has not killed any of her charges, but she has had scares. Many HIV—positive babies are born premature and drug-addicted, like another one of her babies. Mrs. McKnight received the girl when she was a 2'/2-pound, 5V2week-old infant. parison. Charleston, S.C.: I’m one who is guilty of using a cemetery for purposes other than visiting the deceased. I bicycle through a cemetery because it is a safe and beautiful place. During an unsettled time in my life I found peace there that I could not find in a place of worship because I am not a member of any particular faith. about cemeteries. I was amazed at the interest. Here they are: From Miami: My brother died in 1968 in a motorcycle accident at the age of 28. He was buried in a T00 muca Psessuae! LRTE .' tare! one! our! TOO mnnv mortars! my unemur 920mm Foal . m '90:: STRESSERCIZE. .W TOO urns Time! no TlmE ! norms! no TIME ! no TIME ! need more of the basics room in the morning, and they‘ll Cemeteries are often full of life cathy ' at that age where they want to dress themselves. I’ll come into the bed- -Author says children laughter than grief. I hope people will enjoy themselves when they vrsrt my grave. Fort Myers Beach, Fla: My father was in the monument business. His workplace was opposite the cemetery. It was such a peaceful place that we, as children. loved playing there. Now, 60 years later, we still love it. Buffalo, N.Y.: I come from a family of funeral directors. We seldom went to a cemetery. My husband’s family was the opposite. I hope when I die that people will picnic on my grave and bring their kids. CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) —— The author of the best» seller “Cultural Literacy“ believes schools have gone too far in emphasizing how -— not what — children learn. In two new releases —“What Your lst Grader Needs To Know" and “What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know” — author E.D. Hirsch Jr. offers a way for parents and teachers to pass on to children the core body of knowledge he and more than 100 experts have agreed on. In “Cultural Literacy," Hirsch argued that there is a common body of knowledge that educated Americans must share to be “culturally literate’ ’ and communicate with one an— other or understand what they read or hear. In his latesl books, the University of Virginia English professor promotes the idea that children also should share a basic body of knowledge. The two books, for example, carefully mix in African-American, Hispanic and American Indian stories with Aesop and Beatrix Potter in a section on familiar stories. A section on American history that deals with the settlement of the continent by Europeans avoids a "the-white-man—is-alwaysright” attitude that parents may recall from their grade school years. Hirsch recommends that parents read the books with their children over and over again and for only about 20 minutes a day. The books also recommend other activities — for example getting a big cardboard box to serve as a “cave” so children can do their own cave drawings —- and resources for parents and teachers. Hirsch is planning additional volumes for grades three through six. The books are based on a 40page document that outlines general concepts and the specif— ic elements of knowledge that should be covered in grades one through six. Each book is divided into sections: language arts, geogra~ phy, world civilization, American civilization, fine arts, mathematics and natural sciences. In a “how to use this book” section, parents and teachers are urged to treat reading the book and listening as “an active adventure." The books‘ simple storybook language is meant to be supplemented with questions for and conversations with the child. The Core Knowledge Foundation that promotes Hirsch‘s ideas provides the materials at cost to schools. About 100 throughout the country are using the information. Primary among those is the Lee County, Fla., system in the Fort Myers area. Schools officials there were convinced by the argument of cultural literacy and decided a relatively new school, Three Oaks, would devote itselfto his theory. Now in its second year of the program, Three Oaks has seen that retentions have “practically disappeared," attendance rates and library use are up, and scores on skills tests have improved, although not dramatically, Hirsch says. “What’s dramatic is that the kids are being turned on to learning,” he says. At Mohegan Elementary School in New York City where the school population is all His~ panic and black, “the kids are wildly enthusiastic" about the program, Hirsch says. A member of the foundation staff visited the school and found “kids tugging on his pants leg, saying, ‘Hey, mister, do you know what makes leaves green?”’ Hirsch recalls. “Kids love information,” he says. If schools taught the same things in each grade, Hirsch says, cultural differences would not translate into educational disadvantage. Love of reading begins in bassinet GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Pat Johnston feels the earlier parents and teachers can get books “That’s our goal — seeing the growth in a commitment to reading in the district, ' ’ Johnston says. into children‘s little hands, the more they’ll want to read. She‘s taken that philosophy about as far as she can, making sure every newborn at two local hospitals has a book to take home. Johnston, the Grand Forks Bloomington, Ind.: I grew up in School District‘s reading consulSioux City, Iowa, and the ceme- tant, has established several protery there was the favorite spot for grams that encourage parents to high school necking. There were read to their children — even newno cops shining spotlights on us borns. , like there are today, according to The former teacher has been the my grandchildren. Ah, yes, there district’s reading specialist for was a lot of life in that Sioux City more than a decade, and in that cemetery. Do you remember it that time, the district has seen a boom way, Ann? in reading. Johnston‘s first reading program was called Back Pack Reading, where kindergartners and first-graders chose a book at school and. ok it home forparems to read to them. The program was inspired by' a similar program in Canada’s Winnipeg, Manitoba. A!!!” [tho/29f! “VI-1 FCITO PASSPORT PHOTOS Top Quality 210, $69 5‘ 2250 N. UNIV. PKWY. - 371w, Dear Bloom: No, I don’t. We did our necking at the end of Jackson Street. But then, we lived on the North Side. The West Side teen-agers went to DIABETES Stone Park to neck. I wonder if thisisstill the way it is, :UTAH VALLEY SYMPHONY ‘ SURVIVAL “ SKILLS Utah Valley Regional Medical Center is offering a two-part evening lecture that will include information on diet, blood sugar monitoring, medications, exercise, low blood sugar and long-term complications. Instructors are Holly Glore, R.N.C.D.E.; Jeanine Erickson, R.D.; and Brent Edgington, exercise physiologist. Spring Concert Wednesday March 1 1, 1992 7:30 P.M., Provo Tabernacle . Overture to the m amuwmrmanno Wolf-Ferrari Second Suite from W. op. 64Sergei Prokofiev Intermission Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Tuesday, March 17 8: 24 6:30-9 pm. in A Minor, op. 28......Karl Goldmark Alison Dalton Violin Soloist David Dalton Guest Conductor Cost is $50 Call 371-7176 to register General Admission....$5.00 Please, No Babies or l Students & Seniors....$4.oo Children Under 6. miynunm armors, ‘,OonmmmammnatNuwnmemmmmmuoncm \ I Val Utah Valley Regional Medical Center ‘1) An Intermountain ealth Care Facility |