Page 8
Portland, Observer
March 7, 1990
Blue Cross Executive Patricia Johnson Selected as
"Best and Brightest in Corporate America"
Black United Fund Raised
1.9 Million For 914 Charities
NEW YORK--The Black United Fund
of New York, an independent fundraising
organization, raised S I .9 million dollars as
first-time managers of the New York City
Com bined Federal Campaign (CFC). The
CFC in New York City has always been
managed by United Way, and last year they
raised $ 1.8 million. The contract to manage
the campaign was awarded to BUFNY after
their successful bid in March 1989.
The CFC, which started 32 years ago, is
the only allowed annual on-the-job solicita
tion o f Federal Employees. Over 900 chari
table agencies were represented in this year’s
solicitation of the 73,000 federal employees
in New York City.
Kermit Eady, President/Founder of
BUFNY, said, “ We are pleased and we
believe the Federal Government is pleased.
Managing our first CFC was a big challenge
but we feel we more than met the chal
lenge."
O n the job solicitation o f Federal
Employees has a history in this country
almost as old as public fundraising itself.
These early fundraising drives were cum
bersome and inefficient. Therefore, in 1957
the Combined Federal Campaign w as estab
lished by executive order to provide for a
single unified campaign utilizing payroll
deductions as a highly efficient means of
soliciting federal employees.
A smile is the shortest distance be
C
tween two people.
“ I am pleased with the enormous gen
erosity of New York City Federal Employ
ees. In view of last year's natural disasters
alone, we are all aware of the need of our
continued support of these fine charitable
organizations. Also BUFNY did a great job
in carrying out its management responsi
bilities," said Campaign Chairman W il
liam J. Diamond, Regional Administrator
for the General Services Administration.
The Black United Fund of New York is
an independent philanthropic organization
designed to organize the human and finan
cial resources of African-Americans to support
the growth, development and empowerment
of the Black Community and in turn, soci
ety-at-large. During its 10 year history,
BUFNY has provided financial and techni
cal support to over 200 community based
organizations and is currently completing
41 units of affordable housing on Adam
Clayton Powell Boulevard and 133rd Street
in Harlem.
The Black United Fund of New York
looks forward to managing the 1990/91
CFC and is seeking management of other
public sector campaigns, said Kermit Eady
in final comment.
Educating Minority Engineers is
High Priority for General Electric
Company’s Contributions to
NACME Surpass $4 Million
NEW YORK, NY--A $275,000 grant
from the General Electric Foundation will
help the National Action Council for M i
norities in Engineering (NACME) to avert
an impending shortage of scientists and
engineers. Since 1973 the Foundation has
granted more than $4 million to NACME,
making G.E. one of NACM E’s largest do
nors.
Addressing the issue of minority under
representation in engineering, Edward E.
Hood Jr., Vice Chairman of the board and
Executive Officer of the General Electric
Company, said, “ An increasingly complex
technological world, coupled with changing
demographics, calls for an investment of
resources—including money—into science
and engineering opportunities geared to
ward minorities.”
According to Hood, who has also been
elected as NACME’s chairman-elect, “ that’s
not just an affirmative action goal; that’s
the imperative arithmetic of American
competitiveness.”
G .E.’s role in the minority engineering
effort began in 1972, when the company
challenged educators to cultivate a pool of
minority professionals for the technological
workforce. This initiative became a national
effort to increase the number of African-
Americans, Hispanics and American Indi
ans who enter the engineering professions.
One year later, leaders of industry,
government, education, minority organiza
tions and professional societies convened to
establish a nationwide agenda for change.
Their meeting laid the groundwork for
NACME, a not-for-profit corporation which
has become the center of the minority engi
neering effort. Through its Incentive Grants
Program (IGP), the nation’s largest pri
vately-funded source of scholarships for
minority engineering students, NACME has
provided more than $33 million in student
financial aid. Since the program began in
1975, NACME scholars have been 10 per
cent of the minority graduates in engineer
ing in the United States.
W ith support from more than 170 do
nors, NACME also conducts research in
education, develops pre-college and univer
sity intervention programs, trains new pro
fessionals in the field, and publishes a li
brary of materials that promote interest in
and access to engineering careers.
Patricia Johnson, senior vice president
of government services for Blue Cross of
California, was selected recently by Ebony
magazine as one of the “ Best and Brightest
Black Women in Corporate America.”
Johnson was among a national group of
100 Black women executives selected as the
women to watch in the '90s. According to
the Equal Employment Opportunity Com
mission, Black women represent 2 percent
of the officials and managers of major cor
porations, Black men represent 2.9 percent.
Johnson joined Blue Cross of Califor
nia in 1975 as an education specialist. She
held numerous positions of increasing re
sponsibility and in 1985, was promoted to
vice president of government services. In
1988, she was promoted to senior vice presi
d en t
Johnson is responsible for directing a
$ 142 million operation including managing
Blue Cross o f California’s role as a Fiscal
intermediary for Medicare Part A (hospital
care), supervising 550 people who serve
1,750 hospitals, skilled nursing facilities,
home health agencies and other clinical
providers. This operation pays more than $5
billion in claims. In addition, she is respon
sible for maintaining relationships between
Patricia Johnson
Senior Vice President
Government Services
Blue Cross of California
Blue Cross and health care providers, hospi
tal associations, and the U.S. government’s
Health Care Financing Administration
(HCFA) staff at both the regional and the
Baltimore national office.
In June 1987, she was one of 22 "Women
of Achievement" honored by the NAACP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
in Los Angeles. In 1989. she was honored by
Dollars & Sense magazine at the Salute to
African-American Business and Professional
Women held in Chicago. She was featured
in the March 1989 issue of Essence maga
zine as one of 10 Black females in the elite
corps of corporate America.
Johnson is an associate member of the
American Hospital Association and serves
on the boards of directors for American
Cancer Research and the University of
Michigan Alumni Association. In addition,
she is a member of Women in Health
Administration, the American Association
of University Women and the Women’s
Career Planning Center.
Prior to joining Blue Cross, Johnson
was a teacher in Ohio, California and Eng
land. A native of Columbus, Ohio, she holds
a bachelor’s degree in education from Ohio
State University and is a graduate of the
University of Michigan Graduate School s
Executive Program. A California resident
since 1974, she currently lives in Inglewood
with her husband and daughter.
McDonald’s In-School Program Stimulates
Creative Taste-Buds While Teaching
Contributions of Black Inventors
OAK BROOK, ILL.-Firefighters,
chemical workers and engineers are only a
few of the people benefiting from a breath
ing device created by Garrett Morgan in
1914. Now called the gas mask, M organ’s
lifesaving creation is one of the many inno
vations featured in the “ M cDonald's Sa
lute to Black Inventors” education pro
gram introduced during Black History Month.
"T h e program is for elementary grades
4 through 7 and offers a prime opportunity
to introduce students to the more than 70
Black inventors who have made significant
contributions to our lives,” said Ed Rensi,
president, McDonald’s USA. “ W e’ve re
ceived a very positive response from teach
ers who have already included the program
in their curriculum.”
Thomas Jennings was the first Black to
receive a patent in 1821 for his dry cleaning
process, His effort led the way for inventors
like George F. Grant (golf tee in 1899) and
William D. Davis (riding saddle in 1896),
who are among those highlighted in the
program 's classroom materials that include
a teacher's curriculum guide, an illustrated
poster and a series of activity books.
Each of the six books covers a specific
area—food, safety. Old West, transporta
tion, communication and working easier-
in which the focus is on the contribution of
the Black inventor. Also included in the
activity books are illustrated diagrams and
charts of original submissions to the U.S.
Patent and Copyright Office in Washing
ton, D.C.
Available year-round, the program is
designed to foster creative thinking and
peak students' interest in science. A group
of childhood specialists developed the
curriculum while the classroom activity
books were created especially for
McDonald's by Alton H. Chandler, a pub
lisher of children's educational materials.
Classroom materials are $10 per set
and are available by writing: McDonald’s
Customer Relations, M cDonald’s Plaza,
Oak Brook, IL 60521.
McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s
leading food-service organization, serving
22 million people each day at more than
11,000 restaurants in 52 countries.
SPORTS/EVENTS <
(r-v
SEATTLE POINTS TOWARD FUTURE WITH KEMP
H e’s the youngest player in the NBA and he never
played a m inute of college ball, yet Shawn Kemp o f the
Seattle SuperSonics is m aking a favorable impression
with team mates and rivals alike.
“ He’s a young guy playing with men, but he doesn't
back down and I adm ire that,” team m ate Michael
Cage said o f Kemp, who last m onth celebrated his 20th
birthday. "H e gets out there and he'll mix it up with
anybody. He's knocked me on my butt a few times!”
None o th er than Michael J o rd a n of the Chicago
Bulls says that given time, Kemp could be a force in the
NBA.
“He doesn’t have any college experience and you
don't find that in this league except for Moses
(Malone),’’ said Jo rd a n . “T h e first time we played, I
recognized Shawn had that same quality (as Malone).
All he needs is experience.”
Kemp, who already has treated fans to several spec
tacular slam -dunks d u rin g his brief time in the NBA,
was regarded as a long-term project when he was se
lected bv the Sonics with the second o f their first-
round picks in the 1989 NBA Draft. Seattle used the
first of those picks, the 17th selection overall, on Bos
ton College guard Dana Barros, the leading scorer in
the Big East d u ring 1988-89. T hen the Sonics tabbed
Kemp, a 6-10 forw ard out o f Trinity Valley Ju n io r
College in Texas.
T he fact that an NBA team had selected a player out
tion of Kemp even m ore intriguing was that he never
played a game while at T rinity (or anv place else since
high school), and the fact that he also happened to lx?
only 19 years old at the time.
While Darryl Dawkins, Moses Malone and Bill
Willoughby are examples o f recent plavers who went
directly from high school to the pro ranks. Kemp s se
lection was still worthy o f attention.
Kemp actually had every intention of playing major
college ball. He accepted a sc holarship to play at the
University of Kentucky after a standout career at ( .on-
cord High School in Elkhart, IN. But his failure to
achieve the minimum level on the SA I forced Ken
tucky to declare him a Prop. 48 player, ineligible for
competition. With the Wildcat’s program caught up in
a recruiting scandal for which the NCAA would later
put it on probation, Kemp decided to leave the sc hool
and enroll at Trinity.
Although academically ineligible to play, Kemp
worked out with the team and developed a good rela
tionship with Coach I.eon Spencer. Last spring Kemp
sized up his situation and decided to enter the NBA
Draft. After being picked by Seattle, he signed a six-
year contract and became the youngest active player in
the NBA.
With the likes of Cage, Xavier McDaniel and Der
rick Me Kev plaving on Seattle’s front line, Kemp s time
on the flcxvr has been limited. T hrough .he Sonic s' first
Shawn Kemp
SEATTLE
SUPERSONICS
Dana Barros
23 games he has averaged 13 m inutes, 5.7 points and
4.1 rebounds per game.
' I he potential is certainlv there, and that's all you
can sav about him at this point," said Seattle Coach
Bernie Bickerstaff. But we haven't had any reserva
tions about having drafted him. He was a good enough
of fensive player to get picked in the first round of the
Di aft and his needs now are defense and learning the
NBA game."
Kemp has found quite a difference in the brand of
hall being plaved in the NBA, as opposed to the high
school game back in Indiana.
“ I lie quickness of the guvs in this league has been
the toughest adjustm ent lor me," said Kemp. “ I hey re
much bigger and quicker than in high school, i o u
can’t have a night where you ju st go in and take it easy;
there’s so m uch talent in the league that you have to
come to play every night.”
While Kemp savs things are going relatively sm ooth
ly for him so far. the grind of the NBA schedule and
the travel that accompanies it have taken some getting
used to. His team mates have been a help, though, and
lie's busied himself with learning Bickerstaff ssystem.
Bi. kerstaff realizes that it will take tune for Kemp to
adjust to the pace of NBA com petition, lifting his
game to the level of veteran plavers on the floor. And
while he poults out that m ain seasoned college players
fail to make the grade in the NBA. Bickerstaff envi
sions Kemp developing into a positive force for the
Sonics down the road.
He (Kemp) has the skills, it's just a m atter of it he
wants to put the time in. H e’s been conscientious about
working on his game so tar," said Bic kerstaff. In o r
der to improve lie's got to plav a lot of basketball ag
ainst good com petition, working on things over the
summ er. I’m encouraged about Ins prospects.
Although content to he earning a healths salary and
squaring olt against some of the plavers he w as watt fl
ing on I V just a lew vears ago. there are things Kemp
regrets not hav mg experienced as a college student —
including fu rtheiing his educalion and plaving in the
NCAA tournam ent.
"I worked hard in high school to win a cham pion
ship and it was alwavs a dream o f mine to win a nation
al cham pionship m college, said Kemp I regret not
having the c bailee to win an Nt A A cham pionship. Init
I'm going to work hard and ti v to win an N BA cham
pionship. Education is also im portant to me and when
our season ends I’ll enroll in sum m er school hack in
Indiana.”
Asked what he'd,like to accomplish m his fust pro
season. Kemp pointed to earning plaving tune in the
latter stages of games.
" I’d like to lx- m a situation In the end of the season
where the coac lies have enough respect lor me to plav
me at the end of a game. Kemp s a id Because I in a
rookie and I'm learning, I haven't been able to get into
anv games at c rum h tune.
Against the Trailblazers last weekend, Kemp scored 14
points and grabbed 5 rebounds in only 19 minutes. “ He’s
going to be a player” said Clyde Drexler. The Blazers won
110-98.
♦ ♦ in * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SHORT SHAKES: Hank Gathers, star forward at Loyola
Marymount University died after collapsing on the court
during the W.C.A.C. Tournament this past Sunday. He had
just slammed in a lob pass for a dunk. Gathers, a native of
Philadelphia, was playing before his mother and many
family members who made the coast-to-coast journey. He
was a certain lottery pick and only 23 years old . . .
Well, after the Blazers finish their current road trip
through the “ Black Holes” of New York, Boston, Philadel
phia, and Washington, faithful fans should know what they
are made of really quickly. All four teams are competitive at
home. You must win on the road in this y e a r. . . Hey, Mona
K. Whitley, congratulations on your promotions from cultur
ally isolated Ogden, Utah to Dallas, Texas. I guess you can
call it a parole. Good luck and keep up the good work.
i
\ó u r blood saved
somebody’s baby.
Thank you forgiving.
Again and again.
GIVE BLOOD, PLEASE
A riw ru an
R edCnw t