Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's more than just cosmetic surgery - more than nose jobs and face lifts to remove wrinkles and sagging flesh, Reichel said.
Not all of the work is glamorous. Reconstructive surgery for patients disfigured by breast or skin cancer or accidents is not always attractive when the process begins, she said.
Crystal, a seventh-grader at James Madison Middle School in Roanoke, and 25 other girls came Wednesday to learn more about plastic surgery and whether they might be interested in it as a profession.
They seemed to like Reichel's presentation, including her overview of the academic work and professional training needed to become a plastic surgeon.
Everything was fine until Reichel showed slides of some patients before she began the plastic surgery. A few girls shuddered.
Still, Alli McLearen, a seventh-grader at Madison, said she might like to be a plastic surgeon. Crystal wasn't so sure.
"I don't know if I would like it," Crystal said.
That was the point of the session, which was part of a three-day program that will include more than 500 seventh-grade girls in Roanoke's middle schools.
Reichel and a half-dozen professionals explained what they do and what the girls must do to prepare for a similar career. The professionals gave a realistic overview of their jobs.
It is a career awareness program that is designed to make girls understand the need to take mathematics, science and computer technology courses if they want to go to college and seek a job in related fields.
Titled "Praise for Girls," the two-hour event was part seminar, part lecture and part pep rally to boost the girls' confidence that they can handle professional jobs as well as boys can.
About 160 girls from Madison and Woodrow Wilson middle schools attended the first day of the program. Girls from Jackson, Addison, Breckinridge and Ruffner middle schools will participate today and Friday.
The same format is being used for all days. In the general session, four women explain the importance of math, science and technology courses. In the break-out sessions Wednesday, smaller groups met with a professor, computer instructional designer, psychologist, architect, utility rates analyst and Reichel.
The session on instructional design was popular with students, because most knew a lot about computers. Naomi Hazlehurst, the computer instructional designer, taught them to write an animation program
Gay Carpenter, director of the program, said this is the first year that all seventh-graders will participate and have the opportunity to attend different sessions.
In the past, the girls have visited with women professionals at their business sites, met with female college students majoring in math and science, and attended symposiums with career women and female college students.
Carpenter said women make up more than half the population but hold only a small percentage of the jobs that require a math and science background.
The Roanoke branch of the American Association of University Women is a co-sponsor of the program.
The AAUW has been working for more than a century to promote equal opportunities for women and girls, said Margaret Martin, president of the branch.
In the late 1880s, some people thought a college education was harmful for a woman and would make her unable to have babies, Martin said.
Marion Vaughn-Howard, Roanoke's youth planner, said girls can do math just as well as boys. She said math and science are the ticket to a good job for girls. Many colleges and universities will provide scholarships for girls who major in math or science.
by CNB