DATE: Saturday, April 19, 1997              TAG: 9704190383

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

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HAMPTON ROADS

Antibiotics given

to people exposed to

infectious disease

More than 50 people who may have been in close contact with a Norfolk State University student hospitalized with meningococcal disease have received antibiotics to prevent a spread of infection, health officials said late Friday.

No other cases of the potentially deadly bacterial infection have been found in Hampton Roads, said John Monroe, epidemiologist for the Norfolk Department of Public Health.

The unidentified student became ill in early April, health officials said. He returned to his home in Northern Virginia, where he remained hospitalized in ``very serious condition'' late Thursday, Monroe said.

Dr. James Satterfield, university vice president for student affairs, said he talked to the student's mother late Thursday. She reported her son was ``doing a little better,'' Satterfield said.

Health officials said students and others in the community should be alert to symptoms of the disease, which can affect the central nervous system (bacterial meningitis) or the bloodstream (meningococcemia).

However, there is no cause for alarm, they said. The case is not considered an outbreak.

Symptoms may include fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, confusion, rash, severe muscle aches or chills.

The disease can be spread through prolonged, close contact, health officials said. Symptoms generally appear within two to 10 days of infection. For more information, call the health department at 683-2744.

Jeremy Rosner will address

local World Affairs Council

A special adviser to President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will address the World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads Wednesday on ``Why NATO Enlargement Improves U.S. Security.''

Since March, Jeremy D. Rosner has been the administration's point man in working for Senate ratification of the plan to invite former Soviet-bloc nations into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are expected to be invited into the U.S.-European military alliance this summer. Russia opposes the expansion plan.

Rosner will speak at the Omni Waterside Hotel. The program includes a reception at 6:30 p.m., dinner at 7:15 and the speech at 8:15. The public is invited. The cost is $20 per person or $10 for students. For reservations, call 461-3664 by noon Monday.

Elementary school gets

wired up for Net Day '97

Granby Elementary School is participating in Net Day '97 today to network the school's computers and make them accessible to the Internet.

Parents and volunteers from the Pioneers of Bell Atlantic will install more than 2 1/2 miles of computer cable inside the school so that each classroom will be Internet-ready. More than 100 volunteers are working to complete the wiring between 8 a.m. and noon.

Funding for the cable, jacks and miscellaneous equipment for the project has come from the Bell Atlantic Pioneers and the C.W.A. Local 2202. The Pioneers is a non-profit organization for employees and former employees of Bell Atlantic.

Volunteers from the USS Guam have installed brackets inside the building to hold the cables, and technical support has been provided by NetTek Inc.

Net Day is a grass-roots, volunteer effort across the nation with no government funding.

PORTSMOUTH

Sleep-a-thon for homeless

raises more than $14,000

More than $14,000 has been collected in the two months since a sleep-a-thon was held for the Portsmouth Volunteers for the Homeless, an organization that provides shelter and meals to the indigent.

And Kathy Grook, chairwoman of the event, says the organization is expecting at least another $1,000 to come in.

In late February, more than three dozen adults, teen-agers and children representing 17 churches and clubs spent the night on the floor of First Presbyterian Church on Court Street to raise money for and awareness of the plight of the homeless.

Board members with the Portsmouth Volunteers for the Homeless will meet May 25 to discuss how the money will be used.

A second sleep-a-thon is being planned for next year. It will probably be held in the fall of 1998 as a kickoff to the organization's eighth year of providing food and shelter to the homeless. The group comprises churches and individuals from Portsmouth and the Western Branch area of Chesapeake.

Board gets static for

rejecting radio frequency

Portsmouth's school administration got a lot of static Thursday over a proposal to buy an FM radio frequency from York County's School Board.

The Portsmouth School Board voted 4-3 to kill the district's bid - a package comprising a $25,000 cash offer and a limited offer to waive tuition for some York County students who would want to take radio-related classes in Portsmouth.

The administration said the goal was to help city students learn more about radio production and to share the city's school news with a wider audience.

The district's estimation of start-up costs was up to $103,000, with estimated annual expenses of about $42,000.

COMING UP

TODAY

Virginia Beach - The 24th Street International Wine Fest will be from noon to 6 p.m. today and Sunday at 24th Street Park. Proceeds benefit the Virginia Beach SPCA and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

A team of volunteers called Annie's Angels will have a car wash beginning at 10 a.m. at the Shell gas station at Rosemont and S. Plaza Trail to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, a 24-hour event scheduled for May 30-31.

Norfolk - The Eastern Region of the National Association of Negro Musicians Inc. will hold its annual conference and awards banquet at 7 p.m. at the Omni Hotel Waterside. Honorees will be Elizabeth V. Eccles, Gail Hart, Patricia Saunders Nixon and Ophelia Venable. For more information, call 543-1712.

TUESDAY

Chesapeake - The City Council will conduct a public hearing on the city's proposed operating budget. The hearing will be part of the regular City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 306 Cedar Road. Copies of the proposed budget are available for public review at all Chesapeake public libraries. MEMO: Staff writers Bill Reed, Vanee Vines, Pat Dooley, Bill Sizemore

and Rebecca Myers Cutchins contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Jeremy D. Rosner

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