my name is lorel dean. i'm the middle school coordinator for booker t. washington. but besides that, i was born and raised in the city, the western addition, and i've been a part of it my whole life. i think this gentleman said it best, most the african-american males, if not community have gone through booker t., is one of our oldest buildings in the city alone, let alone culturally based oldest and is a neighbor of that community. i point out two things. one, we do have j.c.c. in that area and we also have the west side public housing authority in that area. and they have co-existed around this neighborhood for a number of years. to see this building revise itself, regenerate itself, re-establish and break down to be rebuilt is vital and necessary for our youth. our youth see nothing that is of substance without us doing it ourselves. and we have opposition which is not a problem. i think with more is less comes less opportunity for that youth who's looking for a chance. so there's less. what will they do next? that's the true question. so please, please support t