PHYSICIAN SETS OUT TO CHANGE THE WORLD

The doctor, who works in Houston and has a hospital named in her honor,
told students gathered at the Heymann Performing Arts Center on Monday that
her sister's death inspired her to become a physician.

The speech kicked off Red Ribbon Week activities in Lafayette Parish, which
is aimed at raising awareness about the threat of drug and alcohol abuse to
the nation's young people.

"I decided to be a doctor, and I said I am going to take care of poor
people and not let them die from lack of good medical care," Jones said. "I
said I am going to change the world."

As a medical pioneer, Jones has established clinics in Mexico and Haiti and
is working on one in Uganda. She is currently chief of the medical staff at
Riverside General Hospital in Houston.

Dr. Ernest Kinchen, representing the J.H. Tyler chapter of the National
Medical Association, which sponsored Jones' trip to Lafayette, said the
Living Legend program is aimed at inspiring students to make the world a
better place. He urged students to heed the words of Jones, the first black
person to graduate from the University of Arkansas and obtain a medical degree.

"My mother had an eighth-grade education and a $25 debt," said Jones, whose
mother raised four children in rural Arkansas after their father was
killed. "She had the determination that her children would be educated."

There are no obstacles that can keep a person from achieving, Jones said.

"She instilled into us that nothing was off limits except for what we put
off limits," Jones said. "You can be, you can do anything you want to do."

Maxine Hamilton, supervisor of the Safe and Drug Free Schools program, told
students that like Jones, they must face the ills of the world.

Avoiding drugs, alcohol and violence can allow a person to accomplish their
goals, Hamilton said.

"It is about each day taking a look at the choices you make," she said.