U.S student dies in Ghana

GREENSBORO, NC, USA -- A North Carolina A&T State University taking part in a university exchange program in Ghana died Tuesday.

Julia Scott was 21, a Winston-Salem native and a star student. A&T officials blamed an illness for Scott's death Wednesday but said an autopsy has not been completed.

Scott is the second A&T student who died in the past week and the fifth Aggie who died this year. On Saturday, Herbert Dixon, a sophomore and member of the football team, was fatally shot outside a Johnston County nightclub.

"We've had a tough year," said Roselle Wilson, A&T's vice chancellor for student affairs. "Any time someone is lost in the (A&T) family, it hurts everyone."

Scott, a mechanical engineering major, was studying this semester at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, a regional capital of the west African nation. About 30 A&T students have studied there as part of an exchange program the two universities have had since 1995.
Scott was in good company: Three other A&T students and a veteran A&T professor were on campus with her. The professor, Sam Owusu-Ofori of A&T's mechanical engineering department, is a Ghana native who got his bachelor's degree from the university in Kumasi.
A&T officials said the students have not decided if they will come home early or finish out the term, which ends in April.
Six other A&T students are studying overseas this semester.
Scott seemed to be in good health and good spirits when she called her parents Monday, Wilson said.
Friends and professors described Scott as a top student and a positive influence.
The Carver High School graduate had an A average and landed a summer internship with the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Scott was a member of A&T's engineering honors society and was poised to graduate in May 2005 with top honors.
Professor Leonard Uitenham, the chairman of the mechanical and engineering department, was hoping to convince Scott to do her graduate studies at A&T.
Others remember her generosity and strong spirit.
Senior Corre? Adams said she was ready to drop out of school two years ago after back problems forced her to miss three weeks of class. Scott drove her home after class and encouraged her to stick with school.
Cedric Bazemore, a junior, said he would show up stressed every Thursday for his grueling geotechnical engineering lab.
"She'd always say, 'It will be OK,' " Bazemore said. "That was a real help."
Nicholas Lee, a junior, said Scott jumped at the chance to go to Ghana, where she would experience a new culture and get a different perspective on engineering.
"Some people before that might be worried, but not Julia," Lee said. "You never heard any negative come out of her mouth."
A&T will hold a memorial service at 5 p.m. Monday in Harrison Auditorium for Scott and four other students who have died in 2004.
In addition to Scott and Dixon, three other A&T students have died this semester.
Sean Murphy, a sophomore engineering major, died Jan. 21 while playing intramural basketball in Moore Gym. Junior political science major Gary Bowen died Feb. 25 after a brief illness.
Daniel "D.C." Bell of High Point died Jan. 3. He was a senior electrical engineering major at A&T and a graduate of High Point Central High School, where he played on the school's 1999 state championship football team.
Wilson said the number of student deaths -- all unrelated -- is not necessarily high, as A&T's enrollment is quickly closing in on 10,000.
"It's a high number for me," she added, "because I see students pass away and not complete the goals they set out to."
Contact John Newsom at 373-7312 or jnewsom@news-record.com