Skater
making
smooth
moves
-See Page B1
Rib Fest
will benefit
a good
cause
?See Page A 9
interest Iff ^
African kids
From the Heart and the Head
? ?
Boy grows hair
to donate to a
worthy cause
BY SANDRA ISLEY
THE CHRONICLE
For U -year-old Brandon
Wiley, growing cornrows was
more than a fashion statement.
He spent nearly four years
growing his hair, w hich he usu
ally wears closely-cropped.
Last week, he went for a hair
cut. He not only wanted a new
look but he also w anted to help
others.
Brandon donated his hair to
Locks of Love, a 10-year-old
nonprofit organization that
provides custom-fitted hair
pieces to children under the age
of 18 suffering from medical
hair loss. Locks of Love clients
include y oung cancer patients.
All of the organization's
wigs and hair pieces are made
entirely of donated human hair
and take up to four months to
create. o
Brandon faid it was a televi
sion show about children living
with cancer that made him
decide to donate his 15-17 inch
lon'f? cornrows to Locks of
Love.
"I saw kids on television
that didn't have any hair," he
said.
Brandon has never known
Sec Hair on All
Photo by Jaeson Pill
Robert Friday gives Brandon Wiley a shape-up.
Contestant tries to change pageant myth
WSSU's Melody Rodgers trying to
become Miss Earth
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE " ;
When a lot Q people think about pageants, they think
about beautiful women with beautiful smiles strutting
around a stage in swimsuits and evening gowns.
For Melody Rodgers, who will represent North
Carolina in the upcoming Miss Earth USA Pageant, it's
about a lot more than that. It's about finding a platform
from which to speak and a way to help people.
' "TJIt's a great opportunity for women," said Rodgers, a
24-year-old from Farmville who is a program assistant in
the Office of International Programs at Winston-Salem
State University. Rodgers, who has degrees in public pol
icy and international affairs from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, competed in several smaller,
more local pageants w hen she was younger and got as far
as winning First Runner Up and Best Talent in one pag
eant.
.Miss Earth is an international pageant which was First
held in 2001 . The annual pageant has traditional compo
Photo by Todd Luck
Melody Rodgers will compete for Miss Earth.
nents like interview, swim suit, and evening gown events,
but has a day devoted to community service as well. The
winner of the Miss Earth USA pageant, which will be held
outside of Las Vegas on July 29, will go on to competc in
the international pageant in Chile, where women from
more than 80 countries arc expected to compete The ulti
mate winner, Miss Earth, will work with the United
Nations and other groups to advocate for environmental
issues around the globe. Miss Earth gives speeches,
makes public appearances, and does community service
work like planting trees.
Pageants arc about testing the whole person, not just
one aspect of them, Rodgers said. It combines speaking
skills, physical fitness, education and other qualities to
find someone who excels in every aspect of their life.
Though the swim suit competition, which Rodgers says
displays physical fitness, may get a lot of attention in pag
eants, it's not the most important part.
"Pageants are really won in the interview," said
Rodgers.
Rodgers picked the Miss Earth Pageant because she
said it has a chanty component and a greater focus on both
inner and outer beauty. As the North Carolina representa
tive of Miss Earth, she'll appear at Earth Day events next
March and will be partnered up with a sponsor whose
' ? See Rodgers on A9
I
A woman
performs at
last year's
Juneteenth
program at
Corpening
Plaza. The
event has a
new loca
tion this |
year.
f
Juneteenth kicks-off tonight
Bulk of activities slated for Rupert Bell Park Saturday
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
After months of planning, the Triad
Juneteenth Festival is coming to Rupert Bell
Park Saturday. Juneteenth is the
celebration of the end of slavery
in the United States.
Organizers are expecting
attendees from Greensboro,
High Point and, of course,
Winston-Salem. The portion of
the festival to be staged in the
park will start at 11 a.m. and end
at 5 p.m. The event, which is
free and open to the public, will
include an opening ceremony,
food and merchandise vendors.
?n art gallery, youth activities and a steady
stream of entertainment.
Juneteenth events will actually kickoff
tonight (June IS) with a Roundtable.
Dialogue at 7 p.m at the Winston-Salem
Urban League. The topic will be "Race
Angelou ?
Relations and Bridging the Gap."
Poet Dr. Maya Angelou will be among
those on hand to discuss the topic. She will
be joined by panelists Donna Oldham, Dell's
. Communications Director; Author
Carole Weatherford; Urban League
President and CEO Keith
Orandberry ; Assistant
Superintendent Dr. Angelia Fryer; St.
Paul United Methodist Church pas
tor. Dr. Donald Jenkins; Carlton
Merrill, Center Manager for
Piedmont Imaging; and Pauline
Morris, director of Forsy th Technical
Community College's Hispanic
Center
Pprfnrmprs alrp.ariv confirmed for
Saturday's event include Galvin Crisp and
Herb Stephens or the jazz group Class Act
Jazz and bluesman Big Ron Hunter and the
Have Mercy Blues Band.
Hunter's voice has been known to give
Set Juneteenth on AS
Chancellor Harold Martin
has been at WSSU since 2000.
Martin
will be
missed
Supporters have
mixed emotions about
. his departure
BY T. KEVIN WALTER
THE CHRONICLE
Even in the very early days
of Harold Martin's chancellor
ship of Winston-Salem State
University, Bcmice Davdhport
sensed that great things would
nappen to
her alma
mater on
Martin's
watch.
O 11
one of
Martin's
first days
as the
official
leader of
WSSU,
DeBerry
Davenport pulled him aside and
presented him with her own
verbal contract.
"I asked him could he at
least give us a 10-year commit
ment (as WSSU chancellor),"
Davenport recalled (his week.
Martin responded, "I'll try."
Martin's tenure at WSSU
won't total a decade. The
University of North Carolina
officially announced late last
week that Martin has been
named senior vice president for
academic affairs of the 16 cam
pus UNC system. In his new
role, Martin will be the system's
top acadcmic officer, oversee
ing things such as academic
planning, student affairs and
strategy development. His
appointment will become effec
tive July 17.
Davenport, who graduated
from WSSU in 1947 when it
was still Winston-Salem
Teachers College, said she
knew Martin's immense talents
as a leader w ould open up other
doors of opportunity. She just
hoped that he wouldn't walked
through another door for many,
many years
"I am happy for him," she
said. "But I feci like a mother
who wants her child to do well
but doesn't want him to leave
home "
Rumors about Martin's
departure had been rampant for
several months. Quentin
DeBerry, WSSU's Student
Government Association presi
dent, said students feared that
Martin, a Winston-Salem
Sec Martin on A9
ateful Memory of Our
Founders,
)rrie S. Russell and
arl H. Russell , Sr.
" Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better "
3Rus &t[[ 3f uttgral ffiatm
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
H2.2 Carl Kiivsill Ave.
(at Martin Luther King Dr.)
Winston-Salem , 'NC 27IO!
(336) 722-3459
Fm (33?) 631-8268
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