Newspapers / Winston-Salem State University Student … / Dec. 1, 1996, edition 1 / Page 4
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The News Argus December 1996 - Page 4 — CAMPUS HAPPENINGS Wordsworth Club: Varsity Cheerleaders Deals With Words Enjoy Exciting Crowds BY STEPHANY COUSINS Staff Writer “If you have any words worth saying this is your forum,” said Shon Lomax founder of, the Wordsworh Club. The club’s central focus is on WSSU students. “If this school was a stock exchange, the students would be the commodity,” said Lomax. The goal of the club is to find out what issues are pressing on the minds of WSSU students. Before beginning the club, Lomax had to do some homework. She circulated a survey on campus to find out what issues were on the minds of her fellow Rams. Her findings indicated that students were tired of hearing about the typical topics such as AIDS, male-female relationships and drugs. Rather, they were interested in new topics like politics, school pride and WSSU’s operational procedures. With these findings in mind Lomax comprised a list of topics to address in an open forum, thus forming the Wordsworth Club. Lomax designed the club to be based on objectivity and mutual respect, which are used as vehicles to implement small changes. No student is supposed to have any more authority over another, not even Lomax herself. She does not want to be Angelou, Davis place to practice being ourselves,” explains Davis. Angelou strongly agrees about the importance of churches in the community. “If there was no church Martin Luther King would have been working at the post office and Malcolm X may have been working at McDonald’s,” she said. Despite the large volume of media coverage, the Justice Department, FBI and Slate and local law enforcement agencies have failed to uncover suspects in most cases. Davis is “not surprised” by the inability of law enforcement agencies to bring these arsonists to justice. Although the reason for the program is to bring the church burnings to the community’s attention and raise money. considered the president of the club. She is just a member. Some of the topics the club plans to address are: Who runs the school? The administration or the students?; Are students focused on the latest fashions or their futures?; and What can we do to change the community’s negative perceptions of WSSU? Through these topics Lomax hopes she will be able to get students to realize they are individuals and they should not be afraid to be different from the next person. “If you are true to yourself first, everything else will fall into place,” said Lomax. Yolanda Kelty, a junior business administration major, who is also a member of the club stated, “Shon Lomax brings up several valid points in our Thursday evening meetings. She has even helped me take a closer look at myself. I encourage everyone to come out to participate in these meetings, you will be thoroughly enriched.” Although not many students attended the first meeting of Wordsworth Club, Lomax and the club's adviser, Vanessa Hood, hopes future meetings will have more students in attendance. The club meets every other Thursday at 7 p.m., in the Thompson Student Services Center, room 107. From Page 1 the real issue is not the burnings. “The issue of the burnings are systematic to what is festering in our society and as men and women, as Americans, as fathers and mothers we are obliged to try to root out this fatal illness." According to Angelou and Davis, people should not tolerate the desu-uction of churches. An organization that can help lead these activities to stop the burnings is the church. Eloquent as always, in closing Davis reminded us all that, “Where there is no vision, there is no hojx;, so you need vision continually to inspire.” Only Americans across the nation can help slop the burning of churches. BY DANIELLE PROPHETE Staff Writer As Ram fans watch the basketball team practice every day preparing for a game; those same fans forget that the varsity cheerleaders are in the Gaines’ Center lobby, practicing for their night competition! The varsity cheerleading squad which is led by Debra Rivers, adviser, and Demont Cox, coach, consists of 13 females and one male. Members of the squad include: Kenya Harrington, Heather Zimmerman, Waynette Stevens, Ne’Kecha Pellam, Sakina Arnold, Keisha Gibson, Cheryl McLean, Qiana Sanders, Marcia Sturdivant, Erin White, Mary Bennett, Jeri Parks, Shantha Hyman and Vander Spruill. Not only do the cheerleaders practice six days a week, they also attended one week of extensive training and camps during the summer. The cheerleader’s schedule consisted of 6 a.m., run, stretch and sit-ups; then break for breakfast until 8 a.m. From 8-12 learn cheers and chants; lunch from noon until 1 p.m., practice from 1-4 p.m.; a break for dinner, and more practice from 5:30-8:30 p.m. “You gotta love it,” said Hyman, a sophomore, who also cheered on WSSU’s junior varsity squad. “There’s more to the cheerleaders than just cheering,” stated Cox, a WSSU alumnus and former Ram cheerleader of four years. Although volunteer work is not a requirement to becoming a cheerleader, they volunteer their time at The Paisley Math & Science Academy talking to youth about teenage pregnancy. “Most of them just really want to help out,” stated Cox. Along with volunteering their time, they are also training for competition. Last year they showcased their talent in the CIAA Cheerleading Exhibition held at Hanes Mall’s center court. This year they are planning to compete in the National Black Cheerleader Competition in Atlanta, GA. Their dedication is extreme, their coach and advisor are touch on them; but the team’s commitment is evident. “We don’t get the acknowledgement that other sports get and we’re the only year-round sport,” said Zimmerman. The varsity squad has two captains: Zimmerman and Harrington. “It’s hard being captain,” said Harrington. “It’s a big responsibility to have lo lead 13 other people. You just have to make sure you use the right tone of voice, and they have to know that cheerleading business is different from personal business.” Not only do the captains possess strong leadership skills, but their advisor and coach are very stricL “Mrs. Rivers is hard, but she knows what she’s doing,” said Zimmerman. If you ever get a chance to see the varsity cheerleaders in action you will see a phenomenal performance. All the hard work, determination and dedication shows. They definitely distinguish themselves from other squads. “It’s because we are versatile. That’s what makes us different from everybody else,” said Zimmerman. Mrs. Buford, Rev. Churn, Dr. Angelou , the producer, Mr. Davis
Winston-Salem State University Student Newspaper
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Dec. 1, 1996, edition 1
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