NEWS
BRIEFS
African-American
Women On Tour
Susan L. Taylor, editor-in-chief of
Essence magazine., will join the
African-American Women on Tour,
presented by Allstate Insurance
Company later this summer.
The tour will be in Dallas, Texas,
June 13-15, at the Fairmount Hotel; in
Chicago, 111., at the Downtown Marriott,
July 25-27; and in Atlanta, Ga., at the
Atlanta Hilton and Towers, August 14-
16.
The African American Women on
Tour is being sponsored by JC Penney,
Chrysler Corporation, Reebok, Avon
Products, Kaiser Permanente, Hewlett
Packard, Heart & Soul magazine,
Mobil Oil, McDonald’s and Hardee’s.
For registration information and
group rates, contact African American
Women on Tour, 3914 Murphy Canyon
Road, Suite 216, San Diego, Calif.
92123; 1-800-560-AAWT.
Turning Ttie Page page 2
Rap Music page 3
Distance Education page 4
Miss WSSU page 5
Faculty Honored page 6
Pershing Angels page 11
Poetry Corner page 12
Did You Know....
Award winning actor Sidney
Poitier, 70, formally became
the Bahamas' new
ambassador to Japan during
a recent ceremony at the
Imperial Palace in Tokyo
where he presented his
credentials to Emperor
Akihito?
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Watts To Keynote
WSSU Commencement May 10
WSSU News Release
Nationally syndicated talk show host
and Winston-Salem native, Rolanda
Watts, will be the keynote speaker for
Winston-Salem State University’s
commencement ceremony, Saturday,
May 10, at 9:45 a.m., in the Lawrence
Joel Veteran’s Coliseum.
Watts is in her fourth season as host
of the nationally syndicated, one-hour
talk show, “ROLANDA” which
premiered in January 1994. Watts also
owns her own production company.
Watts Works Productions Inc.
Watts has served as senior
correspondent for the television program
“Inside Edition” and anchor for “Inside
Edition Weekend.” Earlier, she co
hosted Lifetime Television’s “Attitudes,”
which was nominated for a Cable Ace
Award for Best Talk Show. She also was
a weekend anchor and reporter for
WABC-TV, New York, where she
moderated the station’s weekend weekly
political forum, “Eyewitness News
Conference.”
She began her broadcast career as a
general assignment reporter for WFMY-
TV, the CBS affiliate in Greensboro, NC.
Watts is a staunch advocate for
women in media, having addressed the
subject before such groups as the Harlem
YMCA and the Parent Media Watch
organization. She has been cited as a
“person to watch” by Jersey Monthly
Magazine and has been honored with
many prestigious awards from
community groups, including a “Hero”
accolade from the Mill Bank Children’s
Center and a recognition award from the
Rahway State Penitentiary for her work
with inmates.
Watts currently serves on the board
of the Literacy Volunteers of New York
City and the board of advisors for New
York University’s Dental School. She is
spokesperson for the United Negro
College Fund, Stopping AIDS Together,
the National Glaucoma Trust Fund and
other professional and businesswomen’s
associations.
Bom and raised in Winston-Salem,
Rolanda Watts
she is a graduate of Spelman College,
Atlanta, and received her graduate degree
from Columbia University’s School of
Journalism.
Underwood Leaving ROTC Program
BY DOUGLAS B. CLARK
Staff Writer
Captain Kathy Underwood, an
assistant professor of military science for
WSSU’s Reserve Officer’s Training
Corps (ROTC), will be leaving the “Ram
Family” to become a Company
Commander at Ft. Hood, Texas.
“I’m excited about my opportunities
as a Company Commander, because I
plan to do my best for my soldiers as well
as for myself,” said Underwood. “The
Army’s life-style for staying in shape,
the discipline, self-motivation and a
sense of adventure was very attractive to
me.”
Underwood who is a finance officer
in the U. S. Army with 14 years of
military service, came to WSSU two
and a half years ago. She was in charge
of recruiting students into the ROTC
Program and taught freshman military
science classes.
Since her arrival at WSSU, she was
instrumental in helping the ROTC
program acquire more scholarships for
the cadets and helping to increase
student enrollment in the Demon Deacon
Battalion (a combination of the ROTC
programs at WSSU and Wake Forest
University).
“Captain Underwood is a good
communicator who really knows how to
speak to people on all levels whether they
are civilians, cadets or other soldiers.
She has not only impressed students; but
she has impressed the parents of students
as well,” said Captain Christian Abell,
who is in charge of the ROTC Program at
Wake Forest University. He is also a
military police officer who has been in
the Army for six years.
After working with her for one year.
Capt. Kathy Underwood
Abell says that she has done an
outstanding job in a “Battle Hand-Off’
(changing of the guard) by making it a
See Underwood, Page 3