Newspapers / Winston-Salem State University Student … / Dec. 1, 2003, edition 1 / Page 5
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The News Argus, December, 2003 ampus NEWS H Students " participated in Aids poster contest. See winners on page 6. INSPIRING: Recent trips motivate students to succeed By Brandlyn Bryant Argus Reporter Acquilla McCoy's dream is to open a school to address the special needs of black youth. She also wants to develop a unique academic curriculum to help students advance academi cally. Recently, McCoy, a junior, had an opportunity to share her ideas and dreams with her contemporaries as well as experienced educators while attending the 3rd Annual Thurgood Marshall Leadership Institute. There, she found that networking, participating in workshops, and other confer ences activities helped her refine her ideas for the future. "I was so motivated by the 250 other black youth in atten dance," McCoy said. "Positive things were happening. The people there were focused on placing teachers in a more pro fessional light. My presence there made my heart happy," added McCoy, who is an ele mentary education major with a concentration in Spanish. The 3rd Annual Thurgood Marshall Leadership Institute was held in New York City over three days last month. The trip was made possible through the Winston-Salem State University Leadership Institute. One of the organizers was Dr. D.Kathleen Stitts, associate dean in The School of Business and Economics. She said that each school at WSSU recom mended two to three students to make the trip. To prepare, stu dents attended a luncheon where they learned etiquette and other practical skills. McCoy recently found inspira tion for the future while See TRIPS, Page 6 Photo courtesy of Willard Tanner Students and staff attended a reception during the Thurgood Marshall Leadership conference which was held in New York City recently. Students express tuition concerns By Laklsa Leake Argus Reporter The UNC-Association of student government has put together a better way for students attend ing the 16 constituent universities to be heard by the general assembly concerning tuition increases and budget cuts, and the financial effects on stu dents attending the universities. It is called PersonalStories.org. "I'm trying to find a way for lawmakers to see past the administrative end of the University and see the faces of the people their decisions affect," said Amanda Devore, the leader of ftrsonaIStories.org, and a senior at North Carolina State University. The goal of the committee is to receive 100 sto ries from each campus about how tuition increases and budget cuts have affected student's financial status by December 1. "We plan to have 1600 stories from students around the state, and compile them into a book to give it to the general assembly,' explained junior class president. Tiffany Richmond, WSSU's repre sentative for this project, "This book will give stu dents a voice about their tuition." Project PeronalStories.org is an effort to make article 9 section 9 of the North Carolina constitu tion true. The article says, "The General Assembly shall provide that the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense." "Often time lawmakers use the excuse for tuition increases that they won't really affect students particularly since parents pay their tuition anyway. And for budget cuts they claim that they won't have any real effect on students and they will instead simply "cut the fat." This book will prove that all of the above excuses are completely untrue," commented Devore. As an effort of getting Winston-Salem State stu dents to participate in this project, the junior class council reserved the academic lab in R.J. Reynolds on November 12 to help students fill out the online form. "We had many students come in and we drafted a lot of students out of the other lab to complete our goal," explained Tiffany Richmond. 'Everybody has to conform — blncks, whites, Hispmiics — even/body." umm Photo by Janell J. Lewis WSSU alum Stephen Smith is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and a sports analyst for ESPN. He talked to students recently about what it takes to succeed. Keeping it Real Stephen A. Smith gives it to students the hard way By Janell J. Lewis Argus News Editor There are nearly 5,000 sports columnists in this country and, of that number, only 22 are black. One of those elite 22, a 1991 graduate of Winston-Salem State University, returned to the campus last month to tell students about what it takes to reach the top. Stephen Smith is a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and a sports analyst for ESPN. He can also be seen on Fox Sports as the network's national NBA insider. His talk, sponsored by the Mass Communications Club, attracted mostly new mass communications majors. "When I was a student, I played basketball, took 18 hours, had an internship at the Winston-Salem Journal, wrote for the campus newspaper, and 1 was a deejay for the campus radio station," Smith told students. All this, he said, prepared him for the fast-paced, hard work that faces him today. "I'm concerned about how con tent you all are in your major," Smith said and added that being "average" and "lazy" aren't acceptable qualities in the real world. "There are [companies] looking for an excuse not to hire you, not for an excuse to hire you," he said. As a columnist and analyst. Smith said, "That means, you have a license to your opinion; you have a license to express yourself." According to Smith, Blacks make up less than one percent of the population of general colum nists in the U.S. "What that means is America doesn't want to hear what you think, what you feel; they don't want you to express yourself." Smith added, "What I see is that at any given moment, 1 can reach over 50 million people. To me, it's scary as hell ... it's pressure." Smith explained that conformity in this world is a must. He recounted an experience in which a television network asked him to tone down his demonstrative, open image in order to relate more to his predominantly [white] audience. Smith followed his boss' instructions; "Everybody has to conform — blacks, whites, Hispanics — everybody." He con tinued and said, "Any corporation that hires you, rightly or falsely, considers you to be an extent of their company and themselves." Before Smith opened the discus sion for questions, he pointed out, "You cannot just be whatever you want to be." Smith continued. "Here's the trick ... find out what your gift is ... go do it... discover if you love it or not ... then you can be all that you want to be."
Winston-Salem State University Student Newspaper
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