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March 2006 The News Argus 3 Read on Mr. Ram wins awards at HBCU Pageant Keisha Colllins home from Iraq, busy with school, work and family CAMPUS NEWS Nontraditional students find life at WSSU good, except for the parking By Dreama Williams ARGUS REPORTER Barbara Thomas is unique among grandmothers. That's because the 59- year-old attends WSSU with her grandson, Jeremy Transou, who is a sopho more mass communications major. "I joke with him and tell him I'm going to beat him out of here," Thomas said. Thomas is among the 40 percent (slightly more than 2,000) of students at WSSU who are consid ered nontraditional. Nontraditional stu dents are those age 24 and older who take distance-leaming classes, according to the Evening and Weekend College office. Thomas' major is justice studies, and her goal is to become an advocate for children in the juvenile justice system. She will gradu ate in December 2007. At present, she works full-time at the Forsyth County Courthouse with abused and neglected children as part of a program called Guardian Ad Litum, and she manages to take 12 semester hours. "I hate to start something and not finish it," Thomas said, referring to her decision to return to university after an extended absence. Thomas said she first enrolled at WSSU in 2001 but took off 2 1 / 2 years to raise her 3-year-old grandson. She started back in August of 2004. She said younger classmates at WSSU don't treat her differently from their other peers. In fact, she said most are respectful and courtesy. The only thing Thomas does n't like about WSSU is the parking. "It's beyond rough, actually unbelievable," she said. Thomas said she has back problems, which prevents her from walking long dis tances; because of her condition, she said she has to move her vehicle each time her class is in a different building. Despite this, Thomas said Myra Waddell head of the Disabled Student Office is very helpful and contacts all of her lecturers to inform tliem of her back problem. Bennie McBride is another nontraditional student. He is a 61-year-old junior majoring in political science. McBride said he hopes to obtain a job in a government office after graduation. "I'm a little interested in poli tics," he said. McBride is taking 12 semester hours and also works part-time, in addition to his work-study job on campus. He also takes some evening and weekend classes. McBride started WSSU 38 years ago in the fall of 1965. That same year, he said he start ed a job at RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. The job took precedence over schooling, and it was not until the fall of 2005 that he returned to WSSU. "My mom died and I was looking for a road to travel and it lead me here," he said. McBride said that his school work load has not been overwhelming. Instead, he described it as "really enjoyable. It's amaz ing how quick young people come up with ideas," he said. McBride agreed with Thomas that the parking is horrible. "I have developed a plan: I sit and wait on somebody to pull out," he said. McBride also said that it is a good idea to leave home about an hour to an hour in a half early to ensure that you get a good parking spot. When asked if people treat him differently, McBride said "Yes." They treat him kindly. McBride said that at first he was a little nervous about being in classes with people a lot younger than him, but now he has gotten used to it. "I have been well accepted at WSSU," he said. Contributed photo l\1r. Ram (far right) competed against 14 kings from other HBCUs and was one of the seven who made the semi-finals. Phil Javies, Mr. Ram, named Mr. Oratory and Mr. Congeniality at HBCU Pageant By Lisa R. Boone ARGUS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Phil Javies, Mr. Ram 2005-2006, made the semi finals in the second annual Mr. HBCU Pageant. The pageant was held last month at Lincoln University of Missouri. Javies was named Mr. Oratory and Mr. Congeniality and received a sash and a trophy for each award. "I won, but they didn't give me the title," said Javies, a double major studying elementary educa tion and sociology. All kings were required to complete an application, a self-portrait form, and a talent profile and write a three-minute speech on the topic "Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the Cornerstones of African-American History and Culture: Black Males, the Catalyst for the Survival of These Great Institutions," pageant officials said in a statement. In order to participate in the event, the HBCU kings had to be currently enrolled in good standing at their college or university, be 18 to 28 years old, and had to participate in all activities, according to the HBCU Leadership and Pageant Web site. Each king was judged on elocution, ease of manner and projection, talent and professional bearing, according to the official candidate's guide. Women, from page 2 York, spouse of the ex-pres ident and a leading light in the Democratic Party; and Condoleezza Rice, the sec retary of state whose politi cal fortunes received a boost recently when First Lady Laura Bush said she should run for the Republicanas' presidential nomination. Political veterans wonder if 2008 is a realistic goal for a woman reaching the pres idency, given Clinton's lightning-rod status and Rice's assertion that she won't run. Nonetheless, Richardson and other strategists say that around the world, women are fast climbing into new realms of power. "The trend lines are good. Increasingly there are breakthroughs in women achieving leadership posi tions, and it's happening faster than ever before," she said. In 1995 at the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing, govern ments set a goal of women achieving at least 30 per cent of seats in national parliaments. Thus far, women have succeeded in commanding only about 16 percent of those seats. But that amounts to an aU-dme high today of 6,690 seats, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, reflecting some key gains in the past year. Some of the biggest gains reflect women rising to leadership in troubled lands. Liberia, where the Harvard-educated Johnson- Sirleaf took over, had been ravaged by two decades of instability and civil war that claimed 150,000 lives. Analysts say it's no acci dent that the world's par liamentary body with the biggest share of women is found in Rwanda, where women hold 48.8 percent of the seats. In the 1990s, tribal fighting in the central African nation triggered genocide and some of the most horrific human cruel ty in recent history. Kavita Ramdas has paid special attention to Africa as president of the Global Fund for Women, a San Francisco- based organiza tion that distributes grants to women's groups around the world. She says that women's recent political successes in Liberia and elsewhere in Africa "are very much related to the decimation of the continent by AIDS and civil conflict." Rams and Jamz keep Brian McLaughlin busy By Steven Gaither ARGUS SPORTS EDITOR Brian McLaughlin, B- Daht, is a senior mass com munications major. A native of St. Louis, Missouri who grew up in Greensboro, he is one of the familiar voice is on '&\e "’WiW Out Wakeup Show" on 102 Jamz, WJMH, which airs weekdays from 6-10 a.m. You can also hear him over the public announcement system at WSSU football and basket ball games. Q: How long have you been at 102 Jamz? A: I've been there for two years. I started as an intern. Q: How did you get on the morning show? A: The position became available when Amos Quick left. Kyle asked me to do some crank phone calls, so I did them and he put them on the air. The triad started loving me because I was already at all the WSSU events. The opportunity became available and it was just perfect timing. Q: What's the best thing about being on the Wild Out Wakeup Show? A: I can say whatever I want. There's no muzzle. Afrika, Capital ] and Kyle — we're all like family. We argue, but it's still love. We really enjoy each other's company. I really enjoy the freedom. Q: What's the difference between 102 Jamz and your job as PA announcer at WSSU? A: It's much more struc tured at the athletic events. Sometimes you just wanna scream and crack jokes when they mess up. But you have to realize that they're fans and boosters who come to see the game, too, and you have to make them feel comfortable. But I have to give us a certain amount of edge so that we maintain that home advantage. Q: Where will you be in five years? A: I'll be a household name on the big screen. Q: So what is your ulti mate goal? A: I wanna crossover into TV. I want to be wherever I can speak at. I wanna be everywhere. Keisha Collins remembers almost being killed in Iraq She added, "The emer gence of a women's politi cal voice is almost directly linked to the exhaustion of alternatives." In 2001, a World Bank report on gender discrimi nation reported that less corruption exists where women govern. Ramdas observed that in Afghanistan, voters in September expressed a desire to rid their war- wracked land of male- dominated corruption. They elected 68 women in the country's first parlia mentary election in more than 30 years; a quarter of the 249-member legislative body is reserved for women under the country's post war constitution. "People say they trust women more than men because they are not corupt," she said. By Trygeania Dowell ARGUS REPORTER One of Keisha Collins' most vivid memories is the night a bomb nearly ended her life. The year was 2003, and Collins, an Army reservist, was stationed in Iraq. That's not Collins' only memory of her time in Iraq. She has plenty, including time spent building out- house-style toilets and showers for her unit. But that's all in the past, at least for now. These days, the sopho more is a full-time student at WSSU studying sports management, a part-time employee at both Wal-Mart and the YWCA, and the full time mother of a 7-year-old son,Collins said she joined the Army at age 19 to help pay for college. However, on April 4th, 2003, not long after the start of the Iraq war, her unit was called into action. She is still on active reserves and trav els Galax, Va. one weekend each month to take part in drills. When she graduates, Collins said she wants to start a Youth Development Center in Candor, NC, her hometown. Taking inspira tion from her mother, her role model, Collins said she tries to live by the Golden Rule, which is "treat others as you wish to be treated." 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