6
Monday, November 5, 2001
Meet the 2001 Homecoming
Higginbotham to Help McLean to Match Polanco Wants to
Victims of Attack Students, Homeless Eat Away at Hunger
Bv Ruthie Warshenbrot
Staff Writer
Not only is Shayla
Higginbotham a senior marshal
and the on-campus coordinator for
minority recruitment, but she is
now running for Homecoming
queen.
A senior health policy and
administration major with a minor
in business administration,
Higginbotham said the skills she
has developed through leadership
in all her campus activities will
help her if she is elected queen.
Higginbotham, from Rand,
WVa., said she wants many orga
nizations on campus to be involved
in her service project, which will
also include support from the
Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. “I’d
like to serve as the liaison for any
organizations involved in (this pro
ject).”
Her service project, “Heeling
Hearts,” is a two-part initiative for
children in New York who were
affected by the attack on America.
Higginbotham said by making
this a campuswide service project,
she thinks it will act as a unifying
force for the University communi
ty. But she wants to include the sur
rounding communities in the pro
ject as well.
“Many people still show sup
ftort, but some are trying to erase
the memory of the attack),”
Higginbotham said.
“But this is not an event that will
be erased, especially for the kids
and especially during the holiday
season.”
For this reason, Higginbotham’s
service project is scheduled to kick
off Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. On these
days, a bus donated by a local bus
company will be parked at specif
ic locations.
Students and community mem
bers are asked to fill the bus with
toys and cards for the children of
New York as part one of the pro
ject
Higginbotham said she has
already contacted local radio sta
tions about the goal and she that
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plans to write letters to teachers
and churches in the area to get the
word out. Part two of the project is
a letter- and card-writing cam
paign, to which Higginbotham
hopes the teachers and churches
will con
tribute.
She has
already noti
fied art teach
ers at local
schools.
Each orga
nization on
campus will
also receive a
letter about the project, which she
said she hopes will be completed
by Christmas.
Higginbotham wants area chil
dren to decorate “Thinking of You”
cards for the children in New York.
“Lots of monetary donations
have already been made, but the
kids don’t get it,” she said.
Higginbotham said she wants
the children to receive tangible
items, like a toy or card from far
away.
Many of Higginbotham’s cam
pus activities are service-oriented,
including volunteering for her
sorority, Delta Sigma Theta sorori
ty, Inc., of which she is president.
“Service is a daily thing for me,”
she said.
Higginbotham said she believes
that her experience at UNC, her
background with other cultures
and other individuals and her pas
sion for the University make her a
good representative of the student
body.
“I feel that I have a passion for
Carolina. I love being here; I love
doing the things that I do because
I love service.”
Higginbotham said she has a
good background in interacting
with people of all ages and all eth
nic backgrounds.
Being involved in so many orga
nizations on campus,
Higginbotham feels she represents
UNC as a whole, which she
explains in her motto: “Vote Shayla
because she represents you.”
Homecoming 'Ol
Bv Rlthie Warshenbrot
Staff Writer
Representing the standards of
the University is a priority and a
commitment for Jessica McLean,
who plans to uphold these stan
dards if elected Homecoming
queen.
McLean is a senior psychology
major from Lincolnton.
“I feel that Homecoming queen
should be a person who is repre
sentative of the standards of the
University, such as morality, giving
back to the community and schol
arship,” she said.
Her service project involves her
self and student volunteers visiting
the homeless shelter in Chapel Hill
two times a week.
While there, students will pair
up with people at the shelter to
help them fill out job applications
and to work on reading and math
ematics.
She said she hopes her project,
“Heels Helping the Homeless,”
will motivate people at the home
less shelter to take the first step
away from homelessness.
Being there for the members of
the shelter and giving them sup
port will also be a task of the stu
dent volunteers, McLean said.
She said the volunteers should
be there to give them support so
they know they are not alone in
this situation.
“This (project) is especially
important to me personally
because homelessness really both
ers me,” McLean said:
She said she hopes a diverse
group of people with a need to
help the community will partici
pate in the project.
McLean said the project will
show the people of Chapel Hill
that the students of UNC can give
back to the community.
She said she thinks this project
will be beneficial to UNC and to
the homeless on Franklin Street.
McLean said she will use her
connections throughout campus
to spread the word about this pro
ject.
She said that her many activi
ties, including many service-ori
ented ones, give her contacts to
many groups.
She volunteers at the Hargrave
Center and at Primary Colors Day
Care.
McLean also is involved in the
Black Student Movement, and she
is co-artistic director for cONcEpt
(of Colors).
She is a member of Alpha
Kappa Alpha sorority, Inc.
All of her activities have allowed
her to meet a lot of new people and
have exposed her to meet a lot of
new people, said McLean.
She said her activities also have
allowed her to interact with a
diverse group of individuals, dif
ferent from herself.
She said she feels she has access
to more people’s perspective than
her own.
Through these activities,
McLean said she has not only
become exposed to diverse groups
of people but she has also become
more active in both the campus
community and the Chapel Hill-
Carrboro community. “They’ve
opened doors for me to help oth
ers,” she said.
“Anything I commit myself to, I
carry out. I’m very dedicated,”
McLean said.
She said she plans to carry out
“Heels Helping the Homeless”
whether or not she is elected
Homecoming Queen.
She said the position is a great
instrument to show the community
that students at UNC want to give
back.
“I consider it more so a position
than a title,” she said.
McLean said she is open-mind
ed, friendly and willing to take
suggestions and advice from oth
ers.
After graduation, she plans to
take a year off and try to get an
internship in a psycholog)' depart
ment
She does plan to attend gradu
ate school after the year off and
intends to remain the Chapel Hill
area.
By Jessica Sleep
Staff Writer
Aidil Polanco is a senior from
Raleigh majoring in journalism with
a concentration in public relations.
Polanco has worked in the
Office of Minority Affairs since her
sophomore year, and she created
the first successful proposal to start
Hispanic recruitment programs at
UNC. She is also the liaison to the
Carolina Hispanic Association.
Polanco has also coordinated
Tar Heel Target, an ambassador
program that sends UNC students
back to their hometowns to share
their college experiences with cur
rent high school students.
In addition, Polanco has been
very active in CHispA. She is the
secretary.
Through CHispA, Polanco has
conducted various cultural presen
tations to groups on and off cam
pus, and she represents the organi
zation at race relation events, cul
tural forums and discussions.
During her sophomore and
junior years, Polanco worked as a
residence assistant at Granville
Towers, where she coordinated
programs dealing with issues such
as sexual awareness and diversity.
Hunger Awareness and Relief is
Polanco’s service project.
Working with Stop Hunger Now,
a nonprofit organization, Polanco
plans to hold forums and discussions
during the week of Valentine’s Day.
She said her program would inform
people about how widespread
hunger is and how it affects the
world. “Hunger is such a big prob
lem that I think people just don’t
know how to attack it,” she said.
Polanco said during her week
long program, there will be activities
like dropping a penny in a jar and
donating a day’s worth of lunch
money. Polanco stressed that stu
dents can make a difference and
have a positive influence on reliev
ing hunger. “I honestly believe that
people as privileged as us should
take the time to help out any way we
can,” she said. “Even something as
simple as donating lunch money for
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a day could feed a hungry family.”
Polanco said she has seen the
effects of poverty first-hand during
visits to countries such as Jamaica,
Mexico and the Dominican
Republic. “It’s heartbreaking to see
young chil
dren begging
in the streets
for bread,”
she said. “The
reality is that
you can be a
hardworking
person but
just not make
enough
H
money to feed your family.”
Polanco said her experiences at
UNC have taught her many valu
able lessons. “I’ve definitely
learned the power of learning and
how to work with other people.”
Polanco said she has tried to
become as active as possible on
campus, and her participation in a
variety of campus organizations has
given her a diverse group of friends.
Polanco said she thinks
Homecoming queen is an impor
tant position because she repre
sents the students. “Homecoming
queen gives people who don’t
know the student body, personally,
a reference point as to what people
at UNC are like,” she said. After
graduation, Polanco wants to work
for a nonprofit organization.
Polanco said she believes she
represents UNC well because she
has started many projects with the
same type of pioneering spirit with
which UNC was founded. Polanco
said she decided to run for
Homecoming queen because of
her school spirit and her pride of
being a UNC student. “UNC has
been like a home,” she said. “I feel
like (the University) belongs to me
and I work for it, and in return it’s
made me grow as a person.”
Polanco said the most important
part of her campaign is her service
project, and she wants students to
vote for her project, not just for her.
“Hunger is such an important
issue,” she said. “I think the service
project will save people’s lives.”