THE WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY monday
april 13
2015
Vol. 53, Issue 10
WWW.THENEWSARGUS.COM
Students travel to Kenya to study, research, mentor Veniscia Jones Dysheada Reid @vjones111 @dreid112
Twelve Winston-Salem State students spent their spring break with the WSSU Study Abroad 2015 Program held in Kenya March 6-17. The collaboration with Kenyatta University involved students living in the university’s guest rooms and dorms while taking trips to numerous sites of historical and cultural concentrations in Kenya. “It was life-changing for me. It was so different from what I’m used to. The people were so welcoming to everywhere,” said Emilee Muhammad, freshman mass communica-
tions major from Greensboro. Students not only studied and attended lectures, but mentored elementary school students and young women in Kenya. According to interim chair of the english department, Leonard Muaka, the program aimed to promote the knowledge and understanding of East Africa in a global perspective. It was open to all students, particularly those with a focus on social science and humanities, education and health sciences. The program was originally scheduled May 20, 2014 in conjunction with Kenyatta University located in the capital Nairobi. However Nairobi
NC Labor stats rank WSSU grads No. 1 Courtney Herring Multimedia Editor @cherring111
Among the 16 schools in the UNC system, Winston-Salem State students are ranked No. 1 according to employment data collected by the NC Department of Commerce’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division. At least 79 percent of WSSU’s 2012-13 undergraduates are employed and earn about $37,844 yearly. WSSU earned the No. 2 rank in the graduate degree category because 78 percent of the students are earning at least $60,000 yearly. About 50 percent of those students earned bachelor’s degrees in other health-related programs. Dan Cohen-Vogel, the vice president of Institutional Research at University of North Carolina, said the data is enlightening because it shows that the nursing students get jobs. The N.C. Commerce used the Common Follow Up System to collect the data. CFS provides information on the educational and employment outcomes of participants in publicly supported educational, employment and training programs for planning, policy making, and program evaluation. Chancellor Elwood L. Robinson said he was very pleased with the data and it proves faculty are making sure that students are receiving quality education to prepare them to think critically in today’s workforce. Although the analysis is allur-
ing for students seeking health related degrees, all the graduates were not counted. “If a student becomes employed by the state government, they will be counted in the data, as is the case with local government and private employers,” Cohen-Vogel said. Federal employees and those self-employed were not included in the report. An occupation is not identified unless the person is employed. Graduates are counted as employed regardless of whether the job is related to their degree of study. “So you could be an accounting major working at McDonald’s , or you could be at McDonald’s the summer after graduation with an accounting degree as you’re waiting to start your MBA program. “Both will show up as the same industry and both will show up as employed. Just different wages,” Cohen-Vogel said. Jacqueline Keener, the acting director of the commerce department’s Labor & Economic Analysis Division, said that students take different paths to complete a degree, and that decision may impact employment and wage outcomes. “Graduates can be employed, not employed, or have a multitude of employment while getting further education. “All of these can have an impact on the programs outcomes,” she said.
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was bombed four days before the students’ departure. The bombing was linked to the Somalian terrorist group Al-Shabaab. A travel alert was issued by the U.S. Department of State Travel Warning for Nairobi and Mombasa, the coast of Kenya. The program was reopened for this semester. Gloria Mesa, a junior healthcare management major, was the only student from the first group that decided to give the trip a second chance. “People have this basic cognition about Africa as a whole and I feel that at a historically black college, that should be the first trip you’re trying to go on as a person,” Mesa said. Mesa is a native of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and a resident of Greensboro. Jalissa Brown, senior nursing major from Winston-Salem said,“I wanted to get my own interpretation of Africa since there are so many stereotypes about it.” Students spent five weeks during the spring semester prepping for the 11 day on-site experience. “None of my family has been out the country,” said Tashieka Brown, senior nursing major from WinstonSalem. “They didn’t want me to do it because of the perception that they had because of what they’ve seen in the media,” One experience that every-
one on the trip reflected on was a visit to a Kenyan slum. “I’ve never seen anything like that, it changed my whole perspective on being unappreciative or nagging my mom about stuff,” said Tahera Hargrove freshman from Greensboro. “We went to the slums and when you see people without the basic necessities ... you have so much and you should be thankful for everything,” said Linda Boyd, a junior accounting major from Durham. “Traveling is the best form of education. When you see it for yourself nobody can teach you any better because you’ve seen it with your own eyes,” said Mesa
‘Sittin’ at the round table making boss moves’
Bottom from left: Sports editor, Matt Parmesano; Editor-in-Chief, Katrina Robinson; Social media and special projects editor, Dysheada Reid. Top from left: Graphics and design editor, Sabrina Robinson; 2nd Take team member, Demetrius Dillard; Multimedia editor, Courtney Herring. The News Argus staff racked up awards in February and March. Argus staffers won seven awards at the North Carolina College Media Association Conference at UNC Asheville Feb. 21. The Argus was named Best of Show: Newspaper, and the Argus website --thenewsargus.com -- was named Best of Show: Online News. Editor-in-Chief Katrina Robinson, along with for-
mer editor-in-chief Chelsea Burwell, finished third in News Writing for a story they wrote jointly. Katrina Robinson also took third in Opinion Writing. Staff reporter Demetrius Dillard finished second in Sports Writing. The Second Take team -- Sports Editor Matt Parmesano; reporters Jaquel Horne, Eric Hargrove and Lewis Miller; and Javan Wells -- finished third in the Multimedia Package category.
Sabrina Robinson, graphic art and design editor, received an honorable mention in the Illustration/ Graphic/Cartoon category. Katrina Robinson attended the 23rd Annual NABJ Multimedia Short Course at North Carolina A&T March 18-21. While there, she received an Award of Excellence for Outstanding Reporting Convergence (Online).