
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994                    TAG: 9406070168 
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS                     PAGE: 07    EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940609                                 LENGTH: Medium

CONFERENCE TO HELP BLACK MALES COPE

{LEAD} Teenagers, their parents and other adults will gather at Norfolk State University Saturday for a day of workshops aimed at developing strategies to ensure that African-Americans get ahead in the 21st century.

The annual Black Male Development Conference is sponsored by the Lambda Omega chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, MacDonald's Corp. and NSU. It will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Brown Memorial Hall.

{REST} Speakers such as Clarence Cuffee, deputy city manager of Chesapeake, and Norfolk Police Chief Melvin High will address such issues as dealing with social pressures in the workplace, the effects of health care on African-American communities and establishing goals for the future. A teen summit is also planned.

This is the sixth year the fraternity of African-American graduate students has organized the conference.

``We started it because we saw a need to help young black males and teenage kids in the community,'' explained Charles Pleasants, president of the fraternity.

``Our concern is to help combat some of the problems teenagers are confronting today. We're especially concerned about youth, 21 to 25 years old who are being steered in the wrong direction. In order to do that, we need to address issues such as the black family, drugs, education and community involvement.''

To supplement the conference, the fraternity, based at NSU, sponsors weekly activities and visits by inspirational speakers Saturday mornings at the fraternity house for youths ages 10 to 16.

The conference will also feature a variety of speakers from a range of interests and disciplines. Included are Michael Bernard, NSU's men's basketball coach; Lester Moore, Norfolk Juvenile Court judge; physicians Michael Tucker and Lajuana Collins; Dr. James Watson, an area dentist; and Renee Mellon, a financial planner.

Rap artists will perform at the summit, which will be hosted by Morris Baxter of WMYK-Radio.

Although the conference has traditionally focused on males, Pleasants said almost a fourth of the participants will be female this year. by CNB