Sorority plugs community service

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority sponsored a Community Service Forum in High Rise East on Wednesday in an effort to spark interest in community service. Engineering junior and ZPB sister Hilary Brown, who supervised the forum, said she hoped "to heighten the level of consciousness of the individuals in the University community ? and to motivate individuals to do community service." The forum consisted of two speakers and a question-and-answer period with each of them. Mark Watson, the first speaker, is a man who says he is homeless and often stands outside Wawa late at night. Watson shared some of his experiences about "life on the street." He explained he wants to make people aware of the problem of homelessness and urged people to "be more receptive, on a personal level to the needs of the homeless." Watson encouraged students to stop and talk to the homeless. He said many homeless people often feel helpless, hopeless, unmotivated and "caught in the system" because they cannot hold down a job without a permanent address and cannot pay for a home unless they have a job. Marcine Pickron-Davis, the assistant director for student-community involvement at the University, then spoke about what the community can do to aid the homeless. She suggested clothing drives, food drives, social events for the mentally handicapped and mentor programs for under-privileged children. Pickron-Davis invited students interested in doing community service work to stop by the office of the Program for Student-Community Involvement at 3601 Locust Walk or call the office at 898-4831.