UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 22, Page 10
March 5, 1992
Alice Roberts balances political, secretarial careers

     Alice Roberts leads a double life. By day she is the senior
secretary at WXDR for the campus radio station. By night, she is a
politician and community leader in Avondale, Pa., a small town in
nearby Chester County.
     For the past six years, Roberts has been a councilperson, the
first woman ever to hold a seat on the Avondale Borough Council.
     At 11 one night in 1986, the town's tax collector telephoned
Roberts to ask her if she would run for the seat. She accepted and
immediately began the petition process required to have her name
placed on a public ballot.
     "I had to change my party in order to get my seat, but, I
think I would have won anyway, because I was approached by the tax
collector," Roberts explained. She said she is a "Democrat at
heart," but that Avondale is a GOP area. All seven members of the
council are Republicans.
     Roberts' community activities are time-consuming, but they
balance nicely with her job at WXDR. The station's first secretary,
she describes the job as rewarding, especially when she receives
complimentary phone calls from members of the Newark community.
     Her three years at WXDR have been filled with overseeing the
office and helping to organize the annual radiothon.
     Of course, Roberts listens to WXDR-in the office, in the car,
especially on Saturdays, from 2-4 p.m., when Rev. Melvin Johnson
plays gospel music.
     Roberts explained, "Sometimes my husband thinks I'm doing too
much. Then you have to say 'No,' but not until I get tired. Then
I'll stop, but right now, I'm not tired." Her husband is
supportive, she added, and without him she could never do all she
does.
     Roberts gives her time and energy to her job and her
community. But she does not see her commitments as sacrifices.
     "I'm for thinking positively. If you do something nice for
someone, they'll do something nice for you." This will be
especially important in 1994, when she runs for re-election for her
seat in the Avondale Borough Council.
                                        - Laura Reisinger