Media Advisory: 01-023

                            Area leaders coming together Feb. 1
                            for Black History Month kickoff at
                            NASA's Marshall Center

                            What:

                                         Leadership forum at NASA's Marshall Space
                                         Flight Center features professionals from the
                                         medical, legal, political and business fields
                                         focusing on life strategies for success. Forum
                                         topics include how to balance career with
                                         family, and maintaining cultural identity within an
                                         organization. The one-hour event is open to the
                                         public with a question and answer period
                                         following each discussion. Topics are part of
                                         this year's Black History Month theme at
                                         Marshall — "Creating and Defining the
                                         African-American Community: Family, Church,
                                         Politics, Culture."



                            Who:

                                         Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid; Madison
                                         District Court Judge M. Lynn Sherrod; Russell
                                         Brown, president of DP Associates and
                                         immediate past president of the
                                         Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of
                                         Commerce; Dr. Frederick Cason, division chief
                                         of surgery at the University of Alabama at
                                         Birmingham School of Medicine-Huntsville; Jim
                                         Kennedy, deputy director of the Marshall
                                         Center.



                            Where:

                                         Marshall Center's Morris Auditorium, Building
                                         4200 on Rideout Road.



                            When:

                                         Thursday Feb. 1, 1-2 p.m.



                            To attend:

                                         News media interested in covering the event
                                         should contact Jerry Berg of Marshall's Media
                                         Relations Department at (256) 544-0034




                            NOTE: Effective Jan. 1, all drivers requesting a visitor pass to
                            Redstone Arsenal will be asked at the gate to provide proof of
                            liability insurance on their vehicle if it is registered in Alabama.
                            Failure to provide proof of such insurance will result in denial of a
                            pass, and drivers also may be issued a citation. This is being
                            done in compliance with Alabama's Mandatory Insurance Act.