Queen Latifah visited a high school in Clover, S.C., to make good on a promise to a troubled teenager.

Carmen Houston, 16, quit school last year after she was ridiculed for being overweight. In December, the rapper, actress and talk show host promised Carmen that if the teen went back to school she would go to class with her on the first day.

Latifah, whose real name is Dana Owens, made good on the promise on Feb. 1, walking to piano class with Carmen.

“It was the first day I’ve gone to school and not gotten made fun of,” Carmen said.

Humanity award will honor Liz Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor will be the third recipient of the Marian Anderson Award, which honors artists who work to benefit humanity.

Taylor was chosen because of her work on behalf of AIDS awareness, research and patient care, Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street said Friday.

Taylor is to accept the award in person during special programs on June 25 and 26 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The first two recipients of the award: Harry Belafonte and Gregory Peck.

Labor secretary plans a private wedding

Labor Secretary Alexis Herman plans to be married today to a local doctor in a quiet Valentine’s weekend wedding.

Herman, 52, and her husband-to-be, Dr. Charles L. Franklin Jr., met in the summer of 1997, introduced by mutual friends. They became engaged last fall.

The groom, 53, went to medical school at Howard University and has practiced as a family physician in the Washington area for more than 20 years. The location of the wedding has not been disclosed because the couple wants a private celebration.

It will be Herman’s first marriage and Franklin’s third.

Benigni invited to present an Oscar

Roberto Benigni, whose exuberance captivated Oscar viewers last year, will be a presenter at this year’s Academy Awards. Producers Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck said Thursday in Los Angeles that Benigni had been added to the roster of presenters for the March 26 awards show.

Last year, Benigni won the best actor Oscar for Life Is Beautiful, which also took the award for foreign language film.

Suspected stalker claims innocence

A man who police say has been harassing Brooke Shields for 15 years, including sending nude photos of himself to her, pleaded innocent to stalking and weapons charges.

Mark Ronald Bailey, 41, entered his plea Thursday in Los Angeles. He has two prior convictions involving Shields, one for trespassing at her New Jersey home in 1985 and another for making a terrorist threat against her in 1993.

ALMANAC

It’s the 43rd day of the year; 323 days are left in 2000. On this date:

In 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president, was born in present-day Larue County, Ky.

In 1892, Lincoln’s birthday was declared a national holiday.

In 1909, the NAACP was founded.

In 1915, the cornerstone for the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, D.C.

In 1973, the first release of American prisoners of war from the Vietnam conflict took place.

In 1999, the Senate voted to acquit President Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Thought for today: “Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still.” — President Harry Truman (1884-1972)

Today’s birthdays: Actor Joe Don Baker, 64; actor Michael Ironside, 50; actress Joanna Kerns, 47; actor Arsenio Hall, 45; actress Christine Elise, 35.