WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
MLK
Teach'ins demonstrate unity and social justice at Guilford
Continued from page I
the day's theme of sodal justice.
"It's easy to act like things like racism and homophobia
don't exist," said Shields. "But, they do. We want to make
the country and the world work for us ... we have to let the
politicians know and lift our voices and not be silent."
The introduction was finished off by a special presentation
from sophomore Jodie-Ann Geddes, who won the first
ever speech contest held for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day at
Guilford, describing her goals and dreams and what she has
learned about herself through service.
"The teach-in was a time of healing for me," said Geddes.
"This healing is both in a personal and social justice atmosphere.
I appreciate those that have committed to such a legacy."
First-year and Bonner Scholar Shelby Smith attended the
teach-ins both as an observer and a co-leader of the Stigmas
and Struggles of Poverty workshop.
"It's fascinating to see how issues of race are so interconnected
with issues like poverty, mental illness and violence," said
Smith. "That's what I really wanted to emphasize with the
teach-in I helped run with Noelle Lane."
There were two workshops following the introduction,
including the Yoga for Change workshop led by Part-Time
Lecturer in Sports Studies Dawn Leonard and the Silk-
Screening 101 workshop led by Maia Buess '11.
The yoga workshop was an hour long session that began
with Leonard describing how yoga "invokes physical change,"
but that what happens physically, mentally, emotionally and
spiritually during a session all go hand in hand. She asked
participants to set an intention, be it for a change we'd like
to make or simply to continue on a positive path, and then to
breathe into the intent and visualize it in order to accomplish it.
"Yoga is a powerful way to learn about ourselves and
knowing ourselves is the only way to effectively make change,"
said Leonard.
The screen-printing workshop began with the people in the
class circling up and saying their name and something they
were excited about, whether that was homework, screen
printing or King. Buess began the workshop by outlining how
silk-screening is accessible to everyone because the supplies
are so cheap, and can be used to make t-shirts or print posters.
"Making your own media, instead of big companies, is an
important part of social justice and getting your message out
there," said Buess.
The closing speech was presented by Lorenzo "Logie"
Meachum — a Greensboro native, teacher and professional
story-teller — who discussed the importance of the Guilford
College area and Greensboro in civil rights history.
The auditorium was silent as Meachum talked, sang and
played guitar, the silence only broken by occasional bouts of
laughter in response to some of his stories. At the end of his
speech, Meachum wrapped everything up with a song, the
entire audience joining in with him.
"If there's one this you learn today, or get from Guilford
College, it's to love everybody," said Meachum.
After the program, many students stayed behind to discuss
ways to continue with their service or what the day meant to
them.
Sophomore Paula Martinez saw the day as a commemoration
of a great man who "encouraged diversity and change."
"What it means to me is that Martin Luther ^ng Day is Hannah Seyb and Kereith Pinnock pose after
a dav of remembrance and a day to either enact change or . . ,. . , , . .
attempt to accept it," said Martinet “'"’8 ^ |ust,ce-themed screen-prmting workshop.
iQilbrc
New wireless update promises improvements
By Alex Lindberg
Staff Writer
Ever since its first implementation, the
Guilford College wireless system has been
criticized as slow and unreliable. Some
feel that one is lucky to stay connected
for a long period of time. However, new
improvements to the system may make
those connection problems disappear. The
Guilford Information Technology & Services
Department is hopeful that new changes
to the wireless system will increase user
Internet connectivity.
According to Interim Director of IT&S
Craig Gray, who corresponded with The
Guilfordian via email, the instability of the
wireless system is a problem that IT&S has
been aware of and trying to fix for a while.
According to Gray, "the original wireless
system did not account for a world where
wireless connections come in the form of
laptops, cell phones, tablet devices," etc.
This new system should be able to handle
the multiple incoming connections from
each person without interrupting someone
already on the system.
"You can only really stay connected
for about an hour before being kicked off
(the wireless), which can make it next to
impossible to get research or homework
done," said senior CMIT major Chris
Bradshaw.
The new system will also get rid of
several of the other wireless networks,
limiting students, faculty, and staff to Secure
(which will have a new name) and visitors
to Visitors. Anyone who wants to use the
wireless after these changes will need to get
access to GC Secure.
The new wireless system is scheduled
to be implemented sometime within the
coming month. So those who are still using
the older networks (StudentsFacultyStaff,
Media, etc.) will need to gain access to
Secure, while those who still use the wired
network should be fine.
"The network is constantly under strain
by the vast amounts of students who use
it for streaming sites, such as NetFlix, and
IT&S is managing with it the best they can,"
said senior and Community Senate Vice
President Brian Jones. "Steps must be taken
to ensure a fast and reliable connection for
all."
TT&S is confident that continual updates
to the wireless network "will further enhance
the speed and flow of the network as a
whole," according to Gray. If he is correct,
then there are many students, such as Jones,
who will be overjoyed at the news.
While rr&S is insistent that this new
system has been testing well, some students
still remain skeptical.
"Sure it might help with the connection,
but without a better network bandwidth,
students still won't be able to load simple
YouTube videos," says Bradshaw.
According to Gray, issues with streaming
is also a concern for TT&S.
"We are investigating ways to alleviate
that problem," said Gray. "Streaming is
probably here with us to stay, both in the
classroom and without. We need to get
more efficient at how we allocate bandwidth
at various times of the day to serve each user
group well."
With the wireless systems improved, it
seems that TT&S will be able t6 work on other
issues with Internet connectivity at Guilford.