Community News
Students Support Rape Victims
page 5
by Lisa Phelps
During the weeks of April 2-6 and
April 9-13, a table will be set up in
the Refectory. It won’t be a table
where you can buy a t-shirt, a cup,
or pictures from the last mixer. It
will, however, ask you for five
minutes of your time and $5 from
your wallet. This table will
contain a signature ad to be printed
(hopefully) in the Winston-Salem
Journal, on May 10th, calling for
the Journal to change its policy of
printing the names of rape victims.
You see, the Journal is the only
major daily newspaper in North
Carolina that still prints the
names of rape victims. (The
Associated Press and the New York
Times abandoned the practice years
ago.)
Just consider for a moment the
implications of printing the names
and areas of residence of rape
victims. With the printing of their
names and areas of residence the
rape victim may be exposed to
further harassment, obscene phone
calls and physical intimidation. If
the alleged rapist has not been
apprehended the rape victim’s
safety is put in further jeopardy by
the printing^of their names and
areas of residence. Aside from the
actual physical results of this
policy, the rape victim also suffers
from a tremendous loss of privacy.
There are many rape victims who
do not report rapes because they
fear the reactions of their families,
friends, neighbors and employers
should their name appear in the
Journal. You see, unfortunately rape
is a crime that still carries with it
a great deal of stigma, not for the
perpetrator but for the victim.
However, the argument put forth
by the Journal that their policy
helps to reduce this stigma does not
hold water. The only result of
their policy is the further
victimization of these victims of
rape.
So when you go to lunch in the
next two weeks, take $5 with you
and sign the signature ad. Or, cut
out the copy printed here and mail
it in. Make a statement of your own
conscience.
Tu VI VI , , pboto by Patricia Earnhardt
The KIu Klux Klan marched in High Point on March 18 in an attempt to
recruit new members. Most of the attention, however, came from Klan
opponenets. About 60 Klan members, including a few children, were
flanked by High Point police wearing bullet proof vests and riot gear.
Many words were said between supporters and the opposition, but no
violence occurred and no arrests were made.
Students Join Community For Common Goal
by Siri Wilkins
Last Saturday as Mathilde
Dumond and I drove around in
search of the house that matched
the address we were given, 1
wondered, who would be there, if it
would be fun and if we were dressed
right? We were not going to
babysit...or to a med school
party...or to an off campus
fraternity house. As for my attire, I
was wearing old blue jeans with
holes in them and an old tatered
sweatshirt. And yes -1 was dressed
appropriately for the occasion
because we were headed for the
comer of Broad and Washington
Streets where Home Moravian
Church is building a Habitat for
Humanity House.
When we arrived at nine o’clock
on Saturday morning it was rainy,
muddy, and cold; the sawdust made
me sneeze, my fingers soon turned to
ice, and I began to regret this
decision. All I was doing was
painting a few two by fours white!
I had done that two years ago for
shelves in my dorm room!
However, I was soon promoted to
sanding window panes. 1 had to
stretch on tiptoe to reach the
highest part of the frame, and,
since 1 had to see what I was doing.
all the dust found its way straight
into my eyes and contacts.
Around lunchtime things
improved. We stood in a circle -
eight of us, young and old, said the
Moravian Blessing, and dug into
turkey sandwiches and brownies
prepared for us by women in the
church. It seems that food tastes
best when you’re cold and hungary,
and conversation was a welcom^
change from the sound of drills and
saws. After we ate, the sun came
out, the rain stopped, and the
soon-to-be home owners arrived on
the scene, equipped with a jam box,
to put in their hours of work into
the building. As I squatted in the
dirt, painting primer on shutters, I
found that it was hard to leave
knowing so much work was left to be
done. I had seen the sweat that
had gone into the house, and, in a
mere five hours, this house had
become a home.
Daniel Webster has this to say
about the word "home" - "It is a
place where one lives or likes to be;
a restful or congenial place."
Habitat for Humanity strives to
make their buildings not just a
house for the purpose of sheltering,
but also a home for the purpose of
nurturing. The name reflects this
effort as Webster defined habitat
as "a place or site where an animal
naturally lives and grows."
Habitat does not want to just build
shelters but families as well as an
increased understanding of the
homeless within the community.
The way that Habitat increases
the value on the relationship
between home and owner is to
require carefully screened and
selected families "to invest sweat
equity hours into the construction of
their home." Habitat uses only
donated money and materials and
volunteer labor to increase
community involvement.
I want to take this opportunity to
tell you more about this grass roots
organization. Habitat for
Humanity was founded in 1976 by
Millard Fuller and his wife with a
commitment to "eliminate poverty
housing from the world and to make
decent shelter a matter of
conscience and action." But the
recipients of the program
participate in a joint venture. They
are obligated to work on their own
homes as well as help prospective
homeowners build their homes..
Houses are sold to partner families
for no profit and with no-interest
mortgages. Owners make small
monthly mortgage payments to
Habitat over an average period of
twenty years. The money is
deposited into a revolving "Fund
for Humanity," which supports the
construction of more houses.
Habitat does not accept government
support but does welcome
governments support in the form of
land grants, street pavement, and
sewer hook-ups.
Habitat for Humanity is an
international organization
spanning 26 different countries.
Here in Winston-Salem there are
three other houses besides Broad
St. under construction. (And by the
way, we need help painting this
weekend).
So this Saturday when I rise
before eight and make my way to
the little gray house with colonial
red shutters -1 will not wonder who
will be there because it really
doesn’t matter since we will all
work together in a common spirit
towards a common goal. I won’t
wonder if it will be fun because I
know the real value of what I am
doing cannot be measured
arbitrarily. And I will not wonder
what to wear because I know the
only place it would really be
appropriate to wear what I have
on is to the Habitat for Humanity
home on the comer of Broad and
Washington.