EREDiTH Herald
Volume XVI, Issue 15
Educating Women to Excel
January 26, 2000
On the
inside:
Powell encourages broad horizons
□ Discover
Career Center
offerings this
semester.
Page 2
□ Get ready
for Alice in
Wonderland,
Page 3
□ Thinking
about study
abroad?
Page 4
□ Check out
what movie you
should not see.
Page 8
Meredith Herald
at
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Raleigh, NC 27607
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FAX (919) 760-2869
Email:
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□ Powell speaks
at ACA convocation.
Jbnny Costa
Sian Writer
fn order to be fully educated
we must consciously broaden
our life experiences and values
was Kevin Powell’s message lo
Meredith student’s at convoca
tion Monday night.
Powell, an award-winning
poet, former senior editor of
Vibe magazine and cast mem
ber on The Real World New
York, concentrated on self-edu
cation. the appreciation of per
sonal und cultural history and
the history of the United Slates.
"Education is not only what
you learn in school but every
thing that affccts you as part of
your life’s experience. It is this
experience that determines
your social consciousness and
values,” said Powell.
He reflected on his urban
childhood having been raised
by a young, poor, single, black,
female in the ghetto of New
York and the low self-esteem
that he developed simply
because he was black. “Black
was ugly back then," he said.
But the biggest challenge he
faced was overcoming racial
boundaries once he left the
ghetto and found himself in
predominantly white areas.
Powell said that he left for
college to “broaden his hori
zons,” but instead he became
very angry.
“If you thought I was angry
in The Rea! World ■ that was
nothing.”
“I felt like my entire educa
tion up until college was com
pletely bogus because I knew
nothing about my contribution
to this country’s history.” So he
began reading and (earning on
his own.
Powell said that when he
learned about all of the contri
butions that African Americans
had made to society he felt that
a whole part of who he was
was left out. "There was this
gaping whole in my body,” he
explained.
“Honestly, my anger was
directed at white people
because I felt like it was whites
who had denied me my educa
tion. My way of thinking was
that they controlled every
thing.”
He admitted that he wasted a
lot of time disassociating him
self from whites instead of
talking openly about his con
cerns during college, but it did
not take him long to grow and
realize how best to handle his
feelings.
Powell believes that “hate
dehumanizes all of us... and the
best way to use that energy
positively is to educate oneself
and be pro-active.”
"So where do we go from
here?” he asked students. “As
Martin Luther King Jr. said,
‘We must have a radical revo
lution of values.’”
In order to be more success
ful in our attempts to unite,
"we must expand our horizons,
create some type of spiritual
foundation in our lives and
learn to use the word love in a
more profound way.”
Powell challenged students
to talk openly and honestly
with one another to resolve cul
tural differences and learn
more. He quoted Bell Hook,
saying, “'do not be afraid lo
cross those boundaries and
have a basic dialogue.' We
must not be afraid of our differ
ences.”
Ayana Rhodes, a Junior who
attended the convocation,
agreed, “People need to be
honest about how they feel but
still be willing to understand
how others feel. Not one of us
has had the same life experi
ences.”
Powell questioned. “If you
don't understand the contribu
tions of all people to this soci
ety and not only one narrow
view—how can you call your
self an AmericanT’-
In his conclusion, Powell
challenged students to question
the narrow values that they
have always had.
“If you leave college with
the same thinking and spiritual
beliefs that you had when you
came and you do not grow at
ail then you have wasted your
time and money.”
New lot may alleviate filled spaces
O Parking lot to be
behind Belk Dining
Hall, softball field.
Lora Tiliwan
SlaR Writer
Tired of parking miles from
the dorm? Tired of getting a
ticket when trying to park clos
er?
Frank Strickland, new chief
of Campus Police, and the rest
of the Meredith Campus Police
believe they have developed
solutions to these long-running
parking dilemmas.
Construction will begin soon
on a new maintenance building
on the Wade Avenue driveway.
Although this building may not
be of too much interest to stu
dents, the new parking lot that
is being built along with it wilt
be.
That’s right. A new parking
lot containing over 100 new
spaces is going to be built next
to the softball field, behind
Noel House.
This new lot will significant
ly reduce the over crowding in
the freshman Blue and Green
lot and offer students closer
parking.
Strickland explained, ‘There
is not a shortage of parking,
there is simply a shortage of
close parking.”
However, there will be a
down side to this new haven of
parking bliss.
During the construction,
there will be a shortage of
spaces that are close lo the dor
mitories for parking.
In the meantime, the area
behind the commuter over
flow lot near the soccer field
can be used for residential stu
dents until the construction is
complete.
Strickland asks that students
bear with the process because
the new lot will alleviate any
exi.sting problems.
Along with providing new
spaces, the new lot will also
solve the problem of loading
and unloading in the front cir
cle.
Students. Strickland said,
should be aware that the circle
is a fire lane, and it is therefore
illegal to park in it.
The Campus Police do not
have a problem with students
loading and unloading their
cars in the circle, Strickland
said. However, they ask that
the students do one of three
things.
First, students are permitted
to unload their car entirely onto
the curb, move their cars to a
proper parking space, and then
come back to retrieve their
things.
Second, students may make
several trips to and from their
car to carry their things to their
rooms provided there is some
one sitting in the car that can
move it in the event on an
emergency.
Finally, students should
make use of the two fifteen
minute spaces in front of the
circle.
“We have to enforce the
rules; otherwise there would be
chaos. The new parking lot
.should help with the problem
of loading and unloading.
“There will be some fifteen
minute spots added for this
purpose,” Chief Strickland
explained.
If students have any ques
tions, complaints, or feedback
they are asked to come talk to
Strickland and the Meredith
Campus Police.
Strickland said, "We are
always looking for ways to
make things more efficient.”
Contact the Campus Police
at 760-8888.