Meredith Heratd
April 11, 2001
Campus News
Students travel to Big Easy for conference
jENNNlFER BOYCE
Staff Writer
Dr. John Mecham, biology
department head, and several
students spent 4 days in New
Orleans, La. Iasi Wednesday
through Saturday.
These students, who are
members of Meredith’s chapter
of Tri-Beta biology honor soci
ety, attended the sixty-second
annual meetings of ASB (Asso
ciation of Southeastern Biolo
gists) and Tri'Beta biology
honor society. This year is the
first year that Meredith has sent
(L‘R) Christine Furmick, Heather Craven, Jacque Fleegle, Megan Cas
sell, Leslie Maxwell and Katie Vreeland enjoy their last night in New
Orleans.
Photo by John Mcchah
delegates (o the Southeast
regional conference.
Juniors Heather Craven and
Katie Vreeland and seniors
Leslie Maxwell. Christine Fur
mick, Jacque Fleegle and
Megan Cassell, along with
Beta Beta Beta adviser
Mecham, repre
sented Meredith’s
chapter of the
Tri-Beta at the
conference on
Apr. 4-7.
These students
either presented
papers or posters
or served as offi
cers this' year in
Tri-Beta.
Mecham want
ed the students to
have the experi
ence that comes
with a large con
ference like the
one in New
Orleans. He
noted that of spe
cial importance is
the people that
students can meet
at the conference,
saying that they
“will continue to
GROUND continued from page one
Hartford also promised.
‘This building will ensure that
every woman at Meredith Col
lege will have a working
knowledge of science and
math.”
Dr. Virginia Knight, Head of
tiie Department of Mathemat
ics and Computer Science, next
praised the many people who
have contributed to making this
building a reality. She said that
faculty members and some stu
dents and staff had a hand in
the design process, even work
ing with the architects in some
cases. She also cited Dr. Janice
Swab, a biology professor cur
rently on sabbatical in South
America, as instrumental in the
building’s development.
Next, Dr. Ann Hiott, ‘92,
spoke of her experiences as a
science student at Meredith and
described why the alumni are
so pleased with this new build
ing.
Leslie Gilliland. SGA Presi
dent, echoed these sentiments
on behalf of current students.
She said that, with the new
building, “the campus will be
transformed.”
The ceremony concluded
with a prayer by Campus Min
ister Sam Carothers and the
ceremonial groundbreaking at
the site.
The platform party, wearing
white hard-hats. were the first
to dig. and various trustees,
administrators, faculty, and stu
dents were invited to follow.
Refreshments were served
following the ceremony, and
many attendees of the ceremo
ny stayed around to eat ice
cream and listen to the band
that was playing.
Representatives of BJLAS,
the architectural firm responsi
ble for the building’s design,
and Rodgers Builders, the gen
eral contractors, were on hand
for the ceremony.
Jeffrey Schaniz. the princi
pal architect for the new build
ing, said. “It will be the best
science building for undergrad
uate education in the state
when it’s done.” He added,
“I’ve built a lot of them."
Meredith students and facul
ty had similar hopes for the
facility. Sophomore math
major Tammy Overton said, “I
riiink that it’s great that Mered
ith is expanding.”
Freshman Biology major
Melanie Hoskins also saw the
potential of the facility. She
said, “I think the building is a
great idea for future genera
tions of Meredith women.”
Math professor Dr. Charles
Davis was excited about the
opportunity to teach in the new
building. He was especially
looking forward to the court
yard and ihe outdoor class
rooms that will be available
there. He said, “It’s going to be
wonderful.”
Construction on the new
building will begin after the
Alumnae House is moved this
summer. The projected com
pletion date for the facility is
January 2003.
be your colleagues and profes
sional acquaintances for the
rest of your lives.
“The conference provide.'? an
opportunity to build those con
nections.”
Vreeland also enjoyed the
experience of meeting other
students. “We met a lot of dif
ferent people from different
schools.” she noted.
Furmick and Cassell repre
sented Meredith with poster
presentations of their research,
and Fleegle and Craven pre
sented research they have done
while students at Meredith.
Reegle received the third-place
Brooks Award for her research
and presentation.
At the meeting. Craven was
elected President of Tri-Beta
District 1 and Vreeland was
elected Secretary of District I.
Craven said, “I enjoyed hav
ing the opportunity to represent
Meredith for the first time at
this conference.”
District 1 includes stales in
the Southeastern United States
such as Georgia. North Caroli
na, South Carolina. Florida,
Virginia, West Virginia and
Maryland.
In addition to the presenta
tions, students got the opportu
nity to canoe in a Louisiana
^you, catching sight of sever
al alligators during the trip.
The entire conference also
enjoyed a social at the
Audubon Zoo Thursday
evening, where they got a taste
of Cajun cooking and listened
to the sounds of a Zydeco
band.
The group also had time for
some sightseeing around the
famous French Quarter of New
Orleans and enjoyed beingets,
which are essentially French
doughnuts, at the well-known
Cafe du Monde.
The conference, Mecham
noted, combined “education,
fun, fellowship and research."
Fleegle. whose concentra
tion is molecular biology,
noted, “I think the experience
was rewarding because we not
only were able to participate in
a scientific conference but also
got to experience the sights and
sounds of a different city.”
Ac^rding to Mecham,
about 250 Tri-Beta Representa
tives traveled to New Orleans
this past week to attend the
conference. These students
represented various states
across the Soudieast.
Next year, the ASB and Tri-
Beta conference will be held at
Appalachain State University
in Boone. N.C. Vreeland said,
“I’m looking forward to next
year’s trip.”
HASSAN continued from page one
And even though question
ing the Haddith can result in
capital punishment, Hassan has
done so and hopes to reveal the
true nature of Islam, a religion
based in justice and compas
sion.
‘There is no sanction to use
scared texts to propagate laws
unfair to women.” said Hassan.
Faced with the challenge of
lessening the crimes against
women, Hassan feels that help
ing the victims is not enough.
Unlike organizations whose
focus is primarily on treating
the symptoms of the problem,
the INRFVVP intends to exam
ine' the roots of the problem
because only then will signifi
cant change come.
‘The majority of Muslim
women don’t know their
rights,...rights that were given
to them by God and can’t be
taken away,” stated Hassan.
Hassan closed by emphasiz
ing the universality of the chal
lenges Muslim women face
today. Violence against women
is not confined to the borders
of Pakistan, Morocco or
Turkey.
Senior Missy Neff, who is
writing her thesis on female
circumcision, or genital mutila
tion, felt that Hassan “offered
the Meredith community
insight into a problem that a lot
of people didn’t know about.”
“Patriarchal society has gov
erned everything,” said Alyce
Turner, art department assis
tant.
“Women in all traditions,”
said Hassan, “got derailed at
the first step-creation.”