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The Belles
October, 1988
Editorial
It Doesn’t Make Sense
By Jennifer Mason
The new policy on High School absences
is well known to everyone on campus. If
you skip a class, you do menial tasks
around school such as pick up cigarette
butts or work in the library. But that is not
the only punishment — your parents also
receive a letter at home. It is this part of
the punishment I disagree with.
At Saint Mary’s, we are taught how to be
independent and to take responsibility for
our mistakes in life. It is a growing experi
ence unmatched at any other time in our
lives. But how can we learn to take respon
sibility for our actions as adults if we are
treated as children? The faculty needs to
step back and take a second look before
they tell us to grow up and start acting as
adults. We are expected to behave like col
lege students, think like college students,
and deal with a college student's work load,
but if we skip a class, we aren’t treated as
college students, we’re treated as Kinder
garteners! When informed that a high
school student has skipped class, the ad
ministration runs quickly back to their of
fices, grabs the nearest pen, and writes
“mommy” a letter about how her child has
skipped class, and then turns right around
and asks, “Why don’t you start acting like
the adult we expect you to be?” There is
only one answer to this — and this is “We
can only act like adults if we are treated
like them.”
I
It’s time to be writing those papers again.
Update From The Chaplain
Your response to our Volunteer Program
has been great! I am thankful so many of
you were able to follow up on your interest
in volunteering at Hillhaven, Gov.
Morehead, and/or Frankie Lemmon
School. To have Saint Mary’s out in Raleigh
as part of a helping community gives our
school a strong reputation as a good neigh
bor. I am very proud to be able to tell alum
nae, visitors and churchpeople about your
willingness to be good neighbors, it’s a
great answer to people who think today’s
students only care about themselves! As
the good guy from Bartles and James says:
‘Thank you for your support. ”
Returning students may notice that we
are having more All-Campus Chapels than
we did last year. This year, I’m trying to
strike a better balance between services
which are smaller and more focused, and
services for the whole campus. All-Campus
Chapels are a great time for clubs and or
ganizations to relate their activities to the
greater purposes of the school. I hope you
got to see that in the chapels sponsored
by the Vestry and by WATS. Clubs and
organizations can also sponsor services at
other times, but if you want everyone to
know about your activities, the All-Campus
Chapel is the answer. Watch for the Grand
daughters Club in October!
All-Campus Chapels are important be
cause they bring the Day Students into a
traditional part of Saint Mary’s life. Acolytes
and readers from the Day Students can
also participate most easily at these ser
vices. Since the Chapel is a great bonding
force, it is crucial for everyone to be in
cluded.
By now, I hope all of you are feeling com
fortable with our chapel services. This is
especially true for those of you who are not
Episcopalians. You’re doing a good job of
bearing up with all our little quirks! I have
a great respect for your spirituality, for the
ways you are seeking to become women
of faith. I know firsthand what it means to
struggle with issues, with faith, with finding
a meaning for life. I hope you will use the
chapel service time, that half hour each
week, as a part of your search. If the focus
of the particular service isn’t relevant for
you at the moment, I can certainly under
stand that. Perhaps you can use the time
to read the Psalms, or just sit quietly and
think.
h’s important to remember that the ser
vice is meaningful for some students there.
I have spent time planning each service,
and many of your classmates are par
ticipating. Let’s respect each other’s
choices for worship, and let those who seek
worship in the chapel have the opportunity
to do so. This means an atmosphere of
calm and quiet. I’ve always liked the story
of Elijah discovering that God was not in
the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire, but
instead was in a still small voice. I need to
be able to listen.
S/MNT Marv’s Colu-:ge
900 Hillsboroutjh Strct ■
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603-1689
Politics
At Saint Mary’s
STAFF
Editors
Writers
The poll conducted by Dr. Carolyn Map
per’s classes have yielded some interest
ing results. Most significant, perhaps, is the
fact that 48% of students who report that
they are eligible to vote had not registered
at the time of the poll. Unless they have
registered since then, their opinions will not
carry any weight when they matter the
most.
Students and faculty show significant
disagreement in their political opinions. Of
the students, 50% say their party prefer
ence is Republican, 24% Democrat and
25% undecided or other. For three out of
four students, their party preference is the
same as their parents. Faculty report a pre
ference for the Democratic Party by nearly
a two-to-one margin. Staff members report
a slight Republican edge in party prefer
ence.
When it comes to the candidates, 74%
of the students are for or leaning towards
Bush and Quayle, with the other 24% for
Dukakis and Bentson. Staff members show
a preference for the Bush/Quayle ticket by
63% to 38%. On the other hand, faculty
are for or leaning towards the Democratic
ticket by 64% to 36%.
Students and faculty also show different
degrees of interest in politics. Only 19% of
students say they are very interested in
politics, with 77% moderately interested.
For faculty, 56% report being very in
terested, with 38% moderately interested.
Yet, the issues of greatest concern were
the same for all groups, with economy rank
ing first and national debt/deficit second for
students, faculty and staff. Of least concern
for all groups was civil rights.
Students, faculty and staff will have
another chance to make their opinions
known in a mock election scheduled for
October 31.
Photographer
5SW: Advisor
Jennifer Mason
Sheri Roberson
- Jenny Caine
Katherine Cioninger
Aiicia Dyer
Eiizabeth Evans
Carlyle Herbert
Kristie Hoffstedder
Heather Moore
Lisa Morris
Keisea Parker
Suzanne Quebedeaux
Charlotte Sears
Elizabeth Stephenson
Cathy Thompson
Eilen Zimmerman
Atussa Raoufian
Michael Schroeder
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