Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / May 21, 1970, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page Two THE TWIG May 21, 1970 .« Letters to the Editor MfcreJitk College May 21, 1970 "Newspaper of the Students" As the first editorial for our first edition of the 1970-71 Twig, we had planned to write an editorial on whom The Twig is for and what it is. On second thought, we decided to skip over such basic material (which we supposed to be common knowledge, anyway) and proceed to issues which were not, but needed to be, common knowledge. Events in recent weeks have convinced us that we were wrong, so now we will correct the error by writing that first editorial. The masthead on the front page states that The Twig is the “Newspaper of the Students” at Meredith College. What does that mean? We think the meaning of the phrase depends on the meaning attached to the prep osition “of” because “of” defines the relationship between the students and The Twig. We would like to call your attention to three of the ten definitions which Webster lists as meanings for “of.” First, the definition, “belonging to,” applies to the relationship between Meredith students and The Twig. The editorial in the April 23, 1970 issue, entitled “ . . . click . . . click . . . click ... ”, commented on the existence of cliques at Meredith. We wish to ad that cliques often arise because people allow them to. A “let-George-do-it” attitude naturally results in “A small group of people” who “are responsible for certain jobs” and thus “grow closer and closer to each other, to the exclusion of so-called outsiders.” We will be the first to admit that The Twig has been a clique of sorts, but we would add, not by our own choice! ! ! The lack of student interest has forced us to became a clique. As a measure to correct this situation, the 1970-1971 editorial staff met in April to formulate a ques tionnaire based on comments which they heard concerning The Twig. This questionnaire was recently administered and the results are now being studied. A report of those results will appear in the first issue of The Twig next year. The Twig welcomes comments from interested students, so feel free to make suggestions for improvement, but for goodness’ sake, make them to someone who can do something about them—the editor, the associate editors or the managing editors. Remember . . . “newspaper oj the Students” . . . The Twig belongs to you. • However, this does not mean that the editorial staff will print anything and everything that comes into its hands. The purpose of an editor and an editorial staff, who have some knowledge of college level journalism, is to discriminate (in the best sense of the word) between the materials which reach them. Secondly, “of” means “having to do with, relating to, pertaining to.” The newspaper should pertain to Meredith College—the administration, faculty, and most of all the students. The purpose of a small, college newspaper is to inform the student of items of interest of which they would not otherwise hear and to give them a channel to express their opinions. It has been suggested by concerned students that The Twig carry stories of national and international events. We would suggest to these students that if they wish to be well-informed about national and inter national affairs, they would be much better informed if they went to the library and read what an eyewitness correspondent for the New York Times reported about an incident than if they read what a Twig re porter wrote after reading the Times correspondent’s article. When a per son is seeking information, first-hand reporting is by far the best. There is, however, a place for student opinion about world affairs in The Twig —the “Letters to the Editor.” Remember . . . “newspaper of the Students . . . The Twig pertains to you. Finally, “of” means “dedicated to.” The Twig is dedicated to the student body. Our purpose, as stated above, Is to inform you of events of which you would not otherwise hear and to give you a chance to ex press your opinions. We are dedicated to the interest of the entire stu dent body. We are trying, to the best of our ability to inform you and listen to you. . , Remember . . . “newspaper of the Students” . . . The Twig is dedicated to you. The preceding comments will, we hope, make clear what we feel the relationship between the student body and The Twig ought to be. Of course, this relationship also exists between the newspaper and the faculty and administration, but the students come first. Perhaps the situation during recent weeks was partly caused by our failure to express our feelings about whom The Twig is for and what it is. This editorial should correct that oversight. We are clearly stating that The Twig is the newspaper of—belongs to, pertains to, is dedicated to—the students of Meredith College. HPW The opinions expressed in the editorials and columns of THE TWIG do not neccssaril)' represent those of the administration, student body or the entire newspaper staffi MEMBER Associated Collegiate Press. Second class postage paid at Raleigh, N C 27611 Published semi-monthly during the months of October, Novem ber, February, March, April and May; monthly during September, Dec^b^ and January. tfcllllin THE TWIG is served by National Educational Advertising Service, 18 East 50th Street, New Yorlc. Subscription Rates: $3.70 per year. RESPONSE TO EDITORIAL Dear Editor, The editorial entitled “Discrimi nation?” in the May 7, 1970 issue of The Twig leads me to make a clearer statement of the action of the Physical Facilities Committee, of which I am chairman. 1 was not aware that students used the lounge as much as they apparently do. We certainly were not attempting to make the Joyner lounge “off limits” to students. What we were trying to do was to establish priorities regarding the lounge in Joyner and the kitchen on First Vann. In Vann, students have the pri ority; in Joyner, faculty members have the priority. This does not mean that faculty can never use the Vann kitchen nor that students can never use the Joyner lounge. It does mean that faculty may occasionally use the kitchen to prepare refresh ments for meetings in Vann Faculty Parlor. It does mean that students may use the lounge when there are no meetings already scheduled. I wish to thank you for your concern. I hope this letter provides the needed clarification. Sincerely Joe Baker THOUGHTS ABOUT ‘‘THE TWIG” Dear Editor, In the past two weeks a number of students on campus have ex pressed their concern in the inade quacy of The Twig. These students went so far as to plan their own paper which was to have come out once weekly with a projected goal of twice weekly and contain news that is relevant to students at Mere dith, such as the Women’s Lib Movement, Zero Population Growth groups, and The New Mobe, as well as news about events growing out of Americans in Cambodia and the Kent State episode. These girls, believing themselves to be working in the interest of get ting Meredith off of it’s couch of apathy made a number of demands on The Twig which they have either resolved or dissolved in following discussions. The purpose of their meetings and reason for planning their paper, as stated in their first meeting on Thursday, May 1, was to print more up to date news than The Twig was able to provide, and to print opinions that would “not make it in The Twig.” Their proposed goal was not to hurt The Twig, and not to be a long-term paper, but to af fect The Twig in a way that would help it and make it more relevant and adequate to the students at Meredith. Goals and purposes such as these are not entirely without merit. This group presented its requests and ideas for improvement to The Twig. First, The Twig to be relevant must be printed at least once a week. This suggestion is truly worthy of consideration. Probably no one more than The Twig staff feels the frustration of printing worn-out news and seeing what it hoped would be a good paper being over shadowed by more current events. However, The Twig editors must contend with many insurmountable problems. The first, but not neces sarily the most important is a short age of funds that necessitates a four page paper every two weeks. Worse, than that, the new staff has taken over responsibility for publication of a Twig which is in debt. Second, it is humanly impossible for student editors to keep up their studies and publish The tSvig more frequently. Three out of 40 giris turned in assigned beats when they were due last week for the issue. News stories and feature articles are just as slow, From this trickle of support the editors must assemble a newspaper. Six of the articles in the last newspaper had to be writ ten by the editor and two more reassigned at the last minute be cause girls failed to do their part. The case of the last paper is not isolated. Last year’s editor was often forced to write at least four or five of the articles in The Twig for the same reason. Under such circum stances it is a wonder the editor even bothers. Another proposal of the group was that The Twig should be the paper of the students, and not be censored so heavily so that articles and letters sent to it would be published. That suggestion was partially prompted by misinforma tion. The Twig is not seen or censored by anyone except the editor who is virtually free to print anything she wishes. Even the faculty advisors do not see the paper before it is printed. This is not to say that the editor would necessarily print everything handed in. Every editor in the coun try has to decide what will go in his paper. However, The Twig is seldom confronted with too many letters and articles to print in an issue. These letters are few and far between and usually come about when someone on the staff hears a student make a statement or com plaint and suggests to the student, “Why don’t you write a letter to The Twig about it?” If ten people are approached in this way, maybe two letters will result. This is a hor rible fact, but none-the-less true. A suggestion that The Twig print more relevant news and that the chief editor be present at all news worthy meetings on campus was also made. Is is not the editor’s place to attend every function on campus and anytime one of her reporters is there that should be sufficient. It is no one’s place to single her out for roll call. The news must be relevant and the editor, to the best of her ability and with the help of others tries to accomplish that end. The editors do not see that publishing a UPI or AP release makes The Twig more relevant. If Meredith students are involved in national or international affairs that is Twig news. Other wise, the facts can come straighter from a national newspaper with on- the-spot reporting instead of AW’s review and criticism as taken from her limited reading. AH of this cannot help but reflect a negative and skeptical attitude. Nevertheless the editors of The Twig are heartened by the interest shown by these girls and others who have offered their services and sup port for the 1970-71 Twig. Several suggestions given we hope to be able to use in the forthcoming year as well as suggestions from student questionnaires and possibilities the staff has been presented over the past few months. We hope that this interest is not a passing fancy, but a genuine effort to make this paper a product and voice of the students, Abigail Warren STAFF THIS ISSUE Editor Helen Wilkie Associate Editors....Nancy Aitsbon, Abigail Warren Contributors Lynne Bogguss, Emory Farris, Cindy Giorgis, Teresa Holt, Gail Knieriem, Carol Mangum, Suzanne Pom- eranz, Susan Shipp, Geni Tull, Anna Vaughan, Susan Van Wageningen Business Manager Joyce Little Advertising Chief June White Typist ...Judy Hubbard Department, the efforts of these stu dents saved the building from the considerable damage which would have resulted, had the fire spread. We are grateful for these stu dents' help. Sincerely, Dru Hinsley, Bee Hive Manager Joe Baker, Business Manager Editor's Note: THE TWIG re ceived two letters which we con* sider to be of a controversial na* ture. As this Is (he last (ssue for this year and the student body would not have the opportunity to reply, Associate Editor Nancy Ausbon will respond on page three. To The Editor, As two of the so-called “Prodigal Freshmen,” we attended the joint meeting of The Twig staff and the members of the New Student Paper. The meeting was called to make plans for joining the two forces. A division arose between the two over the paper’s objective. The Twig was concerned with information that pertained only to the involvement of the “Meredith Lady.” Their justi fication was that they were trymg to uphold the “Meredith Tradition.” However, when asked what the tra dition was, the answer was complete silence. What is this tradition? Is it to evade the world situation and just create your own fantasy? Con trary to the belief of the staff present, we feel that every debatable subject affects the Meredith community. Outside of stray dogs, construction on campus, trips abroad and fra ternities, there does exist a real world full of international contro versy. Linda Lee Carol Linley THANK YOU Dear Editor, We wish to publicly thank those students who had the presence of mind to secure and use fire ex tinguishers during the recent Bee Hive fire. According to the Raleigh Fire What is happening to education at Meredith? Does concern on this campus lie with categorizing people as being a conservative, liberal, or radical, or does it lie with people as people? Henry David Thoreau said that an unexamined life is not worth liv ing. Is it time for analysis—a re- evaluation of oneself and experi ences at Meredith? What type of people does Meredith produce? Does it produce people who have spent their four years in an intel lectual search that is continued the rest of her life, or does it only pro duce beauty queens and silent ma jorities? Could it be said that Mere dith is part of the problem instead of the solution? What type of experiences are pro duced? Meredith is where you can make a decision between joining the Phis or the Astros—a lot like the choice between Humphrey and Nixon. Excitement is also provided by dating G.I.’s and going to fra ternities. Intellectual excitement, however, is non-existent. Few get excited outside of the classroom over an idea their professor has ex pounded. Book reviews are scarce in the school newspaper because they “are not interesting”—pictures of ourselves, however, are interest ing. Roughly, Meredith is a baby sitter for daughters of White Anglo- Saxon Protestants. Perhaps the Kent State blood bath awakened a few and caused a glim mer of hope for Meredith’s concern. But when will people learn that “fighting for peace is like - - - - for chastity,” as an underground pundit has said? Education is the one real hope that can teach this idea—is Meredith willing to try to fulfill the potentiality of education? Linda Lewis See Page Three For Editorial Response
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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May 21, 1970, edition 1
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