THE TWIG
Newspaper of the Students of Meredith College
VOL. LI NO. 8
MEREDITH COLLEGE. RALEIGH, N.C.
NOVEMBER 3, 1976
Raleigh officials present government fornm
by Darlene Smith
“The Organization of
Community Government in
Raleigh, North Carolina” was
the topic of this past week’s
Junior League - Meredith
College Community Forum.
Members of the panel were:
Jyles Coggins, mayor,
Raleigh; Randolph Hester,
Raleigh city council; Mrs.
Elizabeth Cofield, county
commissioner; Mrs. Betty
Doak, executive director.
Goals for Raleigh. Also, Dr.
Sarah Lemmon, chairman of
the history department at
Meredith, and Dr. Erika
Fairchild, political science,
N.C. State University, con
tributed to the discussion.
This past week’s program
brought attention from a
broad view of community to a
more specific one as it
focused on the city of Raleigh.
Mayor Coggins open the
panel chscussion with a basic
description of Raleigh’s city
manager - council type of
government. He further ex
plained his role as mayor in
that structure.
Raleigh has a seven
member council, explained
Coggins, over which the
mayor presides. He added
that this is the only duty that
the mayor is required to
perform since Raleigh has a
“weak mayor” form of
government, meani:^ that th§
job carries no administrative
duties.
Another point that
Coggins made is that
Raleigh’s system of district
representation pauses
problems in that it often
angers one district while
pleasing another. Budget
making, he added, is another
of the council’s biggest
problems, because the council
must decide what citizens will
need and use and what they
can afford.
In response to Mayor
Coggin’s presentation. Dr.
Lemmon said that she had
hoped for more than
description, and also said that
she had detected a
Hamiltonian Federalist
philosophy.
Dr. Lemmon went on to
define this philosophy as the
ideas that citizens choose
leaders to run things because
the leaders are of greater
knowledge and will be able to
do a better job than the
Sixteen named to Who’s Who
by Vicki Jayne
Sixteen seniors have been
selected to be named to Who’s
Who in American Universities
and Colleges. Chosen were
Mary Kay Allsbrook, Hazel
Ruth Browning, Kathryn
Anne Christian, Debra Lois
Coates, Sara Elizabeth Cotey,
Deborah Anne Doss,
Katherine Sullivan Frazier,
Menda Sue Godfrey, Lizabeth
Lynne Leavel, Robin Wilson
Morgan, Virginia Hewatt
Norton, Margaret Sinclair
Odell, Cathy Lynn Pickett,
Elisabeth Owens Rowlett,
Phyllis Susan Smith, Diana
Lynn Swann.
Students must be seniors
and have a 2.5 or better grade
point average to be eligible for
this distinction. Other criteria
for selection includes,
“participation and leadership
in academic and extra
curricular activities,”
“citizenship and service to the
college;*’ and “potential for
future achievement.”
Eligible seniors were
asked to complete and submit
activity sheets and from these
applications 8 per cent of the
seniors were approved by the
Student Life Committee.
The committee approved
16 students out of a possible
school quota of 27 students.
When asked why the
committee approved 16
students instead of 27 students,
a reliable source stated that
many eligible seniors did not
return their applications on
time, so frorn the applications
received'those seniors were
chosen that excelled in the
established criteria.
If all eligible seniors had
submitted their applications,
the source said, the quota of 27
probably would have been
met.
people.
Following Mayor Coggins,
Randolph Hester addressed
the role of the citizen in city
government.
Hester made a plea for
greater citizen participation.
He said that in the past, the
citizens have abdicated by
giving most of the decision
making power to their elected
officials.
Reviewing Hester’s
thoughts. Dr. Lemmon agreed
that a great deal more is
needed from the citizenry
than the vote. However, Dr.
Fairchild raised the question
as to how much “real” power
the people in Raleigh actually
have.
Mrs. Cofield spoke next.
The main thrust of her talk
was the need to increase the
productivity of government.
This seemed to be an idea with
which everyone agreed.
The final speaker was
Mrs. Doak. Goals of Raleigh is
an innovative organization
which was a contributing
factor in Raleigh being
designated an All American
City. Mrs. Doak expressed the
desire to improve inter-city
communications, perhaps by
means of cable television.
Sponsored by a grant
from the North Carolina
Humanities Committee, the
Community Forum Series is
focusing upon historical,
contemporary, and global
perceptions of community.
Dr. Rosalie Gates, Forum
co-ordinator along with Dr.
Sandra Thomas, by way of
introduction, said that their
hope was to help those in
volved “to embrace the idea
of communities as human.”
She then gave a brief sum
mary of the three previous
programs and explained the
importance of an overview of
communities.
The Forum’s first speaker
was Saul Mendlovitz who
spoke of citizens of one planet.
Addressing the historical
concept of cities as bridges
between the centuries and
generations was Dr. James H.
Smith, the Forum’s second
speaker. The third speech on
comparative communities
and the woman’s role was
given by Dr. Lisa Sergio.
The Honorable Jyles J. Coggins, mayor of Raleigh, opens last
Monday’s community forum with a description of his duties and
those of city council.
RSW sponsors new courses
Who’s Who candidates are, from left to right: Top: Mary Kay Allsbrook, Hazel Browning, Kathy
Christian, Sara Cotey. Middle: Kathy Frazier, Beth Leavel, Virginia Norton, Maggie Odeil. Bottom:
Cathy Pickett, Betsy Rowlett, Phyllis Smith, Diana Swann. Not pictured: Debra Coates, Debbie
Doss, Menda Sue Godfrey, Robin Morgan.
The Program for Raising
the Sights of Women (RSW) is
helping to finance two courses
in the study of women for tte
spring semester. The courses
are “Women and Religion”
and Female Identity: An
Exploration through
Psychology, Literature, Film,
and Creative Writing.” They
will be taught by Drs. Allen
and Sally Page, respectively.
The religion course will be
a survey of the role of women
in religion, the major thrust
being to explore the place of
women in contemporary
religious institutions and
theological study.
Among the problems to be
explored in the course are the
“triumph of the patriarchal
concept in the Judeo-Christian
tradition” and the meaning of
“feminine” in terms of
theology.
Funding by RSW will
enable Mr. Page to bring in
women lecturers to his class,
some of whom will be
available to speak to the
entire student body. The
women will represent those at
work in the churches and
those actively involved in
theological study.
In the psychology-
literature course, students
will read selections from the
writings of Carl Jung on
feminine archetypes.
Readings in literature will
include works by George
Eliot, Virginia Woolf e, Doris
Lessing, Eudora Welty,
Margaret Atwood, Sylvia
Plath , and Erica Jong.
Ms. Page is also planning
two film weekend workshops,
with funding by RSW.
Students in the class will be
asked to invite their mothers
to Meredith for a weekend of
viewing films and sharing
their ideas about problems (tf
women.
Students will also keep
journals as a way for them to
attain a better understanding
of their needs and thought
patterns and goals.