THE TWIG
JVewspaper of the Students of Meredith College
VOL. Llll, NO. 20
MEREDITH COLLEGE, RALEIGH, N.C.
APRIL 26, 1979
Dr. Terrill speaks on the changes in China
by B.D. Hall
China, the “obsessive
anxiety” in the triangle of
world powers, has changed
gears since the death of Mao.
At convocation April 9, Dr.
Ross Terrill, authority on
China, and an associate
professor of government at
Harvard related the changes
there as China recovers from
its past and from poverty.
Being such an over
powering country in mere
dimensions, China occupies a
key position in world affairs.
Its central location, its huge
and growing population, and
have made it the chief factor
behind Asian policies. This
country of one billion people
has further taken the interests
of the third world under its
wing. China’s voice will be
heard.
Due to population size,
their total economy has grown
to become the sixth largest in
the world, despite the poverty
of the individual. And as their
technological knowledge
increases, so will their
standard of living. For in
stance, once the government
overcomes the lack of capital,
the weak management, and
the limited transport system,
China can exploit its rich
natural resources. For Mao in
his day considered the need
for strong management and
an efficient transportation
system negligible.
Politically as well as
economically, circumstances
have changed. The anti-
American feelings have
changed radically. In 1964
visitors at the shooting
galleries in Canton Park,
Peking aimed air guns at
figures of American soldiers;
today they shoot at ducks and
tigers. The foreigner is no
longer automatically con
sidered an enemy. Nor are
foreign political ideas as
suspect. There is a leaning
toward democracy, evident in
the citizens’ right to nail up
grievances on the walls.
This right is taken
seriously by a large and
increasingly educated work
force. They are accepting the
challenge of intellectual
renewal after the drought left
by Mao. For while Mao was
alive, no one dared to be
original in any shape that
belonged to Mao, and Mao was
a man of wide interests.
Since Mao’s death,
prospects for the future loom
large, according to the man
who predicted the nor
malization of relations bet
ween the U.S. and China by
1979. As the country moder
nizes, their technological
knowledge will increase, and
with it the tensions between
city and county. The young
people now being denied an
education will express their
resentment as they feel the
impact of the non-Chinese
world. The recovery from
povery and from the past is a
slow, hard process, and one o^
the world will be watching.
News Around
The Campus
Dance Repertoire Ensemble
The Meredith
Dance Repertoire Ensemble,
a select group of dedicated
dancers, will be performing
a modern dance concert on
April 26, 27, and 28 at 8:00 in
Jones Auditorium. The Dance
Ensemble will be performing
their 5 dance program in
solos, duets, trios and large
groups. The choreography has
been designed by the students,
Ms. Whelan and Cynthis
Schrof-Fletcher. This per
formance is open to the
general public.
National Direct Student Loan
Any student who has
received a National Direct
Student Loan (NDSL) is
required to have an exit in
terview with the Chief Ac
countant before leaving
school. Matters to be
^scussed at this interview
include grace period,
repayment schedule, terms ol
payment, billing procedures,
interest, and borrower’s
privileges for deferment or
cancellation. Group in
terviews will be held in Room
103, Joyner Hall as follows:
Monday, April 23, 10:00 A.M.
and Friday, April 27, 10:00
A.M.
If u ha^'e received an
NDSL at any time while at
Meredith and are not retur
ning after this semester for
any reason, you will be ex
pected to attend one of the
group sessions.
In their Manual of NDSL
Policies and Procedures, the
federal government stresses
the importance of the in
terview by stating “An exit
interview must be conducted
for each borrower leaving his
college or university,
whatever the reason -
Students must be required to
attend before being cleared
for withdrawal, graduation,
etc.” They suggest that
records, transcripts,
diplomas, and even recom
mendations be withheld on
any borrower failing to attend
exit interviews.
Ms. Kate King-Yu Luk
Ms. Kate King-Yu Luk of
your college will receive a
‘certificate of award on April 7
at Duke University. Nineteen
students in North Carolina are
the recipients this year of this
award of excellence given by
the North Carolina Institute of
Chemists, an affiliate of the
American Institute of
Chemists. These awards are
made annually.
Ross Terrill, authority on China, speaks with Dr. Gates and students after his convocation lecture.
(Photo by Bill Norton.)
Seniors have housing option
Meredith College takes
pride in and continues to
support its residential campus
community. The residence
policy to date has been that
students are required to live in
a residence hall on campus
unless permission is granted
to live in town with a relative,
unless the student has marital
status, is 23 years old, or if her
class has already graduated.
Residential policy at
Meredith has been very im
portant for two reasons. The
first is the building and
maintaining of an academic
community. The second is
that the Meredith fees, tuition,
room and board, are kept as
low as possible and are based
upon full residence halls on
our campus.
Because Meredith has had
fill enrollment for the past
several years and has a higher
number of returning students
who have paid their housing
deposit for 1979-1980, it is
necessary for the College to
consider alternative housing
options.
To accommodate the
increased enrollment the
Meredith College ad
ministration, in conjunction
with the Meredith Housing
Advisory Committee made up
of students, faculty, and staff,
has proposed the following
plan for alternate housing for
the academic year 1979-1980:
That 20 Meredith Seniors
be selected from applications
submitted by interested
seniors for off-campus
housing for the academic year
1979-1980. This policy includes
the following:
1. Priority will be given to
senior and December
graduates.
2. Students will be selected
for the alternative housing
option on the basis of the date
and time of application.
3. Students applying must
have a grade point average of
at least 2.5, must be in good
standing with the College, and
must have the permission of
parents, guardian, or a person
responsible for payment of
student’s fees.
4. Students will be
responsible for finding
suitable housing.
Interested seniors should
contact the office of the Dean
of Students as soon as
possible.
Victorian women discussed
by B.D. Hall
How does a woman exert
control over the men in her
life? Ann Douglas, in a lecture
sponsored by the Colton
English Club, SGA, and CCA.
shared informally the ways
American women during the
Victorian period dominated
the culture. This being the
subject of her first book, The
Feminization of American
Culture, Ms. Douglas wittily
summarized the main points
of the book “on the safe
assumption that most of you
haven’t read it.”
According to this
professor of .Women’s studies
at Columbia, the strength of
the nineteenth century woman
lay in her weakness. The iron
fist was covered by a glove of
purity and self-depreciation.
Although women entered
the professional world, they
did not cliange the definition
of what a woman should be.
Their subservient attitude
assured the men whose
territory they invaded, “Don’t
worry. I’m not competing. I’m
just a sweet, little thing who
wants to add to the good of the
world.” Even strong women
like Mary Lyon, founder of
Mount Holyoke Female
Seminary, could not'admit
their desire to be creative,
their desire for success. But
with this nonthreatening
attitude, slowjy they entered
and dominated the male
professions of nursing,
secretarial work, and
teaching. As women took over
these fields, the men left and
took status with them.
■ But the fields of writing
and religion became a bat
tleground for unstated types
of competition. Women having
cornered the literary market
and the Sunday schools, men
fumed, “If we’re not careful,
they’ll take over (he pulpit
next!” Women showed
definite signs of “pulpit” envy
but seldom .attained their .
desire.
In the popular literature
of the day, these Victorian
writers depicted woman as a
“form of anesthetization.”
The delicate and deeply
devout daughters in these
sentimental “preachy” novels
were “Daddy’s Valium” and
their own, for even women
with TB felt no pain.
One writer, however,
preserved both the religious
heritage and the legacy of
authenticity that comes
through genuine experience.
Emily Dickinson in her poetry
affirmed that all experiences
that bring about change in
volve an element of pain, of
“heavenly hurt.” She alone of
the torian women writers
in A -'ca reestablished the
artists’ right to thought, to
profound experience.