THE TWIG
n/ewtpuper of the StmdenU 9f Meredith College
VOL. LX. NO. 17
MEREDITH COLLEGE, RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
MARCH I. 1982
Gwendolyn Brooks to visit Mereditli
by Dannie Ward
Gwendolyn Brooks, a
contemporary black poet, will
visit the Meredith campus on
March I7th and 18th. Miss
Brooks was born on June 7,
1917, and was raised in
Chicago. Her first poem was
published when she was
thirteen, and she has enjoyed
success ever since. In the
1940’s, Miss Brooks’ poems
Gwendolyn Brooks
(Photo by The Contemporary Forum)
Fires discovered
on campus
by Linda Sellers
Firefighters were called
to the Meredith campus on
Tuesday, February 16, to
extinguish a blaze in a third
floor restroom of Johnson
Hall.
The fire, which caused
approximately $15,000 worth
of damage, was just one in a
series of six fires which
occurred between 5 and 7 p.m.
on Tuesday. All of the hres
appear to have been set.
Three fires were
discovered in Jones
Auditorium. A student found a
lx>x of clothes smoking behind
the stage on the second floor
and extinguished them in a
nearby bathroom. Curtains in
the bathroom showed
evidence of attempted arson,
A curtain downstairs in a
practice room also showed
evidence of arson.
A trashcan t>eside a trash
chute on the third floor of
Stringfield was discovered
ablaze by students who
pushed it on the breezeway to
extinguish it. Another fire was
attempted in a trashcan in
Belk Dining Hall, but was
discovered before it got out of
l^nd.
Besides the fire on the
third floor of Johnson,
scorched toilet paper was also
found in a ladies’ restroom on
the first floor.
Sunday morning,
February 21, Vann Residence
Hall was evacuated when a
fire was discovered in the
laundry room on fourth floor.
Clothes on the ironing board
had been set on fire as well as
clothes hanging on the other
side of the room.
In addition, two trashcan
fires about three weeks ago
“could be related" to the most
recent fires, according to Bill
Norton, Director of
Information Services.
A $10,000 reward has .been
offered by the N.C. Arson
Awareness Council to anyone
with information leading to
the indictment of the
arsonist(sT:
Security has been
tightened on the campus and
students have begun “hall
patrols” during the night
hours.
Students are being asked
to question and report any
suspicious persons spotted on
the halls or campus. Fire
procedures have also been
reviewed.
At presstime, police had
no definite suspects in the
investigation.
received much recognition.
She was awarded top prizes at
two writers’ conferences held
in Chicago, the Gugginheim
Fellowship for creative
writing two years in a row,
and a $1000 grant in literature
from the National Institute of
Arts and Letters.
Her first book, A Street in
Bronzeville, was published in
1945 and was cited for its
passion, freshness, and
sincerity. In 1949, Annie Allen,
a sequence of poems tracing
the life of a Bronzeville black
girl from childhood to
maturity, was published.
During the next twenty years,
she printed novels, children’s
ijooks, and more volumes of
poetry. The theme of these
works centered on the
neglected miracles that could
be found in the everyday pains
and disappointments of the
blacks around her. In 1950,
Gwendolyn Brooks, the first
black women ever awarded,
received the Pulitzer Prize for
Annie Allen, her second
volume of poetry. The book
was hailed by the critics and
public alike as a masterpiece
of contemporary poetry.
The turning point in Miss
Brooks’ career came when
she attended a writers’
conference in Tennessee in
1967; she was greatly
influenced by the self-
confidence, pride, and
militancy of the young black
writers present. Returning to
Chicago with a new attitude
emphasizing black self-
reliance, she reflected this
change in her next book. In the
Mecca, through the militant
and radical tone of the poems.
These poems also attained a
new movement and energy,
intensity and richness that
heretofore had not been seen
in her poetry. Miss Brooks has
continued to write and publish,
consequently accumulating
more honors. In 1968, she was
chosen poet laureate for the
state of Illinois. She received
an appointment to the
National Institute of Arts and
Letters in 1976 and is still a
rnember. She has also
received over forty honorary
doctorates from colleges and
universities including
Skidmore, Duke and DePaul.
Gwendolyn Brooks' visit
begins Wednesday night.
March 17th. at 6:00 with a
dinner in the President’s
Dining Hail. Following the
dinner, she will present a
lecture in Carswell Concert
Hall at 8:00. Thursday, March
18th, her schedule includes
lunch in the President’s
Dining Hall at 12:30 p.m. and
a creative writing-poetry
workshop in Cate Center from
2:30-4:30. Reservations must
be made for the dinner
Wednesday night and the
workshop by March 10th.
Further information may be
obtained from Dr. Jonathan
Lindsey. The lecture on
Wednesday night and the
lunch on Thursday are open to
Meredith students, who are
encouraged to attend.
In preparation for Miss
Brooks’ visit, the Colton
English Club is featuring a
program to familiarize the
students and faculty with the
poems. The program is
planned for the regular
monthly meeting on
Thursday. March 4th at 5:00
p.m. in the Alumnae House.
Interested students and
faculty are invited to attend.
Alcoholism common today
by Linda Sellers
You are asleep. Suddenly
you hear a loud noise in the
hail, and your roommate
bursts into the room laughing.
You quietly get up and help
her to bed, knowing that she
will soon be in a drunken
stupor. Could she be an
alcoholic?
This scene is relatively
common on college campuses
around the country. Alcohol is
becoming a seriously abused
drug in today's American
society. Why? What can we do
about it?
According to an article by
Josephine Novak of the Field
News Service, alcohol is the
largest single contributing
factor to death among
teenagers. Alcoholism
develops two to five times
faster in young people than in
adults because adolescence is
an unstable period in which
the maturity to drink
responsibly is lacking.
What effect does alcohol
have on the body? First, it
enters the bloodstream and
circulates throughout the
body. Next, it reaches the
brain beginning to alter
judgement and body
sensations. Last, it is broken
down by the liver or
eliminated through the lungs
and kidneys.
There are five stages of
intoxication: 1) happy, 2)
excited, 3) confused, 4)
stupor, and 5) coma. It fakes
approximately one and a half
hours for the alcohol from one
drink to leave the body.
How do you know if you
have a drinking problem? The
following is a questionnaire on
earlier stages of alcohol
dependency:
1. Is the desire for a drink a
frequent occurrence, the key
word being “desire?”
2. Is there a need for a drink
at a certain time of the day,
the emphasis on “need?”
3. Is there anticipation of
drinking in the evening, as the
day wears on?
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Self-scheduled exams
The elimination of self-scheduling examinations has been discussed by the Instruction
Committee at Meredith. Some professors, and perhaps students, feel there are disadvantages in
the current system of allowing students in certain courses to decide upon their own time for
taking an exam. A subcommittee of Student Life is studying the issue and needs input from
students and professors. Please fill out the following questionnaire about self-scheduling exams.
Remember that if you do not take part in this survey, you may lose your right to help make the
decision on this issue. If yeu have questions or would like to take part in the subcommittee’s
study, please contact Lynda Smith (828-0015).
1.Have you ever taken or given a self-scheduled examination?
yes no
2. Do you feel self-scheduled exams should be continued?
yes no
3. Would you prefer to take, or if you are a professor, to give, a
self-scheduled exam pre-scheduled exam
4. Do you feel that self-scheduled exams are often abused by students?
yes no
If so, please explain.
5. List any reasons why you feel self-scheduled exams should be continued.
6. List any reasons why you feel self-scheduled exams should be abolished.
7. What changes, if any, siiould be made in the current examination system?
Please feel free to add any comments on a separate attached sheet.
Please return the questionnaire to the box in the cafeteria marked “Self-scheduled Exams.”