Meredith Pioneers in Institutional Recvclina
Green Barrels Signal Ecological Concern
In the hallways of Meredith
College, 115 cardboard barrels have
appeared over the summer recess.
The barrels were donated by Ajino
moto to the Meredith Recycling
Group who painted them dark green
with white letters stating “Meredith
Recycles” in addition to the interna
tional recycling symbol painted on
the sides.
The group has stationed them at
convenient points throughout the
campus, from the administration
buildings to the residence halls.
“There are at least two barrels on
every floor of every building on
campus,” said Dr. John Saunders,
professor of religion, a founding
member of Meredith Recycling.
John Kincheloe, Media Services,
is a member of Meredith Recycling
and is working on a video explain
ing the concepts of recycling and
waste management in general, and
Meredith’s recycling program.
Kincheloe hopes to use the video
over the Meredith student channel
to help publicize recycling on cam
pus. Meredith Recycling has al
ready achieved a visible measure of
success with the deployment of the
green barrels throughout campus.
“Meredith is really ahead of
everyone. Even the city govern
ment is searching for ways to organ
ize recycling in Raleigh. No one
else is going about it in such a
comprehensive way,” said Uz Cave,
chair of the Waste Management
Committee of the local chapter of
the Sieira Club, a national organiza
tion of environmentalists. Cave has
been volunteering her time to help
Meredith Recycling get started.
The whole recycling effort on
campus began about a year ago
when Regina Rowland, secretary of
the Department of Foreign Lan
guages and Psychology, approached
Dr. Julia Mack, a part-time instruc
tor in Foreign Languages, who
shared her concern for environ
mental issues. They discussed the
lack of any recycling effort on
campus. “We were overwhelmed
by the huge amounts of paper we all
threw out each day,” explained
Mack, “and the idea slowly occurred
to us that we could make a differ
ence.”
The group started in a modest
way, organizing four recycling boxes
in Joyner Hall. They were so suc
cessful that they figured the project
could be extended to the rest of the
campus. They met with Charles
Taylor, the college’s vice president
for business and finance and received
the enthusiastic support of the col
lege administration.
Meredith Recycling has 10
members now. In its proposal to
President Weems, Meredith Recy
cling stated its goal of handing the
whole successful venture over to the
students of Meredith College by the
summer of 1991.
This semester will be the first
big test for Meredith Recycling and
for the future of environmental ac
tivism on the Moedith campus. “We
just have to get everyone involved,”
commented Saunders.
Gatehouse Nearing Completion
The new gatehouse, located just
inside the main entrance to the
campus, is expected to be finished
soon. Upon its completion, it will be
manned 24 hours a day.
“Once the gatehouse is com
pleted we will shift after hours check
in fro Johnson Hall to the gatehouse,”
explained Charles Taylor, vice presi
dent for business and finance. Stu
dents will follow the after hours
check-in procedures outlined in the
1989-1990 Student Handbook.
According to Taylor, the Fair-
cloth and back gates \^l continue to
be locked at 11:00 p.m. “We will
not stop any cars coming onto cam
pus at the gatehouse, however, until
closing.
“This is an attempt to know who
is on campus after closing and their
reason for being here,” he contin
ued. “We feel that it is a reasonable
security precaution to take.”
Taylor stressed that there will be
adequate security personnel on
campus during check-in and that
students can be assured of visual
contact as they move from the park
ing lots to their residence halls.
A decision on additional secu
rity equipment which was being
considered last year has been put on
hold. The equipment included elec
tronic sensors on all residence hall
entrances and video camoas on those
entrances used to admit students after
hours.
“The technology is constantly
changing,” said Taylor, “and we are
looking for the best way to achieve
our goals. Also, die project is not yet
fully funded.”
Evaluation of these security
needs is continuing.