March 27,1992 page three
Point/ Counterpoint
This year, the Student Gov
ernment Association has been called
upon to give numerous “hall warn
ings” regarding the presence of al
cohol on campus. Most of these
warnings were given based solely on
the suspicions of a concerned student
or Resident Assistant. Some even
proved unnecessary. Because of the
handbook’s stipulation that, “Any
alcoholic bottle kept as a momento
must be carefully rinsed before
bringing the bottle onto campus ... “
(52), suspicion arises at the sight of
any alcoholic beverage container,
whether it is a champagne bottle,
washed out and uncorked, or a beer
can crumpled up in a recycling bin.
Prohibiting the presence of alcoholic
beverage containers would eliminate
such suspicion and prevent unnec
essary action on the part of SGA.
In doing so, it would also
protect students from being unjustly
accused of an honor code violation,
as well as eliminate the issue of
whether or not the bottle was properly
rinsed (and if so, was it rinsed before
it was brought onto campus or after?).
In other words, prohibiting alcoholic
beverage containers on campus
would eliminate the possibility of a
concerned student having to make a
Judgement call regarding a possible
honor code violation by another.
After all, it is not Just SGA who is
responsible for upholding the Honor
Code. The Statement of Honor found
in the Student Handbook, claims that,
“We, the Meredith Community, are
committed to developing and af
firming in each student a sense of
personal honor and responsibility”
(22), therefore placing the responsi
bility in the hands of all of the students,
not Just a select few.
Finally, it can be ai^ed that
the present policy of allowing alco
holic beverage containers on campus
does not coincide with the College’s
statement that, “The College strongly
discourages the use of alcoholic
beverages by Meredith Students”
(32). It is a paradox to many that
Meredith discourages us from
drinking, yet allows for the open
display of off-campus alcohol con
sumption in our rooms. SGA’s pro
posal would strengthen the College’s
statement against alcohol use, and
provide for more consistency in
policy.
Other questioas to consider:
*What happens to a
momento when one is finished with
it? It can no longer be recycled
on campus. Is it not inter
esting that these bottles and cans are
allowed in our rooms as momentos,
but must be taken elsewhere for re
cycling?
*Who decides what is a
momento and what is not? Is there a
difference between a
champagne bottle and half-a-dozen
beer cans?
*What about underage
drinking? Should students under the
age of 21 be allowed to d i sp 1 ay
their alcdiol use? Could this pressure
others to do the same?
Whatever your feeling re
garding this issue, I encourage you to
talk to your class senators about it. It
is their responsibility to represent
you. The Senate will hold its second
reading of the SGA proposal on this
coming Tuesday, March 31.st. A
vote will immediately follow this
reading. So, please talk it over with
your classmates, and give the sena
tors your opinion (A list of class
senators can be found on page 107 of
the Student Handbook).
Jennifer Haitig
by Hollis Hayworth
On March 31 Senate will vote on
whether to accept or defeat the pro
posal made by SGA that states begin
ning next year no alcoholic beverage
containers will be allowed on cam
pus at any time for recycling or
momentos. I have heard two debates
on the issue and it seems to me that
there are two main reasons SGA
wants this proposal to take effect.
The first reason is so that suspicion of
drinking on campus will be elimi
nated. The second reason is because
Meredith does not advocate drinking
on or off campus, so we should not be
allowed to have evidence of it.
I understand SGA‘s reasoning, but
I do not agree with it. As far as the
issue of eliminating suspicion, I feel
that there is a more important issue
outweighing it - the students’ right to
be free to preserve memories. In my
opinion, it should be the Job of SGA
to represent the student body and
make rules in the best interests of the
students, not make rules that will
further limit he students only to make
SGA’s Job a little easier.
If SGA wants to create a rule in
order to reduce suspicion, then it
needs to be consistent and create
rules that would reduce suspicion
concerning all areas of the honor
code. For example, professors should
not be allowed to leave the room
while students are taking a test; we
may cheat. We should not be al
lowed to have irons; we may use
them in our rooms. We should not be
allowed to have boyfriends; we may
sneak them upstairs, and we should
not be allowed to have empty alco
holic beverage containers in our
rooms; we may drink on campus. As
long as there is an honor code there
will be suspicion about whether it is
being broken because some people
are not as honorable as others. But,
SGA should be willing to deal with
these few bad apples so that our honor
code can remain in its truest form - an
oath based on truth.
The second point that SGa is using
to explain its proposal is that Meredith
does not advocate drinking on or off
campus so we should not be allowed
to bring empty containers on cam
pus. This point makes sense at first
reading, but think about the implica
tions. How far will this rule go? We
will not be able to have bottles or
cans in our rooms, but what about
keg cups, champagne glasses (some
of which were sold to us with
Meredith dance tickets), shot glasses
(which can be bought at the Meredith
Supply Store a.k.a. “toothpick hold
ers”), blue whale and pink alligator
toys from mixed drinks, and what
about t-shirts from fraternity parties;
do they not imply (advocate) drink
ing off campus? Also, what about
pictures in our rooms of ourselves or
friends drinking an alcoholic bever
age (very incriminating evidence!)?
There is no way SGA can say that
drinking does not occur off campus,
so why try to deny it by not allowing
us to have evidence of it in our rooms?
As far as recycling, I do not have a
problem with this rule because I per
sonally do not know anyone that goes
around collecting cans at a party to
bring back to Meredith for recycUng.
If students really want to recycle
their cans and bottles, there are sev
eral recycling centers in Raleigh that
they can take their trash to before
coming back to campus. However,
for some studens there is no alterna
tive for saving memories. They do
not have a boyfriend’s place or a
parent’s house nearby to store their
special souvenirs.
Regardless of your opinion on this
issue, I encourage all of you to tell
you senator what you think about it.
It is important for the senators to
know how you feel so that they can
vote in a way that is representative of
your feelings. If you do not express
your opinions, do not complain about
the. outcome of this issue. Also, I
want to encourage all of you to up
hold the honor code so that SGA is
not tempted to make unnecessary
rules such as the one discussed in this
article. The honor code is a luxury
based on trust that Meredith students
have been given. Please respect it.