Meredith Herald
Volume XI. Issue 8 October 12.1994 Raleigh. North Carolina
Meredith students speak out on important issues
By Melissa Ray
“Free Your Mind" was the theme to
theStudentGovemmem Association’s
Student Life Forum Thursday, Oa. 6 in
Ledford Auditorium.
Concerned Meredith students
voiced their opinions and suggestions
to a crowd of about 100 women.
Students were invited to attend the
forum with the hope that they would
communicate what issues were im
portant tot hem and what changes
could be made to improve Meredith.
The forum opened with concerns
from the commuters. They wanted
more nutritious food and reduced
prices in Traditions.
They said they would also like to
have more staff hired at Traditions to
cut down on the long wait.
In order to get more variety of
foods to choose from, commuters said
they would also like to get an increased
discount off meals in Belk Dining Hall.
Residence students also suggested
that Belk Dining Hall offer more low-
calorie meals in general, as well as
meals forvegetarians. Fresh fruit each
day was recommended by students.
For those students who miss meals
on a regular basis, such as student
teachers, it was proposed that
Meredith deduct the money each meal
would cost from their accounts.
Meredith could then give that sum
to the student to spend on meals else
where, they recommended.
Some students felt that Traditions
should be open at night so residence
students could purchase food on cam
pus rather than from an offampus
establishment.
Many students felt that 7 p.m. was
too early to lock the residence halls.
They suggested that 11 p.m be the
closinghour. Other students su^ested
the dorms should be locked 24 hours
a day.
Students then brought up CamTel.
The recommendation not to publish a
temporary edition of the directory was
voiced. Somestudentsmentionedthat
CamTel should include telephone num
bers as weU as school and home ad
dresses for residents and non-residents.
Commuters suggested mailboxes be
put up in the Fireside Lounge so com
muters could receive information about
Meredith activities. Commuters felt they
have been left out of activities on cam
pus because they did not know about
them in time to plan ahead and attend.
The proposition of including call
waiting in the Meredith phone services
was made. Many students felt they have
difficulty getting their calls because
their roommate is using the phone and
the line is busy.
The idea of voice mail was pre
sented. For commuters, a similar idea
was voiced— to have a message phone
put in place to call commuters about
upcomii^ events.
Paridng also received attention from
residents and commuters alike. Sug
gestions were made to set aside senior
parking spaces on the first few rows
behind Heilman and to utilize the park
ing lot behind Poteat by opening it up
for all juniors.
Commuters voiced the need for
more lighting in the lots and more
commuter spaces needed across cam
pus.
Visitor parking was also mentioned.
The consensus was loading zones be
made into visitor spaces and the fifteen
minute time slots be lengthened.
For those freshman who have cars
on campus, students proposed the
option of freshman buying a year of
parking and warnings should be posted
before their cars get booted.
see SGA page seven
Former Meredith graduate addresses TRANSITIONS
By Meagan Cronaeur
This year’s TRANSITIONS series
continued on Monday, Oct. 10 with a
program entitled “Master Your Time
and Money. ” Stephanie Sawyer, a 1991
Meredith graduate, gave tips on how
to utilize time more efficiently and
how to make money go further.
Sawyer used hats as a metaphor
during the opening few moments of
the presentation. “We all have differ
ent hats that we wear,” she said, refer
ring to the many aaivities that govern
time.
Sawyer, a full time employee of the
Northern TelecomCorporation, isalso
a student at NC State where she is
pursuing her master’s degree in child
development. She made it a point that
academics and work related aaivities
are very important, but having ftm
couldnotbetotallyfoi^otten. Thistoo
should have its place in schedules.
According to Sawyer, if students
remember the five p’s (proper plan
ning prevents poor performance) they
can allot enou^ time to take care of all
thdr priorities. In order to do that they
must determine what it is that con
trols their time and analyze how they
can best use their time. Then students
must decide if all of their activities are
necessary
and appro
priate. Fi
nally, they
must look to
see if the ac
tivity is effi
cient, and, if
not, they
must find a
way to make
it so.
Setting
priorities is
also impor
tant. Sawyer
r e c o m -
mended rating priorities as an “A” ( a
must do), a “B" (a should do), ora “C’
(an it would be nice to do). She also
pointed out that students must re
member balance because “what may
be your priority today may not be your
priority tomorrow.” They must also
fmd their “peak period.” This is when
people are most alert and they should
do all planning around this time.
If students follow some of these
steps. Sawyer said they will see the
benefits. They can do more relaxing,
thinking, and communicating.
“Unfortunately there isonly so much
green stuff to go around,” so students
must learn to manage their money.
Sawyer recommended using a budget
or a cash flow statement to record
monthly spending h^its. She said af
ter several months students may find
some expenses that can be weeded
out because they are unnecessary. That
means extra money for savings or emer
gencies.
She broke common spending hab
its-into categories ranging from “Do 1
really need that?" to “Don’t forget to
have fun too!” She said, however, to
stay aw^y from credit card traps that
entice students and can eventu^y put
them in debt. Sawyer felt if students
can make a monthly budget and stick
to it they will increase their income,
stretch their money further, prevent
shortages,' and protect their assets.
At the end of the hour. Sawyer
opened the floor to discussion. The
questions took only a few minutes, but
from what wus said there may be a
few less overdrawn checking ac
counts in Raleigh.
photo by Jetson
Speaker addresses student problems with time and money.