Meredith Herald
October 7, 1998
Campus Opinion
A mass transit system? Sure.
MEREDITH by TORY HOKE
From the
Editor
Have you heard? The city and county gov
ernments of the Raleigh-Durham area are
thinking about putting in a mass-transit sys
tem. Well, it’s about time. Fm tired of getting
stuck in traffic everywhere I go around here.
It^s ridiculous. It can take you up to, if not over, an hour to get from
Meredith College past Capital Boulevard.
I understand that the RDU area attempted to make local travel bet
ter with the recent J-540 loop. Unfortunately, there are still many trav
elers who are unaware the loop is open; not to mention those drivers
who have no clue where the loop leads and don’t want to be traveling
a desolate route late at night. It's just not safe anymore.
I’m not saying I'm an expert on the highways and transportation
systems - that’s certainly not the case. However, experience with and
without mass transit systems has shown me the benefits - and yes, the
costs of such a system. First of all. can you imagine the time factor
decreasing? It’s possible. It’s never going to be a perfect match; how
ever, there would be some improvement.
When I was in Spain this summer, I had the pleasure (sometiines
pain) to use the Metro in Madrid. Yes, this is an underground system
that took years to create, but it’s there. Sure - there are still about 100
cars for every block, but some of the hassle of driving has been elim
inated. This is also the case in our nation’s capital. Yes, 1 had the plea
sure to experience the DC metro area also this summer, as well as
Atlanta’s MARTA. These systems are both under and above ground.
They're not perfect - there are still delays, but you’re not wasting your
own gasoline to get from point A to point B.
Both systems have shown me that it's time for Raleigh to look into
similar options. I’m glad the initiative is there with our community
leaders. Now, let's see if we can get the tax payers onto the idea.
Okay- so it seems unfair for me to be advocating more taxes when I
won’t be contributing my share after May. However, 1 have been giv
ing plenty of my minimal paychecks over the years to have at least
two cents worth of a voice.
If the area could consider putting something between Raleigh, RDU
airport and the Research Triangle Park, I bet there would be a greater
number of somewhat-pleased travelers. Sure - it’s going to cost money
and maybe some local land initially, but what about the decreases in
gasoline fumes and the trivial, but annoying fender benders on the
Beltline. Surely, anyone can see it’s a work in progress, so let’s not
shove it to the back burner anytime soon.
Meredith Herald
Ediwr in Chief
AHtson Carter
Features Edilor/Cartoottist —..—Tory Hoke
News Editor/Copy Editor...... .... Beth Hall
Arte & Bntertainment Gilliam
Clubs Editor. Wilson
Spi«lS CoordinMfw. >.„.;C;.,Ebdny Williams
police Reporter. Leslie Maxwell
Business Manager. Redingcr
AssL to the Manager......... .......BizabeA Bondur^t
Reporters Sf»^anie Danko, Kristen Bostedo,
Jolie Cooper. Juiie Kerr, Christina Holder,
Ashlynn Brmvning, Amber Bualer, Kelly Fish. Alison Valeiitl
Rioto Editor. Alison Flood
Distribution Manager........ —Sarah Wtchard
Faculty Adviser..... „........,.....,.,....Rebecca Duncan
The Meredith Uendd ts published by the College throughout the
academic year. The paper is funded by the College and through
independent advertising. The opinions expressed in the editorial
columns do not necessarily reflect th»e of the college admintara-
tion, faculty, or student body. If yoa have a article idea for the
staff, contact the editor directly. A.H ideas will be considered for
individual issues that best fit the article topic.
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Anp 7.
Now is the time for a woman president
Beth Hall
News Editor
Father knows best?
That seems to be the message
Meredith wants to send. Our
institution is over 1(X) years old,
and never in that history has a
woman been president of our
college, the largest women’s col
lege in the Southeast. Time after
time a man is chosen (by a board
of trustees composed mostly of
older men) to define what
“teaching a woman to excel”
means and entails.
Ninety-percent of all women’s
colleges in the nation have
women presidents, according to
the Women’s College Coalition.
Of the four women’s colleges in
our state—Bennett, Peace,
Salem and Meredith—we are the
only one which doesn’t have a
woman president, NCSU and
Duke have women chancellors.
The president of the entire North
Carolina University System is a
woman. Do they know some
thing we don’t?
These institutions have not
just hired these women to be
nice. They didn’t just hire them,
or keep them, just for the sake of
having a token woman leader.
These women were hired and
retained because of their success
es as effective leaders.
Having an older man lead this
campus of women perpetuates
the stereotype that we, as
“Meredith girls” have to have
male supervision. People who
believe in that stereotype think
wc are merely passed from home
where daddy rules, to school
where a father-figure rules, to
marriage where a husband rules.
I don’t think most students see
themselves reflected in that mir
ror. So why do we stand back and
let that message-that we are
sweet, helpless and submissive-
be sent to future employers, to
other college institutions, to the
community at large?
Right now the opportunity to
change that stereotype is in our
hands. We need a woman presi
dent as a role model we can
strive to emulate, and who can
more honestly represent us as
women than a man possibly
could. A woman who has proven
herself successful tripping up the
leadership ladder despite the
challenges of gender discrimina
tion will have relevant experi
ence to present to us as we devel
op our leadership skills for the
future. She will have been there
and done that in a male-dominat-
ed world.
In fact, what are we saying
about ourselves as women if we
refuse to credit another woman
with the qualifications to lead
us? We seem to be saying that we
don’t trust a woman to have the
qualities necessary. Reflexively,
does diat mean that we couldn’t
trust ourselves, because we are
women, to lead others. I knt)w
I’m not willing to say that about
myself. There may be a lot of
things about myself that keep me
from being a leader, but the mere
fact that 1 am a woman is not one
of them.
Lettcr.s to the Editor Policy:
Everyone in the Meredith community is invited to write a letter to
the editor. All published letters must be typewritten with contact
name, address, and telephone number. All letters must be signed by
the author in order to be published.
The Herald reserves the right to place any other article submissions
on file until needed or to choose not to print them. The Herald also
has the right to edit submissions for space requirements.
True, we as students don’t
have the direct power to hire the
next president, but we do have
the power of influence. The deci
sion of who will lead us into the
next century affects us more than
any other Meredith consthuency.
Yes, Meredith is a business, but
first and foremost it is a school.
Therefore, the group which
should have the most influence
and power is the student body.
More cynically, the reason we
should have pt)wer is the cold
fact that if it were not for our
pocketbooks there would be no
board of trustees & no Meredith.
And yet, we are letting this
power of influence slip through
our fingers. How can we, the stu
dent body, be so apathetic about
something so important as
choosing the next leader for our
college? When the presidential
search committee graciously
held public forums a few weeks
ago. only six out of approximate
ly 2.500 students showed up to
give the committees input.
Gene Langley, chair of the
committee will continue to
receive written comments and
suggestions until Oct. 31.1 hope
students are writing to the com
mittee. 1 did, but I feel most stu
dents aren’t. We need to consider
the amount of life, time, energy
and money we put into this
school. Haven’t wc made too
much of a personal investment to
casually sluff off our responsibil
ity and ignore the potential
power of our voices?
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