Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Sept. 1, 1999, edition 1 / Page 6
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Meredith Herald September 1,1999 Campus News Seasons of hate must end Welcome back from the summer of hate. I’ve always idealized the 1960s, and 1967, the so-called sum mer of love, is no exception. But when I think about this summer, my mind jumps from the summer of love to this summer, the sum- mer of 1999, which I have proclaimed to be the summer of hate. From the railroad killer Angel Resendet EultOl* I to Benjamin Smith, who killed people because of their race, religion or political stance, to Mark Barton, the man who killed 11 people in an Atlanta office building because he lost money while day trading, to Cary Stayner, the man responsible for killing four women in Yosemite National Park, this summer seems to have negated all the talk of violent crime being at its lowest in many years and the other good things that are happening in our country and the world right now. The three incidents I mentioned were caused not only by hate, but also by lack of responsibility. Everyone is looking for some one else to blame. The railroad killer blamed his status as an illegal immigrant. Smith blamed his religion. “God told me to,” he may have said before taking his own life. Stayner blamed his brain by stating that he'd always just wanted to kill someone. And Barton blamed the employees of the firm where he once day traded. And then came Woodstock '99. Maybe this will help me forget about all this hate, I thought. Although it could never compare to the original, maybe it will remind the country of the ideals that we once held. But hate again was on display on the last day of Woodstock, as revelers set fire to cars, stages and tents and destroyed equipment. Again, the culprits blamed the fiasco on something else. “It was just the thing to do,” they might have said. “We could n’t help it—it was the spirit of the moment.” Well, if the spirit of this year’s Woodstock was about starting fires and destroying property, then I’m glad I didn’t go. That’s the wrong spirit for any event to embody, especially an' event that should create camaraderie and unity rather than discord and division. So welcome back from the summer of hate. Let’s make sure it was the last of its kind. Meredith Herald EdiKff In Leslie Maxw^! Copyfelitor. .....Sara Para Arts & Enterta{n»nentEditor.-...,.;..~ ...........Lisa Gilliam Buaness Manager..— MlefeeJle 3Dmke R*poriers...;.....— Alexia Andrews, Leesha Au«in, l&-isten Bosledo, Melissa Amanda Plelcher, Tracy HarwanJ, Christina Holder, Michelle Hulse, Refcecca i^n^n, Steirfianie Jordan, Nikki' NonrJs.' Ayana Rhodes.' Kristin Scboetdci. Joni Smith, Mary Sfcncer. Tracy SumnCT, Ij?ra Tillman, TanesbaWiUiams Distribution ..Melissa CastoR & Lora liltir^ Subscdpiifflis— Nikki Norris & Kriain Schneider Faculty Adviser. Dr. Rebecca Chincan Editnrial Policy; The Meredith Herald k published by the College Arwi^out «f» academic year. The paper is funded by the College aid tlwough iiwtepeodent advertising. The oinnicms «xi»es3«d in the edko^ columns do xicA necessmly refleci fltwse of the c^ege admini^a- lion, faculty. O'student b(^y. . How tn rwifh the Herald: If you haw a article ideafor ttie isjfflff; office jtf tSQr e-mail the Allidbas will becoos^tfrareti but Biay Meet the new RL Director SaraParsow Staff Wrtter Moving onto Meredith’s campus this summer was noth ing new for Charlene Gaines. In fact, when she assumed the position as the new director of residence life, living on cam pus for a couple months would be a step back to a familiar place. While obtaining a bachelor’s degree in fmance from UNC- Greensboro, Gaines got her first glimpse into residence life by working as an RA, She became interested immediate- .ly- “I loved working in Resi dence Life. I enjoyed the sense of community in the experi ence as well as planning events,” said Gaines After she graduated, Gaines worked for a while then returned to UNCG to earn a master’s degreein higher edu cation. She also continued her interest in residence life by working as an RD. After grad uate school Gaines traveled to Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania to work as a Res idence Life Coordinator. T^ere she discovered how rewarding residence life training could be. “I really enjoyed training and staff development because I was helping people help other people.” Soon after, Gaines returned to UNCG and worked for five years as the assistant director of residence life. Last year, Gaines heard of the job opening at Meredith through her involvement with the North Carolina College Personnel Association and couldn’t resist. “I knew the people here throiigh NCCPA and they are all great. I knew this would be a good work environment with good people, so I applied in May and got the job.” However, Gaines has not always worked and lived in North Carolina. She is original ly from Bridgeport, Conn. and was drawn to this area by its reasonably priced colleges. “I had a sister who went to UNC-Ch^l Hill, but when I visited her there I knew it was too big. Then I was told about a smaller school right down the road, UNCG.” Being 12 hours away from home has not been too hard on Gaines because most of her family has also moved to North Carolina. She now lives with her mother in Durham and commutes to Raleigh. This commute, Gaines said, has taken some adjusting to. ‘The biggest change for me has been the traffic here. I am definitely not used to it." she said. Gaines has discovered a lot of positive things In the area as well. “There are/so many dif ferent types of people here. You have a ^mber of college students and grad students, as well as families. There are also somafiy different things to do, it makes Raleigh a very excit ing place.” In addition to living in a new area, Gaines also must adjust to her first time working at an all women’s school. “The visita tion policy has been the biggest difference for me here, but it seems to work really well.” While she may not be famil iar with “Boy Days,” Gaines does bring a number of new ideas from her experiences at UNCG and Slippery Rock. She said. “Some of the things we have been thinking about are building apartment- style housing for married or non-traditional age students and setting up ‘learning com munities’ where students are grouped by major or other interest. We are also continu ing to work on the smoking sit uation." Gaines also has some goals regarding the planning of events for this year. “1 would like to have more large-scale events, possibly competition between dorms, that would get a larger number of students involved.'^ would like to start doing things to keep students here on the weekends, possibly even par ties like mixers or socials,” Gaines said. With these plans and goals, Gaines has a positive outlook on the upcoming year. “With all the changes Meredith has had in the last few months, this year will sure ly be different and very excit ing. Meredith is a good place to be this year, it really is.” Charlene Gaines is hard at work as the director of Resi dence Life. Photo by Lesue Maxwell Last week’s Orientation story should have said that the Summer Reading Program was the product of the Cre ative Ideas Fund through the Office of the First Year Expe rience, not the English Department. Correction: Letters to the Editor Policy; Everyone in the Meredidi community is invited and encouraged to write a letter to the editor. All published letters must be type written with a 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 submis sions on file until needed or to choose not to print them. The Her ald also has the right to edit submissions for space restrictions, grammar and style.
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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Sept. 1, 1999, edition 1
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