Meredith Herald
Volume XVI, Issue 3
Educating Women to Excel.
September 8,1999
On the
inside:
Open House policy changes
□ Meredith
students trav
eled to Europe.
Page 2
□ Learning
Center provides
help for stu*
dents.
Page 3
O Freshmen
athletes have
transition to
make.
Page 6
□ Dixie
Chicks have
new hit album.
Page 8
Meredith Herald
at
Mereditb College
3800 Hillsborough St..
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919)760-2824,
FAX 919) 76(^2869
□ Open House
begins this Saturday.
JCM Smith
staff Writer
Meredith College will be
experiencing a major change in
residence life this fall. Starting
this weekend, a new Open
House policy will be in effect.
This is a change from last
year’s Open House policy
because this year Open House
hours will be every weekend.
On Saturdays hours will be
from 1-11 p.m. and on Sundays
hours will be from noon-7 p.m.
According to Ann Gleason,
Dean of Students, all students
will sign a contract stating that
they know the rules and accept
the penalties if they break
them. For freshmen, guests
should be signed in at the first
floor parlor of the dorms.
These sign-in sheets will be
checked by freshmen RAs.
Upperclass students do not
have to sign their guests in, but
if problems occur, then Senate
members say that a sign-in pol
icy will be reinstated.
During exam weeks, there
will be no Open House hours.
This new policy was
aproved last year by the Board
of Trustees based on hard work
and research done by Meredith
students. Last year’s Senate did
extensive surveys in residence
halls to determine what stu
dents wanted.
In 1996, the Senate proposed
a change that took place in the
1997-1998 school year. Cam
pus-wide hours were extended,
and an experimental senior
dorm. Barefoot, was allowed to
have Open House every week
end for 10 hours on Saturday
and seven hours on Sunday.
“The Open House policy has
evolved over the last few
years,” said Gleason.
During the 1998-1999
school year, Open House exist
ed every other week, on either
a Saturday or a Sunday for
seven hours.
Last year’s Senate Chair,
Elizabeth Beals, was involved
in researching other school’s
Open House in order to be sure
Meredith has a policy that will
benefit the students. She said,
‘The Board of Trustees were
very positive about this deci
sion. The new policy passed
unanimously. I hope it goes
over well. Everything was
done to benefit the students.”
Penalties for violating the
Open House rules will be com
munity service on the first
offense and loss of Open
House priviliges on the second
offense. Any problems with
signing in and out may be
taken to the Dean of Students
Office or the Residence Life
Office. The Residence Hall
Board will determine the pun
ishments for those who do not
follow procedure.
This semester’s Open House
will begin, this Saturday, Sept.
II. and it will end on Sunday,
Nov. 21.
Leslie Maxwell contribuied lo
this article.
Freshmen ‘have their say’
Email;
maxw^@meredith.e(ii
Christina Holder
News Editor
From spotting cozy couches
in Barnes and Nobles to
searching for an open chaise
lounge pool side, the expectant
Meredith freshman spent part
of her summer locating the
ideal spot for the perfect sum
mer read. Summer reading is
the biggest trend to hit the
Meredith campus this year as
the college begins its first sum
mer reading program with the
Class of 2003.
Summer reading programs,
however, aren't a new trend.
Schools such as NCSU, UNC-
CH and Appalachian State
University have already imple
mented reading programs for
their entering freshmen.
The Meredith program was
constructed to give freshmen
an opportunity to read an
insightful book away from a
classroom setting that adminis
trators hoped would inspire
debate, build community and
broaden intellect. The idea for
the program began when
Chrissie Bumgardner, co-direc-
tor for the Office of the First
Year experience, spoke with
one of her mentors who was
involved with the summer
reading porgram at ASU. From
there Bumgardner proposed
the idea through a Creative
Ideas Fund. “We were getting
a sense from the campus that
they were seeking an intellec
tual climate, especially for Ori
entation.”, said Bumgardner.
The Office of the First Year
Experience began collaborat
ing with the English Depart
ment for ideas for the book
selection. “The English
Department has been really
interested in something like the
program for a long time. We
wanted it to utilize community
building time to focus on
something intellectual.”, said
Dr. Rebecca Duncan, professor
of English.
Faculty members from
across campus were invited to
be a part of the Summer Read
ing Program Committee. The
committee was responsible for
choosing the book selection
and designing an application
portion to the program. Dun
can read three books before
recommending Having Our
Say written by Amy Hill
Hearth along with Sarah and
Elizabeth Delany.
The book recounts the lives
of the Delany sisters, two
African American women who
did not let discrimination of
their sex and race stunt their
growth as women leaders. “We
chose the book because it had a
Raleigh connection, it was
readable, and we thought it
could start a discussion in a
thousand different directions.
It just seemed to work. It was
so enjoyable,” said Duncan.
The committee members also
worked on a packet of ques-
See READING page 2
Vice President
of Academic
Affairs sought
Amaisida Fletcher
staff wmer
Meredith College is looking
for a new Vice President of
Academic Affairs. This is
important to the student body
because, according to the
search committee, this individ
ual will have a tremendous
impact on the next course that
the college will take.
In conjunction with the pres
ident of the college, this person
will affect how we structure
majors and general education,
as well as the faculty programs.
He or she will run the entire
academic program and plan the
budget. The vice.gresident is a
part of the senior management
team of the college and reports
directly to the president.
A search committee com
prised of twelve members of
the Meredith community has
been appointed by the Presi
dent, Dr. Maureen Hartford.
The group consists people rep
resenting the groups that the
new Vice President will affect.
There are four department
heads, four faculty members,
two students (one traditional
student and one continuing
education student), one admin
istrator and one staff member
on the committee. The mem
bers are; Dr. Marie Chamblee,
Dr. Jack Huber, Dr. Bob Vance,
Dr. Knight, Dr Eloise Grath-
wohl. Dr, Oatsvall, E)r. Allen
Page, and Dr. Betty Webb, Car
rie Swart, Sabrina Hearst, Dr.
Johns, and Gordon Foldger.
Hoping to represent Mered
ith as a whole, the committee is
working to incorporate every
one’s desires. They have
already held a open faculty
forum, which allowed the
entire faculty to express their
opinions on what type of quali
fications the new Vice Presi
dent should have.
The search committee will
continue looking for the right
individual for the job. The
committee chair, Chamblee.
said, “ideally we would like to
name the new Vice President
by the end of the fall semester.”