EREDiTH Herald
Volume XVI, Issue 9
Educating Women to Excel
October 27, 1999
On the
inside:
Weekend break-ins occur
□ Corn-
huskin’ nears
its 54th yean
Page 2
□ MRA
sponsors flag
football.
Page 3
□ Meredith
Abroad pre
pares for next
summer.
Page 4
O Tori Amos
rocks on her
new album.
Page 7
Meredith Herald
at
Meredith College
3800 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 760-2824
FAX (919) 760-2869
Email:
maxweUl @meredifii.edu
□ Recent thefts in
parking lots prompt
a security increase.
Leslie Maxwell
EdHor in chief
While many students trav
eled or studied over the week
end, several cars in the B & G
parking lot, the large parking
lot where juniors and sopho
mores park, were broken into.
According to Campus Police
Chief Mike Hoke, four cars
total were broken into. Three of
the robberies happened on Fri
day, Oct. 22 and one happened
on Saturday, Oct. 23.
The only things the thief
stole were, according to Hoke,
compact discs and their carry
ing cases.
Hoke called these items “a
real tai^et,” noting that CDs
can be sold at a used record
store for $6-8 per disc.
Hoke also noted that the
thief left two cellular phones
that were in plain view.
After finding out about the
break-ins. Campus Police fin
gerprinted cars and covered the
broken windows with plastic.
“We are patrolling the park
ing lot more heavily,” said
Hoke.
Hoke said that Campus
Police is now speaking with the
Raleigh City Police Depart
ment to find out if similar theft
is occurring in neighborhoods
around Meredith.
Hoke advises students not to
leave valuables in their cars
within plain view of other peo
ple.
Junior Jenna Legget is one
of the students who had her car
broken in to. Legget said that
Campus Police was “very help
ful” when she found out about
the break-in.
Hoke also reported that the
robberies are not the reason
that the back gate has been
closing early. He said that after
a trafTic accident in which a
driver hit the gate, two hinges
are broken. Therefore, accord
ing to Hoke, it is difficult to
open and close the gate, taking
two people to do the task.
Many students have also
been wondering about the lack
lights in B & G parking lot.
Currently, there are not in-lot
lights. There are only portable
lights, like those used in road
construction.
Hoke explained that after a
power failure on Meredith Col
lege Drive, formerly Main
Campus Drive, the lights in the
parking lot also went out.
Therefore, the college brought
in the ponable lights and a gen
erator for them.
The lights are now back on
in the parking lot.
SACS visitors on campus
Christina Hcx.der
News Editor
After two years of self-
study, Meredith College finally
completed the study required
by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools last
Thursday, Oct. 21.
Every ten years, schools
must be re-accredited by
SACS through both a study
and a focus topic.
Thirteen members of SACS
from many different schools
came to Meredith from Oct.
18-21 as consultants. Nine vis
itors were members of the cri-
teria-audit visiting team, three
were on the focus topic team
and one visitor was an observ
er. Janet Freeman, who works
in the library, chaired the entire
SACS re-accreditation process.
This year’s focus topic was
age diversity. Chair of the
focus topic committee was Dr.
David Heining-Boynton, psy
chology professor. His com
mittee looked at things like
articles in the News and
Observer and the Meredith
Herald, faculty and student
surveys and discussion groups
in order to make their recom
mendations of how Meredith
should address the issue of age
diversity.
The focus topic consultants
presented their recommenda
tions to students, faculty and
staff on Tuesday, Oct. 19 at
10:30 a.m. and at 3 p.m.
The three consultants on the
focus topic were Dr. Karen
Arnold from Boston Universi
ty, Dr. Helen Ray from Bre-
neau University near Atlanta
and Dr. Fran Volkmann, chair
of the psychology department
at Smith College in Massachu
setts. Smith and Breneau are
both women's colleges. During
their presentations, they
brought up things that they
thought Meredith should con
sider while looking at age
diversity on campus, citing
examples from their own
schools. After each presenta
tion, people who attended the
sessions could ask questions.
Sue Kearney of enrollment
planning and institutional
development chaired the crite
ria audit committee which con
sisted of seven members.
She said, ‘This committee
was responsible for looking at
all of the requirements present
ed by SACS to determine
whether or not Meredith met
those criteria."
The six criteria that SACS
looks at are: principles and phi
losophy of accreditation, insti
tutional purpose, institutional
effectiveness, educational pro
grams, educational support ser
vices and administration
processes. Kearney said that
the committee members
worked with liaisons to make
sure that Meredith complied
with all the criteria.
The committee then put
together files and a printed
report with all the information
it had gathered. A report was
sent to each visitor before he or
she came to Meredith.
These visitors, if they had
questions, asked students ques
tions. On Thursday. Oct. 21.
the visitors made a report to
President Maureen Hartford
and other college officials.
Now, the criteria audit com
mittee is awaiting a written
report from the SACS visitors.
Kearney called the study “a
very thorough look at all of
Meredith College.”
Meredith moves
up in maga
zine’s regional
rankings
Amanda Fletcher
SlafI Wriler
Meredith has moved up in
this year’s US News and World
Report's “Ranking and Guide
book,” reports the Office of
Marketing and Communica
tions.
Among the Best Regional
Universities of the South,
Meredith is ranked eleventh
this year, which is an improve
ment on last year’s ranking of
fifteenth.
Other North Carolina
schools on the list were Elon
College and Appalachian Stale
University, both of which tied
in the fifteenth ranking for this
year.
These rankings, done by the
weekly news magazine, were
based on criteria including aca
demic reputation, graduation
rate performance, financial
resources, student selectivity,
faculty resource, alumni giving
rate and student retention.
Each year. US News and
World Report publish a listing
of top colleges, both nationally
and by region.
Local colleges nationally
ranked were Durham’s Duke
University, Winston-Salem’s
Wake Forest University and the
University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill.
This rating will make
Meredith look more appealing
to prospective Meredith stu
dents who are comparing this
school to other colleges, said
college officials.
Brandi Orbin. assistant
director of Marketing and
Communications, said that this
year’s ranking is “an affirma
tion of the things we already
know about Meredith.”