Meredith Herald
November 17,1999
Campus Opinion
Editor
Demand less hog waste
Since Hurricane Floyd’s appearance in mid-September, hog
farms and their wastes have been a major news story.
While Floyd brought out the need for a policy on hog farm
cesspools, it caused major pollution to do
SO-
So when North Carolina Governor Jim
Hunt and his administration developed a
policy on hog waste management in mid-
Oclober, many North Carolina residents
became hopeful.
The policy itself was apparently too stringent for hog farmers,
and so the protests began.
The state government gave in to their demands last week, relax
ing rules and laws just passes one month earlier. Under these new
rules, hog farmers will be allowed lo spray waste during the win
ter onto a larger area of land. In addition, the hog farmers will be
able to return iheir hog count to its number before Hurricane
Floyd-
How many times does something like Floyd have to happen
before North Carolina learns? We should not accept hog numbers
returning to their original levels. We should not accept hog waste
sprayed on our land to the point of oversaturation and runoff into
rivers and streams.
While these rules are only in effect until Mar. 31,2000, that date
is still five months away. In the original guidelines, the rules were
supposed to last only until Dec. 31, 1999. The date was changed
because officials have seen evidence that the hog waste cesspools
are diluted with rain by about 50 percent.
Still, for most North Carolina citizens, this knowledge is not
comforting. We would not want to drink water that is over half hog
waste, so why should we accept its place in our state?
To combat hog-waste cesspool pollution, we must get to the
fundamental cause of the probletp, and the problem is not Hurri
cane Floyd or the state of North Carolina. The fundamental cause
is the ratio of hogs to volume of cesspools. As long as this number
is out of proportion, as it is now. North Carolina will never be rid
of hog waste and its resulting problems.
Cesspools and such copious amounts of hogs must go. We can
not wait until the next hurricane to shake us up again.
Meredith Herald
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Letter to the editor: Thanks for good times
Dear Editor:
Seems like only yesterday
that I turned my Meredith ring
with the seal facing the world
and celebrated four wonderful
years of accomplishments at
MC, and it seems like only yes
terday that I turned back
around and came right back!
Somehow, I ended up on the
front steps of oF MC again, this
time as Residence Director of
Heilman and Barefoot.
If you haven’t already heard,
it’s time for me to turn around
once more. This time 1 will be
facing south and heading to
Columbia, S.C. Yes, 1 have
officially changed my status
from Angel to Gamecock. The
University of South Carolina
awaits me. I will begin work
ing on my Masters of Educa
tion in January and will take
with me the valuable experi
ence that I have gained here at
Meredith.
A big thanks to the faculty,
staff, admiinistraiion and stu
dents for their unconditional
love and support. These have
been the days of my life, and I
have been blessed to have
crossed paths with each of you.
Before I leave. I do have one
favor: take care of my “Mama
Sharon” (WoodlieO and Anne
“Precious” Pickard.
I will miss you all. but who
knows? Maybe I’ll be back in a
few years. I’ll need a job. right.
Dr Jackson?
Sincerely,
Kelly N. Conkling
Opinion: Lucky to have education
Sara Parsons
Copy Editor
As the end of the semester
approaches and we ail become
loaded down with projects and
finals, I ask that one thing be
kept in mind. No matter how
hard the work gets or how late
the study sessions go, we
should all try to refrain from
cursing ourselves, our profes
sors and our “miserable lives.”
Why? Because we are all
lucky.
Each woman here at Mered
ith is lucky to have the oppor
tunity to receive such a top-rate
education surrounded by facul
ty and staff who sincerely care
about and believe in her suc
cess.
I am not saying we don’t
deserve it or we got this oppor
tunity by chance. I am sure
every student here has worked
hard at some point in her life to
get to college, to reach this
high point.
What I am saying is that we
are lucky to have the opportu^-
nity to receive this education
when women of the past,
maybe even our great-grand
mothers, were denied it.
Though they_ might have
worked and tried as hard or
even harder than we have, they
were denied because that was
the way society worked.
Even in present day, in some
countries, women are still
denied a good education
because of their gender. These
'women only know the life of
taking care of their husbands
and children They may not
even feel the need to reach for
higher goals and achievements
because they have accepted
their inferior positions without
question.
Now, I ask how can we,
women who have every oppor
tunity in the world waiting at
our doorsteps, mope around
dorms moaning and groaning
about our workload and our
mean professors who must
want us (o have no social life
on the weekends? Wake-up!
This is what college is about,
and it is why each one of us are
here. No one said college was
going to be easy. And through
our hard work, we will all learn
to appreciate even more what
we will accomplish at the end
of our college years.
After all, we are all lucky to
even have the opportunity to
receive this education when so
many other women, of the past
and present, could and can only
dream about it. What we can
achieve here at Meredith and in
the future is limitless. At
Meredith, we will be given die
tools, opportunity and the
encouragement. All we need to
supply ourselves is the desire
to reach our dreams. However,
for so many women, this desire
is all they have had to work
with.
So. as 1 sit around the
Thanksgiving table, giving
thanks for all the great things I
have in my life, my education
will definitely be close to the
top of the list and I encourage
you to remember it on yours.
My experience at Meredith is
more to me than a burden of a
great work load. It is an oppor
tunity that not many women
have had in the past. When tak
ing into consideration the rest
of the worid, it is an opportuni
ty closed to many women even
in present day.
And a Meredith woman,
contrary to the jokes and
stereotypes, is a lot more than a
model for ribbons and pearls.
She is a woman with a worid of
opportunities awaiting her She
is strong, smart and confident.
And she is lucky.
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