Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Feb. 23, 2000, edition 1 / Page 6
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Meredith Herald February 23, 2000 Campus Opinion Editor Egocentricity won’t do Imagine this scent: A large, fast-tnoving bullet speeds straight down Hillsborough Street, a crowded, fuli-of-life thoroughfare. Now picture the same thing happening, only instead of a bullet, the fast-moving object is a large amount of cyanide. And instead of Hillsborough Sireel, the pathway is the life-filled Tisza and Danube Rivers in Hungary and Yugoslavia. This situation, however, is not only a picture, an image; rather, it is a reality. The countries in Eastern Europe must now recover from a cyanide spill that overflowed from a dam at a gold mine. The spill has killed and will kill most or all of the life in the rivers. Already, about 110 tons of dead fish have been pulled from Ihe river. Unfortunately, this spill will have devastating environmental consequences, yet the American public knows little about it. In fact, many officials have called the spill, which happened over two weeks ago, Europe’s worst environmental disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. Yet the stories about Ihe disaster reached America only in a min imal way. The News and Observer's stories could be found near the back of the front section. Local news stations squeezed the story between an investigation of the sturdiness of vinyl siding and a story of a dog who called 911. Occurences such as the cyanide spill are not only issues that other parts of the world must deal with, so why does the American media make them seem so insignificant? From large-scale to small-scale, environmental disasters affect everyone, and not even the media can ignore that. The fish killed in the Danube and the polluted waters will both affect populations and pollution levels in other bodies of water. The cyanide spill should not be of concern only to the farmers, fishers and other Romanian citizens who earn their living from the river or who depend on the river for their drinking water. A problem like this could happen even in the U.S.. even in North Carolina and even in Wake County. Meredith tlerald Editor in Chief, Leslie Maxwell News &litor.. .....Christina Holder Copy Editor Sara Parsons Arts & Entenainment Blitor Lisa Gilliam Business Manager.....,., ^........... MicheHe Drake Photographer ....Jenny Ahier, Abby Spencer Reponers Jenny Altier, Alexia Andrews, ‘ Leesha Austin, Jenni Brady, Jenny Costa, Stephanie Jordan, Nikki Norris, Jessica Parrish, Betsy Rhame, Kristin Schneider, Joni Smith. Harmony Su'ong, Tracy Sumner, Lora Tillman, TaneshaWiliiams, Lisa Wilson Distribution .: Lora Tillman, Alexia Andrews, Jenni Brady Subscriptions ........... Nikki Norris & Kristin Schneider Faculty Adviser, _...Dr. Rebecca Duncan Editorial Policy: The Meredith Herald is published by Ihe College throughout the academic year. The paper is funded by the College and through independent adverti.sing. The opinions expressed in the editorial columns do not necessarily reflect tho.se of the college administra tion. faculty, or student body. How to reach the Herald: If you have a ariiclc idea for the staff, contact the office at 760- 2824. You can also e-mail the paper at maxwelll@meredith.edu>. All ideas will be considered but may not necessarily be u.sed. Letters to the editor: students speak Meredith lacks enough parking Dear Editor; 1 am writing this letter to express my frustration and con cern with parking lot regula tions. I have received two tickets within 24 hours from the same officer. I understand that there are certain places that should and shouldn't be parked in. However, upon arriving to school the past two mornings (once at 11:30 a.m. and once at 9:15 a.m), I was unable to find a resident parking space avail able in the B&G lot, where I am supposed to park. I circled the lot twice. I had class at noon on Wednesday and at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday-1 received a ticket on Thursday at 10:49 a.m. 1 parked my car at 9:15 a.m. and did not get out of class until 12:30 p.m. It was at this time that I returned to the parking lot and found yet another ticket on my car. 1 did ni^t have the time to wait in the parking lot in the hopes that someone would leave. My first obligation to this school is of an academic nature. I have paid $150 in order to have a parking space for this school year. 1 am more than willing to admit when 1 have parked in a commuter spot for conve nience’s sake. However, I have not parked in such a space for those reasons the past two times. I don’t think it is fair to expect students to pay the price of a $25 parking ticket when there are clearly not enough parking spaces available. I am more than willing to call cam pus police to let them know that there are no spaces if that is what needs to be done. Once again, I am more than willing to move my car when a space is available, but I cannot do so if it interferes with my classes. I'm open to any sug gestions. Sincerely, Sherry Stephens Campus not diverse by any standards Dear Editor: I was going to write a response to the article referring to America as a melting pot ("Is the U.S. still a melting pot?,” Feb. 16); I did not agree on all of the author’s state ments. Then something happened on Saturday, Feb. 19 that may help the author .see where her thinking is flawed. On Saturday night, someone singled out a candidate who is running for SGA office and trashed her hall. Why is this so surprising? She is the only minority candidate running for any office. The surprising thing is that you would not know that .she was a minority unless she told you. Her name is Chassie Deitz, and she is Cherokee Indian. I only bring this up because one day, while eating in the cafeteria, I overhead someone talking about the candidates for SGA president and, sad to say. one person said, “You know Inclement Weather Policy Decisions to change the College’s operating hours or to cancel classes due to adverse weather condi tions are made by appropriate members of the Senior Management Team. Once a decision has been made, the information is immediately updat ed on Meredith’s inclement weather line, 760-2384. Notice of cancellations and delays are also phoned in to WRAL-TV 5 (or check the WRAL website at www.wral-tv.com/contents>) and to other local television and radio stations as time allows. she’s Indian, don’t you?” America, as well as Mered ith, has a long way to go with diversity. Our goal is to be not a melting pot but rather a tossed salad. Each part of Ihe salad retains its own identity and flavor, yet each adds some thing special. It is so special that there would be no salad without each individual part. However, at times, people refuses to view things that way. Some may choose to throw out the cucumbers, others the tomatoes and still some the let tuce. Each one refuses to see that when placed all together, it is much more enriched. The saddest part of all this is that everyone claims to be diverse. Therefore, as vice president for the Association for Cultural Awareness, 1 chal lenge each and every student, faculty and staff member at Meredith College to break down these barriers. I challenge each person to have a meaningful conversa tion with someone of a differ ent ethnic group. Get to know that person. Find out their background and aspirations. Maybe you will find out that we are all the same. Sincerely, Carolina Crumel Correction: Last week’s Campus Briefs column incorrectly stated the chair of the Inaugural Steering Committee. The committee chairs are trustees Virginia Parker and Eugene Langley. Letters to the Editor Policy: Everyone in the IvTerediih community is invited and encouraged to write a letter to the editor. All published letters must be typewritten 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 submissions on file until need ed or to choose not to print them. The Herald also has the right to edit submissions for space restrictions, grammar and style. Opinions expressed in the letters do not represent the opinions of the editorial staff.
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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Feb. 23, 2000, edition 1
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