Meredith Herald
April 12, 2000
6
Campus Opinion
Fire should be a wake-up
From the
It’s happened again. UNC-Chapel Hill, Seton Hall Universiiy-
and now Meredith is added to the list of schools who have been
put in dangerous situations because of fires.
Fires have been the cause of many a
concern on college campuses, and in recent
months it has especially been in the news
I Editor since the death of three Seton Hall students
— I in a January blaze.
Here at Meredith, this fire should
prompt an investigation into the policies that we live by in our res
idence halls. Students have questioned them all year: it is now
time for college officials to question them as well.
While there is no official word on what caused Monday’s fire,
it seems that a carelessly disposed of cigarette is the most likely
culprit for the trash-can fire.
This most likely scenario leads to several questions that deserve
answering: Why is it OK to smoke in dormitories but not have
unlit, never-been-lit candles in the rooms? It seems much more
logical to either permit both or ban both. While a lit candle is cer
tainly not safe, neither is a used match or a cigarette butt, and the
most logical solution seems to be to ban both smoking in the dor
mitories and having candles in the dormitories.
With ashtrays located outside every dorm and the warm weath
er we've experienced lately, there are no excuses for inappropriate
disposals of cigarettes. Indeed, even running water over the butt or
the match prevents any reignition of the embers.
Thus, resident students should challenge the Office of Resi
dence Life to develop consistent, fair policies. While new policies
wiU not prevent the possibility of future fires, stricter regulations
on smoking in the dormitories can create a safer, healthier living
environment for all resident students.
In making stricter policies. Residence Life will not be exclud
ing smokers or denying them rights; they will be including all res
idents in their considerations. Indeed, Residence Life would be
denying rights to nonsmokers by insisting that smoking be per
mitted in residence halls.
While an occurance like this should never have happened, if it
causes an impetus for a change in the policies, then such a change
may be the only good of the fire.
Campus forum
Meredith Herald
Editor in Chief. Leslie Maxwell
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Thanks to campus
for caring friends
Dear Editor;
I had originally planned to
write a thank-you letter on
behalf of Stacy Hudson’s
friends. However, since the fire
in Heilman Monday morning,
it seems as if a joint ihank-you
letter is due to some very spe
cial angels.
First of all, I would like to
thank the individuals who
helped us, Stacey’s friends and
acquaintances, get through the
events of last week. Without
the support given during the
week, especially during the
wake and the funeral. I am sure
(he angels involved would have
barely made it through these
events.
But the good news is that we
did make it through with a little
help from friends. These
friends included: Sam
Carothers, campus minister;
Lea Metz, residence director;
Dr, Jean Jackson, vice presi
dent for Student Development;
Lori Ann Stretch, Counseling
Center; Beth Meier, director of
the Counseling Center; Ann
Gleason, dean of students; and
all the other angels who helped
us gel throughout he days fol
lowing Stacy’s homecoming to
heaven.
Second, I would like to
thank all the angels who helped
Heilman residents get through
the fire early Monday morning.
These angels included: Presi
dent Maureen Hanford and her
husband Jay; Dr. Jean Jackson;
Dr. Murphy Osborne, vice
president for Institutional
Advancement; Mr. Charles
Taylor, executive vice presi
dent; Dr. Allen Page, dean of
Undergraduate Instruction;
Ann Glea.son; Sam Carothers;
Charlene Gaines, director of
Residence Life; Michelle
Ahcron, Lea Metz, Regina
Mack. Sarah Isham and Ebony
Williams, residence directors;
Jeannie Morelock, director of
Marketing and Communica
tions; Brandi Orbin, assistant
director of Marketing and
Communications; the resident
assistants of Heilman; Mered
ith’s .security and Campus
Police; the residence hall fire
marshals and especially the
Raleigh fire fighters
However, as a resident of
first Heilman, I would like to
extend a special thank you to a
marvelous RA and caring
friend, Krystal Tyndall. Krys
tal's leadership helped a lot of
us make it through the chaotic
morning. If I have overlooked
anyone, I say thank you to you
as well.
Sometimes individuals walk
through life and take for grant
ed the most important aspects
of life. Since the events of the
past week, I’ll try not to let a
day pass without living life to
the fullest and giving thanks
and praise where it is rightly
due. I urge all who read this to
do the same. Tell those you
care for how much they mean
to you every day. After all, we
never know when the time will
come for us to leave this world.
In closing, I would just like
to leave these questions; Have
we made a difference in a per
son’s life? Do those people we
love know how we feel about
them? Life is too short for the
answer of either of these ques
tions to be no.
\God Bless Always,
Jackie Lynn Schmidt
Opinion: Don’t set beauty standards
Joni Smith
staff Writer
How many times do you
look at yourself in the mirror
and long to be just a couple of
pounds lighter? Do you ever
look at the cover of Mademoi
selle and wonder how those
super models look like that?
If you have you are not
alone. One in three college ^
women does not feel comfort
able about her weight. The
number of eating disorders in
women age 15 to 23 is growing
every year.
Why do we allow ourselves
to be like this? Why can’t we
be happy with ourselves the
way we are? Society makes
women think that in order for
us to be considered beautiful
and attractive, we must be a
certain size. What happened to
liking someone for who they
are?
Maybe some of you received
the forwarded e-mail about
"beautiful women,” This for
ward consisted of facts about
women’s weight and their ideas
about what their ideal weight
is. One of the facts stated that if
Barbie were a real woman, she
would have to walk on all fours
due to her proportions. Another
fact was that most of the pic
tures of models that adorn the
cover of magazines are air-
brushed once the film is devel
oped.
So Cindy Crawford really
does have zits and Naomi
Campbell might be a size seven
rather than a size three.
For some women, there is
not an hour that goes by that
the thought of their weight
does not cross their minds. 1
hope that society realizes what
is happening to the women of
our time and goes back to oper
ating under the philosophy that
“Looks aren’t everything.” It
does not matter what other peo
ple think of you as long as you
are happy with yourself
If you do not love yourself
for who you are, how can you
ever expect anyone else to be
able to love you?
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