Meredith Herald Volume XVII, Issue 6 Educating Women to Excel September 27,2000 On the inside: I Vice presidential finalists visit campus □ Summer study abroad took students to Asia. Page 2 □ Families spend a day at Meredith. Page 3 □ Volleyball, tennis teams face tough loss es. Page 5 □ Meredith Performs pre sents two plays. Page 8 Meredith Herald at Meredith College 3800 Hillsborough St. Raleigh, NC 27607 (919) 760-2824 FAX (919) 760-2869 max welll @meredith.edu D Faculty, staff met the three final candidates. Lindsey McAdams Staff Wnter The search for a new Vice President of Business and Finance continued this past week with the interviews and visits of the finalists. The initial 30 applicants have been whittled down to three finalists. They are Robert Hune, Ken Mullins and Bill Wade. According to President Maureen Hartford, “Any one of the three can definitely do the job. We’re looking for the best man," On Wednesday, Sept. 13 and Friday, Sept. 15, the first two candidates met with faculty and staff members, in addition to having interviews with the search committee. Wednesday. Sept. 20, administration, faculty and staff met with Mullins. Finan cial Aid, Admissions and the 23+ Program were among the programs represented. The meeting lasted from 2:30-3:30 and was held in 214 Harris. The need for a new Vice President arose after the resig nation of Chuck Taylor. Vice President for Academic Affairs Rosalind Reichard, chair of the search committee, said, “The position of vice president for Business and Finance is open because Charles Taylor, who occupied that position through July 1, resigned from the position to accept a similar position at another college.” The search officially began in May when Hartford formed a committee. Faculty representatives were Dr. Susan Wessels, business department, and Dr. Toni Park er, education department, and the .staff representative was Maripat Plocki of the Office of Human Resources. Dr. LaRose Spooner, vice president of Hartford addresses area businesswomen Jenny Costa News Editor Dr. Maureen Hartford, presi dent, spoke to 40 members of the Business and Professional Women’s group at the Embassy Suites-Crabtree on Tuesday night. Her message centered on the question of why women aren’t at the top of their careers today. She cited several things that have hindered the professional advancement of women in the past, focusing on the fact that women are forced to make more sacrifices than men when trying to enter the same fields. Women must chose whether or not to get married and have children or pursue a career and forsake those things that are traditional female roles, she said. She noted that it is the func tion of women's colleges and ‘good old gal’ networks to teach the next generation of women that “all options are open for them.” She also brought the ever increasing field of technology to the forefront of her discus sion. She said that the mate domi nated realm of computer start ups is something for women to fear because they could easily be left behind. That is why Meredith is becoming an IBM campus in the fall of 2001, Hartford said. Every incoming student will receive an IBM ThinkPad to help curve the male dominated technology trend. And that is exactly what the Business and Professional Women/ Raleigh do. The national BPW was established in 1919 a year before women were allowed to vote. "Our mission has only changed slightly with the Please see HARTFORD Marketing, was a vice-presi dential representative. Reichard was the committee chair and another vice presi dent representative. Jay Hart ford was the committee's con sultant. Mullins has been working in the finance department at Elon College for the past eight years. He received a degree in corporate finance from the University of Toledo. His former jobs include managing the budget and head of human resources at the Uni versity of Detroit Medical Cen ter He is most proud of the fact that he rewrote the human resources policies and hand book while working in Detroit. This handbook included the wages, salary and benefits plan. When asked by Dr. Garry Walton, department of English, how he perceives Meredith, Mullins replied that the school has a very good student popu lation. He said, “Meredith College is at a point with great opportu nities in many areas.” He thinks the key lies in getting resources, the most important being money. While he viewed the college in a positive light, he fell there were areas that needed improvement. These areas include technology and the lack of out-of-state recruit ment. Mullins suggested that Meredith make more of its pro grams and services available on the Internet, “E-commerce, part of the web, a big part, is just something we’re going to have to do or fall behind.” Another candidate. Bill Wade, is currently Meredith’s interim vice president for Busi ness and Finance. The duties of the vice presi dent for Business and Finance include human resources and primary financial operation. The committee expects to make a decision by the begin ning of October. page nve Meredith’s newest club encompasses all Tanfsha Williams Statl Wfiter Its purpose is to provide a support group for all members of the campus community who have concerns regarding issues of sexual orientation and to provide an educational forum that will inform the campus on issues pertinent to this group. Its rationale is that it will help Meredith achieve the goal of being a college that fosters integrity, personal growth, independence, justice and com passion. Its name is Spectrum, and it is the gay-straight alliance on Meredith's campus. Spectrum had its first meet ing on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Gay and straight students attended the meeting with Dr. Betty Webb of the English depart ment, the group's adviser. Webb expressed her satisfac tion with the club’s first meet ing. “I was delighted with the turnout,” says Webb. “It sort of validated the need for such an organization.” The meeting was composed of questions that affect the gay/ lesbian/ bisexual community. Some of these questions included issues regarding sexu al terms such as “gay,” “les bian” and “straight.” In addi tion to discussions, the group also watched clips from three movies dealing with transgen- der issues. Before the club was official ly acknowledged, Webb noted that students often visited the Please see SPECTRUM page five