Meredith
February 19,2003
Herald
Volume XVIV, Issue 19
SGA reviews alcohol surveys and
recommends no immediate changes
SGA to present rec
ommendation to the
Board of Trustees
next week.
TIFFANY ADAMS
Managing Editor ^
Meredith's Student
Government Association
(SGA) has been very busy
this year dealing with con
troversial issues that direct
ly affect the Meredith com
munity.
Last summer, the Board
of Trustees made three
changes to the existing
alcohol policy. First, the
President's home is to be
considered "off campus."
Second, faculQ',,staff and
alumnae will be permitted
to have alcohol at off-cam-
pus, college-sponsored
events. Finally, study
abroad students will follow
the laws of the country in
which they are studying.
In response to these
changes, the Board of
Trustees requested that
SGA examine how students
feel about the current poli
cy. After researching other
schools' policies and ana
lyzing our current policy
during the fall semester
SGA compiled an alcohol
survey. Surveys were dis
tributed to all Meredith stu
dents on Jan. 23, and the
deadline for completion
was Jan. 28. Since then,
SGA has been busy tabulat
ing the resuhs so it can
. present them to the
Meredith community and
the Board of Trustees. Beth
Brown, Student Life Chair,
stated, "Compiling the
results was tedious work;
however, the resuhs were
very surprising/'
Out of the surveys dis
tributed 276 were returned.
The results are as follows:
1. Should Meredith
Remain Dry?
Agree Strongly 40%
Agree Somewhat 15%
Disagree Somewhat 12%
Disagree Strongly 32%
Not Sure 1%
2. Should Meredith stu
dents have memento bot
tles?
Agree Strongly 58%
Agree Somewhat 21%
Disagree Somewhat 5%
Disagree Strongly 13%
Not Sure 3%
3. Should students over 21
be able to drink on cam
pus?
Agree Strongly 39%
Agree Somewhat 12%
Disagree Somewhat 8%
Disagree Strongly 37%
Not Sure 4%
4. Should students over 21
be able to drink at college
fimctions?
Agree Strongly...33%
Agree Somewhat... 18%
Disagree Somewhat... 14%
Disagree Strongly...33%
Not Sure...2%
5. Should the alcohol poli
cy as stated remain the
same?
Agree Strongly...22%
Agree Somewhat... 12%
Disagree Somewhat...18%
Disagree Strongly...43%
Not Sure...5%
The SGA Executive
Committee closely exam
ined these results and came
to the conclusion that since
the results of the survey
were not conclusive one
way or the other, it is in the
college's best interest that
the policy remains as stat
ed. These results and the
SGA recommendation will
be presented to the Board
of Trustees meeting on Feb.
28.
Due to some of the writ
ten responses on the sur
veys, the SGA Executive
Committee feels that there
are certain aspects of the
policy that are not clear. On
the survey, students had the
misconception tiiat shot
glasses and other drink
related glassware are not
allowed in the dorms. After
consuhing with Residence
Director Heidi LeCount,
SGA determined that these
items are not prohibited by
the current policy and
therefore are permissible in
the dorms.
The other misconception
revealed by the surveys
was the belief that it is an
honor code violation to
return to campus having
consumed alcohol despite a
student's age. According to
SGA, this is certainly not
the case, and any student
who has consumed alcohol
is highly encouraged to
return to campus rather
than spend the night off
campus regardless of her
age. However, it does
become an Honor Code
violation if the student is
driving while under the
influence or acting in a dis
ruptive manner on campus
or outside of Meredith.
A more detailed explana
tion of the survey results,
the SGA recommendation
and these misconceptions
will be given at the Free
Your Mind Forum in Belk
Dining Hall on Feb. 25 at 6
p.m.
Another issue tackled by
SGA this year has been the
student non-discrimination
policy. Early last semester
faculty proposed to^ihange
their policy to include the
phrase "sexual orientation."
Senior Management asked
SGA to examine the stu
dent policy to see if such a
change was in order. The
Student Life Committee
researched the policies at
other colleges and universi
ties and recommended that
the SGA Executive
Committee pursue this
change in Meredith's cur
rent student policy.
This week, the Elections
Board held a referendum
during campus-wide elec
tions to obtain student
opinion on this possible
change.
The SGA Executive
Committee will take these
results into consideration as
it formulates its recommen
dation on this issue to the
Board of Trustees.
See Alcohol
Page 2
On the inside;
Did you miss the Founders’ Learn about the Career The tennis team gets ready
Day convocation? I^nd out Center’s Mock Interview for their spring season,
about It on Week.
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