Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Sept. 19, 2007, edition 1 / Page 2
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EDITORIALS September 19,2007 Convocations at Meredith: Do We Need This Many? Whitney Wilson Staff Writer Year after year, Meredith College invites many prestigious speak ers to campus to speak about national and global issues. Most, if not all, of these events will count for convocation credit. For any new students who may not understand the convocation require ment at Meredith the process is quite simple. Each student must attend at least twelve convoca tions, write about each one (using the template on the general educa tion website), and get her form signed by a profes sor (if it was done for a class) or by her advisor. While many students do attend the convoca tions and enjoy them, students don't have enough time to write about them. It is impor tant to stretch our intel lectual muscles and push ourselves to dig deeper into issues that matter; however, after writing papers for class, students feel as if there is noth ing left to dig into, not to mention time to write it down. Some professors real ize that they can help students by requiring students' attendance and requiring that students write about the convoca tions or by giving extra credit for attending them. It would be better if more professors on campus adopted this philoso phy. The students may not enjoy convocations at first, but when they are seniors, they will be thankful that their convo cations are already taken care of. Why would a senior be relieved? Students without twelve convoca tions accounted for in the Office of the Registrar will not be able to gradu ate, even if they have all of their credits and have maintained a relatively high G.P.A. The foundation of this requirement is under standable; Meredith wants its graduates to have challenged them selves during their time at the college. Convocation require ments do seem like a potential solution because they bring to the campus a variety of people from different backgrounds, all talking about a wide range of topics. While students may go to convocations and wrestle with new ideas, others may not have been intellectually involved at all. The stu dents will still leave and write about the event to get the credit, but doing so becomes just another thing on the "to-do" list That is the real prob lem: Challenging our minds should not be considered a chore. It should not be a require ment to listen to talks or watch documentaries that present a new lens through which to view life. It should be some thing that students want to do. The challenge should begin in the classroom. Professors give the warm-ups for stretching students' thinking. Some professors have lost their creativity and passion for learning, and that makes students in their classes not want to leam or pay attention. The students need the professors to get them interested. The last part comes down to the student. If the professors are intro ducing new philosophies in the classroom, the students must educate themselves outside of the classroom to go beyond their professors' outlook and find a new one. Last fall, Meredith invited David Faber, a Jewish man who sur vived the Holocaust, to speak, and it counted for convocation credit. While he did have a strong accent, making it somewhat difficult to understand him, his talk was amazing. He talked about being a young boy in the Holocaust and losing his whole family. The lecture was interest ing and relevant to what we as students leam in the classroom. It was not a required convocation, but Jones Chapel was packed even up in the balcony. During Cancer Awareness Week, my freshman year, the awareness team put together "Cancer Testimonies," where dif ferent people who had experiences with cancer came to share their sto ries. At the end, we all lit candles for people who have died from can cer. It was more than a convocation; it was the Meredith community coming together to say that there is hope in a sometimes unbearable fight. Convocations, them selves, are not bad. The requirement of them, however, does not make students welcome new ideas and broaden their thinking. When it becomes something that we have to do, rather than something we want to do, it loses its signifi cance in our lives. And, just out of curi osity, where did the number requirement of twelve come from? Is there something magical about twelve? I mean, I know that Jesus had twelve disciples, but is that any reason to require students to do twelve convocations? Maybe it is referring to the num- Convocations cont. on Pg-4 Star Tech What's new for iPod? It might be easier to answer, "What's not?" Either way, one thing's for sure: Apple's design department has been mighty busy of late. All versions of the iPod— shuffle, nano, classic and touch—have been revamped, reworked and restyled to create "the best iPods ever," as Apple's official website claims. Apple's tiniest iPod, the shuffle, is now avail able in four new col ors: red, purple, blue and green; the familiar silver is also avail able. Also new is a handy built-in clip that allows shuffle owners to attach their iPods to belt clips, sleeves, or any place that's handy. At $79, shuffle is iPod's most affordable variety. Shuffle holds 240 songs, weighs only 0.55 ounces and measures 1.07 inches by 1.62 inches, so this iPod may be the way to go for those who want to listen to music without messing with a bulky player. Next up: iPod nano. Nano now includes video capability, so owners can watch their favorite television shows and movies, as well as enjoy their audio collections. Apple's Cover Flow application makes find ing the right album easy {and fun). Nano's dis play is now 65% brighter than that of the previous version, so everything's clearer. With a new, rounder shape, 4GB and 8GB models (starting at $149)' and five colors to Chelsea McGlaughlin Staff Writer choose from, nano offers plenty of options. iPod classic: its thin ner, all-metal design gives a fresh spin on an old favorite. Choose 80GB ($249) or splurge for the 160GB model ($349) to store up to 20,000 songs or 400 hours of video. Its new inter face includes Cover Flow; three games are pre-pro grammed (buy more on iTunes). View audio books and photos, sub scribe to d^y podcasts; buy movies, music, or episodes of your favor ite television shows on iTunes and enjoy them on the classic. Classic offers it all in a relatively small package; this iPod weighs less than five oimces. iPod touch: the sleek touch screen technology of iPhone coupled with more room for the music. Choose 8GB ($299) or 16GB ($399), watch vid eos on the generous 3.5 inch widescreen, and browse the internet with Apple's first Wi-Fi iPod. Need to expand your music library? Try Apple's new iTunes Wi Fi Music Store. Choose iPod touch and enjoy cut- ting-edge technology. Visit http://www. apple.com/ to get all the information about Apple's newest iPod fam- ily Note from the editor: This is the second of a weekly column dealing with the latest in technology and offered by our resident student expert: Chelsea McGlaughlin. If you have ideas for gadgets you can’t live without, please send an email to the columnist, and she will consider your technological favorite for an upcoming column.
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