THE HERALD
September 17,2014
FYE Classes Give Back
Olivia Hanley, staff writer
On Sept. 10, the First
Year Experience classes
brought in small white girls’
tennis shoes to decorate.
Students decorated the shoes
with Sharpie markers and
then packed them up to go
all the way to Ghana with the
2015 Meredith College Service
Trip to Accra. There, they will
be distributed among villagers
in need, along with eyeglasses.
Healthcare and medical atten
tion and educational opportu
nities will also be available to
villagers.
FYE students usually
participate in a service event
like this one. Previous events
include a 24-hour Rock-a-thon
to raise money for Meredith’s
Tide of Hope Tsunami Relief
Efforts and an 11-hour Brick-
a-thon to raise money Tor a
Meredith-sponsored Habitat-
for Humanity House. But does
decorating tennis shoes stand
up to the legacy other service
projects that Meredith
freshmen have participated in
the past?
An anonymous teach
er’s assistant from an FYE
class gave her thoughts on the
matter, saying perhaps this is
not the case.’T just worry that
we’ve started to think more
on whether our service proj
ects are fun for the volunteers
than on whether we’re really
striving to make a difference,”
she said. “These little girls in
Ghana are going to be getting
shoes, yes, and some would
argue that’s all that matters.
But they’re getting shoes that
have been decorated by wom
en in another country who
have the time and money to sit
down and have fun decorating
these shoes before they donate
them.” She argued that the
volunteers don’t know who
their pair of shoes is going to or
if that girl will like the design;
they’re just enjoying the “fun”
of the service project. When
asked how she would change
the project, she replied, “Let’s
spend our volunteer efforts on
raising money, and send twice
as many shoes to Ghana—and
while we’re at it, why not send
photo: Julia Dent
the girls there the markers so
that they can enjoy decorating
their shoes the way they want
them?”
Whether they get to
decorate their own shoes or
not, the girls in Ghana will def
initely be glad for the volun
teer effort of the FYE classes
of Meredifh College. Keep up
the good work. Class of 2018!
Summer Research Sets Meredith Students Apart
Bri Crumbley, staff writer
There are many opportunities available to students from the moment they set foot onto campus, and this summer 20 Meredith
College women were given the chance to pursue their academic interests through the Undergraduate Research Program’s Summer
Research Partnership.
The research program as a whole guides Meredith students to not only acquire knowledge but to find confidence in their ability
to share and present ideas. The program’s director Dr. Paul Winterhoff believes that at Meredith, “the depth and quality of personal
interactions between faculty and students in doing undergraduate research is exceptional.” He also finds that “the particular advan
tage for attainment of a liberal education of both depth and breadth serves students well throughout their lives.”
In supervising this year’s researchers, Winterhoff was “struck by the particular focused engagement of the group and their
willingness to ask each other questions, try to get to a deeper understanding of each ofhers’ research and fhe particular challenges
they faced. “ Adding that the “willingness to work, to discover, to fail and come back up more focused and determined make the SRP
program a joy.“
This year’s group included a wide range of projects. Research partners focused on bettering our understanding of humanity
through analysis of the representation of women in media, searching for the essence of female identity, investigating men’s roles in
American trafficking or expanding on the previously published Status of Girls report.
In the natural sciences, some researchers spent their summers observing clams, analyzing weather patterns, extracting dyes
from fruits and vegetables and developing plastics, while others participated in the Environmental Sustainability Initiative and men
tored students from the North Carolina School of Science and Math in sustainability-related research projects. To learn more about
the projects completed this summer and see what Undergraduate Research is all about, stop by and check out Taste of Research,
today at 4 p.m. in Carlyle Campbell Library.
STAFF
Editors: Julia Dent, Editor in Chief. Marlena Brown, Managing Editor. Cody Jeffrey, Assistant Editor. Stephanie Livesay, Layout Editor.
Monique Kreisman, News Editor. Kelly Wallace, A&E Editor. Fantasia Evans, Editorials Editor. Rachel Pratl, Online Editor
Staff Writers: Hayden Hains, Olivia Hanley, Kiara Glover, Lensey Wilson, Sarah Marshall, Anna Cheshire, Bri Crumbley
The Meredith Herald is produced by the College throughout the academic year and published by Hinton Press. The paper is funded by the College
and through independent advertising. The opinions expressed in the editorial columns do not necessarily reflect those of the college administration,
faculty, or student body. The policy of this paper requires that submissions be made by 5:00 p.m. the Thursday before publication and that contribu
tors sign all submissions and provide necessary contact information. The editors and staff welcome submissions meeting the above guidelines.