News
Meredith College Political Science Poll
Laura Douglass, Layout Editor
2016 is going to be a huge year for both
politics and women’s rights. With Hillaiy Clin
ton as the expected presidential front-runner,
it is essential to understand the opinions that
citizens have of women in political office, which
includes both positive benefits and negative
consequences.
The first week of February, Dr. David
McLennan and Dr. Whitney Manzo of the Mer
edith Political Science department gathered
twenty students to learn more about North
Carolinians’ attitudes towards women as politi
cal leaders. Students called voters from all over
the state of North Carolina. Each call was set up
on a survey taking system, which allowed their
demographics to be taken into account.
“We wanted to discover the attitudes of
voters in the state about women leaders—their
characteristics, strengths and challenges,” said
McLennan.
That’s what they did. Students talked
to everyone from feminists to male chauvinists.
People were honest, which was the goal.
“I thought the poll was very successful,”
McLennan said. “It was the first in what I hope
is a series of polls that establishes Meredith as
a place that studies important issues involv
ing women and develops programs to address
these problems.”
The intention is for the poll to be yearly.
With women serving in office in higher num
bers, it’s predicted that North Carolinians will
become more content with the idea. McLennan
stated that he expects to see a shift in opinion.
The results of the poll should be published
on the Meredith College website and elsewhere
in early March.
“Once we finish analyzing the results,
we release the results to journalists around the
state, lawmakers, and women’s organizations.
The hope is that the issue of women’s under
representation in elected offices will become a
more prominent issue and more women, who
see that the public values them as leaders, de
cide to run for office more frequently.”
More Deaths by ISIL
Sona Salahuddin, Contributing Writer
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Le
vant, also known as ISIL or ISIS, has caused
much chaos in the past month. In early Febru
ary, ISIL released a video of Moaz al-Kassah-
beh, a Jordanian pilot, being burned alive in a
cage. The 26-year-old pilot was taken hostage
in Syria after his jet crashed there in late De
cember. Al-Kassahbeh was participating in
the U.S.-led bombing raids in Syria and is the
first of the U.S.-led group to be captured. In
response, there were three days of traditional
public mourning by Jordanians who have ex
pressed their grief and anger at this event.
Jordan has also responded by executing two of
their prisoners who were said to be linked to Al-
Qaeda. They have also sent dozens of airstrikes
over Syria and Iraq against the ISIL targets. Re
cently, Bahrain has also pledged to aid Jordan
in the fight against ISIL by providing Bahraini
Defense Forces for them.
ISIL then released a video in mid-Feb
ruary showing their fighters beheading 21 Egyp
tian Christians who were kidnapped in Libya.
The 21 victims were mainly young men who
travelled to Libya for work and were kidnapped
in December and January from the city of Sirte.
In response to the video, Egypt has banned its
citizens from travelling to Libya. The day after
the release of the video, Egyptians jets started
bombing ISIL targets in Libya. This is just one
of many events in which ISIL has been killing
hostages. The group has already beheaded three
Americans, two Japanese hostages and two
British aid workers in recent months. U.S.- led
air strikes against the terrorist group has killed
1600 people in the past couple of months; the
majority of them were members of the group,
and 62 of them were civilians.
via Getty Images
Communication Club Tours UNC-TV
Kat Bonner, Contributing Writer
On Feb. 21, members of the Meredith
College Communication Club got up bright
and early to volunteer at UNC-TV from 7:30
a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The club traveled to the
TV station in Durham and went through a brief
training before going into the studio to answer
phones.
Last year, the club also volunteered with
UNC-TV. They loved it so much that they de
cided to return. This volunteer experience has
led fellow Angels pursuing a communication
degree to acquire an internship with UNC-TV.
Vice President Noel Fox said, “I know it’s early
and it is hard to get up, but I had so much fun
last year, and there is free food.”
The volunteering was similar to the
phonathon here at Meredith College. Members
were answering phones in hopes that viewers
would become UNC-TV sustainers. While vol
unteering, there were a lot of children’s shows
televised. This led to an increase in kids calling
the TV station or their parents calling on behalf
of them. There were more than just Meredith
students volunteering, and it was encouraging
to see how much they loved volunteering there,
which made the experience rewarding.
The club hopes to continue to volunteer
with UNC-TV in the coming years and hopeful
ly volunteer with other companies as well. The
Communication Club has many events coming
up in the next few months. On Feb. 26, the club
toured 101.5 the radio station. On Apr. 25, the
club is also having a fundraiser at the Apple-
bee’s on Hillsborough Street from 7 a.m. until
10 a.m. They will be selling tickets the week of
Apr. 13, and there will be pancakes and other
breakfast food at the fundraiser. More informa
tion will come in the next few months, so mark
your calendars now!
For more information about all of the
events and fundraisers, follow the Communica
tion Club on Facebook and Twitter @MereCo-
ComClub.
via Noel Fox