THE MEREDITH
HERALD
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February 13, 2019
IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS
The State of the Republican
Party
Rep. Allison Dhale
2020 Candidate Guide
A&E
Dark Humor in Cartoons
On the Basis of Sex Review
Valentine's Day Comic
OPINIONS
Health Services at Meredith
Seniors'Viewpoints on Graduation's New Venue
By Ashley Ricks, Staff Writer
The class of 2019 will be
starting a new tradition this year,
which has resulted in mixed emo
tions among seniors. Earlier this
school year, Meredith announced
graduation will no longer be at
Dorton Arena; instead it will be held
at NC State’s Reynolds Coliseum.
Although Reynolds Coliseum seems
to be a step up from Dorton Arena,
there has been a voicing of com
plaints among students. However,
a few students are applauding the
news of a new graduation arena.
is welcoming the move with open
arms. Landis claimed that “one of
the jobs the marshalls took on was
to help these people not miss [their]
daughter, or some cases son, walk
across the stage. No one should be
so hot that they have to worry about
missing their family member cross.”
The heat was no longer a matter of
convenience, but also a safety matter.
Landis said there was a heat-related
medical emergency during the class
of 20i8’s graduation. The majority
of students walking this May agree
Annie Get Your
Gun Review
By Yajaira Ramos-
Ramirez, Staff Writer,
and Mimi Mays, Associ
ate Editor
This week frorh Feb. 13 to 17,
the Meredith College Theatre will
present Annie Get Your Gun, written
by playwrights Herbert and Dorothy
Fields with music and lyrics by
Irving Berlin. Annie Get Your Gun is a
musical that focuses on the life and
legacy of Annie Oakley, a champion
female sharpshooter and a star of
Buffalo Bills Wild West show, which
toured all around the United States
and Europe. Annie Oakley was bom
Photo credit: The Huffington Post
Callie Crawford, a pro-Reynolds
senior, said, “When I went to gradu
ation last year, I could barely hear
the commencement speaker due to
the inadequate sound system.” Ac
cording to a Meredith staff member,
Dorton Arena’s sound system is one
of the reasons Meredith opted to
change graduation locations. Craw
ford expressed further gratitude for
the change because Reynolds has air
conditioning, while Dorton does not.
Crawford is not the only one who
is excited to see graduation being
moved to an air conditioned build
ing.
Briana Landis, a senior at
Meredith who serves on the Inter
collegiate Student Advisory Board,
that Dorton Arena is too hot to be a
graduation venue, but many students
are still upset with the new location.
Most of the objections are a
result of the new ticket policy. Due
to the layout and size of Reynolds
Coliseum, graduates are only granted
7 tickets. A well-involved senior at
Meredith who wished to stay anony
mous was especially dismayed by the
limited ticket policy. She said, “It does
not accommodate many graduates’
families and puts students in a posi
tion to exclude. Knowing that Dorton
Arena has always offered Meredith
students unlimited guests, it should
have been a priority to find a location
that matched this precedent.” Yessy
Anorve-Basoria, a senior with a large
family, said the ticket policy will cre
ate family drama because who she
decides to bring yvill show disrespect
to the other family members who
were not asked to come. In contrast
to Anorve-Basoria, Landis believes
graduates will be able to include
everyone at graduation, regardless
of the ticket policy, because students
who are not using all their tickets are
allowed to give their tickets to other
graduates who need more.
Although the majority of
graduates are upset about the new
ticket policy, some students are more
upset about the location of gradua- •
tion. Caitlin Chastain, a graduating
senior, was upset that Meredith’s
graduation is being held on NC
State’s campus. Chastain commented,
“I feel like Meredith girls are always
having to fight this battle with people
because they can’t wrap their head
around women’s colleges. So there is
this weird attitude that we are just a
big sorority off of NC State’s campus.”
A Meredith staff member
who knew about the details of the
decision mentioned faculty and staff
were faced with a tough decision on
deciding where to move graduation
once realizing Dorton Arena could
no longer be an option. Staff wanted
a convenient graduation location that
would be able to fit in the budget,
while also being available on the day
of graduation. Reynolds Coliseum
was the location that best fit the
needs for Meredith’s graduation, and
at the end of the day, everyone will be
crossing the stage in a Meredith cap
and gown.
Anna Brescia as Annie Oakley.
Photo by Laney Flaugher.
in Darke County, Ohio on Aug. 13,
i860. Her childhood was marked
by the death of her father when she
was six years old and by her family’s
financial struggles. At the young
age of 15, Annie was able to pay the
mortgage on her mother’s house by
using her father’s old Kentucky rifle
to hunt animals, which she then
sold to a local grocery store. Annie’s
tenacity and sharp skills did not
go unnoticed by the public as she
gained fame for her aim. Another
prominent sharpshooter, Frank
Butler, also became entranced by
her skills and eventually became her
husband.
Annie went on to have a
stellar career as her presence and
exquisite shooting skills earned her
the position of star of Buffalo Bill's
Wild West show. Annie drew large
crowds and wowed thousands with
her markswoman skills, surpassing
even those of her love, Frank Butler.
Annie has been the focus of many
adaptations due to her incredible
legacy, including Annie Get Your
Gun, which was first adapted into
a Broadway musical in 1946. The
musical had a long run, ending with
an astounding 1,147 performances.
The show was an absolute hit and
is still attracting audiences today
with many revivals of the Broadway
show. Meredith College Theatre has
chosen to adapt the 1999 version of
the musical, especially due to the
political incorrectness of the original.
According to Professor Cathy
Rodgers, liberties were taken in the
story, as historically Annie Oakley
and Frank Butler fell in love soon
after their first shooting competition,
whereas the musical focuses on the
adversity between the two characters
as Frank struggles with the idea of
Annie being a better sharpshooter
than him.
Annie Get Your Gun as shown
here at Meredith is a fun ride that
showcases stunning scenes and
musical numbers. The show’s set
and lighting design transports the
audience to the Wild West and
makes one feel like a spectator at
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. The
cast puts forth a consistently lively
and engaging performance, and,
luckily, the ensemble’s often-clumsy
dancing perfectly suits the scruffy
personality of the ragtag players. Not
one moment is boring, as humor is
interlaced with the realistic dilemma
Annie is met with throughout
the show: living up to her label
of best sharpshooter in the world
or letting the title go to please the
prideful Frank that refuses to lose
to a girl. Professor Cathy Rodgers
says about the show, it “is in essence
a .celebration of an extraordinary
woman and her marksmanship, but
is also an acknowledgement of the
enduring love between two people.”
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