April 5, 2017
If You Have A Dream Job, Just Go For It Caitlyn Grimes, Contributing Writer The city of Raleigh has sparked an initiative to shop and create local, a mindset that has spread to Meredith. Senior Haleigh Leonard, was inspired by her father’s entrepreneurship, which eventually led her to create her own company “C’est La Vie Designss” her sophomore year. The innovation took off when Leonard was a Resident Assistant that wanted to decorate a unique bulletin board for her residents. She used a Silhouette Cameo machine to help her with the task, which is the very machine that she uses to create custom made decals for her customers today. Now Leonard’s company “C’est La Vie Designss” creates decals and fine goods with over 8,000+ sales nationwide. Haleigh Leonard has always wanted to contribute to her community, and in starting
this business she took an artistic approach to that role. Leonard is pursuing a double major in Fashion Merchandising and Business Administration with a minor in Marketing to deepen her knowledge of the industry. Her study abroad experiences in Paris, Beijing, and Shanghai, and her internship with Ellie Saab during Paris Fashion week, have helped her hone strategic production skills that she implements through her creations. Leonard focuses the creative development of her products for the southern/ North Carolinian audience. She takes pride in her home, which is evident in her creations; she keeps the “modern girl with southern roots” in mind as the platform of her design work. When Leonard interned with Ellie Saab, she assisted with promoting pieces tailored towards specific
communities around the world, which is a tactic she now uses to target trends geared towards her own customers. The vision for “C’est La Vie Designss” is to “stay small” which is a “shop and create local” mentality. Leonard elaborated, “Stay small because when things get bigger, you lose sight of your customer.” When asked what advice she had for the gogetter college student, Leonard said, “If you have a dream just go
Meredith Students Serve During Spring Break Sarah Smerko, Features Editor
Meredith students spent their spring break in a variety of waysrelaxing at home, vacationing with friends, and participating in national and international service trips. wTwo Meredith students, Annie Morin (Class of 2018) and Deema Sader (Class of 2019) both went on international service trips this spring. Annie went to San Pedro Sula, Honduras and Deema went to Jinotega, Nicaragua. Annie served with the organization, Blanca’s House, which has led 38 medical service trips in just 9 years.
The trip participants provided surgical care to patients needing total knee replacements, and they also performed OB/ GYN surgeries. During her time in Honduras, Annie, a Spanish major, used her Spanish to aid in interpreting between local and visiting doctors. She also had the opportunity to scrub in and observe a surgery. When asked what was the most rewarding part of her trip, Morin said, “I think the most rewarding part is just seeing a different part of the world and learning about how they live. I can say that, after seeing the Honduran hospitals, I appreciate the health care in the United States.” Deema went to Jinotega, Nicaragua on a medical and dental brigade with local college students from Meredith, William Peace University, North Carolina State University, and East Carolina University. The trip participants provided free medical and dental care for almost 1,000 people in 3 days.
They set up different stations including triage, doctor consult, dental care pharmacy, data, and charla (a learning session for adults and children about hygiene and nutrition). They also dug trenches and connected pipes from a clean water source that Global Brigades funded that will go to 5 different communities. Deema worked in triage, Shadowing the doctors, Kids Charla, and Data Informatics. When asked what was the most rewarding part of her experience, Deema responded, “The most rewarding part of this trip is that even though i felt very unqualified to do this and the language was a huge barrier that made communication harder (we had 4 translators for a group of 18 people and only 1 speaks fluent Spanish) knowing that I made a difference in people’s lives and coming out of my comfort zone and meeting all the children that are so bright was empowering.”
for it. No one knows what they are doing, but you will figure it out along the way.”
WomenofMC:Divine Dowd Sarah Smerko, Features Editor
Class of 2019 Activities: Spectrum, RHA, Residence Life (RA), Fem, and BSU Strengths: “I’m really good with people and I think I do a good job with connecting with large amounts of people who may not necessarily feel represented at Meredith. I get along with large groups of people, and I like reaching a lot of different people.” What is your favorite part about Meredith? “I really like the community. You really get to know people and make connections-whether they are other students, advisors, professors, or other faculty. It’s a very supportive community.” What is your definition of a strong Meredith woman?“ I think a strong Meredith woman is someone who puts in effort and is also strong for others. It’s one thing to be strong for yourself, but to try to work towards helping others is an even stronger move.”
News Neurodiversity Night Rachel Crawford, News Editor On Thursday, March 23, at 6 pm in Ledford 101, two students with the help of Disability Services office organized a panel discussion titled Neurodiversity Night, featuring five Meredith students with autism spectrum disorders. The goal of this event was to raise awareness about the presence of autism within the student body in order to promote acceptance of neurodiversity and crush the myth that neurodiverse people are “abnormal.” These
students included sophomore social work and psychology major Caroline Garrett, sophomore psychology major Kaylie Prince, senior RES major Amy Langston, and senior biology major Katrina Thomas, as well as an anonymous panelist. Panelists discussed their experiences receiving their autism spectrum diagnoses, the benefits and difficulties of life with autism, common misconceptions about people with autism, and how Meredith College could improve
services for students with autism. Several panelists suggested that college life can be especially difficult for students with autism because of the loss of routine, unclear expectations among different professors, lecture classes without visual aids, and constant social interaction. Panelists also urged the audience to think critically about myths surrounding autism, such as that all people with autism are savants, that only boys or only children
can have autism, that autism is a tragedy, that people with autism can’t joke or have fun, or that vaccines cause autism (or that they would be worth foregoing even if they did). Most of all, by including a variety of students with different personalities and varying experiences of life on the autism spectrum, this panel showed audience members the diverse ways that autism can present, informing the audience that autism does not look any one certain way.
them flipped in her head and getting the wrong calculation. Upon entering college, she lamented, “I was very hardheaded about accepting accommodations.” They agreed that Disability Services was beneficial to them, but said campus accessibility could be improved. “Meredith has been very accommodating with Princess [her seeing eye dog],” said Duerring. Amanda McLain, who deals with brittle bones, pointed out that “In the library, there is no accessibility bathroom. I have to go around the buildings to find access.” Beth maintained that change is coming, saying,
“I received proposals last night for things like door openers and accessibility to bathrooms. These are not just Meredith things, but law.” Finally, the panelists gave some insight into their lives and their hopes after the panel. “Events like this opens people’s eyes. They let people know not to be afraid and approach us. Come talk to me, I’m very talkative,” Amanda shared. “Asking questions doesn’t offend me.” Briana added, “I don’t want my MS to define me. There’s so much more to me than that...We’re just like everyone else.”
Angels Shine a Light on Disabilities Carolina Brust, Staff Writer
According to the United States Census Bureau, one in five people will have a disability. Disabilities can be mental, physical, or completely invisible to the general public. On March 22, Meredith College kicked off Accessibility Awareness Week with a panel made up of students and the Director of the Counseling Center, Beth Meier. Life Experience, a Cary business that employs adults with developmental or intellectual disabilities, provided catering for the event. The panelists spoke about their individual disabilities and the impact they had on their lives as
students. Briana Landis, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, said that the stress that comes with college work affects the severity of her symptoms. Samantha Duerring was diagnosed with Retinopathy of Prematurity, a disorder that can potentially blind premature infants, at birth. She talked about the fact that she cannot read the signs on the campus buildings and relies on others to help her get around. Beth Meier, diagnosed with a learning disorder, recalls that when she was in school she had to be careful with numbers to avoid having
Dr. Angela Marritt Discusses WWI Symposium
Emily Chilton, Editor-in-Chief On April 6 through April 8, Meredith College will host a symposium in remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entrance into World War I. The three days will comprise presentations from a myriad of researchers on diverse topics related to World War I. Meredith faculty and students will be involved in multiple ways; the full schedule of the symposium can be found at meredith.edu/academics/ schools/arts_and_humanities/ history/meredith-collegesymposium-on-world-war-I. Dr. Angela Marritt, assistant professor of history, served as the main organizer of the event and answered a few questions about the symposium. What is your research focused on and how does it relate to Meredith College?
My research focuses on women on the home front in North Carolina during the war, particularly the contributions of club women and college women, who were very active in organizing to provide relief to Europe, selling war bonds, getting supplies to soldiers, and volunteering for organizations like the Red Cross. Meredith figures prominently in my essay, because women’s colleges are where this history was being made. Meredith women took their war work very seriously, and they continued the struggle for the right to vote during the war, too. They experienced a quarantine at the end of the war due to the flu epidemic. Meredith’s WWI history helps us understand the home front experience more broadly. Are there things that people
in 2017 can still learn from the experience of our country 100 years ago? There are always important lessons to be learned from our history, and our history helps us see how we got to where we are today. The United States’ relationship with the world was so different then, and we resisted getting involved in the war at all. However, we had a role in what was an increasingly global economy, and a military presence around the globe. Also, immigrants had been pouring into our country in large numbers in the years just before World War I, and this set the stage for a national debate about immigration restrictions. President Wilson’s war message to Congress included the idea that we had to “make the world safe for democracy,” something which resonates
when we think about U.S. engagement in world affairs today. And, of course, women’s rights and citizenship remain an important topic, and women in the U.S. gained the right to vote shortly after the war. Is there anything else you would like the college to know about the symposium? It’s free and open to the entire Meredith community. We hope to see Meredith students, faculty, and staff sitting in the audience to learn this history and share in this experience. Many different topics, touching on a wide range of disciplines, are covered. Whether you are in the sciences or humanities, you will find something of interest and something related to the things you study in your classes and discuss in your organizations. Join us!
Arts & Entertainment SpectacularSightsatSeniorArtExhibition Brenna McClellan, Staff Writer
As the semester draws to a close, many students are now turning in final projects and papers that they’ve dedicated their entire semester to. For the graduating seniors of the Meredith Art Department, these projects are going public. Thirteen Meredith artists will be displaying their works during the annual Senior Art Exhibition hosted in the Frankie G. Weems Gallery, located inside the GaddyHamrick Art Center. Artists come from all concentrations, and the art styles range from traditional studio art to graphic design. Visitors can expect an array of sculptures, fiber arts, mixed media, printmaking, photography, digital arts, and traditional mediums. The show opens Sunday, April 9th and runs until Monday,
May 1st. There will be an opening reception on Sunday, April 9th from 2-4 pm, and the gallery will also host a talk with the artists on Tuesday, April 18th from 5:307 pm. Gallery hours run from Monday to Friday 9 am-5 pm and Saturday to Sunday 2-5 pm. Associate Professor of Art and Gallery Director Lisa Pearce has been working hard to prepare the gallery, and she is quite excited for visitors to see the finished show. At the time of her interview, Director Pearce was busily coating the walls in a fresh wash of white paint to create a perfect blank canvas, ensuring the pieces on display would have no visual competition. When asked about the process for students participating in the show, she explained that the exhibition is a selection of works chosen by the
seniors themselves. She went on to say, “they write about their work through reflections, write artist statements to help evaluate and narrate their conceptual direction in their work.” The exhibit is the cumulative event of senior year, and the students have spent the semester learning all aspects of an exhibition, from developing a cohesive body, to protocols and publicity. So if you have the time to spare, be sure to spend it looking at something beautiful at the senior art exhibit.
MeredithEnsemble Theatre Presents Hookman
Senior Art Exhibition Times Sunday, April 10 - Monday, May 1
Date: Tuesday, April 4, 2017 Time: 7:30pm - 9:30pm Location: Studio Theater
Frankie G. Weems Gallery Opening Reception Sunday, April 10 2-4 pm Gallery Talk Tuesday, April 18 5:30-7 pm
Free for Meredith students and employees, $10 general, $5 students/seniors. See http://www. meredith.edu/theatre for more information.
end. It’s easy to get lost in.
to.
What Do I Know This song is easy to miss in the swirl of emotions that is this album. In the middle of love songs and nostalgia, here’s a surprisingly sweet and innocent suggestion that music and love can heal the world. It’s a take-itor-leave it song that might just be worth taking.
Bibia Be Ye Ye Recorded with artist Fuse ODG and featuring some lyrics in Twi, a Ghanian dialect, this song is pure carelessness and fun. Kind of like “How Would You Feel,” there’s a sense that maybe this song is so incredibly basic that you shouldn’t like it — but you can’t help it anyway.
byEdSheeran-SongbySongReview
Emily Chilton, Editor-in-Chief
Eraser An acquired taste, but a good one. Presents a surprisingly critical take on the life of fame and fortune. With rapped/ spoken verses and a catchy chorus, it’ll grow on you in no time. Castle on the Hill Packaged nostalgia in a song. If you enjoyed high school at all, even a small part of it, this song will make you remember it — particularly if you grew up in a small town. Be sure to catch the music video for this one, featuring kids from Ed Sheeran’s high school and a teenaged Ed doppelganger. Dive Honestly, if there’s a “skip” song on this album, this one is it. Regardless, the sentiment is sincere and the vibe is chill classic Ed. Shape of You If you haven’t heard this one yet, you’re living under a rock. If you don’t love it despite the popularity, you’re wrong. (Sorry, I don’t make the rules). It’s catchy as all-get-out, danceworthy, and not at all Ed’s usual style - but it works in a big way. Perfect It’s as if Ed was concerned that the previous song was too off-brand, so he had to write this one to make up for it. “Perfect” is super-sweet and
emotional, melodic, and worthy of its title. Galway Girl One of two Irish-inspired songs on the album, Galway Girl snags you in the first line and holds you from there. Light rap is backed by classic Irish instruments like a tin whistle, creating a fun song to balance the heaviness of “Dive” and “Perfect.” Happier One of the most relatable songs on the album, “Happier” is that feeling when your ex moves on faster than you do. Soft guitar and piano accompanies vocals in a low key, and you can almost feel the sadness coming in through the headphones. New Man Coming in to lighten things up after “Happier,” this song is a jab at (possibly the same) ex’s new boyfriend, who cares a little too much about personal appearance and not enough about his girlfriend. It’s a funny and realistic must-listen. Hearts Don’t Break Around Here Like “Eraser,” you’ll be humming this one without realizing you liked it. The song somehow manages to perfectly capture the rare feeling of a perfect day with someone you love, hoping the experience and the emotions you have will never
How Would You Feel (Paean) Should actually be titled “‘Thinking Out Loud’ Pt. 2.” With lines like “Love flows deeper than the river/Every moment that I spend with you,” the song should feel cliche but somehow doesn’t. Regardless of how many times he’s done it, love songs are what Ed is good at, and he’s at his best here. Supermarket Flowers Written from the perspective of Ed’s mother after the passing of her mother, this emotional song manages to delicately express the grief one feels at the death of a loved one. “Supermarket Flowers” is simply beautiful, eliciting tears from the sensitive and sympathetic sorrow from the more stubborn. Barcelona Despite the random Spanish words thrown in, this first song on the “deluxe” portion of the album is super catchy, successfully inspiring the freespirit feeling it seems to intend
Nancy Mulligan This song is an irresistible, shameless Irish folk song based on the true love story of Ed’s grandparents, William and Nancy Sheeran, and written from William’s perspective. This alone makes the deluxe version of the album worth the extra $3. It rollicks and pipes its way into your head and then into your heart. If you listen to no other song on this album, listen to this one. Save Myself As if to bring you back down to earth after the fun of “Nancy Mulligan,” there’s this heartbreakingly true song about overextending oneself in care of others and disregarding one’s own well-being. “I gave all my oxygen to people that could breathe,” begins the first line; the rest of the song continues in this vein, melodically describing a spiral of self-medication and a resolution to start over by focusing on oneself first. Sad, but worth hearing.
Editorials
CommunicationMajorsTakeBiteOutofBigAppleRaidoStations Natalie Anderson, Contributing Writer
Seung Pang, Natalie Anderson, and Caitlyn Grimes with Dan Taylor from 101.1 WCBS. Photo Courtesy of Natalie Anderson. and the schedule of when to play between the two opponents as I speak on behalf of most from Mass Media Communication music and when to play ads. He “friendly and supportive” despite communication majors when I Professor Dr. Douglas Spero, we even allowed us to say our names the push for the best ratings.1010 say that we are often asked what had an exclusive tour of some over the air and announce that we WINS focuses on rapid fire we plan on doing with our broad of New York City’s hottest radio were from Meredith College! news with straight to the point major. The answer is we plan on stations including 1010 WINS, Visiting New York City radio announcements while 880 WCBS doing a lot by using our skills in 880 WCBS, and 101.1 WCBS. We offices was just the beginning of holds a market for a news forum, media, networking, and a plethora gathered our excitement, business where a communication major resembling a talk show, with of other categories to give us a cards, and coats and set off on the could take us. commentary from the radio hosts. boost in any field ranging from subway to the newsrooms. We left New York City Both radio channels hold a fervent journalism to public relations. As Upon arrival we met with with more than suitcases full of fan base. for me, along with Seung Pang Tim Scheld, the director of souvenirs and shopping bags — Tim Scheld then introduced and Caitlyn Grimes, we took our WCBS 880. He kindly showed we left with new experiences and us to Dan Taylor, the radio host studies to the real world this spring us around the studios. 880 and ideas as well as the excitement of for New York’s greatest hits on break, to the place that can make 1010 WINS are competitors in the media careers that are waiting for 101.1 F.M. He showed us how or break a career — New York A.M. news market, yet they are us once we cross the stage and radio hosts use multiple computer City. across the hall from each other. receive our diplomas. screens that display the script Thanks to helpful planning Scheld described the relationship
Porn Bots
Carolina Burst, Staff Writer With the introduction of the computer, the porn industry has broadened beyond the silky pages of the publications of Playboy and into the digital world. One could entertain any fantasy of theirs with a simple keyword and the click of a button. Thousands of websites offer a variety of genres and services to please their ever growing user base. In an effort to gain more users, robots (or bots) were created to entice people to join a particular service or site — under
the guise of women looking for a good time. Tumblr is one particular website that these bots seem to flock to. It seems that every other day, I have to go through my followers to see if any of them could potentially be a porn bot. The excitement of having a potential new follower is diminished when I realize it’s just another “candiiiixo” trying to get me to sign up for a service. Every new follower I receive is met with a suspicion and a Quantico-level
investigation. Often, I’m greeted with GIFs and videos of girls in various states of nakedness. I got more sexual education from those images than I did the U.S school system. The realization that I have seen more of these women’s bodies than I have my own is terrifying. The Tumblr staff are helpless against this growing problem as it is difficult to differentiate between porn bots and humans. I myself sometimes can’t tell difference as some blogs like to get creative with their
STAFF
content. Blocking them is next to useless since two more accounts replace every one account I block. Other Tumblr users keep them for the sake of having their follower count rise, but, personally, I could live with a low follower count if it meant not having to see a girl bent over like a pretzel. Blocking them is temporary solution, and I beg the Tumblr staff to do more than create a block button and implement a better monitoring system.
Emily Chilton, Editor in Chief. Sarah Kiser, Associate Editor. Sarah Smerko, Features Editor. Caroline Garrett, A&E Editor. Morgan Whithaus, Op-Ed Editor. Rachel Crawford, News Editor. Malllory Dean, Layout Designer. Olivia McElvaney, Online Editor. Staff Writers: Katrina Thomas, Yessy Anorve-Basoria, Carolina Brust, Teressa Berton, Seung Pang, Shelby-Anne Sanders, Emma Gomes, Cristy Villalobos.