January 31, 2018
Women’s Rally on Raleigh Rachel Crawford
On the morning of Saturday, Jan. 20, an estimated 6,500 people gathered on Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the 2017 Women’s March. The rally kicked off at 9 am with an hour of resistance music. After the musical performances, the rally began with speakers, including Meredith alum Eiman Ali, who graduated last spring. Ali spoke to her experience as a Somali-American woman and as an immigrant in the current American political climate. Organizers of this event worked for over six weeks to prepare. Kirby Jones, a junior and English major, says that being involved on the planning committee has been a rewarding experience. Jones got involved with the planning committee at the first meeting on Dec. 1 of last year, and she stated that it was amazing to
see how quickly the details of the rally fell into place. “I would have never imagined being able to put such a big event together on such a compressed timeline,” Jones stated, citing the teamwork and determination of members of the planning committee for the rally’s successful development. Jones emphasized the contrast in mood and purpose between this year’s Women’s Rally on Raleigh and last year’s Women’s March. Last year, Jones said, the march took place in reaction to the election of President Trump and centered feelings of angst and frustration. According to Jones, this year’s rally had a much more hopeful tone, building on the momentum of last year and encouraging feminist activists to stay connected to the progressive movement, get involved with organizations, and plug into this year’s midterm
elections. Imani William, a Meredith senior receiving a double degree in mathematics and electrical engineering, said that she participated in the rally “to make sure the call for justice is heard and to feel reinvigorated for the fight. I was there as a Black American Muslim woman who wants a better future for all.” Reflecting on last year’s march, William stated, “I was brought to tears by the multitude of people from different generations, races, religions, who all came together unified in spirit ready to fight for justice in so many arenas. The crowd last year seemed unending.” This year, she said that while the crowd was much smaller, “the speakers spoke with urgency, and the singers inspired action. Leaving the rally, I felt compelled to do more and I felt there were many others who were on the
same page.” Leena Torky, a senior double majoring in sociology and international studies, stated, “I participated in the march last year here in Raleigh, and this year’s was much smaller and we didn’t actually march, but it was still amazing to just listen to the speakers in the area … I was so happy to see that many of them were WOC, immigrant, and Muslim women.” However, Torky felt “disheartened by the rising amount of transphobia and white feminism in this movement...a lot of the signs did seem a little trans-exclusive or just not that productive.” Torky hopes that future rallies will be more inclusive: “I was really inspired by my close friends and all the Muslim women at the rally, but I really hope that there will be more discussions about being inclusive towards all people who are affected by this movement.”
Campus Security and Safety On-Campus Safety Tips
Better Safe Than Sorry
Emily Chilton
Olivia McElvaney
Meredith has been recognized for the safety and security of its campus, but recently there was an attempted crime reported on campus. In light of this incident, campus security gives the following suggestions for what to do in the event of a crime against you or someone else. Self-protection means knowing how to avoid being the victim of a crime and knowing what to do if you are a victim. Most crimes are crimes of opportunity. • Remember! Don’t be a hero. If you are faced with a weapon, the odds are against you. • Always be aware of your surroundings and the people you come in contact with. • Avoid walking alone if possible. Walk in groups of four or more and try to stay in well-populated areas. Try to avoid working late at night alone; if you must, lock your doors. • If you are alone at night and find that someone is following you or someone is in your residence or work area you don’t know, go to the nearest residence or safe place and call the police for help. Stay on the phone until the police arrive. • If someone in a car is following you, turn and walk in the other direction. • Never prop open entry doors to your residence hall, and never let someone you don’t know into your residence hall who can harm you and others in the residence hall. • Stay away from tall shrubbery, dark shadows near buildings, and other isolated areas. Immediately report any suspicious activity, vehicles, or people to the Meredith College campus police at (919) 760-8888.
Melissa Palmer is an instructor at Karate International in Raleigh. She has a third degree black belt in Karate, a third degree black belt in Jujitsu, and a first degree black belt in Judo. The beginning of her Karate classes includes basic self-defense skills. The popularity of the self-defense portion grew so that there is now a separate class offered. Do college students need self-defense more than other demographics or no? My initial response is no. However, women at college age are usually the most vulnerable and have the highest chance of being attacked. Why should people take self-defense? Few people take the time to learn how to stay safe. Many rely on others or think there’s no reason to learn because they don’t believe they are capable or feel they will never be attacked. Our lives are our responsibility and it’s up to us to protect it in every way possible. What can people do to prevent attacks? Educating yourself is the best defense. Learn about why attacks happen and create habits to keep yourself safe. Be aware of your surroundings, aware of how you present yourself (are you walking confidently or do you appear tired or distracted), be smart about what you put on social media, be smart about where you go. Take a self-defense course and learn how to not be a victim. When it comes to defending yourself, there are thousands of ways to defend against one attack. It’s important for people to find what works best for them and create even a small arsenal of techniques and information that they can and will use.
Women of MC: Johnashia Robertson Mimi Mays, Staff Writer
“Sometimes I need to stop and think, you know, Johnashia you’re only twenty years old, you know, you’re not gonna become a millionaire at twenty-one. I still have years, I still have school, it’s okay if I’m not successful right now, it’s okay I’m making mistakes at work, you know, it’s okay if I don’t wake up tomorrow with a million dollars in my bank account.
“My greatest struggle right now would be the fact that I currently don’t have a lot of patience with my career goals. Most would say that I’m trying to rush things because I’ve been doing retail jobs ever since my freshman year, and I’ve been just trying to be successful too early, instead of waiting. In school, teachers are constantly telling me that
everything’s not gonna be perfect, my managers are helping me train and whatnot and telling me where I can go in the company. I’ve definitely learned to slow down… but speed of success has been one of my biggest struggles right now. But I’ve realized that I’m not alone in this world, there are other people who are similar. I used to always think, no one’s like me, no
one understands me, so meeting people at Meredith and realizing, oh wow, you went through that too, wow, we can relate, that was so good for me socially and mindfully—I’m way more optimistic and outgoing, and it has definitely paid off cause I’ve made some really, really good friendships here that I can definitely see going on forever.”
Editorials New Online Bookstore: Inmproved But Still Expensive Meredith Herald Staff
Prices The prices were decent. They weren’t as good as Amazon and Chegg, but they weren’t as high as they used to be. -Rachel Crawford Although the new bookstore offers cheaper prices on textbooks for students, the shipping cost is outrageous. You have to pay shipping for each individual book, which in some cases can cost twice as much as the actual textbook you are trying to buy. - Hannah Flood
years. It’s unfortunate that each textbook came from a separate warehouse forcing students to pay shipping costs for each individual book. - Emma Gomes Like most people I’ve talked to, the most expensive part of buying from the new bookstore was the cost of shipping. Since you’re paying for shipping for every individual book (usually between $5 and $8), buying more than a few books quickly gets expensive. - Sidney Shank
I heard a lot of great news about the revamped bookstore, but as soon as I compared the prices to my findings at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, I quickly realized the bookstore was still not giving me the lowest prices. - Abby Ojeda
Ease of Use The purpose of Meredith’s bookstore has never been to provide the books at their lowest available cost. The books they stocked on their shelves were good options for students who needed a book immediately, wanted to rent one from Meredith, or simply wanted to see what the correct book actually looked like. Now that Meredith no longer stocks hard copies of books, most
It’s a given that purchasing a semester’s worth of textbooks will be expensive but with the new bookstore, I’ve spent more than I’ve ever had to in the last four
of its function is moot. The new bookstore has prices lower than they used to and is more “with the times,” but now competes directly with suppliers like Amazon and Chegg who frequently offer books at cheaper prices--the Meredith bookstore no longer has a feature that sets it apart. - Mimi Mays Because textbooks are sourced from all over the country, from bookstores of various sizes, shipping time is very sporadic and would pose a serious problem if you needed your textbooks quickly. I much preferred the old bookstore, even though it was slightly more expensive, it was a more reliable way of purchasing your books. Hannah Flood I believe that the new bookstore was a good idea in theory, but as people have mentioned, it has its share of problems; I tried to sell a book on the Marketplace last semester to have a little
more money for this semester’s textbooks, and the process was a complicated one. You get to sell your books for whatever cost you want, as long as you think someone would buy it at that price, but you are responsible for shipping the item yourself. The hassle just wasn’t worth it for me since I could easily sell it to other Meredith students via Facebook. Tishya Robertson Part of the joy in an actual bookstore is the ability to reliably obtain your books, to not have to worry about shipping or quality issues. The online bookstore removes that security, and essentially makes textbook shopping much less convenient. I don’t mind having an online bookstore, but think they should have either kept the physical bookstore or phase it out more slowly than they did. - Cro Owens
How to Get a Summer Internship Meredith Herald Staff
Even though you have just started your semester, it is the perfect time to begin searching for a summer internship. According to internships.com, employers begin looking for potential interns in January and generally make their decision in March or April. It can be especially helpful to find an internship the summer before going into your sophomore or junior year to help discover your future career focus or know if you even want to pursue the career field you have in mind. First, discover available internships applicable to your major and skills. Schedule an internship-specific appointment with career planning through Handshake. Find the professors in your department who have helped
students get internships in the past; they often have connections that make finding internships easier. Another method is to search for opportunities online via LinkedIn or a number of careerfocused websites. One caution to this method, however, is that networking is often as important as the knowledge and skills you bring, so if you don’t know anyone within the company it can be more difficult to get a position. Second, develop and sharpen your own standard cover letter, resume, and personal statement. Creating these documents for the first time or even significantly revising them can take hours, so make sure you get help from career planning if you
are overwhelmed. Also, each document needs to be specific to the company you are applying to, so keep this in mind and save multiple versions of your documents as needed. The internet is full of helpful cover letter and resume tutorials and guidelines since the standards and expectations for professional documents are fairly uniform and rigid. Third, invest time and effort into developing your LinkedIn account. Employers frequently ask for your LinkedIn profile site in addition to your resume and other documents. As a form of social media, LinkedIn shows potential employers your professional development and a personalized version of you. However, if you don’t have a lot
of connections on LinkedIn, or if you haven’t filled out your profile, you have missed an opportunity to show an employer why they should consider you for an intern position. Lastly, summer internships are a valuable way to learn and grow professionally (whether they are paid or unpaid). If you can afford it, working for a small amount of money or no salary at all gives you an experience that could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars redirecting your life and education down the road. And if your summer internship boosts your confidence in your desired career path, then you will be more attractive as a potential employee when you begin job searching in a few years.
Continued from A&E Page
off of American soil than Niagara Falls, Canada, and I officially have a stamp in my passport certifying that I visited Costa Rica. Meredith’s program to Costa Rica was the perfect fit for me — I could still gain all of the benefits of studying abroad, but I still had most of the summer to work and earn money to continue paying for college. I know firsthand that it can be difficult to find ways to afford studying abroad, but I want to encourage you not to give up on the possibility of participating in a phenomenal experience until
you’ve exhausted every resource out there. The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which funded the majority of my trip, is accepting applications for Summer 2018 and Fall 2018/Academic Year 2018-2019 until March 6, 2018. Besides that, Meredith offers a plethora of financial assistance through the Office of International Programs, the Honors Program, the Teaching Fellows program, and more. And even if you don’t think you could win a scholarship, don’t give up hope. Start planning now — maybe you could pick up an extra job over the summer to
fund your trip or take out an extra student loan. I know it might sound cliché, but studying abroad truly is a lifechanging experience. Knowing what I know now since my trip to Costa Rica, I would have completely regretted giving up on my dream to experience a new culture if I hadn’t explored all of my options. I didn’t think it was possible for me to study abroad until I found the right resources, so don’t give up. I promise you, you won’t regret it.
down in San José. I hoped I would learn about a new culture and improve my Spanish, but the trip was even more than that for me. I was pushed out of my comfort zone plenty of times, which caused my confidence to grow, both in myself and in my Spanish abilities. I learned how I adapted to situations that were (literally) foreign to me, and I became fascinated with the similarities and differences between my American lifestyle and the Costa Rican lifestyle. I finally made it further
STAFF
Buena suerte!
Emily Chilton and Sarah Kiser, Co-Editors-in-Chief. Caroline Garrett, A&E Editor. Teressa Berton, Social Media Manager. Olivia McElvaney, Online Editor. Kayla Burton, Layout Editor. Micah Clark, Cartoonist. Staff Writers: Abby Ojeda, Tishya Robertson, Emma Gomes, Cro Owens, Mimi Mays, Hannah Flood, Caroline Crofton, Jaisa Loch, Huma Hashmi. .