March 28, 2018
In This Issue: News Meredith Solidarity Walkout Arts & Humanities Spring 2018 Theme
A&E Review: Love, Simon How Much is Too Much?: Netflix Consumption Review: NYT Podcasts Cartoon
Editorials March For Our Lives: My Experience NC Abortion Laws: Thoughts Post-Women’s Rally Spring into Lobbying: My Experience
Crook Hunt: One of Meredith’s Most Time-Honored Traditions Ashley Ricks, Staff Writer
There is one week in March when juniors frantically look for a shepherd’s crook, while seniors watch from the sidelines, hoping the junior class cannot find their hiding spot. That week is known as Crook Hunt. This year, Crook Hunt started on March 21, and juniors only have until March 28 to find the crook. The Crook Hunt is one of the longeststanding traditions at Meredith and has a rich history, including the interesting tales of some of Meredith’s oldest graduating classes. The hunt started in 1906 when drama professor Caroline Bury Phelps introduced the idea to students. Phelps had previously worked at Adrian College, where a similar tradition took place, and she wanted to get it started at Meredith. Phelps originally gave the senior class the crook
with instructions to hide it from the junior class. This year, the Crook Hunt is celebrating its 112th anniversary, but this tradition has not always been the way it is now practiced today. Originally, the crook was hid by the seniors at the beginning of fall semester and the juniors could not look for it until March, then the juniors had an entire month to to look for the crook. Meredith decided to change the rules in 1982, making the month-long search only a week. Even though the crook hunt is still a popular tradition at Meredith, it has been through some rough patches in its history. In early 1913, the hunt was banned due to dangerous hiding places. Before the ban, one student had to hang out of a window in order to retrieve the crook. Sixteen years
after the hunt’s ban in 1913, the tradition was reestablished in 1929. Although the crook never experienced a ban later, it was stopped in 1948 due to lack of interest, but it quickly resumed when the class of 1950 hid the crook from the juniors on the roof of BDH. More often than not, the seniors have been successful in their attempts to hide the crook from the juniors. In the past, the seniors have picked odd spots to hide the crook, such as behind a bulletin board, taped to the bottom of a bridge at the lake, and sewn into a faculty member’s mattress. In the past two years, neither junior class has been able to find the crook, which shows that the odds may not be in favor of the class of 2019 as they conclude their crook hunt on March 28.
Faculty Spotlight: Alan Buck Mimi Mays, Staff Writer
Two years ago, as of this summer, Professor Alan Buck taught his first course at Meredith College. This became his fourth professorship at a higher-ed institution (following William Peace University, Campbell University, and the University of NC at Chapel Hill), and ultimately his second full-time teaching position. As many professors do, Buck has a master’s degree—his in Interactive Media from Elon University—but twenty years ago he began his career in broadcasting without so much as a bachelor’s degree. A younger Alan Buck first worked as a teleprompter operator part time at a local news station in Georgia, WRDW-TV, and was soon promoted into the news department. He was thrust into the
field, shooting and editing footage for broadcasts, a responsibility he continued to welcome when he moved on to stations like FOX Carolina and WLFL-TV in Raleigh, among others. After moving to Greensboro, NC, he became the general manager of Spartan Television while attending UNC-G full-time to complete his hardearned bachelor’s degree in Media Studies, graduating in 2010. This propelled him into academia, and he started teaching courses in subjects like Media Management, Video Production, Journalism, and Mass Communications. While teaching at William Peace University, Professor Buck met Dr. Theresa Holder, who was the Assistant Dean at Peace at the time, and is now the head
of Meredith’s Communication department. Five years later, Dr. Holder recalled his skills and passions, and knowing what Meredith’s communication department was looking for, hired Buck, first as an adjunct, and then as a full-time professor. Buck specializes in digital media, not only in the classes he teaches but in other ways he’s working to build and grow the department. Currently in the works is his vision to establish an entity for a variety of student media productions, a project we can expect to see as soon as this fall semester. Professor Buck reports to love his fellow faculty, his students, and Meredith college, so hopefully we won’t see the last of him anytime soon.
world a better place one artistic stroke at a time.” Romley and May “engage[d] with students and discuss[ed] climate/environmental policies with them... [the judges’] presence spawned some really valuable conversations” said Owens. May also brought an art piece of her own. Aimee Wilmoth from WRAL-TV served as a special guest judge. She interacted with attendants and selected an entry for the special guest judge pick award.
Fan Favorite: Kristen Viera’s “Lookin Like a Snack” Special Guest Judge Pick (Aimee Wilmoth): Victoria Mulcahy’s chalk pastel. Owens mentioned an entry that, though it did not win an award, she “really liked.” Zahhria Wilson’s unnamed canvas, as Owens described it, “was painted black with white outlining the structure of a beehive, and sewn into the canvas were the words ‘where are the bees’ and a few hexagons connected by golden thread hanging off the bottom, along with a needle.” The exhibition was well attended. Owens was satisfied with the exhibition and participation. She said “I am not sure if I will host
a similar event in the future, but I would certainly like to. I’d like to continue inspiring political conversations through art, so if I do another one, I will likely focus on a different issue.”
Clime-Art Exhibition Sarah Kiser, Co-Editor-in-Chief Angels for the Environment’s Clime-Art competition, an art contest around the theme of environmental and climate issues, had its interactive exhibition on March 16 in the Weems Art Gallery. During the exhibition, guests viewed each of the 11 entries and voted for their fan favorite. Attendants also could have a conversation with special guests and congressional candidates Ken Romley and Wendy Ella May. Cro Owens, ’19, organized the art competition. She said that the goal was “to inspire students and the larger community to speak to their legislators about environmental and climate issues they care about and to make the
The winners were as follows: 1st: Kristen Viera’s “Lookin Like a Snack” 2nd: Evelyn Cupil-Garcia’s “Waste” 3rd: Nico Wild’s “Fun Facts”
Kristen Viera”s “Lookin’ Like a Snack”: Raising Awareness on the Importance of Recycling. Medium: 3D Piece and Poster.
Meredith: Solidarity Walkout
Arts & Entertainment
News
Review: Love, Simon
Emma Gomes, Staff Writer
On March 14, 2018, Meredith College participated in the National Walkout Day to honor the 17 victims of the mass shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, 2018. Students and staff gathered around the Johnson Hall Fountain during the 10 O’clock hour while 17 volunteers carried a rose in honor of each victim of the shooting and read a short line about gun safety and peaceful protests, then took 17 minutes of silence. Senior Ann Cox, International Studies major, and Junior Micah Clark, Social Work and Sociology major, organized the event and made it possible for Meredith’s community to take part in a nationwide conversation/ demonstration. Cox states that her inspiration for bringing this event to campus was “to show solidarity
with the people who were risking disciplinary action by taking part in it. Since we don’t have a class to walk out of, we decided to take it a step further and really use it as a platform to launch a conversation about gun reform and gun safety.” Clark said that “a lot of students have unspoken concerns and they don’t feel they have a platform to speak on. I wanted to create a platform where everyone can ask questions and get answers to and not feel excluded from.” With the support of both students and staff, the turnout was successful. Junior Kirby Jones was one of the 17 volunteers at the demonstration shared insight on her experience: “As a future high school teacher, it was powerful for me to reflect on the power of youth organizing and stand in solidarity with students across the country. I think that the demonstration was a testament to what can happen
when young people come together in order to take a stand for justice, a cause I am deeply committed to both now and in my career goals.” Junior Meghan Moss attended the walkout demonstration and said “it is important that we engage in these demonstrations and conversations because it shows that we are being proactive about the safety of Meredith’s campus while also showing that we care about the safety of students across the nation.” Cox said, “I think in a lot of other space, women are socialized to feel like they don’t have a voice at the table, and here at Meredith we get the chance to be surrounded by women and women’s voices at the table, so having conversations among ourselves on our campus gives us the practice and the resources that we need to take our voices off campus as well.” Clark hopes
that students know that “there is a community that is listening, I hope they know they have emotional and social support during this emotionally and tumultuous time. I hope they know they are not alone in their concerns.” At the end of the demonstration, each attendee received a list of things they can do including contacting members of Congress via phone, letter, e-mail, or Twitter, demanding that they take decisive action for gun safety. People can also donate to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit started by Congresswoman Gabby Giffords working for gun safety legislation and to get the gun lobby out of Washington. They can also volunteer with North Carolinians Against Gun Violence in a variety of different roles.
Spring 2018 Theme: Social Inequality Abby Ojeda, Staff Writer
This spring, the Meredith School of Arts and Humanities unites around the theme of social inequality through an exciting series of events. See the list below to participate in this thematic learning experience: A&H Common Experience Events Apr. 5, 7-8 p.m. — Spectacular! A Multicultural Night of Theatre, Poetry, Music, and Food (SMB Roof) “Spectacular! -- ¡Espectacular! -- Spettacolare! -- Spectaculaire! is a celebration of culture that will feature poetry, theatre, music, dance, and food from across the globe. Students will perform in a number of different languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, and English. The event is sponsored by the Departments of English and Foreign Languages and Literatures and forms part of the Arts & Humanities Common Experience.” -Dr. Wade
Apr. 13, 10-11 a.m. — Panel Discussion On Marie Antoinette and Social Inequality (Carswell Auditorium) “This panel discussion will focus on the theme of social inequality and how it is portrayed in the play Marie Antoinette, which will be performed at Meredith the following week. The School of Arts and Humanities houses a wide array of academic disciplines whose scholars view events, trends, and circumstances through a variety of very different lenses. The panel is intended to demonstrate the richness of a discussion where participants approach a single theme from multiple perspectives--in this instance, sociology, history, French studies, and theatre. Our understanding of Marie Antoinette and her world, and of the larger issue of social inequality in general, becomes expanded, more nuanced, and more meaningful
Attendants of a previous year’s Spectacular! Courtesy of: Meredith Arts and Humanities
as we put different scholarly approaches to these topics in conversation with each other. The discussion will be moderated by students Sidney Shank and Mimi Mays and will feature four Arts & Humanities faculty from four different departments: Dr. Amie Hess, Dr. Angela Robbins, Dr. Veronique Machelidon, Dr. Cathy Rodgers.” - Dr. Sarah Roth Apr. 17, 5:45-7 p.m. — Hunger Feast Food scarcity awareness event (Belk West) Hunger Feast is a hunger awareness experience and food drive designed to call attention to local and global hunger issues. A google doc will be made available for sign ups. When guests arrive they will donate either food or money to benefit an after-school program, and then they will receive an assigned meal that will symbolize the hunger of those with food insecurity or the feast of those with little food insecurity. Afterward,
guests will be invited to attend the opening night production of Marie Antoinette. Apr. 17-21, 7:30 p.m.; Apr. 22, 3 p.m. Marie Antoinette, by David Adjmi, performed by Meredith Ensemble Theatre (Studio Theatre) Note: Admission is free for Meredith students, faculty & staff. The play contains adult themes and language. “Marie Antoinette is a fresh take on the downfall of the French queen we all know and love, tracking her course from the extravagant rooms at Versailles to her final days in prison. The play blurs the line between a historical piece and a contemporary adaptation, creating a biting commentary not only on social class issues from 18th century France, but also the privileged elite of today.” - Leslie Castro
Student performing at a previous year’s Spectacular! Courtesy of: Meredith Arts and Humanities
Hannah Flood, Staff Writer
20th Century Fox brought its newest movie, Love, Simon, to theaters on March 16, directed by Greg Berlanti who has produced TV hit series such as The Flash, Riverdale, and Arrow. Over opening weekend, Love, Simon has scored a whopping 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.9/10 on IMDb, earning roughly $11 million. Love, Simon takes us on the beautiful journey of Simon Spier, a normal teenage boy, as
he traverses the difficulties of high school, finding love, finding himself, and coming out. After a student at his school anonymously comes out on a school gossip blog, Simon begins talking to the mystery boy, who goes by Blue. Together, they confide in each other the difficulties and successes of being in the closet and coming out, eventually developing a deep connection and falling in love. You will laugh and cry as you share
the rollercoaster of emotions that Simon experiences as he tries to navigate his way to what he knows in his heart he deserves, a beautiful love story. Laced with humor and truth at every turn, Love, Simon draws you into the family dynamic immediately. Falling in love with the characters is inevitable, as you feel a deep connection to them from the first scene that only grows as the
movie progresses. Seeing and feeling the love that Simon’s family and friends have for him is heartwarming and inspiring to say the least. The message is very clear that even through the struggles and changes of coming out, there are still people who love you for who you are, and no matter who you are, or what your sexuality is, you deserve a beautiful love story too.
Still Processing Prepare to be simultaneously relaxed and educated as you dive into this podcast from the New York Times, hosted by Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris. The hosts are both PoC and both write for the Times, discussing the intersection of humans and pop culture, technology, and the arts. They do a similar thing in the podcast, delving into relevant topics such as movies and art with a signature mix of intellect, joking, emotions, and reasoned debate. In recent episodes, they have taken on such material as the four romantic Best Picture Oscar nominees, Black Panther (featuring Ta-Nehisi Coates), A Wrinkle in Time, (and why it’s okay not to like every single thing made by African-American creators)
and the National Gallery portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama. Wortham and Morris creatively and hilariously approach their subject matter with nuance and honesty, doing exactly what the podcast title says — they continue to process their ideas and views as they frankly discuss them with one another. For listeners, they can get deep at times, but it helps that they have excellent voices to listen to for stretches at a time. If your view of pop culture needs a little less Twitter and a little more context, try out Still Processing.
Podcasts You Might Like The Daily To spare 20 minutes each morning for The Daily is to eat an intellectual breakfast: the most important meal of the day. Produced by The New York Times, it elaborates on a topic of their standard reporting, but with a more personal and intimate element. Part of this is the nature of a podcast in general—real voices with emotion and intonation and character—but listening to The Daily makes you feel like the content was chosen just for you, mending every query or misconception you had. Many days, the unique news podcast will provide breaking news, making you wonder how on earth there was time to produce such a flawless episode; on Feb 15 and 16, for example, The Daily
broadcasted in-depth reporting on the Parkland, FL shooting, just a day after the tragedy. Other times, writers take a step back from the most pressing issues and present a unique take on an ongoing current issue, turning kernels of knowledge into fluffy popcorn. For example, on the morning of Tuesday Feb 20, their episode announced Vladimir Putin’s recent reelection and then told the fascinating story of his gradual rise to power in Russia. Whatever the subject matter, The Daily always brings a pleasing audio aesthetic; listeners swim in crisp orchestration and Michael Barbaro’s soothing narration. Dive in any weekday starting at 6am; you’ll thank yourself. Reviewed by Mimi Mays
Reviewed by Emily Chilton
How much is too much? Caroline Crofton, Staff Writer
In the past, spring breakers have enjoyed the beach, the mountains, or traveling near and far. However, this spring break, students decided to invest in their Netflix accounts. A full seven days of no homework and no tests - was Netflix your number one priority? Netflix has a feature that allows users to access their viewing activity. I randomly selected 15 Meredith students to show me their Netflix accounts. From the 15 students, a list came about of the top five most binge watched series over spring break. 1. Stranger Things 2. Riverdale 3. Black Mirror 4. The Office 5. Breaking Bad 168 hours to binge watch anything on Netflix, it was no surprise that these were the results! With Summer only six weeks away (scary right?!?!), there will be even more time for “Netflixing”.
Micah Clark, Cartoonist
Editorials March For Our Lives -- Raleigh: My Experience Hannah Flood, Staff Writer
The first thing I saw as I rounded the corner of Fayetteville Street was the hundreds of signs people were holding. My first thought was that the scene in front of me looked like a picture that I have seen countless times over the past year. It was a strange feeling to realize that I was soon going to be joining the crowd of thousands of people in front of me. Kids and people of all ages were in attendance, many holding
march really was, literally and figuratively. When the march began, a wave of excitement rolled through the crowd, everyone began cheering and chanting. A drumline soon passed us by, giving us all an extra boost as we continued to march on, banners and signs raised high down every street. It was exhilarating and reassuring to know that the people surrounding us on all sides not only agreed
signs, some so young that they had to be pushed in strollers. My friends and I found an open spot to stand and started really looking around us, taking pictures of some of the more creative signs around us. People were busy taking pictures with each other, holding their signs up for all to see, and chanting along with the crowd to the slogans of the march. Multiple helicopters hovered nearby, reminding us of just how big this
with our beliefs, but held these beliefs just as strongly as we did, because there we all were, marching together. The messages that we wanted to share were spoken loudly and confidently, with everyone in attendance hopeful of the impact that our actions will make. The time for change is here, and enough is enough.
North Carolina Abortion Laws: Thoughts Post-Women’s Rally Caitlin Oliver, Contributing Writer
I am proud to be a student of the social work profession, which has long been supportive of abortion access and the dignity and worth of every person to make their own health decisions. Now, as a Bachelor of Social Work intern at NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, every day I am faced with the harsh reality that a person’s ability to make medical decisions about their own health is under constant attack. These attacks continue to exist 45 years after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Additionally, they exist despite the recent 2016 Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision that reaffirmed a woman’s constitutional right to receive an abortion without medically unnecessary obstacles. On Jan. 29, 2018, the U.S. Senate was defeated in trying to pass a bill that would have made a 20-week abortion ban the law of the land. Though it did not pass, supporters of comprehensive reproductive health services should still be worried. This unconstitutional bill was one
of many recent attacks meant to chip away at an individual’s right to bodily autonomy and selfdetermination. Even though 76 percent of North Carolinians believe reproductive health care decisions should be left up to the individual making them, not politicians, North Carolina is still a state with some of the most restrictive policies surrounding abortion access. One of North Carolina’s medically unnecessary barriers to abortion access is the arbitrary 72hour waiting period. Another is the federal Hyde Amendment, which has been used to justify insurance bans for abortion coverage for North Carolinians who are Medicaid recipients, Peace Corps volunteers, federal prisoners, Native Americans who utilize Indian Health services, veterans, military members, and federal, state, county, and city employees. Additionally, health insurance plans offered in North Carolina through the Affordable Care Act are also prohibited from covering the costs of an abortion, except in cases of life endangerment, rape,
and incest. North Carolina is also one of only 19 states where politicians passed legislation dictating that individuals can only have an abortion up to 20 weeks after their last menstrual period, unless the individual’s life and health are endangered. However, because of the state’s many medically unnecessary barriers, individuals may be delayed in accessing an abortion until after this deadline. For example, due to insurance coverage bans on abortions, individuals may not be able to gather the funds to cover the cost of the procedure until they are at or past 20 weeks. Furthermore, the arbitrary 72-hour waiting period blocks people that are exactly 20 weeks pregnant from receiving the procedure. Ultimately, North Carolina’s restrictions on abortion access have the most adverse impacts on people of lower income, people of color, young people, immigrants, individuals who are undocumented, and transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals. This threat to
comprehensive reproductive health care highlights the reality that economic justice, racial justice, immigrant rights, and LGBTQ+ equality are all key aspects of reproductive justice. Attempts to restrict abortion access, like the 20-week ban, do not improve health and safety, but instead strip away dignity and bodily autonomy. After the Women’s Rally on Raleigh, it is imperative that we make an effort to support the works and missions of the local social justice organizations present at the rally that are committed to increasing health care access for all North Carolinians. NARAL Pro-Choice NC, Carolina Abortion Fund, SisterSong, Triangle for Choice Clinic Escorts, and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic are just some examples. In the fight to achieve reproductive justice and health equity in North Carolina, social and political action at the local, state, and federal levels is needed to protect our constitutional right to make our own health decisions without political interference.
aspect of SLW was the “Birds of a Feather” program within our lunch hours--anyone could start a group based on anything. There were groups for introverts, mental health advocates, Native Americans, and even diabetes patients. Over 500 people attended, but through all the sessions and groups, we were all able to get just a little bit closer. On the last day, we all lobbied. It was cold and raining, a winter storm on the horizon, but we walked to the capitol to have our voices were heard. I went to visit Senators Burr and Tillis’ offices with the North Carolina delegation, which included about
25 of us. It was difficult to organize our group since each meeting with the senators’ offices only lasted 25 minutes, but we prioritized the most memorable stories and kept the meetings focused. Tillis was already supportive of immigrants, but Burr was a hard sell. Regardless, I think our presence made a difference. I can only hope that those who lobbied that day are inspired to continue to lobby for the rights of DACA recipients, and any other issues that individuals may care about.
Springing into Lobbying: My Experience Cro Owens, Staff Writer
Earlier this month, I attended Spring Lobby Weekend (SLW) in Washington DC. SLW brings together young adults from across the nation to train them to lobby and have them lobby legislators in their DC offices on a particular issue. This year, SLW aimed to create a direct pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and end extreme border enforcement. We had several notable keynote speakers, including Greisa Martinez Rosas, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, and Rep. Jim Himes. Since I work for FCNL, I was drafted to facilitate some of
the breakout sessions--the first of which was storytelling. In lobbying, the most important tool you have is your personal story, why you care about an issue and why legislators should too. In my group, about 20 people each shared their own story about immigration. I was impressed--many of them had very personal connections to immigration, and those that didn’t still articulated their feelings. For example, one admitted no personal connections to immigrants, but noted she studied sociology, and related that to her feeling that our current treatment of immigrants was unjust. Another
STAFF
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, Huma Hashmi, Sidney Shank. .