Longtime Meredith Trustee Dies

Everett L. Henry, of Lumberton, N.C., a longtime member of Meredith's Board of Trustees, died Tuesday, Feb. 24. He was 74.

Henry served on the Meredith College Board of Trustees from 1978-80, 1982-86, 1988-92, 1994-97, and 2000-03. He served on the Academic and Campus Life Committee, the Instructional Programs Committee and the Executive Committee of the Board. He was named board member emeritus in September 2003. He also served on the College's Board of Associates from 1972-73 and 1976-77.

Henry had many family ties to Meredith College. His daughter Lucy Oliver Henry is a 1987 graduate of Meredith College. Everett Henry's great-great-grandfather, General Alfred Dockery was president of the Baptist State Convention when Thomas Meredith was named chairman of a committee to prepare a schedule of items necessary for the opening of Wake Forest Institute. It was in later years that Thomas Meredith and other supporters received approval to "consider the establishment of a female seminary of high order." (A History of Meredith College)

Henry's service to community organizations in addition to Meredith College included the First Baptist Church of Lumberton, the Lumberton Rotary Club, the N.C. Cancer Institute, the N.C. Division of the American Cancer Society, the Lumberton Chamber of Commerce, the Boys Home of Waccamaw, and the national, state and county bar associations. He earned his B.S., LL.B and J.D. degrees from Wake Forest University and was a partner in the law firm of McLean Stacy Henry & McLean Attorneys.

Meredith College's "Passport to Your Future"
By Kristen Scott, '05

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Meredith College Career Center sponsored the "Passport to Your Future" majors fair from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in Belk Dining Hall.

The annual majors fair, which began in 1994, is a day for Meredith students to learn about the majors and minors that the college offers. Representatives of academic departments are there to answer students' questions about the many opportunities, academic curricula and careers that each major and minor offers. This day also gives Meredith students the opportunity to learn more about the honors program, study abroad, the undergraduate research program and graduate school. Staff from the Career Center and academic advising are also on hand to assist students throughout the event. For students who decide their major during the event, staff from the registrar's office is there for students to declare that day.

As students arrived, they were given a passport listing of all the possible majors and minors at Meredith. Students were then encouraged to visit all majors and to gather information. For each academic departments/majors that students were interested in learning more about, a stamp was added to their "passport." The stamp they received provided a visual reminder of the majors they visited.

Along with representatives from each department, Meredith alumnae from 1975 to 2002 returned to offer their advice and expertise in their field. Majors of the alumnae representatives included psychology, social work, business, communication, politics, pre-law, biology, chemistry, sociology, clothing and fashion merchandising, math, computer science, computer information systems and foreign language and literatures. These successful alumnae assisted in providing powerful examples of the relationship between majors and careers.

Dana Sumner, assistant director for career services, helped organize this event.

"The goal of the majors fair is to provide a venue for information gathering and valuable interaction between faculty, students and alumnae representatives from the various academic departments at Meredith," said Sumner.

"We hope to assist 'undecided' freshmen and sophomores with major selection, and to relate those majors with specific workplace and career opportunities for juniors and seniors. In turn, our students will be more informed to make decisions about their major, their career and their future," Sumner said.

For more information on career development, please contact the Career Center at ext. 8341.

Raleigh Fine Arts Society, "Presence and Absence" Exhibitions Open at Meredith

The "26th Annual Raleigh Fine Arts Society Artists Exhibition" and an exhibition by Raleigh artists Gayle Lowry and Margaret Ellington will both be on display at Meredith through April 4.

The "26th Annual Raleigh Fine Arts Society Artists Exhibition" is located in the Frankie G. Weems Art Gallery. The exhibition, which is co-sponsored by the college's Art Department and supported with a grant from the A. J. Fletcher Foundation, includes a wide range of exploration and expression in paintings, photographs, ceramics, mixed media, sculpture and prints among other media from artists across North Carolina. Jeff Fleming, senior curator of the Des Moines Art Center, made the selections this year. Previously, Fleming was the chief curator at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem.

The Raleigh Fine Arts Society was formed in 1964 and sponsored its first juried exhibition in 1978 at the North Carolina State University Student Center. It moved to Meredith College in 1986.

"Presence and Absence," featuring paintings by Gayle Lowry and photographs by Margaret Ellington is in the Rotunda Gallery. The exhibition is sponsored by the Meredith College Art Department.

Lowry and Ellington are intrigued by the presence in a place even after its inhabitants and furnishings are gone. Scarred floors carrying the memories of continual passage, the unfaded rectangles on walls that had been covered by paintings, and forgotten keys whose purposes are lost are among the vestiges of life that prompt the artists' explorations into the meaning of "living spaces."

Lowry's oil paintings offer a broader view of empty rooms, halls and stairways, capturing the architectural integrity of the spaces and, sometimes with the inclusion of a dreamlike female figure, alluding more directly to the lives once lived there. Her palette of warm and subdued colors are also part of her interpretation of presence and absence.

Ellington's color and black and white photographs are focused on detail. The curled patterns of an iron railing, a narrow glimpse of a room in disrepair and a pile of old keys are among the remnants of former inhabitants that suggest presence to her.

For more information, visit www.meredith.edu/artgallery/.

Profile: Neil Jacobs - Research Scientist, Teacher, Cross Country Coach
By Andrea Weaver

Neil Jacobs, an adjunct faculty member at Meredith College, receives many phone calls from television weather forecasters whenever winter weather threatens to close roads, schools and businesses in Raleigh, N.C.

Jacobs, a doctoral student at the N.C. State University Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, analyzes the development of winter storms. Jacobs devised a computer program that imports high resolution, satellite data about sea temperatures and wind speed and direction into a weather forecasting model. Other forecasting models utilize less detailed data that is updated less frequently.

He and a team of researchers use the program to study past storms and forecast future ones. He and his colleagues knew they had developed a useful tool when the program correctly predicted that Raleigh and surrounding areas would receive more than 20 inches of snow during a January 2000 snowstorm. Other forecasting models predicted about five inches.

"I even had trouble believing it; I tested it several ways," Jacobs said.

But, as the snow began to fall... and fall... and fall, Jacobs' program became a hot topic of conversation among forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS) as well as local television stations. The official snowfall total, according to the NWS, was 20.3 inches, a record amount.

"I must have had 40 voice mails the next day," he said.

Since 2000, Jacobs and the research team have refined the program. In January 2004, they presented their results at the American Meteorological Society (AMS) 84th Annual Meeting in Seattle. The team has since received a grant extension from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue working on the program, Jacobs said. He is writing a program manual for other meteorologists.

"The NSF said now that you've proven it works, go and make it useful to the public," said Jacobs, who is on track to receive a Ph.D. in atmospheric thermodynamics in May 2004.

Although his research has been successful, Jacobs plans to build a career that involves more than manipulating data in a computer lab. At Meredith, he teaches earth science courses and coaches the cross-country team, a campus club sport.

Jacobs, a triathlete and competitive road bicyclist, enjoys helping Meredith students discover the skills to excel as students and athletes. In 2003, Meredith competed as a club team in the state cross country championship, scoring higher than the eventual champion in the NCAA Division III category.

"Meredith is the only school where I have had the opportunity to be a teacher and a coach. It is very rewarding for me on both sides, but the motivational aspects are the same. I tell my runners the same thing I tell my students, if you work hard, you will be rewarded," Jacobs said.

Meredith College Urges Students to "Raise Your Voice"
By Melyssa Allen

On Thursday, Feb. 19, Meredith College sponsored a series of events designed to encourage the student body to "Raise Your Voice."

The teleconference, produced at Michigan State University by Campus Compact, focused on civic engagement as it relates to service, traditional political participation and a new concept called "service politics."


The teleconference, which featured a panel of student leaders, university administration/faculty and community leaders, was broadcast live in Meredith's Kresge Auditorium. Students from all Raleigh colleges and universities were invited to attend. Other host sites were located across the country.

One question the panel tackled was whether service learning was forced volunteerism. Ernie Booth, a Michigan community leader, suggested "sometimes you have to force people to be exposed to something that will open their eyes to issues and attitudes that will wake you up." Another panelist said that whether or not courses include required service, "service learning should always accompany community service," so that the service could be placed into context for students.

Other topics included the importance of voting and/or community service, and a discussion of ways in which colleges and universities can help students become informed citizens.

Following the teleconference, Meredith held an open house and reception for local organizations and agencies that administer programs to assist homeless people. The final event of the day was the City of Raleigh's first public forum on homelessness. Other events will be held in the city throughout the year to discuss various aspects of the issue. The forum is part of Raleigh's 10 year action plan to end homelessness. For more information, click here.

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