Paladin

Last year, for the first time, Furman's Computing and Information Services division surveyed students and faculty on their experiences with campus information technology services. The results were clear: three out of every four student respondents selected wireless or internet coverage and reliability as the number one area for improvement.

A little known part of the Furman experience is the legacy each class leaves behind, known as the senior gift. Over the past couple of weeks there have been many emails, meetings and lunch-time conversations about what form the class of 2010's legacy should take.

On October 11 of each year, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and its allies observe National Coming Out Day as a day of awareness about the (often difficult) act of coming out of the closet. The experience of coming out of the closet is not a once-in-a-lifetime event: LGBT individuals have to come out of the closet almost every day, and the difficulty lies in knowing how someone will respond.

Kristin Dollar's November 6 column, "(Potential new) Members-Only," contained many inaccurate statements concerning the sorority recruitment process. While I know that not everyone agrees on the rules for sorority recruitment as set by Panhellenic, some things need to be clarified.

Professors are missing their chance: they are not harnessing the curiosity of the Bob Dylan fans, the Che following that arms itself with posters and t-shirts or the students who wrote about "life changing experiences" in their college application essays. The Princeton Review ranks Furman as number nine out of the ten most conservative campuses, but student-driven dialogue is being sparked from both the right and the left.

My previous column argued that feminism and gender equality have a new meaning in the 21st century, which is holistic poverty relief. Several readers asked me how this poverty relief might take shape. Here are two ways: microfinance and empowerment. Simplified, microfinance is lending small amounts of money to people of limited resources who have potential to create a small business or co-op.