PAGE 2
THE DECREE
TUESDAY, OCT. 7, 1969 -^
Letters To The Editor
Rising Tuition Explained
(Continued from Page 1)
especially those that are re
ligiously affiliated, are on the
“down.” Private colleges are
in a crisis partly because of the
lower tuition costs of State-
supported schools. Institutions
like Wesleyan are barely mana
ging to stay in the black, be
cause they are not able tocona-
pete with the financial sup
port that State schools acquire.
The 35% of a student’s edu
cation that he does not pay
himself has to come from busi
ness or from individual dona
tions. Through fund-raising
campaigns and gifts, Wesleyan
has managed. In the past years
of Wesleyan's establishment it
has been the responsibility of
the president, vice-president
for college development and the
director of college publicity to
present the college as a worthy
financial investment.
This meeting of NCFCRC fac
ed the source of support head
on; North Carolina business.
Wesleyan had five representa
tives who hoped to gain sup
port from those at the meet
ing. Dr. Collins, Dr. Allen
Cordts who is the vice-presi
dent for college development,
Mr. Bill Joyner who is the dir
ector of public relations and
Mrs. Lynda Homes who is the
assistant director of public re
lations. Connie Murray repre
sented the Wesleyan Student
Body in the absence of the SGA
president. Each of the college
representatives attended sepa
rate meetings to learn more
about the Foundation's guide
lines for achieving the $850,-
000 goal for the coming year.
The student representatives
met in the morning for a “get
acquainted” period with the
other schools’ programs and
general conversation about cur
riculum and student govern
ment. I am proud to say that
no one mentioned any special
study programs such as our
May term or community pro
jects that our faculty organiz
ed for our students. Some did
mention that just this year stu
dents were allowed to sit in on
the Board of Trustees meeting
but had no voting power. At the
“kick-off campaign luncheon,”
business representatives and
our college officials encour
aged student understanding of
the goals of the Foundation:
increasing the knowledge of
Educational programs and in
creasing the goals of finan
cial support in order that the
quality of education in private
institutions may continue to
progress.
Mr. Paul Kolb, Executive Di
rector of the Foundation, met
with us saying that the Founda
tion had its fingers crossed in
asking students to this meet
ing. He added that it was ad
vantageous because the best re
presentatives of good invest
ment in education are students.
Allowing students to participate
is the significant strong point
of the NCFCRC, and it is hoped
that the Wesleyan Student Body
will also recognize that Student-
Administration relations are
improving and that each of us
will want to communicate with
these officials to streng
then Wesleyan’s development.
Fire Prevention Week
Designated Oct. 5-11
Dear Editor,
I think the “student” news
paper called “THE DECREE”
has again goofed in the fact
of only publishing a one-sided,
biased, and shaded view of what
really has happened. I am re
ferring to the article in Volume
XI, #4 Tuesday September 30,
1969 on the front page entit
led “Klections Disputed; As
sault Threatened.”
Through the course of this
article a reader unfamilar with
the college “law” would really
question the student’s ability to
responsibly fulfill college rul
es. It seems that the editor of
this paper is in total agreement
with the aforementioned article
which would indicate that he is
ignorant of the Wesleyan Stu
dent Government Constitution.
In reference to the remark
about a “political holocaust;”
who made it one. Certainly not
the, at that time, official win
ners of the election, certainly
not the officials who presided
over the election, but the loosing
faction of Mr. Tom Mowbry
and his followers. The election
was conducted properly con
trary to the published state
ment. Bob Leyda, an A.R.C.
and David Walker, an elections
commission member were pre
sent as specified by the Con
stitution on page 64 in the “BIS
HOP’S L.A.W.” Nowhere in the
“BISHOP’S L.A.W.'’ is there
any reference or statement say
ing that the ballots have to be
printed therefore the “illegal”
ballots were, in fact, legal. If
tfie ill-warned residents of
South Hall would refer to the
“BISHOP’S L.A.W.” and be fa
miliar with it, they would rea
lize that this election in dis
pute was held correctly and on
the right day; the last Thursday
in September.
I agree to the statement about
“Wesleyan’s infamous ‘definite
lack of communication’ which
is steadily deteoriating,” but
not due to incidents such as
this, but due to the student
newspaper which prints articles
such as the Elections dispute
article.
Bob Leyda’s job as A.R.C.
brought him to second floor “to
quell” your "outburst of spon
taneity” which I wonder if it
really was spontaneous. It was
his job to order you to “cease
and desist”. Your “dismay and
disbelief” seems to indicate
that you ( the demonstrators)
have no respect for college rul
es and the enforcers of these
rules. If Leyda seemed as a
“monitor in elementary sch
ool” it was only due to the ele
mentary school attitudes and
behaviors ofthedemonstrators.
James W. Gill, “followed by
his muscular storm troopers
from Ferrum College” (pro
bably friends who were just
with him at the time) only re
sorted to the system of logic he
did due to the fact that it was,
most likely, the logic that the
“spontaneous demonstrators”
could or would understand. Off
of campus for him to carry out
his threat would have been as
sault and battery and the “law
of the land” would be appli
cable; but not so on campus
where James Gill interprets
college law as he sees jus
tifiable and fit. 1 reminii you
that a law more powerful than
your measly faction^ Mr. Mow
bray, exists inside these walls
of sanctity and you and your
little group, as well as all of the
rest of the students, are subject
to them. Maybe you and your
faction can understand the “law
of the land” if, first you un
derstand the “law of the camp
us.”
I hereby ask that an apoJogy
be printed in the next issue of
“The Decree” to Bob Leyda,
James W. Gill, and to the stu
dents for the insults published.
The insults to the students in-
tellengence and the insults to
the characters of Bob Leyda and
Jim Gill, and also that the incor
rect statements be retracted.
Bill Watson
Dear Wesleyan,
The hot-headed hubbub that
has seemingly passed over our
campus has been the cause of
great concern to many. It ap
pears to me, however, that
the entire pile of doo-doo pre
sents more than enough evi
dence for any college admini
strator, parent, or run-of-the-
hill redneck to give a well-
documented argument positing
the foolish immaturity of Wes
leyan students.
Certainly nobody who is con
cerned about the plight of the
poor or the possibility of man’s
destroying his entire planet
could given a Pan-dam whether
Tom Mowbray or Santa Claus
were elected President of South
Hall. Yet we have pivoted on
this and similar issues to jus
tify the use of subterfuge and
misplaced power almost to the
point of violence--against each
other!
How, in the name of All That
Is Sacred, can we expect the
college to turn over the greater
■part of its administration to us
if we have to run to Dean Wilde
for settlement of our petty quib-
b lings!
If is one of my dearest hopes
that Ed Smith has had his
wimpy-willys scared off enough
to realize that there are more
important villains to attack than
John Roberts and that the afore
mentioned President has recov
ered from his loss of face in
time to see that a newspaper
is better as a friend than as a
foe.
In short, if we are to suc
ceed (at anything), a united front
must face the practiced organ
ization of its critics. Rather
than being on opposite ends of a
see-saw, the S.G.A. and THE
DECRF]E must exist as the two
foci of the all-impprtant elipse
of Insight and Action.
To all concerned over pro
fanity in print; I hope I have
avoided the use of “four-let
ter words” to the everlasing
glory of the obscene euphe
mism.
In utmost sincerity,
Dan Davis
Dear Sir:
Prior to last year, THE DE
CREE was another publicity
outlet for Dr. Cordts. Ed Smith
removed the paper from the do
main of the administration and
placed it in the hands of the stu
dents. That the students have
been too lazy to accept this re
sponsibility is evident in last
week’s absolutist action by the
S.G.A. President.
Prior to Ed Smith’s Editor
ship, complaints against THE
DECREE consisted of two cate
gories: exclusive coverage of
athletic events, and omission
of any coverage of cultural
events on campus. The situation
was remedied through letters
to the editor and the election
of a staff willing to cover the
dilletantes' viewpoint. The pub
lication of THE DECREE was
increased from once every two
weeks to once a week specifi
cally to assure more and more
varied coverage of all student
activities.
Unfortunately, however, stu
dent interest in the campus’
controversies was so non-exis
tent that not one letter to the
editor (before last Tuesday)
has been written this semester;
anyone can check this fact in
back issues.
The best statement one can
utter about any newspaper is
that it is biased. Partiality af
fords the “disagree-er” the op
portunity to voice his opinion
and so broadens both view
points. Controversy is the most
important method of learning.
However, when controversy
is met not by intelligent dis
agreement but by complacent
apathy, education is at a stand
still. Ninety percent of the stu
dents at Wesleyan were unable
to meet the challenge of con
troversy, and, in true self-
satisfying style, decided to eli
minate the disturbing element
without the meddlesome busi
ness of thinking. Wesleyan Col
lege has indeed lynched “the
new nigger.”
Sincerely,
Eileen M. O’Grady
Dear Editor:
As one who always takes time
for a thorough reading of the
weekly DECREE, Iwishtomake
a few suggestions:
I was always under the im
pression that the Decree was
a newspaper published with the
student body in mind. But, after
reading the papers published so
far this semester, I fail to see
how this paper could interest
more than 10% of the student
body. It seems that the majority
of the articles concerning stu
dents on this campus reflect the
interests of two groups: The
APO Fraternity and the Thea
tre department. Granted, both of
these organizations play an es
sential role in Wesleyan Student
Life, but doesn’t this campus
have anything else of interest
to write about? Many other stu-
In a special message to the
people. North Carolina’s Gov
ernor Robert Scott has pro
claimed October 5-11 as Fire
Prevention Week.
The culmination of this
week’s activities in Rocky
Mount will be the annual Fire
men’s Parade on Thursday af
ternoon at 4:30. The parade
will feature units from the fire
departments of Nash County and
the City of Rocky Mount.
Also, members of the va
rious departments have been
touring schools throughout the
area. Lectures on fire safety
in the home have been given
and posters distributed. Em
phasis was placed on the ne
cessity for the students to hold
safety inspection in their
homes.
Rocky Mount Fire Depart
ment will hold an Open House
on Sunday afternoon, October 5.
Number 1 station, Rocky
Mount’s newest, will be the
dents would agree with me in
thinking that the Decree’s scope
of coverage is too narrow.
To many, the purpose of a
school publication such as the
DECREE is to focus on student
activities -- fraternal, social
and politicaL It is interest
ing to read about other stu
dents, but one gets tired of see
ing the same names week after
week: for example, Eileen O’
Grady. Surely there are other
students on this campus deser
ving of the attention that is
continually focused on Miss O'-
Grady.
In the past, the DECREE'
(Continued on Page 4)
center for these activities. Off
duty firemen will conduct the
tours.
The volunteer firemen of APO
'will ride on Stony Creek's units,
the fire truck and one ambu
lance. They have also given
their time to construct a float
for the Junior Fire Depart
ment of Stony Creek.
APO also sponsored an ex
hibit here on Saturday, Octo
ber 4. In conjunction with both
Parent’s Weekend and Fire
Prevention Week, the Brother
hood set up a display of am
bulance equipment and techni
ques. The center of the display
was Stony Creek Rescue Squad’s
Cadillac ambulance.
The members of APO have
considered making this an an
nual event. It will also af
ford them the opportunity to
raise funds for this fire vol
unteer organization.
Notice
To Whom It May Concern:
Miss Maydee Elizabeth Ward
was charged with violation of
“Residence Regulation for
Men” and of women’s overnight
rules on Sept. 29, 1969, by the
Supreme Court.
The defendant pleaded not
guilty and asked for admini
strative trial which took place
on Oct. 1, 1969. The verdict
of the administrative jury was
suspension for this Fall term.
James W. Gill,
- Attorney General;
Ed Smith,
Defense Counselor
®l!
OFFICTAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
EDITOR Ed Smith
ASSISTANT EDITOR Julie Robinson
BUSINESS MANAGER Tom Mowbray
ADVERTISING MANAGER John Hinnant
CIRCULATION MANAGER John Hinnant
OFFICE MANAGER Marshall Old
PHOTOGRAPHER J. H. Cnraipler
Business Address: Box 3146, Wesleyan College,
Rocky Mount^ North Carolina
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY WESLEYAN STUDENTS
Opinions Published Do Not Necessarily Represent Those
Of Wesleyan CoUege.