PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — OCTOBER 29,
OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
£ditor-in-Chier W. Kenneth Leonard
Assistant Editor — Tiffany Page
Staff—Jennifer Beemer» Patrick Brannan, Cecilia Lynn
Casey, Kimberly Cursccn, John Fentress,
Marie Lenane, Jiminilyn Rosson
Advisor — Chris l>aXrf)nde
The Decree is located in tlieSptalll Bttilding^ North Carolina Wes
leyan College 3400 Wesleyan Blvd, Rocky Mount, NC 27801. Policy is
Oetemkted t>y tfte Editorial Hoard of The Re-pubtlcatioa of any
matter berefn witbout the express consent of the j^itoriat Board
strictly fori>idden. Ike Decree is composed and printed by the Spring
H(^e fioterprfse. Opinions published do not necessarily reflect those of
North Caroltoa We^eyan College.
Wesleyan provides
plenty of learning
There are many students
on campus who have de
cided to take uninvolvement
to new heights — or rather
lows.
Having decided that they
will not waste their precious
time at out-of-class events
such as the convocations or
ceremonies, they have in
cluded cultural events, and
even clear learning oppor
tunities such as the col
loquiums and Symposium.
Why? It would seem that
students who complain
about the price of tuition at
NCWC would at least take
some steps toward improv
ing the value for their
money.
These programs are of
legitimate interest and can
teach students some valu
able lessons. Some of them
might even help with work
within one’s major, giving
information relating to the
degree.
Too many Wesleyan stu
dents, though, will never
know. When classes are
canceled for a major Con
vocation or Symposium,
they decide that this is drink
ing time or time to catch up
on sleep. The idea of team
ing is apparently for away
from these students’ minds
when they have the chance
to take some initiative.
Find something on cam
pus to do. There are many
opportunities, even on such
a small campus, to find
learning experiences outside
of the classroom.
Don’t waste your money
or the time of the faculty
and staff who try to help.
Diagram of
UR Huinan Rights
Conference
Building
Grand Hall
Storage
riQMS awics)
Reception Area tor ^
anuone who saus gOO
about China
Project recharges mental batteries
""wW
Sabbatical is no vacation
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
Some of my students have “ac
cused” me of being on a “paid
vacation” this semester (i.e., a
sabbatical).
Well, I had no sooner stepped
off the plane from England than I
agreed to write an essay which
will take more than 40 hours a
week for the rest of my “vaca
tion.”
Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-
1904) — most famous during his
time for his book about 18th-cen
tury British philosophers — was
also a busy man. He wrote at least
25 books and probably a thou
sand essays on topics ranging
from climbing the Alps to “Idola
try (Comhill Magazine XIX, 689-
98(1869)).
My project is to analyze his
Dr. Steve
Muses
contributions to biography. He
wrote seven full-length biogra
phies, including a 500-page life
of his brother. Sir James Fitzjames
Stephen (1895), and eight vol
umes of biographical essays.
Stephen also edited most volumes
of the Dictionary of National,
ography (1885-1901) and wrote
387 of the entries.
(Dr. Watson reminds me that
the reason these Victorian men
of letters could get so much work
done was that they had favorable
course loads — like permanent
sabbaticals?)
Stephen was good as well aj>
prolific. Most of his woik is abou
literary figures, with analyses o
George Eliot’s nove
Middlemarch and Jonathan
Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. His
writing is clear, concise, and con
Crete (not always trademarks o
the Victorians); I have had no
trouble reading through his prose
He also wrote on an impres
sive variety of topics — military
battles and political intrigue
(Duke of M^-lborough): 17th
ebntury philosophical debate
(Hobbes); and psychological ex
pfeJartl(^s for unpleasant human
behavior (Alexander Pope).
I have raised my shaggy head
from time to time to reflect on
what Dr. LaLonde reminds me is
serendipity.
(Continued on Page 3)
Banning guns won’t solve problem
By KEN LEONARD
Yet another professional orga
nization in the United States has
decided to prove that they will
become a political special inter
est group and will advance a lib
eral social agenda.
The American Medical Asso
ciation has now declared that
handgun violence is a medical
problem that must be treated as
an epidemic. Their solution: ban
ning the weapons. This is an idea
whose tirie rievecrteilyxame, but
ilv out of date.
In modem society, there are
two gleaming examples of why
we should not prohibit law-abid-
ing citizens from owning guns.
One is Washington, D.C., the
other is New York City.
Washington has the strictest
gun controls in the nation. To
match, it has the highest murder
rate per capita of any city in the
nation, almost doubling that of
second-place Atlanta, according
to the Justice Department. New
York City is a bastion of lawless
ness under its Jsociaj prpgraijns led
bv a left-wing mayor and libe»'al
Opinion
governor.
In each of these cities, citizens
are prohibited from owning weap
ons to defend themselves. So,
only the criminals—not given to
obeying laws anyway — have
weapons.
Yet the AMA wants to ban
personal defense weapons. The
backup plan is to tax the wej^ns
in order to fund trauma centers.
using the logic that guns cause
the injuries requiring the centers
to be opened.
The problem with both cases
is the matter of who is owning
the guns. Law-abiding citizens do
not usually own the weapons that
cause these injuries. The guns are
stolen from legitimate owners or
purchased illegally. Even if the
supply of weapons was cut off at
that end, there remains the smug
gling efforts — the source of
weapons for the gangs using fully-
>yp^p9i^;; .... • .
Police cannot afford fiiU pro
tection to all citizens, certainly
not when a crisis comes and the
police would have to have a one-
liiinute response time in order to
save someone’s life. People who
know how to use their weapons
can save their own lives, fami
lies, and property. Yet the liber
als in America want to nullify
our Second Amendment right to
keep and bear arms.
The uicreasing violence in the
U.S. is not caused by guns. It is a‘
social phenomenon brought about
(Continued on Page 3)