PAGE 8 — THE DECREE — NOVEMBER 1,1996
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I
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award was Lionel L. Bishop. The
25-year service award was given
to Dr. David A. Jones.
Ten-year service awards were
given to Angela D. Bennett,
Belinda G. Faulkner, Thetis M.
Hoch, Samuel M. Holton, Dr. Jay
R. Quinan, and Elizabeth A.
Yancey.
Five-year awards went to John
C. Bullock, Dr. Elizabeth W.
Edmiston, Carla W. Good, Ed
ward F. Hill II, Tina W. Jones,
Charlie T. Long, Jr., Beverly M.
Small, Stephen J. Sparks, and
James McKinley Williams.
Dr. Richard Rosser gave the
convocation address which fo
cused on the importance of a gen
eral liberal arts degree in a time
when technology is changing rap
idly and thinking, analyzing, and
problem-solving skills are more
important in the work place.
Dr. Rosser is the past presi
dent of DePauw University and
past president of the National As
sociation of Independent Colleges
and universities, an association
which represents over 800 pri
vate colleges and universities
across the country.
Adult students honored
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must rank in the highest ten per
cent of those who qualify; and
must have completed a minimum
of 30 adult degree program se
mester hours, of which 15 should
consist of credits in the liberal
arts and sciences.
Carey Fleming, an Alpha
Sigma Lambda member from the
Raleigh extension site, addressed
the group. Others who partici
pated in the ceremony were Pam
Fennell, a Raleigh member who
spoke on the signficance of the
motto; Kim Sparks, Rocky Mount
member, who addressed the sig
nificance of the symbols; and Su
san Burley, a Raleigh member,
who discussed the pledge of mem
bership.
New members pledged their
membership and received certifi
cates and lapel insignia pins.
The ceremony was held in the
Powers Recital Hall, in the Dunn
Center for the Performing Arts.
A reception in the Carlton Board
Room followed the induction cer
emony and tours were held for
the Dunn Center. Society mem
bers plan a spring activity for all
members from the four sites.
Wesleyan’s Adult Degree Pro
grams offer undergraduate degree
completion programs in Raleigh,
Goldsboro, and Rocky Mount for
working adult students, including
bachelor’s degrees in Business
Administration, Justice Studies,
Accounting, and Computer Infor
mation Systems.
There are also continuing edu
cation classes available for non
degree students including teach
ers who are updating certificates,
and people who are fulfilling pre
requisites for admission to gradu
ate schools.
The College also has an accel
erated degree program in Raleigh.
Colleges have share
of ghostly students
GREAT TEACHER — College President John White (left) pre
sents the 1996 Exemplary Teacher Award to Dr. Vivienne Ander
son during last Thursday’s Founder’s Day celebration.
Wesleyan celebrates
40th Founder’s Day
By JANET SINGLETON
A glow of red floating in the
hall. A mysterious face illumi
nating a window. The tap of fin
gernails on a car window.
Almost every campus has its
ghost story, and most are full of
enough chiUing details to send
tingles up the spine.
Here is a sample.
At Huntington College in
Montgomery, Ala., the “Red
Lady” is said to roam the corri
dors of Pratt Hall.
According to campus lore,
the “Red Lady” was so ob
sessed with the color red
that she decorated her
room in a red carpet, cur
tains, and bedspread, and
wore red clothes.
“They say she couldn’t
keep a roommate because she
was so weird,” explained dor
mitory employee, who asked
not to be named.
Finally, the frazzled fresh
man felt so rejected that she
slashed her wrists in her red
room. Her blood poured red onto
the crimson carpet and ran be
neath the door into the hall.
Years later, students occasion
ally say they see her or flashes of
red shimmering in the hall. Or so
the story goes.
At Indiana State Uni
versity, a resident
ghost is heard, but
not seen, said
English profes
sor Ronald
Baker. “We
have a barfing
ghost,” he said.
In Burford
Hall, a girls’ dor
mitory, residents claim to hear
someone throwing up when
there’s no one there.
“First, they hear somebody
vomiting, a toilet flushing, then
hideous laughter,” said Baker.
Often campus ghost stories in
volve stressed-out students who
suddenly ended their lives.
“There’s a building on cam
pus where they say a woman
hanged herself,” said senior Adam
Miller at the University of Florida
in Tallahassee. “It happened 20
or 30 years ago, and supposedly
she’s still there and wanders
around.”
Simon Bronner, a folklore pro
fessor at Penn State University in
Harrisburg, lists a number of resi
dent campus ghosts in his book.
“Piled Higher and Deeper: The
Folklore of Student Life.” A tour
of his crew of creatures includes:
• Stephens College in Colum
bia, Mo. There a student host and
her lover, a Confederate soldier,
haunt Senior Hall where the two
supposedly met.
• The University of North Ala
bama. Around exam time, the
ghost of a young woman named
Priscilla, who killed herself over
failing,grades, wanders an old
dorm.
• Oberlin College. The appari
tion of a student who killed her
self during finals can be heard
sobbing and has been spotted
peering through a dorm window,
pleading for help.
• The University of California
at Berkeley. A ghostly woman
with long diamond-painted fin
gernails taps on the roofs of
parked cars at nearby Tilden Park.
Her daughter was raped there, and
she is trying to warn other young
women.
• Michigan State University.
The ghost of 17-year-old James
Egbert, a computer genius who
committed suicide, is said to haunt
Holmes Hall.
On most campuses, ghost sto
ries arc easier to uncover than
actual witnesses to the appari
tions. But banquet manager Luis
Cutolo insists he has had run-ins
with UC-Bcrkclcy’s Faculty Club
ghost.
“I can honestly tell you that
sometimes you hear noises,” he
said. Once Cutolo left a darkened
room and locked it, but when he
returned the light had been turned
on. “1 was the only person with
the key,” he said.
The Faculty Club has a long
history. Built in 1903 for male
faculty members who wanted to
avoid the commute to San Fran
cisco, the 24 rooms once were
occupied by different professors,
now each deceased, Cutolo said.
Since the club has been con
verted into a hotel, maids and
guests have claimed it is haunted.
A professor visiting from Japan
reportedly woke in the middle of
the night and sensed he was
being watched.
“He saw a
shadow sitting
next to the fire
place watching
him. At one point, the
shadow’s head separated
from its body and came flying
toward the man. The visiting pro
fessor screamed and came run
ning out of the room,” he said.
Still, Cutolo said the club’s in
visible long-term boarders dem
onstrate how content they were
with the former club. “The pro
fessors loved this place so much
that even in eternity they come to
visit us,” he said.
■ But it’s hard to convince Bella
Scheiber that any of the campus
ghost stories are based on actual
sightings or events. He’s the
founder of the Boulder, Co. based
organization, the Rocky Moun
tain Skeptics. The organization
says there is no such thing as
ghosts and goblins, ESP or (sorry,
X-Files fans) outer space aliens.
He offers alternative explana
tions to campus ghosts. Students
who see and hear bizarre things
probably are either studying or
partying too hard, he suggests.
“I know what it’s like to go 24
hours without sleep from my days
at CU-Boulder,” he said. “You
start seeing things.”
Or maybe students just want
to believe in make-believe, said
Scheiber.
“Ghosts are wonderful because
they’re forever,” he said. “They
satisfy our need for mystery and
immortality. People just like to
think there’s something more to
life than making a living or tak
ing tests.”