PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — NOVEMBER 14,1996
OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Editor-in-Chief -— Jessica Brown
Copy Editors—' Kevin Corbett, Molly McGIuskey
Staff — Tequila Moore, Karolyn Braun, Monica Aktonv^ ^
Grant Long, James Bell
Contributing Writers — Steve Ferebee, Benny Saint Romain
*■ Advisor — ChrisLaLonde
The Decree is located in the Hardees Building, North
Carolina Wesleyan College, 3400 Wesleyan Blvd., Rocky
Mount, NC 27801. Weekly staff meetings are held Wednes>
day at noon in the Decree office. Re-publication of any
matter herein without the express consent of the Editorial
Board is strictly forbidden.
The Decree is composed and printed by the Spring
Hope Opinions published do not necessarily
reflect those of North Carolina Wesleyan College.
Wesleyan once again
falls short on classes
Once again class regis
tration has come and gone,
and as usual the same
classes are being offered.
True to tradition, the ma
jority of courses listed are
at the 100 level, and most
students are having diffi
culty finding enough
classes to fulfill their re
quirements for graduation.
Because many students
have trouble planning a full
course load, some end up
spending more than the
standard four years at
Wesleyan.
Why can’t a wider vari
ety of courses be offered?
Many of the courses listed
in the college catalog are
only offered every other
vear, if that often.
Is this the college’s way
of saving money by hav
ing fewer faculty to pay
and in turn gaining
student’s tuition money for
an extra semester?
Most people around
campus would agree that
100 level courses are nec
essary to fulfill general re
quirements.
However, why are the
same classes offered every
scmesler? Couldn’t they be
alternated for a wider vari
ety? Make students aware
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the first day that they enter
Wesleyan’s doors when
each class will be offered
over the next four years
and then stick to that
schedule. This way stu
dents could set a strict cal
endar when they need to
take classes, and they could
graduate on time.
By alternating the 100
level courses more upper
level classes could be of
fered. Maybe even new
courses not in the catalog
could be considered.
Also, to help prevent stu
dents from wasting another
semester in college, student
advisors should make sure
that students understand
what they need in order to
graduate. Many students
have no idea what is re
quired of them and because
of this they will be around
much longer than they
should.
Not many students on
Wesleyan’s campus want
to spend extra time in col
lege. Because of this prob
lem with scheduling many
students transfer to other
institutions.
If Wesleyan wishes to
retain more students it
needs to take a serious look
at its course offerings.
It was hard to vote this year
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
I almost didn’t vote this year.
My first election was in 1972
— my summer of disillusionment.
I was 20,1 was a starry-eyed ide
alist, and I worked wholeheart
edly for George McGovern.
When Watergate spilled into the
media, we thought we had it
made. Ha,!
Six presidential elections later,
our democracy is mired so deep
in voodoo that our choices seem
almost poindess.
Politics mattered desperately
to me when I was in college. Per
haps because I knew that 1 might
have to face Vietnam or not face
it (Jail or Canada?) at any time, I
worked hard to understand. 1
wanted to know what questions
to ask.
When my friends and I decided
to go to the Democratic conven
tion in 1972, we read all we could
on the issues and on the infamous
1968 Chicago convention, which
had turned into a battle in the
streets.
We were grim. We believed
that our government was against
us because it assumed to question
was to dishonor.
But the three days 1 spent at
that convention changed my life.
1 met people who had been
maimed in Vietnam and people
for whom the civil rights move
ment was a daily reality, not just
a news story. 1 left believing ab
solutely that people could and
would change the government.
What 1 really assumed, of
course, was that people would
want to change the govemment
the way I wanted them to.
Dr. Steve
Muses
Few of the changes since then
have moved us in the direction I
would have chosen. What I
thought of as progress is demon
ized as reverse discrimination;
what I thought of as a just battle
for equality is ridiculed as a po
litical correctness.
But a democracy should take
care of its members; it should en
courage all voices, no matter how
different from the ones it is used
to hearing. Hungry, sick, and op
pressed people in a country of
such natural, technological, and
human riches disgrace us all.
To hold these beliefs now is to
be a “liberal.”
And to be a liberal is to be
outrageously naive, stupid, and
sinful. That’s what you have to
conclude if you listen to the po
litical rhetoric of the elections
since 1972.
Elections have become ob
scenely expensive televised
battles between people who in
sist that the opponent wants to
destroy the country. Ironically, we
don’t believe them. Few believed
that Dole would cut taxes and bal
ance the budget; few believed that
Clinton tells the truth. Less than
half of us even voted.
If our democracy is to im
prove, we need two ingredients;
we need to be educated and we
need to be educable. We have no
one to blame but ourselves that
we are being lied to. If we in
sisted on realism, if we demanded
thoughtful debate, if we expected
respect, we might get them.
Instead we are told that the
family is falling apart, that the
president has caused increased
drug use, that the senator will take
away veterans’ benefits.
We settled for mediocrity at
best, and we assume that we can
thrive while ignoring real prob
lems — racism, economic dispar
ity, environmental destruction,
infrastructure instability.
I admit to having a kind of
weird faith in humanity. I think
that we will survive despite our
ridiculousness. But I’m not al
ways proud of us.
Finally, I did consider my al
ternatives, 1 did vote, and I did
pay attention to the results.
I wasn’t proud.
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