VOL. 12, NO. 6
North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, N.C.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 9,1996
Wesleyan mourns death of two
Two members of the Wesleyan
College basketball team, a current
and a former student, were killed
in a head-on collision on Hwy. 43
early Wednesday morning.
"The Wesleyan community is
deeply shocked and saddened by
the tragic deaths of Cortez Smith,
a current student, and Steven
Armstrong, a former student,”
said North Carolina Wesleyan
College President John White.
“These young men were
friends and basketball teammates.
Our hearts and prayers go out to
their families, their fellow play
ers, and coaches. Wesleyan Col
lege is a small place and such
tragic events are deeply felt,” he
said.
A memorial service at the col
lege was tentatively planned for
this Thursday at 11:30 a.m. The
funeral for Smith was held on
Sunday afternoon.
Both young men played bas
ketball for Wesleyan, and Smith
was co-captain of the team this
year. Smith was from Bethel and
a fourth-year physical education
major. He was 21 and lived on
campus. He leaves a three-year-
old son, Cortez, Jr.
Armstrong was a former stu
dent who listed his current home
as New Bern. He originally came
to Wesleyan from Brooklyn N.Y.
Armstrong would have been 28
years old Dec. 15. He leaves a
young daughter.
m
BACCHUS sends
two to conference
ENJOYING THEMSELVES — BACCHUS representatives
Karolyn Braun and Ashley Allen enjoy a banquet during the
Orlando Peer Education General Assembly Conference.
By KAROLYN BRAUN
On Nov. 14, students Ashley
Allen and Karolyn Braun attended
the 21st annual BACCHUS and
GAMA Peer Education General
Assembly in Orlando, FHa.
The BACCHUS and GAMMA
Peer Education network is an in
ternational association of college
and university-based peer educa
tion programs focusing on alco
hol abuse prevention and other
related student health and safety
issues.
It is the mission of the asso
ciation to actively promote peer
education as a useful element of
campus health education and
wellness efforts.
The BACCHUS philosophy is
that students can play a uniquely
effective role unmatched by pro
fessional educators in encourag
ing their peers to consider and
talk honestly about and develop
responsible habits and attitudes
toward the use and non-use of
alcohol and other related student
health issues.
What’s ne.xt for BACCHUS?
The area 12 conference will be
held at Greensboro College in
February.
Those who are interested in
joining BACCHUS should con
tact Karolyn Braun, Box. 3151,
or Betty Anne Whisnet in the
Wellness Center.
Wesleyan campus still stunned
over deaths of popular students
By MOLLY McCLUSKEY
Wesleyan was struck into a
state of shock Wednesday morn
ing by the deaths of Cortez Smith
and Stephen “Justice” Armstrong.
For many, the news came via
voice mail or e-mail message
from President John White, shar
ing word of the tragedy.
And indeed it was a tragedy.
Smith, a current student at
Wesleyan, was 21, a senior, and
co-captain of the Battling Bish
ops men’s basketball team.
Armstrong, a former student, was
also well known from his days on
the Wesleyan campus.
Initial reports, based only upon
the information that both men
were traveling on Hwy. 43 at 3:30
a.m. Wednesday morning, led
school officials to believe that the
men were visiting family in
Bethel, where Cortez was from.
This statement is now being with
drawn from all earlier news re
leases.
“We certainly do not want to
convey information which would
not be accurate,” President White
said earlier.
Hwy. 43. Many know it as one
of the roads to Greenville, home
of ECU and most of Wesleyan
students’ weekend entertainment.
The roads are long and ark, with
few if any passing cars. Unfortu
nately, there was a car, a mail
truck, on the road that morning,
approaching in the opposite di
rection. For whatever reason, the
car occupied by Smith and
Armstrong swerved into the op
posite lane, in the path of the on
coming truck. It is of little con
sultation that neither drugs nor
alcohol was involved, and death
was instantaneous.
Wesleyan is now in a period
of mourning. Some find consola
tion in sharing memories of their
friends. “He had high expecta
tions of the basketball team,
“Kasey Griffin recalls earlier of
Cortez. “How good they were,
how talented, how far they could
go — he had a lot of dreams and
expectations.”
Campus chaplain Rev. Kirk
Oldham believes the key in sur
viving this tragedy is for the
school to group together to sup
port each other. “That is the only
(Continued on Page 3)
Exam Schedule —1996 Fall Semester
December 9
Periods
Exam Times
1 (MWF 8 a.m.-9 a.m.)
9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
7 (MWF 1 p.m.-2 p.m.)
1 p.m.-3 p.m.
11 (MW 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.)
4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
13 (M 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.)
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
December 10
2 (TTH 8 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.)
8 a.m. -10 a.m.
6(TTH 11:20 a.m.-12:50 p.m.)
11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
10 (TTH 2:40 p.m. - 4:10 p.m.)
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
14 (T 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.)
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
December 11
3 (MWF 9:10 a.m. - 10:10 a.m.)
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
5 (WF 10:20 a.m. -11:50 a.m.)
11 a.m. -1 p.m.
9 (MWF 2:10 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.)
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
15 (W 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.)
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
December 12
4 (TTH 9:40 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.)
9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
9 (TTH 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.)
1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
12 (TTH 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.)
4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
16 (TH 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.)
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.