PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — DECEMBER 9,1996
OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Editor-in-Chief — Jessica Brown
Staff—Karolyn Braun, Monica Alston,;
Grant Long, Janies Bell, Molly McGluskey
• Contributing WriterSteve Ferebee
Advisor — Chris LaLonde
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 Enterprise. Opinions published do not necessarily
reflect those of North Carolina Wesleyan College.
Some final thoughts
before transferring
For my last editorial, I would
like to say a few fmal words about
my feelings for Wesleyan. After
five semesters, I believe 1 have
seen it all here on campus, both
good and bad.
Now, as I leave, I look back,
and see that my experiences at
Wesleyan have taught me much
about myself, and about life.
Wesleyan has pointed me in the
right direction and although it
takes me away from the college,
I will never forget my years here.
When 1 arrived my freshman year,
Wesleyan challenged me. I had
to discipline myself, and learn to
take the initiative.
By my second year I was be
coming involved, studying harder
than ever before, and seeing new
promises from a new president. 1
was also watching a new build
ing slowly cast its shadow across
ihc campus. Last semester any
student at Wesleyan had to feel
proud, seeing Dr. White’s inau
guration in the new Dunn Center.
I have seen Wesleyan inside
and out. 1 have enjoyed my expe
riences here. I have grown, and
now I know what I want out of
life. Wesleyan taught me to think
for myself, it matured me. This
college can do that for everyone,
if they allow the transformation
to take place. Students need only
to take advantage of what the col
lege has, and not focus on what it
lacks.
All of us, myself included, are
guilty of this. For many of us
Wesleyan was our last chance; 1
guess we should be happy to be
here, instead of wishing for big
ger and better things. Wesleyan,
though it has many faults, is a
good first step for those young
people who never left home be
fore college. Wesleyan has great
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potential and although it has a
long way to go, the future does
look promising.
Yes, the school does have little
or no spirit. There are still prob
lems within each department,
community damage continues to
trouble dorm-life, we are forever
being referred to as a “suitcase
college” because of the deadness
of the campus on weekends, and
students, like myself, continue to
transfer out. There are still many
other small problems which still
haunt Wesleyan’s hallways.
However, in the two and a half
years 1 have been here the col
lege has changed drastically. A
new building, internet access, a
new president with new ideas, air
conditioning, and much more
have come to Wesleyan. The fac
ulty and staff are all good, loyal
people, and 1 will truly miss all of
them that I have grown close to.
They all work for the benefit of
the students.
The key to making everything
click into place is to have an in
terested, involved, and mature
group of students. 1 want to look
back 20 years from now, see
Wesleyan as a thriving institu
tion, and be happy that for a while
I was a part of it.
To all students out there —
become involved. Yes, college is
about study, but socialization is
one of the biggest parts of the
college experience, and to miss it
is like missing out on a part of
life. Get out there and do some
thing. Be proud of your school
and your diploma.
Students are the present and
future of Wesleyan. Make Wes
leyan a better place, and you’ll
be making your diploma, as well
as your future, worth something.
—Jessica Brown
Holidays becoming an ordeal
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
When did having fun with
loved ones on Thanksgiving be
come such an ordeal? When did
Christmas become such a hassle?
When did “the holidays” become
a time of heightened suicide?
I have been thinking about
these questions since I heard an
NPR piece on how to cook the
perfect turkey and saw a televi
sion report on crowded airports.
“1 don’t want to go,” complained
one harried mother of three small
children, “but if I don’t get home
for Thanksgiving, my mom’ll kill
me.”
“Really,” 1 thought. “You’re a
grown woman; get a life.” Then I
swear 1 heard my own mother,
sending a message up from
Dr. Steve
Florida: “You leave that nice girl
alone; she’s a good kid. And just
when are you coming home?”
Panic. How many weeks until
Christmas? How’s the car?
Should 1 take the train, maybe?
What will 1 get her? Dad? My
brother? How will I...?
So 1 went Christmas shopping.
Wild man. I thought I was safe
because it was a couple of days
before Thanksgiving. No big
crowds. No panic.
No parking spaces, no reason
ably priced anything. (1 mean, 1
saw a nice little piece of pottery
with a fish on it, just right for
Mom. $250. $250? Maybe 1 can
cook a fish.) No way.
Then a bulldozer hit me. Ac
tually it was a woman with about
19 kids in strollers. “No wonder 1
don’t come to malls,” 1 thought,
as 1 tried to find my head.
She didn’t even see me.
Pushed right by me, intent on
reaching Penney’s. One of the
kids, waved merrily at me from
the back of the pack.
A young couple (two or three
years out of college, 1 reckoned)
sat on a bench arguing. She: “We
cannot afford it.” He: “But, honey,
my dad’ll love it.” She: “Look,
I’d love it too, but we can’t af-
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Are you aware of alcohol?
Dear Editor:
There’s a poster on campus
that asks a kind of lame question:
“Are you aware of alcohol?” I
know this because I made the
poster. I know the question is
lame because 1 overheard a stu
dent saying, “Do 1 know about
alcohol?!” Well, at least it gets
someone’s attention.
Attention is a noun. Attending
is the verb form: 1 have been at
tending a lot of funerals this year.
There were two the week after
Mother’s Day and then another
the week after Father’s Day.
1 think all of you would have
liked or admired Mark or Annie.
They were students at another col
lege. They had lots of friends be-
Letters to
the Editor
cause they were fun to be with.
They weren’t perfect, but they
were doing more and more things
right as they matured. They drank
responsibly. Because they had
been drinking, they stayed put in
a fraternity house.
And maybe, because they were
so soundly sedated, that is why
they died in the fire that ravaged
that house. Or maybe, because
someone else had had a few
drinks, a cigarette was dropped
without the flame out. Or maybe,
because they had been drinking,
some other person didn’t take out
the trash after the party.
“Maybes” and “could have
beens” are cold comfort to the
families and friends of Mark and
Annie.
Greg was a student at another
college. He was also on the path
of self-discovery and he was fi
nally demonstrating some real
positive behaviors. But he still
enjoyed a good party. His frater
nity brothers were responsible.
They put him to bed and took
away his keys. But somehow
Greg managed to wrap himself
and his car around a tree as he
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