FEBRUARY 28,1997 — THE DECREE — PAGE 3
Dennis Rodman much better than image
By JAMES BELL
Dennis Rodman is nothing
more than an overpaid bum! Den
nis Rodman is gay! Dennis Rod
man is a disgrace to the National
Basketball Association! All Den
nis Rodman does is cause trouble!
Dennis Rodman is a colored-hair
freak! They should kick Dennis
Rodman out of the league!
By MONICA ALSTON
Centura Bank is dedicated to
the success of quality banking and
their corporate learning centers
prove this. These centers provide
the current and new employees
of Centura Banks w^ith training
for exceptional quality service.
By offering programs in many
service related areas, employees
learn the skills that will better
Gay support
group formed
at Wesleyan
A new gay, lesbian, and bi
sexual support group has found a
home on the Wesleyan campus.
Led by professors Dana Ford
and Dr. Elizabeth Edminston, the
main purpose of the organization
for now is to “provide educational
and emotional support to the gay,
lesbian, and bisexual community
on campus,” Ford said.
A number of students, as well
as professors, have joined. Some
of the short-term goals for the
group are to provide support (re
sources, educational, etc.) for its
members, develop a cohesive
community of gays, lesbians, and
bisexuals, and to enhance visibil
ity on campus.
Some of the long-term goals
for the group are to gain recogni
tion through SGA, offer educa
tional resources to the college
community, and to investigate
national affiliations.
Membership is totally confi
dential, meetings are presented at
off-campus sites, and there are
no activist movements supported
by the group. It is merely a sup
port group for students, faculty,
and staff on the Wesleyan cam
pus.
Those interested in joining
may contact Ford at 5171 or
Edminston at Si54.
These are some of the things
that I overheard about the re
bounding Chicago Bull recently
while having dinner at a local res
taurant.
I want to disagree. And dis
agree with a passion.
I would like to argue that Rod
man should be considered a mod
em hero, someone that we can
look up to and admire. A person
serve their customers as well as
develop their own careers.
The classes offered in the train
ing program are categorized to
include Service Quality, Loans,
Computers/Technical, Sales, and
Insurance Continuing Education.
The days for these training
courses vary in length from one
to three days. Under the Service
Quality program employers learn
customer relations which is re
quired for all employees and man
agers.
A Phoenix three-day seminar
under this category helps employ
ees to develop their communica
tion skills as well as evaluate their
personality strengths and weak
nesses.
In the Loans training category,
an introduction lending course is
offered, three days in length.
Other courses included are com
mercial and mortgage loan.
Software packages are offered
in technical training computer
classes. The packages included
are: Window/Word, Excel, Excel
II, Word II, PowerPoint, and
Online Money Management.
Sales training courses include
two- and three-day programs: Pro
active Relationship Banking, Ex
traordinary Service Management,
and New Business Development
Techniques.
“The Extraordinary Service
Management course is one day
that provides service managers
with tools to lead their service
team in providing extraordinary
service,” states the Centura Train
ing Schedule.
There are several locations
throughout this state: Brevard,
Goldsboro, Greenboro, Granite
Falls, and most recently on
Wesleyan’s campus in the
Gravely Science wing. The
Wesleyan location will be avail
able for classes during the last
few days of February and early
March. At this location there are
three classrooms, two of which
have computers.
Opinion
who embodies many of the quali
ties that we consider admirable
in people. Qualities like individu
ality, hard working, and a man
who takes care of his daughter.
Dennis Rodman is a man who
was considered a nobody who
came from nowhere. Dennis Rod
man came from a very poor fam
ily in Dallas. He lived in the
projects where the chances were
better that he would end up dead
or in jail, rather than a success.
He was raised without a father
and was homeless at times. But
when the oppprtunity came to go
to collegc, he went. He had an
ability, a talent, he could play bas
ketball. The game was his ticket
out of the ghetto. Isn’t that. the.
American Dream? To rise out of
poverty, every man with the same
chance, to make something out
of nothing — has that not been
an idealistic American Dream for
years? So, isn’t Dennis Rodman a
product of the American Dream?
. Yes, Dennis Rodman is a loner
who may be called a rebel. How
ever, when we read about roman
tic heroes in literature they are
often loners. Rodman stands on
his own and he stands by what he
says. He is honest and calls it as
he sees it. Are these qualities that
we as a society find respectable?
1 think so.
Dennis is a hard working man.
He works harder than most other
players on the basketball court.
He is a 6’7” (depends on what he
is listed at on a given day) under
sized power forward who has to
play defense against players like
Shaquille O’Neal and Kieinbe
Mutombo. These players are
stronger and taller than Rodman,
yet he still out-rebounds them
while shutting down their offense.
As a society, do we not appreci
ate a man who is a hard worker? I
think we do.
Alexis, Rodman’s, only child,
is his main conccrn. Her care and
well being have always been a
number one priority in Dennis
Rodman’s life. This year when
Rodman signed a $9 million dol
lar plus deal with the Chicago
Bulls, he had almost one third of
the money deferred into the next
century for his daughter’s educa
tion. When Dennis Rodman tried
to see Alexis on the Oprah
Winfrey Show and was not al
lowed because of his vindictive
wife, he cried. He told the world
how much he loved his baby. As
a society we denounce men for
not taking care of their children,
and we love those who do. So
should we not love a father who
does care? 1 think we should.
Yes, yes, 1 know that Rodman
does some stupid things on the
court. He kicked a cameraman in
the groin, (even though the re
play showed the man was actu
ally kicked in the leg) and he
head-butted a referee. Yes, he is
bizarre, he wears dresses and
make-up, he has no fashion sense,
he looks like a muppet on crack
with his hair and tattoos, and is
pierced more times than a pin
cushion. He even mamed him
self. •
But through it all he is there
for the fans. After every home
game he gives a game jersey to a
young fan. At ihis point in the
season Rodman is playing bas
ketball for free, donating his game
salaries to various charities.
Because Rodman is honest, an
individual, a hard worker,, loves
his daughter, and gives his all to
his fans, all the strange qualities
about him are just not important,
Dennis Rodman is a great bas
ketball player. And the real Den
nis Rodmaii — not the media-
created version or the self-pro-
claimed bad boy but the one that
has the heart of a champion — is
a terrific person as well.
For a Good Time,Call...
Campus
Activity
Board NEW
Hot Line at
985-KAB4
All Day All Night!
V
Centura locates
center on campus