2
North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804
NEWS & OPINION
September 25, 2009
Issue In-FoCUS! Whafs Your Reaction to Wesleyan Becoming a Dry Campus?
Jarad Brown
Wesleyan is really in a tough situation
with alcohol and its policies for or
against it on campus. While NCWC
administrators aren’t oblivious to the fact
that drinking occurs on campus, they
also must make rules that are in the best
interest of all students. While students
that are “of age” lose the ability to drink
on campus, the need to protect students
and try to limit underage drinking
trumps the wants of upperclassmen. The
needs of the many must always come
before the wants of the few.
Nastatia Burnette
1 was not even aware of the school’s
decision to switch the alcohol policy
until now. During a recent cla.ss. Direc
tor of Residence Life Davon Davis said
that we are now in the process of creat
ing a “dry” campus and 1 couldn’t help
but think to myself: “as if!” The first
step to getting the students involved
in making Wesleyan a “dry” campus
would be to make the entire student
body aware. In my opinion the policy
is not considering our entire student
body. We have plenty of students on
campus that are 21 years of age and
even some well over the legal age to
enjoy an alcoholic beverage. The policy
should not apply to upperclassmen
and the dorms they reside in. I thought
the purpose of making dorms such as
Centura and Boddie only available
to those students that hold a certain
amount of credit hours was to separate
more mature students and their activi
ties from tho.se that are not of age. In
the past years, Centura dorm residents
were allowed to have alcoholic bever
ages. Staff members that were involved
in making the change in the alcohol
policy have .said it was to protect our
.students, that they don’t want them to
get alcohol poisoning or get harmed on
campus due to drinking. I feel that if we
have not had any incidents or problems
with the previous policy or did nothing
to have the privilege revoked, then it
should remain as is; the college shouldn’t
blame it on the a a a a a alcohol (Have
you heard this Jamie Foxx song? It’s very
popular-“ blame it on the alcohol”)
Georgettae Fields-Turrentine
Wesleyan’s decision to tighten its
alcohol policy by making it alcohol-free
was not a good decision. Before the
change, Boddie, an upperclassmen
dorm, was the only dormitory that
Editor
Jarad Brown
Senior Staff Writers
Joyce Collins
James Randolph
Staff Writers
Nastasia Burnette, Richie Fender,
Georgettae Fields-Turrentine,
Amanda Frimpong, Leila Heinonen,
Meghan Herd, Rodney Holley,
Lorane Johnson, John Kostet,
Alyson Matarazzo, Ashley Meadows,
Kathleen Penrod, Juliana Richardson,
Makeda Rose, Gregory Spence,
Jacob Strickland, Jesse Tamez
permitted the u.se of alcohol as long as the
person was of legal age. Now, even those
who are legal cannot consume alcohol on
campus and if they are caught, di.sciplin-
ary actions will follow. 1 think this is an
absurd change because those 21 years
or older should be able to drink as long
as they do so re.sponsibly. Taking away
one’s right to drink on campus is very
problematic because people will have to
find other places such as bars and houses
to do so. As a result, more parties are
going to result becaase of such a decision,
and students will be susceptible to driving
while impaired. If they can longer do it on
campus, students will have no choice but
to drive back to campus with alcohol in
their system. This is a lose-lose situation.
Wesleyan is indeed held liable to ensure
students are safe, but we must also
remember that they arc adults as well. 1
think we .should have kept the policy as
it was and if someone underage Uned to
get past it, then disciplinary action could
occur
Meghan Herd
I believe that the new alcohol policy
is a good thing for this community.
Prior to this year, Wesleyan was basi
cally a dry campus excluding Boddie
Cartoonist
Lorenzo Whitley
Staff Photographers
Raishael Tanner
Claudricia Thomas
Lorenzo Whitley
Special Contributors
Joshua Cain
Grace Wallace
Faculty Advisor
Dr. William Grattan
171 Braswell • Phone: 985-5336
Email: WJGrattan@ncwc.edu
Hall; therefore I see this new policy as
something that should not affect anyone
but maybe those students who live in
Boddie. Widi that said, I do believe
that this policy will make students take
the dry campus idea more seriously
because there are no loose ends to the
policy. I also think that this is a good
idea because, as everyone knows, the
number of students attending the col
lege each year is growing and space is
limited in the dorms; therefore students
of all different ages are being placed
in various dorms across campus. Not
having a dry campus could potentially
result in underage drinking and other
alcohol issues.
Rodney Holley
The move is one that doesn’t affect me.
One reason for the policy not affecting me
is the legal.aspect (I’m only twenty). And
secondly, I choose not to drink. However,
I don’t think this policy will stop the major
ity of alcohol consumers from drinking
on campus. One reason is that no one
gets caught As I enter my junior year, I
haven’t heard, seen, or been warned about
drinking on campus after someone else
has been caught. Furthermore, during a
recent weekend I saw alcohol bottles in the
parking lots even after having mandatory
dorm meetings where the drinking policy
was discussed. In closing, the policy may
prevent the few who are afraid of being
sent home from drinking on campus, but
the rest of the alcohol consumers will find
a way around the policy and may even
bring back bottles of alcohol to put around
campus to laugh in the face of the policy.
John Kostet
I understand the tightened policy
to some degree. I’m not saying that I
agree with it completely. I understand
our school’s purpose to try reducing the
risk of creating unhealthy relations to
alcohol among the underage students.
But at the same time I think it is unfair
to the students who were allowed to
consume alcohol in the past—the ones
who lived in the upperclassmen dorms,
were older than twenty one and did
MEAL PLAN from pg1
Leila Heinonen, a junkyr and a member
of the tennis team, said that she, too, became
angry on learning about the new charges. “I
coddn’t understand how the school can force
peqjle to eat at the cafeteria,” she said. "It felt
like the .school was liying to get easy money
fiom the students, even though they explained
it as a way to better the community.”
Heinonen added that she finds the food in
the cafeteria unappealing. Even if she wanted
to eat meals there, she said, her class and
practice schedule woukj prevent ha fiom
doing so.
In hLs email message. Dean Williams said
that some students would see their financial
aid cut by a small amount if they elected not to
keep the meal plan.
not play a sport. These students should
not be forced to alter their freedom or
follow other rules than the laws outside
the seipentine wall. But it is a complex
issue. And if the school would enforce
the policy to the fullest, it would only
push the problem outside the wall,
which then leads to other problems like
drunk driving and so forth.
Alyson Matarazzo
Nath Carolina Wesleyan College has
made its campus a dry one. NoalcdwL
Some students, I understand, suf^xxt this.
Fot me, I understand partly, but do nrt
suffort the policy. My experience, which
comes down to my parents’ and my fiiends’
parents’ mles, is that when you tell kids, and
college students, that this is NOT allowed,
they try to bnsak that rule. It might be a
game to some. Others might just want to
give the mle, and the adults who made it,
the figurative finger I do not like this policy.
Fot one, I have fiiends that are 21 years old.
They are of age and are not allowed to have
a beer or two after classes? My understand
ing of college is that it is to prepare as for
the real world. How is making our small
campus a dry one preparing me for that? I
don’t know if it is, or even if it could. Are
we not supposed to be learning how to be
responsible? Are we not sup^xjsed to be
growing and maturing? I chose this school
because it was small, the professors seemed
to trust the students, and most of the people
1 met seemed more mature than where I
come from. 1 needed that, and I still do. I
do not see how making our campus a dry
campus helps us, the students.
Makeda Rose
In light of the fact that Wesleyan is
a Methodist college with certain values
Welcome back to school, everybody.
We know you all probably wish that the
summer had lasted a little bit longer, but
we’re back at school now, which means
it’s time to get to back to work. As you get
back to work in your classes and at practice,
we’re getting ready to fire the Student
Govemment Association back up for the
school year Before we do, though, we’d
like to take some time to clarify some points
on what exactly the NC Wesleyan SGA is
and what it does.
Frrst, SGA is not just another student
organization. It’s a governing body that
oversees student organizations and student
events, investigates student concerns about
the campus, and works to make life better
for students over all. When students want
to plan an event, they come to SGA to both
plan and fiind it If a student, or group of
students, has a concern about an aspect of
the campus—^whether it’s in the acklemic
sector, financial services, student affairs,
or residence life—they can bring that issue
to us and we will do our best to resolve it
Also, we are constantly working on plans to
make life better for students, both residents
arxl commuters.
We have several committees, each
managed by students, that work through
SGA. The committees include:
• Residence Life, which looks into issues in
the dorms
• Food Services, which worics with the
cafeteria staff to ensure that students will be
satisfied with the food
• Community Service, which helps students
and groups who want to do community
servk« activities
• Publicity, which ensures that information
about student activities teaches the student
body
• Elections, which mas elections for various
SGA positions
• Finance, which makes sure that all SGA
fiinds are being spent property
• Fundraising, which raises money for the
different campus organizations
• Environmental, which has been develqsing
ideas to make the campus more environ
mentally ftiendly with a focus on iw;ycling
and solar-energy.
The SGA board is made up of students
fiom every aspect of the student com
munity: twenty-three members represent
the student organizations on campus, six
represent each of the dorms, and four
represent the four academic classes (fiesh-
men, sophomore, junior, senior). Fmally the
and appearances to uphold, it is clear
why they would want to toughen poli
cies about alcohol use on the campus.
However, it is absolutely ridiculous to
expect no drinking to take place on a
college campus. Quite a few students
are of and beyond the age of drinking
and it is unfair to restrict their legal
rights in hopes that drinking on campus
will stop, because it won’t. These
regulations may also push underage
drinkers off campus which will be a
more hazardous environment for them.
I am not promoting underage drinking,
but it does happen and will continue
to happen despite any rule that is put
into place. I believe that the governing
body should allow those who are of
age to indulge. They should restore
Boddie—or whatever dorm they deem
acceptable—to a wet hall.
Gregory Spence
I feel as though there is a lot of good
with making the new policy. However, I
don’t think that the new mle will discour
age fiiture consumption of alcohol on
campus. There is really no way to control
what a student drinks in the privacy of his
or her dorm room. I believe that instead
of eliminating alcohol completely, maybe
they should instead try to take preventive
measures to inform students of the risks
that come with drinking. It’s not the
alcohol that is the problem, but the students’
inexperience and a lack of knowledge that
opens the door for trouble. In recent years
Wesleyan has been a dry campus except
for in Boddie. ff we have not been able
to contain drinking to only that dorm in
the past, how do we plan on eliminating
four executive board members - secretary,
treasurer, vice president, and president -
work to make sure that all the SGA business
gets done. This includes ftmding of events,
distributing information, and taking student
concerns to the Wesleyan administration
and the Board of Trustees.
For the 2009-2010 academic year, the
SGA executive board consists of Jacob
Strickland, president; Juliana Richardson,
vice-president; Taylor Huffman, treasurer,
and Kayla West, secretary. They are listed
on page 144 in your student handbook.
Members of the executive board followed
the elections process in submitting their
applications by the deadline near the end of
last semester Each person ran uncontested,
and in accordance with parliamentary
procedures, formal elections were not
held. Any questions w comments should
be directed towards the executive board
members, either by office phone or by
emaiL Both will be given out at the first
SGA meeting, and will be posted outskJe
the SGA office.
While the SGA board is made up of
representatives from certain areas of the
student body, all students are invited to
attend our meetings. Last year some of our
most important issues were called to our
attentkm because student visitors came by
to tell us about their ideas and concerns.
Meetings are held every other Thursday at
8:00 (the first one was September 17). We
are working to find a new meeting location
so that more people can attend. As we just
stated, meetings are q»n for everyone to
attend, so please make time to come to at
least one meeting fliis year
This is your college campus, and you do
have a say in how things operate here. So, if
you have an issue about something happen
ing in the dorms, something you or someone
you know has experienced through any of
the departments on campus, or just have an
idea for an event or activity, please drop by
and give us your opinions. Remember, if you
want there to be more things to do on this
campus, or you think that something needs
to be changed to make things better, it’s not
going to get done by you sitting on your butt
in your dorm room You have to put some
effort into it, and coming to an SGA meeting
is often the first step towards a positive
change. Have a great year, everybody.
Hc^ to see you soon.
—This column M'oi pwixn'ed by SGA's
Executiye Board: Jacob Strickland. Juliana
Richaidson. Taylor Hitman and Kayla West.
The Decree office is on the firstfloor of the Hartness Center.
Copyright Policy
The Decree holds the copyright of every article
and graphic for one-lime and future publication
at the discretion of the editorial board.
Submission implies agreement with this policy.
Editorial Statement
Commentary/opinion and letters to the editor
represent the individual author’s views, and not
necessarily those of North Carolina Wesleyan
College, the Decree
staff or the Decree advisor.
Submissions
To suggest an article, or submit an opinion
piece or letter to the editor, send an email
attachment (Microsoft Word) to:
WJGrattan@ncwc.edu. Note that the
Decree staff checks all submissions for
accuracy and edits in accordance with
acceptable grammar and punctuation as well
as AP Style.
Corrections
The Decree corrects mistakes of substance.
If you would like to request a correction, send
an email to WJGrattan@ncwc.edu,
or call 985-5336
Thi : Decree
since I960 "of, by. and for the Wesleyan community."
STAFF
I ~~
drinking campus-wide?
Student Govemment Explained