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North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804 November 10, 2010
Opinion
Issue In-Focus: Why Do Some NCWC Students Lack School Pride?
In a recent meeting with Decree staff writers, President Jacob
Strickland said that SGA is taking much-needed steps to strengthen
school pride among the student body. During a separate interview
session, a new Wesleyan staff member commented that many
students have low expectations for their college. What’s the main
reason for such negative feelings?
Georgettae Fields-Turrentine
NCWC students have a lack of school pride because we pay all this
money for tuition and half the time we don't know where the money
is going. Why should students want to participate in various events if
they feel out of the loop? Signs to different events (excluding parties)
are often overlooked because signs don'ttalk. A mere piece of paper
with writing on it isn't going to get anyone's attention. Our advertising
techniques are in desperate need of improvement. Publicizing events
in the cafeteria, sending out emails, using colorful paper, having
people wear signs and just generally showing more enthusiasm
are some ways to increase school spirit. Just because something
sounds nice and appealing doesn't mean a big turnout is going to be
the result. It's all about promotion. Also, if the students see teachers
participating, that too will make a big difference.
Leila Heinonen
I think students have low expectations mostly because they
compare NCWC to other big schools where theirfriends are. Most
students are aware that the school doesn't have that much money to
improve the campus life—build big football stadiums, have concerts
and big parties. I also think that they have low expectations because
the spirit of the school is low and nothing really happens. Like SGA
President Jacob Strickland said, it is up to us students to make the
change, affect the school, be part of the community and try to change
something and not just give up and not care.
Rodney Holley
I think that students lack pride and have low morale because
students come to Wesleyan with low expectations. I've talked to a lot
of students that initially came to Wesleyan in hopes of transferring to
a bigger school. However, when the plan to transfer doesn't work out,
they're forced to stay at a place that they didn’t like in the first place.
Thus, they have a "don't care" attitude about a lot of things on campus.
Furthermore, the little things that can easily be fixed aren't. Many
students get mad when there aren't any paper towels in the bathroom
over the weekend or that the cafeteria is only opened an hour on
weekends, when the quality of food seems to dip.
John Kostet
I believe low morale and lack of school pride probably have to do
with the lack of involvement. It seems like the proudest students are
the ones who are the most involved as well. For example, athletes
take great pride in their programs and teams. And I betthat both the
Wesleyan Singers and the Quiz Bowl team feel somewhat good about
our school. But if you're not an athlete and not involved in any other
programs or clubs, if you’re only going back and forth from the class
room, I think it would be hard to feel pride or develop a relationship to
the school. 1 have the sense that there are not that many non-athletic
programs that involve people, and the ones we have are not very well
established. I guess fraternities and sororities might lift up the pride.
But it is going to take a while to establish them, just as it has taken time
to establish and form a culture among the athletic programs.
Emelie Lundgren
The main reasons for the lack of school pride in Wesleyan are lack
of communication and internal promotion from the administration
and Student Life. Since the students not are entitled to view the
budget of the school, we have no clue what our money is being used
to improve. And since Wesleyan needs improvement in every way—
from employing more faculty to renovating the dorms to providing
more means to the sports teams—we are likely to miss out on the
improvements that might be done since they are most likely to be
internal. As far as we are concerned atthe moment, ourtuition has
been raised and we are giving more and more money to the school
without anything happening to benefit us. As mentioned, this might
not be the case but without communicating with the students about
where the money goes to, this is all we see. This results in the students
feeling used, and we are unwilling to give anything back, such as
commitment to the school. Therefore, letting the students be a part
of the budget and the plans for the school would increase the insight
and raise interest among students to be a part of the changes. I know
that the Administration says how they are trying to host meetings
THE DECREE
since I960 "of, h\\ and for the Wesleyan communitv.'
STAFF
Senior Editor
Jarad Brown
Senior Staff Writers
Rodney Holley, John Kostet,
Alyson Matarazzo
Staff Writers
Georgettae Fields-Turrentine,
Jacqi Flynn, Leila Heinonen, Emelie
Lundgren, Ashley Meadows, Joshua
Meeks, Bristy Parker, Kevin Quicker,
Melanie Rhodes, Kandyse Shaw,
Jacob Strickland, Jessie Tamez
Cartoonist
Lorenzo Whitley
Staff Photographers
Claudricia Thomas
Lorenzo Whitley
Design Assistant
- Aaron Casteel
Special Contributors
Matthew Esterline
Carl Lewis
Jackie Lewis
Grace Wallace
Faculty Advisor
Dr. William Grattan
(ext 5336)
171 Braswell- Phone:985-5336
Email: WJGrattanOncwc.edu
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about different topics and how students fail to show up, but that is not
an excuse to give in and blame low morale on the students. Housing
meetings just don't feel as relevant to attend when the money of the
school is being used without any insightfrom the students.
Alyson Matarazzo
In my mind the low morale and lack of pride in NC Wesleyan is sad.
I think this is due to the factthat people don't know what's going on
around campus. We get this e-mail Monday afternoon about what's
going on the rest of the week but I doubt many people read it. I've only
read it about ten times since they started doing this. The newspaper
is supposed to get news out but I don't hear about anything coming
up, only about things that have happened, and it's usually things that
have happened weeks and months before it's printed. That all goes
towards morale. But pride? Pride is all about feeling that your school is
great. This school isn't great. First, the dorms are not somewhere that
students feel they can live. They sleep there and showerthere, but no
one wants to live in these dorms. I understand that the dorms are old
and that's fine. But why is the cafeteria getting new televisions and
a paint job while the students can't even turn their AC on because it
blows out hot air? Shouldn'tthe students be a priority? I think people
don't care what's going on around here and have no pride because it's
not being shown that administration even knows we exist.
Joshua Meeks
I think that the biggest reason there is no pride on the campus and
there is a low morale is because the problems are cyclical and neither
the students nor administrators care to be the first to break the cycle.
Students don't trust the administration because there are different
occurrences that go unreasoned. Student cries for better food and
better living environments in the dorms go unanswered while the small
amounts of money the school does have go to things like pine straw
and paint for a cafeteria that no one wants to eat in. The students
don't see their pleas being answered so there is a lackof trust with
the administration. The administration sees that students are not
doing simple things like going to the concerts held on campus or going
to SGA meetings so they find it unnecessary to put forth the effort
to comply with the student wants. One of the two sides has to step
up and show interest in the school for the other to budge. If not, the
school will stay the way it is now.
Bristy Parker
There is a lack of school pride here at Wesleyan. The main
reason could be that we have low expectations of our school. We
feel like we don't have anything to actually take pride in. Building a
family atmosphere in the dorms is a goal, butto us the dorm is just
somewhere we just sleep at night. We don't really feel like it’s our
home. That's just one example, but what can be done to improve this
situation is to start taking care of whatthe students feel is important
That way, we will feel more involved and wantto participate.
Kevin Quicker
I believe the main reason for the lack in pride at Wesleyan is
because no one really appreciates the school. They feel that the
school doesn't go out of its way to make the students life better so
why should they try? Instead of trying to put forth effort into having
more pride for Wesleyan, students spend their weekends at ECU or NC
State. At these local, large institutions, they feel like they are getting
a much better college experience.
Melanie Rhodes
The low morale and school pride is attributed to many things such
as the feeling that students are the least important on campus. For
example, the landscaping is beautiful but the dorms are atrocious.
Although I am commuter student, I was given a tour and many things
need to be done before I would even consider living in the dorm.
My biggest pet peeve is the lack of bathrooms. The lack of pride is
attributed to the lack of how the school is perceived by the students.
I take a lot of pride in this school because I believe NCWC is a school
with good academic programs, faculty, etc. However, there is still
more work to be done for the students to feel pride in this school.
Kandyse Shaw
As a junior here, I have very little pride in the school. When I arrived
here at Wesleyan my freshman year, I had very high expectations with
it being a small private college. But half of my expectations were just
hopeless dreams. I don't think that many changes here are taking place
fast enough. Many students don't have pride in the school because
we aren't known for anything good because once something good
happens, something bad happens right afterwards and that is all that
is remembered. I don'ttake pride in my school because besides my
education I don'tfeel like anything else is offered my way, (College
life is supposed to be fun as well as taken seriously. When I become a
senior, I will try to make my senior year one to remember but my three
years so far aren't great memories about my experiences.
Swedish Student Bashes American Egoism
By John Kostet
Senior Staff Writer
As an international student I'm often asked by other students and
faculty members about my home country, Sweden, and if or how it is
any different from the United States. It is not only a polite and friendly
way of starting a conversation but also a reasonable question since
there is a true interest in my answer. Most of the Americans I have
met have never been outside the United States, and some have not
even made it north of Virginia. So the curiosity to learn is sincere. I
usually choose to talk about the climate, how the sun never sets in
the summer and how ridiculously cold it can get in the winter. That
exotic difference seems to satisfy most people and I stay out of
trouble, because we all tend be on the same page when discussing the
weather.
There are of course a lot of things that truly fascinate me about
the United States. I would not be here to experience it all if it wasn't
for my appreciation for parts of American culture, which basically
is a mix of hundreds and thousands of other different cultures. To
experience it all or a little bit of everything in one place is amazing and
also a great proof of how acceptance and respect for other cultures
can lead to prosperity in a nation. America is certainly not perfect,
and I have sensed a degree of racism and fear bubbling unddrthe
surface, especially in the South. But in general there seems to be an
established norm of equality. This is something that unfortunately has
started to decline in Sweden. For hundreds of years we have been
living as a single, close-to-isolated cultural group. But, as we have
started to accept more and more refugees from wars in the Middle
East, Africa and the Balkans, our immigration has led to a more diverse
society. Instead of the American way of blending, appreciating and
respecting the advantages of a multi-cultured nation, many of us have
instead become scared, intolerant and narrow minded towards the
new influences, which led to a nationalist party receiving seats in
our parliament for the first time in Swedish history. This is an obvious
disgrace and an embarrassment to a whole country whose trademark
internationally has been its protection of human rights, respect
and solidarity. This is a difference that I always try to point out and
compliment Americans on. Hopefully the American dream of anti
racism and openness continues to extend not only in America, but is
established all over Europe.
There art several questions that unconsciously make me pick
my words more carefully when asked to compare and explain the
differences between our countries. It can be very tricky to fit in and
to not upset people when it comes to politics and the ideas behind
policy. It is a touchy subject because the political culture in America
is so very different from that in Sweden, so when I try to explain
and convince someone about the benefits of free education, free
healthcare, generous pensions and insurances based upon high taxes,
my attempt is most often doomed to fail. This is particularly difficult
with someone who actually trusts Fox News. Bill O'Reilly fans seem to
confuse the type of solidarity and democratic socialism that we have
in Sweden, with totalitarian communism and limits on freedom. So the
discussion is basically over before it even starts. Among right-wing
Americans, there is the will to simplify and view politics in only two
separate fields, capitalism and communism. This is obviously not just
naive but also very common. But their set and undisputable perception
of ideology does not explain how large global corporations such as
IKEA, Volvo, H&M and SonyEricsson, among others, can originate in a
small country based upon collective socialism. What narrow-minded,
so-called libertarians do not understand and refuse to understand is
thatfree enterprise and social democracy certainly do not exclude
each other, especially when the reforms are made in a system with
the best rated democracy index in the world. Sweden is a successful
example of finding the unique balance of social justice and a stable,
competitive economy, and I am of course very proud to mention it.
Another question I am afraid to answer is whether or not I would
like to stay and live permanently in the United States. Depending on
who's asking I usually lie and say maybe, while the truth is that I would
never raise a family here, and I would never let my children grow up in
the United States unless I was rich. Unfortunately, wealth seems to
be the only true criteria for happiness and prosperity here. If you are
unskilled, poor or sick, then there is no place or need for you. You are
useless and get left behind. The gap between the rich and the poor in
America is terrifying for being such a "superpower". The differences
in conditions and opportunities are all severe, as the best education
and healthcare in the world are available only if you are fortunate
enough to have the money to afford them. The pressure on the
individual to make it by himself is simply beyond reasonable measures.
I like the American cliches o'f "go hard, or go home" in sports. But
when "get rich or die trying" has an awful truth behind it in real life, it
is not fun anymore and it scares me. But what scares me even more
is the resistance to do something about it, to change the condition for
the people who are worse off. A common line is to blame the poverty
on the poor people themselves, and that type of survival of the fittest
is not appealing to me, no matter how fit I might be or become.
Some people have recognized the need for change in America. But
change is hard; just ask President Obama, who is clearly struggling
right now. Unfortunately for him and the people in need, there seems
to be a huge difference in how people perceive their government here
in the United States, compared to other more direct democracies
throughout Europe. Somehow most Americans view their government
as something very distant, almost abstract. People do not view their
representatives as an extension of themselves, nor do they trust
these representatives, and some are even afraid of the government's
actions. Federal involvement is considered the same as taking your
rnoney and limiting yourfreedom. The government is generally not
viewed as a tool for possible social improvement. So bringing change
to people who don't want and don't understand the need for change is
not easy and is going to take time.
There are obviously both positive and negative similarities and
differences between our countries. And I should and would be
more than willing to share my take on all kinds of issues as long as
my response is comprehended with an open mind, and not received
with an automatic defensive mode that refuses criticism, which
exaggerated patriots more often than nottend to have. If not, the
weather can always be agreeable.
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