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North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804 NEWS & OPINION May 10, 2012 Two Student-Athletes Reflect on Time at NCWC John Kostet I write this with only days left before graduation. It is time to summarize and put an end to my American experience, and what an experience it has been. Four years of my life have gone by, and who would have thought that I would spend all of them here in Rocky Mount, NC. I am very restless and I am always daydreaming about my next step, my next trip. I simply can’t stay in the same place for too long. But somehow I got .stuck here. Something made me want to stay and commit to a team (men’s basketball) and a degree (in political science) for four years. I don’t know what that something was, and I don’t think I will know until years from now. I guess it’s true that “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” But I know that when I put my feet on the frosty parking lot in Sweden, I will definitely miss the ability to wear shorts and a T-shirt. But the weather was not what brought me here. I came to fulfill my dream of playing basketball in the country where the sport was invented. The playing part never really worked out for me, as I suffered from a variety of injuries and settled for the bench. I did not mind, the competition was tough and I wasn’t motivated enough to make much of a difference. But I still loved it. The overall experience gave me more knowledge than any class had ever taught me. The things we learned and experienced as a team have been priceless and the memories will forever stay with me. The friends I made through basketball might not be my closest, but our relationship is special and my teammates will never be forgotten. I have met a lot of people throughout these years, and I have made friends from different parts of the world. It has been amazing to see how .such a small school like Wesleyan has been able to attract such a variety of students. Not everyone stays to pursue a degree; instead many international students leave after only a semester or a year. But the high number of foreigners has truly conUibuted to an important cultural mix that 1 have really enjoyed. I think diat the diversity at this school is what makes it so special. It feels great to know that I have friends from New Zealand to Fayetteville, from New York to Brazil, from Cameroon to Iceland and from England to San Diego. Hopefully it also means a free place to stay when I come to visit. When I first got here. I’ll admit I was very skeptical of the liberal arts concept It did not make any sense to me. I already had my mind set to study political science, and I was questioning why I had to take all those unrelated courses. At European universities, you usually choose a field of study and stay within that field. I couldn’t see how studying theaU^, biology or underwater rocks could help me understand politics. I still can’t, but I realize that most of my peers were not sure about what they wanted to study, and a year of a little bit of everything might have helped them. I also discovered that I prefer writing and thinking rather than reading and memorizing, which led me to journalism. That would probably not have happened in Sweden. In retrospect, I am glad that I had to take other classes, and today 1 might even write better in English than I do in Swedish. I don’t regret coming here and I don’t nsgret staying here. Instead, it has been four great years that have been both joyflil and iaspirational. At times I might have felt a little “stagnant,” but that has only produced an even greater uige to travel. The general education and the classes I have taken might have just touched the surface, but it created an interest for certain subjects. I might miss the friends I made, but the memories will always remain. Patrick Laffin I always knew I wanted to play a sport in college. I was devastated, after hurting my neck in football, to find out that 1 would no longer be able to play the sport I loved, hockey. I had lofty, and possibly semi- realistic, dreams of playing in the NHL, and to this day itpaias me to see some of my Boston-area peers playing Division-1 hockey and getting drafted into the NHL because I know it could easily have been me. After my injury, I focused all of my eneigy and time on another-passion-baseball. After being told baseball was one of the only sports I could play due to my neck, 1 decided it was the sport 1 wanted to play in college. It was my dream to play college baseball in the South, because I was sick of the cold weather and snow cutting my baseball season short. While in high school 1 was recmited heavily by Wesleyan and I decided to come down for a visit with my father and we both fell in love with the beautiflil field and the rich history of the program, its tradition of winning. 1 decided that I wanted to play for Wesleyan and before I knew it, I got a letter in the mail saying I had been accepted. Looking back it feels like my three years here flew by. 1 still remember the butterflies in my stomach before my first college game. I will always remember my first college hit, a 9th inning game-tying double against Eastem Mennonite College. My first season was 2(X9 and we had one of the best teams I have ever played on, as we made it to Regionals and were two wins away from going to the College World Series. I experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows my sophomore season. After starting off the season hot, I fell into a slump and lost my starting right-field spot. I was so upset, but I kept working and soon I won the DH job, not a role I particularly wanted, but at least I was in the lineup again. I started hitting really well again and by the end of the season, I succes.sftilly won back my starting position in right I was on fire by the end of the year. The Decree since I960 “of, by, and for the Wesleyan community.’’ S TA F F Opinion Editor John Kostet Sports Editors Joshua Meeks, Bristy Parker Style Editor Georgettae Fields-Turrentine Senior Staff Writer Melanie Rhodes Cartoonist Lorenzo Whitley Staff Writers Gloria Arizpe, Emily Bower, Jacqi Flynn, Alvin Hare, Anna Hart, Kristina Hill, Gunnmi Palsson, Sara Sims, Brandon Taylor, KeCharna White, Brittany Wright Special Contributors Matthew Esterline, Carl Lewis, Jackie Lewis, Grace Wallace Faculty Advisor Dr. William Grattan (ext 5336) ■ 179 Braswell • Phone; 985-5336 Email: WJGrattan@ncwc.edu Copyright Policy The Decree holds the copyright of every article and graphic for one-time and future publication at the discretion of the editorial board. Submission implies agreement with this policy. Editoinal 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 going 5 for 10 in the conference tournament with two homenms. Then ttagedy stmck at home and I was fcwced to leave Wesleyan and attend another college in 2010-11. I was heaiftroken when I had to leave behind the school, teammates, coaches and teachers that 1 had grown to love. I enrolled in a college at home in Massachusetts, but the feeling wasn’t the same. I stmggled to make friends in a school that was incredibly cliquey, and I hated playing baseball on a team where no one, including the coach, cared enough to put in the time and effort to be good. I quit the team, sadly realizing my college baseball career was over. I only needed one more year of classes to finish my degree, so I decided to focus on school and earning my business degree. Then toward the end of the spring 2011,1 decided to write Coach Long a letter, thanking him for believ ing in me and giving me the opportunifies he did, and for allowing me to play in such an incredible program. I especially appreciated the way Coach Long coached the NCWC team, after a season of playing for a coach who had no idea how to run a college pro gram. At the end of the letter, I explained that I was not playing baseball anymore, choosing to focus on school instead. A week later I got a phone call that would change my life. Coach Long told me point blank that I had too much talent to give up on baseball. He explained to me that 1 had one of the best swings he had ever seen and that there was no way on earth I shoukl give up playing. He encouraged me to think long and hard about giving up on baseball. After I hung up, I realized what I wanted to do, so I called him back and told him I wanted to return to Wesleyan. He was ecstatic and helped me with the transfer process. My parents were thrilled, as they had become concerned with how depressed 1 was after quitting baseball. I was so happy to be back at Bauer field, playing for the Battling Bishops. My senior year flew by, but loctoig back I am very haf^y 1 decided to return. I was a First Team All-Conference selection, an NCAA Tournament First-Team selection, the MVP of the baseball team, an Academic All- Conference selection. And 1 was iKiminated for Wesleyan Male Athlete of the Year. The awards and accolades were a tremendous achievement that I am very proud of, as I woriced so hard in the off season to get back in baseball shape; however, the awards are not what makes me the most happy about my season. I am happy because I got to play with some incredible teammates and make life-long fiiends in the process. Baseball great Bo Jack son once said, “If I miss anything about the sport, it's the camaraderie of old teammates.” I believe that is tnie, because at the end of the day no one remembers how the team perfonned as a whole; you just remember the guys you played with. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to play with this group of men one last time. My teammates are what made this year so exciting for me and I am going to miss them tremendously as I move on to the next chapter of my life. Laffin SI Photo LEHER TO THE EDITOR About the Cross By Rebekah Cain (This letter was submitted in response to a page-two article, “Groups Raise Cross,” in the March 8 edition of The Decree.) When considering others’ ri^t to their own opinions and perspectives it’s always important that we remember the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This njle is what has helped sustain the "melting pot" that is the United States of An^rica for hundreds of years. If this rule is emteced by people of different viewpoints, we can tmly live in peace together Scriptures say that with the help of the Lord we will always aim to "conduct [ourselves] in a manner wrathy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27). Though we might disagree on moral or theological points, as adults we should respect each other enough to appreci- ■ ate one’s willingness to stand up for something. After all, our country was founded by people of faith and it was Alexander Hamilton, one of our founding fathers, who sai4 "Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything,” It has been pronounced by a minority representation of our faculty that the nine-foot cross (placed by students) was offensive and an infiingement on student rights. Last time I checked each of the paychecks that faculty members willingly accept and deposit are fiinded in large part by student tuition, alumni giving and the Methodist Church. And the checks have the words “North Carolina Wesleyan College” on it I can only imagine how much of an undue burden this is for someone who willingly accepted employment at a small Methodist college. Let’s be realistic. This is North Carolina Wesleyan College, a school founded by the Methodist church to THEFTS two controlkis and three games, a Toshiba laptop computer, a 19-inch Magnavoxflat-saeen TV, five baseball hats, NCWC baseball sweatpants, an Oveibrook (NJ.) High School hoodie, two [Aws, acne medicine, and $10 in laundry diangp. “My sister had just bought me the laptop before I came to schod in the fall,” he noted A master key was found in a trash can outskle Collins, whkii explained why there were no signs rf forced entry. “We will have to change every kxk on campus now,” Dean Williams saki John Jackson was shocked when he came back after spring break to discover that almost everything he had of value was gone, including his PlayStation 3, seven games and three controllers. Other missing items included a set of headphones, an iPod charger, hair clippers, and several books. ‘The door was locked but the light was on,” Jackson said in describing what he found when he returned to sdxxl “My roommate's bed was flipped, the drawers were pulled out, and all our stuff was gone. I was really shocked because I thought I was cool with everybody here.” Dean Williams said that Ihs colfcge will reftee Ite stolen textbooks, whkh students now rent as part rflheir tmtka But Ihsre is no pcfey in ftee to reimburse students for thdts cf their possesskins. Instead, the students must rely on Iheir own insurance. But both Huff and Dietrkh ^ they doubted that their home insiaance wouki cover thar k)sse& i just sent Ihe polke report to the insurance conpany back home, butl ‘mnottoosute,”Huffsaid Jackson was surprised and disappointed that the school doesn’t have a reimbursement policy ‘The doors were locked and our stuff was supposed to be safe,” he said. Dietrich agreed and said there was nothing he and Huff could have done differently to prevent the thefts. “They need to step up security somehow,” he said. ‘This is ridiculous.” The police told the victims that gaming consoles with serial numbers on them will be much easier to retrieve, but since most of them did not have that marking, they are pessimistic about finding them. “I just want to get my money back,” Huff said. As a result of the thefts, some students have called for securi^ cameras to be installed in their residaioe halls across campus. “Other colleges have plenty of cameras, so why wouMn’t we have them?’Huff saki Jxkson echoed Huff and added that he would appreciate an increased pesence of police and improved security on campus, as long as it’s reasonable “I don’t want the police to make rounds every 30 minutes in our dorm, or the surveillance to turn into ‘Big Brother’ or anything like that,” he said “I know it’s too late now, but something needs to be done.” Dean Williams saki that the administratkin is tooking into different optwns to monitor residence hall loblaes and hallways. He added that there has been discussion with flie Rocky Mount police to tei^ten their presence on campus.‘The investiga- tkms have beai taken very seriously,’ ’ he saki, as hs commended the pofce for their assistance and the campus community’s response “We have had multiple successfirl meetings with staff and smdents.” It’s been noted that four rfthe five alleged culprits fiom the earlier thefts had been manbeis rf the NCWC lootball team Current liayers and oU, g3meiay programs confinml that Oaspe, Joyner, Smith and Swinson have all played for the Bishops. Smith, a defensive back, was a thirdteam USA South All-Conference selectwn last M. When Ja±sai, the team’s startmg quartobadc in 2011, was asked icut the possibiiy tta teammates mi^ have slden fion eadi other; he saki that’s \\hat hurt Ihe most “I thoi^ we an had gaod friendships and that we oouH tnist eaii other;” he saki‘But I guess you rever know with peof^” Jackson saki that when tte anEsts were mafe, tte tnist and ctenistiy had dropped amar^ his teammates, butlhattenowhopedthatl^canoonKtt^elteaitl becomeeyai stronger than before.‘ttpdullywehaw gotten rid of our \\edc Hs^” he saki Additional reports indicated that at least one of the arrested students had been expelled once before from the college because of previous alkged crimes, but that he had been readmitted to campus last fall. Dean Wriliams wouW neitha confimi nor deny that this was tnie. educate individuals throu^ Christian beliefs. It is mind-boggling to me that a school that claims to promote “Wisdom and Coura^ through Christian Education” would remove the Christian and Methodist symbol of a cross until a venfct is reached cm its appropriate cr inappnapriate nature. The opinion that students at a Christian College are trying to face religion on others by simply posting biblical scriptures on a cross is profoundly misguided. If this woe the case, then all faculty, stuctents and staff would be ofpessed by religion when they view our college’s name on the website or stationary. If the symbol of a cross is offensive, then all 10,000f alumni of our college must break undemeath the burden of seeing the symbol of the cross pinted on their diploma and having the motto: "Wisdom and Courage Throu^ Christian Education" imprinted there as well. After all, our college is named "Wesleyan" after John Wesley, a devout Christian and founder of Methodism. As the leaders of tomorrow, we cannot afford to live in fear, haction for fear of offending anyone is an unrealistic philosophy that some in our community are trying to push. Not allowing one to voice his or her opinion based on the thought that it might offend another leads to a meaningless cycle that leaves everyone oppressed by fear. This is not tolerance or tme equality. This is unrealistic bias and unnecessary "drama.” Common sense dictates that if religion offends someone, then they should rethink attending and seeking employment at a Christian college. If tolerance is what is needed, then let us tmly be tolerant in every situaUon. To many, this situation only reinforces the need for more Christian virtues like Love, Patience and Kindness on this campus. One can only imagine the reaction of our college's founders if they were to hear the claim that a cross—the ultimate symbol of Christian love—^is offensive and an inhibition to students finding their own path of faith. The intent of the Cnoss is to have a visual re minder, fw everyoK who comes on this campus, that Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, the pafect example of love. The beauty of this portrayal lies in the fact that He nase ftom the dead and is now alive in every believer. The verses tiiat are placed on the cross are for another purpose; they are well tiiought out and prayed over before fliey ever go up. The night before the scriptures are placed, student repre^ntatives careftiUy consider scriptures that will encourage the student body! The scriptures cause readers to think, but an important fact is that each student independentiy interprets the scriptures they see for tiiemselves. There is no pressure fixim otiier students or organizations. They are just as free to stop and look as they walk by. It was Christian faith tiiat was at the heart of the college’s founders and there are many who believe tiiat this same faith should be encouraged on campus. After all is said and done, I don't believe it is negative or offen sive for students acting out of tiieir Christian faith to encourage ofliers as tiiey continue to grow at NCWC. ft is important to realize tiiat tiie placement of a cross on campus was initially an effort entirely led by students, and not organizations. On our campus, Christian organizations are encouraged by tiie cross and appreciate tiie administration’s eventual approval of its installation. The cross is now properly maintained by Refuge Campus MinisUies and Campus Cmsade for Christ. We ask that before anyone creates a bias about Christians, tiiey iinderstand the basics about the campus ministries...we are here to glorify God in everything we say and do (Colossians 3:17). We meet to uplift and encourage each other in mind and spirit. We are always excited to meet for fellowship each week. All are welcome to come to CRU on Monday nights at tiie Chapel and Refuge on Tuesday nights in tiie Hartness Center. (Cain has served as president of Refuge)
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May 10, 2012, edition 1
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