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2 North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804 NEWS & OPINION October 5, 2012 Dr. Cameron Matthews Examines The National Presidential Race Issue In-Focus: Priorities for tlie New SGA (Editor's Note: Dr. Matthews' artswers were submitted September 21.1 Q. What was your reaction to the selection of Paul Ryan as Gov. Romney's running mate? A. I was a bit surprised by it. I thought, a.s did many, that Governor Romney would make a safer pick that would be a bit boring but more than satisfy the first rule of picking a VP: Do No Harm. Congressman Ryan does not necessarily do harm, but his budgets (which are both serious and controversial) have the potential to put the Romney campaign on defense. However, Congressman Ryan is a more than capable defender of his own plans and does not lack for intelligence. He excites conservatives. He is youthful and energetic and is probably the only nominee of a major party to be able to quote the Constitution and Motorhead. In the end, though, voters cast ballots for the presidential candidates and not the VP, so I don't think it'll matter much. Q. Which presidential candidate benefitted more from his convention? A. Neither I'll say the President got the biggest "bump,” but it has faded. As I type this, Rasmussen's tracking poll has the President up by 1 and Gallup's has it as a tie. Q. What are three things that each candidate must do to win? A. (Jov. Romney 1. Win 270 Electoral College votes which almost certainly must include The Decree since I960 "of, hy, and for the Wesleyan community.” STAFF Senior Staff Writers Gloria Arizpe, Emily Bower, Georgettae Fields-Turrentine, Alison Matarazzo, Bristy Parker, Melanie Rhodes Staff Writers Stephen Bardswick, Casey Burd, Daniel "Bubba" Carroll, Katherine Crickmore, Jasmine Croswell, Anna Hart, Emily S. Ivey, Kristi Lucas, Rebecca Staylor, KeCharna White Special Contributors Rebekah Cain, Dr. Carl Lewis, Dr. Jackie Lewis, Dr. Cameron Matthews, 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. 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 Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina, Ohio and Florida. 2. Win working-class whites (and whites in general) by a healthy margin. They will make up between 70%-74% of the electorate. 3, Stay on message; Economy, Economy, Economy. Pre.sident Obama 1. Win 270 Electoral College votes. His path is wider as he can lose states he won in 2(X)8 and still come in over the magic number 2. Increase turnout among blacks, Hispanics and the young. Polling indicates his support among whites is dropping fast. He has to make it up somewhere. 3. Put the best spin on economic news as possible while highlighting non economic issues such as immigration. Dr. Cameron Matthews Photo by G. Wallace Q. Who will win each of the following battleground states? A. Colorado; Advantage Obama Florida; Slight Advantage Obama Nevada; Advantage Obama New Hampshire: Advantage Obama New Mexico Obama North Carolina; Advantage Romney Ohio: Advantage Obama Virginia; Advantage Obama Wisconsin Advantage Obama Q. Who will win the election in November and why? A. It is still way too early to tell and it is a very close election. The president has the advantage at this poiiit. though. Recently, incumbent presidents tend to win re- election. He has the power of incumbency on his side, as well. The president has a wider path to the 270 votes he needs to win, so he can suffer more than a few blue states turning red and still win. However, his position is weak. He can't seem to get and stay at 50 percent in the national head-to- head polling. Presidents don't do much better on election day than the polling indicates they will. Undecided voters break heavily for challengers. The economy is weak, the dollar is falling, food and fijel prices are going up. Recent international challenges, including the death of a US ambassador, reflect poorly on him and make it harder to press foreign policy successes. Right now, he is the favorite to win, but is no shoo-in. Q, Will the GOP take control of the Senate and retain control of Congress? A. They will keep the House. Their ma jority will take a hit, but the GOP controlled redistricting after the 2010 census and protected themselves. The Senate is a much more difficult prediction to make. They only need to gain four seats to claim the majority (three if Paul Ryan is vice-president), and right now they seem to have a clear path to two seats. Missouri should have been an easy pick-up, but the (jOP candidate dam aged himself greatly with comments about abortion. The GOP will lose the Maine seat, but to an Independent and not a Democrat. They have opportunities elsewhere, such as Wisconsin and Ohio and, surprisingly, Connecticut (as of now). They may squeak through, but it won't be a flood. Q, Now to the most important predic tion: which two teams will make it to the Super Bowl and which will win? A. The Denver Broncos, of course, over the 49ers. (Dr. Cameron Matthews is an assistant professor of political science at North Carolina Wesleyan and, as astute readers will have surmised, a die-heard Denver Broncos fan.) Decree staffers were asked to identify some early initiatives for SGA to tackle. Here are some responses: Stephen Bardswick: wifi I think the first priority is the wireless Internet on campus. This recent issue was brought to my attention while sitting in the cafeteria as SGA was interviewing students on what changes they would like to see around campus. The answer was unanimous; The Internet is too slow. This issue was surprising to some, seeing as it wasn’t long ago that the school installed new modems and routers. Yet the slow load ing time and lack of responsiveness still plague students at NCWC. The students feel that the problem may lie with the content of material that Internet users are engaged in viewing (some of it illicit). But regardless of the cause, students would like to see a solution to this problem in the near future. Katherine Criclmore: security When students encounter a problem on campus, they are told to call security. Security personnel are meant to help in the event of a missing key or, on occasion, when a midnight trek across campus is required. They are often described by faculty and staff as the go-to guys when difficulties arise. However, you wouldn’t think so if a student had their say. When the question arises as to whether circum stances require a call to security, most upperclassmen would tell you “Don’t bother.” Students constantly voice the thought that the security on campus takes too long to answer a summons, and when they do show up, they are practically ineffective. This problem obviously should be addressed by SGA for the sake of the students, at least. If students are told that security can help them in a predicament, security should be able to do so. Jasmine Croswell: food services SGA’s first priority should be getting the WesSide grill and the Internet Cafe back to their original hours of opera tion. This year the grill is only open at 8:30 p.m. and not for lunch at 2 p.m. and the Internet cafe closes at 2 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. This is a big issue be cause many students, myself included, have classes straight through the lunch period and have no other options but to wait for dinner at 5:30. Not all students have cars to go off campus to grab a bite to eat and not all students have the money to buy snacks whenever they’re hungry. There are a lot more students on campus this year than last year. Imagine how many students don’t get the chance to eat lunch. Rebecca Staylor: activities We need to make our campus livelier. To make our campus more energetic, there really is a simple solution. First we need to plan events that appeal to the students’ interests. For example we could sponsor a campus movie night and project popular films on the wall of the field house. We could hold a tie-dye T-shirt event. We need to place on the agenda events that are appealing to the whole student body. After this is done, step two can be taken; advertising. Advertising is the key to making our campus more appealing to students. Last year as a freshman, I found it hard to know what was going on around campus, and while Dean Randy Williams’ staff sent out constant emails with the subject line “What’s Hap pening at Wesleyan,” many students, including me, would just glance at the message and then forget about it. Yes, that’s partially the students’ fault, but there are other forms of advertising that could be more effective. We need to put up posters, hand out flyers, and go around at tables as lunch. We need students willing to take time throughout the day to tell their peers about events happening on campus. SGA needs to create a game plan in attempting to make campus livelier. President Rebekah Cain’s SGA Update (Editor's note: Ftebekah Cain, the new expectations. The event was only made tion. We would like to help today’s inappropriate in^ass room/cafeteria (Editor's note: Rebekah Cain, the new president, will provide periodic reports on Student Government Association activities.) The Student Government Associa tion has been very active so far this semester and, as a result, we have wonderful updates to share! To date we have had three successful SGA meetings. Our guest speakers have included Mr. Michael Pratt, vice president of advancement. Dean Randy Williams and President Gray. Each speaker brought a wealth of knowledge to the meeting and expressed a willing ness to listen to the cares and concerns of the student body. We thank them for taking the time to attend the meetings and serving as resources and leaders for our students. SGA started the year with a bang, as our annual retreat, held on a recent Saturday at the Gateway Center, was a huge triumph. It allowed students the opportunity to develop leadership skills as well as learn SGA procedures and expectations. The event was only made possible because of the support from faculty, staff, administration and the enthusiastic participation our students. Mrs. Adia Cuthbertson, director of student activities, deserves particular recognition for her efforts. Thank you! New class and dorm representatives have been doing a great job. Thank you, students, for stepping up to vote, filling leadership positions and making an overall difference on our campus. Below is a report I’ve adapted from my “Monday Morning Message,” sent to faculty and staff on September 17. It outlines some of our broader goals for the 2012-13 school year; From my observations and my dealings with alumni, the “Wesleyan Experience” is centered on two things; the relationships they created and the experiences they had while attending NCWC. The SGA has decided to base its 2012-2013 goals with that famous “Wesleyan Experience” as a founda- New Visitation Policy Receives Favorable Reviews By Jasmine Croswell Decree Staff Writer Students expressed near unanimous support for the college’s 24-hour visitation policy begun this semester on the upper-class campus. The new policy, covering Collins, Nash, Boddie and Centura halls, allows residents to host overnight guests throughout the week, though guests may not stay more two consecutive nights per month, said Steve Myszak, director of residence life. In the freshmen residence halls, Edgecombe and Petteway, residents may host visitors of the same gender over night on Fridays and Saturdays. During the week, all guests must leave the residence hall by midnight, and on weekends there is a 2 a.m. curfew for guests of the opposite sex. Nash Hall resident Connor Wright appreciates the new rules. “I like that I can study in the library until 12,” she said, “and invite my gentleman friend over to sit in the lobby with me afterwards.” Cheyenne Green, of Nash Hall, agrees that the change is a positive one. “We’re all upperclassmen,” she said. “We can handle having our own company. It’s good because we actually have people stay overnight and not have to sneak them in.” Collins resident Kevin Kemp believes that the 24-hour visitation is quite nice. “This makes things easier if you have a family or a significant other,” he said. See VISITATION on pg 4 tion. We would like to help today’s students have every chance and chal lenge that will make their “experience” a cornerstone in their character and professional development. I believe that you have a key role in teaming with SGA to implement and attain our goals. Please help us. We want to; • Strengthen relationships among students, faculty, and staff We will achieve this by supporting each other through the attendance at athletic events and activities. Many stu dents have asked that I urge faculty and staff to invest in students outside the classroom, and “not just teach classes and leave.” If students can develop personal relationships with faculty and staff, it will enhance everyone’s opinion of our school. On a personal note; my view changed when I realized that people within the NCWC com munity genuinely cared about me and wanted me to be successful in every avenue of life. • Build connections between stu dents and the Rocky Mount community This will be attained through vol- unteerism, participation in community events, and the exploration of the city. While helping SGA begin a recycling project, the city has been wonderful and we’re grateful for their support and assistance. As we seek to foster this relationship, students will receive more information about events throughout the city. And we’re working with Tar River Transit to improve service to our area. We’re all very excited to see this relationship with the city blossom. • Promote the honor code, character values, and the practice of both This goal was established in the hopes of raising the standards expected of the student body. Our student leaders have accepted the challenge to hold each other and their peers accountable; now we ask that you, members of the Wesleyan community, do so as well. This challenge ranges from eliminating inappropriate in^ass room/cafeteria behavior to trying to curb littering and disrespectful conduct toward students and other members of the NCWC com munity. This charge is directed toward every individual who steps on campus. We want to create a trusting, warm and safe atmosphere where students feel at home. We can only be success ful if everyone accepts the personal responsibility that comes with being a member of the Wesleyan community. “It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.” - Moliere • Celebrate the diversity of the NCWC student population President Gray made comments at the first SGA meeting about the administration’s goal to continue its student appreciation effort and its vital importance to every student’s experience. Among the student body, individuals continue to talk about last semester’s Student Appreciation Day. We’re grateful to everyone who helped make that event so special. The event led one student to say, “I actually felt like I was cared about.” It’s our goal for students to feel this way year round, not just on certain days. Whether it’s by offering a friendly greeting while crossing campus, or holding special programs, we want to spark a new attitude at NCWC, one that reflects a common respect and appreciation for all students as well as other members of the NCWC community. SGA hopes to do its part by planning several projects during the school year. We are a community and we need to promote, support and encourage each other on a daily basis. SGA has established a new email address, sga@ncvt'c.edu, to provide a more direct form of contact between the executive board and the NCWC community. We encourage students to contact us with questions and concerns.
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