PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — JANUARY 30,1987
Opinions and Editorials
Select president
with great care
COLLEGE PRESS SERVICE
MH'T lOGK u\e pivssive smok^ to ift
We’re better than we think
(Editors note: In what
is becoming something
of a tradition, we hum
bly and fervidly present
the following editorial.)
Dr. S. Bmce Petteway's
speech on Founders Day
informed die Wesleyan com
munity that it must find a new
President for 1986-87 school
year. A President is respon
sible for the overall success
and progress of a college.
He/She must possess a sense
of compassion that will
enable him/her to understand
the needs of everyone in
volved in the day-to-day
acdviues of the institution.
He/She must recognize tJiat
students need to have a
college that can offer them a
quality educadon, while at the
same time providing them
with the security of knowing
Play review
By MIKK HROWN
One of ihc interesting things
about "The Foreigner" by play
wright Larry Shuc is that it's not
produced more often. It's sweet,
touching, and uproariously funny.
It's a treat for both actors and
audience, both of whom arc
having a wonderful lime with
Fayetteville's Cape Fear Regional
Theater production of this off
Broadway classic.
"The Foreigner" is Charlie, a
painfully shy Englishman still in
love with his adulterous, ter
minally ill wife. To take his mind
off his problems, his friend, Staff
Sergeant "Froggy" LxSueur, has
taken Charlie to a fishing lodge in
rural Georgia.
To ensure his friend's privacy,
Froggy spreads the word that
Charlie is a foreigner who can't
understand or speak English.
Charlie hesitates, then goes along
with the gag, and the fun begins.
Charlie is able to listen in on
everyone the lodge proprietress,
Betty Meeks; the hysterical debu
tante, Catherine; her half-witted
brother, Ellard; Catherine's fiance,
the Rev. David Lee; and an
obnoxious Georgia cracker, Owen
Musser.
that the college will not cease
to exist. To do tliis, he/she
must possess the ability to
raise money and manage it.
He/She must provide the
faculty with the security of
knowing that there w'ill be
enough qualified co-workers
to insure that they can
construct and hold classes
and office hours so as to
provide the students with a
quality educadon.
Most impoitandy, he/she
must bring together all these
needs of the college and
articulate them to the board of
trustees. He/She must be a
link between the college on a
day-to-day level and its board
members. He/She must instill
in the minds of the members
of the board of trustees the
idea that in order to build a
better college, all of these
things must be considered.
Then, unexpected things begin
to happen. Charlie begins playing
an important part in everyone's
lives and fulfilling their sccret
desires: Betty's need for a pet;
Ellard's need for a friend; and
Catherine's need for a confidante.
He also tries to undo the mischief
planned by Owen and the sinister
minister.
Director Bo Thorp has staged
this play as a breakneck farce, and
many of the scenes explode with
comic action. The climax, when
Charlie and his friends face down
the local chapter of the Ku Klux
Klan, is one of the funniest ever
seen.
The only problem with such a
crackling pace is that it tends to
roll over some of the play's quieter
moments. For instance, when
Charlie finally receives news about
his wife, his quick adjustment to
the facts seemed hardly believable.
These softer scenes can hardly
breathe for all the laughing.
T. J. Carlson as Charlie docs all
he can, but on the night reviewed
his performance was flat, and had
no snap, crackle, or pop. It's OK
for the character of Charlie to be a
little on the lifeless side, but the
actor has to make himself the
center of attention. Although
By DR. MARSHALL BROOKS
How good is Wesleyan? My
hunch is that we are better than we
think we are.
Last semester I was interviewed
for an article which appeared in this
paper on the subject of student
dissatisfaction with the college. I was
asked why I thought students
transferred from Wesleyan to other
colleges.
Carlson did sonle find clowning, all
too often my eye wandered to the
stronger performers.
Leading the cast to laughs were
Daisy Thorp (Wesleyan's instructor
of art), lovable and fiesty as Betty;
Molly Fix, in her wonderfully
controlled hysterics as Catherine;
and Bob Bell, totally buffonish as
Owen. Each of these actors gave
spendidly timed performances, and
squeezed every drop of comedy out
of their parts.
Bruce Lelbett's manic playing
of Ellard, the retarded brother,
made me uncomfortable, especially
when jokes were being bounced off
him. It seemed cruel. David
Barkman was adequate in the
thankless part of the shady rever
end, as was Roger Kovach's Froggy,
though he had a lot of difficulty
keeping his British accent in line.
David Castenanda's lighting
and Steve Currie's set were appro
priate and ably supported the
production.
"The Foreigner" is recom
mended for its high and low
comedy, tight direction, and,
especially, for the lively perfor
mances of Thorp, Fix, and Bell.
You'll probably find yourself, along
with the rest of the audience,
giving them a standing ovation.
My question to the interviewer
was when was she planning to do an
article on why students stay? The
point of my question was not to
discount the fact that in the recent
past, we have had a higher than
average exodus of students but rather
to suggest that if we are to get to the
heart of the retention issue, we need
to understand what keeps most of us
here.
Something obviously does
because the enrollment figures for the
spring semester tell us so. Most
colleges experience a decline of five
to six percent in overall enrollment
from the fall to the spring semester.
Our decline in enrollment was only
one percent.
A factor that appears to have
contributed significantly to this is the
increase in the retention rate of our
day students, both resident and
commuters. I might add that what
makes these figures more significant
is that over 30 day students were
placed on academic suspension for the
spring semester. This is about twice
the usual number of suspensions for
this time of year.
Quite honestly, the figures are a
pleasant surprise. My surprise is
reflective of how others have
responded. My own experience with
the people at Wesleyan, especially
since moving into the Dean's Office,
is that our community has students,
faculty, staff, and administrators who
arc talented, deeply committed and
who care a great deal about
Wesleyan.
Why if we expect to succeed and
improve, are we surprised when we
do? I believe that it may come down
to a question of pride about our
association with Wesleyan. For
reasons that I neither fully know or
pretend to understand, I believe that
we have a institution-wide college.
And yet, what is Wesleyan but us?
Pride is important to all of us and
it centers largely on our ability to
accomplish things that we value and
to have tliose accomplishments
acknowledged and appreciated by
others. It is a matter of the chicken
and the egg problem.
Our pride in Wesleyan is related to
ability to take pride in our
association with Wesleyan and vice
versa. In order to have Wesleyan
reflect that quality of the individuals
who work and reside within its walls
then we, as members of this com
munity, must find ways to take pride
in what we do and accomplish at this
college. Our image of Wesleyan will
grow only as our collective self-
images about being here do.
l&ecm
OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Editorial Board — Eva Bartley, Donald Martin, Matt McKown,
: : Barry Nethercuttj Christopher Ostling; Tom Rivers; Linda Simth; : ; ; :
Laura-Lee Spedding, Greg Williams.
Illustrator — David Gilliam
Photographers — Glenn Futrell, Steve Wiggins
The Decree is located in the Student Union, North Carolina
Wesleyan College, Wesleyan College Station, Rocky Mount, NC
27801; Policy is determined by the Editorial Board ot The Decree:
Republication of any matter herein without the express consent of
the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden. TAe Decree is composed
and printed by The Spring Hope Enterprise.
Opinions published do not necessarily reflect those of North
Carolina Wesleyan College.
’Foreigner’ sweet, funny