PAGE 2 —
THE DECREE —
OCTOBER 9,1987
OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Co-Edftor-ln-Chlef — Tom Rivers and Mike Trubey
Staff Reporters—Melanie Bolling, Mark Crum,
Sharon Evan^ Pam Harristxi,
Dell Lewis, Waync Martini
Thtt Decree is located in the Studeat Union, North Carolina
Wcsleyatt Colteg.e, Wesleyan College Station, Rocky Mount, NC
27801* Policy is determined by tiie Editorial Board ol The Decree.
Rej«Jb1ication of at\y maKcr herein without the express^ consent of the
EdiioriaJ Board is strictly forbidden^ The Decree i$ composed and
printed by Tfte Spring Hope Enterprise,
Opinions published do not necessarily reflect those of North Caro
lina We^eyan College.
Treasures abound
Why do I have to take Eng
lish? Why do I have to take
history? Why do I have to
take math? These are all typi
cal questions that are heard
from freshmen and sopho
more (and sometimes even
junior and senior) students
entering a liberal arts curricu
lum. They do not realize that
the liberal arts education is
preparing them to be well-
rounded individuals and to, as
they often hear, “broaden
their horizons.”
The liberal arts education
is important for students in
many ways. Not only does
one leam about the specifics
of management or how to pre
pare a balance sheet, he may
leam about literature, history
or psychology and how it af
fects his environment.
If a student does not en
gage in learning about these
other areas, how will he know
what interests him outside of
his area of expertise. Will he
enjoy sitting around in twenty
years worrying about the
problems of business today
during his spare time? He will
probably have some type of
hobby that occupies his time. |
Once again, how will he
know what he enjoys if he
does not give these other ar
eas a chance?
College is the perfect op
portunity to explore other top
ics. A student is in an environ
ment during his college years,
that gives him the opportunity
to take advantage of the vast
amount of knowledge that
surrounds him. If the student
would like to pursue an inter
est in literature, then there is
an English department that he
can take advantage of exper
tise ranging from
Shakespeare to Creative
Writing. There is a history
department with topics rang
ing from Western Civilization
to the United States in the
Twentieth Century.
There are many opportuni
ties available for students to
take advantage of a liberal
arts education right here on
this campus. Please open your
minds to all of the different
areas of knowledge here and
give one or two of them a try.
You may or may not take
advantage of these opportuni
ties, but if you don’t, you only
have yourself to blame.
FtEL CoHF'\>tNT ^5ouT
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They are here to help
Take advantage of faculty
By WAYNE MARTIN
Contributing Editor
In the Sept. 25 issue of The De
cree, Dr. Leslie H. Gamer, Jr., our
college president, wrote,
“Wesleyan’s obligation is to help
you prepare a meaningful, produc
tive life in a complex world. In return
for your (emphasis mine) diligence
in study and service to colleagues,
you will take from this place knowl
edge you can use to achieve eco
nomic independence, personal integ
rity, and spiritual peace.”
Implied in this important state
ment of institutional purpose is an
offer made to all Wesleyan students
of a “learning contract” with the
obvious, but often overlooked by
students, reciprocal requirements of
such a contract. To receive the bene
fits tendered by NCWC as expressed
by our president, we must agree with
and actively enter into the terms of
the contract.
As students we can all agree that
we hope to reap knowledge from our
college experience that will enable
each of us to achieve “economic in
dependence, personal integrity, and
spiritual peace.” It is the active par
ticipation clause in the contract that
we often fail to honor. It seems to be
that the benefits offered in the learn
ing contract justify a reciprocating
action.
One way in which we can fulfill
our contractual requirements as stu
dents is to utilize fully the resources
made available by our college. To
some students this statement may
appear as a statement of the obvious
in that we all know about our text
books, the library, the Learning Re
source Center, etc. However, I would
like to suggest that we may be over
looking one of the best resources
available at our college — the fac
ulty.
Our faculty is perhaps our most
untapped resource. Collectively, the
Wesleyan faculty offers a wealth of
education and experience for the in
quiring student. Moreover, all of
them were once college students, and
they are familiar with student con
cerns and interests. Also, I find that
most of our faculty exhibit a genuine
interest in the education and welfare
of the students.
Again, however, the student must
demonstrate some initiative in estab
lishing a working relationship with
the faculty. Dr. Gamer again sets the
tone: “We’re all in this together.
Nobody here will do it for you. We
are all in the business of learning,
which is much easier if we work to
gether.” The question seems to be
whether or not students are making a
legitimate attempt to work with the
faculty.
One way to work together to
wards a common goal would be to
meet more often with various faculty
members (more than once a semester
for academic advisement). All fac
ulty members maintain office hours
for the express purpose of counseling
and assisting students. These hours
are normally listed on the syllabus
provided by the professor and they
are also mentioned in class. If more
students would avail themselves of
the opportunity provided by this pol
icy, they could make better use of a
valuable resource.
Griping to fellow students in the
halls, some of whom are as confused
as we are, about not understanding
processes or concepts presented in
class accomplishes nothing. Instead,
why not spend some time, during
office hours of course, consulting an
authoritative source?
The administration of our college
has offered its students a contract and
provided a favorable faculty-student
ratio which aids the student in fulfill
ing his contractual obligations. The
faculty at Wesleyan is both Avilling
and able to assist the student. It is
now up to us. I, for one, am accepting
the terms of the contract issued by
Dr. Gamer and I encourage my fel
low students to do so.
The First Eleanor Hoyt Smith
Memorial Reading
ROLAND FLINT
Author Of
RESUMING GREEN, SAY IT and the forthcoming SICILY
to be published by North Carolina Wesleyan College Press
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 16,1987
North Carolina Wesleyan College Library
A Talk At 3:30 P.M.
The Poetry of James Wright
The Reading at 8 p.m.
A reception will follow the reading