VOL. 3, NO. 3
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLE(JE, ROCKY MOUNT, N.C.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1987
Student government reorganized
By SHIRLEY SMITH
The Community Council of
North Carolina Wesleyan College is
about to imdergo a major change this
year. The first change will come in its
name. The Community Council of
Wesleyan will become the Student
Government of Wesleyan.
As the name suggests, “this or
ganization will be composed of and
run by Wesleyan students, minus
faculty, staff, and administration”
says Leslie Freeman, the President of
the “new” Student Government. That
this change will give students more
responsibility is just what Wesleyan
needs, agrees Steve Cohen, who says
that “this is how it should be, stu
dents don’t go to faculty meetings so
the two should be separated.”
The Student Government is com
posed of the Executive Staff, which
consists of the President, Leslie Free
man; Vice-President, Pam Wooten;
Secretary, Diane Ciasca; Treasurer,
Johnny Francis. Other groups and or
ganizations are in the senate. Some
of these are the Presidents of the
Senior, Junior, Sophomore, and
Freshman classes. Other people in
volved are the Resident Hall Presi
dents and the Presidents of all of the
major organizations on campus.
Steve Cohen stressed that the
main purpose of this organization is
to give the students a say-so about
what goes on on this campus, to
voice complaints and disagreements.
%
POET ROLAND FLINT SIGNS AUTOGRAPHS AFTER READING. (PHOTO BY NCWC)
Poet captivates reading audience
By MICHELLE KENNEDY
Roland Flint was the inaugural
poet for the Eleanor Hoyt Smith
Memorial Reading held at Wesleyan
on Friday night, Oct. 16. For one
hour, Flint captivated his audience
by reading poems from his book Sic
ily, published by North Carolina
Wesleyan Press, and from a manu
script he is preparing for publication.
Flint first read his poetry at
Wesleyan in the fall of 1977. A little
over a year ago, Wesleyan presented
him with an honorary degree. The
friends, faculty, and students were
glad to once again have Roland Flint
as a guest on the Wesleyan campus.
The occasion for Flint’s reading
is one that is very dear to the hearts of
the Wesleyan faculty and friends,
Eleanor Hoyt Smith, the mother of
Dr. Terry Smith, was extremely fond
of poetry readings in the library.
Therefore, in memory of her, a fund
was established which would bring
poets to Wesleyan to read their
works. Thus, the first annual Eleanor
Hoyt Smith Memorial Reading.
The common theme which runs
through Flint’s poetry is man dealing
with life. The poems are based on
real life situations rather than fantas
tical illusions.
Cohen also said that “...any students
who don’t voice their opinions in the
meetings should not bother to let any
complaints come out of their
mouths!”
Freeman informs us that once the
meetings get started there will be pe
riodic meetings for all students.
“In fact,” says Freeman, “we are
trying to find ways to include com
muters, maybe by electing two repre
sentatives to relay what happens at
each meeting. We could also send all
commuters newsletters to keep them
involved in what’s going on.”
To show how serious this organi
zation will be. Freeman says that
“Any organizational president that
doesn’t attend the meetings regularly
I or send a representative will have to
go inactive.” Pam Derrick, Director
of Housing, agrees that this organiza
tion should be taken very seriously,
mostly because it will give Wesleyan
students more responsibility and an
active say-so in campus affairs.
Wesleyan College
forms small press
for publications
Flint began his reading with “For
Gabriel’s Hands,” a poem which viv
idly describes the birth of a child.
Some other poems he read are “Are
You In Town Too,” “At Bernard’s,”
“Love Which Alters,” “Nocturne,”
and “The Gift.” He ended his poetry
reading with a hilarious account of a
man’s frustration at trying to crack
open an impenetrable oyster. The
poem, “His Oyster,” though comical,
is a wonderful picture of real life. It
was an excellent ending to a night of
learning about life. Flint’s poems
gave the listeners the chance to expe
rience life all over again and to
understand that poetry is about life.
By LISA STELL
North Carolina Wesleyan is de
veloping a small press. According to
Dr. Leverett Smith, the college has
been printing various items for ap
proximately ten years, and is now
looking into upgrading it to become
an official college press.
Lots of investigation is being
done to find out where Wesleyan fits
in in the publishing world. Since
Rocky Mount is in the Coastal Plains
region, Smith expects more publica
tions to be centered on that subject.
Dr. Stephen Fritz, NCWC’s Vice-
President, who originated the idea of
a press in 1984, said there were four
broad areas of focus: (1) literature in
the fine arts, (2) the Coastal Plains
region, involving local and regional
history, (3) things dealing with pri
vate education, and (4) Christian
viewpoints. He and Smith are not
sure, however, which one of these
areas to choose as a focal point.
Smith said the main question to be
asked is, “Do we want to put the time
and money into it to become an offi
cial college press?”
The first piece of work published
by the Wesleyan College Press came
out last Friday, Oct. 16. It was en
titled “Sicily,” by guest poet Roland
Flint. The next piece to be printed by
the college press will be a book, due
out in the spring. Publishing a
writer’s work is “a sensible thing to
do,” Smith said, because the writer
will be more dedicated to coming to
Wesleyan and reading his works.
Fritz said he expects two more publi
cations between now and the fall of
1988. Also being considered for pub
lication is some sort of journal, but
the viewpoint for it has not yet been
decided. Prior to October 16 every
thing published at Wesleyan was
done under the name of “Friends of
the Lion” Press.
Fritz believes the college is ready
for a project such as this. As an ob
server of the Pikeville College Press
in Kentucky, he saw it become very
successful in fulfilling an imp>ortant
niche in the world of publishing. The
main focal point of the Pikeville Col
lege Press was Appalachian Folk
Culture. Along this line, Fritz would
like to see the Wesleyan College
press become as successful as repu
table as Pikeville.
Although still in the developmen
tal stage, Fritz believes the press
would do a variety of things: (1) pro
vide a vehicle to promote learning,
(2) make an important statement
about our college — such as the de
sire to be an educational leader, and
to show total commitment to higher
learning. If the press continues to
grow, and it should, Wesleyan will
gain a mark of distinction and could
become a real leader among small
colleges. “I am personally very con
fidant that as the press emerges, it
will become everything we want it to
be,” Fritz said.