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OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Editor-in-Chief — Don Rhodes
Arts and Entertainment -—MikeTrubey
Contributing Editor — Dell Lewis
Photographer — Margaret Culver
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 of The Decree.
Repubilciation of any matter herein without the express consent of
the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden. The Decree is composed
and printed by The Spring Hope Enterprise.
Opinions published do not necessarily reflect those of North
Carolina Wesleyan College.
Your vote counts,
so go register now
Vice President George
Bush spoke here two weeks
ago, stating that young people
deserve representation. Gov
ernor Jim Margin also encour
aged all people to “exercise
their God given right to vote.”
Wilh the Presidential elec
tion only two months away,
now is the time to encourage
all students to register and
vote.
The statistics are at best
gloomy. Barely half of United
Stales citizens eligible to vote
actually go to the polls. For
young people, that figure is
even worse. Too many people
believe that their vote does
not make any difference.
These people are way off
Creative writing sought
for next literary journal
Aspects, NCWC's literary journal, publishes
student, faculty, and staff writings. We accept
poetry, fiction, essays, and graphics. We are hop
ing to publish an issue this winter, and we need
new material to do so. We are also thinking of
having a "best joke competition," so submit those
knee-slappers now.
All students interested in writing or editing or
drawing or helping in any way (who can design a
cover, for instance?) please come by Dr. Steve
Ferebee's office in Spruill Building next Wednes
day, Sept. 21, at 1 p.m. If you can't make the
meeting, let him know you're interested.
We also accept material at any time, so leave
your considered words or drawings in Dr. Steve's
office or mailbox. He also has information on
various literary contests. (As much as $1,000 for a
poem, no less. Crass, but practical.)
WHO -SAYS I WWP M MY MASACHUSEIK REccrp...?'
base. The only way that your
vote does not matter is if you
do not cast it.
Voting is more than just a
duty, it is a privilege. It is the
one thing that sets our country
apart from the rest of the
world. If Americans do not
vote, we might as well live
under a totalitarian regime,
where the citizens do not have
any control over their govern
ment.
Perhaps the best part of the
Bush visit was the voter regis
tration tent set up in the Pines.
Students could register for ei
ther party, and many did, but
until every eligible student
has registered and voted, the
job is not finished.
Bush vulnerable on issues
By Dr. STEVE FEREBEE
Well, I have entered the enemy
camp and returned relatively un
scathed. (And unchanged, I might
add.) George Bush has come to
Wesleyan, we have achieved our 15
minutes of fame, and classes have
resumed. (Has anyone wondered
what Bush has done to earn his salary
as Veep lately?)
Bush spoke well — he was ener
getic, clear, forceful. He looked good
— he seemed relaxes, self-confident,
determined. (Read his lips: he has an
effective PR manager.)
But does he ever listen to his
speeches or does he merely repeat the
words someone has put in front of
him? (Haven’t we asked that about
someone else lately?)
If tlie U.N. is such a laugiiable or
ganization, why does Bush’s cam
paign biography brag about his ten
ure as ambassador to tiie U.N. and
why doesn’t he make the same com
plaint wiien he speaks in Boston?
If Bush would really sign an un
constitutional bill (to require The
Pledge), then how does that jibe with
his Reaganist push against federal
government interference in private
lives and what oath of office is he
planning to take if elected? (The
president promises to upiiold some
document or other, right?)
If Bush really will hold to “no new
taxes” (wtiich is cleverly not the same
as “no more tax payments”), then
how will he pull us out of the deficit
that Reagan’s “voodoo economics”
(cf. Bush in 1980) plunged us into?
If Michael Dukakis is really a
bum because lie is the A.C.L.U., then
what will Bush say to all the other
Americans who pay dues and believe
in this organization or to those who
have been defended by A.C.L.U.
lawyers?
If George Bush wants us to be
lieve he embodies honesty and de
cency, then why was his speech so
full of vicious half-truths and snide
Dr.Stevf
Muses' $
implications about his opponent’s
patriotism and personal judgement?
Does Bush really believe that
Governor Dukakis purposely fur
loughed a mans so that he could go
out and break more laws? That
Dukakis is against the ideals repre
sented in The Pledge? That a 200,000
person rise in the unemployment
level is “statistically irrelevant?”
(Aren’t all people relevant even it
they don’t enjoy Mr. Bush’s standard
of living?) That the future is as
suredly peaceful, prosperous, and
palatable only if and as soon as
George Bush is elected? If so, I have
very liule faith in his judgment.
George Bush may look like a gen
tleman, but he’s playing a ruthless
rogue’s role. Wesleyan gained a brief
moment in the national spotlight
from his visit, but no political or in
tellectual dialogue ensued, no issue
was clarified, no one was made to
seem honorable, worthy, or respect
able. George Bush wants to appear
presidential, but he seems more in
terested in exiling his detractors to a
Liberal Alcatraz than in persuading
the uncommitted doubters that he is
capable of and worthy of leading
them to a just and civilized future.
New Dean faces challenge
Dear Editor:
There have been several changes
made in the Suident Life DcparUnent
over the last few years. Most impor
tantly, we have had three Deans of
Student life in the last three years.
The first of the trio appeared to
strictly enforce what I would charita
bly call a slap on the wrist if that,
discipline policy.
After that Dean mysteriously left
the office in a cloud of smoke, Wes
leyan administrators managed to fmd
what turned out to be a one-year re
placement. This new Dean seemed to
believe firmly in capital punishment
and rigidly enforced it tiiroughout his
one-year regime until he, too, re
signed in the same cloud of smoke.
The air is certainly getting thick over
and around Student Life.
Now, the students of Wesleyan
are presented with a man by the name
of Joe Marron — so I am told. I have
not yet had the chance to meet Mr.
Marron, but I am sure that our paths
will cross sooner or later.
I hope that he will be partial to the
needs of students, yet firm when it
Leltier to
the Editor
comes to the deviant and often crimi
nal behavior which is often displayed
by some of Wesloyan’s finest. After
all, one can’t help but wonder why
students wlio urinate, defecate, and
vomit on anoUier human being are
permitted to reside on campus.
Dean Marron, I call your atten
tion to a few of the recent problems
with Student Life in the off-chance
these issues were not raised during
your interview.
Please clean up the mess tliat your
predecessors left and make Student
Life work for the students — not
against them. I wish you tlie best of
luck, as you have one hell of a job
ahead of you. I hope that when I write
my next letter I will be praising the
efforts of you and your staff.
Scoop