rAKjH, z — 1 Mt. UEVREE — DECEMBER 2,1988
^UVU
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,
Republiciation of any matter herein with6ut the express consent of
the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden. The Decree is composed
The Spring Hope Enterprise.
Opinions published do not necessarily reflect those of Nofth
Carolina Wesleyan College.
66C)\!15t MP5T AR&
too eN\BARRA5566 TO APWT
WHO Thw Vomti foR,.',
\
Wesleyan should
dispense condoms
We have heard the argument
before. Selling condoms to
school students encourages
promiscuity. Now, Wesleyan
College is taking the same stance.
Dean Marron decided that the
school nurse would not dispense
condoms on campus this year. He
claims that the college is some
how more liable for student
health if condoms are dispensed
than if they are not.
That argument just does not
make sense. Dispensing condoms
shows that the college cares
about its students. Not dispensing
them shows negligence.
Whatever Marron says, it is
hard to believe that liability is
really the issue. The issue is mo
rality. Does dispensing condoms
really encourage promiscuity?
More important, does refraining
from dispensing condoms dis
courage promiscuity. The answer
to both questions is a resounding
“pro.” Otherwise, there would
not be so many cases of sexually
transmitted diseases and preg
nancies outside of marriage.
The question of school policy
still remains. Students have said
that they want condoms dis
pensed on campus. They will
continue to have sexual inter
course whether or not they have
condoms easily available.
The school, therefore, should
dispense condoms, but the ad
ministration should also educate
its students about sex, encourag
ing restraint.
HOVJ
secRer
mol
CPS
Exhibit on display
Ramesses visits Charlotte
By DELL LEWIS
Ramesses II, Pharaoh of Egypt
during the 13th century B.C., ruled
Egypt for more than 66 years, build
ing magnificent monuments,
temples, and colossal statues to com
memorate his reign.
The people of North Carolina now
have a once-in-a-lifetime educational
opportunity to experience the gran
deur of ancient Egypt during the ex
hibition, “Ramesses the Great: the
Pharaoh and His Time,” at the Mint
Museum in Charlotte, on Oct. 1
through Jan. 31, 1989.
The Ramesses exhibition, on loan
from the famous Egyptian Museum
in Cairo, is the largest assemblage of
3,000 year old Egyptian treasures to
ever visit the United States. This
spectacular exhibition of Egyptian
Condom education a wise investment
By STEVE FEREBEE
A fourteen-year-old stays home
from school and spends the day
watching TV. In an afternoon soap he
sees two naked adults cavorting in
bed. A news blurb informs him that
single-parent households among
teenage black women flourish. Dur
ing the evening shows, guns blaze,
beds blaze, ethics blaze; murder, sex,
and greed blaze. Much of United
States’ entertainment and advertise
ment tells us that we have the right
and the means to satisfy every pass
ing appetite.
Then a commercial comes on and
a handsome young man talks about
the importance of putting on socks
before going out. the letters AIDS
apjjears at the end, so evidently the
man was talking about prevention of
a deadly disease which the boy heard
about on the news. Socks, it seems,
are a metaphor for condoms. In their
wisdom, Madison Avenue advertise
ment executives have decided that
the teenager who has seen violent and
passionate sex acts, murders, robber-
Muses
ies, greed, amorality, and lots of
naked torsos — this child would be
corrupted if told explicitly about con
doms.
Condoms prevent unwanted preg
nancies and sexually transmitted dis
eases — including the deadly AIDS
virus, called our most important
health issue by both candidates in the
recent presidential campaign. People
participating in sexual intercourse
have a responsibility to protect each
other from these situations. That is
the individual’s responsibility, the
responsibility of institutions — in
cluding the schools — includes edu
cation about and availability of effec
tive means of protection.
Unwanted pregnancies and dis
eases are not moral problems; they
are social and health issues. Whether
or not to participate in a sexual act
may or may not be a moral issue, but
my assumption is that the health insti
tution recognizes that sexual activity
is taking place and is causing these
problems. Those who argue that
teaching about prevention causes the
activity in the first place are dead
wrong.
Education about prevention —
including limiting sex partaers and
abstention — is our only hop>e
against the troublesome rise in
single-parent teenage families and
the deadly rise in AIDS. The homo
sexual community’s dramatic cuts in
the AIDS occurrences resulted from
massive education about how the
disease is spread and how one can
prevent it. This included — most
importantly — fewer sex partners
and the conscientious use of con
doms.
Hiding the disease, its causes, and
its preventions behind some moral
red herring will kill people.
Please re-read that sentence.
TTiose who block education and
preventive methods from the public
— especially from young people
who are begiiming their sexual activ
ity — will deepen the disease’s roots.
Anyone who has done the least
amount of research and thinking
about AIDS knows that condoms are
the single most effective way to pre
vent its spread. We can urge people
to be less promiscuous, but a lot of
people will die before contemporary
society changes the messages our
industries are sending our fourteen-
year-olds.
Thus the health institution must
educate the public about condoms
and the medical and manufacturing
worlds must make them accessible
and the advertising world must ex
plain them. Then we all must use
them if we are participating in sexual
acts with anyone with whom we have
not been monogamous since at least
the mid 1970s.
To jjrevent a medical representa
tive from providing a patient with the
preventive information and tools will
only create far greater problems
later. And not much later.
treasures contains more than 70
priceless works of art, including ex
quisite jewelry, gold objects, colossal
statuary and Egyptian funerary items.
The Egyptian Ambassador to
Washington, D.C., El Sayed Ardel
Raouf El Reedy, said, “The historical
importance of Ramesses II is undis
puted, as a ruler who has left a legacy
of greatness for which he will be eter
nally remembered. A brave man in
war as well as in peace, the first re
corded peace treaty in history which
he made with the King of the Hittites
is a certain tribute to his statesman
ship.” Ramesses is believed by many
historians to have been the pharaoh
persuaded by Moses to allow the
Hebrews to leave Egypt.
Ramesses II was the ideal of gen
erations of Egyptians who followed
him. Having lived to the age of 90, he
outlived many of his more than 100
children. The exhibit contains a beau
tiful statue of Meryestamun, daughter
and later wife of Ramesses the Great.
Her soft round face, slightly protrud
ing eyes highlighted by incised lines,
and full sensuous lips characterize
the best of Rameside art. His obses
sion with preserving the royal blood
line resulted in their marriage.
Ramesses did not come from a
long line of royal blood, however, his
grandfather Ramesse I started out as
an army officer and steadily worked
his way to the position of Chief Min
ister of State. As a reward for his
loyalty and integrity, he was ap
pointed to the crown by the childless
Pharaoh Haremhab.
Ramesses II succeeded his fa
ther, Seti, in early June in 12190 B.C.
By August the 70 day mimimifica-
(Continued on Page 3)