PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — FEBRUARY 24,1989
OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Editor-in-Chief—^ Don Rhodes
Arts and Entertainment— Mike Trubey
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.
Republlciation of any matter herein \vith6ut the express consent of
the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden,T/ie Decree is composed
and f Tinted by The Spring Hope Enterprise,
Opinions published do not necessarily reflect those of North
Carolina Wesleyan College.
Wesleyan vulnerable
against liability suits
Over the course of this
year, the college administra
tion has claimed that it is wor
ried about liability. Even
though Wesleyan is in no dan
ger of shutting its doors, it
probably could not withstand
a large liability settlement.
In October, Dean Marron
decided that there would be no
condom dispensation on cam
pus because he did not want
the college responsible for
student misuse of condoms.
In January and February,
Dr. Marron has zeroed in on
the Greeks as the root of
Wesleyan’s “liability crisis.”
First he asked for keys for
aU Greek lounges. More re
cently, he has asked for scav
enger hunt lists and pledging
activities, as well as the ritu
als.
The question which re
mains is the extent to which
Wesleyan will go to protect
itself from litigation. Obvi
ously, the administration is
not too worried. Otherwise,
the maintenance crews would
have been out Saturday and
Sunday clearing the snow. It
would not have taken much
time to at least shovel and
throw salt on the steps.
Granted, that still leaves the
walkways and parking lots a
mess, but it is a start, and it
would show that the admini
stration cares about the stu
dents' welfare.
The college has yet to find
a security solution, as well.
One security guard driving a
Ford Tempo with a yellow
light does not begin to tackle
the problem of townies roam
ing around the female resi
dence halls with weapons.
If the school is really con
cerned about its liability, then
some changes must be made.
Until then, the administration
should hope that it doesn’t
snow again.
(WEJJTuRN
pot V
Ideas can be stopped
Censorship not acceptable
By STEVE FEREBEE
What a month for enlighten
ment February has been. Turns
out that George Bush’s gentler,
kinder vision of America in
cludes the thousand points of
light from a semi-automatic hunt
ing rifle. And the Oliver North
trial can proceed, but if it looks as
if the truth is about to slip in, the
Attorney General can cancel the
whole debacle. Ex-KKK member
and Nazi-admirer David Duke,
who still publishes racist litera
ture, will represent an enlight
ened parish in the Louisiana state
legislature.
And now you too can earn
millions of dollars by tracking
down and killing a certain British
writer. The Iranian government
will pay you and pray for you at
the same time.
The writer’s crime? He wrote
a book which evidently insults
the prophet Mohammed, because
Dr. Steve
Muses
a character suggestive of him vis
its a brothel in a dream sequence.
Muslims have rioted [killing sev
eral of their own] and condemned
the publisher, the British, the
Americans, and Salman Rushdie,
author of The Satanic Verses.
Remember The Last Tempta
tion of Christ, which also con
tains a dream sequence, showing
Jesus in a marriage? Remember
those fundamentalists tearing
their hair and beating their chests
for censorship? I can only won
der whether one single
Christian’s faith was so shaken
by the movie that she became a
Muslim. Look at what she’s got
ten herself into! Now Moham
med is a human with a sexual
drive. If either Jesus’ or
Mohammed’s spiritual hold is so
weak that it can’t withstand this
kind of poetic license, then their
religions have a much more fun
damental problem than mere
blasphemy.
The first time I spoke out
against religious bigotry was in
my junior high school newspa
per. John Lennon had said—
rather offhandedly — that the
Beatles were more popular than
Jesus. Not more valuable or en
during, but more pc^ular. The
righteous few started these glee
ful bonfires into which they
threw Beatles records, wigs, fan
magazines, clothes, whatever
represented these evil guys from
Liverpool, one of whom spoke
the truth but used an inflamma-
tCHy comparison.
I remember quite well sitting
at my desk one afternoon in my
(Continued on Page 3)
Student Life not concerned about students
Dear Editor:
First, I would like to say I am a
freshman living on campus and
have a problem with Student
Life. So far their major concern
seems to be legal liability con
cerning students and condom dis
pensation.
What about the recent snow
fall; snow was not cleared off
steps until after eight o’clock
when classes had begun Monday
and it was still on sidewalks
Monday night. I think the
chances of someone slipping on
the ice and being hurt are slightly
greater than a condom breaking
Letter to
the Editor
and someone contracting AIDS
or getting pregnant.
The Student Life has chosen
to pick a Greek organization to
use as an example to show their
power. I am not currently a
member of a Greek organization
and see that using this one or
ganization is wrong. In my obser
vation, this group has not done
anything that any other group has
not done this year.
Student Life seems to be so
wound up on the fact the school
may be sued that they don’t care
for the welfare of the students.
Their restrictions are ruining the
school’s atmosphere and there
fore losing students. I have talked
to several students that have
plans to leave at the end of this
semester just because of Student
Life's attitude towards students.
Other students, who have
been here for four years, say that
Student Life has realized the past
Deans of Student Life have had
no real power and now are trying
to control the students in one big
blow. Shouldn’t steps be taken to
slowly earn student’s respect
other than to take the dictator-
type rule and lose many tuition
paying students? Student Life is
also threatening students with
suspensions and bringing up
their past recOTds from years ago.
Why should what a student did
two years ago matter when dis
cussing current problems? An
other problem is that there is no
communication between stu
dents and Student Life. Some
thing needs to be done to let stu
dents have a voice in what is
going on, to let the students have
an active part in the decision
made in Student Life. This would
break the communication gap
and allow Student Life and stu
dents, to have a better relation
ship.
I think Student Life should
shape up and start thinking about
the students or there may not be
any students to wcHxy about.
A Concerned Student