Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / Nov. 28, 1989, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — NOVEMBER 28,1989 The Decree OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF NORTH CAROUNA WESLEYAN COLLEGE Editors — Terrie Roberts and Diane Jensen Staff — Dhana Chesson, Mark Brett, D.A. L«nt/, John Pern«II The Decree U lacatcd in the Student Unton, North Caroltna Wesleyan Cotlegei Wesleyan Collejje .Statfaiit RiKky Mount, NC 27K01. P4iik:> is determined by the Kditorlal lioard of The Decree. Republiciatlon of any matter herein without the express consent of the Kdjtoriai Board Ls strictly forbidden. Tht Decree b composed and printed by The Spring Hope Enterprise. Opinions published do not nec«ssariiy reflect those Of North Carolina Wesfeyan College. No guts, no glory As co-editors of the paper, we are outraged by the general atti tude of the N.C. Wesleyan Col lege community where people are overly critical of others and their actions or beliefs. On a campus of this size, often described as a “tightly knit fam ily,” people should be free to ex press their opinion without wor rying about being ostracized by others or harboring fears that ac tions may be taken against them by the NCWC administration. Last year, a petition travelled through the student body asking for the dismissal of a certain ad ministrator. This petition quickly disappeared from sight because its creators were scared of disci plinary action if the petition proc ess was finalized. In a school that should be a democracy, students need to be able to express their opinion without being scared. This year, we have received several letters to the editor. Only two of them have been signed. Why are students reluctant or scared on campus to express their opinion and state who they are? In this issue of The Decree is a perfect example of the issue we are addressing. The letter to the editor about disciplinary action is well written and does a great job of expressing a valid opinion. The letter is truthful and we sup port the ideas it addresses. Why then, won’t the writer take credit for the letter? Is it because of the fear of administrative action against him or her just for ex pressing their opinion? The majority of the Wesleyan community knew about the base ball team’s request for money to help pay for the baseball rings even before the letter to the editor appeared in the last issue of The Decree. James Anderson, mem ber of the 1988-89 National Championship team appeared before the Student Government Association requesting money Editorial JERiQiO for the rings. Why then, didn’t the author of the letter to the edi tor about the rings sign his name? After “A Day For Wesleyan,” which raised $337,025 for the college, several students told us that the President of the college served a keg of beer on his lawn during a private party held at his home for participants of “A Day For Wesleyan.” We also received a letter by a person who does not understand why the President could serve alcohol at this party when it states in the handbook that alcohol will not be served at any college-sponsored functions. Because the letter to the editor was not signed we were unable to print it because it “attacked” a single person. If the letter had been signed, we as editors would have been able to print it and pro vide a response from information we received fi"om a personal in terview with the President As editors of The Decree, our main goal is to print the truth from all sides of an issue — our opinions as well as others on the editorial page. We have received several excellent letters to the editor. However, due to the let ters being unsigned and in some cases authors unknown, we have not always been able to print the opinions of others. Several students expressed fears to us about possible admin istrative actions against them just for expressing their opinions. We ask the student body to speak up, be proud of, and take credit for their beliefs. We hope students are aware the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaran tees both freedom of speech and of the press. Therefore, we would hope no administrative actions would ever occur just because someone stated their opinion. Ring request stirs reaction Dear Editor: Bravo to brave “Anonymous by request” from the baseball team! This college needs more students who are, like him, will ing to stand up for their needs. We certainly do not offer our baseball players enough here. Oh, the athletics department at Wesleyan has the largest budget of any department of the college; and yes, they do go on more trips than any other student group; and they are given the pick of the food in the cafeteria each night. But is that enough? I don’t think so. Compare our athletics pro gram to one at a college like NC State and you can see the differ ence. Look at all the perquisites athletes get at NC State, and see how well it is working there! If only Wesleyan’s athletic pro gram could be more like theirs. I also have to agree with him completely when he writes, “Please don’t tell me that I don’t have to buy a ring. Yes I do.” And yes he does, indeed! Do you have any idea what the suicide rate is among people who don’t wear jewelry? Think of how his life could be ruined by the tragedy of not owning a $295 ring. And what excuse does Wesleyan offer the baseball team? They say that they do not have $6,785 for 23 of their most dedicated students. But we all know that Wesleyan has coffers of money lying around and being put to no good use. An art collec tion? Nonsense! Keeping our li brary up to date? Why bother? Replacing the outdated and bro ken-down computers in the lab? Don’t make me laugh. In short, I agree whole-heart- edly with the baseball team. They Letters to * ■* 'im ■T • # the Editor really needs those rings, and the college has nothing better to do with the money. Give them their rings. I feel that this is only “a modest proposal.” Anonymous by request Buy your own rings Dear Editor: I feel as though I must submit a reply to the letter to the editor concerning the indeed grave problem of the college not paying for the baseball team’s champi onship rings. I must tell you how sorry I feel for the greatly de prived team. How dare this institution not realign its economic budget to include jewelry for athletes! I know a solution. How about transferring the 7,000 or so dol lars from the teachers’ salaries and put it in the ring kitty. After all, let’s put the emphasis on what’s more important, baseball. Even though it was solely the team’s choice to get the most expensive rings possible to sig nify their extreme greamess, they should definitely not have to pay for it! Because of their super human athletic feats on the base ball diamond, under the school’s name, this exempts them from such tedious expenses. Enough of this caustic com mentary, Mr. Anonymous, slap yourself and everyone else on the baseball team. This is not the pros. You are not playing for the Oakland Athletics, and have a contract stating the right to free championship rings. Come back down to earth. Wake up and realize what you are. You are a student-athlete. You are hopefully a student first, and athlete second. If you are not, I hope you soon join the huge contingent of N.C. Wesleyan alumni presently in professional baseball because you don’t need a college education. Instead of moaning and whin ing about jewelry, why don’t you write to the editor about more important things. Clear the base balls out of your brains and con centrate on academic issues which should be foremost on your mind. I understand that the team won the national championship. Great. But, as far as I know, that does not entitle you to monetary compensation. Next thing you will want is to get paid for the games, and personal appear ances. As I have stated earlier, snap out of it. You are no different from any other student here at N.C. Wesleyan. You put your pants on one leg at a time like I do. If you want to cry about something, do it on mama’s shoulder. On yeah, by the way, I think I have done a great job with this letter. I believe I will purchase a ring in commemoration of the feat. I’m sure the editors will flip the bill. Jeff Jackson College is too strict Dear Editor: As a student. I’m extremely impressed how discipline is ad- (Continued on Page 3)
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