The Decree
VOL. 5, NO. 8
North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, N.C.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23,1990
Bill aims at revealing campus crime
Congress this month will start
seriously considering a bill that
would force colleges to tell stu
dents, employees, applicants and
their parents how many crimes
occurred on their campuses.
While many public relations-
minded administrators oppose
the bill because it could make
their schools look bad, a group of
college security experts resolved
Jan. 12 to oppose it because it
would be unenforceable.
“We’re not in favor of the law
because it’s not policeable,” said
Jan Sherrill of the Center for the
Study and Prevention of Campus
Violence (CSPCV,) which con
cluded its annual conference Jan.
11.
Major support for the bill
comes from students, parents and
faculty members who say they
need to know about local crimes
in order to protect themselves
from them.
Currently, only 352 of the
u
ISCUSS^G THE ENVIRONMENT — Herman G. Spaight, park superintendent at Medoc
Mountain State Park, talks with Bob Walton, Assistant Professor of Biology, Mike Berry, and Jay
Quigley about environmental issues raised during the 1990 NCWC Spring Symposium.
Environment concerns Mavretic
On Tuesday, Feb.l3, in Ever
ett Gymnasium, N.C. House
Speaker Josephus L. Mavretic
spoke on “The Environment-A
Concern of all of Our Citizens”
as a part of the 1990 Wesleyan
Symposium entitled “Our Island
Earth.”
Mavretic said, “Out of all the
species, plant and animal, there is
only one that can’t live in har
mony with its environment:
homo sapiens.” According to
Mavretic, “Nature has no capac
ity; it can absorb anything.”
Mavretic argued that men may
pollute the air and water but over
time nature will purify itself.
Mavretic also said, ‘Ten years
ago, protecting the environment
was considered almost a luxury.”
Today “recycling is a necessity
and a daily chore.”
Mavretic has earned degrees
from University of North Caro
lina at Chapel Hill, George
Washington University, and the
Naval War College. Mavretic has
always been concerned with the
environment and is currently in
volved with an “experimental
farm” in North Carolina.
Mavretic believes that the
environment will be an important
topic of focus in the N.C. House
of Representatives for at least the
next 15 years. He said, of under
ground pollution, that people
“have taken the first step in han
dling underground storage tanks”
with replacement. He also said
that “several countries are al
ready in process to create multi
country waste management.”
However, Mavretic suggested
the bottom line is that of ecomo-
mics. The solution comes with
the availability of more funds. An
interesting question Mavretic
passed to the audience was,
“Why do we believe that black
ening the air someone breathes is
O.K.?”
3,200-some two and four-year
colleges in the country bother to
report crimes to the Federal Bu
reau of Investigation, which
tracks criminal activities.
The quality of the statistics,
moreover, is uneven. While one
school may report a crime com
mitted on what is legally a city-
owned curb, another school may
decide not to report it as a “cam
pus” crime. Consequently the
former college, appearing to be a
dangerous sinkhole, may have a
harder time recruiting students
and faculty members than the lat-
(Continued on Back Page)
Waste sites
a topic of
symposium
By DANIELLE MECKLEY
NCWC’s 1990 Spring Sym
posium last week, titled “Our Is
land Earth: What Can We Eastern
North Carolinians Do?” was an
overall success. However, a few
events left much to be desired,
including Dr. Linda West Little’s
presentation: “Opportunities for
Citizens Sharing Responsibility
of Waste Management”
Although the presentation re
lated smoothly with the general
topic of environmental concerns,
it lacked the concrete methods of
sharing responsibility that, the
title promised.
Informing the public about
waste involves a large amount of
time, according to Dr. Little. In
deed, the majority of her presen
tation was spent defining the
misconception of waste. North
Carolina’s present government
policy, and the waste manage
ment hierarchy. Dr. Little be
lieves that hazardous waste is not
dangerous and “we need to get
our perception of risk in line with
the actual risk.”
Outrage and fear have led to
unsound practices, but with con
fidence waste can be managed
safely and properly. North Caro
lina has little confidence because
it ships its waste to neighboring
states. However, an interstate
agreement holds that by 1993
North Carolina will host low-
level hazardous waste sites for
seven other southern states.
This agreement has encour
aged North Carolina to become
more informed about waste. Dr.
Little explained in detail the
Waste Management Hierarchy
which from bottom to top runs
disposal, incineration, treatment,
recycling, reuse, recovery, reduc
tion, and prevention.
A fraction of the presentation,
the last few minutes, was spent
listing ways to get involved in the
waste management process. Key
suggestions were to recover, re
cycle, reuse, “educate ourselves
as consumers,” encourage local
institutions to recycle and reuse,
become informed, and avoid
“fighting without facts.” Dr.
Little encouraged citizens to par
ticipate in the decision making
when their communities became
siting targets.
Dr. Little’s early and continu
ing interest in science led her to
become an environmental health
expert. She currently serves as
executive director on the N.C.
Governor’s Waste Board.
Dr. Little’s presentation on
waste management was informa
tive and beneficial, although it
took a litde digging through the
technological trash to realize it.