PAGE 2 — THE DECREE —MARCH 16,1990
The Decree
OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Editor — John Pernell
Staff — Dhana Chesson, Mark Brett,
D.A. Lentz, Danielle Meckley
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 without the ex
press 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.
4-
A simple question
In this issue’s editorial,
we would simply like to ask
“Why?”
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?'
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why?
Why not?
csafam
1
Honesty not always *nice*
Crankiness not uncaring
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
Some of my colleagues have
suggested to me — in varying
degrees of intensity — that I
should try to be less ... well, less
cranky. Recently I was told I
hadn’t “mellowed” enough to be
fully trusted.
I don’t think of myself as mean
or uncaring, so I’m surprised at
this kind of comment. I’m not
considering the change, espe
cially if it merely means be less
honest, but I puzzle over misper
ceptions, over misreadings of my
Dr. Steve
Environment here is at risk
Dear Editor:
This year’s Spring Sympo
sium should alert us, if anything
can, to the dangers of wasting
energy. Indeed, if we are going to
save our air, water, and soil, and
maintain a climate livable for
humans, not only can we no
longer waste, we must also re
duce our energy consumption.
It is both logically and ethi
cally consistent to start right here.
We routinely leave lights on in
offices and classrooms long after
they are empty. We regularly run
air conditioners at the slightest
hint of warmth outside, adding
ozone-eating chlorofluorocar-
bons to the atmosphere; worse,
we leave them on after rooms
have been vacated.
Letter to
the Editor
Once last Spring, I came to my
office on a Sunday afternoon. I
was the only person in the build
ing. Window air conditioners
were running in two locked ad
ministrative offices. Evidently
they’d been running since Friday.
On another occasion, I passed
a classroom that was empty, ex
cept for one of my faculty col
leagues. As he sat working, the
air conditioner was grinding
away and the windows were
open. No matter how hard it
works, that window unit cannot
cool the outdoors.
Finally, during the very sym
posium that warned us about
burning fossil fuels and wasting
energy, I passed Gravely 105,
recently used for a panel. It was
then vacant. The heaters were
blowing and lights were blazing.
Turning off lights, air condi
tioners, and other machinery
when we finish with them is easy.
Even though this will not be
enough to save ourselves, it is at
least a start. This College needs
to organize itself to save energy,
and to set an example for our
community.
R.L. Watson
Professor of History
motivations.
Let’s say I’m in a committee
meeting and I am asking someone
to explain a decision I don’t agree
with. I push, pull, approach from
quickly changing sides, allowing
the person little breathing time,
continually questioning what he
says. I become excited; my voice
rises; I disdain retreat; I frown.
I know I am sometimes per
ceived as a bully, but actually I’m
trying to find out not only what
but also how the person thinks. I
learned this method in graduate
school seminars and dissertation
meetings, though I also remem
ber a girlfriend in college who
was always demanding what my
facts were, as if there were some
magic to facts that would shatter
all deceptions. We argued
fiercely, and I still remember
some of what I learned from our
angers. Perhaps we learn more
from people’s emotional reac
tions (or lack oO than from all the
“facts” in all the computers in the
world. We must encourage logic,
but I also trust emotions; I do not
trust people who don’t
But I digress.
Does my skeptical, rapid-fire
manner make me a bully? Am I
really a mean person? More im
portantly, can you like a chronic
complainer?
Let’s say I’m in a classroom
and I’m goading a student along
the path of an idea he is relatively
uncomfortable following. Does it
make me an SOB if I don’t stop at
the threshold of discomfort, if I
plunge the both of us onward? Do
I serve my purpose as teacher
better by offering finger painting
exercises when what the student
needs is an intellectual mara
thon?
Being nice differs from hav
ing compassion. If I see that a
colleague can’t take the grilling
or the student has dropped by the
wayside, I move on, both of us
better for the moments of tension.
Badgering someone in order to
belittle or intimidate differs from
arguing with someone in order to
leam and teach, as does losing
one’s temper and consciously
pushing someone to defend her
self.
I’m often cranky because
people do not live up to their po
tentials. I settle into the skeptic’s
role because I want people to
improve themselves, to be clear
about their ideas, to believe in
themselves. I just don’t think that
pleasant tea-time talk produces
progress.
I don’t think I’m bullying a
colleague when I criticize expla
nations; I think I’m doing what a
(Continued on Page 3)