OCTOBER 25, 1991 — THE DECREE — PAGE 3
Students must prove they are adults
Dear Editor:
There has been much ado
lately about the state of student
life at North Carolina Wesleyan
College. There have been many
changes over the summer, and the
faculty and staff are doing every
thing possible to make Wesleyan
a better place to go to school.
When ..students are allowed to
complain anonymously, the
statements cannot be taken as fact
They must only be taken as con
jecture.
Recently, however, four other
students and myself had the op
portunity to speak on an intelli
gent level with five members of
the Board of Trustees. The mem
bers belong to the Education and
(Continued from Page 2)
year, Student Life tightly enforced
previous alcohol rules and added
new ones, such as limits on the
amount of alcohol one could
possess. These actions were, at
best, foolishly conceived, as they
seem to ignore the way they
would impact on the student body.
Student Life seemed to believe
that by making it exceptionally
difficult to drink in the dorms,
students would stop drinking.
This was not the case as students
simply stopped drinking in the
dorms and began to have bonfires
by the lake. Additionally, there
have been a number of parties
held off campus, in some cases
as far as 20 miles away, where
alcohol was consumed and stu
dents then drove home.
From information revealed to
me, representatives of this college
met with the caretaker of the lake
in an effort to end the parties be
ing held there. I do not know the
outcome of this meeting, but if
students are no longer allowed to
party by the lake, they will have
only one choice: to drive to some
other location to consume alcohol.
The officials of this college
must realize that students are go
ing to drink; it is only a matter of
where. They must understand that
we have been brought up in a
society which views the con
sumption of alcohol as a mark of
maturity and a desirable practice.
Until these attitudes are changed,
no policy decision or rule will
alter student drinking habits sig
nificantly.
It seems far safer for students
to stagger across the practice
soccer field in order to get to their
dorm rooms th^ to drive. If one
Student Life committees. We
were given the opportimity to ad
dress the problems we have seen
around campus, and to give sug
gestions for what further im
provements could be made.
We were given free reign to
discuss any topic which we felt
was important to the students of
this college. I*roblems and sug
gestions about academics, parties,
educational programs, and all-
around student life issues were
discussed. Dr. Holton, Rev.
Hunter, Dr. Winstead, Mrs.
Yarborough, and Rev. Redmond
were not spared any detail of what
has been going on around cam
pus, and they were very receptive
to any suggestion we made.
examines the statistics regarding
traffic accidents and fatalities,
there can be no doubt that drink
ing and driving greatly increases
the chance of being involved in
an accident. By giving the stu
dents of this college only one lo
cation where they can drink, off
campus, Student Life is directly
encouraging the practice of
drinking and driving.
Two years ago, when two stu
dents were severely injured in a
car accident, the impact was felt
by the whole campus community.
What will the results be when
students start dying?
This college must come to
grips with this situation and deal
with it as soon as possible. Al-,
though I realize that the officials
in Student Life had the best in
tentions when implementing these
policies, they must realize “the
road to hell is paved with good
intentions.” Hopefully, some
compromise can be made in re
gards to drinking on campus be
fore the body count starts to
climb.
' (Continued from Page 2)
wanted to question him and those
who supported him. He implied
that to be against him was to be
racist and in favor of lynching.
Leaving aside that he said he
wouldn’t use race as an issue, he
made an illogical connection be
tween the KKK’s lynching of
blacks and the Senate’s asking
that Thomas answer sexual ha-
rasSiirent'Charges brought by a
Letters to
the Editor
One student brought up a sub
ject near and dear to the hearts of
most resident students — the
bonfires. The committee members
heard him out, and also listened
to what the other students had to
say about the issue. No actual
decision was made, and no action
was guaranteed, but the problem
was addressed to the right people.
If there are to be any changes
made on this campus, these are
the people who need to hear the
suggestions. It seemed to me that
they were willing to consider
anything that the students felt was
important enough to warrant dis
cussion. Instead of disquieted
grumbling over the state of stu
dent life on this campus, students
must stand up and be heard. If
you feel what you have to say is
important, you must be willing to
put your name on your statements.
North Carolina Wesleyan col
lege has received a $100,000
grant from The Glaxo Foundation
to supplement faculty and equip
ment in the chemistry and biology
departments.
“Receiving such a generous
grant in support of our science
program means that we will not
only be able to improve the biol
ogy and chemistry classes and
lalx)ratory facilities for our own
students, but we also will be able
to improve the quality of science
education at many different levels
in the eastern North Carolina
community,” said Wesleyan
President Leslie H. Gamer, Jr.
“We see our responsibility in
black woman. But the connection
is forever made. Television so
lidified its symbolism.
Partly because of his misuse
of symbolism, I can’t make my
self believe he is much more than
an employee of an administration
which used the image of a black
criminal to frighten white voters
and of a political party which uses
whites’ fears of minority quotas
to dismantle affirmative action
and in whose name an ex-KKK
These five students did not
cover everything that needed to
be covered; they were only a
small sample of the Wesleyan
population. They did, however,
go about making the changes in a
positive way. By speaking di
rectly to the people who help ac
complish changes at Wesleyan,
the students showed that they
were well on their way to be
coming adults.
To whine and complain about
the campus not being “fun” any
more does not, to me, signify an
initiation into adulthood. We are
on campus to learn how to be
functioning adults in today’s so
ciety. We are not on campus to
have destructive “fun.” In our
society, that kind of “fun” is
called vandalism.
The most important thing
which came out in the meeting
with the Trustees was the love
for the campus. Students who love
Wesleyan and are eager to gain
an education must be courageous
enough to make constructive
criticism to the right people. We
must be willing to work with the
education extending further than
our own classrooms and into the
public schools of this region,
where we can play a critical role
in providing scientific experi
ences for youngsters who would
otherwise not have his opportu
nity,” he said.
Over the past 10 years, the
science faculty at Wesleyan has
established a tradition of going
out of its own classrooms to share
its expertise with public schools
in the region. As part of the
College’s community outreach
effort, the faculty regularly offers
workshops, lectures, and summer
science enrichment activities on
campus that involve area teachers
symbols
grand dragon is very close to be
ing elected the governor of Loui
siana.
We will never know whether
or not Thomas could have reached
the Court because of his record
and without using coercion to
scare southern Democrats any
more than we will know whether
or not he lied about Professor
Hill’s allegations.
What we do know about him
is that he h^ forever linked him-
administi:ators to ensure that the
campus survives and prospers. We
must not simply bury the College
under piles of muck written about
specific staff members whom
students do not like.
There is a right way and a
wrong way of handling every
situation. The right way is to be
up front, forward, and adult about
problems. The wrong way is to
sound like a bunch of babies who
are not getting their way.
The catch phrase which I have
been hearing around campus
lately is, “If they are going to
treat us like babies, then that is
the way we are going to act” I
would say that it is necessary for
us to prove to them that they are
capable of acting like adults be
fore they will treat us as such.
My parents always taught me
that it was necessary for me to
gain then' trust before it would be
given to me, and that, it seems to
me, is what the^dents on this
campus must do if they wish to
be treated like the adults they
claim to be.
and students.
Every year the College also
celebrates National Chemistry
Week as both biology and chem
istry departments hold lectures,
workshops, and open demonstra
tions throughout the Rocky
Mount community. The science
faculty is committed to improving
science education in eastern Noitb
Carolina, both in Wesleyan’s
classroom and in public schools
and industry.
The grant from The Glaxo
Foundation was made to support
that commitment, said Charles A.
Sanders, M.D., CEO of Glaxo,
Inc. and the foundation’s chair
man.
to win
self to one of our nation’s most
degrading symbols as well as one
of our most degrading method
ologies. I think he and his fellow
Republicans did so for short
sighted and short-term political
gains.
This winter as I await the cro
cuses, I sincerely hope that Tho
mas the Supreme Court Justice
will use his position of authority
and power to unite rather than to
divide. ., -
Alcohol policy is dangerous
Thomas misused
Christy Lin Skojec
Science program receives $100,000