Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / Nov. 8, 1991, edition 1 / Page 4
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PAGE 4 — THE DECREE — NOVEMBER 8,1991 The Decree OFnCtAL STVmNT NEWSPAPER OF NOETRCAgOUmWESLBYAN COLLEGE Cof>£ditors — John Fentress and lames Oakley StafT— CeeiMa Casey, Ntcole Cox, Trey Davis, lohtt Heame, Kev&i Hambmiit, Stewart Craak, Joanna HoUaday The Decree is located bt the Student Union, N»th Carolina Wesleyan College, Wesleyan College Station, Rocfey Mount, NC 2780L Policy is determined by the Editorial Board of The De cree. Re'publicati(»i of any otatter herein ivithont the express consent the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden. The Decree is composed and printed by Ripley Newspapers of S}>rittg Hope. Ppnuons published do not necessarfly reffcct ^ose of North Carolina Wesleyan Cc^ege. Decree to benefit from convention This past week, the edi tors of The Decree were fortunate enough to have the privilege of going to the Associated Press/College Media Advisors National Convention in Denver, Col. At this convention, we gained invaluable insight on editing and running the col lege newspaper. Many new ideas and concepts were learned, and we hope these innovative methods will be incorporated into The De cree in the near future. The editors would like to thank the Student Govern ment Association for fund ing the trip, as it would not have been possible for us to have had such an experi ence. This shows that going through the proper channels does, in fact, lead to actions and solutions. The editors hope to show students, faculty, and staff the enormous amount of knowledge and insight gained at this convention by our continuous efforts to improve the newspaper’s style and content. Everyone is encouraged to write to The Decree, giving us your ideas and opinions of how the paper may be improved. Thanks again to the SGA for giving us the opportu nity to learn more about our job as editors. It is our hope and desire that everyone in the Wesleyan community will know how much this convention meant by read ing a higher quality news paper issue after issue. irVE!^ laOillliTo TO UWT TeRN^,, STAKTlUa TO ofe s I i'«*3 ov f* fk.1’0 Weoi?. Servjci'i Pauses are refreshing Don’t be in such a hurry By DR. STEVE FEREBEE Fm wondering why and for what we seem to be in a hurry all the time. A friend of mine found me sitting on my deck one sunny fall day. “What are you doing sitting here?” “Nothing.” “Don’t you have any work to do?” “Yep.” “Well?” Now, I do not advocate avoid ing work when we need to do it. But we might learn to appreciate times for peaceful reflection. I was browsing through a book sale recently when I realized that I was carrying enough books for Dr* Steve Muses two years of non-stop reading. Why do I feel obliged to pretend that I can read every book which seems remotely related to some area I like to keep up with? A biography of the sister of the hus band of a writer I teach? An analysis of European revolutions for my 19th century British lit erature class? A book of statistics about women’s “conditions” around the world for my interest in feminism? Yes, yes, all of this and more had I but world enough and time enough before time’s winged chariot bumps me off. Time for reading is one of my most sought-after prizes and what I often regret not having enough of, but reading should not be an end in itself and should not be like flipping from channel to channel with a remote control button. Perhaps what I’m really won dering about is priorities. Is it a symptom of a cause that we would rather pick up the phone to say hello to Mom than t^e a while longer to think about our words for a letter? What is it that we are saving our time for? Television? (Continued on Page 6) ^UngratefuV label doesn^t fit campus feeling By JOHN HEARNE “Ungrateful” was one of the wor^ Michele Carpenter used to describe myself and others who wrote to The Decree expressing our opinions about this college. While some may feel that those of us who had the audacity to share our not-so-favorable opin ions are ungrateful, when one examines the issue closely, this is not the case at all. Note the groups in our society who have been termed “ungrate ful” at various times in history. Two of these groups are the pa triots of American Revolution and the leaders and participants of the Civil Rights Movement Would we deem either of these two groups ungrateful in the long range view of history? No. It was only those who are now consid ered tyrannical or simply ignorant who denounced these two groups are ungrateful. Additionally, Michele wrote “disregarding laws is not esti mable behavior.” This statement challenges one of the basic tenets of the American experience. The entire American Revolution was a gross disregard of British law. Is anyone willing to argue that we should return ourselves to Opinion British subjugation because our Founding Fathers broke laws? Was the entire Civil Rights Movement, and its leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,, wrong just because the protest methods used broke certain laws? Challenging unfair and unrea sonable laws is not only a historic tradition in America but a neces sity for any free society of think ing individuals. Michele also wrote about al cohol abuse in a manner which was rooted in a very negative and poorly conceived notion of the homeless problem in America. She tried to pass the entire homeless population off as a bunch of drunken “worthless bums” whose basic problem is rooted in a weak spirit. The homeless problem can be more accurately traced back to 11 years of Republican domestic policies, or more accurately a lack of them. Had the Reagan and Bush ad ministrations not eliminated fed eral support for mental institutions and job training programs, we would not be faced with a prob lem of this magnitude today. This same author criticized students for being unwilling to bring their concerns to the Student Government Association, perhaps if she had bothered to find out who is involved in SGA, she would have discovered that many of us who criticize the coUege are members of SGA or have been in the past. A large number of issues have been adcfressed by the SGA, and an even larger number are being worked on, most notably the issue of visitation hours. To state that “there is no need (Continued on Page 6)
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