PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — JANUARY 24,1992
The Decree
OFFICIAL STVDBm'NEWSPAPER OF
NOBTH CABOUNA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Co>£ditors—John Fentress and James Oakley
Sfafr—Cecilia Casey, Nicole Cox, Trey Davis^
John Heame, Kevin Hambre^
The Decree is located fai the Student Union, North Caroltaia
WcdejMt CoUegte, Wesleyan CoDege Statiooi Rockjr Motmt, NC
27801. POtic; is determined by the Editorial Board of The De~
etfe, Rciipufolicatioii of any tnatter herein ivithont the tspxess
ceassent of the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden. The Decree
i» e^wposed and printed by Ripley Newspapers of Spiii^ Hope.
OpMons published do not neeessarOy reflect iiiose of North
World is plagued
with uncertainties
The problem facing our
world in 1992 is the ques
tion of uncertainty. Already
there are many present and
upcoming events that are
being held in doubt
Internationally we have
the uncertainty of the
progress or regress of the
Soviet Union (or whatever
it’s called) and the unpre
dictability of the Mid-East
and those peace talks.
Nationally, we have to
worry about our economy
and which way it’s going.
There is also the uncertainty
of the Presidential elections
— that is, if President Bush
passes out one too many
times before November,
We also have to deter
mine how our “conserva
tive” Supreme Court is go
ing to act, a scary thought
to most of the faculty at
Wesleyan. Or more impor-
tantiy, the classic national
uncertainty — will the Cubs
ever win the World Series
again?
Here, too, on campus we
have our own uncertainties;
like will security fix that
bumt-out headlight on their
squad car, or will Luke
Phillips slam dunk at home
and cause everyone to go
wild like he did so often last
year?
These topics wiU aU be
asked many times this year
and hopefully answered by
the end of the year. Let us
hope these dilemmas can be
resolved, and let's try to be
certain that we have a fun
and productive semester.
lT?TvUT*lUe6AG....
l-Tb u^^■peR AW/ oFTHeM...
■'IZJiLJAi
cir^ai
His dream inspired others
King was truly a great man
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
I doubt that in my lifetime we
will have anyone more appropri
ately celebrated than Martin
Luther King, Jr.
In 1963, my family moved to
Albany, Ga. I was only 11 years
old, but I knew about Albany’s
racial turmoils and I was intro
duced to King by my white fellow
students in my yet-to-be-inte-
grated school. What I heard was
that he was a communistic
trouble-maker who had come to
town, stirred up the otherwise
happy Negroes, and then left
town.
Over the next couple of years,
my school was integrated, and I
Dr. Steve
The meeting: a galactic fantasy
ByJOHNPERNELL
Galactic Fantasy explores how
we deal with our own fears, am
bitions and passions as we soar
among the heavens. — Tracy
Raye Hickman
The scarlet sun threw down
spears of steamy light on the quiet
city of Mamett, a small but no
ticeable spaceport on the jungle
planet of Deceberan. The build
ings of Mamett, a scattering of
low lying structures, seemed
fashionably apart from the thick
rain forest bliiketing the world.
Deceberan did not appear on any
of the' Wajoir’Shijjpirig ii)tites and
was often overlooked by the gov
erning Martial Republic.
In the seedy area of the busi
ness district a man stepped
through the muddy streets. He
passed indiscriminately by street
vendors, now and again casting a
glance over his shoulder. No one
seemed to be following him for
the moment. The young man, his
beard unshaven and long brown
hair tied back, wore dark blue
baggy pants and an orange pull
over short-sleeve shirt. His walk
flowed confidently with a touch
of paranoia,
Byron Scott had every right
exhibiting par^ola!' Byrbn wi^
wanted for possible connections
to the Galactic Revolutionary
Underground, the Martial
Republic’s only opposer. The
truth of the matter was that Byron
wanted nothing to do with rebel
lion and even less to do with the
Republic. But who can deal with
the government? Byron chose
only one ally — himself. The
young man secured full-time
employment in pursuit of self-
preservation.
Byron felt the leather holster
sporting a blaster press gently
against his thigh on every step
■ (Continued on Pagfe 3):; i
became friends with a witty black
guy named Herman, I remember
coming out of the lunchroom one
day and seeing a group of white
students pushing Herman and
trying to make him fight 4be5^
can still clearly see ragged white
clouds and a line of green pine
trees behind them and the reddish
dirt under their feet and Herman’s
polished black shoes.
Later I asked him why he
hadn’t struck out at the crummy
bigots. “No,” Herman told me,
“Rev, King woul(to’-t Mke-tliat,” -
That irripre§^^B^"4ftl§^'te
of my role models would have
taught me how best to beat up my
enemies, and I understood
Herman to be telling me that King
said to do otherwise. From
Herman, I heard the other story
of the Albany twycotts and of
King’s passive civil disobedience.
I then began reading newspaper
accounts and watching the tele
vised records of King’s trouble-
making.
By the time I left Albany in
1967 I regarded King as a great
leader, though I still assumed he
was a leader of black people.
Sooff,M course, be was shot down
and i^istice of it seemed too
big to bear, to much for me to
understand.
During my junior year in high
school, a year after King was
killed, I decided to write a re
search pager about him. As I read
about K^,‘ the man’s vision be
came monpiiwider than equalizing
educational opportunities and
(Continued on Page 3)
Freshmen officers grateful
Dear Editors;
The Freshman Class Officers
would like to take this opportunity
to thank everyone who partici
pated in our Christmas Candy-
gram fundraiser.
It was a big success. We raised
^proximately $80 with which we
were able to provide gifts for four
needy children who otherwise
would have had a poor Christmas,
We thank you again for your
participatioh and-hope that your
Letters to
the Editor
charity will continue well beyond
the holidays.
Nicole Cox, President
(This letter was also signed by
Tara Schreiber, vice president;
Gwen Pacharis, secretary; and
Davilyn Cagle, treasurer.)