PAGE 2 — THE DECREE —APRIL 10,1992
The Decree
OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROUNA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Co-Editors — John Fentress and James Oakley
Staff — Cecilia Casey, Nicole Cox,
Tifl^any Page, John Pemell,
Delinda Lee, Joanna Holladay
The Decree is located in the Student Union, North Carolina
Wesleyan College, Wesleyan CoU«ge Station, Rocky Mount, NC
27801. Policy Is determined by the Editorial Board of The De
cree. Re-publication of any matter herein without the express
consent of the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden. The Decree
is composed and printed by Ripley Newspapers of Spring Hope.
Opinions published do not necessarily reflect those of North
Carolina Wesleyan College.
Congratulations
to all the winners
Many congratulations are in
order for the new members of
the Campus Activities Board,
the new officers of the Stu
dent Government Association,
and all the award winners at
the 1992 Honors Convocation.
The Campus Activities
Board with its new members
will have a tough job assigned
to them in that they will have
to do an equal or superior job
of providing entertainment toat
those of this academic year
provided. Congratulations
should thus be awarded to
those who worked hard this
year on the CAB also for
making the social life at Wes
leyan satisfying and entertain
ing. Next year should be a
huge success if the CAB fol
lows in the footsteps of this
year’s members.
The Student Government
Association has done a re
markable job this year and it
has the students headed in the
right direction. All year stu
dents have heard, “Don’t com
plain, take your concerns to
the SGA.” Well, students have
done this and action and im
provements have taken place.
Next year’s SGA should be
better as long as it continues
in the direction that this year’s
SGA has gone.
As for the award winners
from this year’s Honors Con
vocation, all of you deserve it.
This just shows all students
that if one puts his/her mind to
it, one can and will accom
plish anything. The award
wirmers not only prove to
themselves that they can do it,
but that any student or organi
zation has that potential to ex
cel.
These members, organiza
tions, and wiimers should be
commended for their great
commitment to the school and
for their achievements. For the
officers and members of this
academic school year, thank
you for making this school
year a success. Students prob
ably take things for granted at
times and do not realize how
much time and effort goes into
what Ihese organizations do for
the college.
And for next year’s officers
and members, congratulations
again and let’s hope that these
organizations can make next
year a huge success, just like
this year.
ELECTION
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Generation still has hope
Students still cherish ideas
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
I spent the weekend up in
Roanoke, Va., at the Southern
Regional Honors CouncO annual
conference, and I was repeatedly
struck by how complicatedly di
verse people are.
The theme of the conference
was “Perspectives on Discovery,”
and I attended several student
sessions. Students from Appala
chian State broke the audience
into groups and instructed them
to create a work of “art” repre
senting “civilization.” Almost
every group included representa
tions of AIDS and war and rape
and racism. One group had us re
main silent for a minute and said
our discomfort represented our
lack of civilization.
Some Randolph-Macon stu
dents described the troubles they
have setting up a student honors
organization; some students
weren’t sure the expenditure of
time on community service or
socializing or organizing was
worth it because some other stu
dent might get ahead of them and
get that place in law school.
A woman from Greensboro
College reported on a statistical
survey she had done to find out
“What Students in Small-College
Honors Programs Want” What
they want is mcmey and courses
that will help them compete. Even
honors students perceive them
selves as less adequate than their
records and p^ormances indi
cate.
Som^s^ents froin Grjunley
College presented a report on
“What College Students Want to
Know About AIDS.” I was
amazed to hear women ask if their
fetoses could contact the virus, if
eliminating homosexuals would
eliminate the disease, if Magic
Johnson could have been infected
by a mass murderer.
“He just can’t be gay or use
drugs,” cried an attractive young
woman whose boyfriend was
hanging onto her legs. But most
people in the room were ready to
try to help stop the spread of the
disease, even if it meant facing
their own homophobia. “I didn’t
want my girlfriend to think I was
gay, so I didn’t want to suggest a
condom,” admitted one young
student
^^ "*fBllowed this up at the
Southeastern Lx)uisiana Univer
sity students’ “Censorship: Are
We Losing Our Intellectual Free
dom?” I heard a very nice looking
woman argue earnestly that she
asked God before each reading
assigiunent whether or not to
proceed. “He’s kept me from
reading about incest in Native Son
and about sexual intercourse n
almost every book assigned by
my English teacher,” she said.
A man in this session then ar-
(Continued on Page 3)
Line-item veto helps fight pork in Congress
Dear Editor
Have you ever wcmdered why
truckers go to sleep at the wheel?
I’ve always assumed that it was
because they get tired while
driving. Congress, however,
wants to get to the bottom of this
mystery. To answer this burning
question. Congress has ordered a
$1.3 million study into that very
questicm.
In the 1992 budget, taxpayers
get to pay for all sorts of useful
programs. Michigan State Uni
versity conducts a study of “apple
quality” at a cost of $94,000 to
us. Iliere’s aSl million study into
why people don’t use more bi-
Letterto
the Editor
cycles or walking for transporta-
tion;‘$'1.2 millic»i to devek^ Ha
waiian homeland infrastructure,
whatever that means; $2.9 million
to Hnd new uses for wood;
$80,000 to see if milkweed floss
could replace goose down in
bedding; $500,000 to build a
museum at the birthplace of
Lawrence WeDc; $50,000 to study
New >Nfencan> wildflowos. >
Senators Robert C. Smith (R-
NH) and Daniel Coats (R-Ind.),
the leading fighters of this kind
of wastefiil spending, which is
commonly called “pork,” often
read off some of these programs
in their speeches to illustrate
government waste.
(Continued on Page 3)