Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / April 19, 1993, edition 1 / Page 4
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PAGE 4 — THE DECREE — APRIL 19,1993 The Decree OFFICIAL SWDEmmmPAPBU OF mUTH CAROUNA WESUEYAN COLLEm £dttor-4iv-Cbief—NIcote Cox Asssist^f Editor — 5«»0 Meltqw Staff—Brad Barnes, l««nl«ter Beew^r, CursMO, Ken L$ouard»Pdtrllt Brattnan,BIIe)!i Stantott l^tD^aphersBeth Slterrard apid Chris Taytor Ad'dsor Dr^ Margee Morrison The Decree is located in the Spruill B«ildin& North CarcBna W«s- ttywi C«1l^t|, 3400 Blvd, ««fey Mouat, NC *7«0J. Policy Is detemiM«i the ISdltcwjai Board I^pufclfetttion e( any matter flie ejspress cowenl «f «» Edttwial Boar* Is strictly forbidden. The Decree b composed and printed by tlie Spring Hope Enterprise. Opinions published da not necessarily reflect those of North We^yan C^lege^ Apathy depriving students of voice Across the board, partici pation in the Student Gov ernment Association by stu dents was distressingly low this year. One would think that since SGA is local, acces sible, and can be impacted by a single person, that stu dents would want to get in volved. After all, it is stu dent govemment. But not here at N.C. Wes leyan. Look at the numbers. Only one student sought the office of SGA President, a very powerful position serv ing as the direct link be tween students and the ad ministration. WTiile there was a race for vice president and for secretary, it was only be tween two people, leaving littie room for choice. The incumbent SGA treasurer, who has a great deal of con trol over the SGA budget (your student activity fee), ran unopposed. Despite ample publicity, many class officer and other positions either went uncontested or remain vacant. What is most distressing is that so few students turned out to vote. Through out the year so few students come to the meetings. Wesleyan students are al lowing a very small, select group of people to control a lot of money and set a lot of policy without a lot of in put. The students are allow ing this group to decide what student concerns are and what should or should not be brought to the ad ministration. If SGA does a good job, great! If they don’t, the stu dents have no one to blame but themselves. VOTER » "■m osuif mTiNft m ser tHRouaH m uuas m iUST VWT TO VOT& mmx YWO&VeRS n CHARS&J" Legacy of the ‘60’s Icons keep idealism alive By DR. STEVE FEREBEE I’ve been thinking about the cultural phenomena Star Trek and The Grateful Dead. “Beam Me Up, Scotty” and “Keep on Truckin’ ” are both colorful parts of American culture. I speak with some authority because I recently observed Dead concert, and I accompanied a friend to a Trekkers’ Conven tion a couple of years ago. I find some common ground between the two phenomena — not only because Jerry Garcia now looks like Security Chief Worf, but also because you either really like them or you don’t care at all. By 1966, when William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were following the United Federation of Planets’ Prime Directive by Dr. Steve Muses observing but not interfering with other civilizations and The Dead were rifting in the northern Cali fornia woods with Ken Kesey, the United States Marines (with no homosexuals, presumably) were interfering hourly in another civi lization. If you watch the old Star Trek episodes, you will know what I mean when I say Gene Roddenberry infused the show with a kind of optimistic inno cence. Those cardboard sets and Mr. Spock’s Vulcan ears and mind-melding are endearing. Star Trek also had an African-Ameri can woman on the bridge with Captain Kiik (LL Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols) and a Japa nese man (Sulu, played by George Takei). The crew did not always like one another (Bones is always picking on Spock’s unemotional behavior); but they worked to gether to spread what is noble in humanity — its desire to learn and help out. I do not think it’s a coincidence that while Napalm- stung babies filled the evening news, the Enterprise crew’s phasers were set on “stun” only. Star Trek was grounded in February, 1969 {right after Nixon’s first inauguration}. Its hopeful view of the future, of technology, and of racial harmony account for the movies which be- (Continued on Page 5) Counselor regrets losing her temper Dear Editor I did not originally plan to at tend Mike McHugh’s talk March 26.1 knew I would not agree with much of what would be said and like most people I prefer to hear things that are compatible with my beliefs. Circumstances dictated that I should attend. My mission was to be present in case a dispute should arise between those who spon sored the talk and those who planned to protest. As it turned out aU the stu dents involved demonstrated ex emplary behavior. I was very proud of the initiative of the stu dents who organized the talk. I was just as proud of the students who attended to voice their pro test. I was not so proud of my self. I lost my temper. This is not something I do very often. This is not to say that I don’t disapprove or criticize people and actions, almost daily. I just don’t usually lose my cool. So what was it about this event that pushed my button? Initially, Mr. McHugh was very cordiaLi He told me about Letters his formal education (a B.A. in Marketing and Education from Virginia Tech) and about his membership in a counseling as sociation. His description of the association made me realize that his approach to counseling would be directive. Even though I’m sure he means well, this is not counsel ing; it is persuasion. When you consider the duress and distress of young women who are consid ering abortion or even those who are reconsidering an abortion, I feel his “counseling” could con stitute malpractice. As I listened to his presenta tion I became aware of instance after instance after instance in which he presented only his per ception of the issues. The first video which was shown described the xtions of the fetus in the same terms one would use about a young child. This video set the audience up to look at the development of a child as a wonderful, wanted event. In its wake, McHugh’s diatribe about abortion and abOTtionists made them seem even more hor rendous. Much of his ire was directed at the abortion “industry.” Since he didn’t define this term, I sup pose he was talldng about Planned Paienthood. This non-profit or ganization has a noble history of making information about repro ductive health and functions and (Continued on Page 5)
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April 19, 1993, edition 1
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