PAGE 4 — THE DECREE — NOVEMBER 12,1993
Oh'FIClAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROLINA WESIBYAN COLLEGE
Editor-in-Chief — W. Kenneth Leonard
Assistant Editor ■— Tiffany Page
Staff — Jennifer Decmcr, Patrick Brannan, Cccilia Lynn
Casey, Kimberly Curseen, John Fentress,
Marie Lenane. Jiminilyn Rosson
Advisor — ChrK LaLonde
The Decree is located in the Spruill Building, North Carolina Wes
leyan College^ 3440 Wesleyan Blvd., Rocky Mount, NC 27801. Policy is
detertn&jed by t&e Editorial Board of The Decree. Re-publication of any
matter herein without the expre$& consent of the ]^ftortat Board is
strictly forfaldden^ lAe iillec/^e is composed iuidi printed by: the Spring
Bope Enterprise. Opinions published do not necessarily ref|el those of
North Carolina We^eyan College.
Symposium offered
lots of wise counsel
The recent symposium
sponsored by Centura Bank,
the Rocky Mount Area
Chamber of Commerce, and
North Carolina Wesleyan
College was one of the best
opportunities the college has
had for learning this semes
ter, and perhaps even this
full year.
The various speakers,
who represented several dif
ferent interests in the growth
of the region, spoke of the
chances that had to be taken
and what steps could fur
ther the cause of economic
growth.
George Gilder, the key
note speaker, drove home
the point that by taking hold
of the new technologies
available in communica
tions and the development
of networks, the region
could grow and provide an
even better life for all of its
residents.
He wisely noted that the
formula for success is to
look for the future, not try
ing to focus on the past.
“Don't solve problems,”
he said. “Pursue opportuni
ties.”
By pursuing the opportu
nities, the economy will
grow so as to avoid the very
problems that could hold up
growth if we focus on solv
ing them alone.
If the government could
get over the fears of allow
ing unregulated utilities and
the dreaded monopoly that
might occur from allowing
cable companies and tele
phone companies to merge,
the access to information
available to all citizens
would be so magnificent as
to boggle the mind.
Indeed, this is one of the
greatest events of NCWC’s
schedule. It would be good
if more people could pay at
tention to Gilder’s kind of
logic about the economy.
^OUTK05'6MAtl
TWe U.ISJ....
m
Censorship canH change world
Beware any thought police
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
I was recently puzzling
through an article about why ban
ning certain books from high
school libraries was a good idea
and why Halloween should be
banned because it promotes
witchcraft when I suddenly fell
into a daydream about being Cen
sorship Czar (or Ban Boss). What
a feeling of power even the day
dream way.
Everywhere we listen lately we
hear a lot of talk about banning.
We want to solve whatever prob
lem we detect by ridding our
selves of its signs. Banning Pent
house would lessen the rapes; cen
soring gay writers from reading
lists would ...what? Make “fewer”
homosexuals?
And, of course, like everyone
else — especially us “good”
Americans — if I agree that the
object under scrutiny is somehow
offensive (handguns, hate-inspir-
Dr. Steve
Muses
ing pamphlets), I agree with the
ban. If I don’t, it’s a left/right
wing plot to desttoy my rights
and the world as I pretend it is or
used to be before it was infected
by the “other.” And then I will
censor your right to speak out
against me because I know I am
right.... er, I mean “correct.”
But I cannot help but wonder
how I could make the world a
better place if I was given the
power to re-make it in my own
image (which is what many cen
sorship sponsors want to do).
Here are some of the “prob
lems” I would eliminate if I were
Censorship Czar:
All advertising containing the
words “new,” “improved,” or
‘Try ME!” All exclamation points
in advertising. Near-naked wo
men in ads for automobiles: near-
naked men in ads for cologne or
screwdrivers.
Advertisements in which the
product does not appear; and this
will include political advertise
ments without the candidate ap
pearing and talking about “the is
sues.” All advertisements at the
movies. Let’s go back to news
reels and serials.
All of those tear-out inserts in
magazines, and those perfumed
“scratch me” inserts especially.
All statements by politicians
with the phrase “The American
people know.” Religious show
hosts with hair-dos requiring a
wide-angle lens or more than a
pint of hair-dye per show. Sen
tences with more than four hy
phenated words.
“Access,” “impact,” and “net-
(Continued on Page 5)
Americans must overcome differences
By PATRICK BRANNAN
Why do we continue to break
our society into groups? Why do
these divisions become so imbed
ded in our society that we are
unable to rise above them when
we need to? It only ends up hurt
ing us in the long run.
Our American society is a di
verse group of different ethnic
backgrounds. As Ross Perot states
in his book. United We
Stand, ”the melting pot is our
strength, not our we^ess. Our
culture is dynamic because it is
varied. Our nation became the
envy of the world because it is a
unique tapestry woven of many
strands drawn from every part of
the globe.”
Yet our society likes to form
groups that have a common in
terest or goal in mind. Think about
the way we divide ourselves: po
litically, socially, etc. We also
Opinion
break the nation apart in regions.
I recently attended a convention
in Dallas and in a pamphlet I
picked up there were a number of
pages orienting one on how to
understand a different form of En
glish spoken in Texas.
Why is it that our society must
create such lines of separation? I
can understand the fact that be
longing to a club or social group
helps people gain a feeling of to
getherness. The basic forms of
this are such social groups as fra
ternities and sororities, the fol
lowing of a sports team, and other
smaller groups.
It becomes unfortunate when
we, as a society, are not able to
put these differences aside and
work together. There comes a
point when we must do just that.
It is a hard thing to accomplish
this in America, as the divisions
run deep in our culture.
We must be able to get past
the differences when it becomes
necessary to work together to ac
complish a goal. This is not just
true in America but globally as
well. All people of the world must
unite to achieve certain goals. It
takes a complete effort to accom
plish a set goal.