PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — JANUARY 21,1994
aOMtB CAmUm WESlBYAfi COJJMGE
Editor-itt-Chkf P^tridc fi^rsnoan
Staff—* Cecilia tyuo Casey, Ala» FeUon
Kimberiy Curs«ea» ^atf Hartvnger, Marie Lenan«!
Ad\ uior — Cbris LaLunde
The Decree K tucated fii tSifr Hardees Building, North Carolina
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W^ekij staff Uifetings arc fteW Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Id the Dem*
Re-piibHeatlu» of iny in.ttter h«rct» without the cxprc^'! consent
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and jpriDted bjr theS|«-|'ng Hope Enterjprisc. Opinions, pubtlsbcd do
not o«eeK)arii:y re(l«c(tfio«! of Nurth Carolina We^ej^tt C9lk^«.
5ay
Academics taking
a downward path
In the past three years at
Wesleyan there have been a
number of changes. None
has changed more dramati
cally than the academic
arena of the school.
There have been three
academic deans. One dean
came in and attempted to
change the academic plans
so dramatically that he left
the school the following
summer. The future path of
academics is uncertain at
Wesleyan.
The school prides itself
on individual attention. The
very slogan, “Where the stu
dent comes first,” is a pri
mary example. The small
size of the school is one of
its primary advantages.
There are so many more op
portunities for students to
get involved here than at
other larger schools.
Yet in the recent years the
school seems to have
changed this approach to
academics, at least. The
number of courses offered
has grown smaller each se
mester. Even the size of the
classes has changed dra
matically.
A first-year student three
years ago had some classes
with 30 people, and that was
a bit on the big scale. Now,
as a junior, a majority of
that student’s classes con
tain 20 to 30 people. One
student this past week had
to sit on the floor for a class
because the number of stu
dents enolled filled the room
and spilled into the hall.
The students are wonder
ing what all of this means.
If classes are being canceled
does that mean some ma
jors no longer exist? Is it
possible to graduate in four
years? Will the classes that
students need be offered so
they can graduate “on
time”? Faculty members can
be overheard talking about
the larger classes also.
All of this is hurting the
school in the long run. The
students are not sure where
the school is going to go in
regards to academics. The
larger classes ruin the per
sonal atmosphere that
makes the school what it is,
friendly. What is the long
range plan for the school
and what does that mean to
the students? That’s what
students need to know.
Letters to the editor policy
The Decree accepts only s^ned letters to the editors. Unsigned
letters will not be printed. Letters need to be placed in the campus
post ofTice and marked “Decree” or placed in the Decree ofllce in
the Hardees building. Letters must be received by Friday of the
week prior to the next issue in order to be printed in that issue. The
Decree reserves the right to edit or reject letters for grammar,
libel, or good taste.
IKHT
Look for cause of crimes first
Jails not solution to violence
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
Gov. Jim Hunt recently called
for life without parole for first-
degree murderers and rapists; life
without parole for a third violent
offense; felony status for any co
caine possession; additional time
for crimes committed with guns.
He wants tens of millions of
dollars for more prisons. Almost
incidentally, he asks for a little
money to run after-school pro
grams for at-risk children (mostly
staffed by volunteers).
Revenge and retribution may
feel good, and they may even
solve some localized, short-term
problems; but without prevention
(such as those after-school pro
grams), we will not stop new
crimes and criminals.
Finger pointing is a waste of
time and a diversion. Television
violence does not help, but it does
not create the social or psycho
logical conditions that nurture
criminals. “Gangsta rap” is often
Dr. Steve
Muses
anti-social and seems to advocate
violence and crime, but it does
not create the uiban youthful of
fenders. Movies like Wall Street
appear to idealize another kind of
criminal, but they do not create
the upper-class, white-collar com
puter S&L Bush-boys mentality.
The insane proliferation of
weapons and their Wal-Mart
availability certainly create op
portunities for armed robbery,
murder, and terrorism, but they
do not create the need in so many
people’s minds to kill for revenge
or just to pass the time. The
single-parent family and unsuper
vised children probably do some
times lead to warped decision
making by clifldren,^ut they do
not in themselves create the gangs
and violence that children find
themselves watching and experi
encing and participating in.
Treating criminals like human
beings and citizens with legal
rights does not tell them we ap
prove of what they do. And, fi
nally, the 1960s did not single-
handedly create an amoral atmo
sphere of relativism and tolerance
that somehow inspires criminals.
We must stop believing that so
lutions are simple and that some
one else will implement them.
Criminals steal and murder
because they do not think they
are doing anything wrong, or be
cause they think that they have
no altemative way to feed or pro
tect themselves and their fami
lies. Locking up each new perpe
trator does not convince anyone
that crime is wrong; nor does it
teach someone a way to feed the
kids or solve an argument
Life wdthout parole at hard la-
(Continued on Page 3)
‘Dissenter’ needs help, not critics
Dear Editor:
I was delighted to read the
Decree’s recent article about the
Dissenter and Fd like to add just
a few points to the coverage al
ready given to this topic.
I have been advisor for the
yearbook for six years and can
testify to one indisputable fact:
the major problem has not
changed. What is the major prob
lem? Simply that we have a
plethora of critics and a dearth of
helpers.
Letters to
the Editor
Consistently, the yearbook has
lacked student support in every
area We cannot encourage stu
dents to come to our meetings
and help work on layout; we can
not rely on students to cover
events by taking pictures and writ
ing a short passage to describe
the activities; we cannot persuade
the various clubs and organiza
tions on campus to submit photo
graphs and a summary of their
goals, objectives etc. to us in the
timely fashion, and it is frequently
such hard work to encourage stu
dents to come for their (ftee) pho
tograph session that we despair.
However, this same reluctant,
unwilling folks are the ones who
(Continued on Page 3)