PAGE 4 — THE DECREE — OCTOBER 7,1994
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OFFICIAL STVDEfiT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROUNA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Editor*in>Chief — Patrick Brannan
Copy Editor — Alan Felton
Advertising Manager — John Morgan
Staff—Jenny Beemer, Cecilia Lynn Casey, LLsa Casey,
Kimberly Curseen, Winona Price, Greg Purcell, Scott
Rolfe, Julie Scalzo, Kevin Corbett, Colleen Smith, Chip
Sullivan, Amy Lynn Brayton, Leslee Kobasa
Advisor — Chris LaLonde
The Decree is located in the Hardees BnSding. North Carolina Wes-
leysn CoUege, 3400 Weideyan Blvd^ Rocky Mount, NC 27801. Weekly
^irfr nieetiii«s are held Monday at 10:30 aon. and Thuniday at 4:30 p.m.
in the Decree office. Re-pabUcation of any matter herein without the
express consent of the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden. The Decree is
composed and printed by IbeS^ritigHi^ EiUerprue. Opinions puiilished
doumtneeesHurily reflect those of North CaroHna Wesl^an College.
Some minors face
major challenges
Academics is a major con
cern of the students at Wes
leyan. Since the fall of 1991
Wesleyan has had three dif
ferent academic deans. One
lasted a year before he left
Wesleyan and it is unclear as
to what the course of academ
ics at Wesleyan is going to
take.
The offering of classes is
one of the concerns that bother
students at Wesleyan in re
gards to academics. “Are the
courses I need to take going to
be offered? Can I graduate in
four years?” These are ques
tions that the students are wor
ried about.
The college advertises
rather clearly in admissions
material that the school offers
a minor in journalism. This
fact comes as surprise to many
students already enrolled, as
the minor is “tucked” away
within the English department
listing in the College catalog.
The requirements for jour
nalism are clearly outlined in
the catalog and include three
required courses in news-
writing and editing, a choice
between two courses, and two
upper level English composi
tion courses.
The upper level writing
courses are easily obtained by
the student if the interest is
there for the student to take
them.
Yet according to informa
tion obtained from the
Register’s Office only two of
the other courses have been
offered, one last fall and the
other this fall, the current se
mester.
Factorinto the eqH^
the only professor that teaches
the newswriting courses was
on a full year sabbatical in
1992-93 so two full semesters
were lost. In fact, there is one
course that is offered under the
journalism minor that has not
been offered since the creation
of the program in the late
1980’s.
The reaction may be that
the interest in joumalism is not
enough to warrant the teach
ing of these classes. Yet, how
can a true finding of the inter
est be obtained if the courses
are not even offered? What if
a student wishes to obtain a
minor in joumalism? What
would the school do to accom
modate that wish?
The fact is that interest in
the school newspaper is grow
ing and, while the courses in
newswriting are not directly
tied to The Decree, interest in
joumalism and newswriting
does exist.
This example can just as
easily be one of many such
cases at Wesleyan. Over the
next few weeks The Decree
will be exploring the course of
academics at Wesleyan.
What is the student’s per
ception and concerns with aca
demics?
Why is it that upper-class
students complain that Wes
leyan is offering more courses
for the first-year student than
the upper-class student?
What direction is the
school’s academic future head
ing in?
Are there other majors and
minMrs that the school offers
but are unattainable?
f
Politicians no gardeners
Some things don’t change
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
I spent the weekend in the gar
den, so I have had time to think
about change.
Digging out a wild verbena
which threatened to strangle ev
ery other nearby plant gives me a
sense of perspective — both be
cause I shouldn’t have let the plant
take over in the first place; and
because during the digging I
slowly realized that it has rooted
itself so vigorously that every
spring for the rest of my life with
this garden I will be reminded of
the backache I have right now.
Being a gardener, I have
learned about patience because in
the garden you can’t really hurry
change. Suddenly one day you
notice that the lilac bush you
planted years ago is finally
screening that ugly part of the
deck — just as you thought it
would when you planted it.
I have also learned about hope.
Gardeners are always hoping that
next year will be better for the
phlox or that next year that aster
will again be as beautiful as it is
now.
I thought about change, pa
tience, and hope the other ^y
when I saw the Republican can
didates for Congress gathered to
gether on the Capitol steps de
claring that they had a contract
with America to change govern
ment.
I found myself utterly un
moved and unconvinced. These
are not gardeners, I thought; these
are developers. Politicians like to
develop plans, but what if they
implemented them and govern
ment started running well? Let’s
admit it, they know we wouldn’t
‘fi^riRanfficCTIIerwant^
Dr. Steve
Muses
elected (or re-elected), but they
don’t want to help me dig out my
verbena.
I don’t think politicians are
going to change our lives very
much. They are either like my
verbena and have taken root so
deeply in the business that they
wouldn’t recognize a new way of
running government if it strangled
them. Or they want to begin to
take root so that they can make
government work the way they
want it to.
I’ve seen too many political
seasons come and go to believe
that politicians will substantively
change either the system they
work in or the holds it has on my
life. Reagan’s revolution, what
ever it might have been, may have
changed the dishes in the White
House, but it didn’t fulfill any of
his campaign rhetoric. Clinton
was elected in a ground swell of
change, but Haiti looks a lot like
Grenada or Kuwait to me.
I listen to my students rake
Clinton (and, especially, his wife)
over the coals. I see them want
ing to elect someone else who
will change the system. I just
don’t believe it any more, and I
am worried that I don’t believe it
any more.
In the overall scheme of the
cosmos, neither my garden nor
my vote makes any discernible
difference. But politicians should
be aware of someone such as I
who has always paid attention and
voted and wvl^ in campaigiis
and cared fervently about what
politicians did.
I feel myself giving up to cyni
cism. I don’t believe a word any
of them say. With some excep
tions (Virginia: say no to Ollie
North!), I don’t think it much
matters which one we elect. I
don’t think all politicians are
crooks or bad people, but I don’t
think they want to solve any of
the problems. They want to
wound their opponent, be re
elected, Hve comfortably, have
federally-funded health care, and
argue.
As I say, I know my paying
attention to politics doesn’t re
ally matter to anyone but me. But
at the same time I’ve learned to
nurture my garden and plan for
the next season with patience and
hope. I’ve turned from govern
ment in disgust. What does mat
ter is that I am probably not alone.
Somehow we and politicians
need to come to a new agreement
about being held accountable to
promises and treating each other
with civility. If we lose patience
and hope, the garden may be
doomed.
Editorial unfair
Dear Editor:
An editorial in the most recent
issue of the Decree contained a
gratuitous derogatory comment
directed at the Assistant to the
President.
1 know Cindy Hope, I’ve
worked with Cindy Hope, and the
anonymous editorial writer is no
Cindy Hope.
Ms. Hope is competent and in
telligent, and I am delighted that
she is a member of the NC Wes
leyan community.
V ' - ,,.^:i),,»,!^iirfaCara(ttis