OFFICIAL STUDBffT NEWSPAPER OF
NORTH CAROUNA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Editor>in>Chicr — Kimberly Curseen
Copy Editor—Koin Corbett
Advertising Manager ~ John Morgan
Staff — Greg Purcell, Jessica Brown, Tequaka Moore, Marcy Sto>er,
Advi&or — Chris LaLonde
Tht Deem is locatcd in the Hardees Building, North Carolina
We&lcgran College, 3400 Weslejwi BNdL, Rocky Mount, NC 27801.
Weekly staff meetingi are held Wednesda} at 4:30 p.m. hi the Decree
the Editorial Board is strictly forbidden. Tki Deene Is composed and
printed by the Spring Hope Ettttrpiist. Opinions published do not
necessarily reflect those of NmrtbCarolhuWesicyaaColle^ '
UlCft mi m\ liUSNCES us. justice?
Registration woes
can be alleviated
Registration has just
passed and has left very many
people frustrated.
This is especially true for
freshmen who waited in long
lin^s for hours just to find
out that 100 level freshmen
courses have been filled by
upperclassmen; thus, forcing
the freshmen to rework al
ready carefully laid out
schedules.
What will probably have
to happen is that some fresh
men who are^sure of what
their major will be may have
to start major classes next se
mester.
At North Carolina Wes
leyan College it has been a
common practice to declare
a major the second semester
freshmen year. Doing this in
the past has led some second
semester freshmen and
sophomores to neglect gen
eral requirements and start
heavily into their major; this
may be mainly due to the ad
vice of the major advisors that
a student receives sophomore
year.
Now that those freshmen
of the past are seniors and
juniors they must now take
100 level courses to achieve
graduation requirements,
which leaves many under
classmen out in the cold.
Retention is one of the
largest problems that
Wesleyan faces. Maybe the
logic of the past was that if
we get students into a major
early they would be less
likely to transfer. Many
m\Tt
GREEK
Bennett out of touch
schools will only accept gen
eral requirement credits from
other schools and not very
many major credits. A trans
fer student heavily into their
major could lose an academic
year.
This tactic may have
worked for current upper
classmen, but may have the
opposite effect on freshmen
who are frustrated because of
closed classes.
It is difficult to convince
students to stay in a place
where they feel they cannot
take the classes that are de
signed for them, forcing them
to start into a major they may
not be all the sure of any
way. Remember one reason
for having general require
ments is that they are sup
posed to give students expo
sure to many different areas
before they decide to special
ize in one field.
Here are some ways to
make registration and choos
ing classes easier on students:
know your general require
ments; plan out a schedule at
least a semester ahead; feel
free to disagree with an advi
sor; do not be pushed into
classes you don’t want to
take; do not assume your ad
visor, especially the major
advisor, Imows all the classes
you need to take to graduate
or all the procedures; take
time to plan out classes; and
make sure you have good
back up courses.
Most of all, get in the reg
istration line early.
Talk shows no threat to life
By DR. STEVE FEREBEE
The recent nish to condemn
trashy TV talk shows amuses me.
Even the talk show hosts — at
least the ones who are already
multi-millionaiies — have begim
beating their breasts in shame.
William Bennett surfaces once
in a while to berate the “Ameri
can People” (he means hetero
sexual, Christian, white, married
guys) for not defusing a bomb in
the plot (cf Pat Buchanan) to de
stroy his illusion of a 1950’s
America
People like Bennett preach
against those disgusting rap lyr
ics (which they claim must be
bad even though they can’t un
derstand the words) and welfare-
induced single mothers who
won’t find jobs (even though we
don’t need Headstart, child care,
or battered women centers —
“Too Expensive!” our cultural
preachers thunder).
Anyway, now they are aiming
at trashy TV talk shows (even
though they like the conservative
radio talk shows in which we can
leam how to shoot federal offic
ers who are wearing bulletproof
vests but not hats). These cultural
preachers complain that by watch
ing “Lesbian Moms Who Still
Love Their Eighth Grade Science
Teachers” or “Latino Men who
Need Beans With Every Meal —
No Matter What!” we are creat
ing a kind of cultural sewage
which threatens to — well, to tell
you the truth I’m not sure what it
threatens to do. I guess I will want
to become a lesbian mom with a
yen for beans?
1 saw Bennett on a (respect
able?) TV talk show the other
evening. He was very seriously
and shiftily looking into the cam
era. I turned up the volume. He
was warning me that civilization
was coming to an end. “Oh,
lawsy!” 1 thought. “And I wanted
to watch Masterpiece Theater to
night.”
This week civilization will be
reduced to ashes by watching
weird people talk about their se
crets and expose themselves to
ridicule. Trashy TV talk shows,.
he said, “legitimate (sic) the
wrong behavior.
I switched to Talk Soup, that
program which shows highlights
from the day’s trash heap. I occa
sionally pause at Talk Soup for a
moment, and 1 know little else
about trashy talk shows; some
times the episode is genuinely
funny. That evening older women
who actually like older men were
(Continued on Page 3)
‘Dissenter’ debate well handled
Dear Editor:
The recent controversy about
a picture in the Dissenter has cre
ated many confused and conflict
ing emotions in me.
I was impressed that a group
of students had actually taken
steps to assert their feelings and
address a perceived affront. This
group of students valued the year
book as a representation of their
college experience. They are ac
tive students who have invested
not only their money but them
selves in the life on this campus.
lAStters to
s’’
theEditor
They saw a picture in the year
book which was symbolic of a
racial slur. They expressed their
honest feelings. This is a healthy,
commendable response.
On the other hand, 1 think that
in no way was this a purposely
hurtful act. Circumstances con
spired to make this picture ap
pear to be an appropriate depic
tion of a slice of Wesleyan life in
1995. The costume had won a
prize at a college-sanctioned
event. There was a need for pic
tures to illustrate events.
Those involved in the selec
tion did not have the benefit of a
broadly based group of assistants
as reviewers. They chose to use
the picture to make the Dissenter
more interesting and representa-
(Continued on Paee 3)