Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / May 1, 2002, edition 1 / Page 2
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EDITORIALS 2 NCWC Decree May 2002 EIC’s Corner: Final good-bye Hello, Readers, As we move to the final week of the 2001-2002 aca-. demic year we at The Decree would like to say one final good-bye and goodluck. Thanks for your support throughout the year. This final issue is truly spe cial. It marks the work of the Decree solely. Instead of send ing our work to a publisher, we've done everything our selves and sent it off to a printer. This means that this work is truly from the students and the students only. Congratulations are in order for those recepients of aca demic, leadership and athletic awards. Also to those seniors graduating on Saturday. In regards to the events sur rounding the political cartoon that appeared in our last paper I'd like to make a statement from the Decree staff. The car toon was not submitted by a stu dent or staff member. Because it did appear in the paper, it seems that the staff would sup port that message; however, we'd like to make it clear that we are not supportive of deroga tory messages in a community that itself thrives on diversity. We are currently dealing with the issue and person responsible for the cartoon. We are sorry for the damage it has caused to anyone person ally. Our intent at the paper has always been to provide the Wesleyan community with in formation concerning the stu dents and events as well as act as a forum for people's creativ ity. As in all situations in life, things can sometimes slip by us and escape our recognition un til it is too late. We do intend to correct this situation and thank I you for your support and under standing on the matter. Enjoy this last issue and the summer ahead! Editor-in-Chief Shannon St.George , . . NC Wesleyan Decree Established 1960 ! Hartness Centor 3400 N. Wesleyan Blvd. Rocky Mount, N€ 27804 Editor-iii'Cliiet: Shannon St. George SEStGM»nge@ncwc.edu> Execttth^ Staff Writer: Michael Garcia CopyiMU^: Alison Kirch Busina Manager: Chris Walters Facu^ Myls^r: Or. D. K. Campbell 4ISc^]^ll@ncwc.edu> 35^98Sr-S194,PC182 Ijmhus ro Emm should be emailed to the Editor- uif‘0uef. They may ‘be copied to the Adviser, if you Mnrintum£rf7^ words, OT US concise and to ^ point as : Conditions: May be edited for unaaeptabic ltjnquaf;t\ iibef.mid/orpwn^. Identifu arion: Only letter v that includc the wriur \ name, status (studera,facult\. staff, alum), and uriive informc^mi^^^l, telephone, and physical Airr COiwCOiATr Pfeess Who is holding the invisible mirror? I think it would be fun to be invisible. Not invisible like Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, but like H. G. Wells' Invisible Man. But maybe I am invisible in the Ellison way. Maybe teachers have become the in visible people? Certainly I often feel that way when I suddenly stop talking in class and ask someone what I just said. Is there a teacher there if the students aren't listening? The other day I was sit ting in my office when two students who didn't think I was in, stood outside my door discussing my less-than-en- dearing traits as a teacher. Evidently I am sarcastic and a rigorous grader. And my clothes are unimaginative. I really was enjoying myself when one of the stu dents glanced in again, this time seeing me. They both fell over themselves hoping that I hadn't heard them. Smiling sarcastically, I smoothed my unimaginative shirt as they began asking how to improve their grades. Later I started thinking about the benefits of invisibil ity in the Wells way. Practi cal questions do arise - Would I have to be naked? Could I go back and forth between visibility and invisibility? Could I sneak through secu rity checks? If I pick up some- Dr. Steve Muses thing, does it become invisible or appear to float in the air? And would I discover, as Wells' Invisible Man did, that food has to digest before it disappears? Yuk. What would we do with invisibility? Rob banks? Wreak revenge? Spook people? Catch crooks? Start a franchise? What? Maybe I would use my invisibility to become a Mar- vel-comic-book super hero. Would I conquer evil and do it with modesty and generos ity? But super heroes are not as interesting as everyday people forced by circum stances into great actions - like Frodo Baggins or like Rosa Parks. No, I don't have such grand schemes in mind. But the idea that we could be where we are not being ob served has appeal. Imagine being in the room when Ken Lay is talking with his law yers. Or when Bill and Hillary Clinton are alone. Or when OJ Simpson is talking to himself? Would knowing people's secrets become an addiction or just another crushing bore? What would someone, after all, discover about me if he watched my life? Are we re ally as interesting as everyone on television or in the movies seems to be? Most people would prob ably use their invisibility to become rich, but I'd probably watch people. But, then, isn't much of what we do a way of figuring out what other people are like? Isn't reading a novel, for instance, kind of like peering into the lives of people who don't know that we are watching? Aren't novel readers invisible watch ers? Whether we are reading about Doris Lessing's Susan Rawlings, who goes mad, or Salman Rushdie's Saleem Sinai, who doesn't go mad but probably should, of Walter Mosley's Soupspoon Wise, who holds off the madness with memories and the blues, we want to see how other people survive. In fact, artists in general attempt to be an invisible mir ror, if that metaphor makes any sense. The best art is that which shows us ourselves without our noticing who is holding the mirror. If I am thinking about Stephen King or Ben Stiller or Alanis Morissette, instead of the novel, the character, or the SEE “WHO” p. 3
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