27 November 2002
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“of, by, and for the Wesleyan community”)
Kim Noble - Editor-in-Chief
KANoble@ncwc.edu>
Piiil Jones - Assistant Editor-in-Chief |
Joe Davis - Staff Writer
Dana Glass - Photographer/Staff Writer j
Marshall Boykin - Staff Writer j
Crystal Blue - Staff Writer
Evelyn Hunter- Staff Writer
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Wesleyan Students Attend
Journalism Seminar in
Florida
By; Phillip Jones
On Wednesday,
October 30, two students
and one faculty adviser
from The Decree set out
for Orlando, Florida, for
a four-day journalism
convention. The American
Collegiate Press (ACP) and
College Media Advisors
(CMA) run this annual
event.
The Decree.
The Dissenter, and the
Professional Development
Committee paid for our
venture through a joint
effort.
The two students
attending were Kim Noble,
Editor-in-Chief of The
Decree: and Phillip Jones,
Assistant Editor-in-Chief
of The Decree, and staff
member of The Dissenter.
The Faculty Advisor that
attended was Dr. Kaye
Campbell, Assistant
SUBMISSIONS
m
I ' li
Professor of English/
Journalism and Adviser of
The Decree.
The participants
were required to attend
four, one-hour seminars
each day. Many of the
seminars ranged from
yearbook planning to
college radio, newspaper,
and TV broadcasting.
I attended twelve
seminars, which included
two for yearbook, and ten
for the newspaper.
Laura Widmer of
Northwest Missouri State
University conducted the
first seminar I attended.
Widmer spoke
about new ideas and giving
—See Phillip p. 8
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ETC’s Comer
I will not write about
the entire American Col
legiate Press conference that
took place in Florida because I
think that my Assistant Editor
has written enough about it
already. Overall I think that
the conference was beneficial
and allowed me to rethink my
position as Editor- in-Chief.
I would also like to
thank and introduce the new
members of the Decree News
paper. On Thursday, Novem
ber 7, 2002, The Newspaper
staff held its second interest
meeting. There we shared
wonderful ideas over pizza and
soda.
A Simple Note from Me to You
The new
members are Jenn Hail
( Creative writing), Joe I
Davis (Movie reviews j
and Creative writing),
Jenny Yi (Sports and
Creative Writing), Nicole
King (Events, Creative
Writing, Movie and
Music Reviews), and An-
dressa Williams (Special
Events and Photogra
phy). I
These members
are excited about work
ing for the newspaper
and I am very glad they
are on my staff.
We look for
ward to writing for you
mm
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in the Spring Semester . Don’t forget
to began studying for your exams. They
begin December 6, 2002. Best of Luck.
Co4i^(M^gn/Te:hvux^ue^
In/
AmerCcci/
After weeks of television
advertisements in which
her campaign called
Erskine Bowles a liar, a
crook, a Wall Street lackey
- everything, in fact, except
“Mr. Bowles,” Elizabeth
Dole claimed to have been
elected to “bring North
Carolinians together.”
President Bush
spent weeks riding in
Air Force One (at your
expense) all over the
country bashing Democrats
as the devil’s spawn, as
unpatriotic despots only
wanting to tax and spend
and spend. But the day
after the election, suddenly
he cannot wait to work
“with the Democrats in a
bipartisan spirit.”
I say to hell with
bipartisan. I say get real,
get partisan, and don’t
apologize for living in a
country with at least the
pretense of two parties.
The Democrats lost
Senate and House seats
because they were afraid to
be Democrats and because
at least some Republicans
said something - even
if it was “LOOK AT
ME, I’M JUST LIKE
THE PRESIDENT.” If
the Democrats’ national
leadership had articulated
an intelligent response to
President Bush’s tax cut-
for-the-rich plans, his war-
for-oil plans, and hijacking
of individual civil rights
as well as the number of
major issues he has no plan
for, they might have at
least held their ground.
Speaking of
lackeys, I will be surprised
if Dole ever shows any
independence. I hope
she does surprise me,
but she scurried behind
the president’s ideas so
quickly and so completely
' Dr. Steve
. Muses
I
that she looked like a
cardboard cut-out that the
White House moved from
political rally to political
rally. “Look at my
website,” she kept saying.
Her problem is that I did
look. “I warma go back to
Washington.” That’s her
message. Well, so long,
Mrs. Dole.
We often hear
that Americans have the
best political system
that humans have ever
organized. The president
claims that he has a
mandate? A mandate fi'om
barely a half of the 25% of
the eligible voters? Why
aren’t we questioning this
portrayal of the election?
The American
electorate is woefully
ignorant and plans to stay
that way. Whether it is
the tens of thousands who
recently protested the
next installment of Bush
vs. Hussein or the church
leaders who distribute get-
out-the-vote “score cards”
that urge congregations to
vote for the anti-abortion
candidates, only the few
radicals at the edges know
much at all. The rest of
us allow them to vote
into office people we then
notice don’t seem worthy.
So what are we
to do if we are regular
working Americans with
family, job, church, and
social obligations that
leave few minutes during
the week to learn about the
issues and the candidates?
How can we educate
ourselves?
First of
all, we can be educable.
We need to learn how
to leam. We need an
educational system
(including this college)
that doesn’t graduate
anyone who doesn’t know
how to leam. Next, we
have to quit believing
everything should be easy
and quick. It takes time to
leam about simple issues,
— See Muses p. 3