since 1960 “of, by, and for the Wesleyan community.”
December 17, 2010
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA 27804
Holiday Overseas Looks a Lot Like Christmas in United States
By Leila Heinonen & Emelie Lundgren
Decree Staff Writers
NC Wesleyan is hosting plenty of
different nationalities, both in students and
faculty/staff. Students and faculty/staff
irom A&ica, South- and Central America,
Asia as well as Europe share the traditicm
of Christmas but celelrate the holiday in
their own different way. But some common
aspects include having a Christmas tree,
going to church and spending time with the
immediate family. And they aU empha
size. .. enormous amounts of food.
Africa
Wesieyan’s Aliican studens and faculty
include Jdm Mendy,a studait from Gambia,
Fred Lemmgo (Camworai), Clayton Sonn
(Soutfi Africa) as well as math jrofessor Dr.
Mulugeta Markos (Ethiqjia).
They are all Christians, although Mendy
and Dr. Maikos are Catholics, which affects
their Christmas celetrations making them
different Irom Sonn’s and Lemongo’s.
Decree Staff Writer
The college’s annual budget has been late
because of an unexpected decrease in enroll
ment of new students for the academic year
as well as pending decisions from faculty/
staff about early retirement According
to President Jarpes Gray, the budget is
now balanced, meaning that revenues and
expenses wiU be equal. Gray and Vice
President of Finance Loren Loomis Hubbell
explained the budget as follows:
The total amount of the budget is about
$20 million and the operating expenses are
divided into the following categories:
• Institutional Support, 29%: Includes
running of institution; campus insurance,
pay and benefits for the president and
vice presidents, employee benefits, IT and
telephones; security; and advancement (for
merly development department, it handles
functions of fimd-raising department and
preparations of articles for alumni joumal).
• Instruction, 24%: Includes any direct
expenses that involve the relationship be
tween faculty/staff and student, for example
faculty salaries and science labs. According to
Loomis Hubbell, 73.1% of the amount goes
to faculty salaries and 9.8% to staff.
• Student Services, 14%: Includes
student success center, financial aid office,
student activities and athletics. Loomis
Hubbell said 51 % of the total amount for
student services goes to athletics.
• Auxiliary services, 11%: Includes
dining services, the bookstore and costs
associated with resident directors and
resident assistants in the dorms.
• Facilities, 10%: Includes payment/
costs of the buildings, maintenance and
landscaping. Loomis Hubbell said tiie
breakdown of numbers and percent is hard
to estimate for specific areas within the
category. But she estimates landscaping
at 5.7% of the total amount ticketed
for facilities. “This is based upon prior
experience, but I am only estimating the
numbers,” Loomis Hubbell said.
• Depreciation, 5%: It’s typical for an
institution to estimate the lifespan of an
inventory and divide the total cost with
tiie number of years estimated, to pay off
All of the represented countries celebrate
Christmas on the 25tti of December, and all
go to church on the meaning of Christmas
Day. Feasts are a big part of the day, at least
for the families able to affad it
Accraxling to Lemongo, people of
Cameroon cook an enormous amount of
food because, during the holiday, pecfile
walk frtm house to house visiting each other.
“I remember how my mom cooked food for
10 pecple for 3 days because she expected
so many guests,” Lemongo said. There are
no special dishes for the Christmas feast, said
Lemongo, although a lot of families cook
pancakes for the celebraticns.
Lemongo said that even Muslims cettrate
a fc*m of Christmas in Cameroon, since tfie
pecple are close and Muslims like to visit their
nd^ibois and friatls on the day cf tie holiday
Lemongo added that it’s criy the childim
undffthe age of 10 who get really excited about
Christmas. They are the oily ones receiving
gifts aixl since the oldff kids have figured out
library and the school paper, The Decree,
as well as the honors program, writing lab
and academic affairs.
• Public services, 2%: Includes the
Dunn Center and other services Wesleyan
offers to the public.
• Interest on debt, 1 %: Debt payment
per year is about $200,000 of a total debt
of approximately $4 million, “a conserva
tive amount,” said Gray, who added that
part of ttie remaining debt is left over fiwm
construction of the Dunn Center.
By comparison with similar colleges
the debt is small and totally manage
able, according to Gray. There is, for
example, no debt on the library, which
was expanded recently. Wesleyan is a
tuition-driven institution, which means
that most of the revenue comes from
students enrolling at the school. According
to Loomis Hubbell, tiiis has both a posi
tive and a negative effect. “It means that
we are directly affected by the enrollment
and that tiie budget can go up and down
quickly,” she explained, “but it also means
that we can’t be careless of our students;
we have to be in tune with their wishes
and concerns in order for them to continue
their education at tiie school.”
In addition to tiie tuition the institu
tion runs on operating funds and donor
gifts, from, for example, trastees, local
companies and alumni.
The operating revenues are divided in
to the following categories:
• Net tuition revenue, 63%.
• Auxiliary services, 22%: Includes
the bookstore, dining and housing.
• Restricted revenues, 8%: Including, for
example, mdowment scholarships and mcney
from the North Caiolina State Govemment, to
gjve grants to Nrath Carolinian students.
• Other revenue, 5%: Money from
certain operations on campus such as
vending machines, transcripts fees and
ticket sales from the Dunn Center.
see BUDGET pg 4
that Santa Claus doesn’t exist, they mainly
^wid the day with their friaids. They might
receive money frran their parents to gpt a gift
firthemsdves, aocoidihg to Lemorg). Many
of the teaiagas hang out at the Qitistmas
festival which occurs ikxn the 19lhto24lhof
December whai there are ptenty of activities,
evaything fiom musk; to firewaks. “It’s a
great place to hang out, especially if you have a
girlfriend,” Lanongo sakL
Dr. Markos also emfiiasized the
importance of food and feasting together
during the Christmas celebratic*is. Before
Christmas day, there is a fast far 44 days in
the country and on Christmas day everycme
ends the fast People share food with each
other, for example wealtiiier families with the
needy, according to Dr. Maikos.
Sinx Dc Mnkos is Calholic and believes the
vwse nien brou^ gifts to lesus, his family does
not exchange gifts with eadi olte: “I can see how
sorrE Bhiopians living in the U5. have started to
exdiangs presents with eadi olte; that’s not ths
traditiDns we have at all,” he said.
Mendy, who is part of the 10% Christians
in the Islamic country of Gambia, said that
families exchange food with each other just
like material presents. And since most families
are poor, the smallest children walk around
from house to house in a ’’trick or tieat” kind
of way, asking for food or a smaller amount of
moiey raiher than candy.
According to Mendy, the majority
of Christian families raise pigs and for
Christmas day tiiey slaughter the biggest
one, which they cook together with rice
and vegetables. “It’s kind of a combination
of fried rice and pork chops,” Mendy said.
“It’s called bena chin ni mbam.”
Sorm, representing the country of South
Africa, also attends church on Christmas
morning, and spends the entire day with
tiie family. They do have a Christmas tree,
and usually exchange presents after church
in the early morning, and then again just
before lunch. The food consists mainly of
meat and chicken.
Hunger Banquet Speaken
‘We Need to Do More’
By Melanie Rhodes
Decree Staff Writer
Imagine that you are hungry and don’t
know where your next meal is coming fiom.
You’re waidaing how you’re going to survive.
Participants recentiy had the opportunity
to experience what it’s like to be separated
into ufpCT class, middle class and Iowct class
at the i)10 Worid Hunger Banquet held
November 17 at the Dunn Center c*i the
North Carolina Wesleyan campus.
The Worid Hunger Banquet was hosted
by David Joyna, a Rocky Mount native
who serves on the boards of local non-profit
oiganizations such as the Boys and Girls
Qub and My Sister’s House.
“I am here toni^t because I was raised to
believe it is my responsibility and not just a
choice,” he told the audience.
Joyner said that woridhrr^afleds virtually
evayfemily in theU5. and around the worid,
wtoteit’seqHiencedlirst-handbyyouorsonfB-
oneyouknow,arsorneoneinyourcommunily.
“It’s estimated that 15 chikiren die every
minute and 22,000 diHdren die pa-day,” Joyna-
sakL ’ That is greater than the number of children
in the Nash-Rocky Mount School System.”
Accc*ding to StcpTheHungpr.com,
wcridwide more than nine million people
have died so far this year from hun^ and the
rate coitinues to increase by the minute. In
addition, it is estimated that over cme billion are
undernourished and do not have easy access
tofoocL
Upon aitaing the banquet, partkapants drew
numbos to see what class they would be sitting
ia Wesleyan’sooadinalorforthisevaitwas
Ben Robinscn, AmaiCotps VBTA volunteer
on campus. ’ This was an expoiment we wanted
the participanls to experience first-fiand”
Each participant was served food accortiing
to the class assigned. The upper class meal
ccmsisted of chicken, rice, beans, rolls and
sweet tea The middle class meal ccsisisted
cn rice, beans and sweet tea. The lower class
meal ccmsisted of rice in a napto and water.
Banqud; participanB wae able to expoience
a diffaatt view cn what hungfT was all about
See BANQUET pg 2
Lemongo, Sonn and Mendy agree that
there is plenty of advertising hype about
Christmas in their respiective country. They
said that commercials and TV-promotions
have most definitely started in their country
by now, but considering tiie high number
of poor people in their countries, only the
food and clothing industry will benefit from
tiie holiday.
Dr. Markos feels differentiy. “It was
11 years ago I left Etiiiopia, but as far as I
can remember it (Christmas) is not a big
marketing matter in the country,” he said.
South and Central America
Latin America is represented by Edgar
Zal-vidar (El Salvador), Gene Kemble and
JaineLindo (both from St Maarten), Victor
Wong (Guatemala), and Marcelo Prata
(Brazil). They are all Christians, except
for Lindo who doesn’t claim a particular
religion. “I would just say a believer of
God,” Lindo saici Wong, Zalvidar and Prata
are Catholics, while Kemble was raised as
a Jehovah Witness and tiierefore doesn’t
celebrate Christmas at all, but he knows
other families in St Maarten that do.
Kemble said that there definitely are
some activities happening on tiie island
when Christmas comes around. The
marketing Itype isn’t as big and doesn’t start
as early as in the U.S., he said, but there is a
parade and a contest for tiie best decorated
house during tiie holiday. And most of tiie
houses do have Christmas lights and other
decoratioas, according to Kemble.
Lindo echoed Kemble on tiie typical
Christmas Day celebration; some families
go to church and most have a Christmas
tree and exchange gifts, mainly within the
family, tiiough some schools even hand out
gifts for their students. The food consists
of turkey, ham “.. .and otiier things you’d
see on a Thanksgiving table,” said Kemble.
On the otiier hand, Lindo said his family
mainly eats typical St Maarten food, like
Ockra soup (a soup made out of vegetable
usually served witii rice), commeal, fish
and rice, as well as chicken and Johnny-
cakes (or combread).
The celebrations for Zalvidar and Wong
are similar. They both celebrate Christmas
with their entire family, “.. .uncles,
grandparents, cousins etc.,” said Wong,
and families usually go to church in tiie
morning. They both have a Christmas tree
and exchange presents within the family.
Foods are typically turkey and ham.
As for as the marketing of tie holklay, ths two
agree it’s a big deal in Iheir countries. Sometimes
it starts as early as tie aid of Octobertoeaify
November; axadingtoZavida; and Wong said
that a big Christmas tree always is set up c»i a
Iknous plaza of Guatmala
Prata, as well as Zalvidar and Wcmg,
celebrates Christmas c»i tiie 24th to honor
tiie birth of Jesus Christ which fliey believe
happened at tiiat date. Prata also emphasized
family and food for tiie celebrations; turkey,
fish, duck and chicken are included in tiie
ordinary Christmas meal.
Many families have chickens in tfieir
backyard and, according to Praia, flie family all
goes exit in the backyard to catch a chicken for
the meal. The first one to be caught is the one
they will boil and later on eat
As for presents, Prata said that families
exchange inexpensive presents witii each
otiier and no one gives to any one in
particular. “We put all tiie gifts togetiier in a
pile, and tiien someone t^es a present out
of tiie pile when it’s tiieir turn,” Prata said.
“It’s like a game.”
Europe
Among Wesieyan’s European students are
Markus Ribboistedt (Sweden), Alexanda-
Bemlsai (Norway), Jarme Tusa (Finland), Ja-vfer
Castiilfo (Spain), Hlynur Hauksson (Iceland),
Marire Meyd (Fiance), Thcmas Sharp
(England), and Benedikt Eger (Germany).
Excql fcr Sharp, all the .studals said Ihdr
countries ceMnale Christtnas on 24th of
December. And all generally celehate Qtislinas
in the same way by ^ing to churdi, eating with
the immediate family and exdianging gifts. But
there are seme differences, especially with the
food naditiais. All studaits empiiasized that
Christmas celebrations dqiend on the wealth cf
thefemily
Scandinavian countries share many •
of tiie Christmas traditions but tiiere are
some exceptions. All of tiie Scandinavians
celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, 24th
of December, by eating a Christmas dinner
witii immediate family and exchanging
gifts.
“We go to tiie church, eat witii tiie
family, play games and of course exchange
presents,” said Ribbenstedt. “What I mean
by games is tiiat we enjoy dancing and
singing around tiie Christmas tree.”
Finland and Sweden have many similar
food traditions. Ribbenstedt said tiiat tiie
Swedish meals include: Christmas ham,
meatballs, potatoes, jaasson’s temptation (a
casserole witii a sprats—a small fish—pxv
tatoes and onions), sausage, raw cold sliced
salmon witii dill, salad. “And of course
chocolate,” added Ribbenstedt
Tusa added tiiat tiie Finnish dinner
also includes sweetened potato souffle,
mtabaga-and-carrot casserole, and
sweetened loaf, which is a traditional bread
eaten during Christmas.
Bemtsen said tiiat tiiey have a different
kind of food traditions fix)m tiie rest of
tiie Scandinavians. Norwegians eat ribs,
reindeer meat, sausages, potatoes, and
slewed or oven-baked casserole of layered
boneless lamb and vegetables, he said.
As in tiie United States, tiie niiirketing
of Christmas starts early in many European
countries. “Usually tiie marketing starts
in tiie late November,” said Ribbeastedt
”You can see commercials on TV witii
different companies advertising tiieir spiecial
Christmas offers. Christmas is probably tiie
biggest day of celebration in Sweden.”
Bemtsen agrees witii Ribbenstedt:
‘They market Christmas very early!” he
said. ’’Streets are covered witii Christmas
accessories such as trees, lights, and snow.”
The Scandinavians’ neighbors, the
Germans, observe Christmas by going to
church and spending time witii the family.
“We eat together witii tiie family and
exchange presehts later that night in front of
a Christmas tree and just enjoy tiie evening
together,” says Eger.
Traditional German Christmas foods
are: roast goose, fish, duck, potatoes, gravy,
beans, German potato salad, and red cab
bage. And for desert Germans enjoy cake
or red berry compxite with vanilla sauce.
“Food is an important element of Christmas
and we spend a lot of time preparing and
eating it,” Eger said.
In England, Sharp said, he celebrates
Christmas mainly with family. “We have a
Christmas tree and we exchange presents
on 25tii of December just like Americans,”
said Sharp. Typical English Christmas
dinner features turkey, beef, lamb along
witii lots of different vegetables, and sweet
mince pies.
As with other European countries. Sharp
said tiiat a big marketing push occurs in his
country in advance of the holiday. ‘There
is a lot of early hype; it starts in November
witii commercials and shops advertising
products,” said Sharp.
According to Castrillo, Christmas and
New Year’s Eve are very big celebrations
in Spain. “We have a big dinner among tiie
family on 24tii, and after tiiat we go to tiie
church to celebrate the ’cock mass,’ where
people sing,” said Castrillo. Traditional
Spanish food consists of different kinds of
appetizers, like shrimp, Spanish ham, and
cheese; for the main meal tiiey usually eat
fish or meat.
Spanish people usually have a Christmas
tree, and it is set around tiie 15tii of Decem
ber but tiiey exchange gifts days before tiie
Christmas Eve-on the 5tii of December.
“It’s called tiie Magjc King Night, where
Melchor, Gaspar, and Batasar are traveling
around Spain to give tiie presents tiiat
children have requested in tiieir letters some
days ago. The Three Magic Kings are more
pxipular and more celebrated tiian Santa
Claus in Spain.”
Castrillo said that, since 1895, tiie most
famous Spanish tradition is the New Year’s
cetebraticTL “We eat 12 grapes to celebrate
the New Year There is a big ckxk in the main
squareof Madrid. All the SpxBiLsh TV channels
are broadcasting live fiom this place, so our
tradition is to eat one grape with each of the first
twelve ring bells of the New Year.”
See HOLIDAY pg 2
Jamal Smith (21) and the Bishops defeated Averett, 28-13, for a share of the conference lead, but CNU won
the tie-breaker and advanced to the NCAAs. See football wrap-up on page 3. Decree ptioiD by Brittany Nichob
Administration Breaks
Down Operating Budget
By Emelie Lundgren . ^
a certain amount each year. Depreciation
could be described as an annual “use
charge” of, for example, fiimiture.
• Academic supiport, 4%: Includes the