Page 2
Maroon and Gold
Thursday, October 23.1Qto
Editorials
A Sinking Ship
It is a sad commentary on the state of human af
fairs when any legislative body becomes corrupt
or apathetic towards its primary function of serving
the constituents. Yet, one cannot in the same phrase
of condemnation accuse the entire body of such im-
moralities when in fact only a simple majority may be
guilty. This is the cancer of the present Student
Senate*
Stagnant is the maxim which best describes the Sen
ate. It is a rotting ship on a turbulent sea of political
idealisms. The experienced crew left her upon grad
uation and now she flounders at the hands of cabin boys
whose lack of skill has dashed her upon the rocks of
corruption and torn her sails with apathy. Even the
rats abandoned her this fall at the first signs of her
weakening beams.
From this exterior view the scene presents little
hope, but when observed from within, the stench is of
despair and decay. The cabin boy senate is divided
into two factions and each disagrees with the other on
all topics brought to its attention. Decisions are made
on issues before each meeting and, regardless of ar
guments, all votes are cast before the gavel opens each
session. Those chosen as officials are incapable of
performing their jobs; policies and procedures are dic
tated by those without the authority to do so; rules of
order are misinterpreted and oftentimes not followed;
trivia is debated longer than is necessary and than
are important Issues; living mannequins speak words
written by their "bosses”; and absences are met with
excuses of ‘Tm too tired” and “tell them where they
can shove it.*’
Such atrocities should not be allowed to exist in this
cancerous state of dissention and malfunction, but the
cure seemingly cannot come from within. At present
the Senate cannot make its own decisions because
it lacks leadership, experience, and determination.
The remedy must be distilled within the conscience of
the Interested student. He must tell his representa
tives exactly how he feels about each pressing issue
in order to homogenize ideas and tie the factions to -
gether. Only by the conscientious efforts of every con
stituent can the floundering ship of senate wash upon
friendly shores and exist in harmony.
Oct. 15 Protest
This nation saw the largest war protests in its his
tory Oct, 15 and Elon participated in the event. The
day’s activities not only included protests against
the war and demands for peace but also there were
ceremonies in memory of the war dead, such as the
silent vigil and the memorial service In the Com
munity Church,
It was exciting to see that many Elon students and
faculty joining at one time or another in the day’s ac
tivities, It was, however, disappointing that this num
ber of participants was small compared to the number
of students and faculty on campus.
It seems that many were more concerned with eating
.at the chicken feast than joining in the group to listen
and perhaps discuss something that deeply affects
us all. Apathy is the rule of the day for most students
at Elon as well as the faculty and administration.
Tfiere was one point stated by Dr. W. W. Sloan
which was something we all should think about ser
iously. Dr. Sloan said. “I don’t think we can be Chris
tian and advocate war.
Every one of us should take the time to stop and think
about this war. There has to be a time for us to make
a decision about it and take a stand since this war
overshadows our lives so much. What will it take to
wake some people up? What price must one pay be
fore one realizes what is happening?
As Bill Comninaki stated, “We have the great com
mission to find peace,” This should be our goal. We
must set an example to the world that we can have
peace not only wl± other countries but among our
selves.
4e«i|c4e:|e4:9|e%)|(4c>it9|e4i3fe4eife
*The Technician from
N. C. State University.
The Student Senate at
State voted modified par
ticipation in the Oct. 15
Vietnam Moratorium.
*The Commonwealth
Times from Virginia
Commonwealth Univer
sity. In response to re
quests from students last
spring, VCU has set up
several courses in Afro-
American history,
*The Pfeiffer News
from Pfeiffer College.
Commenting on the death
of Sen, Everett Dirksen
the News said, “We are
always quick to judge the
dead but nonetheless Ev
erett M. Dirksen was
great. He was a king
maker, a molder of pol
itics and politicians. It
was he who dared tell
presidents no,”
*The Carolinian from
UNC at Greensboro, Stu
dents at UNC-G can rent
a refrigerator from the
SGA for only $35 a year.
little man on campus
'' WgLL,/V SPfTE of fA^S)HG TH' final TTALK£P HIM INTO
ON COMPlTlOM THAT K6U- fEgEZeS
Pill Cnnif
By Carl Reynolds
Passive resistance has
seemed to be an unattain
able idea to many who
have been oppressed by
outside forces and wish to
see change. The best
known revolutions in his-
tory have been the blood
iest. One revolution ob-
tained its ideals with no
bloodshed resulting from
actions taken by the re
volutionaries; though
their Ideals were radi
cal and feared great op
position and the means of
revolution were absolute
ly passive. This was the
revolution where India
obtained independence
from Great Britain, led
by Mohandas Karamchand
Ghandl,
Ghandl first realized
the power of passive re
sistance when he was put
off a train in Africa af-
(Contlnued on Page 3)
Letters to the Editor
On Oct. 15
I want to express my
deep appreciation to all
of our students for the
mature and responsible
manner in which Oct, 15
was observed on our cam
pus, Those who chose to
protest the war did so in
a quiet, peaceful manner
without disturbing those
who chose to attend
classes. This is highly
commendable and I am
grateful to all, both the
protesters and the non
protesters, for the fact
that there was no attempt
to stifle personal expres
sion and no attempt to in
terfere with the regular,
orderly operation of the
College.
I was tremendously im
pressed with the fact that
most of our students at
tended classes as sche
duled. There should be no
conflict between doing our
regularly assigned duties
and making an expression
of our opinion on import
ant issues. That most of
our students agree with
that position is very
heartening to me.
The evening worship
service was a period of
great inspiration for me.
To know that those of us
who hold widely differing
views regarding national
policy can meet in prayer
for the peace which we
all so strongly desire is
wonderful. I am grateful
that I had the privilege of
being present and having
a part in this important
service.
J. E. Danieley, President
Unpatriotic Move
Our college made head
lines across the country
in regards to its position
on the Oct. 15 demonstra
tion. My father, upon
reading about this in the
local newspaper, was
compelled to write me a
very Interesting and sel
dom noticed side to this
question. Being professor
of retiring Army person
nel who sometimes have
rank as high as major
and even colonel, he has
had a great opportunity to
learn much about the
Vietnam War first-hand
from veterans “in-the-
know”. This is the letter
from my father, an alum
nus of Elon College (1934)
and N. C, State (1935);
“We read in the news
paper that the President
of the S,G,A. has request
ed that classes be sus
pended for that demon
stration on Oct, 15th.
Think real carefully be
fore you get involved in
such a stupid undertak
ing, First - you are at
Elon College to learn and
to prepare you for life
after school - you can't
do either when you stay
away from class - even
psychology. Second-let’s
face It I The objectives of
this demonstration are
not patriotic and could
ultimately lead to the
downfall of our nation.
You should read the arti
cle in “Reader’s Digest”
about the S.D,S. and Black
Panthers. Both are dedi
cated to the destruction
of our society and neither
really has a substitute.
You should hear some
of the men I have had in
my classes talk about the
kind of government and
conditions under the
Communists, which they
have observed first hand.
You would never have
anything to do with such
movements. You have had
a small taste of what life
is like when you had to
work last semester and
know how hard it is to
save a little money to go
back to school, but you
can’t Imagine what it is
like to have so little. You
wonder If there is going
to be another meal and
where it will come from.
We have experienced it
and have shielded this
generation from such an
experience. Maybe we
were wrong in protecting
you but we would like to
think that you will take
our word for what it is
and try to protect the so
ciety that has been so gen
erous with us, that made
it possible for us to come
back and provide.
Life can be hard but
the fellow who is willing
to set his goals high and
work hard for them still
has a chance of achieving
his goals. Rememberthat
as long as you protect the
other fellow’s rights, you
are also protecting your
own rights. Freedom is
privilege as well as a
right and it has been won
for us with the blood,
sweat, and tears of our
ancestors who were will
ing to fight for them
selves and us. Unfortu
nately, the fight for free
dom must always be
fought or someone will
erode our rights and try
to make slaves of us,
Get some of the old his
tory books and books on
economics before our so
ciety was invaded by so
much of the communistic
philosophy and began try
ing to brainwash us
through our schools and
find out what made our
country great. Then I be
lieve you will be strong
in doing all you can to
protect your society from
its detractors.”
I Maroon 1
&
Gold I
ijiPublished weekly by th«;
ystudents of Elon Collegj:
xCo-editors; Larry Sag^j
AI Zinfc:;
iStaff: Ed Baker, Katlr)|
Davis, Janet Winstead,^
S Richard YoumanSri
: Gary Dean, Lee Loy^
■j John Park, Rev. Mar^
vin Morgan, Carl Rey':
nolds J
••iPhotographer: Raynio ,
lijBailey '■
jAdvisor:
■:Spencer
Miss Marlynj