Page 4 • Thursday, February 26, 2004
OPINION
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Portrayal of gay relations
on television ‘sickening^
Elon helps students adjust after
spending time studying abroad
To the Editor:
While home for the weekend during the
fall semester, I walked into the living room
while niy mom, using the wonderful new
invention Tivo, was rewinding a part of the
show “Will and Grace.” She said only, “You
won’t believe this,” and pushed play.
Standing then;, disgusted, watching two
men kiss on national television, 1 asked myself
the same thing Blake Hinton asked himself in
last week’s column while watching the State
of the Union address. “What the hell is going
on?”
I, for one, representing many other
Americans Hinton has obviously never met,
cannot tolerate the way homosexuality is
being represented on television in Am(jj|ca.
I am sickened by the way it is being repre
sented on television: as a normal, everyday
thing that everyone should openly accept and
approve of.
I think Hinton even put it correctly in his
cirticle when he stated that one would get the
impression that’s it is OK. One would get that
impression, but homosexuality is not accepted
and shouldn’t be.
I’m sure he does not care too much for
President Bush, but the last thing Hinton
should be doing is blaming Bush for trying to
pass an amendment banning gay marriage.
In case Hinton has not noticed, it’s not just
George Bush who doesn’t approve of gay
To the Editor:
In the editorial last week titled "Students
should initiate independent expression," the
author mentioned a variety of outlets for stu
dent voices, concerns and ideas. However, he
or she failed to mention Elon's television
newscast, Phoenix 14News. Every week, tlie
newscast encourages all Elon students to e-
mail our station with questions, comments,
concerns or ideas that directly affect our cam-
marriage. The last thing I would think is Bush
is holding America back by not “looking into
the future,” as Hinton put it.
When Hinton talks about sanctity of mar
riage in his column, ! actually found it amus
ing. He basically tries to bring down the level
of sanctity that marriage holds today in an
attempt to pass gay marriage as acceptable. If
that is what it takes, do you really think
America is ready for such a thing?
If someone has to belittle marriage by
making it seem like it is not as sacred as it was
50 years ago, then he or she should realize that
perhaps homosexual marriage is not as accept
able as he or she makes it out to be.
I also was surprised by the comment about
marriage being not about love between a m;ui
and a woman, but about love between people.
Well, if Hinton is in a position to make up
his own definitions, then I will make up mine.
Actually, I will do better and quote one
from a higher source; “Do not lie with a man
as one lies witli a woman; that is detestable,”
Leviticus 18; 22.
Even if marriage between same-sex part
ners is legalized, which would certainly create
an end to anyone’s political career, homosex
uals in America will not be considered normal
or ordinary in any way.
Get used to it.
pus community. Phoenix 14News is a student-
run, student-focused, student-driven show and
welcomes the opportunity "to provoke discus
sion and change." You can e-mail the show at
phoenix 14news@elon.edu.
-Jennifer Sposato
Executive Producer
Angela Ragouzeos
Columnist
Although I find Leanne Jemigan’s Feb. 12
article about study abroad (“Elon study
abroad students experience re-entry shock”)
true in some indisputable ways; that being
thrust back into the confines of our small uni
versity setting after studying abroad is a sur
real and difficult experience, I still question a
few of her suggestions about Eton’s role in
helping students readjust to life on campus.
Isn’t there already a class geared
toward returning Elon students to
help them readjust to the “Elon cul
ture?” Last spring, a class called
“Study Abroad; Analyzing Your
. International Experience” was
offered for “...students who have
studied abroad and would like to
reflect upon and expand their
understanding of their experiences
overseas in a shared learning set
ting,” as last year’s course descrip
tion stated.
So the article’s statement, “Some univer
sities around the country offer programs that
help students who are returning to the states
with reverse culture shock. Elon does not
offer students the chance to receive help or
advice on adjusting back to regular life,” is
perhaps true now, after having such a course
in the past either fail or simply not be re
approved for this year’s curriculum.
I think that the workload of Winter Term
is as demanding, if not more demanding,
than the normal course load. During previous
years at Elon, I’ve taken both a sociology
course as well as an art course, neither of
which I would have considered easy, as
every night I had required reading much
longer than that of a spread-out semester. I
had projects to complete, papers due, exams
that were worth so much I became a nervous
wreck.
This past Winter Term, I studied abroad in
Greece, and it was as rigorous as I’ve always
considered Winter Term to be.
In order to take advantage and leam all I
could in three weeks, I found it difficult to
enjoy the comfort of a weekend off and some
leisure time to enjoy the surroundings. I
found that people in the country of Greece
where I studied were very different from the
students interviewed for Jemigan’s article.
The people wore makeup, dressed in normal
dress and were not so different from what I
am accustomed to seeing people at Elon
wear.
I found a considerable amount of work
came packaged with my course abroad. I had
Nothing could have prepared me
to start at Elon again, because I
feel so small in comparison to
what is out therefor me
to learn.
to read a lengthy book and write a five-page
paper during the New Year’s holiday before
departing that next Monday. I also
had to take notes on lectures and get
up before the rest of the country
every morning to get on a bus,
return for dinner, write in my jour
nal, find enough time to recreate and
photograph, and after seeing count
less sights and museums, finish up
with a 10-page paper on “what I
leamed.” I can’t imagine a semester
being more intense, and I’m taking
19 credit hours this semester
between Eton and UNC-Greensboro.
If people are returning from fall term
abroad, it is a difficult thing to study only one
subject after being exposed to such a variety
of observations while living abroad. The best
solution then is to take a general studies
course related to the country or a subject
about another culture that can ease the transi
tion.
“Since Wmter Term consists of only one
class, returning students are just now feeling
the pressure of 16 to 18-hour class weeks,”
comments Jemigan. In actuality, I find it a
relief that I can do my laundry again, that I
can decide when I wake up, how far I’m
going to travel and the comfort level of my
bed.
I believe after having such a deep and rich
overview of what is important in my country
of study, I hardly took one course, I took sev
eral. I leamed art, architecture, history, reli
gion, sociology, business, politics, theater
and gained respect for the vast differences
and similarities between my home country
and the home of my heritage.
Nothing could have prepared me to start
at Elon again, because I feel so small in com
parison to what is out there for me to leam.
If students struggle with being reacquaint-
ed witli their surroundings, perhaps they
should consider timing when they travel
abroad. A five-week summer course leaves
all the month of July and half of August to
readjust to life back home.
Contact Angela Ragouzeos at
pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
-Nicholas Benjamin, ‘07
ESTV also used as outlet for expression
Angela
Ragouzeos