March 5,2003
Editorials
page 3
ff QJYl the Editor student opinions on the Alcohol Policy
-TYLER HARBOUR, Editor-in-Chief-
TheGrateful Dead once said, “what a long,
strange trip it’s been.” I, for one, could not
agree more. The sad thing about this is that
it’s only the end of February and the longest
trip that I have endeavored in the past few
months has been to Asheville. On the other
hand, my mental gas tank is almost on empty.
There is a good reason that my mental state
is going into decline Let’s see: an inevitable
war that has about as much cause as a one-
legged man in an ass-kicking contest, a presi
dent who uses the words God, holy crusade,
and axis-of-evU in his speeches, Valentine’s
Day, Spring Break, and of course my favorite
of all, the school’s alcohol policy.
Alcohol PoUcy. For you students who have
been under a rock or have been taking too
many bong hits for past few months, then lis
ten up! For some odd-ball reason it seems that
every time you twiddle your thumbs someone
will be pissing and moaning about the alcohol
policy. It’s either too slack or too harsh, and
not one single person seems to want to give
in. People are having all-night parties 24/7 or
someone p.a. busted a kid with beer because
he/she had it out for that person. Well guess
what campfire kids??? The word around the
sowing circle is that if things don’t shape up
then the alcohol policy is going to be canned
and, once again, it will be back to using
Magyver- like tactics to sneak beer inside the
dorms.
War. Hmm? Are we going to war to liber
ate a population of oppressed people from
the trigger-happy Hussein? Is our president
testing his testicular fortitude? Or, is Bush
using this as a way to get out of debt for blow
ing the millions and miUions of dollars that it
cost for him to get into office? Discuss
amongst yourselves.
President Bush. Was it just me or did this
schlep-rock actually say: god, holy crusade, and
axis-of-evil in his speeches and on national
television? Is it 1755? Are we f#|% Puritans?
I think the words “God, holy-crusade, and
axis-of-evil” should only be used if we were
bible-thumping preachers out to find witches.
Valentine’s Day. Alright, so it’s almost the
end of February and Valentine’s Day has come
and gone, but aren’t you tired of the that one
person who is always moping around during
V-day, then just whines for the rest of the
month about how everyone else seems to be
in some great relationship besides them? Then
on the other side of the scale you have that
one friend who doesn’t mope, but uses
Valentine’s Day as the reason why they aren’t
seeing anyone, like it’s some huge conspiracy
theory. If you listen to that rant long enough
they might actually tell they know who the
gunman on the grassy knoU was, too! The way
I see things, you have two choices in life: The
first, shut the f@@# up and move on. The
second is a quote from a friend, “don’t worry
about it, tomorrow is another day of oppor
tunity.” I suggest the second choice
Spring Break. Guess what everyone? Since
we all decided to go to a private school, then
that means that they get to make up their own
rules. And that means that our break is held a
week prior to over half of the nations college
population. So, if you don’t mind hanging out
at Club bingo hall or making it a block buster
night every night, then two thumbs up for
you.
Am I rambling yet? Probably so, but if
you’ve read this far then just remember to go
against the grain and fight the power! And
don’t forget that the first annual “Tackle an
Administrator” has officially started. So show
that special someone just how much you care
the Warren Sapp way, and hit ‘em when they
least expect it!
Editor’s C6rner
Edftot'fiBt'CWei: ly Harbour
Advisor: Jill EngjUish
/
Editor, Sports: Dustin Free
Bditor, Environmental: Cortney Chatasan
Editor, CampUs News and
Entertianment: Heather Ochse
Layout and Design: Lindsay Shields
¥toof/Edit; Jessica Williams
Photography: Kristy Mayfield
Staff Writers: Jamie Davis, Rebekah
PhiUippf, Elizabeth McGowan, Sara Hurtt,
Sheyahshe Littledave, Heather Hinkle,
Henry Westmoreland, Katie Goet2, Eric
Johnson, Lark McMillan
Direct Questions and Comment* to:
The Clarion
■ Brevard Collie
400 N. Broad St
Brevard, NC 28712
The Clarion is the student pubKcation of Brevard Col
lege. ^ew* expressed J3a Xhe Oaiiott do not necc#*
«adly reftect the of The Claaon gtaff, advi»or,
or the adnOBittrAtlon, ttaB, iijculty ot affiliate*
Brevard C^ge.
-HEATHER OCHSE, Section Editor-
It has been almost a year since the
Alcohol Policy was put into effect. Empty
botties and cans still remain in the Village,
the place to legally drink, and nothing is
being done. For students who are able to
drink freely and keep the peace, trash is still
an issue. It doesn’t need to be.
Students who litter our campus should be
responsible enough to pick it up upon
realizing that they dropped something.
In order to continue drinking on campus
at free will, we need to accept the responsi
bility that comes with it. Permission to drink
in certain areas of the campus is a privilege.
Not many colleges permit this. Let’s not
abuse this right just because drinking allows
us to be happy for a short period of time.
Direct violations of this rule are stated in
our Student Handbook. Everyone, whether
you drink or not, should read this rule.
‘7 don’t really hatt aprobltm uith the alcoholpoHcy,
hut if people want to drink th^ willfind a way re
gardless. " —Bonnie Adams, sophomore
"I think there's more litter than last year since the
poHy.” -Beth Lineweaver, junior
‘7 agree with the alcoholpoH(y as long as the students
dean up afier themselvts. Those who drink should
dean up their area, the policy will remain as a re
sult " — Carrie Campbell, senior
‘7 don't notice any difference considering I Ht>e in
Beam." -Lindi Lagman, senior
“It rtalh/ hasn’t made a difference. I’m going to drink
anyway.” — “Hutch”, junior
“People are going to do it anywc^- so it’s a good thing
for those who can drink. ” —Linda Stanfield, se
nior
“If you’re twenty-one you should be able to drink.
When I do turn twenty-one I won't be able to because
of the living situation. 1 can't afford to live in the
“wet” Village." —Trent Bass, junior
'It’s nice to have a drink and he able to drink when
you want to." -M.L. Cosby, junior
Columbia Fumble
If the shit hasn’t officially hit the fan by
now, well hells beDs. I am as clueless as our
president and misinformed as most of our
lackadaisical generation. I swear if we had any
higher a casualty rate in the past year and a
half, in terms of senseless acts of violence,
destruction, etc. we’d be competing with the
likes of Total Recall and Deep Impact.
To be blunt, the Columbia accident super
sucked. A legal-to-drink age space shuttle (or
perhaps I should restate, The Space Shutde),
worn( the latest mission) by a conspicuously-
consuming America, who in a laughable at
tempt to keep the economy floating by
backpedaling harder than Trent Lott, ignites
the over oxygenated, inflated public
image(takes a nose-dive in the atmosphere) of
safety a frugal government fiinds. Our arro
gant, natural resource slurping, big brother/
bully Uncle Sam must take the blame? Where
are their priorities? The nerdy (scientist civil
ian) nephew, who never found playing “army”
with his other cousins worthwhile, must be
getting gypped by Ole Money Bags Sam. There
points a finger.
Is the money to build a $4 billion space
truck worth preserving seven other lives? Ex
cluding die fact space exploration will take the
back-burner (like what die Challenger did to
the space program) to the inner-worldly pri
ority of war, astronauts take a not dissimilar
risk as policemen, soldiers, etc on the job. The
conquest for land or space has its pile of
corpses alongside its “pioneering” instruments.
Dose this condition of astronauts’ voyaging
qualify them as heroes? No. Bold frontiers
men, but not heroic. It’s a gulp of reality, but
should space travel continue? Do cops file out
when a “member of the force” takes a slug?
With a given decrease in federal spending to
ward the space program, especially as the Co
lumbia accident appears as more a failure than
a tragedy, is space travel a priority worth con
sidering? Hell no! Even if NASA was satu
rated with Uncle Sam’s sustenance sauce, the
almighty buck, research and analysis should
start to supercede development in a matter of
at least a decade.
Those inept NASA engineers must be to
blame. Expensive foam and heat sensors fall
ing off a spaceship just might warrant some
negative criticism. As pointing yet another fin^
ger adds littie resolve to die game of “Who
Takes the Dung Heap?” I say, “back to the
textbooks.” Perhaps, not unlike the Septem
ber 11* attacks, America, specifically NASA
should quietiy step down from their glamor
ized launch pad and reexamine their inner
workings more so than their die parachutist,
frequendy fantastical relations with the me
dia, fostering a false perception of security/
safety.