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Thanks for the New Library
Thoughtful Elon College students will be filled with
gratitude to the Royall Spence family for their generous
gift to provide for the purchase of the Stratford College
library. This coUection of 47,000 well-chosen books in
good editions and in good condition will mean that Elon
students can have access to a library of exceptional quality
and quantity for a college of this size.
Theodore Perkins, librarian, has annoimced that the
Spence Collection will be moved to Elon during the spring
break and will soon be ready for use. One of the obvious
advantages of this purcheise is the fact that it included the
card catalogue, shelving, study carrels, tables and chairs.
The planners of the Iris Holt McEwen Library were
foresighted enough to build for future expansion, and so
we have the space for the newly-acquired books.
The best way that students can say “thank you” to the
Spence family will be to use the volimies often, wisely,
and well. This means to treat them as library books should
be treated-no marking of pages at all, no stains, no
tearing of pages, no losses. If we are to deserve such a
collection, we should show that we are responsible
citizens of the college community and can use the books
well.
Letters to the Editor
Women’s Basketball
Dear Editor:
I feel that the article or letter
(I can’t tell which it is) by Sandy
Sikes concerning the women’s
basketball team that appeared
in the March 17 issue of The
Pendulum deserves some
clarification.
First of all, the headline
“Women Denied the ‘Big
Tournament’” is very mis
leading. The "big tournament”
was to be played at Madison
Ck>llege during the week of
March 23 with the winner of
each of the 10 regional
tournaments advancing and
playing for the AIAW national
championship. Only one team
from Region II could partici
pate. Tennessee Tech, the
eventual winner, was the group
responsible for “denying”
Elon’s team the “big tourna
ment’’ when the Tennesseans
defeated Elon’s team 73-63 in
the semi-finals.
But that’s when the trouble
began. Coach Kay Yow and her
team members then began
talking about playing in the
AIAW’s “small college’’ tour
nament in Colorado. This
possibility had not been
brought to the attention of the
athletic director, the faculty
athletic committee or to the
president before Elon’s semi
final loss. The committee voted
that the women’s basketball
season had ended with the
previous night's loss in
accordance with the commit
tee’s policy that only those
teams that were winners in
district, state or regional
tournaments or playoffs should
advance into national competi
tion.
In reference to national
competition by the football
team and the golf team: Elon’s
football team advanced to the
NAIA Champions Bowl in
Shreveport, La. in 1973 after
first being ranked number one
in the NAIA at the end of the
season and after defeating the
University of Wisconsin-La-
Crosse in the playoffs. And the
team’s expenses were paid for
from gate receipts from that
game. It did not cost Elon
College one cent for its team
The Pendulum
and coaches to participate in
that championship event.
The golf team particiapted in
the 1974 NAIA national
championship golf tournament
in South (not North) Dakota
after first winning the district
championship. Expenses for
their participation came out of
the general budget of the
College as did funds for
wrestlers who participated in
the national championships in
Iowa in 1973.
The more than $4,000 that
was approved for the volleyball
team’s participation in the 1974
AIAW national championship
tournament would also have
come from the College’s
general fund. And that was
almost money down the drain
since the team had not even
been invited to attend and no
one knew it until it was almost
too late.
If the women’s athletic
program ever had a “friend”
on campus, then it is surely the
faculty athletic committee. This
committee that is “so far from
the situations they review’’
consists of six faculty members,
apponted by the president of
the college, and two students,
appointed by the president of
the SGA. The athletic director
sits on the committee as an
ex-officio member.
Of the 16 children of these
members of the faculty athletic
committee, 11 are female and
five are male. And two of the
members of the committee are
women. It hardly seems
possible that these people could
discriminate against a women’s
program of any kind.
These people are far from
being removed from the
situation. They attend most of
the athletic contests and are
avid supporters of all of the
college’s teams. I think that
Miss Sikes has done them an
injustice with her article (or
letter).
I suggest that a major
roadblock in the progress of the
women’s athletic program at
Elon is in a lack of
communications. Better com
munication between the coach
of the team and the faculty
athletic committee through the
athletic director can do nothing
but enlighten the “dark areas”
of this segment of Elon’s
athletic program.
The women’s program is a
vital part of the total athletic
program and everyone who is
involved in its progress, from
the president to the players,
realizes this. The program will
be receiving more funds, but
Rome was not built in a day. It
is impossible to build a
program in four or five years to
the status of a program that has
been in existence for over 50
years.
I have been a strong
supporter of the women’s
program at Elon since its
inception. I hope that the
program will progress, and I
am confident that it will. But I
also hope that the people who
are involved with the program
will grow up with it. Advance
plannmg, better communica
tion and some straight thinking
on the part of everyone are
necessary ingredients.
Melvin Shreves
Director, Public INformation
Office Elon College
Editors Note: Sandy’s state
ment was labeled a letter to the
editor, but the printer inadver
tently dropped the line. The
staff thought it expressed the
thoughts of so many students it
deserved a prominent position.
Women’s Athletics
To the Editor:
In regard to the letter from
Melvin Shreves:
My letter published in the
last Pendulum regarding the
women’s athletic program was
meant in no way to degrade the
character of any member of the
Faculty Athletic Committee. I
have many personal friends on
that committee for whom I have
the utmost respect. Neverthe
less, I felt their decision was
unfair and should not have
been quietly dismissed. I
apologize for any injustice to
the committee members per
sonally, but 1 in no way
withdraw the facts found in my
letter regarding the treament of
women athletes here at Elon. I
agree 100% with Mr. Shreves
that communication is a
primary problem in the
situation.
It is my hope that it can be
improved in the future to
promote a situation where the
faculty athletic committee and
the quality of women athletes
will complement each other,
producing a top-notch women’s
athletic program here at Elon.
Sandy Sikes
Eclipse
To the Editor (and to Mac
McCrary):
Re: The article on The Eclipse
of Excellence and Mac's letter
to the editor.
Professor Cahn may be of the
“old school of thought’’
concerning what constitutes a
good education. But this seems
beyond the point. Old or new,
education requires self-disci
pline and hard work. Being
“interested” isn’t enough. For
years I’ve been “interested” in
playing the guitar, but I can’t
play a note...I have not
disciplined myself to leam. But
Alex de Valera can play the
guitar, Terre Cofield can sing,
Fred Lail can play the violin.
Tray Eppes can throw a pot,
and they all do their “thing”
well. I’d be willing to bet that
they worked hard, even at
times when they didn’t feel like
it.
In gaining any skill or
mastering any area of know
ledge, there comes a point
(perhaps even many points) of
tedium, of difficulty. Learning
doesn’t seem “fun” anymore.'
But if no one had bothered to go
beyond these points, if no one
had persisted when it wasn’t
“fun” (perhaps even when it
was down-right uninteresting!)
there would be no great art, no
great scientific discoveries, no
great anything...just many
incomplete or mediocre, works.
Eveyone would have given up
at some very fundamental stage
and would have moved on to
something new, something
which, at the moment, seemed
more tantalizing.
Mac has made a basic error
in thinking that our ‘ ‘interests’ ’
are somehow permanent,
unchanging, and fixed within
us-as if we were bom with
them. Interests are created
from our coming in contact with
something “other”-something
we had not previously known
that sparks our curiosity.
Before I became an English
March 26,1975
major, I wanted to major in
psychology. That was all that
interested me. I did not care to
read about anything else. But I
was required to take English
courses, so I found myself In
Eng. 211. I never though I
could be “interested" in
Beowulf. Yet I was absolutely
electrified! The professor
(whom, at the time, I did not
like at all personally) was an
incredible teacher. He was a
master of his field. He LOVED
it and taught it with great skill
And suddenly interest was born
in me. The next semester 1 was
an English major.
A true education is discov
ery, finding something hitherto
unfound. It means stretching
one’s horizon, widening it to
'include new things, and
deepening it by becoming more
skillful at things already
learned once. People who do
this will become masters of
their field, and more import
antly, masters of life, in the
Eastern sense of the word.
People will recognize in them a
depth they don’t see in just
everyone. THERE ARE SUCH
PEOPLE AT ELON. They move
through and beyond the
cacaphony of voices yelling
“beer”, “visitation,” and “no
attendance.” They move thr
ough and beyond requirements
for the undisciplined. They
“thirst for a better understan
ding,” as Mac says. But what
they come to discover is that all
knowledge is interconnected;
that if one wants truly to
understand literature, for
example, one must ruly
understand languages, history,
philosophy, religion, anthropo
logy. If one truly wants to know
what it means to know, then
one must explore aU kinds of
knowing.
These are the people who
should be called “Bachelors”,
who should have a “sheep
skin” proclaiming their basic
mastery of the Liberal Arts and
Sciences. That’s what the
degree reads. No one is forcing
Mac to seek a degree. He is
free to take courses limited to
his area of interest, if he so
wishes to forfeit a degree in
Liberal Arts and Sciences. He is
also free to audit courses
thereby freeing himself from
the worry or drudgery of
grades. I find that the people
who do the most complaining
about grades around here are
the people who do the least
work, the ones who want
something for nothing. The real
“students,” the real “learn
ers” don’t have to worry about
grades; for them, grades
simply verify what they already
know about work they’ve
already done.
Linda Votta Sulhvan
Visitation
Which is right? Are Elon
students wrong in asking for
visitation in the dorms? It’s a
known fact that visitation has
been accepted in most of the
higher institutions of learning
throughout the nation; some
even have “co-ed” dorms. Are
we not being treated like
children? We are responsible
young citizens, and we deserve
the right to be treated so.
Ask around, and you'll see
just how many students, who
live in the dorms, would like to
see the rule changed. My bet is
that the majority would. And
Continued On Pag* 3
STAFF
Debbie CochraB
Vicki Moe«er
Paige Garriqoes
Pam Bradley
IdwceLataae
-GaiySpiUer
Janie McGaui
Wealey Bennett & Patoy Lynch
Dave Sfaafocd
G3>Bnie
Patsy Lynch
Laaaa Peavy
Km Peridns
DaTidNidiok
Koba King
DioMCoata
REPORTERS
Editor
Assistant Editor
News Editor
Feature Editor
Columnist
Sports Editor
Women’s Sports
Layout
Photographer
Exchange
Circulation
Dong Durante
Bill Dawkins
Mildred B. Lynch
Kim Goodell
Ken Pate
Adviser, Dr. Maty Ellen Priestetly
PahUid hf the Commuucatiaas Media Board of Elon Crilege in
esajanctMn with the Stndent GoTenment Association. All
‘ articles: Box 5272, Son CoOege.