Page Two
The Pendulum
O
February 26,1976
Beer, the law,
and public opinion
“1 saw the procession of the Mystic Crew of Comus
there—with knights and nobles and so on, clothed in silken
and golden Paris-made gorgeousness.” Mark Twain said the
Mardi Gras was the “exclusive possession of New Orleans” but
was spreading north. This phenomenon has finally made its
debut in the minds and writings of some Elon citizenry. The
analogy that Elon College village area will become another
Bourbon Street is as ridiculous as an idea of the patrons of
Elon's finer bistros adorning themselves in the “golden” garb
of Mardi Gras.
The real issue is not the moral degeneration of an easily
influenced student population, but the sale of beer. One is led
to believe that Milwaukee has let its mantle of authority be
passed to the community of Elon. In our opinion there are two
reasons for the behavior of certain persons involved in this
caterwauling.
The first, as always has been, is money. The town, which
from a merchant’s point of view, has been in a slow death race
with contiguous communities. This is due, in part, to a tax base
that exempts its two major landholders and from some good
old monopolistic tendencies. Why is it that nothing has been
printed about a certain convenience store that has sold beer
for sometime within the one-mile limit? The argument given
by some would be that they only make sales “to go.” One might
still view this as selling.
The issue here lies with one individual—the chief of police.
We understand that he owns the land that the convenience
store stands on and is protecting his vested interest. No one
should chastize him for this, but if his influence in certain
circles should deprive another person from making a
livelihood, then it is wrong.
This is our second point. Probably the most ardent
opponent to the consumption of beer in an establishment
would shudder at the thought of denying a person his
constitutional right to make a living. The obstruction of this
right is illegal and, in reality, silly.
The option of a properly licensed establishment to serve
beer is legal. It is the law and should be respected by both
consumer and teetotler. Flagrant violations by students should
be handled by the police, and threats of harrassment by
opponents of the law should not be tolerated by merchants.
Fine points of parking
The parking situation is especially troublesome this year
since the old lot across from the president’s house has been
closed to beautify the area. This situation forces the overflow
of cars from the men’s dorms to the gym lot, originally used by
commuters during classes. The commuters, finding the lot
full, park in spaces not designated and as a result are left
reminders varying from $1 tofeo tickets.
To alleviate the problem, a new lot is now open behind
Huffines Texaco, and students from the men’s dorms are
asked to use this lot.
Many commuters are still voicing complaints. They feel,
having paid $5 for a parking permit, they should have a paved
lot close to campus.
There is some question as to what fines the students are
actually paying. For the first $25 ticket, students pay from $1
to $3. For the second ticket some are paying the $25 fine.
To clear up the confusion, Mrs. Sharpe is offering a list of
rules and fines. A copy may be picked up in Mrs. Sharpe’s
office in Alamance.
Ibtbulutn
Staff
Paige Garriques & Lance Latane
Diane Costa
Gary Spider
Mark ^uer
Dave Shuford, Joe Chandler
Fraun Talley
Adviser, Dr. Mary Ellen Priesdey
Co-editors
Assistant editor
Sports editor
Cartoonist
Photography
Typist
Cathy Henley
Stewart MuUin
Fred Caudle
Janie McGann
Reporters
Charlotte Rosser
Rick Sherlock
Tom Graupmann
Joe Chandler
Bourbon Si.
N.C.
■niBFW
Letters
Dear Editors;
At a recent basketball game I
was totally aghast at our
majorettes and their halftime
performance. I came to this
school with the idea of it being a
good Christian school with a
Bible atmosphere and here in
front of hundreds are our very .
own girls dancing around
provocatively in these, shall we
say, “slinky” outfits? Not only
can this stir up male enthusiasm
for sexual excitement but the
possibilities of this causing
sexual crimes are numerous.
Once these men are stirred up
the Elon girls just aren’t safe.
Tliose who need to walk back to
Staley have to in the dark of the
night and one only knows what
can lurk along the shadowy
sidewalk. If any of these
halfcrazed sexual deviants
decide to let it go, for some poor
girl it will all be over with. The
sad thing about it is who will
want to marry her? Therefore
lives will be ruined, pregnancies
caused, and the destruction of
our fine moral Christian females
will be forever lost.
If only the men could divert
their sexual energies into beer!
Instead of bed. So, thanks to our
majorettes and their little
hootchy kootchy dance and
swinging their sweet little asses,
we now have a major problem
here on this campus. 1 sincerely
feel it is the responsibility of all
of us to keep this under our hats
so that the outside world knows
nothing about our problem fiere
at Elon.
Please Elon, let’s keep the
pants on our moral fiber!
Terrified in Staley
Dear Editors:
I would like to commend you
on the series of articles you are
running in The Pendulum this
year. I am referring to “Hafner’s
Hang-ups.” Not only will this
series mirror the president’s
feelings about the issues, it will
also show what she is doing for
the students. This will keep the
students involved.
Karen Co*
Hafner’s hang-ups
Ru/ cr!A ¥ • ^
By SGA president, Laurie Hafner
Welcome back everybody —
from the looks of things this is
going to be a great spring
semester. Elon beach will soon
be booming, outdoors b—blasts
will be going wild and our very
own “Bourbon Street” will be
rocking. For those of you who
haven’t heard Elon College
Town now has its own, quote
“Bourbon Street." This should
be great fun — before you know
it we ll be seeing strip joints,
massage parlors and all those
other low-rate places which
cause low morality and
disintegration of our goodness.
At any rate, 1 have a solution for
the problem. We will have our
own Steve Caddell as the
Bourbon Street Chaplain.
There have been reports that
the SGA is the cause of chili on
hptdogs and fried eggs only two
days a week. Contrary to
popular belief, this is not true
and as far as 1 know no such
legislation has been passed by
the SGA. (Two weeks ago the
SGA was accused for the
basketball game being lost, so it’s
nothing new.) At any rate, let me
introduce you to my food,
committee. It is these people and
myself that you can talk to,
complain to, and find out about
our cafeteria problems. They are
Mary Hanrahan, Jane Jeffress,
Harold Bowden, Bill McKinstry ,
Keith Bowden, and Lynne
Charles. We have already started
the foundation of a sandwich
line during lunch in upstairs
McEwen for everyone with a
meal ticket and a few other
additions will soon be noted.
1 want to thank you all and
your parents for voting in the
recent drinking poll. 1 will go
into the sti.tistics next time, but 1
did want you all to be aware that
the drinking proposal will be
brought up to the Board of
Trustees. (I’ll drink to that.)
1 m also taking to the Board
the fees increase proposal. The
students voted this down but if
the SGA b to continue with a
newspaper, liberal arts forum,
speakers, and S2 concerts, we
need additional monies.
Hope you all enjoyed the
concert last Friday night. Herbie
was wild and, of course, Jack-o
(Well, what can you say about
him?) I fjersonally want to thank
the Emanons for a fine concert.
The contracts for PIRC were
formally signed last Wednesday,
so welcome PIRG to Elon. All
you consumer advocates,
ecology freaks and all around
good people come out and gel
involved in this worthwhile ■
organization. ^ j
In closing. I’d like to mention j
that my newest proposal (thanks j
to 1st Hook) is a Planitarium —
"Heavens!” Can't you just '
imagine our verv own Elon
College Planitarium? What style j
and what class! Not only would it ;
provide new courses but it would
provide entertainment! This
proposal is still “up in the air
but I’m working on it.
Remember, I’m up in niy
office from 1:00-5:00 every
afternoon if you all need to talk,
complain, or just visit, come on
up! Next Tuesday fro""
2:00-4:00 I'll be out at O’Kdly
Memorial to visit. Come on out
and talk. I’ll tell you more about |
my proposals and plans for I
Board of Trustees. See yw I
there!