Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 29, 1990, edition 1 / Page 2
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Editorials November 29,1990 Viewpoint No longer taking chances on campus My recait expCTiaice in researching campus crime has made me much more aware of its prevalence. I have read numerous articles on the topic as well as letters from victims and their parents revealing the horrible accounts of rape, murd^, and othw violence. I shared some of the more graphic stories with my friends because I was so shocked by what I’d read. One friend asked me how I could sleep at night after reading these stories. Although my reading wasn't enjoyable it was very educational. I learned so much about what could happen and what could be done to prevent crime. After talking with many people involved in the passing of the bill, others familiar with the problem, and people ha-e at Elon College, it scares me to think that I know more than most people. I was pleased when Ron Klepcyk, dean of student affairs, asked me to come in and talk to him about the subject. He is interested in sharing my information and learning more about the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act which will require colleges and universities to compile crime statistics and make them available to students, employees, fM’ospective students and the FBI. I hope this Act will raise the issue of campus crime and make more people aware of it’s prevalence. The most important first step is awareness. Many sUidents think of college as a shelter from the world where nothing bad ever happens. I was once one of those students. As a freshman I can remember taking many chances. I walked around campus alone. I never locked my dow. I am thankful that I didn't become one of the victims I've read so much about I've definitely learned the importance of precautions. I hope that Elon never experiences an incident like that at Lehigh and I hope no one has to go through what Jeanne Clery and her family had to go through. - Patti Jefferies The Pendulum Editor: Kelly Potter Managing Editor: Heather Whitehouse Sports Editor: Chip Lupo Wire Service Editor: Susan Auth Arts & Entertainment Editor: Deborah Durkee Reporters: Michele Anderson, Darren Benfer, DeeDee Carowan Kristy Davis, Hunter Pitts, Amber Fritz, Murray Glenn Patti Jefferies, Dana Manley, Theresa Riley, Darci Theurer, Ted Toomer Production: Kim Beane Photographers: Scott Lansing, Carlton Whittle Advertising: Ken Cooper Advisor: Brad Hamm Office: 102 Williamson Ave., Elon College, N.C., 27244. News: 584-2331. Advertising: 584-2467. Pendulum, fomded in 1974, is published by Ehn College students each Thursday unng regular school terms. TTie Pendulum vxlcomes your opinions with letters given for venficatum: Deadline far sulmissions is 5 pm nenumoer Christinas is more than presents and decorations Theresa Riley The Pendulum Thanksgiving used to herald the onset of the Christmas holiday. Now, the Christmas season starts before Halloween. Costumes displayed with artificial trees, decorations, and Christmas cards remind people that Christmas is two months away. I can’t think of anybody whose birthday celebration plans annually begin months in advance. I also have serious doubts that the holiday is remembered as a birthday-Christ’s birthday. It really shouldn't be difficult to forget Christ when so many Christmas decorations symbolize the biblical stories of His birth. Angels brought the glad tidings of Baby Jesus' birth to the poor shepherds. Circular wreaths have no beginning and no end, just like God and His love for us. He loved us so much He gave us His only Son. The Three Wise Men followed a star to find the Baby Jesus and brought with them gifts to honor the King. This is where the tradition of gift giving comes from. It's also where the Twelve Days of Christmas originates. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the day the Three Wise Men find Jesus and bestow their homage and gifts upon Him. That feast day always falls on Jan. 6-- twelve days after Christmas. It would seem to me then, that those people who have their Christmas trees by the curb on the morning of Dec. 26 stopped celebrating before the occasion ended. Yes, I know, the tree had been up since Thanksgiving, they were sick of it, it was a fire hazard, etc., etc., etc. But this just goes back to not celebrating Christmas as Christ's birthday. Decorations, music, food and gift giving abound during the Christmas season. But how many people think about giving a gift to Christ? After all it's His birthday. Sure, people give cans of food to the local soup kitchen or a donation to a church, but neither take much effort or thought. Giving or participating in such organizations regularly would seem more apt of a present than doing something out of habit. For so important of a birthday it's fitting to give thought to the celelxaticHi and consideration of the gift to give the honoree. It's His hoUday, He shouldn't be forgotten. I would be insulted if I were the reason for a celebration, but then was ignored during the party. This and every Christmas, remember Christ as you celebrate His birthday. Positive vision of Elon needs to be nourished Open letter to President Fred Young: When I began teaching at Elon, my impressions of it were good and my aspirations high. But now I must share with you my perception, perhaps mistaken, of an essential tension within the college community, one which debilitates a place of great beauty andpxxmise. There is a tension between two conceptions, or two differing philosophies, of what Elon College is or should be. One is that it is like a factory, where faculty are employees and students the on-site consumers. The other is that it is like a faniily. Now in a good household, you don't have one adult member refusing to show the other the family checkbook. (My analogy is, of course, in support of the view that there should haVe'b^en at least bnb’ representative of the faculty privy to details in the Poindexter case and related matters.) Nor do good parents steal from their sons or daughters what they have written. (Here my reference should be equally clear.) In a healthy family both adults, and their young charges, as well as others directly involved, make decisions in a partnership. Faculty, students, and staff are rightly concerned about whether this is the present situation. Let me focus on one aspect of this. I believe it is necessary if Elon is to meet the challenges of the coming decade, and of the coming century, to attract good teachers to the college. And it is my claim that this simply will not happen unless rising academicians know that Elon is a place where they have a chance to earn a career of a professor in a genuine sense of that term. This means changes in hiring, including opening up possibilities for tenured positions, but it also means that professors must be recognized as full partners in the college. Elon has a reputation among graduate schools and the academy at large that is, in the long haul, every bit as important as the need for good public relations to attract new students. This reputation must be a good one. And it is only by moving more toward a "family" concepticMi that this will be possible. We have lost a lot of good people lately, and we have to ask ourselves why. I have come to care about this place, and that is why I must persist that this more positive vision of Elon be nourished. The future, in my opinion, depends on it. James Coley Philosophy Department
Elon University Student Newspaper
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