Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / April 17, 1992, edition 1 / Page 2
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Editorials I April 17, 1992 Page 2 Viewpoint Holidays: a forgotten past If a sludcni al Eion didn't show up for class on on cither Martin Luther King Day or Good Friday, would they be marked absent? Would their attendance grade fall because they used a holiday as an cxcuse for skipping class? Unlike federal offices and many banking institutions, Elon College chcx)ses to remain in operation during these two days rather than give faculty and students the opportunity to uke the days off and actively study their religious heritage or appreciate an important leader who made a difference in the scK'icty that wc live in. How can the collcge expect students to understand cultural diversity if it docs not practicc what it prcachcs? The ramifications from this type of business decision range from students becoming ignorant to the meaning of holidays to having faculty/staff members being forced to make special arrangements for family members who do not have to work or be in sch(X)l. In general, the problem with the holiday schedule that exisus in KKlay's scKiety is that people are t(X) busy to slow down and tiike lime to celebrate an occasion. People see holidays as a way to escape the workplace. They do everything that they wish they could have done during their regular routine. For example, many of us are guilty of only spending time with our families during the holiday season while others of us take the time to go to the beach during Memorial Day weekend or make a long awaited trip to a shopping mall for the July 4th special. In a sense, the demand for activity creates a deeper demand for people to work. Customer representatives always have to be on hand to service shoppers and restaurants always have to be staffetl to cater to consumer demand. Working holidays is a trend that is likely to continue because people aren't going to slow down. They are only going to get busier! The Pendulum Editor: Murray Glenn ManaKine Editor: Deborah Durkcc Sporta Editor; Ted Toomcr Entertainment Editor: Doe Doe Carownn Reporters: Jennifer Atkins, Kristin Blass, Allison Cooke, Jennifer Cowman, Jack Duval, Rogers Harrison, Ann Hnwkins, Jennifer Hudson, Pntti Peterman, Kendal Rasnake, Tricin Tnlberl, Keri-Ann Thomas Copy Editors: Charity Apple, Christine Gowcn Entertainment Reporters: Brendon Hnmlin, Tonya R. Taylor Sporta Reporters: Scan Farrelly, Tercnce Smnll, Russ Smith Music Columnist: Kristen Meyer Photography Editor: Rob Whiteside Photographers; Erick Gill. Todd Hershoy. Penny Stevenson, Mark Wheeler Advertising Director; ChritUne Rudiger Advertising Business: Hilary Rowe Advisor: Brad Hamm Office: 102 Williamson Ave., Elon College, N.C.. 27244. News: 584-2;J31. TTie Pendulum, founded m 1974. is publnhed by i:ion College students each Friday during regular ichool terms. The Pendulum welcomes your opinions, with letters limited to about 250 words, if pasiiblf Utters must be signed and a phtme number given far verification. Deadline fur submisiiom is ^ p m, Mtmdty. ,, RESULTS a tos. a Mej. J The Lost Generation Where we are and how we got here "We know what we are, but not what we may be." - William Shakespeare My generation... bred on war- to-go (served with a smile by CNN, MTV, and tabloid politics.) More diverse than any generation before us. Better financed, more organized, more informed, and mad as hell. Mad because we, (as every generation), want to be better off than our parents, and it looks like were not getting it. In fact, we're regressing. The Plight No generation before ours had to live in the suffocating shadow of universal destruction. (After all, we did have a president who believed he could win a nuclear war.) And never has a generation seen the rise of a disease that has no cure and no foreseeable end. At least during the dark plagues of the Middle Ages, the people had a government which tried to do something. Ours won't even acknowledge our plague's very existence. Remember, our un- president George Bush's only course of action in response to AIDS was to get that unfortunate basketball player to be some kind of pseudo-.spokesman. Bush didn't even mention AIDS in his .state of the union address. As I said before, we expcct to be better off than our parents, and that's a txill order. An order that isn’t being rights from hacks like Clarencc Thomas. And as always, there are the freaks-of-the-free-world who hate everybody. In this group I include: Pat Buchanan, David Duke, and Louis Farrakan. All of the above groups and people arc either products of, or are supported by the ME generation - which has made hate mongering en vogue. Political correctness has given birth to its own bizarre side- effects. Most noticeably how the young set have become painfully stereotypical - the very thing they were fighting against. The demand for recognition has forced them into conformity. For example, the metal-heads wear black tour shirts, grow their hair long and hale all other types of music. Hip-hopsters sport overalls with the strap(s) undone, and wear pants low enough to show half their underwear. Many young blacks affeci the defiani motif by wearing shirts bearing slogans that would be called racist if worn by whiles, and compliment their oulfits with Malcolm X hats and buttons. Peaceniks and deadheads wear Birkensiock sandals or go barefoot, donning tie-dyed shirts and a variety of beads and such to compleie their persona. Instead of being somebody, many bccome nobody - lost in the age of short-order identities The Results Sec Duval, Page 4 Jack Duval filled. If you're not already rich, don't expect to be. We live in a country where one percent of ihe people control over half the wealth, and they aren't letting go. Don't expect to be middle class if you're poor either. The last year the middle cla.ss grew was in the early 60's. The Effects AIDS, nuclear destrticiion, and the simultaneous civil rights boom and governmental desecration of the constitulion has done frightening things to us. The advances made in the '60s have eroded into political correctness, which defines people instead of letting people find themselves; we're the generation of ME, not we. And now that everybody "knows" who they are, they want what is "theirs." The John Birchers, moral majority weirdos, skin-heads, and yuppies want everybody to be while and proiesiani. Queer Nation wants everybody to be aware of gays. Greenpeace wants environmenial awareness, as does the Sierra Club. N.O.R.M.L. wants to rclcagalize marijulina, and ihe ACl.U wants to defend your
Elon University Student Newspaper
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April 17, 1992, edition 1
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