Editorials
March 17,1994
Viewpoint
Don't blame the Tortoises
Three Elon administrators have recently told Pendulum reporters
and editors that they are being “too aggressive” in covering the news.
I have stated before that The Pendulum strives to run like a real
newspaper. Real newspapers are aggressive.
Real newspapers don’t get all their information from press releases
or allow people to tell them only what they want the paper to know.
Real newspapers have to go out and find the real story behind what
is going on.
This doesn’t mean we are the paparazzi hiding out in bushes
waiting for someone to break the law. We try to find the facts and clear
up any rumors that may be floating around our small college commu
nity.
There are times when reporters are forced to call faculty and staff
at home. We don’t like to do this; but when officials do not return phone
calls or are tied up in meetings all day, it makes it difficult to contact
them.
The Pendulum should try and reach officials at home, rather than
omit their side of a story and print that they “were not available for
comment.”
If a source for a story doesn’t want to comment, then that is all they
have to say. Once a source says, “No comment,” TTie Pendulum leaves
them alone. We have never “harassed” anyone for a comment.
Being “aggressive” is not a bad thing. It proves to people that this
newspaper staff is motivated and is concerned about what is going on
in our environment and community.
Students don't want to read something they already know. Our job
is to inform them of the facts and let them decidc the truth.
There is no room for a “passive” newspaper in our society today.
Erick Gill,
Editor
ThePendulum
Serving the Elon College Community
Kdltor
lirick Gill
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Angie Riley
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Scott Miller
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AdvL'ter
Joey Senat
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Rick Galiher
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Office Manager
Heather Baldwin
Cartoonists
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The Pendulum, founded
in 1974, is published by
Elon students. The
Pendulum welcomes
your opinioas with
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Office: 102 Lebanon
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27244.584-233L '
Silly Bastards. Yes, to this
day it is still the Silly Bastards
who make everything difficult for
the rest of us.
I had planned to write this
week as a continuation of last
weeks column about Responsible
. Education and the like, as it
pertains to the evil crime of rape.
I have figured out in the interim
that it is not only rape that is
spurred on by these silly things
but everything that is terrible in
our world today.
This, as I named it earlier, is
where The Silly Bastards come
in. These are same people who
have wars started on the premise
of a religious word or kill
because of somebody else or litter
or lie or cheat or steal to ruin the
free country we are in at this
moment
The current state of our
society can be blamed on a
number of things, but none of
these things are as exciting as
Giant Tortoises. Tortoises can
live for over a hundred years.
Marc
Gentile
Since it seems like they
never do anything, at first glance
it would appear as if these
immense reptiles are bored for tiie
majority of their lives. This,
however, is not true.
In the great mind of a
Tortoise thoughts travel at a
incredibly slow rate of speed.
This is what keeps them from
being bored. Tortoises, partially
Galapagos Tortoises, have fierce
allergies. These allergies produce
a chemical in their brain that
responds very strangely to
lettiKe.
When a Giant Tortoise eats
lettuce the reaction causes their
brain to speed up to fifty times
that of a normal human being.!
This propels them into a massive
psychedelic experience, which;
I’m told is a remarkable trip. Soj
think twice before defaming any,
part of a Tortoises amazing life^
span. ;
This theory, although backed
by minutes of research, may have
been inspired by falling asleep
with the Discovery Channel on
after an especially long Drink and
Drown at the Lighthouse.
Anyway the point I was
trying to make is tliat everything
sucks and we can all safely blame
the government
After eons of development
and first rate evolution, the
Human race has dissolved into a ‘
large tribe of single celled
organisms that wear really
expensive shoes.
From the standpoint of any
higher being, your wish to
extrapolate the Earth is probably
really depressing. I imagine this
column did not help the cause
any- ^
Women and Spirituality
X
This past weekend, several
women from Elon attended a
retreat about women and
spirituality. Among some of the
questions raised at this retreat
were: What is spirtualility? and
What does spirituality mean to
you as an individual woman?
After careful discussion and
thought, we came up with several
different understandings of
spirituality. For some of us it
meant practicing organized
religion. For others, it meant
connecting through personal
meditation or other means of
expression. So, as you can see,
the interpretation of spirituality
constitutes a wide spectrum of
understandings.
Another area of discussion
which focused around spirituality
was the role that “God” plays in
our spirituality as women. For
some, God docs not play a role.
For those whose spirituality does
include a God, to what extent can
one experience spirituality freely
in a Christian society that keeps
women caressed?
Regardless of one’s religious
beliefs, religion has affected
women (and other groups)
negatively in some way or
another. This is mostly due to
ihfc'piJtriarchal inleipretation of
Sister
Insider
the Bible which has affected the
morals and laws of our society.
For one example, the literal
interpretation of Genesis 2:4 -
2:7 states “then the Lord God
formed man of dust from the
ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and
man (Adham) became a living
being." What can be concluded
here is that man is considered the
first creation of living beings.
Those vCTses from the Bible have
been used to place man superior
to woman on the simple issue
that God created man first On
the other hand, the word Adham
which has been interpreted as
“man” from the origin^ Hebrew
text, is a generic term for
humankind. “Man" has been
substituted here to reinfoirc a
patriarchal society, and to keep
women oppressed.
This is just one example in the
Christian religion where women
are exploited through religious
text. Many women have
abandoned the Christian religion
because of this exclusiveness.
What women need to understand
is that they do not have to reject
their religion. Women do not
have to accept existing religious
stuctures. They have the ability
to change organized relgion from
within to make their religious
experiences more inclusive and
positive - just as Catholics fof
Choice formed to remaiii
Catholic, yet change old laws to
fit today’s realities. Women also
have the option of creating thcif
own individual spirituality, if
you desire to better understand
what women’s role is in religion
and spirituality, here are a fc'*'
feminist-theologians to help you:
Phyllis Trible, Mary Daly*
Rosemary Radford Ruether, and
Nelle Morton.
Hopefully, through a greatef
understanding of women’s
Digression in religion, we can
begin to focus on making
positive changes to create ^
society where spirituality can be
inclusive for everyone.
by- Chrinj Dl Benedetto
Bobbk Cokcadoipkcr
April DcsreulncaO
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