Editorials
Viewpoint
September 22,1994
Faculty not living up to promis(
Elon College or Elon University?
of pf"Of ‘o Change the name
fh,r hire more professors with Ph.D.s It believes
that by doing this, the school wUl continue increasing the levelTf
educauon students are supposed to gam here.
This IS not true. Just because someone has a Ph.D doesn’t mean
they are any more qualified than someone else. Elon should baTe 'ts
hinng process on qualificaUons instead of a piece of paper
A Ph.D. IS nothing more than a dead tree with the r.f
an,ve„io. it. IV,f„so,s should hav. som= e.pcrie„ct"X. ttiey
are trying to teach Elon students. ^
If a professor has spent eight years studying and researching and
zero years working m the field they were trained in. what wouXv
really know about real world experience?"
This is e^cially true for the communicaUons department How
2 teach what it is like in a news room
or television studio, if they have never worked in one
worlXnence ^ -al
It would be stupid to have someone teach creaUve writing if
they ve never worked as a writer. Just like it would stupid toL.c
b“s". ^
he.te^" something is to do it. And an even
better way to teach someone about something is to have a knowledge
of real world experience to share with them.
OlLThe Record
I should be allowed to shoot my mouth off, I
should have a call-in show ... I should be'
allowed to think."
- They Might Be Giants
"I should be allowed to think"
The days of our youth were filled
with the carefree adventures of ihe
1^1 Dukes of Hazard.** Sheriff’s
deputy Roscoe P. Coletrain chased
the Duke brothers all around Haz
ard County with little success week
in and week out. Each episode, the
boys in the General Lee (The
Duke’s car) prevailed Justice was
done. Were the Dukes ingenious
criminals who were able to avoid
capture by the law using incredible
intelligence and ability? Nope.
They were dumb old rednecks who
had a dumber sheriff chasing them.
What incredible allegorical tale
of wonder am I now going to be
stow upon you? I’m going to let
you all in on a little secret. These
professors who teach us, nurture
us, and provide us comfort and care
are not that much smarter than the
average person. They have their
strengths and weaknesses, quirks
and qualms. Granted, there are a
few certifiable geniuses amongst
the faculty. For the most part, how
ever, their candles burn no brighter
than ours.
Oh, that can’t be true,” you say,
“I know professors who can do
calculus in their heads, name all
forty-whatever presidents and their
wives, sing every single Dead song
frontwards, backwards and from
the middle out, and have not made
3 grammatical error in 14 years."
Again, a little secret that I will
share with you. Time, my friends,
is an incredibly important factor in
their abilities. I would be quite
willing to make this little wager
with any takers. Take any five
/
Scott
Miller
students and match them up with
any five faculty members. Give the
students the length of time that the
faculty member has had to accu
mulate the knowledge that they now
have. (For example, if a faculty
member has had 16 years, research
ing, teaching and writing, then al
low the student to research, teach
and write for 16 years.) Next, you
compare the aggregate knowledge
of today’s professor to the future
knowledge of today’s student. I
suspect that four out of the five test
subjects would be able to make the
faculty member they were pared
THE
off with look like the intellect)
equivalent of Forrest Gump.
Admirably, some of the facu,
have taken on the challenge
higher academic standards. Aiw
difficult grading system, morccli
m vol vement. and constant prcsti
on the student has produced a son
what higher intensity level in i
classroom. Unfortunately, nu,
faculty have chosen not to risej
the challenge. To them, stude
are just a meal ticket. There hi
been several actions taken by in
vidual professors that have sh(^
incredible di.sdain for the procd
of making Elon a better instituiifl
Oh yeah, back to the allegor)j
the General Lee. Time is of i,
essence. The Duke boys spent a|
lime in the back woods of their G
gian county. TTie urban bo.^
sheriff s deputy. Roscoe. jij
couldn t cope with their accun
lated knowledge of the back in,
and cool places to jump ovcr(
road. Same thing here.
Next time a professor loads]
down with work, don’t just
“fuck it" and go to Drink and Dr^
at the Lighthouse. Surprise iha
blow them away with your kno\|
edge. All it takes is time. Toj
Platonic for a minute, the facully
no further out of the cave than*
are.
Last fall. President Young asL
the faculty to push the student bJ
beyond “their comfort zone " ltj|
high time that we rise to that chi
lenge. meet it head on. and pu
back. Unfortunately, we might il
encounter that much resistance.
Ill
Pendulum || Qn the nature of human existence!
Informing the Elon College Community
Editor
Enck Gill
Managing Editor
Rob Mancuso
Assistant Managing
Editor
Amy Logerwell
A & E Editor
Christy Earnhardt
Sports Editor
April Perkins
Opinion Editor
Scott Miller
Photo Editor
Tonya Hubart
Adviser
Joey Senat
Advertising
Michelle Riley
Senior Reporter
Mary Kelli Bndges
Reporters
Heather Anderson
Shannon Prater
Andrea Schmidt
Sports Reporters
Chuck Walker
Bob Gnmmie
Jeff Dunlop
A & E Reporter
Chris Adams
Illustrator
Bnan Corrado
Graphic artist
Stacy Kummer
The Pendulum,
rounded in 1974, is
published by Elon
students.
Single copies of The
Pendulum are free. If
extra copies are
needed, they can be
purchased at The
Pendulum office.
Office: 102 Lebanon
Ave., Elon College, N.C.,
27244. 584-2331.
Dane Frederiksen
Columnist
Somehow we exist. A billion
years ago humans weren’t here.
That means we became what we
are. It is generally accepted in our
academic environment that we
evolved, Ifyou don’t think so, then
accept the premise as axiomatic for
this article. Ifwe did evolve and we
are now different than other ani
mals, then there is a step that needs
explanation, TTie human spark of
I consciousness is problematic. What
makes us different?
We have the ability to under
stand ourselves. Our mind com
prehends itself! Idon’tknowifyou
ever stopped to think of this but it is
something that I feel is worth ex
ploring. I can’t understand how
“^onTC-people-rJoirt-wanrtD tnmr—
who and what they are. This is the
thirst for knowledge that leads one
to philosophy.
Our reality is dictated by our
experiences. Forget about the
physical realm, the only way we
know anything is through our ex
periences. The fiux of reality is
measured by our senses. If reality
was unchanging we would not ex
perience sound, light, smell, etc. It
IS the force of change that shapes
our reality. Reality is different for
everyone because our experiences
differ. The philosopher Sarte said
we are all alone, marooned in our
minds. Everything you know, the
entirety of reality is in your mind.
Yourmindisyourexperience. Your
choices dictate your reality, you
create your destiny and you are
responsible for it. I used to think it
sounded depressing to be marooned
In my'oWri reahty. I li'ow “ife^l -
there is an interpersonal recogd
tion of our individual states,
seem to recognize a bond betw.
other conscious beings. WeareiL
alone. There is a collective reaiiii
Our intuitions tell us that we aivj
this together. TTie best examplf]
can think of is eye contact. Wli
you look into someone’ eyes'
simply know that there is conscic
ness there
It would seem that intuition seei^
to be a separate sense. comiL
sense. It’s the sum of our sensQ
information, our consciousnessa
our experiences. We have an i
derstanding of reality based on(
perceived reality. What else cou
reality be other than what we exp
rience it as? Somehow we exp
ence existence before essence,
are unique. Think on it.
t li .. J, 1/ I) X i|. 5. I I ,