Editorials
Viewpoint
March 7,1996
Who isn’t sick, raise your hand? One, two, three... There is a
plague spreading throughout Elon College and it comes in several
forms; There is the dry, hacking cough. ITie lost voice. The aches and
pains. And the worst one of all: The “I don’t feel like going to class
today, so I’ll sleep till noon.”
I can tell you which ones have afflicted the staff of the Pendulum.
We have one ‘lost voice’, two ‘coughs’, one ‘aches and pains’, and
three ‘I don’t feel like going to class....’
Of those illnesses, the last is the most detrimental to your life.
You will almost always get your voice back (except in some very
extreme cases), coughs come and go, and aches and pains really keep
you awake at night, but ‘I don’t feel like going to class today, so I’ll
sleep till noon’ will cost you more than a few days of pain and
/suffering. It’s often called “Senioritis”, but all students are suscep
tible to it, so Spring Fever is a more applicable term.
Miss those classes and suffer the consequences. (Some instruc
tors/professors on this campus actually take the attendance policy
seriously,)
Along with the missing of classes comes apathy toward life in
general: “I’ll send outthose resumes later. I’ll file my taxes and do my
financial aid forms later. I’ll renew my license after the next ticket.”
Apathy leads to playing a lot of pool...and that starts with “P” and
that rhymes with “T’ and that stands for “Trouble.” (Excuse that last
reference. I’m suffering from “I’ve lost my mind.”)
So for all of those with the physical ailments, such as a cough,
cold, flu, appendicitis, or whatever, I wish you well and hope for
sunny days. For those poor souls with Spring Fever, I can only think
of one thing that will cure you: bad weather.
(Now if only I could find a way to get all those Spring Fever
sufferers to move.)
Tracey Stark
Managing Editor
Off The Record
a
I think I’ve reached that point where
giving up and going on are both the
same dead end to me.”
-Cure
"End"
THE
III
ENDULUM
Informing the Elon College Community
Editor in Chief
Stacey Ward
Managing Editor
Tracey Stark
Asst. Manag. Editor
Jeff Wirick
A & E Editor
Andrea Schmidt
Sports Editor
Colleen Herndon
Photo Editor
Andrew Brickey
Letters Editor
Michelle Cater
Senior Reporter
Tonya Hubart
Advertising
Michelle Riley
Advisor
Deborah Durkee
News Reporters
Tony Carrick
Miguel Herrero
Adam Kriss
Tamara LaMassa
Patrick Singleton
Sarah Smith
A&E
Reporters
Chris Adams
Warren Brannon
Jon Campbell
Jeff Haniewhich
Eric McCrickard
Giselle Pole
Sports
Reporters
Bob Grimmie
Steve Lucatourto
Allison Rinck
Photographers
Terri Culbertson
Jenny Jamecke
Columnists
Karyn Howard
Joe Mattem
The Pendulum,
founded 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 in
Moseley Center.
Office: 2800 Campus
Box, Elon College, N.C.
27244. 584-2331
Abortion destroys life, diminishes the soul
A while back, I came across
something by Mother Teresa. Re
ceiving her Nobel Peace Prize in
1979, she commented, “the great-
I est destroyer of peace is abortion
I because if a mother can kill her
own child, what is left? For me to
kill you and you to kill me? There
is nothing between.”
Lately, I’ve been giving
I thought to what Mother Teresa
meant by these words. A few
I months ago, two young boys threw
a four-year old boy to his death
from atop an apartment building.
I They said they didn’t know why
they did it, they just “did it.” Susan
Smith drowned her two young chil
dren out of a selfish desire. I could
go on, but I like to think that I’m a
I man of good cheer.
How can this happen in
1 America where we claim to value
human life? Has our soul been
I diminished to this depth?
I would contend that if
I America, and the world, is to
progress with any value of human
life, it cannot do so while allowing
the'abortion of unborn children,
except to save the life of the mother.
To do otherwise denigrates the
1 worth of the soul.
What is the soul? It cannot be
I created by man, nor studied in the
laboratory. It has no mass or weight.
But it’s there; it’s the living es-
I sence of you and me. The soul is
Chris
Knight
the most precious thing we have. It
not only is the spark of life, but it
also hints at something bigger than
man. The soul is a gift from God.
I won’t go into a religious de
bate here, but America has long
prospered because of this belief in
something higher than man. This
belief has provided the concrete
foundations of our morality. Our
fortitude and desire for justice are
all derived from our reverence for
the soul. Without this respect of
something larger than ourselves,
morality and law doesn’t mean any
thing: it’s like a dollar without gold
backing it. Our holding the soul as
holy has made us respected in the
eyes of the world.
What happens when the soul
becomes cheapened by a society
that permits the killing of unborn
innocents for any reason beyond
the well being of the mother? Since
Roe V. Wade, over 30 million have
perished before seeing the light of
day. These are human lives we’re
dealing with, each with a beating
heart and brain activity. That’s
why I believe the pro-abortion ar
gument that a fetus is a “non-viable
tissue mass” is wrong; that an abor
tion should be no different from an
appendectomy. Sorry, but I’ve
never met an appendix that could
bring world peace or cure AIDS,
which is the potential that exists in
an unborn child.
Our culture is now making
decisions on who lives and dies
based on the convenience of the
living who can speak out at the
time. When that happens, the sanc
tity of life is destroyed. And ever
since abortion became legalized,
society has become accustomed to
what was once considered abomi
nation. How many Susan Smiths
were there before/?oe? Since 1973,
all violent crimes rates have risen.
Teenage promiscuity and unwed
pregnancies have skyrocketed since
themid-’70s. Despite efforts in the
‘80s, drug use is back up.
Diminish the value of the soul,
and our culture is diminished as
well.
America is losing possession
of its national soul because its value
is being eroded away through the
neglect and callous disregard of
human life. And if we cannot have
the same regard for the lives of
innocent, unborn children, we stand
little chance of respecting the lives
of those we see every day.
c-mail: kni‘ir5cO@numen.elon.edu
llhis Week:
Graduation
How do you feel about graduation?
Jeanine Navarro, Senior:
“I’m anxious. Elon has provided
so many opportunities. I’ve
changed over the four years
accredited to Elon. Elon has
given me the strength to leave but
it’s hard to do so because it’s
been the four most influencial
and fun years of my life.”
• • •
Cary Wolf, Senior: “After four
years here, I’m ready to get out,
get a job, start a family and get on
with my life. I’ve had my share
of fun here. It’s time to get on
fc?.-
^ and make some mon; v."
Kevin McCabe, Senior: “ I’m
looking forward to it because I’ve
got post-graduation plans to
attend medical school. I’m
looking forward to doing some
thing new.”
• • •
Mandy Allen, Senior: “Fm
scared and excited because you
have to live in the real world. It
means more independence. You
leave your securities behind. I’m
excited because I don’t have to go
to class and because it’s an
adventure.”
John Wolford, Junior^ “ I’m
not scared because I have my
mind set on what I want to do,
teach, and if you want something
bad enough you can get it. It’s
just a matter of who wants it
more.”
Brenda Pavlik, Senior: “ I’d
feel a lot better about it if I knew
what I was doing after graduation.
It’s exciting, just kind of scary.”
Compiled by Tonya Hubart
hubat2d0 @ numen.elon.edu