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February 19,1998
Editorials
Viewpoint
As most of you aware, Student Govermneiit Association
elections are here once again. Soon it wili be time to say goodbye to fte
qiorentSGAofficers and welcome in the new crew; however, before
that time comes Elon must become aware of how important their vote
is to the organization.
The SGA funds our organizations, organises events such as
Homecoming and last fairs alcohol forums and continually represents
our school; however, last year only about one-sixth of the Elon College
student body cast iu votes for^eir new executive committee and class
officers.
If you glanced at the front page, you will have noticed that the
current SGA executive committee, along with SGA adviser Barb
Carlton, decided to postpone the SGA elections. Hie reason the
elections were postponed — nobody was running contested.
Do we really want one of the only voices we, the students, have
on campus to be run by peq)le who won by default? We know that
many of thecandidates, for exanQ)le SGA Executive Presdent cnadidate
Mark Kichter* are very qualifiei but shouldn’t we at least m^e sure
there's a little competiion and make sure the best people are truly
rqwesenting us.
If ^ issue is th^most students do not care about these elections
then something is very wrongs
Most students complain tfjat they do not have a say in tl» future
of thetr school and yet then ignore an opportunity to make a
decision concseniing the futore of Elon. Our SGA rej«esentatlves have
a voic« fliat few students ever really get. But we need to choose who* s
going to speak for us. If we don’t do it now, why are we going to do it
after we*ve left the btU)ble of Elon and entered the ‘‘real worid.”
If yHi voted last year or are planning to vote this year, good for
you* Because of your vote> Ashton, len, Mark and KeilU represented
and served us well. You can honestly say that you did your part
However, for those of you who will choose to ignore fee
upcoming elections, you are throwing away your right to exercise your
opinions concerning student affairs at Elon.
So as you are dashing by the voting table next week, don’tforget
to |uickly fill out a ballot you’ll diank yourself later.
The Pendulum editorial staff
A
mI
THE
Pendulum
Informing the Elon College Community
Editor in Chief
Michelle Cater
News Editor
Julie Koch
Features Editor
Giselle Pole
^orts Editor
Cnrissie Taylor
A & E Editor
Chuck Buckley
Opinions Editor
Carrie Lancos
Photo Editor
Jenny Jamecke
Online Elditor
Jeff Sanders
Advertising Manager
Cathy Woelfel
Office Manager
Melissa Pasternack
Adviser
Byung Lee
Art Director
Andrew Brickey
Reporters
Le^n Alfred
Lauren Bigge
Jason Dennis
Patrick Donovan
Carolyn Lampiia
Andrea Stoffer
Sports Reporters
William Bartley
Kevin Lewis
A & E Reporter
Erik Akelaitis
Brian Ashmore
Laura Foxx
Katisha Hayes
Jada Moore
Phoitographers
Bethany Beaman
Maggie McKelvey
Crystal Pape
Emily MacDonnell
Advertising
Andy Dietnch
Columnists
Rich Blomquist
Andrew Hludzenski
Ethan Pell
The Pendulum, founded
in 1974, is published by
Elon students.
Address all
correspcndence to:
The Pendulum
7012 Campus Box
Elon College, N.C.
27244.
Phone: (336) 584-2331
Fax: (336) 584-2467
E-mail:
penduhmi@m]mendk)nuedu
Web page:
http://www.elon.edu/
users/o/pendulum
El Nino: More rain, more insanity
The weather phenomenon runs amok at Elon
There is something magical
about the Weather Channel.
The steely-eyed composure of
the anchors as they elegantly sweep
their hands across the breadth of the
United States in an attempt to de
scribe to us puny mortals the maj
esty of the latest low pressure sys
tem to ravage the Pacific Northwest
and the soothing strains of theMusak
that accompanies the local forecast
are enough to make you consider a
switch to a meterology major.
Well, okay, so maybe you’ll
stick to a business major. Neverthe
less, the Weather Channel is still
pretty fun to watch on Sunday after
noons when you are still in your
pajamas, there’s nothing to eat but
whatever is left in that month-old
box of Lucky Charms and “Xena:
Warrior Princess” won’t be on for
another hour.
I will be the first to admit that I
do occasionally partake in the guilty
pleasure of watching atmospheric
disturbances run amok. After a long
day of classes and homework, it can
be kind of fun and, dare I say it,
relaxing to watch a tornado hauling
serious weather phenomena butt
across the Midwest. It sort of puts
the day in perspective.
The only downside to watching
the Weather Channel so frequently
is the fact that you very quickly
develop a complex. Precipitation
paranoia and isobar insomnia not
withstanding, by far the worst con
dition is Elninophobia.
As my beloved Weather Chan
nel has taught me well, I will share
a little background about the
evil El Nino.
Carrie Lancos
Opinions Editor
Iancc7a0@numen.elon.edu
El Nino is also known
as El Nino-Southem Oscil
lation, which is a fancy way
of saying “ hot water make the air
all funny.”
A dwindling or reversal or
trade winds occurs during an El
Nino, which means winds at the
equator blow from west to east As
the winds carry warmer water from
the tropical regions of the Pacific
Ocean to the western coasts of
North and South America, the re
sult is increased rainfall and flood
ing (sound familiar?) in the Ameri
cas, drought in Indonesia and Aus
tralia, a jet stream gone haywire,
major snafus in global weather
patterns and enough atmospheric
wackiness to scare the bejesus out
of Willard Scott.
Whew! Didn’t think you’d
learn anything by reading the edi
torial page, did you?
In addition to the meteorologi
cal mayhem instigated by El Nino,
there is a corresponding insanity in
the human population of Mother
Earth as well.
Perhaps it is all the
rain that was dumped on
Elon over the past two
months. Or maybe it is
the irritation of a vitamin
D deficiency due to Mr,
Sun’s month-and-a-half
sabbatical.
Whatever the reason,
the face of the stalwart stu
dent as he or she strides bravely
through the brick canals of scenic
Lake Elon College is looking in
creasingly maniacal. The fault of
the Machiavellian meteorologic
misfit El Nino? Judge for yourself.
Take last weekend for example:
Friday the 13th followed by
Valentine’s Day? That sort of curse
on the human race (particularly the
singles) can only be the handiwork
of a diabolical oceanic warming pat
tern, and probably one that is in
league with the good people at Hall
mark Cards.
Never fear, oh waterlogged
readers. The Weather Channel says
that El Nino should spin itself out
by the summer, and a channel that
plays Musak won’t lie.
Student Government
What do you think is the reason for Elon students'
lack of participation in student government?
Erin McEwan, sophomore:
I don’t think people really know
what SGA does for Elon and does
for the students. I don’t think they
realize the impact that it has on the
students themselves and that’s why
people don’t go out to elect the
SGA or want to run.
Julie Paynter, freshman:
Probably because students don’t
think they can make that much of a
difference and they don’t care.
There’s a lot of apathy.
Don Cambell, freshman: I
think the reason why people don’t
get involved in SGA is because no
one actually sees what SGA does.
I don’t think they do a good job of
publicizing any of the good that
they do on campus. They do a lot
within their organization, but I
don’t think anybody on campus
gets to hear about the good or the
bad that they do, and so therefore
no one wants to become a part of
that organization.
Austin Thomas, senior:
People are not into politics. Maybe
they will be interested in politics
later on, but right now in college
people just aren’t that interested.
April Hagins, sophomore:
It’s not like the people who are in
SGA have any say in anything. I
don’t feel that student government
bodies have any say in anything
that happens, so what’s the point
of getting involved? Also, I don’t
care about politics anyway.
Charlie Cooper, freshman:
People are just so seperated from
politics. Through the media and
whatnot over the course of the years
politics in general have been given
a bad rap. People get disassoci
ated from politics, no one wants to
get involved.' Plus, most of us have
no idea what’s going on with SGA
anyway.