April 23,1998
Viewpoint
Every week a dedicated staff of eight editors and 15 reporters do
their best to cover the news and events of the Elon College campus.
Tliat’s a grand total of 23 people (plus orminus a few depending on
the week) covering the lives and events of 3500 students, plus faculty
and staff.
Every week we work over 120 hours (and that’s just the editors!)
to put together the best newspaper we can. And what thanks do we get?
Very little, as far as we can tell.
Every week we sit in class and listen to professors and students
complain about the lack of quality and coverage in The Pendulum,
People complain that we don’t cover their organization or that we
cover some organizations too much. They wonder why we don’t discuss
politics, or cover every organization in every issue.
Professors want to know why we don’t feature every department in
every issue. And there is always the constant demand for The Pendulum
to be controversial.
In response to all of our “loyal” readers, all we have to say is... KISS
OURS!
For starters, The Pendulum is not a organizational or departmental
newsletter... it is a newspaper. The purpose of a newspaper is to report
newsworthy and important events of a general interest and to entertain
its readers.
Second, it is not our job as a newspaper to cause controversy — it
is instead our job to report the existing controversies on campus.
Which brings us to another topic. We are only 23 people. We can
not know what happens in every classroom, in every organisation and
at every meeting. We are only a microcosm of the Elon College
population and we do what we can.
We canU read minds and we don’t know everything that happens
on campus — we will be the first to admit to that.
If you think we aren’t covering something that we should* join the
staff and make sure it gets coverage. If you know of a controversy or
feel a topic is important to the cominunity, tel! us and we will report it.
The Pendulum office is located in Moseley 233, There is one issue
left this year and you are all welcome to help us with it.
* The Pendulum editorial staff
Pendulum
Informing the Elon College Community
Editor in Chief
Michelle Cater
News Editor
Julie Koch
Features Editor
Giselle Pole
Sports Editor
Cnrissie Taylor
A & E Editor
Erik Akelaitis
Opinions Editor
Carrie Lancos
Photo Editor
Jenny Jamecke
Online Editor
Jeff Sanders
Advertising Manager
Cathy WoeRiel
Office Manager
Melissa Pasternack
Adviser
Byung Lee
Art Director
Andrew Brickey
Reporters
Leann Alfred
Lauren Bigge
Kendal Guinn
Patrick Donovan
Carolyn Lampila
Adrienne Lorusso
Andrea Stoffer
Sports Reporters
Trojj Adams
Kevin Lewis
Chris Marge
A & E Reporters
Brie Bittenbender
Jonathon Jackson
Katisha Hayes
Jada Moore
Photogrwhers
Bethany Beaman
Crystal Pape
Emily MacDonnell
Advertising
Andy Dietnch
Columnists
Rich Blomquist
Jason Dennis
Andrew Hludzenski
Ethan Pell
John Turlington
The Pendulum^ founded
in 1974, is published by
Elon students.
Address all
correspondence to:
The Pendulum
7012 Campus Box
Elon College, N.C.
27244..
Phone: (336) 584-2331
Fax: (336) 584-2467
E-mail:
penduhim@numenelQnLedu
Web page:
http://www.elon.edu/
users/o/pendulum
Opinions
Alcatraz College vs. the Real World
John Turlington
Pendulum Columnist
turlj7r0@numen.elon.edu
Lately I have been thinking
about all the seniors who will be
graduating in a month.
Some will begin working,
some will continue their education
and some will move home so they
can sit on the couch and wonder why
“Ryan ’ s Hope” ever went off the air.
Either way, the matter that
concerns me is the group of college
upperclassmen who can’t wait to get
out of here.
There are people among us
who think Elon is like Alcatraz and
they are prepared to jump into the
choppy, shark-infested waters of the
real world, no matter the cost.
I argue that these same people
are the ones who think Jerry Springer
is quality programming.
Why anyone would ever want
to leave this fantasy world called
college I’ll never know.
Just think how sweet of a deal
you have. You are constantly sur
rounded by friends, have infinite
opportunities to have fun, relax, get
involved and maybe learn a thing or
two along the way.
Where else do you think that
you can find all of these treasures?
Outside school? You obviously have
inhaled too much of the library’s
asbestos.
Just think, everyone is
friendly and there are people who
will bend over backwards to help
you. Do you think that these re
sources will be available to you in
the real world? Shaaa!
“But John,” you say, “I’m
just so damn tired of being in this
place; I think I’ll be happier in the
real world.”
Think again, partner. If you
really have a hankering for 80 hour
work weeks, business suits and
think that serfdom is a pretty cool
concept, maybe it is for you.
But for the rest of us, this
leaves the bitter taste in our mouth
of a 24-hour all-Wham! station.
So why not stay in school for
absolutely as long as possible and
exist in this Biosphere of non-real
ity?
Then, God forbid, you gradu
ate, back to school you should go.
Graduate school, law school,
it really doesn’t matter as long as
the word “school” is in the title, and
it is located on some campus.
School life has been pretty
good to me for many years now, so
why would I want to make any
drastic changes. It would be like
taking B.A. Baracus off of the A-
Team; it would be doomed from
the start.
So after graduation, it is my
sound advice that you get a master’s,
or some other degree. The actual
degree is of little consequence, for
as long as you maintain your
lifestyle, all is kosher.
The next phase is a Ph.D., Not
only does this step require more
schooling, but anyone with a Dr,
attached to their name becomes in
stantly cooler, and thus gets more
chicks.
Anyway, it is at this point when
you can go no further in school and
you are in the 30ish range that you
are possibly ready to leave the school
environment.
However, there are those
among us who have never been able
to bridge the gap and make a suc
cessful transition; these folk are
called college professors.
These people have made the
clearly correct decision to stay in
school forever. Still, it will only be
the cream of the crop who attain this
Valhalla.
For the rest of us who dare to
dream and hope tha^this fate will lie
on our path, buck up, for time will
tell.
It is the seniors who have to
dive in head first, and hope that
there will be a lifeboat waiting for
them.
So good luck, and remember,
there will always be room for one
more on Alcatraz.
The Ideal Class
If you could create your ideal class at Elon, what would it be?
Kim Johnson, freshman:
How to be a good citizen. You
don’t really learn how to do that
otherwise.
Ebon C. Freeman, sopho
more: The class would be an open
forum and discussion where the
administration and students could
meet. All ofourquestions could be
answered and all of our ideas could
be heard. We would be able to
dicuss things like what the percep
tion of Elon is, how we^uld change
it and how we could make it better.
Myk Lunney, sophomore:
The ideal class would be where all
the students interact and partici
pate and really create their own
education. They tell the professor
what they’d really like to learn and
the professor fulfills that for them.
I guess the ideal class would be one
in which the students actually give
a care.
Melissa Anderson, fresh
man: How about a class where you
watch episodes of “Seinfeld” and
analyze them?
Jamie Crotts, senior: How
about Elon 201: How to avoid sprin-
klers, ducks, squirrels and
lawnmowers.
Amber Huening, fresh
man: How about a nap class? If I
had a class on sleep, I would love it,
because I’m a really good sleeper.
I consider myself a professional on
sleep and I think I would get all
“A”s! Either that or a class on
quilting. |