Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 5, 1998, edition 1 / Page 7
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Letters November 5,1998 SGA senator encourages change To the Editor: I am addressing this letter to the entire student body of Elon College in reference to the work of the Student Government Associa tion (SGA). The SGA has been hard at work this semester looking for ways in which we can improve the college’s campus and policies. I think we would probably all agree that Elon College is a fine institution of higher learning, but there are still areas of improvement to be made in the fine tuning of policies, procedures and facilities. So far this year, the SGA has passed a resolution to move the weekly meeting time from 5:15 p.m. on Thursdays to 7:15 p.m. on Thursdays (effective February 1, 1999). This is a time in which few, if any, classes are offered, so that no student will not be able to run for an elected office in fear of conflicts with their class schedules. Also, the SGA has passed their first resolutions to the college administration in nearly four years. These resolutions, approved in the SGA Senate for further con sideration by the college adminis tration, include the creation of an other reading day in addition to the one reading day which is currently in place, a request for the college to install and maintain clocks in all classrooms and dining facilities and a request to keep the R.N. Ellington Health Center conveniently located in the heart of campus for easy access by all students. Hopefully, these resolutions signal the start of something great at this institution, an active voice by the students and the student govern ment in matters which directly af fect us. If you see an area of this college’s campus or academic and social programming which you feel needs to be revised or changed, I strongly urge you to bring it before the student government or a repre sentative of the student govern ment. We are there to lend an ear and see to it that your point and voice are heard. After all, the motto on our T-shirt reads: “We Work For You!” As a senator of the SGA, I highly encourage and invite any one who has a suggestion for change to e-mail me at the address listed below. I will be sure to respond to you as efficiently as I can and hope fully bring about the change or concern which you request. Sincerely, Jim Crotts crotj6d0@elon.edu Casual friendliness lacking at Elon To the Editor: It struck me early in this se- niester as I was walking on campus that few students who passed me on the walk either looked at me, smiled , at me or spoke to me. Since that awareness, I have been conducting my own private survey about casual campus greet ings or lack thereof. I am truly disappointed in what appears to me to be a general lack of friendliness On the walkways and in the halls of Elon College this fall. This is my twenty-third year as a professor at Elon. This is the first time I have noticed this appar ent indifference and non-respon siveness of students who pass me on campus. What is going on here? We are a community. In fact, we are a very special community supposedly known for our friendliness! This is very unlike the campus atmosphere I have experienced at Elon in the past and I don’t like it. So, I thought I would say a word about my concern to our en tire community via The Pendulum and encourage everyone to notice when we pass each other on the walk, even if we don’t know each other! Let us at least acknowledge our fellow community members with a smile, a wave or friendly word to let them know that we know they are there when we pass them. This tradition of friendly cam pus greetings is too precious to al low to disappear without a protest! So this is my protest! Sincerely, Carol F. Chase Professor of Religious Studies Americans should discuss, question bombings To the Editor: “Being an American means never having to say you are sorry,” Kurt Vonnegut said in the Sixties. Today it is the same. Without notice, on August 20, the U.S. bombed sites in two coun tries to control Osama bin Laden, whom we supported as a freedom fighter in the ‘80s. Little outrage or discussion follows, despite the fol lowing: 1. Congress no longer has warmaking powers because these U.S. style terrorist strikes evade our definition of war. Vengeance— with its fleeting emotional satisfac tion and tough image—seems the driving force. 2. American due process was suspended. The New York Times reports that six people decided to bomb on meager evidence. The “weapons factory” in Sudan is, upon further research, a pharmaceutical plant. 3. The action contradicts stated principles. “We must show people they have everything to gain by embracing cooperation and re nouncing violence,” President Clinton tells a dubious U.N. audi ence on September 21. 4. Important information is still missing: number of innocent people killed, resources destroyed, evidence of deterrence, increased risk of terrorism against the U.S., non-violent alternatives considered. We are informed of the bombings, but not much more. The White House is not pressed to explain the bombs’ ac complishments. Maybe they know: Americans don’t want Americans to die, but we will ignore quick strikes against countries with people of non-European appearance. If voters and Congress ask no further questions, a better foreign policy is unlikely. Sincerely, Anne Cassebaum English Department Mad About Write a Letter to the Editor Drop off tetters at The Pendulum office (room 233, Moseley Center) by noon Monday or mall them to 7012 Campus Box. You must include your name and phone number. Library cubicles offer priceless pieces of Greek, non-Greek prose Jessica Jusseaume Guest Columnist Holly loves sex. For a good time call... My fraternity rocks. Vourfratemity sucks. Tommy likes farm animals. These are some of the price less pieces of prose my eyes fell Onto as I sat down at a cubicle/desk/ box on the second floor of McEwen Library one Thursday night. All around me were sexual innuendoes, pointless put-downs and phone numbers with names and abilities (if you know what I mean) attaqhpd* ■ ^ i*' Enthralled, I sat reading this colorful graffiti and noticed a com mon theme: Greeks. It seems these library cubicles provide some sort of outlet for the Greeks on campus to talk about each other and say why “my frater nity rocks and your fraternity sucks.” Sororities also appear to play the game, writing such profound statements as, “Alpha Omicron Pi is the bestest,” and “Sigma Sigma Sigmas always get asked out.” Do I care? No! The only thing that I care about is that school property has been defaced in the that I can’t concentrate because of all the crap surrounding me. I am sure that most members of Elon’s fraternities and sororities probably don’t contribute to Greek graffiti. And I know many non-Greeks do their part in this defacement of school property, too. For example, this poem is forever engraved into a cubicle wall: “Herd mentality. Bleating sheep. No identity? Just go Greek!” This person is obviously not Greek.- :. And how about this one? “No frats are better than any others, they all suck equally.” Again, not Greek. However, the majority of the scribbles that surrounded me were screaming “fraternity” or “soror ity” so loudly, I got a headache that had “Greek” written all over it. So what exactly is the fasci nation with graffiti? Is this the only way to leave your mark on campus? Of course not. Join a club, make a donation, get a life. Also, are these fraternities and sororities so insecure that they have rto bq-poi?ce;;.nq4 ^b^utiapd respond to the negativity on the wall? The written comment: “ZTAs are conceited bitches.” The written response: “You’re just jealous because you don’t have anything to be conceited about.” You’re both wrong. Not all ZTAs are bitches and I don’t want to be conceited about anything. Finally and on a happier note, I did find one piece of graffiti that I actually liked. There was a picture of a happy-faced sun and next to it was scribbled, “A sunshine for your day!”^Pow,refFeshingi! »,i ^ ^
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Nov. 5, 1998, edition 1
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