2 February 18, 1998 OpilliOnS
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Elections: Hurwitt endorses...
Pendulum-SGA consortium
Spring is in the air, the grass gets its fresh coat of paint, the
flowers are replanted weekly and.., what was that other thing?
Oh yeah, how could I forget about all those SGA candidates
running around like monkeys, trying to make sure their fat, jovial faces
gel onto every page of our beloved Pen^/M/MW? Why do they bother? As
far as we can guess the only reason for SGA’s existence is to fill up our
empty pages.
Everyone knows SGA is a secret elite organization hell-bent
upon never having a clue as to the wants and needs of real students. Sure,
occasionally one of our editors gets lucky.,, and cons our local SGA
informant, The Pendulum’s own private Deep TTiroat, into writing a
column and revealing a secret here and there.
Those vile SGA fiends have even brainwashed our beloved Editor
in Chief into extending their deadline. This ‘'Super-Secret SGA Dead
line” comes about 24 hours or so after my deadline. Figures,
We were fine with this quiet, darkroon^-worthy consortium. Tlie
SGk-Pendulum relationship has long been a symbiotic one> SGA uses us
for our women and our free publicity and we. wait, we don’t get anything
out of this, or at least most of us don’t. Some relationship this is.
Seriously, our neighborly relationship has been a good one.
However, this alliance has been under considerable stress as of late due
to the massive influx of flocking SGA-liens,
Yes, you know who 1 am talking sdjout. “Hi my name i$
You have no clue who I am or what I stand for> but will you sign my sheet
so I can run your life from behind a curtain like ‘The Wizard of Ost’?”
This year» thanks to the ever benevolent editorial here at The
things are different ' .
Now they can come up to you naive, unsuspecting littie innocents
like the vultures they are and say something along the lines of; “Hi, my
name is . You remember me from page such-and-such of The
Pendulum Isstw&i&kT
“Yeah, great, now sign my sheet or you will suffer the conse^
quences because Big Brother SGA is watching you.”
• Chris Rash Opinions Editor
Informing the Elon College Community
Ek]itor in Chief
Carrie Lancos
Managing Editor
Sarah Voss
News Editor
Alan Medeiros
Opinions Editor
Chris Rash
Focus Editor
Chuck Buckley
A & E Editor
Lisa McChristian
Sports Editor
Troy Adams
Asst. Sports Editor
Chrissie Taylor
Photo Editor
Emily MacDonnell
Business Manager
Courtney Henson
Advertising Manager
Katie Sullivan
OfHce Manager
Carolyn Lampila
Adviser
Byung Lee
Reporters
Lauren Bigge
Marie Blackett
Katie Bonebrake
Ashley Brown
Stefanie Fox
Suzanne George
Johannah Lawrence
Letitia Lee
Bree Myers
Josh Phoebus
Tammy Tripp
Jessica Vitak
Photographers
Megan Anderson
Jen McCort
Crystal Pape
Knsty Wolfgang
Columnists
Brie Bittenbender
Rich Blomquist
Chris Knight
Ethan Pelf
Anna Thysell
Copy Editor
Eric Ramos
Online Editor
Jeff Sanders
Asst. Online
Editor
Bill Monken
The purpose of The
Pendulum shall be to inform
and entertain the Elon College
community. The Pendulum
shall be a forum where all
members of the college
community are able to express
their ideas and opinions.
Address all
correspondence to:
The Pendulum
7012 Campus Box
Elon College, N.C.
112AA.
Phone: (336) 584-2331
Fax: (336) 584-2467
E-mail:
pendulum @ elon.edu
Web page:
http://v»'ww.eion.edu/
pendulum
Well, it appears that my last
column went over so well that I’ve
been invited back.
This week’s topic, boys and
girls, is the SGA Elections happen
ing on a campus near you Feb. 22
and 23.
Now I could use this opportu
nity to tell you how important it is to
vote, to participate, etc., but hey,
you’ve heard it all before.
I would like to take this op
portunity to express my respect for
all of the candidates running for
positions in SGA at all levels and
classes. After all, it does take guts
to put your name out there as a
candidate, to set yourself up for
criticism and the possibility of de
feat. Most people bitch and moan.
Few put themselves on the line.
These folks have courage.
Now, I turn my attention to
you, the voting public. I’ll be the
first to admit that until I joined SGA
two years ago, I did not know or
care about our student government.
Sure, I’d vote in the elections, usu
ally for the people that I knew, but
that was the extent of my participa
tion.
Now, if all you want to do is
cast your vote, I respect that deci
sion. I do ask, however, that you do
more than I did my first two years.
Do some research. Don’t just
vote for your friends, or who you
think is hot or by using a Guija
board. Find out about these candi
dates and what they want to do with
your SGA.
If you see one of these people
walking around with buttons on,
ask them why they or their
candidate deserves your
vote.
If one of those
Eric Hurwitt
Guest Columnist
hurwe5c0@elon.edu
friendly candidates accosts
you on your way into
Moseley Center, don’t run
away from them. Hey, if
they ’ re going to bother you,
bother them back. Chal
lenge them to explain why they are
the best person for the job.
Some other helpful hints from
Hurwitt’s Guide to the 1999 SGA
Elections:
• Don’t believe any B.S. cam
paign promises about expanding
ESTV off-campus, getting the cops
off your back, paying back your
student loans or reinventing the
wheel. You get the point.
• If a candidate does make a
promise, ask them how they plan to
make it happen. Hey, we would all
like to pay less tuition, but how is
this candidate going to make that
happen?
• A little hint: They can’t!
• Take the election seriously
and demand results from the candi
dates. How many of you realize
that SGA executive officers receive
a $200 month stipend. That’s
right... they get
paid!
• Don’t talk
stuff about a candi
date behind their
back. After all, you
should have plenty
of opportunities to
do so to their face.
•Don’t com
plain if you don’t
vote. Sorry, I had to
include one admo
nition. (That one
was for you Dr. Zarzar)
• Congratulate every candi
date whether they win or lose. There
is a good chance that some quality
people won’t be elected into office
Hey that’s politics.
• If you get the chance, thank
the outgoing members of SGA for
their hard work. As any member of
SGA can tell you, there is a lot more
to the job then an hourly weekly
meeting. Who knew that the Elon
College campus might be the last
bastion of true public service?
• One more thing. Vote for
#$&©!!%#. This person is defi
nitely the best person for the job.
Sorority Rush
How do you feel about the current sorority rush
process?
Lynn Chheang, freshman:
I think it was really well orga
nized. The older members did a
really good job in their prepara
tion. I felt that the adding of an
additional round helped the pro
cess along. The Rho Chi’s were
always there to help.
Marianne Smith, sopho
more: It’s a lot different being on
the other side this year. The re
wards have really been worth it.
John Macleod, sophomore:
It’s kind of stupid to have to pay all
that money for a group of friends
when you have no choice as to its
members.
Amber McCafferty, fresh
man; I really enjoyed the whole
experience. All the girls where
nice and did a great job of coordi
nating things. All in all I’d say I
had a lot of fun.
Shaw Hargett, freshman: I
think it’s stupid. It misrepresents
the Elon College environment as a
whole.
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