Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / April 8, 1999, edition 1 / Page 2
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April 8, 1999 'Viewvomt Over the last few weeks The Pendulum has recieved a lot of mai concerning the quality or lack thereof in the paper. Complaints have been made over the absence of professionalism by the staff and the paper has been called uninteresting and insipid. No matter what the letters are saying, the point is this: If there are that many people talking, then we must be doing something wrong* The question is, *‘What?^’ I could take the standard line of “If you don’t like what we're doing, you come up here and write for us.” But I’m not going to say that, and I hopethatl never will. It's notyourjobas the audience to get involved with the paper. It’s our job as a campus media, paid by your tuition, to acknowledge and respect your wishes; What is the purpose of this paper? Is it, as we say on the frontpage, to inform the Elon College community or is the paper merely a way for students to get journalism experience? Or both? Should the paper try to be controversial, does it need to be funny? If it does then howmuch is too much, and have we already crossed that line? We, the staff of the paper, can only tell you what we want to put in the paper, but since we can never read a single issue objectively then it is up to you to point out or shortcomings and send us in the right direction. The problem is that there are so many of you out there, all with different expectations for the paper. Some would like us to be on the level with USA Today, with use of only wire stories. Others would have us be nothing more than twenty pages of opinions columns and sports. We wish we could satisfy everybody, but we can’t* For every criticism I have leard, there is a compliment for the same thing. This is a school of more than thirty-five hundred people. We have to try to satisfy all of them* That is impossible. We are going to try and satisfy most of them. That is also impossible, unless we find out what you want us to do. That brings to the real reason for this viewpoint. For the next two Thursdays, the day the paper comes out^ April 8th and April 15th from 10 a.m. to 2 p,m. I will be sitting right outside the mailroom, I want each and eveiy one of you readers to come by and tell me exacdy what you want out of your student newspaper* The Pendulum is committed to being the best that and can be* I want every student at Elon College to look sHThe Pendulum and say “That’s my newspaper*’’ Chuck Buckley Focus Editor Informing the Elon College Community Editor in Chief Carrie Lancos Managing Editor Sarah Voss News Editor Alan Medeiros Opinions Editor Chris Rash Focus Editors Chuck Buckley Tammy Tripp A & £ Editor Lisa McChristian Sports Editor Troy Adams Photo Editor Emily MacDonnell Business Manager Jenna Denton Office Manager Carolyn Lampila Online Editor Jeff Sanders Asst. Online Editor Bill Monken Reporters Jeff Angel Lauren Bigge Marie Blackett Ashley Brown Zac Busby Patrick Collins Josh Cotter Stefanie Fox Johannah Lawrence Tom Mullen Natalie Ordine Josh Phoebus Jamie Richey Jessica Vitak Photographers Megan Anderson Jen McCort Crystal Pape Knsty Wolfgang Columnists Brie Bittenbender Rich Blomquist Chris Knight Ethan Pelf Copy Editor Eric Ramos Adviser Byung Lee. 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. 27244. Phone: (336) 584-2331 Fax: (336) 584-2467 E-mail: pendulum@elon.edu Web page: http://www.elon.edu/ pendulum Gould brings nap time to Elon I’vebeen writing columns for this fine publication since Novem ber and I have never had the occa sion to bitch. Sure, there have been things and people that have bothered me, but nothing strong enough to air in public. That all changed Tuesday. For those of you who had the unfortunate experience of attend ing convocation to listen to Dr. Stephen Gould, you know exactly where I’m coming from. While I am quite certain Dr. Gould has made important contri butions to various fields of science, the fact remains that I could have found a more moving and motivat ing speaker at Williams Senior High School. Dr. Gould’s soon-to-be-pub- lished book is the common reader for next year. Even in academia the old-boy attitudes still prevail, but goodwill towards a Harvard wind bag at the expense of the students is flat-out wrong. During the opening remarks, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees Gail Drew commented that this evening was for the students. If the evening was for the students, then I ask the rhetorical question: “Why the hell was everyone rush ing for the door?” Was it that there was free beer in the President’s of fice, or was it that everyone needed to wake up? Leo is a great guy, and a man I respect highly, but he will never be that high on the “cool meter.” It could only be the latter then. I noticed the dirty looks given by the faculty in attendance to those students who walked out early. At first I felt the same disdain that was shown by the faculty, but by the end of the speech, I not only sympathized with those who were walking out the door, I wanted to join them. Many of the great Alan Medeiros The Pendulum Slick51966@aol.com researchers of our time are not great teachers. They treat teaching as a burden. It is for this reason that many of us attend Elon, a place where the emphasis is on teaching, and not on how many times a fac ulty member has been published. To hell with those who write for a living. They are writers, not speakers. If I want to find out about the current thought on gay and les bian studies. I’ll read a book by a member of the Duke University English Department. Some of you reading this ar ticle may be inclined to go and listen to a speech from an English professor at Duke. Thats fine. It doesn’t mean that I or anyone else want to sit through it with you. While the powers-that-be here at Elon College would never give this idea any serious thought, I would like to propose next year’s convo cation speaker. Nancy Reagan would not only be able to educate us through her .experiences, she would challenge us to better ourselves in a language that we can understand I and relate to. Dr. Maher I and others that may be involved in the selection of the speaker for next year, I challenge I you. I will be attending next year’s convocation, and my challenge to you is this: Bring in someone who will hold our interest. I understand that Nancy Reagan is out of the question, and you will probably want to bring in a fellow academic. That’s fine. I don’t care if they teach at Alamance Community College, Just bring us someone who will hold our interest long enough to keep us in our seats. An added bonus would be someone who can inspire discussion other than ‘ ‘Didn ’ t that suck?” The Pendulum If you could change any one thing about The Pendulum, what would it be and why? Michael Hazel, sopho more: Supplement The Pendulum with a “This Week in the World” section to inform readers of the events occuring outside Elon both domestically and internationally. Chris Rash, freshman: I would ban Speaking Of,., I hate doing it and I really don’t think many students read it and/or care if it remains. Perhaps we could re place it with something more inter esting, I am open to ideas, please call The Pendulum at extension 2331 or leave a note in Campus Box 7012. Janelle Dunn, sophomore: The Pendulum disappoints me every week. There are always spelling mistakes and errors. I guess I’d just like The Pendulum to actually be a college level news paper.
Elon University Student Newspaper
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April 8, 1999, edition 1
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