Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Sept. 23, 1999, edition 1 / Page 3
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Opinions September 23,1999 0 Sellout column video: Coming soon In the music business, it’s the one thing that fame and fortune seem to lead to, but it is not some thing that a musician wants to be labeled as. These are the trials and tribulations of a sellout. The last great sellout was a man by the name of Kurt Cobain. Kurt not only was a musician, the frontman for Nirvana; he led a revo lution in music. He created a new mainstay, became sickeningly rich, and married a much less talented wife. Yet with all this, Kurt was unhappy because labeled a sellout and couldn’t take the pressures of fame. He ended up killing him self. .. happily ever after. Before the early 90’s and the birth of grunge, not many people heard of the phrase “sellout.” The think about Kurt is that he genu inely didn’t like being a sellout, one could even say it killed him. I wonder sometimes, had Kurt not been so bitter when it came to his fame and being called a sellout, would the term be so ugly? Regardless, it can’t be changed. The term is as desirable as herpes on a hot summer day. If your goal is to break the norm and lavish in the Ethan Pell The Pendulum pelle6s0@elon.edu lifestyle of a sellout, here’s a few ways you can make it happed quickly. #1; Sign with a major record label. No body likes Capitol, Sony, or Geffen. If you have your music distributed by any of these people, it’s no longer music; it’s corporate music. Damn the man. #2: Have a music video on MTV. If you really want people to notice you’re a sellout, make sure the video has little or nothing to do with the song. Re place that feeling with state-of-the- art, ultra-expen sive computer special effects. Look what it did for Busta Rhymes’ “What’s It Gonna Be?”! Please e-mail me ifyou have an idea what him and Janet Jackson looking like the T2 cop has to do with the song. #3:Base your album or song around not selling out. Take Kid Rock for example. I love his album as much as the next guy, but he talks /A Time to wire the best dorms on campus To the Editor: Ask anyone in the Elon ad ministration about wiring of dorms and they would say, “Well, Elon is making strides to wire all of its dorms. As of now, 85% of our dorms are wired.” Yes, the Elon administration is celebrating that 85%, but let’s look at the 15% of dorms that have not been wired - hence Jordan Center and the Greek Courts. For those of you that don’t know, being “wired” is having the privilege of a direct, high speed internet access right in your room. If you are in the lucky 85% that are wired, congratulations. You can actually have someone call you on the phone while you’re surfing the net. You and your roommate can be on the net at the same time. Isn’t technology wonderful? Yes, but what about us in JC? In theory, we are stuck in the dark ages. For example, when your parents caU for afamily emergency, and you’re on the net doing re search, they can’t get through. I’m not saying that Jordan Center is a dump. Actually I’m a CDC in Jordan Center. I love the dorm and its residents. I think JC is the best dorm on campus! Also, the Greek Courts are some of the nicest places to live on campus. But, as residents of the 15%, we shouldn’t take this lying down. When you think about it, there are over 200 people living in JC, and an additional 100 or so that live in the Greek Courts. If we actually signed peti tions and worked together, we can get JC wired by Winter Term. Let’s put it this way, people - when people talk, Leo (Lambert) will listen. Don’t be content with what the Adminstration tells you. Don’t feel that you should be forced to “dial out” on a slow internet con nection (while clogging up your phone line), when 85% of campus is not! Don’t say, “Well were in the ghetto and they just do that to people out here.” Come on, people, giving up is not enough. But, if you like waiting around for your roommate to get off the phone to use the internet, or if you love slow internet connections, then don’t speak up. But for those of you who are pissed off, it’s time to fight! Sincerely, Winston Ford Meat laws could be beefed up To the Editor: I love Rich Blomquist and his writing, but he couldn’t be more wrong about our state’s food safety laws. My mother died of an E.Coli infection just over a year ago. Rich makes it sound like you have to have AIDS for E.Coli to threaten you. In fact, all you need to be is very young or old - and that encom passes a quarter of the population. Furthermore, death from E.Coli in fection is an excruciating, unnecassary way to die. With enforcement of existing laws (which rarely occurs in the meat industry), death by E.Coli in fection could be reduced signifi cantly. But the last thing we want to do is facilitate the spread of a killer disease by weakening those laws. Personally, I urge everyone to write to those addresses that Rich gave you, and urge more rigorous regu lation of the meat industry. No one should have to suffer through what happened to my mom, and to thou sands of others every year. Sincerdy, John Duvall about not selling out so much, he sells out by default. This strategy also worked for Reel Big Fish, but in a reverse sarcastic way. Their single, aptly named“ Sellout,” helped put them on the Billboard charts. Be wary, this doesn’t change the fact that their music still sucks. #4:Tour with the likes of Brit tany Spears, play the Lollapalooza’s, and play only big outdoor amphitheaters. When one is too good to play bars or tour with people just as unknown as them selves, you are already a sellout. This usually follows rules 1, 2 and 3. Honestly, all the rules above are my own sarcastic stereotypes. It’s all personal opinion as to what a sellout is. Be logical, it is the goal and dream of most musicians to be rich and famous, so why is it such a crime when they reach that level? Maybe it has to do with the fans feeling like the band is above them, no longer true to themselves. I had a chat with Greta Gaines (www.gretagaines.com) and she defined a sellout as someone who makes music for the money, not for the art. She went on to say that even then, it’s not selling out if the artist is happy with the product he or she puts out. Again, that’s just one person’s opinion, but I think hers would have a bit more validity since she’s actually in the business. With Greta, it doesn’t seem that her mu sic is her number one priority in life. She runs a snowboarding camp and is moving to NYC in December. She has more to worry about than a big contract. Personally, if in whatever I do I were called a sellout, my re sponse would be, “That may be true, what’s even funnier is that I could buy your candy-ass five times over. Oh yeah, buy my album.” Opposing views To the Editor: Through my involvement with different organizations in high school and college and as a history major with a concentration in U.S. History, I would like to consider myself an individual with some knowledge of race relations in America. That is why the opinions in the article by Cameron DeJong concern me.. .1 think he must have slept through history class a few times. Ok, where to begin? First of all, wake up! Let’s get the facts straight. Just because a law was passed legally ending segregation does not mean things got better for blacks. During Reconstruction after the Civil War, legislation such as the 13*'’ Ameindment, which ended slavery, and the Amendment, which was essentially designed to grant former slaves citizenship in the US, were passed. Did that end the horrible treatment or conditions for blacks in the late 1800s and early 1900s? NO! Now let’s move to his point that things were getting better for blacks in the 1950s and 1960s. Yes, segregation was ended legally, but was it a reality ? Not in any sense of the word! Do we remember how the National Guard had to be sent to public schools to enforce the law? Do we remember how as black children walked to school they were spit upon, had food thrown at them Blimetimes worse? Let’s move to another example. Blacks were still scared to vote, were still at tacked by angry police dogs and were still bruised by the water pres sure from fire hoses. My general perception is that Mr. DeJong has issues with Affir mative Action. He feels the tables have turned, that now whites are the ones having a hard time finding jobs. But let’s think about whites have benefitted from the second class citizenship of blacks in our country. Think about our percep tion of minorities today. When we see a person or group of a darker color, women guard their purses and people lock their car doors. Affirmative Action’s aim is to prevent these situations from occurring. In addition, it guaran tees that there will be more diver sity in offices across the country. Now it is obvious, I am writ ing this from my “white girl” per spective, so I in no way intend to speak for the black community on campus; I am sure they have been doing some talking of their own on this subject. I am curious of his intentions in writing this article. Is this what he truly believes or was he just curious to see the reaction of the Elon student body? Whatever his reasons, I would hope that from now on the Mr. DeJong would re search his next topic a little more. Sincerely, Sarah NichoUs
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