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October 28, 1999 Opinions yiewjyoint It’s Homecoming again, folks. It’s time to dust off your Elon best for the football game, paint banners, practice your lines and chorography for theme night and search desperately for someone with a flatbed upon which you can put your parade float. Or, if you belong to one of Elon’s many organizations not desig nated by letters, it’s time to spend the weekend curled up under your fleece blanket in your pajamas while you alternate between sleeping and watching the Scooby Doo marathon on Cartoon Network. Let’s face it. Who is Homecoming for? Well, the easy answer would be the alumni, and that is completely true. After all, they are the ones “coming home” to Elon to reunite with their graduating class, watch a rousing Fightin’ Whatever-Our-Name-Is-Now football game and to enjoy a quality party courtesy of the good people at Alumni Relations. The other side of that question is who among the current student body is Homecoming for? That is where responses start to differ. The stay-at-homecyniceating Pringles and watchinginfomercials during Homecoming weekend would say that it is only for the Greeks. And with a few exceptions, such as Black Cultural Society and Student Government Association (which, incidentally, also go by their letters), that is the truth at Elon. The Greeks simply have a more of a reason to celebrate Homecom ing than your average student. Instead of nebulous set of “alumni” coming back, with whom they would otherwise have little connection, they have alumni brothers and alumni sisters. They have the large memberships, school spirit and inherent desire for competition with their neighbors to want to participate in the Homecoming activities. The only problem with this is that it makes for a very clique*-ish and closed Homecoming ^society.” It^ s not for lack of involvement or even lack of school spirit, but non-Greeks stay in bed because they think Homecoming is a Greek function. This is what is wrong. The solution to this problem won’t appear in these 24 column inches and it won’t appear in any report by one of Elon^s infamous committees. Maybe the division between Greeks and non-Greeks is so great that not even a celebratory time like Homecoming can close the rift. Or maybe the partis, the mass exodus "liome’^ and the usual variety of crazy freshman antics mean that Homecoming is really just another Elon weekend. Th^ Fendiaum Editorial Staff Informing the Elon College Community Editor in Chief Carrie Lancos Senior Ekiitor Chuck Buckley News Editor Alan Medeiros Opinions Editor Chris Rash Focus Editor Tammy Tripp A & E Editor Lisa McChristian Sports Editor Travis Suber Photo Editor Emily MacDonnell Business Manager Jenna Denton Office Manager Carolyn Lampila Online Director Jeff Sanders Adviser Byung Lee Reporters Reid Albright Melissa Anderson Kate Botty Kellie Brielmaier Patrick Collins Kristen Conn Samiha Khanna Johannah Lawrence Bill Menken Annie Reilly Jessica Rivelli Jennifer Shelton Erica Stanley Mike Trainor Jason Tally Jessica Vitak Photographers Greg Boger Jessica Snow Meredith Vesely Columnists Brie Bittenbender Rich Blomquist Cameron DeJong Ethan Pell Advertising Becky Robmson Copy Editors Elizabeth Butler Christine Zon Tht 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 Has the War on Drugs become the War on the American People? Last week’s column about the War on Drugs may have been an omen for this week. I recently received news of how dangerous the war on drugs, or should I say, the war on blacks, has gotten. I want to share with you an essay by Sean Haugh, a good friend of mine with whom I share a carbon copy opinion. Printed below is ap proximately one half of his writing. “On May 6, 1999, Durham Police conducted a drug raid at 1706 Gunter Street. Some guy told the police that he had bought drugs there. Based solely on the informa tion of the unnamed accuser, the police got a search warrant for a black man in his mid-20s known as ‘New York’ and a woman named Linda. Who the police found at 1706 Gunter Street were 72-year-old Catherine Capps and her visitor, 70-year-oldJamesCates. Whathap- pened and why depends on who you talk to, but there are some facts no one disputes. Cates was struck at least twice in the face by police officers, was handcuffed and held on the floor until he urinated on himself, and was strip-searched. Meanwhile, Capps was shoved forcefully back into her chair by police while they ransacked her residence. It is reported since then that Ms. Capps’ health has taken a se vere turn for the worse. She now lives in a nursing home and is deteriorating rapidly. As for Mr. Cates, Cameron DeJong The Pendulum cdej ong@elon. ed u I am told that his family will not allow him to travel P to Durham anymore, for fear that he might suffer a similar beating. I have been shown a photo of both of them, taken before the drug raid, and I can assure you neither person poses any possible physical threat to anyone, much less a group of armed police officers. Catherine Capps and James Cates are only two of the most re cent victims of this insane War on Drugs. Regardless of one’s view on the drug problem, it has become abundantly clear that the War on Drugs is even worse than the drugs themselves. It’s a war on our own people, and in a large degree a war on blacks and other minorities. Why do I say the drug war is a war on blacks? I don’t know if it was racist in intent, but it has be come racist in practice. The answer is simple. Rounding jup the low-level street dealers and Jusers in poor mi nority neighbor hoods is much easier than going after real crimi nals. It’s to the point where we talk about ‘racial profiling’ and ‘driving while black,’ and where up to one third of the black men in America between 18 and 26 have felony convictions.” To read the remainder of this very though provoking piece, con tact me and I will e-mail it to you or visit my web site http:// www.elon.edu/student/cdejong/. I strongly encourage you to read this in its entirety. I promise it will make you change the way you think about the war on drugs and on Americans. Removing a piece of Elon history It AWT A worker cleans up the sidewalk in front of West hall during the removal of one of the old oak trees Saturday, Oct. 16. A new oak tree (back, left) will shade students and Graduation in the future. ' photo by Carrie Lancos
Elon University Student Newspaper
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