Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 18, 1999, edition 1 / Page 3
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Opinions November 18,1999 3 'Somebody Should Have Taught Him,' not to drink “Somebody Should Have Taught Him” I went to a birthday party mom, I remembered what you said. You told me not to drink at all mom, So I drank soda instead. I felt proud inside mom, Just the way you said I would. That I didn’t choose to drink and drive mom Though some friends said I should. I knew I made the right choice mom Because your advice to me was right. And as the party finally ended mom The kids drove out of sight. I got into my car mom Sure to get home in one piece, never knowing what was coming mom Something I expected least. Now I’m lying on the pavement, mom I can hear the policeman say, “The kid that caused this wreck was drunk,” mom His voice seems far away. My own blood is all around me, mom as I try hard not to cry. I can hear the paramedic say, mom “This girl is going to die.”. I’m sure the guy had no idea. mom While he was flying high, Because he chose to drink and drive mom That I would have to die. So why do people do it, mom Knowing that it ruins lives? But now the pain is cutting me now mom. Like a hundred stabbing knives. Tell my sister not to be afraid, mom Tell daddy to be brave, And when I go to heaven mom Write “Daddy’s Girl” on my grave. Someone should have taught him mom That it’s wrong to drink and drive. Maybe if his mom and dad had, mom I’d still be alive. My breath is getting shorter, mom I’m getting really scared. These are my final moments, mom and I’m so unprepared. I wish that you could hold me Mom, As I lie here and die. I wish that I could say Mom I love you and good-bye. 403 signatures followed this e-mail, most expressing sorrowful good-byes to fyends, relatives and loved ones whose lives come to untimely ends. 403 signatures in one forward alone. This number is staggering to conceive. This e-mail is not your average forward which might typi cally describe jokes, chain letters or promises that some multinational corporation will send you money or various products in ex change for passing on the e-mail. However, this Ashley Baker The Pendulum abaker@elon.edu email did have a mission, and that was to attain 5,000signatures and con vey this message to the President of the United States. Who knows if this e-mail will ever achieve its goal or if the entire message is a hoax? For the sake of all those mentioned in the e-mail let us hope that it is not. But, if there is an ounce of truth in this message (which I be lieve that there is,) then the issue of drunk driving must be addressed. Moreover, the issue of alcohol must be confronted at its most rudimen tary level which raises the question: Why drink at all? After noting a statistic posted in one of the dorms which stated approximately how many Elon stu dents drink, a friend, who is ac tively involved in Safe Rides, raised the concern that: “They [students, teachers, etc.] keep mentioning the fact that Safe Rides is an option if you’ve been drinking, but no one ever said don’t drink.” This is true. Recalling all the information that pervaded freshman during ori entation, no one ever mentioned abstinence as an op tion, not an orienta tion leader, or mem bers of an Elon 101 group, or teachers, or the Community Development Co ordinator. No one. This is not to say that they approve of students’ drinking, on the contrary, some of these very same people com prise the third of Elon’s students who refuse to drink. This article is only noting the fact that as a whole, students are not nearly persuaded not to drink as much as they are importuned to make informed choices. On page fifteen of the Elon Files (and how often do you read that?) weakly states “If you don’t drink, you don’t have to start just because you’re in college.” The rest of the pager is dedicated to drinking safely. At this point, you may be thinking to yourself, why bother to mention this topic? People drink anyway so what’s the point? That attitude will destroy u. If we passively sit by and watch the world stumble in this state of bed lam then nothing changes. Dis missing the issue with the mere phrase “whatever” begets only more indifference while not attenuating the problem. Even though this message is addressed to a college audience I do not felt that it is a waste of ink or paper. To someone out their it matters. It mattered enough that 403 people signed an e- mail. And it matters enough to the millions of friends and family mem bers who have been affected by people who chose to drink from the start. “390. Nicole Elizabeth Vogel- This is in memory of my “big brother” Chad Ruth, who just passed away on Nov. 6th. I love you forever! You were the best guy in the whole wide world, you taught me so much, I wish had gotten a chance to tell you, but I know you know. You will be in my heart for ever- 384. Keegan Hughes- for my grandfather who I never got to meet. 209. Tom Miyashiro—This is for you Joe...” You make the choice! If you would like to participate in the sign ing of this email and or forwarding it to others please contact me at my given e-mail address. Tour guide puts life and limb on the line for SAC I took a dive for Elon. I put my best foot forward, right into a pothole. I am the only member of the Elon College dive team. Only this team dives across asphalt, not into water. We dive across Hag gard Ave., right in front of McMichael Science Center to be exact. Right in front of a tour. I actually showed my swan-diving abilities to a tour. I was giving the tour at the time. Yes, laugh, please laugh, I have been laughing about this since Saturday, I am the Student Admis sions Committee member who took a serious dive across Haggard while explaining to her tour group the benefits of being a science major at Elon. The science building is home to our Masters of Physical Therapy programandahumananatomy lab. In addition ...Ahhhh. Ow! What happened? Did that pothole really jump up and make me fall? I reacted the way any khaki clad SAC member would. I rolled over, stood up and announced how embarrassed I was, and then went right back into my tour. “Oh, that hurt. I can’t be lieve I did that. I am so embar rassed. In addition to the human anatomy lab McMichael also has a scanning electron microscope. ” My group of potential new students just looked shocked at first. They stood in the middle of street as cars and other groups paraded by, laughing at the tour guide who can’t walk. I was, after all, lying in the middle of the street. Cars drove by ^and many, many people passed me. I think I went blank for a second. When, out of the crowd, a girl who goes to my high school and is friends with my brother Tyler, (hi Tyler — look you are in the paper) asked if I was okay. Thank God for fellow Bruins. “Emily, are you okay?” “Okay, how okay can I be? I fell flat on my face while giving a tour. My knees are scuffed up, as are my new shooes. My ego is bruised, and this Elon, so everyone will know about this is in a few hours. ” I dropped off my tour at Moseley and ventured up to the fountain, to give a tour to a group of parents. I figured I had nothing to lose with tlif* narpntc Tf T o dive in front of them, oh well, I had already done it once, why not twice? I ran into my friend Cam Emily MacDonnell The Pendulum macde7a0@elon.edu (hi Cam — look your name is in the paper) and told him what I had done. He basically sat me on the fountain and laughed and laughed. At that point in time, all I could do was laugh too. How could I not laugh? I fell on my face while giving a tour. I did have fun, though. I loved giving my tours. This week end several hundred potential new students came to Elon to tour and look at the college and look at what life here is like. By having these weekends high school students are able to look at Elon and realize what they want in a college. Admissions works Elon look its best and the Student Admis sions Committee is their first line of of fense. These tour guides give high school students the first view of Elon, and leaving a lasting impression. My group will go home with the im pression that Elon has pretty grass and tour guides who fall while talking. This is okay, because it gives the students the impression that the people at Elon are not only huirian, but they can laugh off their own mistakes. SAC is a group of volunteer students who give up their free time (sleeping — 7:30 a.m, on a Satur day is really early) to help promote Elon. These students are dedicated and enjoy what they do. They work hard, spend a lot of time talking and know too many facts about too many buildings. They are some of the first people you meet at Elon and the ones you will remember in times to come. I hope my group of potential new students goes home and re members Elon, if only for the tour guide that fell. I hope they also realize the amount of work that goes into Open House weekends and the amount of work the Office of Ad missions does in preparation for their visits. I hope the Admissions staff realizes how much the students ap preciate all the work they do and how they work to make Elon one of the best kept secrets on the East Coast. As for falling and sliding across Haggard Ave., it was the most embarrassing thing I have ever done, and I hope it made people laugh. It is, after all, my goal to make people laugh.
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Nov. 18, 1999, edition 1
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