THE PENDULUM
Informing, entertaining and inspiring tlie Elon University community since 1974
V o 1 u m e : XXIX ISSUE: 12 DATE: 11 / I 5 / 0 1 w w w . e 1 o n . e d u / p e ii d ii 1 u m
Elon ranked as one of the nation’s
top institutions of higher education
Jennifer Guarino
Managing Editor
Elon University is once again
ranked one of the nation’s top
schools for effective practices in
higher education by the 2001 Na
tional Survey of Student Engage
ment.
The NSSE highlighted Elon’s fo
cus on faculty-student mentoring as
one of six institutions. The survey
also found that 94 percent of Elon
students said their educational expe
rience at Elon was excellent or good.
Unlike many college-ranking
guides, NSSE does not rank schools
by number. NSSE provides infor
mation about schools based on five
benchmarks of academic excellence
- level of academic challenge, ac
tive and collaborative learning, stu-
dent-faculty interaction, enriching
educational experiences and sup
portive campus environment. The
standings are reported by NSSE to
each institution, which reserves the
right to distribute its results. Elon
ranked in the top 10 percent in each
category.
One function of the survey is to
provide students and parents infor
mation that measures student learn
ing and engagement. Dean of Admis
sions Susan Klopman says the NSSE
presents relevant indicators of edu
cational quality in a time when pro
spective students and their families
are looking for a way to distinguish
between colleges and universities.
“NSSE provides information like
nothing else families have seen,” she
said.“
The survey describes this insti
tution in terms of the key indicators
of what the educational program and
educational values are here.”
Klopman says NSSE proves “We do
what we do exceptionally well.”
Elon scored above the national
average for colleges and universi
ties on several categories. Seventy-
eight percent of Elon students have
studied abroad or plan to, while na
tionally only 25 percent do. Two-
thirds of Elon students often work
with other students outside class.
The national average is 50 percent.
Elon also ranks high on internships.
Ninety-two percent of Elon students
have done or plan to complete an
internship and while the national av
erage is 67 percent.
Sponsored by the Carnegie Foun
dation for the Advancement of
Teaching and The Pew Forum for
Undergraduate Learning, NSSE re
leased its first survey last year. The
first NSSE survey reported that Elon
students are among the most active
and engaged learners in the country.
Elon was one of 60 schools that
completed the survey via the NSSE
Web site. More than 560 students
Elon students were randomly solic
ited by e-mail responded to ques
tions about their educational expe
rience. About 200 students com
pleted the 41-question survey: 121
freshmen and 87 seniors. Elon had
a 37 percent response rate. Nation
ally, more than 71,000 students at
321 four-year colleges and univer
sities completed the survey. The full
NSSE report is available at
www.iub.edu/~nsse.
Homecoming royalty crowned
Emily Hudson/Photo Editor
Katie Gosselin, a junior from Cheshire, Conn., was
crowned Homecoming queen, and senior Scott
Wollaston of Landenburg, Penn., was crowned ling.
Zinn speaks to community about keeping democracy alive in America
Mandie Danielski / Photographer
Howard Zinn addressed students about history’s role in today’s
current economic and political standards.
Erin Cunningham
Reporter
Howard Zinn, people’s historian
and civil-rights activist spoke to a
tightly packed audience in Whitley
Auditorium Wednesday, Nov. 7.
His topic: bringing democracy to
life in the United States.
Zinn, who received a standing
ovation before he even began
speaking, says the history of the
people is unmentioned and ignored
in history books. “It should be un
derstood that the democracy we
have is not due to our founding fa
thers,” he said, insisting on the ne
cessity of incorporating our history
into present day life. “If you don’t
know about history, it is as if you
were bom yesterday,*’ he said.
Zinn, who enrolled in college at
age 27, comes from a working class
background, which inspired many
of his present ideals. “It gave me a
sense of consciousness,” he said.
He spoke about the formation of
the United States. During the
American Revolution the country
was not united against the British.
Zinn paraphrased John Adams, say
ing one-third of the country was for
independence, one-third was
against and one-third really did not
know what to think. “At the end of
the Revolution, the class struggle
came out more openly,” he said.
“The promises of equality were
gone.”
He also played on common ste
reotypes adopted by society about
the founders of the country.
“People did not always come here
equal,” he said.
According to Zinn, there was a
class struggle from the beginning
because some people traveled with
grants from the crown, others with
nothing at all, still others as slaves.
“This country began with a
struggle between rich and poor,
powerful and powerless,” Zinn
said. According to him leaders try
to unify the nation by using words.
“We have this language that tries
to tie us all together,” he said. He
offered the example of the Decla
ration of Independence.
Speaker
continued on page 8