Page 2
Opinions
Jan. 23, 2002
Editorial
Local media have missed “little Elon'
When former Prime Minister
of Israel Ehud Barak visited
campus last week, the local me
dia picked up the story. One sta
tion covered the story on several
newscasts. In one, they asked the
question: “How does little Elon
get someone like Barak?” They
treated Barak’s visit like it was a
once-in-a-Iifetime event. For the
station that has missed Elon for
the past few years, we encour
age you to open your eyes. Elon
continually hosts today’s great
est leaders, historians and au
thors.
In the past few years, such
well known world leaders as
Queen Noor of Jordan, former
President George Bush, con
sumer advocate Ralph Nadar,
former President of Poland Lech
Walesa and Pulitzer-Prize win
ning historian David
McCullough have graced Elon’s
campus. This series of amazing
speakers will continue as Jane
Goodall is scheduled to speak at
Honors Convocation and Walter
Cronkite, the next spring.
For a long time, Elon has been a
hidden treasure in North Carolina.
Natives often ask where the school
is located, yet you ask people from
out-of-state, and they know exactly
what you’re talking about. In a state
that has such great public universi
ties, Elon has always been in the
shadows. We’re tired of not being
recognized for what we are.
We can’t help but wonder if the
local media are following the lead
of the national media. After recent
attention in such media greats at
the New York Times, USA Today
and Time magazine, are the local
media just now catching on?
Shame on you, Elon is in your
backyard.
Elon’s presence as a competi
tive university may have yet to
be solidified, but it’s demand is
growing steadily. In just the last
five years, enrollment has
soared. Applications start flood
ing admissions in September for
the following year. Elon is be
coming the school in the South
to go to for a liberal arts educa
tion.
The school has also gained
national attention for its study
abroad and internship programs,
its faculty/student relationships
and its new student orientation.
With all this, the school is still
continually looking to expand.
Plans for the next several
years include an academic vil
lage, a new business school and
the development of more mas
ters programs. “Little Elon” has
some gigantic goals, and if his
tory is any indication of the fu
ture, the school will only con
tinue to improve.
To everyone out there who
ever had doubts about Elon:
Don’t underestimate our school;
we’ll only prove you wrong.
The views and ideas expressed in Opinions are not necessarily those of The Pendulum, its staff or Elon University.
Media killing us since attacks
Cameron Dejong
Columnist
While reading a news
Web site, I came
across a headline that
read, “How Prepared is Your
City?” The headline was for
CNN.com’s report on American
cities’ preparedness for a poten
tial terrorist attack.
Is this news that should be
printed on a web site for every
one, including terrorist networks,
to see? Or has the media gotten
so far out of hand with giving out
information that it gives out that
they are going to be the group re
sponsible for the next terrorist
incident on our soil?
It all goes back to the days
after September 11. News
sources, with one known excep
tion, would reveal the location of
our President and other high of
ficials in our country. The excep
tion, Fox News, publicly an
nounced it was not wise to dis
close certain information, as it
was only going to enhance the ca
pabilities of various terrorist
groups.
The problem with news orga
nizations is that they want high
ratings and will sacrifice a lot for
them. People are naturally at
tracted to interesting news items,
and American citizens are the
type that wants to know every
thing about everyone. This in
cludes the location of various of
ficials and the lack of security in
some cities.
Fox gets their ratings with Bill
OReilly. MSNBC gets their rat
ings with Chris Matthews. Appar
ently CNN doesnt have a person
ality to draw in ratings, so they
potentially reveal the results of a
study that does not need to be
publicized to the world.
I would encourage the media,
whether it is on a local or national
level, to think twice before print
ing information that is eye-candy
to terrorists around the globe. If
we want to be protective of citi
zens, we need to recognize that
since we were children, most of
us were taught that wants and
needs are two different things.
While some of us may want to
know all things about every city,
person, town, state, nation, dog
and cat we must realize that we
do not need to know it all.
I close by encouraging all
Elon community members to stay
out of the following cities; Oh
wait, could there be a terrorist
reading The Pendulum this week?
Unlike some news outlets. I’d
rather be safe than sorry.
What do you think?
Tell us.
Pendulum@elon.edu
o
n
“My mother always said when you are
eating pretzels, 'Chew before you swal
low/"
- George Bush, commenting on
his choking of a pretzel
“The best portion of a good man's life
is his little, nameless, unremembered acts
of kindness and of love”
- William Wordsworth
‘Maybe one day they’ll replace Arafafs
Nobel Peace Prize with an Oscar.”
Ehud Barak, speaking at Elon
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Jennifer Guarino, Editor-in-Chief
Elizabeth Sudduth & Jessica Vitak,
Managing Editors
Erin Cunningham, News Editor
Eric Hall, Opinions Editor
Samiha Khanna, A & E Editor
Crystal Allen, Focus Editor
Colin Donohue, Sports Editor
Annette Randall, Photography Editor
Megan Myers, Features Editor
Katie Beaver, Chief Copy Editor
Lauren Vilis, Business Manager
Lindsay Porter, Office Manager
Matt Ford, Online Editor
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