Jan. 23, 2002
News
Page 7
Former National Geographic Editor speaks on campus
Kate Botty
Reporter
“if you are to understand the
world and crucial issues, you
must understand its geography,”
Gilbert Grosvenor said to a full
audience on Jan. 9 in McCrary
Theatre.
Grosvenor, chairman of the
National Geographic Society
Board of Trustees, addressed
faculty and students about the
importance of geography.
“Unfortunately for most
Americans geography is a sub
ject that has almost vanished
from the American classroom
during the last half of the 20th
century,” he said. As a result,
one in three Americans cannot
follow basic north, south, east
and west directions, one in seven
adults cannot locate the United
States on a map and one in four
adults cannot locate the Pacific
Ocean on a world map.
Although the National Geo
graphic Society describes geog
raphy as “the world and all that’s
Annette Randall / Photo Editor
Gilbert Grosvenor, spoke to
Elon community as part of the
theme of Winter Term.
in it,” Grosvenor, the magazine’s
edtior from 1970-1980, pre
sented a five-part definition of
geography to the attentive audi
ence, stressing that geography is
not just a place and a location.
“Geography is how humans
interact with their environment
and how an environment inter
acts with human beings,”
Grosvenor said earlier in the
day. “It’s the interconnection
that makes it great.”
Grosvenor, who began his
carrer with National Geographic
in the 1950s, continued by ad
dressing one local and one glo
bal issue he feels is vital to the
study of geography. On the glo
bal scale, Grosvenor says there
is a lot Americans do not know
about Islamic countries. Out of
the world’s 191 counties, 41 are
predominately Muslim, and, Is
lam is the world’s fastest grow
ing religion. Grosvenor added
that Muslims created the num
ber system used today and
founded the first university in
Cyrio in 972 AD.
“Why do extreme fundamen
talist Muslims hate Americans?”
Grosvenor asked the audience.
One reason for Muslims’ ha
tred, he said, is the U.S. support
of Israel during the Middle East
conflict. A second reason is the
U.S. rescue of Kuwait during the
Gulf War.
Grosvenor also said he be
lieved Muslim extremists dislike
Americans due to their poverty
and our wealth as a nation.
Another cause is Hollywood,
he said, and film’s depiction of
sex, violence, firearms and alco
hol. “Muslim’s view the United
States through a lens of Holly
wood films.”
On the local level, Grosvenor
said the United States must take
the arrival of Hispanic immi
grants more seriously. Accord
ing to the 2000 Census, the His
panic population has grown by
58 percent in the U.S. since 1990
and there are more than 35 mil
lion Hispanics legally living in
the U.S.
“1 feel the U.S. is not prepar
ing itself to assimilate the His
panic influx,” Grosvenor said.
He added that one in five His
panics do not speak English at
home in America, but the num
ber is probably closer to one in
four due to illegal immigration.
“English language profi
ciency is crucial,” he said.
Thirty one percent of His
panic boys and 26 percent of
Hispanic girls drop out of high
school.
“We must provide equal and
fair opportunities for the immi
grant population.”
“Most economists believe,
and I agree, that Hispanics fuel
the greatest economic growth in
U.S. history,” Grosvenor said.
“The question is-are we creat
ing short term prosperity with
out dealing with long term obli
gations?”
Before concluding with a
slide show revealing some of the
awe-inspiring images associated
with National Geographic,
Grosvenor said, “If you remem
ber one thing tonight at this ad
dress remember only a well edu
cated individual can intelli
gently address critical issues at
whole.”
from CONSTRUCTION, page 5
Annette Randall / Photo Editor
Construction seems to be underway in various areas around cam
pus. Elon reports that much of the construction will be complete in
the fall of 2002.
In addition to the Academic Vil
lage, three new residence halls will
be opening in Danieley Center this
fall at a cost of about $4.5 million.
These halls will include one 80
person building similar to the cur
rent Danieley residence halls.
Two single-bedroom apartment
buildings, which will house 64 stu
dents, are also being constructed.
These apartments will include four
bedrooms, two baths, a living room
and a kitchenette.
In addition to the completion of
the residence halls, Elon expects
cc
This will be a unique liv
ing and learning environ
ment for students to live
with other students
commiteed to the some
academic pursuits.
5)
the Carlton renovation to be com
plete by the fall of 2002. The 1.5
million renovation, which began
on December 17, 2001, will in
clude El Centro de Espanol, the
Isabella Cannon Centre for Inter
national Studies, a new multime
dia foreign language center, class
room and office space.
In addition, the building will be
updated with new central heating
and cooling, new wiring, ceilings
and flooring. The floor plan will
also be revised for better access.
Bettina Brown, Assistant Dean
of International Programs said that
the new location than the Isabella
Canon Centre’s current location in
Alamance 109, will provide more
resources and computer access for
students. “More resources means
more opportunities,” she said.
Brown said that the center is
overcrowded in its current loca
tion. Students must come into her
office to research study abroad
trips while she is often busy with
other tasks such as making phone
calls. And the current international
center does not have enough space
to house all its members; two
workers have separate rooms down
the hall from the main office.
El Centro will also be moving
from its current location in
Moseley to Carlton. Sylvia Munoz,
Director of El Centro de Espanol,
said that the move would be ben
eficial for students. “I think that it
is going to be easier to work to
gether with the Foreign Language
Department and with the Office of
International Programs to offer the
students more opportunities to im
prove their language skills,” she
said.
Munoz also said that the new lo
cation will be bigger and allow El
Centro to teach more than one class
at a time.
The Belk Track, named for phi
lanthropist Irwin Belk, is also pro
jected to be ready for use by fall
2002. The construction for the
track will begin this spring and will
include eight track lanes, space for
field events such as the high jump
and javelin and an infield soccer
practice field.
In addition to these projects,
Elon is expanding Koury Center,
making room for added recreation
space, a weight room and dance
studios. The University is also pre
paring to complete the building of
the new restaurant by the Acorn
Cafe and to constructing a larger
greenhouse for the biology depart
ment.