Page 2 Tliursday, October ‘24, 2002
Opinion
The Pendulum
The Pendulum Kf-tablisfu’cl i97-(
Sniper fears hit home
Several of our slaff incmliers grew up and have family mem
bers ill the Virginia and Maryland areas attacked,by the sniper.
We have goiten into the habit of checking the news frequently to
follow the attacks and subsequent press conferences.
Many students have been affected by the wave of sniper
attacks. Some were afraid to drive home for fall break, others,
once home, had lo deal with living near where the sniper had
struck. Students continue to worry alxnit their family members
who still live within the sniper's 7one.
But, where is the sniiK'r zone? Who knows where he could
strike next?
The world is soniewhat of a spider web. When one threatl is
pulled, things begin to unravel. The work of the sniper has caused
many threads to snap under the pressure. It has affected the
Washington, D.C. area in countless ways. Like we all witne.ssed
after Sept. 11, t>ne changc can have a ilrastic effect on the econo
my, public morale and every aspect of day-to-day life.
The Washington area has lost millions of dollars in lourism
during the last three weeks due to cancelled field trips, conven
tions and residents keeping their distance from shopping centers.
Atliletic events for local high schools have Iwen canceled, leav
ing many students wondering if their shot at a college scholarship
is lost forever. Extracurricular events have also been cancelled at
many schwils.
After a recent message from the sniper, "Your children are not
safe.” parents are frightened to let their children attend school,
much less stay after for outside activities.
But with all this fear, um we letting the sniper win? The per
son or persons responsible for these shootings has succeeded in
terrorizing several communities, if we lived in Israel, however,
terrorism and living in fear would be apart of our everyday lives.
We would have to stand tall and go on with our daily lives even
though fear always kwms over our heads.
We arc fortunate enough to live in a society where terrorism,
although increasingly frequent, is still considered a rarity. Even
when iaced with these .widom occurrences, Americans should
stand with their heads held high.
The Pendulum
Jennifer Guarino, Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Porter, Features Editor
Crystal Allen and Katie Beaver,
Managing Editors
Erin Cunningliam, News Editor
Eric Hall, Opinions Editor
Andi PetrinI, A & E Editor
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Tim Rosner, Photography Editor
Erin Moseley, Chief Copy Editor
Annette Randall, Business
Manager
Matt Ford, Online Editor
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MAILBOX
Serve community businesses
more and stop giving into Aramark’s ways
When you are considering
which meal plan to use for next
semester, choose none of the ■
above. .
Put your money on the
Phoenix card and use Phoenix
cash to pay for your food. Not
only can you pay for your food
but you can also pay for haircuts,
film, books, laundry, beer and cig
arettes.
With money on your Phoenix
card, you can support the busi
nesses in Elon and Burlington so
that they continue to stay open
and serve the community.
So, if you like having a variety
of places that accept Phoenix cash
like Sandy’s, Sidetrack Grill,
Subway, Cantina Roble and
Domino’s, support them with
your business.
Your business is keeping them
open.
Aramark, on the other hand,
does not have to worry about
making ends meet because they
make money off of every collage
student in the United States that
buys school food.
My problem with that is that
they still serve lame food and bad
business.
With the money on your
Phoenix card, you can still buy
food from on campus facilities
but you won’t have to follow the
school’s time frames for eating.
You don’t waste your money if
you are not hungry or if you don’t
want to eat on campus.
I feel bad for students who are
living on campus because they
have to buy some sort of meal
plan.
I suggest buying the five-meal
plan and putting the rest of your
money on your Phoenix card.
If you feel the same way I do
about the food service here at
Elon then write letters to Aramark
demanding better results.
- Ben Prichard
Costello’s column lacks rationale and logic
My name is Scott Miller and I
served as the opinions editor of
The Pendulum 1994-95.
During that time, I would use
my space to rant and rave about
the ineffectiveness of Bill Clinton
as our commander-in-chief.
People often dismissed me on
two counts. First, people just did
n't care about the world because
the president had singlehandedly
gotten the economy rolling.
Second one was that we were at
peace at the time, so obviously he
couldn't be doing such a terrible
job.
Since Sept. 11, 1 have often
wanted to write to y'all. Bin
Laden did an interview with
“Nightline” in 1995.
In it, he took essential credit
for the World Trade Center bomb
ing in 1993. Now, if that plan
had worked the midday, immedi
ate collapse of one of the towers
would have resulted in a loss of
life far greater than what hap
pened on Sept. II. Clinton did
nothing. He treated it as if it were
a simple murder ca.se.
They arrested the people
directly responsible for the bomb
ing but did nothing to disrupt the
network that was responsible. It
wasn't until the bombings of the
two embassies in Africa that
Clinton took a minimalist
approach to throwing some
Tomahawks at some camps in
Afghanistan. Again, too little too
late.
The No. 1 priority of any pres
ident is the safety and security of
the American people. Clinton,
by failing to act in any sort of
responsible manner against those
who sought to harm us, totally
failed in that sacred duty.
Today's news that North Korea
has taken our $4 billion and con
tinued it's weapons of mass
destruction program cinches the
idea of Clinton as the failure.
The probability that North
Korea has nuclear weapons with a
ballistic missile capability of
reaching the Aleutian islands is
horrifying. We may have to
stand by as Korea is unified under
the despotism of Kim Jong.
Millions will likely suffer.
Ryan Costello's Column on
Oct. 10 fails because it is illogical
and irrational. It uses poor exam
ples from history.
It is fortunate that his way of
thought is not endemic across our
great land. To compare this crisis
with the Cuban Missile Crisis is
silly.
President John F. Kennedy did
not attack pre-emptively because
he had an embargo around Cuba
that held Soviet ships off from
bringing missiles to that commu
nist nation. The Soviets blinked
and decided to back down. That
is the difference, the Soviets,
although evil, were rational
human beings who understood
that power would not be gained in
the confrontation with the west in
that specific theater.
Saddam Hussein is not a
rational human being. He has
repeatedly stated he wants to be
the modem day Nassar that uni
fies the Arab world.
He will use any means to
achieve that goal. He is an evil
man. He has used weapons of
mass destruction in the past.
Unfortunately, I am writing
you from Southwest Asia where I
am serving in the United States
Army.
I say unfortunate because there
is a time limit on our computer
resources and I would love to
write more about the poor ration
ality used in Costello's column. I
must go.
- Scott A. Miller
Class of 1995
United States Army