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nrrr V'.; ■■ t 0 [f it H) •, i\ 'ii. U :/ ill :v. fl r- ’ Page g • Thursday, March 20, !^003 mhifp Opinions II !■ II', The Pendulum Establislie-d 1!)7+ The Pendulum This is the time for alternative measures Have no fear, Ihis editorial is not condemning or con doning a war with Iraq. Instead, this editorial will explore some middle ground left uncultivated and certainly in need of serious discussion. The United Nations Security Council needs to be reformed, ft is hard to tell what the members of the coun cil have accomplished, so The Pendulum suggests the council should be replaced by the Bowl Championship Scries committee of the NCAA. Essentially, the BCS committee decides what college football teams go where (i.e., which bowl games the teams will attend) based mostly on strength of schedule, decisive victories, quali ty wins and conference record. Let’s look at strength of schedule. The U.S. has fought the Germans twice (once with Hitler) as well as a stronger British anny in the 18th century. Iraq attacked the small a>untry of Kuwait 10 years ago. Cleariy, the advantage goes to the United States. America has had decisive victories in two World Wars, as well as the American Revolution. But the United Stales loses points for its poor showing in Vietnam. Iraq has no real quality wins, only a strong showing against Kuwait, which does give Iraq a strong in-continent record. America’s in-continent record is not as strong, though. The advantage clearly goes to Iraq. Considering all the information, the committee would say this bowl match up is a no-brainer, a blow out, even. But the BCS system is Hawed. This game could be up for grabs. The Pendulum Colin Donohue, Editor-in-Chief Katie Beaver, Managing Editor Lindsay Porter. News Editor Jessica Patcliett, Assistant News Editor Eric Hall. Opinions Editor And! Pelrlnl, A & E Editor Kathleen Frey, Features Editor Kristin SImonettI and Nick Palatlello, Co-Sports Editors Tim Rosner, Photography Editor Mary-Hayden Britton and Eiils Harman, Copy Editors Annette Randall, Business Manager Matt Ford, Online Editor Janna Anderson, Adviser The Pendulum is put)(ished each Thursday of the academic year. The advertising and editorial copy deadline is 5 p.m. the Monday twfore publi cation. Letters to the editor and guest columns are welcome and should be typed, double-spaced, signed and include a telephone number for verifica tion. Submissions are also accepted as Word dcKuments on disk or by e- mail. The Pendulum reserves the right to edit obscene or potentially litwlous material. Lengthy letters or columns may have to be trimmed to fit. All sub missions become the property of The Pendulum and will not be returned. To reach The Pendulum at 233 Moseley Center, call 278-7247 or fax 278- 7246. Contact The Pendulum by e-mail at pendulum@eton.edu. Visit our Web site at www.elon.edu/pendulum. Each individual is entitled to one free copy. Where’s the beat of dancing feet? Bree Sherry Columnist There really is power in numbers. In the 19th cen tury, America saw some of the strongest unions to date. Thousands of people pulled together to protest because their rights were being violated. From low salary to bad work ing conditions, workers gath ered and went on strike until their demands were heard. As a result, America now has some of the best worker unions in the world. Just this past weekend we have .seen America yet again exerci.se that we are the “land of the free and the home of .the brave” as Broadway musicians, actors and technicians went on strike. It began when Broadway producers decided to limit the orchestra from 24 members to a minimum of seven instrumen talists last week. Musicians said if they did not reconsider their proposal they would strike. Sure enough, when the pro ducers stood firm, .so did the musicians, and at midnight on Thursday, all the musicians went on strike. However, they were not alone in their opinion. When actors and technicians came to work Friday, they would not cross the musicians’ picktit line. Consequentially, all of Broadway, some thousand workers, went on strike as well. Broadway was black Friday night .causing theater-goers to make other plans. Feelings have been mixed by the public- some mad about having their show canceled, others proud of the strong sup port the actors and technicians have shown toward the musi cians. We live in America, one of the greatest countries in the world, with quite possibly the most freedom. U.S. citizens have the right to say whatever they want, whenever they want. They have the right to prac- Bree Sherry Musicians said if they did not reconsider their proposal they would strike. Sure enough, when the produc ers stood firm, so did the musicians, and at midnight on Thursday, all the musicians went on strike. However, they were not alone in their opinion. tice any religion. They have the right to elect who they want to represent their country and then form rallies and protests when they feel he is not doing a good job. There are so many benefits and opportunities to living in America. In what other country can cit izens burn their own flag in protest of the government and its decisions? But the American people are not always in violent contempt of their government. Very often one can see Americans pull together to sup port each other. The Broadway strike is a great example of this. Wlien the musicians went on strike, actors found out produc ers had talked about using digi tal recordings of the music to play during the performance so the show could go on. Upon discovery of the pro ducers’ plans, actors too went on strike. America saw musi cians, actors and technicians band together to protest the cut in the orchestra. They stood .strong, even when producers were trying to compromise. In addition to the proposed lay off of musicians, the thought of having a digital orchestra is simply ridiculous. It would replace half the magic of theater with pre-recorded music. Why don’t they just record the actors too, this way they also would only need to do one performance? Here’s a though, they could put it on a big screen and play it in all parts of the country count less times. We’ve done this, this is called movies. If you wanted to see a pre programmed, flawless show, you could go see a movie. The whole point of theater is to see the magic unfold right before you. Theater is unpredictable. No performance of a show is ever the same. Making a huge part of the ater, the music, be recorded is taking away that magic. The strike ended lost Tuesday with the decision to continue with live music and only to cut out six instrumental ists from each theater. It is amazing the power a group of people can have. To shut down every Broadway show minus one (“Cabaret” remained open due to their loca tion in Studio 54 and having a different contract) really shows how much power lies in the worker. Americans should be proud that not only is there the ability to protest against what is wrong, but there is also a strong bond and sense of camaraderie between peers so much so that actors were willing to forfeit paychecks to support the musi cians. 1 applaud the casts and crews of Broadway and hope America sees it as an example of how everyone should speak out against injustices and support their fellow Americans. Contact Bree Sherry at pendu- lum%e1on.edu or 278-7247.
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