Page 4 • Thursday, February 12, 2004
OPINION
The Pendulum
Letters
Letters to the editor are always welcome. Submissions must include your name, con
tact information and class standing. Letters from faculty and staff are also accepted.
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Send submissions to opinions@elon.edu.
Elon athletics need support
and spirited, cheering fans
I graduated from Elon in May 2003.1 am a
huge football fan and was actually a foot
ball manager three out of the four years
that I attended Elon. Just recently 1 was think
ing of a way to get the fans more involved or
to be more supportive of our players.
I noticed this while watching a Wake Forest
basketball game the other night. There was a
section of students that all had on .some kind of
tie-dyed yellow and black shirt representing
Wake Forest. It caught my eye because I
thought to myself, "Wow. Those students real
ly stand out." I started thinking maybe there
was a way to get our Phoenix fans to stand out
during our sporting events. We have a new sta
dium, we're in a new conference, we just hired
a new coach, now it's time to do something
new for tlie fans as well.
I feel that the "all as one" shirts serve no
purpose if the fans are not really .supporting the
players. I figured, that maybe for the first
home game, perhaps the first 100 or 200 peo
ple could get free pom-poms, maroon and gold
bangers, little maroon megaphones, etc. —
something that people would buy if their
friends had one.
More females than males attend Elon, so
I'm sure you would be able to capitalize off of
almost any item. If they missed their chance to
get a free item the first home game, the item
could still be purchased at a low/reastmable
price at the campus shop.
A pom-pom or pla.stic bangers could be
used during all games - rain or shine. T-shirts
get covered up on breezy, rainy and cold days,
not to mention they're not the cheapest item.
So, we all miss the message. Also, I think that
five pom-poms in comparison to 500 pom
poms m;ikes a huge difference to our players.
Tliere's a more visual effect for them to see
their friends and families waving something in
honor of their hard work on that field - some
thing the visiting te;un will see as well.
Other schools even notice how "un-spirit-
East gym lot unsafe, poorly lit
1 wanted to further emphasize the point
made by Nicole Valenti in January's
Pendulum. There is a real safety issue
concerning the East paiking lot.
As the recent robbery shows, the walk to
East lot from the main campus along Haggard
leaves students exposed to cars traveling a
road that is often deserted after 5 p.m. The
walk from the Academic Village to the back
entrance of East lot is equally risky. The heavy
shrubbery along the tennis courts coupled
with inadequate lighting and a fairly deserted
area makes it almost impossible to ensure
one's own safety as he or she walks to his or
her car. I may be able to stay vigilant as I am
walking, but I can't see in the daric, and I can't
see behind bushes that are bigger than me.
With the growing attendance at Elon, the
resultant growth in cars pariced on campus and
the higher demand for paiking spaces, it is
becoming more and more necessary for stu
dents to paik in this relatively secluded park
ing lot. The recent robbery along Haggard
shows that, yes, violent crime can successful
ly take place in this small town. Clearly, there
are weak points in Eton's security measures.
Let's hope some changes are made.
-Diana Perldns, ‘04
Iraq conflict more complicated than it seems
ed" our school is. I think it's sad that a group of
people from a visiting school can be notice
ably louder and more visually supportive than
our home side of the stadium. I am showing
my concem as both an alumna and a signifi
cant other of someone who plays for the Elon
football team.
Many people may not know just how
important it is to the players to know that their
peers are behind them 100 percent. Football
may look like it's just a physical game to most
people, but it is a game made up of both men
tal and physical components. Most of which
are mental components; the physical compo
nents just help the players turn their thoughts
into a reality. 1 think that Elon really needs to
embrace that "All As One" principle and apply
it to its athletics programs, including students,
athletes, faculty and staff.
I am looking to start graduate school at
UNC-G in the fall in order to get my master's
in sports psychology. As a part of thinking of
things to study from my experience of being a
student at Elon, I thought that crowd participa
tion may have an effect on game outcomes or
the self-efficacy of the players. This led me to
tlie idea of doing my part, taking the first step,
and expressing my concerns to someone in a
position to make things happen. Thoughts and
ideas are only useful if they are actually
brought to life and made a reality.
Do what you will with what I have said
and the suggestions I have made. I honestly
believe that cmnpus-wide support and partici
pation in the "All As One" campaign will help
our athletes succeed. 1 look forward to attend
ing many Phoenix athletic events in the near
future and especially the upcoming fall foot
ball season. Hopefully some, if not all, of these
suggestions will be taken into consideration.
Tliank you for your time.
-Arianne N. Hamilton ‘03
While columnist Tim Rink's concem
regarding the reasons for and
results of the war this country
waged on Iraq is not unfounded, I am con
cerned that his hatred for Bush's lack of diplo
matic common sense is clouding his percep
tion of the state of things in Iraq.
If Bush is voted out of office in November,
a perfect world would see the United States
pull out of Iraq. Because it's a perfect world
and the only problem is the U.S. occupation of
Iraq, we would see the Iraqis peacefully decide
for themselves how to govern their country,
hold democratic elections, and live happily
ever after. After all, in this perfect world, the
United States is the only problem.
However, U.S. occupation of Iraq is not the
only problem. It probably had something to
do with creating some of the other problems,
but unfortunately, the damage is done, and we
will never know what could have been. So,
now, here we are, in an imperfect world, where
our nation has created anarchy in a nation
where people were used to a kind of govern
ment Americans cannot even imagine. We're
there, we created the mess and we need to get
off our all-or-nothing high horse and really
woik with the rest of .the global community to
find a solution to the structural and social dam
age we've caused.
It's going to be a long, complicated journey.
I hope someone out there is willing to take it.
-Diana Perkins, ‘04
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