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. The Pendulum reserves the right to edit obscene or potentially libelous material Lengthy let ters or columns may have to he trimmed to fit. All submissions become the property of The Pendulum and will not be returned. 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 THE PENDULUM Become A Part of Our Staff! Come to our reporter's meeting tonight! Moseley 233 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The meeting will be informal and drop-in, with time to meet with section editors, get story assignments and eat free food.

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