THE PENDULUM
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010 H PAGE 9
NEWS BRIEFS
Elon to hold interest
meeting to coordinate
Haitian relief efforts
On Jan. 19 a meeting will
be held for student groups,
classes and individuals that
have an interest in raising
money or providing other
assistance to the people
of Haiti in the wake of the
recent earthquake.
The meeting will be held
at noon in Moseley 215.
Women can register for
recruitment
If interested in joining
a sorority, Elon women are
encourage to register for
recruitment. All freshman,
sophomore and junior
women with a GPA of at
least 2.75 and 12 Elon credit
hours may apply. Winter
Term grades are not taken
into consideration.
Recruitment week will
be held Jan. 27-31, with
convocation beginning at 7
p.m. on Jan. 26.
For more information,
contact Panhellenic
Executive Director of
Recruitment Jen DiVenuti
at jdivenuti@elon.edu.
Register for men's
fraternite recruitment
There are only four week
left to register for men's
recruitment. Applicants
must have a 2.5 GPA, at least
12 credit hours at Elon and
must be in good standing
with the university.
For more information,
contact Director of
Recruitment Patrick
Holloway at jholloway7@
elon.edu
Elon set to change
graduate admissions
exam next year
News Analysis:
The true cost of a
natural disaster
Alexa Sykes
Reporter
Students applying to graduate schools
next year will be the first to take the
revamped ORE, whose changes will be in
effect starting in 2011.
While some of the alterations are
minimal, the most drastic include 30
extra minutes of testing time, the option
of revisiting a question for the computer
formatted test and a complete modification
of the grading scale, according to the
Education Testing Service (ETS).
Jenny Ruggieri, assistant director of
graduate admissions, said the GRE has
proposed changes in the past but were
never put into action. Ruggieri speculates
that the changes in the exam correlate with
the changes in the types of students. “I
think some of the reasoning for the change
has to due with the changing market of the
student population and pure competitive
edge (of) the GMAT, which is the entrance
exam for most business schools," Ruggieri
said.
According to an article in the Chronicle
of Higher Education, the primary objective
of the change is to “encourage more-
accurate comparisons between test takers.”
The GRE will no longer include antonym or
analogy questions, reading-comprehension
exercises will replace them.
The prompts that students will receive
on the exam will be more focused, ensuring
graders will be certain the answer was
written in response to the question, and
not simply memorized.
In Ruggieri’s opinion, the biggest
change is the grading scale transformation.
Currently, students are graded on a 200-
800 scale, with 10-point increments that
represent each additional correct answer.
The new scale will be graded between
130 and 170 points, with one-point
increments. According to the Chronicle
of Higher Education, this will advance
more accurate comparisons between test
takers, and overall, make the exam more
competitive.
Question format will also change.
Instead of question-by-question, the test
will be divided by section, giving students
more time to review their answers.
“This alleviates the pressure to answer a
question if students don't know the answer
right away ... this could provide more
correct answers simply because students
don't feel as rushed,” Ruggieri said.
Senior Katie Strickland said taking the
exam on a computer was difficult compared
to tests on papers, where one can always go
back and recheck work.
The final change in the exam is the
quantitative portion will now allow an
online calculator.
“(This change) will be great for those
who feel math is their weak point... I think
the use of a calculator will alleviate some
anxiety for those that stress about the
math questions,” Ruggieri said.
Despite these changes, Ruggieri does
not anticipate any substantial changes
regarding preparation for the exam.
Senior Janet Schribler, recommends
students should not procrastinate and
educate themselves on the format and
content of the test. “The thought of taking a
test can be overwhelming, so the more time
a student gives themselves to prepare, the
better,” she said.
While the above changes have been
implemented to ensure that students are as
prepared as possible for graduate school,
only time will tell. When asked If the
changes will make the GRE better or worse,
Ruggieri said, “(it’s) to be determined.”
Paylor receives retribution in case, settles for cash
TASER from page 1
force showed by Dunn was excessive and
that the officers who stood by failed to
recognize this and stop him. The court
documents also claimed the Town of
Elon Police Department inadequately
trained its officers in use of Tasers.
Andrews was in charge of training
Elon police officers on how to use the
Taser. According to the terms of the
agreement, the town will now have to
look for training classes outside of the
department and Andrews still remains
a member of the force.
While an agreement has been made,
fundamental differences in the stories
still remain.
An incident on June 17, 2006, led
to the events the next day. Paylor was
driving home when he came across
the scene of an accident on University
Drive.
He was told by one officer that he
could drive through to Manning Ave.,
according to Paylor’s attorney. Town of
Elon Chief of Police LaVell Lovette said
no officer told Paylor he could drive
through the accident.
Lovette said the scene was of a
particularly bad accident, one in which
victims were being airlifted to hospitals.
She said when Paylor drove through,
he nearly hit Elon Campus Safety and
Police Captain Vickie Moehlman.
Lovette said members of the
department initially attempted obtain
a warrant for assault on an officer, but
were given reckless driving instead.
Paylor was also charged with cursing
on a public highway and failure to obey
a law enforcement officer.
Dunn went to Paylor's house the next
night to arrest him. He was accompanied
by Giannotti, Ripple and Andrews.
Lovette said that because Paylor had
a history of violence, the officers felt
it was necessary to bring four to serve
the warrant. She said typically when
dealing with someone who has a police
record of violence, the department
!x
w W
VIDEO COURTESY OF THE TOWN OF ELON POUCE DEPARTMENT
Four Elon police officers stand over John Paylor while they anempt to handcuff him. Moments
earlier, Paylor was shot with a Taser twice by officer Dunn. Photo taken from a police video of
the incident in question.
sends at least two officers.
“They made the claim he was
potentially violent," said Coble. “1 don’t
think he's dangerous at all, I find him
to be a very pleasant person.”
According to police records, Paylor
has been in jail twice, once for assault
and once for a motor vehicle violation.
Security tapes from a police vehicle
show Paylor be shot with a Taser by
Dunn, and moments later, when he
is lying on the ground, shot again.
Lovette said the second charge was
justified because he was given multiple
opportunities to comply while the
police officers told him to put his hands
behind his back.
“I think if you look at what
happened,” Coble said referring to the
tapes, “it speaks for itself.”
According to the terms of the
agreement, the Town of Elon is
supposed to address issues outlined by
the ACLU’s case.
“Under the terms of the settlement
agreement, the Elon Police Department
will implement measures designed to
prevent excessive and unnecessary use
of Tasers in the future. In particular,
Elon police officers will undergo
improved annual training on a new
Taser policy and on Elon’s more general
use-of-force policy,” the ACLU said in a
press release.
Dula said that the town has reviewed
the policies they currently use in
regards to using Tasers. “We didn’t
really change a lot," he said. “We just
said we would take suggestions.”
Lovette said that practices at
the department are already within
compliance of the ACLU’s desires.
“Our (Taser) policy is very much in
compliance with what the ACLU wanted
and what the department agreed upon,”
she said.
Justin Berger
Columnist
Justin Berger
Columnist
Tragedies, ranging from
individual to international, have a
tendency to expose peoples’ most
genuine
character.
The
current
situation
in Haiti is
a tragedy
that
brought
about
reactions
and
responses
global
scale.
Comments and concerns
have inundated all sources
of information: television,
newspaper and social networking.
This level of support hasn’t
been seen since the tsunami that
struck in Southeast Asia, which
killed more than a quarter-
million people.
Online media such as
Facebook and Twitter have
become extremely popular
outlets for passing information
along for the ordinary citizen.
During this catastrophe, social
media has allowed pictures and
stories from ordinary Haitian
citizens to reach people around
the world. Everyone with access to
a computer then has the ability to
respond with prayers, questions,
and comments as to how they
can help-and help is desperately
needed.
Initial estimates for the
earthquake that struck Haiti
put the death toll at nearly an
eighteenth of the entire country’s
population. The problem remains
that it has proven difficult for aid
workers to get relief to citizens
in need.
The issue has been getting the
needed supplies on the island.
Many of the ports have been
damaged, and the country only
has four paved runways suitable
for large cargo planes.
Progress will take more than
just the initial relief efforts from
around the world to help the
people of Haiti.
Change starts with getting
food and water to the people of
the country immediately. Law
could break down if the basic
necessities are not made available
soon.
Infrastructure—which was
minimal before the earthquake
struck—has to be repaired and
updated. With 80 percent of its
citizens below the poverty line,
Haiti is the poorest country in the
Western Hemisphere.
A chain of command needs
to be set up through the U.N.
until the Haitian government is
back at operating capacity. As it
is right now, leaving the Haitian
government in charge of the
relief effort is a bigger hindrance
than help, as they do not have the
organization or the resources to
handle objectives effectively.
The relief effort is underway.
The U.S. government has been
temporarily assigned the job of
overseeing operations at the main
airport.
If the situation in Haiti is
handled correctly, it could mean
positive changes for the Haitian
people. The objectives of the
global community should be
focused on long-term changes
and not just treating the initial
shock.
In order for any mayor
economic changes to take place,
the international relief needs
to remain long enough to make
fundamental changes as opposed
to just a superficial rescue.