the pendulum
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2011 // PAGE 7
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Take advantage of free events offered on campus
They say there are only a few
days during each academic year
at Elon University that nothing
is on the calendar.
There is so much culture
within just a few square blocks
that one would think Elon
students would be the most
refined, educated, well-rounded
group of young people ever
to walk the Earth. This is,
of course, a rather incorrect
assumption.
Sometimes it feels as if there
is too much going on at Elon.
Is there a speaker coming who
seems interesting, but you have
a paper to write, a quiz to study
for and a group meeting? Oh,
just catch the next one. But then
the next event rolls around,
and the next, and the same
workload issues arise again.
In fact, it is probably a
good bet that a large number
of students in attendance
at most cultural events are
there because it is a class
requirement, like for a Global
course or for a journalism
reporting class. This is all well
and good, because attendance is
attendance, and simply being at
an event indicates some level of
education will probably occur
even if it is reluctantly.
But we shouldn’t settle for
unenthused audiences. Groups
of young people tolerating
brilliant intellectuals or
talented performers aren’t
enough. Elon students should
embrace the opportunity to
learn and grow, personally and
professionally. They should
have a thirst for knowledge and
seek out these events that could
enhance their lives or broaden
their perspectives.
Jeff Clark, executive
director of cultural and
special programs, said the
school is working to increase
the number of performances
students generally come to in
crowds, like comedy. But Elon
shouldn’t compromise. We are
in an academic setting, and if
students don’t take advantage
of the one time in their lives
when they’ll have free access to
an extremely large number of
enriching free events, it is their
own fault and loss.
|0
EVA HILL I Cartoonist
Court made the right call in funeral protest case
The message may be deplorable,
offensive and appalling, but the Supreme
Court’s decision to protect the Westboro
Baptist Church’s right to speech and to
assemble was the correct course of action.
The 8-1 decision, announced March 2,
provides the hateful but peaceful protesters
the right to picket service men and
women’s funerals and promote their anti
gay agenda.
This is not in any way an endorsement
of WBC’s ideology. The small Kansas-based
congregation spews a message of hatred
and its picket signs thanking God for
dead soldiers turns the stomach of many
Americans.
Yet the press must be thankful the
Supreme Court has not interjected itself
Into this messy conflict and defined what
speech is acceptable. There are other
methods of combating these radical
protests without limiting the speech the
authors of the Constitution meant to
protect.
TQ THE E^J-Q
Towns have the right to enact
ordinances barring all protestors a
predetermined number of feet away from
funerals and cemeteries, and that’s as far
as the restriction should go.
But in the spirit of civil discourse,
citizens angry and frustrated with WBC’s
message should engage in a counter
protest. The messages of hate can easily be
overshadowed by a group of determined
individuals bent on providing a message of
love.
In January, when the church sent
four members to “re-educate” American
University students, they were met with
hundreds of students counter-protesting
and flaunting homemade signs of their
own.
Last December, when 10 church
members came to picket at the funeral of
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Sen.
John Edwards, in Raleigh, a group of 200
counter-protesters formed a “Line of Love”
to challenge WBC’s message.
These counter-protests are the greatest
example of American civil discourse and
show how a nation’s people will not allow
this renegade group to run wild. WBC’s
voice should not be silenced. But it can be
a minor note in the chorus of open debate
and protest.
The First Amendment was never meant
to protect the mainstream, common or
established voice. The ugly, unpopular and,
in this case, extremely hurtful voice is that
which must be protected. For the sake of
free speech and discourse, messages such
as this must remain.
As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in
the court’s majority opinion: “Speech is
powerful. It can stir people to action, move
them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and
— as it did here — inflict great pain. On the
facts before us, we cannot react to that pain
by punishing the speaker. As a nation, we
have chosen a different course — to protect
even hurtful speech on public issues to
ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”
Lisa Peloquin
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pendulumresolutions.wordpress.com
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[wMSvwpendulumopinions.wordpress.com
On the website, read an editorial about next
year's meal plan system and see what columnist
Robert Wohner said about the suspending of
BYU basketball player Brandon Davies and how
its Honor Code gives its a clear identity.
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