the pendulum
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 // PAGE 9
Former US deputy attorney general speaks
about line between politics and policy
companies should be torced to carry
broadcast channels was one instance
he gave in which interpreting the
Constitution is far less black-and-white
when special interests play a role in
decision-making.
In this case,
“1 think more and more decisions
get politicized across a broader
and broader spectrum of what
the government does. I think
that makes it harder to make
decisions without being accused
of being motivated by the wrong
way...”
the National
Association of
Broadcasters
was concerned
that cable
companies had
a monopoly
and people
would no
longer
their
This
that
w i t
cable
be
watch
shows,
meant
people
h o u t
would
hindered
-David Ogden
FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL OF
THE UNITED STATES
from watching
television if
the NAB was
forced out of
existence.
President
George H.W. Bush vetoed a statute to
force cable companies to carry their
channels, but after much deliberation,
the veto was eventually overturned
when Bill Clinton was voted into office.
This raises questions of whether
Clinton acted improperly, or if changes
in law should be expected with each
election, Ogden said.
One student asked whether he
thought the line between policy and
politics has swayed over the years,
based on his experience working with
multiple administrations.
“1 think more and more decisions
Campus plans routine testing of E-Alert
system at College Coffee later this semester
Kassandra Cloos
News Editor
David Ogden, former deputy attorney
general of the United States, spoke
Thursday night at Elon University about
his experiences in government and
the moral gray areas that result from
interpreting the
law through
political lenses.
Ogden's
speech, titled
“Justice at the
Intersection
of Law and
Politics,”
gave several
examples of
cases in which
the line between
politics and
policy has been
challenging to
draw.
Lawyers
who decide to
dedicate their
careers to being civil servants for the
United States, its citizens, their clients,
are taking on important roles, Ogden
said. It’s a great privilege, but one that
comes with great responsibility, and
partisan political beliefs should not
be considered in the policy-making
process.
“There are plenty of ways the
government can go wrong, and to let
personal views or narrow interests
drive decisions, it can let partisan
thinking drive decisions,” Ogden said.
“It can make just plain bad decisions.”
The debate over whether cable
Caitlin O'Donnell
News Editor
E-Alert will undergo a routine test
at College Coffee later this month.
A record number of users, just less
than 4,500, are currently enrolled
with the emergency response system,
an increase of almost 1,000 compared
to last semester, according to Chris
Fulkerson, assistant vice president
for technology.
There will be announcements
prior to the test, which will include
the two sirens on campus, located on
Alumni and East Gyms, and E-Alert
messages, which can be received via
text messages or emails.
The university originally
experienced problems with the
system last semester during a tornado
warning April 5.
Fulkerson said the issue stemmed
from cell phone carriers who had not
completed the necessary updates to
their service. They have since followed
up and corrected the problem.
“We can find kinks in the
system, and we found that some of
the cell phone companies had to
get politicized across a broader
and broader spectrum of what the
government does," Ogden said. “I think
that makes it harder to make decisions
without being accused of being
motivated the wrong way, and in fact,
even sometimes without appearing
that there’s political motivation.”
The Defense of Marriage Act,
commonly referenced as DOMA, was
briefly discussed and Ogden said
he does expect the act, which only
recognizes the marriage of opposite-
sex couples at the federal level,
regardless of state laws, to be brought
to the Supreme Court.
“It’s an important issue and it’s a
question of the constitutionality of
an issue,” Ogden said. “The issue will
not become moot because the federal
government continues to support the
statute even if they don’t defend it."
If DOMA is upheld, state laws will
not have to change to stop recognizing
same-sex marriage. But if the act were
to be repealed, it is unknown whether
states would be required to legalize
and recognize same-sex marriage as
well, Ogden said.
“It’s a really good question because
it really, I think, depends on why the
Supreme Court decided DOMA was
unconstitutional," he said. “If they
decided it was unconstitutional because
there was no sufficient rationale for
denying people of the same sex to
marry each other, then it’s a little hard
for me to see why a state could deny
people of the same sex to marry each
other. So if that’s the rationale, I think
it would have that effect but there are
other ways the court could reach that
conclusion.”
make corrections in their systems
because the messages were delayed
so it has to integrate back into our
system," Fulkerson said in a previous
interview. “So we need to do this
every semester to make sure.”
Fulkerson said previous testing of
the system was generally hit or miss.
The university’s Safety Committee,
however, felt it was important to test
on a regular basis. Assessments will
now be held around the beginning of
each semester.
An RSS feed was recently added to
the system, as well.
NEWS BRIEFS
Eton recognized by U.S. News & World
Report as best in several categories
Elon was recognized in six of the eight
key program categories mentioned In the
2012 “America’s Best Colleges.”
In the magazine's annual ranking Elon
was named #1 Southern University with
“an unusually strong commitment to
undergraduate teaching."
In the overall Southern masters-level
universities, Elon ranked #2 for the fifth
year in a row.
The magazine’s annual ranking was
released Sept. 13.
Elon hosts Fulbright Teaching
Assistant from China
The Department of Foreign Languages
and Isabella Cannon International Centre
are hosting Zhang Xiaoxiao, a Fulbright
Language Teaching Assistant from China.
Zhang will teach Chinese and work
with student groups. He is available for
guest lectures, presenting to campus
groups and organizations and other
activities in the classroom.
Organizations and classes interested
in having Zhang visit should contact the
Department of Languages at languages
©elon.edu.
University welcomes students' families
Family weekend will take place from
Sept. 23-25.
Check-in for the weekend is Friday
from 3-7 p.m. Families will pick up their
registration packets including a schedule,
tickets for events and other information.
There are several events that will
highlight the weekend including a Collage
Concert 7 p.m. and 8;15 p.m. Friday,
President's Update 9 a.m. Saturday,
Family Weekend Picnic 11:30 a.m. to 1
p.m. Saturday and the Elon University
Phoenix play the The Citadel Bulldogs
1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Additional events on Sunday include
coffee at the President’s home 8’,30-10
a.m.
Two alumni travel to Sri Lanka for
Training for Trusteeship conference
Two alumni took part in the 4th
annual Training for Trusteeship workshop
this month in Sri Lanka. Both alumni are
members of Elon University's Class of
2011 Periclean Scholar program, which
worked with Sri Lanka.
Jesse Lee and Natalie Lampert, both
class of 2011, were the only Americans
accepted tor 2011. They attended
seminars, participated in workshops
and worked in groups to come up with
proposals for sustainable programs that
address environmental or social justice
issues.
Lee and Lampert plan to continue
their stay in Sri Lanka to volunteer for
Foundation of Goodness.
Elon Law selects Leadership Fellows
Seven students from the Elon
University School of Law Class of 2014
were selected as Leadership Fellows.
These program now has 26 fellows.
The inaugural group of Leadership
Fellows enrolled in fall 2009.
Students Invited to the program
demonstrated leadership experience
through community, military or their
college experience. They have also
demonstrated academic achievement.
Students must show how these
leadership skills could be further
developed at Elon, in the practice of law
and in their communities through the
Fellows application.
September 21
•”l Love You Man: Straight Men
on Gay Issues": 7:30 p.m.,
Commuter Lounge
• “Gold Rush: Dscovery of Gold
Deposits in the Deep Sea and the
Extraordinary Animals that Live
on Them": 7:30 p.m., McCrary
Theatre
September 23
• "Life Is What You Make It:
A Concert & Conversation
with Peter Buffett": 4:30 p.m.,
McCrary Theatre
•Collage, a program of song
and dance: 7 and 8:15 p.m.,
Yeager Recital Hall
September 25
• Coffee at the President's
House: 8:30-10 a.m., Maynard
House
• Dance in ttie Landscape
concert: 2 p.m., Lindner Hall
Pavilion
September 27
• “Hands and Temperaments:
Art History and ttie Early
Medieval Artist": 6 p.m.,
Ftecltal Hall
• Golden Dragon Acrobats:
7:30 p.m., McCrary Theatre
September 22
• First in the Family Interest
Group Meeting: 5:30 p.m., room
206 in Belk Library
• Urgent Message Dance
Troupe Audtions: 5:30 p.m., Oak
Commons
September 24
• Family Weekend Picnic, 11:30
a.m.-1 p.m.
•Collage, a program of song
and dance: 6 and 7:15 p.m.,
Yeager Recital Hall
September 26
• Managing a Chronic Health
Condition in College support
program for students: 5:30
p.m., Room 105 in Truitt Center
for Religious & Spiritual Life
For more dates
and information
about campus
events, visit the
calendar on the
Elon website.
Get your copy of Elon University’s
student newspaper every
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Students receive student-funded
stipends for summer internships
Two members of the Elon Law Class
of 2013, Melodie Menzer and Kaitlin
Shimansky, received a stipend from
the Public Interest Law Society (PILS).
Menzer interned with legal counsel for
the Guardian ad Litem program in Wake
County and Shimansky interned with
the Orleans Public Defenders in New
Orleans, Louisiana.
The stipend is created from a fund
developed over a four-year development
campaign.