Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Oct. 3, 2012, edition 1 / Page 5
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News Wednesday, October 3, 2012 • page 5 Spectrum renews resolution against Chick-fii-A Katherine Blunt News Editor Spectrum, Elon University’s queer-straight alliance, has re newed its resolution against the presence of Chick-fil-A’s on campus. The Student Govern ment Association will vote on the legislation Oct. 11. The resolution was sus pended briefly while Spectmm investigated Chick-fil-A’s an nouncement that its “intent is not to support political or so cial agendas,” but it appears the franchise will stiH donate tc^ anti gay organizations, said senior Lauren Clapp, an advocacy and education chair for Spearum. The resolution must again sit on the desk of Connor O’Donnell, SGA executive vice president, for two weeks before it can be put to a vote. The resolution, first pro posed Sept. 18, has been met with mixed reactions on campus. Although the first open discus sion about Elon’s relationship with Chick-fil-A yielded con siderable support for Spectrum’s position, some students remain unconvinced. “I don’t agree with support ing anti-gay organizations, but I just don’t think we should take Chick-fil-A off campus,” said sophomore Andrew Loughran. “It’s a personal choice. If you don’t support Chick-fil-A, you don’t have to eat there, but tak ing it away from everyone is kind of unfair.” Sophomore Dylan Fitchett said he thinks removing Chick- fil-A would be unfair to the franchise as well. “As a business, I don’t sup port it,” he said. “But as a busi ness, it has a right to be here on campus.” Some students are more re ceptive of Spectrum’s argument, though. Junior Alex Papp said he understands Spectrum’s con cern, but predicted widespread discontent among students if the resolution is passed. “I think a lot of students would be angry, because not many are up-to-date on their fast food politics,” he said. “I think it would ultimately make a difference, though. It would set a precedent regarding Elon’s business partnerships.” Although many students have expressed opinions on the Chick-fil-A debate, miscon ceptions about the resolution continue to circulate, said senior Erruly Kane, also an advocacy and education chair for Spec trum. “We want students to un derstand where we’re coming from,” she said. “We’re trying to clarify our stance on it. This is not a free speech issue. Chick- fil-A goes against our discrimi nation policy on campus.” SGA Executive Secretary Leah Bums said the SGA Ex ecutive Board has encouraged senate members to educate themselves on the controversy before the Oct. 11 vote. ‘We prepared for the resolu tion once,” O’Donnell said. ‘We will prepare for it again.” SGA Forum to discuss Chick-fil-A on campus Where: McKinnon Hall When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11 RESULTS: CHICK-FIL-A AT ELON SURVEY Results based on 421 responses to The Pendulum’s online survey collected from Sept. 26 - Sept. 30. Current affiliation with Bon University: Do you personally choose to eat at Chick-fil-A? Do you support the removaf of Chick-fil-A from campus? 67% student 19% alum 7% faculty/staff "70/ community ' member What people are saying: (Quotes pulied from online responses) H Gay rights advocates don’t have the right to force others to agree with them, and silencing the competition is a contradiction to every thing they stand for. JJ it If the university endorses Chick-fil-A, it alien ates itself from a large group of its student body (gay students) and makes them feel uncomfortable. ((It’s chicken. Get over it. JJ University debate topics reveai issues significant to Eion students Rachel Southmayd Senior Reporter With Election Day approaching, the Elon University’s campus is getting into the swing of debate season, most notably with a student debate sched uled for Oct. 25. Prior to the debate, students indicated the topics most im portant to them during this campaign season. Of the 600 students who voted, the majority ranked the economy, health care and same-sex marriage as the three most important topics to address at the debate. The debate committee and Jana Lynn Patterson, assistant vice presi dent for Student Life, reached out to the Elon community to select the three topics of the student debate. Votiiig for the topics occurred during College Coffee on Sept. 18 and online. Senior Jess-Mara Jordan did not vote, but said student loans would be her biggest topic of interest. “I feel like all the other stuff that’s on the bigger platforms don’t really ap ply to us,” she said, referring to health care and the economy, two major issues on which both Republican Mitt Rom ney and Democrat Barack Obama are basing their campaigns. Patterson said loans were the fourth most popular topic. She explained that students are probably concerned about health care and the economy because they’re such hot topics in the actual Democratic and Republican Party plat forms. She attributed the popularity of the same sex marriage topic to the cur rent controversy surrounding Chick-fil- As presence on campus. Despite the popular support for discussions concerning the issue, senior Avery McGaha said same-sex mar riage is not something people should really argue about, because he believes it should not be restricted by the gov ernment. “For me, at least, there should be no debate,” he said. McGaha participated in the voting. He said the topic that concerns him the most is the environment, but that it does not make for an engaging debate topic. Earlier last week, an email was sent out to the student body searching for applicants to participate in the four- person debate teams. “We want everyone to participate,” Patterson said. She said the ideal makeup of the teams will be two students, one faculty member and one staff member. Addi tionally, political organizations and ac tion groups will be permitted to have tables to engage students who attend the debates, which will also be televised by Elon Local News, air on WSOE and covered live by The Pendulum. Patteron said political engagement on Elon’s campus is high relative to that of other schools and that she hopes the debate includes civil discourse about the three student-selected topics, which, she said, are clearly of impor tance to the campus community. “The goal is to really get the univer sity engaged,” Patterson said. The last time the school held a de bate of this magnitude was in 2004. TOP ISSUES for North Caroliriians (acc. to Elon Poll Results) - Economy - Health care - Federal budget deficit TOP ISSUES for Elort Students (acc. to College Coffee voting and online poll) During the campaign seasoni What: Elon student debate Where: Whitley Auditorium When: 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 Economy Healthcare Same-sex marriage
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