Editorial: With Festivus, Elon ignoring the inevitable only causes more damage
The Pendulum
Elon, North Carolina • Wednesday, April 29, 2015 • Volume 41 Edition 13
f facebook.com/theDendulum www.elonpendulum.com / @elonpendulum
Inside:
Relay for Life
raises more than
$70,000 for cancer
research pg. 4
University stops
providing hoses
for Festivus
celebrations pg. 2
Senior art students
present final projects
and theses pg. 12
Students present
undergraduate
research on SURF
Day pg. 10
Dangers on the playing field
Intramural injuries a lingering possibility
Max Garland
Assistant News Editor
Head injuries have sidelined
sophomore Garcian D’Cruz from
intramural sports for seven months
and counting.
“Two concussions in 72 hours is
pretty bad, so I haven’t been on the
football field ever since,” he said.
There is limited data available
for intramural sports injuries, as
most schools, including Elon, keep
injury records confidential. But
one study finds intramurals carry
a similar, if-not greater, amount of
injury risk.
Research published in a 2014
edition of the Recreational Sports
Journal inves
tigated the
injury rate
of eight in-
t r a m u r a 1
sports at an
unidentified
private college
in the southeast for
two years. The injury
rate was 5.56 per 100
participants.
That’s a higher rate
than what was found
in research from the Jour
nal of Athletic Training, which
pegged the rate of injury for 15
NCAA sports as 13.8 injuries per
1000 athletic-exposures (practices
or games) from 1988 to 2004.
Concussions — often attribut
ed to high-speed tackle football —
are a possibility in any intramural
sport.
D’Cruz sustained his two in a
three-day period in October while
playing in a coed flag football
league.
“The snap was botched on the
play, and I went to dive for the ball,”
D’Cruz said of his first concussion.
“But another player’s cleats hit me
in the head. I was on the ground
for about five minutes after that.”
According to Brandon Mac-
Callum, assistant director of Cam
pus Recreation, Campus Rec staff
is at every intramural game to help
assist.with any injuries, administer
first aid or call 911 in the event of
a severe injury. Staff members are
• trained on how to spot concussion
symptoms, but they are not trained
in testing for concussions.
A staff member
#■
puUed D’Cruz out of
the game and asked
him if he felt dizzy. He
said he was fine, so she
allowed him to go back on
the field. D’Cruz played in
another game three days later.
“The play was a Hail
Mary pass, and I was a receiv
er,” he said. “I caught the ball,
but I fell backwards and whip-
lashed my head on the ground. I
Searching for hope a world away
After Nepal earthquake, Elon University does what it can
Caroline Fernandez
News Editor
For many, tears flowed.
They gathered not only to send support to
Nepal — a nation left picking up the pieces
of destruction and loss after a magnitude 7.8
Sending Help to Nepal
If you want to donate to the
relief efforts in Nepai, visit one
of these websites;
• American Red Cross
• CARE
• Oxfam
• Stop Hunger Now
• Worid Vision
*The above organizations are
humanitarian aid organizations that
Elon partners with throughout the
year and ones that are currently
providing relief in Nepal, as recom
mended in an email from Smith
Jackson, dean of student life.
earthquake Saturday — but to also lend support
to Elon University community members from
the affected regions, helpless and far from home.
As the sunlight filtered through the large
windows of the Sacred Space in the Numen
Lumen Pavilion Monday afternoon, University
Chaplain Jan Fuller, along with about 30 other
community members, gathered, lit candles and
asked, “Why?”
“I want to light a candle today in the search
for meaning,” Fuller said as she opened the
campus gathering in the aftermath of Saturday’s
Nepalese earthquake. “I myself am in a quanda
ry where I don’t understand.”
The country’s worst recorded earthquake in
80 years hit around noon local time about 50
miles northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal. It is in
an area that, according to the U.S. Geological
Survey, is one of the most seismically hazardous
regions on Earth.
It uprooted tens of thousands of Nepalese,
destroyed entire villages and killed thousands,
but also left shockwaves thousands of miles
away at Elon, especially for freshman Surya
Shahi, a citizen of Nepal.
Between . muffled tears and deep breaths,
Shahi spoke before the gathered room of sup
porters.
“Why am I here?” he asked. “There is always
SeeNEPAL
page 3
Elon Poll: Close 2016 race,
caution on religious freedom
Michael Bodley
Editor-in-Chief
Following the nationwide con
troversy over Indiana’s passage of its
Religious Freedom Restoration Act,
North Carolinians are erring on the
side of gay rights over religious free
dom, according to an Elon University
Poll released Tuesday. A hypothetical
2016 presidential matchup provided
a closer outcome, with Sen. Hillary
Clinton carrying a 3-percentage point
advantage over former Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush among registered voters in
North Carolina.
Nearly two-thirds of all respon
dents said a business shouldn’t be al
lowed to refuse service to people who
are gay — regardless of religious be
lief — but 51 percent of Republicans
said business owners should have that
right.
In the upcoming election, Clinton’s
political status may make her an ear
ly target for criticism, said Kenneth
Fernandez, director of the Elon Uni
versity Poll and assistant professor of
political science, in a statement.
When respondents were asked
about favorability among potential
candidates from both parties — some
announced, some not -— Clinton came
in fourth behind Scott Walker, Marco
Rubio and Elizabeth Warren. But no
clear favorite has yet emerged in the
traditional battleground state.
“However, Clinton’s lower scores
are partly a reflection of how well-
known she is, whereas large chunks of
the population seem to have difficulty
rating most other candidates,” Fer
nandez said in a statement.
Within the state, the race for gov
ernor of North Carolina is even clos
er, with incumbent Gov. Pat McCo-
ry-Rep. leading Attorney General Roy
Cooper-Dem. by a slim 45-43 margin.
“Though early results show Roy
Cooper polling well against Pat Mc-
Crory in 2016, three things are im
portant to remember,” said Jason
Husser, assistant director of the Elon
University Poll and assistant profes
sor of political science, in a statement.
“November 2016 is a long time from
now. Preliminary results may simply
reflect quick reactions to party labels.
And McCrory retains strength in his
base: less than one-sixth of those vot
ers who approve of McCrory said they
would vote for Cooper.”