E. C NEWS
LIBERATED PRESS
VOL 1. No. 6
Elon College
Tuesday, November 11, 1969
A Great American Myth - The Killer Weed
There are an estimated 10,-
000,000 regular or occasional
users of marijuana in the Unit
ed States today. The present laws
on grass are antiquated statutes
quickly pushed through Congress
by terrified men paying no heed
to basic rights or scientific fact.
These iron-hand laws are not only
bad for those who indulge in
the smoking of pot but also for
the vast multitudes ^o do not.
The laws will soon be changed,
but will they change in a favt>r.
able way? Every intelligent and
fair-minded individual should be
concerned with the new laws and
their provisions. At the present
time, under Federal laws, you
can be locked up for five to 20
years for giving grass to a friend.
For the second offense of this
type the penalty is ten to forty
years, the Federal law also im-
poses a two to 10 year sentence
for simple possession and five to
20 years for a second offense.
The various state laws are even
more ridiculous with at least
one state imposing the death pen
alty for sale of marijuana to a
minor. One can plainly see the
Budget Controversy
By ED CONNER
Bill Walker, a member of the
Student Senate and a sponsor
of the petition to audit the S.G.A.
funds stated that he feels the bud
get is in good shape now after
being revised in the Senate on
the basis of the Audit Commit
tee’s recommendations. The Au
dit Committee, under the su
pervision of Mrs. Council, offer
ed a number of recommendations
vhich were all passed immed
iately by the Senate, Walker said
President Comnlnaki vetoed only
the one concerning removal of
the outside telephone lines in
the S.G.A. office and the Senate
overrode his veto by 16-3, Wal
ker feels many S.G.A. officials
lately have taken advantage of
their positions, and used S.G.A.
funds indiscreetly, such as per
sonal phone calls, personal ma
gazine subscriptions, etc. But
now, he says, there are no more
loopholes, such as general or
miscellaneous expenses, in the
budget andS.G.A. funds will now
be used more effectively and
beneficially for the students.
President Comninaki, how
ever, said he thought the budget
was in good shape before re-
vision, and that the changes in
the budget have affected the abi-
lity of the executive branch of
the S.G.A. to function as effi
ciently as it did previously. Com.
ninaki said all the recommenda
tions were agreed to by him ex
cept the removal of the outside
telephone line, which he vetoed
and was overridden by the Se
nate, Now, he stated, the S.G.A.
doesn’t have an effective outside
line and this hinders the S.G.A.
in rendering aid to students.
Comninaki feels the Seante far
overstepped its bounds and has
severely limited the functioning
ability of the executive brance.
President Comninaki had the
following statement to make con
cerning the Senate’s decisions:
“The Senate this year and the
Auditing Committee have so li
mited the executive branch that
it leaves this administration and
all following administrations two
choices -- what time to pen the
office and whether or not to be
responsive to student pleas.”
It Can’t Happen Here
By JOAN R. RIGGAN
On Nov, 5, 1969 at approxi-
mately 12:30 a,m. several girls
on third floor West heard a
man talking over the intercom.
Now this was an unusual ex
perience, After hearing this man
several girls went downstairs to
see what was happening. When
got downstairs they saw
someone running away from the
front of West dorm. Naturally ev
eryone began to talk about the
incident.
Safety should be the concern
of all persons at Elon College,
K is characteristic to say vio
lent acts can’t happen at Elon
College, but let’s face reality,
anything can happen and at any
time. The girls at Elon College
should not have to fear any-
or anyone, and we should
|>^ve a feeling of security while
m our respective dorms,
^'Tiat is wrong and what can be
''°ne are basic questions that
need to be considered. For many
^ars the security measures for
’’est dormitory have been out
over-severity of such laws for
such a minor "crime” as smok
ing a number or two.
The older generation, who are
the chief proponents of these
police-state laws should be the
ones to realize the implications
of marijuana prohibition. They
lived through the period of alco
hol prohibition in the twentities
and witnessed the moral decay
brought on by this mass dis
play of Puritanism. Not only were
the drinkers affected but also the
non-drinkers -- the everyday
person in the street. This legis
lation brought on disrespect for
law and order, violence and an
increase in other crimes which
causes the U.S. government to
be frowned upon with contempt
by the people it was attempting
to protect. Today, the vanning of
marijuana has produced an under
current of discontent which per-
haps spurs the revolutionary and
rebellious spirt of youth. Is it
right for morality to be placed
above fact and common sense?
There have been many re-
cent experimental programs that
have explored the “killer weed”
and the results are very inter-
esting. It has been proven unlike
ly that pot has any serious
physical effects in either short
or long term use. It has also
been shown that tobacco and al
cohol have more adverse effects
on the human body than mari
juana. And so, we have the kil-
(Continued on Page 4)
of date. Anyone who wants to
get into the dormitory could very
eiisily do so. With all the work
men that are in and out of the
dorm it would be very easy
to hide in the dorms. The doors
around West dorm are not very
secure.
Regarding the actions that
should be taken to remedy the
security of the dorms must be
taken seriously by everyone.
There should be a burglar a-
larm installed on all doors of
the dorms. This would serve
a dual purpose. It would provide
a way to insure safety to all
girls and would keep girls from
snealdng out of the dorm in the
early hours of the morning.
Also there should be better
surveillance of the dorms dur
ing the night. By doing this they
could prevent anyone from get
ting in the dorms at night.
The girls should always lock
their doors for their own safe
ty. If they don’t care why should
anyone else? It can’t happen
here? Don’t be too sure.
Children’s Rules
In an age of increasing li
berality when great strides are
being made elsewhere to free
students from backward, out
dated, pointless rules and regu
lations, Elon College still drifts
sleepily along with the tide of
“things - as - they - are -
and - always - will - be,”
Consider women’s rules, for in
stance, Among some of the chang
es made this year are:
(1) Dorm closing hours have
been extended from 12 to 1 on
Driday nights, from 12:30 to
1:00 on Saturday nights, and from
11:30 to 12 on Sunday nights.
However, girls may now take only
one 1/2 - hour late per night,
whereas formerly upperclass
men were allowed to take a
maximum of two lates on any
given night. This means that
last year an upperclassman could
conceivably stay out until 1:30
(on a Saturday night), while still
under the new system, the lat
est an upperclassman can stay
out is 1:30 on any Friday or
Saturday night, (Freshmen have
no late privileges whatsoever
this year,)
(2) Girls are now allowed to
have "blanket permission,”
which means that to leave campus
for an overnight or weekend, all
a girls must do is indicate her
destination and companions by
signing the dorm hostess’ sign-
out book. (Providing her parents
have signed a form agreeing that
she may have blanket per
mission,) This represents a great
improvement over the former
rule regarding overnights, when
a girl was required to obtain
a note of invitation from the
household at which she would be
spending her time away from
campus. Since this note of in
vitation was required to be in
Dean Looney’s office by the Wed
nesday preceding the weekend a
girl planned to be away, it was
impossible to leave campus with
out much planning ahead of time,
and spur-of-the-moment visits
were prevented.
(3) Payment of dorm dues (50?
per semester) is no longer man-
datory. In the past, the funds ob
tained by the collection of these
dues have been used for dorm
parties at Christmas, and for
buying presents for the house
mothers and Dean Looney, Many
girls expressed their opposition
to paying these dues this year,
and it was decided by the Wo
men’s hiterdormitory Council
that payment would be on an in
dividual, voluntary basis.
Although on the surface it may
appear that the women of Elon
have been granted extra free
doms and privileges, in acuali-
ty conditions have improved very
little. Perhaps at the root of this
problem lies the administrators’
very attitudes toward the stu-
very attitudes toward the stu-
dents; I personally once heard
an administrative official re-
fer to Elon students as “the
children,” More people should
start to realize that college stu-
start to realize that college stu
dents are not “children” any
more, and that to treat them as
children is to do them a grave
injustice. While women’s rules
are but a small part of the over,
all problem, they are nonetheless
significant and should be regard
ed as such.
Street Politics
The “silent majority” which
inspires Nixon’s foreign policy
may become a remote abstraction
this weekend with the presence
in Washington, D. C. of Hundreds
of thousands of anti-war types.
And that majority should well be
come remote because of its very
silence.
No history breathed through
Nixon’s outline of East Asia.n-
American politics. That majority
of which he speeks is tradition-
ally not a thinking, politically
conscious moss but an inert, re-
ceptive blob; a species which only
responds to stimuli and then in a
dull manner. What gives stimulus
and historically make the politics
is the thinking, active minority,
usually an educated class, the
“doers” in politics.
Nixon showed passing respect
for the right to demonstrate dis
sent but paid that the policies of
the United States cannot emanate
from that minority. Find strength
in that word Sir, but don’t con
sider who is in the minority.
The silent majority does not
analyze your policies any further
than a nod of approval at your
“honorable settlement.” This
taste good provided you don’t
mention that the United States
must lose no face and must retain
her everlasting military su-
permacy.
The minority which takes pol
itics to the streets are scorned
by Nixon. From an Greensboro
Daily News editorianl in the Oct,
Moratorium, this is where they
must be taken by those who cannot
be heard from the voting booths;
From a Newsweek letter, "When
a considerable number of a na
tion's citizens think enough of
an issue to take it to the street,
the same streets where American
political campaigns are waged,
thus that demonstration is worth
consideration,”
Washington should surpass
Woodstock for solidarity of sen-
timent. The question for the re
mainder of the year-were you at
Washington? Let the active,
thinking minority at Elon mis
represent the sentiment at Elon
by making Washington, Contact
SGA for rides to Washington if
you’re willing to share expenses.
"It won't be long now"
H«r« «re th* official Sept. 25 511,500
Pentagon figucs for tb* Oct. 2 509,600
number of troo|« in Vietnam Net withdrawal in
for the last« weein: *« weelu .200
Aui,31 509,800 At this rate we w«iW
Sept. 4 509,600 withdraw 1,732 mea every 12
Sept. 11 508,000 months and be out of
Sept. 18 510,^ Vietnam in 294;