Page 80 - Phoenix1999-2000

Thursday, December 9, 1999-Page8 COMMENTARY Staff SGA questioned on ability to represent students Editor-In-Chief To begin with, I would like to set the Ben Decker challenges students to lems with the college, don't hesitate to bring Megan K. Martin '01 record straight. Many on campus have heard make sure that the SGA is it to their attention. the rumors about certain members of our Some of them don't want to hear the opin- Editor EmeritusIWebmaster accurately representing them. Emily Stamathis '00 SGA being anti-Muslim. This is not true. ' ions of the students. I was at the meeting on November 18 Religion is something very personal and Some of them could be a bit power hun- Managing Editor lenifer O. Sirkis '01 where the incident involving religious intol- is a sensitive issue to students of all faiths. gry and may look down on the rest of the erance by several of our elected representa- As individuals, Blundin and Jacobson are student body. Assistant Managing Editor tives took place. free to be as intolerant and narrow-minded Stacie Underwood '0 I Bring it to their attention. Their opinions To tell the truth, I'm not sure whether or as they want. are only their opinions. News Editor not certain SGA representatives are anti- However, expressing bigotry and reli- Another option could be to run against Lisa Dale-Van Auken '02 Muslim. gious hatred at a formal student government them. They never get challenged, so any Features Editor If they are, it is doubtful they would ex- meeting, where they are supposed to be act- position-seeker's "election" is almost guar- Sarah Radice '01 c press it the way they expressed their feel- ing as our representatives, is inexcusable. anteed. ings on Christianity. Iam very pleased with the labors of our Commentary Editor In closing, the statements made by KristenG. Fraser '00 What I can and will tell is that the Vice- SGA so far. H is surely a thankless job, and Michael Blundin were very inappropriate. President of the SGA, Michael Blundin, and most of them deserve much more credit for Not only did he compare the cross to the Nazi Assistant Commentary Editor Dana Jacobson, did explicitly state at the the time they give. Edward Schultheis '03 - Swastika, but he did so as the vice-president meeting that the symbol of the Christian But lets not let them forget that they are of our student government. Sports Editor cross was insulting to them. MikeYcstramski'OI there to represent us - the student body. It is In case anyone was still wondering if Assistant Sports Editor While Idon't remember the exact words a privilege to make decisions for us, not a the crosses were ever going to be put back Chris Anastasia '02 spoken, I can say that both of these repre- right. on some of our historic buildings, this should sentatives clearly expressed some amount of They decided not to endorse putting Art Editor/ArchivistILayout answer your question. Michael Puskar '99 hatred and disgust for the symbol of the crosses back on two campus buildings. Editor's note: The Phoenix is confident in cross, which is held sacred by a large seg- They had the right to make that decision, saying that Mr. Blundin and Ms. Jacobson Senior Writers ment of our population. Erin Howard '00 even if it means a piece of our college's his- may have represented thefeelings of at least Erin Jernigan '00 The most revealing statement came when toric integrity and tradition will be forever some students, perhaps the minority opinion. Jennifer Ross '00 Blundin unabashedly compared the cross to forgotten. I Since this issue was not brought to the the Nazi Swastika. However, they don't have the right to say, Photographers student body's attention by the SGA, they may NiaClements'02 It is unfortunate that this incident took when questioned by the students, that the have believed it was their right and obliga- Trang Dam '00 place. While Blundin and Jacobson are cer- Kasenla Lantzky '99 reason for the decision was because the cross tion to do so. Erin Owen '01 tainly entitled to their opinions, they are our is insulting to them. We invite both Mr. Blundin. and Ms. Hussein Samatcr'OO elected representatives and should try to keep Further, if you don't agree with a deci- Jacobson to respond to this commentary in. Brad Widner '03 from debasing any particular religion. sion the SGA makes or have any other prob- the first issue of next semester. StalTWriters Amy Bittinger '01 Clearing air on "Future of Greek system" Anne ButJcr '01 Ben Decker '00 Tara DeJlaFranzia '03 Since the publication of issue three of this Megan K. Martin defends story with Malissa during their interview last se- Jessica Fitzgerald '03 semester's Phoenix (October 21, 1999), an StaciGeorge '03 troubling Chambers and Greeks. mester. Shannon Hess '02 unfortunate situation has been brought to my Chambers wants the campus to know two SaraE. Hoover '02 attention. This situation concern's Malissa bers had been questioned over the phone things. "I do not want to be branded as an Matt Hurff'03 Michael Jenkinson '02 Morin story, "The future of the Greek sys- about his quotes by Stephanie Craven, pub- enemy of the Greeks," he said. "My greatest Jeremy Keil '02 tem," on pages two and four of that issue. lic relations person for the Order of Omega. interest is in making this environment as rich Greg Lederer 'Ol In this article, President Robert Cham- According to her, Chambers "appalled" and MaJissaMorin'OJ as possible. Iam happy to support any orga- Cathy Pendorf '02 bers is quoted as saying, "'Most problems "shocked" by the quotes as he heard them nizations that enhance the campus." To Devon Reeser '03 on campus are Greek related'" and "'The for the first time. Chambers, that includes the Greek organi- FrancescaSaylor '00 college would not be worse off without the Newspaper advisor Terence Dalton and I zations. Ryan Seavolt '00 Rich Simmons '00 Greek system. '" each reviewed Malissa's notes after this mat- "I was disappointed," Malissa said of the Michael Stokes '00 News editor Lisa Dale Van Auken at- ter had come to light. As we expected, the beginning of the meeting. She felt that Cham- Nykole Tyson '03 tempted to contact Chambers to verify said quotes published in the Phoenix were iden- bers was denying the quotes at first. Despite Jody Ullery '03 Philip Vogt '0 I quotes. Chambers had already left on a busi- tical to those in her notes. his lack of recall about the interview last se- ness trip, and we were only hours away from After reviewing the notes, Matisse and I mester, Malissa understands Chamber's po- Distribution Rich Suchoski '00 our deadline. Although we felt the quotes met with Chambers on December 3. While sition more but continues to stand by her were strong, Lisa and I did not edit them out. at first appearing defensive. once the notes story. Graduate Assistant Had we eliminated the quotes, we would not were produced and the context of the article The Phoenix does stand behind Malissa's Vince Chesney have been fair to our readers or our writer, Adviser reasserted, Chambers said that he did not story. I hope, through this commentary, that Terry Dalton whom we supported. deny saying the quoted material. He also the air has been cleared and life can return Several days later, Ireceived a phone call does not remember saying those things. to "normal" for all concerned. ThePhnenix.ispublishedbiweekly. The opinions expressed do not necessarily rep- from Lisa alerting me to a problem. Cham- It is possible that Chambers was not clear resent those of The Phoenix. staff, the fac- Commentary editor moves on to the future ulty, or the administrators ofWMC. The paper welcomes free-lance submis- Kristen G. Fraser says goodbye to comes As the semester sionson Macintosh disks in most word pro- does my term as commentary to a close, so too the feeling of actual contribution to some- editor for this cessorformars. Theeditorreserves theright section of the Phoenix. To summarize the newspaper and asks students to thing tangible. to edit for clarity, length, and libel and to emotions would be difficult. The feelings I consider involvement. The Phoenix staff is one to be remem- publish as space permits. All submissions have now are somewhat jumbled, but Isup- bered. Thanks to the executive editors, sec-. (excluding self-addressed diskettes) become pose they're not that different from most se- at the will of the great "Newspaper Spirit," tion editors, and co-editors. You've made the the property of The Phoenix. and cannot be niors. causing the ever-dwindling weekend hours experience fun. And I appreciate your flex- even more rapidly. to disappear returned. Most seniors, from what I've gathered, Did I mention the pay? Oh, whoops, there ibility in changing schedules as needed. Please include a name and phone num- are quite ready to say goodbye to WMC. No To the WMC campus, gel involved. Write ber for verification. Names will be withheld more registration, no more classes, and no isn't any. Oh wait. There's prestige. I have your opinion. My job became more fun as become forever known on campus as that girl only by the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. controversial and exciting topics crossed the mcre Glar. who wrote about the pub. Oh wait, that pages. All noble desires, but I'm not quite ready doesn't sound quite right, either. Students, it's your newspaper, do some- The Phoenix.does notdiscriminate based Have f convinced on age, race, religion, gender, sexual orien- to let go. But, such is life, and I must start Well, I guess I should anyone to join the staff? ap- thing powerful. Think dangerously. It is my process by ending my ten- this semester-long take a different tation, national origin, condition of handi- ure as a section editor. proach. There are many things that I will hope that controversy, political arguing, and cap, or marital status. an increased student voice mark the future This has been quite a fun job. The hours miss. commentary pages with a variety of contribu- are great. Ireally didn't need my weekends The weekly meetings provided an oppor- Mail to: anyway. tors. Take pride in your paper. The Phoenix Also, writing an article for every issue tunity to get together with a creative group And so, as I start my downward spiral WMC, 2 College Hill was fun. r really didn't feel as if Iwas writ- of people who I didn't often see outside of towards adulthood, I leave the newspaper Westminster, MD 21157 ing enough papers in my classes anyway. the newspaper. behind. Thanks for the memories. (4[0)751-8600 The list of thrills continues. Any editor And, Ireally did enjoy layout. There is a This fully student-run newspaper will FAX: (4lO) 857-2729 feeling of great accomplishment as the news- provide more memories for the next "lucky" E-Mail: phoenix@wmdc.edu here can attest to the joy of the antiquated paper arrives after a grueling weekend of soul to take this position, and I wish them computers of the Phoenix office which freeze layout. Four gleamingpages of text create the best of luck.