In Our Words... 
Some good news from our SGA 

Our Student Government Association is making progress toward passing legislation that will be beneficial to students. 

This semester’s senate is attempting to produce legislation that might interest students, so we decided to investigate. We’re glad we did. 
It turns out that our senators have done a little brainstorming on behalf of the students, which has produced some good ideas. Though this exercise began as an icebreaker for the 25 new senators for this semester it served to bring forth good results. 

With some exceptions, the list has potential, such as installing video cameras in parking lots, raised crosswalks next to Walker Hall, two additional drops for classes  and bringing movie channels to residence hall cable. 

Kiley Costner, SGA vice president, said this exercise produced more ideas for legislation. She said the ideas have been passed on to the Academic Affairs committee for consideration. 

Sure there are some duds among that list. For example, making a student’s GPA among the requirements, along with class status, is not a good idea. 

The reason it is not a good idea is simple, because some people like to take the easy way out and make an A from simple professors, rather than learning something, making a C or B from a more difficult professor. 

There is also some discussion of requiring students to complete community service hours in order to graduate.  These hours could be used to fulfil credit.  This idea would be more easy to support if Appalachian did not already have several clubs and organizations that perform community service.  It is wrong to require students to perform community service if those who want to be involved already are or at least are given that option. 

Some things should be left the way they are, since some of us remember how long it took for the TRS system to work right, so do we really want to mess with it again? 

But keep brainstorming SGA, these initial ideas are promising. 
 

Criminal athletes: why do we keep watching 
John T. Bennett 

Recently a friend and I were discussing the disturbing criminal trend that has been emerging in the world of professional sports. 

Athletes such as Rae Carruth and Ray Lewis have been charged in murder cases, giving not only the National Football League, but professional sports as a whole a black eye.   

As the conversation progressed, my friend asked an intriguing question: given the actions of these athletes, why do we still watch pro sports? 

At the time, I did not have an answer.  Last Tuesday evening while I was watching the waning moments of the Hornets-76ers game, the answer became crystal clear. 

At the onset of the telecast, the Hornets’ broadcast team informed the viewers that Derrick Coleman would be late to the First Union Center in Philadelphia because he had a court case back in Charlotte relating to a DUI charge.   

It was that piece of news that brought my friend’s question back into my mind, yet I found myself forgetting about Coleman’s court case as the game drew close in the final minutes.   

My reason for watching the game had nothing to do with Coleman’s DUI charge, so why should it keep me from tuning in?  We look to professional sports for a source of entertainment, but that only begins to scratch the surface of the answer. 

Pro sports also provides a means of release for fans because you can attend or watch a game, and for two or three hours, nothing else matters. 

You can engulf yourself in every first down, fast break, penalty play or bases loaded situation, allowing yourself to forget about whatever part of your life may be troubling you at that given time. 

No matter how many wide receivers or Pro Bowl linebackers have been indicted on murder charges, thousands of fans will flock to stadiums every Sunday afternoon from September until late January. 

NBA players have a history of DUI charges, violating the league’s substance abuse policy and choking out their coaches during practice, but arenas will be sold out night after night despite instances such as these. 

Why? 

Because we are lured in by the luster of professional sports.  It is a luster not found anywhere else simply because at any given time, a player may do something spectacular. 

We as fans are willing to overlook the off field shenanigans of the troubled few, opting to focus our attention on the captivating performances of those who steer clear of the law. 

We watch sports because of players like Tim Duncan, Steve Young, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jaromir Jagr. All are players who are among the best in their respective games, and at any given moment in any game, each has the ability to electrify us by taking that game over. 

As fans, we will forget about Derrick Coleman’s DUI charge as long as the Hornet power forward continues to put up solid numbers and provides us with a few highlight reel dunks each night. 

NFL fans are willing to push the horrible charges facing Rae Carruth to the back of their minds because the score is tied late in the fourth quarter, and Brett Favre is under center, prepared to lead his team on yet another memorable game-winning drive. 

New York Knick fans will forget about Latrell Sprewell choking then-coach P.J. Carlesimo.  Why? 

Because the Knicks need a three-pointer to tie the score late in the fourth quarter, and Sprewell has been on fire all night.    

While the criminal actions of athletes do nothing but scar the image of professional sports, we as fans will continue to watch. 

Why? 

Simple, because St. Louis is down 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded.  And Mark McGwire just stepped into the batter’s box. 

Fans will always be fans. No matter how many times athletes disappoint us, we will continue to flock to stadiums, arenas and ballparks. When our favorite teams are on the road, we will remain glued to our television sets. 

When athletes step onto the field of battle, they step into a surreal world where the only aspect by which they are judged is their performance.   

In this surreal world, there are no investigating officers, no district attorneys and no court dates. There are only our heroes, doing what we expect them to do: entertain and captivate us with unbelievable performances night after night. 
 
 

Dreams come true: where's my 'dream house?' 
Matt McKenzie 

So, the chancellor is getting a new home. A two-story complex/public entertainment center at that. Now, I know the leaky roof in the old house would be too “expensive” to fix and there is a long list of costly and needed repairs. So, what do we do? Let’s build a $1.8 million house! That’s not too expensive, is it? 

If you read the article, you see which rooms have the square footage. Well, if you are like me, numbers don’t make a lot of sense. It would be better if you could visualize it, right? I can make that happen through the beauty of newspaper. Try to visualize what you are reading because I have the plans for the complex right here. 

First of all, if it involves the words “public entertainment” and “complex,” it needs a catchy name. Like Blockbuster Pavilion in Charlotte, the Ice Palace in Raleigh, etc. So, from here on out, it shall be named “Bork’s Bungalow.” 

As you enter the bungalow, you enter under a stone arch entrance on a flagstone patio and on your right is the dining room. This dining room looks like a banquet room to feed the masses, which would be great if people can actually visit.  

This will be the main question for many. Will this be house be more student-friendly? The place looks big enough to put all those students that are over-booked at the beginning of each year. See, you can’t just walk into the old house, and this is called a “public” entertainment center. I always heard about the chancellor’s house and how nice it is, but the closest I ever got was that I knew a girl whose parents were head of the Parents Association and they would tell me stories. So, in a way I lived vicariously through them. 

Anyway, back to the bungalow. There is a bar to the side of the great room. This seems to be the highlight of the first floor. Next is the kitchen, and then the breakfast room (as if the dining room wasn’t big enough, there is a special place to eat breakfast). While we’re at it, let’s make a snack room too! The guest bedroom wouldn’t be so bad, except for this dressing room. Heaven forbid the chancellor’s guests dress in the bedroom. 

Now, let’s go upstairs to the chancellor’s floor. The master bedroom is decent, but the master bathroom takes the cake. This toilet room itself seems about as big as an Eggers dorm room. Then there is another dressing room. Another kitchen is upstairs, along with two more offices, one of which is called a “bedroom office.” If anyone can tell me what that is used for, please let me know. 
So, we shall see how this turns out. It is supposed to be done by December, but we all know that means March 2001 (June if it is the same people that are building the Staples on Hwy. 321). 

Thank you for taking this imagery tour with me. And if the bungalow does become available to the public, take this article as a map. 
 

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