Opinion

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Assault on America

University must unite, continue to stand strong in wake of national crisis

The nation came to a collective standstill Tuesday morning as a heinous terrorist attack focused on the economic and military centers of the United States left thousands dead in New York and Washington, D.C.

As students at Appalachian State University began their daily routines Tuesday, television monitors in Plemmons Student Union delivered the first pictures of the worst terrorist attack in the history of the United States.

Students, faculty and staff gathered in front of the screens for hours, watching in silence as a sequence of unthinkable events changed the face of the world before their very eyes.

Professors and students huddled around television screens in faculty lounges across campus, all attempting to capture images of a day no American will ever forget.

Just as a nation under a vast terrorist attack was united by an indescribable gamut of emotions, so too was the Appalachian State University community. Students from all corners of the nation and a wide array of backgrounds stood together Tuesday and watched the foundation of their nation crack amid the most tragic attack on American soil, surpassing even the Dec. 7,1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Crossroads, Hawksbill Gameroom and Grandfather Mountain Ballroom were converted into viewing rooms as Plemmons Student Union officials transformed the facility into a makeshift news center for a growing number of students watching the crisis unfold on television monitors.

Watauga County Red Cross officials organized a Thursday blood drive to aid survivors in both Washington and New York.

Local churches scheduled events to help Boone come to grips with the most unfathomable of tragedies.

The horrifying events of Tuesday morning brought activity at Appalachian to a shocked crawl, but not a standstill. We commend the administration, faculty and staff of Appalachian State for not allowing the terror of the day to bring classes to a panicked halt.

Classes continued Tuesday, but the university rallied around its students, extending hours at the Counseling Center as well as the aforementioned steps taken in the student union.

Canceling classes would have served no other purpose than to produce the desired result for those responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

Members of the United States Congress freed themselves from the shackles of partisan politics in the wake of Tuesday's crisis, vowing to stand firmly behind President George W. Bush.

In the difficult days immediately ahead, the Appalachian State community must also cast aside those differences that often separate us.

As President Bush told the world Tuesday evening, "These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong."

The Appalachian State University community must continue to be strong as it joins a nation in beginning to clear the emotional rubble of a day that will indeed live in infamy.

ASU must be too tough for Wake Forest

Chris Boyce

Wake Forest University's recent decision to end the Wake Forest-Appalachian State University football rivalry certainly does not come as a shock, just a disappointment.

Perhaps one of the state's best football rivalries, the last five games of the series have been decided by an average of five points.

Although Wake Forest has the series' lead with 13 wins to the Mountaineers' seven, Appalachian State has defeated the Demon Deacons in three of the last five contests.

Saturday night's 20-10 Wake Forest victory in Winston-Salem drew 29,127 spectators, the third-largest crowd in series history.

"There are two reasons I'm disappointed this series is coming to an end," said Appalachian State head football coach Jerry Moore. "One is that the atmosphere of the games are great. The second thing is it's consistently a good ball game because to win you have to play well."

Moore describes the contest between the Demon Deacons and Mountaineers as natural, a much better fit than some of Wake Forest's proposed replacement opponents such as Oklahoma State University, Army, Navy, Air Force, Northwestern University or Vanderbilt University.

The battle is regional, with only 90 minutes separating the two schools.

Mountaineer starting quarterback Joe Burchette, a junior from Clemmons, described the event as almost a home game for him.

Perhaps that was one of the problems. Mountaineer fans routinely outnumber Wake Forest fans which doesn't look favorably on the Deacon program and its fan support.

But money certainly wasn't a problem with this series, and the in-state rivalry between the Mountaineers and Demon Deacons drew much more attention and fans, which translated into ticket sales. Will the Deacons be able to draw nearly 30,000 fans when the Navy Midshipmen sail into Winston-Salem? Doubtful.

The decision not to play the Mountaineers anymore stems from several angles.

On one end, there is the NCAA ruling that a Division I-A team must win six Division I-A games in a season to be bowl eligible.

There is an allowance for a Division I-AA opponent to count for one of these wins but that can only occur once every four years.

Until Saturday's win, Wake Forest failed to defeat the Mountaineers in the allotted four years; therefore the victory counts toward the Demon Deacons' bowl eligibility.

The Mountaineer Division I-AA team does little for Wake Forest's bowl eligibility because the team proved so hard to beat in recent years.

This falls into the second category as to why the Deacs want the series to end.

There is a certain degree of embarrassment a Division I-A team feels after routine losses to an I-AA opponent.

A win against the Mountaineers does little for Wake Forest in terms of national recognition, whereas a loss is detrimental in the polls and the media's opinion.

Why all these politics?

Regardless of the Mountaineers' consistently tight competition against Division I-A opponents and Appalachian State's prominence in Division I-AA football, from an outside spectator, a win against the Mountaineers receives less respect than deserved.

Therefore the Deacons will try their luck against these other opponents. Each will provide less of a challenge than Appalachian State.

Doesn't this in some way defy everything essential about competition?

Shouldn't teams play for the sheer challenge and rivalry that games present? Wake Forest exits this series because they don't want to get beaten anymore.

This seems like an attitude you would classify as being a "bad sport."

But Moore thinks this series will carry on despite the problems.

"I wouldn't rule out Appalachian State and Wake Forest playing again in the near future," said Moore.

Hopefully this great rivalry will continue once the Demon Deacons wise up and play football, not politics.

Underage drinking ... is it worth the risk?

Jeff Faucette

Underage drinking has become a problem at universities across the state, including Appalachian State University.

Let's face it folks, the number of underage drinkers has been on a steady increase since 1999, which can be seen in the number of alcohol violations that has been handed down by the ASU Police and Office of Judicial Affairs.

According to police statistics, the number of alcohol violations that includes underage drinkers is in the 90-percent range.

The university must face this obvious problem of underage drinking and come up with a solution to curb the large amount of drinking that occurs on campus, mainly in the residence halls.

I, for one, see underage drinking as a problem that can be stopped. It would be in the best interest of the university and residence life to make the residence halls dry, to make it harder for underage students to gain access to alcohol.

I understand how underage students feel because I once was faced with the same situation of how to get alcohol into the residence halls, and the whole time, I was just hoping the resident advisor would not catch me.

The penalties for underage drinking in the residence halls are not very strict, and this could account for why there is a rise in the number of violations being handed out by the police. Maybe it is time for the university to impose stricter penalties on drinking in the residence halls because I feel the students see the current measures as soft and therefore disregard what can happen to them if caught.

Also, with alcohol consumption comes very real dangers. Unfortunately for Appalachian, the death of a student due to the over-consumption of alcohol has been present at least once every year.

The time has come for underage drinking to be stopped. It is more important to keep students safe by informing them, than it is to allow them to find out when it is already too late.

I am a 22-year-old student who does occasionally consume alcohol, but I am given that right because the legal age to drink is 21. Anyone who is younger than that should wait to drink because they can get into lots of trouble, and it is not worth it.

Nothing will change before you are of age, so take my advice and wait.

Underage drinking causes lots of problems that could be avoided if students would be smart and wait until they are old enough. Not only will they have the legal right to drink, but they might also enjoy it more if they wait until they are of age.

Drinking is a privilege, not a right given to us by the United States government. Do not abuse the right but embrace it and use it only after you turn 21.

Underage students, listen to me when I say wait; do not be stupid because the consequences could possibly be worse than you think. Drinking is not worth the trouble because there will still be plenty of trouble when you are of age.

Wait until you are 21, and be careful when you consume alcohol.