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(08/26/15 11:44am)
The scene was depressing, with blank stares across many Elon University men’s soccer players’ faces as they coped with their loss to Northeastern University in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament.
(08/26/15 3:30pm)
It’s hardly surprising that we’re inside of two weeks before the Elon University football team’s season opener and we still don’t know who the starting quarterback will be.
(08/24/15 6:14pm)
For the second straight year, the Elon University men's basketball team won't be showcased in one of the Colonial Athletic Association regular season games televised by NBCSN.
(08/23/15 5:06pm)
https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.etp/9474_Skrosky-awesomeo.jpg
(07/10/15 7:15pm)
One third of the trio is gone.
(06/23/15 5:45pm)
In the last month, Elon University has released its men’s and women’s soccer schedules for this fall.
(05/15/15 6:52pm)
UPDATE: Sept. 2, 2016
(05/06/15 10:06pm)
The potent energy once displayed on the basketball court is now reaching audiences in a different form.
(05/05/15 7:42pm)
Cordell Wesley Forrest, a 19-year old freshman and member of the football team, was charged Monday with first-degree felony burglary.
(05/04/15 6:11pm)
Reflecting back on a year in the Colonial Athletic Association, the feelings director of athletics Dave Blank has gauged from Elon University athletes have been positive.
(04/28/15 8:41pm)
Let’s hope this doesn’t become an annual question.
(04/24/15 12:00pm)
This was probably just what Elon University had in mind when it made the move to the Colonial Athletic Association.
(04/22/15 2:13pm)
This week, the concerted effort Elon University has made over time in regard to sustainability comes to the forefront during Earth Week, said Jessica Bilecki, education and outreach coordinator in the office of sustainability.
“I think it’s hugely important that we have public events to bring attention to what Elon is doing well in terms of sustainability and to highlight areas where we as a campus community can improve,” Bilecki said. “Earth Week is a convenient time to do that.”
A number of student organizations are coming together this week to sponsor events across campus celebrating Earth Week.
Focus will be put on the sustainability projects Elon has completed, while also continuing to push for more awareness among students.
“Earth Week is an opportunity for the campus to celebrate the natural environment we enjoy and learn about sustainability efforts on and off campus and how to get involved with them,” said Elaine Durr, director of sustainability.
Elon was recently named a “Green College,” showing a strong commitment to sustainable practices, for the sixth straight year by the Princeton Review.
Sustainability projects Elon has underwent include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for 25 buildings, a large reduction in energy consumption per square foot and solar thermal installations.
“The most obvious [ways Elon has progressed] are that buildings are more efficient and we recycle, but there is a lot more to sustainability than that,” Bilecki said. “Elon’s willingness to talk about all of sustainability, not just environmental sustainability, shows progress as well.”
Elon also has the Eco-Reps program for students to educate their peers about sustainability initiatives.
“One of the goals of the Eco-Reps program is to help students understand that ‘living sustainably’ does not require people to completely change their life style,” said senior Shannon Temlak, Eco-Rep Coordinator. “Students can take small steps to make a huge impact.”
The week began Sunday with a canoeing and cleanup trip to the Haw River sponsored by Campus Recreation. An official Earth Week kick-off event was held Monday.
Danielle Nierenberg, president of Food Tank — an organization that focuses on environmentally, socially and economically sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, poverty and obesity — spoke Tuesday night as the week’s keynote speaker. Her speech was titled “Cultivating a Better Food System.”
Wednesday, the plaza outside Lakeside Dining Hall will host Party for the Planet, a new event. A number of campus sustainability-related organizations will be there with food, music and more. There will also be a Swap Shop, where students can donate small items like books or clothing and take an item in exchange. A local meal will be served at Colonnades Dining Hall 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., and Elon Outdoors will host a S’mores social at the Beck Pool patio 10-11 p.m.
On Thursday, the Farmer’s Market will be on the Elon Community Church Lawn from 3-6:30 p.m. Friday will be a Garden Work Day from 2-4 p.m. in the Community Garden, and there will be a Student Union Board Cinema, in conjunction with Sustainability at Elon, video debut at 8 p.m. Saturday on Young Commons.
“Earth Week events are primarily for awareness building, networking and celebration,” Bilecki said. “The events demonstrate how more sustainable practices can be integrated into a lot of events already happening on campus. I think Party for the Planet in particular is a great event to show that though it may not always seem like it, there are a lot of students interested and working on this topic. Ultimately, I hope it helps people understand what they can do to contribute to sustainability at Elon.”
Elon is also launching the Sustainability Projects Database this week, which showcases student research on sustainability and gives students, faculty and staff the chance to submit project ideas.
“The goals of the Sustainability Project Database are to showcase student work while serving as a repository and inspiration for new, or more in depth, projects and to facilitate completion of, or improvement on, projects from year to year,” Durr said. “Projects for the Database can address one or more aspects of sustainability: environmental, social and/or economic. They can focus on campus, the local area or sustainability on a broader scale.”
(04/20/15 3:30am)
Senior Omolayo Ojo saw other college’s African Societies sponsoring a week solely devoted to Africa and knew it was something Elon University needed.
After learning from schools like Wake Forest University, Duke University and North Carolina A&T State University, Ojo is finally bringing that type of event to Elon.
“It’s finding ways to bring African topics to the forefront of various communities,” Ojo said. “Ever since the Elon African Society (EAS) was founded, we’ve been trying to get conversations going around campus about various African topics, but Africa Week’s really dedicated to celebrating things and celebrating cultures. We wanted something that would bring a lot of different parts of campus together.”
EAS is in the midst of hosting its inaugural Africa Week with the goal of giving students a better perspective on Africa while celebrating the culture as a whole. The week began Monday with the International African Fair and will conclude Saturday night with Africa Night, a culmination of everything done during the week.
Chef Kabui, renowned Kenyan chef from Apex, had a cooking demonstration followed by dinner and discussion on Tuesday. Today, students will present research at the third annual African and African-American Studies lunch and learn series.
Thursday, topics regarding African innovation will be explored at 6 p.m. in the Global Commons Media Room. South African food will also be served at Lakeside Dining Hall all week.
EAS partnered with a number of different organizations on campus to help plan the events, which all focus around the theme of African Influences Around the World. The Global Education Center, the Latin American Student Organization and the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education are all sponsoring portions of the week.
Ojo said the planning began more than a year ago, and the process has gotten frantic in the last few months to lock down the dates and sponsors.
“We don’t have a huge African population at Elon, but we have a lot of people who might be interested in African topics,” Ojo said. “We made sure our first topic was a very approachable topic — a very relatable topic — that can draw other students in who might not necessarily identify as African.”
Ojo said Africa Night is the main event of the week and what usually draws the most attention at other schools. There will be a number of dance performances by groups like Elon’s finest, Gospel Choir’s Praise Team, Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. and the African Dance Team from North Carolina Central University.
It takes place at 6 p.m. Saturday in McKinnon and is followed by an after party at 11 p.m. at Tap House.
“I think Elon students need to see beyond the Africa presented in the media,” said freshman Ally Bolton, a member of EAS. “I do believe there is a growing awareness on campus about African realities thanks to a number of initiatives on campus such as a forum on African entrepreneurship held earlier this semester by Dr Heidi Frontani. I would like for Africa week to be another such event. I think this is a fantastic opportunity to showcase Africa’s rich and diverse cultures.”
EAS marketed the event through messages on digital boards, Facebook and Instagram posts and through departments on campus.
EAS won’t be making any profits from the week. Ojo said originally the plan was to charge admission to Africa Night and the subsequent after party — because that’s what other schools do — but they decided against it since it’s a new event.
“Africa has been in the news a lot lately, and most of the time it’s been not-so-great news,” Ojo said. “Taking a week where every topic we’re talking about is very enlightening, very inspirational, very celebratory of what Africa does have to offer is so important for Elon students who are interested in Africa or never been exposed to Africa or have only been exposed to bad news from Africa.”
As a whole, Ojo said the goal of the week is to showcase African history and the cultures that exist today. She thinks it manifests Elon’s goals regarding global engagement and citizenship.
“If this week can change just one person’s image of Africa or idea of what Africa looks like, I would call it a success,” Ojo said.
(04/16/15 12:13am)
Hilary Corna ’07 told everyone in the room to stand up, and asked for a student to come forward.
(04/09/15 7:55pm)
UPDATED: Friday, 1:48 p.m.
(04/03/15 12:18am)
Pacing around the stage, all but antsy to get started, Neil deGrasse Tyson raised his voice a little bit. So he apologized.
(04/02/15 8:00pm)
There’s a great deal of mutual understanding between the players and coaches as the Elon University football team begins spring practice.
(04/01/15 2:31am)
Kim Crawford raised her voice a bit, spoke in a sharp, serious tone and delivered a number of robust messages Tuesday night, but one might have resonated a little more than the rest.
(03/14/15 4:00pm)
Senior Patrick Wheeler recalls a night when he and a friend were walking near the railroad tracks on W. Trollinger Avenue. They heard a train coming.
But they didn’t stop for the train to go through.
“We decided to get right across,” Wheeler said. “We beat it, but if we would have tripped, that would probably have been the end right there.”
In the past 10 months, there have been four fatalities on the railroad tracks in Alamance County, including two in Elon. It’s one of the highest numbers among counties in North Carolina, despite Alamance being the 18th largest county in the state.
For perspective, there were 26 fatalities on tracks across North Carolina in 2014. Three of them, or 12 percent, were in Alamance County, an area that accounts for less than 2 percent of the state’s population.
Measures are being taken to improve rail safety, but it all boils down to the same simple message: stay off the tracks.
According to Paul Worley, the director of the Rail Division at the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), walking on the train tracks outside a designated crossing is legally trespassing. Most rail deaths involve individuals who are trespassing.
“It’s unsafe, and it’s also illegal,” Worley said. “Part of the message we want to get out to people is that trains can come as fast as 79 miles per hour. It takes thousands of feet for a train to stop that’s moving at a high rate of speed. That’s certainly not a situation you’re in if you stay away from the tracks.”
Worley said many of the incidents involve alcohol and a lot appear to be suicide, but sometimes it’s unclear if a person doesn’t leave a note. For that reason, Worley said NCDOT works with suicide prevention task forces across the state.
When someone is killed on the tracks, the driver of the train often asks for a period away from the job.
“We continue to try to stress the need for trying to stay away from the tracks, and how it impacts other people, and how it’s more than just one individual that’s involved,” he said.
The most recent death on the tracks in Alamance County occurred Jan. 27, when Franklin D. Gwynn, 25, was struck by an Amtrak train near the Fisher Street overpass, not far from the Burlington Amtrak Station.
In December, Doris Miles Pinnix, 80, was in her Dodge Caravan on the railroad crossing at East Washington Street in Mebane when the van was hit and she was killed.
On May 20, 2014, Malcolm Cornelius Sims, 22, was struck while walking on the train tracks just west of Elon’s campus. Justin Lamar Swanson, 27, was killed two weeks later while standing on the tracks at the crossing by Gilliam Road and Park Road Extension at the border between Elon and Burlington.
The last Elon student killed on the tracks was James Michael Elzar Foreman when he was struck on the crossing at Oak Avenue in April 2007.
Senior Matt Albers crosses the tracks every day when walking to campus from his Mill Point apartment while wearing headphones. He trusts himself, but he also acknowledges the possible dangers.
“I think that’s the biggest danger is when a kid’s walking around with his headphones in,” Albers said. “They’re going to get hit when they don’t even hear it.”
The tunnel connecting North and South campus was completed in April 2010 and cost approximately $2.2 million, funded by Elon University and the North Carolina Railroad Company.
“It’s quite a public investment,” Worley said of such tunnels. “You have to do everything you can to get people to use that.”
Albers thinks more safety measures like the tunnel would benefit in the area on the west side of Williamson Avenue.
“I would figure there’d be more than a bit of fence that’s maybe 4 ½ feet tall,” Albers said. “It shocks me that it’s so easy to walk across.”
In its March Rail Report, NCDOT announced that Dual Matrix Vehicle Detection Radar systems will be implemented at nine new locations in the state during the next two years, including three in Alamance County — Oak Avenue in Elon, Elmira Street in Burlington and 3rd Street in Mebane.
The systems detect vehicles as they cross the tracks, evaluating how effective a simultaneous gate drop is in deterring drivers from going around the gates hoping to beat a train. If a vehicle is in the crossing when a gate starts to drop, the lowering of the gate is slightly delayed to give the car a clear way out. The systems also have video cameras which give continuous footage of the areas.
These are being funded through FHWA Section 1103(f), Freight Rail & Rail Crossing Safety and Highway Safety Improvement Program.
They were tested at three locations — on Williamson Avenue in Elon and another on 5th Street in Mebane. The spots were chosen, according to Worley, based on geometrics and how complex the crossing is.
Worley said the main purpose of the radar systems is to cut down on violations where people speed through to beat the train, sometimes trying to swerve around the crossing itself. But they also sense where vehicles are on the tracks, so they prevent cars from being trapped when a train is coming through.
“They went through quite a bit of testing,” Worley said. “It raises the effectiveness of the four-quadrant gate and gives added security.”
NCDOT’s BeRailSafe program is constantly trying to inform the public and law enforcement officers on safety precautions regarding the railroad tracks. In 2014, BeRailSafe worked with Amtrak on First Responder training sessions, partnered with CSX Transportation, North Carolina Operation Lifesaver and NASCAR on a railroad crossing safety event and conducted a number of crossing blitzes, during which workers deliver safety information to motorists when they’re stopped at a crossing.
BeRailSafe’s goals for 2015 include working with School Resource Officers to bring its messages to children and to increase its outreach to university campus radio stations.
“It doesn’t only work as far as public outreach and the individual contact with citizens, but there’s also an effort there to coordinate with local emergency forces so they have a better understanding,” Worley said. “There may be a percentage of things that you can’t reach, but you try to reach what you can and you try to strive for zero incidents.”