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NEWS 8/24/11 11:34pm

General studies intended to set tone for Elon education

By Caitlin O'Donnell

At the heart of Elon University's liberal arts education is the general studies program, which dictates the courses and experiences students must participate in prior to graduation. For incoming students, four core courses are required as part of the program – College Writing, The Global Experience, Contemporary Wellness Issues and General Statistics – each of which sets the tone for the rest of a student's education at Elon, according to Jeffery Coker, director of the program. While math and writing skills are fundamental to any education, Coker said the selection of the other core classes is significant for college students. "The health course really is a recognition that our minds are attached to bodies and if you're not taking care of your body, your mind can't thrive either," he said.

NEWS 8/24/11 11:14pm

Common reading encourages reflection

By Hannah Delacourt

Each year, Elon University's Common Reading Program selects a book for incoming freshmen and other interested students, faculty and staff that will challenge them to reflect on themselves and the local and global communities in which they live. This year's choice is Muhammad Yunus's "Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism." Selection of the Book Janet Warman, director of general studies and chair of the common reading committee, said the book was selected for its value in educating Elon's students about poverty as a critical global issue. Warman said she hopes the book will expose students to an area of the world and a topic that may be unfamiliar to them but which they can use to think about how they might make a difference. "As a winner, along with the Grameen Bank, of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, Dr. Yunus is one of the individuals who has been deemed most responsible for improving life on this planet," she said.

NEWS 8/24/11 11:11pm

With name change, Student Conduct updates alcohol policy

By Anna Johnson

Students receiving their first Elon alcohol violation will no longer wake up the next morning wondering when their parents will be notified. Serving 10 restitution hours has also been dropped for first time alcohol violators and the fine lessoned from $150 to $50.

NEWS 8/24/11 11:06pm

Astley's legacy memorialized by campus, hometown

By Caitlin O'Donnell

Warmth and beauty were two of Lauren Astley's top criteria in choosing a college. "If I am in a beautiful place, I will learn," she once told her father, Malcolm Astley. In the weeks since her death on July 4, warmth and beauty are just two of the many adjectives used by friends and family to describe Lauren.

NEWS 8/24/11 11:05pm

Student leaders and incoming director of new students work together to continue tradition of orientation week

By Rebecca Smith

The incoming freshman class and their parents get a chance to see one of the traditions that makes Elon University unique—when upperclassmen involved with the New Student Orientation program help carry students' belongings into their dorms. The New Student Orientation team consists of 16 members of Head Staff and 101 Orientation Leaders. These upperclassmen start arriving to campus as early as August 12 to prepare for freshman orientation week. "The training week is so important for Orientation Leaders because it provides them with the tools they need to facilitate their sessions with new students," said Lauren King, head team captain of New Student Orientation. All of these students are led by Katie Hight, director of new student programs, who began the position this fall. "Orientation week is really important for the incoming students because it allows them to learn about Elon, get connected with the university and their peers and really become part of the community," Hight said. As director, Hight is responsible for helping to hire, recruit and train student leaders, manage the program's budget, coordinate evaluations, organize entertainment groups and schedules and be a point person for the students involved with the New Student Orientation program. Even though Hight is new to her position, she is not new to Elon's orientation program: she graduated from Elon University in 2007 after serving as an OL and a member of Head Staff. "I have gotten to experience Elon's orientation program in many ways now," Hight said.

NEWS 8/24/11 11:17am

The Pendulum Goes Abroad: Danish life

By The Pendulum

This semester, The Pendulum will be working with a select group of international correspondents in study abroad programs all around the world to bring you first-hand accounts of the stories you would otherwise only find in major newspapers.

NEWS 8/22/11 2:21pm

Letter of Welcome by Sam Warren

By Sam Warren

Class of 2015, Welcome to Elon University! I remember taking my first steps onto Elon's campus just three short years ago and dreading unpacking the past 18 years of my life that I had somehow fit into two cars.

NEWS 8/11/11 8:45pm

Tone up in 10

By Nicole Esplin

Nicole Esplin School starts in less than two weeks for Elon students.  Whether you’re a casual or a competitive athlete, you probably want to begin school in shape and looking fit after summer.  Over the summer working at cross country camp, one of my friends showed me this quick, full body workout that strengthens and tightens your arms, abs, and legs…and takes less than 10 minutes! The workout consists of three simple exercises: Crunches (or sit-ups), squats, and pushups.  Start with 10 reps of each exercise, and then work down (9 reps of each exercise, 8, 7, 6, etc, all the way to 1).  The key to make this workout effective is to complete every rep, and make sure there is little to no rest time between sets. By the end, you will have done 50 pushups, 50 sit-ups, and 50 squats…do this 3 times a week, and you’ll notice a difference in your tone and performance.

NEWS 8/5/11 4:41pm

Kickin' It

By Nicole Esplin

Nicole Esplin Strides can be a pain for many runners.  The last thing most runners what to do after they finish a run in the summer heat is to run repeats at an even faster pace for at least 100 meters.  But they’re necessary.  In high school, I didn’t worry about strides when my coach wasn’t breathing down my neck and making me do them, and I paid for it in races.  It’s similar to doing abs-you don’t realize how much you benefit from something pretty easy and quick until you start doing them.  Once I started doing strides, my kick at the end of races improved, and instead of losing 5 places in the last 400 meters of a 5k, I found that I could even increase my place. Strides benefit runners in the long run, and you may not see improvement until you race, so they are extremely easy to put off until a later run.  They are just as easy to keep putting off until you realize 3 weeks have gone by and you still haven’t done any strides.  One way to guarantee to do strides at the end of a run is to choose one or two days a week to always do strides.  My days are Mondays and Fridays, so when I being my run on those days, I know that my run doesn’t end when my route ends…it ends when my last stride is finished. I have begun to visualize the end of a race and how I want to feel during the last 5 minutes of my run.  This way, I am thinking about racing, and reminding myself of my ultimate goal of breaking my PRs during cross country season. Strides can be as long as 200 meters or as short as 50 meters, but most coaches recommend 100-meter strides.  They should be almost sprinting (and as a long distance runner, most of the time I end up sprinting).  To start, I would suggest 4x100 meter strides with as much rest as you need.  Just remember to keep moving during rest periods!  Once you are comfortable doing that, you can run 8x100 meter strides, 6x200 meter strides, or even find a small incline and run some strides up a low grade hill to improve hill endurance and leg speed. If this article hasn’t inspired you to stride at the end of a run, I’ve attached a video from the 1972 Olympics where David Wottle runs most of the race in last place until the last 200 meters…you better bet he did his strides at the end of his runs! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LHid-nC45k&feature=player_embedded]

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NEWS 08/04/2026 9:11pm
Alamance County community members gather to protest N.C. HB 958

The Poor People’s Campaign North Carolina Division hosted a protest against N.C. House Bill 958, a bill focused on new voting regulations, in front of Elon’s Town Hall. Approximately 40 community members attended the protest, which lasted around an hour Monday evening. 

NEWS 07/30/2026 8:00am
N.C. attorney general will not sign new Duke Energy settlement

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is not joining a proposed settlement submitted by Duke Energy Carolinas, the largest electricity provider in Alamance County. Jackson acknowledged the concessions Duke Energy has made, but he was not satisfied with the proposed rates, according to a press release by the North Carolina Department of Justice.

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