Letters to the Editor

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NEWS 9/14/23 5:44pm

Former Elon University campus police officer promoted to Town of Elon assistant police chief over operations

By Madison Powers

Town of Elon Police Chief Kelly Blackwelder announced the appointment of Lt. Kedrick King as new assistant police chief over operations. Kind is a former officer for Elon University's campus police. According to the police department, King has previously worked as a patrol officer, master police officer, sergeant and lieutenant with the Elon police department before being promoted Sept. 11.

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NEWS 9/14/23 8:38am

AI hits the road, high tech highways emerge in NC

By Tucker Price

North Carolina Highway Patrol announced in July it would implement an artificial intelligence-based system meant to catch violations of the Hands-Free Law and seatbelt use in commercial truck drivers. According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, over 10% of the 1,658 traffic casualties in 2020 involved collision with a large truck. Elon University computer science professor Scott Spurlock said that these innovations in artificial intelligence were previously unheard of, and shared his thoughts about the developing technology.

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NEWS 9/13/23 8:06pm

UNC lockdowns spark further concern at Elon University

By Ryan Kupperman

For the second time in roughly two weeks, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill went on lockdown because of reports of an armed and dangerous individual. On Sept. 13, the Alert Carolina system at UNC Chapel Hill reported an individual with a weapon on campus. UNC police later reported the incident to have happened at Alpine Bagel Cafe in the UNC student union just before 1 p.m. Elon University faculty members and UNC students reflected on the recent lockdown regarding an armed and dangerous individual on UNC's campus, as well as advocated for increased policy, legislation and protocol. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/13/23 2:24pm

Huepa! celebrates cultural expression through traditional Colombian dance

By Madison Powers

Yholima Vargas, born in Bógota, Colombia, has danced since she was young and found safety and self-expression through traditional Colombian dance while living in Montreal, Durham and Burlington. She said as she dances, she yells the Colombian expression “Huepa!” — a declaration of exhilaration. When Vargas moved to North Carolina in 2015, she founded Huepa! Culture and Arts Institute, a dance academy that promotes Colombian performing arts and cultural identity through the CityGate Dream Center in Burlington.

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NEWS 9/13/23 1:38pm

Alert Carolina reports armed and dangerous individual at UNC

By Sophie Rosenthal

The Alert Carolina system at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill reported police say there is an armed and dangerous individual on or near campus. UNC Alert Carolina sent an all-clear update at 2:11 p.m. 

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NEWS 9/13/23 7:02am

Hispanic Heritage Month events calendar

By Elon News Network

Hispanic Heritage Month is annually celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Elon University hosts a Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off Festival in Medallion Plaza each year, with various events throughout the month that celebrate Hispanic food, music, performers and more. Sept. 14 and 15 mark the beginning of community-wide celebration with the kick-off festival and book display beginning Sept. 15. Here is a comprehensive list of Hispanic cultural events on or around Elon's campus over the next month.

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NEWS 9/12/23 3:17pm

Lane on N. Williamson Ave. to close Sept. 13 on Elon University campus

By Madison Powers

Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley sent an email today informing students of a Town of Elon lane closure on North Williamson Avenue Sept. 13, from West Lebanon Avenue to West Haggard Avenue from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dooley originally said the closure would take place on Nov. 13, but sent a follow-up email two hours later clarifying the closure will occur on Sept. 13. Traffic will be one-way due to construction and Dooley advised drivers to allow for extra travel time or take an alternate route.

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SPORTS 9/12/23 11:43am

Elon University junior stands against sister as CAA opponent

By Audrey Toscano

Junior Sydney Love is an outside hitter and captain for Elon University's volleyball team. As volleyball kicks off their 2023-24 season, Love prepares to face her younger sister Ryann Love on the opposite side of the net. Though the sisters grew up learning and playing volleyball together, Ryann now plays at William & Mary. Both sisters said they look forward to the competition that comes with playing against each other at the collegiate level. This season, Elon’s first game against William & Mary is Oct. 7.

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NEWS 9/12/23 7:31am

North Carolina DMV no longer issues, renews Confederate flag license plates

By Cassie Weymouth

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a 2021 North Carolina Department of Transportation ban on issuing or renewing specialty license plates with the Confederate flag. According to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, North Carolina offers three standard plates and over 200 specialty license plates, representing more than 100 civic clubs and interest groups. In 2021 the Sons of Confederate Veterans sued the North Carolina Department of Transportation. A lower court dismissed the case and a federal appeals court agreed with that decision in 2022. Elon Law professors Luke Bierman and Enrique Armijo shared mixed opinions about the Supreme Court refusing to review the case.

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LIFESTYLE 9/11/23 12:17pm

Elon University professor publishes award-winning poetry collection

By Nia Bedard

Shaina Jones came to Elon University as an English professor in fall 2022. Though she wrote her initial manuscript in 2022, which won the Millers Williams Poetry Prize and allowed her to be published through the University of Arkansas press, she later published her collection "To Be Named Something Else" as a book under the name Shaina Phenix. Jones celebrated her book's publication Sept. 5 in the Numen Lumen Pavilion. According to Jones, Black "femme-hood", celebration and Harlem are common threads throughout her work.

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SPORTS 9/11/23 7:56am

Athletic scholarship awarded to Elon University sophomore

By Mason Willett

Redshirt sophomore Julian Bumper was rewarded an athletic scholarship after a few years as a walk-on for Elon University's football team. According to Bumper, receiving the scholarship is something he said he will never forget and credits his success to his parents — who graduated from Elon in the '90s. “I just want to say, I thank y'all," Bumper said. "All the sacrifice, all the times bringing me to practice. Believing in me throughout my whole time here, understanding that eventually my time will come and believing that when I get the opportunity, I'll make the most of it."

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NEWS 9/10/23 1:29pm

Child care development center to open at Elon University spring 2025

By Madison Powers

Elon University will open a child care development center for children ages newborn to 2-years-old of Elon faculty, staff and students. The center is being created because of a child care crisis in Alamance County due to COVID-19. Williams said phase one of the center is scheduled to open spring 2025. According to Vice President for Finance and Administration Janet Williams, Elon hired Bright Horizons, an educational support systems company, to conduct a study in 2022 on the need for child care in Alamance County. Williams said while the study is not yet published, it further illuminated a local child care deficit.

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NEWS 9/9/23 8:04pm

ALCOVETS hosts second hot air balloon festival in Burlington

By Erin Martin

For the second year in a row the Alamance County Balloon Festival is taking place at Cedarock park in Burlington from Sept. 8 to 10. ALCOVETS — a nonprofit and veteran organization based in Graham — is hosting the event through Sept. 10 to raise funds to support local veterans and fund the Chesnut Ridge Retreat campus building, a veterans’ retreat campus at the peak of Bass Mountain. According to Hudson Hot Air Affair, optimal wind speeds are between 4 and 6 mph.

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LIFESTYLE 9/9/23 10:22am

Elon University senior researches Black history in Alamance County

By Mollie Lund

From the moment Elon University senior Jasper Myers first opened L’Tanya Richmond’s master’s thesis earlier this summer, she said she knew she had found something remarkable. Through Myers’ work at Elon’s Archives and Special Collections, she was first introduced to Richmond’s thesis, titled “Elon’s Black History: A Story To Be Told." Myers dove deeper into Black history at Elon and discovered that, before Richmond wrote her master’s thesis, she received her undergraduate degree from Elon University in 1987. After working in the admissions office, Richmond became the director of Elon’s multicultural center, which would later become the Center for Race, Ethnicity & Diversity Education. 

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LIFESTYLE 9/8/23 10:48pm

Buddhist monk completes sand mandala at Elon University

By Jenna Rudolph

Tibetan Buddhist monk Geshe Sangpo of the Kadampa Center joined Elon University for three days from Sept. 6 to 8 to create a Green Tara Sand Mandala — only to destroy the piece after completion. According to the Kadampa Center, the Green Tara sand mandala is created for compassion and peace. The sand mandala specifically is an ancient form of Tibetan Buddhist art and represents the wholeness and harmony of the universe. The act of destroying it represents the universe’s state of impermanence. This was Sangpo’s 11th creation on Elon’s campus.

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SPORTS 9/8/23 8:31am

Elon University athlete finds solace in rugby team

By Erin Martin

Junior Coby Fecher was 18 years old when he planned to meet up with someone he trusted. That someone, a man, sexually assaulted him. Now as a junior at Elon, Fecher said the experience left him fearful of men — especially those who are bigger and taller than him. Around the time of the incident, Fecher joined Tobacco Road Rugby Club in Durham while attending Alamance Community College. For Fecher, rugby has always been a constant in his life, but playing on the field helps him work through his feelings. When he transferred to Elon last fall, Fecher said joining club rugby was an easy choice.

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LIFESTYLE 9/7/23 2:07pm

Elon University students create, publish video game

By Sarah T. Moore

Six Elon University students worked together to create “Samira: Taken From Time” for their game design minor capstone during their Winter Term class at the start of 2023. What started as ideas written on sticky notes, became a published video game just a few months later. “Samira: Taken From Time” is a free, narrative-driven, puzzle-solving adventure game featuring an animal companion, a post-apocalyptic world, time travel, ancient gods, supernatural powers and futuristic technology. Interactive media student Morgan Chisholm said the most rewarding part of creating the game was figuring out how to incorporate everyone’s ideas and seeing it all come together in the final product.

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NEWS 9/7/23 8:18am

Elon University student, professor frustrated over Buc-ee’s overconsumption

By Isabella DeJong

Buc-ee’s, a chain of gas stations and convenience stores in the southeast U.S., submitted an initial site plan to Mebane City Council in June to construct a 75,400 square feet store featuring 120 gas stations on 32.49 acres of land on I-85/40. Buc-ee’s is a Texas-based gas station and retail location that is well known for its large scale design and cartoonish beaver mascot. Elon University psychology professor Mat Gendle wrote an opinion piece that appeared in the Charlotte Observer outlining his concerns about the company’s overconsumption of resources and land. Gendle said Buc-ee's is not solely responsible for overconsumption, but is one of the many contributors.

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SPORTS 9/6/23 12:44pm

Born to Ball

By Max Wallace

Eastern Alamance High School senior quarterback and team captain Jason Ball said he knew he wanted to play football from the very first time he picked up a ball. Ever since, he said he's dreamed of playing football at the next level and looks to turn those dreams into a reality as he enters his final year of high school. With college on the horizon, Ball said he has already received interest from a few schools, including Appalachian State, Eastern Carolina University, Liberty University, as well as other Division II schools.

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NEWS 9/6/23 8:13am

ABSS offers free lunch for students after delaying school for second week

By Sophie Rosenthal

ABSS delayed the start of the 2023-24 academic year twice after finding mold in 26 of the system’s 38 schools. Now set to have students back in school Monday, Sept. 11 from the original Aug. 28 date, ABSS opened sites for students to pick up free lunches in an effort to provide some relief for students and parents who were counting on children being in school already. At a meeting Sept. 1, the Alamance County commissioners also reappropriated funds amounting to nearly $17 million to pay for mold remediation, cleaning air ducts and cleaning Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems.

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