Construction Noise Rattles Off-Campus House

Jack Morrissey and Alex Luxenburg started renting out a house two years ago for the close proximity to school. The one story brick home is right across from Lindner Hall. What they didn’t know then is that they would soon be hearing the noise that they hear now.

“It sucks. I get woken up every morning by the sound of a jack hammer breaking,” Morrissey said.

When we first talked to Alex it was quite, but then a jackhammer started up and his words were lost in metal hitting metal.

“The vibration is the worst part of the whole construction,” Alex said.

So he decided to put an end to it by e-mailing President Lambert. Within the hour Lambert replied with Smith Jackson attached. That afternoon Dean Jackson and Jana Lynn Patterson knocked on their door.

“We all try to be responsive,” she said. “We just try not to let things fester too much. If there is a problem there is a problem.”

The four of them discussed the idea of a building a bridge to keep students off the lawn, but the main issue was the noise. Then both deans offered them the keys to an apartment the university recently purchased across from the Acorn Inn.

“I am not going to move all my stuff over there,” Alex said. “If I want to sleep for a night, and sleep past nine o’clock without being woken up then I will probably use it.”

-Tim Barber

Bishop Visits Campus, Changes Traditions For H1N1

H1N1 Swine Flu has been a big topic on campuses across the country, and now even the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh is making changes to keep people healthy.

Bishop Michael Burbidge, the Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, has temporarily suspended the wine at communion, and the traditional Sign of Peace. Both of these have been suspended to keep hand contact to a minimum.

The Bishop was at Elon to dedicate the Catholic Newman Center and preside over mass. “In light of the swine flu, the virus, we are trying to take precautions that are necessary, and even to be extra careful,” Bishop Burbidge said.

Some students think there could be another option, that doesn’t involve removing traditions from the Mass.
“You can shake their wrist or something, or you just pat them on the back or something like that. I mean there are other ways, I guess, that are less risky,” Steve Ferguson said.

The Bishop says that the changes will only be temporary, just until the threat of H1N1 calms down.

-Monica Yantosh

NBA Stars Help Out Charities in Winston-Salem

Inside the boys and girls club of Winston Salem, there’s a pick up game being played on the court. It’s a homecoming for the area’s biggest success story, the NBA’s Chris Paul, who grew up in Winston Salem. Local kids playing ball with another local kid, all in the name of charity.

“I still always live here,” Paul said. “So no matter where I travel I always come back home.”

It’s Chris’ fourth time home for his Winston-Salem Weekend. Four days of charity to raise money and give back to a community that turned him into a star. A bowling tournament was held that night, and the organization shipped out care packages to troops overseas.

High school basketball Coach Stephewn Kee remembers when Chris tore up the courts here in high school. “It lets our kids know that, hey, it can be done,” he said. “It makes kids go to the gym and say I wanna be what Chris is like when I grow up.”

The highlight of the weekend was shipping out those care packages. They’re filled with cereal, shampoo and daily necessities. They’re called HeroBoxes, shipped to troops overseas. It’s just another way Chris Paul and his organization are trying to give back.

“HeroBox exists to find the soldiers with no support,” said Captain John Burrescia, who served two tours in Iraq. He explained that a care package reminds troops that Americans remember them.

Chris Paul is the NBA’s leader in assists: 861 last season for the New Orleans Hornets. And this weekend, he proved those assists can translate off the court too.

-Randy Gyllenhaal

Late Night Assaults On West College Ave.

An Elon student was assaulted Sunday morning according to a report obtained from the Town of Elon Police Department. The report says the student was kicked and punched in the head and chest area sometime around 3:00 a.m.

The student, who is a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity was walking from his house on West College Avenue Sunday morning when police say he was attacked. He was taken to Alamance Regional Medical Center where he was treated for minor injuries and released.

Although the student says he did not know any of his three attackers, one of the attackers called out the student’s last name to get his attention before attacking him.

Officer Mike Brewer, who filed the police report, said he believes there is a connection between this attack and two other calls police received around the same time and in the same area.

In the report Officer Brewer says he responded to a fight call in the same area, along W. College Ave., just after 3:00 a.m. and an assault call at the same address at 3:30 a.m. Both calls, Officer Brewer writes in his report, involved KA members. A resident who lives at the address declined to comment on the record but did confirm that a fight took place that morning.

-Nick Ochsner

Phoenix QB Scott Riddle Breaks SoCon Record

It only took one pass and one catch for Scott Riddle to set a Southern Conference record. In the game against Georgia Southern on Saturday, Riddle set the SoCon record for career completions, passing East Tennessee State’s Greg Ryan.

Though he added another record to his career, Riddle is modest. He says he couldn’t do it without his teammates.

“You know a completions record, that has something to do with how many times you throw and we’re a throwing team so you know that goes to the play-calling and that’s kind of cool you know to have,” Riddle said. “All the guys I played with, they’ve made me look good through the years. So kind of all the credit goes to them guys catching the balls.”

And there’s always a catch with Scott Riddle. Whenever he posts incredible numbers, or breaks records, Riddle always passes the attention to his favorite targets. Riddle’s latest record-breaking pass came in the second quarter of Saturday’s game and was caught by his favorite target, Terrell Hudgins.

“First time I met him he threw me a ball and perfect spiral and since then I wanted to catch everything he’s thrown but he’s a great guy, a great quarterback, and I love him,” Hudgins said.

Families On Campus Talk About Georgia Floods

For the past week, Georgia has been hit with some of the worst weather in the state’s history. Nine people were killed in the storms and many roadways and interstates were blocked because of the over-flow of water.

Elon mom Jean O’Brien had to drive through it all to get here for family weekend.

“This is like a hundred-year flood they talk about…I’ve lived there for 30 years and it’s never flooded…but our whole back-yard and front-yard…the whole neighborhood just disappeared underwater,” O’Brien said

O’Brien braved the dangerous flood waters with her 93-year old mother Jean Bezkor, and drove to Elon to visit her daughter.

O’Brien had no idea the storm would reach the magnitude it did.

Nana Bezkor is glad the storm didn’t keep her away from visiting her granddaughter for the special weekend. “I live in Atlanta, Georgia, which is a 6 hour drive, and I would not be here if it weren’t that my granddaughter was at the end of that 6-hour drive.”

-Mallory Lane

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Demon Deacons Roll Over The Phoenix

Winston-Salem, NC – Going into Saturday’s game against the Demon Deacons, Elon knew it was taking on Goliath. Instead of a sling shot the Phoenix had Scott Riddle and Terrell Hudgins, but Riddle’s proven he could hit his mark.

The fans were there. The President made an appearance. Now it was time for the Phoenix to show up.

And things started off pretty well. Elon forced Wake to go three and out their first drive and Hudgins made a nice catch and move to pick up a first down on the first offensive play. But after punting Wake decided to put some points on the board via a Riley Skinner touchdown pass.

And after celebrating they decided to score again.

Elon didn’t get any help from the refs either at BB&T field. On a Riley Skinner completion, Devon Brown fumbles and Elon recovers but the player was ruled down and Phoenix fans had to watch as the refs literally trip up Karlos Sullivan as Skinner adds another touchdown to his stat line.

But as things started to get out of focus for the Phoenix Cameron McGlinn proved he has 20-20 vision by intercepting the ball and setting up Elon’s best scoring chance yet.

But kicker Adam Shreiner missed terribly right before the end of the half. Going into the locker room it was 21-0 Demon Deacons. And Wake wasn’t done yet.

Everything was bouncing their way and even though running back Josh Adams didn’t score on his fumble recovery he was dancing in the end zone on the next play.

Things weren’t going well for Elon t say the least. The new question was if the Phoenix could even score against BCS conference team. Could the Phoenix usually potent offense find enough magic to put some points on the board? Oh and Wake Forest scored again to bring the score to 35-0.

But Elon would not be shut out on this day. In the fourth quarter Riddle solved Elon’s scoring problem and found Terrell Hudgins in the End zone for six.

So while Wake Forest proved to be a bit bigger and faster than the Phoenix, Elon can still take pride in the fact that they came out of Wake with a touchdown even if they did lose 35-7.

From Afghanistan to Elon: An Update On The War

McCrary Theater was packed Wednesday with students. Ashraf Haidari, a diplomat from Afghanistan, wants to get young people to pay attention to this growing conflict.

“9/11 happened because we abandoned Afghanistan once,” he said. “We cannot afford to walk away from Afghanistan again because we have already spent so much blood and treasure.”

Currently there are 62,000 US troops in Afghanistan. 6,000 more are due by the end of the year. Haidari says we need even more than that.

“We need more forces. It is for the security of the Afghan people as well as for the security of the American people.”

But the war isn’t praised by everyone. Elon Professor Rudy Zarzar says it’s costing too many lives and too much money.

“Is there anyone that can tell you that we’re going to win in Afghanistan?” Zarzar said. “No one is going to tell you that we’re going to win.”

Most Elon students haven’t experienced this war first hand. But one student has. Now she lives and studies at the International Pavilion. But for six years she lived on the ground in Afghanistan and saw this war from a completely different perspective.

“Afghanistan is my homeland, so whatever it is like I love to be there and like I love to live there,” Marzia Faraz said.

Faraz has been away from her real home for a few years. She reads books about Afghanistan to remember what it’s like.

Marzia says since American troops arrived in 2001. Afghans have seen improvements in their daily lives.

That’s why many Afghans want more troops. But here at home, others say the cost is too high.

-Becca Tynes