Grace Sweeney Last weekend was the 15th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour, and the first time that Elon organized a tour of their own and used a Biobus for the tour.
The first stop was Turtle Run farm. Owner Kevin Meehan gave tours of his farm with the kid-friendly “mulch mobile.” Meehan showed off his farm that contained organic peas, carrots, and rainbow kale.
At Millarckee farm, Daniel Tolfree let visitors pick some of this crops to taste his crops of pea greens. He used a different farming method, and alternated crop bedding with paths.
Dannika Lewis Right down route forty, Greensboro is the home of more than fifty-thousand refugees from all over the world. One African boy living there shared his horrific story with us. Now his family of eleven is living safely in America after years of running for their
Nineteen-year-old John Ntibonera definitely has some moves. but singing and dancing with his brothers and sisters is a far cry from what they experienced day after day in Africa: non-stop violence.
“I know everything about suffering because I’ve experienced the suffering too,” John said.
It’s always raining at the Elon driving range for Elliot Sasaki. Harder than hail, dimpled white balls never actually hit him. His ‘trusty steed’ takes care of that. But the medal clang the rain makes when it hits his John Deere is loud enough to make Eliot leap up, and bump his head on the hard, uneven roof.
Eliot is a golf ball retriever at the Harden Club House driving range. He drives an armored John Deere Gator with five rolling, cylindrical ball grabbers spread in a V-formation across the front.
Despite the many pins and yardage signs scattered down range, the customer golfer only aims at one thing.
The man in the golf ball cart.
An online blog has brought attention to Elon’s dining services once again. “A rip off” is how one student described the meal plan.
Disgruntled patrons have been venting their anger about prices that seem marked up, the fact that lay-math brings each meal plan to 10 dollars a pop, and that cash equivalency no longer applies, as it did last year.
The blog also compared prices at The Fountain Market, which is found on the first floor of the Colonnades, to those of Wal-Mart and Food Lion.
ARAMARK is the catering company that handles all the food on campus.
Jeff Gazda, Resident District Manager, answered some of the concerns that students were raising throughout the blog.
He responded to the accusations of raising prices by clarifying that Fountain Market, which is really just a convenience store, cannot be compared to a Wal-Mart or Food Lion due to the immense buying power of the latter two companies.
He implored students looking to compare prices at Fountain Market to those at the Kangaroo or other convenience stores in order to reach a more appropriate conclusion.
He added that the 10 dollar individual charge for meal plans pays for far more than just food. While the base of many students’ complaints were centered around comparing meal dollars and meal plans, he explained that the university takes a third of the 10 dollars right off the bat; additional charges are incurred by paying for labor and facility upkeep.
He maintains an open-door policy and is happy to answer any other questions and concerns from students regarding their dining experience.
Elon senior Terrell Hudgins has entered into an agreement to sign with the Dallas Cowboys as a rookie free agent, he said in an interview with Phoenix14.
According to Hudgins, he and his agent got on the phone as soon as the draft ended. They thought Dallas would be a good fit and the Cowboys agreed.
Hudgins expects to go to Dallas tomorrow to sign with the team and tour their training facility.
“I look forward to being able to get there and compete for a spot,” Hudgins said.
Although Hudgins was passed on in the seven rounds of the draft he will still have a fair shot at making the Cowboys roster.
Hudgins isn’t worried about the pay gap in salaries between him and the draft picks either.
“I’m just going in there and competing to the best of my ability and going to worry about getting paid later,” Hudgins said. “I just need to go in there and get a spot.”
Hudgins will be looking to follow in the path of former Elon safety Chad Nkang, a seventh round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2007. Nkang made the Jaguars roster as a special teams performer, and quickly became a star on punt and kickoff squads. But he was cut in 2009.
In Dallas, Hudgins will be joining first round receiver Dez Bryant, the 24th pick from Oklahoma State. Although he would be added competition for Hudgins, Bryant’s arrival has triggered wide receivers Patrick Crayton and Sam Hurd to demand a trade, according to dallascowboys.com.
According to bloggingtheboys.com, the Cowboys have also signed rookie free agent wide receiver Rashaun Greer from Colorado State.
Up the road into Cedarock Park in Burlington lies a piece of the 19th century. With no electricity, running water, or farm machinery, things on Cedarock Historical Farm are done in ways that most of us are not used to.
The farm is truly a piece of the past. President of the support group, Friends of Cedarock Farm, Vicki Wood, said that the farm contains some of the oldest buildings in Alamance County.
Visitors are welcome to come and participate in activities, such as weaving chairs from raw wood, as well as take a look at the kitchen, the blacksmith, the post office and the farm animals.
If people want to get even more involved, Cedarock Farm also presents opportunities to volunteer. People, can come to the farm and dress up in historical clothing. They can learn a new craft or bring one of their own to share.
Cedarock’s very own Blacksmith, Chester Bennett, shares his craft with visitors, as he recalls how much has changed over the years.
“This is all hand forged,” he said. “You have to heat the metal and beat it out into whatever shape. Nowadays they put a piece of metal on a metal machine and cut it down to speck.”
Blacksmith work isn’t the only reminder of the past. With the original farm house built in 1830, the buildings are standing pieces of history. Wood hopes that they are kept standing.
“If we don’t save these structures, they’re going to be gone,” Wood said.
Feel like experiencing a piece of the past? The farm is open every other weekend from March to December, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free to the public. For more information on the farm and ways to get involved, visit the Alamance County Recreation and Parks website
Nick Ochsner Leigh Lesniak received a bill for nearly 250 dollars last month to replace the carpet in an apartment she moved out of almost a year ago. She doesn’t know why the university charged her or why it waited so long to do it.
“We got a letter in the mail to my parents house saying that I owed charges and it amounted to between 250 and 300 dollars,” Lesniak said.
Shocked, Lesniak called the university to get answers.
“I called Elon and I asked them why I had the charges and they told me it was for damage to my oaks carpet and I didn’t think there was any damage to the carpet when I moved out.”
That took her to the Residence Life office and Oaks Area Director JT Bowie. Bowie reviewed the case but refused to waive the charges.
Now Lesniak was stuck with a bill for carpet she says was actually damaged by the university.
She says the only damage to her carpet was caused by two separate leaks in her kitchen.
Lesniak can’t dispute the charges, though, because she did express checkout.
“An express check-out is where the student can come pick up an envelope from the office and then entrust me and my office staff to go back through their apartment later on,” Bowie explained.
Doing express check-out prevents students from disputing any charges residence life decides to apply.
Bowie says the convenience comes with a risk.
“If they do choose to do the express check-out,” said Bowie, “that’s a risk that they’re taking.”
Regardless of what she agreed to, Lesniak is still unhappy.
“This is just such a bad impression that the university is making on the new alums.”
University officials were unable to give us specific information about Lesniak’s case because of privacy laws protecting education records. Phoenix14 is working with Lesniak and the school to obtain that information and will bring you a follow-up with the results as soon as they happen.
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Last weekend was the 15th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour, and the first time that Elon organized a tour of their own and used a Biobus for the tour.
