The tunnel project bridging main campus to South campus was finally completed Thursday May 20. This means both Trollinger Avenue and Lebanon Avenue are now open
The North Carolina railroad suggested this project to Elon four years ago. The school and the railroad began construction in mid-August. Workers say construction was delayed due to rain in the fall and that they were unable to pour concrete in the cold winter months.
Security measures in the tunnel include six security cameras, 13 flood lights and an emergency telephone.
Jenna Troester walked through the tunnel just after it opened today. “It’s a waste of money and trouble because the way the tunnel is structured is excessive, and it wasn’t an issue to begin with,” she said.
Cleanup inside the tunnel. Note the cameras and light.
But, there has been criticism of this project coming from students all year. “It was a huge inconvenience because it took so long,” Junior Scott Swedberg said. ”I had to drive through campus to get to Harris Teeter.”
Construction workers on site say the only problem is the fence beside the tracks is too low. They’ve already seen students jumping it and crossing the tracks.
Power crews work on power lines along Haggard Avenue
Crews from Duke Energy worked to restore power to Elon’s main campus and the surrounding area after a tree fell on a power line early Monday morning. Power was restored by 5:00 a.m.
Elon’s main campus and parts of the surrounding area as far away as Gibsonville lost power just before 1:30 Monday morning.
The outage came during a storm that brought more than three inches of heavy rain.
A spokesman for Duke Energy told Phoenix14 that a tree fell on a main power line. The downed line initially knocked out power to more than 2,000 people.
According to Elon Town Police, power was cut to buildings west of Elon Elementary school. The outage affected some stop lights, including the intersection of N. Williamson and Haggard Avenues.
Buildings east of the school–including The Crest, Partner’s Place and Danieley Center– were not affected.
Meaghan Carey was studying for her French final in Belk when the power failed. “People are sticking around and silently freaking out,” she said. “Everything is shot, the first floor looks like the Titanic sinking.”
Campus Police and Town Police were called to the library during the blackout to clear everyone from the top two floors.
During their search, police came upon two students having sex, according to freshman Johnny Tricoli.
Library staff also reported a leak on the third floor. Several members of Alpha Chi Omega sorority wrote that their house sustained three inches of water damage during the storm.
Phoenix14 staff members also drove through several inches of standing water in various parts of campus.
Mallory Lane Working hard, playing hard, and working as a team; Elon student athletes do it at every game, but Saturday the athletes used their teamwork to make a difference.
Football player Khirey Walker organized Phoenix Field Day. He thinks its the perfect opportunity for athletes to share their love of sports with kids.
“It’s pretty much one time where we can get all the athletes together and have a big event using all of us, just hanging out with the kids for the day,” Walker said.
Walker also says it’s not easy to put on the event without the help of the student volunteers.
“When you have a lot of good volunteers like I have and you have a lot of athletes that want to make a difference in their communities, it’s easier,” said Walker.
This year there were plenty of volunteers, “We had about 113. And we’ve never had that many,” said Walker. “This year, the cooperation level has been insane.”
The athletes know Phoenix Field Day is for kids; kids just like Jela, a second grader full of energy ready and willing to cheer on her team.
“We’re here to play to run and have a good time,” said Jela. “ It’s is all about kids having a good time with their friends, old and new.”
Dannika Lewis
It may look like your All-American classic but one local restaurant changed their recipe to make a truly unique burger. And it’s served at a place where you’d least expect to find five-star cuisine: a gas station.
Krista White is a new server down at the Saxapahaw General Store. It’s only her second week and she’s dishing out plated of eggplant parmesan, the house meatloaf and all of the typical specials. But then there are customers that spot an oddity on the menu, something unique to this five-star gas station restaurant.
“I think the biggest response was, is it really goat meat?” Co-owner Jeff Barney said.
Goat burgers are a specialty around this joint. Barney loves fresh, local and funky fare on his menu. He continued that tradition when he made non-traditional quarter pounder out of goat meat from a local farmer in Mebane.
“We do burgers, it’s a gas station. I thought, this is a perfect way to introduce goat,” Barney said.
Goat burgers not only have a different taste, but also nutritional value. Goat patties have less fat and sodium than beef ones, giving customers the excuse to dig in.
And it’s chef Josh Coburn who grills each goat burger to perfection.
“Most people don’t like goat meat. They’re kind of scared of it,” Coburn said. “Once they try it, they really enjoy it.”
So while palettes are sometimes caught off guard, most diners go in for another bite.
“People buy only the goat burger now instead of hamburger,” Barney said. “You know, it’s delicious.”
Kirsten Bennett A modern day mob has found its way to Greensboro, NC. It’s a crop mob and while they’re tearing up weeds and throwing dirt, its not to destroy the land they raid, but to help the farm owner Anne-Marie Scott.
“This is a good kind of mob. We are putting a new spin on mobs,” Donna Smith said. Smith says she is, “a gardener with no garden. A farmer with no farm.”
Smith lives in an apartment in Greensboro, so she doesn’t have the land to start her own micro-farm. Mobbing gives her a place to work, and she and the other crop mobbers give the local farmer their time and talent.
“They gave me labor that I wouldn’t be able to do. You know, they multiplied me by a scale of nine today,” Scott said about the mob.
Today, the crop mob Greensboro weeded, created a new bed, planted squash and zucchini and broke down an old grill to make room for a new chicken coup.
The crop mob targets its victims online, then harvests a team on Facebook to plan the attack.
“It’s great. This whole idea that we just created cyber-gardening,” Scott said.
Scott admits she is new to farming, but she has already planted a lot since she first created her farm from scratch back in September.
Now, she has 24 beds full of fruits and vegetables, but all that is harvested won’t be staying with the Scott’s. They plan to donate at least ten percent of all that they grow.
“We’re making a difference,” Scott said, adding that, “we’re trying to change people’s minds about not just doing a little gardening, growing a few tomatoes, but really being able to feed your neighbors and your friends and give back to the community.”
Scott is hoping this move will help revitalize farming in North Carolina.
In 2007, the USDA reported a two percent decline in farmland statewide. The only type of farm to actually grow… small farms, like Scott’s.
Smith said, “it seems like organic just isn’t good enough anymore.”
It’s not good enough for Scott. She didn’t want to just buy food from the store, she wanted to grow it.
“It’s not just going to the frozen food section and grabbing a bag of something, Scott said. “Somebody had to physically go out there and pick peas and look at a pea and decide is this pea ready to be picked.”
Now, Scott and her husband Stephen Scott are in charge of every step in the food production process. The seeds in their backyard will be food on their plates in just a few weeks.
“I know where my food comes from, Scott said. “My food has a face.”
The Scott’s were thankful to the help from the mob and fed them fresh and local food as a sign of their gratitude.
As they send the crop mob on their way home after five hours of work, Anne-Marie Scott said she will start talking to other small urban farmers in Greensboro so the mob can continue to work.
“The mob is here to stay,” she said.
With the first crop mob wrapped up, Smith and the other mobsters will head back online to dig for their next lucky victim.
One of the most recognizable faces around campus is Dr. Earl Danieley. The 85-year old is Elon’s president emeritus and he still teaches chemistry twice a week. Danieley has been here for more than 60-years, starting as a freshman in 1941.
Phoenix14News’ Tim Barber interviewed Danieley, discussing his childhood growing up on a tobacco farm 5-miles from Elon and his unintended presidency. This is the story of the Elon icon, known around campus as Dr. D.
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Tim Barber and Kirsten Bennett are the producers. It also airs at 6:30pm on Channel 14. You can also view it at Barber’s website.
SGA approved changes Thursday to student on-campus parking and decided to add two 20-minute parking spots to both West and East campus for next year.
Students living in Smith, Carolina, the International Pavilion, Honors Pavilion, Hook, Brannock and Barney currently pay $160 a year for on-campus parking. The change would decrease parking passes for these residents by $20.
Students living in Chandler, Colclough, Maynard, Staley, Moffit, West, Virginia and Sloan currently pay $80 a year for on-campus parking. Next year, students in these residents halls will pay $100 for a parking pass.
Currently, residents with $80 passes pay less because they must move their cars during football game days. According to Junior Class President Sam Warren, these students only move their cars five to six times a year, only in the first half of Fall semester.
Elon Campus Safety and Police Chief Chuck Gantos has already approved the changes. Currently, commuter students and residents in the Oaks and Danieley Center will not be affected by the parking legislation.
The university will transfer student accounts from Microsoft Outlook to Gmail June 1, 2010.
Vice President of Technology Chris Fulkerson announced the decision at Thursday’s Student Government Association meeting.
Students will keep their same username and password. All emails, calendars and other applications will be transferred for students. The only application that will not be transfered is the tasks menu in Microsoft Outlook.
“We’ll actually save a lot of money,” Fulkerson told students at the SGA meeting. The current system requires more than 30 hard drives and the maintenance of them. “All of that goes away as well as all the labor that is involved in that,” he said.
With the new Gmail accounts, students will be able to keep their elon.edu account for a lifetime. The account can be deactivated after graduation if the user decides to.
The new account will also allow for more collaboration with the use of all Google applications, including Google Docs.
“My first reaction was that it was going to be really bad, but that was before I knew about it,” SGA Executive Vice President Joe Slocum told Phoenix14News.
After Fulkerson’s presentation, Slocum is looking forward to the new email system.
“I bet you we see students being more comfortable using Google Docs for projects and that will be really good,” Slocum said.
As of now, there are no plans to change faculty and staff email accounts to Gmail.
Visit http://ElonLocalNews.com
Elon Local News is Elon University’s student news organization part of Elon Student Television.
If you live on campus, watch the live show every Monday at 6:00 p.m. on Channel 5.
This means both Trollinger Avenue and Lebanon Avenue are now open
