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Part 2 is after the jump

Elon professor publishes breast cancer book

By Jacquelyn DiNick
Just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Associate Professor of English Barbara Gordon finally published her book. Breast Cancer Recurrence and Advanced Disease: a Comprehensive Expert Guidance took ten years to write, and was inspired by her own breast cancer journey.

“When I was waking up from that operation, I thought, ‘I need to do something more to help, people,” Gordon remembered.

Gordon was diagnosed with breast cancer during the summer of 1995. While there was plenty of information available from multiple resources, there was no one comprehensive source. This prompted her to compile her research. With the help of two oncologists and a pharmacologist, she wrote the book.

“It was experience in needing information myself that spurred it,” she explained.

Gordon’s book covers medical topics such as testing and treatments, but it also has an emotional and practical side. There are chapters on how break the news to loved ones, how to prepare for death and what caregivers can do to ease the process of recovering.

The summer she was diagnosed, Gordon had booked a flight to Italy. She wanted to explore the country in preparation to take a future study abroad class. Her summer plans drastically changed after her doctor found a lump in her breast during a routine checkup.

“My eyes just welled up with tears. It was like, I knew at some level that this was a problem, but I didn’t want to face it,” Gordon shook her head.
When her doctor called to confirm it was cancer, Gordon was shocked. “I just kind of sunk down on the floor and cried.”

Her cats were her only comfort. “It kind of reminded me how the rest of the world was oblivious and there’s a comfort in that because it’s like the rest of the world’s fine, you know, I’m having this crisis and I’ll have to deal with it.”

Gordon’s family lives farther away, but she did not have to endure treatments alone. Good friend and fellow professor Janet Warman stepped in.
Warman, who is the Director of General Studies, said, “When you’re getting news that’s really hard to hear you don’t hear it all and it’s helpful to have someone else listening.”

She even gave Gordon the push to start treatment right away, even when Gordon wanted to put it off to travel.

Gordon began to face her reality. She became proactive in researching what was going on in her body throughout treatment.

She recalled when she began losing her hair to chemo. “I noticed that my students had a lot of empathy and sympathy for me. I wanted to ensure them that they would get the instruction they deserved. I wanted them not to be too overthrown by it.”

Gordon made positive changes to both her professional and personal life.
“I made a point of seeing people I loved more and making more room for them in my life,” she smiled.

Gordon’s book Breast Cancer Recurrence and Advanced Disease: A Comprehensive Expert Guidance is now on shelves.

Phoenix14News Oct. 25, 2010 Newscast

Part two is after the jump

Concussions a serious risk on the playing field

By Laura Levitt
Football is a game of hard hits, but those hard hits can lead to serious injuries that have life-long effects. Elon football coaches are trying to protect players from serious injury. Head coach Pete Lembo believes he is already helping his team stay safe.

“We constantly educate our guys… what’s an acceptable tackle, what’s an acceptable hit,” he said.

Lembo and his staff teach their team how to stay safe on the field.

“If you’ve been doing the right thing all along you shouldn’t have to change anything,” Lembo said.

The coaches also give their players gear that helps protect them.

“They’re all air helmets, back in the day they used to be just foam helmets and people used to find out that when you would get hit in a foam helmet there was no where to disperse the energy that was coming through,” athletic trainer A.J. Lukjanczuk said.

Elon running back Jamal Shuman knows the affects of a hard hit.

“I got hit in the shoulder and right in the helmet by two players and I blacked out,” Shuman said.

Shuman was sidelined last November for two weeks because of a concussion.

“I was just anxious to get back on the field so it didn’t change the way I played but I think about it when I’m not playing I’ll think about it.. oh maybe I need to protect my head a little more,” he said.

He says Elon’s coaches are looking out for him and his opponents.

“They just tell us to play, to be smart out there.. don’t hit somebody that can’t protect themselves,” he said.

Athletic trainer Marty Baker reminds players that concussions don’t always come from just one hit.

“Those kinds of injuries can be cumulative and they can have long term disabling effects on people,” Baker said.

Whether a concussion comes from one hit or many, it’s important for players to get treatment.

“Because if not then we’re predisposing them to some long term disabilities and we certainly don’t want to do that,” Baker said.

Alumni Gym renovations complete

By Laura Levitt
Alumni Gym is finally welcoming its Phoenix back to their nest. Renovations on the  gym started early this summr and finished last week. The volleyball team played in the gym on Friday night and the men’s and women’s basketball teams held inter-squad scrimmages on Sunday.

“What changes is the feel. So it’s not like we’re walking into our gym, it’s like we’re walking into our arena, into our backbone, into our support,” Sophomore point guard Ali Ford said.

Renovations include a new floor, four LED video scoreboards, new seating. and new baskets.

“It’s really exciting that we have all this new stuff and that you know they believe in us enough to do this for us,” Sophomore guard Kelsey Evans said.

Junior guard Drew Spradlin said he is happy playing basketball anywhere, but likes the new gym. “I’m really excited for the fans, for Elon, for the team, for our program,” he said.

The Robertson family donated the money needed to fix the gym – all to support Elon athletics.

“We are sports enthusiasts and we’re also Elon University enthusiasts and we believe the Elon program needed to take a step forward,” Jeanne Robertson said.

Robertson wants fans to have a better experience at the games.

“We come to so many sporting events when we heard this might be a possibility it dawned on both of us ‘why not enjoy it?’”

Men’s basketball coach Matt Matheny says the new gym will also help attract new recruits.

”When a recruit walks in this facility now they realize the administration is behind us and very supportive of us,” he said.

While the quality of the gym is improving – Sophomore Ali Ford says the basketball team will be as good as it was last year.

“The basketball’s gonna keep them here but the show is what’s gonna bring them here.”

Elon students fall victim to identity theft

By Drew Smith
Three Elon students got a call from their bank telling them of suspicious activity in their accounts. Someone had stolen their information and used it to charge some purchases.

“There were some charges to a Walmart, a McDonalds and a gas station that I didn’t make,” Elon senior Julia Telfer said. “I’ve been trying to think of how they could have done that.”

Senior Billy O’Riordon also had a few small charges. His friend, junior Chase Hodgdon, woke up to a call from his bank telling him someone tried to buy an $8000 airline ticket on his account.

All three students had the charges cleared and received new cards from the bank.

Financial crimes investigator Pat Ingram of the Burlington Police Department says identity theft is a growing problem.

“I deal with between 50 to 60 cases a month,” Ingram said.

And he recommends people check their bank accounts as much as possible.

“If they say you need to check your statements every 60 days, you do that,” he said. “Because if you don’t do it and say 90 days or 120 days you happen to find something on there and you didn’t check it, they’re not obligated to reimburse you for it.”

Julia Telfer says she will be even more cautious after being a victim of identity theft.

“It makes me feel really violated that someone was able to get my information and it just makes me a little bit more careful about checking my expenses regularly and making sure no ones charging things that I’m not aware of”

Watch an extended interview with Investigator Ingram below, including advice on how to prevent identity theft.

Medical Examiner determines cause of death in Michelle Pfleger case

Elon freshman Michelle Pfleger died of Pulmonary thromboemboli–or a blood clot in her lung, according to an autopsy report released by the NC Medical Examiner Thursday.

The four page report details the medical examiner’s finding and says most of Pfleger’s body was “unremarkable”.

“Postmortem examination reveals a well nourished, well developed adolescent female with no signs of trauma or
significant organ disease,” the report says. “There are bilateral main pulmonary artery acute thromboemboli without evidence of pulmonary infarction.”

The report goes on to speculate that the blood clot began in her lower body and traveled to her lung.

Pfleger collaped outside of McMichael Science Building on September 24th. She was taken to Alamance Regional Medical Center where she later died.

Friends of Michelle Pfleger will be selling bracelets tonight in Moseley from 7:30-10:00. Proceeds will be given to Pfleger’s mother who plans to establish a scholarship fund in her name.

Pedestrian hit by vehicle in crosswalk on Haggard Ave.

Freshman Peter Kesaris is recovering after being hit by a car Wednesday night while crossing Haggard Ave. The accident happened at about 10 pm Wednesday at the crosswalk near Belk Library.

Update
Phoenix14News spoke to Kesaris on the phone Monday. He talked about the severe injuries he’s had to deal with after being struck.

He said he tore three ligaments in his leg, suffered a broken nose and a cracked cheek bone. He also has a cracked knee cap and suffered internal bleeding in his brain. Kesaris had his second concussion in recent weeks because of the incident

“I went to my classes today,” Kesaris said. “I have to have nose surgery on Wednesday, and I am also having at least two surgeries on my leg in two to five weeks.”

Freshman Elizabeth Augustus was standing with a friend nearby when the accident happened. “I saw a silver car going around 15 miles-per-hour. Then I heard screeching and loud thumps,” Augustus said. When Augustus ran to the scene, the victim was rolling around on the ground.

Elon campus officer takes statement from driver

Elon Police and Fire responded to the call. Officer Kelly Blackwelder with the Town of Elon Police told Phoenix14News that the victim was taken to Moses Cone Hospital in Greesnboro. An ambulance was seen leaving the scene.

“He was conscious and talking,” Elon Assistant Fire Chief Kevin DeAngelo said. “That’s a good sign. Looks like he’s going to be okay.”

Dean of Students sent an email Friday morning updating students on Kesaris’ condition. Kesaris “sustained a concussion, torn ligaments to a knee, and a broken nose,” the email said. “He will be in the hospital 3 to 4 days and is recovering nicely.”

Mallory Lane, Drew Smith, Nick Ochsner, Jason Puckett and Kirsten Bennett contributed to this report

Downtown plans force The Pendulum to move

By Drew Smith
Elon’s student newspaper, The Pendulum, will move from their current office space on the corner of West College and Wiliamson avenues.

Provost Steven House made the announcement at Thursday’s meeting of the Media Board.

“I love your space,” House told Pendulum staffers. “But we need it.”

House explained it is part of the strategic plan, the Elon Commitment. The plan includes an objective to create a vibrant downtown area. The university has hired consultant Ken Kauffman to revitalize downtown, according to House.

The consultant told the provost that with current low building costs and interest rates, they would be ready to start building a new three-story retail space by January 2011. It will go next to Acorn Coffee shop and where the current Pendulum office and a parking lot are right now. The Pendulum building will be demolished. The campus bookstore will move to this new building, according to House.

House says the long-term plan is to move all student media together into either a renovated and expanded McEwen building or a completely new School of Communications building. House explained the changes at the communications school could be three to four years away.

In the meantime for the Pendulum, House is looking at the possibility of moving the newspaper office to one or two rented residential homes further down West College Avenue.

Pendulum staff members at the meeting voiced concern about functionality of the proposed new space and the problems it may cause for the staff’s morale. They also took issue with the administration’s lack of communication with The Pendulum staff.

House defended the decision saying the current Pendulum office was only a temporary location.

“I ask you to trust us,” House said. “We will do you right in the long run.”

Associate Provost and Media Board Chair Connie Book echoed House’s thought that the end result will be good for all parties in the future.

“I’m confident this displacement will be worth it,” Book said.

There is no word on the exact date The Pendulum will have to move from its current location.

Thursday Update October 7, 2010