THE
Clarion
Volume 76, Issue 7
www.brevard.edu/clarion
SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
Can BC bring liome its second
consecutive national title?
see Sports, page 4
Oct. 15, 2010
Video poker 'casino' causing concern in Brevard
New Sweepstakes Pot-O-Gold outlet opened Oct 7
By Park Baker
Staff Writer
Sweepstakes Pot-O-Gold is a video casino
raising a few eyebrows among community
business owners and students alike.
The shopping center where this video casino
opened Oct. 7 is home to Fuji Yama Japanese
Steakhouse, GO Grocery, Sherwin-Williams
Paint, Brevard Goodwill, a formal wear shop,
and a feed and seed store. Local business owners
are concerned that an establishment like this is
not only out of place but could open the door
for more places like it.
Student Morgan Sykes described the place as
an eyesore that seems out of place in a town like
Brevard. “I don’t just attend Brevard College,”
Sykes said. “I live here now, and my family
lives here.”
Formerly filled by the Egolf Dodge and Ford
car dealership, the space where the casino is
located is a large room filled with more than
In this issue...
News:
10/10/10 Action Party a Success 2
Students React to Rescued IVIiners.... 2
Drug Use & Jazz at BC 3
BC Library: There's an App for that.... 3
Homecoming T-Shirt Sale 3
Sports:
Cycling Travels to Defend Title 4
Volleyball Falls to Lenoir-Rhyne 4
Tornados Scoreboard 4
Opinion:
Fantasy Football Rules (your life) 5
These Hills 5
Arts & Life:
Chef Boy-ar-Dave 6
Alumni Gallery Opens 6
‘Shape of Things' Review' 7
TV Show Review: 'Rubicon' 7
Odds and Ends:
Your Horoscope 8
Crossword Puzzle 8
two dozen video gaming machines. According
to an Associated Press article about other Pot-
O-Gold locations, customers purchase phone
or Internet time, then play games on computer
screens to win cash and prizes. Sweepstakes
are only a way to attract people to the store to
use its services.
According to the company’s website, the Pot-
O-Gold company is the official sweepstakes
provider for the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Department of N.C. and the Veterans Foundation
of North Carolina.
A man seemingly in charge before opening
identified himself as “Bill.” He did not reveal
his last name or any additional details about the
operation, saying only that it would be doing
business as Sweepstakes Pot-O-Gold and that
his boss did not want him talking to reporters.
Edwin Drake, assistant manger of Sherwin-
Williams paint store next door to the video
gaming casino, says, “I’m happy for anyone
to be able to take advantage of the free market
system, but I hate to see anyone throwing money,
and time, away.” Drake was the manager of a
nearby gas station for some time and says that he
Dave Alexander enjoying the video poker.
frequently had to call police to escort people off
the premises because they had become addicted
to the video gaming. He added, “I don’t think
it’s healthy to allow this sort of establishment,
one that feeds people’s addictions.”
Pam Coleman, owner of Cinderella’s Formal
Wear, says that Pot-O-Gold is the first of its
kind in this town. She says she is skeptical of
the kinds of people it will attract.
“Nine times out of 10 an establishment like
this attracts a crowd that isn’t necessarily
looking to shop in our retail stores,” Coleman
said. Thieves broke into her business and stole
$40,000 worth of merchandise when it was
located on Caldwell Street, she said.
Foliage experts: Expect peak colors soon
By Caleb Welborn
Staff Writer
Mt. Mitchell ranger and park naturalist James
Michael Sanders expects fall color to rapidly
accelerate over the next week.
Additionally, Kathy Mathews, an associate
professor of biology at Western Carolina
University, told the Knoxville News Sentinel
that she expects an above average display this
autumn, based on weather patterns this past
spring and summer According to Mathews, “It’s
been a hot year, with above average temperatures
this summer Rainfall has been slightly less than
average this spring and summer These are
two factors I look at when thinking about the
timing and quality of the fall color change in
the mountains.”
Trip Advisor, a popular travel site, listed
Asheville as the number one destination in a list
of “America’s Top Ten Foliage Destinations”
released in September 2010, calling western
North Carolina “a spectacular location for
leaf-peeping.” Peak foliage viewing for this
area is from mid to late October, according to
the site.
Brevard College is located in a prime location
for viewing fall colors, with roads such as US
Highway 276 and the Blue Ridge Parkway only
a short drive from campus.
Why do leaves change
color in the fall?
• The days are growing shorter,
and nighttime temperatures
have been dipping into the
30’s
• As a result, leaves stop
producing green chlorophyll
• The absence of green reveals
leaves’ spectrum of fall colors