Page 2 Campus News The Clarion \ August 25, 2017 New student center brings excitement By Jessica Wiegandt Arts & Life Editor Jones Library was renovated over the summer and now features new furniture, new office and meeting space and a new Academic Enrichment Center—all part of what is now called the Expe riential Learning Commons. With the AEC moving into the library, its old location in Coltrane is being transformed a Student Center. “Those who operated in the AEC space now work in the ELC, which has encompassed all of the previously-known AEC and has expanded into a library resource,” associate dean of stu dents Michael Cohen said. “So normally when someone says ‘ELC’ it is associated with that subset of services [tutoring and student men tors] that were in the AEC but it also includes the entire library and academic services inside.” Campus Life has many ideas for what to place in the Student Center, including a miniature theater wall, equipped with a speaker system and a projector for movies, a video game room and Ping-Pong tables. While Campus Life has a plan for what to include in the Student Center, Cohen said they still are looking for suggestions. “We really want students to give us some feedback, especially during this process as we prepare the center to open,” Cohen said. “It’ll be a multipurpose space that can be converted for meetings, Ping-Pong or video game tournaments, movies or for club space.” The Student Government Association will have an office in the Student Center and clubs will have a space to convene for meetings or to place equipment in shelves and cubbies. Cohen said video games and board games will be available to check out when the center opens. There will also be outdoor equipment available to check out at the front circulation desk within the Student Center. “We still have to figure out some logistics with the outdoor equipment,” Co hen said, “Like, what if a student wants to return a boat after hours or lost a paddle on a trip.... We need to determine how the process will work.” The center will feature student life here on campus, including art and photography by stu dents and also pictures of students participating in various school events. Cohen said he would like for a student-designed mural to be painted on the wall and eventually have the entire center decorated by students. International flags representing all the coun tries that make up the BC student body will hang in the center. “They [international students] walk with these flags for graduation and they represent who we are as a campus community,” Cohen said. “It’ll be nice to have that represented in this common space as well.” Along with SGA having an office, the Campus Aetivities Board office will move to the Student Center. This allows for a consolidated location of decision-making bodies on campus. SGA and CAB will now be accessible in the office spaces adjacent to Director of Housing Beth Abrams’ office. The security office will also move from the basement of Jones to the Student Center which will allow for a more centralized location with more student interaction. “We’re really excited for this,” Cohen said. “It will take some time, but the good news is we have the opportunity to collaborate with students and make this center exactly what they want.” Experiencing the Eclipse By Amber Blanton staff Writer Seeing the night during the middle of the day is a rare sight. But on Monday, Aug. 21, the people in Brevard were able to experience the totality of a solar eclipse. At approximately 2;37 pm, the moon moved between the sun and the earth, giving us a breathtaking and exciting view. In addition to local residents, many people came long distances to catch a glimpse of the eclipse. More than 10,000 people came from a variety of places to get the perfect seat. They fully booked hotels, crowded the streets, and many found their way onto the college campus to watch the afternoon unfold. One such group of visitors, David Smith and his family, travelled a little over three hours to experience the totality of the eclipse here in Brevard, Smith said, “My kids thought it was the coolest thing ever,” he said. “We drove a long way, and there were lots of people on the roads. But I’d say the trip was definitely worth it.” There were many families like the Smiths who enjoyed coming out to see totality. But there were also many students here at Brevard who had some exciting things to report. One student, Syerria Winters, was excited about the chance to get out and meet some new people as she watched the eclipse. “It was a very breathtaking moment,” she said. “It was a once in a lifetime experience that I'll never forget.” Others, such as Madison Ramsey, were ex cited about the great view that Brevard offered. “All I had to do was lay back in my hammock, and it was right there,” Ramsey said. But the eclipse wasn’t the only exciting thing that happened that day. Chris Center proposed to Karissa Leazer, helping the day to be as remark able and memorable as people expected it to be. Some of the locals, however, felt the eclipse was blown out of proportion, citing the increased traffic flow as a major inconvience. They were also astonished that people from so far away, including Texas, New York, Ohio, and even Los Angeles came to see what amounted to a 64-second event. Despite this, many students gathered to ex perience the totality together which helped to foster a sense of community and friendship at Brevard College.

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