GARDNER-WEBB UNIVERSITY
f^^^^ier20,-2008 ' ' ' Volume 12 No.
Serving the Gardner-Webb University community for more than 60 years
Rumor true after all --
McDonald’s coming to Main Street
By Michelle Alwerdt
Staff writer
Last spring, The Pilot investigated a ru
mor that a McDonald’s would be built in
Boiling Springs. The result then was that it
was, indeed, just a rumor.
But, in just a year Gardner-Webb stu
dents will be able to walk a short, conve
nient distance from campus ~ across Main
Street - to satisfy their hunger with a Mc
Donald’s meal.
The restaurant location will be opposite
Hardees, where the car wash is currently
positioned.
According to owner/operator Dave
Hunt, it will be a cafe-style restaurant that
will sell premium high-end coffees and real
espressos. Eventually it will offer frappes
and smoothies.
This new style is actually being applied
to all new McDonald’s nationwide, said
Hunt.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” he said.
“I’ve been waiting for years and I am
so thrilled that we have the opportunity
to come to Boiling Springs and serve the
community here. I can’t say how much this
means to me.
“It is a dream come true. I couldn’t be
happier.”
Hunt has been franchising with McDon
ald’s for 19 years, and currently owns four
other locations: one in Columbus, two in
Forest City and one in Spindale.
Hunt will be working alongside partner
Bob Holder, director of operations.
They have been trying to get a McDon
ald’s in Boiling Springs for a long time.
Hunt said, but the population couldn’t
support one. However, with an improving
economy in Boiling Spring, they finally got
permission to open the franchise here.
Hunt said he chose to franchise with
McDonald’s because “it has good fimda-
mentals.”
“I am a Christian and I have never found
a conflict with my faith and its policies. It
is a business where you can ethically make
money.”
Hunt expects the restaurant to create at
least 50 jobs.
“I would love to hire Gardner-Webb stu
dents,” he said.
He also expects to hire people from
town, such as high school students. Hunt
said he will be flexible and will work with a
student’s class schedule.
“Their primary job is getting an educa
tion and I will not get in the way of that. I
put myself through college and I realize the
value of a good education.”
Hunt hopes to get support from Gard
ner-Webb. He would like to put the GWU
logo on the sign or somewhere on the walls
inside.
Photo by Tyler Kucifer
This site has been purchased and will be the home of a cafe-style McDonald’s next year. The franchise owner already runs
i three McDonald’s restaurants in Cleveland and Rutherford counties.
McDonald’s food fast and tasty,
but not always good for you
Reaction Roundup: Here’s what
people are saying about McD’s
This Edition
— In campus news —
There’s a new dorm
coming to campus next
year. See p.2
Take a look at the play
being performed this
week at the Millennium
Playhouse. See p.2
— Opinion/editorial —
Lauren Taylor gets in
high gear about the
bailout of the Big 3
automakers in Detroit.
See p.3
Jermaine Gash puts in
his 2 cents about the
financial crisis. See p.3
Diana Palka takes on
color and the Obama
presidency. See p.3
The demise of MTV’s
“Total Request Live”
leaves at least one stu
dent mourning. See p.3
— In sports—
The men’s soccer team
is no longer in the Big
South playoffs. See p.3
The football season
ended Saturday with a
loss to Liberty. See p.4
The Lady Bulldogs
basketball team wiped
up the court with UVA-
Wise Monday. See p.4
The cross country team
finished its season and
is now preparing for
indoor track season.
See p.4
Weather
Thursday Friday
Nov.20 Nov. 21
High 56 High 47
Low 29 Low 23
Sunny Sunny/
windy
Source; The Weather Channel
Index
Nfcws pigc2
Dmninnity 2
.. .. pago
Sports pa^L' 3,4
I By Diana Palka
j Pilot staff writer
I The arrival of McDonald’s
I in Boiling Springs has a num-
1 ber of implications, from the
! impact on small businesses to
I the way it will affect other food
I franchises along South Main
I Street.
I One effect of the 53 year-
I old fast-food chain that cannot
I go overlooked is the impact its
arrival can have on the commu
nity’s health. In the movie “Su
per Size Me” daredevil Morgan
Spurlock restricts his diet to
I .only McDonald’s fare for 30
j days. In the course of that time,
I Spurlock gained 24.5 pounds,
I suffered from heart palpitations
and had bouts of depression.
I Members of the Boiling
I Springs and Gardner-Webb
I communities won’t exclusively
I eat McDonald’s, yet the nutri-
I tion facts are worth examining.
I The 12-oz. Angus Third-
I Pounder Deluxe burger has 760
I calories along with 41 grams of
I fat, 17 of ■\vhich are saturated
I and two are trans fats. That’s
I 63 percent of the daily fat value
I and 85 percent of the daily satu-
I rated fat value recommended
j by the U.S. government,
j The daily caloric need for a
j relatively active (moderate ex-
j ercise 3 times a week) 20-year-
I old male whois 6 feet tall and
I weighs 180 pounds is roughly
I 2,500-2,700 calories a day.
j For a female of the same
I activity level, same age, but
standing 5’6” and weighing
120 pounds, the daily caloric
I necessity is roughly 1850-1950
j calories.
I That being said, a 760-calo-
I rie burger from McDonald’s is
I roughly 29 percent of the male’s
I daily caloric need and about 40
percent of the female’s.
In comparison with some
other fast food options, Mc
Donald’s ranks last in terms of
nutritional value in some cases.
A 1/3 pound cheeseburger
from Hardee’s, conceivably
McDonald’s greatest competi
tor in the Boiling Springs area,
is 680 calories, 39g of fat and
19g of saturated fat. A five-
piece Boneless Honey BBQ
wings from KFC is only 450
calories, 20g of fat and 3.5g of
saturated fat. And wrapping it
up, a 1/2 pound Bean Burrito
Special from Taco Bell is 600
calories, with 21g of fat and 5g
of saturated fat.
There is no clear choice for
healthy fast food.
Perhaps it’s all a matter
of the lesser of a number of
evils. However, the arrival of
McDonald’s - almost on cam
pus - means students and Boil
ing Springs residents will have
more access to foods that are
often high in calories and low
in nutritional value.
People will need to make
healthier decisions in other as
pects of their lives, such as in
creasing exercise and kicking
habits such as smoking, if they
wish to indulge in the conve
nience of the Golden Arches.
Notes: Daily values are
based on a 2,000 calorie a day
diet. Daily caloric necessities
were compiled from an online
dietitian.
Links:
http://www.dietfacts.
com/htm 1/nutrition-facts/
mcdonalds-angus-third-
pounder-deluxe-1 OOpercent-
angus-beef-patty-premium-
bun-pasteurized-pro48147 .htm
http://WWW. dietfacts .com/
html/nutrition-facts/hardees-1 -
3-lb-cheeseburger-33430.htm
From Pilot staff reports
Boiling Springs Town Man
ager Zach Trogdon is hopeful
that there are enough hungry
people to go around in Boiling
Springs so McDonald’s won’t
put another restaurant out of
business.
“I certainly hope it will be a
winning proposition for every
body,” he said.
The restaurant isn’t getting
any tax breaks to come here, but
its presence would be a boost to
the tax base, Trogdon said,
“Overall, on balance, it’d be
a benefit,” he said.
Joe Fields, manager of The
Kennel, said the McDonald’s
might be competition for GWU
student food dollars.
“I don’t think it’s gonna af
fect our business as far as peo
ple who have meal plans,” he
said. Fields hopes that students
will continue to choose the ‘flex
money’ or ‘points’ option on
campus over paying extra mon-
A brief history
By Michelle Alwerdt
Pilot staff writer
In 1954, salesman Raymond
Albert Kroc mortgaged every
thing he owned to become a
distributor of a five-spindled
milkshake maker called the
Multimixer.
That year he heard about a
food stand in California owned
by brothers Dick and Mac Mc
Donald. At their stand they ran
eight Multimixers at a time.
Kroc, 52, left his home and went
West to present a business prop
osition to the McDonald broth
ers: creating “McDonald’s”
restaurants, each with eight
Multimixers.
In 1955, Kroc opened the
ey to eat at McDonald’s.
He said that as long as Mc
Donald’s doesn’t tap into the
one-card system, initially it
won’t affect The Kennel’s busi
ness.
If it does affect business.
Fields will be ready to battle the
fast-food giant.
“We may have to change the
offerings, do some more promo
tional-type things,” he said.
The Kermel can’t compete
with cheaper McDonald’s pric
es, but he hopes that students
will opt for the higher quality of
Kennel foods.
“We just hope that our va
riety, the fact that we’re on
campus, that students will keep
coming here,” Fields added.
Other folks on campus had a
variety of reactions.
Noel Manning, director of
university and media relations,
has a positive outlook on Mc
Donald’s arrival.
See REACTION, page 2
of McDonald’s
first McDonald’s restaurant in
Des Plaines, 111. The profit for
its first day is $366.12.
This McDonald’s is now a
museum. Many more McDon
ald’s followed.
Company highlights;
In 1963, the Ronald Mc
Donald clown was infroduced
and had his first TV appearance.
* In 1965 the company went
public and sold its first stock on
Wall Street.
The Big Mac was created
in 1968, followed by the Egg
McMufRn in 1973.
. * The Ronald McDonald
House Charities was created in
1974.
* The Happy Meal was in
troduced in 1979.