THE PENDULUM
Volume 29, Issue 9
October 23, 2003
If it matters to you, it matters to The Pendulum.
www.elon.edu/pendulum
Pedestrian accident prompts crosswall concerns
Student injured
while jaywalking;
driver not at fault
Lindsay Porter
Kristen Sween / Photographer
Sgt Vickie Moehlman of Campus Safety and Police direct traffic on Haggard Avenue before 8 a.m. class
es Tuesday. Crosswak safety and laws have become areas of increasing concern following an accident
involving an Elon student driver that collided with another student illegally crossing North O’Kelly Avenue.
Managing Editor
Junior Steven Davis, 19, was
strucic by a car while crossing
North O’Kelly Avenue at the east
.end of the Moseley Center parking
lot Wednesday, Oct. 15 around 3
p.m. Davis suffered two spiral frac
tures in one leg and was transport
ed to Alamance Regional Medical
Center via ambulance, where he
underwent surgery Oct. 16 to place
metal rods below his knee. Davis
was charged with failing to yield
right of way to a vehicle, also
known as jaywalking.
“(Davis) saw the car coming,
but thought he could cross in
time,” said Patrolman M.L. Brewer
of the Elon Town Police.
Davis was crossing the street
near the wooded portion of the
Moseley lot, moving toward
McMichael. He was struck by a
1997 Nissan driving south on
O’Kelly by sophomore Nicole
Ellis, 19. Brewer said Ellis was not
at fault in the accident and received
no citations.
This is the second incident,
within a year in which a student
has been hit by a vehicle while
crossing a street on campus. Last
spring, two students were struck by
a car while crossing Williamson
and Haggard avenues at night.
According to both Brewer and
Campus Safety and Police Sgt.
Vickie Moehlman, crossing North
O’Kelly Avenue at any point other
than the pedestrian crossing light at
the intersection of O’Kelly and
Haggard avenues is illegal and
subject to ticketing.
A pedestrian crosswalk used to
exist on O’Kelly Avenue between
the financial planning office and
McMichael at one time, however
Moehlman said it was removed by
the North Carolina Department of
Transportation because it was too
close to the stoplight intersection.
See CROSSWALK p. 9
‘Under God’ under review
Matt Belanger
Asst. News Editor
If a U.S. Appeals Court ruling
made last Wednesday is allowed
to stand, schoolchildren will no
longer be allowed to say the
words “under God” when they
recite the Pledge of Allegiance at
the start of each day, at least
schoolchildren in the nine Western
states covered by the court.
Critics of the decision were
stunned and warned that it calls
into question the use of “In God
We Trust” on the nation’s curren
cy, the public singing of patriotic
songs like “God Bless America”
and even the use of the phrase “So
help me God” when judges are
sworn into office.
The case was brought by a
California man who objected to
his daughter being compelled to
listen to her second-grade class
mates recite the pledge.
In a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals said the
phrase, “One nation under God,”
amounts to a government endorse
ment of a particular religion and is
See ALLEGIANCE p. 9
Health center offers free flu vaccinations
Caitlin Burke
Reporter
As temperatures begin to fall,
the R. N. Ellington Health and
Counseling Center is preparing
for the inevitable sniffle and
sneeze season by offering a free
service to students, faculty and
staff.
To help thwart the flu from
spreading across campus, Elon is
offering free flu shots Oct. 27
through Oct. 31. The shots will be
administered in McKinnon Hall
Monday through Thursday and in
the Commuter Lounge on Friday.
Shots will be available from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. and usually only
take a few minutes to administer.
However, since shots are given on
a walk-in basis, students can
expect to wait if they arrive first
thing in the morning or during
lunch hours. Julie Smalls, regis
tered nurse at the health center,
said times for quick appointments
are typically between 10 a.m. and
noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Smalls said this year’s flu sea
son is predicted to be worse than
that of recent years. Influenza
viruses change frequently and
each year the vaccination needs to
be updated to make sure it will be
effective. The Center for Disease
Control recommends that anyone
living in a residence hall get vac
cinated to prevent large outbreaks
of the flu.
Protection against the flu does
not begin until two weeks after the
shot is administered. Slight side
effects often occur from the vacci
nation, including a mild fever,
aches and redness and soreness at
the site of the shot. Side effects
See FLU p. 9
"IJ-j ^ « Local resident Bruce Wheeler returns home after O O • alumni return to campus to be inducted
-IT spending 10 months on Naval deployment in Iraq. MT into the Elon Sports Hall of Fame.