Page 4 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 NEWS —
Wallace Chandler Fountain flows again this week after repairs
Rachel Cieri
Reporter
Contrary to rumors circulating
around campus, Wallace L. Chandler
Fountain is not sinking into the
ground nor is it breaking in two from a
massive crack. In fact, construction on
the fountain is nearly finished, and it
is expected to be filled with water this
week.
According to Director of
Construction Management Neil
Bromilow, the problems with the
fountain are not nearly as severe as the
rumors imply.
Because the structure is made from
a massive amount of concrete, there
were several hairline cracks radiating
from the center like spokes on a bicycle
wheel, he said. Water was seeping
through the tiny cracks, and in order
for them to be filled in with caulk they
first had to be expanded.
“It’s not unnatural for something
that’s made out of that much concrete,”
Bromilow said. “Think of a sidewalk,
that’s made out of concrete and [it]
cracks.”
As the structure was settling into
the ground the walls of the fountain
began to bow out, causing some of the
ceramic tiles to come loose.
“Imagine that you've got an air
mattress with rocks under it,” he
said. “Over time, the air mattress
changes shape to conform to the rocks
underneath it.”
This is all part of the fountain’s
structural shifting. The places where
the cracks and “fault lines” appeared
have been filled with rubber-like joints
to absorb any future movement as the
Rumor vs. Reality:
Rumor; Chandler Fountain is
sinking into the ground because
the foundation was not built
correctly.
Reality: The fountain is not
sinking. It's shifting like any
concrete structure.
Rumor: There is a huge crack in
the fountain.
Reality: There were several tiny,
hairline cracks in the concrete and
they had to be expanded before
they could be filled.
fountain conforms to the ground.
While it was dry, maintenance
was performed on machinery like
ventilation and pumps used to operate
the fountain.
The bottom, originally black to
give the illusion of depth, was painted
blue to make it more aesthetically
pleasing. Lights have been reinstalled
to illuminate the water at night.
Much speculation about irreparable
damage stemmed from the length
of time the fountain was filled with
construction crews rather than water,
but Bromilow explained that weather
has delayed repair efforts.
For the bottom to be painted the
concrete needed to be bone dry, which
requires five days of sunshine. Instead,
construction crews got frequent
rainstorms.
Whenever it seemed like they would
finally be able to start, the clouds
DAVID WELLS I Photo Editor
Chandler Fountain stands empty in front of Koury Business Center as workers repair
damages. The fountain began running again on Tuesday morning.
rolled in, Bromilow said.
“If you ever need a drought broken.
I'll bring you the fountain,” he said.
Construction crews were waiting
for a water-resistant coat to dry and
machinery to calibrate before filling
Chandler Fountain. Bromilow said he
does not expect to have to perform
maintenance on the fountain for
another 10 years.
-PtNO/,
^ www.elon.
edu/pendulum for
Online
video about the
fountain’s repairs.
Media groups host viewing of vice presidential debate
Bryce Little
Reporter
On Oct. 2 students from Elon’s
chapters of the Radio Television News
Directors Association and the Society
of Professional Journalists met in
classrooms in McEwen to watch the vice
presidential debate between Sen. Joe
Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Afterward, members from the two
groups had an informal discussion
about who was the better candidate and
ultimately which parties were hurt or
helped by the debate.
“The vice presidential debates can be
completely uneven, completely go out of
control and not even be that great for a
candidate and still win,” senior Kevin
Kline said.
After intently watching the debate,
students conversed about both
candidates’ views on the Iraq War,
the energy crisis and the economic
downturn.
“I thought both candidates were
prepared and came to the debate well
rehearsed and ready to take each other
on,” said Mackenzie Ames, co-president
of RTNDA.
Many students agreed both
candidates did as well, or better, than
expected.
“I think she [Sarah Palin) is doing
really well,” senior Jinni Phipps said.
“Compared to her interview on Katie
V
BRYCE LITTLE | Photographer
From left to right; Junior Meredith Gulley, senior Bethany Swanson, senior Olivia Hubert-
Allen and junior Tim Barber led the discussion after the vice presidential debate.
Couric, so far so good.”
Some students were surprised at
Palin’s ability to stand against the more
experienced Joe Biden, but expectations
were still low after Palin’s recent
interviews with some media outlets.
“Sarah Palin exceeded expectations,"
Kline said. “My expectations were not
terribly high for her. Sarah Palin had a
lot less to lose than Biden did because
when you have your expectations low
you have a lot less to lose.”
Visit www.elon.
edu/pendulum
for video about
the debate
screening and
post-screening
discussion.
ONLINE
Elon students
polled for national
survey
On Monday, about 3,000 Elon
students received an e-mail
about a poll that will function
as a scientific survey of college
students in four battleground
election states.
According to an e-mail sent by
Dean of Students Smith Jackson,
between 15 and 20 schools in
North Carolina were contacted to
participate in Cornell University’s
Survey Research Institute for its
“CBS News Youth Vote Poll."
“They wish to get students'
opinions on the candidates,
the issues that matter to young
voters, your level of engagement
in this campaign and your take
on the political landscape in the
Internet age,” Jackson said.
The results will be revealed
on the CBS Evening News with
Katie Couric and will be printed
in the Oct. 17 issue of The
Chronicle of High Education and
on CBSNews.com, Chronicle.com
and UWlRE.com.
Organizers to resubmit Pavon s application, hope partnership emerses
PAVON from page 1
sometimes the government needs more.
Pavon is upset his visa was denied,
but says he is not surprised by the
verdict. He suspects his time spent in
Venezuela could be to blame.
“I want to thank everyone at Elon
for this attempt at a cross-culture
experience,” Pavon said. “I am saddened
that it has been put on hold by this
oppression.”
Pavon was set to live in Alamance
County for the last three weeks in
October and paint a mural on a wall
outside of the YMCA in downtown
Burlington. Organizers said Pavon was
going to make the mural a community
effort in not only the planning, but also
the painting.
“The whole concept for bringing him
in was to develop a deeper relationship
with the Latino community,” Cary
Worthy, director of the Alamance
County Arts Council, said. “We want to
use the arts to help that dialogue.”
Tom Arcaro, professor of sociology
and director of Project Pericles, said
focus groups were to be conducted with
a diverse group of Alamance County
residents to see what the mural should
be about.
“The mural project was going to help
us learn more about our community,”
Arcaro said.
He said after the focus groups were
over, organizers would have planned
to “offer a document to be used by the
City of Burlington and other entities
that are interested in this type of pulse-
taking of our community.”
Elon first got involved with Pavon
when the 2008 Periclean Scholars met
him in Chiapas, Mexico last year.
The students’ original intention was
to help with construction on a school
They were able to get Pavon to paint a
mural with them on one of the exterior
walls.
We picked out paint with him and
our students painted this beautiful
mural with him,” Arcaro said. “Students
immediately said, 'Wow this would be a
great Periclean-in-residence. Lets have
him do a mural at Elon.’”
But talk soon turned to using
Pavon’s visit as a chance for Elon to
connect to the Alamance County
community and the local Hispanic
population. Arcaro was able to get the
A amance County Arts Council and the
Alamance Community YMCA on board
to help bring Pavon here.
“There is just so much we can share
cross-culturally,” Pavon said.
Pavon, who has painted murals in
Mexico, Germany, Spain, Denmark
and the Netherlands, was also the first
artist to paint on the wall between
Palestine and Israel.
“It was supposed to be a project
that lived out the goal we have of
creating better and deeper bonds
between Elon and the surrounding
community," Arcaro said. “It was abo
doing something proactive in respons
to the growing heterogeneity in our
population." , k
For now, organizers plan to resu
Pavon’s visa application in hopes tna
they will still be able to bring him w
Alamance County, just at a later tiin •