Take a visit
to the area’s
award-winning
winery
PAGE 14
MONSTER
GOLF
PAGE 23
■R I
SIS^ ^ JUNE:
“PSYCHO
BEACH PARTY”
The Pendulum goes
behind tt^scenes of
the performing arts
depWtment's falLplay
ELON
FAMILIES
stBEsng cffi
Elen's close-
knit campus
SCOOTIN
AROUND
Ttie 'ScDi3ter
teveab its dtsepest
seoBtsand
coolest treks
NDULUM
PAGE 14
ELON, NORTH CAROLINA | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009 j VOLUME 35, EDITION 25
www.elon.edu/pendulum
TUNNEL NOISE EFFECTS STUDENT RENTERS
CAROLINE MATTHEWS j Photographef
Workers from Crowder Construction Company secure steel beams into the ground using compression machinery. Excavating the tunnel
has been a noisy process that has resulted In three students who live close td the site being moved to temporary university housing.
Construction noise scheduled to quiet down next week
because of the excavating of the tunnel, but not to the
same extent as earlier in the year.
Last week, senior Alex Luxenburg, who lives across
from the construction site at the intersection of South
Trollinger Avenue and O'Kelly Avenue, sent an e-mail to
Elon University President Leo Lambert regarding some
issues with the construction.
“We mentioned three things that were a major concern,"
Luxenburg said. “And we requested to meet with him so
See TUNNEL I PAGE 10
Anna Johnson
Senior Reporter
Students who live near the construction site of Elon’s
pedestrian underpass will only have to wake up to the
sound of jackhammers for one more week. According to
Brad Moore, associate director of planning, design and
construction management, the work causing the loud
noise is scheduled to cease by Oct. 16.
Moore said while the majority of the sound will stop
after next week, there will still be some slight noise
Elon earns Phi
Beta Kappa
chapter after
nine years of
perseverance
Margeaux Corby
News Editor
It took the University of Mississippi
a hundred years to get it. Elon got it in
nine. Last Friday, the university finally
received a Phi Beta Kappa chapter after
a nearly decade-long effort, which
came to an end last weekend at Phi
Beta Kappa’s 42nd Triennial Council in
Austin, Texas.
Steven House, provost and vice
president for academic affairs, said
senior staff attending the council were
cautiously optimistic when arriving
in Austin, especially after so many
people had tirelessly worked to provide
the extensive data required in the
application process.
“We were confident that we had
addressed all of the questions presented
by the Committee on (Jualifications,”
House said. “But until we heard the
speaker announce that the Phi Beta
Kappa .Society had voted to establish a
new chapter at Elon, we were all a tad
nervous.”
Elon applied to Phi Beta Kappa in 2000
and 2003, but was denied membership
both years. The university’s 200G
application received approval along
with Butler University, The College of
Saint Benedict, Saint John’s University
and James Madison University. There
are only 280 Phi Beta Kappa chapters
nationwide.
The university has improved various
campus programs in an effort to build
up its application through the years,
such as increasing library funding
by almost 250 percent since its first
application, instituting a foreign
language requirement for incoming
freshmen, increasing faculty hiring
and putting more funding into honors
programs and scholarships.
“Elon’s journey toward Phi Beta
Kappa has always been about the
See PBKI PAGE 7
Struggling economy affects free, reduced lunch program
Caltiin O'Donnell
Reporter
As the economy falters and
unemployment rises, the number of
students who qualify for the free or
reduced lunch program is increasing.
Of the approximately 22,000 students
enrolled in the 33 Alamance-Burlington
schools, 45 percent qualified for the
program.
Though various factors can affect
'he number of eligible students, the
recent downturn in the economy and the
subsequent job loss is perhaps the most
significant.
“We have seen the closings of numerous
plants and the transfer of textile mills
overseas to countries such as China,” said
Sallie Ange, executive director of child
nutrition for the Alamance Burlington
school system. “Our town relies heavily
on these factories, and when they leave, it
is a serious indicator of a problem.”
Students whose families receive food
stamps automatically qualify for the
free or reduced lunch, and for others a
separate application is available. This
requires only the total income for the
household and the signature of a parent
or guardian. A new application is required
each school year.
In many cases, the number of students
who take advantage of the program is
much greater in elementary schools,
than in middle and high schools. Many
high school students simply don’t take
the time to fill out the application, or use
that of their younger siblings.
“Others are embarrassed by the fact
that their families have a low income
and don’t want their friends and peers at
school to know,” Ange said.
The free or reduced lunch program is
federally-funded and entirely separate
from the school system. With an $11
million budget, it pays for necessary
food, as well as employees' salaries and
benefits.
“Our funding comes directly from
the government,” Ange said. “So the
increased number of students relying on
the program has caused no serious strain
on schools’ finances.”
What the number does affect is the
individual school’s title under the No
Child Left Behind Act.
“I use the free or reduced lunch count
to determine a school’s status as Title
1,” Jean Maness, executitive director of
elementary education for the Alamance
Burlington school system said.
At Title 1 schools, about 40 percent
of the students come from families
who qualify as low-income. The schools
receive funding from the government
and must make adequate yearly progress
on state testing. Originally enacted in
1965, the system aims to bridge the gap
between at-risk and other students.
This year’s application for the
program was due Oct. 6, and the number
of qualified students is not expected to
decrease.
Elon Elementary cafeteria workers
have witnessed a distinct change in
those who now come through their lunch
lines.
“We all have noticed an increase
in reduced and free lunches for our
students,” said Nancy Miles, manager of
the department. “And I know that the
struggling economy is definitely one of
the main causes.”
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