Pi
Baseball starts
. season strong
Tony Foriest i Meagan Harrison;
Eton alum
running tor
re-election
as N.C. state
senator
PAGE 6 AND
ONLINE
Elon student wins
Ward Farnily and
Learning award
PAGE 17 AND ONLINE
I Patrick
Bachmann
Seniof piano maior
stiares tus musical
talent
PAGE 14 AND
ONLINE
{ Hillel hosts
I mock Jewish
I wedding
PAGE 17 AND
ONLINE
PAGE 15
Pendulu
ELON, NOI?10f GAROLINA | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2010 | VOLUME 36, EDITION 5
www.elon.edu/pendulum
WfBI
Unemployment
benefits to stop
at month’s end
f JUSTINE SCHULERUD 1 Pholo Editor
I There are four LabCorp locations within 10 miles of Elon University. The building above is located on Westbrook Avenue in Burlington.
iial)Corp injects
jobs into the Triad
Rachel Southmayd
Senior Reporter
In an era of continual economic
hardship, one FortuneSOO company,
the Laboratory Corporation of
America Holdings Inc., has found a
way to create 346 jobs in the Triad
instead of eliminating them.
These positions will be in a
new billing facility in Greensboro,
providing employment
opportunities for residents
of Guilford County and the
surrounding area.
According to David P. King,
chairman and chief executive
officer of LabCorp, the company
has always had a very close
relationship with the region. Its
corporate headquarters is currently
located in Burlington.
“We are proud to underscore
LabCorp's commitment to
supporting economic growth in the
Triad, Burlington and Alamance
County,” King, said.
This new project is possible
partially because of a grant from
the One North Carolina Fund, a
discretionary grant program run
by the Department of Commerce
to encourage companies to create
jobs and invest in North Carolina.
Corporations selected to receive
a One North Carolina grant have
three years to create jobs and
invest a planned amount of money.
If their goals have been met, then
the corporation receives the grant
money as reimbursement instead
of at the start of the project. The
LabCorp facility earned a $275,000
grant.
“There is a larger mission for
North Carolina discretionary grant
See LABCORPI PAGE 4
Jack Rodenfels
Senior Reporter
At the end of
February, unemployed
citizens throughout the
state could be denied
unemployment benefits
previously furnished
by the state of North
Carolina.
The North Carolina
Employment Security
Commission, a
government agency that
reviews unemployment
benefits cases, is
based in Raleigh. The
current unemployment
program ceases at
the end of the month.
Congress is looking to
pass an “emergency
unemployment benefit
extension” before the
current program expires.
According to the
Employment Security
Commission of North
Carolina, up to 6,000
North Carolinians
would lose their current
unemployment benefits
within the next 60 days if
U.S. Congress’ extension
plan is not unveiled by
the end of the month.
Larry Parker, a
spokesman for the
Employment Security
Commission of North
Carolina, said that
when the current
unemployment benefit
program ends at the end
of the month, it doesn’t
necessarily mean the
unemployed will stop
receiving funding from
the government. Rather,
unemployed cannot
apply for additional
“emergency extension
funding.”
“When you first are
granted unemployment
benefits, you can receive
payments for up to 26
weeks,” said Parker. “The
program that is expiring
at the end of this month is
an emergency extension
on those 26 weeks.”
The Employment
Security Commission
estimates 112 people
in Alamance County
would lose their current
benefits program.
“If you are in a specific
tier, you will continue
getting payments from
that tier,” Parker said.
“You will just not be able
to move into the next tier
because the program will
be over.”
This “tier” system is
part of the Employment
Security Commission’s
current effort to give
aid extensions to
unemployed citizens
who qualify for funding.
The Employment
Security Commission
states that the extension
unemployment funding
is divided up into four
tiers. The first provides
funding for up to 20
weeks, the second tier
provides funding up
to 14 weeks, tier three
provides funding for
a potential 13 weeks
and tier four provides
funding for a final six
weeks.
Qualified persons for
unemployment benefits
Include people who have
lost their job with no fault
of their own, and their
previous employer in not
fighting their claim for
See UNEMPLOYMENT | PAGE 6
Student charged with fihng false poHce report
Sophomore suspected man
following her, police arrest her for
calling in a false report
Pam Richter
Editor-in-Chief
An Elon University student was
arrested for filing a false police report
after calling 911 from the Moseley
parking lot. The Elon sophomore felt
she was being followed by a man in the
parking lot.
Sophomore Emilia M. Sotolongo
called the police after that evening.
According to Town of Elon Police
Chief LaVell Lovette,
Sotolongo gave a
description of a
male similar to the
description of the man
who is a suspect in the
most recent indecent
exposure incidents on
campus.
“In her case, she reported a stalking
incident that this guy was following
her, and she instigated a thorough
investigation,” Lovette said.
Sotolongo made the call at 1:40
a.m. last Thursday and was called in
for questioning later that day. She was
arrested on charges of filing a false
police report. She was placed in an
Alamance County jail and released on
a $300 secured bond on the same day,
according to the Alamance County
Sheriff’s department.
“I was extremely scared for my
safety," Sotolongo said. “The 911 call
was me being scared and made with no
malicious intent at all."
Director of Campus Safety and
Security Chuck Gantos said during
the process of the investigation, it was
determined to be a false report.
“Anytime we have a person report
a crime, we try to be thorough in our
investigation,” Gantos said.
Lovette confirmed after looking at
the video footage it was revealed that
“she fabricated the whole thing.”
Lovette also said since it was the
same description of the recent suspect
in the indecent exposure cases, the
Town of Elon Police put a lot of effort
and manpower into locating him.
In one week, vice president and
dean of student life Smith Jackson sent
four e-mails alerting students about
incidents. Three of these involved
indecent exposure incidents and one
involved an alleged break-in.
In the e-mails, Jackson gave the
suspect’s description. On Feb. IS, a
female student reported that while
walking home from campus she saw a
white male “masturbating as he drove
by her in a champagne colored Honda.”
See ARREST I PAGE 3