ISJSSUE!
NDS SALE WARES
AT LOCAL FARMERS
MARKFT
PAGE 9
LOCAL CHILD
IN NATIONAL
SPELLING BEE
COMPETITION
PAGE 10
A LOOK AT
THE UPCOMING
CULTURAL
EVENTS
PAGE 11
HOW ELON
ATHLETES
STAY IN SHAPE
DURING THE
SUMMER
PAGE 15
PERICLEANS
WORK WITH
ADOLESCENT
GIRLS PROGRAM
IN INDIA
PAGE 2
The Pendulu
ELON, NORTH CAROLINA | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010 | VOLUME 36, EDITION 16
www.elon.edu/pendulum
Shaping Elon’s Campus
Summer construction brings multiple changes investigates
local sheriff’s
office
Anna Johnson
Summer Editor
Allegations of “discriminatory policing
and unconstitutional searches and
seizures” by the Alamance County Sheriffs
Office have prompted an investigation by
the U.S. Department of Justice, according to
a letter sent to the sheriffs office. The letter
was originally sent to County Attorney
Clyde Albright who forwarded the letter to
the sheriff’s office.
Alejandro Miycff, spokesperson for
the U.S. Depcirtment of Justice, said the
department could not comment on an
open investigation.
office is cooperating.
The allegations of discriminatory
Comrtmctlon wooers dig three welte pT day w«h . fulur. 112 wrtl., each 440 fe«t d«.p. The wells will heat
and study areas.
“Colonnades ‘C,’ ‘D’ and ‘E’ will
have water main excavation pipe
work done this summer," said Neil
Bromilow, director of planning, design
& construction management.
Bromilow said there will also be
some noise disturbance as a result of
the construction and drilling.
“So the scope (of the heating and
cooling system) is 112 wells, each one
440 feet deep,” Bromilow said. “Those
wells are closed piping systems. Via
modern science and technology, there
are devices called heat exchangers,
which will basically make the ground
hotter in summer time and colder in
winter time.”
The geothermal system and
Colonnades renovations will be finished
Sarah Beth Costello
Graphics Editor
Renovationsandvariousconstruction
projects for Alumni Gym, Latham Park,
Alumni Field House, Greek housing
and the Colonnades commenced in
June. The projects will involve some
noise disturbances and temporary
interruptions on O’Kelly Avenue and
the McMichael Science Building parking
lot.
Colonnades renovations include
the addition of three new dormitory
buildings 'C,' 'D' and 'E.' The new heating
and cooling systems will heat all five of
the Colonnades
Colonnades ‘C,’ ‘D’ and ‘E’ will include
94 beds per building, suite and single
bed living conditions, group lounges
ANNA X>HNSON | Photoflraph«f
and cool the Colonnades Residence Halls.
by August 2011. A web cam distributes a
live feed accessible from Elon homepage
enabling viewers to watch construction
progress.
Five additional buildings will be
added to the Greek Housing in Loy
Center this summer as well. The project
will be concluded by July 2011.
“Unique features (for Greek housing)
is the certification for LEED for Homes
that we are pursuing,” said Bromilow.
“It has not been done before for
institutional type houses."
These house will have concrete
second floors, sprinkler systems and
meeting rooms for 100 people.
For a full story on athletic construction
projects see Page 15.
Crosswalk to be straightened on
Williamson Avenue, sidewalk expanded
Anna Johnson
Summer Editor
When students return to Elon University in September
the familiar diagonal crosswalk at Williamson and College
avenues will be no more. Construction began Monday, June
21 to straighten the crosswalk and expand the sidewalk
on both sides of Williamson Avenue. Construction is
scheduled to last four to five weeks.
The sidewalk closest to the crosswalk will be expanded
eight feet into the road to allow for better visibility.
Bob Stone, an estimator with Triangle Grading & Paving
Inc., said each corner of the intersection would take about
two weeks to complete. On the east side of Williamson
Avenue, the side closest to the university, a planter will
be stationed in the middle of the extended sidewalk. The
planter will be two feet in height and have low vegetation.
The planter will force pedestrians to one of the two
crosswalks instead of crossing in the middle. ^
“We are going to extend the (sidewalk) island father
into the road so pedestrians will be safe standing there.
Stone said. “They will be able to cross the street better and
cars will have more visibility.
See CROSSWALK I PAGE 3
FOR THE LATEST
ANNA JOHNSON | PHOTOGRAPHER
Construction workers are expected to tear up more than 75 feet o» curt) along Williamson
Avenue in order to expand the sidewalk eight feet towards the street.
The lettM, dated Jtine 2, was sent by
Judy Preston, the acting chief of the Civil
Rights Division of the U.S. Department of
Justice. According to a press release from
the sheriffs office spokesperson Randy
Jones, tlic letter “is silent as to whether the
allegations were made by a person arrested
by the deputies, otherwise confined
in the detention center or made by an
organization.”
The files and detention center logs will
be available to the justice department,
Jones wrote, as they have been available to
“local parties interested in these matters."
“We have no issues, no concerns about
anything done wrong,” Jones said. “They’ve
asked for our cooperation with whatever
they want to do, and we have assured them
we will cooperate.”
In recent years various groups have
questioned Sheriff Terry Johnson’s
enforcement of the 287(g) section of the
federal immigration law. This section of
the law gives local law enforcement officers
the power to arrest and detain people who
have illegally entered the United States.
In 2009, the American Civil Liberties
Union of North Carolina requested
thousands of public records regarding
287(g). In Jones’ press release he wrote the
ACLU reviewed the documents and “did
not reveal any wrongdoing on the part of
the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office.”
Katherine Parker, legal director for the
state branch of the ACLU, said that is not
true.
“I don’t know why they are spreading
this falsehood," Parker said. “We never told
the sheriff we were not concerned. I don’t
know where their rationale is for this.”
The ACLU, Parker said, has expressed
concerns of racial profiling and checkpoints
in predominantly Latino areas.
“We do have these concerns, and we
have heard complaints,” she said. “The
records we have been reviewing suggest
(the arrests) are disproportionately
Latino.”
The majority of the arrests are for no
operator’s license or driving while license
revoked, she said.
“It begs the question, ‘Why are they being
stopped in the first place?’” Parker said.
“We have not drawn any final conclusions,
and we did not file the complaint, but we
support this investigation."
See SHERIFF | PAGE 5