Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Oct. 6, 2010, edition 1 / Page 19
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THE PENDULUM STYLE webN'd^bAY, oct6'^e''a 26 i’o >/page '19 Mykonos Grill offers a taste of Greece In Burlington ..I ■» -r ■ ■ r- ALLENBY | Stafl PtKjtographef Waitress Tricia Estes serves a customer at Mykonos Grill in Burlington. The restaurant opened in July and is located on 2253 South Church St. in Burlington. Libby Dean Reporter Mykonos Grill has been open for two months and is already experiencing a full house regularly. Especially around lunch and dinner hours, the restaurant is full to capacity. While such a popularity would be impressive for any newly opened restaurant, the response to Mykonos Grill is particularly impressive because the restaurant has not created a single advertisement. “It all happened by word-of-mouth,” said ow'ner Steve Paparoupas. “We have not had to launch a single ad so far because we haven’t needed to. The people who have been to the restaurant spread the word for us." Such a response to the new restaurant demonstrates the Burlington community's excitement for a new type of food in town. Burlington has about 78 restaurants, the overwhelming majority of which feature American- style food. “I love the variety of the menu at Mykonos Grill,” said Megan Stewart, Mykonos Grill employee and Burlington resident. “There isn’t a lot of options in with food in Burlington, everywhere just has cheeseburgers.” Mykonos Grill features Greek-style cuisine as well as pasta, cheeseburgers, French fries, Greek salads and BLTs. Paparoupas said the restaurant specialties are chicken souvlaki and gyro sandwiches. The entire menu is cook-to-order and the restaurant has full service and take-out options. The most expensive item on the menu costs less than $9. Corbin Falvo, Elon University senior, said he comes to the restaurant frequently because the food is close to campus and is good, fast and inexpensive. While Mykonos Grill does not currently accept Phoenix Cash, Paparoupas said the restaurant is looking to accept it in the future. Burlington is the second location for Mykonos Grill, with the original restaurant located in Greensljoro. Paparoupas and co-owner Steve Papakostas, decided to open a second location in Burlington because of the response the restaurant received in Greensboro. Paparoupas said he thought the restaurant would be well- received in Burlington. Paparoupas is originally from Greece and has lived in the U.S. for 25 years. Every year, he ventures back to his homeland at least once. Paparoupas said he wanted to bring Greek-style food to America but also cater to more traditional American-style diners, so the menu offers both categories of food. In addition, Mykonos Grill has numerous vegetarian items on the menu. “I really like the restaurant because I've been to Greece before, and they really captured the local feeling of Greek restaurants there,” Elon senior Catherine Suarez said. Mykonos Grill features Greek- inspired decor, with white and blue outlined tables and chairs. The restaurant also has a large mural of a Greek landscape on the wall and a window to add to the ambience. “The response to Mykonos Grill has been great,” Paparoupas said. “We are just very happy and very, very busy." Mykonos Grill is located on 2253 South Church St. Kikini.com: A new kind of dating service David Turkel Reporter Kikini.com, a new social media outlet and online dating service especially for college students, launched Sept. 28 and joined the ranks of well-known entities such as Match.com and E-Harmony. Kikini.com is the brainchild of Jon Vincent, a 36-year-old former Microsoft employee, who said Kikini differs from other dating services in more ways than just target demographic. Unlike dating websites targeted toward adults looking to find “the one,” Vincent said Kikini is focused on giving college students a forum to flirt and talk with other students, without the marketed intention of creating long-term relationships. As Vincent puts it, “Everyone wants to meet new people, right?” Vincent initially came up with the idea for Kikini when a friend approached him a few years ago about creating an online dating service. Vincent was initially skeptical. “1 thought all online dating services were lame,” he said. But, the more he thought about it, Vincent said he saw a void in the online dating world that hadn't been filled. “I was always amazed that none of the sites were focused on college students,” he said. “College has got to be the funnest time to date, but you just never have the time to meet as many people as you would like. The more 1 thought about it, the more I realized that we could really build something awesome.” Vincent said he thinks that Kikini requires significantly less effort to use than traditional online dating services. According to Kikini Vice-President Rachel Vincent, users don't have to fill out any questionnaires or write a long profile. Kikini users can simply upload a photo and be ready to meet new people right away, Rachel Vincent said. Kikini will suggest new people for users to meet with relevant interests. Kikini.com is not above the risks and dangers of other dating sites, though. According to onlinedatingcrashcourse.com, there is always the potential for fake photos, profiles and many other issues. Despite having the ability to register and quickly move on to meeting other students, Kikini users may still have to sift through a number of profiles before they find someone they're interested in speaking to. And despite the caveat that only those with an .edu email can register, users would be wise to think before revealing personal information. Still, Vincent thinks there are plenty of reasons why college students will still love Kikini. Vincent was quick to point out how relevant the format is to college relationships. “I think the best thing about Kikini is that it’s actually designed for the way college students date," he said. "Kikini just helps you meet a bunch of cool people who you might want to ask out this weekend, and we leave the rest up to you.” In terms of Kikini’s potential, Vincent is optimistic. He’s confident enough in Kikini and the six-person team that helps him run it to think that it can turn into something special. “Obviously we want it to be huge," he said. "But right now we re just focused on building something really fun and easy to use.” Students rediscovering childhood with the hula-hooping club at Elon Melissa Kansky Multimedia Editor Hula hooping, a hobby often reserved for children's birthday party games and playground competitions, has found a new home at Elon University. Even though students associate college with growth and maturity, firehouse field houses a group of students who routinely renew their youth. Between 5 and 7 p.m. every Monday, a group of students meet at the field to hula hoop, listen to music and relax. “The goal for the club is for people just to come together and have a fun place to hang out,” said senior Katy Magruder, founder and president of the hula hooping club. Magruder and her friends found an interest in hula hooping last January and wanted to “share the hula hooping love,” she said. She created the club at the beginning of the semester. In an effort to expedite the formation of the club, Magruder did not create an affiliation between the club and the university. “We just wanted to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible and didn't want to go through the process of making it a formal club,” said junior Melissa Patrick, vice president of the club. Although the club is not recognized by the university, the girls advertised hula hooping at the fall organization fair Sept. 10. In addition to promoting the club at the fair, they have been spreading the message through word of mouth to classmates and friends. “So far we had just a little bit of interest,” Patrick said. “The first few times there were two or three other girls who came.” Magruder and Patrick consider forming an affiliation with Elon University in the future, in hopes of attracting more students. Lack of association with the university did not deter Elon senior Erica Edmondson from joining the club. An interest among friends from home prompted her to join and learn the hooping skill. “I was interested in hooping,” Edmondson said, “and this is obviously a good way to learn how to do it.” Edmondson arrived at the first meeting with a low skill level, but said that she has made a lot of progress since joining. She is able to keep the hoop at her waist, around her knees, above her head and walk around while hooping. “If everyone can learn a new trick that would be awesome,” Magruder said. To facilitate the learning process, Magruder showed an explanatory film on BRIAN ALLENBY | Stan Phatograph«r Junior Melissa Patrick does a trick with her hula hoop. The hula hoop club meets 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays. hula hooping. Observing Magruder and Patrick has also helped Edmondson improve, she said. “People think you have to move your body around a lot, but it is really a simple movement,” Patrick said. “After watching the video we have been gathering in my backyard, getting together, hula hooping and teaching each other new tricks,” Magruder said. Since joining the club, Edmondson said she finds herself picking up a hoop and practicing whenever she is bored. Patrick draws a parallel between hula hooping and yoga. “It’s kind of like a meditative way to revitalize your body,” she said. “I just like to do everything I can with it, and it's really fun to get lost in the hoop.”
Elon University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 6, 2010, edition 1
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