Editorial: Let’s talk consent, and let’s talk specifics
The Pendulum
Elon, North Carolina • Wednesday, October 7, 2015 • Volume 41 Edition 23
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Andy Grammer
cancels on
Homecoming
Michael Bodley
Editor-in-Chief
Rising pop star Andy Grammer has can
celed his headlining appearance at Elon Uni
versity’s 2015 Homecoming Concert. Gram-
mer’s appearance fee — not disclosed — will
be refunded to SGA.
The Student Union Board and SGA
joint-sponsored concert will proceed as sched
uled at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 17 with “The Summer
Set,” a pop-rock quintet originally slated to
open for Grammer.
As of publication, SUB had begun search
ing for other potential additions to the concert
— but another artist isn’t definite, according to
junior Caroline Blanchard, SUB s performance
chair. SUB and SGA may table the refund for
possible events later this school year, she said.
“I’m not totally sure which direction we’re
going in,” Blanchard said. “We’re looking to
have some sort of addition to the show. We
don’t know what that looks like at this time.”
Grammer also canceled aU other October
concert dates, according to SUB, to focus on
his appearance on the 21st season of ABC’s
“Dancing with the Stars.”
Crammer’s cancellation follows months oT
planning and promotion of the concert to the
student body and alumni returning for Home
coming Weekend.
“It’s definitely upsetting,” Blanchard said.
She added, “I hope the student body realizes
that this is completely out of our control.”
From Acorn to Disney World
Students raise money for employee's dream getaway
MALI TAUXE I Photo Editor .
Acorn employee Kathryn Thompson cried after hearing she and her family would be going to
Disney World, thanks to a GoFundMe campaign that raised thousands of dollars for the cause.
Courtney Campbell
Style Editor
Before starting her shift Monday
night, Acorn Coffee Shop employee
Kathryn Thompson cried. Her dream
had just come true — she would be
finally able to take her family to Dis
ney World.
After weeks of fundraising
through a GoFundMe page, ju
nior Taylor Zisholtz and freshman
Lucy Smith-Williams revealed they
had raised more than S6,000 to fly
Thompson and four of her family
members to “the happiest place on
earth.”
Revealing a big surprise
“It was really exciting,” Smith-Wil
liams said. “Of course she’s really
shocked, so she didn’t understand at
first, but once we explained it to her,
she was so surprised. It was everything
we hoped for.”
Both sporting Mickey Mouse
T-shirts, Zisholtz and Smith-Wil
liams showed Thompson a sign with
the words, “We wanted to thank
SeeACORN
page 12
Itzhak Perlman fills Fall Convocation with classical music
Caroline Fernandez and Courtney Campbell
News Editor and Style Editor
The first time Itzhak Perlman played his
icon Yehudi Menuhin’s violin, he knew he had
found the one.
“I played a couple of notes on that violin
and said to myself, T’ve died and gone to heav
en,’” Perlman said to a packed Alumni Gym
Tuesday afternoon, the guest of honor at Elon
University’s Fall Convocation.
Two weeks later, as the young Perlman ne
gotiated a home purchase, he received an un
expected phone call with news most-welcome:
the out-of-reach violin of his dreams was for
sale. And he was in no position to afford it.
“It came available right when we didn’t have
enough money,” Perlman said. “But we made
another loan because I said, ‘Even if I don’t play
a note on it, it’s worth the money just to look
at.”’
Perlman, now 70, is one of the world’s best
classical musicians. He’s played opera halls the
world over, and he performed at President
Barack Obama’s first Inauguration in 2009.
The violin, Perlman’s prized possession,
is far older than he, crafted in 1714 to play a
piece composed by Bach. As a child, Perlman
learned the same rendition as he played an adT
vertisement for a cookie manufacturing com
pany.
Photo submitted by Evan McGillivray
Perlman played a series of renditions throughout Convocation, interspersed with life advice.
“Hopefully, I can play it as well as when I
was a child,” Perlman said.
For minutes on end, on he played.
Besides the sound of people rummaging
in their bags to record the music with their
phones, one could hear a pin drop.
“Can you do that some more?” asked Ger
ald Whittington, moderator and vice president
for business, finance and technology.
“It’s just one time that works,’’Perlman said.
“The other time, who knov^?”
Thrice more, the violin emerged and si
lenced the audience vrith a crescendo of notes
plucked fast and slow — including the fa
mous score he and Steven Spielberg wrote and
produced for the Oscar-winning “Schindler’s
List.”
Perlman took to a combination of wit and
humor to keep the audience on its toes, often
at Whittington’s expense. As soon as Perlman
arrived on stage, he corrected Whittington that
he had won 17 Grammy Awards, not the 16
Whittington mentioned in his opening.
It wouldn’t be the first snappy retort.
“I believe you were on the ‘Ed Sullivan
Show’ three times,” Whittington said.
“Six,” Perlman said. “And I count for a liv
ing.”
Spending long hours perfecting his trade,
Perlman has developed a practice regimen all
his own.. Perlman explained that musicians
should only practice for five hours, tops.
Any more, he said, would be like putting
a sponge in water and adding a few drops —
useless.
“A lot of things about practicing have to do
vdth repetition,” Perlman said. “Muscle mem
ory.”
Perlman, currently on a worldwide tour, will
perform more than 50 times between now and
May. Since the summer of 1995, Perlman and
his wife have owned and operated a summer
camp,The Perlman Music Program, for young,
aspiring musicians.
“My goal is to continue to enjoy what I
do and not to be bored,” Perlman said. “Con
ducting and teaching and pla}ang. Each one of
those things helps each other. When I teach
others, I teach myself”
NEWS
Elon’s room and
board oosts spike
pg. 7
Loy Farm used for
ecological research,
greenhouses and more
pg. 14
SPORTS
Men’s soccer player
reunites with mother
and sister at Elon
pg, 15