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WEDNESDAY
MAY 3,2D17
@ CHEAT SHEET: RALEIGH'S NATIONAL RANK
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DK Eyewitness Travel
just released its list of “The
20 Best U.S. Cities for Mak
ing a Fresh Start,” which
ranks Raleigh third.
According to the arti
cle, Raleigh is best for new
opportunities and has
“one of the most vibrant
job markets in the nation,”
largely because of its prox
imity to the Research Tri
angle Park.
Research Triangle Park
(RTP), located between
Raleigh and Durham, con
tains more than 260 busi
nesses. According to RTPs
website, 45 percent of those
businesses are biotech or
life-services related, 17 per
cent deal with information
technology and 11 percent
fall within the category of
business and profession
al services. Other catego
ries include education and
green technology.
U.S. News and World
seventh best place to live in
the United States in its an
nual “Best Places to Live”
released in early February.
“The annual average
income for a resident in
Raleigh and Durham is
higher than the national
average, due in large part
to the high number of re
search, education, health
nology opportunities,” the
U.S. News and World Re
port article said, also citing
RTPs influence.
Amber McCraw, assistant
director of Career Services,
helps students search for em
ployment across the country.
She said the proximity of so
many businesses in such a
variety of fields is beneficial
ternships and employment.
“We have a large num
ber of companies [in the
Raleigh area] that we can
work with, obviously more
than the Elon area. It pro
vides more opportunities
for students just interning
during the academic year
to commute there,” Mc
Craw said.
the Career Services of
fice currently has 2,930
connections to the Ra-
leigh-Durham area busi
nesses through Linkedin.
Fort-Worth, Texas was
ranked No. 1 for “that big-
city feel,” and Anchorage,
Alaska placed second for
the opportunities it provides
to escape the “rat-race.”
Service animals provide support to students
Anton L Delgado
Assistant News Editor
@jadelgadonews
The Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) directly addresses the
use of service dogs under Title III,
labeled Public Accommodations.
Title III of the ADA has left a
profound effect on not only hun
dreds of Americans across the
country, but also several members
of Elon University’s community.
Senior Allie Fishman is diag
nosed with Insulin Dependent Di
abetes and is a handler of a service
dog named Colby.
According to the Civil Rights
Division of the U.S. Department of
Justice, ser-
According to
the Foundation
for Service Dog
Support, the
average cost of
a service dog
is $20,000 for
temperament
testing,
veterinary
care, food and
other expenses
associated with
assistant for
dog training.
vice dogs are
defined as
“dogs that are
individually
trained to do
work or per
form tasks for
people with
disabilities.”
After 10
months of
preparation
at a service
dog training
program in
North Caro
lina, Colby is
now a Diabet
ic Alert Dog.
“On a daily basis, Colby can
smell whether I have high or low
blood sugar and warn me by lick
ing or pawing me,” Fishman said.
“These are services that he can do
around campus, because legally he
can follow me almost anywhere.”
While service dogs are protect
ed by the ADA, emotional support
animals (ESAs) are not. The differ
ence between the two is something
Fishman believes some members of
the Elon community do not under
stand.
“1 don’t think that Elon students
understand the difference between
service dogs and ESAs,” Fishman
said. “They provide completely dif
ferent services, and the screening
they go through are not the same.”
According to the ADA require
ments, “dogs whose sole function is
to provide comfort and emotional
support do not qualify as service
animals under the ADA.”
While ESAs are not protected
by the ADA, Eion’s Disabilities Ser
vice Office works with students that
need these animals on campus.
According to Susan Wise, the
disabilities services director, there
are about 50-60 registered ESAs on
campus.
“Emotional support animals
generally are approved to support
students who have mental health
issues,” Wise said. “Anxiety and
depression are probably the main
ones that we see here, but it is not
unusual for someone to have several
different diagnoses.”
While service dogs do not need
to be registered with the Disabilities
Services Office,
ESAs do.
“There is a
process; it is not
something that
automatically gets
approved,” Wise
said. “There is
documentation
that is required,
and there needs to
be a mental health
care professional
that is involved.”
Many students
have gone through
the proper docu
mentation process
required to regis
ter for an ESA, but
Wise does agree
that there is a misconception about
the purpose of an ESA.
“ESAs are not the same as a
service animal; there is sometimes
a mix up with that,” Wise said.
“Sometimes students get the idea it
would be really great to have their
pet on campus, as opposed to hav
Senior Allie Fishman's service dog, Colby, poses on the stairs.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY AlilE FISHMAN
IDONTTHINKTHAT
ELON STUDENTS
UNDERSTAND THE
DIFEERENCE BETWEEN
SERVICE DOGS AND
ESAs, THEY PROVIDE
COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT SERVICES.
ALLIE FISHMAN
SENIOR
ing a diagnosis that sort of fits with
and makes an emotional support
animal necessary.”
This misconception between an
ESA and a service
animal is not the
only problem that
Fishman has expe
rienced.
According
to Fishman, she
has encountered
what she believes
are fake ESAs on
Elohs campus.
During her
walks with Colby,
Fishman said that
she has met stu
dents that do not
medically need an
ESA, but simply
wanted one and
successfully had it
registered. This is
something Fishman believes per
sonally affects her and Colby.
“Having but not needing an ESA
hurts real service dogs,” Fishman
said. “In the past, poorly trained
ESAs have distracted Colby which
kept him from doing his job.”
While this is frustrating for Fish
man, the benefits of having Colby
around greatly outweigh the nega
tives.
“During my freshman and soph
omore year, I had two medical with
draws. I missed a lot of class for
both diabetes and allergy-related
reasons. I was in the hospital a lot.
It was a lot more dangerous for me
to live life,” Fishman said. “That all
changed with Colby though. I went
from having Cs and being out of
class to having As, all because of
Colby.
With the end of the year coming
up, students hoping to get a service
dog or an ESA should plan ahead.
In regards to students who do
not know the details of the process,
Wise said she “would encourage
students to at least ask some ques
tions.”
Fishman encourages students
who need a service dog or an ESA
to begin the process sooner rather
than later.
“Having a service dog complete
ly changed my experience here at
Elon,” Fishman said. “Colby has
saved my life, and I encourage peo
ple who really need service dogs to
start looking into programs that suit
their needs as soon as possible.”
Music Theatre
program climbs
national ranks
Elon University’s highly com
petitive Musical Theatre program
has reached record ranking
numbers in the most recent lists
released by various websites and
publications. Broadway Artists
Alliance ranked Elon in its “Top
15 Musical Theatre Schools,” and
College Magazine ranked Elon
the No. 4 program for musical
theater in the country — just
to name a few. Ethan Andersen
’14, music theatre music direc
tor and conductor, said, “I often
say, Tf I were to audition now, I
don’t know if I would get it.’ The
amount of talent that the program
has now is greater than when I
was around, which is exciting.”
Andersen said when he and the
other faculty review applicants,
they look for not only talent, but
also individuality. Sixteen to 20
new students are admitted to the
program each year, and in 2017,
802 applications were submitted.
Of those applications, 387 were
invited to audition on campus.
247-year-old Bible
donated to Elon
University
On May 2, Burlington resident
Steve Lynch donated a copy of the
New Testament that was printed in
1770 and used by the Rev. James
O’Kelly, the founder of the Chris
tian Church, to Elon University.
The Christian Church was respon
sible for founding the university in
1889. Lynch, a retired captain and
investigator with the Burlington
Police Department, is a descendent
of O’Kelly. The New Testament will
be added to the University Archives’
collection of O’Kelly and Christian
Church archives, which include
items such as an 1816 Bible used by
O’Kelly and the saddlebags O’Kelly
used as a circuit minister in North
Carolina and Virginia.
Students, faculty
honored at Black
Excellence Awards
The Phillips-Perry Black
Excellence Awards, presented annu
ally by Elon University’s Center
for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity
Education (CREDE), recognized
students, faculty and staff members
at a ceremony April 29. This year s
event included a keynote address
by alumnus Brandon Helton 10,
assistant vice president and rela
tionship manager for Wells Fargo
Executive Benefits, and a speech
from President Leo Lambert. We
are proud of you, and we hold you
up as great examples of what it
means to be global citizens of Elon
University,” Lambert said to the
students assembled.