Lifestyle

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LIFESTYLE 12/30/24 9:37am

A man and his coffee: Burlington family business born from love

By Nia Bedard

Jim Young fell in love with coffee when he was 18 in Germany. After joining the military in 1983, he shipped out to Germany during the Cold War. Before leaving, Young only thought about coffee when he made it every morning for his first sergeant in infantry school. After serving in the army, Young ran an electronics store selling home theater setups and stereo systems. Young stuck with this job for 28 years doing the same thing over and over. Until one day he stopped loving it. So, Young returned to his first love, coffee. 

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LIFESTYLE 12/26/24 12:03pm

Alamance County film school opens in January

By Abigail Hobbs

After 33 years working for some of the biggest names in Hollywood, Dean Jones returned home to Alamance County eight years ago. Now an Emmy-winning makeup artist, producer and director, Jones said he felt like he had to move to California to continue his career. Because of his hardships moving away to find work, Jones saw the need for a local film school in Alamance County to build the labor force in the state. The North Carolina Film & Television Working Arts School will start its first semester with five students Jan. 21, 2025.

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LIFESTYLE 12/22/24 8:17pm

Elon’s Irish Dance Team provides strong sense of community for members

By Ruby Burckle

The sound of fiddles and flutes fill the conference rooms in upstairs Lakeside as the Elon Irish Dance Team begins its weekly practice. The team is a small but close knit community made up of people from all ranges and skill levels. Some members, like senior and co-president Sarah Dawkins, have been dancing since as early as 3 years old, while others like freshman Trudie Arling, have never done Irish dance before. The uniqueness of the sport has created a strong sense of community within the club that provides an outlet for its members. 

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LIFESTYLE 12/7/24 1:43pm

Elon Electric Ensemble showcases songwriting talent in Fall Songwriter Showcase

By Evan Cooper

Music production students performed original songs in McCrary Theatre on Dec. 6 as a part of the Fall Songwriter Showcase, a yearly concert held by Elon’s Music Production and Recording Arts program. Members of the Elon Electric Ensemble had the chance to debut songs they worked on throughout the semester, and the crowd had the chance to see the talent present at Elon. Ten songs were performed, with nine written by sophomore Maya Spencer, junior Shreyas Kumar, sophomore Keller Knight and sophomore Maya Cohen.

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LIFESTYLE 12/7/24 9:26am

Memory of loved ones pave Mountains-to-Sea Trail

By Monika Jurevicius

Donna and Haley Burch are natives of North Carolina and volunteered together at the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, a wilderness path that spans the width of the state from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge State Park on the Outer Banks. Volunteers, also known as Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, work field days throughout the year to maintain the trails. After dying in 2021, Haley left a legacy through his leadership, his experience in carpentry and the energy he brought to the group.

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LIFESTYLE 12/4/24 10:34am

Elon Watches: ‘Arcane’ season 2

By Lucy Samuels

*This review contains spoilers for “Arcane” season 1 and season 2. The first time someone told me to watch Netflix’s Emmy winning “Arcane,” I brushed it off since I wasn’t familiar with Riot Games’ “League of Legends” — the show’s source material. But now, I could not be more absorbed by a piece of media. Animated by French animation studio Fortiche, “Arcane” is truly a powerhouse of story and animation, fueled by passionate artists and equally passionate fans.

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LIFESTYLE 12/2/24 9:51am

TikToker, Elon student known as judyhoppsl0vr69 releases debut single

By Sarah T. Moore

With over 2.1 million followers on TikTok, Elon University senior Nik Salah — also known as judyhoppsl0vr69 — expanded his digital presence by releasing original music. Salah’s TikTok page primarily features satirical comedy videos, often centered around the Zootopia character Judy Hopps. However, Salah began posting snippets of his songwriting over the summer. He released his debut single, “Midwest’s Best,” on Nov. 1, and it garnered over 165,000 streams in its first four days on Spotify. As of Nov. 29, the song has 366,290 streams and has been added to over 33,000 playlists on Spotify.

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LIFESTYLE 11/27/24 11:38am

Man with a silver thumb: 91-year-old Elon alum crafts silverware creations

By Lilly Molina

With shaky hands, Bob Rice '61 opened one of the various tall, plastic storage cabinets in his garage. Some are labeled vintage spoons, forks and coins, but that’s not what he is looking for. He eventually finds a box labeled knives, which are perfect for making rings. Instead of relaxing in his retirement, Rice sells hand-made jewelry at The Main Line, an artisan goods shop located in downtown Graham. Over the past five years, Rice estimates that he’s made around $50,000 in profit from this side hustle.

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LIFESTYLE 11/17/24 1:24pm

Burlington Preservation Salvage Shop saves historic homes from landfills

By Lilly Molina

Inside a World War II quonset hut, a building shaped like a silver half-moon, lies two cased doors resting along tall wooden crates. This door sticks out in the Salvage Shop like a sore thumb; it’s the tallest object in the entire shop, but it’s also quite beautiful. The top of the door has a half-circle structure with details on it to look like rays of sun. Besides the fade and chipping of paint, this door remains completely intact and in decent condition. The only thing it was missing is its story.

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LIFESTYLE 11/15/24 8:02am

Elon’s fall dance concert explores concept of unboxing

By Megan Walsh

Emotions, relationships, pushing past spatial limits, AI, social media and technology — all topics to be “unboxed” in Elon University’s fall dance concert. Elon’s fall dance concert, “UnBoxed,” will feature pieces from professors, student choreographers and guests, all sharing their perspectives on the theme of unboxing something and thinking outside the box. Shows will run at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 and 16, and matinee performances will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 16 and 17 in Roberts Studio Theatre in Scott Studios. Tickets are free with an Elon ID or $15.

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LIFESTYLE 11/14/24 10:40am

Native American Student Association promotes change, community

By Julia Donaghy

A primary goal for the Native American Student Association has been to develop more of a long-term relationship between Elon and the Occaneechi Band. However, the first step of this is to educate and unite Indigenous and non-Indigenous students across Elon, which begins with the organization’s meetings. NASA held “Crafting in the Commons” on Nov. 4 in Global Commons, which was one of three planned events to celebrate the month of November as Native American Heritage Month. The organization will host “Soil to Soul: Indigenous Planting” on Nov. 15 from noon to 2 p.m. in Moseley 221.

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LIFESTYLE 11/11/24 4:40pm

Elon University tunes into first-ever SUBFest with student performances

By Gaby Maldonado and Lauren McCowan

Elon University's Student Union Board hosted its first SUBFest on Nov. 8, an outdoor music festival featuring live performances, student-run businesses and giveaways. In partnership with Limitless, Limelight Records and WSOE, the event aimed to provide students with an afternoon of entertainment in Young Commons. Junior Caroline Reich, the graphic design chair of the Student Union Board, said the idea of SUBFest was inspired by her experience at a college music festival that she attended before coming to Elon.

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LIFESTYLE 10/31/24 9:13am

Original Hollywood Horror Show puts on film-quality sets

By Abigail Hobbs

Dean and Starr Jones were 7 years old when they had their first taste of special effects makeup when their parents pulled them out of school to watch the production of the 1968 movie “Killers Three.” After growing up watching horror movies and doing haunted houses for church and boy scouts, the duo went on to Hollywood and garnered a combined total of two Emmys, six Emmy nominations and 162 makeup credits for both movies and shows — most notably “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and several of the Star Trek movies.

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LIFESTYLE 10/29/24 5:33pm

Elon’s production of ‘Legally Blonde’ brings audience members to their feet

By Ruby Burckle

As the cast of Elon University’s fall mainstage musical, “Legally Blonde,” came on stage to take their final bows, the audience rose out of their seats to give the actors a standing ovation. Morgan Brady was at the show to support her brother sophomore Kyle Brady, who plays Your Majesty and is the understudy for Kyle, the UPS man. Morgan said she was a fan of the movie and musical prior to attending this show and Elon’s production met all of her expectations.

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LIFESTYLE 10/27/24 3:27pm

Elon University joins community in hosting Pumpkin Festival

By Lauren McCowan

Tables with pumpkins, hot chocolate, and crafts filled the Elon community garden for the university’s annual Pumpkin Festival on Oct. 25. From the moment it began attendees from the university and local town were greeted with music and activities. Elon’s Sustainability office and other programs took part by setting tables up for people to learn about the importance of creating and maintaining a sustainable environment. Eco-Rep and junior Virginia Campbell represented the Office of Sustainability with a table for guests to make lanterns out of recyclable items.

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LIFESTYLE 10/25/24 1:18pm

Elon Watches: Young Frankenstein

By Rylan Ammerman

A ghoulish castle drenches a hill in shadow. Lightning illuminates the cobweb ridden staircases of its interior. Outside, horses whine as werewolves howl throughout the thick forest of the town below. If this sounds like the introduction to a horror film, that couldn’t be more incorrect. The backbone of the entire project is Gene Wilder. Best known for his role as the titular character in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” Wilder is utterly valiant, delivering the strongest performance of his career here.

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LIFESTYLE 10/24/24 5:17pm

Computer canines take stage in ‘Legally Blonde’ at Elon University

By Katharyn MacDonald

Two robotic dogs are making their debut appearance during Elon University’s fall mainstage musical “Legally Blonde." As the production prepares for its opening Oct. 25, Elon engineering students are putting final touches on the robotic dogs, bringing the show’s beloved canine characters — Bruiser and Rufus — to life. Over the past five months, engineering students have done extensive research and work to build the dogs. Senior Zoë Scherpbier built shells of artificial fur and dog features to make the robots’ outsides as realistic as possible without falling into the uncanny valley.

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LIFESTYLE 10/23/24 12:07pm

Elon’s Chinese Club creates community

By Megan Walsh

The symbol of rising from the ashes applies to more at Elon University than the fire in 1923 and rebuilding that followed. Elon’s Chinese Club was born out of several failed attempts and a global pandemic. Now, the club hosts a variety of Chinese cultural events — positively impacting students and the Elon community. Featured events include the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lunar New Year, Dumplings Across Cultures event with the Italian club and Latinx-Hispanic Union, karaoke and game night events, calligraphy nights and study abroad information sessions about Chinese-speaking countries.

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LIFESTYLE 10/22/24 9:40am

Elon English faculty host discussion on ‘Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder’

By Julia Donaghy

In honor of the annual awareness campaign Banned Books Week, promoted by the American Library Association, English professors Dan Burns and Dinidu Karunanayake decided to co-lead a reading and discussion of Salman Rushdie’s memoir “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.” While not technically a banned book, “Knife” describes the aftermath of the assassination attempt on the controversial author in 2022. Burns hosted the second meeting covering the memoir on Oct. 21 in Carlton 224. The third and final meeting will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in Carlton 224.

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LIFESTYLE 10/21/24 10:34pm

Gala Latina empowers Latinx, Hispanic communities at Elon University

By Lauren McCowan

To end Hispanic Heritage Month, Elon University’s El Centro hosted its eighth annual gala to support and empower students, faculty and staff who identify as Latinx/Hispanic. With laughter, music and cultural food, there was a community atmosphere in LaRose Student Commons throughout the night of Oct. 18. Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Randy Williams said while these events are open to all, they are crucial for the campus’ Latinx and Hispanic communities to celebrate their heritage and feel a sense of belonging.  

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