Lupe Fiasco and Girl Talk Come to Elon University

Pendulum Opinions Editor Morgan Little, DJ Girl Talk, and Kevin Clang before the performance on Friday, May 1st. Photo taken by Pendulum Online Editor Ashley Barnas.

by Kevin Clang

While most popular, critically acclaimed musicians like to isolate themselves onstage surrounded by expensive equipment and security, Greg Gillis, better known by his stage name Girl Talk, prefers something quite different.  At Elon University Gillis invited 200 lucky ticket holders to join him dancing onstage during his set.

Rapper Lupe Fiasco and Girl Talk made their way to North Carolina Friday to perform in what would be Elon University’s largest concert ever.  Despite the rain outside and the hot temperatures in the gym, over 2000 Elon students and locals attended the show, which lasted for over two and a half hours.  Students waited in long lines for hours just to be let into the venue.

It was not the first time the two had joined each other for a joint show at  a local college.  Most recently, Fiasco and Girl Talk both performed a free show at Duke University.

Lupe Fiasco performed for over an hour at Elon University on May 1. Photo by Pendulum Online Editor Ashley Barnas.

A Busy Day

Students were let into the gym at around 8 p.m.  Girl Talk was the first to perform, taking the stage at 8:30 and playing for close to an hour and a half.  During his set Girl Talk showered the crowd with minature candies and 99 rolls of toilet paper fired out of a leafblower.  Fiasco began his set around 10:15 and played for an hour, donning an Elon University basketball jersey for his final three songs to the crowd’s delight.

The show had been eagerly anticipated by the community since the two acts were announced at a special event earlier in the spring.  Ticket buyers were also entertained by a light show and giant video screen during the two performances.  By the time Fiasco’s performance ended just after 11 p.m., the crowd was visibly exhausted from dancing all night.

Looking Ahead

It marked a significant step forward for Elon’s Student Union Board, who set up and ran the show.  In the past, the student organization has brought smaller, lesser known bands to campus for big events like this one. Previous spring acts have included pop artists Sister Hazel and Jack’s Mannequin.

Most students hailed the show as a success when exiting.  By the time the show was over, students only had one question left: How does SUB top it  next year?

 

Over 2,000 students and locals waited in line to get into Koury Gym before the concert. Photo by Pendulum Online Editor Ashley Barnas.

Don Bolden Witnesses and Documents Burlington’s Evolution for the Times-News

by Kevin Clang

Don Bolden covered Alamance County for the Burlington Times-News for over fifty years (Photo from Times-News)

One month before the Berlin Wall fell, Don Bolden was traveling through Gagra, Georgia, with strict orders from the government not to photograph anything.  Bolden was traveling with a local Burlington school group under the guise of an “education consultant,” having been refused a visa as a reporter.  Gagra was still being controlled by the Soviet Union.  In response to recent uprisings, martial law had been enacted and soldiers roamed the streets.

It was just too good a story for the journalist in Bolden to ignore.  As soon as he was sure that none of the locals were looking, Bolden quickly snapped a few pictures of three martial law troops.  When they saw what he was doing, the troops quickly turned, confronting Bolden and assaulting him with their bayonets.  “Eventually I was able to convince them that I was photographing the swans nearby,” said Bolden.

A Half-Century in the Community

In over fifty years as a photographer, writer and editor at the Burlington Times-News and as a member of Elon University’s School of Communications‘ advisory board, Don Bolden has seen and done it all.  One can sense this almost immediately when they sit down with him.  As a student journalist it would have been easy to get intimidated, but Bolden’s soothing voice and genial attitude instantly puts you at ease.  Despite the lure of cushier jobs at bigger papers in larger cities, Bolden never felt the need to leave his hometown.  “I had opportunities to go elsewhere, but I enjoy small towns,” he said, “I knew the community so well.”

Bolden’s first love was photography, which was introduced to him by his father.  “I processed film for the school paper and yearbook,” he said.  Ultimately Bolden’s student work made it into the Times-News.  ‘I was able to travel to their headquarters and meet the staff,” Bolden said.  He joined the Times-News first in 1948, starting at the circulation desk and working his way up to photography and writing jobs.  He became editor in 1982, a job he held for eleven years.

Bolden in Burlington

The town of Burlington has changed significantly in Bolden’s many years working in it.  “In the 1940s there were 25,000 people, mostly working the textile and hosiery businesses,” said Bolden, “we were the beginning of the Bible Belt.”  Today the population of Burlington has almost doubled, despite the textile industry disappearing in 1969.  “We are much more diverse now,” he said.  Bolden has published two books on the history Alamance County, one detailing the city during World War Two and one collection of photographs from the twentieth century.

Bolden views this type of connection to one’s neighborhood as an important part of any reporter’s job.  “Know the community you write in, have a working relationship with them,” he says, “Be a leader.”  In doing so, the paper and the reporter have closer relationships to the reader, which gives them more incentive to read the newspaper.  “Support local community activities . . . always try to change things for the better.”

How to Fix Newspapers

“Newspapers are struggling to find their role in society,” says Bolden, who thinks the emergence of cable and internet news as popular resources have transformed journalism forever, and not necessarily for the better.  Bolden believes that the only way newspapers can survive is to stick local, devoting most of their attention to things like local obituaries, sports and news.  “Go deeper, ask questions.  ‘Why’ is much more important than ‘what,’” he Bolden believes. “It’s a scary time for papers,” he said, adding “when the economy rebounds, papers will be back.”

For aspiring journalists, Bolden has clear advice: “Make sure this is what you want to do.”  Since the job can be very stressful and has no definitive hours, students have to be sure that they like it before committing.  At times he found the constant work to be taxing, but according to Bolden “I have a very understanding wife, and that helps.”  In the end, Don Bolden would not trade his experiences for anything.  “It’s a real kick,” he said, adding to students “enjoy the ride.”

Four Elon Leaders Meet at LaRose Digital Theater

by Kevin Clang

Even though they have been at odds with each other at times throughout their careers, there was one thing that four significant leaders from Elon’s history could all agree on: optimism.  “It is important upon leaders to convey a positive image,” said current Elon President Leo Lambert.

Four Executives Meet at LaRose Digital Theater

Lambert, the eighth president in Elon’s history, was joined Tuesday night by Earl Danieley, Elon’s sixth president, Noel Allen, president of the Student Government Association (SGA) from 1968 to 1969, and current SGA president Chase Rumley for a discussion titled “Leadership, a Presidential Perspective.”  The talk was a part of Elon’s LEADstrong 2009 campaign and sponsored by Elon’s Center for Leadership.  The four executives discussed different aspects of leadership and what leadership meant to them during their time at Elon.

“Leadership is a team phenomena,” said panel moderator John Sullivan in his opening remarks, “it is embedded in time and circumstance.”  It was clear that some aspects of leadership, among them discipline, integrity and a sense of priorities have remained constant throughout Elon’s history.

Danieley fondly recalled his first few years as President.  “I didn’t want to be a dictator,” he explained, saying he likened himself more to an autocrat.  “Collegiality and transparency had not been invented.”  Even though he appointed his own board, Danieley encouraged them to discuss matters and not go by everything he said.  He was the first to organize the board into separate committees and delegate tasks to them.

The tradition has since carried on.  Lambert offered the name change from “Elon College” to “Elon University” as a defining moment in his presidency.  “Elon was on the cusp of doing wonderful things,” he said, but some worried that a change in name would also trigger a change in values and communities.  His determination eventually succeeded.  Lambert advised students to “stick to your guns,” especially when they really believe in somthing.

On the opposite side of the spectrum was Allen, who claimed his greatest failure during his time as SGA president was “never pissing Danieley off.”  Allen encouraged students to look at matters from a perspective different than their own, something he learned to do after being elected.  As an example Allen offered his approach to having mandatory Chapel abolished.  Rather than hold a huge protest and walk out, SGA went to several ministers in the community and had them sign letters condemning the practice.

Rumley offered the creation of the Acorn Society, Elon’s student giving community, as his greatest achievement.  The set-up was important, but Rumley also stressed his commitment to the project as principal to its success or failure.  He is unsure of what will happen when he leaves Elon this spring, but is confident that the project will continue to thrive thanks to its leaders.

The best advice the four could give was to trust the team around you.  “Identify talent, delegate ta ks, and take advice,” said Allen, now a practicing lawyer.  Rumley told his peers to “respect your mentors and build up a set of leaders.”  Danieley offered praise to Elon students.  “I tend to get discouraged by the media,” he said, but that is often alleviated by student’s “ability and commitment to do what is good and right.”

Thomas Mac Mahon Speaks About Recessions, Bailouts, and the Economy at Elon University

by Kevin Clang

Thomas Mac Mahon, Chairman of the Board and former CEO of Laboratory America (LabCorp) came to Elon University’s Love School of Business on Thursday, February 12, to discuss how to manage a public company during the current economic downturn with Elon business students and faculty.

Thomas Mac Mahon

Recession-Proof

LabCorp is a medical testing facility with over 40 offices across the country, but mainly based in North Carolina.  They are the largest Cancer testing facility in the world and the largest employer in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina with over 4,000 workers.  This makes them one of the top five employers in the state.

The corporation runs thousands of tests every hour and about two million a day.  About 90 percent of these tests are returned to doctors offices within 24 hours of completion.  LabCorp posted $850 million in earnings in 2008.

“Recessions are very good for the health care industry,” said Mac Mahon, adding that increased stress during economically trying times often leads to more visits to the doctor.  Mac Mahon went as far to say that the health care industry is “recession-proof.”

Cash Is King

But not every industry is so lucky.  The best way to survive, according to Mac Mahon, is to “have a lot of cash on hand.”  Obsessively crunching numbers and using the standby ‘revenue minus expenses equals profit’ equation will never go away.  “Manage your company by the metrics,” Mac Mahon stated, “there is value in appreciating numbers.”

With cash, Mac Mahon stated a midsized company can then show strength in a down market by investing in growth by buying out smaller companies or repurchasing shares.   “By buying back your own shares, there are then less shares in the market, making their value rise.”  he explained.

Mac Mahon particularly stressed the need for the process of risk management, a technique used manage a company’s uncertainties and threats.  “Anticipate the negative, believe the worst will happen,”  he stressed.  “The concept of risk management is more important than ever.”  Mac Mahon believed that a greater attention to risk management may have saved the banking industry from their collapse in late 2008.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around

In the late 1990s, people were signing up for loans “equal to more than the value of their home,” said Mac Mahon, a drastic change from the past process.  Everything is fine until people can not afford to pay their bills, which Mac Mahon says “really hurts us.”

Mac Mahon stressed that we need to loosen up the markets in Washington, and that President Barack Obama’s plan to regulate CEO pay was a “serious mistake.”  If someone does a good job, he explained, they should be rewarded.  If they fail they should be fired.  Under his philosophy, there is no need to regulate pay: “Compensation should be linked to appreciation of stock, with no maximums.”

It is up to CEOs and Chairmen to make sure stock appreciation increases.  Mac Mahon encouraged Elon students to work hard and be ambitious, and in the end they would be rewarded for their efforts.  “People look for confidence in their leaders,” he said,  “communicate to the people who need to hear your story.”

Alex Kreitman Returns to Elon university with Advice for Online Writing

by Kevin Clang

Alex Kreitman, Online Editor for the Burlington (N.C.) Times-News, spoke about the future of journalism as it pertains to technology at Elon University this morning.  Kreitman graduated form Elon in 2006 with a degree in Journalism.

Kreitman offered both career advice for upcoming journalists and his take on how the world of online reporting and its relationship with print media has evolved during his tenure at the Times-News.

The internet now offers us an instant medium, stories can be posted immediately after they happen.  Kreitman said the Times-News takes this into account when choosing which stories to feature on the front page of its print edition.  National stories are online all day, so often the Times-News instead chooses to put local stories on the front page.

A recent goal of the Times-News has been to get more video to accompany news stories on its website.  In the past any video was good video, but today the Times-News strives to have its video look less amateure and more like broadcast.  Videos should look professional and tell their own story.  “Print and broadcast are converging,” said Kreitman.

One thing that Kreitman says newspapers can do to remain relevant is to be what he calls hyper-local.  “Bigger papers put too much effort covering National stories themselves,” said Kreitman.  By running a story from the Associated Press instead of sending their own reporter, the Times-News saves money.  Remaining loyal to local stories can also help smaller papers seperate themselves from their larger competitors.

Kreitman encouraged aspiring journalists to develop their video and photography skills in addition to their writing.  “Be innovative.  Use your technology advantage.”  The news world is quickly changing and many older reporters are being left out of the loop.  Today, words and video market stories.