Gerald Whittington has his hands full with Elon’s constant construction, ahead-of-the-times technology and money that is more precious than ever.
by Amy McLeod
Elon is rapidly climbing its way to sit among the best and most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation.Elon’s campus is constantly growing and developing, new buildings and features with every blink of the eye. Elon is dealing with the national financial crisis with better success than most other institutions of higher education.Elon is known for being at the cutting edge of technology, both in terms of technology on campus and the technological education that students receive.
You can thank Gerald Whittington for that.
Whittington is Elon’s Vice-President of Business, Finance and Technology, meaning that he oversees all business and financial operations of the university.He is also responsible for all of the physical assets of the university, meaning buildings, grounds and any new construction as well as all technology on campus.
‘This place was getting ready to explode”
“When I came here to interview I got the sense,” Whittington said, “just right off the bat, that this is a place that was getting ready to explode.And I thought you could probably help out somewhere and be a part of that.And that’s why I decided to come to Elon.”
And explode it did.Under Whittington’s direction, Elon’s campus has doubled in square footage and its national recognition has increased greatly.
“The size of the campus has gotten a whole lot larger. The number of students here has grown tremendously.The quality of the student body has continued to increase year over year.And that’s pretty gratifying. The recognition of the university since 1992 has just skyrocketed.”
How Whittington and Elon stay ahead of the technological curve
On top of the operations of the university, Whittington is also responsible for all the technology on campus.Elon has employed a series of three-year plans in regards to technology that increase the campus’s understanding of technology, apply technology to all programs offered at Elon and provide students with the knowledge they need to successfully use technology in the real world.
“They’ve worked for us.Each three-year plan that we’ve done keeps up ahead of everybody else, so right now this plan is well in advance of what anybody else is thinking about. We’re trying to keep ahead mainly so that our students and faculty have a leg up.”
Watch Whittington discuss Elon’s stance on technology.
How will Elon deal with the nation’s economic crisis?
With the economic crisis on the minds of all Americans right now, Whittington is also forced to think about how Elon will cope with the uncertainty of the future.
“We’re not immune from this,” Whittington admits. “The effects, however, for the university are significantly less dramatic than other institutions. “
Because many of Elon’s programs and operations are supported by students’ tuition as opposed to a large endowment, most programs will remain intact and Elon will not feel the effects nearly as much as other colleges and universities.
Gerald Whittington talks about the impact of the economy on Elon
Life apart from Elon
With having to think about Elon’s financial future, countless construction projects and equipping students with the technological knowledge necessary to be successful in the real world, does Gerald Whittington have time to do anything else?
You’d be surprised.
Whittington was born in Washington, DC but spent time growing up in Europe.He currently lives in Chapel Hill with his wife Roberta. Whittington is the father of two sons, both of whom live in Atlanta.Roberta is the president of Hinshaw Music Publishing Company, whose international headquarters is located in Chapel Hill.
Before marrying, the two sat next to each other for 16 years in the choir of the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church.Whittington also performs 15 to 20 times a year as a professional singer with the Bel Canto Company.
Whittington plays bridge “moderately well” and reads “voraciously.”He is an avid sports fan, his allegiance lying with the Tarheels of UNC, his undergraduate alma mater.
Sharing advice with students
When asked about the best pieces of advice he has ever been given, Whittington recalled bits of wisdom that had been passed down to him.
The first piece of advice that Whittington shares deals with working one’s way up in the world.
“Way back yonder somebody told me, dress for the job you want, not for the job you have.Dress so the people above you can see you as one of them.”
Whittington’s second suggestion involves relationships and how to respectfully begin relationship, particularly with elders.
“A piece of advice that I got from a dean at UNC is always give every person their ‘propers’.And that means that you always address someone as ‘Mr.’ or ‘Mrs.’ or ‘Ms.’ You always begin a relationship in a respectful and proper and formal way.”
Pointing to a plaque on his shelf, Whittington noted the final piece of advice.The plaque, written in Latin, read, “small matters do not worry a judge.”Colloquially, Whittington translated, “don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Whittington shares the best advice he has ever been given
As Earth Day approaches, Elon students gear up in an effort to conserve energy, recycle more and educate about environmental issues during the campus’s “Earth Week.”
The Green Team and the Sierra Club chapters at Elon University have joined forces to create a week’s worth of events and presentations centering around Earth Day, which occurs on Wednesday, April 22.
For a full list of “Earth Week” events, click here.
In an informal survey of 141 Elon students, 88.7 percent said that they would consider themselves to be environmentally aware and nearly 64 percent said that their Elon education has made a difference in their awareness.
“Coming into Elon I wasn’t very aware,” said sophomore Tamara Burnett, “but for our Global Studies class we were all required to read An Inconvenient Truth. That book really opened my eyes to a lot of the problems plaguing our environment and the severity of them.”
There are many different ways to be environmentally conscious. The majority of students polled, 61 percent, try to follow the three step process: reduce, reuse, recycle.
Not all students are so willing to make the effort. Sixteen percent of students surveyed said that they have taken no action to preserve the environment.
“To be honest,” said sophomore Chris Myers, “I know it’s a problem but I don’t really have the time or the energy to care or to change my lifestyle to make a difference.”
As some students have realized, it does not necessarily take a huge effort to make a real difference.
“I try to remember to do the little things,” said Jenn McHugh. “I try to turn off the lights and water when I’m not using them. It’s a work in progress but I think I’m getting better about it and every little bit helps. This is the only planet we have and if I can make a difference for my kids and my grandchildren, I’ll do what I can.”
“Landfill on the Lawn” demonstrates students wasteful behavior
The Earth Week activity planned for today is Landfill on the Lawn. Physical Plant brought trash from dormitories and academic buildings to the Moseley lawn.
Earth Week's Landfill on the Lawn at Elon University
Student volunteers and members of the Sierra Club and the Green Team then dug through the trash, sorting out recyclables such as newpapers and water bottles.
“There’s always a lot of water bottles,” said Elon junior Kim Krumm, “because people will buy water bottles, drink them and throw them out and that’s not very sustainable. Elon did give out new water bottles and that’s great. In fact, we did find a couple of them in the trash.”
From water bottles to jeans and textbooks, the piles of trash at Landfill on the Lawn were full of students garbage, much of which could be recycled.
Listen as Kim Krumm discusses Landfill on the Lawn and the importance of recycling and sustainability.
Communications professor Ken Calhoun spoke to Elon students on April 8 about interactive media and how it is growing and being used to inform audiences.
Ken Calhoun talk to Elon students about interactive media in today's industry.
“Traditional media is a one directional media,” Calhoun said. “There’s a sender and there’s a receiver. Interactivity allows for this kind of conversation, active participation by the audience. It provides back-and-forth in the model, more of a conversation. That’s what people want from their media.”
The three “flavors” of interactive media that Calhoun says are beginning to develop are storytelling, responsive visuals and conversation.
STORYTELLING
Interactive media is becoming a popular way to tell stories. Media objects such as interactive narratives give the viewer the ability to make decisions that impact the plot of the story.
“It gives viewers the opportunity to have a media experience that you can navigate yourself,” Calhoun said.
There are no longer restrictions for the type of media used to tell a story – video, pictures, audio, etc. It all depends on which type of media will most effectively tell each portion of the story.
Listen to Ken Calhoun talk about strategies for effective interactive storytelling.
RESPONSIVE VISUALS
“Responsive visuals are experiences we have online that are really visually based,” Calhoun said. “They’re graphics, info graphics, data visualizations, timelines, maps, stuff like that.”
In order for responsive visuals to be effective, they must be self-revealing and truly interactive.
“They have to be open, organic and fed by the changing world,” Calhoun said.
CONVERSATION
“Conversations are the social media aspect,” said Calhoun. “All those aspects where we’re contributing to a narrative; we’re contributing to a body of text.”
As Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and blogs explode, conversation media are becoming a popular and very effective way to communicate. Calhoun says that these social networks have become interactive media because they are setting the conditions for conversations, not hosting them.
What are colleges and universities doing to provide healthy dining options for students and what are the physical and emotional impacts of the freshman fifteen?
by Amy McLeod
You know what I’m talking about. The Octagon Rush. On any given Friday at about 12:30 p.m., the line for the beloved Bowtie Ballet extends out of Pangeo’s, wraps around the entrance of Octagon Café and ends up anywhere between Fireside Lounge and the Admissions Office. The line to get a chicken steak provolone and French fries from GrillWorks has hungry students packed like sardines inside Octagon. Maybe the realization that the delicious Bowtie Ballet has 1,015 calories and the perfectly seasoned French fries from GrillWorks have 44 grams of fat would curb the appetites of those hungry students.
When the deep-fried chicken nuggets and waffle fries from Chic-fil-A are the healthiest things a student can find to eat, there’s a big problem. Many of dining options in Octagon Café and throughout the rest of Elon University are unhealthy. The key questions: Is the nutrition of the food important? What are those in charge doing to make the dining options healthier for Elon students? And what physical and emotional implications are students experiencing due to the lack of healthy dining options?
Students from neighboring schools speak out.
In an informal survey taken of approximately 250 students from Elon, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and Furman University, 88 percent of students said that they have gained weight since arriving at college. Nearly 65 percent of those surveyed said unhealthy dining options were to blame for the weight gain.
results of an informal survey regarding weight gain in college
What does Aramark think about its job as dining service?
Laura Thompson Aramark senior food service director at Elon University spoke candidly about the job that Aramark venues at Elon are doing in terms of the nutritional value of food being served.
“If you want me to be honest,” Thompson said, “I’m not sure that our menus are 100 percent nutritionally sound. I think we definitely have room for improvement. I think we offer a lot of good options but definitely have room to improve the options that we can add to give students more healthier options.”
Aramark recipes are all created at the corporate level and then passed down to individual schools and universities. Individual school menus are then created at a local level. Elon’s dining services typically use all of the recipes that the corporate level provides in order to supply students with as much variety as possible. That means, however, that not all options offered can be “healthy.”
“I think we’ve just let it slide,” Thompson said. “None of our managers come from a nutrition background. I think it’s just something we need to educate our managers and our employees who are preparing the food. It’s a big education process.”
While the health of students is a priority for Elon, there are limitations that dining services face as they plan meals and try to appeal to and cater to all students.
“I’d love it if we could be healthier,” said Grace Patterson, one of the GrillWorks workers at Octagon Café, “but when we’re trying to make four chicken provolone sandwiches, seven cheeseburgers, three grilled cheese and nine orders of fries for hungry students we don’t have time to think really about nutrition.”
Ideas for the future
Some students don’t care or prefer to eat calorie-laden foods. The plethora of dining options that Elon offers allows Elon to provide options for all students, whether they are football players who need to eat 8,000 calories a day or sorority girls who are trying to stay fit for Spring Break.
“We can look at every location,” Thompson said, “and hopefully offer something that is nutritionally sound to the students who are looking for that but we can still offer the French fries for the student who doesn’t really care what they eat.”
Right now, Aramark focuses on having a balanced menu but sometimes nutrition is the aspect that gets sacrificed.
“I think we focus on giving a well-balanced program but if you walk into a dining hall are you going to find a well-balanced meal every single day?” she asked, “I don’t think so and that’s something that’s an initiative of ours to work on this summer when we re-tool our menus.”
Along with offering a balanced selection of dining options, Aramark has and will continue to attempt to provide options for those with food allergies or other restrictions. As the gluten allergy, known as celiac disease, becomes more prevalent, Aramark is trying to accommodate students suffering with that disease in their menus.
“I got really excited when I saw that Colonnades advertised gluten-free pizza,” said Elon junior Ben Kaufman. “But when I requested it, the lady pulled out a gluten-free wrap and put sauce and cheese on it. Not exactly what I had in mind. It’s great that they have options, but I wish there were more and better options because this allergy is being diagnosed a lot more recently and it’s very limiting.”
Aramark recognizes the increasing number of students who are have a gluten allergy and are actively trying to provide those students with gluten-free options.
“We are hoping to expand that program more because we are seeing celiac disease being more and more diagnosed and more of our students coming on campus are having that issue so we’re hoping that this summer we can expand that option for those students.”
Every summer, managers revisit their menus and make changes in order to make the dining options healthier, better and more diverse. During this summer’s re-vamping process, Elon’s dining services will also be employing a new initiative of Aramark’s called “Just4U.” This initiative will provide signage in dining halls that will indicate if the food is low calorie or low fat, for example. This will help students make informed decisions about the food they are eating, giving them more opportunity to control what they are eating.
The Aramark Web site has this to say about its new Just4U initiative:
“Just4U® point-of-service menu identifiers make it easy to find selections that are lower in fat, lower in calories, lower in carbohydrates, vegetarian or organic. In addition, Just4U® ‘Eat Well Selections’ make it easy to find foods that offer several nutritional benefits in one menu item for business diners that are concerned about limiting the calories, fat and sodium in their diets. These new identifiers simplify the decision-making for busy customers who want great tasting, healthy choices that fit their own personal preferences.”
This signage will provide important information quickly about dining options. Currently, most nutritional information is available on the Elon Dining Services Web site but is not available at the dining halls or markets.
“This summer we hope to have a big overhaul of our menus,” Thompson said. “It will be something that will be emphasized at the beginning of the summer when our managers are into their menu production to make sure that with every meal that you have that there is a nutritionally sound option.”
Listen to Laura Thompson talk about some things Elon is doing to improve dining services,
Mental and emotional impacts of the Freshman 15
New initiatives are great but what about the impact that has already been felt by college students at Elon and across the country?
“We learned in my educational psychology class about the crazy things that can happen to students in college,” said sophomore Sam McMillan. “So many people develop eating disorders and begin to suffer from depression. And a lot of times it can all be traced back to weight gain.”
A 2006 survey conducted by the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) measured the awareness and prevalence of eating disorders on college campuses across the country. The survey revealed shocking statistics about eating disorders in college students.
Sixty-three percent of the 1,002 students surveyed felt their lives had been personally impacted by an eating disorder. Nearly 20 percent admit to having personally had an eating disorder at some time. Of that 20 percent, only 25 percent had ever sought treatment.
Students coming into a new environment, meeting all new people and establishing an entirely new lifestyle can be physically, mentally and emotionally affected by small changes and hard adaptations, said McMillan.
“Being on their own for possibly the first time and facing a heavy academic load can make the first year of college very stressful,” said Dr. Karen Cullen, a behavioral nutrition researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Many college freshmen respond to stress by eating.”
The real story of one Elon student who has felt the effects of the Freshman 15
One Elon junior has suffered from an eating disorder since her freshman year. Without the support and watchful eye of her parents, she stopped paying attention and caring about what she ate.
“I was always very fit and very thin because I was always playing a sport,” says Heidi Williams (name changed to provide anonymity). “Whether it was soccer, swimming, or track, I was always doing something. When I got to school and didn’t have a coach or my parents keeping me in check, I let myself go.”
Williams recalls spending a lot of time in the all-you-can dining halls and enjoying the late night options available on campus. Having what seemed like endless meal plans and endless options, Williams found herself eating more than was healthy and more than was necessary.
“I remember going home my freshmen year for Thanksgiving,” Williams said. “It was the first time I had been home and my mom just kind of stared at me. The first thing my sister said was, ‘So I guess you’re enjoying the food at school.’ That hit me hard and I’ve never forgotten it. I hadn’t let myself realize how much weight I had gained until my family wouldn’t let me ignore it anymore.”
The realization that she had gained the “freshman 15” in her first few months on campus sent Williams into a dieting and exercising frenzy that turned into an eating disorder.
“I started skipping meals and throwing up what I would eat,” Williams recalled, the subject visibly difficult to discuss. “I started running every day, anything I could do to get back to my normal size and weight. I’ve been fighting it since then, December of my freshman year.”
Tips for avoiding the dreaded Freshman 15
We want to believe the freshman fifteen is a myth, one of those “it’ll never happen to me” kinds of things. But it’s real and the convenience of dining options on college campuses coupled with the lack of healthy dining options makes the freshman fifteen more real than most people would like to believe.
“Coming into school last year, I was aware of the freshman fifteen. I had definitely heard about it but I wasn’t worried. Maybe I should have been,” said Elon sophomore Meredith Reedy laughing.
It doesn’t have to be inevitable. There are steps that can be taken and preventative measures that can keep the dreaded freshman fifteen away.
According to the Baylor College of Medicine, there are several things students can do that will keep the pounds off.
First, dealing with stress positively. It’s always important to limit foods high in fat, fat calories and sugar in check. Drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep.
Keep dorm-room snacks healthy. It’s easy to have candy or chips but snacking on vegetables or pretzels are much healthier options. Schedule physical activity into the daily routine. If it doesn’t become habit, it won’t seem important. Eat all meals; skipping will not cause quicker weight loss. Plan ahead. Know how you plan to stay healthy and don’t let yourself get out of control.
Michael McManus spoke to Elon students on Thursday about the increasing use of illegal drugs in America and the effort he has had in fighting drug wars over the past 30 years.
Michael McManus speaks to Elon students about the drug war and how he's been fighting it.
McManus is a former Federal Agent with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. He was one of the agents instrumental in bringing down George Jung, prominent a drug lord and the man responsible for America’s cocaine market. The 2001 movie Blow is based on Jung and his downfall.
“I have been blessed with an absolutely fantastic career,” McManus said. “I drive fast boats, smuggle cocaine out of the Bahamas and drive beautiful cars. And I get paid to do it.”
‘The people losing this battle are your little brothers and sisters’
McManus began by informing students about the way the drug industry has grown over the past few decades.
“We’ve won the drug war since 1979,” McManus said. “The people losing this battle are your little brothers and little sisters.”
According to McManus, of today’s eighth graders, 14.7 percent are experimenting with drugs, along with 28.7 percent of tenth graders and 36.5 percent of high school seniors.
A poll that surveyed 50,000 students revealed that the top three reasons why teens use drugs are peer pressure, family problems and as a form of rebellion.
On the other hand, the top three things that keep teenagers from using drugs are being brought up with a strong family, their religion and being educated about drugs and their potential effects.
Popularity of synthetic drugs and raves
No longer relying on plant-grown drugs such as marijuana, the youth today are experimenting with chemically created, synthetic drugs.
Ecstasy and Methamphetamine (meth) are two of the drugs becoming popular among young people.
“Meth is one of the most powerful, most addicting drugs you will ever see,” McManus said.
Young people are now going to “rave parties” and “pharming parties.” Rave parties consist of excessive ecstasy and pharming parties come about when young people steal their parent’s prescription drugs and they are randomly exchanged and ingested.
The recipe for meth can be found online and all ingredients can be purchased at Wal-Mart. The silent victims of these new drug markets are children of dealers whose skin is burned and lungs are infected by the acid and chemicals used to make meth.
McManus then told students about his experiences working undercover. He successfully infiltrated the Colombian drug system by obtaining the trust of drug lords. By using them, their sources and listening to cell phone activity, McManus was able to break down the system before drugs could get on the streets in America.
The most frightening moment of McManus’s career
“I’ll never forget it,” McManus said. “It was April 2, 1979 and it’s when I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”
McManus was undercover with another agent on a cocaine bust. His partner went with one of the dealers outside to see the drugs and the dealer came back inside the bar without McManus’s partner.
Knowing something was wrong but having to stay calm, McManus was in “survival mode.” It turns out his partner was behind the bar with an accomplice of the drug dealers. He was held at gunpoint but was not harmed.
When he went outside the two “bad guys,” one of the dealers pulled a gun on him. McManus pulled his gun on the second dealer.
“I’m a police officer,” McManus told the man. “You’re under arrest.”
Knocking the gun out of the first dealer’s hand and breaking his wrist, McManus shoved the second dealer’s head into a car.
“There was no time to see my life flash before my eyes,” McManus remembers. “That night sent two people in two different directions.”
McManus’s partner resigned the next day. McManus knew that it was now his job to fight the drug war.
“My goal is just to educate society. Remember this, if you smoke one marijuana cigarette, you won’t become addicted to cocaine or heroine. I just want you to be prepared to make an educated decision.”
Graham Woodlief and Debora Wilson spoke to Elon communications students on Friday about their jobs in the media and the future of the industry. Woodlief and Wilson both serve on Elon’s School of Communications Advisory Board and have years of experience working in the field.
‘I’ve seen quite a bit of transformation’
Debora Wilson and Graham Woodlief speak to Elon students about the future of media.
Woodlief is the vice-president of Media General, Inc. and has watched the industry change significantly. He is in charge of 25 daily news publications as well as over 150 weekly newspapers and publications.
“Having been in the business for over 40 years I have seen quite a bit of transformation,” Woodlief said, “especially in the newspaper side as well as the television side. It has been pretty interesting and quite revolutionary.”
Media General is responsible for six markets from Florida to Virginia. These markets combine the major platforms – newspapers, television and Internet – into one market and employ many of the same reporters for all three outlets.
The media industry has experienced a lot of cooperation and consolidation as it has grown. Woodlief is convinced that while the industry is changing, some traditions will continue and there will always be a market for newspapers.
“Information is the most important thing to our company,” Woodlief said. “We are information gatherers and providers and I believe truly that there is not other entity in a locality that can gather and provide information any better than a newspaper can.”
Give your audience what it wants
Debora Wilson has worked as the the President and CEO of the Weather Channel and has watched the company take a proactive initiative toward providing information to consumers where consumers want it.
“I think that the Weather Channel has done about as good a job as media companies do in anticipating what the future needs of people are,” Wilson said. “We were one of the only early companies to say that we were going to be very involved with the Internet and that’s when we launched weather.com which was over 15 years ago.”
Citizen journalism extending the industry
When asked about the role that citizen journalism has played in the growth of media, Wilson and Woodlief agreed that it has only improved the industry.
“The reason why it’s important is that it engages the viewer and the consumer of the content in a much deeper way,” Debora Wilson says. “It engages our audience but then it also extends our reporting capabilities.”
Watch as Debora Wilson and Graham Woodlief talk about citizen journalism and the changes it’s bringing to the media industry.
Wilson and Woodlief also shared with the aspiring journalists some advice for how to achieve success in the industry. The two stressed the importance of challenging oneself and not being afraid of failure.
Listen to the advice shared by Debora Wilson and Graham Woodlief.
“We can look at every location,” Thompson said, “and hopefully offer something that is nutritionally sound to the students who are looking for that but we can still offer the French fries for the student who doesn’t really care what they eat.”
