by Andie Diemer
Sept. 29, 2008

For juniors Mike Milano and Dan Rickershauser, seeing their families during Elon’s annual family weekend wasn’t in the cards. But each was forced to reunite with their loved ones in a rigid scene: the hospital.
Both students were hospitalized last week with internal bleeding and released Sunday once they had recovered.

At press time the exact ailment had not be determined, but the students said their doctor, Robert Elliott, said he was 99 percent sure it was a food-borne illness, most likely food poisoning and bacteria-related.

“We had the same exact thing,” Milano said. “I had it a little bit worse, a little more progressed.”

Jana Lynn Patterson, assistant vice president of student life, said the administration was contacted Friday afternoon and told two students had been hospitalized, one on Wednesday and one on Friday.

“Given the severeness [sic] of the illness, they needed to survey our records to see if there was anything similar,” she said.

Patterson said Elon was also contacted by the health department to see if there was any connection.

“There is not any set pattern or anything,” Patterson said. “Any time you’re going to have that kind of connection, two students at one time in the hospital, then [the health department] feels like they’re going to need to follow through.”

While the health department consulted each student to determine a link between their cases, the only thing each had commonly eaten were a chicken sandwich and fries from Chick-fil-A Wednesday evening, Rickershauser said.

But he said the health department asked for every item consumed since Sept. 15, making it difficult to assist them.

Milano, who does not regularly dine on campus, said he still doesn’t know where it may have come from.
Since Sept. 23, seven people visited the health center with symptoms that could possibly mirror Milano and Rickershauser’s symptoms, Patterson said.

She said that it is not an atypical number and that none of the other cases were severe.

“There’s nothing right now where we’ve seen a bunch of people or any out of the ordinary numbers,” she said. “That may change.”

On Wednesday both Milano and Rickershauser started having stomach pains, among other symptoms such as vomiting.

Milano said the sharp, stabbing pains he experienced immediately denoted something was wrong. Thursday morning he skipped his morning class and visited the urgent care unit next to Alamance Regional Hospital.

From there he was immediately handed off to hospital specialists and was admitted into the hospital once the severity of his situation was recognized.

After visiting the Elon Health Center Thursday morning, Rickershauser was sent home with Dramamine, pepto bismol and instructions that should his situation worsen he needed to seek medical attention at the emergency room immediately.

He entered the ER later that evening and was treated for his symptoms but was then released. He wasn’t admitted to Alamance Regional until Friday after he met with a gastrointestinal specialist and was clearly not getting healthier.

Once both students were in the hospital, they were pumped with fluids, painkillers and antibiotics.

“I had internal bleeding,” Milano said. “My whole digestive track was bleeding out.”

Both patients underwent multiple tests including x-rays, CAT scans and blood cultures, among others.

“My chest x-ray showed that my colon and large intestine were inflamed and huge,” Rickershauser said.

He said he was told the diagnose is difficult to nail since the students were already being treated with antibiotics when he entered the hospital, which killed the bacteria.

Milano lost 13 pounds in 3 days since he wasn’t permitted to eat solid food and was fed items like ice cream and pudding.

“Anytime you have a student who’s sick we want the hospital to keep them a little longer because if they’re coming back to a dorm then they don’t get a lot of rest,” Patterson said. “I think everybody wants to be on the safe side about things.”

Both have checkups today and were told if they felt any pain before then to return to the ER since it could signal kidney failure.

Neither had experienced additional problems up until Tuesday.

Patterson said she spoke to each student on the phone Friday afternoon and that the Administrator on Call, Brian O’Shey, and University Physician Jim Hawkins visited the students Friday evening.

Elon Health Services also followed up with the other seven students that had similar symptoms to ensure they were healthy and collected additional information the Health Department may need, Patterson said.

None of the other seven cases investigated were serve enough to warrant hospitalization.

However, Patterson was notified Monday that another student was admitted this weekend for similar symptoms. It has been determined that they are not related to food consumption.

So far no changes by the administration, supervisors or health department have been made to ARMARK’s food service.

ARAMARK Resident District Manager Jeff Gazda said his employees work hard to ensure food safety on campus.

“Our top priority is to ensure that the food served at Elon is of the highest quality within the safest environment possible,” Gazda said. “We continuously train our managers and employees on proper techniques in food handling and food safety procedures.”

Patterson said in the case there would be a wide-spread issue similar to Milano and Rickershauser’s experience, Elon would work with the health department to notify the community.

by Andie Diemer
Sept. 29, 2008

Burlington resident Dave Fitzgerald and his children, Anya, 3, and Thomas, 6, squatted outside Acorn Coffee Shop in downtown Elon today offering free kittens to the community.

Their mother cat had five kitten seven weeks ago.

Junior Sydney Little spotted the kittens, adopted one and left to pick up cat litter to give her new pet a home.

Watch to see what Thomas has to say about the kittens:

North Carolina Republican candidates gather for barbecue at Elon Law

by Andie Diemer
Sept. 28, 2008

Friday night the Elon Law Republicans hosted “Pork and Politics,” where the community was invited to eat Hursey’s Bar-B-Q, listen to local and state Republican North Carolinian candidates and watch the first presidential debate live.

“It can be hard for local candidates to have a forum to speak about why they are running and how they would contribute,” Summer Nettleman, Elon Law student and event coordinator, said. “We wanted to be able to bring local Republicans together.”

Each candidate addressed the audience on why he or she should be elected. Fourteen candidates were represented.

Laura Wiley for N.C. House of Representatives:
Wiley is up for re-election for District 61 in the N.C. General Assembly House. During her time there she helped pass a child predator act and helped rewrite, redefine and increase penalties for stalking.

This November, she is hoping for a republican house majority.

“We have a lot left to do,” Wiley said. “We’ve got to work together. We don’t win elections by ourselves, we win them by your hard work.”

John Blust for N.C. House of Representatives:
Representing District 62, Blust is running for re-election. He wants new ethical standards to be implemented this time around.

“Today we have our terrorism, we have our war on terrorism but our biggest challenges are from within,” he said. “For you people going into law, remember that the fundamental reason for the law is something called justice.”

Hugh Webster for 13th District Representative:
After spending 12 years in the North Carolina Senate, Webster is still firm in his platform.

“I support real tax reform, folks,” he said. “And I support, more than anything else, integrity in government.”

He is also an advocate for offshore drilling and cited a price drop when President George W. Bush opened up drilling recently.

“I care how you vote,” he said. “Anybody that knows me knows what I stand for.”

Elizabeth Dole for Senator:
Bill Fields spoke on behalf of Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who is running for re-election. He said as Americans, North Carolinians are at war on the borders, with the democrats and the energy crisis.

“We’re also at war in our pocketbooks,” Fields said. “It’s the Democrats who want a government that’s all intrusive.”

He said Dole promises to provide less government and fewer taxes.

“If it’s war that the Democrats want,” he said, “it’s war they’ll get.”

John Odom for N.C. Insurance Commissioner:
Odom has a business background but said he saw the need for a new commissioner in Raleigh.

He said he plans to streamline the departments, which employ 492 workers.

“[This will] make it easier for you as a consumer so that everybody in the state of North Carolina has a low rate and is taken care of,” he said.

Eddie Southern for Guilford County Commissioner:
Southern plans to work on education and on bringing down the tax rate.

“We [have to] get our children educated and work on the fact that we have gang and violence problems in Guilford County,” Southern said. “We [have to] work to get some republicans that have backbone in the government.”

He also wants to bring safety back to the neighborhoods.

“What I want to do is work to make our lives better,” he said.

Pat McCrory for Governor:
Penn Broyhill acted as a stand-in speaker for Pat McCrory, who is currently the mayor of Charlotte.

“We are in a tough, tight race,” Broyhill said. “We’re fighting a political machine that can control Raleigh.”

He said McCrory wants to clean up Raleigh and the state as whole.

In December of 2007, McCrory became the only Charlotte mayor in history to be elcted to a seventh term. He was originally elected in 1995.

McCrory was raised in Guilford County and graduated from Catawba College in 1985.

Betty Brown for District Court Judge:
With more than 24 years of experience in the court system, Brown said she will continue to treat everyone who appears before her with dignity and respect.

“I wanted to take that experience, knowledge, skills and wisdom that I’ve learned over the years and take it to the court bench so I could continue to serve the citizens of Guilford County,” Brown said. “I will be fair, impartial and thorough in my deliberations.”

Bob Edmunds for N.C. Supreme Court:
Running for his second term, Edmunds said the Supreme Court is a court that does affect everyone, even students.

“One thing I hope, above all else is that the voters will compare their candidates,” he said.

He said he feels he is the highest-qualified candidate, since he is the only one that has been a judge, a partner in a law firm and is certified in law.

Edmunds was elected to the Supreme Court for his first term in 2000. He has also served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and as a U.S. federal prosecutor.

Robert Enochs for District Court Judge:
Enochs has a background in accounting and has practiced criminal defense and domestic and civil law.
He also worked as the Guilford County Assistant District Attorney for 13 years.

“I’ve appeared in district court rooms on both sides of the aisle, which gives me unique sight,” he said. “Experience matters.”

Susan Bray for District 18 Judge:
Up for re-election, Bray said she was happy to be out in the community, talking about her campaign.

“We who are judges and judicial candidates appreciate the opportunity to meet voters because we get left out of a lot of forums,” Bray said. “I really would like to win it.”

Dan Barrett for N.C. Court of Appeals:
During his race for governor, Barrett physically walked across North Carolina.

Five pairs of shoes, 582 miles, 20 pounds and an unsuccessful bid for governor later, he is now running for the Court of Appeals.

“My judicial philosophy is conservative. That means I will not legislate from the bench, I will be tough on crime and I will be independent, fair and impartial,” he said. “I will do the job you sent me to do.”

Jim Rumley for House District 59:
Rumley said he is asking the community to vote for him so he can “unseat one of the most ineffective legislators in the House today.”

Questioning the ethics and integrity of his opponent Maggie Jeffus, Rumley said he will help North Carolina in a new way.

“I’m going to do what’s right,” Rumley said. “We’re going to do the right things when I get in the house.”

Jewel Ann Farlow for N.C. Court of Appeals:
Farlow, who has practiced law for more than 20 years and worked on civil and criminal cases, said it’s important to elect a practitioner like herself.

“I bring 20 years of practical, real-life experience to the bench,” she said. “I want to make a difference to the people and to the state of North Carolina.”

She pledged to be a full-time judge and not hold to any special interest groups or lobbyists.

“I believe that the law should be applied fairly and impartially. I will make my decision based upon the law,” Farlow said. “If elected I will be working for the people of the state of North Carolina every day of the week.”

by Andie Diemer
Sept. 28, 2008

Elon has hired a search consultant to help wade through the more than 40 applications already received for the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs.

The search is underway after Gerry Francis, the current provost and vice president, announced his move to the office of executive vice president.

Elon created a Provost Search Committee compromised of faculty, staff and students to ensure students have a say in the new provost.

Tom Henricks, professor of sociology, and Paul Parsons, dean of the School of Communications, are co-chairs of the committee.

In early September, the committee hosted three faculty and staff forums to help develop a better understanding of the expectations for the new provost.

“This is the recruitment period right now,” Parsons said. “The search consultant is contacting individuals and taking queries from them and we’re sort of in this pattern until late October when the committee will review the applications to date and select about six or more for preliminary interviews.”

The committee expects to receive  somewhere between 80 and 100 applications.

The provost oversees academic affairs, admissions and financial planning, student life, intercollegiate athletics, institutional research, sponsored programs and cultural affairs and also serves as assistant secretary and treasurer of the Board of Trustees.

Caroline Fox contributed to this article.