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Old Gold&Black
WAKE FOREST’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1916 VOL. 104, NO. 2
T H U R S DAY, S E P T E M B E R 6 , 2 018 “Cover s the campus like the magnolias”
wfuogb.com
Birds find a new home on Wake Forest’s streets After randomly appearing, Bird Electric Scooters offer students a new method of transportation BY MELISSA COONEY Staff Writer coonme17@wfu.edu
Photo courtesy of Wake Forest University News
The UNITY Project’s many intersecting strings of yarn are designed to represent the intersecting labels that comprise individuals’ identities. The project exists in various countries around the world.
Project highlights diversity The UNITY art project, located in front of the library, explored labels and community BY ELIZABETH MALINE Staff Writer malied17@wfu.edu There’s been a bold addition to the Wake Forest campus, and it’s hard to miss. Located on the lawn in front of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library sat an interconnected web of different colored yarns, which at first sight appeared to be a simple hand-built structure. However, when examined more closely, one could see that each string of yarn connects to various statements written on purple pieces of paper. The 41-foot-wide structure was a part of a global public art movement. UNITY is an interactive public art project designed to explore the labels
that people assign to themselves and how those labels support and limit the building of communities. It was launched by mother Nancy Belmont in her hometown of Alexandria, VA as a response to the divisiveness and negativity currently reflected in American politics. As it states on UNITY’s website, during the first manifestation of the project, around 1,500 people participated and strung almost 37 miles of yarn. While Belmont was originally unsure about the project, it was ultimately a big success. UNITY now exists in many countries across the world including Canada, Costa Rica, New Zealand, France, Spain, Italy and India. Wake Forest is only one of the many locations globally to display the UNITY interactive public art project. After a Wake Forest alumnus suggested several years ago that the project travel to campus, the Office of Diversity and
Inclusion took the lead in developing the project. “We were finally able to bring it a couple of years later so we’re really excited seeing it come to fruition,” said Shannon Ashford, Manager of Diversity Education in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. “It definitely is a celebration in which we intersect with one another, being able to see the different colors that we have.” Additionally, in a press release by Wake Forest News, the university shared, “This larger-than-life structure is intended to raise consciousness about the labels people give themselves and others and to explore how these labels both support and limit opportunities to build interconnected, interesting communities… the yarn intertwines to create a web and is a physical representation that each participant is connected in some way with another.”
See UNITY, Page 4
Wake Forest students have recently found a new way to get to their classes when they’re running late. The Bird Electric Scooter is the newest way to get around on campus. Bird is an electric scooter system controlled by a smartphone app. Similar to Uber, users can track their location to find Birds near them between the hours of 4 a.m. and 9 p.m. When a nearby scooter is located, users scan the scooter’s QR code into the app and are all set to ride. Bird was created with the intention of making “transportation better and more environmentally friendly.” It only costs $1 to unlock the ride, and then 15 cents per minute of use. Riders can go anywhere they want with the Bird, and, since the location is tracked, they can leave it wherever for the next rider. People can also sign up to become a charger and get paid for their services. Chargers bring the Birds home with them and charge the scooters at their house. This helps spread Birds out throughout cities, and give people an incentive to get involved. Senior Natalie Wilson recently signed up to become a charger. Once she completes the application and three training modules, Bird will send her three special chargers and take a 10 dollar deposit out of her first paycheck. Wilson, who has plenty of space for the Birds in her student apartment, believes this is an easy way to make extra cash. “I’m interning downtown this semester, so I figure that I can hopefully pick some up and just take them with me on the way to work,” said Wilson. “The Birds have to be charged, and they need people to do it. You can even just sleep while they charge.”
See Birds, Page 5