The Hook Spring 2018

The Hook

Spring 2018

The Hook is published twice a year by East Carolina University students at the Magazine Division Office, Self-Help Building, Second Floor. Greenville, NC 27858

Magazine Division General Manager

Editor-In-Chief

Victoria Schule

Hook Staff

Design Chief: Mary-Elizabeth Drummond

Designer: Erin Flynn

Copy Editor: Summer Tillman

Photo Editor: Paris Silver

Writers: Julie Estep

Melissa Glen

Madison Lawson

Kayla Morton

Matthew Prensky

Daniel Roberts

Amanda Shea

Samantha Smith

Trish Willis

Contributors:

Amberlynn Bishop

Rebecca Sefter

Brenna Townsend

Student Media Professional Staff Director: John Harvey

Publication Advisor: Terrence Dove

Advertising & Marketing Advisor: Julie Roman

Student Media Operations Manager: Janet Rollins

Production Advisor: Annah Schwartz

The Hook is copyrighted in 2018 by The Hook Magazine and East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C. It is printed by University Printing and Graphics, N.C.

The Hook is operated by ECU students who are members of Student Media, an East Carolina University student-led organization operating under the auspices of the Student Media Board and through the Division of Student Affairs. The magazine is produced twice a year by ECU students for the East Carolina University community.

Opinions expressed herein are those of the student writers and editors DO NOT reflect those of the faculty, staff, administration of ECU, Student Media Board nor the University of North Carolina System.

Partial funding for this publication is provided through Student Fee Funds. Advertisements fund the remaining of the costs. Advertising inquiries may be sent to the Office of Student Media, 202 Self Help Building, or by calling the business Office at 252-3289245. Inquiries concerning content should be sent to Magazine General Manager Victoria Schule at Thehookmag@ecu.edu

All students are allowed to have one free copy of this publication. Additional copies cost $1 each and are available at the Office of Student media. Unauthorized removal of additional copies from a distribution site will constitute theft under state law, a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine and/or jail time.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Agreat mentor and friend once shared this famous quote by Steve Jobs, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” I learned making a magazine isn’t just work. Within this type of work is an incredible team effort of collaboration, innovation and dedication that makes it work. And that is why I love what I do. Being an editor, I learned that you can make what may seem impossible possible, but it was something I could not do without my staff, Student Media colleagues and you guys; the readers.

This issue marks the three-year anniversary of The Hook, which makes this Hook the 7th edition to be made so far. To see the magazine continue to grow this year has been an incredible journey. I’m proud to say that I am a part of publication that is expanding and becoming something that is more than a simple publication, but a platform that is truly in the best interest of students on campus and around the East Carolina University community. I am looking forward to see where this publication goes as we head towards making the magazine division online and on social media this year.

To my writers and contributors, thank you guys for making the content of this magazine much more interesting and informative than I thought it would be.

To my Student Media colleagues and the professional staff, thank you for all the support and guidance that inspired me in many ways as an editor and GM. I am proud to be a part of organization where everyone strives to make the best media content possible while encouraging growth and creativity.

To my staff, this publication would not exist without all of your hard work and support. You each have impressed me in many ways and I could not be more thankful to work with such a diligent and talented staff. You each have made this process the best learning experience I’ve truly have had yet. Thank you Mary-Beth, Erin, Summer, and Paris.

To my readers, thank you for choosing to read and support the Hook. For this edition, we wanted to make the content more interesting than ever before so you can actually stay hooked. We hope that through your journey of reading the Hook, you will find a good laugh and some useful advice to help you strive this Spring season along with some interesting happenings around the ECU community.

Sincerely,

VICTORIA SCHULE Editor-In-Chief

CONTENTS

MUSICAL THEATER EVOLVES

Photo Courtesy of CARSON

By AMANDA SHEA

Among the legacy of East Carolina University’s School of Theatre and Dance, Jayme Host is only the third director for the school since 1963. She was hired for the fall semester after the previous director, John Shearin, passed away.

Host said that during her first year at ECU, she wanted to observe how things had been run, before moving toward any big changes.

“We’re looking at some curriculum changes to update,” said Host. “The goal is simply to update the curriculum. Currently, we have three levels of theater history and we’re looking into making it two levels…We’re looking at the curriculum and saying ‘Let’s look and make this efficient.’”

As well as updating the classes, Host said she’s focusing on creating an even better atmosphere for both the students and the faculty.

“I’m spending a lot of time trying to update the facilities and our resources here because our faculty and our students work so hard, and tirelessly, from dawn to dusk and late into the night,” said Host. “I’m really trying to make a conscious effort to improve our facilities because they deserve it.”

Among the students is Dylan Bailey, a senior double majoring in theater education and theater for youth. During his time at ECU, Bailey said that the program had humbled him and made him the person he is today.

“My father asked me, over winter break, if I felt like I’d made the right decision to come to ECU…and I said ‘absolutely.’ This school is known for so many things—nursing, known for producing more educators than any other school in the state, but it also has a really great theater program,” Bailey said. “It’s not as advertised as the football team, but it really is a wonderful theater program that can hold its own with UNCSA and Elon.”

In addition to mainstage productions, which includes recently performed musical ‘Hands on the Hard Body’ directed by Michael Tahaney and a production of ‘A MidSummer Night’s Dream’ directed by Jen-Scott Mobley], students are able to partake in other productions in Greenville. While there are stages like Whirligig and the Magnolia Arts Center, another organization was created by ECU students to open up more opportunities for those interested in pursuing theater.

Founded by Matthew Johnson and Brandon Fillette as part their Senior Honors project, 5th Street Players offers another way for students to gain experience outside of the mainstage.

“It’s so wonderful because, during my time here at ECU, the 5th Street Players was born,” said Bailey. “There’s always a student run production going on in the School of Theatre and Dance, but 5th Street gives students a chance to function on their own as a professional…It’s completely student run, but it’s not limited to just theater students.”

Host said the program includes immersive conservatory training, which is hard work, but has a focus to prepare students for the industry.

“We exist as a family that support each other. Going into the performing arts, it’s not like a normal discipline where you take classes, go home and do your homework, but you take your classes and expect to be in rehearsal late into the evening,” said Host. “Be ready to work hard.”

As a student, Bailey has worked on mainstage plays, Theatre for Youth productions, and has acted as the assistant stage managing 5th Street’s production of ‘A New Brain.’ His advice for incoming students is to be prepared, but not discouraged.

“The best advice that I could give...is to know that what they’re bringing to the table is enough,” said Bailey. “They should readily accept everything that the faculty has to offer and that their peers are bringing to the table. We learn from the people that we work with.”

Behind the Dozen: ”

By KAYLA MORTON

Oh yes they do have strawberry, Mom! Look!” a little boy says, screaming while he runs up to the Krispy Kreme doughnut glass, rubbing his hands and face against it.

This five-year-old boy joins many of the young faces smiling at the glaze of their doughnuts on an early Saturday morning. A few are pressing against the windows in front of the stainless steel doughnut maker, watching the hundreds of doughnuts, glazes and fillings rotate through the heater, fryer, glazer and cooler contraptions.

The smell of fried dough floats through the air as the doughnut makes its way through the conveyor belt before finishing with icing at the very end. Once iced, the smell of the finished dough and sweet icing in all different colors engulfs the entire restaurant.

The kids, who were watching the doughnut travel through the machine, race to the display case in their white Krispy Kreme paper hats, pointing and giggling at all the doughnuts being loaded into the case that they can choose from.

From the moment Krispy Kreme opens, the store has the ability to make more than a couple thousand donuts to get the day started.

“We have the capacity to make 270 dozen [doughnut] per hour if we need to,” says Detron McWilliams, the Greenville Krispy Kreme manager. “But those needs are dependent upon the orders we have and if we need a large quantity.”

Since Krispy Kreme was founded in 1937, Vernon Rudolph opened 1,004 Krispy Kreme locations worldwide. Besides the United States, Krispy Kreme operates in 28 other countries with current construction plans already underway in another 24 additional countries.

In order to run those locations, the national headquarters, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has employed 4,300 workers according to the Krispy Kreme Corporate Fact Sheet.

Illustration by MARY-BETH DRUMMOND

The Making of the Doughnut

Depending on customer activity, the Greenville Krispy Kreme typically employs six workers per shift. The most important position is the doughnut maker who starts and ends the doughnut process from beginning to end.

First the doughnut maker starts by weighing out the dough, yeast and mixing them together with water. All of the ingredients must mix for 14 minutes with 10 minutes of “floor time.” Floor time is referred to as the amount of sitting time after the doughnut is shaped and made.

After the floor-time process, the doughnut is put through the proof box, which is a 34-minute process. Finally, the doughnut is put in the fryer for 110 seconds and is left to cool down just enough for the customers to enjoy it. Altogether, from the beginning to the end, the process takes about an hour for each tray of doughnuts.

One of McWilliams’ most trusted employees and doughnut maker, LaMont Ebrom, arrives at work a little before 3 a.m. to swipe his clock-in card to get the doughnut production started for the day. Working Tuesday through Friday, Ebrom comes in to make the fresh dough that will eventually be cut and crafted to enter the first stage of doughnut making.

“I’m a production specialist. One of my most important jobs, besides making the doughnuts, is making sure that after 12 hours I find the old ones, throw them away and put in new ones,” Ebrom says.

According to Ebrom, he takes early shifts during the weekdays so he can have a work-life balance. Ebrom says he enjoys coming into work for the early shift because he knows he’s the one responsible for putting smiles on hungry customers’ faces.

“People are steady coming down the line and we have to make them [the doughnuts] hot and fresh,” Ebrom says. “We got a good staff and good managers and we try to make sure everything is done in a respectful way so we can communicate and be respectful to the customers.”

One of a Kind Dough

One early morning customer, Timothy Sciannella, is enjoying Ebrom’s fresh-cut doughnuts more than the average customer who comes in for a doughnut or two and coffee.

“I ordered a dozen glazed doughnuts all for myself,” Sciannella says. “I don’t get to go too often because I’m a broke college student, but Krispy Kreme is still my favorite eatery.”

Sciannella attends Geneva College in Pennsylvania and plays as a second baseman for the college’s baseball team. On a visit to Greewnville to see a friend before finishing his journey to Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina, he has a meeting with its baseball coaches about transferring to play baseball there.

“I like Krispy Kreme because they make their doughnuts fresh right in front of you, but other places like Dunkin Donuts, [the dough] is all frozen and more processed,” Sciannella says. “Pennsylvania doesn’t have these (Krispy Kreme’s) anymore, but I would recommend it because it’s just an experience every human being has to go through.”

R.J. Baietti, a Clinical Associate for Monmouth University and a 2017 graduate of East Carolina University, is in the same league as Sciannella as he also orders his Krispy Kremes by the dozen.

Baietti joins the customer craze of the most commonly purchased doughnuts: the original glazed and the glazed with chocolate icing. Both McWilliams and Ebrom agree that these two doughnuts are the most popular flavors, followed by the Krispy Kreme’s seasonal specials.

“I get a dozen glazed doughnuts, half with chocolate, if I want a quick snack or I want to get some food for a decently inexpensive price,” Baietti says.

Clean and Krisp

According to McWilliams, the seasonal specials are one of the best ways to bring in a little extra revenue to the Greenville store, as well as Krispy Kreme nationwide. Since these doughnuts are only offered during specific times of the year for short periods of time, customers interested in the product are drawn in and often come multiple times in a short span before the special runs out.

Thankfully, the machine has some self-cleaning compartments that cycles unrecognizable objects out of the machine. Other compartments are sprayed down with a hose and scrubbed after the “hot” doughnut morning and evening hours, along with the glass windows separating the machine from the rest of the restaurant and the cases behind the machine that were home to the morning’s doughnut ingredients.

Mondays are the exception where there is a deep-cleaning period in the middle of the workday when the customer demand is the lowest and there are enough pre-made doughnuts from the morning in order to last until the machine finishes its cleansing process.

“On Monday’s we completely drain it through a boiling process that takes about five hours,” McWilliams says.

Consistent cleaning helps Krispy Kreme create steady revenue for the company. Without the cleaning processes installed to the doughnut machine, allowing each restaurant to produce more available products, the company’s revenue would struggle to increase each year. Over the past three years, with more specials added to Krispy Kreme’s plans, the business has seen its revenue increase during the time span. In 2014, Krispy Kreme brought in 460.331 million, following with 490.334 million in 2015 and delivering 518.714 million in 2016.

BUSINESS IS BREWING

By JULIE ESTEP | Photo by AMBERLYNN BISHOP

When it comes drinking a beer, the type of beer millenials are drinking is shifting from American-style beers like Budweisers and Budlights to craft beers like Indian Pale Ales (IPAs). This particular interest in craft beers has shown growth across America with its booming growth in Breweries in the past few years. In January, The Atlantic reported that between 2008 and 2016, the amount of breweries established grew by a factor of six along with creating a job growth of brewery workers by 120 percent.

Greenville’s Uptown has joined the trend with two new breweries in Greenville, Pitt Street Brewing and Uptown Brewing Company. The two breweries have joined Greenville’s original brewery, Trollingwood, to give the Uptown district an emerging brew scene.

Since opening in 2017, Pitt Street’s head brewer Nate McLaughlin and Uptown’s brewmaster Ben Self have both been pleasantly surprised at just how much Greenville is enjoying their takes on beer.

“I don’t think any of us could have hoped for this much enthusiasm,” said Self, who sold nearly 300 gallons of beer on opening day.

McLaughlin who has an exclusively West Coast brewing background came to Greenville where he shaped the hopforward styles of beer to serve to a customer base of ECU students, professors and Greenville residents.

Pitt Street’s philosophy is to maintain four go-to styles of beer year-round along with four seasonals. McLaughlin also rolls out small batch brews from time to time.

“Year round I want a hoppy beer, a dark beer, a not so hoppy beer and a fruity beer,” said McLaughlin. “That’s why the first four we did were the IPA, the dry stout, light lager, and the raspberry.”

At Uptown Brewing Company, Self also embraces West Coast style IPAs that he says can be more hoppy and fruity style of beers. “These IPAs are getting so juicy and I love those flavors so I started trying to make IPAs less and less bitter but with more of those juicy flavors.”

For both Self and McLaughlin, having a great relationship with each other along with other brewers at Trollingwood, as well with restaurants throughout Greenville help promote the craft beer community and enable collaboration among the breweries and restaurants.

“We tend to take a very synergistic approach with other businesses especially with the restaurants around here,” said Self. “Several of the restaurants around here deliver to the taproom and it helps keep people in my taproom longer.”

McLaughlin agrees, saying his philosophy is to team up with other local brewers against big beer companies instead of each other. When it comes to craft beer, he believes in fostering an environment of collaboration rather than competition.

“One of the questions I got a lot when I came to town was ‘how are you going to deal with competition?’” said McLaughlin. “You don’t deal with local breweries, you team up and work together.”

Self said the brewers in Greenville take similar approaches of collaborations and enjoy trying each other’s beers. “If they make good beer, they will help drive more craft beer consumption to this area and in turn helps me,” he said.

Based on its initial success, Pitt Street is already looking to the future. McLaughlin plans to dive into gluten free beers and possibly collaborations with other local breweries. McLaughlin also said the ownership group is in the early stages of scouting out possible locations in the area for expansion.

“With the numbers we’re putting up and how busy we are, we’re going to probably need to expand a lot sooner in the next year or two,” said McLaughlin.

One main thing Pitt Street and Uptown have brought to Greenville is a more socially relaxed atmosphere that many say the city was lacking.

“You know, a brewery to me is not a place where you go and get drunk,” said McLaughlin. “You come here, you sit on couches, you talk, you play games [and] you listen to music in the back.”

McLaughlin said that while they do see more professors than students, all students who are 21 and over are welcome to come to Pitt Street to grab a beer and study for a while.

Photo by PARIS SILVER

NEED A DENTIST?

The ECU School of Dental Medicine offers a full range of dental care services, including emergency care, at reduced cost. Learn more at www.ecu.edu/dental.

Call 252-737-7834 to make an appointment.

ECU School of Dental Medicine

Ledyard E. Ross Hall

1851 MacGregor Downs Road Greenville, North Carolina

RISING ABOVEE E RISING ABOVE

By TRISH WILLIS | Photo

by PARIS SILVER

Student creates international movement to fight mental health stereotypes

The rain was unforgiving as Marina Hobday settled on the brick wall outside the Cupola on East Carolina University’s campus. For nearly seven hours, Hobday stood tall in the elements as curious stares and amused whispers surrounded her on a cold, dark afternoon. Legs aching, Hobday persisted through the tireless rain because she said she had a message that no amount of fog or condescending glares could silence; “I Exist.”

Orchestrated in early November of 2017, the unplanned protest acted as a catalyst to spark the movement that is “I Exist” today. Hobday, a freshman sociology major, initially founded the movement because she felt there was not enough mental health awareness, especially among minorities. Although the idea of a campaign was to promoted equality, awareness and love, the campaign was brewing in Hobday’s mind for some time, but it wasn’t until the sudden death of a friend that she decided to put her plan into action.

“Things happen in our lives everyday; people die, we hear about unjust crimes, we witness hate and discrimination, and we get mad about these things, but no one ever does anything about it,” Hobday said. “Human beings are all about talking but after [the death], I finally thought to myself, ‘I as a person exist and I matter.’”

Springing into action was step one, but the mission of “I Exist” was still a bit confusing to many students. Hobday, who often prefers to go by Tiger—the nickname she said was given to her by her grandfather to match her fiery personality— created a website for the movement to explain its purpose. The site, IExistMovement.org, explained what the movement encompasses.

“‘I Exist’ is an international movement promoting mental health and human rights of every individual,” Hobday said. “No matter who you are or what group you belong to, it is so important that everyone understands that they are seen, they are heard, and that they matter. We all exist.”

Hobday said this is a movement, not a moment and she hopes to expand beyond ECU’s campus and eventually around the world.

“We’re starting on this campus because this is where we live and a campus obviously has a large audience,” said Hobday. “But the ultimate goal for this movement would be for it to blow up like #BlackLivesMatter or something. We want it to be international so people of all ages and backgrounds around the globe can recognize that they are not alone and find a space they belong in.”

Hobday said that thanks to social media and her tireless efforts of reaching out to officials, word of the movement has already spread across the United States, even moving St. Olaf College of Minnesota to adopt it onto their campus.

As an international student herself, Hobday lived in England for 14 years and Korea for six years before moving to North Carolina. Her connections outside of the nation have caused the ‘I Exist’ movement to become a conversation on campuses in both Europe and Asia.

Hobday said although she has largely been the face of the movement due to being the creator and is doing most of the behind-the-scenes work, she does not wish to claim ownership of the movement, but simply wants to see it do well.

“When I first created ‘I Exist,” a lot of people thought I was doing it for popularity and attention,” Hobday said. “...I didn’t stand in the rain for hours for attention. I don’t stress myself out making sure this succeeds for other people’s approval. I don’t even care if my name never gets attached to this movement; someone could start this at another school and say it was their idea and I would let them have it. The goal of ‘I Exist’ is not to claim it and gain fame from it when it blows up one day, but to make sure it reaches [to] everyone who needs it and that it does some good in the world.”

From giving out ‘Free Hugs’ on the brickyard of Mendenhall, to orchestrating protests and collaborating with women empowerment and positive minority organizations on campus, the movement has captured the attention of many students, and Hobday said she now has a team of people who keep her grounded and help keep the movement alive.

Active member of the movement Celese Ferguson, a sophomore psychology major, said that first Tiger’s passion for the movement drew her in, but later found that the movement’s purpose aligned with many of her personal beliefs.

“I’ve been struggling with anxiety for most of my life, and one of the main components of the movement is mental health,” Ferguson said. “It has been so comforting to see how the people involved have a strong love and understanding for one another and the community as a whole.”

Members of “I Exist” and Hobday agree that the movement has a strong foundation in love and acceptance, and Hobday said there is always something to keep her motivated.

“The best part of founding “I Exist” has been to witness the humanity behind it,” Hobday said. “When we gave out ‘Free Hugs,’ a lot of people would break down crying and tell us they really needed that hug today.”

Hobday said seeing the smiles on the faces of the lives touched by the movement, even through the smallest acts such as a hug, is what keeps her and all of the members driven to continue “I Exist.”

“Even if this movement never went past this campus, just knowing we touched lives would be impactful, even on a small scale,” said Hobday. “I hope it does expand because we could then take this love and positivity to a grander scale, and that’s what matters.”

Photo by ERYCKA ANDERSON

Finding Hope

Cancer survivor opens up about her holistic approaches to cancer

By MADISON LAWSON |

Photo archived by THE EAST CAROLINIAN

As the sun sets on Greenville, Village Point Market closes its doors for the day. Ginger Timms, the store’s co-owner, is inside, performing her routine closing duties with a joyful smile.

Customers often comment on how Timms seems to radiate a genuine eagerness for life and there is a good reason why her energy is as genuine as it seems. In October 2016, Timms was diagnosed with early stage-four peritoneal carcinomatosis. At the time, she was just given weeks to live.

“...Stage four peritoneal carcinomatosis, ... is a metastasized cancer in the peritoneal cavity that holds all of the organs together,” Timms said. “It’s always a shock. Usually you go into this denial thing, and then there’s more shock and then you really don’t know what to say for the longest time. You try to keep everyone calm, but you’re just so torn up inside because you’re so scared.”

According to the International Journal of Surgical Oncology, gastric cancer is the fourth most common cancer and 53-60 percent of patients die within one to three months after diagnosis. The scholarly journal’s website said all studies pertaining to this type of cancer agree to the necessity of cytoreductive treatments such as radiation and surgery to minimizing the tumors.

In November 2016, doctors performed a hysterectomy on Timms to remove a tumor on her ovaries and discovered she had low-grade serous. A serous is a subtype of cancer that is chemotherapy resistant. Due to this unfortunate discovery, her doctors predicted she would only have 8 to 24 weeks left to live.

As the days ticked away, Timms, her mother and husband went into overdrive looking for alternative medicines and ways to slow the progression of the cancer. With hope fading, Timms said she prayed to God for an answer.

While researching her condition on the internet, the term “apoptosis” appeared. NCBI.org describes apoptosis as programmed intracellular death— when cells are not needed they die and vice versa.

According to Timms and her research, bad cells such as bacteria and cancer thrive in very acidic environments. The food she was eating contained high salts and sugars, which she said made her body the optimal environment for cancer growth.

“My theory was, ‘Well, if we starve these little cells to death and they don’t have anything to eat, they might go away’,” Timms said. “As simple as that sounds, it seems to me that that is what has happened.”

Timms immediately set forth to test this theory by changing her diet and cutting out all the foods she loved to eat such as cajun fries, wine and cheese. While the market she owns is known for its healthy, low sodium meals, Timms said she often reached for box meals at night because it was easy and convenient.

However with this drastic dietary change, Timms said she was able to suppress all tumor activity and subsequent blood tests would seem to support her theory.

On the day of her hysterectomy, Timms was given a cancer antigen test called the CA 125 which, according to MedicineNet. com, tests for a protein in the blood that is a so-called biomarker for tumors. A normal range for this test is said to be anywhere from 0-38, and on the day of her surgery, Timms’ CA 125 read at 1,025.

“After I changed my diet and went back to the doctors, they watched my numbers dwindle and were shocked beyond belief. They were excited for me and wanted me to continue doing what I was doing,” Timms said. “By February, just three months after my surgery, my number was at 38, by July it was 29 and by September I was down to 24. This is with no chemotherapy or medications, just a simple change in what I ate.”

In her research, Timms discovered that eating foods such as dairy, high salt, high sugar, soy, processed meats, including most pork and beef, alcohol and fried foods created the acidic environment in the body. Now, Timms says she follows a healthy diet that consists of all fresh, natural foods that make her body more alkaline.

“I laugh because people always say to me, ‘Well, what do you eat?’ I eat a lot of things,” Timms said. “My diet now consists of a lot of fish, chicken, turkey, avocados, walnuts, spinach, almond cashew milk, alkaline water, salad and fruit. I had a customer ask me once what the hardest thing to give up was...and I told them life.”

With the rise of boxed meals and artificial preservatives such as sodium in today’s foods, Timms said she is convinced it wreaks havoc on the body. Dr. Richard Baybutt, chair and professor of East Carolina University’s Department of Nutrition Sciences, said one of the biggest culprits in a person’s diet is sodium.

“In some people (sodium) could increase their risk of hypertension,” Baybutt said. “Carcinogens, those things that cause cancer, are co-transported with sodium and therefore, if you have a high sodium diet, you increase or facilitate the uptake of these cancer causing compounds. A low sodium diet would make it more difficult.”

Baybutt said he has witnessed this in Asian cultures, where some consume upward of 20 grams of sodium a day, four times the recommended daily amount of 5 grams. He said these cultures that consume a lot of sodium also report the highest incidents of stomach cancer. While some foods are bad for you, Baybutt said people should not begin fearing everything they eat.

“There are specific foods that will increase your risk of cancer, and there are also foods that will decrease your risk of cancer,” Baybutt said. “Cruciferous vegetables are ones that will improve the metabolism of any potential toxins and will render the toxins less toxic by the enzyme system that’s promoted by consuming vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale.”

Baybutt added berries and ingredients in the onion family such as leeks and garlic are rich with antioxidants and inhibit tumor growth. He said if people retrain their brains and form new healthy habits, they can prevent chronic illnesses before they start to arise.

“The body has an amazing ability of handling acute stress and when we consume large amounts of bad food we can handle it often times,” Baybutt said. “The problem is, it’s the chronic effects that will destroy us, it’s a continuous habit of the things that aren’t good for us that will catch up. We usually respond to

acute events, like if we eat something and we get a rash, we stop. But we don’t see the atherosclerosis on our blood vessels, and we think everything’s fine and we continue to do what we’re doing.”

After changing her diet, Timms said she has noticed nothing but positive internal and external effects.

“It’s interesting because I always thought I was tired in the past, but in reality my body was tired of working more than it needed to,” Timms said. “What I put in my body now, I actually feel like I’m fueling myself— I feel more energized. I lost 30 pounds, my skin is clearer and my nails and hair grow like crazy. My body has taken itself and repaired all the little issues we were having.”

Although to Timms, her story felt like a miracle from Heaven, she was surprised to discover that other residents in the Greenville community have also experienced a similar scenario.

“When I told the doctors that were treating me I was going a different route with mistletoe therapy, they looked at me like a deer in headlights,” Charles said. “These are people that are trained and deal with cancer every single day of their life. There is something out there that can really help people and they know nothing about it.”

Inspired by his medical experience in Colorado, Charles said he is raising money for Believebig.org, a non-profit out of Baltimore, Maryland. The website, which strives to bridge the gap between conventional and complementary medicine, was created by cancer survivor Ivelisse Page, who said she is still alive today thanks to mistletoe.

“They’re running clinical trials on mistletoe at Johns Hopkins Hospital,” Charles said. “It will take millions of dollars, but hopefully one day more people will know about it.”

Having been spared twice before in her youth from other life threatening events, and now a third time just last year, Timms said she wakes up everyday with a smile on her face knowing her mentality makes all the difference.

“I think when you’re told you only have a short amount of time left, you start to think about all the things you should have said, all the things you wish you had given to people,” Timms said. “I kept thinking about what was I put here to do. Attitude has a lot to do with everything, and I wake up every day now and I am so excited because I’m still here.”

Timms said she tries to make each day a great day, not only for herself but for those around her.

“I smile, give hugs, hold hands, do something to pay back the gift God gave me for still being here,” Timms said.

To people going through any life changing event, Timms said to never give up. If it wasn’t for the hope and dedication she and her family had throughout the diagnosis and surgery, she said she wouldn’t still be here.

“The main thing I would insist on is hope— that is the hardest thing to put in a bottle or prescribe,” Timms said. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for that staff to give me the bad news, especially when the bad news is death, but some things are not always as they seem. If there isn’t a way out of it, spend those days and those hours the best you can. Forgive the past, forgive all the things that didn’t go right and start on a clean slate. Most importantly, have a happy rest of your existence... whether it’s 30 seconds or 30 years.”

“ “

—Ginger Timms

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) Program

The DrPH is the terminal professional degree for individuals who intend to pursue careers in public health, evidence-based leadership and/or practice-based research. The goal of the DrPH program at ECU is to expand capacity for the advancement of public health leadership with a focus on rural, underserved and multi-cultural communities. It aims to train graduates to be transformative future leaders, teachers, innovators and researchers in public health with the ability to create and implement evidence-based public health programs.

Program Concentrations

The DrPH program at ECU consists of two concentrations: Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH), and Health Policy, Administration and Leadership. Health Policy, Administration and Leadership

Environmental and Occupational Health

Sample Courses:

• Environmental & Occupational Exposure Assessment

• ssues and Case Studies in Occupational Medicine

• Pests and Vector borne Diseases

Admission

Requirements:

• MPH or equivalent degree

• A minimum of 2 years of relevant public health experience

• Prerequisite fundamental courses

• GRE scores within the past 5 years.

• Professional Track Admission (GRE Wavier)

Sample Courses:

• Quality Improvement and Cost Effectiveness

• Strategic Planning Theory and Practice

• Human Resources, Management & Leadership

• Health Information Systems

Application Process and Deadline

Potential DrPH candidates should apply on-line through the ECU Graduate School at http://www.ecu.edu/ gradschool/

STUDENT HOUSING INFLATION

Construction of more apartments leads to more vacancy

By MATTHEW PRENSKY |

The oversaturation of student housing around Greenville, driven by the growth of East Carolina University and Pitt Community College, has led to a split on the city council of how to address the problem.

ECU has been at the center of Greenville since 1909, when it first opened as the East Carolina Teachers Training School, according to the North Carolina History Project, which is a part of the John Locke Foundation, a non-partisan think tank.

Now more than a hundred years later, ECU’s central location in Greenville is affecting the student housing market. In a recent analysis performed by Jessica Rossi, a planner at Kimley Horn, a planning and design consulting group, revealed the city’s supply of student housing is double of what the demand for housing is.

In the analysis, which was presented to the city council on Jan. 8, it said the next 10 years the city’s supply of student housing will increase to 2,586, with 1,930 bedrooms currently under construction and expected to be on the market in the next two years.

“Ultimately what the analysis came down to was we found there to be an excess supply of student housing,” Rossi said.

The 2,586 bedrooms will be added on top of the 720 vacant bedrooms which apartment complexes around Greenville currently have, according to the report.

Rossi’s report expected the demand for student housing in Greenville to be 1,593 in the next 10 years, in correlation to the expected growth of ECU.

Rossi said the university didn’t provide exact numbers on how it wanted to grow, but after getting some feedback, ECU’s planned expansion was a factor in her projections.

SILVER

“What we came up with is pretty consistent with what we heard from. ECU is ultimately showing that enrollment could increase by about 4,000 students through 2027,” Rossi said.

Rossi said her analysis took vacancy rate information from mostly large, professionally run apartment complexes around Greenville. The information revealed an aggregate vacancy rate at these student housing communities of approximately 11.6 percent.

By comparison, Rossi said the market considers about five percent to be a healthy vacancy rate.

However, of the overall aggregate vacancy rate, a majority of the vacancies came from apartment complexes farther than three miles from ECU and mostly from two complexes.

Rossi said in her presentation to the city council, the high vacancy rates at The Bellamy and Paramount 3800, formerly known as Captain’s Quarters, drove up the student housing vacancy rates.

“The vacancy rate at The Bellamy right now is almost 30 percent,” Rossi said. “The vacancy rate at Paramount 3800 is quite a bit higher. They went through a period of bankruptcy and have changed hands. Paramount 3800 has a current vacancy rate of over 21 percent.”

In a subsequent discussion following Rossi’s report, the council became split on how to interpret the report and what it should do with the information.

Photo by PARIS

Kandie Smith, city council member representing District 1, introduced a motion which would ask the city staff to make recommendations to the city council based off of Rossi’s analysis.

One of Smith’s fellow council members, Rick Smiley, who represents District 4 voted for Smith’s motion that ultimately failed to gain support.

“From my standpoint if there is an imbalance in the market, one factor in it may be the conditions of the system that the city has already put in place,” Smiley said in an interview after the council meeting. “I think it would be helpful to look into that and see if some of the things that we are already doing are contributing to the imbalance there is out there.”

Smiley said the city is already an active participant in the land development market and if there is such an imbalance, he believed the city should figure out ways to adapt its policy, if needed.

“What we’ve seen is a datapoint which suggests that there is an imbalance. I don’t know if from that you can lead to any specific conclusion,” Smiley said. “More study is needed. We need to understand it better.”

Greenville Mayor P.J. Connelly didn’t share Smiley’s opinion that the city should take a deeper look at the student housing oversaturation.

“We have checks and balances put in place. I think a lot of the times the government overreaches its role in zoning and planning and I don’t think we as a government have a role in telling people what they can and can’t build,” said Connelly in an interview after the council meeting. “The people who are actually in charge of that are the lenders and developers themselves.”

Connelly wasn’t the only council member to express reservations about intervening in the student housing market or investigating what may be causing such an “imbalance” as Smiley said.

There are many things that came out in the study that peaked my interest.

“ “

Photo PARIS SILVER

- Mayor P.J. Connelly

Along with Litchfield, council members Will Bell, representing District 3, Rose Glover, representing District 2, and Brian Meyerhoeffer, the at-large representative on the council voted against Smith and Smiley’s plan to direct the city staff to make recommendations on Rossi’s analysis.

“Councils change. I think we have a different council with a little bit different mindset as before,” Connelly said. “We took it as educational and I think it was very beneficial. There were things that came out in the study that peaked my interest. Maybe we could have more wisely spent $20,000. I personally think we could have, but it was informational.”

As ECU continues to grow and more students are in need of offcampus housing, Connelly said he believes the student housing market will work itself out.

“We are a college town, but we do have a lot of great amenities here,” Connelly said.

Smiley also said Greenville is larger than just ECU. He added with the hospital, industry and retail, the city attracts interest from around the region.

“ECU is an interval part of Greenville, we are partners in this,” Connelly said. “I don’t think ECU is Greenville or Greenville is ECU. I think you need to look at it as it’s a cohesive relationship where the two of us need to work together.”

In the near future as the city council remains split on how to approach student housing oversaturation, it appears that as Connelly said, ECU’s partnership with Greenville will continue to drive where the student housing market goes.

We are a college town, but we do have a lot of great amenities.

- Mayor P.J. Connelly

leadership

Leading To

Two students tell their stories on leadership

By MELISSA GLEN | Photo by PARIS SILVER

Geoffrey Whitley

East Carolina University might be known as a leadership university by many, but for one student it is known more for its focus on one specific style of leadership -- servant leadership.

“Anybody can be a leader, and anybody can have the technique to lead,” said Geoffrey Whitley, a senior communication and fashion merchandising major. Whitley says a servant leader has the passion to lead.

“LeaderShape really showed me the true leadership I have in my heart,” Whitley said. “Leadership is not just a position you hold in your organization. Leadership could be just going out and picking up a piece of trash to try and clean the streets.”

Whitley said many people associate leadership with someone’s position or status and believe they can’t lead because they are not in an assigned role.

“I think there is a stigma,” said Whitley. “People feel like, ‘well I can’t lead an organization or I can’t do something because I am not the President or the Vice President…’”

Even before going to LeaderShape, Whitley strived to be involved with many different organizations on campus.

Whitley is involved in many organiazations such as Black Student Union, FAME modeling troupe, Student Government Association and ECU Ambassadors.

For Whitley, creating positive change for all types of people is the backbone for everything he does as a leader. He said this desire led him to serve as the prom chair for ECU Ambassador’s annual special population prom for community members with special needs.

Whitley said the prom was not only a rewarding experience to be a part of, but it is also something that is important to him personally.

“It really hit home to me because I had an older brother pass away. He had Down syndrome and he passed away when he was six,” Whitley said. “I never got to meet him, but the way my family talks about him—they say he was such a special person.”

As an African American and member of the LGBTQ community, Whitley said being a minority is something he always considers when pushing to be involved any leadership in an organization. However, he said for him personally, he has never felt as though he has missed out on something at ECU because of who he is.

“...In a minority situation, I do believe minorities sometimes don’t have the same privilege as the majority,” said Whitley.

As a leader, Whitley said he turns to other minorities to make a difference in their communities. This includes anyone who feels as though they are not part of the majority.

“I think I got involved [in leadership] because I wanted to help the minorities, and not only the minorities but also the majorities,” he said. “Because I do believe that even though we might eat at two different restaurants. You might eat at Red Lobster and I might eat at McDonalds, but we all got to eat.”

Mira Sampath

When Mira Sampath first arrived on East Carolina University’s campus, she didn’t know where to start when it came to leadership. But all of that changed when she joined a club during her first semester called Global Brigades.

“I had this very outdated leadership philosophy,” Sampath, a junior neuroscience major, said. “But since the moment I stepped on campus, they [ECU] have really emphasized service and leadership.”

Global Brigades is an organization at ECU that serves to create sustainable health initiatives in other countries. At the time when Sampath attended the interest meeting, the organization was planning a trip to Honduras.

“I had three days to decide if I was going to go to another country,” she said. Sampath ended up signing up and off she went.

Sampath’s role in Honduras was to collect patient data and medical history from members of the community and forward the information to the country’s health department. She said the health department would then use the information to determine which diseases were more likely to spread in the area and needed greater attention.

After returning from Honduras, Sampath’s work did not stop there. To her surprise, she said she was given the position of cultural officer for Global Brigades her sophomore year. The position included designing health education curriculums to take back to the people of Honduras the next summer.

This year, Sampath is the President of Global Brigades and believes students should take advantage of the opportunities to lead and make a difference in the world.

A quote from the television show ‘Sense 8,’ which implies change starts with just one person inspires Sampath in her leadership roles.

“Everyone wants change, but they don't realize that the only way that change is going to happen is if individual people start wanting to do something about it,” she said. “You can sit around waiting for change to happen, or you can take the things that you are passionate about and try to work towards that yourself.”

For Sampath, who is an Indian woman, it is not always easy being both a female and a minority when it comes to leadership.

“I think society kinds of put this expectation on women that they need to be this kind of demure, extremely polite...and I don’t think that is necessarily a good leadership quality to have,” said Sampath.

Finding a proper role model, especially in public figures, is difficult in today’s society, according to Sampath.

“Global brigades board this year is made up entirely women. I think that is a testament...woman can be leaders,” Sampath said.

As part of ECU’s Honors College as well, Sampath has been pushed to grow as a leader just by being in an environment full of other leaders and people who have similar goals.

“I think I’ve learned over the years that we really can have an impact,” Sampath said. We underestimate ourselves as students….but I think we’ve seen that students can have an impact.”

Everyone wants change, but they don’t realize that the only way that change is going to happen is if individual people start wanting to do something about it.

-Mira Sampath

“

For East Carolina University, there is one basketball player who has added another dimension to the Pirate offense. In the last couple of seasons the men’s basketball team has lacked a true three-point weapon, but now redshirt freshman guard Shawn Williams has stepped up and taken the role head on.

Due to NCAA ruling, Williams did not play during the 2016-17 season, but was given the opportunity to practice with the team during the spring semester.

This year, Williams has shown signs of dominance in his playing time given by interim head coach Michael Perry. Williams has scored in double figures in 17 games this season, while averaging 14 points in American Athletic Conference play registering at least 22 points in four of those games. He shot an average of 66 percent from the field (33-for-50) and a three point field goal percentage of 65.7 percent (25-for-38) in those four games. Williams was named AAC Playerof-the-Week four times this season due to his performance.

Williams scored a career-high 30 points on Feb. 3 against the Memphis Tigers on 8-for-13 from the field, 6-for-10 from deep, going 8-for9 from the free throw line as well. On Feb. 14, Williams could not miss scoring 29 points on 9-for-10 from the field and 6-for-6 from deep. Against the University of Connecticut on Feb. 18, Williams scored 26 points on 8-for-15 from the field and 7-for-13 from three. In the 90-52 blowout against the University of South Florida on Jan. 17 Williams surpassed the 20-point mark for the first time by scoring 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting and 6-for-9 from three point range.

“He had to adjust and learn when and when not to take certain shots. He was thinking about quite a bit early on but we anticipated that because it’s a adjustment from high school,” Perry said. “He can shoot the basketball, he can score the basketball in different ways. Outside of that he is very enthusiastic and plays with a smile on his face, which is something i hope will be contagious for the rest of the team.”

Williams, is a known shooter by his teammates, and can get hot to the point where he cannot miss a shot, whether from the three point line or inside the paint. With his energy boost off the bench, the team is able to benefit and get rolling as well.

RISING ALL-STAR

By DANIEL ROBERTS

courtesy of ECU ATHLETICS

At the beginning of Williams’ basketball career, the game was something that meant more to him than what it does to other people. He started playing at a young age, but developed his passion through watching the pros play the game and then shooting the basketball himself.

“Since I was a young boy, like three years old, basketball was something that kept me out of trouble,” Williams said. “My mom would turn on the TV and basketball would be on. I would be quiet, that’s how I knew that I loved the game of basketball.”

Williams played for Prime Prep Academy in Dallas, Texas, and as a sophomore, he played alongside Emmanuel Mudiay who is now the Denver Nuggets’ point guard. Williams learned a lot from him while being his teammate at the time.

Photo

“Mudiay is a close friend, a big brother,” Williams said. “He was teaching me how to stay humble, (how to) stay in the gym. Just watching him everyday, he was the number one point guard in the country. He still worked hard, practiced hard (and) he taught me a lot about being humble.”

After sophomore year, Williams transferred and played for Maumelle High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he had a dominant showing his senior year for the team. Williams averaged 23 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game while leading the team to a 25-5 overall record. In the state championship game, Williams scored 44 points, but it was not enough as his team had a runner-up finish in the Arkansas High School Athletic Association 5A tournament.

While playing as well as he did in high school, the accolades help show what type of player Williams was in high school. Williams was named to the 2016 Arkansas High School Athletic Association 5A Boy’s All-State Team. He was selected to the Arkansas DemocratGazette All-Arkansas Boy’s Prep First-Team and the American Family Insurance All-USA Arkansas boys basketball team.

“It was great, I kind of saw this coming because I had put in so much work and I knew that something good had to come out of this hard work,” Williams said. “Just being able to do that, it was a great experience, and now I am playing well at the college level, it’s what I have been waiting on.”

Williams decided to sign his national letter of intent commit to ECU after seeing what the school and basketball team had to offer. Guard B.J. Tyson had the opportunity to help recruit him and sees the type of teammate and person Williams is on and off the court.

“Williams is a great guy. When we were recruiting him, I was his host. We come from similar backgrounds, Shawn and I,” Tyson said. “I took him under my wing, and I showed him that he had a guy he could trust here and having him beside me on the court is a amazing thing to me. I know stuff that he has been through and it is actually fun for me to see him do the thing he loves when he had to sit out just like the way I did my first year. He is finally showing everyone that he is talented and what he is capable of doing. I’m proud of him for that.”

I took him under my wing, and I showed him that he had a guy he could trust here, and with him beside me on the court that is a amazing thing.

“

-B.J. Tyson

Get for

ECU students have more opportunities to get fit and active

By DANIEL ROBERTS

The summertime is in a couple of months to get that beach body ready whether by losing weight or putting on muscle is by going to the gym regularly and getting a good fitness workout. Although gym memberships and fitness classes can be expensive and even limited, East Carolina University is offering a new alternatives to be more inclusive and accessible for students who want to stay fit and healthy.

The ECU Campus Recreation and Wellness (CRW) is offering opportunities for students to make that happen this semester. These opportunities are offered in the Adventure Leadership program, in Wellness and Fitness along with group fitness classes as well.

One upgrade students can take advantage of that was not offered before is free fitness assessments. With a fitness assessment, your fitness level will be assessed based on your age and gender. The assessment will include testing your blood pressure, body composition, muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular endurance and flexibility. Students will be able to see where they are at physically and will be able to figure out what is best for them whenit comes to achieving their physicality goals.

“We got a new director a couple of years ago, and one thing we are always on board with is trying to make the price for personal training affordable,” Assistant Director of Physical Activity and Wellness Education Suzanne McDonald said. “With the assessments, we want to help students know even though you might not be thinking about your health long-term but kinda getting them in now, saying this is where your fitness levels. Maybe this will get them on the bandwagon saying that maybe they will want to do this and get into personal training, or at least be better educated about themselves.”

Even though, students and faculty are already halfway into the semester, students have had nothing but positive remarks regarding when they took advantage of the free assessments and personal training.

“I am also an RA, and two of my residents came and took the assessment during Martin Luther King Jr. Day and they said they really liked it,” senior Mersaud Naderi said. “The people that helped them were very knowledgeable. They were able to see where they were at, how much fat they were at, which was their favorite part, and they also liked their measurements so they can come back and see if they improved later on.”

Along with personal training, there are group fitness classes available for those who prefer to work out with groups of people who have the same goals. There are four different categories with classes built for students with different physical needs. There are classes focused on strength, mind/body, dance and cardiovascular classes. Within each category, there are classes offered for everybody not just at the Student Recreation Center (SRC), but at the Health Science Campus(HSC) locations as well.

“One of the first things I did when I got here was have a focus group/lunch with the faculty staff and I did a few more with students at the Health Sciences Campus and here at the main campus,” CRW’s coordinator of fitness Courtney Johnson said. “Based off of those [focus groups] a lot of people wanted that to be included in their membership or be free and a lot of people actually did not know about the program so this helps with people who know and they can bring their friends as well because there is no fee.

The Adventure Leadership program is offering different trips ranging from scuba diving to hiking for students to get involved in. Though some students will have to pay for these trips, a few are offered free. There are some new opportunities that are being offered to students.

Skydiving is one activity that started this past semester, but will hopefully add some snow tubing and winter hiking will also be debuted if there is snow next winter. Another thing that will happen for the first time this semester is a mystery trip offered by the Adventure Leadership group.

For the mystery trip, a student would have to pay 10 dollars and will be sent a packing list of what they will need to bring to the trip. Next, they will show up to the SRC according to a certain time, get in the car and go wherever the leadership group takes them. Students will not find out what the trip is until the day comes for the trip.

“This program is designed to provide that outside environment to our students while they are on campus,” assistant director of Adventure Leadership Adrienne Fike said. “We just want to see that students are getting out and having the opportunity to try new things because you may not have the opportunity to go beach camping, you may not have the gear, you might not want to go by yourself, so we just have our goal of getting students outdoors.”

Photos courtesy of ECU CAMPUS RECREATION AND WELLNESS

Just a couple of decades ago, students had to scramble through their notebooks for lecture notes and write down everything to avoid missing any information. If you are old school, you may enjoy studying this way, but sometimes studying just from your written notes or flashcards isn’t enough. Luckily, here are a few apps that will help make your studying time more effective and will help you manage your time.

If you love to study with flashcards, StudyBlue is the best app around. The popular app is known to be the largest crowdsourced library. The app allows you to study anywhere and anytime. Allowing students to copy and paste straight from their notes to flashcards, StudyBlue allows more time to memorize notes instead of typing them out.

If you are the type that is easily distracted, the SelfControl will help you avoid distractions completely. Available as a Mac application, it allows you to block your own access to website like social media that may distract you from your studying. You add sites to your blacklist and set a timer. Once you start the timer, you lose access to those distracting sites for a period of time.

Writing on a paper planner sometimes can become a hassle to carry everywhere, especially if you are a on-the-go college student. MyStudyLife is perfect for students who are always doing something and have to change their schedules. It allows you to keep track of rotation timetables, assignments, revisions and exams, along with task reminders so you don’t forget.

Google Drive has become an essential to many students’ college careers. The platform itself is known to have the ability to allow students to work on documents, spreadsheets and build presentations. With the ability to share files trhough the web, the drive is also a great tool to use when you are working on group projects. Google Drive provides a mobile version which is great for taking notes or referring to your notes when a computer isn’t available.

Mind mapping is known as one of the best methods to take many notes or your thoughts and put it into a visually-organized diagram. It can be used for pretty much any task from career planning to studying complex subjects. The XMind application is a crossplatform app to help you de-clutter your thoughts or notes into an in-depth heirarchical diagram. For those trying to organize those complex thoughts or notes, XMind is the one of the most useful applications out there.

Evernote is a note-taking app that takes away the hassle of taking notes and keeps them organized across all your devices. In the app, you can put your notes in different notebooks and make to-do list that provide the virtual satisfaction of crossing the task off the list when you complete it. Not only you can type out notes through the app, but you can add images, web-page clippings, videos and audio recordings.

FROM TO

Q&A with public relations professional and ECU alumna Miller Orians

By VICTORIA SCHULE |

Photos courtesy of MILLER ORIANS

Miller Orians is a junior publicist for J Public Relations, a topranked PR agency specilizing in travel and lifestyle brands. Orians, who graduated in May 2015 at East Carolina University with a Bachelor of Science in Communication, answers a Q&A about her career, time at ECU and her transition from student to a PR pro.

Why did you choose to go to ECU?

I chose to attend my hometown university because I enjoyed the atmosphere surrounding the college. On Saturday’s growing up in Greenville, I could be found at the stadium watching the Pirates play, plus I knew the town like the back of my hand which came to an advantage. The town seemed to be small enough to know everyone but was big enough to meet new people if you got out there. Narrowing it down to where I wanted to go came easily, based on the academics, environment and campus structure where classes and the buildings were compared to others, it just felt like home.

What is one of your fondest memories at ECU?

My fondest memory of being at ECU was the people. I loved being surrounded by peers and teachers who held you accountable for your goals and friends who were always looking to get into some fun. I discovered my strengths as I challenged myself and formed life-long bonds that I am so thankful for.

In what way has your time at ECU prepared you for your career?

ECU prepared me for my career in four years by allowing me to have experiences and opportunities that gave me a taste of just what the real world was really like. Each semester, even summers, I threw myself into a part-time job or internship to help me decide if I not only liked this career path, but what I would actually be doing when I graduated. Each position I committed to was very different, from sports marketing in radio to creating buzz and event planning for spring breakers. Every opportunity showed me something new — whether it was a skill I picked up quickly on or a task I was extra passionate about. I loved having an advisor that was so easily approachable to discuss an internship or point me in the right direction when signing up for classes. They really took the time to get to know me and my interests that guided me along the way.

What has been the most interesting or exciting experience in your career so far?

Where do I start? It’s hard to put my finger on one experience for me at J Public Relations that has gotten me the most excited. As employees, we’re constantly presented with opportunities to grow and chances to explore the world from a professional standpoint. A couple [of experiences] that come top of mind would be a press trip to our two luxury sister resorts in Turks & Caicos last fall and then coming this winter, I will be traveling to hang with our West Coast teams for an office swap. It’s most interesting to me that no two days are the same... I love that clients keep us on our toes and pitch projects in the travel industry, which can vary from just the hotel’s destination to the property’s wellness pop-ups or fashion partners. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to work for a company like J Public Relations - the type of work we do, the culture that runs deeps through every office and the well-balanced leaders that guide us make the office a home base, not just a job. Not to mention, I get to work alongside two successful ECU alumus and JPR’s founders, Sarah Evans and Jamie Sigler, who truly pave the way and are forces to be reckoned with in the world of PR.

How was the transition from being a student to professional was for you once you graduated? What about your transition from NC to NYC?

The transition from being a student to working a 8-5, was different but in a good way and luckily came easily. Just because I wasn’t taking classes anymore, definitely didn’t mean I wasn’t still learning. I enjoyed establishing a daily routine and found myself feeling powerful of being able to take ownership of my career and be confident in my skills and ability in the workplace. Moving from North Carolina to Manhattan came with a lot of changes for the first couple of months… other days, it felt like I’ve been here forever. I found a sub leaser, packed my bags and booked a one -way flight. It was honestly exhilarating

but nerve-racking all at the same time. The feeling of just “chasing” your dreams doesn’t compare to when you actually get the chance to live them.

Did you know on graduation day this was the career route you would take?

Absolutely! After graduation, I took a two week trip out west and came back super excited to kick start my career. I had a job lined up at a PR agency in Raleigh, NC and jumped right into the industry with still so much to learn.

As a working professional, how important is networking to you and why?

Networking is key. As an essential dayto-day part of my career, I get excited when I meet someone new and appreciate when a connection leads to a successful accomplishment. Right off the bat, I learned it wasn’t about the grades I made but more about the relationships I had created and kept throughout the years. When applying for jobs, I immediately began discussing the people I learned from, experiences I had under my belt and what I was able to bring to the table from each of them — then directing potential employers to references from past jobs and internships who could speak on my behalf of my willingness to learn and creativity in the industry. I believe being well connected, especially with brands, trends and companies you love, will take you far... further than successful test scores.

What advice you may have for students who plan on going into their respective professional careers or plan on taking a similar career route as yours?

Take in all the experience you can while as a student! Get yourself out there and network! These days, it’s not enough to keep your head down and produce A-plus work without collaborating, being vocal about your interests and expressing your goals.

In today’s society, technology has changed drastically, but the transition into the digital world has also led to another change–a difference in the way some college students find relationships.

With the rapid growth of dating applications, many question whether or not that this development has led to what some refer to as a “hook-up culture.”

According to the American Psychological Association, hookup culture is defined as brief, uncommitted sexual encounters between individuals who are not romantic partners or dating each other.

“In the past, people would meet through friends or at church,” said David Knox, a courtship and marriage professor at East Carolina University. “All that has been replaced now by technology, the Internet [and] Tinder.”

During his time as a professor at ECU, Knox has surveyed more than 10,000 students. According to Knox’s survey, 35 percent of males reported hooking up with someone they just met, as opposed to just 23 percent when it comes to females.

While hook-up culture is definitely alive in Knox’s opinion, he said most students in college are actually looking for a relationship.

“College students, as a group, prefer relationships,” Knox said. It isn’t what young adults want that has changed, but the methods to get what they want has. Knox said most people are used to having sex after entering a relationship, but now it appears that the tables have turned.

According to Knox, one third out of a 5,500 people on Match.

Defining Dating Culture

By MELISSA GLEN | Photos by PARIS SILVER

com said they have sex with somebody before deciding whether or not to continue in a relationship with that person. He said one reason for this change is due to the freedoms that comes with being in college.

“When you are in high school, you are still under the control of your parents. When you are in college, your social controls are gone,” Knox said. “You mix alcohol with somebody of the opposite sex, take your parents out of the equation, you are going to have a sex-driven interaction.”

While this view on sex and relationships is common in the beginning of one’s college experience, Knox said many students start to gain a different perspective after having casual relationships for a while.

Knox said most young adults should refrain from jumping into sexual relations with someone too soon if they are looking for a relationship. In his research, he found that 75 percent of all interactions that start with sex do not become relationships.

“It’s okay to go out, it’s okay to flirt, it’s okay to touch, it’s okay to kiss,” he said. When mentioning about hookups Knox says, “... The probability is high [that] the guy is not going to call back. It isn’t going anywhere,”

ECU graduate student Amy Lee said she found her current relationship through a dating application. For Lee, having sex before establishing a relationship was never part of the plan, but she said it just kind of happened.

Along with Lee, junior biology major John Winn has also turned to a dating app to find someone. However, he said when getting on these apps, one cannot take them so seriously.

“Tinder is a great way to meet people,” Winn said. “But you

have to treat it like it’s one big joke, so you can chill out and have a good time with people.”

Senior communication major Haley Kane said she has been in a serious relationship for four years now with the same person. Kane and her boyfriend met in a mutual class they had together in high school.

Kane said she is not against people looking to the the internet or dating apps for a relationships, but she could never see herself meeting someone that way.

“I can’t imagine dating someone I wasn’t already friends with and that’s kind of hard to accomplish with online dating,” Kane said. “It’s hard to imagine other people doing it... like how is it not awkward.”

Kane said for her, friendship is the essential ingredient to any well-developed relationship.

“It’s smoother and you really get to know someone before you get romantic,” she said. “Friendship is almost kind of like testing the waters, but it is still fulfilling on its own if it never turns into something like that.”

While finding someone without the help of technology may be ideal for most people, including Lee, she said it is not always realistic to expect to find a relationship so easily.

“For somebody who does not have a lot of experience with dating that (dating apps) may be their way of warming up to dating,” she said.

Knox said in a world of dating apps, there are both positive and negative sides to using these applications.

“The positive is that tinder provides a quick way to meet people,” Knox said. “The negative is that it is physically focused. If they like your looks and they want to see you, they are going to swipe right, but if they don’t like you, then you go left.”

Even though many students may be okay with hooking up, Knox said females are typically viewed differently than males if they decide to casually have sex in college.

“There’s a double standard in hooking up. A guy hooks up and he’s Mr. Super Stud,” Knox said. “Women do it, you know words are slut, whore, how can you do that don’t you have respect for yourself.”

For people who are looking for a committed relationship, Knox said there are several ideas to keep in mind to ensure a stable and happy relationships for both parties.

Knox said there tends to be less focus on building an emotional connection and more focus on the physical side of the bond

“An unhealthy relationship is exploitive,” he said. “The guy sees the woman as body parts only. He has sex with her, he dumps her, that’s a relationship from nowhere.”

Knox said in an unhealthy relationship, there tends to be less of a focus on building an emotional connection and more on just the physical side of the bond.

“A healthy relationship is one which the people have taken time to develop, understanding each other, so that they know each other’s values and preferences, and they enjoy being together,” Knox said. ”They are respectful of each other’s preferences and needs, and they look out for each other.”

Photos by PARIS SILVER

House, or Dorm?

An inside take on choosing the right living space

By SAMANTHA SMITH

The Dorm Life

It is drop-off day and unless you are one of the fortunate freshmen that somewhat knows your roommate, you’ve got to get out of that 14x10 cell that you get to call home for the next two semesters along with making time to make some friends.

When you come on to the college scene as a freshman, you don’t have many housing options to choose from and usually the only option is to make the best of your dorm experience.

Being a junior, reminiscing on my freshman experience makes me laugh. To this day, my best friend is a girl from Delaware that lived across the hall from me freshman year who I met on move-in day. A stranger at the time, she popped her head in my room and asked if I wanted to go to a pool party with other girls down the hall. Since then, we’ve been best friends.

To me, dorms are the best place to make friendships but on the other hand, it is one the worst places to get sick.

“Second semester my freshman year, I was so sick and the last thing I wanted at that time was to share a tiny room with someone,” said Junior Joe Gisler. “I have lived in a dorm, apartment, and a house but prefer to live in a house because you have more freedom. Your neighbors don’t share a wall with you and you have available parking for guests.”

Even though dorms aren’t the best place to get sick, living right next to a 24-hour buffet is pretty awesome. The Freshman 15 is a real thing; Freshman 30 for some. I feel the progression of the housing, from a dorm to an apartment/house, for people is an interesting argument to my belief that: each year in college you change. Meeting someone in college as a freshman becomes awful when you get asked the question, “What year are you?” You immediately feel inadequate after passively answering, “freshman.” Or even worse, having to answer to “do you want to hangout?” and having the dreaded response of “we can hang out in my dorm.”

Freedom in an Apartment

Freshmen, Taylor Riley and Ella Gilliam, have cheated the freshman experience by spending everyday at Taylor’s sister’s house, located on the grid.

“Why would I stay in my dorm if I don’t have to?” said Gilliam who would escape regularly off campus to get away from the dorm life.

When I stepped on campus as a sophomore I felt like ECU was my home. Before, I lived in a sea of people and was one of the newbies on campus and even better, I changed to an apartment. I found more perks to living off-campus in an apartment

versus on-campus as well. A lot of awesome things come from apartments; they have cool utilities if you actually use the pool, workout room and tanning said Gilliam.

“I lived at Copper Beech my sophomore year which had its pros and cons. I really enjoyed the amenities that were included. The apartment was large and rent was cheap,” said Junior Jessica Riley. “I [really]... hate the bus. I love ECU for their attempt to save my gas money, but I missed the bus almost every day because it is correlated to an online app that will suddenly change sometimes, giving you either 15 seconds to run and catch the bus or be at the stop waiting for an additional 15 minutes when I could have been eating Ramen.”

“Accommodations to this annoyance have been made by the city of Greenville by putting apartments up near campus so walking to class is possible,”said sophomore Hannah Joyce. “Like everything in life, leisure comes at a high price. I live at The Boundary and it is expensive to live downtown. You can walk to class and the bars but you can hear sirens and people talking outside [and] the walls are so thin. I want to live in a house next year.”

Going on the Grid

As the four short years of college pass by, you find out who your real friends are. By junior year, you typically know who your friends are and the chance to live with your closest friends in a little house on campus is a great way to share some of the best memories in college.

Living in a house on the grid this year has been amazing, which is why I am renewing the lease. The grid has been known as the neighborhood where many ECU students call home. It has also been known as an unique experience for students too.

Shaded areas represent neighborhoods that are populated with college students off campus. Gold placemarks show where apartments are located. Shaded areas and placemarks are accurate but may leave out other areas/places.

For junior neuroscience major Nimisha Merchant, the grid has been a positive experience compared to other places to live.

“I feel like I’m a part of everything on campus and I feel like I’m more involved even though nothings changed,” said Merchant. “When I lived at The Bellamy, I just felt so far and isolated from ECU and it honestly made me a bit sad, but living on the grid in the best thing ever and I love my house.”

Houses are typically rented by students and are affordable. The prices change based on location to campus and their size as well so you have more to choose from.

“You don’t have neighbors that are super close to you in proximity that get mad at you if you’re too loud so that’s really nice! You don’t hear footsteps above you that’s also nice,” said Merchant.

Can’t afford a house on Fifth St. right next to campus? Go a couple of streets back to Second or First St. which is only an eight minutes walk to campus where you will be surrounded by neighbors your age, close access the greenway park, more space and where most pet-owners live; possibly the greatest benefit of living in a house.

Signs

Can we guess what program you’re in at ECU based on your zodiac sign?

REBECCA SEFTER | Illustrations by BRENNA TOWNSEND

Aquarius Jan. 20 - Feb 18

Aquarius - English

- Social - Educ

As aquarius-born are highly imaginative, they often pursue jobs in nontraditional environments They are passionate about helping others and are very creative in their work and studies A few degrees that they often decide to pursue are education, social work and english.

As aquarius-born a sue jobs in nontraditional others, and are very they often decide

22 the signs, Leos often choose to pursue a visual arts Passionate about showcasing ting in programs that give recognition to ed to their relationships with others, and environment.

Pisces Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

Pis - Music

- Social

- Visual Arts

Passionate about seeking out beauty in the world around them, a pisces often chooses a career involving music, visual arts or social work They are often full of emotion, and choose a workplace in which they can express themselves or help others in need.

t. 22 dedicated members of their respective them apart from other signs is their strong sense

Passion them, a pisces or social work orkplace in which they can express themsel need.

Aries Mar. 21 - Apr. 19

Aries Ma

- Busine

- Criminal Ju

- Political Scien

e emotionally attached to their work.

Oct. 22

business, criminal justice and political science programs An Aries thrives in a working environment, and is often passionate about his or her work Aries-born are not afraid to take risks in their business ventures, and are willing to take the lead on projects or assignments

An Aries thrives in a working or her work Aries-born a es, and are willing to take the lead

business

Taurus Apr. 20 - May 20

ed to truth and transparency They will thrive criminal justice or journalism, due to their desire to provide justice and candor in their communities They are not ying what they are doing.

Taurus Ap

- Economics

- Engineering

- Compu

23 - Nov. 21

Hardworking and determined, the Taurus would do well in the are not afraid to work hard and perform mundane tasks, as long as there

Hardworking and

are not af as long as there

Gemini May 21 - June 20

orking of the signs, Scorpios often choose to biology and criminal justice Typically, they choose careers that are research-based as they seek satisfaction in problemt have not yet been discovered.

Gemini M

- Communic

- The - Hospitali

- Hospitality Management

Geminis thrive in social environments, and often choose a career that eagerness to be social, the school of communication, department of hospitality management or school of theatre and dance may be a good

Geminis that eagerne of hospitali good

- Dec. 21 workplaces They enjoy conducting ronments, and are always eager to y majoring in anthropology, international

Cancer June 21 - July 22

Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan, 19

Canc - Psychology

- Social

- Educ

In terms of their careers, Cancers are often passionate about the work that they do Filled with empathy and understanding, majors such as psychology, education and social work satisfy their need to connect with others on an emotional level They are not afraid to work long hours, and are dedicated to making and saving money

work long hours, capricorns often choose ter science and accounting They are en if their ventures involve long hours and ellent with numbers and statistics and are

In terms of e about the work that they majors such as psycholog to connect with others on ork long hours, and are dedic ving money

Leo July 23 - Aug. 22

Leo July 23

- Music

- Music

- Theatre

- Theatre

- Art & Design

- Art & Design

Among the most artistic of the signs, Leos often choose to pursue a career in the performing and visual arts Passionate about showcasing their talent, they enjoy participating in programs that give recognition to their work Leos are also dedicated to their relationships with others and often enjoy a close-knit workplace environment.

Among the mo choose to pursue a career in the per te about showcasing their talent, that give recognition to their work L tionships with others, and often enjoy a close-knit workplace environment.

Virgo Aug. 23 - Sept. 22

Virgo Aug

- Health Science

- Health Scien

- Elementary Education

- Elementary

- Psychology

- Psychology

Like many of the signs, Virgos are dedicated members of their respective workplaces What sets them apart from other signs is their strong sense consist of employees who are emotionally attached to their work.

Like many of the signs ed members of their respective workplaces Wha other signs is their strong sense consist of employees who are emotionally attached to their work.

Libra Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

Libra Se

- Political Science

- Political Scien

- Criminal Justice

- Criminal Ju

- Journalism

- Journalism

Above all, Libras are dedicated to truth and transparency They will thrive as majors in political science, criminal justice or journalism, due to their desire to provide justice and candor in their communities They are not in their position and enjoying what they are doing.

Above all, ansparency They will thrive as majors in political scien or journalism, due to their desire to p ommunities They are not in their position and doing.

Scorpio Oct. 23 - Nov. 21

Scorpio

- Engineering

- Engineering

- Criminal Justice

- Criminal Ju

- Biology

- Biology

One of the most hardworking of the signs, Scorpios often choose to major in engineering, biology and criminal justice Typically, they choose careers that are research-based, as they seek satisfaction in problemsolving and uncovering truths that have not yet been discovered.

One of the mo orpios often choose to major in engineering Typically, they choose careers th sfaction in problemsolving and un t been discovered.

Sagittarius Nov. 22 - Dec. 21

Sagittarius N

- International Studies

- Intern

- Anthroplogy

- Anth

- Sociology

- Sociology

Sagittarius-born thrive in atypical workplaces They enjoy conducting research on new cultures and environments, and are always eager to travel A sagittarius would enjoy majoring in anthropology, international studies or sociology

Sagittarius-born enjoy conducting research e always eager to travel A sagi opology, international studies

Capricorn Dec. 22 - Jan, 19

Capricorn Dec 19

- Economics

- Economics

- Computer Science

- Comput

- Accounting

- Accounting

Independent and willing to work long hours, capricorns often choose careers in economics, computer science and accounting They are dedicated to their work, even if their ventures involve long hours and tedious tasks They are excellent with numbers and statistics and are practical thinkers.

Independent and s, capricorns often choose careers in economics e and accounting They are dedicated to res involve long hours and tedious tasks with numbers and statistics and are practical thinkers.