Black Friday Doesn't Offer Much Change

The crowds were just as big this year, surprising store owners everywhere. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, and is one of the biggest shopping days of the year, marking the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

Today’s Economy Means Smarter Shopping

With the nation’s economy suffering, most store employees and owners expected the worst for their stores. Tiffany Holyfield, an employee for Target in Winston-Salem, says, “I honestly expected a regular Friday at work.”

Stores were shocked by the turnout. Holyfield states, “I’ve never worked on Black Friday before, but I can’t imagine it could get much crazier than this.”

Shoppers still showed, but what they bought may be a surprise. Although splurges on computers, televisions, and other electronics still ranked at the top of some people’s lists, others decided to take the opportunity to stock on necessities. Some of the top things Holyfield said she saw coming through her register lane were kitchen supplies, toiletries, towels, and clothing.

Shoppers are being smarter about where their money is spent, showing some things may just be more important than holiday spending. Most Black Friday shoppers said they just had one or two things in mind to buy, rather than browsing for more deals and spending too frivolously.

Shopping Turned Violent

If shopping is a sport, then some people should be kicked out of the game. Some people don’t dare to face the Black Friday madness. Shopping cart brawls and wrestling in the aisles of stores are classic ways to poke fun at Black Friday, but some happen to be truer than others.

This year, a Wal-Mart employee in New York was trampled to death by a chaotic, sale-eager crowd Friday morning. The rush of shoppers also injured three others. In California, two men shot and killed each other in a crowded Toys R Us store.

Alternatives to the Crowd

If Black Friday isn’t your thing, don’t worry. Not everyone has the time, patience, or mindset to camp out in front of stores on Thanksgiving or wake up before dawn the next day. The crowds can get overwhelming and dangerous, but there are alternative ways to save.

Thomas Bridges, a student and part-time worker, still had work Friday morning, so couldn’t spend the day shopping. Still wanting deals, he decided to take advantage of online deals. “I scoped out what I wanted a few days ago, then after work, I plan on sitting down for just five minutes and getting it all done at once,” he says, “…no crazy lines, no competition for what I want, and no other distracting sales.”

Most stores have the some of the same bargains online. Another option for online shoppers is to wait for Cyber Monday, the Monday following Thanksgiving, which is the unofficial kick-off to the online Christmas shopping season.

For more information on Black Friday this year, visit:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/11/29/20081129biz-blackfriday1129.html

http://www.mlive.com/chronicle/news/index.ssf/2008/11/economy_brings_out_deal_seekers_on_black_friday.html

And be sure to check out the upcoming Cyber Monday deals!

The Improvement of the Extra Card

High Point University has many improvements that have been added by new president Nido Qubein. One of these improvements is the High Point University Extra Card. This is an account on the student card which holds money that can be added by credit card through the students online MyStuff account. The HPU Extra account was created to help students pay for items that are not included in the regular dining plan. With the expansion of the school, new venues were added for the students. These included vending machines, a Convenient store, and restaurants on campus. The Extra card would allow students to use the money on the account purchase these items. Also, off campus venues were acquired by the school to be HPU Extra card accessible.

The expansion of the venues that are accepting of this account have increased every year. My first year here at High Point University the only available venues were the on campus ones and three off campus. Barberitos, Jersey Mikes, and Dominos were the only three off campus establishments that accepted the credit card like account. Over the past two years the venues have tripled leaving students very satisfied with the newly acquired.


Senior Mike Nelson states "Since my freshmen year, the HPU Extra card has grown tremendously. It was been awesome because the school was able to get a lot of the most popular restaurants around town to be Extra card accessible." Newly added Carolina Diner, Sonic, and East Coast Wings and Grill have been student favorites.


The University does not play to stop there. They are just beginning to tap into the food court at the local mall, Oak Hallow Mall. This would be another huge step because this is where a lot student do there shopping. it would be convenient for students to be able to use their Extra card at any one of the venues in the food court. "Oh my God, this would be amazing because I'm tired of having to spend more cash at the food court every time I go shopping. It would be so much easier to separate the shopping money with the food money," says Junior Christina Ferraiolo.

Shuttles are an Extraordinary disappointment

With the addition of the brand new dorm buildings, The Village 1 and 2, High Point University had to help students travel back and forth to main campus for classes every day. The school took the extraordinary approach and decided to invest in several small shuttle busses and one retro looking old time trolley to make living slightly off campus easier. Within the first few hours of the shuttles running, the students realizes that these shuttles were about as far away from extraordinary as could be.

Students began to question why the school could not keep the shuttles on the ‘every 15 minute’ arrival at every stop. Within the first two weeks of classes, the school decided to scratch out the time interval on each and every shuttle stop sign, leaving the students to have no idea what the shuttle schedule was. If there is not designated time of stops at the Village to main campus, then how will students be able to make sure they are able to arrive at class on time? Village 2 resident sophomore Ryan McCarthy states that the shuttles are “Useless, irresponsible and the people who work in the office don’t care what you say. They sat it’s on route even if you see if parked.” Village 1 resident sophomore Joseph Boyle says they are “Dirty buses, overcrowded, rude drivers who drive to slow and there are not enough shuttles.”

It seems that after enough students started to complain about the shuttle, the parents counsel began to ask questions. Nido Qubein and the rest of his high ranking staff began to scramble to answer all of the questions and find solutions to all the problems. After about 2 months, the school decided to change the location of shuttle stops to make them more user friendly for students by adding temporary awnings until they finish building permanent ones to protect students from the weather elements.

These improvements are a step in the right direction, however there is still much room for improvement. To this day, there is still not a definite time that any of the shuttles will arrive at any given location, nor how long it will take to travel from point a to point b. As students more forward and look ahead to next semester, they can only hope that travel between The Village 1 and 2 and Main Campus will become a more scheduled event and will lead to less late arrivals and less headaches.

Problems on Campus

As the student body at High Point University continues to expand, the campus itself has had to adapt to the increasing amount of people that call it home. For the most part students are thrilled with all that HPU has to offer. Whether it be the amazing dorm rooms, the new student center or the snacks offered to students on their way to class, the university does what it can to make sure it's students are happy. However there are some aspects of our university that are leaving students more than disgruntled.

Parking

One of the main problems that people seem to be facing, including myself, is the lack of parking around campus and the abundance of tickets that students are receiving. With all of the new bulidings that have recently been consrtucted there is not enough parking around campus to accomodate all of the students who drive to class. Numerous times I have had to park on the complete opposite side of campus causing me to be late to class. On some occassions there are open spaces or areas you can fit your car into but this almost always leads to a ticket that can cost up to forty dollars.

"The lack of parking around campus is rediculous. I have had over four-hundred dollars in parking tickets this semester alone because I have to park illegally," says Kyle Beck a junior at HPU. I know that I can not afford these tickets and something needs to be done in order to save students cash. I was declined for an interview with the head of security but I can guess that the school is making a large amount of money by charging students the minimum of twenty dollars per ticket.

Construction

The parking problem is not the only one that students are facing. The amount of construction around campus is a constant hassel for all students. Whether it be the noise, the problems with driving around the workers who are always blocking road or the surley workers themselves, everyone is ready for the construction to just be done with. Sophmore Britney Dimon says, "I live in the sorority dorm buliding Millis and I am woken up by the sounds of construction everyday. I know that there is nothing we can do about it but it is just annoying." She is right because there is nothing that can be done about it but we can all agree no one is happy about it.

The Voice of the Students

So what is to be done about these problems? Well no one can change the fact that construction is annoying and thats a fact. However I do feel that something can be done about the number of tickets being written to students. We need to increase the amount of parking lot and turn reserved spaces into sutdent parking. I also feel that twenty dollar tickets are very over priced and are only this high as a scam to make the university money. I know i am upset over these problems and I also know that the students feel share my feelings.

Inspiration Comes Through on Thanksgiving Event

Nicholas Marks taps his fingers on the guitar to warm up. The A Cappella brothers sing a little hum to vocalize their voices. Joan Brock sits patiently upon her stool, listening to her own heart beat. Lights come on, Assistant Vice President of Community Relations Chris Dudley speaks, and Nicholas Marks is the first to walk out on stage.

He taps his fingers lightly upon the strings, strumming a little to get the beat going. He builds a fast-paced rhythm, making an entourage of notes Spanish-styled. Getting up from the chair, he walks to the foot of the stage, grinning as an entertainer would during his show.

Making the beats even faster, he begins to move around the guitar to perform various tricks for the audience. He lifts the guitar over his head while his back faces the audience. He strums the strings from behind, and he flips the guitar in the air and catches the next note once it lands in his hands.

His time is up. He takes a bow, and grins even wider than the first time.

“The guitarist was amazing. I found him very entertaining,” said Elisha Robbins, a sophomore at High Point University.

As Chris Dudley walks off the side of the stage, the four men – Kevin, Brent, Josh and Dave kick off their performance with the song – One Fine Day.

Their next song – Mustang Sally, allowed us the audience to make a dance move. During the chorus “ride Sally ride” we stretched out first our right arm, then our left, and proceeded to make a slow, sweeping gesture.

After three more songs, an excellent fermata, and a couple of jokes, the Marcoux brothers bow and exit the stage for the final guest of the evening – Joan Brock.

Escorted by Chris Dudley, Joan walks the front of the stage as if she were walking on water. She smiles a radiant smile, full of hope and love to everyone.

She recalls the past event of when she could no longer see, and deciding that she would not give up on life.
Delving deeper into her story, Joan also recalls how she felt when she lost her husband from a rare form of cancer. Coming back to the square of decision, Joan explained she could not give up, but had to keep going.

“She was by far the best part of this show. I loved how she described her issue of being blind, but still was able to rebuild the life around her,” said Brandon Clark, a junior at High Point University.

Joan Brock completes her story with a message to all of us: to never give up faith. She says she has been through tough times, and she still gets frustrated over things, but through it all, she still keeps her faith. She ends with “God bless you all,” and is escorted once again by Chris Dudley off the stage.

For more information on the event visit:

www.highpoint.edu/documents/2008CulturalEvent_web.pdf

www.highpoint.edu/news_events/article.cfm?ArticleID=1236

Christmas at HPU

Although a heated argument may arise at other schools about decorating the campus in a Christmas fashion, High Point University thrives with their decorative fashion. The argument of whether college campuses should decorate or promote Christmas has been on on-going debate for a long time because some see it as threatening the "seperation of church and state" logic. Naomi Rockler-Gladin wrote in an article in 2006 that as a Jewish woman she truly doesn't see this as being an attack on her beliefs, but rather a secular symbol for happiness, "These symbols bring many students joy and comfort , especially as finals roll along, and they are an important part of American culture." She continues in a seperate article to tell American colleges and people opposed to Christmas decorations need to, "[...] stop being Scrooges".



WOW This Place Looks Amazing!

On High Point University's campus one may think that this is a school for Santa's little helpers instead of a liberal arts college in the middle of North Carolina. The campus has Christmas decorations strewn across its, already beautifully landscaped, campus which one student, Adrienne Sperry, a junior at HPU thinks is, "[...] a little bit excessive, but still pretty. It definetly sets the mood for the holidays". And HPU's director of WOW, Roger Clodfelter, has several ideas of why this use of Christmas decorations is a great way to turn up the volume of the "WOW" factor on campus. WOW is the campus chair to " [...] improve the appearance of campus and suggesting new projects or features that will create a dynamic and progressive atmosphere at High Point University." Roger expressed to me that this decorative process is only to make students truly feel like this is there home and their comfort zone. "We strive to make the HPU campus your home. The Christmas decor is an extension of that philosophy". This idea seems to be reaching the students in the same way as well, at least for Adrienne Sperry, "If anything they (the decorations) help us get through a very stressful time".

Too Much Money?



Another main focus that students have is whether the school spends too much money on decorating and adding beauty to the campus where maybe they should focus more time and energy on scholastics. "I absolutely think the school spends too much money on aesthetics. While Having a pretty campus is great for admissions I think a lot of it is unnecessary", exclaims Adrienne Sperry. Whether it's the larger than life panther statues, or the multitude of fountains across campus one thing can be reassured, "We re-use decorations from year to year so our budget is used in a very effecient manner", Roger Clodfelter reassured me, only with a small addition of decorations to the areas that were not finished this time last year.

Happy Holidays


The majority of campus loves the decorations because of the joy that Christmas decorations bring to so many people. The only question of decorations is why Christmas gets all the focus? Where are the Thanksgiving decorations? We all love a turkey dinner just as much as anything else, so maybe next year WOW could "[...] have giant turkeys strapped to the light poles", as Adrienne Sperry suggested. But until then, there's still a large display outside the Slane Center to represent the "'horn of plenty' in celebration of Thanksgiving"- Roger Clodfelter.


by Chris Thurley

'Tis The Season...

As the temperature slowly drops and the bright, colorful flowers are replaced by a thin coating of morning frost, and green, lighted garland is wrapped around every flagpole and fence on campus, it’s obvious that the holiday season is rapidly approaching.

It is only customary that around this time of year, every year, college students are scrambling around organizing travel times, and doing their best to rid themselves of any last minute work that may, in any way, encroach on their long awaited, and much needed, holiday vacation.

After almost an entire semester of papers, tests, presentations, and group projects, the last thing on most students’ minds is doing any more work.

Thanksgiving break is a time for relaxation and kicking back with family and friends; and that’s exactly what many of the students at High Point University have chosen to do.

The Long Road Home

Anything that’s worth having is usually worth waiting for, and for those students who choose to make the long trek home, that wait is definitely worth their while.

Whitney Special, from Southern California, knows all about holiday travel. “Being so far away, I don’t get to go home as often as some of the other students,” says Special, “so it’s great when I do go back. The holidays are a great time to be able to be at home.”

Non-Conventional Thanksgiving Break

While most people head home and indulge in unimaginable amounts of turkey and stuffing, that doesn’t mean that it’s the only way to have an awesome Thanksgiving break. If the idea of being at home isn’t your idea of a good time, there are plenty of other ways to release yourself from all of the stressors at school.

Even though you might have a home-cooked holiday meal waiting for you at your house doesn’t mean that everyone else does. Women’s shelters, homeless shelters, hospitals, or even local foster homes are always looking for volunteers, and the demand is especially high around the holidays. Making someone else’s Thanksgiving wishes come true can be more than a little rewarding.

If you don’t have the funds to head back home, you can try going home with a friend. Taking the time to see a different part of a friend’s life may open your eyes to a completely new side of them.

“I didn’t have the time to go home [to Atlanta] this year,” admits Ashley Akers, a junior Interior Design student at High Point University. “With finals coming up there was just too much work to take that long of a break. I’m heading up to Raleigh for the day to spend Thanksgiving with one of my sorority sisters instead.”

And while it might not be the holiday vacation that you’re used to, it gets you away from campus, and allows you to spend the holidays somewhere you may not have gone before.

Thanksgiving Traditions

No matter where you end up on this particular Thanksgiving there will always be those moments from Thanksgivings’ past that you will never forget.

“Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, my family and I put up our Christmas tree,” Holly Smoot, a senior at HPU recalls, “No matter what, we always decorate the tree.”

Ashley Akers, who won’t be making it home this year, remembers her favorite Thanksgiving to date; in Disneyworld. They may not be making the trip down to the theme-park again this year, but she looks back on the memories fondly.

“It wasn’t very traditional, but it was so much fun,” Akers admits, “Normally we spend the holidays at home with family, but it was nice to take a break from the chaos that sometimes comes with everyone getting together.”

The holidays are the time of year when you want to surround yourself with people that you love. Whether you’re at home with your family, giving back to those less fortunate or visiting new friends in far away places, it’s inevitable that you will create memories that will be with you for years to come.

To find out how to take your holiday celebration to the next level, check out the following websites:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/thanksgiving/package/index.html

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_988/text/0,,HGTV_22056_71063,00.html

My First Movie

Here's my practice run at Window's Movie Maker:

On Sunday the Tampa Bay Bucs invited the Minnesota Vikings to an undefeated home stadium. Minnesota came out strong, bringing the score to a 10-3 lead, but the second half proved to be an uphill battle for the visiting Vikings.

The Bucs allowed 0 points to be scored the second half and held their star player, Adrian Peterson to 85 yards rushing and -3 yards receiving. This defensive halt allowed for Jeff Garcia to stack up yards throwing and brought him to an amazing 23/30 passes and 255 yards. The most passes received and receiving yards were accumulated by 7 year veteran from Seattle Jerramy Stevens, who had 85 yards receiving with 6 receptions.

The Buccaneers routed the Vikings without their inspirational running back Earnest Graham after an injury to his ankle on his first run on Sunday. For future games the team might have to look for the reappearance of Cadillac Williams, but as Sunday went the Bucs needed no extra help between Jeff Garcia's 21 yards rushing, and Warrick Dunn's 53 yards.

Overall it was a great win for the Buccaneers and a good weekend for any Buccaneers fan, a win and the retirement of a Bucs great: John Lynch. Who couldn't have been happier about his old teams win, who he spent 11 of his 15 year career playing with.

Miami Dolphins Football

As the 2008 football season has reached it's midway point the Miami Dolphins are tied for second place in their division with six wins and four losses and are currently on a four game winning streak.

The team has dramatically improved from a disappointing season last year in which they only won one game and lost fifteen others. Behind new head coach Tony Sparano, as well as new quarterback Chad Pennington, the team has seemingly burst on to the scene and are now legitimate playoff contenders.

As a long time Dolphins fan, I can happily wear my team colors again this season and I know other fans share my excitement. For more information about the Miami Dolphins and all other NFL teams you can go to the official website of the NFL.

Possible Birth Defects from Fertility Techniques

A new study shows that families using common fertility techniques are more likely to have infants with birth defects.




Some defects found in the infants include heart problems, cleft lip and palate, and esophagus or rectum abnormalities.

The study included procedures working with sperm and eggs outside of the body, such as in-vitro fertilization.

For related article: Birth Defects Tied to Fertility Techniques

Redskins Fold Down the Stretch

The Washington Redskins drop two games in a row due to lack of performance towards the end of the game. The intesity vanishes and the play calling is suspect at best.

After starting out the first half against Dallas Sunday night dominating the game, the second half was a different story.

The offense produced zero points and the defense allowed a touchdown and a game ending drive by the Dallas offense. Dallas was able to hold onto the ball for the remander 6 minutes and 40 seconds of the game after a horrible fourth down attempt by the Redskins which gave Dallas back the ball.

The second half consisted mainly of numerous questionable offensive play calls by Coach Jim Zorn and the defense seemed to have peaked in the first half. For more information on game and its MVP Marion Barber, see this link to review how Washington had major problems offensively and also how they struggled to contain quarterback Tony Romo and running back Marion Barber.

Save 20-60% off on JC Penney Apparel

JC Penney is holding a sale on all your holiday shopping apparel for your family!

On the website, women have sales on tops & sweaters, pants, jeans & skirts, dresses & suits, and all other clothing for holiday wear.

Also included is a $9.99 hot deal for kids apparel which lasts until Nov. 25th, as well as a big & tall supersale for men.

This is a sale you won't want to miss out on! With Thanksgiving around the corner, and Christmas on the way, take advantage of convenient and affordable sales at JC Penney.

For related articles:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Joy-Giving-Made-Easy-JCPenney/story.aspx?guid=%7BA0887591-063B-4F9C-A254-28DD0A1739C9%7D

Prices drop in attempt to boost sales

The holiday season is fast approaching, and retailers everywhere are feeling the effects of our dwindling economy.

Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, which is usually known for it's 'upper-crust' shops, has been displaying red SALE signs in their windows for quite some time in an attempt to catch the eyes of customers who are getting hit hard by the current state of our economy.

While Banana Republic and H&M are offering "Friends and Family" discounts to anyone - and everyone - who walks into the shop, stores like Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman are "discreetly" lowering their prices, trying to keep up with their competitors.

It seems that, while the retailers are keeping the interest of the customers in mind, some of the employees shudder at the thought of a sale. At Bergdorf Goodman, a $1,400 Nancy Gonzalez raspberry crocodile skin clutch is now selling for $980.

With only a few weeks to go until the holidays are upon us, stores are furiously trying to boost sales with dramatic price drops. SALE signs lure in tourists and locals alike, but only time will tell if it will be enough bait for customers to bite.

For more information on Manhattan's pre-holiday price cuts, check out the full article, "On Fifth Avenue, the Discounts Arrive Early" in the regional section of The New York Times.

Backup netminder on a roll

As New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro went down with a knee injury, they called upon their backup net minder Joey MacDonald. With only 15 games of NHL experience under his belt, the almost rookie stepped into the starting role. After a 2-4-1 record while in net, MacDonald has gone 5-2-1 in his last 8 games, including a 2-1 shoot out victory over the Vancouver Canucks Monday night. These wins did not come easy with the Islanders allowing an average of 32.8 shots per game. However, MacDonald has been a brick wall with an impressive save percentage of .935 in his last 8 games.

For more information on MacDonald or the New York Islanders, please visit NHL.com or NewYorkIslanders.com