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THE PENDULUM
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 Volume 45, Edition 5 Elon, North Carolina
THE GIRLS IN TOWN
Elon Community Church welcomes a new Girl Scout troop
Elon News Network
Understanding the union
Leila Wilhelm
Elon News Networks | @leilawilhelm
Freshman Sarah Daly recalls her time in the Girl Scouts of America as a troop member, mentor, friend and leader. She remembers that her local troop meeting room was the first space where she felt comfortable and confident. “Girl Scouts is one of those experiences that never leaves you,” Daly said. “The skills I learned during my time there have stayed with me through my transition to Elon.” Daly received her Gold Award, the highest honor in the Girl Scouts, shortly before being accepted to Elon University. She was an active member in her community throughout high school.
See Girl Scouts | pg. 10
ABBY GIBBS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
An Elon Faculty Forward supporter marches during the movement’s first public event on Nov. 29, 2018.
GRACE TERRY | DESIGN CHIEF
Claire Chiancone (right) comforts Karris Lambeth (left) as she covers her ears as lions roar during a Girl Scout event at the Conservator’s Center in Burlington on Saturday, Sept. 7.
Certified but still controversial, the debate over the legality of Elon Faculty Forward continues Anton L. Delgado
Managing Editor | @antonldelgado
The effort to expand Medicaid in NC Alamance County residents reach out to officials to close the Medicaid coverage gap Mackenzie Wilkes
Elon News Network | @macwilkes
GRAHAM — There’s a small house with painted hummingbirds on the side in southern Alamance County. It’s a food pantry that’s been around for six years. Lynne Pierce works there. She’s worked different jobs in the nonprofit sector for 20 years, serving the county through drug treatment programs and food pantries. “I have a master’s degree in education,” Pierce said. MEDICAID “I could be is health somewhere coverage provided else, but I by the state enjoy what I and federal do.” government H o w e v e r, Pierce can’t afford health care, and her job doesn’t provide it for her. She’s in the Medicaid coverage gap. The North Carolina Department of Human Health Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) do not keep data on who is in the coverage gap. A coverage gap is when a person’s income is too high to qualify for Medicaid, but too low to afford private insurance.
MACKENZIE WILKES | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Lynne Pierce, the executive director of a food pantry, sits in the lobby of the pantry in Graham on Thursday, Sept. 12.
As of July 2019, North Carolina is one of 15 states that has not expanded Medicaid, according to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment Access Commission. Currently, to potentially qualify for Medicaid or Health Choice in North Carolina, a person must be 65 years or older, blind or disabled, younger than 21, meet the low-income threshold based on family size or be in need of long-term care. Pierce said she did not expect to be in the Medicaid coverage gap, but as a single parent working in the nonprofit sector, she fell into it. “There is no way, as a single parent, I can afford insurance,”
NEWS • PAGE 6
The class of 2023 votes for its SGA representatives
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THERE IS NO WAY, AS A SINGLE PARENT, I CAN AFFORD INSURANCE LYNNE PIERCE ALAMANCE COUNTY RESIDENT
Pierce said. “Because if I have to pay for insurance, then that means I’m taking food and other necessities out of my child’s mouth. That’s a decision that nobody should have to make.”
According to 2019 data from the CMS, 6,125 residents of Alamance County are enrolled in private insurance. In contrast, the NCDHHS data states that 38,086 Alamance County residents are enrolled in Medicaid. The US Census Bureau estimated in 2018 that Alamance County had a population of 166,436.
See Medicaid | pg. 5
LIFESTYLE • PAGE 12
New vegetables bring new customers to the Elon Farmer’s Market
By all legal means, there is now an adjunct faculty union on Elon University’s campus. Following nearly a yearlong back-andforth between the union and the university, the regional National Labor Relations Board certified the unionization of the Faculty Forward movement. As a certified union, Faculty Forward, which is represented by the Service Employees UNION International Union, can or labor union is an begin requesting organized collective association bargaining of workers negotiations with tasked to the university. protect their However, rights and E l o n ’ s interests administ rat ion continues to oppose the legality of the union’s formation. The university’s newest objection, officially titled a “Request for Review,” was filed just before 4 p.m. on Sept. 17. One of the issues the review is challenging is the actual right of faculty members to form a union — claiming that faculty roles are managerial. The request has gone to the NLRB headquarters in Washington, D.C. Under the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, the regional director’s certification of a union must be followed by collective bargaining negotiations. But the university’s “Request for Review” has continued to draw out the unionization process.
See Union | pg. 8-9
SPORTS • PAGE 14
Two athletes take on the role of protecting the Phoenix