THE APPALACHIAN Jan. 18, 2019
Digging deeper into history
Junaluska Heritage Association preserves black history in Boone by studying family artifacts. PAGE 5
SGA CABINET FIRINGS AND RESIGNATIONS
MEET THE NEW FOOTBALL COACHING STAFF
BOONE N’ BATTER BAKES MACARONS FOR THE HIGH COUNTRY
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PAGE 6-7
PAGE 10-11
News
Parting ways
Two SGA cabinet members fired Moss Brennan @ ׀mosbren ׀News Editor
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ared Mark, senior political science major and former director of student affairs, and Connor Hughes, junior political science major and former director of legislative operations, were fired from their cabinet positions within the Student Government Association. “We regularly evaluate the performance of our administration and some things came up towards the end of the semester, some things were done that did not fall in line with our guidelines,” student body president and junior accounting major DeJon Milbourne said. Because of that evaluation, Milbourne said he decided to go in a different direction, which he said he be-
lieved was best for the student body. Milbourne would not comment on specific reasons for firing the cabinet members. The Student Affairs Committee is responsible for writing legislation to advocate for student concerns and needs, and having conversations with administrators to positively affect the lives of App State students, according to the Student Affairs Committee bylaws. Mark declined to comment for this story. The director of legislative operations facilitates the legislative process for SGA, oversees the historical documentation of SGA documents and chairs the Senate Rules Commit-
tee, according to the SGA Constitution. There were 51 bills passed through the Senate Rules Committee in the fall semester. Hughes declined to comment for this story. Christian Adams, junior advertising major, resigned as the director of marketing before winter break due to personal reasons, Milbourne said. Adams could not be reached for comment. Anderson Clayton, former student body president and senior political science major, said two of her cabinet members resigned and past student body president Jalyn Howard had two resign from his cabinet.
NEWS BRIEF
AppalCart’s new Pink Route
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Moss Brennan @ ׀mosbren ׀News Editor
ppalCart started a new Pink
Route
Jan.
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that will run Monday through
Friday
from
7:28 a.m. to 5:56 p.m., according to an AppalCart news release. The Pink Route will start at the College of Health Sciences and will serve stops on State Farm Road to Shadowline Drive. It will continue to Blowing Rock Road with a new stop at University Hall on University Hall Drive. The route ends at Peacock Traffic Circle.
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Jan. 18, 2019
SGA Elections Court Chair nomination tabled after questions of campaign involvement Moss Brennan @ ׀mosbren ׀News Editor
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achel Foutz, chair of student conduct and senior accounting major, had her nomination as the Elections Court Chair tabled for further questioning during the last Student Government Association Senate meeting on Dec. 4. Her nomination was tabled after a question of her involvement in the Milbourne.Kelly campaign came up. A constituent sent a picture to one senator, who wished to remain anonymous, that showed Foutz was a member of the Milbourne.Kelly volunteer Facebook page. “I asked her a question about her involvement with the campaign and she replied saying she had never been involved in any campaign,” the senator said. At the Senate meeting, a motion to reconsider Foutz’s nomination was passed with 20 votes in favor and 10 votes opposed, according to Dec. 4 Senate minutes. Foutz’s nomination will be reconsidered at the next Senate meeting on Jan. 22. Foutz could not be reached for comment. The elections court chair is nominated by the SGA vice president, Brigitte Kelly, according to the SGA election bylaws. Kelly declined to comment for this story. DeJon Milbourne, student body president and junior accounting major, said the Facebook page was for supporters of his campaign and not for members of the campaign team. “If Rachel had been on my
campaign, she would have been in one of my videos of support because she’s seen as a very prominent figure,” Milbourne said. One of the questions Foutz was asked during the Senate confirmation hearing was about her relationship with Milbourne. Foutz replied that they had a relationship and they discussed that their relationship “will go during elections if DJ decides to run again,” according to Senate minutes. Milbourne said he is unsure if he will run for president again, but if he feels students are confident in him leading, he will. “I love fighting for people and supporting people but I also feel like it’s important that they want you to be there, too,” Milbourne said. Milbourne said his relationship with Foutz is professional. “We did take a leadership class together last semester, but we’re both accounting majors together and she’s the chair of student conduct so that kind of plays a role,” Milbourne said. Last year, eight cases were brought before the election court. Elections Court Chair responsibilities include: - Updating the Senate, cabinet or advisers “to uphold the rule of law in the Elections process.” - Taking actions that are “necessary to ensure adherence to all Elections related Rules and Policy.” - Giving “appropriate, impartial, and objective advice relating strictly to elections procedure and pending or potential cases upon request.”
News
Jan. 18, 2019
Boone Police serves coffee for new community outreach
Emily Broyles @ ׀em_broyles ׀News Reporter
COFFEE WITH A COP WHERE AND WHEN
Boone Police Department 1500 Blowing Rock Road 6:30 p.m until 8 p.m.
BPD OVERVIEW / CONVERSATION January 22, 2019
Officers prepare to bond with the community over cups of coffee. The Boone Police Department’s “Coffee with a Cop” informational series will be held monthly starting Jan. 22.. // Courtesy of Boone Police Department
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n 2019, the Boone Police Department will serve the community with additional cups of coffee for all. Starting Jan. 22, Boone police will host “Coffee with a Cop” each month. Coffee with a Cop is a casual informational series for officers and citizens to engage in conversations, ask questions and drink local coffee. “When you can make a personal bond with somebody and help them see things in your perspective, it helps them understand you,” Lt. Chris Hat-
ton said. “We get into this business because we care about people.” Hatton has served over 21 years in law enforcement and is the investigations division commander. Hatton said it’s hard to explain a police officer’s job to citizens in the moment, like when they give a speeding ticket. It’s to keep everyone safe, including the person stopped, Hatton said. To help the community comprehend the different roles of law enforcement, each meeting of the series will focus on a different topic hosted
by a different Boone police officer. Topics will include policing in America, forensics and SWAT, and internet crime. Officers will also perform demonstrations of police protocol in certain situations throughout the series. Hatton said he hopes to see all members of the Boone community throughout the series and to show that officers are just normal people who want the best for others. “When people get to know your heart, it changes everything,” Hatton said.
POLICING IN AMERICA February 21, 2019
POLICE FORENSICS / SWAT March 21, 2019
BODY CAMERAS / DIGITAL EVIDENCE April 18, 2019
INTERNET CRIME / FRAUD May 16, 2019
ONLINE & PERSONAL SAFETY METHODS June 20, 2019
NARCOTICS ENFORCEMENT & K-9’S July 18, 2019
Graphic by Efrain Arias-Medina Jr.
Gov. Cooper to implement new Board of Elections by Jan. 31 Jackie Park @ ׀jackiempark ׀News Reporter
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new five-member North Carolina Board of Elections will be implemented on or after Jan. 31 by Gov. Roy Cooper. After an ongoing debate about the size and effectiveness of the board, a three-judge panel decided in mid-October that a nine-member board was not constitutional in North Carolina, said Stella Anderson, a member of the most recent state
elections board. The panel of judges recognized the importance of the board during an election and granted a stay on its order which allowed the board to continue work until the November election was finalized, Anderson said. House Bill 1029 aimed to change North Carolina’s state and county Boards of Elections from nine-member boards to five-member boards.
HB 1029 was originally vetoed by Cooper, and later passed by both the North Carolina House and Senate during the last session of 2018. Due to allegations of voter fraud in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, judges granted the state board several extensions in order to give the board time to investigate. “We were not able to conclude the investigation that was needed and
make a determination about the 9th (district),” Anderson said. “All parties requested that the three-judge panel make one more extension in light of a new law that would go into effect Jan. 31 that would allow the board to continue uninterrupted until Jan. 31, but the court refused,” Anderson said. The Republican Party did not submit any nominees for Cooper to choose from, making the
continuation of a board impossible. New county boards will likely be chosen in the coming weeks after the new state Board of Elections is chosen on or after Jan. 31., Anderson said. Anderson said the lack of a county board in Watauga County is “not particularly consequential” as there are no current election-related activities.
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News
Jan. 18, 2019
Blue Cross North Carolina Institute for Health and Human Services opens new interprofessional health clinic Anna Muckenfuss @ ׀TheAppalachian ׀News Reporter
First year nutrition graduate student and graduate assistant of the Institute for Health and Human Services, Ashlyn Greene, works at her desk in the new IHHS clinic. The clinic is located in Leon Levine health sciences building. // Photo by Mickey Hutchings
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tudents in the Beaver College of Health Sciences will run an interprofessional health clinic located in Leon Levine Hall to provide healthcare to Boone. “Our college of health and sciences is focused on training students in their own disciplines and to learn about each other’s disciplines in order to improve patient care,” director of the Blue Cross North Carolina Institute for Health and Human Services, Gary McCullough, said. “They are learning how to work with community partners and clients in this clinic and then they’ll be better prepared to go out and work in this region.” The new clinic will also include new rooms for medical eval-
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uations; a voice, swallowing, and motor speech lab; and a telehealth suite designed to provide therapy over the internet, McCullough said. “We’re adding unique things we didn’t have before,” McCullough said. “In the new clinic we’ll have two group therapy rooms, and a simulated apartment that is fully functional with a bathroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen.” The interprofessional clinic will offer several clinical services for patients such as a communication disorders clinic, music therapy, a social work clinic and a psychology clinic. The communication sciences and disorders clinic and psychol-
ogy clinic will partner with social workers in the clinic network to provide care to individuals with autism, chair of the department of social work, Lauren Renkert, said. “We plan to collaborate with
others to further develop a comprehensive community resource directory,” Renkert said. “We see the social work clinic as a hub of students and faculty who work together to develop innovative, inter-
professional approaches to improve the health and well-being of our community.” Renkert said students of the Beaver College of Health Sciences will develop skills in interviewing techniques used to identify and prevent alcohol and drug abuse in hospitals and schools. During the semester, Renkert said the clinic will partner with a local elementary school to provide support, counseling and resources to children and families through the school’s social worker. “As a department, we are deeply engaged in the community and region through our teaching, research and service,” Renkert said. “Our vision of the clinic is to educate students through the provision of services within the clinic and in the community.” With the expertise and resources available in the Beaver College of Health Sciences, Renkert said the clinic is poised to “transform the health and well-being of our community and region.” “Our interprofessional, collaborative network has helped us to identify gaps in needed services,” Renkert said. “We have identified some immediate and long-term needs that we hope to address.”
News
Jan. 18, 2019
Junaluska historians explore community through family lineage Savannah Nguyen @ ׀Savanna2402176 ׀A&C Associate Editor
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s the history of the Junaluska Heritage Association erodes from public memory, three women have continued to document experiences of the historically black community in Boone as far back as the 1860s. Since before the Civil War, the small community called Junaluska, also called “The Hill,” has endured generations of black history in a predominantly white area of North Carolina. After celebrating 100 years of duty to Boone in 2018, the Boone Mennonite Brethren Church, which has housed the JHA meetings since 2011, will continue to preserve its history into 2019. JHA historians, Roberta Jackson, Sandy Jackson and Susan Keefe have already facilitated proper recognition for African-Americans who died throughout Junaluska’s history with the installation of a headstone in the Boone City Cemetery in 2017. The collaboration with the Boone Historic Preservation Commission gave names to more than 75 Junaluska members, among which were
military veterans and slaves, according to JHA’s website. In 2019, three of the association’s historians will continue to research the lineages of the many families who have established lives in Junaluska over the centuries. They hope to finish the lineage project this year. Because family lines within the Junaluska community can be traced at least as far back as the Civil War, the most effective sources for this research are family journals, photos and even death records. Junaluska and the church received Roberta Jackson and her sister Sandy Jackson when they were both teenagers. During those times, today’s small town seemed even smaller still in the 1950s. Into their teens, Roberta Jackson and Sandy Jackson were sheltered from the segregated town of Boone that moved below the historically African-American community. During Roberta Jackson’s teenage years, her mother especially attempted to shelter her from the reality of racism and prejudice, Roberta
Lillian White and her fellow parishioner spend an afternoon at the church, preparing for a funeral. White has attended since childhood and sings in the choir. // Photo by Hayley Canal
Jackson said. Sandy Jackson, however, gleaned stories from her grandfather about segregation and violence against blacks in the rural small town. When JHA formed in 2011, Sandy Jackson became the main historian for the group. She was originally inspired by the memories of her childhood, those she loved and her grandfather’s stories. Sandy Jackson made it a goal to educate the people of Boone and to illuminate the stories that were never told. “The more I dig and continue to
find out new things about the history of this area, the more I’m encouraged to dig deeper,” Sandy Jackson said. Keefe, who retired from her position as a history professor at App State, is working on a book that consists of interviews from various members of the Junaluska community and their experiences in Boone. For testimonies from ancestors living in the 19th century, Keefe consulted photos and journal entries taken from family members who preserved the writings of their predecessors. “I poured over miles of micro-
film and years and years of written history that came directly from the pens of those who lived over 100 years ago,” Keefe said. Preserving the history of the community’s past is JHA’s main goal, Roberta Jackson said. “It will continue to allow our family to be self-sustaining, it will carry our stories even after we no longer can,” Roberta Jackson said. “I want our grandchildren to pass to their grandchildren our stories and to be proud of where they come from and to be even better than we ever were.”
Portraits of the pastors of the Boone Mennonite Brethren Church hang in chronological order. The church, established in 1918, recently celebrated its centennial anniversary. // Photo by Hayley Canal
The church community is tightly interwoven with the Junaluska community. Since 2011, it has served as a meeting place for the Junaluska Heritage Association. // Photo by Hayley Canal
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Sports
Jan. 18, 2019
NEW HEAD COACH DRINKWITZ HIRES NEW STAFF Brooks Maynard @ ׀brooksmaynard ׀Sports Editor
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ew head football coach Eliah Drinkwitz was busy over the winter break filling the remaining spots on his coaching staff. With most of former head coach Scott Satterfield’s staff departing for different positions, Drinkwitz had his hands full fielding his team of 10 assistant coaches. Of his 10 hires, four are coaches retained from the Satterfield staff: offensive line coach Shawn Clark, safeties coach Greg Gasparato, outside linebackers coach D.J. Smith and wide receivers coach Justin Watts. In addition to their positional duties, Clark will also serve as assistant head coach and Watts will serve as recruiting coordinator. Many new faces have also joined the Mountaineers’ staff. The first to be hired has arguably the largest name recognition: former Miami Hurricanes quarterback and Carolina Panthers quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey. Dorsey, who played for Miami from 1999-2002, went 38-2 as a starting quarterback before a six-year stint in the NFL. He coached with the Panthers from 2013-2017 before most recently serving as the assistant athletics director for Florida International University. “In my time in Carolina, I was fortunate to experience what great fans, alumni and students App State has,” Dorsey said in a press
Justin Watts will return for his fifth season as a member of App State’s coaching staff. He is one of four coaches being retained from former head coach Scott Satterfield’s staff. // Courtesy of App State
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release. “App State has exceptional tradition, exceptional student-athletes and a die-hard fan and alumni base that makes it a special place.” Hired next was special teams coordinator Erik Link. Link, who most recently held the same position at Louisiana Tech, was a quality control assistant along with Drinkwitz on the 2010 National Champion Auburn staff. He was a special teams and offensive analyst with the Tigers when they appeared in the National Championship in 2013. Link has also served at Iowa State, Drake University and several high schools. No offensive coordinator has been named as Drinkwitz has announced he will be calling plays for the Mountaineers’ offense. However, Drinkwitz has named a leader for the defense in former North Carolina State coordinator Ted Roof. Roof has over 30 years of coaching experience, including stints as defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech, Penn State, Auburn and Minnesota, as well as serving as the head coach for Duke University from 20042007. Roof coached with Drinkwitz at both Auburn and North Carolina State. “I’ve admired and respected the success of the football program here for a long time because of the great coaches and players that have come through here,” Roof said in a press
Sports
Jan. 18, 2019
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App State has exceptional tradition, exceptional student-athletes and a die-hard fan and alumni base... release. “It’s our job to uphold that standard and enhance it. I’m grateful to Eli for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this staff.” Just a day after the Roof announcement, another coaching hire was made in Junior Adams, former offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Western Kentucky. Adams has also won an FCS National Championship as receivers coach at Eastern Washington University and coached under Drinkwitz at Boise State, winning two conference titles. Adams has coached several NFL wide receivers, including Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams. “Junior is a great developer of wide receivers with championship experience,” Drinkwitz said in a press release. “He is a tremendous recruiter who can identify talent and develop that talent at the highest level.” After going a full week without a single hire, Drinkwitz finished off his staff in rapid succession, announcing two hires in two days. The first hire was defensive assistant Buddy Wyatt, who comes to Boone after spending last season as a senior analyst with Kansas and serving as the defensive line coach at SMU from 2015-2017. Wyatt also has multiple stints as a Power Five coach, spending time at Texas A&M, Nebraska and Alabama. He also coached NFL players such as Ndamukong Suh and Michael
Bennett. The last coach to be hired was defensive assistant Charlie Harbison, a North Carolina native and graduate of Gardner-Webb University. Harbison has coached at many different schools, including LSU, Alabama and Clemson. He spent last season as defensive backs coach for the Arizona Cardinals under App State alumni Steve Wilks. “Charlie is a great teacher and an outstanding recruiter with his connections in our state,” Drinkwitz said in a press release. “Not only will he develop our players on the field, he will also develop them in life skills.” Drinkwitz also hired Jeff Jones as director of athletic performance and Andy Lutz as director of football operations. Jones, who most recently served in the same position at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, but has also spent time at Auburn University and Arkansas State, will oversee the team’s strength and conditioning. Lutz comes to Boone after working as Georgia Tech’s director of player personnel for the last four seasons. He has been in football administration for nearly 30 years and spent time at Auburn, Texas Tech and Ole Miss. Each of these men make up the 2019 coaching staff for App State football, a team that has won 41 games in 52 tries since 2015. Where they will take the program remains to be seen.
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Greg Gasparato is returning for his second season at App State after being named FootballScoop Defensive Backs Coach of the Year along with former defensive coordinator Bryan Brown. // Courtesy of App State
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Sports
Jan. 18, 2019
Junior forward Isaac Johnson fights through traffic under the basket at home against Texas State on Jan. 12. // Photos by Lynette Files
APP STATE BASKETBALL FINISHES COMPLICATED WINTER SCHEDULE
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or most college students, winter break is a time to get away from campus, enjoy family time and recharge after a long semester. Unfortunately, college basketball players don’t always get that chance. They may get a few days around Christmas to travel home, but they don’t get the opportunity to fully enjoy their break. This can hit teams in conferences such as the Sun Belt much harder than others because the league stretches from North Carolina to Texas. Despite this, both App State’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have shown resilience and pushed through their schedules. Since Dec. 5, the women’s basketball team has gone 3-4 after playing several quality teams. The team started off with a tough loss at powerhouse South Carolina and also suffered a loss at ACC member Clemson. It earned a convincing
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Zack Antrum @ ׀zantrum17 ׀Sports Reporter win against Wofford and after dropping consecutive games against Troy and UT-Arlington, the team closed out the break with a 62-49 win against conference opponent Texas State. “Our team played with a great level of focus,” women’s head coach Angel Elderkin said after the win against Texas State in a press release. “Winning is hard and we are still learning as the season continues.” The women’s team is sitting at 2-2 in conference and the league is still wide open from top to bottom for the team to make a push for a top finish. The men’s team also finished out a tough non-conference schedule before starting Sun Belt play. The team started its winter off with a win over Howard before dropping backto-back away games to South Florida and Georgetown. The team returned home and won against Milligan but
has struggled recently as it dropped the last six games. This stretch has included a 0-3 start in conference, which is the opposite of last year when the team started 3-0. With the conference only just beginning however, the team has plenty of time to earn a good seed for the conference tournament and make its first postseason appearance since 2010. “Difficult couple of weeks. My belief in our team is stronger than ever,” men’s head coach Jim Fox tweeted after the loss to Texas State. “Know that we will turn this around.” Both teams will return to action on Jan. 19 against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, with the women facing off at home in the Holmes Convocation Center and the men on the road in Conway, South Carolina.
Sports
Jan. 18, 2019
(Left) Junior center Bayley Plummer goes in for a post shot against UNCG. (Right) Senior guard Ronshad Shabazz drives the lane for a basket against Texas State. // Lynette Files
An Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Radio Station of the Year Finalist
Your college Your station Sophomore forward Lainey Gosnell goes up for a layup in a close victory over UNCG. // Photo by Lynette Files
Your music
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Arts and Culture Mariah Reneau @ ׀Reneau2 ׀A&C Editor
Jan. 18, 2019
App State alumna whips up her own macaron business
White chocolate ganache-filled macarons are one of the many sweets offered by Boone n’ Batter dessert company. The company is owned and operated by recent App State graduate Nina Halas, who capitalized on her passion for baking and her bachelor’s degree in business management to start her own business. While the company primarily operates online at the moment, Halas is looking to officially enter the marketplace Feb. 15. // Courtesy of Boone n’ Batter
Arts and Culture
Jan. 18, 2019 When App State alumna Nina Halas started her macaron company, Boone n’ Batter, she had no professional baking experience whatsoever. Despite this lack of experience, she now runs an entire company, from baking to packaging to selling to delivering, all by herself. “I started baking in college after moving to an apartment as a stress-relieving activity,” Halas said. “But I’m a business student, so I thought, ‘I can probably make this profitable and give back to the High Country.’” Her business, mostly an online service, primarily sells macarons of various flavors. Halas doesn’t have a background in macarons, but was excited for the baking challenge. “I was looking online at YouTube tutorials and saw one for macarons,” Halas said. “The comments all said, ‘This is so difficult and I don’t think anyone can do this,’ and I thought, ‘That’s nonsense.’ “I watched one tutorial and, with beginner’s luck, I made the prettiest, perfect macaron. I did it again and it was horrible.” Part of the difficulty of baking macarons is that Halas had to adapt her baking habits to the weather, which can often affect how well a macaron will turn out. “It’s just science,” Halas said. Macarons are extremely sensitive to moisture, according to a Huffington Post article. If there’s rain or moisture in the air when baking macarons, the egg white needed to make the meringue gets too moist and the macaron will fall apart. Halas officially opened Boone n’ Batter on Feb. 17, but worked for months beforehand to create the business. After visiting the Transportation Insight Center for Entrepreneurship at the university, the center’s managing director Erich Schlenker helped Halas make her business idea a reality.
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mindless and it’ll be stressful, but normally it does come out good and it gives me a break from school.” Halas graduated in December, but she plans to stay in Boone to continue her business part-time while working another full-time job. “With Boone’s market, I don’t want a store-front because that’ll cost me an arm and a leg, and I’m not financially stable enough to do that,” Halas said. “I do want to keep my business online though and keep providing macarons to the High Country.” This is not the first time this student business model has been seen in Boone. The CFE works with approximately 200 students, alumni, faculty and community members each year, Schlenker said.
Appalachia Cookie Company was started by an App State student seeking an alternative to the stereotypical pizza or sandwich delivery. He began working at home to create delicious cookies that he later turned into a business, according to the company’s website. Other types of companies, like G7meDay5, a clothing company started by senior business management student Katie Dodge, have similar stories about students getting help from the entrepreneur center in Peacock Hall to start businesses and make money, Dodge said. “Entrepreneurship is awesome if you can make it sustainable and profitable,” Halas said.
Entrepreneurship is awesome if you can make it sustainable and profitable...
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“Nina came into the CFE with talent and passion, and that’s the perfect combination for any successful entrepreneur,” Schlenker said in an email. “Nina already knew that she wanted to open a Boone bakery and our CFE team simply coached her through some of logistics and guided her in the direction she was already headed.” After visiting the center, Halas went to Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture and got information about High Country Food Hub, an online marketplace that connects customers with freshly grown, local foods, according to the High Country Local First website. “I make sure the fruits of the season coincide with my menu,” Halas said. “That way I can keep things as local and fresh as possible.” It was through the High Country Food Hub marketplace that Halas made contacts at the King Street Market and started selling her products over the summer to make a name for her business. As part of a project for her entrepreneur class last semester, Halas also expanded her business and began selling a “Boonie Bundle” which includes cupcakes, brownies and two macarons, Halas said. After balancing her life between being a student and a business owner, Halas still sees baking and putting together orders as a major stress reliever. “It kind of becomes mindless once you do it so many times and you know the recipe,” Halas said. “Now if my macarons don’t come out good, it won’t be
Double chocolate cinnamon cupcakes are a winter recipe by Boone n’ Batter. // Courtesy of Boone n’ Batter
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App News
Jan. 18, 2019
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Friday, Jan. 18
Saturday, Jan. 19
Sunday, Jan. 20
Monday, Jan. 21
Guest Flutist - Sarah Busman Rosen Concert Hall 6-7 p.m.
App State Women’s Tennis vs. Davidson College Varsity Tennis Courts 2-5 p.m.
App State Wrestling vs. Campbell Varsity Gym 3-6 p.m.
App State Men’s Tennis vs. North Carolina A&T Varsity Tennis Courts 12 p.m.-3 p.m.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ($1) Greenbriar Theatre 7-9 p.m. White Boy Rick ($2) I.G. Greer Auditorium 7-9 p.m. & 9:30 - 11:30 p.m.
App State Women’s Basketball vs. Coastal Carolina Holmes Convocation Center 2-4 p.m.
Bike App! Entrance to the Skywalk 1-4:30 p.m.
White Boy Rick ($2) I.G. Greer Auditorium 7-9 p.m. & 9:30 - 11:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 22
Wednesday, Jan. 23
Thursday, Jan. 24
Friday, Jan. 25
Spiritual Wellness Fair International Hallway 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Club Sports Council Meeting Student Recreation Center 5-6 p.m.
Find Your Roommate Mixer 2019 Plemmons Student Union 4-6 p.m.
Momentum Dance Club Concert Varsity Gym 7-9 p.m.
Bike App! Entrance to the Skywalk 1-4:30 p.m.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($1) Greenbriar Theatre 7-9 p.m.
App State Women’s Basketball vs. Arkansas State Holmes Convocation Center 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($1) Greenbriar Theatre 7-9 p.m.
The Grinch ($2) I.G. Greer Auditorium 7-9 p.m. & 9:30 - 11:30 p.m.
The Grinch ($2) I.G. Greer Auditorium 7-9 p.m. & 9:30 - 11:30 p.m.
Women’s Basketball Interest Meeting Student Recreation Center 5:30-7 p.m.
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needed! political cartoonists
Opinion
Jan. 18, 2019
Questions over North Carolina election fraud raise need for new election Tommy Mozier @ ׀TheAppalachian ׀Opinion Writer
Mitch McConnell Q Russell @ ׀q_m_russell ׀Opinion Editor
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veryone blames President Donald Trump for the government shutdown, but someone who should own it as much as he does is Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell. McConnell assumed office in 1985, and became the Senate majority leader in 2015. This was not a high point for the U.S. government. As majority leader, it’s McConnell’s responsibility to introduce legislation to the Senate to be voted on. In theory, he’s supposed to introduce all bills equally, but in practice, he’s a partisan obstructionist. When the Democrats took the House of Representatives, they passed a bill to reopen the government. McConnell, much like a turtle refusing to come out of its shell, has elected to subvert the rule of law and prevent the bill from going to the floor, calling it a “political stunt.” He has a history of using his power to block legislation he doesn’t agree with. A quality example of his stunning devotion to the rule of law is blocking a bill that would protect special counsel Robert Mueller, who is in charge of a massive investigation into Russian interference in the federal government. With McConnell being an ardent supporter of the two year, thorough investigations into Hillary Clinton’s actions in Benghazi, you would think he would want to protect an investigation crucial to protecting the U.S. Of course he wouldn’t, considering he refused to sign a bipartisan condemnation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and then watered down a warning to state election officials to downplay the severity of the attacks. McConnell also stole a Supreme Court seat from former President Barack Obama. He used his power as Senate majority leader to hold late justice Antonin Scalia’s seat open for over a year, the longest vacancy since the 1800s, by refusing to hold a vote for Obama’s nomination. In 2010, McConnell said in a speech that his top political goal would be to make sure Obama didn’t get a second term. In the two years Republicans controlled the government, McConnell has presided over tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, the approval of Brett Kavanaugh, a known sexual predator, to the Supreme Court and has attempted to destroy the Affordable Care Act. Everything McConnell has done in the last 10 years is little more than obstruction and the dismantling of the rule of law. He represents everything wrong with modern politics, and the day he is voted out will be a good day for the U.S.
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fter a meeting with the Mecklenburg County Grand Old Party Jan. 7, Mark Harris ran past reporters down the back stairwell of the building to a waiting car, pulling the fire alarm as he dodged reporter’s questions. The reason, he said, was to catch the beginning of the College Football National Championship, which provided a convenient excuse to avoid more questions about his fraudulent congressional campaign. Harris later said he regretted it, saying he should have just answered reporter’s questions with “no comment.” The 9th Congressional District of North Carolina, which includes a swath of land from the eastern suburbs of Charlotte to south of Fayetteville, was the most hotly contested race in North Carolina during the 2018 midterms. The final, uncertified count shows Republican Harris ahead of his Democratic challenger, Dan McCready, by only 905 votes. But the North Carolina Board of Elections has refused to certify the election results after evidence of absentee ballot fraud came to light and threw the efficacy of the election in doubt. The Harris campaign hired Leslie McCrae Dowless, Jr., a political operative who has worked for both Democrats and Republicans in the past to help get voters. Dowless has a criminal record dating back to the 1980s. He served six months in prison in 1992 after being convicted of felony fraud. He also was convicted of felony perjury in 1990. Nonetheless, the Harris campaign hired him. The “Get out the vote” effort turned out to be absen-
tee ballot fraud, which the campaign could have only seen coming if it had looked two years back to the 2016 primary elections when Dowless was working against them. At that time, Dowless worked for Republican candidate Todd Johnson against Harris and Robert Pittenger in the Republican primary, which Pittenger won. Johnson, who finished last, dominated Bladen County, carrying 98 percent of the absentee ballots in the county. Two years later, Bladen County is under scrutiny again. Harris received votes from 61 percent of mail-in ballots during the general election, despite registered Republicans only accounting for 19 percent of those ballots. That means Harris would have not only received every Republican mail-in vote, but every Independent and even some Democrats’ as well. Perhaps more concerning is the discrepancy between returned mailin ballots across the district. The News & Observer reported that 24 percent of mail-in ballots issued were not returned, including 40 percent in Bladen County and 64 percent in neighboring Robeson County, where most of the mail-in ballots were issued to African-Americans and American-Indians. Discrepancies are consistent across the district. More than 40 percent of African-American mail-in ballots and more than 60 percent of American-Indian mail-in ballots went unreturned compared to only 17 percent of white voters, the News & Observer reported. Despite all of this, North Carolina Republicans have either been re-
markably quiet or have denied these discrepancies had an impact on the election. The party that claims to be passing laws to combat voter fraud apparently does not have the same energy for election fraud. Some say there is no evidence that irregularities changed the outcome and criticized the transparency of the investigation. Republicans have even refused to appoint members to the new bipartisan Board of Elections overseeing the investigation. Many are calling for Harris to be seated before the investigation — which they refuse to be included in — is finished. “At this point, we believe the law requires there be enough evidence that the race could be in doubt. They have shown nothing,” Dallas Woodhouse, the director of the North Carolina GOP told the News & Observer. The new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives has already stated that it will not seat Harris until the investigation is completed. A lengthy court battle over election results disregards the will of the people and puts their representation in the hands of partisan judges. Therefore, as more evidence comes out, it is clear a new election is needed. It is impossible to know the extent of this election fraud and its impact on the election. A House member cannot be seated when the results of their election appear to be fraudulent. At best, the Harris campaign showed gross negligence hiring a convicted felon as a political operative that worked against them in a previous election using the same shady tactics. At worst, the Harris campaign attempted to steal the election.
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Opinion
Jan. 18, 2019
Ultra-wealthy should have higher taxes to correct wealth disparity in US Q Russell @ ׀q_m_russell ׀Opinion Editor
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ew York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew conservative ire on Jan. 6 when she suggested a 70 percent marginal tax on people with income over $10 million in an interview with “60 Minutes.” Angela Morabito, a writer for the National Examiner, wrote that this plan was “worse than actual socialist countries.” “She wants people taxed as high as 89 - 90 percent if you make $10 million or more, where she calls them the tippy top,” Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said on-air. Among opponents of this idea,
there seems to be the idea that Ocasio-Cortez’s plan would apply the 70 percent tax to the entirety of a millionaire’s income. This is emblematic of a widespread misunderstanding of taxation. What Ocasio-Cortez suggests is a marginal tax rate, which is different than a flat tax. The 70 percent marginal tax would apply only to any dollar made over $10 million. This is how the U.S. tax system works. Depending on how high your income is, you’ll be placed into a bracket that determines how much you’ll be taxed. Your bracket is deter-
mined not only by how much money you make, but also for what status you file under. There’s single, married filing jointly and head of household. This doesn’t mean you’re paying the tax rate for that bracket on your whole income, just for income falling into that bracket. In 2017, the Tax Foundation found that the average American family’s total tax burden was 31.7 percent of their pretax earnings. In contrast, Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in America, reported that his 2010 income tax bill was only 17.4 percent of his taxable income in a
New York Times Op-Ed. Buffett attributes this to a myriad of tax breaks and loopholes instituted by the federal government. This wasn’t always the case, with top-earners once paying 90 percent on the top part of their income, but ever since Reagan took power and signed in the Tax Reform Bill of 1986, the federal government has focused on protecting the ultra-wealthy. In 2017, the Spectrum Group found that less than 10 percent of American households make more than $1 million per year. Researchers Emmanuel Saez
and Gabriel Zucman found that the top .01 percent of American families make almost as much money as the bottom 90 percent. One hundred and sixty thousand families have the same amount of wealth as 144.6 million families. Wealth inequality in the U.S. is obscene. No one needs that amount of money, and the fact that they pay a lower effective tax rate is even worse. Multi-millionaires shouldn’t be carrying a lighter load than the average American. What Ocasio-Cortez suggests isn’t insanity, but a return to reason for the U.S.
Say you make $75,000 in 2018 and your filing status is single. You would fall in the 22 percent bracket. You wouldn’t pay 22 percent on all of it, instead you would pay 10 percent on the first $9,525, 12 percent on anything between $9,526 and $38,700 and 22 percent on the rest. In total, you pay $9,800 as opposed to $16,500 if it were a flat tax. This puts your effective income tax rate at around 13 percent. Now, you will also have to pay state income tax and payroll tax, which includes Social Security and Medicare. Overall, your tax burden would be somewhere between 25 to 30 percent of your income.
Federal Income Tax Brackets 2019 RATE
FOR UNMARRIED INDIVIDUALS, TAXABLE INCOME OVER
FOR MARRIED FOR HEADS OF INDIVIDUALS FILING HOUSEHOLDS,TAXABLE JOINT RETURNS, INCOME OVER TAXABLE INCOME OVER
10%
$0
$0
$0
12%
$9,700
$19,400
$13,850
22%
$39,475
$78,950
$52,850
24%
$84,200
$168,400
$84,200
32%
$160,725
$321,450
$160,700
35%
$204,100
$408,200
$204,100
37%
$510,300
$612,350
$510,300
Graphic by Efrain Arias-Medina Jr. // Source: Tax Foundation
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Et cetera
Jan. 18, 2019
NO MANS LAND BY NEIL AGNEW
Across
1. Open pasture 4.Old-timey counting machines 8. Narrow channels between valleys 12. Insufficiency 14. Dante’s old flame? 16. Prophet in Judaism 17. Busy musician?* 18. “Christmas Canon” grp. 19. Cookie often dunked in milk 21. Finished 22. Buddy in Nice 23. Rapid-fire rifle: Abbr. 26. Foolish 29. Hamlet, for instance 34. Statesman von Bismarck 35. Gin’s drinking partner 36. Cleave 37. 1897 science fiction novel by H.G. Wells ... or a hint to solving the starred clues 38. Long actress? 39. Oxidize, as the Statue of Liberty did 42. Sot’s syndrome, shortly 43. Doc seen for a sore throat 46. Gluttonous gobbler* 50. Root of a plant, often used in medicine* 52. Blind as a ___ 54. Kind of neck 55. “Yikes!” 56. “A Wrinkle in Time” director, DuVernay 57. Federal agcy. reporting crude oil inventories 58. Inquires 59. Chief, loyal helper* 60. Chin’s end, abroad
Down
1. Experiment locales 2. U.S. : Dollar :: Germany : ____ 3. Obama healthcare law, briefly 4. Storied gaming company 5. “Fine ___” (No problem) 6. AFL follower? 7. Bed and breakfast 8. Problem-solving step in a computer malfunction 9. Tehran is its capital 10. Frank diarist? 11. Grassy turf 12. Search for concealed items, with “down” 13. Popular Apple-compatible speaker 15. Supplied, as with information 20. Percolation of ideas 22. Consecrate 24. Frenzy 25. Slick but shallow talk 26. Connectivity between devices: Abbr. 27. Utmost degree? 28. Noshed on 29. Temporary work period 30. Kind of tear 31. Unit of resistance 32. Reduce a dependence, with “off” 33. Direction opposite SES 39. What a hater may “see” 40. Imaginary 41. Ones going solo? 44. Marries 45. Exit ____ left 46. Perseverance 47. Eye part 48. Curtails, with “in” 49. No longer alive 51. Famed Brazilian futbol player 52. Naked 53. New Jersey-based car rental company
T H E C OV E R : Lillian White and her fellow parishioner spend an afternoon at the church, preparing for a funeral. White has attended since childhood and sings in the choir. Photo by Hayley Canal
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