Paul Sherar - Chief Photographer

Hundreds of students and members of the Boone community crowded the north side of Varsity Gymnasium Thursday evening to finally hear Eric Schlenker publicly speak about his religious beliefs.

Chris Bohle - Multicultural Beat

Hundreds of Appalachian State University students and members of the Boone community crowded the north side of Varsity Gymnasium Thursday evening to finally hear Eric Schlenker publicly speak about his religious beliefs.

Schlenker has been the center of the two-week long “Do You Agree with Eric?” campaign, an attempt to spread the message of Christianity and how it can change a person’s life.

However, Eric insisted he was not the main focus.

“This whole thing isn’t about me,” said Schlenker. “It’s about Jesus Christ. If it was about me, then we’d all be in trouble.”

The crowd intently listened as Schlenker told his story of how religion has changed his outlook on life.

“I was the classic cocky freshman when I first came [to Appalachian],” he said. “I would go to all the parties and drink, and just do whatever gave me temporary amusement.”

In front of an audience that included his parents, Schlenker went on to describe his initial views of church and religion as a youngster.

At first, church was more of an aerobic experience than anything else, he said. “When I was growing up, we went to church, but I just saw it as a lot of sitting, standing and kneeling,” said Schlenker.

But church eventually came to mean much more to him as he desperately tried to fill the void in his life that he could not quite grasp, he told the audience.

Something was missing from his life, and turning to God ended up being just what he needed, said Schlenker.

“I definitely had a hole in my spirit that I could not explain,” he said. “Knowing Jesus has turned out to be the greatest joy of my life.”

Schlenker’s 30-minute speech and subsequent question-and-answer session was intended not only to spread his message, but also to also clear any misconceptions the audience had about Christianity.

“Many people believe a lot of things that they hear about Jesus that just aren’t true,” he said.

One of the alleged falsities he highlighted is the belief that Christians are hypocrites. In a way, they are, he said.

“Christians say to not sin, but I sin all the time,” he said. “So, in that sense, then maybe we are hypocrites.”

But following Jesus to negate his sin is how Schlenker found his way to spiritual wholeness, he said.

“The whole point of this campaign was to just spark some spiritual interest,” he said. “We are not trying to force anything onto anyone.”

One member of the audience, having a hard time believing the campaign was not overly aggressive, asked during the question- and-answer session if Schlenker believed in spiritual diversity or if he thought everyone should be Christian.

In reply, Schlenker insisted he was merely sharing Jesus and his story with everyone and not necessarily implying anything else.

“I came here with a story and a message to spread,” said Schlenker. “I’m not trying to start conflicts.”

Alphatraz project slated for Friday
Donated cash to benefit sorority, local organizations

Carrie Baker - Greeks Beat

Appalachian State University’s chapter of Alpha Phi sorority will be holding its annual Alphatraz fund-raiser Friday.

Alpha Phi, with sponsors Papa John’s Pizza and Verizon Wireless, will provide cell-phone use and free pizza to those people who volunteer to be “arrested” in order to raise money, said Ingrid Gilbert, director of philanthropy for Alpha Phi.

“Alphatraz is an annual event that raises money for the Alpha Phi Foundation as well as local non-profit organizations,” said Gilbert.
Alpha Phi will set up two tables in Plemmons Student Union for interested people to stop by to volunteer, she said.

“Once you volunteer, we will provide you with a cell phone so you can call friends to come bail you out of jail,” said Gilbert. “A person has to raise a minimum of $30 to get out of jail.”

Alpha Phi members will be on campus Friday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. “arresting” individuals who have pledged a minimum of a $30 donation, said Gilbert.

All participators will receive a free T-shirt if they raise the allotted $30.

Some proceeds from Alphatraz will benefit cardiac care and research for heart disease, said Gilbert.

“We hope to have lots of people involved this year. It’s a really fun way to raise money for a great cause.”

Also, some donated money will go back into the community to non-profit organizations in Watauga County. “Some of the money will go to local organizations.

We also sponsor a family in New York, so some of the money will go to that fund as well as the cardiac care research,” she said.
In past years, Alpha Phi has raised $1,200 during Alphatraz.

“This fund raiser is totally on a volunteer basis, so we hope to have several volunteers,” said Gilbert.

For more information or to volunteer, visit one of the Alphatraz contact tables in Plemmons Student Union on Friday.

MEISA plans Songwriter Showcase, other events

David Forbes - Clubs / Organizations Beat

MEISA (Music Entertainment Industry Student Association) recently conducted auditions for its annual Songwriter Showcase, which will be held Dec. 5.

MEISA is a student organization whose main purpose is to help interested students break into the music industry through internships and participation in a variety of other industry-related activities, such as recording and performing concerts.

“We help teach members to promote, prepare press releases, to get to know a basic standard of what to do when they find internships,” said Latosha Yeadon, president of MEISA.

The 2001 Songwriter Showcase will feature four acts of student artists — the Mighty Handful, Clint Alphin, Josh Chamberless & Audrey Thayer, and Daniel Graham.

Although these artists are mostly rock, soft-rock or pop acts, Showcase, and MEISA in general, are “open to artists of any and all musical styles,” said Yeadon.

Songwriter Showcase will be held in Rosen Concert Hall, with a $1 admission charge, and it will also count as concert credit for any music students who attend.

Showcase, however, is not the only event in which MEISA is involved.

Every spring, the group attends an event known as “Grammy’s in School,” a roundtable discussion held in Nashville, Tenn., that involves record executives and other industry notables.

This event and the MEIEA (Music Entertainment Industry Educators Association) conference, a national convention of similar groups also held in the spring, “provide more opportunities for MEISA members to seek internships and get to know the industry,” said Yeadon.

MEISA also has access to a recording studio behind the Broyhill Music Center. “For now, only recording students are permitted to use the studio, but as things get more established, I hope it will become open to all student artists who need to use it,” said Yeadon.

MEISA meetings are held Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in Room 225 of the Broyhill Music Center.

Josh Brown - The Appalachian

Students wait to enter a busy McAlister’s Deli Monday afternoon inside Plemmons Student Union.

Robyn Dailey - Business Affairs Beat

The McAlister’s Deli franchise of Appalachian State University has broken national records in its first month, said director of Food Services Ron Dubberly.

“It has broken all records for all McAlister’s for seven days,” he said.
McAlister’s Vice President/General Counsel Patrick Walls said a typical McAlister’s pulls in $40,000-50,000 in an 84-86 hour work-week.

The Appalachian deli is open for only 40 hours, but in the first week of being open, they pulled in even more money than the national average.

“It’s been beyond our wildest dreams,” said Walls.
The chain operates 77 restaurants around the country, but the Appalachian McAlister’s was the first to operate on a college campus.
“We’re looking very hard at other colleges and universities,” said Walls.

Chuck Rooker, manager of franchise operations, has opened 35 McAlister’s restaurants and said Appalachian’s was his favorite because of the on-campus location.

“This one, by far, was the busiest and most fun [opening] that I’ve ever done,” said Rooker. “One of the cool things is that students have been very patient with us.”

Students have realized it is not fast food, and they have been willing to wait in the long lines, he said.

Rooker said McAlister’s officials are assessing how the chain can provide an on-campus call-in service while still providing fast service to customers in the restaurant.

“In a typical McAlister’s, we do a little over 40 percent of our business from call-ins,” said Walls.

Meanwhile, food sales at other on-campus eating facilities have been mildly affected by McAlister’s record-setting success, said Dubberly.
Compared with last October, sales have dropped 2 percent at Food Court, 3.5 percent at Cascades, 2.5 percent at Park Place [Trivette] and 7.5 percent at The Market, said Dubberly.

“The one that has been impacted the most has been The Market,” said Dubberly.

He contributes that drop to students spending more money at McAlister’s and therefore having less excess money to spend at The Market.

“The cafeteria was not impacted at all, [but] I think if it had not been for wrAPPs [also run by McAlister’s], the cafeteria would have suffered,” said Dubberly.

Food Services spent between $250,000-300,000 in opening the on-campus McAlister’s, he said.

“It will be awhile before we actually make a profit from McAlister’s because it was such a huge investment,” said Dubberly.

Food Services personnel are very optimistic about making a sizeable profit if McAlister’s stays popular on campus, he said.

“If the sales stay where they are now, we’ll be able to pay off the debt within a couple of years,” said Dubberly. “I think Food Services will be better off because of McAlister’s than we were before McAlister’s.”

SGA joins fund raising effort for Afghan kids
Money will be sent to White House to fund
humanitarian aid initiative

Sarah Newell - SGA Beat

The Student Government Association (SGA) is organizing a campaign to collect money for children in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

One of every three Afghan children three years old is only the size of an average American infant due to malnutrition, according to a BBC presentation aired recently on CNN.

SGA plans to join President George W. Bush’s national campaign to collect money from their respective constituents to aid the humanitarian effort.

Mark J. Miller, an off-campus SGA senator, is heading the project. “The senators are trying to get at least $1 from each constituent,” said Miller. The total sum raised will then be sent in the form of a check to The White House, he said.

If SGA raises $12,000, the organization plans to send a delegation to Washington, D.C., to deliver the money to Bush himself.

Miller and SGA President Xan Harrington would lead the delegation and the students would stay at the App House for a few days, giving the group time to hand the check over to the president and tour Washington, D.C.

“If we raise $1 million, I personally pledge to deliver the money to Afghanistan myself,” said Miller.

SGA decided to undertake the project once the president encouraged all American children to send $1 to the White House for children in Afghanistan during a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress.

Miller said he thought it would be a good project for SGA to undertake. “We plan to do public soliciting on the mall and maybe place some buckets around campus like we did for the Red Cross and N.Y. firefighters after the Sept. 11 attacks,” said Miller.

SGA is also looking at soliciting from some establishments around town, but has encountered some problems.

“Some companies are hesitant about having solicitors at their stores now because a few people said that they were soliciting money for the Red Cross, and the Red Cross never got that money,” said Miller.
“It’s making gathering money outside of school much more difficult than anticipated.”

Meanwhile, an Appalachian State University independent sorority, Sigma Alpha Omega, has also undertaken the project and is currently working to gather money for Afghan children as well.