Arts and Entertainment
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Let’s Eat
By: Nolan Stout
Arguably one of the most important
aspects of college life is food.
While college students might be
known for late night trips to places like Cookout, McDonald’s, and Taco Bell,
they also favor finer dining.
High
Point and Greensboro offer many excellent restaurants. However, there are three
in particular that stick in the mind of High Point University students.
Giannos
Giannos is an upscale Italian
restaurant that is great for romance. Winner of “Best Place To Take A Date,”
“Best Romantic Restaurant,” “Best Overall Restaurant,” “Best Italian
Restaurant” and “Best Restaurant in High Point” in 2012 by the High Point Enterprise, Giannos lives up
to its reputation.
Giannos
is indeed a great place to “take a date,” but may require a reservation for
dinner, as they are usually busy between 6:30 and 10 p.m.
The
restaurant offers romantic lighting and seating and some entrees big enough for
two people to share.
Owner Dave Nicoletta believes that
the atmosphere is a big part of what brings people back.
“I think when people go out to eat
they want a total experience,” said Nicoletta. “People eat with more than just
their mouth. They eat with their senses. When you go out to eat, to spend
money, you want to feel good.”
Giannos also offers great choices of
entrees that are not cheap, but are not ridiculously expensive either.
Nicoletta said that pizza and
lasagna are among the most popular on the menu.
Will Llewellyn, a sophomore at HPU,
agreed with Nicoletta.
“The pizza is amazing,” said
Llewellyn. “That’s what I get every time I go.”
The HPU student passport is also
accepted as a form of payment.
Giannos offers an open bar with a
full menu. The bar also has a special each day of the week, except Sunday.
Giannos is open on Monday thru
Saturday from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Least Expensive Entrée: Homemade Lasagna $10.50
Most Expensive Entrée: Steak Margherita $27.95
1124 Eastchester Dr.
High Point, N.C.
Harper’s Restaurant
Harper’s Restaurant at Greensboro’s
Friendly Center is a quaint place for casual dining. Harper’s offers both a
dining room and an open seating bar. The bar offers full menu service for
anyone in a hurry. The dining room offers quick service as well. No matter how
busy or how many in a party, it seems that the wait time for food is never too
long.
Harper’s is part of a small,
Charlotte-based chain that has locations in Charlotte and Columbia, S.C., as
well as the Greensboro location.
For
an appetizer, Harper’s has arguably the best pimento cheese dip and chips in
the Triangle. Not too creamy, not too cheesy, the pimento cheese is on par. This
is on the menu under “Harper’s Dip Duo.”
Harper’s
is also a great place to go for a nice meal that won’t break the bank. For
example, an 8-ounce sirloin with fries is only $17. They also offer a gluten
free menu and have brunch in the spring.
HPU
student Michael Leone really enjoys the staff.
“They
have so many people involved in serving your food,” said Leone. “They are all
smiling and so nice all the time, it’s really nice.”
Lee
Richardson is a waitress and has been working at Harper’s for 16 years. She believes
the restaurant has some of the best service around.
“I
think we do a good job of making people feel at home and getting people in and
out when they are in a hurry and if they have time to stay we give them a good
experience.”
Richardson
also said that the Harper’s Original Chicken Supremes are one of the most
popular things on the menu.
She’s
not wrong. They are the perfect mixture of a crunchy exterior with a soft,
well-cooked, juicy interior. Unsure what to try on the menu? The Harper’s
Original Chicken Supremes are a safe bet.
The
supremes can also be ordered in a larger entrée portion or as a smaller
appetizer.
Harper’s
is open Monday thru Thursday 11:15 a.m. – 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11:15
a.m. – 11 p.m., and Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. In spring, there is brunch every
day from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Least Expensive Entrée: House Made Veggie Burger $10
Most Expensive Entrée: The Original Roswell Rib-Eye Steak $26
601 Friendly Center Road
Greensboro, N.C.
Carolina Diner
Carolina Diner offers old-fashioned Southern
cooking. With an atmosphere that seems plucked right out of the 1960s, the
diner takes patrons back to a simpler time.
The diner is part of a small North
Carolina chain with locations in High Point, Greensboro, and Archdale.
HPU student Steph Sapp loves the environment.
“It’s full of old posters and plays
really good music,” said Sapp. “It’s really nostalgic, but in a good way.”
Sam Kulwicki, who has worked as a
manager with the restaurant for 14 years, says there are many of the older
crowd that enjoy the atmosphere.
“The older folks, the regulars,
really love the music and the prices,” said Kulwicki. “I think it takes them
back to their younger days, reminds them of old times”
Be
prepared for large portions as many meals are served with multiple sides to go
with large entrees. The diner also offers a frequent diner service that gives
customers points for each entrée ordered and at 100 points rewards them with a
free meal.
Carolina Diner is a great place to
go for a lot of food at a lower price. For example, the “Carolina’s Big Boy
Breakfast” offers three eggs, country gravy, grits, hash browns, two pancakes, choice
of three bacon or sausage links and a biscuit for only $8.99.
The diner serves both breakfast and
dinner all day. However, Kulwicki knows there is no contest for which part of
the menu is more popular.
“Breakfast hands down,” said
Kulwicki. “People love that we serve that all day. The two egg plate with bacon
and hashbrowns is ordered a lot.”
The diner is open 24 hours a day for
six days. On Sunday they close at 9 p.m. and reopen on Monday at 6 a.m.
Least Expensive Entrée: Hot Dog and Fries $4.29
Most Expensive Entrée: T-bone steak and eggs $14.50
201 Eastchester Dr.
High Point, N.C.
Each restaurant offers a great
atmosphere and great service. For finer dining, head down to Giannos, but make
a reservation first. For a more relaxed experience, take the short drive to
Greensboro and check out Harper’s. For a trip back to a simpler time, go to
Carolina Diner.
All in all, High Point and
Greensboro have some great restaurants, but these are some of the best
Monday, April 14, 2014
Getting Around
By: Nolan Stout
HPU offers many services to injured, disabled
Although the campus is beautiful, there are many obstacles to those with disabilities traveling around it.
While
suffering an injury or having a physical disability may seem like a burden at High
Point University, there are many services provided to help those who need it.
For those
who do not have a handicap placard or a car to drive from off campus or between
classes, the university offers a free transportation van. However, there is
only one van that operates on campus, which causes some scheduling conflicts
among those wishing to ride.
Many of the
aid that the university gives is based on each person’s specific needs and what
they request.
“We work
with each student individually to accommodate their needs,” said Rita
Sullivant, who works in the university’s disability services office.
Sullivant
said that they split the students based on last name and she only takes care of
five students with physical disabilities. According to Sullivant, there are
10-15 students on campus that work with her department.
Living accommodations and classes
Living accommodations and classes
Those with disabilities are usually given special living accommodations if they request them.
Students with wheelchairs are usually given a room on the first floor if they request it. Sullivant said the university makes sure to put students in buildings with elevators or rooms that accommodate wheelchairs.
Students with wheelchairs are usually given a room on the first floor if they request it. Sullivant said the university makes sure to put students in buildings with elevators or rooms that accommodate wheelchairs.
Sometimes for classes,
the office will manipulate classroom placement if it is difficult to
access.
“Congdon
has some of those narrow hallways and aisles in the room,” said Sullivant. “So
if there is a problem with wheelchair access we just work with the registrar
changing the classrooms in those situations. Most of our new buildings are
pretty accessible.”
Problems
One of the problems the university has for those that may be injured is that dorms do not have a handicap access button that opens the door automatically. Sullivant said that students can register at the beginning of the year for a key fob that will open the door for them. However, those with injuries or temporary handicaps are not normally given these devices.
Problems
One of the problems the university has for those that may be injured is that dorms do not have a handicap access button that opens the door automatically. Sullivant said that students can register at the beginning of the year for a key fob that will open the door for them. However, those with injuries or temporary handicaps are not normally given these devices.
Another
problem is that the handicap access ramps for many buildings tend to be behind
the building or in a more difficult place to reach. This makes it harder for
those with disabilities or injuries to reach them because they must travel
further.
Many ramps
may be placed behind buildings to accommodate for the regulations required of
them. The state of North Carolina requires that a slope have a maximum 1:12
ratio and the maximum height is 30 inches.
This slope
requirement causes some buildings to have multiple ramps to get to one door.
Send in people trained in carrying someone in a wheelchair
if there is a fire or emergency.
Those with disabilities
are generally given as much aid as they need or the university can give them. Sullivant
said that they do their best to notify people in charge of those with
disabilities in case an emergency happens.
“We notify
security at the beginning of the year of anyone that may have problems with
physical disabilities,” said Sullivant.
For those
that have temporary disabilities due to injuries, campus may seem very hard to navigate.
However, the offices of disability services and transportation work well
together to accommodate everyone’s need.
“For people
that have suffered injuries and are disabled for a short period of time it may
seem hard to find help because they are unfamiliar with the services,” said
Sullivant.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Sarkeesian Speaks on Women in Video Games
By: Nolan Stout
On
April 3, media critic Anita Sarkeesian delivered a lecture at High Point
University on the misrepresentation of women in video games.
“The
vast majority of games are made for straight white men,” said Sarkeesian. “The
vast majority of games also either completely ignore women or treat them
hostile.”
Sarkeesian began her presentation by giving background on her own life and experience with video games. As a young child she played the original Gameboy.
Sarkeesian began her presentation by giving background on her own life and experience with video games. As a young child she played the original Gameboy.
As she got older, Sarkeesian began
to question the representation of women in video games in her online video
series “Feminist Frequency.” Her critique of video games brought much backlash
to her life. She was attacked in online forums by many in the gaming community
that were angered by her views.
“This intense and violent hostility
is common in video game society,” said Sarkeesian. “There seems to be a
pre-existing hatred for women in video games.”
According to Sarkeesian, women are
represented in a variety of ways in modern video games, few of which are
positive.
Among the many portrayals of women
in video games, some of the tropes Sarkeesian discussed included the “Damsel in
Distress,” “Women in Refrigerators,” and the “Smurfette Principle.”
Each of these, according to
Sarkeesian, robs women of the chance to develop their character or be a hero in
video games.
One of the few positive
representations of women Sarkeesian mentioned was Samus Aran from the Metroid game series. Samus is a female
in full body armor that is not sexualized in any way.
Placing
more armor on women and allowing their characters to be played in first person
are some solutions that Sarkeesian gave to fixing the misrepresentation of women in
video games.
Sarkeesian’s
talk was well received by students at HPU. The room was packed with people
sitting on the steps and floor. In the back, a few chairs were set up, but it
was mostly standing room for those that arrived late.
Junior
Michael Leone thought the talk was very informative.
“That
was a really great lecture,” said Leone. “I play all sorts of games and never
really thought about the way women are portrayed in them. All of that stuff is
true about a lot of games.”
Monday, February 3, 2014
The Records Play On
By: Nolan Stout
It is no secret that digital downloads are becoming the
dominant form of music purchases. However, one needs to look no further than
the Piedmont of North Carolina to see that other forms of music are still alive
and well.
Vinyl records may seem like a thing of the past, but for
a few new stores the industry is picking back up again.
Jonathan
Hodges of Winston-Salem believes that the movement of music to almost all
digital mediums is related to the increase of vinyl.
“There is nothing tangible. If you lose your hard drive
that’s it, you lose all your music. With vinyl, it’s the opposite end of that
spectrum,” said Hodges.
Two new stores have opened since September locally. In
Greensboro, Hippo Records sprang up at the Shoppes at Lindley Park on Spring
Garden Street. In Winston-Salem, Underdog Records opened its doors on Robinhood
Road.
In Raleigh, one of the longest running record stores in
the country, Schoolkids Records, has relocated to an even bigger building.
The
growth in the vinyl industry is not just up in the Triangle, but has risen
nationally.
According
to Nielsen SoundScan, as of June 30, 2013, vinyl sales had risen 33.50-percent
from 2012 to 2013. This varies from CD album sales which are down 14.20-percent
in the same time.
A brand
new vinyl runs for anywhere between $15-$25. This is higher than a CD which can
run from $12-$15 and much higher than a digital download which may cost less
than $10.
However,
this has not stopped people from continuing to buy vinyl records.
A closer
look at each new store and the iconic store in Raleigh show just how this has
come about.
Out On His Own
Patrick Lemons began working in the vinyl industry at
Edward McKay Used Books & More in his hometown of Greensboro. His interest
in music, however, began long before that.
“My dad had a Huey Lewis & the News album, Fore!, and I used to play that all the
time when I was around six,” said Lemons.
His experiences with vinyl really began to pick up when
he was 17 and could finally drive.
“I really enjoyed the thrill of being able to drive to
stores and discover new music,” said Lemons.
While working at Edward McKay’s Used Books and More,
Lemons saw that there was money to be made in the vinyl market and thought that
maybe he could “do it better than them.”
So after
a few years of building up a stock of records and deciding how best to go out
on his own, Lemons finally established a business. At first, he worked out of a
corner of Lost Ark Video Games selling records.
Lemons
was doing very well selling his records at the arcade and wanted to expand so
he was able to work out an agreement for the space next door to the arcade and
opened his doors in September.
It was
not a venture Lemons took lightly.
“You’re
signing up not just for the monetary risk, but also your time and effort,” said
Lemons. “You can’t change your mind, there’s no backing out.”
But,
Lemons has had great business in the short time he has been open. Lemons says
that he has many customers coming in that are just starting their record
collections or trying to build up their old collections.
“I’d say
there are quite a few people in their 40s-50s,” said Lemons. “But, there are
also a lot of people coming in that are in that 16-25 age range.”
Lemons
orders many new albums to sell, but also buys just as many, if not more, used
records that people bring in and want to sell.
Hippo Records is now the fifth record store in Greensboro.
Lemons believes that helps business.
“Say you’re from Raleigh or Winston-Salem. You’re
probably not going to make the drive for just one store. But, if there are
multiple stores around, you’re more likely to drive,” said Lemons. “I also
think it creates more of a fervor about it because there are so many stores
around.”
What might separate Hippo Records from other stores is
the quality of the used records Lemons sells.
“I don’t like to sell records that are bad quality,” said
Lemons. “I like to think in terms of how would I feel if I was buying it. I
price it as what I would feel was reasonable as opposed to what I think I can
sell it for.”
As to
the name for the record store, Lemons said it just came to him.
“I
couldn’t think of anything good. Nothing came to my mind,” said Lemons. “I like
to meditate and so I decided to meditate and the first word to come to me I’m
going to do it. The first word that came up was hippopotamus and I thought
that’s a stupid word.”
But,
after thinking about that word a bit longer, Lemons decided he could shorten it
to hippo and then just went forward from there.
Lemons
runs the store by himself.
Hippo Records carries just about all types of music. From
60s music to hip-hop, punk to jazz, metal to electronic, there is much
diversity at Hippo Records.
The Unlikely Candidate
Jonathan Hodges opened Underdog Records in Winston-Salem on
November 1.
Hodges formerly worked with the Record Exchange before
wanting to break off and create his own store.
“It got to the point where I wanted to do things
differently than I was allowed to at a company,” said Hodges. “It was time to
take the risk.”
Unlike Lemons, Hodges was not nervous at all to open a
new store.
“I was going to be leaving where I was anyway so I wasn’t
really nervous about it,” said Hodges.
The name came from the handle Hodges used to sell vinyl
online and the name of his blog.
Hodges carries all types of vinyl in his store. There are
a large number of used vinyl as well as new in the store.
Hodges hopes to partner with Little John’s bar to start a
vinyl night on Tuesday nights in the future.
The Legacy Continues
In Raleigh, Schoolkids Records is entering its 40th
year of business. Once operating six stores in North Carolina, the location at
the Mission Valley shopping center on Avent Ferry road is the last remaining store
in the country.
Schoolkids also had locations in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Athens,
Ga.
In 2011, the Grammy’s published an article on their
website in which they chose the ten most iconic record stores in the country
and Schoolkids was ranked fifth on that list.
After 36 years, the store moved from its Hillsborough
Street location across from the NC State bell tower because the city wishes to
build a hotel at that site.
Current owner Stephen Judge began working with the store
in 1990.
“I shopped here when I was in high school,” said Judge.
“And then when I was at [NC] State I got hired here and worked for ten years.”
The previous owner, Mike Phillips, had discussed with
Judge about purchasing the Chapel Hill location. That did not happen because
Judge did not have the funds to support the store. That location, the last
outside Raleigh, closed shop in 2008 after 35 years of business.
The owner then told Judge that in four or five years he
might close the Hillsborough Street location and Judge told him to consult with
him first before doing so.
Judge kept in touch with the owner, saying he was the
“first choice” to own it when the original owner was ready to quit.
“About
two years ago I approached him about re-opening a store in Chapel Hill because
I was living there at the time,” said Judge. “That was when the conversation
came up about just buying the Raleigh store and running the whole brand.”
The previous owner was ready to retire because he knew
the store would have to relocate and he had no desire to do that. The two
decided it was best for Judge to begin working and owning the store for a few
years before they had to relocate so the move would be easier.
“I always knew I wanted to find a bigger location and put
a bar in the store so I could have bands play in-store,” said Judge.
The store carries all types of music and is one of the biggest
in North Carolina.
Vinyl Revolution
Many factors may have contributed to the increase in vinyl.
However, what might keep bringing people back is the desire to find something
new.
Starting a record collection can be fun and exciting. Many
famous records can be found for only $1 at some stores.
To some, collecting records is an unexplainable
addiction. To others, it is just a hobby that they explore on the weekends.
No matter the case, vinyl records are here to stay. Record
stores are starting to open back up all over the country. While the world seems
to be turning to a completely digital format, vinyl will still stick around and
the records will play on.
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