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SINCE 1998
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carolina
IN BLOOM
INSIDE: humans vs. zombies • foodie students • carolina fever
CTOPS 2012 | Volume 14 | Issue 6 | www.blueandwhitemag.com | FREE

from the editor
Amber Lynch
is a junior from Asheboro.
She can be reached at
amlynch@live.unc.edu.
oOne thing that will never change, no matter
where you go, is the need for food.
It is true that food varies by region. If you
aren’t already aware, UNC-Chapel Hill plays
host deliciousness—but to Southern food also —fried, Chinese, sweet Vietnamese,
iced tea,
organic, local... and free.
There are several organizations on campus
selling, sponsoring and giving away food. Just look
in the Pit and you are sure to find something.
While you’re in that part of campus, make your
way to the steps of Wilson Library. You might
see a fashion show of the latest styles and trends
as people walk across the Quad (see pages 4 and
5) or have the chance to see COUTURevolution
(visit www.blueandwhitemag.com for the story).
You can also witness different dance teams
perform, a human vs. zombies massacre (see page
9) and, of course, free food.
Beyond that, though, the University also
embraces food. There are students who are
obsessed with and make their own food (see page
12), and if you are in the creative writing program
(see online story) you can even take a Food
Writing class. And there is the added convenience
of the University’s close proximity to several
well-known restaurants on Franklin Street. There’s
Sugarland—which appeared on Food Network—
Mama Dip’s and Crook’s Corner (see page 15)
and my new favorite, Jack Sprat Café. Get the
bruschetta, it is to die for!
And if you aren’t already addicted to coffee,
it is a popular trend in college that you might
eventually follow. I don’t drink coffee, but I often
go with my friends to the coffee shops on campus
and take part in the coffee culture (see page 16).
The best way to find out what UNC-CH has
to offer is simply to explore and listen. Pay close
attention when you hear the guy behind you
talking about how good the Pokey Stix are or
about free cone day at Ben & Jerry’s. Even though
Carolina’s campus is large, word about food travels
fast
İf everything else fails, you can always sit
outside and see what comes your way. Sunshine,
warm temperatures, green grass and music are all
to be found at UNC-CH. There’s even great places
to sleep (see page 28).
To the freshmen out there: this issue holds a
lot of stories chosen with you in mind, including
scheduling advice (see page 4) and First Year
Seminars (see page 30).
To the seniors: congratulations on graduation!
It’s a great campus on which to stay outside
and witness all kinds of things.
blue&white
UNC-CH Campus Box 5210 | Chapel Hill, NC 27599-5210
Editor-in-Chief AMBER LYNCH
Managing Editor MARGOT PIEN
Associate Editor of Content Planning & Development KIRSTEN CHANG
Art Director COURTNEY LINDSTRAND
Creative Director PAIGE WARMUS
Vice President of Public Relations KATIE JERNIGAN
Vice President of Internal Relations COURTNEY VANDYNE
Webmaster ASHLEY RUSSELL
Treasurer MINH TANG
CONTENT STAFF
University Editor TYLER CONFOY
Arts & Entertainment Editor ASHLEY RUSSELL
Sports Editor WILL RIMER
Photography Editor MELISSA KEY
Columns Editor ANA ROCHA
Editorials Editor ELLEN MURRAY
Special Sections Editor JESSICA GAYLORD
Blog Editor WENDY LU
Chief Copy Editor LINDSEY WHEELER
Writers
LAUREN BURTON, KATE FEDDER, DANNY GASSAWAY,
JAMIE GNAZZO, MOLLY GREEN, LAURA HANSON, JESSICA
KENNEDY, WENDY LU, LUKE NEENAN, MELISSA SHULMAN,
ANDREW SOBOEIRO, ANNA STARNES, MASA WATANABE,
STUART WEST
Copy Editors
TYLER CONFOY, SABRINA HUSAIN, WENDY LU, LINDSEY
WHEELER
Columnists
ERIK AUGUSTINE, HOLLY BEILIN, LAUREN EDMONDS,
ELLEN MURRAY, WILL RIMER, BLAIR RUMLEY
Bloggers
BRIANA BEANLAND, CHARLOTTE EKBERG, SYDNEY HARRIS,
COURTNEY LINDSTRAND (columnist), DUSTIN MCMANUS
(columnist), EMILY MILKS, ZOE MOORE, KRISTEN LEE
CUBERO, EMILY WIGGINS (columnist), SHAWANNE WANG
Designers
MAEGAN CLAWGES, MELISSA FLANDREAU, PHILIP
HOOVER, RACHEL KEY, BRENDAN LEONARD, COURTNEY
LINDSTRAND, MARGOT PIEN, DARA SCHWARTZ, PAIGE
WARMUS
Photographers
MAURA ASHTON, KRISTEN LEE CUBERO, JESSICA GAYLORD,
NICOLE JOHNSON, JESSICA KENNEDY, ELIZABETH
MENDOZA, EMILY NYCUM, WENDY LU, MELISSA KEY, EMILY
WERK
INTERNAL RELATIONS
Printing CHAMBLEE GRAPHICS | Adviser JOCK LAUTERER
Board of Directors RENA CHERNOTSKY, LAUREN RIPPEY
OUR MISSION
To inform readers of the unique personalities, events and traditions that
define the University’s heritage and help shape its future, and to offer staff
members practical and enjoyable journalism, business and management
experience.
Blue & White is produced by students at UNC-Chapel Hill and is funded at
least in part by student fees, which were appropriated and dispersed by
UNC-CH’s Student Government.
Email Katie Jernigan at kljernig@live.unc.edu
for advertising information.
—————
Front Cover Photo by Melissa Key
Back Cover Photos (clockwise) by Melissa Key, Jessica Kennedy and Nicole Johnson
table of contents
in this issue
9 TAKING ON THE LIVING DEAD
Armed with Nerf Blasters and balled up socks,
students battle zombies in this campus-wide
game of tag.
12 MAKE YOUR OWN MEAL PLAN
Some students leave behind the catered dining
at Lenoir Hall and Rams Head in favor of local,
organic or homemade cuisine.
16 CAFFEINE CRAZE
College means late nights and early mornings—
but not without that essential cup of coffee.
Caffeine-lovers divulge on their favorite locales.
19 NATURE WALK
Coker Arboretum, arguably the most beautiful
spot on campus, has been cultivated for over
100 years to create the blooms it has today.
22 FEVER FRENZY
Sports fans show love for all UNC-CH teams
by attending events and racking up points as
part of Carolina Fever.
6 9
in every issue
GOING GLOBAL 8
Holly Beilin
NEW SOUTH, NEW BELLE 15
Blair Rumley
SPORTS COLUMN 25
Will Rimer
TWO VIEWS 28
Erik Augustine
Lauren Edmonds
CAROLINA LEGACY 30
Ellen Murray
www.blueandwhitemag.com 3

in our
opinion
that’s hot
Queen’s Jubilee
In honor of Her Majesty’s 60 years on the
throne, England is having an extended weekend
celebration June 2-5.
2012 Olympics in London
Another reason why London is the
place to be this summer. May the odds
be ever in your favor.
UNC Apps
NextBus—avoid standing at the bus stop for
an extra hour. UNC Mobile App—maps,
sports and news, oh my!
Carolina Fever
It’s literally hot, but you can see
page 22 for additional reasons why.
Draw Something
As if we’re not distracted enough in class,
now our mindless doodling can become a
means of social interaction.
The Art of Registration
It’s a quarter after one, I’m all alone and I need someone... to drop POLI 101
so that I can add it to my schedule for next semester.
Registering for classes is like trying to finish a puzzle. You rummage in a pile
of funny-shaped, cardboard pieces, rearranging ones that seem to fit together
and tossing the ones that don’t, until you come up with the perfect picture.
Unfortunately, scheduling isn’t always that easy.
I came across a UNC Meme the other day that borrows a scene from Pixar’s
“Toy Story.” Buzz Lightyear has one arm outstretched in midair and the other
around a frowning Woody. Buzz looks off in the distance, and says: “Blue
squares. Blue squares everywhere.”
Precisely. Thank you, Buzz.
But it’s not just about electronically racing with 65 other students to add the
one class that fulfi lls The World Before 1750, Global Issues and Philosophy/
Moral Reasoning. It’s not just about obsessively checking ConnectCarolina
between classes and before bed at 2 a.m.
What makes class registration so stressful for us is the notion that much of
our college career—and our GPA—depends on the classes we take. After all,
we have to spend an entire semester with that particular professor, studying that
particular subject. There is the Add/Drop option during the first few weeks of
class, but there are also other factors to consider, such as timing, class size and, of
course, graduation requirements.
For instance, check out your experiential education (EE) requirement. Many
First Year Seminars (FYS) fulfi ll it or else you need to study abroad, have an
internship or be eligible for an upper level class which isn’t consistently offered.
The good news is, we have four wonderful years to complete all of our
requirements. More than likely, we’ll even have some extra space for electives
that, well, may or may not focus on a subject you are deeply passionate about.
When I was a freshman, I was excited to sign up for DRAM 131: Writing for
the Stage and Screen. After all, I had considered being a screenwriter and movie
director after being a part of a local acting group in Ayden for a good portion
of my high school career. Surely DRAM 131 would be perfect for me! And it
fulfi lled the Visual & Performing Arts requirement.
Instead, I got butted into ENGL 142: Film Analysis. Not exactly what I had
in mind.
As it turned out, my class got to view both national and international classics
by respected auteurs such as Stanley Kubrick, Charlie Chaplin and Vittorio De
Sica. Then we analyzed certain scenes of each movie. I learned professional fi lm
terminology and even created a storyboard of my own
short movie sequence. Most importantly, I learned
that I love watching movies more than I would
love making them.
Even though class registration causes
me numerous headaches and tantrums,
I’ve got to hand it to ConnectCarolina for
teaching me that stepping outside of my
comfort zone is actually an okay thing to
do and that it will not screw me over by
throwing off my college scheduling plans.
And in the end, this is what these four
years are about. We are here to learn about
globalization, social justice, the art of medicine
and the mechanics of creative writing. Before we
specialize in whatever field we’re interested in and enter the
In May, Michigan State
University will offer a sixweek
course titled “Surviving
the Coming Zombie Apocalypse:
Catastrophes & Human Behavior.”
source: www.mentalfloss.com
job market, we can still surprise ourselves with something new and unexpected.
After all, college is meant to expose us to different aspects of life that otherwise
we would not have seen.
A few weeks ago, Rob Nelson, a co-news anchor for ABC World News Now
and UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus, visited my JOMC 153: News Writing class. He
stood in front of our class and told us this: “You have your entire life to get a job
and work but only four years to make the most of college. Enjoy while you can.”
BY WENDY LU
&
that’s not
Vampire Movies
So over the Twilight craze, not even
looking forward to Abraham Lincoln:
Vampire Hunter. (Tim Burton’s Dark
Shadows might be an exception...)
Summer School
We’d be chillin’ in the Bahamas right
now if it weren’t for summer classes,
but at least we’ll graduate on time.
CTOPS Lanyards after CTOPS
What not to wear after orientation
ends. You’ll thank us later.
Fake Tans
Do yourself a favor—enjoy natural
rays on the Quad rather than look
like an oompa loompa.
Jorts on Guys
Jeans + shorts = cute cutoffs on girls,
creepy and weird on boys...
unless you’re in Carrboro.
QUAD
This month we sent our
photographer Elizabeth
Mendoza to find unique
fashion statements
around campus.
To see more, visit our blog at
blueandwhitemag.com/blog
“Today I’m vintage. Sometimes I’m comfortable
and vintage. I get girly sometimes. My favorite
stores are Urban Outfitters, thrift stores, Forever
21 and H&M. “
Giavanna White, sophomore
“My fashion is newly formed. I didn’t have any
fashion sense before college, but then I started
to watch TV and read magazines that had great
fashion so I started to dress better. “
Gigi Nemeroff, junior
“My fashion is eclectic. I just take pieces that I
like and put them together. If they don’t fit, I
make it fit.”
Jenn Chau, sophomore
“My parents lived in Europe so I took inspiration
from them. I also go to California for vacation so
I take some pieces inspired from there.”
Lindsey Rietkerch, sophomore
4 CTOPS 2012 www.blueandwhitemag.com 5

from the bell
to the well
Postcards for Progress
When most people walk
into a middle school cafeteria,
they see bagged lunches
and braces. Brendan Yorke,
a sophomore psychology
major from Canada, sees
more pressing problems than
mystery meat and awkward
pre-teen years. He sees a need
for change.
“There tends to be a table
of white kids, a table of black
kids and a table of Hispanic
kids,” Yorke says. “That’s just
how it happens; it’s not by
any design. It’s just because
kids don’t understand how to
communicate their culture in
a way that another group can
understand.”
Yorke wanted to bridge
the cultural gaps middle
school students seem to face
in their everyday lives, and he
brought that change directly
into their classrooms.
Evan Noll holds a postcard from P4P
and discusses the influence of art on
promoting diversity.
In spring 2010, he founded Postcards for Progress, an organization that
sends UNC-Chapel Hill students into middle schools to increase cultural
understanding via in-class lessons and art exchanges with foreign students.
During its first exchange, P4P consisted of four members and enlisted
only the help of a few on-site coordinators abroad. In the past two years,
these numbers are not the only things that have been growing. Postcards
for Progress has expanded its mission statement and welcomed a new director,
Evan Noll, who plans to develop Yorke’s organization even further.
“(Yorke) really has been a great mentor,” says Noll, a sophomore advertising
and American studies double major from Matthews. “We’ve just
been meeting a lot and going over little day-to-day stuff, but it’s also a lot
of big thinking.”
Such big thinking helped P4P members notice an alarming need for
domestic intercultural competency, causing the organization to shift from
concentrating its efforts abroad to fostering connections closer to home.
“Sure we can do these international connections, but there are a lot of
cultural explorations that can go on right inside the classroom,” Yorke says.
“That’s kind of been the redefining of our value statement.”
Noll plans to aid the new domestic focus by strengthening communication
with important connections abroad to ensure the best exchanges possible.
Such relationships provide concrete examples of cultural differences
used to enforce the program’s in-class lesson plans.
Noll says new group members’ creativity and innovative attitudes can
greatly shape P4P’s new focus.
“Everyone can bring a really unique thought to this,” Noll says. “Freshmen
can bring a fresh new perspective and an excitement to Postcards for
Progress that we always need.”
&
BY LAUREN BURTON
PHOTO BY EMILY WERK
6 CTOPS 2012
Shall We Dance
“There’s kind of this stigma that dance is not the manliest of
sports,” Ballroom Dance Club team captain Ellen Porter says. “But
we teach you how to be manly.”
Porter is confused as to why her team seems to lack males. After
all, guys on the team have the opportunity to meet girls while
learning widely known dances.
“You get to dance with a lot of hot girls, so it’s a great way to
meet them,” she adds.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Ballroom Dance Club encompasses two
separate programs: a social club, which teaches beginners the basic
steps and styles, and a competitive team, which frequently travels
for competitions.
The scarcity of males is evident only on the team, where the
girls sometimes struggle to find a partner. It’s the opposite case in
the club.
“This year we have more guys than girls,” says senior Nathan
Wong, a frequent social club participant.
Junior Joanna Miranda adds, “Usually, even the dance instructor
is part of the rotation, but sometimes he just watches because
there aren’t enough girls.”
Meals with Heels
Amongst over 18,000 undergraduates, it’s easy to feel like just
another number at UNC-Chapel Hill. And with only about 3,500
professors, competing for a teacher’s attention in class or during brief
office hours can seem daunting.
Irene Neequaye, a senior anthropology and international studies
major, wanted to help students establish relationships with their
professors in a more personal, informal setting.
In fall 2011, Neequaye kicked off Meals with Heels, allowing
students and professors to share a meal and conversation at any oncampus
dining location free of charge.
Blair Puleo, a sophomore psychology major, met with her MUSC
145: Introduction to Jazz professor, Dr. Brooks Smith, through the
Meals with Heels program.
“He was very nice and so down to earth. I think you don’t really
get that from just a classroom experience,” Puleo says. “So I feel like
almost everyone should do this with every class and every professor.”
Neequaye created Meals with Heels in EDUC 318: Peer Leadership
in the University Environment, where the assignment was to
create a project that would positively benefit the University. She successfully
implemented the program and even received a grant for it.
“I believe in the program and have seen it operate at other universities,”
Annice Fisher, professor of the EDUC 318 class, says.
The number of meals each week varies, but close to 25 meals have
taken place on campus thus far.
Despite the program’s popularity, Neequaye worries it will disappear
once she graduates this semester. She faces the dilemma of find-
The social dance
“The Turkey Trot” was
banned in some states in the
early 1900s because partners
faced each other. One woman
served 50 days in jail.
source: www.mentalfloss.
com
ing another student
to run the program.
“I didn’t create the
program for it to not
be sustainable,” Neequaye
says. “I think
that it is very easy
and very do-able.”
Although Meals
with Heels has seen
success in the UNC-
CH community, Neequaye
still believes
student-professor
relationships could
use further improvement.
The team regularly travels up and
down the East Coast for competitions,
but the majority of the team
only began dancing when they
joined the club.
Sophomore David Spanos
began dancing in the social club;
in a week, he was practicing with
the team.
“I learned so many dances in such
a small amount of time,” Spanos says.
“It was such an experience and such a
confidence boost.”
Sophomore and team treasurer Laura Zhou emphasizes
the benefits of the club’s unique balance of rivalry and sociality.
“Having that social aspect gives you that opportunity to meet a lot
of new people in addition to improving your own relationship with your
partner in the competitive aspect,” Zhou says.
Roughly 60 members dance competitively, sometimes practicing
daily and challenging one another.
LEFT TO RIGHT: Blair Puleo, Professor Brooks Smith,
Kevin Chu and Jordan Rhoney have lunch as part of
Meals with Heels.
“I think we still have a long way to go,” she admits.
Fisher says that the responsibility lies with UNC-CH students.
For the program to succeed she says, “it takes students being able to reach
outside of their comfort zone and be able to engage.”
Meals with Heels has begun to bridge the gap between students and faculty.
From the classroom to the dining hall, students and teachers can have meaningful
discussions beyond classes and office hours.
Neequaye says, “If anything (the program) just supplements the classroom
education and enriches it.”
&
BY KATE FEDDER
PHOTO BY MELISSA KEY
Porter doesn’t deny
experiencing a small amount
of stress from competing
against team members but
says the social club seems to
offset that drama.
“The social aspect kind
of gives you a breather and
reminds you that dances are
supposed to be fun,” she
says. “It evolves so that you
can dance with people you’ve
never met before.”
Zhou says the tension is
inevitable, but in the end the
dancers are all Tar Heels.
Sophomores Nathan Alghrim and
Laura Zhou practice for the ballroom
dance team Nationals in the last few
days before the competition.
“You want to do well, but at the same time you want to see your
team members do well,” Zhou explains. “It’s more of a UNC-CH feel.
We shout out and cheer team numbers, so it’s a very lively atmosphere.”
I am going to tell you a secret.
Every year many, many stupid
people graduate from college.
And if they can do it, so can
you.
— JOHN GREEN
&
BY MASA WATANABE
PHOTO BY MELISSA KEY
www.blueandwhitemag.com 7

8 CTOPS 2012
Holly Beilin
is a sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
She can be reached at hbeilin@live.com.Going Global
AN ENVIRONMENT wITHOUT BORDERS
UNC-Chapel Hill is a university that truly values
the environment. With the Sustainability Office, the
Student Government Environmental Affairs Committee
and countless student organizations devoted
to environmental issues, green might as well be the
new Carolina blue. However, the rest of the country
is not exactly following suit.
The National Geographic “Greendex” survey
measures consumers’ environmental circumstances
and choices, including transportation, household
energy and resource use and attempts to minimize
environmental impact. Since 2008, the United States
has consistently ranked last out of the 17 evaluated
countries. Accounting for just 4.5 percent of the
world’s population, Americans consume 33 percent
of the Earth’s resources. The ecological footprint, or
land needed to support an individual’s lifestyle, of
the average American is 30 acres; the average Italian’s
ecological footprint is less than half of that amount.
Many have questioned what the United States is doing wrong. However, a more productive
way to approach this problem might be to ask, “What are other countries doing right”
POLLUTION
The United States is currently the world’s second-biggest polluter, right behind China. This
is caused both by individuals’ choices—for example, over 80 percent of items in landfills could
have been recycled—and lax government regulations on recycling, littering and polluting.
Switzerland, at the top of the Yale’s Environmental Performance Index chart, does not have
a pollution problem. It has extremely tough legislation regarding pollution and a mandatory
recycling program. Its citizens are aware of how much they’re consuming because of an
environmental tax levied on waste. Austria also highly regulates waste disposal, from individual
waste to chemical waste to air pollution produced by corporations.
Singapore, however, wins the prize for dissuading litterbugs. The government imposes
a $1,000 fine plus a “community work order” for a first-time litterer. The country has even
banned chewing gum because it might end up under tables or on sidewalks! Though this
policy might seem a little extreme to freedom-loving Americans, there is no doubt that Singapore
certainly has some of the cleanest streets in the world.
ENERGY USE
Despite promises to change, the United States still gets most of its energy from nonrenewable
sources like fossil fuel and coal. Other countries are way ahead when it comes to utilizing
alternative fuels. Norway has the world’s largest solar production plant and has committed to
reducing its carbon footprint to zero by 2030. Sweden is even more ambitious, planning to
completely end its use of fossil fuels by 2020. Right now, a majority of the country’s power
comes from nuclear or hydroelectric sources. Furthermore, the Swedes are developing wave
power, which converts oceanic waves into energy, and produces four times as much energy as
solar panels.
The French government is also very aware of the adverse effects of fossil fuels and coal on
climate change. France has become the number one producer of renewable energy sources in
the European Union; as of last year, 78 percent of its energy came from nuclear plants.
cONSERVATION
All the unregulated pollution in the United States has caused other problems as well, affecting
24 percent of the country’s endangered species. The vast majority of endangered animal
and plant species received less than $100,000 in conservation funds in 2007. Seven species
got $100 or less, and three did not receive a single dollar. Habitat loss and deforestation is
widespread and has affected 85 percent of the country’s endangered species.
On the other hand we have the tiny country of Costa Rica, which contains five percent of
the world’s biodiversity and has always been on the forefront of environmental conservation.
A quarter of the nation is devoted to park preservation—more than three times the amount
the United States has set aside for that purpose. Another leader in conservation is Colombia,
which is home to 10 percent of the world’s species and has been overcoming its past record of
deforestation by creating massive natural parks.
The United States is unquestionably a world leader and role model for many things. However,
if we want to remain “America the beautiful,” we need to start looking at and replicating
other countries’ environmental programs.
&

Members of the on-campus
game Humans Versus Zombies
pose with their weapons on the
Quad. Although the game has
ended for the spring semester,
the fight for survival still
continues among friends.
WANTED:
DEAD ORALIVE
Twice a year, UNC-CH students battle
the living dead. Wearing bandanas and
wielding Nerf Blasters, humans fight
for their brains against their infected
classmates.
wby andrew soboeiro • photos by jessica gaylord
design by maegan clawges & philip hooVer
“wHEN THE APOcALYPSE cOMES, we’re ready,”
says Paula Seligson, administrator for Humans Versus
Zombies at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Pal around with us; we’ll
get you through.”
Humans Versus Zombies began at Goucher College
in Maryland in 2005. The game quickly spread to other
universities like a virus, infecting over a thousand locations
on six continents. By the fall of 2010, the virus had reached
UNC-CH.
www.blueandwhitemag.com 9

Max Miceli sprints away from
a chasing zombie, Nerf Blaster
in hand, in the war to stay
human.
website. That way we can keep track of all this and don’t
have to rely on the honor system.”
To make the game more elaborate, administrators often
design missions in which humans must achieve some complex
objective while the zombies attack. Traditionally, there
are three or four missions throughout the week and a final
mission on Friday evening.
“The Friday mission is the craziest event of Humans
Versus Zombies,” says Seligson. “It can last anywhere from
five to 30 minutes depending on how quickly the humans
get killed off. The humans don’t have to die but that’s the
idea. The premise is that they’re the last few standing after
the zombie apocalypse, so it’s not supposed to be easy.”
the game, as it was getting dark and we were about to leave,
a zombie was chasing a human up the steps. He tripped
and chipped his tooth. It was pretty bloody.”
Wolonick is careful to qualify, however, that there is
nothing uniquely dangerous about this game: “That could
have happened with any sport. Really, if you were doing
anything that involved running up those steps, it could
have happened. It wasn’t the game itself.”
“I haven’t heard of many injuries during this game,”
Seligson says. “We repeatedly stress safety. When we design
the missions, we make safety a huge factor. We don’t let
people play on staircases or in the street. Overall, it’s been
effective; injury isn’t much of a problem.”
Seligson, then a freshman, was one of the first students
to get involved.
“In my biology class, I sat next to this kid named Nick
Sinerth,” she says. “He and his friend Aubron Wood had
played Humans Versus Zombies at (North Carolina School
of Science and Mathematics) and really wanted to bring
it to UNC-CH. He asked me if I wanted to help and I
agreed, so I became a mod, which is basically a player who
enforces rules during the game.”
Seligson remained a mod during the spring of her freshman
year and planned to do so again in the fall of 2011.
Circumstances arose, however, that gave her more control
over the game.
“Our story line team needed help designing the game,
so I stepped in and administered for them. My friend Ben
Keilman and I ended up planning out all the missions,
texting each other constantly to make sure everything
worked out,” Seligson says. “After that, I felt like I had a
lot of experience, and I wanted this to be ‘my game’ for
a semester, so I asked the other organizers to put me in
charge, and they did.”
FROM HUMAN TO ZOMBIE
At the start of the giant game of tag, every player is
ostensibly human. A handful of Original Zombies (OZs)
are chosen to spread the plague among other players.
OZs are not marked as zombies and do not have to reveal
themselves until they have converted at least one human.
By the time all the OZs are revealed the zombie threat has
generally grown beyond containment.
“The administrators like to make it interesting,” says
freshman Jason Wolonick, a Humans Versus Zombies
enthusiast. “They like to put OZs deep within the groups
of humans and add creative twists to give them an initial
advantage. The humans would otherwise have a huge numerical
advantage, so this levels the playing field and makes
the game more fun.”
Once the zombies are out in the open, the humans
engage them in all-out warfare. If a zombie tags a human,
that human turns into a zombie. The humans, armed with
Nerf Blasters and rolled-up socks, can shoot the zombies,
rendering them temporarily stunned. This presents an
interesting contrast of advantages: unlike the zombies, the
humans can attack from long range, but human attacks
have only temporary effects, while zombie attacks are
permanent.
The only way to kill a zombie is to deprive it of food,
or humans. The rules vary by school, but, generally, if a
zombie goes for at least 48 hours without converting a human,
it dies and is no longer in the game. Kills are tracked
through the official Humans Versus Zombies website and
makes it easier to ensure that the game is played fairly.
“Every human holds an index card with a unique ID,”
Seligson says. “Once the human is killed, he or she must
give the card to the zombie. The zombie then registers that
on the site, and the human turns over to a zombie on the
SPREADING THE VIRUS
Humans Versus Zombies recruits players in much the
same way as other events, creating pages on Facebook and
soliciting students in the Pit. Prospective players learn
about the game from a variety of sources, often taking their
own initiative to get involved.
“I saw the event on Facebook,” says Wolonick, “and I
got together with a group of friends who all resolved to do
this. We went to Target, bought some guns and went out to
meet all the other HVZ people. It was that simple.”
“When I first got here, I was switched into Winston
(Dorm) on North Campus where a lot of other freshmen
ended up,” says freshman John Woltz, another Humans
Versus Zombies player. “It was really weird; almost half
my hall was freshmen. Two or three of us were really big
Nerf enthusiasts to start with, and they were talking about
HVZ nonstop. They had been preparing for years to play
this game and couldn’t wait to start. I had no interest in the
game at the beginning of the year, but, because I was in this
atmosphere, I started to want to get involved.”
While Humans Versus Zombies is generally seen as innocent
fun, it can be dangerous if players don’t take proper
safety precautions. Injuries have forced the administrators
to rethink the rules of the game, emphasizing safety and
setting certain areas off limits.
“We were running a mission at the Forest Theater,” says
Wolonick, “which has those stone steps. Right at the end of
STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
In addition to the threat of injury, Humans Versus
Zombies faces opposition from portions of the student
body who believe the game is disruptive and immature.
“College is already a holding ground for people who
aren’t ready to be in the real world,” says Eric Scheier, a
sophomore. “There are enough ways to avoid growing up.”
“We don’t play this game to annoy people,” counters
Seligson. “We have rules in place so that we don’t bother
non-players. I hate that there’s this social stigma against
us. I wish everyone would try it once, because it’s a lot of
fun. It helps get students who wouldn’t normally interact
to come together. I’ve legitimately met Greek kids playing
alongside nerds, and they end up close friends like no one
would have expected. That’s what HVZ is about.”
Whatever other students may think of it, Humans
Versus Zombies is here to stay, at least for now. During the
two years since it arrived on campus, the game has built up
a loyal base of enthusiastic players, who will keep the game
going and recruit vigorously. The game will be played next
semester at least, and will likely continue far longer.
“When you play HVZ,” says Wolonick, “you have to
learn to take care of yourself and overcome obstacles that
we don’t deal with in ordinary society. This game returns
you to a state of animal instinct. It’s almost a vacation for
our minds: we stop thinking about what’s due tomorrow,
we forget our personal troubles and we struggle to survive.”
Jen Sposit shows
off her N-Strike
Nerf Blaster,
which is her first
line of defense
against a zombie
attack.
&
10 CTOPS 2012 www.blueandwhitemag.com 11

C
ollege
uisine
FLO Food members Blair Crumpler
and Maggie Owens add gluten-free
flour to a batter to make vegan,
gluten-free muffins for a FLO Food
Share demonstration.
by jessica kennedy
photos by jessica kennedy • design by rachel key
Although many UNC-Chapel
Hill students opt for a meal plan
on campus, there are those who
incorporate cooking into their daily
lives. Some cook because they enjoy
creating delicious food while some
cook to change the world.
oON A SUNNY SATURDAY AFTERNOON in March,
Suzanne Fleishman, a junior environmental sciences major
from Charlotte, sets a thermometer into a large pot of milk
warming on her stove. Surrounded by a group of UNC-
Chapel Hill students, Fleishman explains the key temperatures
necessary to turn a gallon of milk into a few containers
of Greek-style yogurt—180 and 120 degrees.
Fleishman is hosting a “Skill Share,” an event through
FLO Food, a student organization focused on the cause of
“fair, local and organic” food. Fleishman, like many members
of the group, goes out of her way to cook, bake, boil
and create her own food.
While grating carrots, measuring agave nectar and
incorporating gluten-free flour into muffin batter, students
fill Fleishman’s kitchen and discuss the health benefits of
cinnamon, backyard chicken coops and which local dairy
treats its cows best.
Fleishman hasn’t always made her own yogurt and
bread, two cooking projects that she now calls her “Saturday
morning ritual.” It has been a gradual change, and she
continues to add more foods to her list.
“FLO gave me a community of people who were also
interested (in food),” Fleishman says. “It’s helped me to
find people who were so interested and would bring things
up. But it was a mixture of self-education, documentaries
like ‘Food, Inc.’ and being in FLO.”
Fleishman spent three weeks after her freshman year in
Oregon through World Wide Opportunities on Organic
Farms, an organization that connects volunteer workers
with organic farms to exchange farm work for room and
board.
“In the future, I want to spend time farming,” Fleishman
says. “I want to grow most of my own food and make
most of what I eat from scratch.”
Fleishman is concerned with the health aspects of food,
but she is also passionate about the environmental and
ethical components of what she eats.
“Food is one of our main connections to the planet and
each other,” Fleishman says. “It’s one of the main ways we
interact with people and our environment. How you eat
determines a lot of how you connect with things.”
Finding time and going local
In the fast-paced life of a university student, it can be
hard to fit cooking into a schedule filled with homework,
extracurricular activities, jobs and sleep.
Junior Jamie Berger, a member of FLO Food who
Below: Rachel Atkinson and
Anne Symons grate carrots to
add to muffin batter.
created an interdisciplinary major in food studies, says she
tries to cook as much as possible, especially on weekends
when she has more time.
“I try to make extra food when I do cook so that I’ll
have some to eat during the week,” Berger says. “Food is
such an important thing to me that I just make time for it.”
Berger became interested in environmental issues after
taking AP Environmental Science in high school, but
her passion for food didn’t fully bloom until she came to
UNC-CH.
“I try to purchase as much food locally as possible,” she
says.
Freshman Glenn Lippig strives to follow a local diet as
well. Lippig had a meal plan during his first year at UNC-
CH, but he says he doesn’t plan to have one next semester
and wants to cook as much as possible. Lippig learned to
cook from his mother during the summer before his freshman
year.
“My mom was kind of like, ‘If you’re about to be
independent, you should know how to cook,’” Lippig says.
“And I was getting more interested in food, so I wanted to
learn to cook for myself.”
Lippig was inspired to change the way he ate after reading
Eating Animals, the UNC-CH summer 2011 reading
book by Jonathan Safran Foer.
“I just realized that food is a great way to impact the
environment,” Lippig says, “and also social justice.”
He became a vegetarian in high school and is now a
vegan. But that doesn’t stop Lippig from cooking—in
fact, he says it makes it easier. His favorite cuisine to cook
is Indian because he can incorporate local vegetables like
sweet potatoes.
“Cooking vegetables is actually a lot simpler than
cooking with meat or other things,” Lippig says. “It’s just
vegetables. You can eat them raw.”
Above: Public policy and food
studies major Glenn Lippig
volunteers at a Carolina Campus
Community Garden workday.
12 CTOPS 2012 www.blueandwhitemag.com 13

Different ways of learning
In a survey sponsored by Bosch home appliances in
2011, 28 percent of the American adults surveyed said they
didn’t know how to cook.
Freshman Tristan Pike, however, says she grew up in the
kitchen and learned to cook from her mother.
“I feel like a lot of people who do their own cooking at
this stage in their life—before they have to know how to
cook—grew up in the kitchen,” Pike says.
Sophomore business major Abby Wu also learned to
cook from her mother. Wu and Pike both cook food with
culture. Pike loves to cook Southern food: collard greens,
corn bread and sweet potatoes. Wu enjoys cooking Asian
food. She moved to the United States from China when she
was 10 years old and enjoys cooking as a way of spreading
and preserving her culture.
“I’ve grown up used to eating Asian food, so the fact
that I’m cooking it now would mean that I’ll be able to
cook it when I’m older,” Wu says. “Whereas if I don’t learn
from my mom now, I won’t be able to learn it in the future
in the authentic way.”
Wu’s mother learned to cook from Wu’s grandmother,
and the authentic recipes have traveled down to Wu.
She says that food has always been important in Chinese
culture, and she has grown up seeing her family prepare big
meals.
“If you ever visit a Chinese family for a meal, they’ll
bring out like 10 different plates of dishes,” Wu says, “and
they’ll labor for more than a day on it just in preparation
for you to come over.”
Now that she no longer has a meal plan, Wu cooks
most of her meals. Pike, on the other hand, has a meal plan
but she enjoys cooking as a hobby.
“It’s really relaxing for me,” Pike says. “Plus I like it
when I’m cooking something and I know it’s delicious and
then I share it with my roommate or other people who
come to the kitchen when I’m cooking… I love seeing the
look on their face as they taste something.”
Pike participated in the spring 2012 pilot season of
Sprout, a program for the UNC-CH community that
shares the goals of Community Supported Agriculture.
“I love going to the farmers market on Saturday when I
can,” Pike says.
Cooking for the final product
Max Holder, a junior linguistics major from Greensboro,
says he makes it to the farmers market occasionally,
but also frequents Weaver Street Market and Harris Teeter
to buy ingredients to cook with.
For Holder, it’s not so much about the cooking process
itself—it’s about the end result.
“A lot of people like to cook,” Holder says. “I like to
cook, but mostly I like to eat. I’ll find something that I
want to eat, and I’ll be like, ‘Well, I better figure out how
to cook that.’ It usually works out pretty well.”
Holder says his desire to cook was a big motivation for
him to move off campus, which he did as a sophomore.
With a kitchen of his own, Holder says he cooks a “real
meal” about twice a week.
“I just Google what I want to eat, and I pick the first
thing that says that recipe,” Holder says. “I follow the
instructions and it works 95 percent of the time.”
Holder studied abroad in Montpellier, France in fall
2011 and didn’t have a chance to cook while he was overseas.
“I missed cooking a lot,” Holder says. “I think that’s a
big reason I cook—to control what I’m eating. I don’t like
other people dictating what I have to eat.”
Students cook because it’s a fun hobby, because they
can choose what they want to eat and because they want
to make a statement. But Pike notes another underlying
reason for cooking.
“Having that sort of connection with what you’re eating
gives you a greater connection with the real impact that
you’re capable of having,” Pike says, “be it good or bad.”
&
Wu displays the result
of cooking dinner on a
Monday night—zucchini,
rice and tilapia. “I like
vegetables,” Wu says.
“Zucchini is really fast to
cook, so I always keep that
in mind.”
Crumpler, a freshman
environmental science
major, measures out
gluten-free flour.
14 CTOPS 2012

New South,
New Belle
Blair Rumley
is a senior from Browns Summit.
She can be reached at bmrumley@live.unc.edu.
A TASTE OF cHAPEL HILL
I have eaten countless chicken burritos at
Qdoba at 2 a.m., I have ordered Gumby’s Pokey
Stix on ‘Big Ass Thursdays’ (often weekly) and I
have devoured more cheeseburgers from Sutton’s
Drug Store than I care to admit. But perhaps my
finest meals have been in one of Chapel Hill’s
swath of restaurants serving up fine Southern
food. I know, no surprise there.
We begin our gastronomic journey at cROOk’S
cORNER: sacred culinary ground for Southerners
. Founded by the late renowned Chapel Hill
restaurateur, Bill Neal, Crook’s Corner recently
celebrated its 30th anniversary under the leadership
of Bill Smith, a James Beard Foundation
nominated chef .
Located on the corner of West Franklin Street
and Merritt Mill Road, the façade of the restaurant
is quirky. A large plastic pig watches over customers entering the restaurant. The interior
is somewhat shabby, but the patio is intimate and surrounded by walls of bamboo. The
atmosphere may be down-home and comfortable, but the food is white tableclothworthy.
Start your culinary experience with the pepper jelly and pimento cheese plate, a
Southern classic with complementing flavors that are spicy but bearable. By far, the best
entrée on the menu is the restaurant’s famous shrimp and grits, sautéed with bacon and
mushrooms and served with a generous portion of sharp cheddar. The Carolina Sampler
is also a solid choice, featuring authentic North Carolina hickory smoked pit barbecue.
And for the finale try the honeysuckle sorbet; it’s made from wild blooms foraged
by Smith himself . In his cookbook, Seasoned in the South, Smith says the sorbet is “like
walking around at night with your mouth open,” and I couldn’t agree more.
The next stop is MAMA DIP’S, where honest country cooking is done right. Chatham
County native Mildred Edna Cotton Council (‘Mama Dip’) took over the restaurant in
1976 with only $64 to her name, and the rest is history. Since then, Mama Dip’s has produced
three cookbooks and become a name synonymous with Southern comfort food.
Tucked behind Franklin Street on Rosemary Street, the exterior—complete with a
front porch—matches the old-fashioned country food that is served inside. The interior
is reminiscent of a subdued Cracker Barrel, with wooden walls and floor. The restaurant
even has its very own country store, displaying bottled sauces and cookbooks autographed
by Mama Dip herself.
Breakfast, best enjoyed on the front porch, is my favorite meal to eat at Mama Dip’s.
I always begin with a steaming hot sweet potato biscuit that begs for butter. The biscuit,
seasoned with nutmeg and cinnamon, looks and tastes like fall. The pecan pancakes
make a good accompaniment. They’re sweet but not overly indulgent—depending on
how much syrup you add, of course. And you can never go wrong with the standard
country ham biscuit. The ham is rudely salty and has a bite, but it’s delicious nonetheless.
For lunch and dinner, the options hold true to Southern tradition: fried chicken,
barbecue and chicken and dumplings. All are good, and all rival my mama’s.
If you are feeling bold, go to Acme, where Southern food gets a fresh face-lift with
an emphasis on locality. Chef Kevin Callaghan has made a name for himself in recent
years with one simple motto: “Damn good food.” Take it from me, he does not disappoint.
AcME is in the heart of downtown Carrboro. The interior is dimly lit with warm,
welcoming burgundy walls that create an intimate feel. The back patio is beyond
charming—a perfect place to retreat to on a warm night with a drink in hand.
Bourbon is a staple at Acme but not just in the drinks. Much of the food is laced
with bourbon, providing a warm and smoky flavor. For example, the smoked local pork
belly, served in an oversized bowl, is smothered in a three mustard bourbon sauce with
cranberry and ginger preserves. Like I said, it’s Southern food with a twist. If you are
there for brunch, the Southern fried green tomato sandwich is the way to go. With a
generous helping of pimento cheese and tomatoes, it is both spicy and tangy.
And of course the desserts get a generous pour of bourbon as well. The mint and
bourbon terrine is divine. A complementary combination of warm and cool, it is cleverly
called a ‘Drunken Girl Scout,’ named for the famed Thin Mint cookies.
Between bites, you will certainly realize living in Chapel Hill is a privilege, and not
just because of the fine institution. Dare to dine.
&

y laUra
hanson
photos by
elizabeth
mendoza
design by
melissa
FlandreaU
Will Darden is a freshman journalism major who considers himself a regular coffee drinker and usually gets coffee three times
per week. “My dad is the one who got me into it,” he says.
i
Students balancing academics and
a social life find they need an extra
boost—a morning cup of coffee and a
few more during the day. UNC-CH’s
coffee culture serves as more than just a
wake-up routine.
IT’S NOT UNUSUAL to see students sipping hot or cold coffee, depending on
the weather, while cramming for an exam or catching up with friends between
classes. In fact, according to Caribou Coffee manager Brian Goodwin, “coffee has
become a staple for college life.”
But what fuels the coffee culture in Chapel Hill What drives the midday meetings
at the Daily Grind and the late-night visits to Starbucks Perhaps the only way
to truly understand this campus-wide phenomenon is to understand the consumers—the
people who make this beverage a symbol of modern pop-culture.
cONFRONTING THE cLIcHÉ
At first glance, coffee may seem like just another fad or
means of getting through the daily demands of life in the
21st century. Especially for those who don’t indulge in this
caffeinated concoction, coffee is usually associated with
busy executives or starving artists.
UNC-Chapel Hill senior Brooke Odom warns freshmen
to stay away from this budget-buster if they can, calling
it “too expensive (to become a) pleasurable thing.”
“It may look attractive,” she advises, “but try to stay
away from it until you need it.”
Junior Meghan Robbins, who frequents Caribou
Coffee, jokingly tells incoming freshmen “not to get a parttime
job to pay for their coffee.”
Joshua Gill, a May 2012 graduate, finds his work at
the Franklin Street Starbucks as an opportunity to people
watch. “Sorority girls love their skinny lattes,” he says.
Many people view coffee as nothing more than a source
of caffeine, born out of necessity. Those who appreciate the
distinct taste of coffee, however, consider this perspective a
stereotype they’d like to break.
“A lot of people make it out to be like you’re caving if
you drink coffee,” argues freshman Will Darden, a communications
major, “but really, if you enjoy it, it’s not a bad
thing.”
EXPLORING THE ATTRAcTION
Most coffee drinkers agree that their relationship with
coffee originated from a caffeine need, especially with the
social and academic demands of college life.
“A lot of people who study and read a lot enjoy coffee,”
says senior Shannon Spain, a linguistics and religious studies
major. “College life has created a market for coffee.”
Similarly, junior John Lawler, a statistics major, recalls
his first exposure to coffee as a freshman, the night before a
big paper was due.
“Now,” he explains, “it’s something I do to make studying
more enjoyable.”
Though Robbins’ attachment to coffee stemmed out of
her family’s breakfast tradition, she now considers coffee a
great social tool.
“I’ve met a lot of my friends here at Caribou just
through awkward eye contact and starting a conversation,”
she laughs. “I love the community feel here, that I can just
sit down and meet random strangers.”
For those who consider coffee a significant part of their
daily lives, this caffeinated beverage literally helps them get
out of bed in the morning.
“For me,” senior Kaylee Baker says, “coffee in the morning
is the definition of waking up.”
Goodwin acknowledges that coffee has become a part
of his routine as well, especially while balancing graduate
school and work. “It takes you back to the state of being
human,” he says with a smile.
Likewise, freshman and Starbucks employee Clara Mc-
Donnell knows coffee plays an important role in her life.
“Sadly, I’m kind of addicted,” she admits. “And working at
a coffee shop doesn’t help.”
When considering the importance of coffee in his own
life, Darden holds a different view altogether. “It’s more of
an admiration than an addiction,” he explains. “Coffee is
an acquired taste I really enjoy.”
Simon McGorman, general manager of the Daily
Grind, calls coffee “a ritual, a hobby and a passion.” While
he acknowledges that most people are initially drawn to the
caffeine and social benefits of coffee, he claims that a true
passion for coffee extends far beyond the routine.
“Those reasons don’t go away,” McGorman says, “but
people often continue drinking it because it’s comforting
16 CTOPS 2012 www.blueandwhitemag.com 17

Caribou Coffee and Starbucks, both located on West Franklin Street, are among the coffee hot spots students go to get their caffeine fixes.
18 CTOPS 2012
and familiar but also exciting and mysterious.”
Goodwin also appreciates the many facets of coffee. “It’s
a delicacy, like wine or beer,” he says enthusiastically. “You
can become a connoisseur of coffee.”
Baker has also developed an avid desire for this beverage
of choice. “I never get the same thing twice,” she says with
sparkling eyes. “I’m excited to wake up and drink it in the
morning.”
FINDING THE FAVORITES
For many students at UNC-CH, where they buy their
coffee is almost more important than what coffee they
order. Especially at a university so concerned with social
justice and environmental sustainability, students want
to know where their coffee comes from. It’s important to
“learn about where it comes from if you drink it every day,”
Baker says. “I want to drink coffee without being unjust to
the people who created it.”
As people have become increasingly aware of the ethics
of coffee production, environmentally friendly shops like
Caribou Coffee and the Global Cup Café have gained
popularity among UNC-CH students. Caribou’s Rainforest
Alliance certification is certainly one of the reasons Goodwin,
an alumnus, began his work at the West Franklin
Street location.
“We’re the first and only coffeehouse in the United
States to have this certification,” he says proudly. “Our outstanding
core values make me proud to be in management
in this service industry.”
For people unfamiliar with the Rainforest Alliance,
the organization promotes water conservation, sustainable
growing techniques and protection for forests and wildlife.
It also ensures fair wages for workers, guaranteeing families
in these communities access to education, housing and
healthcare.
Similarly, the Global Cup Café, located in the FedEx
Global Center on campus, focuses on delivering quality
coffee while also supporting sustainability both locally
and globally. Its sister shops, the Daily Grind (located in
Student Stores) and the Friends Café (located in the Health
Sciences Library), also have Direct Trade Certified coffee,
meaning that farmers receive fair wages.
“The coffee is spot on,” Robbins says, “and very ethical.”
However, environmental sustainability and fair trade
practices aren’t the only factors involved in choosing a
coffee shop. Others focus more on a shop’s atmosphere and
quality of coffee.
Odom frequents Starbucks because she knows what to
expect there.
“All of the baristas are corporately trained,” she explains,
“and I like the consistency.”
Likewise, Darden considers himself a regular at the
West Franklin Street location, especially because of the
shop’s rewards program.
“It’s close, dependable and convenient,” he says. “It
makes you feel special when the staff remembers your name
and has your drink ready before you even get up to the
counter.”
Others prefer to utilize the convenience of options on
campus when meeting their coffee needs.
“Alpine is the only place for me,” Lawler says. “You can
serve yourself and you don’t have to wait in line.”
As both an employee and a customer, Robbins recommends
that people choose a shop that has quality coffee
and an environment that allows them to study and relax.
“Find a coffee shop you can focus on and become a
regular,” she says. “The staff appreciates regulars and treats
them well.”
On the other hand, some students emphasize the
importance of trying new shops and different flavors,
highlighting the inevitable attraction and alluring mystique
of the entire coffee culture.
“If you’re not already a coffee drinker,” says Spain,
“you’ll quickly become one. Get the Carolina experience
and try different places.”
&

caro ina
roots
Sophomore arboretum work-study gardener
Josh Swink wheels away a fallen tree branch.
by anna starnes • photos by melissa key
design by dara schwartz
A haven of trees, flowers and
wildlife on campus, Coker
Arboretum is as rich in history as
it is in natural beauty.
kKemp Nye, a UNC-Chapel Hill student in the 1960s, decided to place a bet
of white bread sandwiches and a glass of milk.
with a few other students. He believed he could make it from Davie Hall to Spencer
dorm without touching the ground —using the vines in Coker Arboretum.
Fifty years ago, the Arboretum had more vines and the task was actually possible.
Nye completed his feat in about 22 minutes and was rewarded with a week’s worth
www.blueandwhitemag.com 19

The Arboretum is a popular spot to visit, whether for students and locals. The Arboretum
offers a tour every third Saturday at 11 a.m. from March to November.
Arboretum Curator Margo MacIntyre prunes a flowering tree. She remembers playing in
the Arboretum as a child.
Nye’s story, which is told in former Arboretum curator
Dan Stern’s book, A Haven in the Heart of Chapel Hill,
is Stephen Rich’s favorite anecdote to share when he gives
monthly tours.
A cURATOR’S wORk
“(The Arboretum’s) in the middle of campus and you
can kind of feel the whole mood of campus,” says Margo
MacIntyre, curator of the Arboretum. “Right now everybody’s
happy because they can be outside. They like to come
out and lie down and take breaks and study—with their
eyes closed.”
MacIntyre, in her pants sprinkled with dirt, old T-shirt
and heavy-duty work boots, looks ready to care for her
organic domain. She explains that her job primarily involves
maintaining the Arboretum by weeding and cutting back
the sprawling plants. Most of the plants are perennials,
meaning they re-bloom for several years.
“We don’t do much seasonal planting at all,” MacIntyre
says. “We just have two little pansy places. We have a lot
of rabbits so they have to be in strategic safe spots. And
most of the work is maintenance, and sometimes there is
replacement of things that die or we have lost a few trees to
drought and lightning.”
MacIntyre, who has worked as the curator for six years,
grew up in Chapel Hill not far from the Arboretum. She
remembers playing on the grounds after her Girl Scouts
meetings.
“I used to hate weeding and gardening when I was a
teenager,” MacIntyre says. “But then as time went on I
started to like it for some reason, and now I really like it. I
can’t stop.”
Professor William Chambers Coker, UNC-CH’s first
botany professor, wanted a place for an outdoor classroom
and started the Arboretum in 1903 with $10 and one
gardener, Rich says. The Arboretum is now overseen by the
North Carolina Botanical Garden.
GROwING IN EDUcATION
While explaining her job, MacIntyre shouts a question
to one of her work-study students through the tangle of
vines encircling the arbor. She has a crew of five work-study
students who cultivate their respective projects throughout
the grounds.
Junior Brandon Hays is one of the work-study students
who help maintain the Arboretum. He says he had no
experience in gardening before his job and has learned the
taxonomy of some of the plants from replacing the missing
signs in front of them.
“There is pretty much something blooming at every time
of the year,” he says.
Sam Leeper, a sophomore work-study student who
mostly works at the N.C. Botanical Garden’s main site on
Old Mason Farm Road has realized his enjoyment and
knack for gardening through his job.
Working there has affected Leeper’s schooling—but in a
positive way. He has gained interest in plant biology, which
has prompted him to take courses on the subject at UNC-
CH. Leeper wants to work in forestry or urban area design,
so his experiences have helped him for the future. He calls
his time in the gardens therapeutic.
“Gardens, like (those of the N.C. Botanical Garden),
I have found are just full of really cool people—laid back
Swink pulls weeds from among plants in the garden. Most of the plants in the Arboretum are perennials, which means they
re-bloom year after year.
and fun to talk to—like other work-study students as well as
full-time workers,” Leeper says. “I have made a lot of good
friends.”
STROLLING THROUGH HISTORY
With a Southern drawl and a wide smile Rich shares the
stories of the Arboretum, which he became familiar with during
his time as a student at UNC-CH.
“Every day I would be going from Cobb dorm to the
fraternity,” Rich says, “so of course I would be going right
through (the Arboretum). This always felt like home to me.”
Rich warns that he could ramble on and on about the
Arboretum; there are countless stories about every little plant
and path. As Rich walks through the Arboretum, he carries
around a slightly worn copy of Stern’s book. Periodically
referencing it for particular facts and showing off the beautiful
pictures of the Arboretum, Rich seems to value the book,
as the pages are bookmarked and article clippings are stuffed
in the pages.
At one point, Rich stops to comment on something most
people completely overlook: the gravel covering the paths. He
explains that the gravel, affectionately called ‘Carolina grit,’
used to be all over campus, but for safety reasons, the paths
were later bricked.
“The story about the grit is (that) once you get Chapel
Hill grit in your shoes, you are destined to return here one
day,” Rich says. “There is a counter story to that too. When
people from Chapel Hill would go to Durham, the Durham
people would go, ‘Oh those Chapel Hill people come
with the dirtiest shoes,’ and the Chapel Hill people would
retort by saying, ‘Well, we wouldn’t wear our good shoes to
Durham.’”
Rich also shares the story of a large stone area called the
stone gathering circle. Located near the front of the Arboretum,
it was donated by the class of 1997 in the memory of
five students who died in the 1996 fire at the Phi Gamma
Delta fraternity house. This beautiful area is a great place to
sit and has a decoration of a poplar flower in the middle of
the stone floor. Legend says that the center of the plant lines
up with the Davie Poplar tree on the upper Quad.
Rich, who is on the board of the N.C. Botanical Garden,
is also part of a group that volunteers at the Arboretum.
“We work every Tuesday—a group of older citizens,” Rich
says. “We do whatever Margo wants us to do.”
MEANT TO INSPIRE
The early warm weather has brought even more students
to this campus oasis. Petals float down lazily from the overhanging
trees onto a student sprawled out on a bench. Several
people have strung up hammocks. Sitting in a secluded spot,
sophomore Adrienne Franz says she comes to the Arboretum
several times a week.
“It’s pretty this time of year,” Franz says. “It’s somewhere
to be outside with nice benches.”
The blooming flowers add their vibrant colors and sweet
fragrances to the tall trees and the bright green of the abundant
grass. A small stream flows over carefully positioned
rocks.
MacIntyre especially agrees with the part of the Arboretum’s
mission that wishes to inspire visitors with the wonders
of the grounds.
“Everybody should visit the Arboretum,” MacIntyre says.
“It’s always sad when people graduate and they have never
come here.”
&
20 CTOPS 2012 www.blueandwhitemag.com 21

eel the
FEVER
by danny gassaway
photos by nicole johnson
design by brendan leonard
Carolina Fever boasts the biggest
fans of Tar Heel sports. They wear
blue, stand up for the entirety of
games and get rowdy for all the
teams—from lacrosse to wrestling
to basketball.
It’s difficult for Carolina Fever members to look forward
to the football or basketball seasons each year because
they’re too busy cheering on the wrestling, track and field,
fencing, softball, golf, cross country, tennis, gymnastics and
field hockey teams—just to name a few.
“Carolina Fever is designed to take people who have
a passion for Carolina to support a lot of the sports that
might not get the support otherwise,” says Hannah, a
journalism and exercise and sports science double major
from Atlanta. “From baseball to field hockey to volleyball,
all Carolina athletes are people we think should be
supported, and that’s what Carolina Fever is all about. We
try to attend, if we can, every varsity sport at least once.”
THE BASIcS
Carolina Fever utilizes a point system to get members
out for various sporting events. These points are then put
toward ticket priority for attending sporting events like
an away football game (travel, tailgate, game ticket and
hotel are paid for), an away field hockey game, an NCAA
tournament soccer game—and, oh yeah, lower level
tickets to the annual men’s basketball game against Duke
University in the Smith Center.
The top 200 members (though this can vary from year
to year depending on the athletic department allotment) in
points receive basketball tickets from Carolina Fever, while
other members can win other prizes like hats, shirts and
posters. The rules are: members must 1) wear Carolina blue
to the sporting event, 2) stand and be present for the entire
duration of the event and 3) cheer and be loud.
At these events, Carolina Fever directors sit at tables,
usually in an open, easily accessible area of the stadium,
with laptops and sign members in when they arrive. In
order to earn points, a member must sign in at the assigned
laptop, determined by the first letter of their last name,
before the event starts. Typically, the sign-ins run from an
hour until 10 minutes before the start of the game.
If they follow all three rules, members are eligible to
receive their hard-earned points at the completion of the
event. After singing the Alma Mater, members sign out so
that Carolina Fever knows that they were in attendance
the entire time and will process their points. Any members
found leaving an event early will not receive points for it.
All these rules and regulations are designed to make
sure the Fever’s most passionate and dedicated members are
able to receive the special and limited opportunities Fever
provides to cheer on Carolina sports.
Hannah, the public relations chair, joined Carolina
Fever at his CTOPS orientation, seeing it as a perfect
opportunity to meet people as an out-of-state student.
“It started as simply something to do my freshman year,
but it’s turned into so much more than that. It’s no longer,
‘yeah I guess I’ll go.’ It’s me really looking forward to every
single event,” Hannah says.
He continues, “Our focus is athletics, but everyone that
is a member of Fever, and everyone that sticks with it, is all
a part of something great, a community and a place to go
to hang out with a ton of diverse, yet like-minded people.”
Hannah adds that Fever is where he met all of his current
roommates.
“Fever has definitely made my freshman year,” says
freshman Russell Vanzomeren, a history major from Shelby.
“I’ve made so many friends and have gotten to know so
many people in such a short time, and (I) have done it
while being part of something like Fever.”
Joining Carolina Fever at any time, whether at CTOPS
or during the semester, costs students $20 ($15 annually to
renew one’s membership) and gets them a pair of Carolina
Fever t-shirts, one for the fall semester and one for the
spring. In addition, students are entered in Carolina Fever’s
database.
“We always tell people that, at a minimum, joining
f
FEw PEOPLE HAVE SPENT MORE TIME IN THE DEAN E. SMITH
Center than Tyler Zeller. Seniors Clint Hannah and Patrick
Wright come close. Hannah and Wright, directors for
and members of Carolina Fever, haven’t missed a home
basketball game because of UNC-Chapel Hill’s premier
club for Tar Heel fans.
Carolina Fever is a student-run fan club that boasts
more than 2,000 student members. It is because of this
club that Hannah, Wright and a few hundred blue-bloods
attend a women’s lacrosse game, a men’s tennis match and a
home baseball game over three consecutive days.
Members of the Carolina Pep Band are also members of Fever.
Clint Hannah, a director of Carolina Fever,
is upset after a foul called on UNC-CH’s
women’s lacrosse team.
22 CTOPS 2012 www.blueandwhitemag.com 23

I’m part of a group that has passion for this University, passion for people and
passion for everything that Carolina stands for.
— Clint Hannah
Carolina Fever gives you two t-shirts for $20,” jokes
Hannah. “What you have to understand is that what you
put into Fever is what you get out. There are events, and
attending these events gets you a certain number of points,
which can go towards some great things.”
LOOkING BAck
When asked to reflect back on his time with Carolina
Fever, Wright, a journalism major from Greensboro, cracks
a huge grin.
“Fever has been my college experience,” he says. “You
can’t put a price on it. It’s been amazing to have been a
part of, and been on the front row for some of the greatest
events in Carolina sports history,” adding that in four years,
he’s missed fewer than five events.
And while attendance is encouraged at every event, not
everyone has to attend as many as Wright to receive a lot of
the benefits that distinguish this club from others. Hannah
adds that several of his roommates attend only a few events
a month, yet still receive plenty of basketball tickets.
Some of Hannah’s favorite events he’s been able to
attend through Carolina Fever include the home basketball
game against Duke on Tyler Hansbrough’s Senior Night,
the Thursday night football upset against Virginia Tech
in Blacksburg and an away women’s basketball at North
Carolina State University. He also earned a spot in the
group Carolina Fever took to Atlanta for the 2010 football
season opener against Louisiana State University. His point
totals in “Spring Fever,” points accumulated from events
after the home Duke basketball game that carry over to the
following fall, were integral in his high score. In Hannah’s
four years, he’s attended events as far north as College Park,
Md. and as far south as Atlanta.
Wright’s favorite memory is slightly different, taking
place at an NCAA tournament men’s soccer game at Fetzer
Field that the Tar Heels won on penalty kicks. After scoring
the game-winner, a Tar Heel player immediately ran over
to the Carolina Fever section and jumped into a Carolina
Fever dog pile.
Although being a die-hard Carolina Fever member like
Hannah or Wright seems like quite the commitment, the
benefits, aside from just a game ticket, cannot be beaten.
“Some people have to work or don’t want to get up
before noon on a Saturday to attend a field hockey game
in the blazing sun of August,” Hannah says, “but I’m part
of a group that has passion for this University, passion for
people and passion for everything that Carolina stands for.”
He adds, “Carolina Fever has given me lifelong friends
and countless memories that I’m going to cherish forever.”
&
The Rules of carolina Fever
1. wear carolina Blue.
2. Stand for the entire event.
3. Be loud!
A Carolina Fever member checks in before the UNC-CH vs.
Duke University Women’s Lacrosse game.
24 CTOPS 2012

Rimer
is a junior from charlotte.
He can be reached at rimer.will@gmail.com.Side(line) Note
JOIN THE cLUB
As a rising senior, I’ve already prepared
an answer for the ‘What do you wish you
would have known’ question. There are
many things I wish I knew then, like don’t
go to the dining hall at noon even if you
have to.
Sports, however, have always been my
passion. I made one promise to my mom
when coming to college—that I would go
to class. I wanted to do well in my classes,
so I didn’t pick up any extracurricular
activities, including joining a club sport.
There are three things about club sports
I wish I knew as a campus map-carrying
freshman that I know now as a Carrolldwelling
junior: they won’t take up all your
time, they let you experience new things and they’re a lot better than intramurals.
1. THEY’RE NOT THAT TIME-cONSUMING, I SwEAR
I know, it sounds daunting. I quit team handball freshman year because I didn’t
think I could commit to three practices a week. I was wrong. Last year, I began playing
volleyball, which also practices three times a week. It wasn’t difficult to fit in my
schedule, and, whenever I felt overwhelmed, I didn’t go to practice. My teammates
understood. They’re college students too, after all.
You’ll be fighting the freshman 15 anyway, so you might as well play on a club team.
As freshman editorials editor Ellen Murray, who plays on the club tennis team, says, “If
you’re going to spend 60 minutes a week exercising as is, why not commit that time to
a club sport”
Playing a club sport is also a productive stress reliever. Classes and the majority of
extracurricular activities add pressure to your life. Playing a club sport is something you
can do that will help alleviate that stress.
“Tennis is the most relaxing thing I do,” Murray says.
2. YOU GET TO TRY NEw THINGS
The whole point of college is to try new things. Volleyball was a new thing to me.
Maybe it’s not to you, but something tells me underwater hockey is. If it isn’t, there
are more than 40 other club sports, so I bet you can find something you haven’t done
before.
A major part of trying new things is meeting new people. Senior sports writer
Danny Gassaway played volleyball as a freshman. “My favorite parts were the practices,”
he says, “because I just got to hang out with my new friends.”
Freshman sports writer Luke Neenan plays basketball, and he says knowing older
players on the club basketball team helps—especially when it comes to hitching a ride
off campus. “If I need a ride anywhere, I can give a call to anyone with a car, which is
nice.”
Sure, freshmen are constantly introducing themselves and meeting new people,
but when you go to club sports tryouts, you know that you already have something in
common.
3. INTRAMURALS SUck (kIDDING … SORT OF)
Club sports offer a different level of competition than intramurals do. So if you’re
not trying a new sport but are playing the one you played in high school, like Neenan
and basketball, you should give club sports a try.
“I like being able to compete at a serious level,” Neenan says. “I don’t feel that
intramurals offer that.”
Intramurals also don’t offer the same camaraderie that being on a team does.
“With intramurals, you make a team, play a couple games and then you’re done,”
Murray says. “Club sports practice throughout the year and go on tournaments, so you
really get to know your teammates.”
There are many great ways to spend your time on this campus. If you’re reading this
page, then I’d say you’re interested in sports. Just know that you don’t have to be James
Michael McAdoo to don a Carolina jersey. A club sport may not be the best thing for
you, but I hope you at least give it the chance. And know that you won’t struggle on your
Econ exam because you went to practice—that was going to happen anyway.
&

player profile: BENTON MOSS
sports
shorts
BENTON MOSS, A FRESHMAN PITcHER for the varsity
team, embodies the spirit of the Carolina Way. In addition to his role
on the baseball team, he is a Morehead-Cain scholar.
“Every hour of my day is spent doing something for a reason,”
Moss says. Despite his busy schedule, which includes attending class,
baseball and studying, Moss still finds time to pursue other interests
by becoming a member of campus organizations. Moss says the
biggest adjustment he has made while transitioning into college life
is to be self-disciplined and to effectively manage all components of
his life.
To start his freshman season as a pitcher for the Diamond Heels,
Moss has gone 2-2 with a 1.85 ERA. Hailing from Rocky Mount
where he was declared an Under Armor All-America player, Moss
says he wouldn’t trade the life of an athlete for anything in the world.
Baseball is just one thing Moss has committed to has during his time
in Chapel Hill.
As a Morehead-Cain Scholar, Moss believes there are many
unwritten expectations that he must fulfill during his time at UNC-
Chapel Hill.
“I’m expected to maintain moral ethics and high standards
of (the) code of conduct, as well as be active in the University’s
numerous student organizations to better the world in some way
or another,” he says. “There are high academic standards, too.”
Morehead-Cain scholars must maintain at least a 2.7 GPA for each
of their first two semesters and a 3.0 for the remaining six semesters.
The balance Moss has achieved while having two major time
commitments is something many freshmen struggle with. He feels
that as an athlete, free time is limited and has made him become
more self-disciplined, not only in his academics but on the field as
well.
“I find peace (both) on and off the field,” Moss says. “The
intellectual side of things is where I find relief from the long grueling
hours of training I put in at the baseball stadium each day.”
As for his summer plans, Moss is taking advantage of the
opportunity as a Morehead-Cain Scholar to travel to Ethiopia. While
there, he will most likely be working on community development as
well as working in an orphanage educating kids to better their status
in their community.
“I was tremendously blessed by such an opportunity to come to
UNC-CH and fulfill (the) summer enrichment experiences,” Moss
says. “So it is my greatest wish to step into scholars’ shoes before me
and fill them with a quiet pride and dignity.”
After having one year of college under his belt, Moss has learned
to face campus in the same way he faces the baseball on the mound.
“Life gets thrown at you at a million miles per hour when you
first step foot on campus,” he says, “and you have to be able to roll
right along with the flow without dropping the ball.”
&
BY MELISSA SHULMAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFFREY CAMARATI,
UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
Freshman pitcher Benton Moss winds up in one of the Tar Heels’ spring
games. A Morehead-Cain scholar, Moss must balance his academic and
athletic commitments.
“THE PURPOSE IS TO EASE your transition into
college,” explains Dave Yeargan when asked to describe
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Wilderness Adventures for First Year
Students. As co-founder of the heralded program better
known as WAFFYS, Yeargan has seen first-hand the positive
impact that a week long trip in the wilderness can have
on incoming Tar Heels.
“(Students) come here as new strangers who are
anxious and nervous, and then when they come back from
a week in the woods, they are a tight group of people,”
Yeargan says. “They’re calm and they’re more their authentic
selves, and they enter the college in that way versus
anxious, nervous and wondering if they are going to be
accepted.”
The program, based out of the Outdoor Education
Center, takes groups of ten incoming students on
a backpacking expedition through the North Carolina
forests to teach them not only wilderness survival skills
but also important lessons about leadership, teamwork
and self-confidence. WAFFYS is a guided program but the
emphasis is on student freedom and leadership.
Mike Lyons, the founder of the Outdoor Education
Center and co-founder of WAFFYS says, “You’re going to
be introduced to the activity with someone who is trained
and qualified and has a passion about that kind of stuff and
wants to share it with you. So it’s going to be as controlled
an environment you can possibly make it without it being
so sterile that you could sit and watch it on TV.”
Guides demonstrate how to navigate with a compass,
cook meals and construct a campsite before taking a backseat
and letting the students control the trip. Students are
eventually responsible for all elements of the expedition,
including arriving at the correct destination.
“(Guides) let them get lost if they need to and let them
learn from their mistakes,” Yeargan says. “They give them a
lot of freedom, so they can practice with decision making
before they’re off in college doing the same thing.”
WAFFYS and the Outdoor Education Center, which
offers a variety of trips and programs throughout the school
year, are not just for wilderness veterans.
“If you are not outdoorsy and you’ve never done anything
like this then you will probably reap the most benefit
from this,” Yeargan says, “because entering into a new challenge
and then coming through that successfully will make
you more apt to take on more challenges when you get (to
campus).”
Founded in 2000 after Ivy League models, WAFFYS has
seen great success in helping students grow as individuals
and inspiring them to continue to thrive in the outdoors.
Senior Kate Brown, a former participant in the program,
feels the program helped her grow into the person she is
today.
“The program made a big difference for me. I think I
was always capable of doing things, but WAFFYS showed
me just how capable I was,” says Brown, who is now an
instructor for the program. “The WAFFYS program had
such a lasting impact on me. I really think it changed my
mentality, and I wanted to give that to other people.”
Lyons agrees that WAFFYS can have a lasting impact on
students during an important time of change.
“Once (students) are on the trip, we’d like to think we
can guarantee that they are going to have a really intense,
BY LUKE NEENAN
positive, growth-filled experience as they transition from PHOTOS BY EMILY NYCUM
being in high school to coming to college.”
&
wAFFYS
On a very small stage, it’s a
sad day for me because I won’t
get to coach them again.
— COACH ROY WILLIAMS, ABOUT HARRISON BARNES, JOHN
HENSON AND KENDALL MARSHALL LEAVING FOR THE NBA
Canoes stacked at the OEC await the next WAFFYS adventure. For the less
outdoorsy student, the OEC also provides tennis and volleyball courts, as well as
a picnic area and disc golf course.
26 CTOPS 2012 www.blueandwhitemag.com 27

one issue,
two views
Think of selecting a roommate as a filter.
You can weed out all the people who you
couldn’t stand living with and still be left
with the quintessential freshman experience
of getting to know a classmate while
bunking.
—ERIK AUGUSTINE
Erik Augustine is a freshman from
Georgetown, Mass. He can be reached
at aug13@live.unc.edu.
cHOOSE-YOUR-OwN ROOMIE
EA: So you’ve enrolled at UNC-Chapel Hill. Congratulations!
Your time here will be an incredible experience
and a wonderful opportunity to expand your horizons.
Most of you will be introduced to the unique social
animal that is the roommate. Because you’ll be living with
him or her, it would be wise to choose yours carefully.
Carolina is home to more than 18,000 undergraduates
that come from across the state, country and world.
Our diversity, as well as our tolerance of others, is a point
of pride for the Tar Heel community. However, there is a
monumental difference between tolerating someone and
wanting to live with them.
Take me for instance. As a proud citizen of Massachusetts,
I feel deeply connected to Boston sports teams.
And while I (somewhat begrudgingly) accept the right
of Yankees and Giants fans to coexist and to attend the
same college, I wouldn’t want to room with one. Had a
New Yorker been living in my room after this year’s Super
Bowl, I would have slept on a bench in the Quad.
This example is admittedly narrow and a little childish,
but it models any other roommate conflicts. Are you
meticulously clean Lots of potential roomies won’t share
your concern for neatness. Turned off by the party scene
Make sure your roommate isn’t planning on using your
shared residence for all-night ragers. Are you a Belieber
Avoid some of Justin’s more outspoken haters.
You have all of the awesome power of the Internet at
your disposal in your quest for a roommate. I found mine
on the Class of 2015 Facebook page, and things have gone
swimmingly. There was a thread where people posted a
little about themselves and looked for kindred spirits to
room with. Facebook made it very easy for me to tell that
my roommate and I had similar senses of humor and
shared some interests. The University also provides an online
Roommate Finder, although it is a little difficult to use.
We only get so much time here at Carolina. Take
advantage of the amazing student body and, with some
searching you will find a good roommate.
LE: If there was ever a statement I couldn’t agree with
more, it is that “there is monumental difference between
tolerating someone and wanting to live with them.” One
of the most important things we learn in college is how to
live and work with others.
As a freshman at UNC-CH, I elected to go “potluck”
in the roommate selection process. I didn’t choose this
option because I didn’t know anyone here; rather, I feared
that if I didn’t force myself to start a new relationship with
at least one person, I would end up clinging to the friends
I knew from home.
Preparing to make my housing decisions for my first
year, I browsed the Class of 2013 Facebook group and the
online roommate finder provided by the University. As
I was browsing the profiles of my future classmates and
even contacting a few of them, I felt like I was online dating.
After “hitting on” a few potential roomies, I decided
that choosing my roommate based on a mutual fondness
for Coldplay and a shared distaste for bunk beds was really
no better than letting fate take over.
Not every random roommate is a guaranteed best
friend for life. Mine was someone who I could call when
I forgot my keys and who would loan me a stapler when
I needed it; this friendly relationship was exactly what I
needed. I learned to give-and-take, cooperate and compromise,
but I also learned independence and gained the
confidence to go out and meet more people on campus.
During that first year, I made great friends who have
Should you select your roomate or be assigned one at random
Each month, two writers take opposing views on a current topic.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the writers do not necessarily represent their own views or opinions.
been my roommates for the past two years. The comfort
of living with someone you are really close to is undeniable,
but I gained a much more valuable experience by
forgoing the choice my first year.
EA: It’s true that selecting a roommate instead of being
assigned one randomly isn’t problem-free, and the latter
method also has its benefits. However, I believe that the
benefits of choosing your roommate outweigh the positives
of being assigned one at random.
Finding roommates online is a little strange. “Hitting
on” potential roomies is the perfect way to describe the
somewhat awkward process people go through to find
their match. But as you sift through introductions and
repetitive conversations (“So why’d you pick Carolina”),
remember that you really are making progress.
While searching online is certainly not a great way to
meet your soul mate, that isn’t necessarily what you want.
Getting a feel for a fellow student through conversation
is a good way to weed out people you can’t imagine
living with, but it makes your future roommate no less a
stranger. The little things on which most students end up
basing their rooming decision—like music preferences or
going Greek—aren’t enough to dilute the lessons learned
living with someone you’re just getting to know.
Choosing a roommate in this way won’t result in you
living with your best friend, but it will help prevent living
with someone you won’t be able to cope with. Choosing
a roommate based on their feelings towards Coldplay is
a lot like getting one randomly, except all the people that
hate Coldplay and will hate you for playing them in the
room will be out of the pool.
Think of selecting a roommate as a filter. You can weed
out all the people who you couldn’t stand living with and
still be left with the quintessential freshman experience of
getting to know a classmate while bunking. Your roommate
doesn’t have to be your best friend, just someone
you can tolerate; therefore, you ought to avoid living with
those who will make life difficult for you but still branch
out. Explore Carolina and go outside of your comfort
zone, but be smart about it.
LE: The choice to go with a random roommate is just
one of many opportunities for growth you will have while
in college. You may find that living with someone you
don’t know, at least for your first year, will help you to step
outside the box and explore new things.
In an op-ed in The New York Times on this subject,
Dalton Conley says that the “loss of randomness is particularly
unfortunate for college-age students, who should
be trying on new hats and getting exposed to new and
different ideas.”
If I had lived with someone who was just like me during
my first year, with all the same hobbies and interests,
my college experience may have been radically different. I
may have never joined the campus organizations that have
since defined my college career or met my new best friend.
Whether or not incoming members of the class
of 2016 elect to room with a friend from home, find
someone through the University’s Roommate Finder or
Facebook or take their chances and go “potluck,” living on
your own for the first time will be a valuable experience in
tolerance, patience and understanding.
As Conley says: “Other than prison and the military,
there are not many other institutions outside the college
dorm that shove two people into a 10-foot-by-10-foot
space and expect them to get along for nine months.”
Don’t take it lightly.
&
You may find that living with
someone you don’t know, at
least for your first year, will help
you to step outside the box and
explore new things.
—LAUREN EDMONDS
Lauren Edmonds is a junior from
Asheboro. She can be reached at
edmondsl@live.unc.edu.
WHERE’S
YOUR
FAVORITE
PLACE TO
SLEEP ON
CAMPUS
PHOTOS BY WENDY LU
TREY STRICKLAND, SENIOR
“When I was on the football team, I would sleep
on the couches in the players’ lounge.”
SHAHD HUSEIN, FRESHMAN
“The UL—it’s just really comfortable , and I like
the background noise as opposed to Davis where
it’s completely silent.”
KYU CHOI, SENIOR
“The UL, second floor. There’s nice couches there.”
BRIAHNNA BASS, FRESHMAN
“On the couches at the top of the UL. For one, they’re comfortable.
Two, it’s a good place to stop and rest in between
classes so you don’t have to walk back to your dorm.”

carolina Legacy
Ellen Murray is a freshman from Pittsburgh.
She can be reached at emmurray@live.unc.edu.
FIRST YEAR SEMINARS
What do pneumonia, food in Chinese
culture and the drug war have in common
Courses in all of these topics are offered to
freshmen through UNC-Chapel Hill’s First
Year Seminar program. But finding an open
one can sometimes prove to be difficult.
These small classes can only accommodate
about 66 percent of the upcoming class.
I distinctly remember some of my
classmates jumping up and down with joy
because they were able to get into a FYS
at my CTOPS session last June. Incoming
freshmen are encouraged to put a First Year
Seminar in their ConnectCarolina shopping
carts regardless of the subject. Should that
green circle indicating an open seat appear,
new students are led to believe that to
not jump on the opportunity would be a
terrible mistake.
But three-quarters of the way through my freshman year, I can tell you that the
overall feedback from FYSs is a mixed bag. I am one of those lucky students who has
been able to enroll in not just one but two. Thankfully, both of my experiences have
been wonderful.
In MATH 58: Math, Art and the Human Experience, my classmates and I studied
the fractal dimensions in snowflakes, made our own 4-D hypercubes and watched
videos of master origami makers. My friendly and relaxed professor allowed us to enjoy
learning just for the sake of it. We did not have homework and our final project was an
art portfolio.
In COMM 63: The Creative Process of Performance, I have been able to attend
a number of outstanding performances both on- and off-campus for free. As a result,
my classmates and I have all grown closer. On top of that, our professor Madeleine
Grumet (who even has her own Wikipedia page) makes for very interesting and
engaging class discussions.
There are a few aspects of my FYSs that incoming students can expect to experience
too. First, you can be assured that your professor will be a strong instructor who is
passionate about the subject matter. FYS professors request to teach these courses
based on their own interests. Second, you will have the opportunity to develop
personal relationships with your classmates and your professor, something that is nearly
impossible in many introductory level classes at UNC-CH. Finally, it is safe to bet that
in lieu of a final exam, you will likely be assigned a final project or term paper in your
FYS.
Why do some students not speak highly of their FYSs It seems that students who
do not enjoy their experiences did not choose their course wisely. But if you follow my
advice, I’m sure your FYS experience(s) will be as lovely as mine have been.
First, you should use online websites such as Rate My Professor or Blinkness to
learn more about your prospective professor. While the majority of FYS professors are
wonderful instructors, you can avoid choosing the rare subpar professor by doing a bit
of research. Second, do not sign up for a completely random FYS. If you have never
studied the seminar’s topic, do a bit of research prior to enrollment. Professors are very
passionate about their seminar’s topic, and if you end up hating their specific area of
interest, your experience will likely not be a good one.
Perhaps the most important piece of advice I can offer incoming freshmen is simply
to take FYSs as seriously as you would any other class. Although some seminars like
COMP 60: Robotics with LEGO or DRAM 80H: Psychology of Clothes sound pretty
laid-back, First Year Seminars with no homework (like my first) are rare. Professors
expect commitment and hard work from their students. But if you’re willing to put the
required time and effort into your FYS, your chances of having a positive experience
will significantly improve. With some dedication, a desire to learn and a positive
attitude, you can have an ideal FYS experience in which you develop close relationships
with their professors and classmates and acquire new interests in unique topics.
&
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