Staff Spotlight: Alan Johnson

Staff Spotlight: Alan Johnson

Monica Kizer

Reporter 

Alan Johnson is the director of Dining Services at The W. Originally from Milwaukee, Wis., Johnson has been in the South for several years now and a staff member at The W for the last three. During the fall semester, the dining hall has hosted monotony breaker events such as the World’s Fair and other "Elite Events" to ensure students a great dining experience. Johnson shares insights of the Dining Services’ past and future events throughout the semesters. 

Q: What brought you to The W?

Campus reaction to President-elect Donald Trump

Briana Rucker

Reporter

The presidential election results had various emotions circulating the campus as well as the rest of the nation. 

“What I witnessed when I came back to school immediately the next day was just—silence,” said Mattie Walls, a Family Studies major at The W. “Everyone walked around like it never happened. We didn’t discuss it in class. You may have discussed it a lot with your family and friends, but at school it was like no one said anything about it.”

W alum speaks about getting a job after college

Lauren Trimm

News Editor

W alum Jamie Scrivener met with students on Nov. 10 to talk about how to get a job in the communication field after college.

Scrivener is currently working as the Public Relations and Sports Information Director for Mississippi Delta Community College. She graduated from The W in 2013 with a degree in Communication and a minor in Marketing.

Ghosts and Legends tour returns to Columbus

Ghosts and Legends tour returns to Columbus

Lauren Trimm

News Editor

The Columbus Arts Council, Columbus Community Theatre, MUW Center for Research and Public Policy and Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation recently presented a haunted tour of Columbus.

Ghosts and Legends included a bus tour to several historic and “haunted” stops around Columbus. Attendees met at the Tennessee Welcome Center and had their choice of departure times being 6:30, 7, 8 or 8:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11-12. Each tour lasted around 75 minutes.

Family is more than who you're born with

Jessica Barnett

Editor

My mother is cooking Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents’ house this Saturday. The whole family is invited. 

For my mother, this means both grandparents, her three siblings, my stepdad, my six siblings, my two brothers-in-law and my two nephews. I don’t have cousins on her side, and significant others are only invited if they put a ring on it.

The W to have changes in facilities management

Anush Aryal

Reporter

The W is set for a change of faces as Sodexo is making way for GCA Services Group. Sodexo’s contract for facilities management with The W is expiring at the end of this year, and GCA will replace it.

“Sodexo’s facilities management contract with The W facilities management is expiring this December," said Dave Haffley, director of Outsourced Resources. "So we had issued [Request for Proposals] in August calling for companies to bid. A committee of seven to evaluate the RFPs was formed, and they addressed the bids through September and October and decided for GCA Services Group."

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From orange and black to red and green...with no in-between?

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Trisha Maxey

Photographer

The aisles are decked with red and green. The bells of the Salvation Army ring out into the parking lot. Santa waves from his post next to the tinsel reindeer in the neighbor’s yard. The holiday season is clearly upon us.

But did we somehow skip from Halloween straight to Christmas? What about the holidays in between?

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City lights up for holidays

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Casanda Anderson

Reporter

The city of Columbus is presenting a series of events from Nov. 28 to Dec. 13 to ring in the holiday season.

The festivities start on Nov. 28 with the lighting of the Columbus Christmas tree at the east end of the pedestrian bridge on the Riverwalk. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. with caroling from the Columbus Choral Society. Columbus Mayor Robert E. Smith Sr., will light the magnolia Christmas tree at 6:15 p.m.

Alumni Spotlight: Johnathan Best

Lauren Trimm

News Editor

Johnathan Best graduated from the W in 2016 with a degree in theater. He has been training in martial arts since he was 12 and has always wanted to own his own studio. That dream has finally become a reality. In this Alumni Spotlight, Best shares the story behind his dream and what he hopes to accomplish in the future.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for a martial arts studio?