Mental Health | 5
Opinion | 6
A holistic approach to wellness The paradoxical cycle of working to pay for higher education for the college student
September 6, 2023 Collegedale, Tennessee
Religion | 6
Lifestyle | 7
Love as a motivator: Who are you running for?
Why I love film photography: A lesson on patience
Southern Accent
Vol. 79 Issue 1
The student voice since 1926
Administration responds to increasing Southern employees describe demand for on-campus housing options experience with bomb threat Lesieli Savelio News Editor
Students' cars fill up nearly every parking space in Southern Village. Sunday, September 3, 2022. (Photo by Adam De Lisser)
Matthew Orquia Managing Editor Editor’s Note: This article is part one of a two-part series. Since 2020, Southern Adventist University’s enrollment has increased, and the university has seen two of its largest freshman classes in institutional history. That has made the search for on-campus housing increasingly difficult for students, according to Dennis Negrón, vice president for Student Development. Under increasing pressure to make room for each student this semester, the university made some policy changes. Southern tries to keep the residence halls below 100% capacity to allow students to request to change their housing situation if needed, but that has not been possible this semester, Negrón said. “We are filling up Talge and Thatcher because freshmen and
sophomores will always live in Talge and Thatcher,” Negrón said. “[Capacity] is certainly very close to 100%, which is not an ideal number.” To try and create more housing space, Southern asked students who were scheduled to live in the residence halls this semester but have parents who work for Southern and live locally, to live at home for the semester, according to Negrón. Usually children of Southern faculty receive a 70% subsidy on tuition if they live in the residence halls but only a 35% subsidy if they live at home. However, this semester, Southern offered these students a 70% subsidy to live at home, something that has not been done for over twenty years. “In order for us to be able to accommodate all the [housing] requests we get, we have been trying to artificially make more room in the residence halls,” Negrón said.
Hannah Boyd, sophomore nursing major, whose father works for Southern, was emailed by Student Development in July asking if she would consider living at home while maintaining her 70% subsidy, according to Boyd. She decided to live at home this semester and accept the subsidy but plans on moving back into the dorm next semester if the option is available. “While this was a difficult decision, it was probably for the best considering the number of students Southern has this semester,” Boyd wrote in an email to the Accent. “However, it was frustrating since I had already figured out my room and had already planned it out with my roommate. It was disappointing to leave her hanging the way I did, and she had to go on the hunt for a new roommate.” See HOUSING on page 3
On Tuesday, April 18, Chattanooga police arrested a man for making bomb threats near the Chattanooga Convention Center, according to a Chattanooga Times Free Press article. Earlier that day, Southern Adventist University Admissions Counselors Jahnil Ancheta and Kayla Diaz were confronted by the alleged perpetrator — later identified by police as Kendal Lewis — while attending the SkillsUSA college fair at the convention center. In an interview with the Accent, Ancheta and Diaz described the experience. “An hour into the event, we noticed a man approaching our table,” Diaz said. Lewis was wearing a big backpack and sunglasses and was smoking a cigarette, the counselors said. Ancheta’s and Diaz’s booth was located toward the end of the hallway; Lewis had passed other people along the way and made threats in passing, according to the counselors. They said there was no security at the event. “They were supposed to have security; it was in the contract, but they did not,” Ancheta said. “That was pretty concerning, especially with over one thousand high school and college students.”
"He told us he had guns and a bomb and that he was going to blow up the convention center. He told us to pretend to be working and to not use our phones." According to the two counselors, Lewis stopped at their table and threatened them directly.
“He told us he had guns and a bomb and that he was going to blow up the convention center,” Diaz said. “He told us to pretend to be working and to not use our phones.” The counselors said they were cornered. The doors behind them were locked, and there was nowhere to go. Another booth existed to their left, but no one was to their right. “The people at the table next to us did not notice what was happening at first,” Diaz said, “It was not abnormal to see someone talking to us; that was the nature of the event.” The man held them there at their booth for six minutes, making threats, before they could leave. “Those six minutes felt like an eternity,” Ancheta said. “I thought I might never see my kids again. It was scary.” After those six minutes, Lewis placed his backpack on their table and told them it had a bomb inside; he also pulled out two phones and said one was the detonator. “That was when I knew: ‘We have to go,’” Ancheta said. “Kayla told the people next to us, ‘This man is threatening to kill us; please get help.’” At that point, sheriff deputies, who were recruiting at the event, started walking toward the counselors in response to the other threats Lewis had made in passing. “We grabbed hands and ran into the bathroom since he was distracted by the [deputies],” Ancheta said. “That was the only place we could go.” After 25 minutes, police alerted Ancheta and Diaz that the perpetrator had gotten away. They were then interviewed and told they could leave. Later that afternoon, Lewis was arrested, and it was revealed that an explosives See BOMB THREAT on page 3
Student Development University starts shuttle service to welcomes new director of combat parking problem on campus student life and activities
Alexis Castro, new director of student life and activities, is passionate about event coordination and planning. (Photo courtesy of source)
A student shuttle drives its route on Colcord Drive. Monday, September 4, 2023. (Photo by Preston Waters)
Emma Rodriguez Reporter
Amanda Blake Editor-in-Chief
Southern Adventist University has a new director of student life and activities, Alexis Castro. Castro is taking on the position previously filled by Kari Shultz, who retired last semester after 24 years at Southern. In an interview with the Accent, Castro, a native of Orlando, Florida, described herself and her passion for planning and coordinating events. Castro has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and small business management from Union Col-
lege in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she minored in both Spanish and accounting. Her current hobbies include watersports, reading, Disney trips and watching movies. Castro discovered her passion for planning in her role as a coordinator for the music department while attending Georgia Cumberland Academy. "I loved planning all of that stuff out," she said. "It was so much fun, and I just found that I have a really big passion for planning." See CASTRO on page 3
Editor’s Note: The Accent published the first version of this article online on Aug. 23. The following version adds updates and additional perspectives to the story. Southern Adventist University’s Transportation Services has begun a shuttle service for students this semester to alleviate a parking problem on campus, said Dennis Negrón, vice president for Student Development, in an interview with the Accent.
“[University leaders] started talking about this shuttle way back in May,” Negrón said. “We knew that if enrollment increased any more than it was last year, then we’d have a parking problem on campus. … We are essentially encouraging students to keep their cars at Southern Village and at Spalding Cove. We’re saying, ‘We’re going to help you out by shuttling you to and fro.’” On the shuttles’ first day of operation, Monday, Aug. 21, only 23 people took advantage of the service, said Negrón. However, he believes
the number of passengers was low because the university did not publicize the service well. Multiple students confirmed the latter sentiment in their responses to a poll on the Accent’s Instagram. One of them, senior psychology major Shayla Moguel-Coronel, wrote: “I think [the service is] great for the parking issues; it just needs to be advertised better.” On Aug. 22, Negrón told the Accent that the shuttle serSee SHUTTLE on page 2