Mental Health | 5
Opinion | 6
Religion | 6
Lifestyle | 7
Stay studious during post-breakup blues
Growing pains: Is Southern too crowded?
Remembering the true purpose of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving survival guide
November 13, 2024 Collegedale, Tennessee
Southern Accent
Vol. 80 Issue 09
The student voice since 1926
Cramped parking strains campus
Cars start to fill up the parking lot on Cafeteria Drive. (Photo by Elias Zabala)
Alissa Flores Reporter Finding a parking spot on Southern Adventist University’s campus can be a daily challenge. While trying to cope by circling the lots, arriving earlier or parking far from their destinations, students have voiced their growing concern about the lack of adequate parking. Marty Hamilton, associate vice president for Financial Administration, shared administration’s plans to bring more parking spots to campus. “We have plans for an expanded parking lot by Brock and WSMC and another one by the High Point SDA Church behind the Bietz Center,” Hamilton said. “We
also have one planned on Taylor Circle East down by Hulsey Wellness Center, as well as for the Jones Drive/Lower Lynn Wood Hall parking lot, which is across from the Ledford Hall and College Press buildings. We have engineered a drawing for the parking lot at WSMC lot, and I am getting quotes for the cost.” Hamilton said although new parking lots are planned, they take time and funding. The Jones Drive and the lower Lynn Wood Hall projects will take more thoughtful planning and are not scheduled to begin until spring 2026 and August 2026. In the meantime, Hamilton encourages students to walk as much as possible. Southern also offers students
a shuttle service, which was introduced in 2023 to try and alleviate parking pressure, according to a previous Accent article. Meanwhile, the struggle for daily parking persists, with some students opting for less-thanideal parking spaces. April Espinoza, senior public relations major, lives in Southern’s Village Proper apartments and works at Wright Hall. She said she often has trouble finding open parking spots near her apartment and when she goes to work and class. “When I come back late at night and there’s no parking, I’ve been parking around the roundabout in the back of my apartment,” Espinoza said. “I haven’t gotten a ticket yet, but a lot of people have
been recently. I don’t want to walk from the church to my apartment late at night by myself. There’s no way I’m doing that, so I [am] parking wherever.” Once, Espinoza’s car was hit while parked around the roundabout at Village Proper. “Sometimes, I can’t find parking in front of Wright [Hall],” Espinoza explained. "[One day] I couldn’t find parking in front of the student center, behind the student center or behind the religion building, so I just got to work late that day.” Other students have reported similar experiences around campus. Clarissa Alberto, a senior public relations major, lives in Village Proper and struggles to find a parking spot some nights.
“I came home really late at night, and I couldn’t find parking, so I had to park in an ‘unauthorized’ parking spot, and I got a ticket for it,” Alberto said. “I appealed, but it was basically denied. I’ll keep appealing, because it’s not my fault that we don’t have enough parking space.” Her ticket is now a $208 fine. Shawn Haas, associate director of Campus Safety, said he has not seen a significant uptick in tickets this semester compared to others. He said each year citation numbers could be high for numerous reasons, including wrong lot parking, failure to register a vehicle and parking in handicapped spaces. Haas added See PARKING on page 2
Campus shop moving Southern’s campus reacts to the 2024 presidential election back to Fleming Plaza Marian Polanco Reporter
Alexis Dewey News Editor From social media meltdowns to celebratory get-togethers, Americans have been reacting to the 2024 presidential election results in various ways. Students, faculty and staff at Southern Adventist University are no exception. While many students were hesitant to expose their political affiliations, most were still willing to share their perspectives. Alli Davis, a sophomore pre-physical therapy major, said that although her day-to-day life has not changed, she has seen many negative, polarizing political posts on social media since the election concluded. “My environment has not changed, but I have seen people, a lot more people, who are on one side, being a lot more harsh about who you voted for,” Davis said. Davis elaborated that the side she perceived as the more “harsh” was the side that voted for Vice President Kamala Harris. “I haven’t heard from the other side as much,” she said. “Personally, I haven’t seen it. But the one side has definitely been very pushy about how they believe and what their opinions are.” Marvin Peraza, a junior history and political science major, shared his experience as the son of Hispanic immigrants. Peraza said he has seen a shift on social media since the results of the election were announced.
Dusk settles at the Collegedale Commons on Voting Day. Tuesday November 05, 2024. (Photo by Elias Zabala)
“I have definitely lost Instagram followers even though I only posted [that] I attended a [Harris] watch party,” Peraza said. “A lot of people’s true colors have come to light after this election.” With the election of Trump, Peraza said he feels uncertain about the next four years. “As a first generation Latino American, this election was about more than just the president,” he said. “Many of my family members could be affected by legislation put into place in the near future.” Carl Patterson, associate dean of Talge Hall, said he felt indifferent to the election outcome. He explained that
while national elections impact him, they are ultimately out of his control. “I get to vote, and I think that’s where it ends,” Patterson said. “I think there [are] too many rich, powerful people behind things on both sides of the coin, and they’re going to run things the way they want to anyways.” Justin Childers, senior business administration major, said he has not seen much of an uproar on social media this year compared to past elections. “I feel like this election was less hyped than the last one,” Childers said in an interview with the Accent. “I feel like no one is really postSee REACTS on page 2
Southern Adventist University's Southern Shoppe is moving back to Fleming Plaza, according to Justin Moore, associate vice president for Financial Administration. In an email to Accent, Moore explained that after the store’s relocation to the Bietz Center in 2022, administration—influenced by sales patterns, customer feedback and a desire to improve accessibility — recently decided to return the business to the plaza. "We decided to bring the Southern Shoppe down into the Village Market area to help increase sales and make it more
accessible to the community," he said. While the Bietz Center offered a central campus location, it did not achieve the same level of foot traffic that the shop enjoyed at Fleming Plaza, Moore explained. Southern Shoppe's original location offered "a better mix of customers" due to its proximity to the Village Market, a popular spot for students, employees and residents. "There is more foot traffic in Fleming Plaza, especially with community members," Moore stated. Some students shared their views about the shop's return to Fleming Plaza with the Accent. Damian Martinez, junior biomedical laboratory science major,
Southern merchandise is displayed on a table in the Village Market.
(Photo by Hannah Johnson)
See PLAZA on page 2