One of the driving forces in the settlement of this country was the pursuit of wealth. Settlers pushed ever deeper into the unknown wilderness, as rumors of gold and other precious minerals reached civilized lands. Today, gem mining in areas like Franklin offers the public a chance to experience the […]
Author: Brandon Schafer
Take a Trip to Whitewater Falls
Whitewater Falls, a few miles outside of Cashiers, North Carolina, offers the biggest waterfall east of the Mississippi River. The waterfall, at 411 feet tall, taller than Niagara Falls, is comparable to many beautiful waterfalls throughout the world. A ¼ of a mile paved walkway leads you to the upper […]
A Day on the Nantahala River
If you take Highway 74 and drive for twenty five minutes or so, you’ll get to one of the most popular white water rafting/kayaking locations in the country—The Nantahala River. The Nantahala River gets over 250,000 people annually who have fun paddling through its eight mile stretch of class II […]
A Look at Carl Sandburgs Home in Flat Rock
Flat Rock, North Carolina is the home of America’s poet, Carl Sandburg. An ideal spot for literary and nature fanatics, a trip to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in North Carolina is a chance to sample the peaceful life led by Sandburg himself. Sandburg moved to Flat Rock […]
WCU Students Win Awards at Asheville’s 48 Hour Film Project
A group of Western Carolina University filmmakers and actors won five awards including Best Film and Best Directing at the 2009 Asheville 48 Hour Film Project. This is the third year in a row that WCU students have won five or more awards at the Asheville event. The film project […]
Volunteers Needed at Harris Regional Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop
The WestCare Health System offers a plethora of volunteer opportunities to the region. Of those, the Harris Regional Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop, known by locals as the “HA”, has experienced tremendous success. This is in spite of their move from the downtown Sylva location, to a more ambiguous one on […]
A Look at Jackson County’s Habitat for Humanity
(Editor’s Note: The following is the fourth article in an ongoing series of articles that look at where students can and are volunteering their time.) Jackson County Habitat for Humanity, Inc. is a non-profit ministry. Their mission is to build simple, decent houses with community volunteers. They are in partnership […]
Western Carolina to Receive Benefits from Going Exclusive Pepsi
Western Carolina University recently switched from Coca-Cola products to providing Pepsi products exclusively. This contract was entered on May 11, after state regulations required WCU to allow new bids for its next beverage provider contract. WCU had a prior working relationship with Coca-Cola that led to many decades of the […]
WCU Engineering Students Accepted to Prestigious Graduate Program
Two recent graduates of Western Carolina University, Robert Brown and Sam Venable, have been accepted into one of only seven electro-optics programs in the United States at the University of Dayton in Ohio. Brown, son of Cathy and Terry Brown of Nantahala, and Venable, son of Rhonda and Samuel Venable […]
Studio Engineer Earns National Emmy for Olympics Work
John E. Wells, studio engineer for Western Carolina University’s Center for Applied Technology, recently won an Emmy award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Wells served as an edit systems maintenance engineer for an NBC team that was honored with a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Technical […]