Author: Ava Dunwoody

By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterFormer Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has won the 2020 election with 284 electoral votes. Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes put him over the top Saturday morning. Nevada (22,657 vote Biden lead at an estimated 93% reporting), Georgia (7,248 vote Biden lead at an estimated >98% reporting), North Carolina (76,515 vote President Donald Trump lead at an estimated 93% reporting) and Alaska (51,382 vote Trump lead at an estimated 56% reporting) have yet to be called. Biden won Wisconsin by a margin of only about 20,000 votes and Michigan by about 70,000 votes. Trump won…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterThe Nov. 3 Election Day is approaching with changes since the last presidential election in 2016. The recent pandemic has created an emphasis on mail-in voting as well as changes to the presidential debates and a shift in which states are up for grabs. Benjamin A. Kleinerman, Baylor RW Morrison chair of political science, said the biggest change may be the amount of mail-in voting compared to past elections. He said this could either mean there will be a greater amount of voter turnout due to ease of mail-in ballots or the pandemic will prevent…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterIn the age of virtual meetings, Vertical Ministries’ Monday night Bible study has gone to a livestream — but this time not on Zoom. Its team launched an app in the height of the pandemic to create a new place for students to tune into the weekly studies.Started in 2009, Vertical Ministries, a non-profit organization separate from Baylor University, hosts a 9 p.m. Bible study with worship every Monday. Orange County, Calif., sophomore Arden Freese serves as an outreach team leader at Vertical and has been going since her freshman year.“Vertical exists not to be…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterThe “Dirty Third” of Penland Residence Hall continues another year through notoriously messy pranks, a tradition rumored to have begun back when it was an all-men’s dormitory. Nobody seems to know how or when it truly began, but the freshmen are continuing the legacy.Mobile, Ala., freshman Parks Moore said he stayed with second floor Penland boys during one of his visits to Baylor and heard rumors of the floor above. He said that’s how he knew where he wanted to live the following year.“It was where the most fun happened,” Moore said. “I’m a pretty…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterBaylor’s basketball team headed for Austin on a bus that would later be hit by an oncoming train at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 22, 1927, killing 10 young men. Their story is passed down even 93 years later to each freshman class as an example of the eternal Baylor spirit shown by the legacy of the Immortal Ten.Dr. Todd Copeland, Baylor director of advancement marketing, decided to write a comprehensive account of the accident in his book “The Immortal Ten: The Definitive Account of the 1927 Tragedy and its Legacy at Baylor University.” During his…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterFollowing Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order No. GA-29 on July 2, the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District began enforcing the wearing of face coverings through a reporting hotline. The number is listed under “Waco Business Concerns” on their website.Chris Randazzo, code enforcement department supervisor, said the hotline is intended for businesses and retail centers, not individuals. He said there have been 115 complaints so far: 61 in July, 36 in August and 18 in September. Out of these, only one has resulted in a citation.“We really are pushing communication,” Randazzo said, “Asking if they are…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff Writer A new monitor found on the first level of Moody Memorial Library is part of Baylor’s new use of Occuspace, a tracking device that displays capacity levels on each floor. Occuspace uses Bluetooth and Wifi signals to determine the number of people in each area. According to their website, Occuspace works by using sensors to scan for online activity, including “laptops, cell phones, wearables, and other connected devices” without using personal information. The system then uses specific algorithms to estimate capacity levels with over 90% accuracy. David Burns, associate vice president of library and…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterAfter seeing so many TikToks, YouTube videos and Instagram posts about Apple’s new iOS 14, I fell victim to the hype of screen customization that has swept the nation. Since the iOS 14 release on Sept. 16, it has become a trend to show off all of the creative ways to use the new widget and app home screen features.What I didn’t realize is that I would spend two hours making the perfect aesthetic only to change it back three days later out of sheer frustration. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful. Even now,…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterBaylor Pi Kappa Phi spent the evening of Thursday unloading 21,000 bottles of hand sanitizer donated to the university by Baylor Scott & White in the East Village Parking Garage. These bottles will be distributed around campus within the next week.Pi Kappa Phi Adviser Dr. Randy Wood said Dr. Don Sewell, his friend of over 40 years, contacted him and asked if the fraternity would help pass out their surplus of hand sanitizer. After a long process of approval from the university, Wood said “over $110,000 worth of product” was delivered on wooden pallets.“In a…

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By Ava Dunwoody | Staff WriterCommunity Leader applications for the 2021-2022 academic year are now open, and they close on Oct. 16. Both the application process and the role of a CL have adapted due to COVID-19.The applications were released early this year to accommodate for interviews, which usually occur during what is now an extended winter break. Oklahoma City sophomore Jantzen Griswold is a CL in North Russell and said he encourages students to apply now.“I applied to be a CL because I realized how big of an impact CLs had on my life freshman year,” Griswold said. When…

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