University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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A LEGACY NOT FORGOTTEN STORY | JULIA TRUPP PHOTO ANDREA JOHNSON DESIGN MADISON LANDRY After a tragic scooter accident left the University of Arkansas with one less Razorback, students came together to not only raise scooter safety awareness, but to make a solid change. The legacy of late UA sophomore Cole Pangburn was not to be forgotten. Pangburn, a Sigma Nu, was riding his scooter up Razorback Road towards campus on Sept. 2 when he crashed and hit his head on a curb. He was taken by emergency responders to Washington Regional Medical Center that night in critical condition and died on the morning of Sept. 6. Junior and fraternity brother Andrew McLaughlin was with Pangburn the night of the crash, and he woke up the next morning to a swarm of texts in a group message saying Pangburn was in the hospital. “It was a shock to wake up to that,” McLaughlin said. “I had seen him in the hospital on Sunday and he passed on Tuesday. We were getting positive updates; he was responding to the (hospital) tests. We were all hopeful.” Associated Student Government President Connor Flocks found out about the accident from ASG Treasurer Shelby Cormack. He said in that moment, not having any other information aside from Pangburn being in the hospital, was “a freaky feeling.” “At 2 p.m. that day, I found out Sigma Nu was hosting a prayer at the house and all students were invited,” he said. “It was the most diverse group, Greek people, non-Greek people, girls, guys. I’m talking floods of people bawling, and some were laughing and telling stories because everyone has different forms of coping.” Although Flocks did not know Pangburn personally, it was not until a petition started with the hashtag HelmetsAreSexy that Flocks saw what kind of person Pangburn was. “His family and friends (created it), and I think it shows a lot about Cole, there’s humor in that,” Flocks said. A petition, which was a call to action for ASG to make helmet-wearing mandatory for any person owning a scooter, was sent to Flocks by ASG Secretary Jase Rapert. “The most important, best and hardest part of this job is the influence on students, so when a student passes away, we need to do something a little more tangible than talking about Senior Walk or picking Homecoming Queen,” Flocks said. McLaughlin’s friendship with Pangburn is a good reason to create something more tangible; Pangburn was a positive light in McLaughlin’s life. “I always admired his positivity,” McLaughlin said. “We went through pledgeship together, which is pretty known as a sucky time for freshmen. But he never complained, and if something was needing to get done, he was always the first person to volunteer. He was a very positive person in my life.” Unlike his other fraternity brothers, McLaughlin did not own a scooter, and after the death of his friend, was not about to rush out and buy one. Students held a candlelight vigil to honor Pangburn’s life on the evening of Sept. 12 at the Chi Omega Greek Theater. “It shouldn’t take a student death to make a change,” Flocks said. “You see this and see the tangible impact, a difference made. The big story is Cole’s legacy. Our top priority as an organization is, we have this platform. If 1,000 people are inconvenienced by having to wear a helmet and one less student died, we did our job.” 32 FALL

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Wass’ hotel was designed to be located in Phoenix, Arizona, while Baker’s was designed for Cleveland, Ohio. Wass said she took inspiration from the idea of a phoenix rising and styled her hotel to symbolize aspects of the mythical bird, particularly its life, death and rebirth. Baker Qeared the design of her hotel toward clientele who would take advantage of Cleveland’s arts presence and incorporated the city’s arts into her design, she said. Jim Looney and Jenny Tredway of Looney and Associates worked with Baker, Wass and others in the studio to develop their ideas. The firm provided the schematic design of a real hotel project, which the students used for the basis for their designs. Baker said that working from the designs of an actual hotel made their studio project seem much more like a real- world situation because interior designers often have to work with existing architecture. “You’re given this hotel, and you can only change so much about the architecture,” Baker said. After winnin g the competition, both students will be able to begin paying off student loans. Wass’ scholarships ran out last year, and she said that the money will do much to relieve her family’s financial burden, as two of her siblings are also in college. Both students planned to study abroad. Baker said she has never been out of the country before and thinks that the exposure to other cultures would help her become a better designer. “I’m going to get to do so many things that I wasn’t able to do before,” Baker said. FAY JONES 31

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N’S FRIENDS place flowers ° the Sigma Nu hbuse to pay 1 HELMET SAFETY