Addiction epidemic in WNC

Western North Carolina doesn’t have an opioid epidemic.   “We have an addiction epidemic,” said Beth Young, coordinator of the addiction studies program at WCU. After a panel conversation about the opioid crisis in Western North Carolina, It’s clear the situation is getting worse.  The panel was part of the pre-literary festival event to promote one of the […]

Aura photography comes to WCU

Version of story originally published in print for The Western Carolinian. The UC Illusions doorway acted as a gateway into the paranormal as WCU students lined up to have their Aura photographed. Aura photography is a portrait, usually a polaroid, that shows colors around the person, or subject, representing their aura in that moment. According […]

Moody Bridge – rocking the local community

The local music scene is not as active compared to previous years in Cullowhee, but a local indie/rock band has quickly gained traction in Jackson county for their unique style of performance. Moody Bridge, a new four-person band, is entertaining and talkative. They tend to take time between each song to speak with the audience, […]

Greening Up set to kick off festival season

Story originally published in The Sylva Herald, March 9 edition. The first leaves to fall are on the top of the mountain. There is no festival.But when the first green at the bottom of the mountainsides starts working its way up it is time to wear bright clothes, get out into fresh spring air and […]

WCU professor showcases talent through personal struggle

“Don’t tell the story, be the story,” says Dr. Tiffany Renee Jackson, when asked to give the most important advice for being a performer. As an artistic force of nature and one of the newest and beloved editions to the Western Carolina University faculty, Jackson has spent her time on campus focusing on her craft, […]

A WCU artist makes her mark as a tattoo apprentice

Aleaha Waldroup, a fine arts major, is trading her paint and brushes for ink, needles and human canvases as an apprentice at a tattoo shop in Hayesville, North Carolina.   Waldroup enrolled at WCU in 2018 hoping to get a Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in painting. Instead of finishing her last six credits she […]