TECHNICIAN
friday august
17 2012
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
A life diverted
N.C. STATE’S JOHN WILLIAMSON REMEMBERS THE 1979 ANTARCTIC CRASH OF AIR NEW ZEALAND FLIGHT 901 STORY BY ANDREW BRANCH
Lodging leaves Wolfpack up a creek Sam DeGrave
T
Deputy News Editor
errified, Lt. Cmdr. John Wi l lia mson struggled to control his Navy helicopter as winds screamed down Mount Erebus, the 12,448-foot active Antarctic volcano named for the mouth to hell.
The Vietnam War had just ended, the Soviet Union was a concern and the National Science Foundation needed skilled pilots to take scientists to the harshest, most dangerous spots on Earth. All of that added up to a Navy presence at McMurdoStation on Ross Island, just off the Ant-
Several students who live at a local apartment complex say they found numerous problems with their apartments when they returned from summer break. A number of students who live at Wolf Creek, an apartment complex off Hillsborough Street, said they returned to Raleigh to find dirty rooms, damaged furniture and—in at least one case-a flea infestation. Property Manager of Wolf Creek, Lydia Robertson, refused to comment for this story Thursday afternoon. Katie Stanton, a junior in psychology and design studies, said her apartment did not live up to the standard set by Wolf Creek’s model room—a room Stanton says is misleadingly called the “real room.” “The living room furniture in our apartment looked like a mix of an ‘80s motel and a doctor’s office,” Stanton said comparing her room to the model. Stanton said it didn’t help that her box spring-also provided by the complex-was of similar quality. “I felt like I was sleeping in a uncomfortable hammock due to the lack of support in the middle
EREBUS continued page 7
CREEK continued page 4
It was Nov. 29, 1979, and a Navy team was trying to learn the fate of Air New Zealand Flight 901, which had collided the day before with the ice-covered monolith with 257 sightseers on board. But despite the howling winds and the noise from aircraft rotors, it seemed quiet as Williamson hovered and waited. Then, on the radio from over the ridge, he heard the worst. “They’re all dead.” ARCHIVES NEW ZEALAND
ALL PLANNED OUT Williamson, now 64 and an associate professor of horticultural science at N.C. State, joined the Naval ROTC in the late 1960s to pay for college. “I had no intention of flying–absolutely none–when I joined the Navy,” Williamson said. “I was going to be a researcher.” If everything had gone according to Williamson’s plan, he would have earned a master’s degree in biological oceanography and gone to work at the Office of Naval Research. But
insidetechnician
A rescue worker surveys the wreckage of Air New Zealand Flight 901 after it crashed into Mount Erebus in Antarctica on Nov. 28, 1979, leaving no survivors. John Williamson, then a Navy pilot and now a N.C. State professor, was one of six pilots who supported the workers during a two-week recovery effort on the slopes of the volcano. Undated.
the Navy had other plans. After graduating, the Navy gave Williamson a choice of going to either a destroyer or flight school. “I thought for about two seconds and decided to go to flight school,” he said. Williamson fell in love with helicopters and, on a three-year exchange with the Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico, logged extensive
search and rescue experience from problems on oil rigs to hunting down drug smugglers. He applied to stay but, again, that wasn’t the Navy’s plan. He didn’t get a chance to return to regular flying until he went to Antarctica in 1978 with the Antarctica Development Squadron, VXE-6.
“LIKE MOLTEN GOLD”
Annual Restaurant Week dishes out a taste of Raleigh Lindsey Rosenbaum
posted on the Web at www.DineDowntownRaleigh.com. Attendees are encouraged to make resThe Triangle’s fourth annual ervations using the website. Restaurant Week is coming to “There’s a significant amount Raleigh from Aug. 20-26. It will of coordination that goes into give students an opportunity to this event,” Fragola said. “There’s spend a fun night out without lots of promotion and marketbreaking the bank. ing. The key is the create as much Participating restaurants of- visibility as possible.” fer three-course prix fixe meals One of the participating resranging from $20 to $30 depend- taurants, Irregardless Cafe, has ing on the restaurant. Many res- been a part of Triangle Restaurants also offer beer and wine taurant Week for several years selections for an extra $10 and and saw their participation as appetizer trays a “no brainer,” for an extra $15. accord i ng to “Our intenDodge, the cation [for Resfe’s dining room taurant Week] manager. is to raise “We’ve been awa reness of here 37 years,” t he c u l i na r y Dodge said. venues around “ We ’r e v e r y Ra leig h,” Elmuch part of the Ellen Fragola, l e n F r a go l a , downtown RaRestaurant Week Mgr marketing and leigh culinary events manager community.” for Restaurant Week, said. Irregardless Cafe is the lonRestaurant Week not exclu- gest operating restaurant in sive to the city of Raleigh. Many Raleigh to still have its original other cities across the country, owner. Its menu, which will be such as Albany, N.Y., Norfolk, featured during Raleigh’s ResVa., and Philadelphia, Pa., also taurant Week, is centered on host their own weeks celebrat- organic, vegan and gluten-free ing their culinary offerings. fare. However, it also includes Raleigh’s Restaurant Week was some carnivore-friendly meals. modeled in part after these When Restaurant Week began events. four years ago, the coordinators More than 30 restaurants didn’t just look to surrounding downtown will participate this year. Their menus will soon be FOOD continued page 4 Deputy News Editor
Summer research paves the way for undergraduates Thousands of students spend their summers diligantly working in labs. See page 7.
Comin’ in hot
Ahmed shares his views on interpersonal relationships through a Brickyard experience. See page 6.
Men’s soccer primed for success this fall
The Wolfpack men’s soccer team opens its season on Saturday Aug. 18 at UNCWilmington. See page 10.
Viewpoint Features Classifieds Sports
6 7 9 10
“Our intention is to raise awareness of the culinary venues around Raleigh.”
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PHOTO COURTESY OF T.J. WILLIS
Students leave their marks on the new Talley Student Center at the University’s steel signing event.
Talley lets students leave their mark Laura Wilkinson Deputy News Editor
Steel signing events during Cates Crawl and Respect the Pack Wednesday allowed students to personalize a piece of campus history. When many students and staff left campus in the spring, the Talley Student Center construction project looked like a large hole in the ground. However, coming back this fall, the project is visibly moving forward. TJ Willis, assistant director for University Student Centers, said WolfpackWelcome Week was
the best time for students to be engaged with the project. “We capitalized starting last year with our groundbreaking during Welcome Week, rather than during the summer when we typically break ground,” Willis said. “Following up on the success of that, we wanted to do something for Welcome Week this year … and Welcome Week was a great time to maximize the amount of students who could sign the steel.” Steel signing typically occurs as a
SIGNING continued page 4
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