Technician
friday august
26 2011
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Board of Governors retreat results in legal inquiry Lawyers say Board did not violate open meeting laws.
“When a public body meets in closed session, it shall keep a general account of the closed session so that a person not in attendance would have Caroline Gallagher a reasonable understanding of what Correspondent transpired,” according to Chapter 143, Recent private meetings held by the Article 33C of the Board of Governors’ UNC System Board of Governors at a statutes. Due to the public and authoritaretreat has raised public concern that North Carolina Open Meetings law tive nature of the Board’s position, the public is conmay have been cerned about the violated. privacy of meetThe UNC Board ings. Student Body of Governors is lePresident Chandler gally responsible T homp s on adfor all decisions dressed her conand policies made cerns in an email. involving the Uni“I do not have versit y system, much information which includes on the [Board of 17 universities. Chandler Thompson, student body Governors] meetNorth Carolina president ing in question, state law requires but with the curall official meetings held by the Board of Governors rent climate and situations the UNC system is facing with budget cuts, etc. to be open to the public. While “official” meetings are re- I hope that any meeting in which busiquired to be open to the public, “so- ness especially impacts students will be open to the press and the public,” cial” meetings are not. “A social meeting or other informal Thompson said. As student body president, Thompassembly or gathering together of the members of a public body does not son holds a chair on the Board of constitute an official meeting unless Trustees for N.C. State. The board on called or held to evade the spirit and which she sits reports to the Board of purposes of this Article,” according to Governors, and the Board of Governors takes direction from the N.C. Board guidelines. Despite “social” meetings not being legislature. “I have an obligation to ensure required to be open to the public, the events and discussions of the meet- that students’ voices are heard and ings still need to be recorded so that opinions are sought, as well as the anyone not present may understand what took place. BOG continued page 3
“I have an obligation to ensure that students’ voices are heard and opinions are sought,”
Photo courtesy of Nasa
Hurricane Irene moves through the Bahamas Thursday, the NASA GOES-13 satellite capturing this image at 10:02 a.m. The hurricane is set to make landfall in North Carolina Saturday night. According to NASA, at the time the image was captured, Irene was about one-third the size of the entire U.S. east coast.
Hurricane Irene to miss Triangle, campus Although forecast models are unclear, meteorologists expect little damage. John Wall News Editor
Hurricane Irene, currently rated a category 3 storm, is not projected to cause damage in the Triangle, according to meteorology graduate students. Heading along the eastern seaboard, the storm is expected to hit
the North Carolina coast with full vigor. Areas surrounding campus are forecasted to receive some isolated storms and heavy rainfall accompanied by winds gusting in the 50s. David Church, a graduate student in tropical meteorology, said the outer banks will take the most damage. “The outer banks will be most under the gun,” Church said. “Most of the high impact weather will be east of the I-95 corridor.” Emergency plans have been enacted along the coast. Governor Bev Perdue has made statements daily hoping to
qualm fears of residents. “I talked to the director of the Red Cross, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, and they will do whatever we need to do. We have volunteers all over North Carolina who are ready to help. We have all the vehicles and all the supplies, so we are preparing as best we can,” Perdue said in a statement. A storm surge — high seas created by large windstorms — is the biggest threat to property and people along the coast of North Carolina.
Storm continued page 5
Muslims share traditions during Ramadan holiday The Muslim Student Association invites non-Muslims to partake in Ramadan during the fourth annual Fast-a-thon. Jack Borke Correspondent
While most students are taking advantage of meal plans and the newly renovated Atrium, the Muslim Student Association encouraged fasting to enlighten others of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, and contribute to the charity, Stop Hunger Now. The MSA’s fourth Fast-a-thon, held Thursday, is meant to be a way for Muslims around campus to come together and break their fast, and present an opportunity for non-Muslims to experience a typical day in the month of Ramadan and to abstain from eating and drinking. During the holy month of Ramadan, each Muslim is required to fast from dawn until dusk, or from the first prayer, the Fajr, until the fourth prayer, the Maghrib. Observers of the holiday are dependent on the movement of the sun to determine prayer times and length of fasting. Thursday, Muslims fasted from 5:08 a.m., all the way until 7:55 p.m. that night, a long thirteen hours without food or water. The famished participants gathered into the Talley Ballroom with growling stomachs and parched tongues, ready to break their day long fast.
Amanda Wilkins/Technician
Doa'a Dorgham, a senior in psychology, laughs as a server loads her plate with seasoned beef livers, known as Albanian beef liver, during the Muslim Student Association Fast-a-thon for Ramadan on Thursday.
Mark Dyson, a senior in biochemistry, fasted with his Muslim friends. “[The fasting] made me really tired,” Dyson said. “It made schoolwork really hard.” Before the dinner, International Operations Director of Stop Hunger Now, Allen Renquist delivered a speech detailing the world’s troubles and fail-
ures concerning hunger and how his program is working to remedy them. The non-profit organization packages meals and distributes them to more than seventy impoverished countries around the world. So far they have packaged and shipped nearly fifty million meals to hungry people in need. During this event, participants were
encouraged to donate the amount of money they would have spent on food to Stop Hunger Now. Philip Dail, director of Advising and Admissions of the College of Textiles, contributed to the MSA and Stop Hunger Now by donating five dollars for every student of his that attended the event. According to Renquist,
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five dollars goes a long way, as Stop Hunger Now can feed four people with only $1. Stop Hunger Now has been closely tied in with the University since the group started its meal-packaging program six years ago. Just six months into the program, in 2005, the organization held an event on campus in which students packaged over 150,000 meals. Last week, they held a similar event and students packaged even more, totaling 160,000 meals. Renquist stressed that much more can be done to end hunger and used the Fast-a-thon as a way to get his message through. “For one billion people, everyday is like Ramadan,” Renquist said. “Except there is no guarantee of the breaking of fast [at the end of the day].” Following the speech, at precisely 7:55 p.m., Muslims and participants in the fast satisfied their hunger with a simple selection of dates, which is the traditional food Muslims eat after fasting. In the midst of breaking the fast, a Muslim youth led a short prayer. Muslims then walked to the far side of the ballroom, pointed towards Mecca, and prayed for the fourth time that day, which is the Maghrib prayer. This evening prayer signifies the end of the fast. With the end of the prayer, at last, it was time to eat a full meal.
Fast continued page 3
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Raleigh woman loves her ‘Wolfpack dogs’ See page 6.
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Volleyball recruit stays home to rock Reynolds.. See page 8.
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International students encounter daily struggles as newcomers to American society. See page 5.
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Student athletes chase dreams in a new world See page 8.
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