Technician
monday september
26 2011
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Senators keep budget concerns in mind during meeting National newspapers will not be on campus, but T-shirts supporting the GLBT community will. John Wall News Editor
Student Government opted to not raise student fees saying the budget environment was not appropriate for further increases, but did allocate money for minority awareness. The Senate met late into the night as they wrangled with adding a student fee for national newspapers and voted overwhelmingly against Wednesday. Senators also decided to give $1,000 to the GLBT center for T-shirts raising awareness for those fighting for equal rights. A representative from USA Today met with campus officials and Senators pitching the idea of adding distribution points for USA Today, the
N.Y. Times and the News & Observer. After a presentation by a USA Today saleswoman before the Senate Wednesday and following heated debate, representatives decided the USA Today program was a good one, but that the time is not right. “We thought it was a great program because it has been proven to be successful in other colleges like Penn State, Florida and Cornell. Our problem with it, however, is that with the 15.7 percent budget cut — that is permanent I might add — that N.C. State just received, we just felt like it wasn’t the right time for us to ask the student body for this,” Brad Poston, a junior in human biology and CALS senator, said. Although the fee would have been small on an individual student basis, the program would have totaled over $100,000. If the University had more funding at its disposal, Poston said the outcome could have been different.
“If we were in a more financially sound state, then we would bring this bill up again. But right now we don’t want to tack on another fee when we are already in trouble,” Poston said. Zack Kenz, a graduate student in applied mathematics, spoke for about three minutes before the Senate began debating on the subject. He was student body president of his undergraduate college where he helped enact the program. He told the Senate of his experience. Kenz admitted the demographic was different at his undergraduate — mostly lending to the fact that it was smaller and that finances were handled differently. He said, though, the program was more of a want, not a need. The economic times call for those in charge of allocating funds and asking students for money to only consider things that are of dire need, according to Kenz. “The general thing for me is we have seen some pretty significant fee
play4kay
increases,” Kenz said. Kenz came to N.C. State in the fall of 2008, and since then he said student fees have increased by 31 percent. On a related subject, administrators and student leaders are in the throws of formulating a recommendation for tuition increase next academic year. The suggested increase will most likely be the current maximum of 6.5 percent, according to Student Body President Chandler Thompson. However, that depends on one unknown variable: information from general admissions. Tution has gone up 33.5 percent since 2008, and fees have gone up $459,” Thompson said. Thompson has been working with Provost Warwick Arden on their suggestion for an increase. They have their final meeting Monday. Their suggestion is that, though — a suggestion. It will go through channels for further approvals until it reaches the legislature in downtown Raleigh
where they have the final say. The suggestion made at the University level is usually heeded throughout the approval process, though, according to Patrick Devore, a senior in meteorology who has attended the previous three meetings with Thompson and Arden. The Senate-approved allocation of $1,000 toward “diversity T-shirts” will come to fruition Oct. 11 when they will be available free of charge to students in the Brickyard. T-shirt distribution will coincide with October’s GLBT month. Funding for the shirts came from the Student Senate’s finance committee, according to senior in sociology and Senator Buddy Bryson. The finance committee allocates monies not spend by previous Student Government administrations.
insidetechnician Volleyball ends record run See page 8.
Embracing the shack life in spite of stormy weather See page 6.
CAM hosts exhibit beyond the superficial See page 6.
viewpoint features classifieds sports
Alex Sanchez/Technician
Wearing a balloon hat with several other balloon hats attached, a boy watches the second half of the men’s soccer game at Dail Soccer Stadium Friday. The game marked the annual Play4Kay game, in remembrance of Kay Yow, former N.C. State women’s basketball coach, and her battle with breaset cancer. Many players chose to wear pink armbands to honor Yow. N.C. State lost 1-2 after a Clemson goal in the second half of sudden-death overtime.
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Photo series illustrates impact of the military’s DADT policy D.H. Hill Libraries housed photos depicting victims of the military’s anti-gay policy. Jessie Halpern Staff Writer
For the past week, the D.H. Hill Library has housed an exhibit commemorating the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell military policy. The policy affected homosexual individuals in military service, forcing them to stay silent about their sexual preferences while enlisted in service. The policy was repealed on Sept. 20, 2010 Artist and photographer Jeff Sheng commemorated the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy by combining his passion for political reform with his skilled eye in a collection of photographs taken of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell victims. The photographs, which were on display until Friday of this week, were part of a larger collection of Sheng’s DADT series and only one of a larger group of socially motivated photography. Sheng also featured photographs of “out” GLBT athletes on high school and college sports teams. In addition, Sheng is constantly looking for new projects. “My current project that I am working from 2011 to 2012 is about GLBT teen suicide,” Sheng said on his website recently. Sheng spoke on campus on Tuesday,
which was originally the full extent of his involvement here at N.C. State. This appearance was organized by State’s GLBT Center, who also suggested that Sheng’s artwork be displayed at D.H. Hill. Marian Fragola, director of Program Planning and Outreach for NCSU Libraries, said that D.H. Hill was honored when they were asked if they would like to display some of Sheng’s work in coordination with his speech. “Having the opportunity to see the pieces in person really gives the viewer a sense of the power of each photo,” Fragola said. The photographs, viewable on Jeff Sheng’s website for those who missed the exhibit, display male and female soldiers. Sheng portrays them in household settings, while still in uniform. Though their full bodies are visible, Sheng makes a point of hiding their faces, either by hand or shadow. The series speaks to a hidden identity, drawing a parallel between the subjects’ unseen faces and their inability to admit the truth while enlisted. Sheng began working with the GLBT community in 2003 with his “Fearless” campaign around the United States. “Many students have been stopping to look at the photos and read the information that accompanies them. As the intellectual center of campus, the Libraries often provides visibility for topics and ideas of interest to our students, faculty and staff,” Fragola said as a response to Sheng’s exhibit
Sept 26 – 28 10AM - 7PM
amanda wilkins/technician
On the eve of the repeal of the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, Jeff Sheng, a visiting lecturer on visual and environmental studies at Harvard University, talks about his “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” photo series for a group of students, faculty, staff and visitors Tuesday.
at State. Sheng, who traveled to State from Los Angeles, where he teaches photography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is a Harvard-educated and well known in Los Angeles galleries. His trip to State, coordinated by
the GLBT Center, is a positive move toward increasing awareness of GLBT causes. State’s further choice to display Sheng’s work marks an even bigger leap, forcing State’s many students to stop and take notice of social rights
issues. While this exhibit is focused on awareness of GLBT hardships, it holds a larger significance as it represents a minority group on campus and speaks to the need for other small groups to be noticed in a similar matter.
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