Technician
tuesday october
18 2011
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Spring class availability undergoes little change As registration opens, faculty say there will not be a large change in class offerings in the spring.
Registration schedule:
John Wall
Graduate students & Vet school Tuesday, Oct. 18 (8 a.m.)
News Editor
Although class availability is reduced for the spring semester, registration opened Monday with what faculty said is not a large change in class offerings. N.C. State took a 15 percent budget cut from the state for the 2011-2012 school year. As a result, 1,425 class sections, or 47,491 student seats, have been eliminated, provost Warwick Arden said to the Student Senate Sept. 21. That being said, the total number of students enrolled hovers around the same number, according to associate registrar Michelle Johnson. Johnson said she did not have readily available an exact number for the drop in class sections for the spring semester. “Based on our assessments of enrollment, we are not seeing any drop in total, overall enrollment. You have to get down to the individual classes to assess whether or not individual classes have seen a drop in enrollment,” Johnson said. Joseph Doster, professor of and adviser for nuclear engineering, said his department has not seen a drop in classes available. “Our courses are primarily taught by faculty. Our courses are not taught by contract people or TAs. So, the number of classes that we offer is pretty much the same regardless. The classes that we offer are all required for our graduates, so whether or not there is a budget cut, we have to offer those classes,” Doster said. The department of nuclear engineering contains all tenure track professors, Doster said. “The faculty are paid regardless. Since they are teaching the classes, as long as they’re here, we teach the classes,” Doster said. “We do not have any non-tenure track faculty.” Meredith Fosque, senior lecturer and coordinator of advising for the Department of English, said her department has also not seen any cuts in classes. She advises mostly freshmen, who are the last to register. “I feel for [the freshmen], because they are the last to register. A couple
Seniors 92 - 121+ hours passed Monday, Oct. 24 – Thursday, Oct. 27 Juniors 60 - 91 hours passed Friday, October 28 - Tuesday, November 1 Sophomores 30 - 59 hours passed Thursday, Nov. 3 - Monday, Nov. 7 Freshmen In progress - 29 hours passed Wednesday, Nov. 9 - Monday, Nov. 14 Source: registration and records
of them wrote to me and asked ‘Can you release my hold? I want to get in there before the juniors and seniors.’ I said, ‘No, I’m sorry. It doesn’t work that way,’” Fosque said. The big issue comes when seniors cannot get the classes they need to graduate on time, according to Fosque. “The ones that people worry about are the seniors who are considering graduating. If they can’t find their classes, they are in big trouble,” Fosque said. However, the freshmen and sophomores will be most affected by a lack of class availability, according to Fosque. Arnie Otmans, undergraduate coordinator in agricultural and resource economics, said his department lost one section for next semester. “We are offering one less section of an introductory course, but we are offering all the same classes we were offering a year ago,” Otmans said. “[There were] no big changes in our department.” Students who have registered with Disability Services and have special needs were allowed to register Monday, while graduate students, those in the Honors Program and athletes will be able to register this week.
Amanda wilkins/Technician
W.S. Merwin, 2010 U.S. poet laureate, reads his poems to a packed Stewart Theatre Monday. “I was interested in things that sounded like poetry,” Merwin said about his early interest in poetry. “Every time you hear what you recognize as poetry, you are hearing a reminder.” Merwin attended Princeton University, worked as a translator and taught royalty.
Poet Laureate comes to N.C. State W.S. Merwin closed his term as Poet Laureate with a reading in Stewart Theatre. Lauren Vanderveen Staff Writer
William Stanley Merwin made his last official appearance as the nation’s Poet Laureate at a reading in Stewart Theatre Monday. The event was sponsored by N.C. State’s Creative Writing Program. Director of the program John Balaban, has known Merwin over a span of almost 30 years. “[Merwin] was a speaker at the American Literary Translation Association, which I was president of then,” said Balaban. Still, it took a fair amount of organizing to get a Poet Laureate — the most prestigious honor given to a writer by the U.S. government — to come to N.C. State. “We contracted him last year [through his agency],” said Balaban, “N.C. State came up with the fee. [However,] his contract stipulates that we can’t reveal the actual number.” The Creative Writing Program hosts
Students miss out on Affordable Care Act Students will not recieve some benefits from the Affordable Care Act due to the Student Health Center’s lack of outside insurance agreements. Jessie Halpern Staff Writer
Students will not be able to take advantage of affordable services mandated in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 at the Student Health Center. The act mandates most insurance companies to provide preventative services without out-of-pocket charge. But since N.C. State doesn’t have agreements with insurance plan networks, most students must still pay out of pocket. Local and national university medical leaders disagree about whether that policy needs to be changed. August revisions to the act, which will take effect in 2012, extend further preventive coverage to women. This includes HIV and cancer screening in addition to wellness visits. These services and more — including flu shots, counseling and mammograms — are paid for in full by insurance companies through partner health care providers considered “in-network.” However, according to Vivature Health, a billing company that caters to university health centers, coverage
several events on campus each year, which typically include three fictional writing and three poetry readings. “We have the best public readings in the state, maybe in the whole south. We have a great MFA [Master of Fine Arts] faculty that has contacts for our readings,” Balaban said.
poet continued page 3
The ‘New 52’ provides books for new readers
As DC provides dozens of new titles, there are plenty of places for first-time readers to start. See page 5.
“...either they get their care on campus and pay money out of their pocket or the student goes off campus.”
Grad Fa ir
At a pre-event Q&A Monday, Merwin shared anecdotes about what inspired many of his poems. “Of all the things in the visual art I’ve ever seen, the one that I remember was most incredible…is standing
insidetechnician
under the act will not be available to billing insurance,” Egelman said. young Americans attending colleges “I chose to outsource the billing with out-of-network health centers. function to Vivature Health, where NCSU’s health center is one of them. I’m now working.” Vivature works specifically with Dr. Glenn Egelman, former medical administrator at Bowling Green college campuses to bill students’ State University and currently with insurance plans, allowing the camVivature Health, said most univer- pus to offer in-network care withsity health care services do not bill out the hassle of billing insurance insurance or have network agreements themselves. Rober t Haywith insurance ford, associate diplans. rector of student “If student health services at health services N.C. State, said do not change those companies this procedure, are not cost effithe student is cient for the Unigoing to have versity. a choice: either “Companies they get their l i k e V i v at u r e care on campus make their monand pay money ey by taking a out of t hei r Dr. Glenn Egelman, former percentage of f pocket or the medical administrator the top of each student goes charge they bill to of f campus,” an insurance company on behalf Egelman said. However, NCSU students who pay of physicians and medical practhe group rate for University-offered tices. N.C. State Student Health health insurance can receive these researched utilizing this company services without out-of-pocket costs. just a few years ago and learned that When Egelman was at Bowling for their service, they would charge Green in 2005, he made the decision an unreasonable percentage,” Hayto convert the health center to an in- ford said. In light of this charge, student network provider. “At Bowling Green, we increased health fees would increase, accordrevenue in the health center by $0.5 million each year when we started Health continued page 3
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Amanda wilkins/Technician
Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Jeffery Braden talks with friends before W.S. Merwin, the 2010 U.S. poet laureate, spoke in Stewart Theatre Monday.
Forza shifts into fourth gear
The latest game in the ‘Forza Motorsport’ series brings a new level of realism to the racing genre. See page 6.
New coach breathes life into women’s rugby
New coach brings professional experience to rugby club. See page 8.
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