TECHNICIAN
friday october
25 2013
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Early morning fire alarm leaves students in the dark Chris Hart-Williams Staff Writer
A fire alarm forced residents of Bragaw Residence Hall to stand outside in the cold around 3 a.m. for almost two hours Thursday morning, leaving everyone invlolved wondering what was happening. According to an email Bryan Botts, assistant director of University Housing, sent to Bragaw residents, the fire alarm malfunction resulted from a broken smoke detector that had to be repaired before residents could reenter. Andrew Key, a resident advisor of Bragaw, said he heard a rumor that someone may have pulled the fire alarm. He has since spoken with Botts, who said the alarm activation was likely not the result of foul play. The rumor swirled after many residents witnessed a male student being detained by campus police around 4 a.m. The student took off running on the north side of Bragaw during what campus police said was an investigation of a verbal dispute involving the student and a member of University Housing staff. Campus police pursued him on foot and detained him. Prior to the pursuit the student appeared to be being questioned by an officer. As he ran, the crowd of evacuated residents erupted in cheers and applause. Campus police detained the student almost immediately and
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Movement through the fairgrounds was nearly at a standstill on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 20.,2012. Fair attendence remained high during the second weekend of the popular annual event.
Fair complicates commute Estefanis Castro-Vazquez Correspondent
The North Carolina State Fair is in Raleigh, but due to heavy traffic it’s not all fun and games for N.C. State students. Johanna Donovan, assistant director of student services and multicultural affairs in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Dean’s Office, said the State Fair traffic has led to many frustrations. Donovan said that all the traffic makes it hard for faculty members to get to work. As a result of the school parking lot having only two exits, it’s even harder for faculty and
students to leave in the evening, transportation, as the busses are when the traffic is much worse. not running to the vet school while It has also made coming and going the fair is in Raleigh, according to from main campus Donovan. to the vet school Additionally, very difficult. some people at“If you have to tending the fair go to main campus have tried to park for a meeting, it will in the vet school take a really long parking lot, which Peyton Brown, sophomore in time to leave here would take away human biology and get to camfrom student and pus, even though faculty parking. it’s only about a mile and a half,” This resulted in the need for guards Donovan said. to be placed at the entrances. Some students who usually take The fair has also changed the way the Wolfline to campus also have students who live off-campus get to had to find alternate methods of school.
“ ... Hillsborough and Blue Ridge were awful.”
Lecturer talks about flaws in N.C. voter law Madeline Safrit Correspondent
On Thursday night, the School of Public and International Affairs hosted Professor Richard Hasen from the UC Irvine School of Law to deliver his 2013 American Values Public Lecture. The lecture, “North Carolina’s New Front in the Voting Wars”, highlighted the elements of race, party and politics in the world of elections. David Gilligan, a political consultant, said changes made to voting laws have created tension among many political officials. “There have been a lot of big changes with the spring courts’ decisions over the past few years and what the legislature has done,” Gilligan said. “I look forward to hearing about those changes.” These changes were made in the form of North Carolina House Bill 589, which required voters to provide photo identification, reduced early voting by one week and removed same-day registration and
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Professor Richard Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine, discusses voter fraud on Thursday.
pre-registration for 16 and 17-year olds. Hasen said that changes came from the ongoing war between race and political parties during elections. “The solution to these battles is going to have to come from the federal government,” Hasen said.
House Bill 589 enforced voter identification and made voter-fraud more difficult. While arguments between political parties continue to be evident in elections, race has also played a prominent part. However, in his lecture, Hasen questions the different impacts that
both race and party have on elections. While both are prevalent, he said they are often interchangeable. “When we talk about race and when we talk about party, are they really so separate?” Hasen said. Hasen finds that it is important to consider both aspects in order to create a fair foundation in the realm of politics and elections. “Doing [this] would help to restore the core American value of suffrage,” said Hasen. Over the course of his lecture, Hasen said that many of the changes made by House Bill 589 have placed pressure on voting fairness. He said only eligible voters should be able to register and have their votes counted. Hasen presented the idea of eliminating absentee balloting, which would dramatically minimize voter fraud. Hasen said he suports pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-olds still in high school. “It is much more expensive to register their information later on,” Hasen said.
Students discuss animal ethics at event Dan Martin Correspondent
The Philosophy Department hosted an event on Thursday titled “A Two-Level Utilitarian Perspective on Animals” in Withers Hall lasting from 4:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. Gary Varner, a philosophy professor from Texas A&M University, spoke to a crowd of 25 about two-level utilitarianism and animal rights. Varner’s work uses the two-level utilitarian perspective of ethics, created by philosopher R.M. Hare.
Varner said he classifies beings into three categories: persons, nearpersons and the sentient. He said people are capable of comprehending a biographical sense of self, and near-persons have consciousness of the past but can’t use that information to change the future. The sentient are beings “that can suffer and feel enjoyment, but have no consciousness of the past.” Varner said. A one-hour slideshow presentation was followed by a question and answer session in which both faculty members and students had a chance
to respond to Varner’s argument. “The roundtable setting is really nice,” said Gray Maddrey, a junior in philosophy. Maddrey said that being able to talk with the speaker is more conducive to a philosophical atmosphere. He said he usually attends philosophical events, Maddrey said, but he was especially attracted to this event because of his interest in the morality surrounding animals. “I try to ascribe to veganism,” Maddrey said. He said we can’t critically discuss morality without discussing animal
rights. Varner said that animals lack the ability to be both sentient beings and comprehend the utilitarian perspective. “I am not aware of any non-human animals that are good candidates for personhood,” Varner said. He said the evidence does not demonstrate that they have any biographical perspective on life. Varner recently published a book titled Personhood, Ethics, and Animal Cognition: Studying Animals in Hare’s Two-Level Utilitarianism.
Some of these students utilize Park and Ride lots, taking the Wolfline to school. One of the Park and Ride locations has been relocated to the northwest corner of Carter-Finley Stadium’s parking lot, due to heavy traffic, according to the N.C. State Transportation website. “Even though I’m on the opposite side of where the fair is, you can definitely tell where the fair traffic is,” said Peyton Brown, a sophomore in human biology. “And people don’t know where they’re going, and they’re confused and it just takes
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Features Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. falls short of expectations. See page 5.
Sports State set for showdown with Virginia Tech See page 8.
SPORTS Wolfpack hits the road to face ‘Noles See page 8.
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