Technician
tuesday november
1
2011
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
UAB president steps down UAB President Matt Woodward stepped down Sunday night. Lauren Vanderveen Staff Writer
Matthew Woodward has resigned his post as president of the Union Activities Board as of Monday. Kelly Harris, the former vice president, will be taking over the position for the rest of the semester. “One of the things I was kind of concerned about was balancing both being a student leader while putting my academics first,” Woodward said about his resignation. “Since next semester is my final semester, I needed to reflect about where my interests and efforts really needed to be put.” N.C. State leaders across the board have shown their acceptance
and understanding of the unexpected change. “Though this change has come at an inopportune time, I feel the organization will remain prosperous and continue to grow,” Harris said. “We encourage all NCSU students to become involved and to get excited about all the UAB has to offer. I am looking forward to assisting in the planning and implementation of many remarkable events forthcoming throughout the remainder of the 2011/2012 school year.” Chandler Thompson, student body president, said she received Woodward’s resignation letter Sunday night. “I don’t know anything specific about the situation,” Thompson said. “I know firsthand that it is incredibly difficult to balance school work and personal life with student leader time commitments.” John Willis, treasurer for the Union Activities Board, also sympathized with Woodward.
“The position of UAB president can be very time intensive and demanding,” Willis said. “With that said, I have full confidence in Kelly Harris…” With Willis graduating in December, the board will be going through further leadership restructuring this year. “We are on the look-out to fill both the vice president and treasurer-elect positions; the application for both positions can be found on our website,” Harris said. “We are set and ready to get the ball rolling on the next phase of the UAB.” Every effort will be made to keep UAB healthy, Thompson said. “Student Government will support UAB’s Executive Board through the transition in any way we can, so that they continue to effectively serve students,” Thompson said. Willis said Harris is up to the task of
UAB continued page 3
Brett Morris/Technician
Chris Gould explains the ins and outs of N.C. State's carillon; an instrument that has not been used since 1989. It functions like a keyboard: sending signals that activate levers which strike tubes of metal.
Real bells play once again from Bell Tower’s speakers Musical instrument last used in the 80’s will ring out once again. Will Brooks Staff Writer
For the first time since 1989, the sound of real bells played from the Bell Tower last month. Not from the top, but from the speakers. The University acquired the current grand symphony carillon in 1986, which uses 246 bells along with digital “hornbills,” Chris Gould, associate dean for the department of physics, said. Out of order since 1989, the carillon’s bells have recently been restored by Gould and others—and students may soon be able to play them. The carillon is played like an organ. When keys are hit, a bell is struck by a piece of metal and the sound is relayed both mechanically and electronically, according to Gould. The bells of the University’s carillon are not perched upon the top of the famous tower, however, but reside in Holladay Hall. “A traditional carillon would actually be physical bells with a rope on them,” Gould said. “You need a huge tower to support a large number of bells.”
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Duke Chapel stands at approximately 210 feet with a carillon that plays inside with 50 bells. At N.C. State, the Memorial Bell Tower stands at 115 feet but plays with nearly five times the amount of bells as Duke, through speakers. The lack of bells in the tower has been a point of discussion for several years, but Tom Stafford, vice chancellor of student affairs, said students seem to have put the issue aside for now. The senior class of 2010 raised over $50,000 to place one bell in the tower. However, this was only a fraction of the money it would take to put in a full set of bells. “To put a full complement of bells, it would run between $750,000 and $1 million,” Stafford said. Since the area at the bottom of the tower has begun deteriorating, Stafford said, the cost of repairs along with purchasing additional bells may prove too much for the time being. “Since [$50,000 was raised], the effort to raise additional money has fallen to the wayside,” Stafford said. Elizabeth Russell, a sophomore in human biology, believes the recentlyfixed carillon is a good match for the
music continued page 3
The Garden District celebrates 100 years of Tennessee Williams
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Scholars hold Halloween Carnival Annual Scholars’ Halloween Carnival brings treats and fun to Boys and Girls Club. Lauren Vanderveen Staff Writer
In the spirit of candy and costumes, N.C. State held its annual Halloween Carnival on Monday. The event, hosted by the Scholars Council, had, as guests, the Boys and Girls Club of Raleigh. Some students used this event as an opportunity to do volunteer work on Halloween instead of partying. Kathryn Hornaday, a junior in
Professors receive $700,000 to improve outdated waste storage and transportation methods.
Staff Writer
WolfAlert: inside the safety system emails in succession, and the cause of the disturbance spread by word of mouth. The system sends emails to those who have University email accounts, and text messages to those who volunteer their phone numbers. Often, alert messages are not sent until an all-clear due to the quick duration of certain events. See Wednesday’s edition of Technician to find out how the system works, how it was adopted and how it is operated. Also read about how student leaders have reacted to the effectiveness of Wolf Alert.
Grad Fa ir
Two professors from the Department of Nuclear Engineering received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to research better ways of storing spent nuclear fuel. A total of $4.5 million has been granted by DOE to five universities including N.C. State. We are expected to get $700,000 which will be used in research under Korukonda Murty, professor of nuclear engineering, and Jacob Eapen, assistant professor of nuclear engi-
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biology, has been a part of the Scholars lationship with this organization and Council for two years and has been give children, who otherwise may not continually involved with its activi- have an opportunity to safely trickor-treat, a chance to ties. have some fun and “It’s a tradition. celebrate HallowThe Boys and Girls een,” Melvin said. club are great kids The carnival was and really fun to held in the West work with,” HornaCampus amphitheday said. Caitlin Melvin, chair of the ater and surroundCait lin Melv in, Scholars Council ing residence halls. chair of the Schol“Lee Hall [collabars Council, said the University has endeavored to build a orated] by doing a Haunted House. Sullivan Hall [was] set up to have the strong relationship with the club. “Traditionally, we have hosted the kids trick-or-treat. We [did] games,” Boys and Girls Club, and when we Hornaday said. brought the event back two years ago, we wanted to continue to build a reCarnival continued page 3
“The more volunteers the better.”
Researchers try to make nuclear storage safer Jatin Bhatia
inside tomorrow’s edition Technician has been invited to tour the Wolf Alert system housed in the NCSU Police Department. Students have voiced concerns about the timeliness and relevance of Wolf Alerts. When a robbery suspect was arrested on campus Friday, the audible Wolf Alert, which can be heard from loudspeakers around campus, said students should seek shelter immediately, but did not offer an explanation why. When an earthquake shook campus in August, there was no Wolf Alert heard from loudspeakers. Students received
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Sophomore in chemical engineering, Rebecca Burton, gets spooked by Tamia Hester, a child in the Boys and Girls Club.
neering. The research will be conducted in integrated project which looks to strengthen nuclear programs at American universities as a part of NEUP (Nuclear Energy University Program) that will involve universities like the University of Wisconsin and be lead by researchers at Texas A&M. Murty said researchers from national labs will also participate in the research. “Some folks from national laboratories like Savannah Research Labs in South Carolina and Pacific Northwest Research Laboratories in Washington state are also involved in the research project,” Murty said. According to Eapen, the role of N.C. State in the research is concerned with liability of transporting and storing spent nuclear fuel.
Currently spent nuclear fuel is stored in water pools which have a limited capacity when it comes to storing waste fuel. Researchers are looking at making feasible a new concept of “dry storage” in which metal canisters are used to store the fuel once it has been cooled down by water. “The [problem with dry storage is] as soon as you take it out of water, due to lack of cooling the residual heat and radioactive material, they may make the material deform and creep,” Murty said. “You don’t want anything to rupture and nuclear material to come out.” Eapen and Murty’s work plan focuses on “low temperature creep.” “Using the theoretical knowledge and experimental data we should be
nuclear continued page 3
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