TECHNICIAN
wednesday august
29 2012
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Trademark royalties hit record high, more than $1 million John Wall Senior Staff Writer
Logo T-shirts, shoes, grills and car flags brought record dollars to the University in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The Trademark and Licensing Office reported revenues of $1.151 million over the period — a 16 percent increase over the prior fiscal year. Office management cited increased retail presence, increased brand variety and a more favorable licensing contract as the driving forces behind the record-setting year.
The office licenses the N.C. State brand in the form of logos, insignia, etc., to almost 500 licensees, according to Gregg Zarnstorff, director of Trademark Licensing. Licensing Resource Group, a Winston-Salem based company, helps the University collect royalty fees from licensees, such as Adidas, and in turn receives a fee itself. “They help manage the more than 470 licensees that we have. They collect a fee for helping with the administration, helping with marketing, helping us with the retailers out in the market,” Zarnstorff said.
The University collects 12 percent of the wholesale value of products, according to Zarnstorff. “Our licensee sells to Target at $12 and we would be getting $1 of that sale,” Zarnstorff said. Licensing Resource Group’s fee comes out of the gross wholesale sales — out of the $1 Target sale — but Zarnstorff declined to give an exact figure for LRG’s fee. “[The fee amount] is somewhat confidential, but I can tell you that our latest agreement, which started June 2011, allows for a better deal for N.C. State,” Zarnstorff said.
The terms of the new contract help the bottom line, or the revenue minus expenses, aspect of royalty and licensing income, but the growth of the University’s brand was the catalyst for the greater than $1 million year, according to Zarnstorff. “There are a lot of factors involved in [increasing gross sales]. It’s hard to grow that type of business in a tough economy — 16 percent — without having more doors to sell products to. We have more retailers selling the product. We have more graphics,” Zarnstorff said. “We have more variety out there.”
Chelsea Daubar Managing Editor of the University of Tampa’s Minaret
equal emphasis on fairness. “We’re always looking at the process and trying to figure out how it can be more fair and inclusive,” Giancola said. The 2012-2013 Leader of the Pack scholarship will be the first of its kind to go to one applicant, instead of two. Justine Hollingshead, director of the GLBT Center, said this change will mean a lot to many students. “Traditionally the award went to one male and one female student, but that process assumed that everyone is comfortable with their gender,” Hollingshead said. “I helped the Leader of the Pack committee challenge the notion of gender, and they were very open to those conversations.”
“These are the delegates that left the floor!” Those are t he word s t hat ra ng out in the halls of the Tampa Bay Times Forum as a group of Maine delegates left the floor of the Republican National Convention in protest. They walked out after the Republican National Committee’s decision to split the group of 20 Maine delegates who support Ron Paul, stripping 10 of their delegate status and adding 11 new delegates who would presumably support the Romney/Ryan campaign. The Texas congressman’s supporters gave a final effort at appealing this decision – to no avail – before walking out of the forum. The Republican National Committee replaced these delegates due to “procedural issues.” The challenge to replace the delegates was filed by two Maine Republicans, Jan Staples and PeterCianchette, both Romney supporters and both very involved in the workings of GOP politics. From a report for Morning Sentinel, Staples andCianchette argued the 20 Paul delegates were improperly elected at a state convention with illegal votes and parliamentary violations. The new group of delegates is made of many high-profile names in the Republican Party,
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Margarita Abramova Staff Writer for USF’s The Oracle
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ROYALTIES continued page 2
Maine delegates leave RNC floor in protest
Roundtable at Florida convention focuses on the future Blocks aw ay f rom the Republican National Convention, as the movers and shakers of politics toss around planks and policies, a group much younger met, tossing around ideas for the future. Young Invincibles, a national youth advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., hosted a Republican National Convention roundtable composed of a diverse group of all ages and backgrounds. University of South Florida professor Susan MacManus moderated the discussion, which focused on a variety of economic and political challenges across all generations, but mostly college students and young adults. “For years, everyone expected that we would see an intergenerational schism start to surface, and we’re really seeing it more than ever this particular election cycle,” she said. MacManus said the idea that the vast majority of Florida residents are senior citizens is a falsehood, as 47 percent of Floridians are between the ages of 18 to 49. Republicans are going to great lengths to target the youth vote, she said, because this is a
The Trademark and Licensing Office is responsible for approving new designs on wind socks, T-shirts and all other branded products. The office made more than 4,500 such approvals last year, according to Zarnstorff. Proceeds earned through the office go into student scholarships. “The net revenues that come out of the licensing program all go into student support through scholarships. After our expenses are paid, everything goes into student schol-
JOHN JOYNER/TECHNICIAN
Alan Sheridan, senior in computer science, and Michelle Phillips, junior in mechanical engineering stand with their awards on Wayne Day Family Field in Carter-Finley Stadium during halftime of the State-Clemson football game Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011.
Changes reduce Leader of the Pack to one winner Jessie Halpern
award since its onset in the late 1990s. Though the award’s title has changed over the years, Mike For more than a decade, N.C. Giancola, director of CSLEPS, says State has recognized the scholar- the mission has remained the same. ship, leadership and service of one “This originally replaced the male and one feHomecoming king male student every and queen, moving year by awarding away from the idea them the title and of a popularity conschola rsh ip a stest,” Giancola said. sociated with be“N.C. State has ing “Leader of the been recognized for Pack.” This year, its values of scholthe application proarship, leadership cess is changing to and service, that’s become more in- Justine Hollingshead, director why this is a sigof the GLBT Center clusive by limiting nificant tradition.” the award to only Gia ncola s a id one recipient, regardless of gender. those aspects aren’t the only things The Center for Student Leader- the University values. In fact, the ship, Ethics and Public Service Leader of the Pack committee has has been tasked with handling the worked for three years trying to put News Editor
“...that process assumed that everyone is comfortable with their gender.”
Obama looks to younger voters to bridge the electoral gap Mark Herring Editor-in-Chief
President Barack Obama is visiting college campuses this week to garner support for his re-election campaign and to reinvigorate the youth vote, a vote he said Gov. Mitt Romney consciously hasn’t pursued. While on the campaign trail, Obama held a press conference call with college newspaper editors, during which he expressed his hope for young voters to take to the polls come Nov. 6.
“Regardless of who [college stu- road to inspire young voters on coldents] support, I want to make sure lege campuses. Tuesday he toured as many students as the Midwest and possible are voting visited Iowa State this year,” Obama Un ive r sit y a nd said. “I hope once C olor ado St ate again young people University, reachtake their futures ing out to 19,000 i nto t hei r ow n young voters. hands.” “Everybody else Obama said the is waiting for you; if pol a r i z at ion of they see you regisPresident Barack Obama politics in this electer, they’ll register,” tion has college votObama said while ers apathetic, and he has taken the in Colorado. Obama is schedule to
“I hope once again young people take their futures into their own hands.”
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speak today at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. As Obama outlined his accomplishments as president thus far, he noted that Romney is a far different opponent than Republican Sen. John McCain in 2008, criticizing Romney for radical conservative viewpoints. “When I ran in 2008, John McCain said he believed in climate change,” Obama said. “You know, Governor Romney basically doesn’t think we should be doing anything about it. When it comes to immi-
gration reform, John McCain believed in comprehensive immigration reform. The Republican Party plank now doesn’t believe in any of them. When it comes to campaign finance reform, John McCain was in favor of trying to get money out of politics. The current Republican nominee is taking $10 million checks from undisclosed donors.” Denouncing negative advertisements, Obama said the Romney campaign is trying to discourage
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