TECHNICIAN
friday august
31 2012
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
ROTC ceremony recognizes student leadership Jessie Halpern News Editor
More than 200 ROTC cadets, cadres and families gathered in Talley Thursday evening for the Fall 2012 Army ROTC Awards Ceremony, in which students were honored and welcomed into the University’s ROTC program. 2nd Lt. Jared Richards said the annual event is one all cadets are made to attend, but a lot of planning goes into the evening to ensure it’s one
Powell makes his mark on science
they’ll choose to remember. “It’s a big day because we’re preparing new cadets who are going to be contracting into the army,” Richards said. According to Richards, the most important step in planning the ceremony is tracking student achievement. “The award ceremony not only recognizes new cadets coming in who are going to receive scholarships and contract into the army, but also students who have come back
from recent schools and have a final assessment before they reach senior year, graduate and commission,” Richards said. “We also recognize special achievement in physical fitness, scholar awards, and others to award cadets showing great progress with their physical training scores and grade point averages.” While many students don’t think twice about seeing someone in full military uniform walking to class, the Wolfpack Battalion, as the University’s ROTC program is known,
is a highly competitive program with strict requirements, according to Richards. “Students who want four-year scholarships have to apply way ahead of time, as early as when they apply to attend universities their junior year of high school,” Richards said. According to Richards, N.C. State and other Army ROTC programs across the nation have become much more competitive because the U.S. is trying to get out of a war phase.
“The Army is shrinking down and we’re a bit more picky,” Richards said. “High school students come in junior year to interview and take a physical fitness test and show us their SAT scores and their GPA. They have to be at the top of their game to get selected.” Richards said the University leaves the freshman and sophomore ROTC classes open so interested students can get a taste of what ROTC life is
ROTC continued page 3
As Republicans finish convention, protests continue
Taylor Adcox Staff Writer
Ph.D. candidate Brian Powell has been awarded a prestigious Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship this month to study neutron movement in N.C. State’s Burlington Nuclear Laboratories. The fellowship will pay Powell’s tuition and book costs, provide a stipend for living expenses, cover annual workstation purchases, and fund conference related travel. The Computational Science Graduate Fellowship has been awarded since 1991 by the DOE to encourage the development of computational scientists in fields as varied as biology, fluid mechanics, mechanical engineering, and nuclear engineering. “I am researching computational methods for solving the neutron transport equation to find ways to express neutron movement through a medium,” Powell said. Nuclear reactors rely upon neutron movement to generate power. “In this field, the challenge is how we can find this faster and more accurately,” Powell said. Advancements could lead to improvements in nuclear reactor technology, according to Powell. This is Powell’s first semester at N.C. State, having done his undergraduate studies at West Point. Powell said he enjoys nuclear computational science for its variety. “There are so many branches within Nuclear Engineering, it is not just one specific area of academics you are involved in,” Powell said. Powell was acquainted with the Computational Science Graduate Fellowship through another student with whom he was working who had recently completed his doctorate through the program. Although Powell had some connections with the CSGF, it was still very difficult to be accepted into. “The thing that makes it so selec-
COURTESY OF MITTROMNEY.COM
Rep. Paul Ryan accepted the nomination for the vice presidency Wednesday night in Tampa, Fl.
tive is that they select [the fellowship] out of all computational sciences, not just nuclear engineering,” Powell said. Computational science is a subdivision of computer science. Powell said computational scientists use supercomputers to model various mathematical simulations to find the answers behind various scientific questions, such as how neutron movement can be described. The computational scientist needs to be knowledgeable in both the subject they are researching, as well as in how to design and interpret the models they create. The field is so varied because of its wide applications. Many different scientific disciplines, such as nuclear and other types of engineering, have not had the computer power to research questions until very recently. This has created a demand for computational scientists, according to Powell. Currently, 70 students around the United States are CSGF fellows. Powell joins a group of 21 first-year fellows in 2012. The Fellowship has some great benefits, but it is also accompanied by an enormous course load and a three-month practicum at one of the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories. “I have practically zero free time,”
Powell said. “I have three graduate courses, and the rest of my time outside of class is spent doing research.” Although Powell’s schedule can seem a little hectic, he also enjoys his work and said it is “challenging yet rewarding.” Despite working in the field of nuclear computational science, Powell does not do any work with the University’s nuclear reactor. “It is a common misconception that all nuclear engineers get to work on reactors,” Powell said. “I may never use one. I work on theory, which the guys who use reactors use in application.” The fellowship is designed as a recruitment tool for the Department of Energy’s national laboratories. According to the department, approximately 30 percent of CSGF fellows have worked in a DOE lab setting after obtaining their doctorate. Other fellows move on to academic institutions, or, in some cases, the private sector. Powell wants to stay involved in computational science after completing his doctorate. According to him, there are “any number of interesting nuclear problems” to work on.
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Barrel racing brings the rodeo to Raleigh See page 6.
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COURTESY OF THE ORACLE
Objectors in Tampa, Fl. gather by the Republican National Convention, protesting GOP values.
Student group provides post-abortion support Laura Wilkinson Deputy News Editor
After helping a friend through a tough time having an abortion, Tianna Spears felt a change was in order. Spears, a junior in business administration, founded The Beautiful Pain Movement—a post-abortion help group based in Durham. Spears said the movement is focused on providing support and hope to people who have had an abortion, or have experienced the event via a friend or family member. “My organization isn’t associated with any pro-life or pro-choice groups because we feel it’s bigger than that,” Spears said. “We feel like the bigger focus is the people who have been through this and we don’t want to judge them or knock anything they’ve been through.” People seeking help through the movement can attend a fiveweek session, beginning Sept. 22 and running through Oct. 20. The group meets every Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon, and attendees remain anonymous. “I’ve seen a lot of friends and family members go through this, and talking to them and trying to help them get through it, I saw there weren’t a lot of resources for them to reach for,” Spears said. Abortion is a very sensitive issue and a lot of people have their personal opinions about it, but Spears said it’s bigger than prolife or pro-choice. “I wanted to start a group where people could just feel accepted, no matter what they’ve been through or the factors that led them, their friend or their family member to make that decision, but they’d be accepted and understood,” Spears said.
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Tianna Spears, junior in busines administration and founder of the support group.
“People just need understanding, they want somebody to listen.” Spears said most of the post-abortion support groups out there are Christian groups focused on oneon-one counseling with a forgiveand-set-free curriculum, but she feels her movement is for anybody. “I think a lot of people just feel misunderstood. They want somebody to support them and get what they’re going through, but I don’t feel a lot of people actually do,” Spears said. “A lot of times with abortion, women are just expected to get over it and continue with their daily lives.” Spears admitted marketing has been a little difficult because the topic of abortion is very sensitive, but so far she has not received any backlash. “I would understand why I would get backlash, and I’m prepared for it,” Spears said. According to its website, The Beautiful Pain Movement was started to take something positive out of what many view as a negative situation. “We believe anything people experience in life that is extremely difficult and makes them stronger in the end is a beautiful experience,”
ABORTION continued page 3