TECHNICIAN
Early voting made easy for students STORY BY SAM DeGRAVE | DESIGN BY RUSS SMITH
Last day to register to vote
October 18, 2012 Early voting starts at Talley
October 30, 2012 Last day to request absentee ballot
september
17 2012
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
October 12, 2012
monday
November 3, 2012
November 5, 2012
November 6, 2012
January 20, 2013
Early voting ends at 5:00 p.m.
Deadline for returning ballots
Election Day Polls close 7:30
Inauguration Day
Trans fats in your food on campus Lindsey Rosenbaum Deputy New Editor
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tudents will be able to vote on campus for the first time in University history this
on President Barack Obama’s official re-election website for his role in voter registration drives on fall. campus. Since move-in day, Parker Beginning Oct. 18, Talley Student and the students of Wolfpack for Center will serve as an early voting Obama have been in the Brickyard site for the nearly 6.5 million reg- registering students to vote every istered voters of day. For Parker, the Wake County. movement is about Ta lley w ill be more than partisan one of nine voting politics. precincts located “We will register within a mile of a nyone, regardN.C. State’s campus less of their poand a high-volume litical affiliation,” site, according to Parker said. “It is the North Carolina so important for Board of Elections. students to get inMany students volved.” Alex Parker, are excited they A c c ord i n g t o president of Wolfpack will not have to go Parker, students are for Obama far to cast their balan undervalued delot in this fall’s election, and some mographic in elections. are finding ways to make sure this “We don’t have money, but we do is not a one-time-only opportunity. have heart,” Parker said. Alex Parker, a sophomore in SpanParker is among those looking ish education and international forward to voting early on campus studies, and president of Wolfpack in October, and urges everyone to for Obama, was recently recognized get to the polls.
“ ... if we want to be able to vote there in the future, we need a big voter turnout.”
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“Having Talley as an early voting site is awesome, but if we want to be able to vote there in the future, we need a big voter turnout,” Parker said. Talley will be open for early voting for 17 days. The last day for students to cast their vote early at the student center will be Nov. 3. Eight other voting precincts in close proximity to the University will be open, but voters must be registered in those districts. No matter where students vote, whether it’s through an absentee ballot or on campus, their votes in North Carolina are sure to count: Though the state went Democratic in the 2008 election, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Obama are within six points in the polls, with Romney in the lead with 53 point, according to a Sept. 14 Rasmussen Reports’ poll.
MAP OF POLLING SITES NEAR N.C. STATE Boulevard 1 Western Presbyterian Chruch 4900 Kaplan Drive
2
Method Community Center 514 Method Road
3
Freedom Temple Church 615 Royal Street
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Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh 3313 Wade Avenue
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Brooks Avenue Church of Christ 700 Brooks Avenue
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Saint Johns Baptist Church 1615 Oberlin Road
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Cameron Village Regional Library 1930 Clark Avenue
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Wiley Elementary School 301 Staint Mary’s Street
Finances: a different kind of ‘Freshman 15’ Jake Moser Staff Witer
BugFest crawls into downtown Raleigh See page 3.
Art from scraps backs Special Olympics See page 5.
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Nothing runs like a Wolf See page 8.
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Two out of three college students graduate in debt and most of them have trouble paying it back. Student loans are being labeled a “debt sentence” as total outstanding debt among students, graduates and drop-outs exceeds $1 trillion. Only about 37 percent of those who take out loans make all their payments on time, meaning an overwhelming majority must push back payments or risk defaulting on their loan. If they get behind on their payments and default they will be subject to heavy fines that often result in years of even more debt. However, the PNC Financial Service Group has some tips on how to avoid a debt sentence and what they call “The Freshman 15 of Finances.” Ryan Ciccone, PNC regional manager and N.C. State alumnus, has some advice for minimizing debt problems. “Focus on paying down the balance on accounts with high interest rates first,” Ciccone said. “Keep between three to six months of living expenses in a rainy day savings account. This account can help you from falling further into debt should you have an unforeseen expense.” Ciccone also encourages finding a bank that will be able to help their client save, manage and avoid fees on their money. Even if a student does not need a loan for college, they are still at risk of developing lasting financial problems. “Avoid signing up for a credit card to get free stuff,” Ciccone said. “A lot of students don’t know how to use a credit card responsibly and I knew a few
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people in college that had to pay according to Ciccone. At this point, off a lot of credit card debt after a debt sentence could likely result in graduating.” a lifetime of consequences. He urges students to read the fine In addition to large fees, defaultprint because many credit card com- ers can have their tax refunds, social panies charge 15 to security payments 18 percent interest and part of their if pay ments are wages seized by the not made on time. government. They This can become can also become a debt sentence if ineligible to apply students are not for any new loans, careful about their resulting in years finances. of debt. While credit card T he recession debt is common presents another among college stuvicious cycle. More Ryan Ciccone, dents, it seems the students than ever PNC regional manager student loan probare having to pay lem is much harder off massive student to avoid. The average student bor- loans, but 48 percent of 25-34 yearrower in 2011 had a debt of $23,300 olds describe themselves as unemand most struggled to make their ployed or underemployed, making payments on time. Between 2004 it harder to pay off their debt. This and 2009, more than 60 percent of is probably why the number of borborrowers with a federal loan had to rowers who defaulted on their loans postpone their payments or became in 2009 (nearly 10 percent) almost delinquent. doubled since 2005, Ciccone said. Debt delinquency is like being on A great way to avoid a debt senacademic probation: If payments tence is to stay in school. Paying off are not made in a certain time period (usually nine months) then the DEBT continued page 2 student will default on their loan,
“Keep between three to six months of living expenses in a rainy day savings account.”
In 2006, New York City implemented a ban on trans fats in foods. Since then, many universities have been trying to follow this example of healthier oil and fat options, including N.C. State. The New York ban required restaurants to redo their menus so no item contained more than a half-gram of trans fats per serving. Trans fats were to be removed from all frying oils in 2007 and from all foods in 2008. Redoing menus included creating healthier options and reducing portion sizes. Trans fats were created as a way to take polyunsaturated liquid oils and stabilize them by adding hydrogen through a process call hydrogenation. This process was also used to increase the shelf life of many foods. When trans fats hit the markets in the first half of the 20th century, they were marketed as making “crisp foods crunchier and creamy foods creamier.” However, in the early 1950s, there were increasing concerns that linked trans fats with coronary artery diseases. Trials later conducted on the subject revealed a correlation between an increase of 40 trans-fat calories per day with a 23 percent increase in the risk of heart disease. “We got the idea that trans fats were healthier than saturated fats or anything else, so people started eating more margarine than butter thinking it was better, but now we know that’s not true,” Lisa Eberhart, dietician with dining and catering operations, said. According to a Times Health article, only three years after the ban in 2009, the average diner’s meal contained 2.4 grams transfat less per meal, and there was an 86 percent increase in healthier options over a two-year period. Eberhart said she believes the ban in New York helped move the food industry away from trans fats. University Dining had already started removing trans fats from the menu prior to 2004, using trans-fat-free grill and frying oils. “In big institutional food services, we try to look at our food products and we look at the cost, nutrition and flavor [of what we are purchasing]. We try not to buy things with trans fats,” Eberhart said. However, trans fats can still be found in some foods sold on campus. Margarine, which contains trans fats, is still used in many recipes since many students on campus are vegan and do not consume any animal products. Other items including trans fats that can still be found on campus include menu items from Taco Bell and Chick-filA. University Dining cannot instruct them on their menus because they are franchises. “We can warn students if we feel like something is pretty unhealthy,” Eberhart said. “We try to tell students what the healthier options are.” On the University Dining website under fast food services, students can find what healthy options are available to them, such as getting soft tacos to cut
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