TECHNICIAN
wednesday november
28 2012
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Engineering students create collaborative playground Young Lee Associate Features Editor
John Turner had a problem. He had an engineering spirit but no place to exercise it. Turner, a senior in mechanical engineering, wanted to design windup floating ducks for an engineering design course, but some of the tools that the project required were unavailable to students. Unwilling to
sit back and see his design dreams wither away, Turner sought out likeminded students to find a solution. The fruits of Turner’s efforts would become one of the most universally lauded student organizations on campus: Open Hardware Makerspace. Turner didn’t have to look far to find students with similar frustrations — he found plenty of students voicing their frustrations on
Moodle. “Here at State all I’ve found are the design shops in Leazar [that] I’m not allowed to use because I’m not in design school,” one student said. “I can’t use the amazing facilities in the basement of Engineering Building III period until I get to senior design — which seems to be the only time in our degree plan we do any actual hands-on work.” In August 2011, OHM was born
with funding from the Institute of Emerging Issues, help from Open Design Lab and vocal support from many other campus organizations. This support has enabled OHM to purchase additional equipment including the most recent addition: a 3-D printer. “It’s important to learn skills and have fun,” Turner said. “One of the goals we have once we finish our 3-D printer is to try to print with choco-
late. And that’s just cool. You don’t have to be an engineer to appreciate that. Come Valentine’s Day, custom chocolates. C’mon!” It is this combination of engineering prowess and light-hearted fun that has attracted the interest of parties outside of the Wolfpack community and has allowed the club to
MAKER continued page 3
Stressbusters aim to relieve exam woes
Registration opens Dec. 1 for KKC
Laura Wilkinson Deputy News Editor
With the thought of finals looming ahead, campus organizations are prepping for this semester’s Stressbusters activities. The Stressbusters program was created more than a decade ago to provide diversions to students studying for finals. According to Deb Luckadoo, former director of Campus Activities, the original concept was to host events in Talley Student Center so Talley could be a “stress-free zone” during exams. The program has evolved over the years to include more locations and a variety of activities. There are several new activities on the docket this year, including the IRC 90’s Throwback Bash Saturday night, Massages and Meditation Tuesday evening and the Survival Pack Giveaway next Wednesday. According to Kaitlyn Moran, program coordinator and adviser for the Union Activities Board, these new events are replacing Exam Jam and Pizza on the Brickyard. “The UAB students thought students would appreciate a giveaway of food and school supplies they could use throughout exams more than pizza,” Moran said of the choice to replace Pizza on the Brickyard with the Survival Pack Giveaway event. Another change to the schedule this year is the date of the Pet-a-
insidetechnician
Jake Moser Staff Writer
Pooch event. Pet-a-Pooch is traditionally on Monday night, but the location was not available. UAB moved the event to Sunday night, according to Moran. Stressbusters is a collaboration of many different departments. The bulk of the planning is done by individual departments. This year, Moran said for the UAB-specific events, the UAB staff asked students what events they would like to see
Payasadas con propósitos See page 6.
Gottfried gets an assist See page 8.
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for Stressbusters and made decisions based on student input, tradition and budget. “In the past, Stressbusters was purely staff-initiated and sponsored by Campus Activities. It had very little student involvement. UAB sometimes would plan individual events, but not with consistency,” Moran said. With the recent re-organization of the former Division of Student Af-
DOUGHNUTS continued page 2
Local groups fear for red wolf safety Correspondent
See page 5.
STRESS continued page 2
CHRIS PHIPPS/TECHNICIAN ARCHIVE PHOTO
A student plays with a cat during Pet-a-Pooch, a Stressbusters event occurring at the end of every semester. Stressbuster events are provided to students during exams to lift the burden of exam pressures. This semester’s Pet-a-Pooch event will be held Sunday in 126 Witherspoon Student Center from 5:30-7 p.m.
Nehemiah Chen
Junot, literatura con sazón dominicano
fairs, Campus Activities no longer exists. Moran said the UAB chose to take ownership of Stressbusters. However, the UAB students decided they would like to continue to have it be planned by staff, but with increased student input. “At this time of year, students tend to be very busy with their schoolwork, and they didn’t want the pro-
N.C. State is getting ready for one the most unique and entertaining fundraisers around, the ninth annual Krispy Kreme Challenge, on Feb. 9. The challenge involves participants running from the Bell Tower to Krispy Kreme on Peace Street, eating a dozen doughnuts and running back to campus. The event was started in 2004 and has become one of the most popular charity events in Raleigh. Last year the challenge raised $127,000 for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital, with 7,700 runners registered to participate. This year the registration will be capped at 8,000 runners, according to Alyssa D’Addezio, public relations chair for the event and senior in human biology. According to D’Addezio, the main goal for this year is to match or exceed last year’s donation total. “We definitely want to get the word out for the race so we can
Local groups are headed to court, aiming to overturn a rule that was recently passed that allows the nighttime hunting of coyotes. The groups are concerned that the spotlight hunting is having a deleterious effect on the already struggling population of red wolves. Part of the issue is that the red wolf ’s appearance is very similar to the coyote. Recent genetic research suggests that it may even be a hybrid between the gray wolf and the coyote. “It is challenging even for an experienced wolf biologist to identify a red wolf for certain, even with a good look,” Michael Stoskopf, a professor of clinical sciences, said. “It would be difficult for there not to be many mistakes made by people without good experience differentiating between red wolves and other wild canids, particularly with brief observations at night.” Spotlight hunting, combined with animal calls, allow hunters to easily lure curious animals into firing range. The light confuses animals,
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which gives hunters a chance for an easy shot. “It would be great for this night hunting to go away in the five-county area,” said Sherry Samuels, treasurer for the Red Wolf Coalition. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently issued two press releases regarding two red wolves that were shot and killed in the past few months. One wolf was killed just a month after the ruling went into effect, in Tyrrell County. The other wolf was killed in Beaufort County a month later. “Night hunting of coyotes is a very politically-charged issue in North Carolina. The issues surrounding [spotlight hunting] are far more based in politics and human dimensions than they are in wildlife management or conservation biology,” Stoskopf said. Killing a red wolf illegally can result in a year in prison and fines as high as $100,000. Killing coyotes, on the other hand, carries no consequence. “Though the successes of the red wolf recovery efforts over the past AMANDA KARST/TECHNICIAN ARCHIVE PHOTO
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A red wolf trots around its pen at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in the August of 2010.
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