TECHNICIAN
february
1
2013
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Stampede tramples policy’s intent Tim Gorski Staff Writer
A measure to prevent students from rushing into the PNC Arena backfired Saturday at 2 p.m., as students sprinted from Gate B of Carter-Finley Stadium to the PNC Arena to vie for the best courtside seats. The University limits spectators from entering the PNC Arena up until five hours before sporting events, and students stampeded to the entrance for first-come-firstserved seats in the student section. The rush outraged fans who had waited longer or felt unsafe running in the icy parking lot. The Student Ticket Advisory Committee instated the policy to ensure that students would not miss classes during the weekdays or camp out to get better seats. However, the line that was designed to be more fair started nearly a quarter of a mile away from the PNC Arena entrance, providing a tempting scenario for cunning fans. Many students feel that the policy facilitated unnecessary danger and injustice. Rachel Cox, a freshman in electrical engineering, had a broken leg the morning of the game and lost her place in the relocated line. Amid what Cox called a “free for all,” she asked a member of the security staff to escort her to the PNC Arena to ensure her place in line. After the security staff refused her request, she insisted that due to her injury she would certainly lose her place in line that she had been waiting for. “[The only response I got was], ‘Sorry, sweetie, it is what it is,’” Cox said.
friday
Poole offers expedited MBA program Jake Moser Deputy News Editor
GREG WILSON/TECHNICIAN
N.C. State students sprinting across the Carter-Finley/PNC Arena property in attempt to be the first people in line for the UNC-Chapel Hill game.
Dylan Kramer, a sophomore in First Year College, said that he and his friend Myles Marion, a sophomore in architecture, felt compelled to sneak into the PNC Arena to secure their positions in line. Dylan, who had been waiting in line in at the gate of the arena since 10:30 a.m., had a back injury that would have impaired his ability to keep up with the stampede. “I think it is unfair because the loyal fans who had been waiting for hours were at a disadvantage when compared to the kids that could run fast,” Marion said. Kramer and Marion were not alone in their rule breaking, Marion
said. “There were hundreds of people that snuck in. They charged in from all over the place,” Marion said. “I felt like I was participating in the running of the bulls.” Despite the commotion, there are no reports of anyone sustaining any injuries in the rush. However, there was undoubtedly a potential for this to occur. Brendan Leonard, a sophomore in political science, who witnessed a number of students slip and fall, said the decision to have a free-for-all style race to the PNC was a dangerous one, especially in light of inclement weather conditions from the night before.
“With the icy conditions present, it was a hazard that could be easily avoided by walking the students in an orderly line,” Leonard said. The cause of the mix up was a misinterpretation of orders given from the administration to the security staff of the arena. The administration did not want students who wanted to attend College GameDay to be forced behind other students who didn’t wait in the line for the game. The security evacuated the parking lots and locked all entrances, instead of having students return to their vehicles after GameDay. This
STAMPEDE continued page 2
Strike Debt Raleigh, an offshoot of Occupy Raleigh, discusses debt Will Brooks
Gad said she believes legislation has become restrictive of public education in the state, and could Focused privately beneath dim lead to more student debt or a delighting and the scent of burnt crease in higher education beneath espresso at Cup A Joe coffee house, the wealthy. four women sat in a corner collabo“When you raise the price to go to rating, discussing, and planning. college, you are only going to have Strike Debt Raleigh, a branch of people with the most money attendthe Occupy movement, met Thurs- ing,” Gad said. day night to discuss debt awareness Among the events planned by and relief, planning events beyond Strike Debt Raleigh is the “Not A picket-waving protests. Loan Education Lottery,” in which The Raleigh chapter of Strike willing participants enter a raffle Debt, which picked up several with the chance of being “liberated” months after its founding New of a portion of their debt. York counterpart, Wit h $ 5,0 0 0 addresses what Kadol la rs d irec t ly tina Gad, senior in f u nde d tow a rd fashion and textile the winners’ debt, management said members of Strike was the keystone Debt Raleigh said issue of Occupy they hope the Not Raleigh. A Loan Lotter y “When we asked will relieve some around the table [at s t udent s’ debt . Occupy] what the Anyone is eligible biggest issue was, for the raffle. Katina Gad, senior in fashion they all said debt,” Members of and textile management Gad said. Strike Debt Raleigh G ad s a id she brainstormed ways thinks debt of all kinds has be- to get students involved and open come an increasingly heavy burden up about their debt, something Gad upon North Carolinians, especially said will be one of the group’s largest college students, and that that is challenges, asking the group, “How enough for her to work against it. do you get people to speak about Rachel Davis, a member of Strike loan debt?” Debt Raleigh said she sees debt as Gad said she believes she could less of an unfortunate misgiving in make the biggest difference by fothe U.S. than as a violation against cusing on the University, where citizens’ rights. she said a tremendous amount of “[Higher education is] a right, not students are already experiencing a privilege,” Davis said. “You don’t loan debt. want a future generation to be held Shannon Benedetto, former memback by their debt.” ber of Occupy Raleigh and current Deputy News Editor
“When we asked around the table [at Occupy] what the biggest issue was, they all said debt.”
NAME OF PHOTOGRAPHER/TECHNICIAN
Katina Gad, a senior in fashion and textile management, speaks at a local Strike Debt Raleigh event at Cup A Joe on Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. Attendees of the meeting discussed a student debt relief program based off of the “Rolling Jubilee” campaign in which student debts are forgiven through donation.
member of Strike Debt Raleigh, said she believes the loan system is a double-edged sword for the average student. “Without a college education you can’t have a future, but debt also keeps you from having a future,” Benedetto said. Members kept placing a chalkboard in Raleigh for the public
to profess their debt, organizing speeches, and making a public demand for Bank of America to help easing student loans on fellow North Carolinians, in their list of likely endeavors. Strike Debt Raleigh plans to meet on Thursday nights at Cup A Joe and further announcements can be found on Facebook.
The Poole College of Management introduced a new MBA program that can be completed in less than two years, starting in the fall 2013 semester. “The University created the professional MBA to make a new degree that is more practical,” said Steven Allen, associate dean for graduate programs at the Poole College of Management. “We were looking at how to make the degree more attractive to potential students,” Allen said. “We did a careful analysis of what kind of knowledge and skills someone with a MBA needs to have. We then looked at our own courses and requirements, and started to think imaginatively how we could provide the real essence of the degree in a timeframe that made more sense to students.” The previous program had a typical timeframe for completion and took a part-time student two to three years to complete, according to Allen. However, because several schools in the area, including UNC-Chapel Hill, were able to provide a MBA in a shorter time frame, N.C. State decided to implement a fasttrack of its own. The program has two options, the accelerated track and the flexible track. “The accelerated track allows students to get their MBA in as few as 21 months and is attractive to those with parttime jobs. The f lexible track is designed to be completed in about three years, giving students more time to balance work, family and friends,” Allen said. The professional MBA also boasts award-winning faculty, an innovative curriculum and affordable tuition, according to the College of Management’s website. “The degree appears to be an effective alternative to more traditional programs due to its small class sizes and competitive admission process,” the webpage stated. “We want N.C. State to be a place to provide people opportunity, and I think by making it more accessible we can do that,” Allen said. Allen also expressed the desire to be more respected on a national level. ww “Our MBA program was ranked in the top 30 by Business Week,” Allen said. “That’s a pretty good start but we’d like to be ranked higher. We want to see the business school respected as much as engineering, design and veterinary medicine. We want everyone to be proud of the business school as well.”
insidetechnician
Mike Glennon’s letter to the students See page 8.
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