TECHNICIAN
february
18 2013
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Bye-Bye, Benedict
monday
Pack tops Hokies in overtime
Emily Weaver Correspondent
On Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13, the season leading up to Easter began for Catholic students. Also on their mind during the start of this season was the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict XVI is the first pope to abdicate in nearly 600 years, and the first since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. The Vatican released a statement by the papal leader explaining his resignation Monday, Feb. 11, saying that “of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.” Many students on campus meet
“His resignation took a great deal of humility...” Sarah Baist, senior in law and justice
through the NCSU Catholic Campus Ministry. Members attend events such as discussions, mass and confessions. The CCM offers opportunities for students to grow in faith, according to Sarah Baist, a senior majoring in law and justice. Over this past Christmas break, Sarah and others from the CCM took part in a pilgrimage to Rome and were able to attend an audience with Pope Benedict. Many will miss the papal leader after he resigns, Baist said. She described Pope Benedict XVI as kind, generous and “a very humbled individual who looks out for all of God’s children and the Catholic Church.” The Conclave is an assembly of Cardinals, or the bishops with this special duty, that will select the next papal leader. This assembly normally lasts a few weeks to meet and pray for guidance choosing the next pope. “The pope should be God’s servant, subjecting themselves to His will and to the Catholic Church,» Baist said. «One would hope that a Pope would adhere to sacred to Sacred Scriptures and Catholic tradition, striving to preserve the truth and demonstrating the love God has for us, the love that Jesus Christ had when he sacrificed himself on the cross for all of our sins.” Other students believe his resignation speaks volume on his character. “The fact that Benedict XVI resigns because he felt he did not have the strength to adequately lead says a lot because he was honest and courageous,” Page Harris, a junior majoring in English, said. Baist summed up her feelings through a quote from Sister Mary Theresa of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of Eucharist who said, “Pope John Paul II remained in office so that he might show us how to suffer and die. Benedict XVI is leaving the papal office so that he might show us how to live in humble honesty.” “His resignation took a great deal of humility, and that is definitely something that people appreciate,” Baist said.
RYAN PERRY/TECHNICIAN
Freshman guard Rodney Purvis fights for a jump ball against Virginia Tech’s Marshall Wood Saturday, February 16, 2013. The Wolfpack defeated the Hokies 90-86 in overtime at PNC Arena.
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Celebrating U.S.-China relations Young Lee Associate Features Editor
Student organizations and local Chinese culture groups came together to celebrate the Chinese New Year at the Progress Energy Center Sunday. Hoping to promote cultural understanding between North Carolina and China for educational and business purposes, representatives from the Carolina China Council and the Confucius Institute of N.C. State University said they have much to celebrate from 2012 and to look forward to in 2013. State senator Harris Blake attended the celebration and represented the Carolina China Council, a nonprofit organization that aims to build bridges between North Carolina and China. “China is not our enemy. They are our competitor,” Blake said. “If we do it right, 30 years from now, when the younger generation is in its 50s, China and the U.S. ought to be absolute friends on a competitive basis.” Jianning Ding, deputy director of the Confucius Institute, has helped the Institute by teaching Chinese in several of the Institute’s Chinese language classes and by overseeing the creation of many new cultural programs offered to N.C. State students as well as the general public. “We have about 1,000 students all together,” Ding said. “Including all of the people who attend activities, we have more than 20,000 people. I can hardly believe it. And we’ve had such positive feedback from the community and students.” Ding said the Institute also actively supports the community by partnering with organizations
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JINGCHAO XU
Members of the Triangle Area Chinese American Society perform a Chinese lion dance to celebrate the New Year.
such as the Triangle Area Chinese us spread knowledge of the Chinese American Society and by visiting language around the public schools schools at other campuses includ- in North Carolina and our univering the North Carolina School of sities,” Tom Ross, UNC System Science and Math, Northwood Ele- president, said. “That’s going to be mentary and High Point University. critical because in order for us to Last year saw an expansion of be good partners, they need to unprograms targeted derstand us and we toward businesses need to understand with offices in the them.” Triangle area. One Adam Hartzell, class on conducting executive director business in China for the Center for enrolled about 20 International UnLenovo employees derstanding, came in 2012. to the Chinese New However, Ding Yea r event a nd said she hopes the works to connect Institute can affect North Carolinians Adam Hartzell, the UNC educawith places around executive director for CIU tion system as a the world. whole and not just “I think more and impact the students enrolled in the more, North Carolina and China Institute’s programs. are connected economically, so “The institute is such a valuable the more we can understand each asset for us because they are helping other through our universities and
“I think more and more, North Carolina and China are connected economically.”
through our relationships back and forth, the more both of us will be able to prosper in the future,” Hartzell said. However, many in attendance said that as important as it is for professionals to understand the importance of cultural understanding, it is also important that students understand it as well. “We have great interest in building connections with China and elsewhere in Asia,” Daniel Solomon, dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, said. “I was just in Korea two weeks ago. I’ve been to China twice and it’s a very interesting country. We’ve got partnerships there that we’re developing at institutes like N.C. State. I think we need to do a better job of getting N.C. State students abroad and getting students from across the world to interact with our own students.”
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