TECHNICIAN
Ammonia free water for March, more chlorine Staff Writer
Students aren’t imagining subtle changes to the taste and smells of tap water this month. The water in Raleigh actually does taste more like a swimming pool. These aesthetic changes come from the city’s reverting to using chlorineonly treatment of its water, rather than chlorine and ammonia, from March 1st to April 12th, according to an article by Edward Buchan on raleighnc.gov. Every March the city changes its water treatment plan to include a higher concentration of chlorine as well. Because of this citizens may notice a stronger chlorine odor or taste during this time. Raleigh’s water is usually treated through a process called chloramination, which combines chlorine and ammonia to sanitize the city’s water. In the past, Raleigh used a chlorine-only system for water treatment. However, in 1981 the state began requiring the city to use ammonia in the treatment process to reduce the amount of trihalomethanes in the water system. Trihalomethanes refers to a group of four chemicals that form as byproducts of mixing drinking water disinfectants like chlorine with nat-
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urally occurring organic and inorganic materials in water. The four trihalomethanes are chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform. Certain studies have shown these chemicals to be carcinogenic byproducts linked also to possible damage of the kidneys, liver, heart, lung and central nervous system. In December 2001 the EPA regulated that the 100 parts per billion maximum allowable annual average of trihalomethanes in large public water systems be reduced to 80 ppb, according to raleighnc.gov. The same standard became effective for small surface water and all groundwater systems in December 2003. Using ammonia in the water treatment process and less chlorine also helps to reduce the concentration of trihalomethanes in the city’s water system. However, for at least three weeks every year, state and federal regulations require that the Triangle’s public utilities revert back to the chlorine-only process to sanitize water. The reported reason for this is to cleanse the system of bacteria that grow immune to the ammonia. The water is safe for all normal activities like drinking, cooking and bathing and the short term switch back to chlorine-only should not
Walsh backs SBP candidate Nicky Vaught Deputy News Editor
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cause any significant increase in trihalomethane concentrations. City officials do advise that any customers who use a kidney-dialysis machine or have any type of sensitivity to chlorine should be aware that Raleigh water will contain a higher chlorine content for at least five weeks. During this same period, Raleigh’s Water and Sewer Maintenance Division conduct a flush of the entire
system to quickly disperse the chlorine throughout the city and speed up the process. That flush may cause slight water discoloration for costumers however the water is still completely safe. The entire process takes about three weeks to complete. The City of Raleigh will resume the normal chloramination ammonia-chlorine water treatment process on April 12 at 10 a.m.
Student Body President Andy Walsh tweeted his support for student body president candidate Matt Williams Monday evening. This is the first time a current student body president has publicly endorsed a candidate, according to Kristen Gower, a senior in international studies. “I have had a working relationship with every student body president from Jay Dawkins to Chandler Thompson,” Gower, a former member of student government, said. “Up until now, the current SBP has always done their best to remain impartial during these elections.” A conflict arises, according to Gower, in that if a candidate other than Williams, Lauren Collier or Dwayne O’Rear, wins the election, that person would have to turn to a former president who supported someone else for mentorship. “If we elect a candidate who Andy didn’t endorse, then that electee is without a liferaft,” Gower
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Terrorism not a threat to NCSU students Taylor O’Quinn Staff Writer
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Associate Professor Blair Kelley leads a discussion about the struggles of African-Americans Monday in Withers Hall. Kelley presented the little-known story of Corinne Sykes, a housemaid wrongfully accused of and executed for murder in the 1940s due to her race and social position. The talk was a part of the “When Innocence Constitutes the Crime” series, which will be running through Wednesday.
Battle of race and law in the South Brittany Bynum & Liz Moomey Staff Writers
James E. Coleman Jr., pulled back the curtain and displayed the hidden issues of race and crime in the South with students and faculty of N.C. State on Tuesday evening. The lecture was titled, “Juries, Race and Customs: All-White Juries and the Legacy of Slavery.” Coleman, the associate dean of Duke University Law, discussed the issue of all-white juries and the legacy of
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slavery. Micah Khater, sophomore majoring in history and French, opened up the event introducing Coleman. She organized the event out of the interest that she gained from taking a southern history class her freshman year. “The public talk is a good way to communicate and simplify the complexity of law and race in the south,” Khater said. Coleman is also the recipient of the NAACP Pro-Bono Award. He
was also involved with the Assistant General Counsel and N.C. Commission of Innocence. He spoke to the audience about the importance of knowing history in law and criminal law. He said that it is hard for society to understand the issues of our world because of a lack of knowledge about U.S. history. Coleman pointed out that some of the most admired
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Students and faculty can feel more comfortable when confronted with the possibility of a threat, thanks to a threat assessment seminar held Tuesday evening. “Terrorism is not one of the greatest threats facing the United States,” Joseph Caddell, a teaching assistant in history said at the seminar. Caddell said he views threat assessment as looking at the obvious, the intentions and the capabilities. Information about intentions is hard to collect but a capability to harm the U.S. can be more obvious, Caddell said. “We’ve only had two real threats in the history of the United States,” Caddell said. “The confederacy, and the space race with Russia.” Sept. 11 is not considered to be a major threat to national security, according to Caddell. He thinks the U.S. government “may have overreacted” to the terrorist attacks in 2001. Prior to World War Two, the United States government never really dealt with assessing threats, Caddell said, but then the attack on Pearl Harbor “changed the way Americans view the world.” Multiple government organizations, including the Central Intelligence Agency, were created to assess threats after Pearl Harbor, Caddell said. The U.S. government began fo-
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cusing on which countries proposed a “worst case scenario” situation on our country, according to Caddell. Currently, North Korea and China are threats against the U.S., according to the Director of the School of Public and International Affairs, Richard Mahoney. China owns eight percent of our nation’s national debt, Mahoney said. “China has the world’s fastest growing economy,” Mahoney said. “They’ve become the dominant economic power in Asia.” The word “pivot” recent ly emerged as a trending word in the Obama Administration in relation to China, Mahoney said. For the U.S. it means that we’re turning towards China in hopes to establish better relations, according to Mahoney. “China views the word ‘pivot’ more like ‘access,’” Mahoney said. “They’ve taken it as a word meaning we want to contain them, or defeat them.” According to Mahoney, the U.S. needs to engage Chinese principles in multiple ways, especially in education. Mahoney said he believes that more Americans should study Mandarin and study abroad in China. Mahoney also said he believes the U.S. national debt is a “serious threat on our security” especially since the republicans and the demo-
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Be informed about who you’re voting for, Technician hosts
Student Body President Debate 201 Witherspoon Student Center @ 5 p.m. And if you can’t make it, follow @ncsutechnician for a live tweet stream.