August 1, 2013

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TECHNICIAN

thursday august

1

2013

Raleigh, North Carolina

technicianonline.com

Moral Monday on July 29, 2013 had its largest turnout since the weekly protests began. Teachers were amoung the majority as recent budget cuts have eliminated pay raises.

ALEX CAO/TECHNICIAN

Moral Mondays’ fitting finale FINAL PROTEST FOLLOWING LEGISLATIVE SESSION DRAWS MORE THAN 5,000 Pro-choice advocates stage vigil outside Governor’s Mansion Avery Hocutt Staff Writer

Pro-choice protestors stood outside the governor’s mansion for a demonstration and candlelight vigil to protest a bill that they say restricts access to abortion centers in North Carolina. The bill requires abortion clinics to adopt regulations that have historically been applied to ambulatory surgery centers. Currently, only one abortion center in the state meets the new requirements. The bill also requires pregnant women to take abortion medication under a doctor’s supervision, allows health care providers to opt out of performing abortions if they object, and eliminates abortion in-

ABORTION continued page 3

Avery Hocutt Staff Writer

“Wow,” said woman in a wheelchair as Moral Monday protestors filed past her on their way to protest at Halifax Mall at 5 p.m. Monday. The commenta r y was doubtlessly referring to the size of the crowd, which the police have confirmed to contain over 5,000 people. The protestors gathered to voice their displeasure with laws enacted by the Republican-led House and Senate during their most recent session, including ID requirements and other restrictions for voting in future elections, cuts to education, and abortion restrictions.

The protest, the 13th of its kind, took place even though legislators left Raleigh after signing the 2013-2015 state budget. “Touch your neighbor and tell him, [lawmakers] may have run from Raleigh, but they’re going to run into me,” said Moral Monday leader Dr. William Barber II. The budget cuts education by $120 million, eliminates teacher pay raises and tenure, cuts teachers’ assistants, and eliminates funding for programs such as North Carolina Teaching Fellows. Gov. Pat McCrory also signed a bill on Thursday that requires abortion centers to meet the same strict standards as hospital surgical

centers. Opponents said the measure could cause most of the state’s clinics to close. The legislature also passed the Restore Confidence in Government Act on Thursday which requires voters to show government-issued photo ID cards at the polls, shortens early voting by a week, eliminates same-day voter registration during early voting, and allows any registered voter to challenge another voter’s eligibility. Like previous Moral Mondays, the atmosphere of the final demonstration was one part church service and one part protest. Pastors and rabbis from several denominations, each representing a different area of North

Carolina, offered prayers asking for divine guidance and help. Speakers expressed their confidence that their God supported them in their endeavors to gain rights for the poor, sick and marginalized. “To every legislator who voted for a law, policy or bill that will bring harm to even one North Carolinian, we say, God of justice, have mercy,” Barber said. The central theme of the demonstration was education. Teachers from across the state flocked to Raleigh to express their outrage with the new education restrictions, carrying signs with slogans such as, “First in flight,

MORAL continued page 3

Education hit hard by deep cuts Unpaid internships deemed unfair

Avery Hocutt Staff Writer

Tim Gorski Teachers across the state have expressed outrage at a $20.6 billion state budget that cuts funding for schools, eliminates teacher pay raises, cuts teachers’ assistants and ends teacher tenure for K-12 educators. The budget, signed by Governor Pat McCrory on Friday, reduces state spending on education by $120 million, eliminates all teachers’ assistant positions in grades one through three, and requires remaining teacher assistants to work fewer hours and fewer days. Additionally, it cuts 20 percent of all assistant principal jobs, 15 percent of nonteaching jobs such as custodians, and 5 percent of school support staff such as guidance counselors. Combined with discretionary cuts, 15,000 to 18,000 school employees across the state are expected to lose their jobs. The budget also eliminates tenure, which prevents veteran teachers from being fired quickly or arbitrarily. Instead of tenure, teachers will be employed in one-to-four-year contracts and receive merit pay based on effectiveness. Teachers with master’s degrees will no longer receive higher pay than teachers

Deputy News Editor

EDUCATION continued page 2 GRAPHIC BY JAKE MOSER

Internships offer students opportunities to gain on-thejob experience and perhaps a job offer. But the expansion of unpaid internships, coupled with a recent federal court decision, has led many interns to question the fairness of this practice. Government experts estimate that firms take in more than 1 million interns annually, both paid and unpaid, to find new prospective employees while accomplishing necessary, yet often menial, tasks. According to the research firm Intern Bridge, about half of all internships offered to undergraduates each year are unpaid. While these opportunities offer some benefits, including strengthening one’s resume and potentially obtaining a job offer, courts have recently ruled these benefits, in many cases, are not adequate substitutes for a fair wage.

insidetechnician NEWS

FEATURES

SPORTS

Students show off research N.C. State students gathered Wednes-

An underground Village, rediscovered

Fincher’s stellar season continues

day at the McKimmon center to see had

Village Subway, once a center for

the best research projects.

nightlife, sits abandoned beneath

See page 2.

Cameron Village. See page 5.

The junior right fielder was named to the Cape Cod League’s All-Star team. See page 8.

In a recent suit filed against t he Fox Enter ta inment Group by a former intern, a New York federal judge ruled that the unpaid interns who assisted in the production of the movie Black Swan were entitled to at least minimum wage. Since this ruling, at least 15 similar suits have been filed on similar grounds against other entertainment companies, including Gawker, Atlantic Records, Warner Music Group, NBC Universal and the Hearst Corporation. Just last month, Charlie Rose, a prominent talk show host and journalist, agreed to pay approximately $60,000 to unpaid interns to settle a class action lawsuit brought against him and his production company by 189 unpaid interns. The main argument in these cases has been that interns have been doing the same entry-level work as regular employees but are

INTERNS continued page 2


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August 1, 2013 by NC State Student Media - Issuu