Technician - October 14, 2013

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TECHNICIAN

monday october

14 2013

Raleigh, North Carolina

technicianonline.com

Alternative admission process not likely for NCSU Rachel Coffman Correspondent

Bard College in Annandale-onHudson, N.Y., launched a new admissions process Oct. 1, involving online essay submission, by which applicants can replace standardized test scores. N.C. State, however, does not plan to imitate this process. Bard’s Entrance Examination, allows applicants to write four 2,500word research essays instead of submitting standardized test scores and other traditional application requirements. According to Bard admissions, the

intent of the exam is to give motivated applicants the equal opportunity to showcase their aptitude for success by completing work similar to actual college course assignments. Applicants who earn a B+ or higher on their essays will be admitted to the school. Thomas Griffin, director of admissions at N.C. State, said test scores will continue to be a factor at the University. Griffin said the submission of SAT and ACT scores provide valuable information, but it’s not emphasized above other aspects of the application. “Test scores alone are just a snap-

shot of a student at a particular point in time, and they are not as important as an applicant’s high school record,” Griffin said. “We want to have as much information as we can about our applicants, and SAT scores are another data point for reviewing applications.” Bard applicants who choose to take the entrance exam must research and write about topics from a list of 21 questions that are split into three categories: Arts and Humanities; Social Sciences, History, and Philosophy; and Science and Mathematics. Applicants are required to write one research essay from each

category, along with an additional fourth essay from any category of their choice. “The new entrance exam is certainly a different approach and it has had a tremendous amount of interest,” said Mark Primoff, director of communications at Bard College. Primoff said the new entrance exam site had between 160 and 200 logins during the first week of the application period. The college’s entrance exam challenges traditional components of college applications, particularly standardized testing. Bard College President Leon Bot-

stein said the current standardized testing process is flawed. “The tradition of high stakes examination, using multiple choice questions, has made the entire apparatus of high school and college entrance examinations bankrupt,” Bard College President Leon Botstein said in a press release. “Teachers, scientists and scholars must once again take charge of the way we test.” Bard was one of the first colleges to make standardized tests optional for admission. In North Carolina,

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Number of students taking gap years increases since 2011 Rachel Coffman Correspondent

National interest in structured programs for gap years has increased during the past six years. Students who take a gap year usually do so between high school and college or between college and some form of advanced studies, such as medical school. According to The New York Times, companies that offer structured gap year programs have grown in size. For example, USA Gap Years Fairs has augmented its program during the past five years from seven events to more than 30 events nationally. USAGYF, which hosts events that bring together students, program organizers, career counselors and gap year experts, recently expanded because of a higher percentage of students embarking on gap year travels. American Gap Association, an accreditation and standardssetting organization for gap year programs, reported that gap fair attendance increased from 2,000 to 3,500 students during the past two academic years. According to AGA, the top two reasons students take a gap year in between high school and college are to find out more about themselves or to take a break after the exhaustion of high school pressures. Emilie Mathura, a freshman in biology, took a gap year during which she interned at an orphanage for nine months. Mathura said she took a gap year because she didn’t know what she wanted to study but wanted to see what it was like to be out on her own. “I learned how to take care of myself,” Mathura said. “I learned Russian on my own, and I learned how to navigate a city using buses and a metro in another language.” Mathura said she also learned about herself, developing a sense of what it means to be grateful. “After spending time with kids who have nothing, I have a different understanding of what it means to be hungry or lonely,” Mathura said. While gap year activities can be costly, they generally cost less than college. Mathura spent about $6,500 for her travels. That is much lower than the price of in-state tuition and room and board at N.C. State, which currently add up to $22,184 per year. However, time off can affect a student’s college admis-

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KATHERINE HOKE/TECHNICIAN

Dancers from the Nanjing Normal University perform “Vine Branches,” a dance about the dependence of vines and branches in Titmus Theatre on Sunday.

Traveling group uses dance and music to teach Chinese culture Jake Moser News Editor

Students from the Nanjing Normal University School of Music demonstrated China’s folk culture through dance and music Sunday at Titmus Theatre. The group, which has traveled to Washington, D.C., New York City and other East Coast cities this year, used a

variety of traditional instruments, outfits and dances in its performance. Jiandong Miao, vice president of the NNU, said the performers chose to do a show at N.C. State because it’s a famous university. NNU partnered with the Confucius Institute, an oncampus organization that seeks to enhance intercultural understanding in the

United States by sponsoring Chinese language and culture programs. “Music [has played] a very important role in Chinese culture since ancient times,” Miao said. “It’s more of a spiritual pursuit than a material pursuit and is closely related to morality. Today’s show was mostly from traditional Chinese musical instruments, but it also ex-

pressed the modern Chinese musical view of the world.” A moderator introduced each instrument used in the performance and explained its purpose, history and evolution throughout time as an important cultural artifact. Musicians then used their instruments in brief solo performances before coming

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Nate Silver visits University, celebrating Fossil Free NCSU fights Bank 2013 as International Year of Statistics of America, investments in coal companies

Joseph Havey

Joseph Havey

Deputy News Editor

Deputy News Editor

Nate Silver, a statistician and author of the Five Thirty Eight New York Times blog, spoke to more than 350 students, faculty and staff members Thursday in the Hunt Library on Centennial Campus. The N.C. State department of statistics and SAS, a Raleigh-based software company, hosted the lecture Celebrating Statistics: The Signal and the Noise, which covered how big data is influencing our society. Before Silver’s lecture began, JOSEPH HAVEY/TECHNICIAN

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Audiences listed to famed speaker and statistician Nate Silver on Thursday. Silver covered the increasing importance of statistics in the business world.

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Six students from Fossil Free N.C. State, an environmental activist group that seeks to eliminate dependence on fossil fuels in the UNC-System, peacefully demonstrated against a Bank of America‘s inestment practices on Wednesday at an informational interview in Pullen Hall. Eric Polli, a sophomore in environmental engineering and Spanish, said the goal of the protest was to ask the bank to stop funding fossil fuels and redirect investments toward cleaner energy sources.

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“Banks need to wake up to the fact that we will not stand silently while their lending practices take a terrible toll on our community health, our planet and our future,” Polli said in a Fossil Free press release. This protest is part of a nationwide movement by environmental activists to target Bank of America and Citibank, which invest in coal companies, Polli said. According to Greenpeace, a worldwide environmental activist group, coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels and the largest single source of global warming pollution in the

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