TECHNICIAN
friday november
8
2013
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
N.C. State police arrest suspects in assault, robbery case Jason Katz Deputy News Editor
Multicultrual Student Affairs hosted Aaron Yazzie, a Native American NASA engineer on Thursday.
CHRIS HART-WILLIAMS/TECHNICIAN
Mars rover engineer talks about science, Native American heritage
Chris Hart-Williams Staff Writer
A member of the NASA team working on the Mars rover, Curiosity, visited Centennial Campus Thursday to celebrate Native American Heritage month. Multicultural Student Affairs invited Aaron Yazzie, a Native American, for its inaugural Indigenous Speaker Series. Yazzie spoke to stu-
dents, faculty members and visitors about his career as a mechanical engineer. “Something I have come to realize is that my experiences, my goals and struggles are all unique because I was born into a Native American family,” Yazzie said. Yazzie said that growing up, he never thought he would one day work with the hightech equipment of NASA because his parents were raised
in homes that didn’t have running water. Yazzie said he is from a Navajo reservation in Holbrook, Ariz., where there were just a few thousand people and there was only one stoplight. “I didn’t know [college] was possible for me” Yazzie said. He said he applied to Stanford University on a whim, after being informed by a representative of the university several years before it was
time for him to begin applying to colleges. Yazzie graduated from Stanford in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and began his career at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Yazzie said he was part of the testing team that was crucial to the February success of Curiosity.
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N.C. State University Police arrested six suspects Thursday in conjunction with an assault on a student that took place Oct. 31 in E.S. King Village. The alleged assault occurred at 7:50 p.m. on in the parking lot, located near Gorman Street and Western Boulevard. The victim suffered non-life-threatening wounds and bruises, according to Campus Police. Campus Police were able to catch these subjects by using “good, old-fashioned, police work,” N.C. State Police Chief Jack Moorman said. Moorman said investigators determined the suspects either lived in the area or frequented it. “We knew that the suspects had left on foot the night of the crime,” Moorman said. Campus Police communicated with the community, implanted traffic checkpoints and increased police presence in that area, all of which enabled the investigators to identify possible suspects, Moorman said.
Campus Police charged Wanya Malik Whitley, 17, Joclyn Lenee Mosby, 16, and Camden Thomas Seymour, 16, with robbery. Campus Police also charged Seymour with assault because he allegedly struck the victim. Three other suspects were also arrested but remain unnamed because they are younger than 16 years old. “We were able, ultimately, to get the names of all six that were involved in the incident,” Moorman said. As a result of these charges, none of the suspects are ever allowed to step foot on campus again, according to Moorman. N.C. State’s trespass policy states that University officials may lift this restriction if they later determine that there is a justifiable reason to do so. According to police, investigators have not yet been able to determine any relationship between the Oct. 31 assault and a separate robbery that occurred on Oct. 29 near Carmichael Gymnasium. “Like always, we do our best to keep this campus safe, but we depend on everyone’s assistance,” Moorman said.
NCSU looks to Losing weight proves to be risky for overhaul teacher couples looking to get fit together evalutaion process Jaqueline Lee Staff Writer
Madeline Safrit Correspondent
N.C. State has been experiencing a lack of responses to teacher evaluation surveys, and some professors are suggesting abandoning the current online-survey model. As a part of the evaluation process, students are asked to rate their teachers numerically, on a Likert Scale, and provide comments regarding the course. When the paper-based survey system switched to an online survey system in
2007, the commenting rates increased, but the overall response rate wasn’t what it needed to be. Jeff Joines, associate professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science, is chair of N.C. State’s Evaluation of Teaching Committee and is working with the committee to implement changes to improve the evaluation system. “Teachers are getting more responses from a commenting standpoint, but the re-
TEACHER continued page 3
N.C. State professors conducted a study, suggesting that losing weight could lead to problems in a romantic relationship if both couples don’t communicate and support each other. Past research has shown that when a couple lost weight together, both partners’ communication improved and their lifestyles became healthier. These couples also experienced more physical and emotional intimacy, according to Lynsey Romo, an assistant communication professor. However, Romo and her colleagues wanted to examine a different scenario. “Although there’s been quite an amount of research about how couples
can help each other lose weight, I was interested in what happens when one person loses weight and how it can that affect their relationship,” said Romo, the study’s lead author. The study claimed that weight loss’ impact on partner interaction is a subject that hasn’t been widely studied and isn’t well understood. The survey included 42 adults, of which 21 were in romantic relationships. They were then asked questions about how weight loss affected their relationships. According to Romo, for most of the people that had lost weight, it improved their relationship. However, in some cases a partner tried to sabotage the other’s diet. Romo said sometimes there was conflict with one partner los-
ing weight because when roles in the relationship changed a partner sometimes felt threatened. This led to unhappiness and eventually one person sabotaging the other person’s diet. Also, the partner who had lost the weight would nag his or her spouse about not being more fit and losing weight. “The study is not meant to deter people from losing weight,” Romo said. “It is about being aware of the role that communication can play and the importance of supporting each other. Also, ideally to promote each partner to eat healthier and exercise in ways they both enjoy and not nagging someone to lose weight.” Despite this, the participants still managed to lose weight—60 pounds on average.
Wind Ensemble performs in Titmus Theatre, spans several genres Jess Thomas Correspondent
The NCSU Wind Ensemble performed a variety of pieces from different time periods and genres Thursday at Titmus Theatre. The ensemble, conducted by Paul D. Garcia, director of bands for the N.C State music department, played pieces by composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Jonathan Cohen. The performance sampled several genres, such as waltz, classical and ballet music and included renditions of famous pieces such as Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. The performance began
with different instrument groups from the trombone choir, the f lute choir, the saxophone choir and the tuba euphonium choir. At the end of the showcase, the separate groups assembled and played a piece named Rocky Point Holiday origina lly composed by award-winning composer, Ron Nelson. Zeke Overbaugh, a senior in plant biology, said he enjoyed how the performance was structured to introduce the different groups before playing a group piece. “I thought it was neat how each group performed separately and then came together for a final performance”
Overbaugh said. According to Garcia, the performance was successful because students in the ensemble were willing to practice and improve during their free time. “It wasn’t hard to get all the students together because they were all there because they wanted to there, and all I did was to help guide them a little bit,” said Garcia. Garcia said he was worried about how the theatre’s structure would affect the performance’s sound quality, but the ensemble was prepared to play in a difficult environment. According to Luke Hansen, a sophomore in paper science
ELIZABETH DAVIS/TECHNICIAN
The trombone choir performs before joining the rest of the ensemble. The N.C. State Wind Ensemble performed Thursday in the Titmus Theatre of Thompson Hall.
and member of the ensemble, Titmus was a tough but rewarding place to play because the sounds could be heard clearly by the audience. “Before the show, our conductor told us that the sound of each individual
insidetechnician
instrument would be heard clearly by the audience, so if you made a mistake then everyone would be able to hear you” said Hansen. Randall Rehfuss, a concert coordinator at N.C. State, said the performance went
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smoothly without any unexpected problems. “Everything went smoothly, I really enjoyed the performance as a whole because it was well executed by the Ensemble” said Rehfuss.