TECHNICIAN
monday november
18 2013
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Hofmann sale still on, despite prospectus Staff Report
The deal to sell the Hofmann Forest will continue, despite revelations that the buyer circulated a prospectus earlier this year that proposed clearing a large portion of the forest for development and farmland, university officials said Friday. “Yesterday, the buyer confirmed there are ‘no plans to develop the property into a large commercial and residential community,’” Brad Bohlander, associate vice chancellor for University Communications and chief communications officer at N.C. State, said in an emailed statement. “In addition to this commitment, the property in question
is zoned for conservation uses and any changes to accommodate such development would require a county public approval process.” Bohlander said Hofmann Forest LLC, the buyer, has made clear it will honor these outcomes, which are consistent with the sales agreement. “Throughout the sales process, N.C. State has negotiated in good faith, doing our best to ensure this sale will achieve the goals of preserving the legacy of the forest and allowing for the continuation of the current uses of the land, including opportunities for continued university research,” Bohlander said. Ron Sutherland, a conservation-
ist for the Wildlands Network, said he’s not buying the University’s message. The Hofmann process has consisted of several half-truths and lies, Sutherland said in an email. “Apparently NCSU made those drawings [development plan renderings] in 2009, and clearly they gave them to Walker Group/Hofmann LLC,” Sutherland said. “So they were lying their pants off when they said this was the first they had seen of the prospectus document. They wrote at least part of it and they gave it to at least one potential buyer when promoting the sale.” Tom Percival, a spokesperson for Hofmann Forest LLC, told WNCT, a CBS News affiliate on Friday that
the company has “no plans to develop Hofmann Forest for any commercial or residential ventures.” “The development plans contained in the document are renderings that were done by N.C. State University four years ago as an exploratory study,” Percival said. Bohlander’s statement said Section Eight of the sales agreement outlines the commitments between N.C. State and the buyer, “including the buyer’s intent to establish the forest as a legacy property, pursue securing easements with the military and use the property for timber production and agricultural endeavors, as well as allow the University to continue research activities at the
forest.” “Section 16 includes a merger clause that states the sales agreement, and not any previous documents or discussions, is the final and entire agreement,” Bohlander said. Sutherland said N.C. State is trying to reframe the debate to make it all about the urban development, as opposed to clearing the land for agricultural purposes. “Even there, all they are really saying is that they have no immediate plans to start building next year, and they’re making broad assurances to the military that they don’t plan to develop the entire property,” Sutherland said.
General Administration labels 13 programs at N.C. State as ‘low productivity’ Joseph Havey Deputy News Editor
VICTORIA CROCKER/TECHNICIAN
Red course winners, Jamie Yannayon, a senior in industrial engineering, and Anne-Sophie Loft, Kathrine Thomsen, and Stine Lundov, all graduate students in business administration, read their third clue in the Pangea Race, Friday. “it was a lot of fun to go all around campus with my favorite Danish people,” Yannayon said.
Students race across campus in globally themed competition Estefania Castro-Vazquez Correspondent
Students of different nationalities competed in a c a mpus-w ide sc avenger hunt Friday to promote the awareness of international education. On Friday, the Office of International Services and Study Abroad hosted the Pangea Race. The race, designed similarly to the television game show “The Amazing Race,” led participants from clue to clue. At each destination, teams had to either answer a question correctly or complete a challenge to advance to the next location. The race was open to all N.C. State students, and ap-
proximately 47 students from 18 different countries signed up to participate, according to Ethan Harrelson, the event coordinator. Racers could either sign up with a team or sign up individually and be assigned a team at random. Four to five people comprised each team. Genya Kalinina, a junior in marketing, raced for the first time this year with her roommate and two other partners. Kalinina said she was excited about winning and heard about the race from an email from the Office of International Services. Harrelson said that a lot of the challenges were internationally themed, and some were even games from other
countries. Teams left Daniels Hall at separate times to ensure one team couldn’t just follow another team. Event organizers set up two courses with the same destinations but in different orders. The winning team had the fastest time. Racers were allowed to ask people on the streets, use their smartphones or use any other method to come up with the answers to questions that tested their knowledge of different nationalities. “The idea is for your team to be more competitive, it needs to be diverse,” Harrelson said. Michael Ramos, a senior
PANGEA continued page 2
Friendly Drive to close Tuesday Staff Report
Friendly Drive is scheduled to close to through traffic from Nov. 19 to Jan. 5, due to construction. Stanhope Center II, on an 800-bed student housing and retail development project that will be across from East Village on Hillsborough Street, will cause street closures on and near N.C. State’s Campus. Friendly Drive is west of the Dan Allen Deck and cuts through to Hillsborough
Street. All entrances and exits to the Dan Allen Parking Deck will remain open but will only be accessible from Dan Allen Drive. Students and faculty members will not be able to travel southbound on Dixie Trail and cross Hillsborough Street to access the Dan Allen Parking Deck. Also, a portion of Hillsborough Street will be closed to through traffic from Dec. 19 - Jan. 5. The city of Raleigh suggests drivers take Faircloth Street to Wade Avenue
and turn right onto Dixie Trail to travel from Gorman Street to campus. Wolf line Rt. 6, CarterFinley, will be detoured from Dec. 19 - Jan. 5. On Friday, a representative from NCSU Transportation said they will provide more information about the specific Wolfline detour route soon. The Dan Allen gate will be open beginning Dec. 18 and will remain open through Jan. 5.
N.C. State is not immune to the problems of Elizabeth City State University, which is currently facing a decision to drop seven programs including history, physics and political science. Every two years, the UNCSystem General Administration reviews all programs at each of the 16 UNC-System colleges and universities to ensure the programs are meeting enrollment and graduation standards. In 2012, the General Administration recommended that N.C. State review 13 degrees, including one associate’s degree, four baccalaureate degrees, three masters programs and five doctoral programs. These programs were labeled “low productivity,” due to either current enrollment numbers or the number of degrees awarded. Duane Larick, senior vice
provost for academic strategy and resource management, said University officials who get these reports and are required to respond with intended changes, which include elimination or plans to increase enrollment. Larick said he thinks Elizabeth City State University is in a different situation than N.C. State. ECSU is experiencing overall enrollment issues, Larick said, as opposed to problems with specific majors. ECSU’s enrollment has dropped from 3,300 students in 2010 to about 2,400 this fall. Larick said given those circumstances, it is not surprising ECSU is having to prioritize academic offerings. “They’ve had such a steep of a drop in enrollment, that it’s caused them to look at their curriculum,” Larick said. “They are rethinking what students want and what students need.” Larick said N.C. State does
PROGRAMS ECSU IS CONSIDERING CUTTING: • • • • • • •
Studio Art Geology Physics Political Science History Marine Environmental Science Industrial Technology SOURCE: NEWS & OBSERVER
the same thing. He pointed to a University-run task force, which reviews all of the majors at the N.C. State and gauges its productivity and effectiveness. Larick said this task force helps prepare his office to respond to recommendations from the UNC System General Administration, which come every two years. “When we got the productivity review memo [from the
ECSU continued page 3
GLBT Center hosts fifth-annual Cabaret to celebrate campus, student diversity Sarah Ray Correspondent
About 300 N.C. State students, faculty and Raleighcommunity members celebrated diversity and acceptance on Friday. The GLBT Center and the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity hosted the fifth annual Cabaret in Witherspoon Student Center as a way to showcase student talent and promote diversity. With the cinema full and energy high, Karma Electra, host and drag performer, started with a rendition of Liza Minnelli’s “Cabaret,” setting a lively theme for the night. This was the center’s biggest show with about 75 student performers participating in the event, according to Justine Hollingshead, director of the GLBT Center.
CABARET continued page 3
VICTORIA CROCKER/TECHNICIAN
The Ladies In Red perform Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” at the fifth-annual Cabaret in Witherspoon Cinema, Friday. They are the only all-female a capella singing group at N.C. State, and they perform at different events throughout the year.
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