Technician - December 2, 2013

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TECHNICIAN

monday december

2

2013

Raleigh, North Carolina

technicianonline.com

D.H. Hill evacuated after bomb threat Staff Report

D.H. Hill Library staff evacuated students and faculty members from its building on Sunday after a staff member received a bomb threat. The threat was later found to be unsubstantiated. According to a statement on the N.C. State University Police Department’s website, police were notified by a staff member of D.H. Hill Library that they had received a call from an unidentified caller stating that there was a bomb placed in one of the restrooms of the library. The library was

immediately evacuated. Several students at the scene told the Technician they didn’t know why they were being evacuated. Students stood outside the library for about 45 minutes, they said. “It’s not unusual for students to not be told what’s happening during a bomb threat,” said Jack Moorman, Campus Police chief. “Whether it’s a bomb or a fire, our goal is only to get people out of the building.” Moorman said Campus Police’s priority was to ensure there was no threat and to reopen the building as soon

as possible. Moorman said Campus Police “takes these threats very seriously.” Campus Police and the Raleigh Fire Department responded to the scene. Campus Police officers conducted a search of the library and did not locate any type of suspicious device, according to the Campus Police statement. The library was re-opened at approximately 5:30 p.m. This case is under further investigation, and anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Campus Police at (919) 5153000.

VICTORIA CROCKER/TECHNICIAN

D.H. Hill Library was evaucated due to a bomb threat, at about 4:45 p.m. Sunday.

PACK ENDS DISMAL SEASON ON A LOW NOTE: PAGE 8

Frequent quizzes could improve course scores, attendance in class Lara Hulcher Correspondent

COLE J. STITH/TECHNICIAN

Senior quarterback Brandon Mitchell reacts after failing to reach the first-down marker on a scramble during NCSU’s 41-21 loss to Maryland at Carter-Finley Stadium Saturday. The Pack dropped its last eight games to fall to 3-9 on the season in Dave Doeren’s first year as head coach.

The somewhat-traditional teaching method of determining students’ grades based solely on a midterm and final exam was recently called into question by a psychology study. However, it’s unclear whether this new method will take wide effect at N.C. State. Psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin released findings from an experiment this month in which 901 students in a popular introduction-to-psychology course took their laptops to class and were quizzed online. The researchers found that frequent quizzing, as opposed to a few large tests and projects, increased both class attendance and overall performance.

Scott Despain, an associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, teaches Spanish I and gives several small quizzes throughout the semester. Usually, his quizzes only take 30 seconds to a couple of minutes to complete and come directly from the homework, Despain said. “It facilitates students’ success,” Despain said. “I come from a background of learning by doing.” Despain said he was previously a national Future Farmers of America officer. He said the organization’s motto, “Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, living to serve,” applied to his classes. “If students want to meet the expectations we have for them, stu-

EXAMS continued page 3

New advocacy group in N.C. seeks to better state-wide education policy Joseph Havey Deputy News Editor

A new political group is blurring the lines even further between education and business. Members of the Business for Education Success and Transformation North Carolina, or BEST NC, said they will advocate for public education, including K-12 and higher education, in North Carolina. Several prominent North Carolina business leaders, including Ann Goodnight, SAS CEO Jim Goodnight’s wife, launched BEST NC a few months ago. Currently, the group has 54 members. In addition to Goodnight, members include Jim Goodman, CEO of Capitol Broadcasting; Robert Niblock, CEO of Lowe’s; and Brad Wilson, CEO of Blue Cross and Blue

Shield of North Carolina. Michael Maher, assistant dean for the College of Education, said though it’s difficult to quantify the relationship between education and business, the relationship exists. “It’s hard to deny that if you have highquality schools you attract businesses to your state,” Maher said. “Employees who transfer or are brought in from outside of North Carolina expect good schools and teachers. Additionally, in today’s economy businesses demand a highly-educated and skilled workforce, which is where schools come in.” Michael Walden, Reynolds Distinguished Professor of economics, also said there is a linkage between education and economic

EDUCATION continued page 3

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JOSEPH PHILLIPS/TECHNICIAN

Freshman in civil engineering Ben Pierce reinforces his groups precision launcher with duct tape before preparing to present it to the judges. Pierce’s group won first place with a bulls eye at the Freshman Engineering Design Day in the McKimmon Center Tuesday.

Engineering students show off final projects in end-of-semester design day Madeline Safrit Staff Writer

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Freshman engineering students presented semester-long design projects at the 14th annual Freshman Engineering Design Day on Tuesday. Introduction to Engineering & Problem Solving, E101, students competed for medals among fellow classmates in the McKimmon

Center. Throughout the day, students displayed a variety of projects including arcade games, hovercrafts, bubble blowing machines, fabric buckets and concrete canoes. Each group, which consisted of four to six members, demonstrated the project to judges, who included representatives from N.C. State, Cisco, Duke Energy, Qualcomm Technologies and several oth-

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ers organizations. All judges volunteered for the event. Hailey Queen, an engineering academic advisor, was the lead event coordinator and worked throughout the day to regulate competitions and volunteer participation. “It’s really important to the freshman,” Queen said. “As engineers, we know that a lot of students are interested in

DESIGN continued page 2


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