TECHNICIAN
tuesday february
3
2015
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
IN BRIEF Humanitarian talks Construction alters Hillsborough Street traffic pattern
The eastbound lane of Hillsborough Street will be closed today from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m., with the same schedule in effect nightly until Thursday. Eastbound traffic typically flowing toward downtown Raleigh on the 2500 block of Hillsborough Street will be detoured as follows: Left onto Pogue Street, right onto Vanderbilt Avenue, right onto Horne Street, left onto Hillsborough Street. The detour is due to the construction of a seven-story retail and residential building in the area. SOURCE: NC State Facilities
State nonprofit begins support group for family and friends of murder victims in Wake County
families in Gaza Strip Sasha Afanasyeva Staff Writer
About 150 people gathered Monday evening in Withers Hall to listen to Bill Corcoran, president and CEO of American Near East Refugee Aid discuss humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip and Lebanese refugee camps and give insights regarding the future of the region. Organized by NC State students and the Coalition for Peace with Justice, the event centered on refugee families living in Gaza and the Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The event began with Corcoran describing what ANERA does and the severity of problems Palestinians face. “Gaza Strip is an area about the size of DC, and the density of people living there is greater than the density in Hong Kong,” Corcoran said. According to Corcoran, 1.8 million people
GAZA continued page 2
In an effort to help the family and friends of murder victims cope with their loss, a statewide nonprofit recently established a support group in Wake County. The Wake County Homicide Support Group, spearheaded by the North Carolina Victim Assistance Network, was partially inspired by the Durham chapter of Parents of Murdered Children. The Parents of Murdered Children chapter was formed by a funeral director in 1993 after he saw the need for homicide survivors to mourn together. The Raleigh Police Department, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office and the Wake County District Attorney’s Office will assist the Wake County Homicide Support Group. Representatives from those organizations will be present for the first half of each meeting to answer questions and offer advice about the criminal justice system. SOURCE: The News & Observer
Engineering Career Fair to return Wednesday
The biannual Engineering Career Fair will return to the NC State McKimmon Center. A record 373 employers set up displays at last semester’s career fair, attracting about 4,000 job-seekers to what has come to be one of the largest career fairs in the nation. The fair emphasizes the increasing demand for highly qualified engineering candidates in the technology job market across the country. Although many of the attendees are students and recent grads in their early 20s, candidates of all ages attend the fair. Last semester, bigname companies that sought potential employees at the career fair, including Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, Facebook, Volvo, and hundreds of others. SOURCE: The News & Observer
live in the Gaza Strip, and 80 percent of them earn only $1 a day. The average Gazan family has about seven children. Some of the projects ANERA was recently working on involved repairing preschools and water infrastructure, according to Corcoran, but the projects faced setbacks after not being able to get any building materials into the area due to the conflict in 2014. “One of the issues we have there right now is that in order to do large-scale water projects there we need cement and steel piping,” Corcoran said. “They are not allowed in Gaza. Israel has to approve every bag of cement and steel piping that comes into Gaza. That takes several months for that to process. The war ended in August, and we have not been able to do any significant water projects in Gaza because we are waiting on approvals.” Corcoran compared the 2014 conflict with the one in 2009 and noted that the debris was four times more than it was in 2009.
SPATIKA GANESH /TECHNICIAN
Heather Harder, national president of the Public Relations Student Society of America spoke at NC State’s PRSSA chapter Monday in 201 Park Shops. Harder spoke about the advantages that students would gain in their career by being a part of PRSSA, such as building its network of contacts.
PRSSA national president shares words of wisdom Conor Kennedy Correspondent
PHOTO COURTESY OF TIM PEELER / N.C. STATE ATHLETICS
NC State sports broadcaster Don Shea died Monday morning at his home in Orange County, North Carolina. Shea spent more than 25 years working for NC State Athletics media.
Iconic sportscaster dies Staff Report
Former NC State sportscaster Don Shea was found dead of natural causes at his home in Orange County, North Carolina, Monday morning, according to ABC 11. Shea hosted a number of NC State shows during his career of more than 25 years, including “Inside Wolfpack Sports,” the “Jim Valvano Coaches Show” and the “Dick Sheridan Coaches Show.” He was hired when former NC State head men’s basketball coach Jim Valvano asked him to direct James Thomas Valvano Enterprises (JTV) in 1984. Shea was the sports director for WTVD for 17 years and was a longtime Triangle sports community member. He served on
the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the National Football League College Hall of Fame. Also known for his charity work, Shea was a member of the advisory board for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the March of Dimes and served as the co-chairman for the Jim Valvano Kids Klassic and was on the Board of Directors for the Duke Children’s Classic. “Don Shea was one of a kind,” NC State Athletic Director Debbie Yow said in a statement to NC State Athletics. “He was so passionate about NC State, about the NFF Chapter in Raleigh, and always the gentleman. Basically, irreplaceable.” Shea is survived by his two sons, Derek and Kyle.
NC State’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America met Monday night to listen to guest speaker, Heather Harder, the national president of the PRSSA and a recent graduate from Elon University. The NC State chapter of the PRSSA is a part of the national organization the Public Relations Society of America. These societies provide networking opportunities for students and professionals in the public relations field. The student society is extremely important people looking to hit the ground running after graduation, according to Harder. “Although it is possible to obtain internships in the field, most internship opportunities give preference to members of the PRSSA,” Harder said. According to students within the organization, a person looking for a job right out of college would need about six internships to be competitive. This same phenomenon occurs in many fields related to communication, such as journalism. In these fields, a school degree may not mean as much as real personal experience, according to Harder, which is why organizations such as these are such an asset to students at NC State. Recent college graduates can sometimes be more helpful to students than seasoned professionals because of their insights into the current state of the job market and information on low-level hiring opportunities. “In my own experience,” Harper said. “Some of the most useful contacts I’ve made have been recently graduated college students.”
PRSSA continued page 2
insidetechnician
Wake County gives Gregg Museum $650k Staff Report
FEATURES Pack a capella competes for perfect pitch See page 5.
SPORTS Pack looks for consistancy against Demon Deacons
The Wa ke Count y Board of Commissioners revisited a previously denied funding request, resulting in money appropriated to the NC State Gregg Museum and the Holly Springs’ North Main Athletic Complex. According to The News & Observer, the request was denied less than a year ago, but Monday a new Democratic majority freed up about $1.7 million in tax revenues from hotels and restaurants.
Holly Springs will receive $1 million and NC State will receive $650,000. The decision was unanimous. Projects such as the athletic complex and museum are meant to draw tourists to the area, which can generate additional hotel- and restaurant-tax revenues. The $1 million being added to the $19 million athletic complex will allow for elements that were previously cut from the original blueprints. These elements include a possible beer garden, concession stand, improvements
along Main Street and additional restrooms. NC State off icials originally asked for $2 million to go toward the Gregg, to add to their nearly $10 million plan. It is renovating the former chancellor’s residence and building 15,000 square feet of museum space to house thousands of objects belonging to the Gregg. The previous request was voted 4-3, which denied funding to the projects. The four Republicans did not think the project would do enough to enrich the Raleigh
economy. That same panel only awarded money to two of the 10 projects running. Both project officials said the county will recoup its investment through additional hotel and restaurant business. The athletic complex plans to open the stadium on May 28. Commissioners will have to approve final agreements for both projects.
See page 8.
Come see us in Talley in front of Port City Java on Mondays and Wednesdays 1:00-3:00p.m.
visit ncsu.edu/agromeck Follow “Agromeck” on Instagram Follow @Agromeck on Twitter Like “Agromeck” on Facebook