Jan. 27, 2015

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TECHNICIAN

tuesday january

27 2015

Raleigh, North Carolina

technicianonline.com

IN BRIEF Professors recreate MLK speech

Online petition calls for reinstatement of Tom Ross

An online petition is calling for the reinstatement of Tom Ross, the current UNC System president who is planning to step down in 2016. The petition, sponsored by a group that called itself United for UNC, is calling for the UNC Board of Governors to keep Ross in his position. On Jan. 16 the board decided Ross must leave his position. Ross, 64, said he was not ready to retire, and John Fennebresque, the chairman of the board, gave no specific reason for the decision to remove Ross from office beyond that it was time for the board to begin a transition. Fennebresque said neither Ross’ age nor politics played a role in the decision. A UNC BOG panel is set to meet this week to discuss finding the next UNC system president. SOURCE: News & Observer

SpaceX and Boeing to start saving NASA millions by 2017

NASA is expecting to save millions of dollars by sending astronauts to the International Space Station once it begins its commercial crew program with SpaceX and Boeing. Last September, NASA chose SpaceX and Boeing as companies to send American astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The two private companies announced Monday that they are on track to start their first manned test flights to the International Space Station in 2017. NASA astronauts traveling to the space station must currently ride along with Russia, which costs about $71 million a seat under the current contract. Once the private companies begin their flights to space, the average price for an American astronaut to ride to the space station will be about $58 million, saving NASA an average of $13 million per trip. Source: WRAL

Sheriffs ask Google to remove copfinding feature from app

Sheriffs are pressuring Google to remove one of the features on its Waze traffic software that warns drivers when police are close to the user, arguing the popular app could put officers’ lives in danger. Sheriffs say the app could put officers at risk to potential police killers who would be able to see where the officers are parked. Google purchased Waze for $966 million in 2013. The app uses GPS navigation to provide users real-time traffic guidance by giving warnings about nearby congestion, accidents, speed traps, traffic cameras, construction zones, potholes, stalled vehicles and unsafe weather conditions. The app currently has about 50 million users in 200 countries. OURCE: News & Observer

insidetechnician

Lindsay Smith Staff Writer

A group of NC State professors is working on a Virtual MLK research project, which uses technology available at the university to research, recreate and publicly release a re-enacted digital-audio speech famously given by Martin

See page 5.

SPORTS Schuhmacher steps up to fill void See page 8.

Baptist Church on June 8, according to Victoria Gallagher, principle investigator of the research and professor of communication. Researchers completed the second phase of the project recently when the they recorded the voice of Banks re-enacting the speech from four different perspectives in the church, mimicking what it would

BIENVENIDOS: SEE PAGE 5

Students meet to discuss Inclusion Act Natalie Bohorquez Assistant Bienvenidos Editor

On Sunday, a group of 16 students from different multicultural organizations met to discuss and take action toward Resolution 68, which was not approved in the Student Senate on Thursday. The Inclusion Act was proposed as a reaction to various instances of micro-aggressions toward African-Americans that have recently come to light in different parts of the country, such as the protests and rallies surrounding the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. The projected bill had goals to garner institutional support, call attention to the chancellor and to educate students about diverse subjects and current social issues.

DIVERSITY continued page 5

Artificial photosynthesis BY SAM FELDSTEIN

G

ongfang Hu, a second-year graduate student studying chemistry, transfers filtered perylene dyes to a flask for heating up in one of the labs in Dabney Hall Monday. “I am exploring a new synthetic condition to make perylene dyes as required for studies on artificial photosynthesis,” Hu said. “The research project is interesting and inspiring for us to understand the nature and ourselves. However, it is not as easy and direct as we thought before.”

Duke psychiatrist talks meds, stigma Sasha Afanasyeva Staff Writer

KAI MCNEIL /TECHNICIAN

Doris Larovici, an author and a psychiatrist at Duke University, speaks to Avi Aggarwal, a junior studying chemical engineering and president of NC State’s NAMI group, regarding issues facing mental illness. Hannah Blum, a junior studying communication, listens in on the conversation on Monday in the 1911 Building.

Students gathered Monday evening to listen and talk to Doris Larovici, a psychiatrist at Duke University Counseling and Psychological Services, discuss mental illness and medication on college campuses in an event sponsored by the NC State chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Emotional difficulties affect everyone, and there is no category of people who do or do not have them, Larovici said. “It’s just part of being human,” Larovici said. The event was informal, with students sitting in a circle around Larovici and asking questions throughout the event. The number of students seeking help at counseling centers have gone up in the last 20 years, according to Larovici. Avi Aggarwal, a junior studying chemical engineering and president of State’s NAMI chapter, asked Larovici what trends and changes she would like to see in future research and provider practices for college-aged students.

ILLNESS continued page 3

Diabetes research tackles insulin delivery Staff Writer

Transgender exploitation still common

to take nonviolent direct action as a means for achieving civil rights in what would later become known as his famous “fill-up the jails” speech. The Virtual MLK research project, which is set to have three phases total, began its first phase this summer. Playing the role of King, actor Marvin Banks re-enacted the original speech at the new White Rock

MLK continued page 2

Jess Thomas

OPINION

Luther King Jr. at a church in North Carolina. On Feb. 16, 1960, King gave a speech before the congregation of the White Rock Baptist Church in Durham, urging his supporters to “fill-up the jails.” This speech was the first time King told the African-American community and civil rights activists

The American Diabetes Association has given a $1.625 million grant to Zhen Gu, a professor in the biomedical engineering department at NC State, to contribute to Gu’s research combating diabetes. Gu’s research is centered on creating a system to regulate insulin delivery in proportion to blood glucose, which would be extremely useful for people aff licted with diabetes. “The goal of this research is to

create a system that will help diabetics regulate glucose and insulin levels in their body, but there are still several challenges that need to be overcome,” Gu said. In addition, Gu said one of the main challenges his project faces is that the insulin delivery system needs to be easy to administer and also provide a quick response. “One of the main challenges with the research is creating a system that is not only compatible with humans, but also easy to administer while also making sure that the system does not excessively release the insulin, which will cause hypo-

glycemia inside the body,” Gu said. Specifically, Gu’s delivery system is based on the natural insulin vesicles in the pancreas, and his goal is to develop synthetic insulin vesicles to help deliver the insulin. Gu said the grant he received will primarily be put toward creating these artificial pancreatic cells which will deliver the insulin to the body. “We will apply this grant for developing brand-new formulation for glucose-responsive insulin delivery, artificial pancreatic cells,” Gu said. “Specifically, pre-clinical tests will be performed using large animal

models.” Gu said his hope is to use the data that he receives and create ways that these artificial pancreatic cells can be administered to improve the quality of life for people with diabetes. “We expect several formulations will be generated with the research and eventually we will translate it for improving diabetics’ quality of life,” Gu said. Diabetes is a condition that affects nearly 30 million people in United States, and the American Diabetes Association estimates that one in three Americans will suffer from

DIABETES continued page 2


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