Technician
technicianonline.com
thursday february
3
2011
Raleigh, North Carolina
Library’s technology options surprise some students
Zipcars give students a quick way off campus
Books aren’t the only thing available for checkout at D.H. Hill.
A half-dozen Zipcars now dot N.C. State, Meredith campuses.
Brooke Wallig
Chelsey Francis
Deputy News Editor
Staff whatever
No longer a simple storehouse and lending service for books, D.H. Hill Library is continuing to expand its collection of technology available to students—a move that has left students wanting more. D.H. Hill may be home to more than 4 million books and documents, but according to the library’s website, it is also increasing the number of electronic devices available for student checkout. As part of the library’s technology lending services, more than 30 types of technology are readily available for student checkout, including voice recorders, Amazon Kindles, MacBooks and iPads. Students only need a valid AllCampus card to check out most of the devices. For students like Dane Fulton, freshman in history with a social studies teaching option, this quicklending program provides a beneficial opportunity. “I rented an iPad because my lousy, super-expensive, extremely fine, state-of-the-art super computer can do everything ... except maintain an adequate charge in its battery,” Fulton said. “So usually if I’m studying with some friends, I rent it when my computer dies.” However, Fulton said it is important for students to read the fine print. Some products are available for a shorter time than others, and some are not allowed to be taken from the library. “It’s a really cool concept, but it almost defeats the entire purpose if you
Included with the rental fee is gas, insurance and roadside assistance. Students have to register with Zipcar before their first rental, but can rent a car at any time once registered. Four cars will be parked at N.C. State, while Meredith will offer two cars. N.C. State will have two Toyota Scion xB Hatchbacks and two Toyota Prius Hybrids. Meredith’s campus will host a Honda Civic and a Honda Insight. N.C. State students can rent cars from either campus. According to Rich Paisner, a Zipcar senior account manager for the University, using Zipcar is a simple process. “As long as you’re 18 years of age, have at least one year of driving experience and are affiliated with the University, you’re eligible. The way it works is once you go through the registration process, you get the Zipcard in the mail. Zipcard is your access to all of our cars,” Paisner said. The Zipcard looks like a credit card, but functions differently. It is required to lock and unlock the doors of the car as well as turn on the ignition. There is a sensor on each car where the driver uses the Zipcard, according to Paisner. “It looks just like a credit card, but it’s got a little sensor in it,” Paisner said. “All of our cars are electronically connected.” N.C. State and Meredith partnered with the City of Raleigh to find a car-sharing program, according to Alison Carpenter, transportation planner with University Transportation. “We went out with Meredith and the City of Raleigh and entered a selection process to find a car-share vendor to serve the entire community,” Carpenter said. “There are cars coming later for downtown Raleigh, but we’re not involved in all that.” Once the decision to locate a car-share vendor was reached, companies submitted proposals to the colleges and the city for review, according to Carpenter. “We had a scoring matrix,” Carpenter said. “We looked at all kinds of conditions and variables, like how much insurance coverage they offered to participants, what they expected of us as the client, what they charge their members, how it is to reserve a vehicle [and] how many miles they give you free with your hourly or daily rate.”
lee daniello/Technician
Kenneth Howell Jr., a sophomore in international studies, Ken Farnaso, a junior in human biology, and Kathryn Loyd, a freshman in chemistry, play around in the room with the green screen, which is actually just a green painted wall in a closed-off room on the first floor of D.H. Hill Library. “We were actually in here to study because there were people everywhere else, but we’ve shot a few videos in here just for fun,” Farnaso said.
can’t actually leave the library with them,” Fulton said. Items with the longest checkout times include GPS systems, which are offered for two weeks, though most of the other products are available for a week at a time. Devices that currently cannot be taken out of the library include laptops, netbooks, video games and video game consoles. The library also has a quick solution for students who need smaller products like headphones and USB drives:
now available at d.h. hill: Students can borrow laptops, netbooks and other high-tech tools from the circulation desk of D.H. Hill Library and other University branch libraries. Devices available for student check-out include: • • • • • • •
Lenovo Tablet PC X41 Lenovo Laptop PC T61 Lenovo Thinkpad Netbooks X100e. Apple MacBook Apple MacBook Air Apple IPad Amazon Kindle Source: ncsu library website
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Fair affords students the chance to network Nearly 200 companies compete for engineering students’ attention.
fair as of 1 p.m. “We want this event to be a win-win for everyone involved. We have students from our university attending Elise Heglar as well as from other schools around Staff Writer North Carolina,” Koehler said. “If The engineering career fair at McK- this can serve students and help the immon Center on Monday gave stu- economy, I consider it a success. We dents the chance to meet and speak want to help companies get the best with representatives from companies and brightest.” The University’s engineering career looking to see what N.C. State students fair is one of the largest held in the had to offer. “We are mainly looking for interns, United States, according to Koehler. but we are always willing to take re- Koehler also said engineering is a great sumes and pass them along to human field to study in college. “Frankly, I can tell parents that if resources in case other positions open up,” Kristofer Edelberg, a representa- your student wants to get a job after tive from Archer Western Contrac- college, N.C. State engineering is the tors, said. “We want to meet as many place to be,” Koehler said. The fair is largely centered around students as possible.” The companies participating in the helping students get a feel for the application and interfair had booths set up view process. Leslie with representatives Rand-Pickett, the available to answer assistant director questions and profor the University vide job insight for Career Center, said engineering students. the fair’s main goal Many companies have is to help students participated for sevget interview expeeral years, according rience. to Edelberg. Brain Koehler, director of “Students can get The career fair has engineering academic affairs more information paid dividends for about what compaArcher Western, according to Edelberg. “We have par- nies’ needs are, how to apply and just ticipated in this every year that it has the process in general. What happens been offered to us. We currently have next after filling out an online applicafour co-ops from N.C. State who ac- tion is an important thing to know,” tually started out as interns. This is a Rand-Pickett said. Some companies set up interviews good way for us to build relationships with students and provide opportuni- after meeting with students at the career fair, Rand-Pickett said. ties,” Edelberg said. “Some students get interviews after There were 182 companies at the career fair, according to Brian Koehler, attending this fair. Most of the comthe director of Engineering Academic panies who participate in this fair are Affairs. According to Koehler, 2,000 looking to hire,” Rand-Pickett said. Although not all companies are students had checked in at the career
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“We want this event to be a winwin for everyone involved.”
insidetechnician
lee daniello/Technician
Priyanka Baratam, a senior in biological engineering, speaks with representatives from Fluor Corporation at the Spring Engineering Career Fair Wednesday. Baratam said she also went to the Fall Engineering Career Fair in hopes of picking up a full-time job after she graduates. “I want to find a science or engineering company. Not an agricultural company, because I see a lot of those here,” Baratam said.
necessarily hiring, the experience was beneficial, Jason Meyer, a senior in mechanical engineering, said. “There are a lot of companies that come just to have their name put out
there. I just think we should be focusing on companies with actual positions to better benefit the students,” Meyer said.
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Blight Fight: Corn’s Natural Defense
Corn is a fact of life. However, like any crop, it is susceptible to disease. See page 6.
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