TECHNICIAN
vol.
xcvi lxxii issue
technicianonline.com
David Bowie dies after 18-month battle with cancer
NC State hires new offensive coordinator
The NC State football team announced that it hired Eliah Drinkwitz as its new offensive coordinator to replace Matt Canada. Drinkwitz, 32, will also serve as the play-caller and quarterback coach. He spent the previous two years at Boise State, serving as the tight end coach one year and the quarterback coach and offensive coordinator last season. Drinkwitz will get a threeyear deal worth $450,000 per year. He coached the Bronco offense that was 15th in the nation in both scoring and total offense with 39.1 points per game and 501.3 yards per game, respectively. SOURCE: THE NEWS & OBSERVER
Contextualized grading coming fall 2016
Students might get to see contextualized grades on their transcripts after the idea was originally proposed more than a year ago. The new format will appear on students’ unofficial transcripts as a pilot program for one year. The program changes student transcripts by displaying the letter grade as well as the median grade for the course. Contextualized grading is a tactic used to help minimize grade inflation, which is a problem at universities across the country. The Educational Policy Committee will hold a meeting Friday that aims to finalize the delayed decision for the use of contextualized grading. SOURCE: THE DAILY TAR HEEL
insidetechnician
12 2016
Raleigh, North Carolina
ABC news anchor talks journalism at luncheon
IN BRIEF After releasing his last album, “Blackstar,” Friday, rock’s music icon David Bowie died Sunday after battling liver cancer for 18 months. Bowie died at 69, surrounded by family. Bowie was born in South London as David Jones in 1947, later changing his name to Bowie so that he would not be confused with the Monkees member, Davy Jones. It seems that Bowie foresaw his own death, with some fans asserting that he offered “Blackstar” as a sort of farewell. Iman, Bowie’s wife of 24 years, did not provide a comment on his passing, though a statement released from Bowie’s Twitter account assures that he died peacefully. SOURCE: NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
tuesday january
Inez Nicholson News Editor
NIKITA CHOUDHARY/TECHNICIAN
Journalist Bryon Pitts speaks in Talley Student Union about growing up with a dream. He said he thinks it’s important to have a specific goal in order to accomplish it.
Byron Pitts inspires students to dream big Inez Nicholson News Editor
When someone asks how you’re doing, Byron Pitts, award-w inning journa list and co-anchor for A BC’s “Nightline,” encourages you to respond, “I’m living the dream,” because of the opportunity of attending college, especially somewhere like NC State. Pitts spoke at Talley Student Union in the Coastal Ballroom to nearly 300 students and emphasized the importance of dreams and the power students have to change the world for the better. His speech was the headline for the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. campus com-
memoration. “I believe deeply in the power of dreams,” Pitts said. “Don’t be indifferent about the opportunities you have to change the world right now where you stand.” In his speech, Pitts warned of the dangers of indifference. “Ind i f ference c a n be a deadly weapon,” he said. At a young age, Pitts overc a me ma ny st r ug g les to achieve his dream. His mother was a single mom who had him before she started high school. He dealt with a stutter until his sophomore year of college, was deemed illiterate at the age of 12 and was put on academic probation his freshman year of college.
Tune in to ABC’s “Nightline,” a late-night television news program, and you will see coanchor Byron Pitts reporting in-depth on the day’s news stories. Rewind to 1972 in Baltimore, Maryland, the year Pitts was told he was illiterate and also struggled with a stuttering problem. He graduated 435th in his class, a class of 440 students. Only weeks after starting his freshman year at Ohio Wesleyan College, he was placed on
“I only fear the person that can work harder than me.” - Byron Pitts, journalist and co-anchor for ABC’s ‘Nightline’
“Three to five doctors met with my mom and I, and they said ‘We’re sorry to inform you, but your son Byron is mentally retarded. Not just he can’t read, but he has a menta l def icienc y,’” Pitts said. The doc tors told Pit ts’ mother that, because she lacked the education and financial resources to get him help, t hey recom mended he be institutionalized. His mother refused that option, so she fought for him to attend an adult literacy program in Washington, D.C. While at college, Pitts faced obstacles that challenged his will to attend college. One of
academic probation. Through his academic struggles, Pitts made it a goal when he was 18 to work for “60 Minutes” by the age of 45. Pitts spoke at an invite-only event Monday to about 40 students from the African-American Cultural Center, NC State Student Media and University Scholars about his experience entering the journalism world and shared some wisdom about what he has learned in his 32 years in the field. He credited much of his success to his work ethic — he never passed up a chance for an assignment. “I only fear the person that can work harder than me,” he said. Finding a job that would put him in the direction of working for “60 Minutes,” and one that would hire him despite his low GPA proved to be difficult after graduating. “I put out thousands of resumes, cover letters and applications. The responses were no, hell
PITTS continued page 2
JOURNALISM continued page 2
Poll finds opinions about weed, economy Andrew Cochrane Correspondent
North Carolinians participated in the most recent Civitas poll to gain a consensus on their opinions about the legalization of marijuana, sanctuary cities and the current state of the economy. The poll had 600 registered North Carolina voters participate. Legalization of marijuana Fifty-three percent of North Carolinians were opposed to the legalization, most of whom were “strongly opposed.” Forty-three percent were in favor of the legalization, slightly more than half of whom were “strongly in favor.”
Sanctuary Cities According to the poll, “Sanctuary City” laws allow local governments to ignore federal law when it comes to immigration status. For example, under Sanctuary City laws, law enforcement is not required to share immigrant information with federal authorities. A new law has been passed in North Carolina, prohibiting such cities to exist. Fifty-four percent of North Carolinians said they were in favor of this law, the majority of which were “strongly in favor.” Thirty-four percent were opposed to the law, slightly over half of which were “strongly opposed.” Twelve percent said they did not know. Economy
53%
of polled opposed the legalization of marijuana. 43 percent are in favor
54%
of polled are in favor of sanctuary cities. 34 percent are opposed and 12 percent do not know.
The third polling topic asked participants how long they thought the current economic recession will last. Forty-one percent think it will last over two years, twenty-five percent
SURVEY continued page 2
OPINION Chronicles of Lara in College See page 4.
Poole College of Management names dean Staff Report
SPORTS Pack top performers of 2015 season See page 8.
Provost War wick Arden announced Monday that Annette L. Ranft, senior associate dean of academic affairs and the Reagan Professor of Business at the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business, will take over as the Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Dean of the Poole College of Management,
effective July 1. Ira Weiss, who has served as dean since 2004, announced last year his plans to step down and join the college’s faculty. Ranft was named to The Wall Street Journal’s list of top female business school administrators in 2012. She earned her doctorate in business administration from UNC-Chapel Hill and her
bachelor’s in mathematics from Appalachian State University. “As an eighth-generation North Carolinian and the first in my family to attend college, I am deeply indebted to the North Carolina system of higher education and the access to education that was afforded to me in the state,” Ranft said. “I was particularly drawn to this position
as it provided an opportunity to contribute back to the state and to the system that was core to my own education and personal and professional development.” Ranft’s research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Management, Organization Science and the Journal of International Business Studies.