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A participant in sit-in at Duke University leaves
Award-winning poet to speak today
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa will be reading from his work at 7:30 p.m. in Withers 232 this evening. He will also announce the winners of the NC State Poetry Contest. Komunyakaa is a scholar, professor and poet who earned the $50,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for his “Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems.” The subject matter of his poems ranges from rural Southern life to his experience as a soldier during the Vietnam War. SOURCE: NC State News
Country music star Merle Haggard dies
The iconic country music singer Merle Haggard died Wednesday on his 79th birthday. He recently canceled several concerts due to double pneumonia. Haggard wrote songs like “Mama Tried,” “Branded Man,” “Workin’ Man Blues” and others about his time in incarceration and the struggles of rising from the lower class. Haggard was scheduled to perform at Koka Booth Amphitheater alongside Willie Nelson May 22. The amphitheater has yet to announce if the concert will be canceled. SOURCE: The New York Times
Same-day shipping with Amazon Prime comes to Raleigh
Amazon announced that it will expand its same-day delivery service to 11 new areas, including Raleigh. The expansion will apply to Amazon Prime members who will now be able to order products in the morning that will be delivered by 9 p.m. that day. Any order placed in the afternoon or evening will arrive the next day. Other cities included in the new service include: Sacramento, California and Richmond, Virginia. SOURCE: WRAL
insidetechnician
FEATURES NC State researchers collaborate with NASA See page 6.
SPORTS Pack’s annual Kay Yow spring game set for Saturday See page 8.
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2016
Raleigh, North Carolina
Student Senate passes bill against House Bill 2
IN BRIEF One of the Duke University student protesters left the sit-in, which is now on its seventh day. Nine of 10 protesters still remain outside of the president’s office at Duke. Anastasia Karklina of Duke Students and Workers in Solidarity confirmed that Amy Wang has left for a time to attend a poetry slam contest in Texas. Wang hopes to rejoin the protesters on Sunday if the sit-in continues. The students want three administrators fired, including, Tallman Trask, the Executive Vice President, who was involved in an accident with a parking attendant who claims the administrator used a racial slur. SOURCE: WNCN
thursday april
Jonathan Carter Correspondent
KAI F. MCNEIL/TECHNICIAN
Holleigh Rowe , a senior studying marketing, and Tianna Soto, a senior studying psychology and Spanish literature/language, pose as the rest of Ladies in Red sing “Before He Cheats” during the Ladies in Red spring concert Wednesday. The concert featured music from a variety of genres including pop, R&B, oldies, country, indie and alternative.
Ladies in Red end year with senior farewells Kat Kirby Staff Writer
Ladies in Red, an all-female a cappella group at NC State, thrilled the audience with melodies, ballads and everything in between Wednesday night at “Re(d)cruitment” the group’s annual spring concert. The girls spend hours working on their performances and perfecting their craft. “We practice 12 hours a week, and on Sunday we did a 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. rehearsal,” said Anna Dengler, a freshman studying exploratory studies and a member of the group. Their practice has certainly paid off, according to alumna Erin Jones, a former Ladies in Red member. Ladies in Red has been
successful in many a cappella competitions this year including the ICCAs — the Varsity Vocals International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella — and most recently, A Cappella Fest, according to Dengler. “The group is continuously growing, they continue to grow and make me very proud,” Jones said. “Even from their performance at the ICCAs, they are constantly improving.” Not only do the ladies grow in their talent during practice, they grow in their relationships with one another. “We spend, like, everyday together,” Dengler said. The ladies were joined by the award-winning all-male a cappella group Semi-Toned,
LADIES continued page 3
In their last meeting of the 95th session Wednesday, the NC State Student Senate passed the House Bill 2 Response Act, which effectively opposes House Bill 2, the infamous “bathroom bill” passed by the North Carolina General Assembly on March 23. The Senate passed the House Bill 2 Response Act, or Student Senate Resolution 61, with 47 senators in favor and five abstaining. No senator voted against the resolution. This act lists the reasons why t he Student Senate condemns HB2 and what it stands for. These reasons include that HB2 discriminates against members of the LGBT community and supersedes and preempts many local ordinances. In addition, this resolution resolves that the Student Government of NC State stands with members of the LGBT community against HB2 and urges the North Carolina Genera l Assembly and Gov. Pat McCrory to repeal this bill im-
mediately. The resolution had a total of 24 senatorial sponsors as well as 27 signatories. The signatories were made up of NC State students who felt strongly about the bill and wanted their name to be added. Although there was overwhelming support for the resolution, opposition was still present. Sophia McMahan, a freshman studying exploratory studies and first-year senator expressed her concern with the resolution. “There is a reason HB2 passed,” McMahan said. “The purpose of this bill was to protect millions of people.” McMahan described how she had an intimate perspective on the bill because she works in the office of a North Carolina state senator. “If we allow people to legally go into whatever bathroom they identify with, it opens the door for frankly any pervert who wants to pose as a transgender to take advantage of people in
SENATE continued page 3
University Police officers opt for body cameras Ashleigh Polisky Correspondent
Universit y Police off icers began wearing body cameras last semester, but, due to some technical issues with the cameras, the department says it is too soon to tell how useful, in practice, they will be for the officers. At the end of the fall semester, the department purchased 55 cameras, which were given to all sworn-in officers at the department, costing a total of $34,292, according to Major David Kelly, who handles support services for the University Police Department. Kelly said that the cameras help to docu ment pol icepublic interactions, including contacts, arrests and critical incidents, as well as aiding in the ability for Internal Affairs or supervisors to evaluate an officer’s performance. The police department first began its field tests in October 2015, but had to stop the use of the body cameras shortly after. In March, the police department was contacted by L-3, the company from which the cameras were purchased, and were informed of a manufacturing issue. “Essentially, a small machine screw will come loose within the unit due to the vibration
that occurs when the unit is turned on and off,” Kelly said. “In order to update and repair our BWC’s [Body-Worn Cameras], we have sent all of them back to L-3. We do not have an estimated return date at this time. Once all of the units have been received, they will be reissued to the officers and deployed for use.” Jack Moorman, the chief of police for University Police, said recent publicity around body cameras encouraged the department to look into using them in practice. “You see so much publicity about interactions between law enforcement officers and the public that I think it is real important to make sure that we’re documenting our interactions that we do have,” Moorman said. Moorman explained it is very important to have the objective view of the body cameras in case anything happens while an officer is on duty. He said that when there is a situation where somebody gets injured, there are usually two sides of the story, and it is necessary to have definite proof of what actually happened. “If we do have an encounter, and somebody makes a complaint about how our of-
POLICE continued page 2
BRYAN MURPHY/TECHNICIAN
Protesters hold up signs in protest of House Bill 2 during a protest in front of the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Raleigh.
Interfaith clergy unite against House Bill 2 Staff Report
Almost 70 North Carolina clergy members from various faiths have pledged to protect the rights of LGBT citizens in North Carolina and to overturn House Bill 2. “We are morally outraged about this rarely used political maneuver by the state Senate and House to bypass the will of Charlotte’s City Council,” said the Rev. Robin Tanner, lead minister at the Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church in a news conference Tuesday, according to The News & Observer. “However, we are even more disturbed about the fact that this effort denies entire segments of the population their due protections as citizens.” The clergy will be pulling their resources together in hopes of overturning the bill. They say they refuse
to let the actions of a few politicians in Raleigh quiet the voice of the people in Charlotte. They’re also claiming that, while the bill was intended to divide the community, it has brought many people together. “What was intended to divide us as a community has actually had the opposite effect and is uniting many unusual suspects,” said Bishop Tonyia Rawls, pastor at Sacred Souls Community Church at the news conference, according to Time Warner Cable News. “What we’re excited about is we are all angry about this. It is unjust. It is outrageous. And we are standing against HB2 in a bold and strong way, so that now justice may reign for all North Carolinians.” The clergy group includes people who are members of the LGBT com-
HB2 continued page 2