TECHNICIAN
friday january
10 2014
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Researchers find flaws in wind power
U.C. Berkeley researcher stars in lecture about astrophysics Sasha Afanasieva Staff Writer
Katherine Kehoe Staff Writer
Researchers at N.C. State and Johns Hopkins University found that increasing the use of windgenerated energy can make a power grid more likely to suffer harmful disruptions and disturbances. Aranya Chakrabortty, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at N.C. State and senior author of a paper describing the work, said it is now the federal government’s goal to obtain 20 percent of all electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and interest in installing new wind plans is increasing. According to Chakrabortty, different kinds of disturbances, faults
The website and Facebook page for this competition are already up, but Zarnstorff said the competition’s organizers will be putting out flyers and updating campus billboards soon.
Projjwal Banerjee, a researcher in astrophysics from the University of California Berkeley, stopped by N.C. State Thursday to give a presentation about a theory that attempts to explain where heavy elements came from in the early universe. Gail McLaughlin, a professor in astrophysics at N.C. State, attended the event, along with 10 other professors, researchers and post-doctoral students. The event was aimed at professionals in the astrophysics field. According to McLaughlin, an important question researchers are trying to figure out in this field is where heavy elements such uranium originate. The event was held in Riddick Hall at N.C. State’s North Campus. “I thought [Banerjee] did a nice job,” McLaughlin said. “He presented an alternative model for making heavy elements in the early universe.” According to the presentation, the early universe included the first billion years after the Big Bang events. The two leading theories as to where heavy elements come from are neutron stars and core collapse supernovas, Banerjee said. “I thought he had an interesting idea, but like the other two models, some things need to be worked out,” McLaughlin said. “His model requires a large neutrino temperature, which is not ruled out but not currently favored.” Banerjee presented a model, which was first proposed in 1988 by R. Epstein, S. Colgate and W.C. Haxton. Though attendees who weren’t familiar with astrophysics would have difficulty following some of the presentation’s jargon, N.C. State researchers, graduate students and faculty members followed along with the presentation
CAVE continued page 3
PHYSICS continued page 3
and disparities are going into the grid all the time. The power flowing through the lines on a power grid can be impaired by small oscillations, deviations from the norm, when these disturbances occur. Controllers inside of the power generators can mitigate these problems. The efficiency and stability of the grid is threatened only when the internal controls are not strong enough to handle the disturbances. Through a project that began in the fall of 2012, Chakrabortty and his fellow researchers found that power from wind generation can sometimes worsen these oscilla-
WIND continued page 3
CAIDE WOOTEN/TECHNICIAN
A wind turbine towers over surrounding brush at the NCSU Solar House facility Thursday morning, Jan. 9. N.C. State researchers have recently uncovered new ways to more efficiently utilize wind power.
N.C. State fans compete for best ‘cave’ Jason Katz Assistant News Editor
Campus Enterprises and University Housing joined forces for the second consecutive Fan Cave Challenge, a competition that is designed to award N.C. State fans with the most creatively decorated N.C. State-themed rooms. Competitors are split into three sub-categories: on-campus students, off-campus students and alumni and friends. Gregg Zarnstorff, director of Trademark Licensing at N.C. State, said the judges won’t just be looking at who has the most merchandise, but who also displayed it in a visually attractive way. This year, Campus Enterprises partnered with University Housing for this event to help get more people involved, Zarnstorff said. “Last year we launched the fan cave challenge… and we really launched it kind of late, without too much prep,” Zarnstorff said. Zarnstorff said that the organizers from Campus Enterprises and University Housing are more prepared this year, and he hopes that the new partnership will add more competitors from the dorms on campus. According to Zarnstorff, the challenge came to be because of the success of the N.C. State Tailgate Championship, which also began last year and
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAMPUS ENTERPRISES
Because the first Fan Cave Challenge was so successful, Campus Enterprises decided to host another competition this year. Above is one of 2013 winners.
ran during the past two football seasons. Zarnstorff said the Fan Cave Challenge is meant to give recognition to those fans that support N.C. State in the privacy of their homes and dorms. “I bet you there’s a lot of cool fan caves out there that the public just didn’t see,” Zarnstorff said.
insidetechnician Features Five ways to functionally wear flannel
See page 5.
FEATURES College cookbook See page 6.
SPORTS Tar Heels race past Wolfpack See page 8.
N.C. DREAM Team attorney: DACA students should receive in-state tuition Staff Report
In a letter to Attorney General Roy Cooper, Elizabeth Simpson, an attorney who has been working with the N.C. DREAM Team, issued the opinion that those residents who have been given permission to reside in the country temporarily, Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals, should be eligible for in-state tuition under current North Carolina Law. The N.C. DREAM Team is an advocacy group for young people who are living in this country without legal permission. Simpson argued that DACA beneficiaries were “extraordinarily similar” to beneficiaries of another federal immigration program: Temporary Protected Status, which North Carolina law currently extends instate tuition to. She argued there is no legal reason why DACA immigrants should not be extended the same right. In her legal memorandum, Simpson stated that “there is no legal basis under North Carolina or federal law to distinguish between TPS beneficiaries and DACA beneficiaries,” and under North Carolina law both are considered domiciliaries—or a place where one makes one’s home. Simpson also wrote that, by law, North
Carolina public colleges and universities grant in-state tuition status to any domiciliaries. Like DACA, the TPS program also grants an indefinitely renewable legal permission to remain in the United States to nationals of certain countries who are afflicted by perilous living conditions, including El Salvador, Honduras, and South Sudan. “The Attorney General should interpret North Carolina law consistent with traditional common law concepts of domiciliary intent, and consistent with the State’s December 2012 determination to grant in-state tuition to TPS [Temporary Protected Status] beneficiaries who are otherwise eligible,” Simpson wrote. In December, Rep. Marcus Brandon, a Democrat who represents Guilford County, requested Cooper for his legal opinion on whether DACA immigrants should legally have access to in-state tuition while living in North Carolina. Since then, Cooper has maintained silence on the issue. On Saturday, N.C. DREAM Team and other groups will march from Chapel Hill to the Attorney General’s office, demanding that Cooper relinquish his silence on the matter.