Technician
friday february
12 2010
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Page Hall water test results cause concern High iron and turbidity levels result in questionable drinking water quality Caroline Barfield Staff Writer
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Water quality checks are not part of regular maintenance checks Turbidity level [cloudiness of water] higher than normal Iron levels higher than normal Rust is likely cause of higher levels Sample does not indicate water is unsafe
Graphics co ur tesy NCSU
Source: Ken Kretchman, director of Environmental and Health Safety
According to the World Health Organization, (WHO) 5 NTUs is the maximum allowable turbidity. “The single sample indicated a level of 6.1 NTU,” Kretchman said. “Iron is the other contaminant which appears elevated, based upon an inexact comparison to federal guidelines and state standards. The state standard for iron of 0.3 milligrams per liter applies to water supply systems, as discussed. There is also a secondary federal standard for iron of 0.3 milligrams per liter. The secondary standard is not a health protection standard, but is based upon cosmetic and aesthetic considerations,” Kretchman said. He said a summary of the water condition can be attributed to the elevated turbidity levels. “Sampling results indicated the
likely conclusion that the two elevated values are linked. In other words, rust in the water is contributing to elevated turbidity levels.” Natalie Brown, a senior in graphic communications and intern in Page Hall, said she did not realize there was anything wrong with the water until Royal sent a notice to all Page Hall occupants. “I didn’t recognize there was anything wrong with the water until they sent us an e-mail,” Brown said. “Most people just go to Poe to get water from Poe Hall or use the water bottles on the first floor of Page.” Brown said she was most disturbed by the fact that she would have never
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After a year of untested water, Page Hall occupants received answers to their worries about the water quality in the building. Concerns of colored water caused officials to request a water quality test. According to John Royal, a specialist in building construction and management, the water in Page Hall has been discolored for quite some time. “The water has had slight discoloration for at least a year, but the degree of discoloration seems to vary quite a bit,” he said. “It is always the most discolored on Monday mornings or after a long holiday weekend. It seems to have been the very darkest it has ever been when we returned from the recent holiday break.” Ken Kretchman, director of Environmental and Health Safety, explained what was wrong with Page Hall’s water. The samples indicated that that the turbidity and iron levels were higher than normal and probably linked, he said. “Depending on the type of filtration system used, the turbidity level [cloudiness of water] should not exceed ... 1 nephelolometric turbidity unit [NTU],” Kretchman said.
About Water quality checks:
known had an e-mail not notified her and wonders about the water condition of the other older buildings on campus. “I’m in Brooks Hall a lot and am always drinking the water; it’s also a really old building and makes me question whether or not any of the other older buildings have had their water checked,” she said. “I also wonder if they would notify the students who regularly access those buildings if there was an issue with the water.” Having a building’s water checked is not a regular maintenance check and
the only reason Page Hall had its water tested was because it was requested. Kretchman said that records do not indicate that any previous samples were taken prior to Jan. 19 and he also said that even though the water sample indicated excess levels for these contaminants, it does not necessarily make the water unsafe.
Parent support group helps students balance roles New Counseling Center class connects with parenting students
Caitlin Conway/Technician
Jim Ceresnak, a senior in political science and student body president, discusses bike rentals, bike usage and bus stops with the Student Senate Thursday.
President’s Roundtable tackles key campus issues Student leaders gather for discussion to address problems, solutions to improve University Nick Tran News Editor
Leaders from different areas of the University assembled Thursday night in the Student Senate chambers to address issues facing the University and present ideas for improving life on campus. A discussion followed which incorporated important campus problems. The President’s Roundtable, which occurs monthly, opened with “Bikeshare,” an initiative by the Cycling Club and the Sustainability Committee to make biking a more accessible mode of transportation on campus. The Bikeshare pilot will allow students to rent bikes from a site near Talley Student Center or Campus Recreation for use on campus, and if successful will increase in size and turn into an effort to implement a bike accessible network around the University.
“Cycling is a good way to get to classes,” Marycobb Randall, student centers president, said. “It’s healthy, convenient and low cost. Similar programs have been very successful at other universities.” Randall said it was important to install this infrastructure early, especially with the continued expansion of campus. “Right now we’re doing this on Central Campus and it would be great if we could expand it to Centennial Campus,” she said. “It would give students a reason to commute between Central and Centennial.” This sentiment caused discussion of another identified issue developing on campus: the increasing division between Central and Centennial Campus. Sen. Stephen Kouba, a junior in political science, said the climate on campus was no longer one of a unified University. “We need to create a more campuscentered environment for students,” he said. “We need better communication between Central and Centennial, more than just transportation
options.” Kouba said much of the time students on Centennial don’t know what’s happening on Central and vice versa and often students have no motivation to travel to the other campus. “We need to create a centralized feeling on campus,” Kouba said. “We also need to have general events for N.C. State students, not exclusively for engineering students or design students.” The discussion shifted to discussing a feeling of disunity among students from different colleges and ways to increase students’ pride and loyalty to the University as a whole. “There’s a sense of division among students based on their major, college or department,” Jim Cereznak, student body president, said. “The question is how do we get beyond those divisions and create a greater sense of community?” According to Cereznak and oth-
for building parenting skills, according to Haskett. Any parenting student of children ages 2 to 12 is invited to participate. Jessica Neville “The purpose of the program is to Staff Writer provide support and information to A new support group sponsored by parents to help them be the best parthe Counseling Center seeks to meet ents they can be,” Haskett said. “It the needs of students who, beyond the also helps parents lower stress levels, commitment of working towards a de- improve their children’s behavior and gree, also have the additional respon- increase positive family functioning.” Haskett said parents often see their sibility of fulfilling parenting roles. Kristen Lewis, a doctoral student relationship with their children as a in school psychology, distributed an job and forget how to have fun with online survey to graduate students at their children, a situation that the program works to the University who remedy. also have family obAlthough Triple ligations. The surP is used internavey asked questions tionally for all ages, about how well stutypes of parents and dents thought they family structures, balanced school and the program is befamily responsibiliing applied through ties and stress levels, t he Cou nsel i ng according to Lewis. Center specifically “T he resu lt s I for parents who also found indicated that have the additional graduate students stresses of school who are also parents Mary Haskett, associate and/or work. have a great deal of professor of psychology Sue Smith, a Tristress and find it ple P co-leader with difficult to balance work and school roles,” Lewis said. Haskett, was a graduate student and “The survey also asked if students parent at N.C. State as well as a parwould be interested in a program to ticipant in Triple P. “I learned a lot from the Triple P help them better fulfill these roles, and over half responded that they would.” program and I think it is beneficial Lewis shared these results with as- to any parent, but especially parents sociate professor of psychology Mary who also have to deal with school and Haskett, who decided to reach out work,” Haskett said. Erin Robinson, a doctoral student to parenting students by connecting whose dissertation focuses on single them with the Counseling Center. The program the Counseling Center mothers in college, said it can be esdecided to offer, called “Triple P” or pecially hard for mothers to attend “Positive Parenting Program,” is an internationally acclaimed resource Parenting continued page 3
“I learned a lot from the Triple P program and I think it is beneficial to any parent.”
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meeting continued page 3
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Pack can’t size up against Duke story. See page 6.
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Representatives from NC State Class Ring Collection will be at NC State Bookstores TODAY from 10am to 3pm
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