Technician
monday october
19 2009
Raleigh, North Carolina
Bottle ban causes recycling overflow on campus Bottle ban raises profile of recycling on campus, causes difficulties Siva Ramesh Staff Writer
Since the ban on plastic bottle disposal came into effect Oct. 1, questions have been raised about how people can incorporate recycling into their regular routines. The Department of Waste Reduction and Recycling was prepared for the transition, however. “We see this as an opportunity to further engage the campus in recycling, and now that [the ban] is a law, we hope that this law will help create more awareness [and] hopefully get more people involved in [recycling],” Analis Fulghum, the University’s education outreach coordinator for Waste Reduction and Recycling, said. Owing to the ban, the percentage of plastic bottles being recycled on campus has gone up. “We have seen a 20-percent increase in the number of cans and bottles [being put in recycling bins],” Fulghum said. Fulghum said she attributes this in-
crease to a greater number of recycling pickups, especially from residence halls, are the main recyclers of cans and bottles on campus. “It’s been really nice to get those calls saying ‘We’re overflowing our [recycling] bins,’ ” Fulghum said. As a result, the recycling office has had to reorganize its recycling pickup routes to handle the increased numbers of recyclables. A major concern has been the number of people who dispose of bottles in the trash instead of in recycling bins. Khalil Itani, a senior in biological science, has found it difficult to find conveniently located recycling bins on campus. “The blue bins, I look for them and I just can’t find them when I need them, literally,” Itani said. “When I take water bottles out of class, I just can’t find [recycling bins] in the general Brickyard area. I put them in my book bag and take them home.” Not all students are as conscientious as Itani, according to Fulghum. “Before the ban, especially in the walkway areas, we did see some contamination as far as bottles being thrown into the trash cans,” Fulghum said. The recycling office has embarked
Tim o’bren/Technician file photo
Bottles overflow from a bin in the SAS Mathematics and Statistics Building Sept. 24.
on an initiative to counter this. “We’re coming up with a five-year plan to be able to stop that by hopefully putting more walkway bins next to trash cans and even reducing the number of trash cans on campus,” Fulghum said. Although more recycling bins are needed across campus, the plan will mostly focus on the availability of walkway bins, as the recycling office
said they are a priority. However, the recent budget cuts have prevented most of the plans from being carried out. “We collect from more than 2,000 bins on campus, and we do most of it in-house with the staff that we have at Waste Reduction and Recycling, and that is composed of about 11 people to collect [recyclables] from the whole campus,” Fulghum said. “So as the
Policy change stresses first semester grades
Howling cow a hit
Students with GPAs less than 1.0 can be suspended as early as their first semester Annie Albright Staff Writer
Marisa Akers/Technician
Esra Cakir, a doctoral student in food science, scoops ice cream for patrons at the State Fair on Saturday. “It’s very fun. It’s my third year doing this,” said Cakir. The ice cream stand serves only Howling Cow ice cream, made by N.C. State, and is one of the fundraisers for the food science club.
Campbell law school relocates to Raleigh Move provides new opportunities for pre-law students Jessica Neville Staff Writer
After thirty-three years in the small town of Buies Creek, N.C., Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law has relocated to downtown Raleigh. The move gives Campbell students the chance to study law in the dynamic political environment of the state capitol, and gives N.C. State students a new option close to home. Thomas Harper, a third year Campbell law student who majored in political science at N.C. State, went to Campbell for his first two years, but said he has already found many advantages in the move to Raleigh. “It’s hard to replicate the small-town atmosphere of Buies Creek,” Harper said. “But it is amazing to walk around town and see North Carolina Supreme Court justices living and working in the capitol. It is great seeing how excited the legal community is to have us here.” Harper said in his moot court trial session at Campbell, two out of the three judges were from the N.C. Supreme Court. The N.C. Business Court also meets inside the law school. The Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law is encompassed in one
economy starts getting a little better, I think when we have the available resources we’ll be able to implement the plans that we have formulated, basically.” The fact that it is now illegal, not merely incorrect, to dispose of plastic bottles in the trash has resulted in complaints from some students, while others have appreciated the new policy. “Recycling plastic bottles is a great thing, but I’m not so sure that the law’s been approached in the best way by requiring everyone to recycle bottles,” Amanda English, a freshman in statistics, said. Although reactions to the bottle ban have been mixed, the position of the recycling office, according to Fulghum, is that whether students approve of the ban or not, it’s the law. “They are concerned, and they do want students to realize that this [ban] is a law and to answer any questions they might have, so we do offer this as a service,” Fulghum said. Fulghum said overall the University would like more information regarding the ban.
building located at 225 Hillsborough Street. Campbell Director of Development Britt Davis said the new building gives the law school about 40 percent more space than it had in Buies Creek. “The move was great for the law school from a business and visibility perspective,” Davis said. “It also allowed more space in Buies Creek for our new PA program to expand.” Last year the law school had 1525 applicants, a 25 percent increase over the previous year. 161 students were accepted, 21 of which came from N.C. State. Dean of Campbell law school Lewis Hutchison said he wants to dispel the myth that there is a preferred major or activity for acceptance to law school. “We look for students that were active and involved, took on leadership roles, and excelled in their chosen course of study,” Hutchison said. Harper said he also encourages students to pursue various degrees for acceptance into law school. “Undergraduate students think they need to shape their four years around the law school application, but they may turn out weaker in the end,” Harper said. “The admissions board can tell if you pandered to a certain image.” Harper said the transition from undergraduate school to law school was hard because of the significant
increase in coursework. “I didn’t have to try that much while earning my undergraduate degree,” Harper said. “In law school, you have to start studying for exams weeks ahead of time.” Hutchison said Campbell law school plans to partner with the Pre-Law Society. “We can offer lectures, speakers, and functions to give State students the chance to tour our facilities and learn more about our school,” Hutchison said. Campbell law school has a 90.7 percent passage rate on the BAR Exam, the test students with a completed Juris Doctorate must take in order to obtain a law license. This is the highest passage rate for test-takers in the state. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook produced by the United States Department of Labor, the employment of lawyers is expected to grow 11 percent from 2006 to 2016. The report also said job openings should continue to be competitive because of the large number of students graduating from law school each year. Hutchison said law students should not have difficulty finding a job if they work hard in school and care about what they are doing.
The University has made changes to its suspension policies that allow officials to suspend students after 12 credit hours of coursework if their GPA is below a 1.0. John Ambrose, interim dean of undergraduate programs, said this would be the primary change that would serve as a wake-up call to students who were considered at-risk. “Over the years the University has collected data which has shown that the success rate of these students is typically under 10 percent, around 7 percent,” Ambrose said. “This should serve as a wake-up call to students. These students will sit out for a semester so that when they come back it will be in a more efficient manner. This way they are not trying to work through a bad semester and rack up more and more debt in the process.” The difference, Ambrose said, between what had been happening and the new policy is that in the past students have continued for up to a year and a half before the suspension policy caught up with them. The other change is that students can now be suspended after the fall semester. “It really is to make the policy more uniform,” Ambrose said. “Why should spring semester be different from fall semester?” Ambrose said having the students take a semester off will be beneficial, giving them a chance to figure out what they did wrong and providing them with a second chance. “Students can return the next semester in a fairly easy process,” Ambrose said. “They can go to the Counseling Center where they meet once to evaluate where their first semester went wrong and most of the time it is adjusting and getting their life in balance.” Junior Carter, a sophomore in mathematics education, said the biggest problem he faced coming to college was adjustment. “The first semester can be difficult for most students. I know my first semester was below what I had expected and I attribute this to the transition from high school where teachers and our parents are looking over your shoulder to make sure things are getting done,” Carter said. “In col-
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lege, professors more often than not couldn’t care less whether you pass a course or not.” Ambrose said the time off also gives students the time to prioritize and recognize what being a student at the university level is about. “It can be very hard adjustment becoming a full-time student,” Ambrose said. ”College can be a whole lot of fun if you are not careful.” Carter said it is hard to adjust to the responsibilities of becoming a fulltime student. “It becomes easy to forget about homework and classes, causing grades to suffer and with all the extracurricular activities available school can be all but forgotten,” Carter said. “It is difficult to handle all that first semester and I know for me it was all but impossible.” Ambrose said he recommended students take advantage of the resources available to them. “There are a lot of services and there is a lot of help available. The best way to service needs is to talk to your adviser. One of the reasons for talking to your adviser is that the University has ways to correct bad grades,” Ambrose said. “One example is that first year students who have a D or F have the opportunity to repeat that course without penalty.” Brian Pate, a freshman in biochemistry, said he has found meetings with his adviser very helpful. “I had a few questions about a chemistry class I was going to register for next semester,” Pate said. “He made the time to meet with me before the advising sessions officially began and it cleared a lot of things up. It even counted as my official registration meeting.” Ambrose said he highly recommended students meet regularly with their advisers, especially if they are having trouble managing their classes.