Wolfpack Wellness: Checking In — Technician 11/10/22

WHAT YOU MISSED:

Minh-Thu Dinh wins 2022 Leader of the Pack

Minh-Thu Dinh, a fourth-year studying electrical engineering and a Goodnight Scholar, won 2022 Leader of the Pack and was recognized at the foot ball game on Saturday. Dihn will be working as a power systems engineer at Eaton Corporation after graduating. The Leader of the Pack annually rec ognizes a student for their contributions in service, leadership and scholarship during Red and White Week.

SOURCE: NC STATE INSTAGRAM

North Carolina tree to be US Capitol Christmas Tree

A North Carolina tree was selected to be the official 2022 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree. The tree, nicknamed “Ruby the red spruce,” is a 78-foot red spruce from North Caro lina’s Pisgah National Forest. North Carolina is a large producer of Christmas trees; the state has provided the White House with Christmas trees 14 times, more than any other state.

SOURCE: THE NEWS & OBSERVER

Man eats 40 rotisserie chickens in 40 days

Now referred to as the Philadelphia Chicken Man, Alexander Tominsky ate 40 rotisserie chickens in 40 days and completed the journey on Sunday, Nov. 6. Philadelphia lost both the World Series and the Major League Soccer Cup the day before, but dozens gath ered to watch Tominsky eat his final chicken on an abandoned pier on the Delaware River.

SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES

Winning Powerball ticket worth $2 billion won in California

The winning ticket for the $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot was sold in Altadena, California at Joe’s Service Center. The drawing took place in Tal lahassee, Florida, and the winning numbers were 10-33-41-47-56-Power 10. According to NPR, the jackpot was originally expected to be $1.9 billion but jumped to $2.04 billion by the time of the drawing.

SOURCE: NPR

THE RADAR

Events to keep an eye on for the week of Nov. 10

WINDHOVER OPEN MIC

Thursday, Nov. 10, 6-8 p.m.

CALDWELL LOUNGE Free

Show up ready for a night of talented writers and musicians showcasing their work. Light refreshments will be provided.

HIGHER EDUCATION LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PANEL DISCUSSION

Thursday, Nov. 10, 7-8:30 p.m.

TALLEY STUDENT UNION Free

Join Student Government for a panel discussion on the land acknowledge ment movement in higher education as well as advocacy and experiences of Native students.

KWANZAA KICKOFF FEATURING GREENSBORO KWANZAA COLLECTIVE

Friday, Nov. 11, 6-7 p.m.

TALLEY STUDENT UNION, STUDENT INVOLVEMENT SUITE Free

Get Kwanzaa celebrations started off right with dancing, singing and refreshments to explore, appreciate and celebrate Blackness.

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH CULTURAL SHOWCASE

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 6-7:30 p.m.

WITHERSPOON CINEMA Free

Join Multicultural Student Affairs in celebrating Native American Heritage Month with a showcase of dancing, drumming and storytelling.

Retrospective Review: Jim Yocum provides perspective on Student Senate bill from ‘80s

Mariana Fabian Opinion Editor

This is the fourth of an ongoing series which seeks to analyze Techni cian as a publication and its history in LGBTQ activism.

Following another thread from the last article in this series, the Technician archives led me to an article concerning Jim Yocum and Bob Hoy.

Yocum attended NC State from 1979 to 1984 and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. He now works in software engineering, more specifically, medical software. Yocum returned to NC State as a featured speaker for the opening of a new engineering building in 2010.

Yocum is also a former Student Body Pre sident who was interviewed by Technician during his term regarding several issues in cluding another former student, Bob Hoy, who was refused funding from Student Se nate for a Gay Awareness Week bill at the time. Hoy and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance had requested $1,400.

In the Feb. 10, 1982 article in Technician, Yocum and Hoy discuss the denial of the funding, their quotes being put together as a conversation. However, Yocum said even though the article frames it as this back-and-forth conversation, they were both interviewed separately. Yocum said he had been asked more questions about procedures, funding and why the bill was not funded by Student Senate.

“For student activities, broadly speaking, these funds went into the Student Govern ment Association and then became the funds of which the Student Senate pro portioned monies to student groups when they came and asked,” Yocum said. “Most of these groups were asking for 200 bucks, 300 bucks per semester for something, whether it’s an activity or some sort of social fund or something like that for their own organiza tion to supplement their own fundraising activities. In my recollection, $1,400 was a large request at the time.”

Yocum also said during this time, to his knowledge, the organization contained less than 50 people. This is corroborated by Technician’s reporting: “State’s Gay community which consisted of 21 active members.” Yocum also said it was not a time when many people were out or could be out.

“[People] weren’t out; that was just the way things were in North Carolina in the ‘70s,” Yocum said. “The first time I met folks who were out who were my age was at NC State. … However, my feeling was that this was a student organization. It was a charter student organization. It should have access to the same funds for their own activities,

whatever they were, they just had to make their pitch, their proposed legislation to fi nance committee.”

According to the article and Yocum, the Gay Awareness Week bill lost due to Hoy’s personality, not the LGBTQ aspect of the bill.

“I think folks really fixated on him as a personality,” Yocum said. “That was my feeling, that it just lost the vote on the floor because of who the spokesperson was. Not because of anything [in particular]. No body came up and said much against the bill. Other than a number of folks said it’s a lot. A few folks suggested, ‘Hey, maybe we’ll take it down to a midpoint, $700 or $500 or something like that, something in the middle below 1000,’ putting it in order with the other groups. But then when the vote came out, it was pretty lopsided.”

In the Technician article, Yocum and Hoy differed in opinion, but Yocum is still quoted by Technician to have supported the gay community on campus at the time. Yocum is quoted saying, “I think a lot of people on campus are unaware that the people they come into contact with are gay. The students are not aware that a person’s sexual preference makes little difference in

a person’s worth.”

Yocum mentioned his support of the Gay Awareness Week Bill, despite it not winning the Student Senate vote, was not met with any real criticism or political issues for him.

“It seemed like a non-event back then,” Yocum said. “It had to be later that all this stuff about, ‘They’re recruiting or they’re converting’ whatever that sort of narrative about the LGBTQ+ community. … That community just never seemed to me, in my personal experience, to be that, ‘I’m going to be recruiting your children’; those sorts of narratives just never rang true to me.”

Yocum also said the Gay and Lesbian Al liance did eventually have their awareness week and were able to set up a booth as well. Unfortunately, some folks in ski masks did come up and turn over the table, according to Yocum.

Yocum also provided some context re garding the climate for LGBTQ students during his time as a student, specifically concerning the start of the HIV/AIDS crisis. He said he felt many of his friends who were out at this time thought that this crisis was far enough away from them since the ma jority of the cases were coming from San Francisco and New York City. Yocum also

said the media coverage was pretty sensa tionalizing as well.

“It was probably like seven or eight years ago, but I found out that some of those people had passed away; it was pretty so bering,” Yocum said. “That’s just my im pression, and I have to say it’s secondhand. It’s just from what folks told me in that contemporary setting back then.”

Similarly, Yocum said the AIDS/HIV epidemic was likely far and away from the Technician staff at the time, as there wasn’t really local North Carolina coverage at all. He said journalistic coverage on the epide mic was mostly done through large, natio nal media outlets, but even then, he said it was iffy for them to talk about it all.

“Long story is that I don’t think [Techni cian] were any better or worse than other media in covering the topics,” Yocum said. “I’m pretty sure that this coverage was the anomaly. The coverage of this bill was pro bably the only one or two stories that they did about the group.”

If you have any information or a potential feature for this retrospective series, please contact the news editor at technician-news@ ncsu.edu.

COURTESY OF JIM YOCUM

Students gather for abortion rights demonstration

Kate Denning Correspondent

Students gathered in Stafford Commons Sunday morning for a demonstration in favor of abortion rights. The event was planned and co-sponsored by student organizations Progressive Students Task Force and Planned Parenthood Generation Action.

The Reproductive Rights March opened with a performance from NC State a cappella group Ladies in Red then allowed time for attendees to view tables set up by NextGen America and local politicians such as Joshua Bradley and Jennifer Truman.

Progressive Student Task Force president and founder Rose Amburose, a second-year studying philosophy, said the demonstra tion was about getting people involved in activism.

“Aside from just the demonstration, we want to help get people aware of what the stakes really are and get people really excited and interested in reproductive healthcare ac tivism, and just activism in general, to the point where they engage in it further,” Am burose said. “Our generation is probably one of the most politically apathetic generations ever, and I totally understand that there have been so many awful things that have hap pened during our lifetime, but we have to be the thread that holds democracy together.”

Because of the midterm elections taking place Nov. 8, Amburose said it was crucial for the march to take place in the days before.

“Abortion is on the ballot,” Amburose said. “You might not see it on the ballot when you look at it, but abortion is definitely on the ballot now more than ever. We are seeing

more Democratic candidates have some sort of pro-birth stance and more and more Re publican politicians take even more extreme stances on abortion. Views are changing to very extreme sides of the political spectrum, so it’s really crucial that we elect truly pro gressive candidates who are going to fight for these causes because abortion rights are human rights.”

Soon after the beginning of the event, counter protesters arrived with signs wield ing slogans like “Pray To End Abortion.”

Lydia Taylor, a third-year at Campbell University and fellow for Students for Life of America, spoke for the anti-abortion protestors saying, “Students for Life works to counter events and provide pregnancy resources for women, so anytime we see an

event we try to be there and stand for life and have peaceful conversations.”

Taylor said the organization wanted to dismantle the stereotype that anti-abortion activists harass women or don’t care about those seeking abortion access.

“We’re actually here because we care about women,” Taylor said. “We think abortion hurts women.”

Attendee of the Reproductive Rights March Dana Palmer, a fourth-year study ing animal science, said the counter protest ers were welcome to be there as long as they didn’t cause problems.

“As long as they’re not doing anything to actively harm people, as we were told not to, it’s OK,” Palmer said. “Of course no one should be trying to physically harm each

other, that’s not going to get us anywhere. They have their reasons, even though some of them may not make sense.”

The demonstration later consisted of a performance from NC State’s DanceLife, as well as speeches from NC State professor Dr. Karey Harwood, North Carolina State Sen. Natalie Murdock and Rep. Deborah Ross.

Harwood issued a call to action to attend ees in wake of the midterm elections.

“In North Carolina, as of today, abortion is legal up to 20 weeks,” Harwood said. “If conservative candidates win just a few more seats in this Tuesday’s election, North Caro lina is on track to follow in the footsteps of states like Tennessee, where there is essen tially a total ban. The fight to reclaim what we have lost is just getting started. I urge you to get involved, to learn more and most im portantly, to vote.”

In her speech, Murdock said she hopes to preserve abortion rights through her position on the state Senate.

“Every birthing person deserves access to quality, affordable reproductive healthcare, which includes safe and respectful mater nal care,” Murdock said. “That’s what our laws should be focused on. We must pass legislation that directly aims to address ra cial disparities and inequality in maternal healthcare. These are not radical propos als. These are policies that will give women and children the resources that they need to survive.”

The event concluded with a march through central campus with attendees carrying signs. The anti-abortion protesters marched behind the group with megaphones and signs of their own.

Poe Hall namesake commemorates a pro-segregationist

Gallimore Correspondent

Multiple buildings on NC State’s cam pus are named after people with contro versial pasts, and Poe Hall on Stinson Drive is no exception.

According to Brick Layers, a project dedicated to exploring the histories of NC State buildings and structures, Poe Hall was dedicated to Clarence Hamilton Poe, an editor for the Progressive Farmer, a weekly newspaper, and a member of the Board of Trustees Executive Committee for NC State in 1971. Much of his work published in the Progressive Farmer reflected strong racist ideals and was framed around empowering the white farmer.

Jacob Schoen, a second-year studying paper science engineering, said the nega tive ideologies of namesakes should be acknowledged regardless of the con

COURTESY OF CARYS ROBERSON

CONNOR SMITH/TECHNICIAN

Poe Hall sits on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Poe Hall houses the College of Education and psychology.

Gavin

Technician’s tips for budgeting and saving money as a college student

Having a hard time saving money? Our editors have you covered. Here are eight tips for how to budget and save money as a college student.

Abigail Ali, News Editor

One way I have learned to save money as a college student is by setting money aside to pre pare for moments I want to splurge. Every time I get paid, I put a small amount of that money into a reserves account to be used on fun stuff like traveling and concerts in the future. Over time, the money I set aside adds up, and by the time I’m ready to splurge on something fun, I have enough money saved up to keep me from worrying about overspending and screwing up next month’s rent payments. Doing this has saved me so much financial stress and has al lowed me to say yes to being a part of so many exciting things I probably wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

Mariana Fabian, Opinion Editor

Even though I love eating out, the costs some times don’t match my budget. One way I allow myself to eat out and splurge is to set how many times a week I can eat out and how many times I’ll make dinner and lunches at home. Having a commuter meal plan is also incredibly helpful to cover some lunch or snack expenses. Obvi ously, this is not accessible for all, so my plan consists of eating out one to two times a week, so plan accordingly!

Ellie Bruno, Design Editor

As someone who just started buying their own groceries and not relying on the dining halls, I’ve had to learn the hard way that try ing to feed yourself is incredibly expensive at times. It never sounds glamorous, but buying generic store-brand groceries has saved me a large chunk of money. Food Lion has a great variety of generic goods — from coffee creamer

to canned food — that make it easy to get the groceries you need at prices that fit your budget. I also recommend joining the discount clubs different grocery stores offer; they’ve come in handy several times in my own personal ex perience!

Heidi Reid, Assistant News Editor

One way I’ve learned to save money is to make food instead of eating out. Although it can be a little boring, learning how to cook at home and buying snacks to take to class is sig nificantly less expensive. If you are just cooking for yourself, I highly recommend shopping at Trader Joe’s. Their portions are small so your groceries won’t go bad before you can eat it all. Another way you can save money is buying

clothes secondhand. There are tons of Face book pages you can join that other students sell their clothes on, as well as clothing swaps and garage sales!

Myra Bari, Culture Editor

If you’ve ever attempted to buy any sort of good or produce near campus, you know how inconsistent the prices are to your local home town grocery store (especially with inflation). The Target and CVS on Hillsborough Street both have crazy prices, never price match and should be avoided at all costs (unless you have an emergency). I’d recommend stocking up on the essentials once or twice a month at a wholesale retailer like BJs or Costco, or even your local Walmart.

Emily Vespa, Assistant News Editor

Make sure to set a budget that considers your lifestyle and habits. When I first tried to set my budget, I didn’t allow any room for spending money on things I enjoy, such as getting food with friends. I ended up spending money and not meeting my budgeting goals, which was stressful. I decided to change my budget to prioritize spending on necessities first but ac commodate for spending a small, reasonable amount of money on fun activities, and this helped me stay on track with my spending.

Elyse Boldizar, Assistant Opinion Editor

Setting a saving goal each month is a great way to stay motivated about saving money. Sometimes when budgeting, it’s easy to focus more on how you spend your money and forget to set a target of what you want to save. Starting with this goal has really helped me and is a great way to stay on track without getting distracted by spending. Additionally, when budgeting, it’s helpful to estimate how much you’ll likely make that month and use percentages to categorize your spending. In college, our income can be a little scattered so it’s helpful to plan ahead.

Cameron Rhinehardt, Brand Manager

One of the biggest ways to save money as a student is through budgeting food. If you have a meal plan, make sure to utilize it fully to get the most out of it and save money on buying groceries. There are a lot of places on campus to buy separate items with dining dollars if you don’t want to only eat at the campus restaurants. Another way to save money is through using the campus transportation systems rather than paying for parking every day at a parking deck or spending money on gas. The Wolfline stretches pretty far and can definitely be convenient for getting around on campus for free.

tributions they may have made to the University.

“I feel that even though a namesake may have made contributions, the darker parts of their background should not be overlooked at the same time,” Schoen said.

While he was editor for the Progres sive Farmer, Poe wrote an article titled “Which is the Handicapped Race?” In it, he argued that African Americans did not offer any true contributions to the world, and their existence as a whole was an impediment to the white farmer.

Poe’s racist beliefs also stretched into the realm of Black farmers owning land.

He believed no one should own land and that it belonged to their white counter parts, pushing for segregation in rural parts of North Carolina. As a result, some white farmers across the state at tempted to push Black farmers off of their land even though they were right ful owners. According to the Brick Layers research, multiple individuals were killed as a result.

More information about other build ings’ namesakes question whether or not Poe’s legacy should continue to be associ ated with the building. In 2020, Josephus Daniel’s name was removed from what is now 111 Lampe Drive for similar reasons.

Jordan Scott, an assistant archivist for the Onondaga Historical Association, said it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Poe Hall.

“We created this information for NC

State and what they decide to do with it will become a reflection of NC State,” Scott said.

According to the Brick Layers website, Poe served as a member of the North Carolina Child Labor Committee, which developed guidelines for putting chil dren in schools instead of textile mills. While on the Board of Trustees Commit tee, he approved facets of the campus’ appearance and hiring faculty.

According to Scott, who helped lead research for the Brick Layers article on Poe, his work was only meant to benefit white people despite his contributions to ending child labor.

“It’s tricky,” Scott said. “You can make a good argument to say that his measures were just for white people.”

John Buchanan, a second-year study ing computer engineering, has a class in

Poe Hall but was unaware of Poe’s past. Buchanan said having buildings named after controversial historical figures can result in a bad image for the University.

“I honestly had no idea Poe Hall was named after a racist,” Buchanan said. “I feel like as we reform and work towards a more diverse and inclusive commu nity, we should also work towards nam ing buildings who better represent our goals.”

According to Scott, students should at least be made aware of Poe and the ideologies he supported if the building’s name stays the same, but renaming it is also an option.

“If his name is to remain on the build ing, there needs to be context of what kind of person he was,” Scott said. “I’m sure there are other names that the Uni versity could replace Poe’s with.”

GRAPHIC BY ANN SALMAN/TECHNICIAN

DUELING COLUMNS

Affirmative action needs sustainable reform to address economic inequality

Affirmative action is at risk — here’s why we should keep it

in the bottom 20%.

Koen Rodabaugh Correspondent

Race-conscious admis sions through affirmative action have serious cracks — first in 1978 when the Supreme Court changed affirmative action from a form of reparations to a diversity-seeking endeavor, and today with the Supreme Court cases involving UNCChapel Hill and Harvard. How we are institut ing reparations is not healthy, popular or legally sustainable.

I will not advocate for the complete and im mediate abolishment of race-conscious admis sions, as race still plays an important role today. However, modern affirmative action policies still benefit the wealthy disproportionately and do not provide the long-term cure to systemic racism it was intended to.

Affirmative action needs a Marxist rethink ing that holistically incorporates socioeconom ic status as a driver of economic disparagement in tandem with race-conscious admissions.

First and foremost, the preferences for leg acy and dean’s interest list students as well as student athletes and children of faculty are shockingly profound. Among white admits at Harvard, one study found 43% are from this group. Even more shockingly, the study estimated “roughly three quarters … would have been rejected if they had been treated as” normal students.

The removal of this preference would be the first step towards more socioeconomic consid eration as this would shift the school’s racial composition drastically.

Affirmative action has been used as a means of fostering diversity on campus rather than reparations. However, affirmative action’s goals of redressing racial discrimination to provide more equitable opportunities have still dispro portionately gone to the wealthy.

If we are to address the harms done to minor ities, most of which is through economic means such as Jim Crow laws, redlining and residential racism, we must heal economic wounds. Affir mative action without socioeconomic consid eration allows for a select group of minorities, especially first- and second-generation immi grants, to succeed over those of the same race.

In the top 28 selective colleges in the country, about 41% of Black students identified as nonnative, while only comprising 27% of applicants and 13% of the general population. Many stud ies continue to show the preference given to im migrants over native-born African Americans.

Furthermore, 67% of Harvard students are in the top 20% of income percentiles, with only 4.5% coming from the bottom 20%. The num bers are not much better for UNC, which has 60% of students in the top 20% and only 3.8%

Affirmative action is not intended, nor should it be seen, as a long-term admissions policy. Its creation was to resolve inequality in education. W.E.B. Du Bois’ theory of the talented tenth of all races leading their com munities to greatness was predicated on the premise that all people will get equal opportu nities to reach higher education as he himself did. Without consideration of socioeconomic status, this goal cannot be accomplished.

Race-conscious admissions can cause ra cial discrimination against other disparaged minorities. Especially in selective universities where academic achievement is so vital, the administration of diversity can be difficult.

In the case before the court this term, Har vard allegedly examined personality traits among applicants. An internal investigation found that Asian students performed dispro portionately lower than all other races. In ad missions programs that judged only academic success, Asians would have comprised 43% of the student body. With the personality assess ments, they comprised 19%.

The result is an admissions barrier that ac tively rejects more Asians based on arbitrary traits to keep the school’s brand of “diversity.” This only seeks to suppress the academic ex cellence of a quite marginalized community — you’ll recall the Stop AAPI Hate movement shined a light on widespread anti-Asian senti ments in 2021. Diversity, however valuable it is, cannot be the basis for outright discrimination.

From a legal perspective, affirmative action is difficult to defend. The essential laws consid ered when evaluating affirmative action — the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Equal Rights Act of 1964 — outline how race should be treated in institutions funded by the federal government. These laws, which are the backbone of all civil rights movements in the United States are inherently “colorblind” laws, while affirmative action is explicitly looking at color.

As Justice Sandra Day O’Conner stated in Grutter v. Bollinger, “The Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the in terest approved today.” That was in 2003. Like it or not, there is a statute of limitations, and socioeconomic status is the only way to salvage and reform affirmative action to prepare for that statute to run out.

Diversity is a valuable element of a healthy university structure, contributing to innova tions in all areas of knowledge. Four-year uni versities like NC State and UNC are the best places for disenfranchised students to acquire degrees that would help them rise in economic status.

But, little consideration for class status can

Affirmative action has been shown time and time again to improve diversity. Despite this, polls show re luctance to use race in ad missions.

First of all, non race-based alternatives to affirmative action have been shown to fall flat. One popular sugges tion is to create a version of affirmative action based on socioeconomic status, but a literature review of studies comparing class-based and race-based affirmative action plans found that race-based programs are significantly more effective, and that switching to a class-based system could cut diversity in half at top in stitutions.

Patrick Mays Correspondent

These problems present themselves in the data too. A study of 1.1 million students found that race is the most important determiner of SAT scores. Although socioeconomic status also has a significant effect, there are major score differences based on race even among people with the same socioeconomic back ground. What can explain this but specifically race-based discrimination in the education system?

This data also presents a disadvantage in its own right. Even with the growth in test-op tional policies, some students will always have standardized test scores as a convincing extra credential to include on their resume.

The review also concluded that there doesn’t have to be a tradeoff between race- and classconscious programs. In fact, schools with race-conscious programs are significantly more likely to take socioeconomic status into account in admissions, and these programs can be expanded if need be.

University of California schools eliminated affirmative action around 20 years ago, and have never been able to recover the level of di versity they had under the program. This isn’t for lack of trying: they significantly expanded programs for low income students and still weren’t able to get a student body that was even close to representative of the state’s population.

But why is this? While minorities face many problems related to wealth inequality, racespecific discrimination is pervasive across classes.

One report notes racialized wealth dispari ties, but also isolates several other factors that contribute to the education gap. One of these is ongoing residential segregation, which com bines with school districting to push minori ties of a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds into under-resourced schools.

Another is implicit biases on the part of teachers and administrators. These biases significantly affect teachers’ evaluations of students. For example, even when Black and white students objectively performed at the same level, Black students were 40% less likely than white students to be placed in algebra. This phenomenon starts as early as kindergar ten, where teachers reviewed the competency of white and Black students differently, even when they objectively performed equally well. These biases also extend to discipline. The study noted that Black students were more likely to be suspended for subjective reasons than white students. Again, this can start as early as in preschool.

lead to an elitist class that doesn’t truly help them. Socioeconomic status must be much more heavily considered to cure the effect of

It’s pretty clear that there are educational roadblocks that uniquely affect racial mi norities, and that affirmative action is the best remedy we’ve found so far in college admis sions. Yet, there are a few counter-arguments to consider.

One is Asian discrimination. This is a com mon argument, but it tends to misconstrue any discrimination against Asian-Americans in admissions as the fault of affirmative ac tion. By nature, affirmative action only boosts applicants with disadvantaged backgrounds rather than actively adding negative elements or perceptions to the resumes of other appli cants. The discrimination critics of affirma tive action refer to is actually reflective of the implicit biases present in a deeply subjective admissions system.

This same anti-Asian bias existed even more extensively before affirmative action, when white applicants were routinely arbitrarily pre ferred over Asian ones. The ongoing problem of discrimination in a subjective admissions process can only be improved by defending the precedent set by affirmative action, which can always be expanded to counteract new forms of race-based bias that come to light in the data.

There’s also the argument that affirmative action isn’t politically feasible. Setting aside the point that it’s survived more than 40 years of court challenges, political feasibility isn’t a reason to scrap the policy and implement an alternative before we absolutely have to. If court doctrines like race-neutrality don’t allow the best policymaking, we should change those doctrines, not the policy. As long as we con clude that affirmative action is the best way forward, we should fight to defend it.

While it may be hard to swallow the idea that so many race-based barriers still exist in the educational system, the evidence is clear. Af firmative action doesn’t unfairly benefit people based on race — it pulls them back to a more equal footing and offers them hope for a bet ter future.

economic racial discrimination so that people from all walks of life have the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty.

Lucy

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Company

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Wylie

Among the Stars

Avery Szakacs, staff cartoonist

A second-year studying art and design

Test Tension

Pearl Knight, staff cartoonist

A fourth-year studying art and design

Osborne, staff cartoonist

second-year studying art and design

Season’s Pickin’s Pt. 2

Phu, staff cartoonist

second-year studying art and design

The Little Things Sophie Gabriel, staff cartoonist

A second-year studying art and design

It’s time to improve bike safety on campus

Lauren Richards Staff Columnist

If there is one thing I find as stressful as taking an exam, it’s navigating around campus. When ever I’m riding my electric scooter, I face no shortage of obstacles — from other students to construction.

In many ways, I feel like a character in a video game whose main objective is to reach class on time and in one piece.

Whether you walk or use another form of transportation, chances are you’ve been in an accident or close to being in one. How ever, no student should fear for or even risk their safety when going to class. With such a large campus that only seems to be growing, it’s vastly important that students have the comfort of knowing their commute will be hazard free.

Overall, NC State is on the right track when it comes to bike accessibility on cam pus. Earlier this year, it was deemed a sil ver level bicycle-friendly university, which holds up for the most part. Bike paths and crosswalks are clearly marked, and there are several amenities for cyclists to utilize.

Yet, the system currently in place is no where near where it needs to be. Despite the several resources and tools available, the current bike path layout doesn’t optimize protection for students.

Of the places that endanger student rid ers, the entrances of the University where barrier gate arms regulate the flow of traf fic, pose some of the greatest risks. While these areas can be avoided for another route, they’re marked as paths bikers can take. In some cases, they provide the most direct path to class.

The problem with the arms is they’re often too long for bikes and scooters to comfort ably pass through. In my — and I’m sure many of our — experiences, going around these barriers can be really stressful, as one wrong move can send you flying off your vehicle. While I’ve been fortunate enough to only suffer a few close calls, I know people who have ended up battered and scarred from attempting to pass.

Another potentially dangerous problem is the presence of shared bike lanes, or “shar rows,” on campus. For both cyclists and drivers, riding amongst the flow of traffic is a less than ideal experience. For one, shar

rows can be confusing to navigate, as rules of passing and safe driving can be murky in these situations. In addition, sharrows can greatly disrupt the flow of traffic and may even increase the severity of injury when an accident occurs.

With that being said, it’s important that bikers and other riders be responsible when traveling around campus. While cars can be potentially life-threatening, not taking precautionary measures can increase your chances of getting into an accident. When ever you ride on the road, try to make a habit of following the road laws, yielding to pedestrians and being aware of your sur roundings.

Drivers and cyclists aren’t the only ones who have an obligation to mitigate harm on the road — so do pedestrians. As college students, we all have our busy lives to take care of, and none of us wants to be late for class. However, if you’re a pedestrian who doesn’t follow road laws, you’re putting both yourself and others at risk. In order to pro tect everyone, we should all use crosswalks and only cross when permitted.

Moving forward, it’s imperative that NC State continues to improve biking condi

tions on campus. As it currently stands, the bike path layout poses real dangers to stu dents who just want to travel safely to and from their classes. Luckily, some of these dangers can be easily mitigated.

One improvement that can be made is shortening the barricade beams stationed at the entrances to the University. Arms don’t have to be shortened enough to where cars can easily slide by, but they should be reduced enough so cyclists and scooters can fit.

NC State should also consider adding bike lanes. This way, students riding vehicles other than cars can have their own space on the road, increasing the safety of travel for everyone. With a new Physical Master Plan in the works, this can be one of the many changes implemented to improve the quality of campus.

I love many things about riding my scooter around campus, from the way the wind feels in my hair to the speeds I can reach. Yet, concerns about safety always seem to hinder mine, and many others, enjoyment. In order to create a positive experience for all riders, NC State must ensure students are protected on the road, and thus, in their daily lives.

P A C K R E AD Y

Band Moving Boxes brings mathy midwest pop-punk to music scene

Matthew Burkhart Staff Writer

Moving Boxes, a new Raleigh/Charlottebased math rock band, are establishing themselves as a band dedicated to the sur rounding communities with a unique sound that stems from the creative involvement from all members.

The band was conceived when JT Sutek, a first-year studying industrial design, wrote a few songs in January that did not fit the style of his Charlotte-based metalcore band, For ever We Roam, which he plays the guitar for.

The band started as a duo after Sutek contacted Sophie Biancofiore, a student at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, who Sutek met as staff at a music school. The two recorded the songs Sutek had written previously, titled “Dakota” and “I Don’t Want to Fall in Love.” Here, Bian cofiore was established as the lead vocalist and lyricist for the band.

After playing a few live shows, Biancofiore began to take up the bass guitar and the duo decided they could use a drummer. Sutek reached out to Noah Santos from Davidson, North Carolina, who Sutek had previously played in a band with, to play drums for their live shows. After playing a few shows, Sutek and Biancofiore offered Santos full membership in the band.

After less than a year, Moving Boxes has already released two singles, a six-song EP and is currently in the process of writing and recording a self-titled album.

Despite Sutek residing over a hundred miles away from the rest of the band, the band credits its longevity to their deep friendships and the development of a system that keeps the band active and constantly writing new music. The band has scheduled calls every week and organized an advanced Google Drive system to keep track of their

ideas.

Biancofiore said the band’s motivation to keep writing music stems from the creative involvement of each member of the band.

“I think just coming off the bat when we started playing shows, we already had like eight or nine [songs] that we either wrote together or separately,” Biancofiore said. “Just having three different people putting in that creative process, everything really helped move along swiftly.”

Moving Boxes describe their sound as “mathy midwest pop-punky whatevercore,” on their Instagram page.

Sutek said the contrast between the in strumental and lyrical elements of Moving Boxes create a satisfyingly relatable appeal to their listeners.

“I think it’s a combination of really fun music that people can dance to with really sad lyrics that they can relate to,” Sutek said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m dancing, but I think I’m also crying and I don’t know why, but this is fun and helps me not be sad.’”

Santos said the band’s unique sound stems from the nature of how involved each mem ber is in the creative process, highlighting the individual styles of each member.

“I think we have a kind of an interesting sound because I have a background in grun ge music, like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, that kind of ‘90s rock, and JT has always been really into metal, and then Sophie is like the main character of an indie film,” Santos said. “So we all come together and we’re all making music that isn’t our initial background in music.”

Sutek said the group named themselves after band With Confidence’s song “Mov ing Boxes” as the idea of moving boxes is intriguing because they present questions as to where one is moving from or what could be in the boxes. The band’s name took on a

deeper meaning as the title of its self-titled song, which Sutek came up with when he found a box of mementos from an older rela tionship while packing to leave for NC State.

“It just brought up a lot of emotions and was like, ‘I need to write a song about this or else I think I might just cry,’” Sutek said. “The lyric just popped in my head like ‘packed three years of our life in moving boxes,’ and it felt so just fitting for how the band came about. What we wanted to be the instrumental to the song is very much the direction we’re going and what we want to be as a band. So it felt right to make that the self-titled song, everything just kind of fell into place for that.”

The band said the biggest venue it’s played at so far was Packapalooza, which Sutek said he signed his two bands up for during ori entation, not expecting Moving Boxes to be invited to play for the event.

Biancofiore said she was surprised by the

number of people who stopped to watch the band and purchase merchandise during their Packapalooza performance.

“We totally sold out of everything that we brought and a lot of the people that were there watching us, they were just random people they didn’t know us,” Biancofiore said. “It was really just gratifying and kind of humbling.”

Looking to the future, Moving Boxes plans to release their self-titled album in the coming months and perform for a few venues in Raleigh and Charlotte.

Moving Boxes will perform in Charlotte at the Spoke Easy on Dec. 3 in Raleigh alongside Blankstate and I and the Lad, at Pour House on Dec. 20, and at Local 506 with Blankstate and The Sour on Jan. 27. More information about future shows can be found on the band’s Instagram.

‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’: the enjoyable parody biopic we needed

Jameson Wolf Assistant Culture Editor

“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” directed by Eric Appel and starring Daniel Radcliffe as Alfred Yankovic, serves as an answer to the influx of musician biopics over the past several years. From “Rocketman” and “Bo hemian Rhapsody” to more recently “Elvis” and “Moonage Daydream,” all of these films delve into the fraught relationships and drug abuse so often accompanying fame.

Complete with a flash-forward opening on an operating table and dramatic voiceover narration, “Weird” makes tropes of these topics through a faux-narcissistic extravaganza odyssey that gives us very little insight into the parody singer’s past while simultaneously telling us everything we already knew about Weird Al.

Yankovic’s career is an anomaly in its mainstream successful existence for near ly 40 years. He’s managed to stay clear of

drama or scandal in his personal life, quietly becoming a husband and father while keep ing his nose clean and continuing to write spoof lyrics to other people’s songs.

Based on a fake trailer Appel made for Funny or Die in 2013, the film fabricates a tortured past for the artist complete with an unsupportive and abusive father, alcohol ism, a tryst with Madonna and the Colom bian drug cartel.

The overt absurdism of the plot and over-

the-top, unhinged acting from Toby Huss (Nick Yankovic, Al’s father) and Evan Ra chel Wood (Madonna) allowed for a spoof of previous musical biopics without inap propriately making light of the topics ad dressed, in many ways fully in line with the goofy comedy style we see in Yankovic’s music.

COURTESY OF ALAURA GRACE CICHOCKI

The Backseat Lovers’ new album

‘Waiting to Spill’ shows potential

Reid Assistant News Editor

The Backseat Lovers released their sophomore album, “Waiting to Spill” on Oct. 28. The band released their first album, “When We Were Friends” in 2019 with massive success, and has since performed at NC State during Wolfstock in 2022. Their fan base has grown rapidly, and they went from playing small sets to performing with artists such as Jack White and The Killers in just a few years.

The band set the bar high with the quality of their freshman album, but “Waiting to Spill” fails to achieve this standard. Instead of continu ing the love story of “When We Were Friends,” “Waiting to Spill” expresses the struggles of growing older. The album experimented with a lot of new elements for a band still so early in their career, and leans toward a folk rock sound over their previously favored indie rock style.

When first listening to the band’s freshman album, there are multiple tracks that strike the listener immediately upon hearing them be tween both lyrics and instrumentals. Each song was different and direct. It featured extremely niche but somehow relatable lyrics broken up by well-timed riffs, making songs about depressing situations still enjoyable to listen to. Fans who expected the same experience out of “Waiting to Spill” were likely disappointed.

“Waiting to Spill” requires multiple listens to make sense and differentiate between the songs, and each listen drags on due to the consistently slow pace of the entire album. The band em braced a more acoustic sound, utilizing the piano rather than the electric guitar fans thoroughly enjoyed in their previous music. The majority of the lyrics in the album are phenomenally written, but seem to drag on due to the pace of the whole album.

Slow paced ballads have their place, as the Backseat Lov ers proved with “Dugout” and “Sinking Ship” on their last album, but a little variety in tempo throughout the album and even during individual tracks would have done the

project well.

The lack of electric guitar is easily the most disappointing trait of the entire album. The long riffs are one of the most well-loved aspects of their previous music, but they only included a riff in one track, “Close Your Eyes,” and almost no electric guitar at all throughout the rest of the album. Josh Harmon and Jonas Swanson are both fantastic guitar players, and the band should have continued to prioritize

utilizing their best talents.

“Waiting to Spill” included sound effects such as the sound of an airplane taking off in “Sil houette” and a car alarm in “Follow the Sound,” which was a new avenue for The Backseat Lov ers. While the sounds of the band recording the album, such as finger squeaks and the band members talking, added a kind of rawness to the album, these other artificial sounds felt juvenile and out of place.

Regardless, there are still several enjoyable tracks on “Waiting to Spill,” the first of which being “Close Your Eyes.” The band released this track as a single on Sept. 16, correctly predicting it would be one of the more popular tracks from their album. This track is one of the few that feels correctly paced, and the guitar and bass are loud and prominent. The lyrics highlight the theme of the album, specifically reminiscing on moving away from one’s childhood home.

“And the dream is over/ Packed away/ My life moving slower/ Oh I’d hate to get any older,” Harmon sings.

“Words I Used” is beautifully written and shows a variety of sounds in a single track. The track begins soft-toned and slow, and has the classic escalation of many of the band’s songs. Instead of utilizing guitar to accomplish this, they do so with an upbeat piano interlude. The vocals begin quietly and lack depth, and are built along with the instrumentals to help develop the arc of the track. “Words I Used” is by far the best track on the album, reflecting a combination of their new acoustic instrumental with their classic pace and vocals.

Harmon finishes the track with a full vocal range, singing “I can’t lie when I sing.”

The Backseat Lovers write lyrics like a band that has been doing it for decades and are great musicians, but the music they wrote for this album didn’t play to their strengths. Hopefully future albums will feature a faster pace and their classic instruments, but regardless, “Waiting to Spill” is still worth a listen.

Heidi

GRAPHIC BY HEIDI REID

Read Smart series offers meaningful book discussions for the community

Wolf Assistant Culture Editor

Book clubs allow readers to build a sense of community by creating space to explore complex topics, unpack emotional reactions and situate stories in contexts beyond the pages of a single book.

University Libraries’ Read Smart series, put on in partnership with Wake County Public Libraries, brings scholars into a book club-esque setting meant to allow readers to learn something while exploring timely and relevant books.

Marian Fragola, director of community engagement for University Libraries, started the series 12 years ago as a way to connect with the public library system and offer a casual space to come together through im portant books.

“[Read Smart has] just been a really won derful way to connect the scholarly life of the University with the broader commu nity around books, which is such a personal, intimate thing anyway, because reading is such a solitary thing to do,” Fragola said. “To talk about a book with people brings it into that kind of community social realm. And that’s really special.”

The series holds two to three discussion events per semester over Zoom facilitated by a faculty member, graduate student or alum who guides the discussion and brings their own expertise to the topic addressed by the book. Everyone is welcome regardless of whether they’ve read the book.

“We give a lot of flexibility to the facilita tor,” Fragola said. “If it’s a book that has some sort of historical significance and they’re a historian, for example, they’ll sort of tell us about that period of history, but it’s really up to them. They often just post questions. And the nice thing is that sometimes people haven’t read the book, and that’s totally okay.”

Fragola said in selecting the books, she

looks for high-quality, fun and entertaining reads that are time relevant and a manage able length, typically avoiding classics. The topics of the books have changed signifi cantly over the years, morphing to keep up with the rapidly changing social climate.

“I think we’re talking a lot more about books that have sort of a social justice mis sion or intent,” Fragola said. “We’ve done some books about climate change that prob ably wouldn’t have done 10 years ago. We’ve done books about gender and identity that we might not have done 10 years ago. But I think our commitment to high-quality relevant books is unchanged.”

Griffin James, a NC State alum who graduated in 2020 with a degree in English, helped facilitate August’s event discussing Ocean Vuong’s debut novel “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” and said the care taken in ensuring broad diversity in the selections, particularly in the pride edition that has encompassed the past three Read Smart events, allows for deeper conversations.

“I really appreciate that the selections not only centered queer stories, but queer Viet namese stories,” James said. “We have Jacob Tobaya with ‘Sissy’ the memoir, so we have celebrations of gender variety, and I really appreciate that the selections are very inten tional, so that we can create a conversation that’s not rooted in a monolith.”

The discussions have stayed on Zoom even after many other events have returned to in-person formats which Fragola said gives participants an additional opportunity for connection.

“Sometimes I think [Zoom] actually fos ters even more intimacy because I think sometimes, especially if you’re not on camera, you can say things that would be meaningful to you that you might not want to say in a group of people that are sitting around talking about a book,” Fragola said.

“So it’s actually worked well on Zoom, but I do miss, a little bit, being in [a] community

with people’s actual physical beings.”

Ryan Vasconcellos, who graduated from NC State in 2022 with a degree in communi cation media, co-facilitated August’s event along with James and appreciated the deep er understanding of the novel he was able to gain through the facilitation experience.

“Having discussion[s] with other people, and seeing how everyone was able to inter pret the ending and everything that hap pened, it really helped me fully understand what was happening,” Vasconcellos said. “But also to just get other people’s ideas and feedback and how they experienced the book, it’s very interesting. I like seeing that.”

Fragola said she similarly appreciates the new depths of perspectives that arise throughout the discussions.

“Every single time we have a discussion, someone will say something that I didn’t

Through the mostly made-up plot, we do get surprising nuggets of truth as to Yankovic’s early career including that he was, in fact, introduced to the accordion via a door-to-door salesman and he did record his first single in a public restroom.

think about before or share a perspective that I wouldn’t have known about,” Fragola said. “It just makes me appreciate the book more every single time that happens. So that’s always fun.”

Fragola said she was grateful to Wake County Public Libraries for their partner ship and service to the community.

“I’d just like to appreciate the public li braries, because they have been on the front lines of doing book clubs forever,” Fragola said. “They’re a great partner, and I love working with them. They’re really the ones who are providing free books to the public day in and day out.”

To stay up to date with future Read Smart book selections and discussions, subscribe to the University Libraries newsletter at the bottom of the University Libraries news page.

da as the surgeon inspiring “Like a Surgeon” and Yankovic’s own appearance as music producer Tony Scotti, who had originally rejected Weird Al outright.

The only time Appel and Yankovic get near true social commentary in the film is Yankovic’s crisis over not being seen as a legitimate artist due to his lack of truly original content. This shift toward taking himself too seriously ultimately becomes the source of several destructive deci sions throughout the second half of the movie.

Even here, though, commentary on fame is secondary to the purer peculiar comedy that Weird Al is known for.

Radcliffe truly took the role to heart, learning to play several songs on the ac cordion to make the absurd character more believable and artfully caricaturing the king of parody polka. Radcliffe’s casting contributed to the kooky dissonance of the film — the physical resemblance between the two is nearly nonexistent.

Other big-name cameos were sprinkled throughout the hour-and-48-minute film, including Conan O’Brien as Andy Warhol, Jorma Taccone as Pee-wee Herman, Jack Black as Wolfman Jack, Lin-Manuel Miran

Unsurprisingly, the film was relatively low-budget, which came through in the simplicity of filming that ultimately added to the overall quirkiness of the movie. The film gave more of an impression of a passion project than cinematic masterpiece, again in line with Yankovic’s inexplicable trans formation of hobby to career.

Overall, the film remained imaginative and amusing, if not overly remarkable. Ul timately, it paid appropriate homage to the agendaless joyful nerd humor that Yankovic continues to be revered for and that rico cheted him to the position of most famous accordion player in a very specific genre.

COURTESY OF MARIAN FRAGOLA

Angela Wiseman co-led the 2012 discussion on “The Night Circus” for Read Smart.

WIKIMEDIA

Jameson

NC State women’s basketball downs

Quinnipiac to win season opener

guard],” Moore said. “She sees the floor really well.”

The starting unit opened up the opportu nity for the second unit to shine in the sec ond half. The Wolfpack went into the third quarter with a 39-11 lead, with Boyd already having scored 10 of her 14 points. Graduate forward Mimi Collins, who didn’t dress for the exhibition game, made her NC State de but and looked like a stretch four who didn’t lack confidence. Collins scored six points, with four of them coming in the second half.

In addition to Collins, sophomore guard Jessica Timmons was a spark off the bench. She was tied for second in scoring with 10 points. Timmons is a do-it-all guard who isn’t afraid to fill in for players ahead of her in the rotation.

“As a sophomore I’m looking forward to coming in and just making an impact, whether that’s getting rebounds, scoring or doing something defensively,” Timmons said.

Cunningham Staff Writer

Jenna Cuniowski Correspondent &

The NC State women’s basketball team took an early lead and never looked back in its season opener against Quin nipiac.

The Wolfpack (1-0) played hard through all four quarters to topple the Bobcats (0-1) 82-45.

“I like the way we came out and took control early,” said head coach Wes Moore.

Senior forward Jada Boyd led all scorers with 14 points and was perfect from the field. Boyd also filled up the stat sheet on the defensive end with two steals and a block. She proved able to consistently punch her ticket to the free throw line, going 6-6, as the red-and-white asserted its dominance in the paint on both sides of the floor. Despite taking a hard fall in the second half, Boyd shook it off to lead the starting unit through the rest of the game.

“Boyd obviously was strong again,” Moore said. “She had a good showing in the exhibition game and backed it up again tonight.”

The Wolfpack came out hot, starting the game on a 13-0 run. Senior center Camille Hobby took control of the paint with eight first quarter points and some stellar defense. NC State held Quinnipiac to seven first quarter points, asserting its dominance and setting the tone for the contest.

Quinnipiac was held to single digits in the scoring column until halfway through the second quarter, a testament to the Pack’s impenetrable defense. The Bobcats appeared panicked on both the offensive and defensive end, as they allowed themselves to succumb to NC State’s aggressive style of play.

Sophomore guard Saniya Rivers checked into the game

with 3:21 left in the first quarter. Rivers is already gaining Moore’s trust, taking the ball up the floor even on posses sions where she and junior guard Diamond Johnson were both on the floor.

“I think Saniya Rivers is a possible option [at point

Quinnipiac was able to take advantage of a sluggish Wolfpack start to the second half, draining four 3-pointers as part of a 12-0 scoring run to cut the Pack’s lead to 18 points, 41-23. However, that was as close as the Bobcats would get as the red-and-white soon found its second wind and turned the intensity back up.

Miami at Georgia Tech

Wisconsin at Iowa

Boston College at NC State

UCF at Tulane

South Carolina at Florida

Kansas State at Baylor

Kansas at Texas Tech

North Carolina at Wake Forest Florida State at Syracuse

San Jose State at San Diego State

Jose State

HALLIE WALKER/TECHNICIAN

Senior forward Jada Boyd drives the ball around an opponent during the game against Quinnipiac on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022 in Reynolds Coliseum. Boyd led in scoring with 14 points and made five rebounds for the Wolfpack. NC State beat Quinnipiac 82-45.

Griffin

QUINNIPIAC

Chubb arrives in Miami, Bengals feast

Colby Trotter Correspondent

Week nine of the NFL season brought more exciting finishes and surprising upsets that captured every fan’s eye. With some of the most impactful Pack Pros on bye, it gave some others a chance to shine.

Chubb was one of the biggest moves made at the NFL trade deadline as the Dolphins gave up a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 fourth-round pick to acquire him. The Dol phins did not wait long to make Chubb a franchise cornerstone with a five-year, $110 million contract extension. This is one of the latest moves the Dolphins have made to prove that they are all in.

Despite the big move, Chubb ultimately did not have much of an impact in his Dol phins debut. He finished with just one total tackle in the Dolphins’ 35-32 victory over the Chicago Bears. Look for Chubb to put up better numbers as the weeks go on for the Dolphins as he continues to adjust to Miami’s system.

Jakobi Meyers – New England Patriots, WR

Consistency is the best word to describe Meyers as he continues to be New England’s most reliable target. Meyers was once again the leader in receptions, finishing with five catches for 42 yards in a 26-3 win over the

Indianapolis Colts.

Meyers has been the Patriots’ best receiver all season as he leads the team in receptions and yards for the year. It is crucial the

Patriots have a weapon like Meyers with their heavy-run offense and inconsistent play at quarterback as they’ll rely on Mey ers to keep up his consistent play.

BJ Hill – Cincinnati Bengals, DT

Pratt was also a key piece in the Bengals’ dominant defensive performance. Pratt did not make much of an impact in the run game but made up for it in the passing game with an interception. This was Pratt’s first interception of the year and showed off his coverage skills by reading the quarter back’s eyes.

Cincinnati was able to bounce back after getting trounced by the Browns a week ago with a dominant 42-21 vic tory over the Carolina Panthers. The Bengals were able to shut out the Pan thers in the first half thanks to the play of Hill, who was a key part in shutting down the Panthers’ rushing attack that only totaled 64 yards on the ground. Hill racked up four total tackles as he continues to add to an impressive season.

The Bengals have struggled to string multiple good performances together all season, but they hope this game was a sign of things to come. One thing that’s for certain, however, is that the Bengals can continue to rely on Hill, who is currently on pace to have his best season ever as a pro.

Germaine Pratt – Cincinnati Bengals, LB

If Pratt continues to make an impact in coverage, he has a chance to be an elite line backer in the NFL since he’s already proven that he is a good tackler and run defender. The Bengals may have found a key piece on their defense for years to come.

The Raiders continued their disappoint ing season with a 27-20 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars that saw them blow a 17-0 lead. The one positive Raiders fans can be thankful for is their punter who is having another All-Pro caliber season. Cole had four punts that totaled 196 yards for an average of 49 yards per punt with three falling inside the 20-yard line.

Raiders fans should look at the glass half full because if their team was actually good we wouldn’t get to see Cole hit bombs for the brand.

Bradley Chubb – Miami Dolphins, LB

AJ Cole III – Las Vegas Raiders, P

NICK FAULKNER/TECHNICIAN

Graduate linebacker Germaine Pratt calls out a play at Clemson Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Pratt had a sack and eight tackles. NC State lost 41-7.

NC State men’s basketball cruises past Austin Peay in season opener

Wade Bowman Managing Editor

Ethan Bakogiannis Assistant Sports Editor&

Not even this week’s election could save the Austin Peay Governors from a 99-50 loss to NC State men’s basketball in the Pack’s season opener.

Facing their fair share of criticism for last season’s results, head coach Kevin Keatts and the Wolfpack (1-0) responded in a big way to start the year. Proven commodities, talent from the portal and newly-minted rotation players all played a part in asserting dominance over Austin Peay (0-1).

“Give our guys a lot of credit — I’m proud of them,” Keatts said. “We played on both ends of the floor, we were able to make shots, and I thought we shared the ball when you look at it.”

Perhaps the least surprising of the bunch was sophomore guard Terquavion Smith’s performance, picking up right where he left off a season ago as the Pack’s marquee scorer. Posting a final stat line of 26 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals, Smith looked unstoppable for the majority of the night. Whether it was entering the lane at will, pulling up from distance with his usual confidence or screaming down the floor in transition, “Baby T” seemed all-in on establishing the “Grown Man T” campaign.

“It was great, man, great feeling,” Smith said. “I couldn’t do it without my team, so shoutout to my brothers — they always look out for me. They always got my back, so I can’t do it without them boys.”

NC State came out of the gate swinging and never looked back. Going on an early 16-2 run to extend its first half lead to 28-8 with a little over nine minutes remaining in the half, the Wolfpack built all the cushion it needed to secure a season-opening victory.

Seeing eight members of the Pack find themselves on the court, the first half pro vided a promising look at what the future could hold for this NC State men’s basket ball team. Smith did his thing with 12 points

QUINNIPIAC

Fourth quarter adjustments were made to get the Bobcats off the 3-point line. Wolf pack players were able to take back control of the game and dictate the pace until the final buzzer, as it had for the majority of the contest.

The Pack did what it wanted on offense as it was not fazed in the slightest by Quin

on 50% shooting, two assists and a rebound in the period. Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner looked just as impressive with 12 points of his own on 66.7% shooting with six assists and two rebounds.

Graduate guard Jack Clark and graduate forward DJ Burns also made the most of their first half minutes with eight points apiece and Burns shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field.

Joiner would finish the game with 18 points, but the most inspiring portion of

nipiac’s trapping defense. This game was truly a team win, as all 11 players on NC State’s roster were able to impact the game in some way.

“You look at this stat sheet, and it’s filled up,” Rivers said. “Every last player scored. Sometimes people have off-shooting nights, but their teammates are always there to back them up, get them going and get the win.”

In its next matchup, the Pack will host the Elon Phoenix at Reynolds Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10.

his performance came in the form of play making with his career-high eight assists. Coming into this year’s campaign, the role of primary ball handler and facilitator was up in the air for NC State. One game into the season, Joiner is already filling the position comfortably.

“When you have a veteran guard in col lege basketball, it goes a long way,” Keatts said. “He had 18 [points] and eight [assists] and only had two turnovers [with] as much as he had the basketball, but he just works so

hard. He puts so much work in every day.” The second half remained much of the same — Smith sinking jumper-after-jump er, rotation players finding their grooves and new faces making their first marks with the program. Clark finished the evening with 15 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Burns finally missed a shot, but not before putting up 10 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Casey Morsell rounded out the night’s double-digit scorers with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

One of NC State’s newest additions to the starting lineup may not have hit doubledigit scoring, but his impact on the game can’t be understated. Graduate forward Dusan Mahorcic’s career has him with his fifth program in five years, but the big man feels like his chapter with the Pack comes at the perfect time.

“It has been a long journey,” Mahorcic said. “To me, [being] with guys that want to win and are really close together really means a lot. Being in your last year, you’ve got to do well. … We just played together. We played really good defense, we played really good offense and wins are going to come.”

Austin Peay may not be a college basket ball powerhouse, but a 49-point victory to open the season gives NC State plenty to look forward to. The rotation went deep, and anyone who touched the court contributed in some capacity. The stars wasted no time reestablishing themselves as exactly that. Above all else, Keatts appears to have built a team not only committed to winning, but to each other as well.

“With this year’s team, we want to block out as much noise as possible that we get or hear, and just lock in,” Keatts said. “Just lock into the locker room and continue to get better.”

Next up for the Wolfpack is another nonconference matchup at PNC Arena on Friday, Nov. 11 as NC State gears up to take on Campbell. Tip-off against the Camels is set for 7 p.m.

JERMAINE HUDSON/TECHNICIAN

Sophomore guard Terquavion Smith shoots a free throw during the game against Austin Peay on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022 in PNC Arena. Smith scored 26 points. NC State beat Austin Peay 99-50.

Sports Pack football looks to make history at Carter-Finley against Boston College

Gavin Gallimore Correspondent

No. 16 NC State football is set to wrap up its home schedule against the Boston College Eagles in Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 12. This game holds ex tra significance for the Pack, which is one game short of breaking the school record of consecutive home wins at 17.

This weekend’s matchup will mark the 19th meeting between the Wolfpack (7-2, 3-2 ACC) and the Eagles (2-7, 1-5 ACC). De spite Boston College holding a two-game advantage in the all-time series, NC State has won three of the last four meetings. Before the season, many people thought Boston College would emerge as one of the best teams in the ACC. This season has been a different story, however, as the Eagles are on pace to miss a bowl game for the third season under head coach Jeff Hafley. They are looking for their first conference victory since an impressive win over Louisville back on Oct. 1.

During a losing effort to Duke last week, Boston College had to turn to backup quar terback Emmett Morehead after fifth-year Phil Jurkovec was sidelined due to injury. Morehead had an impressive game, throw ing for 330 yards and four touchdowns. Re

ceivers Joseph Griffin Jr. and Zay Flowers each put forth a solid performance as they each had two touchdown receptions. How ever, the Eagle defense was not as effective, allowing 407 total yards — 249 of which came on the ground.

For the Wolfpack, there is much optimism about the NC State squad as both the offense and defense put together a solid perfor mance against Wake Forest last week. Over the past two games, the Pack’s offense has completely shifted its trajectory since fresh man quarterback MJ Morris has stepped in behind center. The offense gained 325 total yards in the victory over the Demon Deacons and is now ready to face a Boston College defense that allows an average of 369 yards allowed per game.

With the emergence of Morris under center, the red-and-white’s receiving corps has begun to display its true potential. In its previous game, NC State totalled 210 passing yards, a large chunk of which can be attributed to graduate receiver Thayer Thomas. His speedy skill set has been cru cial for the Pack as he led the team in receiv ing yards last week. Junior receiver Keyon Lesane and graduate receiver Darryl Jones will also be turned to after posting solid out ings last week. The Pack’s passing game will be tested as the Boston College defense aver

ages a modest 217.7 passing yards allowed.

The rushing attack for NC State will also look to have a solid day as it faces a unit that currently allows 152.2 rushing yards per game. Last week, the running game was average as the unit put together 115 yards. With the use of Morris’ running ability and the return of sophomore Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, NC State aims to use ev ery single asset in the run game to add to its offensive attack.

The NC State offense will need to watch out for the likes of Eagle linebacker Vinny DePalma. Currently, he has collected 65 total tackles, five of which were for a loss and one sack on the season. Another name to keep in mind is defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku. He’s had a very strong season, racking up 48 total tackles on the year with 10.5 of those for a loss. He has also collected a very impressive six sacks on the year.

The Pack’s defense continues to prove its greatness each and every week, and throughout the season the squad has been led by its talented linebacker core. Gradu ate Isaiah Moore and junior Drake Thomas made some very impressive displays last week, combining for 19 total tackles and three sacks. The two of them, in addition to redshirt junior linebacker Payton Wil son, will be crucial in helping shut down

the Eagles signal caller. This opportunity appears promising as the offensive unit of Boston College only averages 320.1 total yards and 18.8 points per game.

The secondary faces a tough test this week as the unit will face the duo of aforemen tioned receivers in Griffin and Flowers. The Wolfpack secondary looks to build off of a strong performance last week, where they intercepted three passes. Graduate defen sive back Derrek Pitts Jr. and senior safety Tanner Ingle will lead the unit against an underrated BC receiving corps that averages 251.8 passing yards per game.

Finally, the NC State defense will look to feast in regards to the running game as the Pack only allows an average of 102.7 yards. It faces an Eagles unit that only averages 68.3 rushing yards per game. Even though the unit as a whole put together a decent showing of 108 yards last week against Duke.

The Eagles have not had the success they envisioned this season but they still possess several pieces that could prove problematic for the Pack. Going into this game, NC State opens as 19-point favorites over Boston Col lege and the Eagles hope to end a four-game losing streak.

Kickoff against the Eagles is set for 3:30 p.m. at Carter-Finley Stadium.

JON WILLIAMS/TECHNICIAN

Graduate wide receiver Thayer Thomas celebrates after gaining a first down in the game against Wake Forest on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022 at Carter-Finley Stadium. Thomas had eight re ceptions for 79 yards. NC State defeated Wake Forest 30-21.