Focused in on vaping — Technician 11/16/23

TECHNICIAN N OVEMB ER 16, 20 23

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VOL . 104 | NO. 13

Contents

2 TECHNICIAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

HOLIDAY CRAFTS FAIR

IN THIS ISSUE:

Saturday, Nov. 18, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

THE RADAR

page

landlord fines 03 Local students $23,000

Events to keep an eye on for the week of Nov. 16

NEWS page

05 A guide to Raleigh coffee

FRANK THOMPSON HALL, CRAFTS CENTER Free for NC State students, $3 general public It’s a tradition: The Saturday before Thanksgiving means it’s time for the annual Holiday Crafts Fair. Come check out handmade pottery, glass, jewelry and more arts items made by local craftspeople affiliated with the Crafts Center.

TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE Monday, Nov. 20, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

TALLEY STUDENT UNION, SUITE 4210 Free Join the LGBTQ Pride Center for a panel discussion and flower crown-making to remember the lives lost in the previous year. The day of remembrance will conclude with a vigil at Stafford Commons.

KWANZAA: IMANI

RALEIGH CIVIC SYMPHONY CONCERT

Thursday, Nov. 16, 6:30-8 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m.

TALLEY STUDENT UNION, SUITE 4210

TALLEY STUDENT UNION, STEWART THEATRE

Free Come celebrate the principle of Imani with an interactive presentation led by the Greensboro Kwanzaa Collective that will include learning about the story of Kwanzaa, drumming performances, libations, candle lighting and a dancing workshop.

$5 for NC State students The Raleigh Civic Symphony, a full 75-piece symphony orchestra of student and community musicians, is here for its fall 2023 concert. The symphony performs a standard and contemporary orchestral repertoire.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

shops

CULTURE page

11

Standing with Israel is standing on the wrong side of history

OPINION

page

15

NC State women’s basketball upsets No. 2 UConn JEREMY BYRNE/TECHNICIAN

U.S. flags wave in the wind in front of the 1911 Building on Saturday, Nov 11, 2023. The flags were placed ahead of Veterans Day in honor of NC State’s military history and the students, faculty, staff and alumni who have served.

SPORTS Editors-in-Chief Ethan Bakogiannis Jameson Wolf

technician-editor@ncsu.edu

323 Witherspoon Student Center, NCSU Campus Box 7318, Raleigh, NC 27695 Editorial Advertising Fax Online

919-515-5017 919-515-2411 919-515-5133 technicianonline.com

Managing Editor/Brand Manager Emily Vespa

technician-managingeditor@ncsu.edu

Copy Desk Chief Rachelle Hernandez

technician-copydesk@ncsu.edu

Assistant Copy Desk Chief Elliot Johnson News Editor Kate Denning

technician-news@ncsu.edu

Assistant News Editors Ally Tennant Amelia Russell

Assistant Opinion Editor Skye Crawford Focused Editor Koen Rodabaugh

Assistant Photo Editor Cate Humphreys Video Editor Isaac Hernandez

Culture Editor Emilia Rivadeneira

technician-opinion@ncsu.edu

technician-video@ncsu.edu

Design Editor Ellie Bruno

technician-sports@ncsu.edu

Sports Editor Jenna Cuniowski

Assistant Video Editor Katherine Wan

Assistant Design Editor Carter McDermott

Assistant Sports Editors Erin Ferrare Noah Teague

technician-features@ncsu.edu

technician-design@ncsu.edu

Opinion Editor Justin Welch

technician-opinion@ncsu.edu

Photo Editor Ethan Rimolt

technician-photo@ncsu.edu

General Manager Garrett Gough media-sales@ncsu.edu

Technician (USPS 455-050) is the largest student newspaper of NC State University and is published every Thursday throughout the academic year from August through May except during holidays and examination periods.

Opinions expressed in the columns, cartoons, photo illustrations and letters that appear on the Technician’s pages are the views of the individual writers and cartoonists. As a public forum for student expression, the students determine the content of the publication without prior review. To receive permission for reproduction, please write the editor. Subscription cost is $100 per year. A single copy is free to all students, faculty, staff and visitors to campus. Additional copies are $0.25 each. Printed by Triangle Web Printing, Durham, NC, Copyright 2022 by North Carolina State Student Media. All rights reserved.

FRONT COVER BY ELLIE BRUNO BACK COVER BY SARAH COCHRAN

News TECHNICIAN 3 Inside D.H. Hill Jr. Library: The Ask Us desk TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Preston Sinclair Correspondent

D.H. Hill Jr. Library harbors the Ask Us desk, which provides resources for student needs and aims to help students succeed academically.

Adebola Fabiku, department head of Ask Us services, said students can find resources for success at the Ask Us desk.

“We want to provide good customer service and student success,” Fabiku said. “We are merging those two things together, making sure we help students get what they need so that we don’t impede them graduating.

We want to help students graduate with the resources that we have.”

Fabiku explained the role of the Ask Us desk and its availability to students.

“Our main responsibility is helping keep the library open 24 hours a day, five days a week,” Fabiku said. “We also connect our students to the resources that we have in the library. We kind of look at ourselves as a one-stop shop. We circulate books, but we also circulate technology that students might need for their class or even a hobby they want to learn more about.”

Ben Pratt, a first-year studying business, said he uses the Ask Us desk for emergencies regarding school work.

“I use the desk to get things like chargers, pens and pencils,” Pratt said. “These resources help me study for my tests and quizzes. It’s important to me because it helps me be more prepared for my classes.”

Ben Rinehart, a fourth-year studying marine science and Ask Us desk student lead,

AMELIA RUSSELL/TECHNICIAN

An “Ask Us” sign sits behind the new Ask Us desk in D.H. Hill Jr. Library on Monday, Nov. 14, 2023. The Ask Us desk allows visitors to borrow technology and ask general questions about the library.

said his role is to help manage his fellow students, along with providing feedback.

“My biggest role is taking on the position of a student worker, working the desk, managing a lot of the students that are coming up, but also on top of that, managing the other students that are working at the desks,” Rinehart said. “Making sure that they are on top of their work, making sure that their schedules are appropriate and making sure the overall well-being of the desk is maintained.”

Rinehart said the resources at the Ask Us desk aren’t limited to student use.

“We actually have special request items that are specifically for our staff,” Rinehart said. “Textbooks of course can help with teaching classes and providing examples that might be significant towards their teaching style. Many of our rooms that we have provided for our staff are perfect for having conferences or even meeting with students who may need more assistance in a smaller

setting.”

While the Ask Us desk’s goal is to provide students with ample resources, there are cases where requests might be rejected due to Library policies.

“The hardest part is having to tell a student ‘No’,” Fabiku said. “We pride ourselves on being able to provide great customer service and provide students with what they need. If we have something, but they need it slightly longer, but our policies don’t allow for that because we have to have all these resources for everyone else. We can’t make an exception for students, which is really hard because I understand what they’re going through. We will always connect them to another resource available.”

Rinehart said many students seem to be unaware of the Ask Us desk or unclear on what it does, but the students who do know about the services the desk offers benefit from its resources in the long run.

“For the ones that do know about us, we see them very often,” Rinehart said. “Once people figure out what we do at the desk we see them definitely once or twice every single day, depending on if it’s a tech item or a book they are looking for.”

Visit the Library’s website for more information on the Ask Us desk.

Local landlord fines students $23,000

Riya Kannan Staff Writer

Evagelia Eustathiou, a landlord who owns multiple properties on Dixie Trail, is currently under investigation by the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office and the North Carolina Real Estate Commission after she billed NC State students $23,000 in fines.

Tyler Parziale, one of the former tenants currently facing the fine, said there was immediate conflict from the time he moved in.

“It was almost a weekly ordeal with her for the first half of the lease,” Parziale said. “She would make us wake up early — pretty much open our doors when we were sleeping — and yell at us to get out of our rooms or make our beds.

She also had strong claims about all the furniture that we had. If we didn’t remove anything, there were letters we got that were saying we were going to be fined.”

Parziale said he and the other tenants disregarded most of the letters due to the claims not being included in the lease they signed.

“She had sent us letters with fines for things like having shoes on our floor,” Parziale said. “All of the fines were basically for charges that weren’t in the lease, so we just ignored them. We actually sent her a letter and told her to stop harassing us, but that did very little.”

Eustathiou and her legal team did not respond to several requests for comment.

The majority of the fines delivered by Eustathiou — $18,250 out of the total $23,000 — concerned a homemade beer die table.

“All of these random things added up, and at the end of the year, we got a $23,000 bill — basically for just having a die table on our front porch,” Parziale said.

While one former tenant of the property received a bill with a reduced amount totaling $4,796.67, Parziale said he and the other tenants did not receive the same reduced bill. Parziale said he did not plan to pay the amount fined to him, but Eustathiou did not appear to be pushing for the bill to be paid.

“I think she still wants us to pay the bill, but it hasn’t been taken to court and she doesn’t seem to be pushing it, so at this moment, we’re mostly just ignoring her demands,” Parziale said.

Michael Avery, staff attorney for Student Legal Services, said the revised bill with the reduced amount is likely a response to the investigation launched on Eustathiou and her company, Apollon LLC. “I haven’t really seen anything like this, but after being bold enough to demand $23,000, reducing it — especially after all the news media coverage — could be an attempt to

COURTESY OF TYLER PARZIALE

not make it look so bad,” Avery said. “It’s really just a matter of her recognizing that this could become a problem for her, though I don’t know if reducing it could do anything now.

I don’t see how you reasonably go from $23,000 to $5,000.

What is the justification for taking it down that much?”

Avery said Student Legal Services is familiar with Eustathiou.

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News

4 TECHNICIAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

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Hundreds march on campus, demand cease-fire in Gaza

Kate Denning News Editor

Over 200 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at D.H. Hill Jr. Library on Nov. 9 to call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and to discontinue U.S. funding of Israel.

The event was organized by the Arab Student Organization and the Young Democratic Socialists of America.

Jamal Mohamad, a fourth-year studying business administration and president of the Arab Student Organization, said the protest was planned for Nov. 9 to coincide with the “global shutdown for Palestine” day.

“We wanted to take action ourselves and host an action here,” Mohamad said. “Bringing it local is just to spread awareness. Educate people — that’s the main goal.”

The march also was aimed at spreading awareness.

“We must use our voices to amplify theirs, show that we hear their cries,” Mohamad said.

“We demand our voices to be heard. We demand an immediate cease-fire. We demand an end to the U.S. government’s funding of genocide. Today, we say, ‘Shut it down.’”

Hashim Ayesh, an NC State alum, said the turnout at the protest has helped him realize he’s not alone during a time when he has felt singled out for supporting Palestine.

“It helps out when I see this, that I’m not alone,” Ayesh said. “There are people who don’t see me as an animal, they don’t see me as a terrorist. They understand that my people are suffering, they understand that my people are being killed and they support me. They support me to speak out, they support me in existing.”

Several attendees wore keffiyehs, a traditional Palestinian scarf with a black and white fishnet pattern. Ayesh said the scarf is mostly associated with rural Palestinians, but has come to represent Palestinian culture as a whole.

LANDLORD

continued from page 3

“We have definitely heard of Evagelia and Apollon LLC, which is bad since she only owns four properties on Dixie Trail,” Avery said. “If the same name comes across my desk that often, there’s probably something wrong.”

Avery said the complaints received by Student Legal Services regarding Eustathiou have been consistent and uniform.

“With her, there have been consistent claims about difficult communication, unannounced visits and unjustified and fraudulent claims against security deposits,” Avery said. “Now these are just allegations, but when allegations tend to be consistent like this, there’s got to be some kind of truth to them.”

RACHEL LAMINACK/TECHNICIAN

NC State students march down Cates Avenue for the ‘Shut it Down! For Palestine’ protest Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Students started marching at D.H. Hill Jr. Library.

RACHEL LAMINACK/TECHNICIAN

Jamal Mohamad, a fourth-year studying business administration, chants during the ‘Shut it Down! For Palestine’ protest Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Students started marching at D.H. Hill Jr. Library.

In the past, Student Legal Services has encouraged students to file complaints against Eustathiou when issues arise, but Avery said the news coverage paired with the amount of the fine is likely what motivated the Attorney General’s Office and the Real Estate Commission to launch an investigation.

“It seems like news media coverage has just lit a fire under them,” Avery said. “The amount is so shocking that it caught their attention. I have been with Student Legal Services since 2009, and I have never seen a fine this big. Nothing has ever even come close to $23,000.”

Avery said aggrieved tenants are being encouraged to file complaints against Eustathiou with both the Attorney General’s Office and the Real Estate Commission.

Students who had previously filed a complaint against Eustathiou are being told to file new ones.

“During 1948, it became a symbol of the people because you had the rural Palestinians being affected in the land,” Ayesh said.

“You had the grandfather wearing this around his head, carrying in one hand, the bag of all his belongings, and in the other the key to his house that he was leaving. So it’s become a symbol of resistance and a symbol of our culture and identity.”

Advertisements for the protest stated forms of aggression would not be tolerated. Mohamad said this is because it’s important to uphold a certain standard when protesting in the name of Palestine.

“The media tries to paint Palestinians in a negative way,” Mohamad said. “So just making sure that we uphold the standards — we don’t want to look bad. We’re not protesting for a bad cause, so we don’t want our goal to be diminished by non-peaceful protests.”

Nick Pinto, a fifth-year studying genetics and president of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, said participating in the protest is a way of showing solidarity.

“Our office has been contacted directly by the Attorney General’s Office which recommended that any aggrieved party file a consumer complaint with their office, even if they had previously filed a complaint in the past,” Avery said. “This investigation is important because the Attorney General’s Office can take action based on state law.

If a criminal action has taken place, they will act accordingly.”

Complaints can be filed online with the Attorney General’s Office through the NC Department of Justice website and on the Real Estate Commission’s website.

Avery said students looking to rent should take advantage of Student Legal Services.

“If a student is thinking about renting from a place, come talk to us,” Avery said.

“At the end of the day, you get to make the decision, but if there is a landlord with whom we’re consistently having issues, then I’m going to tell you about them, and

“We live in a country where we are taught to stay in your own lane, mind your own business, to not pay attention to even the person right next to you, much less people who live thousands of miles away,” Pinto said. “By being here today, you all are telling the world that solidarity still means something, that we are willing to fight for people we don’t know, that for a person to be free anywhere, all people must be free everywhere.”

Pinto said protesting is important, but there are other ways to stay involved.

“If people can’t go to these protests, they can call their representative,” Pinto said. “Just letting them know that you demand a cease-fire. … I think calling your representative, keeping this in mind for 2024 when you decide how to vote, or whether to abstain. I think staying in the streets and staying talking about it, because it’s very easy for these things to be forgotten and shoved under the rug.”

Mohamad said he encourages students to continue to post on social media and educate others on the conflict.

“What we’re doing today, the Palestinian people need,” Mohamad said. “Make sure you’re able to keep the momentum going.

Do not let the voices in Gaza go unheard.”

RACHEL LAMINACK/TECHNICIAN

NC State students chant during the ‘Shut it Down! For Palestine’ protest Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. The protest was hosted by NC State’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the Arab Student Organization.

you can then make an informed decision about whether to rent from them.”

Avery provided resources for students looking to rent.

“The NC Department of Justice provides some general information online regarding renting a home in this state, including a landlord-tenant booklet that defines the rights of residential tenants in North Carolina, and the NC Real Estate Commission provides a FAQ online about renting residential real estate and has published a Q&A on tenant security deposits,” Avery said.

Learn more about Student Legal Services through its website.

TECHNICIAN 5

Culture TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

THE BEST IN RALEIGH...

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

A guide to Raleigh coffee shops Amelia Russell

Assistant News Editor

With so many coffee shops around campus, it can be time-consuming and costly to find your favorite spot. Instead of resorting to Starbucks, Technician compiled a list of Raleigh’s best coffee shops.

The Optimist Located in the East Mordecai neighborhood north of Raleigh, the Optimist is worth the 15 minute drive off campus.

Its menu features regular coffee, non-coffee, kombucha and even alcoholic beverages. Its seasonal menu always delivers, recently featuring a black sesame latte — unusual, yet delicious.

It’s not all about the coffee though, it’s about the vibes.

Made up of plush, emerald green couches and industrial black chairs, framed by vintage mirrors, brass fixtures and enough plants to fill their own greenhouse, The Optimist is a peaceful place to drink a cup of coffee.

Andrew Ward, co-owner of The Optimist, said although most of the interior design was taken from the previous owners, they made the space their own with plants and extra features.

“Somebody used a really good term the other day to describe us. … She said that we felt ‘lived in,’” Ward said. “I think that’s probably the best way to describe us. A lived-in environment where you can come and feel comfortable.”

Moore Square, it offers reasonably priced coffee alongside a comfortable place to study, read or just hang out.

While the chai latte was good, it was the food that stood out the most. Our order consisted of a savory bread pudding that sounded risky at first, but ended up being delicious.

With an upstairs seating area that separates you from the to-go crowd and creates a much nicer, quieter atmosphere if you’re trying to get some work done, The Morning Times is the best-off campus coffee spot. Bonus points if you use one of its wing-backed chairs to read Technician.

Cup A Joe We’d be remiss if we didn’t touch on NC State’s beloved Cup A Joe. A campus institution since 1991, its legacy status is well-deserved for having the best-priced coffee in the area, especially if you take advantage of its daily specials.

Different types of drinks are discounted on different days, from a $3.75 fruit smoothie on “Smoothie Tuesday” to a six-shot King Latte on “Wired Wednesday” to keep you fueled on a budget all week long.

Cup A Joe also has the most study space of all the coffee shops visited, with two rooms dedicated entirely to seating, plenty of outlets and free wifi. The gritty, vaguely New York-esque interior design is also the perfect backdrop for losing yourself in a big-city academic fantasy.

On our initial visit, Technician tried the pumpkin chai latte. Although on the sweeter side, the pumpkin whipped cream and spicy chai flavors balanced it out. However, about a week after our initial review, I came back and ordered the same drink — it tasted completely different. The flavor ended up being so sickly sweet and overpowering that I threw it away.

Its food was also not impressive. We tried a poppyseed muffin that took on the consistency of flour in my mouth.

Perhaps Cup A Joe is resting on its laurels these days, but with so many other coffee shops in the area, it could do with a refresher on quality and consistency.

Jubala

GRIFFIN BRYANT/TECHNICIAN

The interior of Jubala Coffee starts to fill with Raleigh residents at the Hillsborough Street location Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. Jubala Coffee is located across from the Belltower on Hillsborough Street.

The Morning Times If you’re near downtown Raleigh or just feel like adventuring into the city for your study session, The Morning Times is the place to be. Nestled in a little shopping district near

Whenever I need to impress a hometown friend, date or out-of-town family member, I take them to Jubala. Although more expensive than other coffee shops in the area, if you’re going to spend $7 on a latte, it’s best spent here.

Its almond latte is buttery smooth and perfectly balanced, with flavors not overpowering one another, allowing for a complete taste of espresso, cinnamon and almond.

Riley Fasano, a third-year studying environmental sciences and Jubala barista, said Jubala’s specialty approach to coffee and its baristas’ extensive training are what set it apart.

“Jubala is a specialty coffee shop which essentially means that we have a high emphasis on good quality in terms of coffee, in terms of our beans and in terms of our presentation,” Fasano said. “Some of our baristas have been doing it for like five to 10 plus years. … Everyone here is just so passionate about what they’re doing, and I think that’s re-

RACHEL LAMINACK/TECHNICIAN

Cup A Joe, a coffee shop on Hillsborough Street, on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. Cup A Joe is one of the many coffee shops around NC State’s Campus.

ally reflected in our quality and our service.”

Jubala also has an extensive food menu, with its famous biscuits and a variety of sweet and savory sides to satisfy any palate, displaying dedication to quality with every bite and sip.

One thing Jubala fails to deliver is consistency. Every time I go, whatever I tried previously is out of stock or simply not offered anymore. One time when I was trying to order a caramel latte, the barista said that Jubala only serves caramel flavored drinks in the fall.

Being an “artisanal coffee shop,” it’s understandable to call for a certain degree of coffee superiority, but classifying caramel as a fall-only flavor just feels elitist.

Watch Technician’s video review of Raleigh’s coffee shops.

Culture

6 TECHNICIAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

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A guide to Raleigh’s bookstores

Olivia Winston Staff Writer

As winter break approaches, students may be on the lookout for warm, cozy activities to do or somewhere to buy a holiday present, and what better gift to give than a book?

Technician has compiled a list of independent bookstores in Raleigh that are go-to spots whether you’re looking to buy a book or simply want to browse around some bookstacks.

Outdoor bookshelves with prices ranging from 10 to 25 cents draw customers in to get lost among the stacks and learn the history of each pre-loved book.

During one visit, I purchased a copy of “The Canterbury Tales”

by Geoffrey Chaucer.

When I opened the book, the past owner had written notes in the margin, commenting on the reading and writing notes back and forth to a friend.

GRAPHIC BY MARLOWE HENDERSON

Reader’s Corner Just a short walk from campus, Reader’s Corner is one of Hillsborough Street’s resident used bookstores. The shelves are packed with pre-owned books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl records. Customers are also invited to sell or donate their used or rare books.

Nice Price Books and Records

Also on Hillsborough Street, Nice Price Books and Records sells many genres of fiction and nonfiction used books. It also carries new and used records, including rock, blues, hip-hop, electronic, experimental and jazz.

Much like records themselves, the store has a vintage vibe, with dark wood bookshelves and fluorescent lighting.

Employees and friends of the store also participate in a podcast called “The Nice Price,” in which they play songs and discuss new record releases.

Visit Technician to view the full guide

Department of World Languages and Cultures celebrates name change

Joel Beebe

Correspondent

Earlier this year, the Department of World Languages and Cultures, formerly known as Foreign Languages and Literatures, made its official identity change.

Jim Michnowicz, head of the Department of World Languages and Cultures, said the new name more accurately describes the scope of the department’s role and its goals.

“The idea of ‘foreign’ doesn’t have the same exotic call to adventure that it once had,” Michnowicz said. “We realized that all of these languages are spoken by millions of people in the United States. And so they’re no longer foreign; these really are American languages just as legitimate as English. …

We want to recognize the fact that this isn’t just an overseas language. … You’re gonna go into downtown Raleigh and hear these languages being spoken.”

The hegemony of the English language runs deep into our culture, and the change in name of the department reflects a change in the values held.

Ruth Gross, former head of the Department of World Languages and Cultures, said changing the name didn’t happen overnight, but was a process that had been in the making for two years.

“We just felt to be more of a department of what we really represent, which is equity, inclusion,” Gross said. “The process was that we had to go through a lot of steps in the year ‘22-‘23 to get all of this, and once it was proposed to Michowicz, it was fast tracked.

By February of 2023 the name change had

occurred, and then since February we’ve been dealing with really getting it noticed.”

Part of the process of getting it noticed is hosting events that highlight the new name and goals among students, faculty and staff.

On Nov. 8, it held an event that featured cultural food and tabling from student organizations and sub-departments, which allowed the community to celebrate its new identity.

Shelley Garrigan, a Spanish professor, said the

sorts of courses and disciplinary focuses, what sorts of themes they want to see from us, so this is also a data gathering event as well.”

Garrigan also mentioned some of the ideas the department is currently working on to expand their scope.

“We’re exploring more micro-certifications between our department and other departments,” Garrigan said. “We’re

GRAPHIC BY AMELIA RUSSELL

event was also an opportunity to interact with other students and departments.

“What we’re hoping is to hear from people,” Garrigan said. “We want to know how we can benefit students from other departments within CHASS and beyond. What

looking to offer broader courses t hat prepare students for a variety of professions.

We’re also utilizing 21st century technologies and technological skills and merging those with the various languages that we offer.”

Different professors talked about the in-

clusion of micro-certifications and specific classes and programs in the future. Among the options the department is considering are combined minors like Spanish and legal professions minor and Spanish and agriculture minor.

The department has also expanded how language is explored and learned as languages such as Spanish and Arabic have become more ubiquitous in the community.

Gabriella Micheli, a fourth-year studying computer science and Arabic studies, said learning languages furthers her development in STEM and beyond.

“As an engineer it’s very important … to take humanities classes in general to get the communications side of things, and so you’re not just the tech person in the basement kind of thing,” Micheli said. “And learning a language is a step above that. You develop that empathy; you develop those communications skills of how languages work, how to communicate with people of different cultures. … Even if you take a semester of language, it’s very vital, very helpful.”

That’s the direction the department hopes to take, showing the community the importance of languages in understanding different cultures worldwide.

“Foreign is just not a word that has positive connotations anymore,” Micheli said.

“It’s used to exoticize and distance yourself from other people, and that’s not what learning languages is all about. Learning a language is all about connecting with people, and at this day and age, especially with technology, we are a global community.”

TECHNICIAN 7

Culture TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Students’ gender transition journeys

Matthew Junkroski Correspondent

Between hormones, changing names and coming out, gender transitioning can feel nearly impossible, particularly when entering a new environment like college.

Leio Ibarra, a second-year studying science, technology and society, said it was difficult to figure out how LGBTQ-friendly NC State would be before attending.

“I knew I wanted to transition in college,” Ibarra said. “So I did a lot of looking into how trans-friendly NC State was and … just how trans-friendly a lot of colleges were. But I feel like there wasn’t a lot of data, so I just kind of went in with a blind eye.”

Being transgender at NC State comes with a number of responsibilities that cisgender students will never face, including changing name and pronouns in MyPack portal, informing teachers of the change and making sure that roll call sheets have the correct information.

Ibarra said despite fixing names in MyPack portal, roll call sheets did not reflect this.

“I use my preferred name all the time,” Ibarra said. “I also use my preferred pro-

nouns, but I do remember one time in they going to look at my pronouns and think class, there was a list of everyone’s name that I’m going to be a source of trouble?,’ ‘Am and pronouns, and it’s just kind of weird I going to be the “uptight trans person”?,’” because it had my birth name, but also my Ibarra said. “But that seems to be the stepreferred name right reotype, and so I apnext to it. And it was plied for the job, I got like a roll sheet that it, I’ve spent almost everybody signs, so it two years there, and kind of inadvertently It’s really nice to know I still haven’t come was outing me.” there’s like a commu- out yet.”

Along with birth Others have difnity of trans people at ferent experiences. name-related issues State. The community Noah Edwards, a w it h attendance, students like Ibarra has been really sup- first-year in explorfound the same isatory studies, said portive. sues with employhe had little issues - Noah Edwards feeling comfortable ment as well.

“For legal things, at NC State due to my employers know his appearance. my birth name,” “I k now I look Ibarra said. “Which does kind of suck be- pretty traditionally feminine,” Edwards cause I didn’t get the option to tell them said. “No one’s giving me any weird looks more. I found out that they know already.” or none has questioned it.”

The “what-ifs” that accompany coming But it’s not as easy for everyone. out as trans at work are also concerns that “I know a lot of people don’t change their keep students from changing their names name, their Pack photo, or put their prein the first place. ferred name through Pack Portal because “My biggest worry going into this is, ‘Are they don’t want their parents to see it,”

Edwards said. “I wish that was something that could be solved. I know a lot of people who are like, ‘If I want my professor to call me my name, I have to email them, and my professor has like 600 students, so they probably won’t see it, or they’ll probably forget.’ And that is an issue. I wish there was a solution for that.”

Gender transitioning alone is difficult, especially in college. However, there are resources on campus that can help students get through this process and reassure them they’re not alone.

Edwards said having support from TFiles, a student group through the Pride Center that gives a safe space to transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming and gender questioning students to affirm their identities and build community, was important to his experience at NC State.

“It’s really nice to know there’s like a community of trans people at State,” Edwards said. “The community has been really supportive. I’ve been to meetings. … It’s nice to be like any person with a group of people like you. I’ve never had that before. I’m from a super small town, so it’s nice to have a community I feel welcomed on campus.”

Turn your passion for sustainable energy into a career at Hitachi Energy Energize your career right here on NC State’s Centennial Campus!

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

Riya Kannan Staff Writer

GRAPHIC BY ELLIE BRUNO

Though some perceive vaping to be less harmful than cigarettes, experts say this is not the whole story.

Dr. Meghan Rebuli, assistant professor of pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine, said there are flaws in comparing vapes and other electronic cigarettes to traditional cigarettes.

“The analogy that we like to make in our group is different because cigarettes and ecigarettes aren’t in the same category,” Rebuli said. “They’re both inhaled products, and they both contain nicotine, but beyond that, it’s like comparing apples to oranges — they’re very different.”

The harmful effects of cigarettes are acknowledged largely because of widely publicized anti-smoking and anti-nicotine campaigns, including federal laws that require health warnings on cigarettes and cigarette advertisements. Though vapes contain nicotine, the association between those campaigns and the dangers of vaping is not yet solidified in the eyes of the public.

Jeffrey Fay, alcohol and other drug education coordinator with NC State’s Prevention Services discussed the effectiveness of the anti-smoking campaigns.

“Most young adults have been told that nicotine, cigarettes are unhealthy,” Fay said.

“The majority of people who are in their 20s and 30s think of nicotine as being something that has been kind of demonized, but largely through smoking.”

Fay said the anti-smoking campaigns, while effective, prioritized linking the danger and damage of nicotine solely to cigarette use.

“Sometimes the rationale for why people will choose to vape is just because it’s been promoted as less dangerous than cigarettes,” Fay said. “The message that prevention counseling and the medical field are trying to get across is that somewhat less dangerous doesn’t mean not dangerous.”

The negative effects of vaping are largely focused on nicotine. Nicotine harm is notable at any age, but particularly in younger people.

“The use of nicotine prior to the age where your brain matures, which is 25 in most cases, can really change how your brain is wired,” Rebuli said. “This is problematic because it makes you more susceptible to being addicted to other harmful products.”

While there are rehabilitation programs and other measures to aid those addicted to various harmful products or substances, the fixes are retrospective.

“Really, the only way to prevent that is to not use these products — especially when you’re under the age where your brain is matured and fully wired,” Rebuli said.

The negative effects of vaping aren’t limited to the effects of nicotine. The artificial flavorings in vapes, which draw in many consumers, may prove to be harmful as well, Rebuli said.

“Your body isn’t really equipped, lungs-wise, with the same kinds of enzymes, proteins and other molecules that are needed to break down these chemicals,” Rebuli said.

The widely discussed negative effects of secondhand smoke from cigarettes apply to e-cigarette smoke as well.

“New research that’s coming out suggests that even secondhand exposure to e-cigarette aerosol clouds can cause respiratory symptoms,” Rebuli said. “It may feel like if you’re using them, you’re only affecting yourself. But in all reality, those clouds that you’re creating aren’t just affecting you; they’re affecting people around you.”

Rebuli also said there are potentially negative effects of vaping that have not been discovered yet.

“I think we’re not far enough along in e-cigarette use to really understand the full longterm consequences,” Rebuli said. “That’s gonna take another couple of years to understand.”

Fay said it is difficult to break the cycle of being hooked and then becoming tolerant.

“Our goal is not to demonize drug use,” Fay said. “Why someone would use nicotine is because it does things for them. Unfortunately, though, a lot of the ‘benefits’ are off, and that’s usually when tolerance comes in.”

Rebuli said the claim that vaping can be used for stress relief is not accurate.

“The stress relief really comes from the nicotine hit, so it’s not really a ‘benefit,’ so to speak,” Rebuli said. “As soon as you get that initial nicotine hit, you’re going to be addicted to them. This stress-relieving feeling is really just relieving a nicotine craving.”

To seek help in quitting vaping or easing nicotine addiction, Rebuli said students should talk to Campus Health and look into national resources through the American Lung Association.

For more addiction recovery resources, visit prevention.dasa.ncsu.edu/.

VAPING: BETTER THAN CIGARETTES?

UNDERSTANDING THE HEALTH RAMIFICATIONS OF VAPING

TECHNICIAN 9

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

PHOTOS BY HALLIE WALKER GRAPHICS BY ELLIE BRUNO

Flashing neon lights read, “VAPE, THC, 24 HOURS.” HD photos show thick clouds partially obscuring a model’s face. These are the modern advertisements of the vape industry, and they cover Hillsborough Street.

Electronic cigarettes made up a $2.5 billion industry in 2014, only a few years after they were introduced to U.S. markets in 2007. According to Statista, the industry is expected to grow by just under 4% every year until 2028. There are at least six vape store locations on Hillsborough Street.

On the west end of Hillsborough Street is a drive-thru vape shop called Wolf Star Smoker and Vape Shop. Further down, there’s a Smoke Rings, part of a chain.

Then, nestled between Stanhope Apartments, Zaxby’s and a pizza shop, there are three vape shops within one hundred square yards: King’s Tobacco and Vape, Good Guy Vape, and MAXX Tobacco and Vape store.

Andrew Stricklin is the director of economic development and planning at Live it Up! Hillsborough Street, a nonprofit dedicated to making Hillsborough Street a thriving and vibrant economic corridor.

“We acknowledge that I think we’re pretty saturated,” Stricklin said. “Having a good retail mix is a good goal for us. We want retailers on Hillsborough Street to be successful, and we don’t want any one use to be dominant or repetitive because it just takes away from the vibrancy of the corridor.”

MAXX Tobacco and Vape opened the most recently and is an upscale, shiny new storefront offering all the standard smoke shop goodies: glass, tobacco and, of course, vapes.

Stricklin said the rising density of smoke shops is due to a slowly changing marketplace adjusting to a post-pandemic economy.

“I think the market economics of owning any shop are up to the shop owner or the entrepreneur to make it work,” Stricklin said. “If there’s a demand for it, they can

ECON 919: SURVEY OF HILLSBOROUGH STREET SMOKE SHOPS Joel Beebe

Correspondent

try it out. Some of the leases we’ve had are pretty new.”

Quinn Duleba, a first-year at Wake Tech studying science and engineering, said he thinks the number of vape shops on Hillsborough is excessive. There is nothing in the city ordinances that prohibit or regulate the density of smoke shops.

“I’m kind of surprised there’s a lot of them,” Duleba said. “I mean, there’s not a need for it. It’s kind of just competition. I

wouldn’t put one directly on Hillsborough because it’s so close to the campus but that’s just purely because it’s kind of like a money grab. They’re just feeding off of stressed students, which, it’s legal, but is it ethical?

Probably not.”

Directly across from D.H. Hill Jr. Library is Campus Mart, and just past Target is the VIP Smoke Shop.

Along with the many store options, users have a wide variety of vaping choices. They

can choose to get a refillable vape, a myriad of disposable vapes or a hybrid between the two with disposable pod vapes. They each offer the same headrush.

Lilian Barber, a third-year studying media arts and technology, vapes casually. They picked up the habit at work, combating boredom.

“It seems like it’s catering towards students,” Barber said. “There’s just so many kinds and the vapes are so colorful and fun to look at. It’s kind of like candy; it tastes like candy.”

According to statistics from the journal Tobacco Control, the use of e-cigarettes has risen among young adults over the past couple of years from 4.5% in 2013 to 20.8% in 2020.

E-cigarette users also pay more in healthcare costs. Users pay on average $2,000 more in healthcare costs than a non-user, which adds up to $15 billion per year in the U.S. According to a 2017 National Institutes of Health review on the subject, users spent between $10 and $250 a month on vaping.

Duleba said users are likely to spend more and more as their addiction increases.

“The more you do it, the more you’re gonna spend, and that’s just gonna kill you and kill your wallet,” Duleba said.

Sitting at Global Village Coffee in between the High Life and VIP Smoke, Jack Current, a third-year in design studies, gave some alternate ideas for businesses on Hillsborough.

“If it were up to me I would sub one out for like a Taco Bell or something,” Current said.

“Having a lot of eating options is better than having a lot of smoking options.”

Barber had similar ideas about food and the smoke shops. They said there’s a lack of essential community services and resources available on Hillsborough Street.

“I like places like [Global Village Coffee] because you can sit outside and do work, and it doesn’t have to be on campus,” Barber said. “Maybe a grocery store, little convenience store. [Hillsborough Street] is kind of a food desert.”

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SCAN TO READ STUDENT’S OPINIONS ON VAPING

Vaping bans: Up in smoke

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

Nicotine Replacement Therapy offers the best alternative to cigarettes Editor’s Note: This article contains references to addiction.

Mark Mikhail

Addiction is a complex and difficult thing to beat, Correspondent and nicotine addiction is no different. While all nicotine-based products come with the inherent risk of addiction, it’s crucial to recognize not all are created equal. Some present significantly fewer health hazards than others.

It’s essential to understand which options might be the lesser of many evils, offering a potentially safer bridge for those seeking alternatives or transitional aids.

These products are of immense importance to those who want to quit. Although stopping cold turkey can work, it is not incredibly effective and is taxing on your physical and mental health. Based on 25 years of polling and research, only about three to five out of 100 will actually quit for longer than six months.

Trying to quit cold turkey doesn’t give enough credit to the addictive nature of nicotine. When you attempt to quit abruptly, you leave yourself exposed to heightened levels of anxiety, depression and insomnia.

Forms of transitional aid to quit smoking are typically the safest form of nicotine products.

These types of products include nicotine gums, patches and inhalers. Skeptics of transitional aids and Nicotine Replacement Therapy may argue it is unnecessary since there are no such devices for many other addictive substances like alcohol.

However, there are forms of transitional therapy that do not center around transitional devices. Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous or rehab play the transitional role NRT plays in nicotine addiction.

Transitional aids and NRT slow down the pathways nicotine takes to reach your brain, causing not only the reduction of the impact of nicotine but also the uncomfortable feelings of nicotine withdrawal.

Reducing the amount of anxiety one has off a nicotine product makes it more likely you are successfully able to quit nicotine altogether. The dependency begins to wane,

and you feel like you can begin to live without the product.

For this reason, the FDA has approved and championed NRT to be a safe and effective form of nicotine cessation. According to studies by the International Journal of Health Sciences, NRTs can increase the rate of quitting by 70%.

Although NRT is the safest way to transition out of cigarettes, it is not the most effective. Recent studies have surprisingly concluded e-cigarettes are more effective than NRT in helping to end nicotine addiction. E-cigarettes, however, are much more dangerous.

E-cigarette products contain an immense amount of synthetic products that can damage your respiratory system. They also contain products like formaldehyde and acrolein, a herbicide used to kill weeds.

Vapes are not as dangerous as traditional cigarettes. Cigarettes are the cause of 90% of all lung cancer cases. They contain 60 cancer-causing agents, while e-cigarettes contain much less.

Navigating the maze of nicotine addiction can often feel like an uphill battle. It’s heartening to know there are bridges available, like NRTs, which are considered the least of all evils.

As stated before, it’s also worth noting e-cigarettes have emerged as a promising tool to escape dependency, especially when compared with the devastating health consequences of traditional cigarettes.

Battling addiction is challenging, and often feels unending. The grip substances like nicotine can have on an individual is relentless, causing not only the body but also the mind to enter a cycle of dependence that is incredibly arduous to break. The advent of safer nicotine products such as nicotine replacement therapies and e-cigarettes presents a beacon of hope.

These alternatives, designed to be less harmful, can serve as stepping stones on the journey toward a life without the financial and physical burden that accompanies some nicotine products. They represent a semblance of control and choice in a battle that often feels overwhelming, providing hope.

You can provide hope to others as well by informing your peers who wish to quit that they have options when trying to wane off nicotine.

As the health effects of vaping are further researched, vapers and non-vapers alike have wondered about bans and what they would mean for Pierce public health. Despite the Bruns harm of using e-cigarettes Correspondent and other devices, vaping bans do not work to improve the public health situation.

To date, the majority of U.S. restrictions regarding vapes have to do with bans on flavored e-cigarettes. Most notably, San Francisco was the first municipality to ban flavored e-cigarettes in June 2018, with 68% of San Franciscans voting for the bill. This ban, which is still in effect, does not prohibit vaping in San Francisco.

Much of the rhetoric behind San Francisco’s ban was flavored tobacco products were the gateway for 80% of teen smokers. But did the ban actually prevent teen tobacco use?

Being the first ban of its kind in the United States, research was promptly conducted to answer this question. In May of 2021, a peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded after the ban’s implementation, underage San Franciscans had a higher chance of smoking cigarettes. This left the San Franciscan smoking rate 4% higher than the national median.

However, it is important to note the study has a sense of recency bias to it — measuring data only in 2019 shows a rise immediately following the ban, but does not display enough data to definitively show a rise in cigarette usage.

Yet bans of this nature would not make sense until the usage of e-cigarettes is understood; research is still emerging related to their harmful effects.

Kurt Ribisl, the Department of Health and Behavior chair at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the focus of bans and regulations on combustible nicotine products, such as cigarillos and cigarettes, should be prioritized.

“The regulations should punish the most toxic products the most — the combusted products,” Ribisl said. “You want to keep some products that are less toxic than a combusted product.”

There have been instances where more stringent regulations have been put in place regarding the regulation and sale of e-cigarettes.

For example, Australia banned vaping on a national level based on a government-ordered research project regarding the recommendations of individual health professionals, government agencies and professional organizations.

The Australian study stated none of the organizations listed in the survey expressly said vaping was more harmful than smo-

king and instead argued vaping is unhealthier than not vaping. Regardless of the hypothetical abstinence of people from vaping, understanding the reasoning behind banning certain nicotine products over others is still extremely important when relating to harm.

“The clean nicotine products are nicotine patches that are FDA approved,” Ribisl said. “Cigarillos are dirty, and e-cigs are somewhere in the middle.”

Ribisl also emphasized the difference between Food and Drug Administration authorization, which means a product is OK to sell, and approval, which is a recommended product for nicotine treatment.

Why not just ban tobacco products altogether?

That would be simply too fast and too far.

To effectively eradicate a $105 billion industry would be reckless, and considering the addictive nature of nicotine, it would force 61 million people to quit cold turkey or look to illegal alternatives.

Instead of banning e-cigarettes outright, the United States should focus on lowering the nicotine content in products and better regulating the market. However, the FDA’s lackluster approach to regulating e-cigarettes has been an opportunity for foreign products to finesse their way through oversight.

One of the ways this has happened is through name changes. For example, Chinese vape brand Elf Bar was blocked from entering the U.S. earlier this year but continued to be sold as EBCreate. This leaves a lot to be desired from the FDA, which has attempted to process millions of applications for review.

“They really have not been able to combat the disposable products,” Ribisl said, regarding the FDA. If regulators are having this kind of issue with unauthorized sales while on-market alternatives exist, it is questionable whether the FDA could manage an outright ban.

The FDA needs to ensure options are still available for people who vape, or at least consume nicotine. This would relieve the pressure on the FDA to keep a ban on such a large industry, while also not forcing people to quit cold turkey.

While the effects of vaping are indeed unhealthy, the prohibition of vaping would not lead to healthier outcomes for current vapers, who would likely look to alternatives.

By targeting only vaping, it is possible those users would turn to possibly worse options, such as cigarettes.

Let’s not make matters worse by enabling a thriving black market and instead implement regulation in place of degradation while we wait to understand the full effects of vaping and where it fits on the spectrum of nicotine products.

TECHNICIAN 11

Opinion TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Standing with Israel is standing on the wrong side of history E

leven years ago, my family and I visited Israel. My father attended a pharmaceutical conference and invited us to explore the Holy Land. Upon our arrival, one of the doctors in the group, who happened to be Arab, was detained and quesMark tioned by authorities. Fortunately, he was Mikhail eventually released.

Correspondent At the time, I didn’t comprehend why this occurred. In hindsight, I’ve come to realize that this incident was just a glimpse into Israel’s racism and discrimination against Arab people.

That was years in the past, but those attitudes have come to define generations of state policymaking in Israel. Let’s be frank: We are witnessing a genocide decades in the making.

Even before the heinous actions that came on Oct. 7, it was a clear, slow genocide.

Unfortunately, Israel appeared to be succeeding. Before the war unfolded, 65% of Gaza’s population lived below the poverty line, and 97% of its water was undrinkable. Israel provides a clean water pipeline to go into Gaza, and unsurprisingly, clean water access has been denied in response to the Hamas attacks.

This is no longer a slow genocide. In the wake of the Hamas attacks, Israel’s Defense Minister declared the country’s plan to “eliminate everything” in Gaza. Ironically, in its retaliation against Hamas, Israel has committed actions similar to those of Hamas. Actually, it’s worse. As of Nov. 10, there have been over 1,200 deaths in Israel and at least 11,025 in Gaza during the conflict.

The median age of Palestinians is 19.6 years, which means a significant portion of the Palestinian population consists of innocent children unaffiliated with Hamas, but it doesn’t seem to matter to Israel. More than 4,000 of those deaths have been children — more deaths of Palestinian children than total deaths in Israel.

Support for Palestine isn’t antisemitic and many members of the Jewish community understand this. In a national survey of Jewish voters, the majority supported U.S. humanitarian aid to Palestinians. In many ways, members of the Jewish community that speak out against Israel are the strongest members of the liberation movement. It is an

important distinction that the actions of the Israeli government do not necessarily reflect the values of the Israeli people or Jewish people as a whole.

The bombing of innocent civilians is a clear violation of international law. So why has the international community not taken stronger action against this clear overkill? The answer is relatively straightforward: money and pride.

Israel holds a dominant position in cybersecurity and arms sales. Western countries rely on it for arms, giving Israel significant leverage on the international stage. To make matters worse, the U.S. is intimately intertwined RACHEL LAMINACK/TECHNICIAN in these affairs.

NC State students chant during the ‘Shut it Down! For Palestine’ protest The U.S. has sent billions of dollars to Israel on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. The protest was hosted by NC State’s chapter in the form of military aid, enabling the coun- of the Young Democratic Socialists of America and the Arab Student Organization. try to build one of the most sophisticated and advanced militaries in the world. It is likely gest foreign lobbyist groups in the United States. They rank that U.S. arms are being used extensively in the Gaza Strip, 44th out of 31,995 lobbyist groups for most financial support potentially contributing to the targeting of hospitals and given. They also make sure to personally take every member refugee camps. of Congress that pledges loyalty to them on a trip to Israel To admit the contemptible nature of Israel’s actions — though conveniently don’t show them the Gaza Strip. would also damage the pride of each and every governConsidering the haunting discrimination many Jews have ment involved in the creation of Israel. They facilitated the faced historically and continue to face, it is understandable colonization of a country where there were already people to be incredibly sensitive about the conflict. However, pointliving, and stood side by side with a country who had been ing out faults in a government is not antisemitic, but rather committing disastrous crimes. being a rational and active member of global citizenry.

Another reason for Western countries’ support of Israel As long as geopolitical interests and financial ties continis the belief that it’s the sole democracy in the Middle East ue to influence the discourse on Israel, achieving any form — an easily contestable notion. The current Prime Min- of resolution seems impossible. At this juncture, it appears ister, Netanyahu, faces indictment for bribery, fraud and more likely that we will witness the complete eradication of breach of trust. He has managed to evade these charges the Palestinian population before our politicians recognize by reshaping the entire judicial system and consolidating the consequences of their actions. power in his hands.

In the country’s history, the U.S. has provided over $260 Technician is committed to billion to Israel, providing more aid to them than any other representing all views and country since the end of World War II. This support is not opinions of the NC State community and encourages going anywhere — the Biden administration and Congress its audience to submit guest are seeking billions more in wake of the war. columns or letters to the ediEven if the U.S. did not pledge that money, its support for tors. Scan this QR code for Israel will never waver due to lobbyist groups. submission guidelines.

Israeli lobbyist groups are undoubtedly some of the stron-

Pack Essentials: Your partner in challenging times

I

f you’ve ever been in a position where you couldn’t afford to cover your basic needs or felt like you were all alone with Rebecca your financial concerns Schaden and fears with no one to Staff Writer turn to, let me introduce you to Pack Essentials, an initiative aimed at NC State students who are experiencing food, housing, financial or educational insecurity.

Assistant Vice Chancellor and Student

Ombuds Mike Giancola and his team at Pack Essentials create a safe space for students, listen to their concerns and make the burden on their shoulders a little lighter.

Susana Mateos, a second-year Ph.D. student in the College of Natural Resources, opened up about the financial struggles that keep her up at night and how NC State has provided a valuable support system to aid with her situation.

“I have four part time jobs in addition to my Ph.D. fellowship funding,” Mateos said.

“And there have been times when I haven’t gone grocery shopping for three weeks be-

cause I didn’t have enough money.”

Even in moments when I was struggling, I’ve always had my parents who would step in and provide a safety net to fall back on.

Giancola said he wants Pack Essentials to serve as a safety net for students who can’t rely on their family to support them.

“There’s no value in any student struggling with knowing where their next meal is coming from, or having access to healthy food or culturally appropriate food,” Giancola said. “And there’s certainly no value in students struggling to think that they can pay their rent or have a safe place to live.”

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Opinion

12 TECHNICIAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

NC State’s physical Master Plan isn’t a masterful display of public education A

bout a month ago, we all received an ema i l f rom NC State about the universit y’s new phy sic a l ma ster Will LaMarche plan. While the email was a bit overdue, given Staff Writer construction has been impacting campus since the summer, it was nice to have a 224-page document to detail what these changes entail.

After reviewing the master plan and looking at the current state of college education in the country, I believe it’s far better to invest in building new universities than expanding current ones.

NC State has continually accepted more and more students over the past few years. With last year’s incoming class, the school welcomed its largest freshman class in NC State history for the third year in a row. They followed up on breaking that record this past fall with 5,614 incoming first-year students.

If NC State intends to continue this trend, it makes sense to expand and revitalize the campus. We all know many of the facilities on campus, namely the dining and residence halls, can’t meet the demands of current students. Housing itself is especially insufficient. While it’s amazing that nearly 10,000 students live on campus, that means at least 17,000 of the total 27,317 undergraduate students can’t.

Rotting In Bed

Even the master plan itself admits to the failings of the residence and dining halls.

“The residential village that is situated west of Dan Allen Drive and includes Bragaw Hall, Lee Hall, Sullivan Hall and Fountain Dining Hall supports the highest concentration of on-campus student housing at NC State,” the report says. “The quality of these facilities is no longer sufficient to adequately address student life needs. Lee and Sullivan Halls lack ADA accessibility, and Fountain Dining Hall is significantly undersized and outdated.”

I don’t think anyone would disagree with this sentiment — these facilities are in dire need of attention, especially to accommodate the inf lux of students.

There shouldn’t be any blame placed on the first-year students themselves; everyone deserves access to a college education. However, many of the changes seem encouraged by the ability to hold more students rather than to help those currently enrolled.

Campus should be more accessible in every sense, and I think there are a lot of great ideas in the master plan that would encourage that.

Improving and expanding the walking paths would make campus more navigable for the large student body. Creating more areas on campus where students can gather, study and dine sounds amazing. Upgrading old buildings to make them more accessible to people who use

Lucy Osborn, Staff Cartoonist A third-year studying art and design

wheelchairs is a necessary change.

But all of these changes, especially making campus more wheelchair accessible, shouldn’t be contingent on so many larger and lengthier construction projects that’ll upheave sections of campus.

Much of the master plan is based in making campus more connected, but if one of the intentions of the plan is to get more students on campus, then how connected can it all really be?

Ultimately, this isn’t sustainable for students. There is a finite number of people qualified to be professors in the Triangle. If we want to continue to show off our 16:1 student-to-professor ratio, then it’s in our best interest to keep our growth at a manageable pace. If you think more classes taught by graduate students is the answer, you are sorely mistaken. Further, constant construction and detours doesn’t exactly develop goodwill with the students who will graduate before it’s completed.

This also has an impact on the larger collegiate environment. The issue of universities closing is an ongoing issue. According to The National Center for Education Statistics, there were 2,015 public universities in 2010. That number fell to 1,892 in 2021. This rate has massively increased over the decade prior.

While small private schools seem to be the most susceptible to closure, other types of institutions are not immune.

Meanwhile, private, elite institutions like Harvard, Duke or Yale are doing very

Inked Mistletoe

well in their endowments.

While we are neither a private nor elite institution, it seems the campus wants to move in that direction. In 2000, NC State’s acceptance rate was about 65%.

In 2023, that number fell to about 46%.

Granted, the number of people who apply to NC State isn’t within the University’s control. But when the college admissions process is designed to prioritize “top applicants,” you’re inevitably neglecting the sector of the population that might not have had the ability to do well in high school for any number of reasons.

NC State can boast that last year’s incoming class had an average 4.31 weighted GPA, but for the largest university in North Carolina, I’d like to think we’re trying to serve North Carolinians of all backgrounds, not just privileged ones.

All of this is to say we’ve really betrayed our title as a public institution.

More students are being brought on campus without the facilities necessary to support them beyond freshman year, all the while having to navigate constant construction and blockages for a future they will have already graduated from.

It’s never been just about the construction. The foundation we came here on is being ripped up, and though we’re told it’s for the better, it certainly doesn’t feel that way and the master plan doesn’t give me any hope.

Max Alsop, Staff Cartoonist A third-year studying anthropology and paleontology

Sports

TECHNICIAN 13

TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

COLUMN

The inequality of Athletics’ social media Erin Ferrare

Assistant Sports Editor

ESPN recently released an investigative data analysis on the growing gender disparity within Power Five athletic departments and the lack of representation of women’s sports on social media, specifically on X, formally known as Twitter. The investigation found NC State mentioned men’s teams more than 50% of the time, favoring the men’s programs over women’s.

The main findings in the ESPN report reflected a disturbing trend of athletic departments neglecting the women’s teams across America on X. 84% of Power Five athletic departments’ X pages posted more about the men’s teams than their women’s — with Notre Dame and Kansas having the largest bias for posting about men’s athletics.

The trend within this study did not just pop out of nowhere — the researchers examined up to 3,200 tweets on each account, dating back to 2018. What was happening within NC State Athletics five years ago? Well, the football team was 9-4 on the season and the men’s basketball team cranked out a 24-12 record and was 9-9 in ACC play. The women’s teams, on the other hand, were thriving.

Here are just a few accomplishments within the 2018-19 athletic season for the women of the Wolfpack: Women’s cross country won an ACC title, women’s basketball finished 28-6 and made a Sweet 16 appearance, women’s tennis was 24-7 throughout the season and women’s swimming and diving won its second ACC championship in three years.

The women’s accomplishments didn’t just stop there though. Since 2018, the women of NC State Athletics have won nine ACC Championships, two NCAA Championships, an East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship title and made an NCAA Final Four appearance.

ESPN looked at the 18 Power Five athletic departments whose men’s and women’s basketball teams both made the 2023 NCAA tournament, and 50% tweeted about their men’s team more than women’s during the regular season.

NC State did not.

With so many accomplishments being achieved, NC State Athletics should highlight its women’s programs just as much as its men’s. It’s not just the principle of the situation that could get the Pack in trouble, but it’s also the law.

A Title IX policy interpretation includes an “equality in publicity” statute that assesses “quantity and quality of publications and other promotional devices featuring men’s and women’s programs.” In two recent cases assessing UC Berkeley and Rutgers University, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights saw dramatic differences in publications and marketing between the men’s and women’s teams.

Title IX calls for equality in college athletics through accommodation of student interests and abilities, athletic financial assistance and other program components that include — but are not limited to — equipment and supplies, medical and training facilities/services and publicity.

The NC State athletic department’s X account, @PackAthletics, only mentioned women’s athletics 38.4% of the time from 2018 to February 2023, failing to provide equal publicity between the two programs. This could possibly open up future lawsuits, not just against NC State but also against any of the Power Five schools mentioned in ESPN’s report.

GRIFFIN BRYANT/TECHNICIAN

Ms. Wuf poses with young fans of NC State and Wake Forest during the Wolfpack’s game against the Demon Deacons at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. The Wolfpack beat the Demon Deacons 26-6.

The main problem within the social media disparity is the quality and quantity of social media managers within the collegiate athletics field. Out of 32 schools who responded to an ESPN poll, 27 of the athletic departments had two or more people running the men’s basketball or football accounts, while the women’s teams were more likely to have to share a social media staffer. At some schools, coaches and players on women’s teams were responsible for their own team’s accounts.

Women’s athletics doubters can claim that this is because the women’s teams aren’t as marketable as the men’s — which is a blatant lie — but Title IX does not mainly focus on money. There is no mention of promoting the most profitable programs, but rather that each program is supposed to have equal promotion. It costs nothing to post on social media.

The money that is affected by this disparity is the money

Ethan Bakogiannis Editor-in-Chief Record: 53-24

Jameson Wolf Editor-in-Chief Record: 43-34

deals — better known as NIL. Many experts in that field expect clashes between NIL and Title IX will be popping up soon. If an athlete can identify a dollar value lost due to not being promoted equally by their university, they can push for a Title IX lawsuit.

Social media deals can be incredibly lucrative NIL deals, and in order to get these deals student-athletes must build up a solid following online. Collegiate athletics accounts have huge followings, and while there might be minimal data now, I could see some coming out in the future showing a correlation between an athlete’s following in relation to being featured on the athletics account.

Some people might see this ESPN report as a call for women to be featured more than men, but it’s not. It’s a warning for schools to change and fit the law they are supposed to be following for the betterment of athletic equality. Female athletes aren’t asking for 100% of publicity — just 50%.

Emily Vespa Managing Editor Record: 48-29

Jenna Cuniowski Sports Editor Record: 49-28

Erin Ferrare Asst. Sports Editor Record: 45-32

Noah Teague Asst. Sports Editor Record: 52-25

No. 18 Utah

No. 18 Utah

No. 18 Utah

No. 18 Utah at No. 21 Arizona

No. 18 Utah

No. 11 Louisville at Miami

No. 11 Louisville

Miami

No. 11 Louisville

No. 11 Louisville

No. 11 Louisville

No. 11 Louisville

Duke at Virginia

Virginia

Virginia

Virginia

Duke

Duke

Duke

No. 2 Georgia at No. 13 Tennessee

No. 2 Georgia

No. 2 Georgia

No. 2 Georgia

No. 2 Georgia

No. 2 Georgia

No. 2 Georgia

No. 24 North Carolina at Clemson

No. 24 North Carolina

No. 24 North Carolina

No. 24 North Carolina

Clemson

Clemson

Clemson

NC State

Virginia Tech

NC State

NC State

NC State

NC State

No. 5 Washington

No. 5 Washington

No. 12 Oregon State

NC State at Virginia Tech

No. 21 Arizona No. 21 Arizona

No. 5 No. 5 No. 5 No. 5 Washington at Washington Washington No. 12 Oregon State made by student-athletes, via name, image and likenessWashington

Sports

14 TECHNICIAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

COLUMN

TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

Punters are people too: especially NC State’s Brayden Noonkester Colby Trotter Staff Writer

STEFANIE HARPER/TECHNICIAN Redshirt sophomore placekicker Caden Noonkester holds the ball for redshirt junior kicker Collin Smith to kick the ball during the spring game at Carter-Finley Stadium on April 8, 2023.

Kate Denning News Editor Record: 53-24

Koen Rodabaugh Focused Editor Record: 55-22

Joe Ovies OVIES + GIGLIO Record: 44-33

Joe Giglio OVIES + GIGLIO Record: 48-29

Cory Smith Pack Pride Record: 54-23

Ethan McDowell The Wolfpacker Record: 47-30

No. 18 Utah

No. 18 Utah

No. 18 Utah

No. 18 Utah

No. 21 Arizona

No. 18 Utah

No. 11 Louisville

No. 11 Louisville

No. 11 Louisville

No. 11 Louisville

No. 11 Louisville

No. 11 Louisville

Duke

Duke

Duke

Duke

Duke

Duke

No. 2 Georgia

No. 2 Georgia

No. 2 Georgia No. 2 Georgia

No. 2 Georgia No. 2 Georgia

No. 24 North Carolina

Clemson

Clemson

Clemson

Clemson

Clemson

NC State

NC State

NC State

Virginia Tech

NC State

NC State

No. 5 Washington

No. 5 Washington

No. 12 Oregon State

No. 5 Washington

No. 5 Washington

No. 5 Washington

When the punt team runs onto the field, fans at home typically f lip the channel or look at their phones, completely disregarding the play that is about to happen. People in the stadium usually boo when they see the punter take the field because that means the offense failed to do its job.

Ever since the punt was invented, it is rare to hear cheering when the punter lines up 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, but I’m here to tell you that you should appreciate your punters, especially if you’re a fan of NC State football.

It’s no secret that the Wolfpack offense has struggled all year — it is ranked 11th in the ACC in points per game. This means the team has been punting more than other rosters, but that’s not a bad thing when redshirt sophomore punter Caden Noonkester is the man running onto the field with his mullet majestically f lowing out of his helmet.

Noon kester, bet ter k now n a s “Boomkester,” leads the ACC with 57 punts and has accumulated the most yards on his punts with 2,447 yards. Some may say it’s easy to lead the conference in punt yardage when you have the most punts, but he also leads the conference in the most important stat: punts inside the 20-yard line.

This is especially critical for NC State because when the Pack can pin its opponent inside its own 20, it allows its relentless defense to go to work. If you give defensive coordinator Tony Gibson great field position, it’s almost a guarantee that his unit will create a turnover or make a crucial stop that will force the opponent to punt, giving the NC State offense favorable field position.

That scenario was most recently seen aga i nst Clemson when Noonkester booted a 27-yard punt

that was caught at the Clemson 15yard line. On the very next play, graduate linebacker Payton Wilson intercepted Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik and took it to the house.

Noonkester had an even better play later in the game against Clemson.

With just over four minutes left in the game and NC State only leading by a touchdown, the Pack turned to one of its best players to help close the game — the one and only “Boomkester,” who launched a 52yard punt that landed at the Clemson eight-yard line.

Gibson’s defense made the gamewinning stop on the ensuing Tigers’ drive, in large part due to the perfectly placed kick by the man with the mullet.

The legend of “Boomkester” was well k nown before the Clemson game. It was against Virginia when he really had to put the team on his back, or his leg in this case. Against the Cavaliers, he punted for a careerhigh 400 yards on eight punts. He also averaged an astronomical 50 yards per punt including a booming 67-yarder. There is no denying that Noonkester was one of the best players on the field that night, if not the best.

“Boomkester” rocketed a ball 67 yards, and that same punt landed at the Virginia six-yard line, and the Cavaliers punted three plays later, giving the Pack offense great field position.

It is normal for fans to be disappointed seeing the punt team on the field because they would rather watch a high-f lying offense put up an endless amount of points. I love watching explosive offenses as well, but I’m just here to tell you it’s about time we start appreciating punters, especially within Wolfpack nation.

Always remember: Punters are people too.

Sports

TECHNICIAN 15

TECHNICIANONLINE.COM

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

NC State women’s basketball upsets No. 2 UConn Jenna Cuniowski Sports Editor

When it comes to NC State women’s basketball’s Sunday afternoon date with the No. 2 Huskies, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said it best.

“We got our asses beat, plain and simple,” Auriemma said.

And he’s not wrong — after taking the first quarter to find its footing, the Pack (2-0) outworked the Huskies (1-1) in every aspect of the game. Junior guard Saniya Rivers led the Wolfpack with a career-high 33 points and 10 rebounds, while three other NC State players scored in the double digits en route to an 92-81 win.

Although the red-and-white is deserving of endless praise for the way it stepped up to compete with a nationally-ranked program, there’s something to be said for the role the deafening crowd that packed Reynolds Coliseum played in the win.

“Oh my goodness, the fans were amazing tonight,” Rivers said. “It felt good. Their energy definitely was a big reason we came out swinging — like Coach Moore said, they came out strong, but we didn’t hang our heads, and the fans were definitely a big part of that.”

Around this time last year, NC State fell to the Huskies by a much more lopsided score of 91-69 in Connecticut.

The Pack was plagued by a lack of cohesiveness and identity on the court. A year later, head coach Wes Moore’s squad is flipping the script entirely.

“I told Wes that their team is 10 times better than it was last year,” Auriemma said. “They’re more together, they play together better, they know who they are. You know, he’s as good a coach as there is in the country and today, you know, everything they did was better than ours.”

UConn jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead to start the game, and, to Wolfpack fans that followed last year’s squad, it looked like the red-and-white was about to go down without a fight as it had against other highly ranked squads last season. But a key difference between the 2022-23 team and the 2023-24 team is its resilience.

Despite falling behind early, NC State didn’t think about hanging its head — instead, the Pack aggressively attacked, defended hard and raised its game to match the Huskies.

Rivers kept the Wolfpack afloat through a first quarter fraught with shaky decision making and slow movement on defense. While NC State’s other guards shied away from UConn’s intense ball pressure, Rivers handled it with ease, sinking three mid-range jumpers to keep the

red-and-white in the game.

With just over a minute to go in the first, the Huskies went on a 7-0 run to turn the momentum in their favor.

The visitors continued to push the tempo, resulting in turnovers that led to easy points for UConn.

NC State came charging back in the second quarter, shifting its attitude from intimidated to indignant — the Pack played to win rather than to keep up, a visible shift in mindset that set the tone for the rest of the game.

Freshman guard Zoe Brooks and freshman forward Maddie Cox made significant contributions in the second quarter, with Brooks scoring eight of her 12 points and Cox scoring all five of her points in the period. As the half wound down, Brooks’ impact grew as she began attacking the defense head on and scoring most of her points inside. “​​[The freshmen] all came in just ready, prepared for this,” Rivers said. “We told them last night was your last night as a freshman. Today when you wake up, you’re an upperclassman; you know, you have to pretend you’ve been here before. They came out, and you wouldn’t even know they’re freshmen; they did great.”

Brooks’ increased comfort with handling the ball allowed Rivers to play on the wing, where she was able to do even more damage — the junior scored nine points over the course of the quarter. On the defensive end, UConn relentlessly attacked the inside but the red-and-white didn’t let up, keeping the game within a handful of points and ultimately closing out the half down by one, 43-42.

Despite an admirable second quarter, Wolfpack fans knew to temper their expectations — NC State notoriously has a bad habit of coming out of the locker room flat and relinquishing any momentum. But against the Huskies, the Pack appeared to have turned a new leaf. NC State began the half by running its sets and scoring consistently.

The Huskies slowly fell apart. As NC State’s players fed off of the momentum, UConn played much more individual basketball — a failing strategy. To top it off, two of UConn’s starting guards, junior Azzi Fudd and senior Paige Bueckers, picked up their third fouls in the third quarter, forcing the Huskies to periodically bench their top scorers.

NC State entered the fourth quarter up 62-57, ready to ride the momentum it had built in the third through the rest of the game. Junior guard Aziaha James came up big in the fourth, scoring 12 of her 18 points in the final period after riding the bench with three fouls for the majority of the third quarter.

The Huskies didn’t go down without a fight, but when

the Pack entered the final minute of play up 85-74, it was clear the home team was emerging victorious. Four trips to the charity stripe later, James sealed the deal, sinking two free throws to make the final score 92-81.

The Pack’s ability to topple an elite program bodes well for its 2023-24 campaign — but Moore made it clear that although a win over the No. 2 team in the nation is impressive, the season is still young and the red-and-white has its eye on bigger feats.

“We’re trying to compete for an ACC championship,” Moore said. “We’re trying to get to a Final Four, and it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks or says. We’ve got to believe that or we’re already beat.”

SARAH COCHRAN/TECHNICIAN

Junior guard Saniya Rivers runs past the defense during the game versus the UConn Huskies in Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. Rivers had 33 points and 10 rebounds. The Wolfpack beat the Huskies 92-81.

HALLIE WALKER/TECHNICIAN

The women’s basketball team waits for junior guard Saniya Rivers to finish her interview before celebrating after the game against UConn in Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. Rivers led in scoring with 33 points and she had 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. NC State defeated UConn 92-81.

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