Technician
Engineering week to project new image Annie Albright Staff Writer
Engineering week has undergone changes that have moved its focus from strictly academics to providing entertainment for the students involved. Trey Warren, junior in construction engineering and management, and a member of the e-week committee, said adjustments were made to benefit students of the college. “We have made e-week this year geared towards the students and student organizations,” Warren said. “It is competitively themed so we want to see who makes up the strongest set of engineers.” The main difference, he said, is the focus on student participation. “There are a lot less lectures and workshops and a lot more fun events like rockband and a scavenger hunt,” Warren said. “We will be giving out prizes at each event and a grand prize at the conclusion of the week.” Warren said the administration was hesitant to allow changes. “We have had a lot of opposition from administration about shying away from an academic based e-week,” Warren said. “We hope that after they see the success of the new structure
of e-week, we hope to have their full support.” The low turn out at last year’s event became reason for change, Warren said. “The e-week committee has been working with sponsors to coordinate and plan these events,” Warren said. “We wanted to increase students participation and satisfaction with eweek. Last year it was a lot of professional development workshops and now we have activities that a more diverse population of the student body will be able to enjoy.” Kyle Cutler, sophomore in biomedical engineering, said last year was the first time he participated. “I went to one or two of the night lectures but it didn’t seem like the same kind of excitement that I thought events like that should have,” Cutler said. “I think that the competition theme should really bring people out and help have a different attitude this year.” Competition is what e-week is about, Cutler said. “We want to build excitement and inform people about new developments and research that is occurring at N.C. State through our speaker series,” Cutler said. The committee tried to incorporate something for students with a wide range of qualities and interests, Warren said. There will be speakers from major hiring companies such as Prog-
ress Energy, Fluor, Norfolk Southern and the Shaw group in attendance, which he said would be an excellent opportunity for networking. “E-week delves into many different qualities that engineers have so the week is a good time to showcase our many interests,” Warren said. “I am most excited about getting to meet the distinguished alumni and faculty that will be in attendance at the kickoff event.” Kelly Mulholland, senior in textile engineering, said she hopes the week will disprove the stereotypes many have about engineering students. “I am excited for other people on campus to learn about what engineering is and for engineers to have fun for a week,” Mulholland said. “I think other people think we do math problems all day. I don’t think they understand what engineers do all these math problems for. They don’t understand that we’re designers.” Warren said he agreed that e-week could be an excellent opportunity to dissolve stereotypes. “Engineers kind of have a bad stereotype of being anti-social and overly studious, but we are more than just that,” Warren said. “We are not just mathematicians and scientists. We are athletes and Greeks, actors and senators.” Attendance is expected to be significantly higher this year, Warren said. “We are expecting great things for
Schedule of events: March 22-26, 2010 Register today for free! students.engr.ncsu.edu/eweek Monday Progress Energy Kickoff event and scavenger hunt Riddick atrium, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday Norfolk Southern Amazing Race Riddick atrium, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Fluor Design-a-thon Riddick atrium, 6:30 p.m. Thursday The Shaw Group Video game tournament Talley Student Center, 6:30 pm. Friday Bowling and awards night Western Lanes, 5:00 p.m. Source: students.engr.ncsu.edu/eweek
e-week so we want everybody to register as soon as they can,” Warren said. “Basically what we want students to know about e-week is throw away your preconceived notions of what it is because we have revamped it beyond recognition.”
serving with honor
Jordan moore/Technician
In an awards ceremony on Thursday, Michael Steer of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department receives the Commander’s Award for Public Service for his work related to electronic defensive warfare. The award is the fourth highest honor the United States Army can award to a civilian, and consists of a bronze medal, lapel button and citation certificate.
University Police and Transportation offer options for increased security over spring break Cars parked with permits can be moved to ensure added security Alanna Howard News Editor
In a collaboration between Campus Police and Transportation a spring break parking package will be offered again this year. Students who park in perimeter and resident lots can move their vehicles to the West Lot, which is off Sullivan Drive, during spring break. This is the third year this plan has been implemented according to David Gregory, parking services manager for Transportation. “Not many people know about this so we’re trying to make it better
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Changes made to engineering week will move focus away from academics
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publicized and spread awareness on vice will be provided from the Centencampus,” he said. “We realize students nial Campus Storage Lots to campus leave cars on campus for extended residence halls on Sunday, March 21. He said the periods of time service will beso we wanted to gin at 5 p.m. and make sure there run continuously was a way to keep until 9 p.m. with a lot of cars in the service approxisame area to keep mately every halfan eye on them.” hour. All University “We have copermit holders, ord i nated t he regardless of the Wo l f l i n e bu s type, may park David Gregory, schedules to acin the West Lot parking services manager commodate stuw it hout any dents returning special arrangetheir cars to their respective Lots on ments, he said. For students who utilize this service, Sunday,” Gregory said. The idea behind the temporary storGregory said, Wolfline shuttle bus ser-
“...we wanted to make sure there was a way to keep a lot of cars in the same area to keep an eye on them.”
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age comes from the knowledge that Campus Police is located near West Lot and many police officers park their own cars in that lot. Therefore increased attention will be paid to that area, according to Gregory. “If we congregate all the cars near where the police are available at all times, there is less likely of a chance they will be attacked since there is a constant presence there,” he said. John Garrison, a freshman in computer science, said he would take advantage of this benefit if he left his car on campus during spring break. “Parking in West Lot would make me feel more secure because it’s not all
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Force-drop policy passed Senate passes resolution to drop students who fail to attend the first two days of class Rachel Port Staff Writer
The Student Senate passed a resolution on Monday night to support the implementation of a University-wide, force-drop policy that would make professors responsible for dropping students who miss the first two days of class. Senator Amber Joyner, senior in political science, said the purpose of Resolution 79 was to make sure class seats are filled by students who want to be in class. She said the University has cut many courses due to budget constraints and it is often difficult for students to get into the courses they need to graduate. “The Senate is not trying to pull over anything on students,” she said. “The purpose is to be proactive in catching students who aren’t investing in their education.” Joyner said that if students who do not attend class are dropped after the first week, then other students will have time to fill the seats that open up before the cut-off date for adding a class passes. Resolution 79 was passed by a vote of 27 for, 6 against and 3 abstaining. According to the resolution, approximately 400 students per semester fail their classes by not ever attending. Julie Mallette, director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, said 193 of those students last semester were receiving financial aid. Mallette said that enrolled students receiving federal aid, who fail all of the classes they take in a given semester, are of special concern to the Office of Financial Aid. She said the federal government requires the University to provide documentation within 30 days of the end of the semester that those students were attending classes. If the University fails to provide documentation proving that those students attempted the courses they enrolled in, the government can withhold financial aid funds from the University, Mallette said. Documentation of these students is very difficult to get within 30 days of the end of the semester, Mallette said. The Senate’s proposed force-drop policy would provide that documentation earlier in the semester. “This policy would be helpful to everybody,” she said. “With limited dollars, we can’t afford to risk the University’s ability to participate in Federal aid programs.” According to University Regulation 02.20.3, teachers of 100- and 200-level courses are already required to keep a record of attendance throughout the semester. “It shouldn’t be a burden to professors to take attendance for the first two days of class,” said Joyner.
SENATE continued page 3
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