Technician
Staff Writer
This Saturday, April 14, the N.C. State chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity will be holding a charity soccer tournament to raise awareness about suicide prevention. The third-ever tournament event, to be held on the Greek Court fields at 1 p.m., is in honor of Spencer Meyer, an ATO member who committed suicide in January 2010. Each year since Meyer’s death, ATO has organized the event to show its commitment to the suicide awareness and prevention cause, and to remember Meyer. This year, ATO is partnering with the Hope for the Hopeless Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by Meyer’s mother, Lisa Meyer. Together, they are supporting the event to raise awareness about suicide prevention for teenagers and young adults. Steve Gilene, sophomore in human biology and ATO Philanthropy Chair, is heading up the event and said the teams are made up of nine different participating Greek groups. “The tournament is modeled after the World Cup, and each sorority team will represent a different country,” Gilene said. “Each team also has an ATO member as a designated coach.” According to Gilene, the teams were responsible for picking their countries and then creating or buying their uniforms.
10 2012
Students march downtown to protest coal mining practices
Upcoming tournament to raise suicide awareness
Anna Riley
april
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
ATO holds third annual soccer tournament this weekend to support suicide prevention efforts.
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To raise money for the tournament, Gilene said each team was charged a $200 entry and participation fee. He said ATO will also be selling T-shirts, including a special “Hope for the Hopeless” shirt in Meyer’s honor. All of the proceeds from the event and T-shirt sales, Gilene said, will be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Hope for the Hopeless Spencer Meyer Fund. While members of ATO have organized the event, Gilene said they’ve received help from their sponsors Coke, Valentine Commons and Coastal Clothiers. He said the sponsors will be donating things like snacks and refreshments for the tournament day. Gilene said the sorority team that wins the tournament gets to have the traditional trophy in its house for a year. Other teams will receive smaller trophies too, for awards like “best dressed team,” “best skills” and “most independence.” To further its support for suicide prevention, ATO is in the process of building and developing its philanthropic spirit to extend beyond just Greek life. “We’re hoping to expand the tournament next year to include non-Greek organizations,” Gilene said. While the charity tournament is all about fun and games, ATO members said it’s also about calling attention to a very serious matter. Jason Baker, senior in chemical engineering and ATO member
Contributed by Ryan Thomson
Students march through downtown Raleigh March 31 to bring attention to how the merger of Duke and Progress Energy could lead to an increase in the use of coal retrieved by mountaintop removal mining.
Student group ECO marched through downtown Raleigh in a stance against current Duke mining practices. Lindsey Rosenbaum Staff Writer
The N.C. State Environmental Concerns Organization marched in downtown Raleigh on March 31 to draw attention to price hikes that would accompany the merger of Duke Energy and Progressive Energy and how the merger could lead to an increase in the use of coal retrieved by mountaintop removal mining.
ATO continued page 3
In December, the Environment EPA requirements. Most of the coal Protection Agency created emis- being supplied to the plants comes sions standards against smog and from mountaintop removal coal mining. mercur y t hat The process of would go into efmountaintop refect in 2015. Commoval coal minpanies were given ing has been used a choice to purto retrieve coal chase equipment for decades, havto meet the EPA ing picked up in set standards or popularity in the to invest in newer late 1990s. forms of energy. Ryan Thomson, graduate “Mountaintop Most companies student in sociology removal coal minchose the latter ing is the process option, but Duke chose to add cleaning equipment by which coal is exposed by blowing and keep all 14 coal plants in North Carolina open and up to date with coal continued page 3
“Clean coal is a dirty lie. You can’t take sulfur emissions out of it.”
Students arrested in Occupy demonstrations
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Two students were arrested downtown during foreclosure protests. Will Brooks Deputy News Editor
Nine members of the Occupy movement, including two N.C. State students, were arrested in a home foreclosure protest at a home in Southeast Raleigh yesterday. Jim Sughrue, director of public affairs for the Raleigh Police Department, said several suspects broke into the foreclosed residence at 2633 Pebble Meadow Lane, Raleigh. Monday night, two others, including Ryan Thomson, graduate student in sociology and anthropology, were arrested after revisiting the scene. “We did a good job for the most part, nine were arrested today,” Thomson said. Thomson said that the protest of what Occupy called a faked bank foreclosure was a success and by the end of Monday night, marked 52 arrests on the Occupy Raleigh timeline. “Upon arrival, the officers determined that an unknown number of suspects had broken into the residence and that others were on property outside the home,” Sughrue said in the release. According to Occupy Raleigh’s website, protesters came to the home in protest of an “illegal foreclosure” in which the owner was ordered to move out by last Sunday. . The property was foreclosed upon in early 2011 according to Sughrue,
Constructed Facilities Laboratory: deconstructive science See page 5.
Tyler Andrews/Technician archive photo
Ex-marine John Pearson is arrested by Raleigh Police officer B. A. Amstutz after protesting through Fayetville Street during Occupy Raleigh’s 100th day march on Sunday, January 22.
and the current property owner had not authorized the group to be in the home or on the property. “The police don’t care that the bank faked the foreclosure, they were just following orders,” Thomson said. Thomson said although not all police officers were harsh against protesters, there was an excessive amount of police forces, including the S.W.A.T. team, helicopters and city police. “An announcement was made to those outside the home indicating that if they did not wish to be arrested they should move to a sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. The majority of the group did so;
however, five suspects who did not were taken into custody and transported to the Wake County jail on second degree trespassing charges,” Sughrue said in the release. Two suspects that were in the house were additionally arrested for trespassing after cooperating with police. Among the arrested was Rachel Powell, graduate student in sociology and anthropology. Sughrue said he hopes similar events will be avoided in the future. “Breaking and entering and refusing to leave creates a “barricadedsubject” situation for responding officers, raising safety concerns for all involved. Such concerns prompted Chief of Police Harry Dolan and
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other police leaders to sincerely hope that today’s tactic is not one that will be repeated,” Sughrue said in the release. Thomson said the arrests signify progress within Occupy Raleigh. “Despite the fact that they keep on arresting people, it only strengthens us,” Thomson said. As the day of protest drew to a close, Thomson ref lected upon the Occupy movement as a whole. “This is just another node in the student movement here in North Carolina. In preventing falsified foreclosures, preventing tuition hikes; It’s all the same and NCSU recognizes that,” Thomson said.
Opportunity knocks on familiar turf See page 8.
Striking the balance between sport, family See page 8.
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