Technician
Transportation looks 10 years ahead Laura Wilkinson & Zachary Diezel Editor-in-Chief & Staff Writer
NCSU Transportation hosted two open houses for students, faculty and staff to provide information about the Campus Mobility Plan and collect feedback from attendees. The mobility plan offers several suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of the Wolfline system and providing better service to students both on and off of main campus. One of the proposals offers two alternative plans to decrease traffic congestion at key Wolfline stops. The first alternative would be the closure of Dan Allen Drive to thru traffic and the rerouting of traffic to vicinity area roadways. However, the delay at Hillsborough and Gorman Streets would significantly increasefrom a current 70-second delay to a possible 266-second delay. The second alternative would be a Pullen Road extension and a pedestrian/transit tunnel at Western Boulevard and Avent Ferry Road. This would provide relief to the intersections of Western Boulevard and Avent Ferry Road and Centennial Parkway and Avent Ferry Road, but would increase the delay at Centennial Parkway and Oval Drive. Christine Klein, Transit manager, said these suggestions are an attempt to fix some of the problems
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with the current system. “As a general rule, we tweak our Wolfline routes every year anyway. We do analysis on our ridership, we know where we have overcrowding problems,” Klein said. Another proposal would create another park-and-ride lot at the Farmers Market near Centennial Campus, in addition to the current park-and-ride at Carter-Finley Stadium within the next five years. In the next five to 10 years, there is a proposed Southwest park-and-ride lot. “We’ve been studying for years -- we’ve always known we need another park-and-ride lot to the south and the west,” Klein said. “We’re just kind of fleshing this out, where the park-and-ride might be.” The plan also introduces the idea of transit centers to facilitate bus connections between Wolfline, Capital Area Transit, Triangle Transit, Cary Transit and future commuter rail service. Overcrowded routes would also be serviced by new articulated buses, which are 20 feet longer than the standard 40-foot bus, providing 50 percent more seats and standing capacity. Tom Kendig, Transit director, said NCSU Transportation has to renew their transit contract in about five years, and a different kind of bus fleet may be worked into the new contract, such as the addition of articulated buses. “If we renewed the contract in five years and added the articulated buses, there’s no doubt the expenses would likely go up,” Kendig said. The cost of transit right now
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The Campus Mobility Plan makes suggestions for improving transit, such as more park-andride lots.
thursday
Non profits offer various benefits Nonprofit groups have vast differences from large organizations and offer different rewards. Jessie Halpern Deputy News Editor
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Waiting for the Hillisborough Street bus, Taquicia Carr, a senior in social work, listens to her iPod.
comes mostly from students. Student fees provide about 75 percent of the cost and parking subsidizes the remaining 25 percent. While these percentages would likely stay the same, the actual cost would increase, according to Kendig.
“We’re going back and looking at this more, seeing what kinds of adjustments, what kinds of tweaks we need. A couple years ago, we had
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During your time at N.C. State, it is guaranteed you will encounter a nonprofit organization. Whether you’re volunteering with Habitat for Humanity or camping out during Relay for Life, you’ve likely been involved with at least one of these unique organizations. A nonprofit, or 501(c)(3), is a tax-exempt organization whose main purpose is not to garner funds for profit, but for the promotion of a specific mission. According to the Internal Revenue Service,“The benefits of having 501(c)(3) status include exemption from federal income tax and eligibility to receive taxdeductible charitable contributions. To qualify for these benefits, most organizations must file an application with, and be recognized by, the IRS.” If your parents have ever made a rushed, end of season donation to an organization, it’s most likely because donating to nonprofits means getting a tax break. According to Lisa Stewart, logistics specialists for the Cystic Fibrosis
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Health professionals discuss misuse of rabies medication Leon Novick visited campus yesterday to discuss the abuse of rabies medication. Madison McLawhorn Staff Writer
Indie platformer offers a robust experience
In development for five years, ‘Fez’ brings a unique experience to Xbox Live. See page 5.
Leslie prepared to finish what he started
Leslie opts out of NBA Draft; will return to play his junior season for Wolfpack. See page 12.
Hopscotch Music Festival releases 2013 lineup
Within hours of its announcement of 175 feature bands, VIP tickets sell out for indie music fest. See page 9.
viewpoint features classifieds sports
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The University’s College of Veterinary Medicine hosted a talk on rabies last night. Dr. Leon Novick of East Carolina University led the event, The Slippery Slope: Rabies PostExposure Prophylaxis. Novick, chair for the department of public health at ECU Brody School of Medicine, discussed the human post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent rabies virus infection after potential exposure to the virus. Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PEP, is the treatment administered to humans after encounters with potentially rabid animals. This “slippery slope” to which Novick refers is the problem with usage and requests for PEP. More often than not, professionals do not recommend PEP. In part, this is due to cost; one case involving PEP can set a patient back $1000. Moreover, it is unnecessary in almost all cases. In spite of expert advice, individuals still insist upon PEP even in the most unlikely cases of contraction. Novick has found individuals—particularly mothers of patients—will change their story to make for a more severe case after they are met with rejection. “A classic example of this is that there are no bites or scratches documented, but the caller reports handling an animal that they are concerned about. It is not uncommon to hear that the
Natalie Claunch/Technician
Lloyd F. Novick, MD, MPH and Chelsea Stowe, MPH from Brody School of Medicine discuss the over-administration of Rabies post-exposure prophylaxis vaccine across the United States. The vaccine, which is given to people exposed to rabies, has inconsistent laws over administration throughout the country.
caller initially indicates that they do not have any open lesions on their hands or arms, but when they learn that they do not require PEP, they often report that they do in fact have cuts, scrapes...” This common request for the PEP has led to overusage, a growing problem in the public health sector. Chelsea Stowe, a research associate at Brody’s Department of Public Health, discussed the topic at the event and in her paper, “An Examination of the Overuse of RPEP in the United States.” Stowe cites there are 120,000 potential rabies exposures per year, while “potential rabies exposure” includes an individual’s encounter with a possibly rabid animal. Of these, there are roughly 40,000 people who receive rabies PEP per
year. However, only one to two human rabies cases actually occur per year. Stowe defines these as cases “in which the subject or subjects involved in the encounter exhibit clinical symptoms.” “Administration of rabies PEP is secondary prevention—it stops a disease already present in the body,” Stowe said. “But PEP is costly.” Because the problem has grown to be so costly, Stowe recommends through her research more risk assessments be done and more exact figures be formulated so the level of need may be better understood. PEP isn’t useless, though. Novick reminds students it is a “virtually, universally fatal disease,” and there have only been three cases of survival without the vaccine.
Another problem with controlling rabies is animal control varies by state, as does health departments’ course of action for dealing with the disease. Some common practices are for states to require local governments to obtain animals showing signs of rabies for euthanasia and testing, or that those potentially exposed to rabies be administered a booster vaccination, quarantined or observed. The most common practice is for an animal to be obtained and observed over a 10-day confinement period, if domestic, before rabies diagnosis may be reached. Or, the animal may be euthanized and tested if wild, or in some cases, domestic. Professor for the Department of
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April 26 & 27 - 10am to 4pm On the Brickyard!