Technician
tuesday november
8
2011
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Tour looks at campus through historical lenses Monday’s Red, White & Black Tour surveys campuses AfricanAmerican history. Mikaia Holmgreen Correspondent
contributed by megan schlude
Protesters hold up signs reading “Occupy Earth” on a sidewalk between Lafayette Park and the White House Sunday before a march through Washington, D.C.
Occupy NCSU protests in D.C. Students organize a trek to the nation’s capital to protest an oil pipeline, tar sands.
Environmentalists spoke on the dangers of the pipeline extracting oil from tar sands harms from a stage set up in Lafayette Park, located directly across from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue. John Wall In a show of strength, the 12,000 News Editor people in attendance left the park and Occupy NCSU gathered students surrounded gates around the White and community members and jour- House. Standing five people deep, neyed to Washington, D.C. to fight the they condemned the pipeline in unison through chants such as “Power in construction of an oil pipeline. Senior in international studies Tara our voices; power in hands; say yes to Beck and graduate student in sociolo- the Earth; so no to tar sands.” Thomson stood gy Ryan Thomson on the corner of ensured two bus E Street and 15th loads of people St re e t out side had the opporthe White House tunity to protest fence during the the Keystone XL chants. pipeline, which “We d id it,” wou ld ex tend Ryan Thomsom, Thomson yelled f rom nor t her n graduate student in sociology from amongst the Alberta, Canada, crowd. to the Gulf Coast It was the first gathering of its kind in Texas. President Barack Obama has all authority in the matter, as it is since Vietnam, according to Beck. The chant “We are the 99 percent” up to him to decide whether to sign a broke out occasionally. construction permit. The protest was not an Occupy The proposed pipeline is a cousin to the Keystone already in service, which event, though Occupiers support the carries oil extracted from tar sands in fight against the Keystone XL and tar Canada and transports it to refineries sand oil, according to Thomson. In fact, buses stopped at Occupy Rain the U.S. It has leaked 12 times in the leigh after leaving from the McKimpast year, according to Beck. The XL pipeline will carry “at least mon Center early Sunday morning en 200 times more oil” than the original, route to D.C. It was dark as Occupiers and those pitching its construction jumped at the opportunity to get out of the cold and join. have said it will not leak, Beck said.
“Now Obama just needs to grow a spine.”
contributed by megan schlude
The march around Washington, D.C. made a stop at the American Petroleum Institute at 1220 L Street Sunday. Thousands of people went directly to the front door of the building while protesting Keystone XL, a proposed oil pipeline meant to stretch through the United States from north to south.
“Show me what democracy looks like; this is what democracy looks like,” became the overarching theme as protesters dispersed from the White House gates and took to the streets. Traffic yielded to marchers taking over all lanes. Violence did not break out during the hour-long march around the city. Officer Fritts of the D.C. Police Department walked in front of the crowd throughout and coordinated with other officers to ensure the safety of marchers and drivers. “It has been decades since there was a crowd like this outside the White
House that has something to do with the environment,” speaker Bill McKibbens said from the stage in Lafayette Park as marchers returned. Thursday’s teach-in and the trip to D.C. are the largest movements Occupy NCSU has participated in — both within four days. Exhausted, he sat reflecting at a pizzeria in Richmond, V.A. during a stop on the six hour trip back. “Now Obama just needs to grow a spine,” Thomson said.
Students and faculty joined outside the front doors of D.H. Hill Library Monday to take part in the Red, White & Black tour of N.C. State’s AfricanAmerican history. The tour, organized by NCSU Libraries in collaboration with the African American Cultural Center and the Department of History, took the tour group for a walk through campus in an African-American’s shoes during the height of segregation and racial inequality. Walter Jackson, advisor for the Department of History and one of the tour guides, said until the 1950s public universities in the South were segregated by law. When N.C. State was founded in 1887, the only AfricanAmericans employed by the University worked as janitors and maids. African-Americans were not permitted to cross campus, but were told to walk where they would be seen by the least amount on people. “I always knew there was segregation on campus, but never thought it was so bad that African-Americans could not even cross campus,” Joshua Andrews, a senior in psychology, said. “I love the Brickyard and can’t imagine being banned because of my race.” Jackson and Toni Thorpe, program coordinator for the African American Cultural Center and Jackson’s fellow guide, said universities didn’t react well to integration. When the University of Alabama admitted a female African-American student in 1956, Thorpe said, the student was taunted by mobs of white people and suffered attacks of violence on campus. NCSU admitted its first four African-American undergraduate students in 1956 as well, but they did not suffer nearly as much harassment as the young woman at the University of Alabama, according to Thorpe.
tour continued page 3
Construction-related road closures continue Transportation office explains the process behind road closures. Sarah Dashow Staff Writer
Talley Student Center construction resulted in evening detours again last week, with buses not serving stops on Dunn Avenue, Morrill Drive or Faucette Drive from 6:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. However, the N.C. State Transportation Office is working to ensure on-going construction and traffic decisions affect students as little as possible. Christine Klein, public communication specialist for the transportation office, said every project goes through detailed design and construction planning long before a contract is bid through the State Construction Office. “This whole process involves a detailed analysis of how the work is to be accomplished. And, for the most part, actual construction goes according to plan. The reality is that once the contractor gets boots on the ground, there usually are items or situations that arise that can change plans slightly,” she said. On bus detours specifically, Klein said many of the decisions have the safety of workers in mind. “A car may have been able to make it, but we knew a bus could not make it safely, and there are workers in the
trenches,” Klein said. “It’s just a matter of trying to make things work as well as you can [while] maintaining safety and keeping the project moving forward. So we’ve had some evening detours.” Most road closures are the result of extensive planning and not random, according to Klein. She said the office reviews everything happening on campus before approval. “The only person that can officially give the approval to close down a road on campus is our director Tom Kennedy. So, when you’re talking road closure, we require five days notice, but if it’s a planned road closure, we’re usually talking about it weeks in advance,” Klein said. “Flat out we tell contractors you can’t do anything during open house. If there are big events on campus, no work can be done.” Other closures happen in response to emergencies, such as water main breaks, and have nothing to do with Talley construction. This was the cause of the temporary Carmichael Gymnasium bus re-routes on Oct. 18. Bus riders are not the only people affected, however. Matthew Adams, a senior in computer science, lives offcampus and drives himself. He frequently parks in the Coliseum Deck and said the construction has affected his daily route. “I have had to take a different route when the road behind the parking
oliver sholder/Technician
Construction workers fix a water main break outside Talley Student Center Oct. 19. A section of an old pipe under the road fell out due to large traffic flow, causing a “very substantial break in the pipe,” according to Erik Hall, a plant engineer for Facilities Operations.
deck is closed,” Adams said. “Sometimes there are cars backed up along the street while we wait for a construction vehicle to move. It hasn’t been a huge issue for me, but it is quite an
Grad Fa ir Class Rings
10% off all Caps & Gowns and Diploma Frames
annoyance.” For others, the construction has little effect on their routine. Derek Ward, a junior in mechanical engineering, said the construction has
never changed his bus route, so he has not paid much attention to updates on
traffic continued page 3
r i a F d a r G Graduation Announcements
Nov. 8-10 10am - 4pm
Diploma Frames