TECHNICIAN
thursday january
20 2011
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
CALS site seeks to increase student involvement
DUKE BEDEVILS PACK
Moodle-based site’s goal is to give students a louder voice in Student Government.
“The CALS senators decided that one main point of concern in our college is connecting with students and making students feel that their voice is heard,” Smith said. “We wanted a way to connect Joshua Chappell with students and make sure that we are really Senior Staff Writer doing what students want and need.” According to Smith, the idea first surfaced last With the launch of a new webpage designed to increase student involvement and awareness October. There was a delay in trying to coordiabout campus and college events, the College of nate efforts between the Office of Information Agriculture and Life Sciences senate delegation Technology and the CALS Academic and Adminhopes to increase communication between the istrative Technology department, but Smith said student body and stuhe was glad the site dent leaders. was ready for launch The site, which at the beginning of launched Monday, is this semester. hosted on the comThe features of the mon ly used cou rse site include forums, surveys, calendars, website, Moodle. All senators’ contact instudents enrolled in a formation and genCALS major were added eral announcements to the website, according regarding CALS and to Ethan Harrelson, a the University. senior in biological sciences. Ha rrelson sa id Harrelson, Student he hopes to use Jonathan Smith, sophomore Senate president pro t he technolog y in agricultural education tempore, said that he to gauge student hopes the site will help interest in various increase the quality of student experience in the projects that the senate pursues. college by building a link between students and “[The senators] can send out notices to each stustudent leaders. dent about major events or to take surveys about “Our whole goal was better communication with what students think about the ideas we have,” Harstudents,” Harrelson said. “It’s our job to ensure relson said. that students’ voices are heard.” The first survey that was posted to the website According to Jonathon Smith, a sophomore in at its launch, a survey about general experiences agricultural education and CALS senator, the in CALS, has already garnered a significant numsite is the result of a brainstorming session be- ber of responses, according to Smith. tween CALS senators and the Associate Dean of the college, Ken Esbenshade. CALS continued page 3
“The CALS senators decided that one main point of concern in our college is connecting with students and making students feel that their voice is heard.”
‘Science Cafe’ serves up rainforest mythbusters Professor: Forests produce ‘almost everything we eat.’ Brooke Wallig
CSLEPS prepping for MLK service day Students help spread King’s message to middle schoolers.
Deputy News Editor
As part of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ monthly “Science Cafe,” Meg Lowman discussed the hard facts of the state of the world’s rainforests Tuesday at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh. Lowman, director of the museum’s Nature Research Center and research professor of natural sciences at N.C. State, said “the talk centered on explaining the realities of the rainforests, including their value and how to conserve them.” She also used the Cafe as an opportunity to clear up common misunderstandings about rainforests. As one of the first researchers to discover the mass amounts of plant and animal species living among the forest canopies, Lowman certainly knows the topic. According to Lowman, the world’s rainforests do not solely provide luxuries—they also provide some of the most basic things important to human survival. “Rainforests provide almost everything we eat—from coffee, to chocolate, to cinnamon,” Lowman said. “But the [rainforest] also provides oxygen, fresh water, medicines, foods, construction materials, homes to millions of species and climate control.” However, Lowman said most people aren’t helping to conserve these forests, but are instead letting their destruction go unchecked. “We are losing rainforests and there is a tipping point at some level of fragmentation — some people think that tipping point for the Amazon is 20 percent degradation, and it is estimated that we have decimated 17 percent at this point in time,” Lowman said. “In other words, the world is destroying these forests to a point where they may continue to degrade.” This may be in part due to widely held and vastly incorrect illusions of
DRIER CARR/TECHNICIAN
The Student Wolfpack Club was visibly upset at some of the refereeing Wednesday night at the RBC Center. The Wolfpack fell to the Blue Devils 92-78.
insidetechnician
State hopes to refocus against Boston College See page 8.
Janell Miller Staff Writer
nutrients in rainforests are contained in the trees. Another [myth] is that rainforests must regenerate quickly since they live in warm, moist places.
The Center for Student Leadership Ethics and Public Service will host its ninth annual Martin Luther King service challenge this weekend. The event allows students to learn about Martin Luther King Jr.’s message on service and social issues. “We put on the event to honor Dr. King with a day of service learning,” Hillary Simpson, a enior in biochemistry and CSLEPS director of youth programs, said. According to Simpson, the MLK service day’s purpose is to bring people together, honor King, provide an opportunity for N.C. State students to interact with the younger generation and get experience providing service. Organizers anticipate 50 students from Ligon Middle School and 50 students from N.C. State will participate. Students were glad to see the University has this service outreach program. “It’s a great idea, because it gives the younger generation a chance to learn why Martin Luther King Day is important and it will give them the chance to appreciate it,” Martha Kome, a sophomore in biological sciences, said. The event also provides a venue for State students to remember and reflect on King’s work.
CAFE continued page 3
MLK continued page 3
TIM O’BRIEN/TECHNICIAN
Meg Lowman, Research Professor in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and director of the Nature Research Center at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, speaks during “Science Café” at Tir na nOg Irish pub Tuesday. Lowman spoke about the cause she has devoted her life to -- canopy ecology -- and the degradation of the world’s rainforests. “The problems are large-scale agriculture, road building and oil drilling,” Lowman said. “We don’t know how far we can go.”
rainforests, according to Lowman. One of the most common fallacies about the forests is that since the trees are lush, the soil is rich. Actually, Lowman said, this is not the case. “Soils are very poor as all the
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Underwater Robotics Club building a future See page 6.
Radar in shoes improving location technology See page 5.
First half woes plague Pack See page 8.
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