Technician
friday december
4
2009
Raleigh, North Carolina
Tower enthusiast to share tales of University Matt Robbins to present on history, Bell Tower project
When’s the lecture?
Heidi Klumpe
Tuesday at 4 p.m. in D.H. Hill Library’s assembly room.
Staff Writer
Matt Robbins, a graduate student in architecture, will give a presentation on the history of the University as well as talk about his interest in completing the Bell Tower project Tuesday. The presentation, the first in series of talks by invited students, will take place at 4 p.m. in D.H. Hill Library’s assembly room. Robbins’ interest in the school’s history began early during his undergraduate career. “A lot of this started when I was an undergrad,” he said. “I got interested in the narrated story a building could physically tell.” Now wrapping up his final semester of graduate school on campus, he continues to add to his knowledge of campus. “The special collections library in the University archives is a giant repository of information,” he said. “A lot of the stuff in the archives is still waiting to be looked at and accessed for the very first time.”
Source: Matt Robbins
thinking.” Robbins thinks it is important that other students underTim O’Brien/Technician File photo stand these stories. Matt Robbins, a graduate “The biggest reason why I student in architecture, want to tell people is so that instigated the Finish the Tower people will spread the tradicampaign. tion,” he said. “[The UniverAccording to Robbins, dig- sity] is more than a haphazard ging up history has become collection of bricks.” According to Robbins, his much more than a hobby. presentation “It ’s t hat will canvass ‘National everything Treasure’ f rom, the feeling you founding of get when you the college, attach your to i nteg rathought protion of sexes cess to someand how the o n e e l s e ’s college grew thought profrom a group cesses a hunof freemasons d red ye a rs into a globally later. It gets personal,” he Matt Robbins, graduate student recognized in architecture University. said. “That’s Robbins w h at h a p pened to me with this Bell said understanding the intenTower project. I want to put tions of the University’s foundinto action what they were ers as well as the school’s his-
“Looking back at this history allows us to look back and see how we grew up in that mentality.”
Luis Zapata/Technician File photo
Matt Robbins, graduate in architecture, looks over a copy of the blue prints of the Memorial Bell Tower with Tom Stafford, vice chancellor of student affairs, during one of Stafford’s tours. The original copy of the blue prints are located in the cornerstone along with other documents related to the Tower and the University’s history.
tory can mean a lot to students. In particular, he wants students to understand the vision of Leonidas Polk, who championed the goals of the Watauga Club to create a physical University intent on practical education. “Looking back at this history allows us to look back and see how we grew up in that mental-
ity,” he said. “Campus is a place where people get a practical education, and use it in their community for the better good, and bring it back to campus to do good here. Ownership is very important.” He hopes his talk will give curious students access to that history. “I want this to be a discus-
sion, where people can understand and engage,” he said. “I want it to be people who walk around campus, see stuff, and want to know about it. Then they can know more about the environment to which they devote four years of their life.”
End of START 1 brings uncertainty Post-Cold War strategic reduction treaty set to expire, future of nuclear weapons uncertain Nick Tran Staff Writer
photo illustration by Peggy Boone
Blue Books to bear honor code Student Conduct will pass out special exam booklets to students during exam week Adair-Hayes Crane Staff Writer
The Student Conduct board will be passing out free Blue Books to students this exam week, though the books will be slightly different from the ones students can buy at the bookstore or PackBackers. The main difference? The University honor code. The N.C. State honor code, commonly printed on many professors’ tests, states that the student has neither given nor received aid on a given test or project. Every morning and afternoon of exam days, members of Student Conduct will be in the free expression tunnel to hand out Blue Books to students that need them for exams. According to Mary Frances Woods, a junior in political science, the idea of including the honor code on Blue Books was brought up by a student in a recent Student Conduct Judicial Board meeting. Student Conduct has made close to 400 Blue Books bearing a white sticker with the honor code and a space for a signature to hand out to students going to and from exams next week. “We all thought that would pro-
Friday, Dec. 4th 12pm to 8pm
mote academic integrity within the students,” Woods said. “We want to get more involved with the students.” Woods also said they were looking forward to doing the blue books again in the future, in addition to other ways to get involved with the student body. Scott Goldsmith, a sophomore in political science, is one of the students who will be in the free expression tunnel handing out the books to students. According to Goldsmith, Student Conduct will be out there for 30 minutes leading up to morning and afternoon exam times. They will also offer free coffee to those students on their way to morning exams. “It’s a way to provide service for students during exam week,” Goldsmith said. Liz Zimmerman, a junior in political science and Spanish, said she thinks having the honor code sticker on the Blue Books is a good idea. “It is a very commendable effort to promote integrity at a time when many fall subject to the temptation of cheating,” Zimmerman said. Woods encourages students to apply to be on the Student Conduct Board. The applications are available online at the Student Conduct Web site until Jan. 15. “We’re looking forward to doing more like this to promote academic integrity,” Woods said. “We want to get involved with the students and it is a good way to get involved.”
The first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, considered by many as the most comprehensive arms control treaty in history, will expire tomorrow. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are negotiating the expansion of the treaty and its limitations, with both sides expressing a desire to promote global disarmament. MSNBC reported Obama declared it is the two countries’ duty to take the lead in ridding the world completely of nuclear weapons. RIA Novisti, a state-run Russian news agency, reported Medvedev insisting the new treaty set lower limitations on both the number of warheads and delivery systems. Andy Wagner, a freshman in engineering, said it was important to ensure START 1 is continued in some way. “The treaty helped cool tensions a lot between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. and shift nuclear strategy to a more defensive stance,” Wagner said. “We need that to continue or we’ll have to be wary of countries doing what they were doing before the treaty.” Despite the air of cooperation displayed during the ongoing negotiations there is doubt the two countries will have a new treaty ready by Dec. 5, the insisted signing date and expiration date of START 1. Delays have been attributed to disagreements encountered during negotiations. As reported by the Washington Times, the U.S. Senate accused Russia of violating START 1 by upgrading an older ballistic missile to fit multiple warheads. Negotiations were also strained in light of the war between Russia and Georgia in August. On the other side of the world, Russia has insisted the United
n d e a s s M Sa le s l a n i F NC State Bookstores
40% off storewide! Some exclusions, see store or web site for details.
It’s like Black Friday at the bookstore!!
States dismantle its plans for a missile shield in Europe before negotiations can proceed, as reported by The New York Times. Additionally Russia has threatened to pursue rearmament and modernization of its nuclear arsenal and conventional forces if regional conflicts similar to the war with Georgia persist. The University, along with having a comprehensive nuclear engineering program, has also hosted guest speakers in nuclear non-proliferation and members of nuclear-related control agencies. Man-Sung Yim, an associate professor of nuclear engineering, said there would need to be some give and take for this treaty to succeed. “Russia has to believe they are gaining something from the new treaty,” he said. “Countries outside the missile shield will feel at a disadvantage. Even though the shield doesn’t really work, the US needs to change its stance to level the field for negotiations.” Yim said Russia’s rearmament is a feasible scenario to increase leverage on NATO members and to revive the country’s status as a superpower. “There are some signs in Russia of nostalgia for the Cold War superiority among world leaders,” Yim said. “The [modern] equations of hegemony are different and the reasons to have nuclear weapons are different, but Russia still wants to demonstrate their ability.” Kyle O’Donnell, a sophomore in nuclear engineering, said these are among the reasons it is important to establish another treaty with a cap on weapons. “There’s no reason for any country to have more than 1,000 nukes,” O’Donnell said. “Also there’s no reason for the US to have land based deterrents [the missile shield] in Eastern Europe.” According to O’Donnell, because the development of nuclear weapons is so time-consuming there is little chance Russia will be able to rearm as long as a new treaty is ready within a few months. Scott Lassell, the manager of nuclear services for the University’s reactor program, said he couldn’t see a rear-
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (START) quick facts
· Signed by George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev · Effective July 31, 1991 to Dec. 5, 2009 · Conscious that nuclear war would have devastating consequences for all humanity
Limitations
· 6,000 warheads · 3,600 metric ton throw-weight (ability to deliver heavy weapons) · 1,600 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers · No production of new ICBMs or SLBMs Source: U.S. Department of State
mament strategy happening in either the US or Russia regardless of what happens with the treaty. “It’s worrisome countries are considering jumpstarting their nuclear programs, but it would be economic suicide to enter another arms race,” he said. “The Cold War was expensive.” According to Lassell, the primary concern should be future of the current nuclear arsenal. He said the potential for conversion to tactical nuclear weapons, which cannot be traced like strategic variants, poses a greater threat. “Mutually assured destruction is present to a lesser degree and with the fall of the USSR the possibility of an exchange has dropped significantly,” Lassell said. “I can see how Russia would want its sphere of influence, but I can’t envision a demand for a nuclear weapons program. We should be more worried about portable and tactical nukes that don’t have return signatures being used by rogue states.”
CASH FOR YOUR BOOKS
NEW online buyback value lookup at www.ncsu.edu/bookstore
Buyback locations & times are also available on our web site.