TECHNICIAN
Where not Brooke Wallig Staff Writer
Local businesses are warning students to steer clear of the parking lot on the corner of Chamberlain and Hillsborough streets if they don’t plan on immediately visiting the adjacent businesses. The lot, which is shared by Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, GoPaks Bazaar, I Love New York Pizza and Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins, provides free parking to all customers and employees of the businesses in the building. Carolina Auto Recovery Specialists tows all other vehicles from the lot. The Raleigh Police Department’s towing logs indicate that at least 650 cars have been towed from the lot by Carolina Auto, which operated under the name Atlantic Coast Towing and Recovery from February 2008 until November 2009. By comparison, the other hot spots on the logs, the parking lots of Zaxby’s and Sylvia’s Pizza, had around 464 and 118 cars towed, respectively, in the same time period. However, Chandan Kumar, manager of GoPaks Bazaar, said the reason for towing has morphed into a chance to turn a profit rather than to keep the lot clear for customers. “If somebody comes in our store, or any of these businesses, they don’t get their car towed,” Kumar said. “But if they leave the property or go somewhere else, across the street even, the towing company will tow your
september
23 2010
Raleigh, North Carolina
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Business owners on Hillsborough Street are warning students to be careful where they park, especially if they’re parking behind specific eateries.
thursday
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car right away. They don’t even come inside and ask me anything about it. They have their own people sitting in the parking lot watching people to see where they are going after they park their car.” Travis Denton, president of Carolina Auto Recovery Specialists, said Jimmy John’s franchise owner Dan Mall contracted with him about a year ago to tow in the lot, but he denies hiring those “spotters,” claiming that they are “a rumor stirred up by the WRAL article last year.” Although Denton said the business owners call in the towing company, Mall said he hired the towing company to control the lot independently. But aside from Kumar, others who live and work along Hillsborough Street, including Eddie Johnson, one of Mall’s employees, told the Technician they have seen spotters watching for illegally parked cars. Johnson, who has been a driver for this particular Jimmy John’s for less than two years, said he likes the towing policy because it ensures there are enough spaces for delivery drivers. “The spotters watch everyone. They even tow our own people if they come back and park after their shift is done,” Johnson said. “They know when people work and what they drive. For everyone else, the signs are out there and they’re clear. If you can’t read when you are coming in to park, then that’s not our problem.” Mall also said the policy is clear. “We need to tow cars that aren’t supposed to be there to make room for our customers,” Mall said. “If you leave the property for any reason, you will be towed.” Other business owners in the area are not
PARKING continued page 3
Small explosion stirs College of Veterinary Medicine A tiny blast at the Vet School caused one building evacuation Wednesday morning. Chelsey Francis Deputy News Editor
A beaker not venting properly caused the Small Animal Hospital at the College of Veterinary Medicine to be evacuated for a brief time Wednesday morning. According to Keith Nichols, the director of news and communications for the University, the Small Animal Hospital was evacuated for about 15 minutes after the beaker exploded, at about 10 a.m. The building was evacuated only as a precaution. According to David Green, the director of college communications for CVM, there was no fire and no contamination. “Two people were working in a lab,” Green said. “One is a student and one is a lab technician. They were heating a beaker that is supposed to vent automatically. For some reason, the beaker wasn’t venting properly. Because of this, the beaker, for lack of a better word, exploded. When it did, smoke was generated, causing the fire alarm to go off and the building to be evacuated.” As is standard procedure, a hazardous materials team was called in to inspect the facility. “A HazMat team is called in anytime there is an alarm for a laboratory,” Green said. “The HazMat team did inspect the room and did not find any contamination issues.”
VET continued page 3
New Senate officers installed Lots of seats re-elected and freshmen senators were taken in amidst senate advisors fighting.
Students will vote next week on which gift to work towards. Joanna Banegas Senior Staff Writer
Shivalik Daga Staff Writer
The 90th session on the University’s Student Senate saw as many as four Senate officer posts being contested, along with appointments of the recently elected freshmen senators and other student government officials. Nevin Kessler, vice chancellor of University advancement, started the proceedings by speaking on the importance of having a strong alumni association and the University’s ongoing efforts to bring alumni back to campus in ever greater numbers. The University currently receives $500 million in endowments, which works out to roughly $14,000 per student. Kessler spoke of the alumni’s importance in growing this resource and urged freshmen senators to engage more actively in campus life. N.C. State has 177,000 living alumni, a largely untapped resource. Kessler said he emphasized the seriousness of this issue and reiterated the fact that endowment for the University was considerably less when compared to other land-grant institutions. “A long-lasting relationship with your alma mater can be an enriching experience,” Kessler said. This was followed by an election for the appointment of Matthew Tucker for the College of Natural Resources seat. Because of Tucker’s absence, the seat remains empty. This was followed by the Senate
Seniors to vote on 2011 class gift next week
JONATHAN MILLNER/TECHNICIAN
Parliamentarian Jonathon Smith, a sophomore in agricultural education, challenges the issues that were brought before the Student Senate Wednesday night.
reading legislations and referring them to their respective committee. The Tuition and Fee Recommendation Act was referred to the Tuition Committee. The Tuition Committee will be hosting a meeting with the chancellor Wednesday. An important bill discussed was the Surplus Bill, in which the Student Government proposed to disburse the 2009-2010 budget surplus, amounting to $39,884, to the Appropriations Committee. It was proposed that 60 percent of the surplus would be used for the fall semester and the remaining 40 percent in the spring. The 13 recently elected freshmen
REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE STATUS QUO
senators were installed into office. The Senate meeting also consisted of the election of four Senate officers. Elections were held included the Senate President Pro Tempore, Senate Secretary, Legislative Secretary and the Sergeant-at-Arms. Election for the Senate President Pro Tempore seat saw both contestants, John Tucker and Ethan Harrelson, being thoroughly questioned by the Senate. This was followed by intense discussion after they left the room. Eventually, Ethan Harrelson was elected
SENATE continued page 3
The class of 2011 Senior Class Committee has decided on the top five options for this year’s class gift. Kristy Craig, senior class president and a senior in political science, said the Senior Class Committee selected five options for the class gift. “We started off with about 20 options altogether,” Craig said. “When we took it to the council, we had 15 options and from there we voted on their top five options.” The senior class gif t options are: granite stairs leading to the Memorial Tower; purchase of a Jim Valvano bust and landscaping upgrades for the Coaches’ Corner Memorial Garden; an entryway renovation for Dan Allen Drive at Hillsborough Street; an artwork or statue in the plaza next to D.H. Hill Library; or a “You Choose” option. “It’s up to the senior class at large as to what gift we will be working toward,” said Craig. Craig said her main goal was for se-
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niors to have great options to choose from. “I am really happy with the five options that we have, especially seeing how I got to work with seniors as well as the administration to trying to find things that would fit the need of students while also being beneficial to the university,” Craig said. Walid Nazari, a senior in biochemistry, said he wants to vote for the Jimmy V bust. “We did such a big thing for Kay Yow,” Craig said. “I think that would be the best gift for our senior class because he also had cancer and should have some kind of memory from our senior class.” Mario Mirando, a senior in microbiology, said he would want to renovate the entryway for Dan Allen Drive at Hillsborough Street and fix the University’s sign. “It’s the first thing people see who are not on campus all the time and when they are driving on Hillsborough Street,” Mirando said. “It’s so dull, plain and small.” Mirando said N. C. State needs a new sign for the betterment and re-
GIFT continued page 3
Pack obliterates Blue Hose, 5-1 See page 8.
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