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Elise Heglar
Following recent events in support of the Invisible Children organization, N.C. State’s all-male a cappella group, Grains of Time, hosted a benefit concert Tuesday night in which all five a cappella groups joined to sing and promote the organization. Ian Peterson, junior in public relations, worked with his fellow Grains of Time members to organize and host a benefit concert that raised funds and awareness for Invisible Children, the organization associated with the “Kony 2012” political campaign. While recent legal allegations and controversy have recently surrounded the organization, Peterson and others got involved to support the efforts being made to release child soldiers in Northern Uganda. According to Andi Hawksley, junior in chemical engineering and business manager for Wolfgang, all the groups were very excited to participate. “All the a cappella groups talk, so it just became one big thing. We’re really excited and hoping to help anyone who needs our help,” Hawksley said before the concert. The concert kicked off as Grains of Time performed five popular songs to an excited audience. As members performed the R. Kelley song, “Ignition,” booty pops and thrusts got the audience amped up for the rest of the concert. Following their performance, the all-female group Packabelles performed three songs. Their unique mix of “Someone Like You,” “Breakeven” and “Chasing Cars” surprised the crowd. Phi Beta Sigma, an African American fraternity, stole the stage for a few moments to inform attendees about the issues going on in Africa and, specifically, an oral timeline of Joseph Kony’s involvement with the Lord’s National Army. The LNA is a guerilla group of Uganda responsible for sending
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Ian Peterson of Grains of Time, a junior in communication, speaks to the audience about Invisible Children between songs at the Invisible Children benefit concert in the Talley ballroom Tuesday, Mar. 20. Peterson organized the event, which featured performances from Grains of Time, Packabelles, Ladies in Red and Acappology.
more than 66,000 children to slavery and military service. To lighten the mood, Wolfgang took the stage, N.C. State’s only a cappella group that has earned recognition by the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. They started off their set with an energetic rendition of Styx’s “Renegade,” followed by three songs including Blondie’s “Call Me.” Charlotte Bullis, freshman in political science, enjoyed her first performance with Wolfgang. “It was my first time performing and everyone seemed to be at the peak of their performance,” Bullis said. “It was really amazing.” Following their performance, Ladies in Red took the stage. Although they were the smallest group present that evening, they made a large impact. “We got involved because of Grains of Time,” said Krystal Rodas, sophomore in biology and president of the group. “We wanted to raise awareness for the children. We don’t want everyone to just jump on the Kony bandwagon, they should actually get knowledge.” The ladies followed their first song with a performance of MIKA’s “Lol-
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Packabelles perform at the Invisible Children benefit concert in the Talley Ballroom Tuesday.
lipop” and ended with K’naan’s “Waving Flag.” “We’ve done work with the arts village and the GLBT community. Usually if there’s something the ladies in the group feel passionately about, we’ll do it,” Rodas added. The concert ended with a performance by Acappology, who opened with “Blackout” by Breathe Carolina. They continued with renditions of
Tensions continue to rise between Iran and Israel Iran and Israel are in conflict, U.S. considers options. Lindsey Rosenbaum Staff Writer
Students at the University have grown up in a world plagued by unrest in the Middle East, and now they face a new conflict emerging between Iran and Israel over the former’s insistence of enriching uranium. Since its birth as a Jewish State in 1948, Israel has faced a multitude of threats from its neighbors. Israel found an ally in Egypt with the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978, and the following Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979. With the recent Arab Spring revolutionizing and changing the Egyptian government, there are many questions about whether the Accords will continue to be upheld. In the 1950s, Iran launched its first nuclear program with the help of the American government. America pulled out of the program in 1979 when a regime change occurred in Tehran. Though Iran claims its use of enriched uranium is for research purposes only, many now worry Iran has began to weaponize uranium by enriching it to 90 percent, effectively gaining a nuclear weapon. “The Israelis have reached a point where they believe the Iranians are on the verge of what the Israelis refer to as the ‘zone of immunity,’” Robert Moog, associate professor in public
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All five N.C. State a capella groups joined together to give a concert for Invisible Children. Jessie Halpern
AmeriCorps, an organization dedicated to service in the United States, spent last week connecting with old members and alumni in honor of AmeriCorps Week. Stacey Gilbert, former AmeriCorps volunteer, said the week-long celebration helps teach people about the importance of the organization. “It’s a celebration of sorts to raise awareness for AmeriCorps and hopefully get people interested to volunteer,” Gilbert said. AmeriCorps launched as an organization in 1990, when President George H.W. Bush signed the first National Service Act. Since its inception, it has grown a great deal and currently boasts three programs. The first program, AmeriCorps State and AmeriCorps National, works to support a wide range of local service programs that help support small communities. AmeriCorps VISTA, another division of AmeriCorps, provides fulltime members to public agencies and organizations in the community to help expand and create programs that get people above the poverty line. The third program is AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, a full-time residential program for people ages 18-24 that helps develop leadership skills using team-based community service. AmeriCorps Week focuses on connecting the former and current members of the organization and opening up conversations about the benefits of community service. Gilbert said most of the efforts to raise awareness were done through online communities, such as Facebook and Twitter. People who have previously participated in AmeriCorps or who have been affected by the program’s work shared stories in various online communities, Gilbert said. “It was about telling stories that re-
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A capella groups sing for a cause
Students and alumni work for AmeriCorps. News Editor
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AmeriCorps offers variety of opportunities
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IRAN/ISRAEL EVENT TIMELINE August-September 2005: IAEA finds Iran in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
September 2003: UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA, gives Tehran weeks to prove it is not pursuing an atomic weapons program.
October 2007: US announces sweeping new sanctions against Iran, the toughest since it first imposed sanctions almost 30 years ago.
April 2006: Iran says it has succeeded in enriching uranium at its Natanz facility.
September 2009: Iran test-fires a series of medium- and longerrange missiles that put Israel and US bases in the Gulf within potential striking range.
July 2008: Iran test-fires a new version of the Shahab-3, a long-range missile it says is capable of hitting targets in Israel.
‘bunker busters,’ or missiles that can and international affairs, said. The zone of immunity refers to the reach far underground and damage point in which, if Israelis choose to the program. “America has these weapons and we strike rather than be struck, they will no longer be able to significantly delay have greater capabilities to do damage to the Iranian the weaponization of program through Iran’s nuclear proa military strike,” gram. Moog said. “Our According to zone of immunity Moog, if the Israelis is different from Iswere to strike, even rael’s.” the Israeli governThe question of ment has acknowlwhether Iran is actuedged they wouldn’t Chante Thompson, junior in ally trying to create be able to destroy the history education a nuclear weapon is program, but only still being debated. set them back a few “The Iranians are unwilling to alyears. Moog said because of this, Iran has low a thorough investigation by the begun to move its research and their IAEA [International Atomic Energy program as far underground as pos- Agency], who are supposed to go to sible. This shortens Israel’s zone of nuclear sites and make sure there are immunity, as they lack what he calls no violations,” Moog said. “Some-
“It isn’t really our responsibility, but I’d support this war.”
Paris’s “Ooh La La,” Imogen Heap’s “The Moment I Said It,” and The Wanted’s “Warzone.” Finally, Peterson took the stage again to thank all participants and list some of the group’s upcoming concert dates. He encouraged everyone to look past the controversy over the Kony video, and instead do some
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March 2012 : Speculation that Israel might attack Iran has intensified in recent months as tensions between the countries have escalated.
November 2011 : Tougher sanctions are introduced by the US and Europe, and Iran threatens to shut the Straight of Hormuz to oil shipments.
Little games make a big impact on the big screen See page 5.
Source: New York Times
times IAEA inspectors go in [to the Iranian nuclear sites], but they never get the full scope. That adds to the suspicion, and Israel sees it as an existential threat to them.” The news does worry some, like Chante Thompson, a junior in history education. “Nuclear weapons is a scary thought,” Thompson said. Thompson said she would support a war to defend Israel because of the possible consequences. “I’d support that,” Thompson said. “It isn’t really our responsibility, but I’d support this war. Israel is important.” Others are more optimistic than Thompson. “As a Pakistani woman, Iran possessing uranium bothers me a
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