October 7, 2015

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TECHNICIAN                   

vol.

xcvi xxxx issue

technicianonline.com

technicianonline.com

wednesday october

7

2015

Raleigh,North NorthCarolina Carolina Raleigh,

Counseling Center takes steps to better serve Katherine Kehoe Projects Manager

More than 4,000 students used the Counseling Center last year, and the number grows steadily every year, according to the Center’s director Monica Osburn. To cope with the increasing demands of students, Student Health Services successfully requested a student-fee increase to raise the Center’s yearly income. The student fee increase, which took effect this semester, has so far allowed the Center to hire

five new staff members and add four new counseling offices on Centennial Campus. With the rising volume in the Center, students had begun to notice longer wait times, which can sometimes be up to two weeks for an initial or follow-up appointment. Hiring new staff members was meant to help bring this number down, but a tragedy in the beginning of the year has caused an unforeseen spike in the number of students coming in for counseling services, Osburn said. Although wait times are still high

“I don’t think I could have gotten as far as I have today and managed it as well as I have without the help of the Counseling Center” -Mandy Adamson, a junior studying psychology

for many students, a new program implemented this year has brought the wait time down for many other students in need. The Center now offers walk-in appointments for urgent cases when students are in significant distress.

“We are not making a student who is having a crisis wait two weeks,” Osburn said. “But, if a student is experiencing academic distress, they are the ones that usually have to wait a little longer.” For many students who use the

Center for regular appointments to deal with stress, anxiety or seasonal depression, this system works well for them. Mandy Adamson, a junior studying psychology, said it took her two days to get an appointment the first time she tried, and now she sees a counselor once every two weeks. “I think two weeks has been just enough for me to have time to work stuff out on my own, but also to know that I have an appointment

COUNSEL continued page 3

Mental health awareness week promotes a stigma-free campus Conor Kennedy Staff Writer

NC State is participating this week in the 25th annual National Mental Health Awareness week, put on by NC State’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI has been working on a national scale during the first full week of October to bring more attention to mental health issues, which affect an estimated 43.8 million American adults, according to NAMI. The organization plans to accomplish this by focusing on various aspects of those issues and turning them into themes. This year’s theme is the “StigmaFree” initiative. The initiative will incorporate a social media campaign consisting of students pictured holding signs about mental health awareness. At an information table in the Brickyard, students can learn more about mental health issues, play “stomp out the stigma,” a variation of Twister, and participate in other activities in the name of mental health awareness. Being “stigma free,” according to NAMI’s website, means learning about and educating others on mental illness, connecting with people to see each other as individuals and not just as a diagnosis and most importantly, taking action on mental health issues and taking the StigmaFree pledge. The Counseling Center’s new mental health ambassadors are working with the NC State NAMI chapter to operate an information table located in the Brickyard to pass out green awareness ribbons and help inform students about the topic of mental health through today. “One thing students seemed to be particularly confused about is the specifics of what the stigma is and how it affects mental health issues,” said Joshua Gerrans, one of the information table operators and a junior studying psychology. A stigma is described as a mark of disgrace associated with a particular person, quality or circumstance. With regard to mental illness, stigmas are conceived as a kind of shame associated with an individ-

ual’s affliction with a mental illness. The goal of this week is to combat that kind of thinking and promote a safer environment for people suffering from mental illness to come forward and seek help. After the recent student death at NC State, there has been a surge of support on campus for those facing mental health issues. “It has spurred a lot more traffic at the Counseling Center and greater community awareness,” said Megan McDowell, a mental health ambassador for the Counseling Center and a senior studying psychology. “It’s good that more people on campus are reaching out.” Such surges of support can be common in the wake of tragic campus events like the ones experienced at NC State and across the country in Oregon but can ultimately lack the impact necessary to bring about effective change, according to Avi Aggarwal, president of NC State’s NAMI chapter and a senior studying chemical engineering “I think that if the conversation is not continued then we won’t be able to break the barriers that need to be broken,” Aggarwal said. “I’m hoping the conversations continue and that we can leverage the momentum we have right now to create more effective changes on campus, such as peer counseling groups.” More concrete initiatives focused on educating students is a big priority for Aggarwal, who has recently been pushing a program called “the Two-Minute Talks” in which students would be trained to give two-minute presentations about mental health in various classrooms around campus. This program would be part of an effort to consistently bring mental health conversations to the forefront of student life. Consistent attention is important because even with the supporting community that is NC State, the NAMI information table in the Brickyard sat slightly neglected by the students who walked past. “I wish there were more people that would come and ask questions but most only seem to come for the candy,” Gerrans said.

GAVIN STONE/TECHNICIAN

Law enforcement and Amtrak officials consort in front of Piedmont Train 74, a passenger train coming into Raleigh from Charlotte, which struck a pedestrian who was trespassing on the track near Sullivan Hall. The pedestrian has been identified as Maurice Sutton, 51.

Amtrak train hits, kills pedestrian near Sullivan Hall Staff Report The North Carolina Department of Transportation said that at approximately 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday a pedestrian was struck and killed by an eastbound train on the train tracks that border the north side of NC State’s campus. The pedestrian was 51-year-old Maurice Sutton of Raleigh. Sutton was not affiliated with NC State, according to Raleigh Police Department. Sutton was struck on a section of track that is behind 621 Motor Pool St., near Sullivan Hall. Hannah Davis, the communications officer for multi-modal transportation at NCDOT, confirmed that Piedmont Train 74, a passenger train coming into Raleigh from Charlotte, struck a pedestrian who was trespassing on the track near Sullivan Hall. She said the train engineer deployed the emergency break, but she did not know if that happened before impact. That train normally runs at 77 mph. Raleigh Police Department is leading the investigation and DOT had employees on the scene Tuesday afternoon. During the investigation out on the tracks, the Raleigh Police Department blocked off part of Sullivan Drive and Valentine Drive in connection with the investigation involving the train. The tracks cut through campus, going over Dan Allen Drive and

under Gorman Street. According to Jesse Tart, a sophomore studying engineering, he had been standing outside of Sullivan Hall since the police arrived on the scene. “There were five or six Raleigh police officers in their blue uniforms walking up and down the tracks looking for something,” Tart said. Brad Bohlander, associate vice chancellor for University Communications, said that at 3:30 p.m. University Police was called out to the scene by the Raleigh Police Department. “It’s important that students know that the train tracks are lined by a tall fence that spans the length of campus,” Bohlander said. There are no reports of injury of the 24 passengers nor the engineer who was riding on the train. According to general statute 14-280.1. a person commits trespassing on the railroad right-of-way if they enter onto the tracks or remain on them without the consent of the railroad company, the person operating the railroad or without authority granted pursuant to State or federal law. Trespassing on railroad right-of-way is a Class 3 misdemeanor, which can result in one to 20 days of active, intermediate or community punishment and/or up to $200 in fines.

Shack-A-Thon president hopes to break fundraising record Scott Skinner Correspondent

LAUREN KRUCHTEN/TECHNICIAN

Andrea Sellers, a junior studying parks, recreation and tourism management, and Ryan Levine, a freshman studying fisheries and wildlife science and conservation biology, man the College of Natural Resources shack for Shack-A-Thon Sept. 22. The college built its shack out of bamboo taken from Hill Forest outside Durham.

The yearly Shack-a-Thon fundraiser, put together by NC State’s student chapter of Habitat for Humanity, hopes to once again brake their fundraising record. Student chapter president Sarah Paluskiewicz, said that this year’s fundraiser went exceptionally well. “I feel confident that we saw $50,000,” Paluskiewicz said. The announced goal of $65,000 for Shack-A-Thon 2015 was significantly higher than pervious years. However, Paluskiewicz said wasn’t surprised when the actual number of monies raised was somewhat lower. “That was a dream goal,” Paluskie-

wicz said. “We put that number out as a representative of a house in Wake County.” The fundraiser brought in about $46,000 in 2014 and $37,000 in 2013. The consistent increase in Shack-AThon’s revenue showcases the ever growing enthusiasm NC State students have for the activity, which has quickly become a student favorite. This year’s top-earning group was the Poole College of Management followed by the College of Natural Resources with its specially grown and harvested bamboo shack. Bringing up the rear was the Caldwell Fellows’ shack. Paluskiewicz intends to take advantage of the momentum gained during Shack-A-Thon to help propel future fundraising efforts. “We’re going to push for organi-

zations that participated in ShackA-Thon to continue participating throughout the year,” Paluskiewicz said. The success of the student chapter’s fundraising efforts is intended to culminate with the Build-A-Block project that is expected to be ready next year. The Build-A-Block project is an effort between the student chapter and its Wake County affiliate to raise $715,000 to “Build-A-Block” of 11 townhomes on Lake Wheeler Road. The plan is to build the first five townhomes in the fall of 2016 and the last six in the spring of 2017. The property is two-an-a-half acres and is within walking distance of both a grocery store and a bus stop. The fundraising began Aug. 22 and will conclude at Shack-A-Thon in 2016.


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