TECHNICIAN
thursday april
10 2014
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Allies share messages of support Katherine Kehoe Assistant News Editor
More than 200 students, employees and visitors crafted personal messages and posed in front of rainbow-decorated wolf statues to show support for GLBT students at N.C. State’s second Ally Day Wednesday in Wolf Plaza. The event ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and received nearly five times the number of participants than last year’s Ally Day, according to Ben Stockdale, president of N.C. State College Democrats and a freshman in political science. Last year, the GLBT Center and the N.C. State College Democrats partnered to start Ally Day as a way for students to show their support for the GLBT community and encourage a welcoming environment on campus, Stockdale said. An ally is any person that does not identify as a member of an oppressed group but speaks to the equality and respect for people who do identify as one of the oppressed, according to Julius Perkins, program assistant for the GLBT Center.
ELIZABETH DAVIS/TECHNICIAN
Nicole Benson, a junior in communication and member of the N.C. State GLBT Center, hands Brenna Garner, a sophomore in environmental technology, a sticker to show support diversity. The event was a part of Ally Day which took place in Wolf Plaza Wednesday.
Participants at the Ally Day tent were given whiteboards and asked to write down why they are allies. They then had pictures taken with their signs in front of the wolf stat-
ues in Wolf Plaza. Event volunteers gathered the email addresses of participants after the photo, and they will be sending each participant the photo of themselves, Stockdale said.
One of the goals of Ally Day is that some people will make the photos their profile pictures on Facebook, according to Stockdale. While the event began at N.C.
State, it has spread to other North Carolina universities. Stockdale said he contacted other campus’ chapters of College Democrats and gave them the idea to put on a similar event for themselves. Other schools that hosted their own Ally Day events this year include East Carolina University, Appalachian State University, Western Carolina University, Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina at Asheville, according to Stockdale. The other universities had similarly successful experiences with their Ally Days, according to Stockdale. “N.C. State is leading the statewide effort,” Stockdale said. “We designed the concept for everyone’s Ally Day events, and we are the ones that spearheaded the entire process. We’re calling it N.C. Ally Day.” Ally Day and the Student Senate’s recent passing of Resolution 98, the Inclusive Admissions Act, are steps in the right direction toward N.C.
ALLY continued page 3
Experts address sustainability and ethics in the textile industry Grace Callahan Correspondent
CAIDE WOOTEN/TECHNICIAN
Neil Joeck, visiting scholar from the University of California, Berkeley, speaks about a potential nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan Wednesday in EC Auditorium in D.H. Hill Library.
Nuclear expert speaks about Indo-Pak conflict Ravi Chittilla Assistant News Editor
There is a 1 in 10 chance a conflict will erupt between India and Pakistan during the next 10 years, according to a nuclear-policy expert who studies the region. Neil Joeck, a visiting scholar from the University of CaliforniaBerkeley, discussed the history of
the Indian and Pakistani arms race and the potential for a nuclear war Wednesday in the EC Auditorium in D.H. Hill Library. Joeck said the ongoing elections in India will play a major role in the future of Indo-Pak relations. Currently, Narendra Modi, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is contesting for control of the Indian
NUCLEAR continued page 3
When trying to find ways to live more sustainably, looking to one’s closet isn’t the most obvious choice. However, according to a panel discussion held at Witherspoon Student Center Wednesday night, it should be. The panel consisted of professors, entrepreneurs and area business owners who work in the textile industry, in an event titled “ If clothes could talk.” Chuck Stewart, a panel member and the owner of Tumbling Colors, addressed the potential of labels being misleading to consumers. Lead, mercury and copper are all natural substances, but not all are safe to be included in clothing fabrics, Stewart said. “Just because the label said all natural, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily all safe,” Stewart said. Tom Sineath, CEO of TS Designs located in Burlington, N.C., concentrated on having a business that is accessible and transparent. Labels don’t give much information about
the process, yet consumers are still looking to them for information. “We’re all making choices,” Sineath said. “What do we really know?” Becoming an informed consumer is an important part of understanding the global impact of textiles. “Do you know where everything you are wearing came from? ” Sineath said. The panel discussed the important role education plays in the sustainable textile industry. David Hinks, a professor in College of Textiles, emphasized the need to educate students about sustainable practices and their responsibility to the community. “Who are we educating?” Hinks said, “Beyond scientists and engineers, we need to educate the general public to make decisions.” However, Hinks questioned if it’s even possible to have a sustainable textile industry in the first place. “This is too ambitious,” Hinks said. “Instead, we should focus on an industry that is more sustainable.” The panel emphasized the fact
Earth Fair showcases sustainable practices Jess Thomas Staff Writer
As part of an effort to turn campus green, students representing many organizations from across campus gathered in the Brickyard Wednesday to host the Earth Fair. The fair, which is part of the Earth Month project, is organized by the University Sustainability Office, showcases exhibits to raise environmental awareness and promote sustainable practices. Brian Iezzi, a sophomore in textiles engineering and material science and a member of the N.C. State Stewards, said the main reason the fair is held is to illustrate to students how they can be successfully environmentally conscious. “The sustainability office organizes it to promote individual awareness about environmental sustainability,” Iezzi said. “It’s something that can bring a lot of people together and disperse ideas.” Iezzi said the fair brings in student organizations from across campus
where students can discuss issues in the environmental community. “The fair brings in many organizations since N.C. State is a great place for people to share ideas,” Iezzi said. “For example, this year we had an organization who displayed an electric bike to reduce fossil-fuel emissions.” This year, the Stewards created a figure resembling a tyrannosaurus rex out of plastic bags to demonstrate the prevalent use of single-use plastics at N.C. State, according to Iezzi. “This has been an ongoing project,” Iezzi said. “We had the idea last fall from seeing that the campus has way too many options for using single use plastics. Most of these are plastic bags that end up in a landfill and do not move.” Iezzi said Stewards created the structure during the last three months from 1500 bags that they collected. The Stewards set up plastic bag recycling bins across campus for students to recycle responsibly and
there is more to the textile industry than just the final product of clothes people wear. Textiles often move to wherever they can to pay the lowest labor costs, promoting the malpractices of retailers and massive overproduction, according to the panel. “It doesn’t matter where we do it, we need to do it the right way,” Stewart said. “ Textiles can be done in a safe and sustainable way.” Stewart said 98 percent of clothes worn by Americans today are imported. “People, planet, and profit—profit at the expense of the two is a mistake,” Sineath said. Social justice and environmental stewardship are two factors that companies need to consider beyond just the profit, according to Sineath. “In general, businesses don’t want you to know everything,” Sineath said. “It’s ugly.” We pay more for products produced in the U.S. because of the stricter enforcement of labor and environmental laws as well as higher
CLOTHES continued page 2
Nobel Prizewinning physicist to visit NCSU Staff Report
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Emily Bruff, a sophomore in biological sciences, talks with Greg Albert, a graduate student in forestry, after receiving a free loblolly sapling at the Tree Improvement Cooperative booth during the Earth Day Fair on Wednesday. The fair brought all kinds of people together in order to raise awareness about sustainability and the N.C. State community.
reduce the use of single-use plastics, according to Iezzi. The Reduce Plastic Use on Campus program reduces plastic use on campus and collects bags weekly
and responsibly. Due to the malfunctions that occur when plastic bags arrive at recycling centers,
EARTH continued page 2
Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist John Mather of NASA will speak at N.C State today about the history of the universe as the Department of Physics 2014 L.H. Thomas Lecturer. The lecture will take place in 2203 SAS Hall Auditorium at 4 p.m. Topics will include the past starting with the Big Bang, present and future of the universe. Mather will also discuss the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s plan for the next great space telescope. Mather is the senior project scientist for the telescope. He won the 2006 Nobel Prize for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite.