Technician
friday february
19 2010
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Taking the Plunge for charity Students and faculty gear up for a chilly dip in Lake Raleigh Allie Landry Correspondent
With temperatures expected to rise no higher than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, participants in the fifth annual Polar Plunge will again take to the frigid waters of Lake Raleigh this Saturday. It’s all for a good cause, however, as donations benefit the Special Olympics of North Carolina. The event begins at 9 a.m. with a 5K run/walk through a USATF certified course on Centennial Campus. Kids ages 6 to 10 can also participate in a kid’s dash at 10 a.m. Runners and onlookers can then wash off at 11 a.m. during the N.C. State University Police Department’s Polar Plunge. The Polar Plunge is a part of fundraising efforts by police departments nationwide for the Special Olympics. Steve Carlton, an officer in the NCSU Police Department, is one of the main coordinators of the event. “Some people in the department got the idea for the Polar Plunge from other agencies across the country that have been doing it for years and years,” Carlton said. “It started with only a handful of people. This year we expect it to be one of our largest fundraising amounts.” Participants who take a dip are expected to raise money as a group
chris sanchez/Technician archive photo
A group of plungers swim in the frigid waters of Lake Raleigh during the Polar Plunge Saturday Feb. 28, 2009 on Centennial Campus. Campus Police hosted the charitable event.
or individually. Creative and off the wall costumes are encouraged, as Olivia Laney, an organizer of the event, hopes to keep it light-hearted and fun. “We’ve seen a ‘Gilligan’s Island’ crew. We’ve got employees from the Department of Corrections who
dress up in jail outfits,” Laney said of the various costumes she has seen in the past. “Last year somebody from yearbook came out in a big yearbook costume.” So far about 500 people have signed up for the 5K.
“Our registration has tripled since last year,” Laney said of participation in the 5K. “We’re really excited about the growth.” Although understandably not as popular as the 5K, participation in the Polar Plunge has also grown this
year to about 60 people. Laney says that holding the event during Spring Break last year may have decreased student participation. “We hope to have a lot more students out there this time,” she said. The 5K is the third race in the 2010 Second Empire Grand-Prix Series, which consists of eight races in the spring and eight races in the fall. Participants accumulate points for each run they compete in, which are tabulated for the whole series. Laney anticipates the event will raise about $40,000 for the children and adults who participate in Special Olympics programs in North Carolina. “The funds raised by the Polar Plunge and 5K will help provide athletic uniforms, training and competition facilities, sports equipment and medals and ribbons to award athletes,” Laney said. Kelly Vernon, a sophomore in business administration and international relations, took the plunge last year and will be running in the 5K this year. “It was the coldest thing I’ve ever done,” Vernon said of the experience. “It really does feel like knives in your lungs.” In addition to participating, Vernon is also involved in promoting the event to N.C. State students. She says this year she will be working at a booth signing pledges during the actual plunge and will not be taking a dip. “I’m not too sad about that either,” she said. “I would do it again, though.”
Peace Corps director comes to campus, speaks to students The Peace Corps director visited N.C. State’s SAS Building Thursday with encouragement for students to consider service after their college career Russell Witham Executive Editor
The director of the Peace Corps, Aaron Williams, visited the SAS Building at N.C. State Thursday to talk to students about the importance of service and the ways in which they can help their country The classroom where the presentation took place was packed to the brim with people, seeping more than 100 students, faculty and returned Peace Corps volunteers into the hallway outside the room as they attentively listened to the director, a thin and tall man in a navy-blue suit who has several grey hairs peering through his short black hair. Beginning with a short video about the foundation of the Peace Corps in 1961 under the direction of President John F. Kennedy and its first director, Kennedy’s brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, the presentation culminated in a speech and question-and-answer session by Williams. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago with different goals in mind than a life of service. “When I was growing up on the South Side of Chicago, I aspired to be a high school teacher,” Williams said. He said that although the experience “changed my life entirely,” his family was hesitant about his decision to join the Peace Corps, especially considering his status as the first in his family to graduate from college — Chicago State University. But his mother encouraged him to join with the thought that it would change his life. According to Williams, it did, and gave him invaluable skills at a young age. “It was the opportunity to work in a leadership position,” he said. Williams worked as a teacher trainer in the Dominican Republic, educating rural teachers who themselves only possessed a fifth- or sixth-grade education. For them, he said it was a serious commitment: “They gave up their summers and weekends to participate
in this program.” He said, “You see that what you do counts, so you can be very serious about it.” A theme he addressed again during the event, as he talked to the crowd about the importance of service and reiterated the need for all Americans to heed President Barack Obama’s “call to service.” In all, Williams said most volunteers come back with a relatively similar experience. “They’ll tell you that this experience transformed them; they saw themselves in a different way,” he said. He added that in addition to the leadership and language training — Williams himself was taught Spanish through the Peace Corps despite his admittedly recalcitrant attitude toward learning it initially — “it provides you an opportunity to see yourself in a different context … it’s just a unique experience.” The experience has been unique for many Americans, as the Peace Corps has had more than 200,000 volunteers during its almost 50 years in existence and operates in 76 countries worldwide today — particularly in areas where hardship and poverty are profound. According to Williams, Congress and Obama, who appointed Williams to his post last year, are very encouraged by the work of the Peace Corps and hope to see its expansion. “They’ve given us the resources to put us on a strong trajectory toward growth,” he said. Williams said he hopes to double the size of the Peace Corps through two paths. “We’re going to build on existing programs in countries where we already have [them],” he said. And the Peace Corps also plans to add two new countries, Sierra Leone and Indonesia, the latter at the behest of the president — Indonesia was one of Obama’s childhood homes. Williams said it can’t come at a better time as bipartisan Congressional support has increased the Peace Corps’ budget to $400 million and “Americans are stepping up they have an interest in serving.” Applications to volunteer for the Peace Corps this year are up 18 percent. The director encouraged students to discern whether a life of public service would be a rewarding experience for them personally and aide them in seeing the need for ev-
david mabe/Technician
Willysha Jenkins, a new Peace Corps volunteer and senior in animal science, and her mother Bernitha Jenkins speak with Aaron Williams, director of the Peace Corps, after a presentation in SAS Hall Thursday. Bernitha said that she was nervous but proud of her daughter, who said that she was going to Ecuador or Africa. “It’s that mother thing,” Bernitha said. “She’s not a car ride away.”
eryone to be a global citizen. Despite the potential rewards, some returning volunteers spoke of the difficulties the service can bring. Marques Johnson, a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in Nicaragua and N.C. State’s Peace Corps recruiter, said, “I made [the mistake] of thinking I was going to change the entire country of Nicaragua.” Although he said the experience was very rewarding, it is difficult. Terrie Morris, another returned volunteer from the Raleigh area who served in southwest China, said that since her return she was struggling to “try to get a new direction.” Students’ reactions were primarily positive, though. Wesley Jones, a sophomore in international business, said he has been really interested in the Peace Corps and was impressed with Williams’ speech. “I wanted to find out more than what is on the Web site,” he said. Myong Ju Kim, a graduate student in economics, said she “was interested in joining Peace Corps.” And that in order to see the world differently, “it
was time for [her] to think about it seriously.” Williams said the insights the Peace Corps can provide are essential for a global career.
“If you want to live in a different culture — really live — the Peace Corps offers that opportunity,” he said.
insidetechnician Behind the curtain and ‘Into the woods’
Arts N.C. State puts on ground-breaking production of popular 80s Broadway play See page 5.
Youth looks to energize Pack See page 8.
viewpoint arts & entertainment classifieds sports
$6.00 T-Shirt Sale All Soffe brand t-shirts Reg. 2 for $20
@ NC State Bookstores
4 5 7 8