Technician
wednesday march
31 2010
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Cheer and Dance teams to hold open rehearsal The University’s Cheerleading and Dance teams will hold open dress rehearsal Sunday Adair-Hayes Crane Staff Writer
Fans will be able to go support the N.C. State Cheerleading and Dance teams Sunday while they prepare to head for nationals put on by the National Cheerleaders Association, in Daytona, Fla. The teams will hold an open dress rehearsal in Reynolds Coliseum from 3:15 p.m. until 8 p.m. The all-girl team will perform from 3:15 to 4, the dance team from 4:30 to 5:30, and the coed team and Mr. and Ms. Wuf will perform from 6 to 7:30. Samantha Poulos, a freshman in communication and a member of the small co-ed cheerleading team, said she is looking forward to being part of the N.C. State cheerleading tradition. “The dress rehearsal has always been a big part of NCSU cheerleading history and it’s really exciting to be making history,” Poulos said. Harold Trammel, coach for the large co-ed team, said the dress rehearsal gives the cheerleaders, dancers and mascots an opportunity to gain support from the student body, friends and family. The cheerleaders will get the chance to be cheered for rather than cheering on another team. “We’ve always had a pretty good turnout. There are a bunch of former cheerleaders that love to still be involved in the program and are excited about the program itself,” Trammel said. “I like to give the cheerleaders, dancers and mascots the opportunity to have support from the student body and their friends and family because
we’ll be getting down in front of lots of people at competition.” Kelly Smith, coach for the advanced all-girl team and a coach at Cheer Extreme gym in Raleigh, said the dress rehearsal gives the teams a chance to perform under pressure. “Certain people perform one way in practice and they’ll do more in front of a crowd. It’s a little different when their parents come to watch them. They want to perform well for them,” Smith said. “Our goal is trying to make everyone prepare for nationals and leave with a good feeling about it.” Tiffany Haupt, a senior in communication and a cheerleader for the advanced all-girl team, said she is looking forward to competing in Nationals this year since it will be her last chance to perform. “As a senior it’s my last time I’ll ever cheer at Nationals so it means a lot to me. Last year we got third at Nationals, and this year we’re going back to prove ourselves,” Haupt said. “We want to do better. We worked hard and have had a lot of injuries, [but] we’ve come a long way this year.” The first year Smith took the all-girl team to Nationals three years ago they made the finals. The second year she took them they got fifth place. Last year they placed third which, according to Smith, is almost like coming in first because the teams who placed first and second have been switching off who wins for as long as she can remember. Smith referred to the University of Maryland and the University of Louisville as the two powerhouse teams who always seem to come in first and second. She said keeping up their reputation at Nationals would be marvelous for the all-girl team, after placing in the
tim o’brien/Technician file photo
Mr. Wuf and the Dance team entertain the crowd during the men’s basketball exhibition game against St. Paul’s College at Reynolds Coliseum.
top five the last two years. According to Poulos, the team’s motto is “Stop believing, start knowing.” Trammel said he hopes to see his team hit their routine at Nationals. “The goal for Nationals is always to hit our routine and perform well. You can’t really determine if you win or not,” Trammel said. “Any time we hit our routine we’re happy with how we finish.” The dress rehearsal will run differently from the previous years because each team will have a set block of time to perform their routine several times.
Pullen Park closed until next spring Raleigh shuts down Pullen Park to renovate amusement area Adair-Hayes Crane Staff Writer
Pullen Park, the park located next to the University, will remain closed for renovations to the amusement area until spring 2011. The Pullen Arts and Aquatic Center will remain open, however. The city of Raleigh closed the amusement center of the park off to the public on December 14, 2009. They also drained the lake where people rent paddleboats or feed the ducks. Kelly Price, a junior in parks and David mabe/Technician recreation management, said she is excited about the reopening of the park. The Pullen Park Amusement Center is closed for renovations until spring of “Hopefully the new renovations will 2011. bring more people to Pullen and in the long run will fill the void of the park accommodate visitors. Molly Wilkins, a junior in phibeing closed now,” Price said. “It will be beneficial to the community and losophy, says she takes her niece and I’m looking forward to visiting the nephew there often and is glad to see that the city of Raleigh is renovating newly-updated park.” According to the city of Raleigh Web the area. “I’m happy they are making renovasite, one of the renovations will be a new carousel house for the Dentzel tions because it’s such a great place for kids to play and it’s Carousel. The carbeautiful,” Wilkins ousel will feature said. “It needed a 52 animals and has face lift.” been a staple to the The train that is park since 1911. The in the park is a close renovations will also replica to the C.P. consist of a new conHuntington locomocessions building, tive and will be retrain station, restceiving a new station room, and welcome David mabe/Technician upon the completion The Pullen Park Amusement center. of the renovations. Ryan Magnusson, Center will have a new carousel Fencing and signs among other changes. a junior in commuhave been placed nication, said he is around the park area Raleigh Web site posted. looking forward to Kelly Price, junior in parks & Pullen Park is the fifth oldest to warn visitors who the completed renorecreation may come try and operating amusement park in the vations. visit the park this United States and with the new “I’m glad they’re renovating the bathrooms because spring that the area is undergoing renovations will most likely be open for many years to come. The they were always dirty,” Magnusson construction. “Over the course of the renovations City of Raleigh expects the Amusesaid. “I cannot wait to use the new expect to see city of Raleigh staff, in- ment Center of Pullen Park to recarousel.” The park will also be getting new cluding parks and recreation and open in Spring 2011, just in time playground equipment, a new en- public utilities, and outside contrac- for warm summer days spent on trance, and new picnic facilities to tors working on the site daily,” city of the carousel and paddleboats.
“It will be beneficial to the community and I’m looking forward to visiting the newly updated park.”
In the past they have all gone back-toback once and then have had a chance to do it again if they wanted. “All the teams are so excited to get down there and just hit great routines,” Poulos said. Mary Elizabeth Mitchell, a freshman on the large co-ed team, will be performing at collegiate Nationals for the first time. “I’m really excited to finally show everyone that comes out to watch the dress rehearsal all that we’ve been working on for nationals,” Mitchell said. The second round of the NCA Col-
legiate Nationals is held outdoors and typically has a big turnout with teams competing from around the United States. Both coaches said they hope to have a big turnout at the dress rehearsal to get the teams prepared to perform in front of such a large crowd. “The more the merrier,” Smith said. “Even if you’ve never watched cheerleading it is really entertaining and worth the while to come out.“ All three teams will head to Nationals in Daytona April 7 until April 11.
Raleigh vies for Google high speed broadband connection Raleigh joins the fight for Google’s ultra-high-speed fiber optic broadband network Stephen Behan Correspondent
Just weeks after being named “Most Wired City” by Forbes Magazine, the city of Raleigh now has its eyes on Google. The Internet giant Google is looking for a community to test out its new high-speed fiber optic broadband system, and Raleigh officials think the city has what it takes. Google announced their intentions February 5, and since then cities and communities have scrambled to reply. Raleigh officials have filed the paperwork required by Google, according to the city Web site. According to Google’s Web site, the new broadband technology will increase speeds “more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today” by providing data transfer speeds higher than 1 gigabyte per second. Those speeds are capable of downloading feature-length movies in minutes and streaming 3D video with ease, the Web site said. Google is selecting a “small number of trial location across the country,” and many major cities are interested. This new technology has a lot of people excited. Facebook groups like
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“Bring Google’s Network to Raleigh” and “Bring Google Fiber to Raleigh” have been created to bolster support for North Carolina’s capital city. Jonathan Minter, assistant IT director for the city of Raleigh, said he believes Raleigh would be a good candidate for Google’s project. “Raleigh is in good shape,” Minter said. “With our higher education community and a well-educated work force, I think Raleigh can really show Google how consumers would utilize their product.” According to Mint, “Raleigh was recently named the Most Wired City by Forbes Magazine. This could seem like a disadvantage at first, but what I think it shows is how we are taking advantage of the opportunities we have today. We have the kind of citizenry that would take advantage of this opportunity.” Minter was unsure how the new system would affect students. “It would probably not affect students living in dorms,” he said. “But it is very unclear. Google has not released a lot of information.” Dr. Harry Perros, a computer science professor at N.C. State, also described how the potential change could affect students. “N.C. State has its own network, so unless they setup a deal with [Google] it would not affect students in dorms,” he said. Perros added that he was unaware of any such deals.
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