Technician
wednesday october
21 2009
Raleigh, North Carolina
Traffic hassles not an issue at State Fair
Traffic and parking problems minor, pose no hindrance to fairgoers Siva Ramesh Staff Writer
Each year, thousands attend the North Carolina State Fair, causing traffic congestion in the fairgrounds area to be an issue for commuters and fairgoers. This year traffic conditions have not been as problematic as in years past. The the North Carolina State Highway Patrol says traffic varies depending on what days people choose to attend the fair. “It’s been a little worse during the weekdays. Saturday was definitely the worst day of the fair, Sunday wasn’t that bad, so now it’s definitely a good time to come to the fair,” Brian Black, a trooper with the highway patrol, said. Students like Jimmy Westmoreland, a first-year Agricultural Institute student, said they have had trouble finding parking spots, though the traffic hasn’t been quite as hectic as usual. “The traffic wasn’t bad at all, but once you got close to the fairgrounds it was really hard to find a place to park without paying. I had to park off of Hillsborough Street,”
Westmoreland said. Judy Taylor, an employee with Metrolina Parking, said the most congested lots are the ones nearest to the admission gates. Metrolina Parking handles parking for the State Fair. “The flow of cars coming in is steady here, because this is the lot that the [ticket] vendors are in,” Taylor said. Taylor said although the inclement weather over the weekend kept many from going to the fair, better conditions this week promise a greater fair attendance. “Well, because the weather is so much nicer today, I expect a bigger turnout,” Taylor said. She said that even despite the mist and rain last week, visitors continued to steadily arrive at the fairgrounds. According to Westmoreland, just being at the fair was fun. “I had fun, yeah, for the most part,” Westmoreland said. Despite the poor economy, thousands of people are still attending the fair this year, which, according to Taylor, overrides any minor problems with traffic or parking. “With the economy the way it is, I was afraid that attendance would be down, but I think it’s [the fair’s] turned out well,” Taylor said.
amanda karst/Technician
Cars wait to pass through the intersection of Hillsborough Street and Blue Ridge Road Tuesday. Highway patrol directed and stopped traffic so that fairgoers could easily cross the street at the intersections close to the fairgrounds. Both the Wolfline buses and Triangle Transit detoured some routes during the State Fair because of traffic concerns.
Former Alumni CEO wasn’t meeting goals of core mission
Fraternity forced off campus, makes return, hopes to thrive
Woodward responds concerning his termination of Associate Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations
Caroline Barfield Staff Writer
Ty Johnson
How can i get involved?
For more information on Kappa Alpha, contact Matt Korff at (252) 904-4575 or mkorff@ncsu.edu. Source: matt korff
Editor-in-Chief
Chancellor Jim Woodward said his decision to terminate Associate Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations/Executive Director of the Alumni Association Lennie Barton was based on Barton’s performance and the lack of growth the Association has witnessed over the past three years. Woodward said the decision had nothing to do with Barton personally, and that the decision was based on his evaluation of a combination of factors. Barton wasn’t meeting expectations when it came to pursuing the organization’s core mission, accruing the resources necessary to achieve the organization’s mission and at remaining financially viable. “Anytime you evaluate someone, it’s never all good or all bad,” Woodward said. “Lord knows Lennie did a lot of good things for us, but after extensive evaluation and consultation, the decision was made that there needed to be a change in leadership.” Woodward said after looking over the evaluations conducted by those closest to Barton, he took a closer look at the numbers coming from the Alumni Association and determined the organization was lacking in its achievements, especially as far as creating a contingency plan for the use of reserve money in the event of a financial decline. Woodward said the organization spent a considerable amount of its reserve to build the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center with the stipulation that donations would rebuild the reserve. He said no such rebuilding of the reserve was occurring. “Instead of using these pledges to rebuild the reserve, the association had to use the pledges to cover the operating expenses,” Woodward said. “What happens when you run out of pledge money? The fact that there wasn’t a plan to deal with that says we have a potential problem. Now there’s concern about the financial state of the Alumni Association and there is no plan to assure the financial viability of the organization.” Woodward said the issue wasn’t
Kappa Alpha returns after five-year hiatus
David Mabe/Technician file photo
Lennie Barton, former head of the N.C. State Alumni Association, speaks at the Legacy Luncheon on Harris Field Aug. 15.
the uncertainty of the association’s and while he said the University was economic stability, as the financial partially to blame for not helping the climate has many groups concerned organization out, he felt there was a about money, but that Barton’s termi- lack of initiative by the association to nation was more because of the lack accrue the resources needed. “The Alumni Association does not of preparation for such a downward have adequate IT support,” Woodward turn in the economy. “Lot of organizations have financial said. “Some is due to the fact that the viability in question today, but what University hasn’t done enough, but you want is a plan,” Woodward said. some of it, in my view, is that the Woodward said the pursuit of re- Alumni Association hasn’t worked hard enough.” sources to strengthWoodward said en the association’s Barton also was far recruitment efforts from achieving the was sub-par as well benchmarks t hat compared to other were set for the orinstitutions, namely ganization as far as UNC-Chapel Hill membership was which has about conc er ned . T h i s 70,000 members in year’s goal for the its alumni associaAlumni Association tion though NCSU Chancellor Jim Woodward was 30,000 memhas more alumni in bers, but it only has the state than Carolina. He said the difference was the 22,261. Woodward said if the athletic proway students were recruited during gram’s performance had any connectheir undergraduate careers. “They begin to recruit the day the tion to the association’s failure to meet student walks in the door and as they expectations, it was likely a loose one approach graduation they contact par- since the Wolfpack Club has thrived ents,” Woodward said. “They get the under its leadership. “The Wolfpack Club, which is distudents thinking about being alums rectly associated with the alumni and develop a sense of pride.” Woodward said the Alumni Association’s lack of Information Technology support hindered it in its recruitment, BARTON continued page 3
“...the decision was made that there needed to be a change in leadership”
The Kappa Alpha Order, Alpha Omega chapter, was disbanded five years ago but has been voted to return to the University. Earlier this semester, a basic interest group was established to contact young men interested in becoming founding fathers of the returned Kappa Alpha Order. Matt Walker, a junior in communications, said a T-shirt captivated his interest. “One of my really good friends in Sigma Kappa came by my house one day wearing a shirt that said KA was returning to N.C. State, I was immediately interested,” Walker said. The Kappa Alpha Order was originally established at the University in 1903 and generated thousands of alumni, but lost their charter five years ago due to violations of the risk management policy, poor academics and poor leadership. However, “the Order” received a chance to redeem their reputation when the National Alumni Council voted in favor of their return to the University. “KA has a huge history here, it
was here for a hundred years; it will be part of one of N.C. States oldest organizations,” Robert Rudd, a sophomore in political science and KA vice president, said. Kappa Alpha’s national recolonization team, Jesse Lyons and his associate director Chris Woods, started a basic interest group, where young men exhibiting core values the fraternity prides itself for were interviewed, asked to attend KA events then selected and offered bids. Rudd also said that 15 founding fathers received bids on Oct. 8. The fraternity will receive is provisional charter on Oct. 27 and has one year to establish and earn back the respect it was once known for. Rudd clarified what the fraternity was once known for and what it will be known for once again. “We are looking for men with principals; fraternities take guys and try to make them better. We’re the order that takes guys that already have the values that we are looking for such as chivalry, good academics, giving back
KA continued page 3
insidetechnician Pie in the eye and on the brain See page 6.
Wolfpack showing depth at the point See page 8.
viewpoint campus & capital classifieds sports
4 5 7 8