TECHNICIAN
thursday april
15 2010
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Blooms, beer cans highlight Art to Wear Yearly fashion show showcases wild School of Design products in Reynolds Coliseum Kate Shefte Executive Editor
In front of flashing bulbs, watchful judges and thousands of fans, 12 young designers saw several sleepless months’ worth of work come to fruition. The designers selected for the 2010 Art to Wear fashion show showed no shortage of inspiration, drawing on biker gangs, Frankenstein and fast food for their original pieces. Kasi Wetherington, a sophomore in biochemistry, said her favorite line of the show belonged to Kendal Leonard, who created a series of bright, bold dresses shaped like spring flowers. “There was a good combination of good runway stuff and things I would wear and I would see people wearing,” Weatherington said. Ian Thomas, a freshman in art and design, said he found the show “inspiring” but he thought the designers played it too safe. “I kind of wished it could have been a little more out there,” Thomas said. “I wished they had pushed the boundaries as far as they would go. It seemed like they didn’t quite do that this year.” There was one line that pushed the envelope and pleased both observers and judges was that of Kirk Smith, a senior in food science. Smith earned a standing ovation from the crowd and the top prize – a scholarship worth $500. Smith said he spent the past six months working feverishly on his clothes, which featured an array of wrappers from foods popular with college students. He created a minidress made from Natural Light cans, a robot made from pizza boxes and an intricate, flounced pink wedding dress made entirely from Jimmy John’s wrappers, among other things. Smith was one of few students outside of the College of Design to be featured in Art to Wear. “I cannot believe I came in here dry and won,” Smith said. “I have no idea what to think right now. I’m just floored by the feeling.” Though long and occasionally frustrating, Smith’s experience in Art to Wear may have altered his career plan for the better. “This has very quickly changed my perspective on what I should do for the rest of my life,” Smith said. For her line, entitled “Marionettes in Modern Times,” Keely Cansler, a senior in textile technology and art and design, employed her cousin Matthew, who is in elementary school, to cut the imaginary strings off a “marionette” model. Cansler said she decided to change it up and make the puppeteer much smaller
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A model for one of Kirk Smith’s designs in the 2010 Art to Wear fashion show wearing clothes made of beer cans and packaging drops a partially frozen beer can at the end of the runway. Smith is a senior in food science, and wanted his work to use foods that seem to consume and are consumed by college students. Smith won the Art to Wear judge’s choice unanimously.
IRS allows more tax flexability Students encouraged to file extensions for late taxes Arth Pandya Staff Writer
10 million Americans will be filing their taxes today for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. The Internal Revenue Service expects to process 138 million individual tax returns this year. Mark Hanson, an IRS spokesperson, said roughly 10 million taxpayers will either file their return or for an extension today. If you can’t file your return today, you should request an extension by filing Form 4868, Automatic Extension of Time to File, through Free File at IRS.gov, Hanson said, which will push the filing deadline back to Oct. 15. Hanson said, however, the extension does not delay any payments that are due. “An extension is not an extension to pay your taxes if you owe the IRS money,” he said. “You need to pay the balance by [the deadline].” If you cannot pay all or some of the balance due, Hanson said the IRS recommends you file your return or request an extension, pay as much as you can and get in touch with them as quickly as possible. Due to the current economy, Hanson said the IRS has become more
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Student Media Board selects editor
flexible and will work with struggling taxpayers to establish a monthly payment agreement. “We look at [the individual’s] situation on a case by case basis,” he said. “But they need to let us know they’re struggling.” In addition, Hanson said students needed to check their return very carefully for errors. “Common errors students make is forgetting to check if someone else is claiming them as a dependent,” he said. Hanson said he recommends taxpayers file electronically using E-FILE, an electronic filing software, because it’s more accurate and faster. “More than 20 percent of paper returns have simple errors,” he said. “Less than one percent of electronic returns have errors.” Once the IRS accepts the return, taxpayers will receive a confirmation within 48 hours. If taxpayers choose the option to directly deposit their refunds when e-filing, they will get their refunds in as few as 10 days “Students could probably use that money in their pocket sooner then later,” Hanson said. Omar Hamoush, a sophomore in biochemistry, said he filed his return
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Leigh Hawkins, a junior in art and design, models the design collection of Eleanor Hoffman, a senior double majoring in art and design and textile technology, in “Moon, Dance” at the Art to Wear showcase at Reynolds Coliseum on Wednesday, at 7:30 pm.
Technician staff disputes board’s methods for determining new editor-inchief Nick Tran News Editor
The Student Media Board of Directors selected Amanda Wilkins, a sophomore in horticulture science, Tuesday night as Technician’s editor-in-chief for the next academic year. Technician’s staff has taken issue with the means by which the choice was made. The Technician Advisory Board, consisting of professionals, Technician advisers, readers and alumni, met first to interview and ask questions of the five candidates applying for the position. Other candidates considered included Technician’s design editor, a freelancer for a community newspaper and two other upperclassmen. The advisory board then deliberated in closed session and made its recommendation to the Student Media Board of Directors, which approved the selection of Wilkins. Russell Witham, one of the executive editors of Technician, said the next year will be much different for Technician. “The hiring of [Wilkins] represents a transition for the paper and puts a new face on the paper,” he said. “It’s going to change the way we do business.” Wilkins said she was shocked by the board’s decision. “I felt very confident there were other qualified candidates,” she said. “I was interested in applying the first time around, but something came up. I was disappointed no one stepped up the first time, so this time around I put in my
application.” Wilkins said she received a lot of support from members of the board, despite only being a freshman — sophomore by hours — and Technician entry-level photographer. “I’ve only been on staff for a year as a photographer… but I stepped up to take a lot of assignments,” she said. “[The members of the board] told me I had really good management skills and traits for a good editor. I have the skill set to get Technician back on its feet.” Wilkins said she has had little experience writing for a college publication, but the board has addressed that. She plans to attend seminars and read books to improve her journalism skills over the summer. According to Wilkins, she plans to rework the office setting to make sure the paper gets the most out of its staff, including working with the writing coach and journalism professors to improve the staff’s and her own writing skills. “I plan to have meetings with the staff and upper administration,” Wilkins said. “We have to look over everything and see what’s worked and what hasn’t.” Saja Hindi, former Technician editor-in-chief, was charged by the Student Media Board to head a committee to restructure Technician. The committee was responsible for figuring out the issues of the organization, gathering feedback from the campus community (which was done mainly through savetechnician.com) and advertising the editor-in-chief position after no one applied the first time. “It’s surprising that a board of professionals and full-time adviser decided to hire a freshman photographer to serve as editor-in-chief, especially when there were other qualified candidates,” Hindi said. “It is understandable, however, that the current staff is upset because they feel like their voices
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were not heard, an ongoing issue of contention with the adviser. While the Student Media Board is a great resource, Technician is a student-run organization, and students should have had a say in executive decisions.” According to Hindi, traditionally, there has always been a current staff member present for deliberations of the advisory board, but there wasn’t this year. “At Tuesday night’s meeting, the board opened the f loor for discussion, but the decision had already been made, so what students said was inconsequential,” she said. “I can’t speak for the advisory board because I wasn’t in the deliberations, but not getting staff input was a mistake. One of the committee’s recommendations was a focus on student empowerment and [Tuesday night’s] decision was not about students feeling empowered.” Hindi said none of the staff members have a personal issue with Wilkins that she is aware of, but in the past, editors worked hard to move up in the ranks and “running a daily newspaper is no easy feat for a student who is a senior, let alone a freshman.” Kate Shefte, one of the executive editors for Technician, said the decision came as a shock to her. “I was surprised and blind-sided by the decision to hire a freshman for editor-in-chief,” she said. “I listened to all the candidates and I didn’t think she was the most qualified, but she can prove me wrong.” Shefte said she felt the board made the decision to have more of an influence on Technician’s operations. “[The board and adviser] seemed to want to change the dynamic already in place. There is a core group of editors who have become very close, and they have to be,” she said. “They would like to exert a little more control over Technician’s inner workings. Things
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