TECHNICIAN
Voting for new T-shirts S
The bookstore is encouraging students to vote for the newest T-shirt design they will be selling. For the third year, the N.C. State Bookstores is holding a campus-wide T-shirt design contest to benefit the Pack Promise program. Pack Promise is a program that gives complete financial packages including scholarships, grants, loans and work-study opportunities to low-income students accepted as an incoming freshman. John Starbuck, Bookstore marketing manager, said this year’s contest yielded the best results with a total of 118 design entries. “The first and second year we received about 40 entries. We are excited this year because we received many more entries, and there are a lot of good designs,” Starbuck said. “We have had a terrific turnout, and the final decision will definitely be a challenge.” Students can vote on the T-shirt they like most from the semi-finalist selections until Oct. 1. To vote, students should visit the
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NC State Bookstore homepage, and look for the “vote now” icon. The T-shirt will be unveiled by the bookstore staff on Nov. 12, when it will go on sale to students. T-shirts will cost around $10, but the bookstore can’t determine the actual price until students select the design. Unlike last year, the bookstore has decided to leave the winning t-shirt a mystery until the unveiling to encourage hype throughout the campus, according to Starbuck. “We aren’t going to tell students or the design winner which T-shirt is chosen until the day the T-shirts go on sale. We want everyone to be excited about it…We want T-shirt buyers to be excited about helping out Pack Promise,” Starbuck said. With every T-shirt sale, Pack Promise receives $2. Gerri Williams, associate director of the Pack Promise program, said she is grateful for the bookstore’s generosity. “We offer a huge thank-you to the bookstore. It was all their idea to give a part of the proceeds to us, and for that we really are thankful,” Williams said. Although this is her first year working with Pack Promise, Williams said she is excited to be part of what she thinks will become an annual tradition, and said she looks forward to watching the contest grow more as the years go on. “I absolutely think this will become a stable annual event. I’m hoping to get more parts of the university as well as the N.C.
OIT has decided to upgrade the MyPack Portal in coming November Sagar Sane Correspondent
The MyPack Portal is being upgraded. The new features and benefits will be available Nov. 21. The Office of Information Technology is in charge of this upgrade. Within the next two years, the entire MyPack Portal will be reformatted. Jack Foster, enterprise portal administrator of OIT, said that after the upgrade, the navigation in the portal would change significantly. “One of the key features of the upgrade will be the new breadcrumb style design for navigation which will give more flexibility to users. The MyPack will be standardized to meet the branding of N.C. State,” Foster said. Connie Reitfort, director of enterprise application services of OIT, said the upgrade from version 8.9 to 9.1 will be done initially for the portal only. “Whenever the PeopleSoft Solutions and Oracle upgrade their products, we download it and make the changes in our system. The 8.9 - 9.1 upgrade will be done to the portal initially and in the next two years, upgrades will be made to the SYS, enterprise and financial portals,” Reitfort said.
State commu nit y involved like Parent and Family Services, the Alumni Association and the N.C. State Homecoming Committee,” Williams said. The winner of the contest will receive a $300 gift card to the NCSU Bookstores, with second place receiving a $100 gift card, and third place receiving a $50 gift card. According to Starbuck and Williams, the prize for everyone who buys a T-shirt is knowing they are giving back to the NC State community, specifically Pack Promise. “When we started the contest three years ago, the purpose was to get students involved with their bookstore,” Starbuck said. “While planning it, we then thought ‘why not make it a fundraiser?’ So that’s what we did.” As far as future contests, Starbuck said his main advice to interested students was to let personal creativity flow. “Once you come up with a good theme, then you can figure out what to do with the artwork,” Starbuck said. “The most important thing is to then tie everything together by letting your creative side take over.”
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN STARBUCK
Helping international students
Campus Pals benefit University and elementary students
The Office of International Services relies on various initiatives and student organizations to help international students.
Campus Pals and the Big Brothers Big Sisters program continue working with students at Wiley Elementary school and in the Raleigh community.
director of Campus Pals and a junior in history. According to Durham, the Campus Pals program meets Wednesday afternoons and goes to Wiley Elementary School for about two hours. In the Campus Pals program, volunteers meet with the child at the school. Chelsey Francis “For the first part of the afternoon, Deputy News Editor we do one-on-one mentoring with “I have to say this experience has our child,” Durham said. “The secbeen one of the most rewarding ex- ond part of the afternoon is a group periences out of all I have been in- orientated activity that we plan. The activity can be outside or in the gym, volved in.” Melody Harkness, a sophomore just something where we all are toin First Year College, is partnered gether.” Durham said she with a 7 year old sees Campus Pals girl through the Big and Big Brothers Brothers Big Sisters Big Sisters as a way program. to give back to the A p a r t ne r s h ip community. beginning in 2003 “It’s a great way involves University to give back to the students being partRa leig h com munered with children Karrah Durham, director of nity,” Durham said. in the third through Campus Pals “This is a great way fifth grades, who to be a positive role participate in the YMCA after school program at Wiley model and help these children with school work and interact with other Elementary School. The overall partnership is between children.” According to Durham, Campus Pals CSLEPS, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle and the YMCA of the Triangle, according to Karrah Durham, PALS continued page 3
Pranay Deshpande Staff Writer
The Friendship Initiative, which has been in existence for more than 20 years, helps pair international students with American students for one year. OIS offers many initiatives to help international students adjust to the cultural shock after arriving in the United States. Lauren Ball, Programs Coordinator at the OIS, said the goal of the Friendship Initiative is to help international students adjust to life in the United States. “Friendship Initiative matches international students with Americans here in Raleigh or anywhere, but we mostly prefer students from N.C. State,” Ball said. The initiative has an application process for both American and international students, but according to Ball, none of the applications are rejected. “Friends get together once a month and it’s an year long commitment. We received 80 applications form international students and 25 from Americans. While one international student is paired with one American, each American tends to be paired with at least 2 international students,” Ball said. Though Friendship Initiative program helps international students understand the culture, it is a year-long commitment. “The Friendship program requires commitment and a few students wait
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New MyPack Portal will be unveiled in November
tudents have eight options for new T-shirt designs. These T-shirts were designed by students and the final choice will be made by students. The field was narrowed down from 118 entries by bookstore staff. From each T-shirt sold, $2 will be donated to the Pack Promise program.
Correspondent
september
Raleigh, North Carolina
technicianonline.com
Lana Layton
friday
“It’s a great way to give back to the Raleigh community.”
MICHELLE FIDELIA/TECHNICIAN
While studying in the Alexander Hall’s study lounge, Jessica Vasquez, a freshman in zoology and Tori Milioni, a freshman in biological sciences, get chemistry help from John Gunawan, a junior in electrical engineering. Gunawan is an international student from Australia living in Alexander Hall.
until spring to apply. Exchange students can also be a part of this initiative in which case it lasts for one semester” Ball said. According to Thomas Greene, associate director for OIS, international students need to learn re learn a few things that they already know. “Small things like riding a bus, using a phone and getting a driving license
NC State Bookstores
Student T-Shirt Design Contest Vote for your favorite design:
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are some of the things that these students need to learn, such an initiative would be certainly helpful in solving these problems,” Greene said. Programs like Friendship, Brick and Bread and International Students & Scholars Engaged in
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