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Clubs raise awareness in Brickyard Information and animals brightened this week’s rainy days
livestock and equipment displays in the Brickyard as well as a tent full of displays from all clubs under the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Amber Kenney Staff Writer “None of this could happen without the support of the This week, Alpha Zeta, through clubs,” Steelman said. fundraising and donations from She said each club had their farm bureaus across the state, own space to recruit members, brought agriculture awareness answer questions and get the to campus. word out about the role they play Students, such as Mallory Ker- in relation to agriculture. nick, a freshman in fashion and “Not only was it interesting to textile management, instantly learn about the various clubs, but enjoyed t he I also enjoyed event. playing with “I loved havthe animals,” ing the opporKernick said. TECHNICIANONLINE.COM tunity to be T he l ive exposed to the Watch an audio slideshow of an alternative stock, which angle on Agricultural Awareness Week. department of c a me f rom agriculture,” education Kernick said. units associated with the school, Heather Steelman, a senior in was Steelman’s favorite part of animal science and last year’s the event. Agriculture Awareness Week “I love seeing the people’s faces director, said the main goal is and reactions to the animals, and to educate N.C. State and the I enjoy answering their quessurrounding community on tions,” she said. agriculture, and what makes up Accord i ng to Steel ma n, agriculture as a whole. Hoover, the fistulated cow, was “It is important people know the most asked about. the origins of the clothes they “People were truly concerned wear and the food they eat,” about her [Hoover], when actuSteelman added. AG WEEK continued page 3 The week-long event featured
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On the Brickyard for Agriculture Awareness Week, Natalie Wester, sophomore in agriculture business and livestock, Lauren Liles, senior in animal science, and Molly the Cow react as they are tied up by Drew Pressely, freshman in agriculture business. “We’re out here to teach students about Rodeo Club, and promote the great sport of rodeo”, said Liles. Agriculture Awareness Week was hosted by Alpha Zeta and several College of Agriculture and Life Science clubs and it is meant to educate students about agriculture and its implications.
Gartman speaks on economy
Q&A with Braden Technician staff writer Jessica Hall sat down with Jeffrey Braden, newly announced dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to discuss his goals and visions for CHASS. Technician: How do you feel about receiving this job?
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Dennis Gartman, publisher and market analyst, speaks at the Millennium Seminar Series Thursday in Stewart Theatre. “What separates the pro investors from everyone else is that they accept when they are wrong and then do something else,” Gartman said. “Don’t lose money– or at least don’t lose much.”
Editor and publisher proves optimistic, advises students to develop well-rounded education Jay Ross Staff Writer
The Millennium Seminar Series lectures concluded Thursday at Stewart Theatre with editor and publisher of The Gartman Letter and an expert on global financial markets, Dennis Gartman. Before becoming a full-time author of The Gartman Letter, a daily commentary on global capital markets, Gartman served as an economist for several international firms specializing in trading after receiving his graduate degree from N.C. State. Gartman advised students to develop a well-rounded education at the undergraduate level and then pursue financial subjects at the graduate level if they wish. Throughout his presentation Gartman commented on the current financial meltdown and its causes, the effect on foreign markets and what steps investors should take to minimize
Braden: I am truly honored. People know who I am and know what I do and have still decided I’m the person they want to manage the college and it’s really both flattering and humbling at the same time. Technician: When was the decision made?
damage. “This is a very serious recession,” Gartman said. Gartman admitted the economy is indeed witnessing a decline in growth but it has not yet reached a full-blown depression. Gartman also said the economy is far from a depression and was optimistic about the long-term outcome. Gartman criticized investors for maintaining a “bullish” state of mind and ignoring a declining trend. This attitude prevented investors from cutting their financial losses early and resulted in investments that were unsustainable. One example of an unsustainable investment that Gartman mentioned was using the housing market as a means of investing. “You’re house is a shelter, not an investment,” Gartman said. When referring to the natural pattern of decline and growth Gartman said, “economies ebb and economies f low.” He also said that brief and sudden increases, or bubbles occur periodically with disregard to the industry. The current housing bubble began its collapse when real estate investors created a
large deficit between the value of the home and the credit the mortgages were based on. Bad decision-making on Wall Street has also resulted in a significant amount of the seventysix million baby boomers to avoid traditional means of investing such as stocks and bonds. The baby boomers are instead looking to put their income directly into checking accounts as a means of saving, Gartman said. “We are in a recession, but we will get through this,” Gartman said. He said the type of saving that has added to the economic decline would eventually make its way back into the market. Gartman noted what separates a profitable investor from those who lose money is the ability to understand when an investment is a poor choice, openly admit to the error and change their course of investing. Besides admitting when a decision is at fault, Gartman recommended making investments into things in which the investor is knowledgeable. Commodities such as steel and copper were offered as beneficial examples over intangibles such as technology.
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Braden: It was announced at the University council meeting on Monday as a kind of ‘soft announcement’ but they had to wait for some paperwork to clear. So, the official word went out yesterday. Technician: Were you expecting the job? Braden: Well, no. There were three other terrific candidates all of whom had more experience than I did, so I knew the competition was excellent and, as I say, I am honored to have had the opportunity.
Braden: One is tempted to make a biblical reference -- ‘by sitting in sack cloth and ashes’ but, right, celebration is really more what is in line. My wife and my son and I went out and had a nice quiet dinner. Technician: What are your short term goals? Braden: The immediate plans haven’t really changed at all and that is how can I meet the obligations we have to cut our state appropriated funds and still offer instruction, still support research, and still support extension and engagement and do that in a way that minimizes the impact first and foremost on students and secondarily on faculty and our community whom we serve outside the University. That’s a challenge. That’s going to continue to be a big challenge and I have to say I have just been so impressed with how people in our college, students, faculty, and staff, have stepped up and recognized that these are not fun times and that things will get worse because of the funding challenges that State has. Having said all of that, that is obviously the biggest issue and the question is what can I eliminate that is great to have but not necessarily core, and what can I reduce, but still keep alive, so that when the money comes back we haven’t lost something that’s really valuable to the college and to the University. Those are struggles and those are the biggest challenges I face in the
Technician: How did you celebrate?
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Q & A continued page 3
Local Fiddler continues to write, play See page 6.
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Job market suffers High unemployment changing student’s focus and professors’ teaching strategies John Cline Staff Writer
The economy has been on a downward slide and unemployment is sharply on the rise, especially in North Carolina, and students are feeling its effects. According to the United States Department of Labor, North Carolina ranks 46 out of the 51 states with an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. That number is almost double what it was in 2004 when it was 5.9 percent, and over triple the number 10 years ago when North Carolina saw an all time low 3.1 percent unemployment rate. The state is approaching the highest rate its ever had which was 10.2 percent in February 1983. “The numbers in North Carolina may be so high because of how successful we [have] been in recent years,” Douglas Pearce, department head of economics at NCSU said. “[North Carolina] had been the fastest growing area as of July 2008,” Pearce said. “When you’re growing fast that usually means you have a large construction industry, and they’ve been hit hard everywhere. When that drops off quickly it’ll impact unemployment at a higher rate than some others.” Pearce also said North Carolina’s unemployment may be so high because of our large financial sector, since those are failing around the country. People look to the state to fix these problems, but Pearce ECONOMY continued page 3
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