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Alumni donation set to complete Memorial Belltower after a century of construction
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PAGE 3 • MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2018
Alumni donation set to complete Memorial Belltower after a century of construction
Isaac Bjerkness
Assistant News Editor
With an alumni family donation to enhance NC State’s Belltower, the long history of the landmark’s construction is wrapping up almost 100 years after it began.
Bill Henry, a College of Textiles alumnus, and his wife Frances Henry donated an undisclosed amount to ensure the completion of the Belltower. With the donation, the NC State Facilities Division plans on completing and installing the bells, adding an interior staircase and renovating both the surrounding plaza, to be named Henry Square, and interior of the Belltower to be sure the tower stands for years to come.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how important and significant that gift is for the Belltower itself,” said Tom Stafford, former vice chancellor for student affairs. “In my mind, it is the most important structure and symbol on campus.”
The Facilities Division has wasted no time in planning what improvements the Henry family donation will bring to the Belltower.
“Facilities will take the lead in repairing the whole Belltower,” said Lisa Johnson, the university architect. “It has a lot of water damage and a little bit of structural damage. We think we will be able to accomplish the cleaning of the Belltower, the waterproofing, adding new stairs, fixing loose mortar, restoring the surrounding plaza and also adding the bells. We are hoping to be completely done in the spring of 2021.”
Donations and support from alumni and sponsors prove to be making a huge impact for students, faculty, staff and the NC State community across the globe.
“Donors are critical. Many of the things we want to accomplish as a university, we would never to be able to do without private support,” said Alan Taylor, executive director of Central Major Gifts. “We have been trying to complete the Belltower for almost 100 years. Without the support of the Henrys, that clock on completing the Belltower would have continued ticking. And it’s not just the Belltower, it is scholarships, study abroad and others that would not happen without private support.”
With this donation acting as the final piece of the Memorial Belltower’s construction, the history and legacy of the project will long be remembered as a monument nearly a century in the making at NC State.
“The tower was built by NC State alumni to honor their fellow classmates who served their country in the military and were killed in World War I,” Stafford said. “They started to build the Belltower by laying the cornerstone in 1921, and it took 26 years to finish it. It was built in the middle of the Great Depression so it took a long time to finish the project, and it was not dedicated until 1949. Bells have never been put into the tower, even though it was originally designed to do so. After that is all done, the tower will finally be finished.”
The granite exterior and the marble interior were pieced together slowly over time. Even though the Belltower was made to chime, a recording has been playing instead of actual bells since its dedication.
“What is interesting to me is the whole history of the Belltower,” Johnson said. “It was finished in increments over time, and the story still continues. We have called it the Belltower for years, but it never really had bells in it. So now, we are really going to complete the Belltower.”
In addition to being a memorial, the Belltower has become a symbol and representation of NC State that is recognizable across the state, nation and even the world.
“The tower represents the commitment and the long, proud tradition that NC State has of training and producing great leaders for our country,” said Stafford, who has guided over 350 tours of the Belltower.
Even though most current and former members of the Wolfpack have a special place in their hearts for the structure, the Belltower has been set aside by the University as one of the most sacred places on campus.
“In 2007, we established, through the Master Planning Network, the nine hallowed places on campus,” Johnson said. “Those are places that are irreplaceable and most symbolic to NC State. Practically everyone can agree that the Belltower is the most hallowed place on campus. So being able to repair and restore it so that it will last on into our future is a reflection on our pride, heritage and respect for the past.”
The addition of 54 bells, an improved plaza and other renovations to the 115foot tower on the corner of Hillsborough Street will ring in a new season in the history of NC State as the historic and personal significance of the Belltower for so many people lives on nearly a century after it was erected.
“The Belltower means something to so many alums, people who work at the University and people in the community,” Taylor said. “It has become the symbol of the University. The place where we celebrate and congregate. So, for it to finally be complete and the vision of what the Belltower was supposed to be finally happening, I think it is another point in time where we as NC State can say this is one of the best times in our history. It was one thing, having the symbol of the University unfinished, that we can finally put a stamp on and say that it is done and move forward in our history.”
NICHOLAS FAULKNER/TECHNICIAN Mrs. Wuf helps rev up the crowd during the pre-run warmup at the third annual Moonlight Howl and Run which started at 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 13.
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PAGE 4 • MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2018
New graduate school dean talks meeting students’ concerns
Marco Valencia
Correspondent
Technician sat down with Peter Harries, the newly appointed interim dean of the NC State Graduate School, to discuss concerns of graduate students and the new tax bill, which has since passed. Harries previously served for two years as the Graduate School’s senior associate dean, after working as the assistant dean of graduate studies at the University of Florida. Harries graduated from Yale University with a degree in geology and geophysics before going on to earn his doctorate in geological sciences from the University of Colorado.
What do you want to bring to the Graduate School as dean?
First and foremost, I want to make sure people realize that graduate students comprise a pretty significant portion of the student body. There are about 10,000 graduate students and around 24,000 undergraduates, so it is almost a third of the population here. When the majority of activities happen on campus, I would say they seem geared more towards undergraduates, rather than graduates. I like using the acronym WAGS — What About Grad Students — when I see these amazing opportunities for undergraduates that could be expanded to graduates as well. Overall, my main goals are to bring more attention to graduate students and make sure their needs are met. A lot of things need to be looked at and improved, such as funding for graduate students to travel to conferences, because I thought that was underfunded, and really just making sure the graduate student enterprise is as good as it can be.
What are some common concerns that graduate students have?
I would say the largest issue is the stipend levels for people who are teaching and research assistants. This problem is nationally known for the majority of state schools struggling with pay. It is often overlooked that living in Raleigh is going to cost more than, say, living in a more rural college area. I would love to solve that issue but with the new tax law that may or may not go into play; it will be difficult. That’s a huge cash deal that would affect NC State’s graduate students, but also graduates nationwide. I want to be clear that this is not just an NC State issue, but one that will affect all universities, especially public. Right now there is more uncertainty than anything else, and if we knew what was happening, it would make things a bit easier. Additionally, the Senate bill has not included the plan, which complicates things. So if it does pass, we just have to be guardedly optimistic that the decisions will not mortgage our innovation and research future by making it more difficult to get a graduate degree. If we want to grow as a nation that is based on special skills and knowledge, then we will have to keep graduate schools and students in the forefront.
What are some of the resources graduate students can utilize?
One of the things that we do a lot of, and probably not as many graduate students take advantage of that should, is our professional development workshop. I mean a huge range of different things from helping students improve their teaching to our industry immersion program, and what now is called Accelerate to Industry where there’s a weeklong intensive series of workshops that are put on in part by various companies throughout the region, and they help teach students how to convert their high-level graduate school knowledge into business skills.
MARY FENTON/TECHNICIAN Interim dean of the graduate school Peter Harries poses for a photo on the fourth floor of Talley Student Union on Dec. 1. Along with his new interim dean position, Harries will also continue to be a professor in the marine, earth and atmospheric sciences department.
In the future, what do you wish to accomplish as dean?
I would love to have a graduate center, much like Talley Student Union, but geared more toward graduate students. The center would be where the graduate school is housed and would have spaces for workshops and have Think and Do rooms. With the growing numbers of graduate students, I think in the future it will be necessary to construct such a facility that serves as a hub for NC State’s graduate students and programs.
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PAGE 5 • MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2018
Research finds lack of retention of women and minority professors in STEM field
STUDY LED BY NC STATE STATISTICS PROFESSOR DISCOVERS UNEVEN DEMOGRAPHICS IN SCIENCE AND MATH FACULTY
Alicia Thomas
Correspondent
After researching science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, an NC State professor has made discoveries on the retention and job status of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering.
Marcia Gumpertz, an NC State statistics professor, was the lead author in research studying the makeup of women and underrepresented minorities in university faculty, specifically in STEM fields.
The research was conducted in large, STEM-based land-grant schools between 2002-2015. In conclusion, Gumpertz found that women in the engineering discipline were more likely to leave when they started as assistant professors and also left without tenure more frequently than men.
“I think it’s really important topic, and there’s a lot of concern about whether women and underrepresented minority faculty are leaving the university more frequently or sooner than other faculty,” Gumpertz said while discussing why she chose to research the topic.
Gumpertz discussed how the demographics of a university’s faculty is what many believe compels a student to stay in a certain area of study.
“I was the vice provost for faculty diversity,” Gumpertz said. “As part of that role I think it’s very important for the university to keep track of what the faculty experience is, the demographics of faculty status that of the climate for faculty. So this is all part of that effort.”
Gumpertz said that recruitment of a diverse faculty is only the beginning; retention of the faculty is also important. Even with a small number of underrepresented minorities in university faculty, results demonstrated that minority faculty in engineering left more than other faculty before their 1oth year.
“Well, I was really interested in retention of faculty because if you think this is important that we have a more diverse faculty, there’s several elements of that,” Gumpertz said. “One of the big ones that people think about is recruiting faculty. But another really big one is retention. Once they are here, do they stay?”
The study found that the number of
women in STEM fields has risen from 1992 to 2015, but for underrepresented minority groups, the number of Hispanic faculty has risen substantially while the number of African-American and American Indian has risen slowly.
Katherine Titus-Becker, head of the Women in Science and Engineering
(WISE) village at NC State, talked about how the village tackles urging students to stay in STEM fields.
“There are lots of companies that value and need more women in STEM,” Titus-Becker said. “They need to find their place and find an employer that values them and certainly not to judge the STEM field based on one company that has got a bad culture.”
While WISE is catered towards first- and second-year women who are interested in pursuing careers in science and math, the bigger goal is to lead students to find their passions, even if they are not in STEM.
WISE aims to increase retention and graduation rates of women in science and engineering fields at NC State. While students are required to apply and be accepted into the WISE program, all students are welcome to attend tutoring session held Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
WILL SKINNER/TECHNICIAN Shaunaci Stevens, a second-year studying biological science, tutors Melissa Pasli, a second-year studying polymer and color chemistry, during a Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) tutoring session Tuesday in Lee Hall. The tutoring program is designed to help women studying science and engineering as part of the WISE Village.
Opinion
How to hold your instructors accountable
Another semester down, and everyone has gone home for some much needed R&R. Now is the time to reflect on the past four months and decide if any changes need to be made to your current NC State plans. However, as we look ahead and consider potential future classes to satisfy requirements, we often overlook an extremely important factor in class quality: teacher competence.
We are too busy weighing other, much more obvious, aspects of a course such as difficulty of material, quantity of material and necessity to our current major or minor plans to think about whether or not the instructor is actually fit for the job. Most of us do wonder if the professor is “tough” or “boring,” but that’s usually the extent of our worries.
Unfortunately, plenty of professors are prone to not-so-professional habits such as lack of passion for teaching and difficulty working with students, among other issues. The problem with this, however, is that college students oftentimes don’t voice their serious complaints and decide to just keep their head down and get through the class.
While this is definitely understandable, because the last thing students need is to incur the wrath of the professor, it is important for the student body that we don’t just stand idly by and allow subpar instructors to continue to negatively affect our university. We, as students, need to be aware of how the negative qualities of instructors can be detrimental to NC State, and be active in voicing our criticisms.
One such negative quality that I have seen among a few of my instructors so far in my three semesters here is lack of feedback communication. Now I understand that this is not high school — instructors are being paid to teach the course, and there will obviously be concepts that many students will struggle with, after all, that’s what college is infamous for.
However, I have personally witnessed several of my instructors ignore the fact that the class is struggling with a concept that is important to the material. Furthermore, I have had several professors struggle to properly give students back their grades on time. I have seen gaps of whole months between taking a test and receiving the grade.
Another, even more serious, issue is explicit unprofessionalism. This includes improper or problematic conduct, failing to properly communicate important information to students, or an obvious unfamiliarity with the subject material. These issues can lead to a toxic learning environment that students begin to dread attending. Furthermore, this can leave students unable to understand the important information, which can be a massive problem in later courses.
There are several actions that can be taken if
you find a serious issue with an instructor. The most obvious one is ClassEval. Here, you can grade your professors and leave comments on major issues with the instructor or course. You can also rest assured that any opinions or information disclosed will remain confidential. Colin Another potential course of action that can McNight be taken when dealing with an unsatisfactory Correspondent faculty member is to speak with an Ombuds member. Ombuds is an independent third party trained in mediating in common university conflicts, such as issues with professors. They could serve as invaluable sources of advice and support when a professor is not performing their duties adequately. Also, for those that want to see the criticisms of their current or future instructors, or contribute their own, I would highly recommend www.ratemyprofessor.com. Here, you can search for your professors and find the average ratings given to both the instructor and to the course, along with individual reviews of the class. Unfortunately, not all professors have reviews on the website, so you might have to go in blind for a few courses. A bad professor, at first, might just seem like a small part of the overall makeup of a class, but that can quickly change over the course of the semester, as an inadequate instructor can truly make a class a living nightmare. The student body should not allow this kind of misconduct to mark our university, and should speak up when needed.
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PAGE 6 • MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2018
B-Sian: Worries Sindy Huang, a third-year studying biological engineering
Students should resolve to use campus facilities to the fullest
It’s the first week of the new year, and many of us are excited and motivated to engage in self-improving habits. Sticking to a new year’s resolution can be difficult as we roll further and further into the year, but an easy one for college students is to make the most of campus facilities while they have them.
Living on or close to a college campus certainly gives you a decided edge when it comes to access to facilities. Services like University Recreation and a gym membership, Student Health Services and campus libraries are included in our tuition and fees at NC State. Other activities like, say, watching movies at Witherspoon Student Center or even taking part in clubs or on-campus events are included in the NC State way of life and are easily accessible. It’s important that we understand the value of these resources and make the best use of them while at college.
The average cost of a private gym membership is about $58 per month, while your student fee for Carmichael Gymnasium and recreational activities for 2017-2018 totaled $167.35. Carmichael Gymnasium has excellent fitness and sports facilities which are open to students every day; not using them at all would be opportunities wasted.
Because of my Indian background, I generally play badminton a lot more than tennis. I couldn’t find any badminton courts around my neighborhood at home, but I was able to find badminton equipment at Carmichael Gymnasium, a convenient five-minute walk from my dorm. This way, I have the option of not having to miss out on things I am interested in — without any additional payments or a long commute.
Student Health Services and the Counseling Center give students a chance to talk to professionals about their mental state. Counseling is also an expensive affair, costing about $75-$150 per session. 30-80 percent of people who have mental health concerns are never treated for them. With access to mental health services on campus, there’s no reason to delay getting the counseling you may need.
Another resource that’s undervalued are the two libraries on campus. Though the price of renting books from a public library is often included in taxes, there may be a smaller number of books or topics available. Here, at NC State, both Main Campus and Centennial Campus house enormous libraries to cater to students. D.H. Hill Library provides space for around a million and a half volumes in eleven stories of book stacks.
Hunt Library on Centennial Campus is continuously evolving in technology with 1.5 million items in its bookBot, a robotic book delivery system, and over 35,000 volumes on science and engineering. Both libraries offer other services like group study rooms, study halls and technical items for students to rent and use. I’ve found textbooks and reference books that have proven to be very useful, and
more importantly, relevant during exams. It doesn’t stop at cost-saving facilities; a less tangible, but very important aspect of university life is the power to form social circles. Getting involved in campus activities is one of the best experiences college life can Shivani Shirolkar Staff columnist give you. These are opportunities to meet new people and find students with similar interests. Join an intramural club — another opportunity included in your student fees — write for your student newspaper, or find your voice with one of NC State’s a cappella groups. There probably will never be a chance again to actively participate and intelligently contribute to clubs’ meetings and events like we do in college now. We tend to take these simple amenities for granted, not realizing that we have only a limited time to reap their benefits. After we graduate, we may lack the money and time to work out, receive counseling, visit the library or socialize. Your new year’s resolutions can be made possible this year, courtesy of NC State.
