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2018 State Fair brings new foods, rides to Raleigh
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PAGE 3 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
2018 State Fair brings new foods, rides despite delay in opening
Leigha Bruce
Correspondent
The North Carolina State Fair, one of the largest events to occur in the state and expected to bring in over one million guests, has been delayed as Hurricane Michael is expected to affect Raleigh Thursday.
The North Carolina State Fair was supposed to open Thursday at 3 p.m., but the opening has been postponed until 10 a.m. Friday morning. The fair is then expected to continue as planned.
Since 1853, the fair has gotten more popular, becoming one of the largest annual events in the nation. Almost two dozen new foods will be available for fair guests including the arepa burger, rolled ice cream and chocolate chip hush puppies.
“We have 22 new foods coming to the fair on top of our 200 regular vendors as well,” said Press Office Assistant Director Heather Overton. “We also have four new rides and 100 in total.”
Overton said some of the newest food vendors that will be available to the public are the shrimp tacos with pineapple salsa from Captain Neill’s Seafood and cinnamon toast crunch apple cobbler bites from Chef’s D’Lites.
Howling Cow ice cream, completely produced at NC State from its food science program, is also sold by NC State students at the fair. Gary Cartwright, director for NC State Dairy Enterprise System, said the ice cream has been sold at the fair since 1978.
“At the 1978 state fair, many attendees had walked up to our window asking if we were selling our ice cream, but at the time we were not allowed to sell it concerning the Umstead Act,” Cartwright said. “After many requests, I went back to the food science department to get permission from the dairy companies involved to begin selling our product.”
Howling Cow will be providing its regular flavors, but will also be bringing a new flavor of key lime pie.
“We calculated, one year, the amount of ice cream students sold,” Cartwright said, “and it came out to be one cup and one cone passed out every 12 seconds from start to finish of one day at the fair.”
The first Friday of the fair is “Friday Frenzy,” where college students can get a discounted admissions ticket when they present their student ID at the ticket booth.
“We’re offering a new ticket package online for advanced purchase that I think high school and college students will benefit from the most, called the Dizzy Pass,” Overton said. “For $31, you get a wristband for admission into the fair and unlimited rides.”
NC State also participates in the agricultural aspects put on for the public, including the milking booth and livestock exhibits.
“NC State is involved in several aspects, especially in the agricultural exhibits and livestock areas,” Overton said.
Another big attraction the fair brings are the amusement park rides that are available. There are four new rides this year, including Downdraft, the Kraken, Dumbo Elephants and the Mini Trooper.
“The rides never disappoint,” said Madison Young, a second-year studying microbiology. “But, I can’t deny that the Dippin’ Dots will always be what I look forward to the most.”
There will also be 120 different musical performances to choose from as a part of the Homegrown Music Festival on three different stages.
The fair is still planning to run through Oct. 21. Students can find tickets and prices on the North Carolina State Fair website.
SAM FELDSTEIN/ARCHIVE Fairgoers ride on the North Carolina State Fair Flyer next to a Ferris wheel at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds on Oct. 13, 2017. The State Fair Flyer was introduced at the 2016 State Fair and allows fairgoers the opportunity to view the fair from above.
ELIZABETH BYERS/ARCHIVE Thousands of fairgoers move through the midway on Oct. 19, 2017. The fair offered a plethora of different fried foods to enjoy, games to play and rides to experience, as well as musical performances, agricultural exhibits and livestock shows.
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PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
NC State receives the HEED award, third year in a row
GRAPHIC BY NICK WEAVER/TECHNICIAN
Freja Carlson
Staff Writer
This year, NC State was named one of the 96 universities to receive the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award in recognition of its commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion on campus.
The award is sponsored by Insight magazine, a publication that discusses diversity in higher education. The HEED award is a national recognition, and this will be the third time NC State has received the award.
Sheri Schwab, the interim vice provost for institutional equity and diversity at NC State, spoke on the importance of the award, and how it will help NC State to recognize what areas they are doing well in for diversity and what areas need more work.
“We are proud of the award, but we are always striving to do better and do more,” Schwab said. “We are looking to implement more successful, impactful programs for diversity and inclusion at NC State. It gives us a way to recognize the positive things we are doing, and helps give us a framework to see what other best practices are out there.”
For the award, Insight magazine looks at a variety of aspects related to diversity. The award is not only based on student enrollment and graduation numbers of underrepresented groups, but faculty and staff representativeness along with initiatives implemented on campus.
Beverly Williams, the director of training and education for OIED, described a variety of initiatives that have been put in place to recruit diverse faculty, which is a major focus of the university.
“Building Future Faculty Program that invites scholars from all over the United States to talk about instead of going into industry, but going into education,” Williams said. “You see programs and speakers coming in, and that is just a portion of it. There are many strategies related to recruitment and inclusion.”
One of the initiatives NC State has to help promote diversity on campus is awarding mini grants to help execute diversity-related programming.
“Every year we offer the opportunity for people on campus to apply for some funding, up to $3,000, so that they can execute diversityrelated programming,” Schwab said. “The fact that the common reading this year is ‘$2 A Day: [Living on Almost Nothing in America]’ came out of a mini grant. The goal was to bring attention to those with limited resources and in hunger and poverty in the United States. To me that is a shining example of a unique program that has come out of the mini grants.”
Other examples of initiatives that have come out of the mini grants are those such as the Black Male Initiative, which focuses on providing black males in their undergraduate years support and resources to help them graduate.
While NC State is proud to have received the award, Williams emphasizes that there are no plans to stop improving, and the office will continue adding to diversity and inclusion programs.
“This is not to say that we don’t have things to work on, still,” Williams said. “There were certain areas where we couldn’t check the box, but this allowed us to see areas we can improve.”
For more information on diversity training, policies, resources and upcoming events, can be found on the OIED website.
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PAGE 5 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
Voter Guide: Understanding the proposed NC Constitutional amendments
Staff Report
Early voting locations open next week for the 2018 Midterm elections, when North Carolinians will not only be able to vote for their district’s representatives, but also six proposed North Carolina Constitutional amendments.
The registration deadline for voting ends Friday for North Carolina. The following is a list of the six proposed North Carolina constitutional amendments on the ballot for the Midterm elections.
Right to Hunt and Fish Amendment
Would establish a state constitutional right to fish, hunt and harvest wildlife in North Carolina. According to the amendment’s text, this right would be subject to statutes that “promote wildlife conservation and management and preserve the future of hunting and fishing.” To manage and control wildlife, public hunting and fishing is preferred.
Marsy’s Law Amendment
Proposes to provide crime victims with certain rights upon their request. A full list of the rights granted to victims upon request can be found here.
Income Tax Cap Amendment
Would lower the North Carolina’s Constitutional maximum allowable state income tax rate to seven percent, meaning that the state government could not raise the rate above this number. The current maximum rate is 10 percent. The current personal income tax rate in North Carolina is 5.499 percent.
Voter ID Amendment
Would require voters to present a photo ID if voting in person. Laws to govern the requirement would need to be established if the amendment passes.
Legislative Appointments to Elections Board and Commissions Amendment
Would give the responsibility of appointing commissioners to the Bipartisan State Board of Ethics and Election Enforcement to the North Carolina State Legislature. The board, which administers ethics and election laws, will be made up of eight members selected from lists of candidates from the chamber’s majority leader and minority leader. Four will be selected by the state Senate President Pro Tempore and four by the state House Speaker. The board currently has nine members who are appointed by the governor.
Judicial Selection for Midterm Vacancies Amendment
Would create a new system to fill judicial vacancies that happen between judicial elections of our state courts. The new system would create a nine-member commission (the Nonpartisan Judicial Merit Commission) to select possible appointees. The governor currently appoints a person to the vacant seat, who then serves until the next election cycle. Early voting opens next Wednesday. More information on the above amendments can be located here.
The six proposed amendments will be on the ballot for the elections, and early voting begins next week.
Opinion
NC State students don’t value the vote
Two weeks ago, NC State students took to the polls to elect their new student senators and vote on a proposed change to the NC State Student Body Constitution; or, at least, that’s what was supposed to happen. Instead, a minuscule number of the student population took part in the election. Of the approximately 34,000 students on campus, only 600 took part in the fall election. That is less than 2 percent of the population, and, considering that almost everyone on campus is of voting age, it is a frightening statistic that might very well translate to the midterm elections this November.
In the grand scheme of things, voting for student senators most likely isn’t going to drastically affect what happens at NC State day to day, but the process of voting is one of the most sacred responsibilities that individuals can have as a member of a community. While voting in an election for college senators might not necessarily be a big deal for students, it is extremely important and a good habit. Since voter registration for the fall election in North Carolina ends this Friday, there is no better time than now to start developing this habit.
Voting is important because it allows a citizen to make their voice heard. It expresses one’s opinion about a candidate or a policy in a concrete way. Taking the opportunity to vote is truly one of the only ways to see policies enacted that an individual agrees with, because the incumbent either has enough support to remain in office, or someone who isn’t well liked is voted out by their constituents.
Over the past two years, much has been made of the “blue wave” that Democrats should be driving for in this November’s
midterm elections. However, the leftleaning voting block that encompasses college-aged students is notorious for poor voter turnout. Young voters have massive potential to swing an election when they come out to vote, and NC State Payton should help students build this habit to Barish help realize that potential. Correspondent There are steps that NC State could take to increase student election participation that would hopefully establish good voting habits. One of the first methods that is commonly utilized in other countries is incentivized voting. Some countries impose fines on non-voters to encourage citizens to vote, but NC State could offer a tastier option. Lines consistently fill up Talley Market where Howling Cow ice cream is sold and offering coupons or free scoops after voting would be sure to encourage voting. This is made much easier by the fact that Talley itself will be an early voting location in the fall. When you feel elated about something, your “...the process of voting body releases dopamine, and is one of the most sacred rewarding a sturesponsibilities that individuals dent for voting would result in can have as a member of a them equating voting with a community. ” pleasurable ex perience. Another option for NC State is to increase awareness and education about the elections. Personally, I didn’t know anything about the fall Senate elections or how to vote, and for those reasons I was unable to vote. If there was more information out there about these and the midterms, it would allow students to plan on voting with a purpose and make it better worth their time. Voting should be valued across the board, whether that means voting in a college, local, state or federal election. However, actions can be made to increase that turnout in NC State elections in a way that solidifies a student’s desire to vote in an election that carries more weight to it.
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PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
Opinion
AP Style is an essential tool for your career
With every new course that I take here at NC State, it seems like each professor emphasizes a different skill that is vital for job hunting and is the number one thing that employers will look for in your resume. For my career — in communications and public relations — I’ve heard everything from social media capability, to ad-lib skills, to general news and social awareness.
These skills are certainly crucial, and it definitely makes your chances of landing that dream job or internship much better if you possess them and similar abilities. But there’s another skill that I’ve heard mentioned in every course, that I’ve seen closely examined and emphasized, and is something that I’ve had to be aware of when doing coursework in almost every class I take plus my work here at Technician: AP style writing.
For those unfamiliar with the ins and outs of Associated Press style, it may seem like a trivial, complicated writing method confined only to dusty print publications. And while difficult course assignments sometimes leave me feeling that way too, the hard truth is that AP style, and the implications of someone’s proficiency on the subject in the professional world, can determine one’s image, reliability and success in life after college.
Whether in the classroom or outside of it, AP style is the go-to in a number of fields. Many may think that it is solely a print and broadcast media tool, but its reach extends far beyond just that. Marketing and Communication Manager Zachary Reed argued that being competent in AP style is a much more valuable trait in potential hires than actual PR education or experience, and stated, “if I were filling five entry-level PR jobs right now, I’d fill them all with journalism majors,” citing their knowledge on AP style.
Oklahoma City University professor Kenna Griffin stated that she teaches her students AP style because the method is still “a ‘golden standard’ of media writing.” She believes that
the writing style makes sure that writers create universally understandable content so that readers will not be forced to learn and distinguish multiple complex and completely different styles. But its importance has to do with more Colin McKnight Staff Columnist than just readers’ comfort. AP style capability sends a message about your level of professionalism and attention to detail. It may seem like an unfair snap judgment to disregard someone’s writing just because of an improper capitalization or misuse of certain punctuation, but, in a modern world where messages are everywhere, using language to show you’re on “the next level” catches readers’ eyes. With AP style being such a necessary skill, it may sound like learning it would take forever. However, with a little bit of effort and dedication, it is relatively easy skill to learn though challenging to master and memorize. The Associated Press Stylebook is certainly a big help “AP style capability sends in this endeavor, but being able to a message about your level call back the basics of professionalism and from memory, both during an interview attention to detail” and behind a desk or keyboard, is an essential skill. I can’t chime in on the value of AP style in every career field; understandably, some jobs that take place primarily in a lab, or in the field or in other, more isolated environments may not have immediate need for proficiency in AP style. But even then, someone else behind the scenes has to keep up constant, professional communication with the outside world. This means that, even in the most unlikely of fields, it’s a skill that is always in demand in some way. Employers’ expectations in eligible candidates have always grown with the passage of time; to some, they’ve grown too much. But some qualities have always been, and will continue to be, part of the job hunt: dedication, company loyalty and a strong work ethic. Competency in AP style is also part of that list. It continues to be a sink-or-swim skill in many fields of the professional world, signifying to others your professional capability, or lack thereof. Thus, being well-versed sets you apart in classes, interviews and far beyond.
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PAGE 7 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018
Thoughts from our readers:
A selection of comments sent to us from readers in short form over the past week, with their sources listed below. In response to “EDITORIAL: Senators Tillis and Burr wrong in decision to support Kavanaugh”
In response to “OPINION: Thom Tillis failed NC in voting for Kavanaugh”
