Early voting begins at Talley Student Union, across North Carolina

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PAGE 3 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018

Early voting begins at Talley Student Union, across North Carolina

Staff Report

On Wednesday, the kickoff for early voting began for the midterm elections, giving all eligible students the opportunity to vote for city, state and U.S. House of Representatives seats until Nov. 3, with election day the following Tuesday, Nov. 6.

In Talley Student Union, students who are not yet registered to vote can both register (in Wake County) and vote at the same time.

Pack the Polls, a coalition of students, faculty and community partners, has been working for months by registering students to vote and educating students in an unbiased manner about the types of legislation they will be voting on.

The website also provides students with directions and parking information and access to bus routes. Voting mobility assistance is also available upon request for those who may need it.

Students can learn more about voting in Talley, check their registration status and learn about the six proposed amendments that are included on the ballot. The proposed amendments to the North Carolina Constitution are the Right to Hunt and Fish Amendment, Marsy’s Law Amendment, Income Tax Cap Amendment, Voter ID Amendment, Legislative Appointments to Elections Board and Commissions Amendment, and Judicial Selection for Midterm Vacancies Amendment.

The Wake County Board of Elections also has information for college students to help them figure out how, where and when they can register and vote. Students who wish to vote in Wake County can vote at their polling place on Nov. 6, at an early voting location or send in their absentee vote by mail. Students who wish to vote in their home states or home counties in North Carolina must contact the county or state to receive an absentee ballot.

GRAPHIC BY KYLE HOWE/TECHNICIAN

SBP, VP make strides in platform halfway through term

Alicia Thomas

Assistant News Editor

At the halfway point of Student Body President Jess Errico’s term, the Executive Branch has started major projects such as housing villages and initiatives to help universities look at applicants and more holistically help students.

On the platform of Errico, a fifth-year studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Student Body Vice President Meredith Spence-Beaulieu, a fifth-year Ph.D. student studying entomology, the then-candidates looked to make changes on eight separate areas on campus.

Major accomplishments for the administration so far, according to Errico, are the PACK Meal Share program between dining and Student Government, projects surrounding voter engagement, advocating alongside NC State for the Talley one-stop voting site and major progress in campus childcare options in partnership with Meredith College.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity competency training, which is mentioned in the platform, is currently still in planning stages, according to Errico.

On Monday, Oct. 15, members of Student Government along with faculty members and other students participated in an accessibility walk that highlighted areas on campus that needed to be altered to make more accessible to all students.

Errico also mentioned how she and SpenceBeaulieu have been working to address the needs of first-generation students through attending events such as First in the Pack and new student outreach focus groups. Through this, Errico said that she plans on meeting with partners such as New Student Programs to roll out new events.

The platform also states an initiative called Beyond the Box, which calls for a policy change for stating a student’s criminal history on an application.

“Due to a UNC System policy, all prospective students must mark whether they have had a criminal history when applying for admissions,” the platform statement reads. “Due to issues with the criminal justice system, this disproportionately affects people of color.”

According to Errico, at the previous Association of Student Governments (ASG) meeting, Beyond the Box was sponsored by NC State, presented and unanimously passed. She said that their next course of action will be pursuing advocacy on the state level.

Affordability

The Executive Branch has been working with NC State Libraries and the bookstore to make lower cost options of course readings and textbooks better advertised to students through social media, physical signage in the bookstores and eventually establish visible options when students view their course material.

The executive branch is currently advocating for a zero percent increase in tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students for the 2018-19 academic year. Errico said there are also sufficient funds to go toward initiatives that would help students.

“In addition to these being the lowest tuition increases in 10 years, there was also more mon-

Building renamed for first NC State African-American undergraduate

DAVID TRACEY/TECHNICIAN University College Commons will be renamed Holmes Hall after Irwin Holmes,the first African-American student to receive an undergraduate degree from NC State. The building’s official rededication ceremony will take place on Nov. 1.

Staff Report

Come November, the University College Commons building on campus will officially be renamed Holmes Hall after Irwin Holmes, the first AfricanAmerican to receive an undergraduate from NC State.

A Durham native, Irwin Holmes graduated from the university in 1960 receiving a degree in electrical engineering. Holmes was one of the first four African-American undergraduates to attend the university in 1956.

During his time on campus, Holmes became a varsity athlete in tennis, also becoming the first African-American athlete to compete for NC State and in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

University College Commons, located on Cates Avenue across from Owen Hall and Tucker Hall, was built in 2007 and houses the Exploratory Studies program, the Study Abroad Office, classrooms and University Housing offices for Tucker, Owen, Turlington and Alexander residence halls.

Chancellor Randy Woodson announced the building’s name change via email Monday, the beginning of Diversity Education Week on campus.

The first building to be named after an African-American on campus was Witherspoon Student Center, named for Augustus McIver Witherspoon, who was the second African-American to receive a Ph.D. from the university. The building, formerly known as the Student Center Annex, was renamed in 1995.

A public rededication for Holmes Hall will be held Nov. 1 during Red and White Week.

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SBP

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ey going to financial aid,” Errico said. “This is partially because there was some state legislature guidelines, Board of Governors guidelines that limited how much could go to financial, and this year we are finally at a place where we are able to do that. But in that meeting, it was student proposed that the recommended numbers for financial aid be increased from $1.7 million to $2 million.”

Housing and Campus Life

On the platform, gender inclusive housing and creating Women of Color and Pride Villages were large goals for the student body president and vice president. In a recent ASG meeting, support for these initiatives was gained and according to Errico, ASG President Bettylenah Njaramba charged to use her seat on the UNC Board of Governors to advocate for the villages.

On campus, two separate task forces have been created to gage student opinion, statistics and logistics of the initiatives. Members of the task forces include Sam Chan, a third-year studying political science and communication, and Shelsey Hall, a fourth-year studying political science and philosophy, who are also Diversity Outreach co-directors.

Academic

On the academic front, Errico has had many conversations, especially with the Faculty Senate Chair Carolyn Bird regarding the creation of open syllabi for students when they register for classes, as well as trans-inclusive syllabi that would let students know their professors will use the correct names and pronouns.

Student Health

The creation of the Wolfpack Wellness campaign has helped further the goals of awareness of culturally competent services for students and highlighting Question, Persuade & Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention trainings, Errico said.

“It’s the job of the Wellness Department to work in tandem and alongside to support those efforts to make sure we are reaching the broadest audience we can,” Errico said. “The Wellness Department right now is tasked with these two components of the platform and helping see those through to the end, but also leaving a sustainable model that isn’t just the push for this year.”

Transportation

According to Errico, NCSU Transportation addressed major concerns that were on Errico and Spence-Beaulieu’s platform through their own student feedback, and the two parties continue to have routine meetings discussing surface concerns to help students.

Student Government

Errico talked about new ways the executive staff is trying to engage with the student body through mediums such as social media so they are aware of administrative initiatives.

“It’s been a very validating experience being able to interface with administrators and say ‘I have these materials, is there any reason why I can’t share them with students,’” Errico said. “And unless it’s something that happened in closed meetings, it has always been ‘yes’ which makes that a lot easier.”

Sustainability

Initiatives such as more access to bike parking and promotion of paperless products have been set forth by other campus partners such as NCSU Transportation and the Facilities Division.

According to Errico, the Executive Branch is now looking into getting rain protection in locations where students park their bikes long-term.

The branch is also measuring how sustainable their events are in an effort to promote eco-friendly alternatives. For Student Government events, no paper products have been used for things such as advertising.

Each Student Government, specifically Executive Branch, event has been assessed by sustainable event certification through the university, from planning to the execution of the event. According to Errico, the expectation for each event held is that it is sustainable event certified.

Students can visit Technician’s YouTube channel to watch the entire interview with Student Body President Errico.

NICK FAULKNER/ARCHIVE Student Body President Jess Errico, a fifthyear studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Student Body Vice President Meredith Spence-Beaulieu, a fifthyear Ph.D. student studying entomology, celebrate winning their Student Government runoff election on March 1 in Talley Student Union.