William J. Barber, an American hero

Opinion

TECHNICIAN

PAGE 5 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018

Rev. William Barber is an American hero

Every now and then, amidst the doom and gloom of our daily politics, a glimmer of hope will shine through in the form of good news. This month, hope reappeared in North Carolina with the naming of the Rev. William J. Barber II as the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.

Informally known as the “genius grant,” MacArthur Foundation Fellowships are granted to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits.” The Fellowship is a “no-strings-attached” grant of $625,000 given directly to the recipient over the course of five years. Barber’s claim to the fellowship is his construction of a fusion coalition set on confronting the issues of racial and economic inequality.

Rev. William Barber perfectly encapsulates what it means to be a model citizen. Barber epitomizes the ideals of selflessness and morality. At just about every opportunity, Rev. Barber is there to fight tirelessly for the rights of the less fortunate even if it comes at a cost to his own safety and status. Barber has already done an incalculable amount of good for the less fortunate by helping to recreate the Poor People’s Campaign. Started by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, the Poor People’s Campaign worked to help bring economic justice to poor people in the United States. Brought back to life 50 years later, the campaign now seeks to “challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality.” Barber drew national attention in 2013 when he began the Moral Monday protests. These weekly demonstrations held at the North Carolina Statehouse demonstrated the lengths of Barber’s dedication to these causes. In an age of slacktivism where signing online petitions has become a form of protest, Barber and his supporters would march through Raleigh demanding change.

Upon arriving at the Statehouse, the Moral Monday activists would often be arrested for their acts of civil disobedience. Among the policy changes they strived to attain were additional funding for health care and a restoration of unemployment benefits, voting rights and environmental regulation.

As every proponent of democracy should do, Barber has worked tirelessly to strengthen our democracy. He is an ardent critic of Republicans’ voter suppression tactics in the state, going as far as saying Apple and Amazon should not develop in the Research Triangle Park if voters pass the voter ID amendment during the upcoming election.

Through his Moral Monday protests, the Reverend was able to help bring North Carolina under national scrutiny for our discriminatory voter suppression laws. Many credit his efforts as one of the core reasons why former governor Pat McCrory

was defeated in the 2016 election. Barber provides us an example of what every American has the potential to be. He does not come from a posh background or one rooted in the ivory tower. As a child, Barber attended segregated schools in Kevin Moye North Carolina, fully acquainting himself Staff Columnist with the dialect of inequality. Through studious work and dedication, Barber was able to climb his way to his present state. Now in his elevated position in society, Barber does all he possibly can to bring the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to the people living where he once did. It is not often that North Carolina makes national headlines for positive political news. As such, the work of William Barber should not be taken for granted. Barber is attempting to radically better our politics in a way that has not been truly attempted since MLK took to the streets in the 1960s. For the first time in a long time, North Carolina has an American hero.

Disorganization leads to disaster

As I sat down to start typing up this column, flashbacks of my elementary and middle school days came flooding in. Images popped up of backpacks filled with loose papers and pencils, broken binders stuffed with no rhyme or reason and handwriting that makes the average “chicken scratch” look like calligraphy.

But high school cleaned up my act, literally. Grades mattered more and were padded less. With college breathing down my neck, I knew I had to turn assignments in on time with no excuses, or my grades would plummet. I started actually making, and abiding by, some semblance of a “system,” and saw my academic performance increase by whole letter grades as a result.

It’s easy to just let this habit build and build, especially with an increasing workload as you advance in your courses; after all, with everything that’s expected of you, you might be too busy or tired at the end of the day to do something as seemingly trivial as organizing. But while a day or two is recoverable, insufficient planning can quickly spiral out of control and leave you confused about where things are, and where they need to be.

Researchers from Illinois State and Ohio State found that material attachment may depend on “duration of exposure,” meaning that even generic and low-value items can become very important to us, despite lacking immediate value. Spread this “just in case” mentality to a couple hundred old handouts, papers and assignments, and your miscellaneous junk can easily become overwhelming and disorienting.

The effects of clutter on you and your workspace are major, according to Digital Marketing Specialist Bryan Hunter. Hunter argues that untidy office spaces impact worker efficiency and mentality. For businesses, as that disorder grows, so does the potential loss for the office. The Professional Organizers of Canada found that working in disorganized spaces can cost some businesses more than $65,000 annually.

But disorganization can impact more than just our efficiency. Psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter describes how a messy environment “bombards our minds with excessive stimuli,” and fools our brains into thinking the amount of stress and work on our shoulders is much larger than it may actually be. You owe it to yourself to tidy up your surroundings and your resources for school and work. When stuff piles up, the negative mental effects can make us feel helpless.

For physical belongings, there are plenty of precautions that can be taken to avoid disorganization. Binders, folders, labels, notebooks and dozens of other options, which normally run no more than a few bucks, can make life much easier. Additionally, forcing yourself to decide whether or not certain items are still useful — or just taking up space — goes a long way toward

minimizing clutter. You may argue that clutter is becoming much less prevalent with the dawn of digital age, but that’s not so. Consultant Deb Lee argues that a digital mess is just like any physical mess: chaotic and inefficient. Colin McKnight Staff Columnist She added that programs like lists, calendars and inbox cleaners can save so much of your precious time every day, and limit frustration. Finally, it is important to distinguish when this kind of behavior is more serious than just the typical unwillingness to clean up, and when outside help and counseling may be necessary. If you or someone you know needs help, make sure to contact the NC State Counseling Center for assistance. Some remnants of those early days stuck with me throughout high school and into my time here in college. And they’ve taken on a more digital form, as I’ve mentioned: years-old documents that are long overdue for deletion, and toolbars within toolbars that I know I’ll never need again. But now, basic organizational skills keep the clutter, for the most part, to a minimum, and what little disorder there is pales in comparison to those disheveled days when assignments could be lost or destroyed in my labyrinth of a “system” all because I was too lazy to take 30 minutes to tidy up.

“Images popped up of backpacks filled with loose papers and pencils, broken binders stuffed with no rhyme or reason and handwriting that makes the average ‘chicken scratch’ look like calligraphy.”

Opinion

TECHNICIAN

PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018

High school students should take advantage of dual-enrollment classes

Many college students know the displeasure of having to take a boring general education class. Most of the time, they are courses that are not relevant to our major or are just classes that you are not interested in taking. Many high schools offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses, classes that high school students can take to receive college credit and avoid taking gen-eds in college. However, there is a catch; students can only receive college credit if they receive a certain score on the AP exam. Regardless of how well a student has done in the course, they won’t receive college credit if they did not receive a certain score on the exam. Additionally, not all schools offer AP classes, or only very few.

Fortunately, there is a better option for students that ensures that they will receive college credit: dual enrollment. Dual enrollment means that a person is both a student at high school and at a local college. This means that high school students can take community college courses and are able to transfer their credits to a college of their choosing.

NC State offers non-degree studies courses to high schoolers through its Academic Enrichment Opportunities program, but these are limited to students with a high GPA and good test scores who have run out of a type of class at their high school.

Besides guaranteeing college credits, there are many reasons why high school students should partake in dual enrollment and not solely focus on AP courses. For one, community colleges offer a lot more courses than AP. As of 2018, College Board offers 38 AP courses, vastly fewer than the number of courses community colleges provide.

By having access to a large selection of courses, students will have a much easier time fulfilling their gen-ed requirements before officially coming to college. Furthermore, taking community college courses will look great when applying to colleges.

Colleges prize students who take challenging and rigorous courses. Since some colleges like NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill are very competitive to get in, taking courses at community colleges will increase your chances of getting accepted.

Finally, taking community college courses during high school can allow students to save money overall. Should a student take a lot of community college courses, it is possible they could be at least a semester, and possibly a year ahead. This means that a student could potentially earn enough credits to graduate early, saving money in the process, especially as community college costs are much lower than those of a four-year university.

However, there are some downsides to dual enrollment. Most notably, not all colleges will allow students to transfer their community college credit. While NC State allows students to transfer credits from community college, other colleges are not so gracious. For example, some departments at Wake Forest University will not accept credits from a community col-

lege. Furthermore, should a student want to go to a college that is not in their home state, their community college credits may not transfer. In addition, some community college courses may only count as an elective, rather than toDestry Adams Correspondent ward a student’s course requirements. NC State could do a lot to promote dual enrollment by offering some of their courses online to high schools that may not offer such programs without requiring a base GPA. Not only would this give many more students the benefits of dual enrollment, but it also gives them an idea of how college classes are structured. Also, if a student goes to a different college, their credits will more likely transfer since it comes from a 4-year accredited university. Overall, there are many benefits for high school students on taking community college courses. Not only does it help students receive college credit, but community colleges generally offer more courses, will look good when applying to colleges and can potentially save students money.