02.23.2012 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni News, College of Engineering | Comments: No responses |
Photo by Richard Mitchell.
Win Bassett ‘07 doesn’t brew much beer himself, but he does have a trait required for his new position as executive director of the North Carolina Brewers Guild, a nonprofit organization made up of artisan brewers, vendors and retailers.
“I’m happy drinking other people’s beer,” he says.
A former patent lawyer and assistant district attorney in Wake County, Bassett took over his new position for the guild last week. Instead of sitting behind a desk drowning himself in legalese, he now travels around the state, representing 58 breweries and their interests.
As he rattles off his list of things he wants to accomplish for the guild, it’s evident Bassett won’t be able to abandon his taste for law. Many of those breweries’ interests are legislative in nature.
For instance, Bassett says he’s committed to passage of the Small BREW Act, which now awaits a vote by both houses of Congress. (He wrote an editorial on the matter in The News & Observer.) Bassett says the act would cut by 50 percent the excise tax rate on small U.S. breweries on their first 60,000 barrels of beer sold each year.
Bassett says he would also like to see North Carolina adopt “more friendly beer laws” that would allow brewers to invest more money in their operations, hire more employees, purchase new equipment and pay for their employees’ benefits.
Bassett, who was a Park Scholar and engineering student at NC State, isn’t a registered lobbyist. He’s just a 26-year-old who’s passionate about beer. That passion came about when he tasted his first craft beer, a Rogue Dead Guy Ale, at trivia night in Tyler’s Tap Room in Carrboro, N.C., when he was in law school.
“Previously, I’d been turned off by beer,” he says, “but I tasted it and was like, ‘So this is what I’ve been missing.’”
Bassett began writing about beer and brewing issues — even starting his own beer blog, NCBrewing.org. He also serves as education coordinator and a writer for All About Beer Magazine.
Bassett says it’s a great time to have so much of his professional life tied to the craft brewing industry, which has been thriving despite the difficult economic times. “It’s about the community, the people behind the beer,” Bassett says. “Every beer has a good story.”
02.23.2012 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni Association News, Alumni News, College of Design, Extension and Outreach | Comments: No responses |
Chancellor Randy Woodson is visiting Beaufort and Dare counties in eastern North Carolina today and Friday to talk with alumni and business leaders about ways that NC State bolsters the economy of the area and possible partnerships for the future.
The trip, arranged by the Alumni Association, will include visits to the Coastal Studies Institute in Manteo, the PCS Phosphate mining facility in Aurora and the North Carolina Estuarium in Washington.
The trip will culminate in an Alumni Oyster Roast at the home of Lalla and Forest Sidbury in Beaufort County. The local alumni network had the greatest percentage increase in members among Alumni Association networks last year.
Woodson will spend his time today exploring Dare County, starting with a luncheon meeting with local Chamber of Commerce members at Pamlico Jack’s restaurant in Nags Head. The day will end with an alumni reception at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head.
Bob Woody, a 1967 NC State grad, is owner of the White Doe Inn in Manteo where Woodson will stay tonight. Woody spent time on Wednesday decorating the inn with NC State banners and memorabilia. “We’re pretty much dyed-in-the-wool NC State fans here at the Inn,” Woody says.
Woody says it is important for the chancellor at NC State to be familiar with what’s going on throughout the state, but said that people in Dare County are particularly proud about some of the ways NC State has helped the economy there. Some of the more familiar connections are in well-known industries such as commercial fishing, but Woody says many don’t realize that the College of Design has helped develop long-range plans for the town of Manteo.
“Tourism is a big economic driver down here, so I’m sure that the folks who are going to show him around are going to be make sure he becomes familiar with how we approach the tourism economy,” Woody says.
On Friday, Woodson will visit Beaufort County. Lentz Stowe, a 1983 NC State grad and director of the Small Business Center at Beaufort County Community College, says it means a lot to a small county to get a visit from the chancellor of the state’s largest university.
“From an economic development standpoint, that excites folks,” Stowe says. “Being from a rural setting like this, we need all the help we can get.”
02.22.2012 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni News, CHASS, NC State People, Sports | Comments: One response |
Life has been something of a whirlwind for David Merritt ‘94 since the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl earlier this month.
Merritt, a former linebacker at NC State, is an assistant coach for the Giants, with responsibility for the defensive secondary. So it was his guys — the cornerbacks and safeties — who were on the line when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady tossed a last-ditch “Hail Mary” pass into the end zone as the final seconds of the game ticked away. When the ball hit the ground, incomplete, and the Giants’ victory was assured, Merritt hugged one of the other coaches working with him in the press box and then made his way to the field to find his wife, Yolanda Merritt ‘94, and their children.
It was Merritt’s second Super Bowl championship with the Giants, both of them against the Patriots. Merritt said the latest one was the sweetest because of how the Giants rallied from a 7-7 record to win the final two games of the regular season just to get into the playoffs.
“We got healthy at the right time,” Merritt says. “And the guys started trusting one another. They were determined not to lose the games. Sometimes it may not be your ability. It may be that you were more persistent than the other guy.”
Since that win, Merritt says there has been little time to catch his breath. The coaches were given 10 days off, but Merritt was back at work on Tuesday. He was getting ready to return to Indianapolis this week for the college scouting combine and has already been assigned a list of free-agent players to study and grade. “Our next season started today at 7:30 a.m.,” he says.
But Merritt took some time on Tuesday to talk about the Super Bowl and his career in coaching. Merritt got into coaching, first at the college level, after playing in the NFL for a few years. He says that two of his coaches at NC State, defensive coordinator Buddy Green ‘76 and linebackers coach Ken Pettus, served as role models when he became a coach.
“I really liked the fact that Dick Sheridan and his staff treated us like men,” Merritt says. “At the same time, they were like father figures to us. You have to reach these young men with more than x’s and o’s.”
Merritt worked his way up to the NFL, initially as a coach for the New York Jets. After three years there, he joined the Giants in 2004. Merritt says there is little difference in his approach to coaching college players and professionals.
“The teaching I was doing back then is the same teaching I’m doing today in the pros,” he says. “You have to start from ground one.”
Merritt spent most of his years coaching linebacker, a position he was familiar with from his playing days. But in 2006, Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin approached him about coaching the team’s defensive backs and safeties. “I had always told my wife I would never coach defensive backs,” Merritt says. “I don’t want anyone to see me when I screw these players up.”
Merritt told Coughlin that he wasn’t familiar with defensive backs, but Coughlin was persistent. “He said, ‘I know a good coach when I see one,’” Merritt recalls. “That was it. From that point on, I started finding every defensive back coach I knew, and conducted my own interviews. I learned as much as I could from film study and from talking to former NFL players.”
The Giants appreciate Merritt’s ability to get the most of his players, whether they be long-time stars or rookie free agents simply trying to land a spot on the roster. “I make sure that I teach them the basics,” he says. “Once you teach them the fundamentals, you can make a free agent or a high-draft pick look like he’s been playing for years.”
Merrill says the Giants approached the Super Bowl much like they would any other game. But he acknowledged being nervous about preparing his defensive backs to go up against Tom Brady and his talented receivers and tight ends. He says he still gets nervous watching tape of the game, even knowing the final result.
“It’s a nerve-wracking challenge,” he says. “You look at Tom Brady and you know what he can do with a football in his hands. He understands coverages and he can get the ball out of his hand.”
But Merritt told his players before the game that the only player who could defeat them in the Super Bowl was themselves. “You guys are prepared, you know what you’re doing, so I expect you to go out and execute,” he says he told them.
And as for that Hail Mary? Merritt says they practice defending that play every week during the season, but that one of his players made a mistake by not blocking out Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was almost able to grab the ball before it hit the ground. But Merritt says he can use video of that when his players return in the fall.
“It’s a tremendous learning tool,” he says, “one that I will probably use for the rest of my career.”
02.21.2012 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni News, College of Design | Comments: One response |
Photo by Peter Hutson.
President Barack Obama will deliver remarks tomorrow at the groundbreaking ceremony for the latest Smithsonian project, one that is being designed by a team led by architect Phil Freelon ‘75.
The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture will be the first national museum solely dedicated to chronicling and celebrating African-American history and culture. It’s a $500-million project that is set to be completed in 2015.
Construction starts this winter on the site, which is one of the last building sites on the National Mall, between the Washington Monument and the National Museum of American History. The NMAAHC will also be the first green building on the National Mall.
We profiled Freelon in our Autumn 2011 issue. He leads the 32-consultant team of Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup on the Smithsonian project. He talked extensively about the NMAAHC’s design and its influence.
The building will extend upward into the sky, looking like a three-tiered crown. The concept originates in Yoruban art and architecture, and the angles of the corona match the 17-and-a-half degree angle on the capstone of the Washington Monument.
And although he believes the project is his pinnacle, Freelon said he still has much more to do. “I’m in here not to get to a certain destination, but to make sure the journey and the path is a meaningful one and that at the end of the day, we’ve made a positive impact,” he said.
His firm, The Freelon Group, which is based in Durham, N.C., is also working on the new Gregg Museum of Art & Design, slated to open in 2014 in the chancellor’s residence on Hillsborough Street.
Freelon said in the article that such projects fall in line with his professional philosophy. “We have a standard that says the building should contribute positively to the community in which it’s built,” he said. “In our measure libraries, museums and educational buildings do that. And prisons and strip shopping centers don’t.”
An exhibit celebrating Freelon’s designs opened earlier this month at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. It will be open until April.
02.20.2012 | by Caitlin Barrett | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments: No responses |
The NC State Police Department will host the 7th annual Polar Plunge and 4th annual Torch Run 5k on Saturday, Feb. 25, to benefit the North Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.
Anyone who wants to participate in the Polar Plunge is invited to dive into the chilly waters of Lake Raleigh, on Centennial Campus. For those less enthused about the icy water, there will be a Plunge Festival, which includes music, prizes, raffles, a bake sale, homemade goods and more.
The 5k runners are welcome to use the plunge as a cool down, or just participate in the run and enjoy the festivities.
The minimum donation to plunge is $50.00, and plungers will receive a free long-sleeved t-shirt.
02.20.2012 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni Association News | Comments: 4 responses |
Many fans and alumni wrote emails to the Alumni Association over the last year expressing their desire that South Carolina offer a Wolfpack specialized license plate. Those fans don’t have to wait any longer as the Alumni Association has worked out a deal with the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles to start offering that plate by early April.
The plates will be available on the South Carolina DMV’s website. Each will sport a red-and-white design, the famous block-S and the letters “PK” for “Pack.” (”WP” was already taken for West Point’s plates.)
The charge will be $70 for an individual to have the plate for two years, and the profits will go to the Alumni Association as revenue to promote and support the university.
The Alumni Association paid an up-front cost of $4,000 for the option to be introduced. That cost allowed the Alumni Association to expedite the process and avoid having to secure 400 orders before finalizing a deal. The Alumni Association estimates that it should make back the start-up costs after selling around 70 plates. That should be no problem with about 5,500 alumni residing in the Palmetto State.
“As soon at they print them, I’m hopefully going to send in my orders and get the first and second plates printed for my cars,” says Brian Scott, a resident of Duncan, S.C., who was raised a rabid Wolfpack fan.
Scott says he was tired of driving around and seeing the specialized plates of other schools, like Ohio State, Georgia Tech and even UNC, taunting him through his windshield.
“As soon as they make it official,” he says, “then I’ll send in my order.”
02.16.2012 | by Caitlin Barrett | Filed under NCSU Libraries, Student News | Comments: No responses |
Saul Flores, who graduates this May, generated some buzz in 2010 as he embarked on a 5,328-mile journey from Quito, Ecuador, to his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Flores walked, hitchhiked, canoed and used pretty much any other mode of transportation you can come up with to complete his trek.
In the course of his journey, Flores worked on a project that he calls “The Walk of the Immigrants.“ Photos from his project (seen below) are currently on display at D.H. Hill Library, and Flores hopes they will enlighten Americans about why people move to other countries and to raise money for a charity he is passionate about.
Flores got the idea for the project after participating in a service trip with the Caldwell Fellows, a program supported by the Alumni Association. Flores says that without the experience he had as a Caldwell Fellow, he may have never set out on his journey. When others expressed skepticism about his idea, his friends in the Caldwell Fellows program encouraged him.
“Caldwell Fellows transformed my life completely,” says Flores. “It has changed the way I see life, and the way I see myself. It’s really a tool to empower you to do anything you want to do. Caldwell teaches people how to give back to their communities.”
It has been over a year since Flores returned with more than 20,000 photos documenting his travels, a selection of which are now being displayed at D.H. Hill Library. NCSU Libraries sponsored the project after a chance meeting between Flores and Susan Nutter, vice provost and director of NCSU Libraries.
“They sponsored the whole project, which is such a big investment on their part,” Flores says. “It was a 30-minute meeting and at the end she just said she would sponsor everything.”
The exhibit honors Flores’ strength and service while displaying some of the most remarkable photos from his collection. He hopes the photographs will serve as a bridge between cultures and that viewers of his photographs to recognize the “hard work these people do, and recognize their hope for survival and need for love”.
For Flores, each photograph represents a different state of mind that he was in throughout the trip. “It was enjoyable at times, but really, really difficult,” he says.
Flores’ photos can be purchased through his website refiningthelines.com. All of the proceeds benefit a school in Atencingo, Mexico. The exhibit in D.H. Hill is located on the first floor of the east wing near the reading room, and will run through April.
NC State alumni can receive a 25% discount by entering the code “NCSUALUMNI” at checkout.
02.15.2012 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni News, College of Design | Comments: One response |
Matthew Craig Robbins ‘06, MARCH ‘09 believes that the genius of the original designers of the Bell Tower in 1920 was that they were proactive. That means they designed with plans they left open to one day be picked up and finished. That idea took shape in Robbins’ graduate thesis on NC State architecture and now has become his passion as he leads the efforts to raise money to bring to life the final pieces of the Bell Tower’s design. “I want to pick up where they left off,” he says. “I want to finish it because they left it open knowing some nosy person down the road would get involved and finish it.”
Robbins has organized the Finish the [Bell] Tower, a grassroots movement aimed at raising money for the structure’s completion. His efforts continue those of the 2010 senior class, who also raised money for the purchase of a bell to go in the Bell Tower. And on Tuesday at D.H. Hill Library students were treated to a preview of the fruits of those groups’ labor. Three bells that will go in the tower arrived in the west wing of the library.
Those three bells mean that there are only two more needed for the first set of five to go in. After that goal has been met, Robbins has other plans. Purchasing fifty more bells, adding the carillon and even constructing a staircase in the Bell Tower are all on his list of things to do. Robbins says he is currently working with a designer from the library on a display for a “big reveal” of all the plans at NC State’s Founder’s Day celebration on March 7, 2012. He says that the ambitious goal helps him impart a piece of NC State’s history about alumni who were able to give during harsh economic times, a lesson, he says, that is applicable today.
The group hopes to capture the attention of individual donors to secure the last two bells. Then the donations will go toward the other plans. For Robbins, securing those funds means adding life to NC State’s most famous landmark. “It’s not supposed to be a dead, stoic memorial,” he says. “It’s supposed to be alive.”
02.10.2012 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni News, College of Engineering | Comments: No responses |
Karen Fussell ’88 worked hard when she attended NC State to make sure the time she spent studying civil engineering was worth her while. It’s been almost 24 years since she graduated, and her hard work has paid off.
Fussell recently became the first female to hold the position of division engineer at the N.C. Department of Transportation. As a division engineer, Fussell is in charge of overseeing everything that goes on in Highway Division 3, which covers six counties spanning from Brunswick to Sampson.
Fussell took time out of her meeting-packed schedule this week to talk with us about her time at NC State, and the new challenges she faces as a division engineer.
What are some challenges you might face being the first woman division engineer in state history? I don’t see any gender challenges. I may be naive but I just don’t see challenges as far as it goes to gender. This business is not about gender; it’s about getting the work done, completing projects and improving transportation.
What are some challenges you face in this position? Just getting exposed to all the facets of the job. The challenge is just scheduling and meeting budgets. We are limited on both.
When you joined the NC DOT did you know you wanted to be a division engineer? Yes. This is the dream job for a DOT engineer. This is a dream job for people who want to stay in the field.
What do you enjoy most about your job as a division engineer? The people, and seeing project from start to finish.
Did you have specific goal in mind when you were in school at NC State? I was just good in math, and the choices were limited to teaching math or engineering. Engineering just sounded fun, and I’ve enjoyed it.
How did your time at NC State help you prepare for this new position? Without my education I would have never gotten into the field. I went straight from State to the NC DOT, and I’ve been here coming up on 23 years.
Any advice for graduating engineers? Work hard. Know your subject. And be able to present that to any audience. As an engineer we tend to speak in engineer language. And that is not always are audience. It is important to be able to relay information to any audience.
— Caitlin Barrett
02.09.2012 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni News, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | Comments: No responses |
Photo courtesy of University of Virginia/ David Skinner.
After Oscar Lee Miller ‘48, ‘50 MS finished his studies at NC State, he put his agronomy degrees to use by working as a farmer. Six years later, though, Miller traded farm life for a return to academia.
It was a decision that would change the course of his life and the study of genetics in America.
Miller, a native of Gastonia, N.C., died in January at the University of Virginia Hospital following an accomplished career as a molecular biologist and university professor.
After his stint on the farm, Miller enrolled at the University of Minnesota to pursue a doctorate in plant genetics. In 1961, he was hired by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy scientific lab in Tennessee, and embarked on his major scientific work as a molecular biologist.
He concentrated on devising a way to unlock DNA’s structure and look inside it to understand its scientific makeup. He’s credited with developing “Miller spreading,” a method that allowed scientists to unfold chromosomes. That breakthrough allowed scientists to study genes through electron microscopes and affirmed the hypothesis of DNA’s double-helix structure.
In 1973, Miller went to work at the University of Virginia, where he continued research in his lab until 1995. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1978 and received the Life Achievement Award in Science from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1997. He also served as a visiting professor at major research institutions around the world.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Rose Miller; his son, Oscar Lee Miller III; his daughter, Sharon Miller Bushnell; and three granddaughters.
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