NC State in the News Category
04.12.2012
Need some help getting your lawn in shape? NC State has an app for that.
The university’s Turfgrass Program has launched the NCSU Lawn Care app, with all sorts of information on lawn care, grasses, pests and irrigation that should be useful to homeowners and commercial landscapers.
“When you’re outdoors, whether tending your own lawn or working on a golf course, for example, our app makes it easy to access critical lawn care information right when you need it,” says Charles Peacock, professor of crop science and leader of the app project. “It also answers timely questions about situations specific to North Carolina’s transitional lawn grasses.”
The app will take advantage of information on the Turfgrass Program’s popular TurfFiles website, and will have up-to-the-minute news alerts on issues ranging from turf pests to weather conditions.
The free app is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod. An android version is in development.
04.10.2012
Elizabeth Ann Emery, an All-American swimmer for NC State in the early 1980s who went on to win a gold medal in the World University Games in 1983, died Thursday. She was 50.
Beth Emery was one of seven NC State swimmers to be named in 2002 to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 50th Anniversary team of the best female swimmers and divers in conference history.
Emery earned All-American honors every season from 1980-83, and won five ACC championships, in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle. She still owns three all-time top 10 marks at NC State. In 1983, Emery won the Willis Casey Award as the NC State student-athlete of the year.
Braden Holloway ‘01, the head coach of swimming and diving at NC State, says he sometimes mentions Emery and her accomplishments when he’s trying to help current Wolfpack swimmers appreciate the team’s history and tradition.
“She was one of the best swimmers to come through here,” Holloway says. “She was a vital piece of the success of the women’s program.”
After graduating from NC State in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture, Emery went on to earn a master’s degree from Ohio State University. She was finishing a doctorate in sports humanities from Ohio State.
Emery initially worked as a land development planner in North Carolina and California before returning home to Ohio. She worked at Mills-James Productions for more than 19 years, most recently as a producer and director.
Beth Emery at NC State
Emery stayed connected to swimming after leaving NC State, setting three Master’s swimming world records in 2002 and volunteering with the undergraduate and Master’s swimming programs at Ohio State. She was inducted into the Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.
Family will receive friends Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 508 Center Street, Ashland, Ohio. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Trinity Lutheran Church, reception to follow.
Memorial contributions may be made to NC State Swimming, Weisiger Brown Building, 2500 Warren Carroll Dr., Campus Box 8502, Raleigh, NC 27695; the Cat Welfare Association, 741 Wetmore Road, Columbus, Ohio, 43214; the Ashland YMCA, 207 Miller Street, Ashland, Ohio, 44805; or Ohio State Swimming, 1847 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43210.
03.15.2012
Going to Columbus to watch the Pack’s first game in the NCAA basketball tournament? Wondering what else to do while you’re there?
Jesse Wilmoth '04
Jesse Wilmoth, a 2004 graduate of the College of Design can help. Wilmoth works as an architect intern in downtown Columbus, which he describes as a “big, temperate version of Raleigh.” We caught up with Wilmoth by email this week to give you his insider’s look at the Wolfpack’s basketball home for the weekend.
Are you able to keep up with Wolfpack athletics while living in Columbus? It’s hard to keep up with the Pack because Columbus is crawling with Buckeye fans, but we catch the nationally televised games. It’s been easier this year, because so many good ACC basketball games have been televised.
What is there for NC State fans to do while they’re in Columbus? Make sure to check out OSU’s campus; it’s one of the largest in the nation. The “Shoe” is an impressive 
monument to OSU’s football tradition, and Urban Meyer’s new stomping ground. Fun fact: If you feel right at home, it’s because OSU is a land-grant university, uses lots of brick and even has the same signage design that NCSU uses for their buildings on campus. Great walking/running paths downtown lead all along the rivers, and plenty of nearby parks will give you a chance to enjoy the outdoors. It gets a little chilly at night this time of year — bring a coat!
Anything else? While most of Arnold Schwarzenegger would not be described as soft,he does have a soft spot in his heart for Columbus: See if you can track 
down the larger-than-life bronze statue of him. (Hint: Try Veterans Memorial). Check out the Short North for arts and shopping. German Village has great character and is the first community to gain Historic Registry status in the nation. Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has great Dale Chihuly works and is a nice break from the city. And take the kids to COSI, they’ll love it.
Any recommendations for food and drink? If you’re looking for mid-high end, Rigsby’s Kitchen in the Short North is very close to the arena. Don’t miss Jeni’s Ice Cream, also walkable from the arena and the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Bailey’s for beer pre-game. Check out the Elevator Brewery and Draught Haus for good food and reasonable prices downtown. Barrio’s next door for tapas. And the Short North Market is nearby and one of the great food moments in Columbus. Thurman Cafe and Schmidt’s are both famous, and have been on TV recently for their great German and American fare. Finally, if you’ve got a car, check out High Street in Clintonville for some good atmosphere reminiscent of NCSU’s college bars and pubs.
So,what’s your prediction for the Pack? The Pack is on a roll, and played brilliantly in the ACC Tournament, even 
with the loss. They statistically outmatch San Diego State in nearly every way and, let’s be honest, competition in the ACC’ss been pretty solid this year. Then it’s just Georgetown, Kansas and UNC standing between them and the Final Four … Piece of cake, right?!
03.13.2012
When it comes to community service, few schools can top NC State.
We’ve known that for years, but now it’s official. NC State is one of five universities to be recognized with the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for 2012.
The award was in recognition of the wide range of service activities that NC State students engage in. Almost 22,000 students at NC State spent a total of 330,000 hours doing community service work during the 2010-2011 academic year. The estimated “dollar value” of that effort was more than $7 million.
“North Carolina State University aims to transform lives, improve the human condition and create positive social change through partnerships with communities, business and government,” read the citation. “Community engagement partnership cultivation is an expectation of all college and university departments.”
The other institutions in the top five were Seattle University, University of Pennsylvania, Miami University and Carson Newman College.
03.06.2012
Photo courtesy of NC State Athletics.
When the Belk Bowl ended with NC State defeating Louisville, 31-24, in late December, senior linebacker Audie Cole walked off the collegiate field for the last time as an NC State player. Then he went home to Michigan for a few days to hunt, after which he started preparing for the NFL Combine, held in Indianapolis, Ind., last week.
“You get there and it’s long days,” Cole says of the event, where future NFL stars and yeomen gather to prove their mental and physical mettle for NFL scouts, coaches and general managers. “It’s kind of like they’re trying to wear you down and see what you’re made of.”
Cole says that despite everyone wanting to be the best, he was encouraged by how supportive the environment was. Even players from rival teams like North Carolina cheered him on as he went through the drills.
“Everyone’s trying to make it to the next level and do the same thing,” he says.
Players also underwent medical tests and had interviews with coaches. And even if Cole didn’t have a formal interview, he tried to talk to the linebacker coaches for all 32 teams.
Coaches asked Cole about the defensive schemes he played in at NC State, where he was the Wolfpack’s leading tackler the last two seasons. They also tried to get to know him. Cole says he just tried to be himself.
“They know all the answers. They know everything,” he says. “They know skeletons in your closet,” but they just want the players to be honest.
Now Cole must wait until the NFL Draft gets underway April 27-28. His pro day, where he will work out for teams, will be at NC State on March 21.
03.05.2012
Alex Webster, a bruising football player at NC State who went on to a stellar career as a fullback and coach for the New York Giants, died Saturday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He was 80.
Webster was known as “Big Red” primarily because of his reddish hair, but he was also a big man who wore down opponents. At NC State, Webster played single-wing tailback, returned kicks and played in the secondary on defense for what was then known as State College. Webster still has the fifth longest punt return in school history — 86 yards against Wake Forest in 1951.
“He was a very good, very tough football player,” one of his teammates, Leon Simon, told gopack.com in 2010.
Webster, from Kearny, N.J., played at NC State from 1949-53, an era very different from today’s big stadiums, expansive locker rooms and state-of-the-art training facilities. Webster played at Riddick Stadium, where many players had rooms beneath the stands. Players wore leather helmets without face masks.
“I suffered a broken nose six times; it was just part of the game back then,” Webster told gopack.com. He said he didn’t get a face mask until his third year in the pros.
Only one of the four teams Webster played on at NC State had a winning record. Team stats were not kept during his first two seasons, but Webster rushed for 634 yards in 1951 and 459 yards in 1952.
Despite not being named an All-American or all-conference player, Webster was drafted by the Washington Redskins. After being cut by the Redskins, Webster played for two years in what was then known as Canada’s Big Four Football Union (including one in which he led the league in rushing and scoring) before signing with the New York Giants.
Webster rushed for 928 yards in 1961 and 743 yards in 1962 as a fullback for the Giants. He ran for 4,638 yards and 39 touchdowns during a 10-year career that included one NFL championship and two selections to the Pro Bowl. Webster’s rushing statistics still rank in the top five all-time for the Giants, according to The New York Times.
“He was so strong at 230-plus pounds that it was impossible to arm-tackle him,” former Giants star Frank Gifford noted in his memoir. “People either bounced off him or he ran over them. Every time he got the ball, he turned into a grinding machine.”
After his playing days, Webster worked as an assistant coach for the Giants for two years before becoming the team’s head coach in 1969. He was named National Football Conference coach of the year in 1970. Webster was inducted into the Giants’ Ring of Honor last year.
“Great days, and great teams,” Webster told The News & Observer in 1981.
Webster in 1966 photo
Webster resigned in 1973 when the Giants finished with one of the worst records in the NFL. “I’ve always been a winner,” Webster said at the time. “When you pull the pieces together like we thought we had this year, when you think you have something, it’s tough to accept losing.”
Webster fondly recalled his four years at NC State, where he met his wife, Louise, who died in 2010. When a reporter for The N&O caught up with Webster in 1981, after his playing and coaching days were over, Webster used the occasion to check on the Wolfpack.
“Hey, tell me about NC State,” he said. “I hear that the Pack’s undefeated. How do they look?”
Webster is survived by his daughter, Debbie Moberg of Point Pleasant, N.J.; his son, James Webster of Hobe Sound, Fla.; his brother, James Webster of Grand Rapids, Mich.; four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to Harbor Place, 3700 SE Jennings Road, Port St. Lucie, Fla., 34952.
Visitation will be on Wednesday, March 7, from 10-11 a.m. in the chapel of Martin Funeral Home, Stuart, Fla., with a Celebration Service to begin at 11 a.m.
02.08.2012
Former NC State Chancellor Larry Monteith ‘60 remembers when he was a department head in the College of Engineering in the mid-1970s and the challenges the college faced. At the time, he says the college was trying to make itself a place where African-Americans and women could thrive. At times, he says, minority students didn’t feel nurtured or at home. That soon changed.
“In comes Larry. Larry was sort of the spark plug,” Monteith says of Lawrence Clark, a former NC State educator who began many student initiatives for minorities at the university. “He stepped in and helped develop that environment. …He was right there at the front of that charge.”
Clark died January 23 at his home in Raleigh. He was 77.
Monteith says Clark was a “pioneer” in his roles as math professor, associate provost and coordinator of the university’s affirmative action plan. He made NC State’s campus a home for diverse opinions and diverse backgrounds, Monteith says.
Clark spread that diversity by nurturing students and reaching them on a personal level. “I think he was really energized by the contact he had with students,” says Joanne Woodard, vice provost for institutional equity and diversity. “He never lost that. You see that in the programs he created. Those were created to foster their learning and to make sure they were armed and ready when they left NC State.”
Clark came to NC State in 1974 as a professor of mathematics who had taught at Virginia State College, Norfolk State College and Florida State University. He served as associate provost and a full-time professor in the College of Education.
As a catalyst for inclusion on campus, Clark was what the African American Cultural Center (AACC) calls a “founding father” for programs and initiatives centered around African-American advancement on campus. He worked diligently to found the AACC. He started the African American Symposium, a summer orientation program featuring perspectives from African-American faculty, staff and students. He also established the University-Community Brotherhood Dinner, which brought together leaders of NC State, Shaw University and Saint Augustine’s College.
One of Clark’s prized projects was an annual trip to West Africa he would take with students, Woodard says. The first trip happened in 1989 and was the brainchild of Clark and Augustus Witherspoon ‘69 MS, ‘71 PHD. Clark enjoyed using the trip to teach the students about themselves.
“I think he wanted people to have a better sense of, as we say, ‘from whence they came,’” Woodard says. “He wanted them to see they were from a prosperous people still thriving. It encouraged them to be a part of their heritage.”
In the 1990s, the AACC started the Lawrence M. Clark Lecture Series to celebrate his legacy. The 2012 Clark Lecture on March 15 will pay a special tribute to him. The Black Alumni Society has honored Clark by voting to name the undergraduate scholarship it awards after him.
Clark also served as a leader on various committees, boards and commissions. He was active in many professional societies, including the American Association of College Teachers of Education and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
He is survived by his wife, Irene Reynolds Clark, of Raleigh; his four children: Debra Clark Jones of Chapel Hill, N.C., Linda Parks of Raleigh, Lawrence M. Clark Jr. of Washington, D.C., and Sheila Stallings of Greensboro, N.C.; and seven grandchildren.
02.06.2012
Mike DeGruy ‘75, whose passion for the ocean and the various species that make their home there led him to an award-winning career as a documentary filmmaker, died Saturday in a helicopter crash in eastern Australia. He was 60.
Mike DeGruy filming along Bayou La Batre, Alabama, in 2011
DeGruy was featured in a cover story in the summer 2011 issue of NC State magazine. The story looked at DeGruy’s return to the Gulf Coast, near where he grew up, to document the aftermath of the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
DeGruy grew up in Mobile, Ala., exploring the labyrinth of streams and channels that flow throughout the lower regions of Alabama into Mobile Bay and then into the Gulf of Mexico. He made his professional home in Santa Barbara, California, but returned to the Gulf Coast last year to explore the scientific and cultural impact of the Gulf oil spill.
“I’m emotionally connected to this place, and that’s what’s driving me,” DeGruy said in the article. “I care about these people. Kids I grew up with are running things around here now and, as a consequence, they’re being hurt by what’s happening.”
The Gulf project was a bit of a departure for DeGruy, who rose to fame as an underwater photographer who traveled the world to make films for the likes of Discovery Channel, the BBC and PBS. He won multiple Emmy and other awards for his cinematography. DeGruy was the director of underseas photography for James Cameron’s 2005 documentary “Last Mysteries of the Titanic.”
DeGruy was working on a project for National Geographic when a helicopter he was flying in with Australian television writer-producer Andrew Wight crashed soon after takeoff. Wight, who was piloting the helicopter, also died in the crash.
Cameron, in a statement to National Geographic, described DeGruy as “one of the ocean’s warriors. A man who spoke for the wonders of the sea as a biologist, filmmaker, and submersible pilot, and who spoke against those who would destroy the sea’s web of life. He was a warm, funny, extremely capable man and one of the world’s top underwater cinematographers. His passion for exploration and for the wonders beneath the sea was boundless.”
DeGruy majored in marine zoology at NC State (where he was a member of the diving team), and went on to pursue a Ph.D. in marine biology at the University of Hawaii. But he was introduced to underwater photographer before completing his doctorate, and a different sort of career was born. Because of his education, DeGruy was comfortable talking with the scientists — and them with him — who were often featured in his films.
While DeGruy made his mark with amazing films from the depths of the ocean, including one incident in which he almost died after suffering a vicious shark attack. The Gulf project forced DeGruy to do much of his work above ground, talking with the people who were devastated by the oil spill.
“I used to make real pretty programs,” DeGruy said during his time along the Gulf Coast. “I would spend extraordinary amounts of time doing everything in my power to make things look as good as they could.
“Well, I’m not sure that was effective. People were still bulldozing forests and building shopping centers and dumping crap into the ocean and into the rivers. Maybe what I should be doing is showing people the way it is and maybe they’ll get disgusted by it.”
Michael Hanrahan, an independent film producer who worked with DeGruy on the Gulf project, said Monday that DeGuy was in the process of seeking additional funding to be able to make the film he wanted about what had happened in his home region.
“Mike was determined to continue with that project,” Hanrahan said. “He felt that what we came home from the Gulf with was not a complete enough story. The oil-spill project was the one he cared most deeply about.”
Hanrahan said DeGruy was one of the world’s best underwater cinematographers.
“He was driven by his love of nature,” Hanrahan said. “He loved and appreciated the natural world and wanted to share that with people.”
DeGruy is survived by his wife, Mimi, his son, Max, and his daughter, Frances.
01.13.2012
Norma Wright Garcia in a 1966 photo from the Alumni Association files
Norma Wright Garcia was more interested in learning about history than in making it. In the process, though, she managed to do both.
Garcia, the first African-American female to earn an undergraduate degree from NC State, died Monday in a small town in Eastern North Carolina not far from the Sampson County farm where she grew up. She was 68.
Garcia had deep roots in Eastern North Carolina, where she was a public school teacher for 25 years. But she used education as a way to explore the world, to learn about different cultures and, almost as an afterthought, to make a bit of history herself.
Garcia’s sister, Nova Williams, says they grew up on a farm in Sampson County. Their father grew everything from cotton and tobacco to corn and cucumbers. Meanwhile, their mother, who had taught herself to read and write, insisted that her children learn to read. Williams says there was always a newspaper and books in the house.
“She would buy the newspaper for us to read, and we would read it when we were very young,” Williams says. “We would read everything we could get our hands on. When they were out in the field working, we would be in the house reading.”
Williams says her sister was fascinated by history, in part due to the family history that was evident in the nearby slave cemetery. Williams says that interest in history was what led Garcia to NC State. “She had studied so much about history that she wanted to major in history,” Williams says. “That’s why she decided on State.”
NC State was not quite ready for Garcia, though. There was no housing available for women at NC State in 1962, according to a story about Garcia in the 2007 issue of Accolades, a magazine of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. So Garcia began her college career at St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, moving to NC State when the university opened its first dorm for women in 1964.
If she had any difficulties as the only African-American woman on campus, you wouldn’t know it from Garcia. In the 2007 article, Garcia said her new classmates were friendly to her. The first male African-American students had enrolled at NC State about a decade earlier, and NC State had hired its first black instructor in 1962.
“We were all new, and it was the first year for the women’s dorm,” she said. “I never felt out of place. I met people in the dorm, in my classes, in the cafeteria. What brought us together was what we had in common, not our skin color.”
Nova Williams says her sister was not thinking about being a trailblazer when she went to NC State. “Oh, no, she never complained about that,” Williams says. “She said she would always stay busy reading.”
Garcia did recall one classmate who refused to sit next to her and then stopped coming to class in protest of Garcia’s presence there. Garcia’s response? “Fine, you’ll fail.”
Norma Wright Garcia during a 2007 appearance at NC State
Garcia took advantage of all the cultural offerings available on campus, saying later that her time at NC State helped shape her world view. “I met a lot of people from other countries who I never would have met had I stayed on the farm,” she said. “My experiences at NC State made me more aware and interested in the world around me.”
Garcia also caught the travel bug, making a solo trip to Mexico after graduation. But not before taking time to learn Spanish. She later earned a master’s degree in German from Wake Forest University and lived in Germany for six months. She treasured her travels around the world.
“My travels have taught me so much, and become of history major, I’ve been able to appreciate the beauty of Italy, Rome, and the Vatican, the art of Paris, and the vibrancy of Honduras so much more since I know what I am looking for when I go,” she said.
But Garcia always returned home to Eastern North Carolina, where she taught social studies, history and Spanish at various schools in Halifax and Sampson counties. She taught Spanish at Union High School in Rose Hill from 1998 to 2003.
Williams says Garcia encouraged her students to go to college, frequently giving them books and correcting them when they spoke incorrectly. “She encouraged so many folks,” Williams says.
Williams says her sister had fond memories of her time at NC State, and the opportunities it gave her to explore the world and teach other children from rural North Carolina.
“She wanted people to know that she was the first black female to graduate from NC State,” Williams says. “She was very proud of that.”
Garcia is survived by two sisters. The funeral will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, at Roseville Baptist Church in Willard, N.C. Burial will be at the church cemetery.
01.03.2012
Photographer: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Establishing a stable government in Libya has not been an easy undertaking for Abdurrahim El-Keib ‘84 PhD.
El-Keib, who studied electrical engineering as a doctoral student at NC State, was chosen last fall to be Libya’s interim prime minister following the death of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in October. El-Keib was a surprising choice, given that he had spent several years as a professor at the University of Alabama and not been home to Libya for years because of his fear of the violence there.
One of the chief challenges facing El-Keib so far are the dozens of militias that control various regions of the country in northern Africa. CNN reported today that militias clashed recently over control of a government building in Tripoli. In November, militias fought at a Tripoli hospital.
“Since the liberation of Tripoli the government has engaged in a multi-phased process to encourage militias to either leave the city or integrate into official military or law enforcement bodies,” El-Keib said in a statement in December when government officials met to discuss infighting among rival militias. Other media outletshave reported that El-Keib is trying to recruit former rebels to join the nation’s army and police.
In December, Libya celebrated the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence from Italy and France. It was the first time the country had celebrated the occasion in more than four decades — Qaddafi had scrapped the celebration under his rule.
“Today we begin the building of Libya as our forefathers have done,” El-Keib said during the celebration, according to an account by The Associated Press. “We call on our sons to build Libya after its destruction.”
The Associated Press reported that thousands of people flocked to Tripoli ” in hopes of breaking bread on an 7-mile-long (11-kilometer-long) set of tables planned along Tripoli’s coast as part of the ceremony.” The dinner was canceled, though, due to security concerns.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited Libya earlier in December. Panetta applauded the country’s efforts to overthrow Qaddafi, but warned that a lot of work remained to be done, according to CNN.
“This will be a long and difficult transition, but I have confidence that you will succeed in realizing the dream of a representative government and a more secure and prosperous future” Panetta said.
Read more about El-Keib and his time at NC State in the upcoming issue of NC State magazine.
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