Posts Tagged ‘D.H. Hill Library’
05.01.2013 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Memories, NCSU Libraries | Comments: No responses |
With about 100 group study rooms and a wide variety of chairs, sofas, tables and desks, the new James B. Hunt Jr. Library on Centennial Campus has plenty of spots for students to get ready for their next class or work on a project. You can read all about it in the cover story on the Hunt Library in the spring issue of NC State magazine.
What the Hunt Library doesn’t have yet, though, is memories. Those still belong to D.H. Hill Library on the main campus, where countless alums spent their college years prowling the stacks.
Did you have a particular carrel that got you in the study mode? Did you ever pull an all-nighter and find yourself asleep in the stacks? Do you remember your first encounter with technology at D.H. Hill?
We would love to hear your stories of life in D.H. Hill, and share them with our readers in the fall issue of NC State magazine. You can write us at ncstate_editor@ncsu.edu or share your story here in our comments section. In either case, please be sure to include your name, the town or city where you live and your graduation year.
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04.30.2013 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Campus Buildings, NCSU Libraries | Comments: No responses |
The James B. Hunt Jr. Library has been open since January, but it remains a work in progress.
The Hunt Library makes the latest technology available to students and faculty, but the final touches are still being made to some of the most innovative spaces in the new library on Centennial Campus. The Game Lab, with its 20×5-foot MicroTile display screen, is now open four hours each evening for students wanting to try their hand at the latest video games and is expected to be open around-the-clock soon. The Teaching and Visualization Lab and the Creativity Studio are scheduled to open this summer, although the spaces already have been used by a couple of different groups.
The challenge, says Maurice York (right), head of information technology for NCSU Libraries, has been to make sure library patrons can easily make use of all the new high-tech tools.
“We’ve got a lot of advanced technology in the building, but if the right human interface isn’t there to make it easy to engage with, it just becomes a big pile of hardware,” says York. “With any of these spaces, no matter what the level of technology, you should be able to walk in, push some buttons, and get to work. You should not have to have a secret handshake or three months of training, so that this building really is in the hands of the students.”
Making such cutting-edge technology readily available to students is at the heart of what the Hunt Library is about. Students and professors can even check out some items, ranging from iPads to credit-card sized computers that plug into a television.
“It’s a crazy idea,” York says. “But we know they want to get their hands on stuff. They’re not happy with a passive presentation of technology, because it’s not that interesting. They’re not here to learn how to use a computer or how to use a display. They’re here to learn how to engineer the next generation of that stuff. So if they can’t get their hands on it and mess with it, we haven’t really done our job.”
York has been pleased with the initial response to the new library, which is featured in the spring issue of NC State magazine. He says the library is full most nights and weekends and that students have occasionally complained about not being able to find a seat. He says the library’s group study rooms have been extremely popular, and that students have taken advantage of the display screens and other technology available in each of the study rooms.
One of York’s next challenges is to find a way to get some of the technological features of the Hunt Library into D.H. Hill Library. “It’s easy to get to Centennial at night and on weekends, but there’s an enormous center of gravity on North Campus, and we’ve got to be able to bring these services back up there,” he says.
The automated bookBot at the Hunt Library, with its capacity for 2 million books, has freed up space in D.H. Hill that had been devoted to the stacks. One of those spaces is being remade into a visualization room, much like the visualization lab at Hunt Library. Those spaces — York calls them black box theaters — will allow students and professors to rethink how they do presentations and other projects. “It’s a very flexible, dynamic learning environment,” York says.
From there, York looks forward to seeing where their imagination will take them. He takes comfort in knowing that they won’t be limited by inadequate technology.
“It’s just so rewarding,” he says, “to be able to listen to what people want to do and say, ‘Yeah, we can do that,’ and know that you’ve got a space for them.”
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03.12.2013 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Campus Buildings, Campus Landmarks, Campus News | Comments: No responses |
A campus landmark that students have called home for decades — the Talley Student Center — is undergoing an extreme makeover.
Construction is underway on the new Talley Student Center, a $120-million project that will transform the aging building into what planners are calling “the crossroads of central campus.”
The Talley project is a renovation and an expansion made necessary by NC State’s growth and the building’s deteriorating conditions. Since the center was built in 1972, the student population of NC State has more than doubled to its current level of 34,000, making the facility too small to meet the increasing number of students.
The old building also suffered from numerous infrastructure problems including limited electrical power, plumbing problems, inefficient heating and cooling systems and elevator failures. The existing building also has no sprinklers for fire protection, says Tim Hogan, operations director for University Student Centers.
But that will all change when the new student center opens in 2014.
Students — and visiting alums who drop in — will find an “open and welcoming” student center with abundant glass across the exterior offering a sweeping view of campus, Hogan says.
Those who want a bite to eat can check out the Pavilions Food Court. It will offer freshly made pizza, burritos and more vegan and vegetarian options than ever before. A variety of international cuisine will also be available in the dining area, and those pulling a late night can stop for a burger in the new Talley diner. They can perk up the next morning with coffee at Starbucks or Port City Java in the student center.
Talley will also be modernized to allow for Wi-Fi access throughout the building, and a two-story grand ballroom and meeting spaces will be equipped with audiovisual technology for presentations of up to 1,000 people.
Student organizations and several university services will also call Talley home, including student government, the Union Activities Board, student Senate, Student Union Administration and Facilities Management.
Quiet nooks and recreational spaces will be built into the new Talley – all part of the design to give it a living room feel. Large screen TVs will allow for group viewing on Wolfpack game days as well, says Jennifer Gilmore, spokeswoman for Campus Enterprises. And plans call for an elevated walkway across the train tracks to connect north and south campus.
Talley replaced NC State’s first student center — called the Student Union — which was built in 1952 and located in what is now the Erdahl-Cloyd wing of D.H. Hill Library.
—Diana Smith
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01.31.2013 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Memories | Comments: No responses |
When we put together our special 125th anniversary issue of NC State magazine, we asked readers to tell us how NC State has transformed their lives. We got so many responses we couldn’t print them all. You can read many of them in the winter issue of the magazine, and here are some of the ones we didn’t have room for. Feel free to add your own memories.
A Proposal at Reynolds
How do you tell just one story about a place that has meant so much to me? It is the place that I forged lifelong friendships. It is where I started to learn that I was better at classes like public speaking and not math. Joining a fraternity seemed like the last thing I wanted to think about. But had I not I would not have been able to be a part of something so great. We lost one of our best friends, and worked so hard to honor him with a scholarship that will continue for many years to come.
My heart found love. Got broken. Looked again for love…and if not for NC State, I would not have found Rose (Grabner ‘95), the love of my life! We come back to reconnect with friends almost every fall and winter at football games and gymnastics meets. I even asked Rose to marry me at the “Sweetheart Meet” in Reynolds Coliseum. I consider myself very lucky to be a part of the Wolfpack family! I have the best of friends, a career and the woman of my dreams. She has blessed me with two wonderful daughters… And we all bleed Wolfpack RED!
—Zach Myers ’97
Speaking in Public
When I enrolled in engineering at NC State, I thought I was safe from any writing or speaking classes. As a shy high school student nothing was more intimidating than speaking before my small class. I was surprised when I learned that public speaking was a required course for an engineering major.
Professor Baker Wynn taught public speaking and business communication. While none of us were willing participants, he got us started on what had been viewed as a distasteful but required subject. Our transition was not immediate but by the end of the quarter we were not so fearful of being in front of our classmates. We also were starting to learn how to be persuasive in speaking or writing. Good oral or written communication is an important part of most people’s success. In later years I found myself making presentations in 50 countries to both small and large groups of decision-makers. The groundwork Professor Wynn laid was one of the most important things I learned at NC State.
—Ed Morton ’56
Finding Balance
When I was a freshman, I had been hanging out with a friend in University Towers and was walking back to my dorm (Turlington) late one night, most likely past midnight. It was very cold and we were hoping for snow the next day. As I was walking by Tucker Beach, I noticed some people playing ultimate Frisbee. Some of them (who turned out to be friends I had recently made) got a good look at me and called me over to play. There were probably 15 people total playing. The people I didn’t know were very welcoming, and it was just such a fun and random experience. That moment definitely made me feel like NC State was a warm and welcoming family, even on a cold night.
Overall, NC State taught me about life balance. I am so lucky for my wonderful experience there, and I think that it plays a large part in how happy I am with my current life. I majored in chemistry, worked for the university at the NC State Annual Giving from my spring sophomore semester until I graduated, and had a very active social life. I am happy to say that I succeeded in all three facets. I graduated in four years in a very difficult major with a 3.2 GPA and made the dean’s list a few semesters. I loved working to help raise money for the university, and was promoted to help coach other callers while I was there. I was very happy with my group of friends and was still actively making new friends my senior year. I also won a seat as a student senator for PAMS going into my senior year, and became a very avid reader, something that still surprises my parents considering I never read for pleasure growing up.
I’ve been proud of keeping that balance since my time at NC State. I am very passionate about the things I do, and I always do them to the best of my ability, but I understand the importance of not forgetting the other parts of life along the way. It was crucial for my wife and I to keep some balance during the months leading up to our recent wedding so that we didn’t drive each other crazy. Balance and organization has also enabled be to become more involved with NC State by creating time to be a network leader for our small but dedicated alumni group here in Austin, Texas. Our group has had a lot of fun over the past year and I look forward to dedicating more time to developing what we have created so far.
I can’t imagine my life without my experiences at NC State, and am very proud and grateful for my time there.
—Taylor Cooke ’04
Friendly Competition
Here’s a picture of nine girls and four guys who graduated from NC State in 1970, 1971 and 1972. We spent the weekend of Aug. 4, 2012, in Manteo, N.C., having our own Olympic opening ceremony and game competitions. We even had Olympic T-shirts made for the occasion. We were very fortunate that our paths crossed in the late 1960s — and we have all remained friends since then.
—Margaret Seymore ’71
Practical Professors
I enjoyed my time at the College of Forest Resources. Dr. Donald Steensen taught me to take time to evaluate a problem and look for the best and most efficient way to solve it. Dr. Larry Jervis gave me some good hands-on experience. Dr. Maurice Farrier was terrifying in public, but very personable in private — and that taught me to be careful not to always judge people on first impressions. A great experience!
—Thaddeus Banks ’81
Teaching a Teacher
I was able to get a master’s in education with a focus on marketing and business education. What I learned helped me be a better teacher and DECA Advisor.
—John D. Boothe ’04 MR
An Agricultural Education
NC State has been a big player in my success in agriculture. After graduating I went to work for Middle Creek Farms, where I helped in the spraying of crops and other day-to-day operations. In 2008 I had a chance to go to work for Crop Production Services, and currently I am a consultant at Crop Production Services. I call on a lot of resources at the university on a daily basis. NC State taught me a lot.
—Joshua Scott Latham ’05 AGI
A Lasting Impact
NC State has made a lasting impact on my life. I would not be where I am today without the help of some amazing professors who became mentors and are there for me even now. NC State is a great community and is a place that will always be special to me.
—Amanda Birman ’12
Lessons from Kay Yow
My personal history with NC State began when I was 10 years old. I convinced my parents to send me to Kay Yow’s summer basketball camp, and there I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Coach Yow and her amazing staff. I quickly learned the “game of life” was about much more than basketball. I was “transformed” by being exposed to ways of looking at life through Coach Yow’s lens with regards to sportsmanship, leadership and spirituality. She instilled a winning attitude in everyone she coached. As I went on to my undergraduate and graduate studies, and eventually becoming an entrepreneur, I am grateful for my time with Coach Yow.
I attended the Yow camps many times in my adolescent years. Little did I know that I would wind up doing my graduate work at NC State…and eventually working here. In 1987, I was working at my undergraduate alma mater, Elon University, as a designer in the communications office. I loved my job, yet I felt I needed to know more. I needed to study design, not just learn on the job. I began to research various schools and programs across the country. One day, someone said to me, “Have you looked at NC State’s design school? They’re supposed to have one of the best programs in the nation.” I have to admit, I was surprised. A land-grant university full of vets and engineers had a renowned design program? I called the School of Design [before it was the College of Design] and set up an appointment to visit. The second I set foot in Brooks Hall and saw all the students’ amazing work surrounding the galleries and studios, I was sold. I knew I was in the right place. I finished my master’s in graphic and product design and went on to run my own branding/interactive media firm, NIXdesign, in a renovated downtown Raleigh loft for over 18 years.
In addition to our international roster of clients, we worked with many of the university’s colleges and organizations to provide branding, design and interactive media, and I even had the opportunity to play a role in the development of the university’s core brand that exists today. A year and a half ago, a new opportunity presented itself and it was the right time in my life to take it. I am now the director of Marketing Communications at the College of Design and the associate professor of the practice.
NC State University means so many different things to me as I have experienced it at various and key points in my life. I have so much respect for this institution. It is “gritty” and authentic, and the research and innovation that comes from this university is unparalleled. NC State has helped shape my core values, provided me with a world-class education and is a great place to be employed. I believe in the integrity and value of this university and I look forward to continuing to be a part of the collective effort to transform its future.
And… we beat Duke and UNC!!
—Carol Fountain Nix ’91 MS
A Happier Me
I couldn’t believe how much NC State felt like home as soon as I unpacked the first box from my car. Everything here is exactly what I need to be a happier me.
—Tiffany Runyan ’16 (alum to be!)
A Smart Choice
I grew up a Duke fan (I know, I know, just read the whole thing). I had no family connections with Duke, but my best friend was a Duke sports fan. So, in the absence of another persuasive influence, the void was filled with dark blue. When it came time to choose a university, Duke was my top choice. NC State was my backup. Then something changed — I discovered the Park Scholarship. My first visit to NC State –the “backup school” — suddenly turned into a serious examination of an opportunity I didn’t know existed. The campus was alive with a sense of excitement and innovation. The students and faculty were warm and inviting. I could sense that NC State merited serious consideration, and its status as my backup school was in serious jeopardy.
Of course, NC State won me over. My undergraduate education was literally everything I’d hoped it would be. I was fortunate to spread my learning opportunities across campus, with my majors taking me to PAMS (BA, Chemistry) and to the College of Education (BS, Secondary Education, Comprehensive Science Concentration), and my minors taking me to the Music Department (Saxophone Performance) and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures (Spanish). These diverse experiences prepared me very well for my next step, medical school, and eventually a residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UNC-Chapel Hill. Yet despite continuing my education elsewhere, my NC State roots and the resultant immersion in an environment of innovation and discovery have changed my perspective of healthcare. While I didn’t earn a degree in computer science, the mobile health trend became apparent to me very early. In January 2010 I released UNC Housestaff, a simple application to help physicians across the hospital stay connected with patients and data that would improve their ability to practice medicine. This subsequently led the establishment of a small but successful app company, G-Whizz! Apps, and my continued interest in the burgeoning field of medical informatics.
Not only did my time at NC State yield a quality education, it also changed the entire trajectory of my life. From music to medicine and education to innovation, my perspectives were forever changed by my experiences there - experiences that I’ve been able to share with my wonderful wife, Kim Bloomfield ‘02, and my daughters, Miriam and Catherine (both Class of 2028).
Many years have passed since I applied to NC State as my “backup school” and I’ve often considered where I would be had I made a different decision. Would I have had the opportunity to personally care for a sick child? Would I have had the opportunity to improve care for thousands through improvements to electronic health records? Would I have reached millions through mobile technology? I don’t know, and I don’t want to find out. I chose NC State, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
—Ricky Bloomfield, ‘04
A Direction for Life
I entered the School of Forestry in September 1953, graduated in 1957, came back to get a master’s in ’62, and a PhD in forest genetics in 1964. During that time, I met and married a “Meredith Angel.” Next month we will celebrate our 54th wedding anniversary with three daughters and three grandchildren. My education set the direction for my career in forest research and management for the next 48 years. For the past 10 years, however, I have enjoyed frequent visits to NC State’s campus to the woodshop in the Craft Center. My education at NC State was definitely life transforming, and my time in the woodshop at the Craft Center has been life preserving.
—Charles D. Webb ’57, ’62 MS, ’64 PHD
Setting a High Standard
Several memories come to mind, but I will always recall the counseling I received from professors like Dr. Tom Shore, Dr. Farmer Smith, Dr. Betty Wilcox, Dr. Gary Moore, and Dr. Joe Clary. They were so patient, kind, and available. After completing my MEd, I was employed as an adjunct to teach methods courses in the schools of Psychology and Education. It was a wonderful opportunity to work with adults and to observe natural teaching talents in so many of our fine North Carolina teachers. NC State faculty and staff were always my support base as an educator. They set a high standard and helped me to accomplish my very best.
—Nancy Langley Raynor ‘84 MED
Never Give Up
NC State helped me in so many ways. From the lifelong friends I met, to the realization that anything is possible if I put my mind to it. Jimmy V taught me about never giving up! It’s helped me a lot through the years.
—Mike Piper ‘82
Go Pack, Always
I came to NC State a somewhat shy, non-participatory student. I worked in food service below the D.H. Hill library and made awesome fish fillet sandwiches! I was given the opportunity to join a fraternity — Sigma Nu. I remember the night some brothers came to the food service area and said, “You have a pledge meeting tonight.” I had no idea what to expect, but I went. I met lifelong friends at Sigma Nu. We did floats for homecoming, one that we built on top of a car (way before “Animal House”), and we won the Homecoming contest that year. (I think it was 1977.) We held Christmas at our house for underprivileged children, participated in an all night dance-a-thon with then-mayor Isabella Cannon and had some great dancing and parties at our house after every football game! I grew into an outgoing student and extrovert. I held leadership roles within the fraternity, played a multitude of sports and after graduation a fraternity brother helped lead me into the career I have today. I am very thankful to have been at NC State. I have been a member of the Wolfpack Club for 30-plus years now and attend all home football and basketball games, cheering loudly and proudly for the Wolfpack! Now, both my children are NC State graduates, one in 2011, one in 2012. I am blessed to have loved NC State since my youth. I am blessed to have raised my children to love NC State. I am thankful to be a lifelong Sigma Nu and have had all the experiences that have brought me to where I am today. We have the best fans, the best administrators, and a strong Wolfpack Club that I truly value more with each passing year. I can sum up my feeling for NC State: GO PACK, Always!
—Braxton Wesley Smith ’79
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01.30.2013 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under NC State History, NCSU Libraries | Comments: No responses |
It’s just a simple roll-top desk, but it’s also a piece of history. The desk used by Charles W. Dabney to draft the legislation that would establish the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts is on display in the Special Collections Reading Room in D.H. Hill Library.
Dabney was an early member of the Watauga Club, an influential group of civic leaders who focused their efforts on working for the founding of a college to teach farming and manufacturing skills to young men. After Dabney wrote the bill, it was introduced by Augustus Leazar. Passage came on March 7, 1887; a day celebrated as “Founders Day” at NC State. The rest is history.
Dabney himself was a prodigy. He graduated from Hampton-Sydney College at the age of 17 and then continued his studies at the University of Virginia. He went to Germany to get a Ph.D. in chemistry, and in 1880 he became North Carolina’s state chemist and director of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, an agency created to analyze fertilizers, soils and water. He lobbied for the station to be moved to a farm west of Raleigh, and Dabney and his assistants began to expand their work from an office headquartered in a farm house on what is now Vanderbilt Avenue near campus.
The Dabney Hall on main campus, built in 1969, honors Dabney. There is also a Dabney Hall at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where Dabney served as president.
– Sylvia Adcock ‘81
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01.01.2013 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Administration, College of Veterinary Medicine, NC State History, NCSU Libraries | Comments: No responses |
Joab Thomas was not from North Carolina and had no connection to NC State, having earned all his degrees at Harvard University. His strongest ties were to the University of Alabama, where he had taught botany before serving in several administrative roles.
And the man he would succeed as chancellor at NC State, John T. Caldwell, was popular and visible on campus.
Yet on this day in 1976, Joab Thomas became the chancellor at NC State.
“He came to N.C. State because he was impressed by the institution’s potential and the state’s commitment to higher education,” according to Alice Elizabeth Reagan’s North Carolina State University: A Narrative History.
“Thomas’ personality was different from Caldwell’s; he tended to be much more low-key and less visible,” Reagan wrote. “He considered his task one of fine-tuning the university and its programs, and he sought to give priority to quality on every level.”
Thomas stayed at at NC State for almost six years, leaving to become the president of the University of Alabama. He later served as president of Penn State University.
Thomas was recognized for establishing the Caldwell Fellows scholarship program, which is now administered by the Alumni Association, and leading the university to establish the College of Veterinary Medicine. Thomas was supportive of NC State’s library as it completed a campaign to increase the holdings in D.H. Hill Library to one million books. Thomas oversaw the establishment of the NC Japan Center, and the construction of the McKimmon Center, Bostian Hall, Caldwell Hall and Kamphoefner Hall.
Enrollment at NC State grew from 16,903 to 21,169 during Thomas’ tenure.
“He made excellence in academics and research his top priorities, placing strong emphasis on developing major endowments for merit scholarships, increasing funds for professorships, strengthening the University’s library, and upgrading research facilities and resources,” read an account in the NC State alumni magazine when Thomas was presented with the university’s Award of Merit in 1985.
In 2009, the former Southwest Gardner Hall was renamed Thomas Hall in honor of NC State’s ninth chancellor.
Thomas, in a 1996 article in the alumni magazine, fondly recalled his time at NC State.
“When I arrived I found it was a much better institution than I had thought and better than anybody here thought,” he said. “I wanted to make it clear we had to get over this inferiority complex and realize we were first-class. I reminded everyone: The only way an object to the west can cast its shadow on you is when the sun is setting on it.”
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11.06.2012 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Campus News, NCSU Libraries, University Dining | Comments: No responses |
Think bananas. Vanilla wafers. Then, instead of pudding, think ice cream.
Banana pudding — the latest ice cream flavor from NC State’s Howling Cow creamery — was introduced to the public last month and had the best debut of any new flavor since Wolf Tracks was introduced two years ago. “We sold out in a less than a week,” says Carl Hollifield ’02. That means the contents of 30 3-gallon tubs, or about 2,800 scoops, were sold during that time period.
Hollifield, who got his degree in agricultural business management, is the business manager for Howling Cow, NC State’s ice cream-producing arm of the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences. The ice cream production is run like a business but profits are plowed back into the department to help fund research. (Students don’t have a lot to do with the ice cream. “They are usually busy studying more advanced dairy topics, like probiotics,’’ Hollifield says.)
The Dairy Enterprise Center, as the operation is formally called, has about 20 regular flavors, most of which can be found on sale by the scoop at the Creamery at D.H. Hill Library in the Erdahl-Cloyd wing. About 10 more flavors that have been sold in the past are available to be rotated in as needed, and the center comes up with a new flavor about twice a year. All the ice cream is made in the basement of Schaub Hall.
The idea for banana pudding ice cream came after an all-natural banana flavor had been added to soft-serve ice cream on sale at University Dining locations. The students liked it, so some of the production managers at Howling Cow started thinking about a banana pudding ice cream.
But preparing to introduce a new flavor takes time, Hollifield says. After the concept is developed, the first step is to contact vendors to get samples of the best banana flavoring that would work in Howling Cow ice cream. It takes several weeks to get samples, and then once the correct vendor is selected, a larger volume order is placed, which takes several more weeks. For early test batches, he used Nilla brand vanilla wafers, but later purchased generic brands that taste the same. “We had to get a vendor that would sell 100 pounds of vanilla wafers at a time,” Hollifield says.
The final touch to the flavor was the addition of marshmallow swirl, called a “varigant” in ice cream-making parlance. Hollifield says the marshmallow swirl was already being used in another flavor — the s’mores-like campfire delight — so that part was easy. A first batch of a quart was made to test the flavors and the mix. The main tweaks to the recipe involved the amount of flavoring. After that, a 30-gallon batch was made with more taste-testing.
Now, Hollifield and his crew will wait to see if banana pudding has the staying power of Wolf Tracks, which is a mixture of vanilla, fudge and miniature peanut butter cups. The last flavor to “bite the dust,” Hollifield said, was coco-nutt, a blend of coconut and nuts. “Coconut is one of those flavors that’s kind of polarizing,” says Hollified. “You either like it or you don’t.”
If a scoop at the Creamery at D.H. Hill isn’t enough, you can buy a 30-gallon tub of banana pudding in Room 12 of Schaub Hall, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The building is at the corner of Dan Allen Drive and Sullivan Drive. And in a few weeks, egg nog by the quart will be available.
—Sylvia Adcock ’81
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10.29.2012 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Campus Events, Music Department, NCSU Libraries | Comments: One response |
Fifty years after its debut, music from a piece composed to celebrate NC State’s 75th anniversary will once again be played on a concert stage.
The NC State Wind Ensemble’s fall concert Tuesday night will include a performance of “Of Earth and Atom,” originally composed and performed in 1962 in honor of NC State’s anniversary as well as the centennial anniversary of the Morrill Act, the legislation that established land-grant universities.
The music for “Of Earth and Atom” — which includes spoken and sung parts that will be performed by the Singing Statesmen and the NC State Chorale — was thought to have been lost in the 1965 Pullen Hall fire that destroyed much of the sheet music used by the Music Department.
Harry Tune ’62, who played first trombone in the original performance, launched a search for the music, which turned up in the archives at D.H. Hill Library. Tune and Brent Cousins ’73, ’74, the son of composer M. Thomas Cousins, convinced the Music Department to perform the piece again.
Music Department Chairman J. Mark Scearce said the department was thrilled to present an encore performance of the ceremonial work, particularly in the university’s 125th anniversary year.
“Too often new compositions are given a premiere and that’s the end of them,” he says. “As a composer, I understand those all-important second performances. Many hours of added rehearsal have gone into this and we are all excited by the mounting of this mammoth project, uniting choruses and wind ensemble tomorrow night.”
The concert, which will also include Halloween-themed music, will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Stewart Theatre. Tickets may be purchased by calling 919-515-1100 or online.
—Sylvia Adcock ‘81
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10.09.2012 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni News, Campus Events, NCSU Libraries | Comments: No responses |
Brian Frasure lost his left leg when he was a student at NC State, the tragic result of an accident while he and some friends were hopping on a train traveling through campus.
But after some initial setbacks, Frasure went on to graduate from NC State in 1996 and then push himself to become an elite Paralympic sprinter. He won 55 medals (including 32 gold medals) and set or helped set five world records.
“He exemplifies the true meaning of what the human spirit is about,” Dennis Oehler, a fellow Paralympian, said in a 2008 article in NC State magazine about Frasure. “He not only overcame a disability, he is an ambassador for our sport and for humanity.”
Frasure said in the article that he found himself trying to fill multiple rolls.
“As an athlete, I want to win,” he said. “But as an ambassador of the sport, I want to see it grow, and I want to see new athletes do well…IF I can share my knowledge of prosthetics to do that, then that’s what needs to be done.”
Frasure will share his story on campus this week, when he speaks at 3 p.m. Thursday at the auditorium in D.H. Hill Library as part of the library’s Amazing Alumni series. The event is free and open to the public.
Frasure is now a certified prosthetist with iWalk, a company that helps veterans and other amputees regain mobility with bionic products.
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08.15.2012 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni News, Alumni Spotlight, Campus Landmarks, College of Design, NCSU Libraries | Comments: No responses |
Two recent gifts mean that the five-bell set needed to play the Westminster chimes on the Memorial Bell Tower — currently sounded every hour through a speaker — will be complete in a matter of months.
Ann Fearrington ’72 MR of Raleigh and her two sisters, Florence Fearrington of New York, N.Y., and Jessica Travis of New Orleans, La., are funding the purchase of a bell in memory of their brother, who was a graduate of the College of the Design. Dianne Clinton ’83 of Raleigh and her brother Kevin Speight ’81 of Winston-Salem, N.C., are purchasing a bell in honor of their parents and other family members and the professors who helped them when they were at NC State.
Although the new bells won’t be ready for several months, the largest of the five, a 2,000-pound bell that sounds the lowest chime, will be on display near the Bell Tower during the university’s Packapalooza celebration on Hillsborough Street from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Fearrington’s brother, James Cornelius Pass Fearrington, who was known as Pass, got a job as a fabric designer in North Carolina after graduation and then was quickly hired by a company in New York. But in young adulthood, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
“There was little or nothing they could do,’’ Ann Fearrington says. “It was stunning for his mother. We just couldn’t get beyond it. He was so successful, so adorable, so smart, so loving.” He died at the age of 33 in 1981. “It was a complete heartbreak for all of us… He was a very special, special person.” Pass Fearrington was also a painter, and many of his works are in Ann Fearrington’s home.
Ann Fearrington recently saw a newspaper article about the bells and started thinking about making a donation. “Pass was crazy about music beyond belief,” she says. She talked to her husband and sisters, and decided that donating a bell would be something that would make her brother happy.
Clinton, who has a degree in music from Winthrop University, says she was aware of the mechanical sound of the chimes when she was at NC State.
“For a long time I had thought how wonderful it would be” to have bells in the tower, she says. During a recent visit to D.H. Hill Library with her niece, who is a sophomore at NC State, she saw the display of the three bells that had so far been purchased. “It just knocked my socks off,” she says. “I knew this was something I wanted to get involved in.”
Matthew Robbins with the bell donated by the Class of 2010
She and her brother are donating the bells in honor of their parents, Carl and Ruth Speight. Both Clinton and her brother are first-generation college graduates; their father was the first in his family to finish high school. It was her parents’ hard work that helped her get a college education, she says. In addition, the bell honors the many professors she and her brother had who “were so willing to go beyond what they needed to do,” she says. “These were people who were invested in their students.”
Clinton is also hoping to visit the foundry in Georgetown, Ohio, when the bell she is donating is being tuned. The new bells should be completed in the next few months, said Matthew Robbins, director of the Finish the [Bell] Tower project.
The largest bell in the set — which is reserved to chime on the hour — was paid for by the Class fo 2010. One of the other bells was donated in memory of Helena H. Gardner by her husband and their three children; the remaining bell was given by the family of William F. Morris Sr. ‘09 and William F. Morris Jr. ‘41 in honor of their father and grandfather.
– Sylvia Adcock ‘81
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