June 1, 1995

This is State, plus the minuses

This article is reprinted from the June 1, 1995 issue of Technician.

by Owen S. Good

By the time you read this, I will be gone.

There, I’ve always wanted to say that. But it’s true. And while I have a pile of college war stories to be told and retold for the rest of my life, there are also a lot of things I will not miss about N.C. State.

In no particular order, they are:

How every cyclist on Sullivan Drive refuses to use the paved path. Now, when every sidewalk on campus is cement or brick, and this one’s paved, what does that tell you? Try to point it out to these twits and you get a “Share the road” jingoism thrown back at you.

How the wind is always blowing in your face no matter where you are on campus. Don’t even try to read a newspaper outside.

NCSU Parking (Dis)Services and the Division of Transportation. This syndicate pursues the enforcement of illegitimate parking laws with a vindictive zeal surpassed by no other public official or institution in this city. Since this is the state capital, that’s saying a lot.

It issued 39,000 tickets of not less than $10 in the 1993-94 academic year, yet the cost of a parking permit has not gone down, nor have the conditions of our campus roads improved. The intersections of Dan Allen-Sullivan and Dan Allen-Cates are unbearably congested — with no traffic lights. The meter maids obviously have never attempted a left turn at either intersection.

Instead, Parking Disservices removes two metered spaces in front of the Witherspoon Student Center and makes the Pullen pay lot one hour only. That’s to force you up to the Dan Allen Deck, the bonds on which haven’t been paid off yet. It’s $1 to park for one hour there, as opposed to 50 cents at a meter.

Parker Disservices also brought us ...

The “Varsity Express.” If this is such a convenient park and ride Wolfline lot, how come I never see a full bus? This is just Disservices’ way of annexing the only non-regulated parking near Fraternity Court, over on Varsity Drive. Pretty soon, no out-of-house fraternity brothers will be able to park near their chapter house for lunch without forking up $80 to $100.

Which brings us to Greek rush propaganda. Hey, I used to belong to a fraternity, so I know what I’m talking about, and I’ll talk about fraternities, not sororities.

The worst crap fraternities spew concerns grades. Sure, there are a few exceptions that live in chapter houses and make great grades. But the average student is going to see a drop if he moves into a frat house. I made a 3.25, 3.18 and a 2.8 in three semesters of non-affiliation. I made a 2.6, 2.2, 2.5 and 2.3 in four semesters of affiliation. Quite a difference.

How the ACC’s worst basketball program of all time can rack up six straight wins on us, two coming with a center no taller than 6-7.

COM 112: Interpersonal Communication. If you’re a communication major, get this out of the way early. If you’re not, do not take this course no matter how many people tell you it is an easy A. The course is devoid of any educational value and is a complete waste of time. I fail to see how this touchy-feely garbage could be anything less than an insult to one’s intelligence, unless you rather enjoy writing down your “self-talk” after being shot down for a date. If there’s any leading indicator of how real knowledge at college is going down the toilet, it’s COM 112.

Advising. What a joke. The advisors hate it; the students hate it. It’d be a lot better if they just gave out the PIN numbers for registration and didn’t pretend to be helpful. The students change their schedules after they talk to advisors anyway.

Radio programming. No, not WKNC (the student station — it does a good job). But you can’t find anything on the Raleigh commercial dial worth listening to. It’s either the obnoxious Aerosmith/Boston/Bob Seger/Pink Floyd/Led Zepplin classic rock racket, or it’s the hip-hop high school-party- mix junk, or it’s the 60s-70s-80s-“light”-candy-ass crap. The best radio station in the state (94.5 WXRA out of Burlington) has its signal cut to pieces once you get to exit 270 on Interstate 40. Rolling Stone said WRDU is the best station for its market size, but what does it know? It doesn’t hear “More Than a Feeling” 2,647 times a day.

Hootie and the Blowfish. See radio programming for related gripes. Go ahead, try and convince me payola isn’t a radio practice anymore.

Well, there you have it. What not to look forward to at N.C. State. The place isn’t all that bad. And if you’re not careful, you may learn something before it’s all done. OK? Hey, hey, hey ...

Owen S. Good was the sports editor of Technician from April 1994 to February 1995. He graduated this May after four years and is now enjoying a job his Daddy got for him in Laurinburg.