NC State Student Media

In recognition of Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the open access to information and the importance of the First Amendment in our society, the N.C. State University Chapter of the Society for Collegiate Journalists will be reading a selection of banned books Monday, Sept. 27, and Wednesday, Sept. 29, on the campus Brickyard and well as sponsoring an exhibit of suppressed books in the D. H. Hill Library.

May Chung, SCJ student president, said, “It’s important that we recognize the freedoms that sometimes we take for granted. Throughout history, not everyone has had the same freedoms we have at NCSU today.”

At the end of the week, on Saturday, Oct. 2, Marian Fragola, director of program planning and outreach for the NCSU Libraries, will discuss Banned Books Week and the “Banned Books Soundwave” project with Damian Maddalena of WKNC 88.1FM from 8-10 a.m.

The readings and discussion are part of a campus-wide recognition of free expression that also includes a website — “Banned Books SoundWave”— filled with selections from banned books read by a broad spectrum of members of the University community. The website was launched Sept. 24.

Running the last week in September, the ALA’s program is designed to remind us all of the benefits of intellectual freedom and to highlight the dangers of censorship by spotlighting of the history of actual or attempted book bannings across the United States. To support this nationwide celebration of open access to information, the NCSU Libraries has recorded a range of campus champions of free speech reading from books that have been suppressed in our sometimes troubled history of remaining true to our fundamental right to read what we please.

On the “Banned Books Soundwave” site, you can hear University Chancellor Randy Woodson read from The Grapes of Wrath, baseball coach Elliott Avent from Gone with the Wind, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean Jeffery Braden from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as well as over a dozen others reading from the sometimes surprising titles that have been challenged or actually kept from the public. The website also gives a brief synopsis of why works on this quite long list have been challenged or banned.

“Librarians are especially aware and vigilant of our role in defending the public’s right to open and free access to information,” said Susan Nutter, vice provost and director of the NCSU Libraries. “While an unfortunate number of books have actually been banned, our profession is proud that we, along with book sellers, teachers, and other members of the community, have kept so many others freely available for people to make up their own minds about.”

Windhover literary and arts magazine

The Associated Collegiate Press announced Sept. 2 that the NCSU Windhover Literary and Arts magazine is one of six finalists in four-year literary magazines for the national Pacemaker award, one of two top national awards given to college media.

Senior staff members of the 2009-2010 edition include: Editor Helen Dear; Literary and Audio coordinators Joe Wright and Mollie Mohr; Designers Toni Chester, Courtney Johnson and Jeremy Purser; Production Assistant Shaadé Oliveros-Tavares. The magazine was printed by Theo Davis Printing in Raleigh.

View the list and gallery of finalists here.

The ACP Magazine Pacemaker awards honor general excellence in collegiate magazines. This year, the feature magazines were judged by staff members at Texas Monthly, and the literary magazines were judged by staff members at Milkweed Editions.

Pacemaker award recipients will be announced at the College Media Advisers / Associated Collegiate Press convention in Louisville at the end of October. Earlier this year, ACP announced that the NCSU yearbook, the Agromeck, was also a Pacemaker finalist.

Three of the six finalists were from North Carolina. Other North Carolina finalists were: Sanskrit, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Karen Pierce, editor; Wayne Maikranz, adviser) and Colonnades, Elon University (Arie Saint, editor; Tita Ramirez/Drew Perry, advisers).

Entries were judged based on the following criteria:

• Content — Was there evidence of diversity in content and approach? Was the content innovative and contemporary?
• Quality of writing and editing — Was there evidence that the authors were well-read, creative, original and aware of the audience? Was the writing almost or completely free of grammatical and spelling errors?
• Photography, art and graphics — Did the photos have strong centers of interest, sharp focus and proper contrast? Was a variety of artwork and graphics represented?
• Layout and design — Did the design accentuate rather than dominate the content? If color was used, did it appropriately enhance the layout? Was overall design unity evident?
• Overall concept or theme — Was the theme clear and carried throughout the publication? Was the concept fresh and engaging?

In the fall semester, the Technician senior staff named Broke Shafranek and Kendra Stowe to be recipients of the Technician Grant.

• Brooke Shafranek is a freshman in English. She granted from Panther Creek High School where she was news editor for the Panther Creek News Network and president of the Creative Writing Club. “Brooke’s most impressive quality is her natural, confident curiosity,” Chris Hoey, English/journalism teacher at Panther Creek High School, said. “Brooke also has a strong sense of justice coupled with a need to find the truth.”
• Kendra Stowe, a freshman in nutrition science, graduated from David Butler High School in Matthews. She worked as an intern at the Mint Hill Times and was active in the Student Council while in high school. Sarah J. Price, academic internship program coordinator with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, said, “Kendra’s ability to work independently and meeting critical deadlines demonstrates her competence to excel in a business environment.”

Workers at Stone Commercial Printing & Graphics collate 'The Brick.'

Student leaders will begin distributing The Brick, a collaborative effort to help students learn about traditions at NCSU, to freshmen Sept. 27 in various first-year classes. The project began three years ago as a project in the First Year College. This year, Student Government, the Alumni Association and Student Media worked together to re-create the project and to distribute copies to all first-year freshmen.

Members of the NCSU chapter of the Society for Collegiate Journalists won the following 18 awards for the 2010 national contest covering calendar year 2009. Award recipients include Kyle Robb, Susannah Brinkley, John Cooper Elias, Tim O’Brien, Megan Myers, Meredith Faggart, Brent Kitchen and Saja Hindi representing the WKNC 88.1fm, the Technician and Windhover literary and arts magazine.

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The Agromeck yearbook staff will be delivering the yearbook to seniors who had their picture taken or who made a large donation to the senior class Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

The staff will be distributing the books on the Brickyard from 11 a.m – 2 p.m. on April 27 and 28. Watch the Technician for other opportunities to pick up a copy of the book edited in the fall by Bryant Robbins and the spring by Michele Chandler.

“There are about 6,000 seniors,” Chandler said. “We only printed 1,000 yearbooks. The only way to be guaranteed a book was to buy one. So those seniors who want a book should come by early.”

Learn more about the yearbook at ncsu.edu/agromeck

The Associated Collegiate Press announced in March that the NCSU Agromeck yearbook is one of 14 finalists for the national Pacemaker award, one of two top national awards given to college media. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association announced earlier in the year that the same book, the 2009 edition edited by John Cooper Elias, received a Gold Crown, that organization’s highest award.

According to ACP Executive Director Logan Aimone, judges considered thorough coverage and content, sophisticated design, exemplary writing and editing and outstanding photography when selecting the finalists.

CLICK HERE for a gallery of finalists.

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