More animal communication stories needed

I found your article on squirrel communication fascinating. With my newfound knowledge, I was able to have a lovely chat with a couple of squirrels on campus.I feel the next step for Technician in animal conversation tactics should be geese.

I’m sure many Wolf Village residents will agree with me, they are a nuisance. I would like to know how to tell the geese to keep their “presents” off of my sidewalks, especially with so much grass so close by. Perhaps the Technician could investigate the meaning of the different honks and other noises made by geese.

If this becomes a reoccurring series, the next installment should be about bears, the number one threat to America.

Emma Nortonsenior, textile and apparel management

Sept. 11 coverage incomplete, one sided

I felt compelled to let the students of N.C. State know what Technician, our pillar of “professional” reporting, chose not to divulge to everyone. Since 2005, Committee for a Better University has placed approximately 3,000 flags on the lawn in the brickyard and handed out ribbons in remembrance of 9/11 and additionally offered the opportunity to write thank you letters and make donations to our troops.

Proper flag treatment dictates that flags shall not be placed in the rain, and given the fact that we are in the midst of two to three days of rain, CBU out of respect for our nation, cancelled Thursday’s event in order to avoid improper treatment of our nation’s flag on a day that it is quite possibly honored more than any other. Did it not occur to Technician to touch on all the national and local events occurring on 9/11? Maybe the staff forgot that the world doesn’t end at the campus borders? I don’t know James Layman, but if the best he can do as a staff writer is to write an article referencing a club’s past actions without it even occurring to him to contact that club about the event, then he may be better suited as crossword puzzle technician from this point forward since that is all that anyone cares about anyways.

Additionally, a little advice to James, the students across campus that are lamenting about the lack of 9/11 events, and the members of Technician that let this go to print: if you aren’t happy with the lack of activities then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! You’re in college, you will NEVER have this much spare time again in your lives. Thank you Technician for reminding me why you are still, and have always been, my least favorite thing about my Alma Mater. What an embarrassment.

Brian MakelyN.C. State alumnus 2007mechanical engineering

Sept. 11 not the only day to remember

“A date which will live in infamy” – Remember the quotation? Remember who said it? Remember the date to which it refers? It was Franklin D. Roosevelt referring to December 7, 1941 – Pearl Harbor Day might be how you know it.

Every year, when Sept. 11 rolls around people clamor that we’re not to forget, that we should honor the day, and that perhaps more should be done, because as a nation we do seem to be caring less and less. While I think that honoring the day and remembering it is respectful and useful (as remembering it will serve to guide our future actions), I do think that a moment should be spent to remember other events of our nation’s history as well.

I’ve been told that 9/11 is important because it happened ‘to us,’ while Pearl Harbor Day was something long ago – it didn’t happen to our generation – it’s not as relevant. I just have to say that if we as a nation can’t remember December 7, 1941, 9/11 will one day fall into the shroud of obscurity in the same way.

So pay respects for the dead, honor those who have served for our country, and please, remember not just 9/11, but our past as well. Chances are pretty good that you or someone you know lost a relative in World War II.

Ralph Abbeygraduate student, mathematics

Dining employees should do the cleaning, not students

I was in Clark Dining Hall Thursday morning for breakfast, scooping some fruit into one of those absurdly small bowls, when I was approached by a highly rude kitchen employee. This woman proceeded to lecture me about the PROPER way to scoop my food, chastize me for spilling four small pieces of pineapple onto the counter, and sarcastically declare that “this is college! We’re trying to teach you to clean after yourself!”

She acted as if I’d taken the entire tray of fruit and dumped it all over the floor, when in fact it was a tiny mess that she could (and DID) clean with one swipe of her napkin. This is not the first time that I have seen and heard dining hall employees treat students as if we were THEIR children in need of discipline.

I’m sorry if I cannot drop my books and plate of food to clean up a minor mess for you, but the last time I checked, keeping the dining line clean was the EMPLOYEES’ job. That is what they are standing there for. If that woman doesn’t like her job, she should quit rather than denigrate the students who pass through every day. Keystra Williamssenior, arts applications