Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Mary Easley, you are a disgrace to the University. Your husband is a disgrace to this State. For the N.C. State students who do not follow state government in North Carolina and who have not been around this summer, let me tell you what has happened.

Our wonderful speaker series organizer, Mrs. “I go to Europe and eat an $80 cheeseburger on the back of the taxpayer” Easley, who had a contract worth close to a million dollars, is the wife of our former governor, Mike Easley. Mike Easley is currently being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation and Federal Law Enforcement for his slimy dealings in real estate and campaign finance.

Mary Easley’s lawyer is Tony Rand. Tony Rand is the Democrat majority leader in the NC Senate (The Democrats have had a majority in the senate since 1869!). Tony Rand controls the budget for the Democrat attorney general, Roy Cooper, and the Democrat state auditor, Beth Wood. The attorney general and the state auditor are the ones investigating Easley. Conflict of interest?

What needs to happen is that our chancellor, what is left of our faculty, those whose checkbooks are not being balanced by the Democrat Party and our students need to demand “change.” We need to demand that our tuition money is not going to fund political appointees.

Thank you, Chancellor Woodward for having moxie, unlike the other Democrat clowns that formerly ran this great institution and for not giving sweet Mary her Southport mortgage payments on my dime.

It does not matter who picks our new chancellor, but search committee, please do not look in the pockets of Democrat politicians to find someone.

Ches McDowell

sophomore, political science

Concerned about Talley

Since the start of school in August, I have heard a lot about the new Talley Student Center and the Rally 4 Talley program. I am writing in response to this program. There are several issues that come to mind when I think about this project that make me uneasy.

The first issue that comes to mind is obviously what the cost for a project of this magnitude will be. As a student, particularly as an out-of-state student, I believe we pay plenty of money as it is to attend this school. I read that the proposed way to fund this project was to increase student fees starting in 2010. I have fully grasped the concept that things cost money, but at a time when the economy is so unstable I don’t believe it is in the best interest of the student body to fund such a project, at least not at the present time. There are plenty of students out there who are struggling to pay the tuition bill as it is, and with increased fees we will only be making it more difficult.

The second issue is the environmental mark a project of this scale will leave. I’m not by any means a tree hugger, but I do spend time to think about what sort of an impact my actions will have on the environment. Is the current student center structurally unsound? Are there reasons that we cannot simply renovate the current student center, as opposed to destroying a functional building? Renovations would allow the current student center to be more environmentally responsible without placing an even larger strain on the wallets of students.

There is always, undoubtedly, a need to grow and improve — a lesson we all learned growing up. But is it not a bigger, more powerful lesson to learn to appreciate and improve upon what you have? We have a great building on our campus in the current Talley Student Center, I personally do not see the need to replace the existing structure; it just needs some renovation.

This is all simply opinion, I do not know the exact plan for funding the new student center, nor do I know how much a quality renovation would cost. But one thing I do know is that now is not the time to start taking on projects that are too big for our budget. If the school gets the approval to continue on with the project then I will support the effort, but until then I wanted to voice my concerns and let my voice be heard.

Sharon Nye

freshman, philosophy