The above video is a cool, short documentary from WolfTV, NC State’s student-run TV station, about the history of the university’s Grains of Time. The student a cappella group celebrated its 40th anniversary this past April with a reunion and special concert that featured many of the group’s members since its founding in the late ’60s. The film includes footage of the original members performing at the April concert, explains how the group got its name and has highlights of some of the members’ favorite songs. The documentary was made by students at NC State and Elon University.
Also check out Grains of Time’s YouTube channel, which has video of some of the group’s performances.
In his latest “Chancellor’s Corner” entry on NC State’s Web site, Chancellor James L. Oblinger addresses the hiring of Mary Easley, the university’s recent accomplishments and the ongoing budget situation:
With summer classes under way and freshman orientation scheduled to begin in a few weeks, it is important that we turn our full attention to our students and the many initiatives and programs at the heart of our mission. So let me clearly say again, NC State followed what we believed was proper procedure and we were not pressured to hire Mary Easley or pay her a certain salary.
It is clear, however, that we were not sensitive enough to how others would perceive her new contract in 2008. Especially in these tough economic times, her salary was – and still is – a lightning rod for criticism. It is an important lesson we will remember in our future decision-making. . . . .
As we look to the future, we begin by focusing on the ongoing budget discussions. . . . As the state assesses its revenues and surveys the damage of the economic downturn, it appears that we are now on the brink of a 10 to 15 percent cut – even higher by some estimates. This will not be easy.
What a great spring for the Wolfpack! Golfer Matt Hill, a rising junior from Canada, won the NCAA Championship Thursday after three consecutive rounds of 69. Hill has been on a hot streak, winning eight of the last nine tournaments he has entered. He’s the first Pack golfer to win a national championship.
Hill’s national title is also the third for an NC State student-athlete this spring. On March 21, wrestler Darrion Caldwell won the 149-pound individual title and diver Kristin Davies ’09 won the national title in platform diving. It was the first time NC State student-athletes have won two national championships in the same day.
Our post on Hill earlier this week included links to stories about him. Look for more on Davies and Caldwell in the summer issue of NC State magazine.
The above photo is an aerial view of Hillsborough Street in the 1940s. The street certainly looks a lot different today, and it will again soon now that long-planned renovations for the thoroughfare have begun. On the heels of the start of the construction, which began May 20 and is expected to be completed in September 2010, the Independent Weekly published a lengthy cover story on keeping “Hillsborough Street funky.”They alsocame up with a list of “10 things you probably don’t know about Hillsborough Street,” which includes some interesting bits on NC State’s history and its neighbors. And, they created this neat video that takes you around Hillsborough Street today:
Gene Mettler, an NC State genetics professor and rodeo enthusiast, demonstrates a trick outside Dorton Arena in 1979. (Photograph courtesy of Special Collections, NCSU Libraries)
Sixteen Caldwell Fellows and another six NC State students left Raleigh on Sunday for a month-long experiential learning service trip to China. Joining them is Janice Odom ’94 PhD, right, director of the Caldwell Program. Follow her and the students as she blogs from afar.
Perhaps it is a Chinese parenting technique for raising well-behaved children that the beds are so very firm here; no child would ever think of bouncing on one. One simply cannot work up a bounce on these mattresses.
The Caldwell Program is the university’s original merit scholarship program and is supported by Alumni Association membership dues.
It may be a little disheartening that the Pittsburgh Penguins knocked the Carolina Hurricanes out of the Stanley Cup playoffs last night, but the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review provides some good news in this somewhat amusing rundown of Bill Cowher’s stint as the “siren sounder” during last night’s game at the RBC Center, home to the Hurricanes and the Wolfpack men’s basketball team. Cowher, a 1979 graduate, played football at NC State and was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1992 to 2006.
Cranking the Hurricanes’ warning siren with his right hand and grasping a white Carolina rally towel with his left hand — sans his Super Bowl XL ring — Bill Cowher no longer bleeds black and gold . . . .
Since Cowher moved to Raleigh two years ago, the North Carolina State graduate has taken a liking to the Hurricanes — and seemingly betrayed the Penguins. That gets sticky considering Cowher patrolled the Steelers sidelines for 15 seasons, won a Super Bowl in 2006 and had a street named after him in Crafton. . . .
“I don’t like it,” said Penguins fan Kyle Patton, of Johnstown. “We love Bill Cowher, but when you look at him, you think black and gold, not red.”
Also be sure to click to enlarge the Tribune-Review’s photo of him cranking the Hurricanes’ warning siren. It’s a great shot.
What a great spring for the Wolfpack! Golfer Matt Hill, a rising junior from Canada, 
Sixteen 
Subscribe