The Carolinian [January 18, 2011]

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The student newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Established 1919
Vol. XCI No. 17 wwW".carolinianonline.com January 18 -January 24, 2011
Snow slows beginning of spring semester
Ice and slush still covered par-ts of campus almost a week after the initial snow
storm occurred.
Alaina Monts
Staff Reporter
This past week North· Carolina
got snow-and "lots of it. Last
Monday evening, Chancellor
Brady cancelled all classes after
4:00 P.M. due to what meteorolo­gists
predicted would be a snow
storm. Snow began to steadily
fall around 5:30 that evening.
However, the snow wasn't what
caused so much tro\lble for the
Greensboro community, North
Carolina, and most of-the South. -
With Monday night's frigid tem­peratures,
all snow that fell the
previous day quickly froze over
and became ice. School was can­celled
for UNCG, students on
Tuesday, the scheduled second
day of the semester, something
·most students weren't too upset
about.
UNCG, along with other col-leges
and universities in Guilford
County, were closed last Tuesday.
Students used what -woUld have
been the first day of many classes
as a day of frivolity. Hills in front
of Petty Science Building, as well
as practice fields, and other clear­ings
all over campus acted as
iinpromptu spots for sledding,
snowboarding, and other forms
of winter fun.
Faculty and professors didn't
mind the snow day either. Mel­valyn
Pate, the budget and opera­tions
manager of the Lloyd Inter­national
Honors' College said,
"It's better to air on the side of
caution;' when it comes to deal­ing
with snow and students' safe­ty.
She was thankful that UNCG
put the safety of all members of
its community first.
With temperatures that rose
SEE SNOW, PAGE 2
JSNNto -UNCG SOS .. Staffleads·freshmen to success \ bring together
UNCG,·
NCA&T
Matthew Howard
Editor-in-Chief -
January of 1959 marked, es­sentially,
the foundation of a
park that re-energized . a region
·and saved the economic future
of a state.
A park that revitalized North
Carolina in a region that many
UNCG students called home in
their youth. Yes, Research Trian­gle
Park {RTP) in Raleigh-Dur­ham
is much more important to
the average UNC System student
than most realize.
In 1970, according to the RTP
website, the per capita income in
North Carolina was 20 percent
below the national average. Now,
much attributed to the growth of .
RTP and Charlotte, North Caro­lina
is only just over 5 percent
below the average using pre-re-cession
data in 2005. ·
According to that data, per
capita income in the Greens­boro-
Whiston Salem region has
been steadily declining since
SEE JSNN, PAGE 2
Inside:
Wikileaks controversy raises
questions to freedom of infor­mation
Page4
Index
Ashley Hilliard
Staff Reporter
While UNCG serves as one
of the most diverse campuses in
the UNC school system, there is
one thing that all students share
and participate in before UNCG
opens their - academic doors:
SOAR.
Each year, hundreds of new­ly
admitted Spartans attend a
SOAR session before beginning
their first semester at UNCG.
SOAR, which stands for Student
Orientation, Advising and Regis­tration,
is a two-day program for
students that have decided to at­tend
UNCG. The program assists
in helping students that are new -
to the university get comfortable
with their new home. sos leader·
Jamie Wright commented that
the "main point of SOAR is for
students to b-e oriented with the
campus:' From the wee hours of
the morning to the late hours of
the night, new students attend a
series of information programs
and registration sessions that
help make for a smoother transi­tion
to UNCG. Students get the
chance to eat in the cafeteria and
sleep in an actual residence hall,
allowing them the chance to feel
like a real student.
However, none of this would
be possible without SOS, bet_ter
known as the Spartan Orienta­tion
Staff. The Spartan Orienta­tion
Staff consists o£24 stafflead­ers
and staff captains. The sos
serve as the main component
of SOAR that guide discussions
and sessions throughout the pro­gram.
Activities throughout the
two-day program come in the
form of games and info sessions
that allow the students to lea_rn
more about UNCG. SOS leaders
are with their groups of new stu­dents
for a majority of the ti?le
Spartans fall to rival Elon, net elusive
tirst victory over Appalachian State
Page 16
Campus 2 Opinions . 3·
d~ring SOAR, allowing them
to form bonds and friendships
with the students. Wright noted
that, "the students get a chance
to ask questions that they may
not want to ask in front of their
parents;' allowing the students to
get their own personal questions
answered.
What makes SOAR at UNCG
different from just a typical cam­pus
tour? Most colleges have
siinilar orientation programs
that allow students to spend the
Weather
Today I Wed I Thu I Fri I Weekend
-.l>jv. ~ hk
night before they come to cam­pus,
but at UNCG students get to,
" ... spend the night in a residence
hall, eat in the cafeteria, and wan­der
the campus and University
center; a place where most stu­dents
get to hang out during the
day;' said Wright.
SOS leaders are busy year
around, not just for a few days
during ·the summer. Leaders
attend numerous training pro­grams,
in addition to an intensive _
two-week training session in May
before the round of SOAR ses­sions
during the summer. Over
spring break, SOS )eaders also at­tend
the Southern Regional Ori­entation
Workshop, a workshop
where student orientation staffs·
from other schools in the south­ern
region all come together to
learn new orientation techniques
and strategies. SOS leaders also
help with Homecoming Week
and Family Weekend during the
fall.
SOS Leaders are not just team
leaders to new university stu­dents,
but are also mentors that
provide guidance for first-time
college students. Wright com­mented
that to be a SOS leader,
" ... you must have a passion for
the uriiversity. It is a great posi­tion
for those who want to get
involved:' -
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