Eye on the Triangle

For this episode, JT Duley- a transfer student from Maryland, sits down with Jonathon Eigenmann to discuss his experiences as a recent transfer student to NC State University and his thoughts on what NC State has to offer. He also sits down with Director Michael Coombes of the New Student Programs to discuss the incoming transfer students, giving them advice and his views as well as making them more aware of whats available to them at NC State currently

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE
Provided by Otter.ai

Eoin Trainor  0:00  
The views and opinions expressed in Eye on the Triangle do not represent WKNC or student media.

Eoin Trainor  0:45  
Good evening Raleigh and welcome to this week's Eye on the Triangle an NC State student produced new show on WKNC 88.1 FM HD one Raleigh, I am Eoin Trainor. On tonight's episode, Elizabeth Esser interviews Santisha Walker, a registered nurse, entrepreneur, author and speaker based in Durham they talk about her fitness apparel and wellness brand, the I am experience. But first you have some stories from the North Carolina News Service enjoy.

Nadia Ramlagan  1:12  
A state environmental committee is considering a proposal to set a process in motion to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. It involves North Carolina joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or “RGGI,” a collaborative effort to shrink emissions by a group of East Coast states. RGGI requires companies to purchase an allowance for each ton of carbon-dioxide pollution they produce. The petition now heads to a second commission for a vote. Joel Porter with Clean Air Carolina says environmental groups are pleased the state is taking the impact of carbon pollution seriously.

Joel Porter  1:44  
So that was a big step forward for us on a long journey through the regulatory process, but we are encouraged that they approve of our petition and regulating greenhouse gases in North Carolina.

Nadia Ramlagan  1:57  
He says states already part of RGGI have seen carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants drop 47-percent over the last decade. With that dip in fossil-fuel generation came cleaner air, fewer hospital visits, and fewer lost work or school days from asthma and other respiratory illnesses. But an energy bill being debated by state lawmakers could complicate the effort to join RGGI. Porter says House Bill 951 would enshrine natural gas and fossil-fuel use in the state for the next decade, and limit the amount of renewable energy that can be used.

Joel Porter  2:30  
All and all, we’re glad that we’re supporting a petition to get the state in RGGI, because this bill closes the state’s energy market to clean energy.

Nadia Ramlagan  2:41  
Derb Carter with the Southern Environmental Law Center says joining RGGI would put North Carolina on a path to reduce carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 70-percent before 2030, and become carbon neutral by 2050.

Derb Carter  2:55  
Which generally aligns with what the scientists are telling us we really need to do to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Nadia Ramlagan  3:04  
Carter notes North Carolinians already feel the effects of climate change from extreme weather. He says unless the course is shifted, the state's residents and economy will see more consequences. For North Carolina News Service, I'm Nadia Ramlagan.

Nadia Ramlagan  3:23  
New survey data offer a clear picture of how North Carolina kids and families are faring, both before and after the pandemic. The Tarheel State ranks 34th in the nation for overall child well-being in the 2021 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Vikki Crouse with N-C Child says before the pandemic, one in five kids lived in households with incomes below the poverty line. And then, massive job losses meant thousands of parents suddenly had no or reduced income and few options for child care.

Vikki Crouse  3:53  
So we know that the pandemic took a toll on everyone, but especially parents and caregivers.

Nadia Ramlagan  3:59  
According to the report, the percentage of adults in households with kids experiencing symptoms of depression rose from 19-percent last year, to 22-percent in March of this year.
 
The data also reveal in 2020, 22-percent of households with children experienced housing insecurity, reporting "little or no confidence" in their ability to pay their next rent or mortgage payment. In March 2021, that figure has dipped to 17-percent. However, Crouse says affordable housing continues to be a pressing issue.

Vikki Crouse  4:29  
And now he's really constrained because certainly families and kids don't fare well if they don't have a stable place to live.

Nadia Ramlagan  4:36  
But she notes the expanded Child Tax Credit will likely lift more than 140-thousand North Carolina children out of poverty.
 
 Leslie Boissiere with the Casey Foundation explains both state and federal Child Tax Credit programs are critical to eliminating structural inequities in the tax code.

Leslie Boissiere  4:53  
We are excited and grateful that lawmakers passed the expansion, and we're calling on them to make that expansion permanent. We'd like to ensure that we don't have the largest-ever one-year reduction in the number of children who live in poverty, followed immediately by the largest-ever one-year increase.

Nadia Ramlagan  5:10  
She adds more than half of Black children have historically been ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit because their household incomes are too low, compared with 25-percent of white children. For North Carolina News Service, I'm Nadia Ramlagan.

Lily Bohlke  5:30  
Groups advocating for clean energy say Governor Roy Cooper's recent commitment to expanding North Carolina's offshore wind capacity will bring economic benefits to the state. North Carolina has among the highest offshore wind-energy potential in the nation, with its long coastline and shallow outer-continental shelf. Jaime Simmons, with the Southeastern Wind Coalition, says in addition to being a carbon-free source of power, expanding offshore wind could create tens of thousands of new jobs.

Jamie Simmons  6:00  
Some of these major location decisions are being driven in large part by the states or regions with anticipated projects. So these development goals set by Gov. Cooper make a much stronger case for these manufacturers to locate and invest in North Carolina.

Lily Bohlke  6:16  
North Carolina is facing a 10-year moratorium on all offshore energy leasing starting in July of 2022. Simmons says pending legislation would exempt offshore wind from the ban. In the meantime, she says there's work to do to get existing wind-energy areas ready for leasing – Wilmington East and West in the southern part of the state – and prepare for development of new projects to start immediately when the moratorium ends.
 
Simmons says offshore wind will be an essential part of the move toward a carbon-free grid – and that it marries well with solar energy. When solar starts to produce less in the day, around early evening, offshore wind usually is blowing the strongest. She adds that the high generation capacity of individual offshore wind projects is key.

Jamie Simmons  7:04  
You're really talking about rethinking what baseload power means. Offshore wind is really the only renewable energy that could replace the capacity from a coal facility or natural-gas facility.

Lily Bohlke  7:19  
Cooper's proclamation outlines targets for offshore wind energy of 28-hundred megawatts by 2030 and 8-thousand megawatts by 2040. His administration notes 8-thousand megawatts could power more than 2-million homes. The order also aligns with the state's clean-energy plan signed in 2018, which aims to reduce power-sector greenhouse gases 70-percent by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. For North Carolina News Service, I'm Lily Bohlke, reporting.

Elizabeth Esser  7:54  
I'm Elizabeth Esser with WKNC 88.1 Eye on the Triangle. Joining us today...

Eoin Trainor  0:00  
The views and opinions expressed in Eye on the Triangle do not represent WKNC or the student media.

Good evening Raleigh and welcome to this week's Eye on the Triangle an NC State student run and student produced news show on WKNC 88.1. I'm Eoin Trainor. On tonight's episode Elizabeth Esser is talking about NC State's return to in person classes this fall with Dr. Amy Orders the director of emergency management and mission continuity at the university. Afterwards, Laura Mooney and I report on the controversy surrounding Chadwick Seagraves, an NC State employee who was accused of being a member of the proud boys, stay tuned.

Elizabeth Esser  0:45  
This is Elizabeth Esser reporting for Eye on the Triangle. Joining us today is Dr. Amy Orders director of emergency management and mission continuity here at NC State to discuss the university's plann to return to in person classes this fall. Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. orders.

Dr. Amy Orders  1:01  
Thank you for having me, I'm grateful to have the opportunity to tell about great new changes on the horizon. 

Elizabeth Esser  1:07  
To start us off, can you just tell listeners a bit about yourself and your position at NC State?

Dr. Amy Orders  1:12  
I have hit my 20th year at NC State. But my my position has evolved over the years within environmental health and public safety. And within COVID, it really took on a new a new face and a new paradigm of operation centric work was very important to move us forward in all the different phases. So our job has been to be responsive to the needs of the campus over the past year. 

Elizabeth Esser  1:35  
How did the university come to the decision to return to in person class.

Dr. Amy Orders  1:41  
 It was kind of an evolving conversation. We've been watching the public health information and changes in the CDC or recommendations from other public health entities for several months. And the whole idea is we knew we would return to normal and I have to use normal with air quotes at some point we were hopeful it would be sooner than not. So trending the virus itself that community transmission, the prevalence of vaccine and its distribution models, people, you know, following community standards, both outside of campus and in campus, all of that helped make a better informed decision on what was safe and appropriate to the idea of a normal fall really is a cascade effect over a couple of months. It requires us to go back and challenge what our safety practices are now what our community standards need to be what we need to do for changes in classrooms or physical spaces to invite people back to their offices or research environments or other areas. But all of that has to be mindful of the virus itself, we have to watch what happens in the public health sector. If we experience another wave of the virus and infections, then we need to be moderating in our decision making and pace appropriately. We're really hopeful though that normal fall can really mean back in the classrooms 100% or in a large capacity. Looking at our research operations, we've fully activated and then restoring our other campus special events, clinics, all of the above. So we are anticipating a normal start keeping that caveat in mind that if something changes, we pause

Elizabeth Esser  3:14  
So when we started with in person classes last fall seats were spread out. Teachers had plexiglass screens in front of them while they lectured. As of right now, what can we expect in person classes to look like in comparison to in person classes prior to COVID.

Dr. Amy Orders  3:30  
Some of the recommendations that are coming out slowly but steadily from the Centers of Disease Control really do tell us what the expectations are how to minimize exposure, maximize the experience. So one of the greatest examples that we're watching is public schools, you're seeing the decrease in the spacing. So we were at six feet physical distancing. And now the paradigm shifting to about three feet. When we in our classroom setting some of our classrooms may not be appropriate for different reasons. It could be ventilation, it could be the spacing, whatever that is, we'll continue to assess that even as recommendations come in and say hey, you can be closer together. In the fall though it was such an extreme situation, we were looking at every possible safety mechanism that layers into effect is the Swiss cheese model. If you can give Plexiglas and maximize distance and decrease the occupancy, then we minimize transmission in those facilities, what happens outside and you bring the virus in there, that's still a problem. Well, now that the virus load or the number of positive cases is going down, we can start removing layer by layer not all layers to be able to increase that experience as close to what we used to or we're accustomed to, in like the 2019 timeframe. So university will still look at these things very, very, very detailed and specifically such as plexiglass, like you mentioned, if a faculty member has some sort of experiential learning or in face obligation with a larger crowd. Maybe that Plexiglas is still appropriate because when you Talk, you actually spit, the aerosol is a concern. So we need to think about these things creatively and not assume that we take everything away because that may not be the situation.

Elizabeth Esser  5:10  
Residence halls will also return to full occupancy. Will any extra precautions be put into place there?

Dr. Amy Orders  5:16  
there are some standing precautions that we will maintain for sure. So, in our residence halls, single occupancy moving that back to regular double occupancy is is the goal. And still having a process for an exception as we have cases that are necessary to address but the heightened cleaning, having people understand what cleaning in their own personal space means. Understanding what it what the virus itself will exist in the background, how to protect yourself and be more effective and those measures will continue. The other part of it in the residence halls and across campus is messaging. We won't just take down everything that says you know, cover your face, wear your mask, it has to be a blend, a reminder, if it's cold and flu season, we tell people cover your cough and wash your hands. Let's do cold flu plus COVID because it will still exist. So still cover your cough wash your hands. It applies at home and the residence hall settings, it's going to be the same type of approach 

Elizabeth Esser  6:14  
Does the university as of right now have plans for if there are major spikes in cases?

Dr. Amy Orders  6:20  
We keep that as a on the front burner conversation every day, our plans won't go away. So we will decrease the number of quarantine and isolation spaces in the fall. mindful though that at any point in time, if we have to increase those, again, we will so we have provisions in place kind of in a tiered process. If we have to go back and analyze what the best spacing policies are. We're hopeful that if everyone understands what the community expectations are, then we won't see those spikes we will go and have our social gatherings we may still have limitations on those gatherings. That's kind of a crystal ball that we don't have right now. But if we're able to look at those in a very methodical manner and make some plan decisions, then if we do have a spike we're ready to address.

Elizabeth Esser  7:03  
Finally, is there anything else that you would like for listeners to know about NC State's return to normal this fall?

Dr. Amy Orders  7:09  
I think there are two things that I'm...

Elizabeth Esser talks to the North Carolina Museum of Art's Director of Research, Caroline Rocheleau, about the new Golden Mummies of Egypt exhibit. Then, Lise Nox sits down with Pour House owner Adam Lindstaedt to discuss the venue's new socially distanced concerts.