During his trek to the research lab where he spends most of his day, Barry Peddycord III, a graduate research assistant in computer science, swaps writing codes for reading Technician articles.
Peddycord is working on his dissertation to create an intelligent tutoring system, but before he sits down to work on those intricate tasks, he reads the Technician to start his day.
In fact, according to him, he has been reading the Technician every day for six years, excluding days he was sick, and keeps every single one in a box at his apartment.
“Reading the Technician is part of my daily routine, when I get to the lab I tell my friends to ‘read this’ or ‘read that,’ it kind of gets me ready for the day,” Peddycord said.
Peddycord said he started collecting issues of the paper because he kept so many to begin with.
“I started with a year’s worth and there’s no point in throwing them away at that point,” Peddycord said.
Though he collects the Technician, he said he does not know exactly what he wants to do with them but thinks that they are a piece of history, as print media is on the decline.
“I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do with them; it’s just a really fun way to reminisce about past events,” Peddycord said. “I can’t throw them away.”
Peddycord said he reads the Technician to stay in touch with topics affecting lives of students, such as drop requirements and topics that are relevant to NC State. He also said he likes reading about topics he does not find in the blogs he follows.
“It [Technician] helps me to stay connected with campus, especially as a grad student and especially because I’m stuffed in Centennial,” Peddycord said. “I read it more than people who stay on campus; I think that is kind of funny.”
Peddycord said that he likes to know what goes on and around campus because it usually has a direct effect on the students he has as a teaching assistant.
“With any news source you notice things that pertain to you, so I like to read Technician because there are a lot of things that pertain to me and the students I teach,” Peddycord said.
Peddycord said he particularly enjoys reading a specific columnist from the Technician.
“I enjoy reading it especially for Nicky Vaught’s columns because he talks a lot about social justice issues and gender equality in the technical world,” Peddycord said. “It’s nice seeing that perspective because women in the computer field is not a good situation right now.”
As well as collecting the Technician, Peddycord said he also collects foreign money among various other items he finds interesting.
Sean Mealin, also a graduate in computer science as well as Peddycord’s roommate and friend, said he appreciates Peddycords’s commitment but does not share the same interest in the Technician as his roommate.
“I don’t know if anyone shares the same enthusiasm as Barry for the Technician,” Mealin said. “I occasionally read it, but I think that Barry definitely keeps up to date with it more than I do.”
According to Mealin, Peddycord keeps the papers in his room and is by no means a messy collector.
“He keeps them in his room, so they aren’t in anyone’s way,” Mealin said. “Honestly, I would not have even known that they existed until he said something about them.”
According to Peddycord, the Technician is harder to pick up now than it was when he was an undergraduate at NC State because it is not on the way to the research lab, but he still finds a way to get it each day.
He said that he did not need to be sent the article when it was published because he joked, “I’ll probably read it.”
