2 Univers i ty Gazette

Carol ina Faculty and Staff NewsAugust 26, 2009

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gazette.unc.edu

They are writers of all genres for readers of varying interests and ages and lifestyles. They are both homegrown Tar Heels and those who claim other locales. They know life and death, grace and hardship, and everything from children to politics to basketball.

They comprise the North Carolina Literary Festival, hosted Sept. 10-13 by the University, and their number at last count is 102 authors.

John Grisham, Elizabeth Edwards and Pulitzer

Prize-winners Douglas Blackmon, Rick Bragg and Elizabeth Strout are among those who will be featured.

Others will include Will Blythe, who docu-mented the Carolina-Duke basketball rivalry in “To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever”; former North Carolina Poet Laureate Fred Chappell; forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs and favorite Tar Heel novelists Doris Betts and Clyde Edgerton.

The festival, whose theme is “A Celebration of Reading and Writing,” will include more than author readings and talks across the campus. Exhibits, performances, book signings, sales and children’s activities also will take place, said festi-val director Amy Baldwin.

“With this lineup of authors, the festival will offer something for everyone,” she said. “With

Literary festivaL: ‘a CeLebration of reading and Writing’

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see Literary festivaL page 11

Within the last week, more than 28,500 students arrived on campus for the start of the academic year. Among them were an expected 3,953 first-year students who joined

their peers for weeklong move-in, social and learning activities. Some 23,000 students vied for places in the first-year class. Of those,

32 percent were admitted, and 54 percent of the admitted students were expected to enroll. These students hail from 97 North Carolina counties, 43 states and the District of Columbia, and 23 other countries.

Their average SAT score for math and critical reading combined was 1302, with 640 of the enrolling North Carolinians scoring 1400 or higher – 43 percent of all the high school seniors statewide who scored

at or above this level on the SAT.Four-fifths of enrolling N.C. residents graduated in the top 10 per-

cent of their high school class, up 6 percent from five years ago; and 41 percent graduated in the top 3 percent, up 8 percent from five years ago.

Carolina enrolled 519 new entering Carolina Covenant Scholars this fall: 428 are entering as first-year students, and 91 as transfer students. The Carolina Covenant provides a debt-free education to qualified low-income students from North Carolina and beyond.

Sadly, the academic year also began with the loss of Carolina student

Incoming class maintains record of excellence

this view from Morrison residence Hall, above, captures students moving to campus on aug. 22. at right, Chancellor Holden thorp addresses new University students during the aug. 23 convocation in the smith Center.

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2 Univers i ty Gazette

editorPatty Courtright (962-7124)patty_courtright@unc.edu

Managing editorGary C. Moss (962-7125)gary_moss@unc.edu

assoCiate editorSusan Phillips (962-8594)susan_phillips@unc.edu

PHotograPHerDan Sears (962-8592)

design and LayoUtUNC Design Services Amanda Zettervall (843-4967)

ContribUtorsNews ServicesL.J. Toler

editoriaL offiCes210 Pittsboro st., Chapel Hill, nC 27599faX 843-5966 | Cb 6205 | gazette@unc.edu

CHange of address Make changes at: directory.unc.edu

read tHe gazette onLine atgazette.unc.edu

The University Gazette is a University publication. Its mission is to build a sense of campus community by communicating information relevant and vital to faculty and staff and to advance the University’s overall goals and messages. The editor reserves the right to decide what information will be published in the Gazette and to edit submissions for consistency with Gazette style, tone and content.

u n i v e r s i t y

oN the web

CAroliNA CoveNANt welComeS more SCholArS, uNveilS New Site

Carolina has enrolled 519 new entering Carolina Covenant Scholars this fall as it saw a 22 percent increase in first-year students this year who qualified for need-based financial aid. Read more about the program on its newly designed Web site.snipUrl.com/ql5cG

‘Peter’ gAiNS 13 PouNdS A dAy American Indian Center program assistant Randi

Byrd and her massive pumpkin, Peter, were featured in a News & Observer story recently in which she spoke about carrying on American Indian traditions and her hopes for winning at the N.C. State Fair in October. The center plans to bring Peter to campus on Oct. 26.snipUrl.com/qG1qc

johNStoN SPeArheAdS loCAl ACtioN For globAl imPACt

The work of Robert Johnston, director of the Caro-lina Vaccine Institute, is featured on the UNC Global Web site for his work as founder and executive director of Global Vaccines, which works to meet basic health-care needs for people around the world.snipUrl.com/qG2lm

Carolina ranked fifth among the nation’s best public universities for the ninth con-secutive year. The new rankings appeared

in the 2010 edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine’s “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook, posted at www.usnews.com.

Among public universities, UC-Berkeley remained first, followed by UCLA and Virginia (tied), and Michigan. Carolina and these four campuses have traded or tied for the top five public spots for years.

Among national universities, Carolina ranked 28th – up from 30th last year – and tied with Tufts and Wake Forest. Overall rankings for the other top publics ranged from UC-Berkeley at 21st to Michi-gan at 27th.

The rankings, which are dominated by private universities, are based on a formula factoring in responses to opinion surveys about academic qual-ity from peer campus presidents, provosts or admis-sions officials. Objective data cover student gradu-ation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving and graduation rate performance.

The same 25 privates and five publics have appeared in the top 30 slots for the past five years. This year, Carolina’s overall score was 70. By com-parison, Berkeley’s was 76.

In terms of academic quality, affordability and faculty resources, Carolina ranked:n 1st among all publics for the fifth consecu-

tive year; 14th overall in “Great Schools, Great Prices,” based on academic quality and the net cost of attendance for a student receiving the average level of need-based financial aid;

n 16th among publics for “least debt” and 24th for the second year in a row overall (average student debt in the class of 2008 was $14,936); and

n 6th (tied with Michigan) among publics and tied for 11th overall for “a strong commitment to teaching” based on peer assessments of which campuses have faculty with an unusual commit-ment to undergraduate teaching.Carolina maintained high marks for first-year

retention and graduation rates. The first-year reten-tion rate was 97 percent, comparable to results for the past decade. The six-year graduation rate was 88 percent, up 5 percentage points from last year.

In the category of faculty resources, Carolina posted the best ranking in a decade. The University ranked 35th overall – up from 50th last year and in 2007. This category measures undergraduate class size, two years of average total faculty compensation (salary and benefits) based on indexes compiled by a consultant and weighted for regional differences, student-faculty ratio and percentage of faculty who are full time and have earned the highest degree.

In terms of class size, Carolina remained com-petitive with top public peers:n 44 percent of UNC course sections enrolled

fewer than 20 students; andn 11 percent of course sections enrolled 50 or more

students, earning the best mark among the four other top public peers for the second year in a row.Under “Programs to Look For,” highlighting out-

standing academic programs that lead to student success, Carolina’s first-year experience and under-graduate research/creative projects were cited as exemplary examples.

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Thorp says UNC can handle state’s 5 percent holdback

The final budget for 2009–11, which earlier this month the General Assembly approved and Gov. Beverly Perdue signed, means about a 7 percent cut in state funding for Carolina.

“Considering the state’s still uncertain reve-nue picture and this budget’s impact on other state agencies, legislators treated the UNC system very fairly overall,” Chancellor Holden Thorp said in an Aug. 17 e-mail message to faculty and staff.

Until that revenue picture becomes clear, however, Perdue is taking steps to stretch state resources. And that includes a mixture of good and bad news for state agencies.

Perdue rescinded the emergency budget restrictions for state funds that had been in place since July 24. But she also instructed the Office of State Budget and Management to withhold 5 percent of each state agency’s monthly allotment starting in September.

“While this is another reduction for us to manage, we understand that the governor needs to proceed with caution in this environ-ment,” Thorp said.

Because the University had already enacted a total 10 percent permanent cut for state appropriations effective in July, Thorp said administrators could handle the 5 percent holdback without asking campus units to make additional cuts.

If state revenues continue to decline, though, Perdue could take additional steps that would require more cuts from campus units, Thorp said. “Nevertheless, we are hope-ful that our current measures may, in fact, hold us for the fiscal year,” he said.

The University’s priority has been to pro-tect core academic and teaching programs. In fact, administrators limited campus reduc-tions to instructional units to slightly more than 5 percent.

But research centers and institutes, which have been key in attracting federal research grants, have not fared as well. Although they are being cut between 17 percent and 23 per-cent, campus administrators were braced for

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2 Univers i ty Gazette

august 26, 2009 3

Chancellor Holden Thorp told the UNC Board of Governors earlier this month that he supported their review of the policy that provides retreat rights for UNC system chan-cellors as part of a broader effort to contain administrative costs.

“Retreat rights are a cost to the university and they should be examined just like every-thing else that we spend money on,” Thorp said. “I think it is good to look at this and every other cost that we have in front of us.”

Under the BOG policy – adopted in 2005 – when chancellors who have served in that role for at least five years return to the class-room, they may “retreat” to a nine-month faculty position following one year of paid research leave at their full administrative sala-ries. Their faculty pay will be 60 percent of their ending administrative salaries.

In a July 31 letter to the BOG, UNC Presi-dent Erskine Bowles recommended reduc-ing chancellors’ paid leave to six months at an appropriate faculty salary and specify-ing beforehand the work expected during the leave.

The BOG took no action on the policy but will continue reviewing retreat rights for chancellors and other top-level university administrators this fall.

BOG Chair Hannah Gage said the policies governing retreat rights for administrators were put in place at a time of prosperity that has passed.

“Our new reality requires that we approach

everything differently,” Gage said. “Our chal-lenge now is a big one. It is to balance com-petitiveness with what is affordable for a pub-lic system in an era of limits.”

She said each policy should be weighed against three basic questions: Is it affordable? Is it necessary to stay competitive and main-tain a quality system? And does it make sense in the context of our times?

the ChANCellorS’ viewSThorp was among five UNC system chan-

cellors invited to speak about the importance of retreats – both as a recruitment tool to compete nationally for strong leaders and as needed time for a long-time administrator to re-tool for a return to the classroom.

John Bardo, chancellor at Western Caro-lina since 1995, and Rosemary DePaolo, chancellor at UNC-Wilmington for the past seven years, talked about their longevity in leadership posts being rare within the UNC system. Bardo is the longest serving chancel-lor in the system, followed by DePaolo.

Bardo said longevity was key to a chan-cellor being a transformational leader. Such leaders, he said, are needed at each university to implement UNC Tomorrow, which Bardo characterized as the most important initia-tive he had seen in 36 years in higher educa-tion. UNC Tomorrow is the UNC system’s response to the most pressing needs facing the state during the next 20 years.

“It not only is the roadmap to the future

of North Carolina, it is a model for the trans-formation of higher education in the United States,” Bardo said.

DePaolo spoke about the difficulty of leading in an environment in which people do not like to be led and are highly resistant to change.

“What we face, unlike any other world, is risk without control,” DePaolo said. “That’s OK. Most of us have gotten into these jobs knowing it. We know what a quirky world we live in, how unlike anything else that it is, and we love it. That’s why we’re there.

“But if we have done our job, we also know that we have accumulated an awful lot of angry baggage. And so we do need a cushion on which to fall back because falling back is all too likely.”

modiFied rightSBowles concurred that the educational

sector was the most difficult environment in which to manage. He agreed that retreat rights were a norm for university administrators throughout the country and that not having them would put the UNC system at a compet-itive disadvantage in attracting the best talent.

However, Bowles said, the UNC system rights were “slightly more generous” than they needed to be in terms of salary and length, and they lacked controls to ensure accountability.

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Usually, the flu takes a hiatus during the summer, but the H1N1 flu has not followed the typical pattern – and that has public health officials concerned.

The virus has continued to circulate worldwide through-out the summer. As the academic year begins and groups of people are in close contact daily, the H1N1 virus has the potential to spread easily. On top of that, flu transmission typically accelerates during the fall and winter.

The combination of these factors increases the likelihood that University students, faculty and staff could be exposed to someone with H1N1, either on or off campus, and con-tract the illness.

On Aug. 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion (CDC) issued new guidelines about the best ways to prevent spreading the H1N1 flu. Based on that informa-tion, the University developed new recommendations for when students, faculty or staff should stay home from work or school.

The campus e-mail message outlining these recommen-dations is posted on the Alert Carolina site, alertcarolina.unc.edu/go/doc/1395/281157. The University will con-tinue to provide updated information about H1N1 flu on Alert Carolina based on available data from health officials.

“We hope the University community will take these guidelines seriously,” said Mary Beth Koza, director of envi-ronment, health and safety. “It is absolutely essential that

people who develop flu-like symptoms seek treatment right away and take every precaution to keep from infecting their classmates, professors and co-workers.”

The best place to get information about the latest govern-mental updates is www.flu.gov, Koza said. University offi-cials are closely monitoring the latest developments.

As soon as the University has specific information about the availability and administration of the H1N1 vaccine, now under development, officials will notify the University community, she said. “We are working very closely with Orange County Health Department on this,” Koza said.

Because the vaccines may be released gradually beginning in October, the CDC developed a priority list to focus on immediate immunization for those most vulnerable to this specific flu strain, those most likely to spread the flu and sustaining health-care workers so they can assist the sick in a pandemic.

The most vulnerable groups include younger people (5–24 years of age), pregnant women, health-care person-nel and people who have underlying health conditions. Immunizing these groups first will help contain the spread of the flu during the vaccination roll-out period, which may take a few months, Koza said.

The H1N1 vaccine is different from the seasonal flu vac-cine. Flu shots for seasonal flu will be available for the Uni-versity community this fall, as in past years. Specific dates

and times for administering the shots will be posted on the environment, health and safety Web site, ehs.unc.edu.

CdC reCommeNdAtioNSAlthough H1N1 flu has proven to be relatively mild and

responsive to anti-viral drugs, the CDC recommends that everyone take the following actions to stay healthy:n Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough

or sneeze. n Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. n Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially

after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be used if soap and water are not available.

n Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

n Avoid close contact with sick people. The Department of Environment, Health and Safety,

www.ehs.unc.edu/healthy/h1n1.shtml, is leading Caro-lina’s response to the H1N1 flu in collaboration with the UNC Health Care System, UNC General Administration, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and the Orange County Department of Public Health.

For additional information about H1N1, refer to Alert Carolina at alertcarolina.unc.edu, the CDC at www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu and the United States government site, www.flu.gov.

University issues updated guidance about H1N1 influenza

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4 Univers i ty Gazette

Hettleman Prize winners

span the arts and sciences

Four highly promising professors in diverse fields have been awarded the Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prizes for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement by Young Faculty.

They are Norman Sharpless, associ-ate professor of medicine and genetics, and Brian Strahl, associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics, both in the School of Medicine; and Andrew Perrin, associate professor of sociology, and Jeff Whetstone, associate professor of art, both in the College of Arts and Sciences. The recipients will be recognized during the Sept. 4 Faculty Council meeting.

The Hettleman Prize, which carries a $5,000 stipend, recognizes the achieve-ments of outstanding junior tenure-track faculty or recently tenured faculty. Phil-lip Hettleman, who was born in 1899 and grew up in Goldsboro, established the award in 1986. He earned a scholarship to UNC, went to New York and in 1938 founded Hettleman & Co., a Wall Street investment firm.

PerriNA faculty member since 2001, Perrin

focuses on political sociology, culture and social theory. “His research is truly ground-breaking, drawing on an extraordinarily diverse set of disciplines to understand the constraints and opportunities for American democracy,” said Howard Aldrich, chair of the sociology department, in his nomina-tion letter.

Perrin’s latest book, “Citizen Speak: The Democratic Imagination in American

Life,” establishes a link between every-day conversation and political thought. Reviewers called it “a first-rate example of the sociological imagination at work” and “theoretically sophisticated, deftly argued and beautifully written.”

Perrin’s use of diverse methods to answer important sociological questions is impres-sive, Aldrich said. He collaborates exten-sively with graduate students to explore the cultural and social roots of American citizenship. In 2004, he received the depart-ment’s Rachel Rosenfeld Mentoring Award.

Fluent in German, Perrin translated and published an essay on public opinion by German sociologist Theodor W. Adorno. He is now completing a two-volume trans-lation of Adorno’s work on public opinion, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. He also is examining how people use letters to the editor as a way of “doing citizenship.”

ShArPleSSA noted researcher, clinician and

teacher, Sharpless is drawn to finding solu-tions to intriguing but difficult scientific problems, particularly those applicable to human cancer. His innovative research has included knocking out the p16INK4a gene in mice to demonstrate its role in preventing cancer and determining that expression of p16INK4a accumulates with age and is a bio-marker of human aging.

Currently, his research focuses on two “tumor suppressor” pathways that are inac-tivated in most, if not all, human cancers, and the role of these pathways in aging.

The scientist’s accomplishments, cha-risma and collegiality mark him as a leader in clinical translational science, said Shel-ton Earp, director of the Lineberger Com-prehensive Cancer Center, in his nomina-tion letter.

“Ned possesses a great intellect, an abil-ity to get to the heart of the matter, a pro-pensity for hard work and ambition to suc-ceed that strikes the right – not the wrong – note,” Earp said.

Sharpless, who has been at Carolina since 2002, recently was inducted on the first try into the American Society of Clini-cal Investigation, the nation’s oldest trans-lational research society.

StrAhlAs a postdoctoral fellow at the Univer-

sity of Virginia, Strahl established a reputa-tion based on his contributions to the “his-tone code” hypothesis, a new idea provid-ing insight into the function of chromatin. This work has potential for understanding and treating human disease, because the histone code is thought to regulate the accessibility of genetic information that controls cell growth and disease.

Strahl came to Carolina in 2002. His ability to combine biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics, as well as to incor-porate yeast and mammalian cell lines as models, “has enabled him to quickly become a leader in the chromatin/tran-scription field,” said Leslie Parise, chair of biochemistry and biophysics.

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new hospital doesn’t inherently change the quality of care patients receive, but it can certainly enhance the way care is provided. The new state-of-the-art

N.C. Cancer Hospital, scheduled to open next month, is a perfect example.

Not only will it provide sorely needed space to treat the patients who travel to Chapel Hill from across the state for their cancer care, it will bring together the many people who provide patient care and the researchers who work to develop new therapies.

Because cancer treatment relies on a team approach, having a facility designed with that in mind is vital, oncologists say. Ben-jamin Calvo, chief of the division of surgical oncology, believes the new hospital will allow physicians to access other specialists quickly in a way that simply isn’t possible in community hospi-tal settings and wasn’t possible at UNC until now.

“The N.C. Cancer Hospital gives the University opportu-nities to generate new knowledge of cancer therapies it never had before,” Calvo said in a video describing cancer care “then and now.”

Five years ago the N.C. General Assembly authorized $180 million to construct the 320,000-square-foot facility, soon to be the home for the UNC Health Care clinical cancer programs and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer

Center. Construction of the new hospital, which is part of the UNC Hospitals complex on Manning Drive, began in 2005.

It is designed to treat the growing number of UNC cancer patients, which in the last six years has increased 35 percent and is projected to double by the year 2020.

“People come to UNC from every corner of the state to receive the best cancer care,” said H. Shelton Earp III, Line-berger director, professor of pharmacology and medicine, and Lineberger Professor of Cancer Research.

“The University’s and School of Medicine’s departments and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have recruited and trained a stellar group of researchers and clinicians who work together to continually improve care options. The state’s investment in the new N.C. Cancer Hospital will enable these faculty to accelerate discovery of innovative treatments for peo-ple in all 100 North Carolina counties and beyond.”

At the end of July, more than 2,500 UNC Health Care employees had a chance to tour the new hospital and pay trib-ute to a loved one by placing a ribbon that included his or her

name on the ribbon wall.The hospital will be dedicated on Sept. 15, and the public is

invited to an open house on Sept. 26 from 1 to 3 p.m. People will have a chance to tour the new hospital and meet some of the health-care professionals who work there.

As the complexity of care in a disease like cancer increases, so does the need for resources that can keep pace with changes in the field, said Joel Tepper, professor of cancer research, in a “then and now” video. A facility like the N.C. Cancer Hospital provides the necessary space to conduct key research that will benefit patients, he said.

The hospital includes expanded multidisciplinary clinic and research space, specially designed facilities for high-technology tumor assessment imaging and treatment, a 50-bed inpatient unit, a state-of-the-art infusion suite and an environment that emphasizes natural light, indoor courtyards, gardens and pub-lic art. Also, teleconferencing facilities will connect University physicians with the state’s community-based physicians as they plan patient treatment.

For information about the hospital, refer to www.nccan cerhospital.org. To see videos describing the construction of the N.C. Cancer Hospital and to hear firsthand “then-and-now” accounts, refer to www.youtube.com/profile?user= uncmedicine&view=videos.

UnC’s state-of-the-art n.C. Cancer Hospital opens next month

the public is invited to an open house for the N.C.

Cancer hospital on Sept. 26 from 1 to 3 p.m.A

dick richardson, former provost and professor of political science, has received the Rotary International Foundation’s Global Service to Humanity Award for Zone 33, which includes North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Georgia. Richardson was cited in part for his volunteer work with Heifer Project Interna-tional, which provides 23 kinds of animals to indigent families in 100 countries, for his founding work with World View at UNC and as an advisory board member to Carolina for Kibera.

Author rUth moose, lecturer in the Creative Writing Program, was this year’s honoree for the North Carolina Writers Conference (NCWC), held on July 31 and Aug. 1 in Carthage. Each year the conference honors a North Carolina writer or liter-ary leader during its banquet. Moose was chosen for the NCWC honor for her talents as a writer and long-time teacher and as a leader in the literary community.

The International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), an asso-ciation that supports professionals who develop wellness and fitness facilities and services for age 50-plus adults, has named bonita marks, an associate professor of exercise physiol-ogy in the Exercise and Sport Science Department, to the new ICAA Visioning Board. Leaders appointed to the board will drive ICAA 2020, an initiative set up to create a vision for the future of active aging.

JaVed mostafa, associate professor at the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) has been appointed a Frances Carroll McColl Term Professor. The SILS-based pro-fessorship was established in 1997 to recognize faculty who have made notable contributions to research, teaching and service to SILS. It provides a salary supplement and funds for research and travel to a SILS faculty member for a two-year term.

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On Oct. 22, the University will host its first Thurs-day night football game in school history when the Tar Heels play the Florida State Seminoles. The

nationally televised game, which starts at 8 p.m. in Kenan Sta-dium, is expected to attract a large crowd of fans – and cars – to campus.

To help ease the anticipated traffic congestion, University officials have decided to change the time at which the work-day ends on Oct. 22 from 5 p.m. to 3 p.m.

“We anticipate that employees leaving campus at this earlier time should encounter significantly less inconve-nience,” said Brenda Richardson Malone, vice chancellor for human resources.

The Atlantic Coast Conference requires each conference school to play one home football game on a Thursday night. The University has met this obligation in the past by schedul-ing its “home” game in Charlotte.

This year, Chancellor Holden Thorp requested Caro-lina’s home game to be scheduled on Oct. 22, the Thursday evening of fall break, so the University could meet its obli-gation without playing football on an evening that classes were in session – and without requiring people to travel to Charlotte.

Employees who cannot work their regularly scheduled hours on Oct. 22 because of the workday schedule change will have to make up the hours or use available leave, Malone said.

“We have identified several options to allow employees to be paid for those hours without undue hardship,” she said.

“The Office of Human Resources encourages managers and supervisors to be as flexible as possible under these special circumstances.”

mAkiNg uP the timeOptions include:n Employees can work the additional hours during that

week, with management’s approval, by coming in early, staying late, working a reduced lunch break or some com-bination of the above on the other four days in that work week (Oct. 19, 20, 21 and 23);

n Employees can use available flexible furlough hours to cover the leave; or

n Employees can use any accrued compensatory time or their available vacation or bonus leave to cover the hours if they prefer.Second-shift employees should not be affected by this

change in the workday schedule unless they are otherwise notified by their supervisors, human resources officials said.

The football game will not require schedule changes for third-shift employees.

Employees in Facilities Services will receive additional information about work arrangements for Oct. 22.

For additional information on the work schedule change, employees should contact their assigned employee and management relations specialist in the Office of Human Resources (see HR Connect at hrconnect.unc.edu).

The Department of Public Safety will communicate spe-cific parking plans and arrangements closer to the game date.

University plans to end workday early Oct. 22 for Thursday night football

even deeper cuts earlier in the legislative session, Thorp said.

The University is able to maintain some man-agement flexibility, he added, and has worked to minimize the impact on Carolina’s overall research enterprise.

“While I know this is a hardship for our faculty and staff engaged in the hard work of conducting research to help people, please understand how difficult a job our legislators had in balancing com-peting interests,” Thorp said.

“Moving forward, our focus should be on con-tinuing to inspire the confidence of legislators in this important work so that it results in more, rather than less, flexibility in making our own deci-sions about spending reductions.”

State appropriations equal roughly one-quarter of the University’s total operating budget. Other funding sources include research grants and con-tracts, sales and services, tuition and fees, patient services endowment income and private gifts.

Even in the current economic climate, external research funding continues to grow. Carolina fac-ulty set a new record for external research funding – attracting more than $716 million in fiscal 2009 (see related story on page 6). And the University is well positioned to continue to attract federal research dollars available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Thorp said.

Although difficult financial decisions likely still lie ahead, he said, the University is prepared to deal with them. “But we can’t let the state’s finan-cial condition paralyze us from advancing the work of the University.”

To read Thorp’s message and other budget-related information, refer to the Carolina Budget Information Web site, universityrelations.unc.edu/budget.

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Thorp said Bowles’ proposal to modify retreat rights was reasonable, and added that going for-ward it was important to make sure the best peo-ple led the UNC system universities.

Too few people would be willing to take on such demanding jobs, he said, if they were not assured of being able to return to what they are at heart – faculty members.

On Aug. 14, the day after the discussion, the BOG moved to scale back the pay of former N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger to $173,000 annually, an amount commensurate with other faculty salaries there. Under an agree-ment he signed when he resigned earlier this year, Oblinger was to be paid his full administrative salary, $35,000 a month, for six months.

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6 Univers i ty Gazette

Courtland Smith from Houston, a junior biology major who was serving as president of the UNC chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

“There is nothing worse than losing a young person. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as they grieve and cope with such a great loss,” said Chancellor Holden Thorp in a message to the campus community on Monday.

The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting death of Smith in an incident on Interstate 85 involving the Archdale police early Sunday morning.

On Monday, the University had counselors available to talk with members of the Carolina community. Students also were encouraged to visit Counseling and Wellness Services or to contact the Office of the Dean of Students.

stUdents from page 1

The University’s research grants and con-tracts totaled $716 million in fiscal 2009, the largest amount to date.

The tally is up 5.6 percent from the $678 mil-lion received last year, and more than double the amount from a decade ago. The contracts and grants come primarily from the federal government – especially the National Insti-tutes of Health (NIH) and the National Sci-ence Foundation. The NIH is traditionally the University’s largest source of research funding.

“Very few universities are showing these kinds of results for important research that will help improve people’s lives and advance

knowledge,” Chancellor Holden Thorp said. “This success speaks directly to the quality of the research our faculty are conducting. In the current economic downturn, it’s great for North Carolina that our research enterprise is bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into the state.”

Another positive trend is the faculty’s strong performance in attracting new federal research funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), said Tony Wal-drop, vice chancellor for research and economic development. Those results – nearly $20 mil-lion through the end of July – make up only a small portion of the fiscal 2009 overall numbers.

Administrators expect ongoing success in seeking ARRA funding over the next two years.

The School of Medicine attracted $349.6 million in fiscal 2009, accounting for almost 49 percent of the University’s total.

Results from other top-performing units in fiscal 2009 include:n Vice Chancellor Research and Economic

Development: $133.7 million, up 8 percent;n Gillings School of Global Public Health:

$97 million, up 54 percent; n School of Pharmacy: $20.2 million, up 22

percent; n School of Dentistry: $13.5 million, up 25

percent; andn School of Information and Library Science:

$7.7 million, up 572 percent.Among individual departments and UNC-

based centers and institutes, the Carolina Population Center had the highest research awards total, at $54.2 million.

In many cases, researchers from multiple schools, departments and units collaborate on research grants, contracts and studies, reflect-ing the University’s emphasis on interdisci-plinary teaching and scholarship.

For more information on UNC research trends, refer to research.unc.edu.

University research funding for 2009 totals a record $716 million

at right, history professor Louis Perez ad-dresses first-year students during the aug. 23 convocation in the smith Center. at far right, student Meggie staffiera helps display the Class of 2013 banner during the afternoon convocation.

top left, Chancellor Holden thorp greets Walter vatcher as he helps his daughter, first-year student Hayley, move into Morrison residence Hall on aug. 22. below, first-year student venneikia Williams of Winston-salem grabs a bag as she prepares to move in.

thorp revs up the crowd during fall fest on aug. 23 by showing off the nCaa national basketball Championship trophy as some of this year’s bas-ketball team looks on.

African American 11.5 percentAsian American 8.9 percentAmerican Indian 1.1 percentCaucasian 67.3 percentHawaiian, Pacific Islander 0.1 percentHispanic 5.9 percentOther 2.9 percentNot reported 2.3 percent

ETHNIC BREAKDOWN OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

august 26, 2009 7

It has been a year now since Steve Matson took over as dean of the Graduate School – enough time for friends and colleagues to ask him if he likes the job.

The answer, Matson said, is unequivocally yes. “I have been challenged, which is a posi-tive thing, and I have learned that I like essen-tially all elements of the job.”

A member of the faculty since 1983 and a former chair of the biology department, Mat-son is widely respected for his work in the field of genetics and molecular biology.

He now oversees more than 8,000 graduate students in the University’s 66 doctoral and 100 masters programs. Matson said one of his most delightful discoveries is the consistency in excellence.

“I have learned over the past year how good we really are – and how good we are every-where,” Matson said.

His predecessor, Linda Dykstra, teamed with former University trustee Rusty Carter to shine a light on the needs of graduate students and the vital role they play in driving the Uni-versity’s research.

Part of his job, Matson said, is to continue to advocate for graduate students and explain their importance to both the University’s teaching and research missions.

“Many people believe graduate students are here to implement the research agenda of a faculty member, and while it may start that way it doesn’t finish that way,” Matson said.

“In that vein, being a graduate student is not unlike an apprenticeship where you are learning from the master, if you will, the craft or trade. Over time, not only do you absorb everything the master has to teach, but you begin to have your own set of ideas, and then ultimately, you become the teacher.”

FiNANCiAl ChAlleNgeSWhen he took over as dean in July 2008,

Matson had no way of knowing that the country was on the cusp of the largest economic down-turn since the Great Depression – a financial situation that sent budget cuts rippling through the University.

He is grateful that the Gradu-ate School has been able to absorb the cuts in state funding without laying off employees – and just as importantly to Matson – without “balancing the budget on the backs of our students.”

Two key factors have given the Graduate School some needed help, and Matson is thankful for both: The num-ber of donors to the Graduate School has significantly increased this past year, and Chancellor Holden Thorp estab-lished a $2 million grant for a new program called Chancellors Fellows.

The first cohort of 10 or 11 student fellows will arrive on campus this fall and another 10 or 11 students will arrive in fall 2010, Matson said.

Each Chancellor’s Fellow is guaranteed five years of financial support in the form of stipends and tuition assistance. As part of the program, first-year graduate students will be freed from teaching duties to begin work on their doctoral degrees.

Matson would like to see all first-year grad-uate students have that same opportunity – something for which the school now lacks the resources.

Another financial challenge, Matson said, was erasing the significant deficit in the tuition remission budget he inherited.

Tuition remission is funding for out-of-state graduate students that pays the difference

between in-state and out-of-state tuition. It is a major recruitment tool to attract the most talented students from all 50 states and around the world, he said.

With the support of the Office of the Provost and the Budget Committee, which allocates discretionary funding to meet Uni-versity priorities, Matson was able to lift tuition remissions out of the red.

He instituted a structural change in the fund distribution beginning this fall. Instead of offering tuition remission to all qualified students whose departments request it, each department will receive a set amount of money to offer its students. Matson hopes this alloca-tion system is temporary and that the Gradu-ate School will be able to support all tuition remission requests when the economic climate improves and resources increase.

FeeliNg CoNNeCtedMatson also is focusing on helping graduate

students overcome the sense of isolation they

all too often feel, both within the graduate com-munity and the broader University community.

The Graduate Student Center, which opened about two years ago, is one place they can go for social activities and professional development activities.

Similarly, several years ago the Office of Undergraduate Research started a program called Graduate Research Consultants to build a bridge between graduate students and undergraduates. The graduate student consul-tants work in the classroom to help undergrad-uates with their research projects.

Another long-standing program, the Roys-ter Society of Fellows, was launched in 1996 as the graduate-level equivalent of the More-head-Cain Scholars program for undergradu-ates. Named in honor of Thomas S. Royster Jr. and Caroline H. Royster, the program is designed to broaden students’ intellectual horizons and develop their leadership skills

Matson focuses on graduate students’ contributions, needs

steve Matson, dean of the graduate school, poses near the fountain in front of bynum Hall, the school’s home.

His accomplishments, creativity and collaborative approach to research have earned Strahl acclaim at the national level.

In 2004, he received an award from the Pew Scholars Pro-gram in the Biomedical Sciences, and recently he received a prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This year, he received a EUREKA award from the National Institutes for Health for “exceptionally innovative research projects that could have an extraordinarily significant impact on many areas of science.”

whetStoNeA noted artist-photographer who has been on the Caro-

lina faculty since 2001, Whetstone draws on his background in zoology and photography to photograph and write about the human relationship to the land – something his art has reflected for nearly two decades.

“Clearly Jeff Whetstone is a rising star,” said Mary Sheriff, chair of the art department, in her nominating letter.

Whetstone has broad experience as a documentarian, although his recent work includes a “more poetic and pro-found interrogation of his subjects, often blurring the dis-tinction between natural and cultural formations as well as

that between objective rendering and subjective expression,” Sheriff said.

Much of Whetstone’s art explores the nature and culture of the Southeast. For example, he uses images of humans and ani-mals to examine what constitutes wilderness.

As a result, viewers are engaged both intellectually and emo-tionally, Sheriff said. Whetstone’s newest project, Post-Pleisto-cene, depicts modern cave art of the Southeast’s Cumberland Plateau region.

Named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2007, the “biologist at heart” traveled through North America photographing what he called the “nascent wilderness all around us.”

HettLeMan from page 4

see Matson page 11

8 Univers i ty Gazette

uPComiNg leCtureSn On Sept. 1, Western Kentucky University communication

professor Carl Kell will discuss Southern Baptists and race relations at the Hill Alumni Center. His free public lecture, “Build the Wall … Save the Castle: Southern Baptists and Race Relations,” is one of the James A. Hutchins Lectures presented by the Center for the Study of the American South with support from the General Alumni Association. The talk begins at 4 p.m. For information, call 962-5665 or see www.uncsouth.org.

n Diana Lipton, lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Stud-ies at King’s College in London, will give a talk titled “‘And We Were Together’: Solomon’s Window on Two Biblical Worldviews” on Sept. 1 at 5 p.m. in Hyde Hall. It is spon-sored by the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies.

n On Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m., collage artist Aldwyth, whose ret-rospective has been on view since May at the Ackland Art Museum, will speak about her work in a free public lecture, part of the Hanes Visiting Artist Lecture Series. Her presen-tation will be in the Hanes Art Center auditorium.

n Geza Vermes, emeritus professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford University, will give the Eli N. Evans Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Studies on Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Friday Cen-ter. His talk is titled “Sixty Years of Wrestling with the Dead Sea Scrolls.” www.unc.edu/ccjs/events.html

n On Sept. 17, James A. Joseph, Professor of the Practice of Public Policy Studies at Duke University and for-mer U.S. ambassador to South Africa, will give the Thomas Willis Lambeth Lectureship in Public Pol-icy: “Remaking America: Higher Education and Civic Engagement.” Free and open to the public, it will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Gerrard Hall. A reception follows.

n Excellence Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Oliver Smithies will lead the semester’s first Carolina Innova-tions Seminar on Sept. 3 with his talk, “A Nobel Laureate’s Perspective on the Global Impact of Evolving Research Meth-odologies.” Sponsored by the Office of Tech-nology Development, the event will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in 014 Sitterson Hall.

snipurl.com/eea30

trANSit NewSA new trial bus route

serving Chatham County, UNC, Chapel Hill and Carrboro went into service Aug. 24. Carolina and UNC Health Care employees with addresses within the route area are eligible for free passes by registering with the Commuter Alternative Program and requesting the Chatham bus pass. See snipurl.com/qjgrs.

In addition, as the new school year has begun, visit the Department of Public Safety’s Web site (snipurl.com/qjga9) to review changes made to parking and bus routes over the sum-mer. For information on Triangle Transit, call 485-RIDE or see triangletransit.org.

reAdiNgS At the bull’S heAdOn Sept. 16, Michael Taeckens, Margaret Sartor and Patty

Van Norman will read from their new book, “Love Is a Four-letter Word: True Stories of Breakups, Bad Relationships and Broken Hearts,” at the Bull’s Head Bookshop.

On Sept. 17, Mac McCaughan and Laura Balance will read from their new book, “Our Noise,” which tells the story of the Durham record company Merge Records.

Readings are free and open to the public and begin at 3:30 p.m.

AN AmeriCAN iNdiAN welCome On Aug. 27 at 5:30 p.m. the American Indian Center will

host a Welcome Extravaganza on the lawn of Abernethy Hall. Live music and dancing will be performed by drum groups

and intertribal dancers. American Indian student organiza-tions will provide information about their activities, as well as the offices of diversity and multicultural affairs and Student Academic Counseling.

‘From CAroliNA blue to CAroliNA greeN’

Have you recognized ways to cut costs, increase environ-mental sustainability or reduce resource consumption within your department or somewhere else on campus?

The University Management Development Program's "From Carolina Blue to Carolina Green Team" is sponsoring a contest for permanent faculty and staff to submit innovative, practical and creative solutions to help make UNC a little more green. All ideas, regardless of scale, are welcome, but preference will be given to those ideas that are achievable in a short period of time and are reasonably inexpensive to implement. Winners will be selected and announced in late fall, and the best ideas will be presented to administrators at the University.

Send submissions by Oct. 15 to CarolinaBlueToCaro-linaGreen@unc.edu. Include name, e-mail address, phone number, department, job title and brief summary of ideas.

ProCeSS SerieS kiCkS oFF SePt. 4“Afterimages of the Disappeared,” a one-woman perfor-

mance about the Dirty War in Argentina from 1976 to 1983 in which nine members of one woman’s family were killed by the

Argentine military, is the first show in this year’s Pro-cess Series.

The series, which began last year, is a collaboration among University units including the departments of dramatic art and com-munication studies. Works are performed free of charge and discussed afterward by their authors and audi- ence members.

All performances will be held in Gerrard Hall. “After-images of the Disappeared” will be performed at 8 p.m. on Sept. 4 and Sept. 5.

To learn more about the series, refer to unc-news.unc.edu/content/view/2777/66 or contact Joseph Megel, UNC artist-in-residence and the series director (843-7067 or megel@email.unc.edu).

eNter globAl Photo exhibit

Entries are due by Sept. 18 for the Center for Global Initiatives’ 10th Annual International Photography

Newsi n b r i e f

mike dAiSey briNgS hiS oNe-mAN Show, the true story of his journey to

a remote South Pacific island whose inhabitants worship America as a source

of power and plenty, to Playmakers repertory Company Sept. 16-20. the show

will open the theater’s PrC2 second stage season. interweaving the islanders’

poignant tale with a penetrating examination of today’s global financial crisis,

daisey creates an unforgettable evening of storytelling. “the last Cargo Cult”

is part adventure story, part memoir and an unforgettable exploration of how

money makes the world go ‘round. tickets are $24 to $32 and may be purchased

at the box office (962-PlAy) or web site (www.playmakersrep.org).

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august 26, 2009 9

Competition. Open to all faculty, staff, students and alumni, entries will be judged on artistic merit and their representation of a cross-cultural or international experi-ence. snipurl.com/qj2n6

librAry exhibitS ComPlemeNt literAry FeStivAl

Three free, public exhibits in the Wilson Special Col-lections Library will add historic depth to the North Car-olina Literary Festival. n “Four from between the Wars: Paul Green, Thomas

Wolfe, Robert Ruark and Walker Percy,” on view in the Melba Remig Saltarelli Exhibit Room through Sept. 30, examines the lives and legacies of four literary alumni. Approximately 75 historic photographs, rare printed items and original documents illustrate the develop-ment of these students into some of the South’s best-known writers of the 20th century.

n “Author to Author: Literary Letters from the Southern Historical Collection” illuminates ties within the com-munity of Southern writers during much of the 20th century. On view through Sept. 30 on the 4th floor of Wilson Library will be original letters by authors including Clyde Edgerton, Gail Godwin, Langston Hughes and Jill McCorkle, as well as additional materi-als related to authors featured in "Four from between the Wars.”

n “Consecrated to the Common Good: 100 Years of Journalism Education at UNC-Chapel Hill” will open Sept. 9 in the North Carolina Collection Gallery. On view will be items related to famous alumni including Charles Kurault and Jeff MacNelly, as well as the his-tory of journalism education at UNC as told through documents, publications and photographs. The exhibit will remain open through Jan. 31, 2010, in conjunction with celebrations planned by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. library.unc.edu/Wilson

‘lAtiNo PortrAit’ ProjeCt SoliCitS videoS

The 2009 Latin American Film Festival invites members of the local and University communities to submit videos for the “Latino Portrait” project. Videos, no more than five minutes long, should be submitted by Oct. 15.

Selected videos will be screened during the film festival, which will take place in November, and will become part of the collection of the Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Carolina and Duke.

In addition, some may be broadcast on local television. latinfilmfestivalnc.com

FAll eveNtS At StoNe CeNter A Grammy-nominated Afro-Puerto Rican ensemble and an

art exhibition featuring the latest work of a Moroccan-born art-ist will be among the fall programs at the Stone Center.

The center also will host international visiting fellows Sept. 4–11 from the Instituto Universitario de Barlovento of Ven-ezuela for a weeklong residency that will include meetings on a proposed study-abroad program.

On Sept. 16, as part of the center’s ongoing Diaspora Festival

of Black and Independent Film, “My Name Is Albert Ayler” will be screened at 7 p.m. The documentary chronicles the life of 1960s avant-garde jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler from his native Cleveland to Sweden and then to New York.

For complete information about the center’s programming, see sonjahaynesstonectr.unc.edu.

hiStoriAN diSCuSSeS world wAr iiWorld War II historian Gerhard L. Weinberg will lead a dis-

cussion of “The 70th Anniversary of the Outbreak of World War II” on Sept. 12 from 9:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. as part of the Program in the Humanities and Human Values’ Adventures in Ideas series.

During this one-day seminar Weinberg will discuss the causes of the conflict, the intentions of the belligerents and the road to war. Tuition is $125 ($110 by Sept. 4) with optional lunch for $15. Pre-registration is required: adventuresinideas.unc.edu.

red ClAy rAmblerS PerForm loCAlly, releASe New Cd

The Red Clay Ramblers, North Carolina’s Tony Award-win-ning string band, kick off their 38th performance season with a new CD and three local dates in September and October.

“Old North State,” a collection of traditional and origi-nal songs, will be released Oct. 1. Performances will be Sept. 12 with the North Carolina Symphony at Moore Square in Raleigh, Oct. 23 at Chatham Mills in Pittsboro and Oct. 24 at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

Pianist for the group is Bland Simpson, Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor of English and Creative Writing.

AgiNg reSeArCh iS FoCuS oF SePt. 15 eveNt

The UNC Institute on Aging will host the Sixth Annual Aging Exchange from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 15 at the Friday Center.

Among the evening’s activities, Larry Adelman, co-director of California Newsreel and executive producer of the PBS series “Unnatural Causes,” will give the key-note address at the associated Prevention Research Cen-ters’ Healthy Aging Research Network meeting.

The event is free and open to the public but advance requistration is required: snipurl.com/qldwr.

iS teChNology AlwAyS good iN the ClASSroom?

When does technology become a hindrance instead of an aid to learning? Join Vinodh Venkatesh of the Depart-ment of Romance Languages for “A Study of Facebook and Learning Management Systems for Course Manage-ment” on Sept 16 at 3:30 p.m. in Toy Lounge in Dey Hall.

Venkatesh will discuss how integrating popular soft-ware and Web 2.0 technology can create, sustain and promote student learning in and out of the classroom. To register for the free event, refer to snipurl.com/qle25.

The event is sponsored by ITS Teaching and Learning and the Center for Faculty Excellence.

PlAymAkerS iNtroduCeS the viSioN SerieS

PlayMakers Repertory Company will begin a new program-ming series in conjunction with its 2009-10 Mainstage Season: “The Vision Series – Directors in Conversation.”

With the series, PlayMakers will invite visitors to the Paul Green Theatre to share refreshments while learning about one of its productions in process.

Meet the director and get a behind-the-scenes look at the design and vision for each show.

NewS iN brieF SubmiSSioNSNext issue includes events from Sept. 17 to Sept. 30. deadline for submissions is 5 p.m., Fri., Sept. 4. e-mail gazette@unc.edu. Fax: 843-5966; clearly mark for the gazette. Campus box# 6205. the gazette events page includes only items of general interest geared toward a broad audience. For complete listings of events, including athletics, see the Carolina events Calendars at www.unc.edu/events.

see neWs in brief page 11

viva La revoLUCión “almost now: Cuban art, Cinema and Politics in the 1960s and 1970s,” which opens aug. 29 at the ack-land art Museum, kicks off a group of programs at Carolina that focus on Cuban history, art and cinema. all are viewed against the backdrop of the 50-year anniversary of the Cuban revolution in which fidel Castro led the armed revolt that overthrew the U.s.-backed dictator fulgencio batista. the ackland exhibit includes 16 Cuban cinema posters – a recent gift by eminent art histo-rian, collector and alumnus david Craven. ‘almost now’ exam-ines the central role that artists, filmmakers and film audiences have played in Cuban cultural and political discourse in the last 50 years.for more information on upcoming programs, visit the institute for the study of the americas’ Web site: ilas.unc.edu.

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Carolinaw o r k i n g at

stUdent aCCoUntsLaura devonCassandra gregoryshawn Johnsonbarbara sheppard

sUrgeryPauline archieJohn Hartwicktammie Johnsonrobby Knightstacey owenLynn West

traveL serviCesPhilip easlerbeverly gibsonedward norlandPatricia tayloe

bioLogyshaunna CarltonMelinda Holland

Latin aMeriCan stUdiesshelley ClarkeHannah gillbeatriz riefkohl Muniz

PUbLiC safetyMichael akridgeMichael Cranerichard ConferJames ellisrasheem HollandJames Leeronnie sykesedward Wotortsi

sCHooL of LaWerin adairfredia banks-MarshPatricia Hennesseydawn LynnMaria Manganosusan osmetMelissa Wood-saltzman

WUnCfalcon arendellJennifer bowlingfreddy JenkinsPatty Painter-Wakefield

vC for finanCe and adMinistrationLinda Convissortrevaughn eubanksJonathan Howessandra tysor

arts & sCienCesying Langthomas MoriartyKevin Moyesean semoneaaron shah

gerManKaren gejewskiPam tharp

PsyCHiatryCarolyn bellonChad ChappellKevin dupontshirley Mortertoni Padrickamanda teer

eqUaL oPPortUnity/ ada offiCeLorri dolingerann Pennbrenda siler

botaniCaL gardensMatthew gockeshanna oberreitergrant ParkinsCharles tomberlin

MediCinefred fullershirley Willard

institUtionaL researCHKitti ballengerChris ellersanna Lizhen zhang

HUManitiesCaroline dyarbrian entzmingersusan Landstrom

eXerCise & sPort sCienCeJason HaleyJohn HauserJoel McLawhorn

faCiLities serviCesJoey baldwinbobbie Lesanegwen Longbetty Wilkersontyrone Woodard

HoUsing and residentiaL edUCationbrandy Cavinessannice fisherLee HydeJustin Lukasewiczandrew Williams

StAr heelS

StAte budget AFFeCtS tuitioN wAiver PoliCy

The state budget approved by legislators earlier this month included a change to the UNC system’s tuition waiver policy, reducing the number of free courses a full-time faculty or staff member may take per academic year from three to two. This change is retroactive to July 1 and goes into effect for the 2009–10 academic year.

The deadline to request a tuition waiver for fall 2009 is Aug. 31. An updated version of the tuition waiver request form is available at hr.unc.edu/Data/benefits/tuitionprograms/tuitionwaiver.

Tuition waiver deadlines may vary from institution to insti-tution. Employees are responsible for knowing the deadline applicable to the institution at which they are enrolled.

For additional information, contact Benefits Services at 962-3071 or benefits@unc.edu.

weight wAtCherS At work holdS oPeN houSe oN SePt. 4

People who are looking to make some positive health changes can check out the next series of Weight Watchers at Work and join the current “At Work” members, who have lost more than 900 pounds in the past 19 months.

Weight Watchers’ new Momentum program focuses on los-ing weight and keeping it off by learning to choose food that keeps you feeling full longer so you don’t eat for the wrong

reasons. Meetings include practical strategies to help you reach your goals, comprehensive step-by-step plan materials and guidance from trained leaders who have lost weight with Weight Watchers and have kept it off.

To join the next 12-week series or get more informa-tion, come to the Weight Watchers open house on Sept. 4 at 11:30 a.m. at the Administrative Office Building, 104 Airport Dr. For more information about cost, program features and start times, contact benefits@unc.edu.

regiSter For bASiC CleriCAl SkillS ProgrAm FAll boot CAmP

Sessions for the fall Clerical Assistant Boot Camp, the first phase of the Basic Clerical Skills program offered by the Office of Human Resources, are about to begin. Employees must complete the boot camp before they apply to the clerical skills program.

The boot camp gives participants an opportunity to begin learning the basic functions and activities of an office environ-ment and helps them determine if a clerical position is their desired career path.

Sessions will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays between Sept. 1 and Oct. 13, from noon to 3 p.m. at the Orange County Skills Development Center on Franklin Street. Participating in this program is considered work time.

To register or ask questions, call Training & Development at 962-2550.

humAN reSourCeS brieFS

Judith Cone, vice president of emerging strategies for the Kauffman Foundation, has been appointed special assistant for innova-tion and entrepreneurship at Carolina. Her appointment is temporary, up to 18 months.

“Our goal is to develop strategies that foster innovation and entrepreneurship in all aspects of the University’s mission, and I can’t imagine a better person to help lead that effort,” Chancellor Holden Thorp said in announcing Cone’s role.

At Kauffman, Cone developed many of the foundation’s signature entrepreneurship ini-tiatives, including the Kauffman Campuses Initiative through which the University’s Caro-lina Entrepreneurial Initiative was created.

Cone to help foster innovation, entrepreneurship

For the reCord

A story in the Aug. 12 Gazette included errors about Connie Bullock, one of the public safety officers who talked about per-sonal safety at the Aug. 5 Employee Forum meeting. He is support services captain in the Department of Public Safety.

poets to novelists and genres ranging from thrillers and memoirs to romance and award-winning literature, the festival will be a land-mark event for the Triangle that no one will want to miss.”

All events are free and open to the public.The libraries of UNC and Duke and N.C. State universities, with

additional support from N.C. Central University, organize and

sponsor the festival, whose location rotates biennially among the Carolina, Duke and NCSU campuses. Since the festival began, it has been held in 1998 and 2002 at Carolina, 2004 at NCSU and 2006 at Duke. The festival is supported by private gifts and grants.

By the time Sept. 10 rolls around, the festival will already have been in full swing across the state for some writers. On Aug. 22,

authors Charles F. Price and Daniel Wallace brought the festival to Pack Memorial Library in Asheville and the New Hanover County Public Library in Wilm-ington, respectively, and participated in reading and discussion programs for residents in those cities.

Also scheduled to participate in the extended festi-val are Alan Gurganus (Sheppard Memorial Library in Greenville – Aug. 25), P.T. Deutermann (Cumberland County Library in Fayetteville – Sept. 1), Joan Medli-

cott (Patrick Beaver Memorial Library in Hickory – Sept. 1) and Randall Kenan (Forsyth County Public Library in Winston-Salem – Sept. 8).

iNdex oF eveNtSThe festival Web site, including the Frequently

Asked Questions page, is the best source of information (www.ncliteraryfestival.org). While all sessions are free of charge, some do require tickets to reserve seats.

keyNote AddreSSeSn John Grisham and Kathy Reichs – Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Hall: “From Reality to Fiction.” Grisham and Reichs discuss how their professional careers as a lawyer and a forensic anthropologist, respectively, have influenced their stories and writing. Requires tickets.n Anna Deveare Smith – Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m., Memorial Hall: “Finding Grace and Kindness in a Winner Take All Society.” Smith presents the Frank Porter Graham Lecture with commentary and performance based on people she has interviewed on the topic of grace in the face of hardship. n Elizabeth Strout – Sept. 12, 5:30 p.m., Memorial Hall. Strout reads from and discusses her Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Olive Kitteridge.” Requires tickets.

PerFormANCeSn “The Good Ol’ Girls” – Jill McCorkle, Lee Smith, Marshall Chapman and Matraca Berg. Sept. 12, 8 p.m., Memorial Hall. Authors Smith and McCorkle read from their works while Nashville musicians Berg and Chap-man perform accompanying songs. Requires tickets.n “The Bible Salesman” – Clyde Edgerton and Mike Craver. Sept. 13, 4 p.m., Memorial Hall. Edgerton and Craver perform a musical rendition of Edgerton’s book. Requires tickets.

august 26, 2009 11

A Vision Series event will take place as a preview for each of the theatre’s Mainstage season plays. PlayMakers’ first gathering will be on Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the theatre’s regional premiere of “Opus” by Michael Hollinger.

“Opus” kicks off the theatre’s 34th season and will be onstage Sept 23 through Oct. 11.

The Vision Series is free and open to the public. Reservations are encouraged by call-ing the box office (962-PLAY).

www.playmakersrep.org

gArdeN iNAugurAteS New CeNter with FAll eveNtS

The North Carolina Botanical Garden is moving its educational outreach activities and administrative offices out of the Totten Center and into the new Education Cen-ter off Old Mason Farm Road at the end of August.

Beginning in September, a series of events will inaugurate the public offerings of the new facility.

Among them are an exhibit of student art-work of the garden’s botanical illustration certificate program that opens Sept. 1, and “Celebrating Life Forces,” the Sculpture in the Garden exhibition that opens Sept. 12.

On Sept. 10 and 17 a “Local Trees” work-shop will be held; on Sept. 12 the “Fall Is for Planting” sale will be held; and “Blazing Stars,” an after-school nature club, begins on Sept. 15.

Refer to the garden’s Web site for com-plete information about costs – if any – and registration for activities: ncgb.unc.edu.

CAmPuS reCreAtioN oFFerS kidS roCk!

Kids ROCK! – the popular series of activi-ties for parents to do with their children – returns this fall on Sept. 12 with an intro-duction to basic lacrosse with the women’s lacrosse team at Hooker Fields.

It will be followed on Sept. 26 with an introduction to soccer by the women’s soccer team.

The program is free. The only require-ments are that parents accompany their children and that reservations be made two days before an event to Meghann Martinez (meghannm@email.unc.edu).

See snipurl.com/qleqy for more informa-tion and the complete lineup of activities.

PubliC ServiCe FAir SePt. 11More than 40 local nonprofit organizations

will in the Pit on Sept. 11 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the 10th Annual Public Service Fair. Sept. 11 has been designated as the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The event is sponsored on campus by the Carolina Center for Public Service.

Employees are entitled to paid community service leave each year. snipurl.com/qlpuc

neWs in brief from page 9

through discussions with other fellows, pre-sentations and outreach.

Thanks to the Roysters’ ongoing gener-osity, Matson said, the Graduate School has created a Royster professorship, the school’s first chaired professorship. This faculty member will serve as the Royster fel-lows’ director and provide leadership and

mentoring for this interdisciplinary group of graduate students, now numbering more than 100 fellows each year.

Matson has not given up his role as a biology professor despite his wife’s good-natured complaints about not seeing him much during the past year because of his two full-time jobs. But Matson sees keeping

his old job as a requirement for being able to do his new one well.

“Research is what I was trained to do and is something I would really miss if I wasn’t doing it,” Matson said. “But beyond that, I think it helps make me a credible admin-istrator – somebody who actually knows what graduate education is all about.”

Matson from page 7

Literary festivaL from page 1

stroUtsMitHreiCHs grisHaM

Let’s go, Mommy!First grader D’erica Cotton tugs on

Felicia Harper’s hand, eager to begin her first day at Union Independent School in Durham. It is Aug. 19, the long-awaited opening day of the free private school for the children of economically distressed northeast-central Durham.

Nearly 70 little ones arrive in new uniforms: dark blue pants or skirts and neckties with pale yellow shirts – to which some parents have added matching blue and yellow hair ribbons or beads and lacy yellow socks.

Two men in dark GQ suits, both beaming, tower above the deluge of energetic kinder-gartners through second-graders. They are giants in more ways than by comparison to the munchkin-high youngsters scurrying about their knees.

Eight years ago, the idea for the school took hold of Rev. Kenneth Hammond of Union Baptist Church on North Roxboro Street in Durham and James H. Johnson Jr., the Wil-liam R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Union Independent was created in a col-laboration between the church and Johnson’s Urban Investment Strategies Center at the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise. The institute is an arm of the busi-ness school that seeks to apply University resources and brainpower to real-world issues. Union Baptist raised $2 million and borrowed $8 million to buy land across the street and construct the 49,000 square-foot building.

Johnson, a member of Union Baptist, designed an operating model for the school that adds special elements to the North Carolina standard course of study: nutri-tion education, character development,

entrepreneurship, global awareness and economic liter-acy. The school will operate year-round from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, to provide extra tutor-ing and enrichment as much as to keep kids off the streets.

D u r i n g t h e extended-day pro-g r a m , s t u d e n t s will learn about poetry and plays and practice writ-ing, vocabulary and public speaking. They also will play outside in secured playgrounds or in- side the school’s full-size gym. Dur-ing the traditional school day, they’ll study language arts, math, science, social studies, theater and Spanish.

“The goal is to have them bilingual by eighth grade,” said Head of School Troy K. Weaver.

All this takes place in a community where drug deals and gang activity are common. Half of all households are headed by single females, 98 percent of residents are minorities and 40 percent of the children live in households with incomes below the federal poverty level.

“From the streets to the suites” is where Johnson hopes Union Independent will take them. The school will add a new kindergar-ten class and another grade every year until it teaches students through the eighth grade. Eventually, Johnson and Hammond believe,

the facility can also be used for health care, fitness, healthy cooking classes and more for adults in the area.

“Maybe people will change,” Harper said.“It’s wonderful to see a vision coming into

focus,” said Johnson, who has brought to bear his years of research on urban areas, inequality and underprivileged youth to design the oper-ating model.

“There’s no better experience than to see young, excited kids coming to this school. Their job is to be excited. Our job is to main-tain it. We have a talented staff committed to making sure these kids get to where they need to go.”

Johnson grew up poor in Eastern North Carolina. He earned a doctorate in geogra-phy at age 26 and went on to teach at UCLA, studying urban poverty and how to build bridges between academic research and social action – between the haves and the have-nots.

At Kenan-Flagler, Johnson teaches courses on entrepreneurial and business-oriented strategies and approaches to poverty allevia-tion, job creation and community economic development.

“There are pressing social problems we should be addressing, and I had to do some-thing,” he told Fast Company magazine in a 2007 story (www.fastcompany.com/maga-zine/38/johnson.html). “I’ve always believed I was put on this Earth to make a difference.”

Soon after coming to Carolina in 1992, Johnson got to know the late Frank Hawkins Kenan, then chair of the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust.

“One of the first times we met, he talked about how kids from the inner city needed something other than drug dealing and basket-ball,” Johnson said.

Their collaboration produced the Durham Scholars Program for kids in northeast-cen-tral Durham, an after-school, weekend and summer tutoring and enrichment program for sixth- through 12th-graders, housed at Union Baptist.

Since 1996, there have been 240 Durham Scholars. Eighty percent of the students gradu-ated from high school, and half went to col-lege. Each graduate qualified for a $10,000 col-lege scholarship from the Kenan Trust, which committed some $10 million to the program.

Durham Scholars taught Johnson and Ham-mond a great deal about working with under-privileged children. “We needed intervention that began much earlier,” said Hammond.

Now, budding new friendships blend with fun, learning and discipline from day one at Union Independent.

“When we are outside our classroom, we need to be in one line,” second-grade teacher Villa Gaddy tells her class. “We should be still and our hands should be down at our sides.” Everyone must face forward before the line can move.

After lunch, second-grader Madison Kelly high-fives with Weaver. “Guess what!” she said. “I’m having a great day today.”

For more information about Union Inde-pendent School, refer to www.unionis.org/. For additional information about Johnson, refer to snipurl.com/qo51g.

12 Univers i ty Gazette

Johnson leads effort to take kids ‘from the STreeTS to the SUiTeS’

rev. Kenneth Hammond of Union baptist Church, left, and James H. Johnson Jr., a professor in the Kenan-flagler business school, visit Union independent school on opending day to welcome the students.

second-grader Mad-ison Kelly, above, works intently at her desk on the first day of school at Union independent. she joins her classmates, at left, as the stu-dents listen to in-structions from their teachers.