The University tests the emergency sirens and text messaging each semes-ter as part of the Alert Carolina safety awareness campaign. The next siren test is scheduled on Feb. 24, between noon and 1 p.m.

Anyone outside on or near campus, including downtown, is likely to hear the sirens during the test, which is designed to remind students, faculty and staff what to do in an emergency.

No action is needed. As the test begins, the sirens will sound an alert tone in conjunction with a brief pre-recorded public address message. When testing is complete, a different siren tone and voice message will signal “All clear. Resume normal activities.”

“The sirens are the best way we have to quickly inform our campus about a serious, life-threatening situation that requires immediate action,” said Jeff McCracken, police chief and public safety director. “It’s important for students, faculty and staff to learn about the sirens and know what to do if they hear them sound.”

The sirens will only sound for a life-threatening emergency:n An armed and dangerous person is on or near campus; n A major chemical spill or hazard has occurred; or n A tornado has been sighted.

If the sirens sound, people should go inside or take cover immediately, close win-dows and doors, and stay until the “all clear” message sounds.

During next week’s siren test, the University will also send a test text message to the nearly 20,000 cell phone numbers registered by students, faculty and staff in the online campus directory.

Earlier this week, the University used text messaging to inform the campus com-munity about a bomb threat near the Pit.

The situation did not call for activation of the siren system because public safety officers secured the area around the Pit and evacuated nearby buildings, officials explained in a campuswide e-mail from the Emergency Warning Committee.

“In all cases, the University focuses first on responding to the threat and protect-ing those directly at risk,” the e-mail said. “Once that essential work is done, and when the facts are available, we will post information about campus security to the Alert Carolina Web site.”

The full text of the e-mail message and samples of the alert and “all clear” tones are available at alertcarolina.unc.edu.

Carol ina Faculty and Staff NewsFebruary 18, 2009

helpingemployeescope

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saving energy:q & a

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leavingour legacies

vol. 34, no. 3

gazette.unc.edu

It is too soon to know the scope of budget cuts for next fiscal year. But one thing is certain: With a projected shortfall of at least $2 billion in the state budget, cuts are inevitable.

And they are sure to have an impact on higher education in North Carolina.

So far, the UNC system is holding its own, although the 6 percent cuts the state’s public universities have taken this fiscal year (total-ing $143.5 million) are damaging the quality

of education. That was the message Rob Nel-son, UNC system vice president for finance, sent State Budget Director Charles Perusse in a Feb. 5 memo.

Nelson said the UNC system could weather cuts of up to 5 percent during the next bien-nium “without inflicting significant damage to our academic core” as long as those cuts were not permanent.

“President [Erskine] Bowles wants to make it

as clear as possible to you, the governor, and the legislature that imposing permanent cuts would be equivalent to sacrificing the future of North Carolina,” Nelson’s memo said.

At Bowles’ request, all UNC system campuses last month submitted planning scenarios for how cuts of 3 percent, 5 percent and 7 percent next fis-cal year would affect their campuses.

Budget cuts to affect N.C. higher education next year

EMERGENCY SIREN

Siren test: Feb. 24 The University will test the sirens and text messages between noon and 1 PM.

SIRENS SOUND ONLY IN A LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCY

• An armed and dangerous person is on or near campus. • A major chemical spill or hazard has been reported. • A tornado has been sighted.

WHAT TO DO • Go inside immediately. • Close windows and doors. • Stay until further notice.

In an emergency, sirens will also broadcast short voice messages. When the threat is over, the sirens will sound again with a different tone to announce: “All clear. Resume normal activities.”

If the sirens sound, you’ll also receive an emergency text message if you signed up. These are just two ways UNC communicates in an emergency. See alertcarolina.unc.edu for details.

your source for safety announcements and updatesalertcarolina.unc.edu

Emergency siren test scheduled Feb. 24

u n i v e r s i t y

See BUDGET page 4

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)

STUDENT aSSiSTaNTRebecca Waite

CoNTriBUTorNews Services

EDiToriaL offiCES210 Pittsboro St., Chapel hill, NC 27599faX 843-5966 | CB 6205 | gazette@unc.edu

ChaNGE of aDDrESS make changes at: dir.unc.edu/dir/home

rEaD ThE GazETTE oNLiNE aT gazette.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

Meet Joel williaMSoNFrank Stasio of WUNC-FM’s “The State of

Things” interviews Joel Williamson, Lineberger Professor in the Humanities Emeritus, about his academic career teaching generations of Carolina stu-dents about the complexities of the American South and race relations. snipurl.com/bl62r

explore Flu treNdS Google has found that flu activity across the coun-

try can be accurately predicted one-to-two weeks ahead of other systems by watching certain flu-related search terms. With a late start, the flu season seems to be picking up strength, if you can believe what people are Googling.snipurl.com/bkt8p

‘SCrewed up’ getS little reaCtioNWhen President Barack Obama issued his mea culpa

about the Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer nomina-tions gone bad, his casual use of the phrase “screwed up” barely caused a stir, even in conservative print pub-lications. English Professor Connie Eble comments on that phrase in the Winston-Salem Journal online.snipurl.com/BL0wj

The character and identity of North Carolina towns during the past century can be brought to life as the inaugural beneficiary of funding from the C. Felix Harvey Award to Advance Institutional Priorities.

The Web-based digital history project, dubbed “Main Street, Caro-lina,” will capitalize on the University Libraries’ renowned North Car-olina Collection and awarding-winning digital publishing initiative “Documenting the American South.”

The annual Harvey Award, endowed by a $2 million commitment from the Harvey family of Kinston, will provide $75,000 to fund the project. It will be led by Robert C. Allen, James Logan Godfrey Profes-sor of American Studies, History and Communication Studies, who has taught at Carolina since 1979.

“‘Main Street, Carolina,’ brings together scholarly expertise, world-class technological innovation and the resources of a great library to illuminate the history of the state,” Allen said. “It is the kind of project that can only be undertaken at a great research university, and we’re very grateful to the Harvey family for making it possible.

“Our goal is to make this scholarship, technology and archival trea-sure available to local organizations across the state to allow them to see and use the history of local communities in new ways.”

“Main Street, Carolina” will allow groups such as local libraries, schools, historical societies, community organizations and preserva-tion groups to build densely layered historical maps of their down-towns. Users can add a variety of local information – photographs, postcards, newspaper ads and articles, architectural drawings, his-torical commentary, family papers and excerpts from oral history interviews – all keyed to, and layered on top of, the North Carolina

Collection’s historic city maps.The project is a collaboration with the Carolina Digital Library and

Archives. Natasha Smith, head of “Documenting the American South,” will lead the library team. It also will draw upon scholarly and techno-logical expertise from the Department of American Studies, School of Information and Library Science and the School of Education.

The first two external partners in the collaboration are the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte and the New Hanover County Public Library in Wilmington. Both will help develop “Main Street, Carolina” and will be the first local organizations in the state to use it in a community project.

Last spring, Allen was awarded one of the first Digital Humanities Fellowships awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. His current collaboration with Carolina Digital Library and Archives, “Going to the Show,” has received a special “We the People” commen-dation from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The annual Harvey Award recognizes exemplary faculty scholarship that reflects one of Carolina’s top priorities. Its namesake is C. Felix Harvey, chair of Harvey Enterprises & Affiliates and founder of the Little Bank Inc., both in Kinston.

“We wanted this award to be used for real-world challenges,” Har-vey said, “so the projects were judged based on four factors: creativity, collaboration within and outside the University, applicability to the marketplace and the degree of adoption.”

In 2007, along with his family, Harvey made the $2 million commit-ment endowing the prize to acknowledge the University’s significance to them and the important role it has played in their lives.

Inaugural Harvey Award to fund libraries’ digital history project: ‘Main Street, Carolina’

Children’s book illustrator and author Brian Pinkney is the first writer announced for the 2009 North Carolina Literary Festival, scheduled Sept. 10–13.

With the theme “A Celebration of Reading and Writing,” the free public festival will include pro-grams especially for children. Pinkney will read from his works, share his illustrations and interact with the audience.

Novelist and illustrator Daniel Wallace, whose 1998 novel “Big Fish” became a movie, has pro-vided illustrations for the festival’s new Web site, www.NCLiteraryFestival.org, including the fes-tival logo. He also plans to create other event materials.

“We’re confident that Brian’s energy and creativity will captivate our youngest attendees,” festival director Amy Baldwin said. “And Daniel, who teaches in UNC’s Creative Writing Program, is a wonderful example of a multi-talented North Carolina author. We are so pleased that both are lend-ing their artistic excellence to the festival.”

The festival will feature more than 125 authors representing all genres of books – local and nation-ally known authors, North Carolina favorites, well-known Southern writers and emerging artists. A list of authors and a schedule for the 2009 festival will be released this spring, Baldwin said.

The festival is an educational outreach project designed to promote reading and writing, spot-lighting the literature of the American South.

The libraries of Carolina, N.C. State and Duke, with additional support from N.C. Central, orga-nize and sponsor the festival, whose location rotates biennially among Carolina, N.C. State and Duke. Since the festival began, it has been held in 1998 and 2002 at Carolina, 2004 at N.C. State and 2006 at Duke.

Chancellor Emeritus James Moeser designated gift funds for the festival, which is supported entirely by gifts and grants. Sponsors also include a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as well as funding from the Orange County Arts Commission and the Bull’s Head Bookshop.

More than 100 volunteers will be needed for the festival, Baldwin said. Those interested in help-ing may register starting March 1 at www.NCLiteraryFestival.org.

Theme set for 2009 literary festival

February 18, 2009 3

There is a certain forward momentum to bad news in which, all too often, people can find themselves caught.

During hard times, people tend to say or do things in anticipation of what they think might happen to them, often based on rumor, innuendo or fear.

It is when people try to get ahead of events, University Ombuds Wayne Blair warns, that they end up saying or doing things that can make a hard situation even harder – espe-cially on themselves.

On Feb. 4, Blair appeared before the Employee Forum to offer the same sage advice about the implications of the loom-ing budget crisis that he had provided forum members last November: Don’t get carried away. Slow down. Take a breath. Wait.

Blair, in a later interview, said the anxi-ety over the economy began last sum-mer in response to escalating food and gasoline prices.

Gasoline prices dropped in the fall, but only after the stock market had crashed, the financial system appeared on the brink of collapse and the economy had begun a tailspin toward the worst recession that most Americans have seen.

“There is such a huge unknown about how much worse the economy will get,” Blair said. “People legitimately fear the direct impact it might have on their family, their career, their ability to keep their house or car, or their ability to continue sending their children to college.”

Now, with projections of state budget cuts as high as 7 percent for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, people are not only fearing the worst, but sometimes mak-ing it worse than it has to be by the way

they react. The talk of budget cuts has added tension

between some employees and their super-visors, as the employees interpret routine criticism about job performance as some-thing more ominous than was intended, Blair said.

“The heightened sense of anxiety has cre-ated an atmosphere that is more confron-tational and adversarial,” he said. “We have

resources available to help employees cope with uncertainty and problems

‘uNiverSity budget 101’the employee Forum is sponsoring a community meeting to help

employees develop a better understanding of the various revenue sources that support the university’s budget. “university budget 101” will be held March 2 at noon in the great hall of the Fpg Student union.

richard Mann, vice chancellor of finance and administration, and brenda Malone, associate vice chancellor for human resources, will present infor-mation and take questions from the audience. Chancellor holden thorp also will be at the meeting as a special guest of the forum.

part of the discussion will focus on the university’s limited flexibility in determining how each revenue source can be spent and the policies per-taining to employee layoffs.

people can submit questions beforehand to the forum office, Cb# 3488, or to forum_office@unc.edu and indicate “Questions” in the subject line.

Park in ACC lot, Dogwood Deck by permit

Every day, hundreds of people come to UNC Hospitals and the School of Dentistry from all over North Carolina.

They arrive seeking treatment for them-selves or worried about the condition of a family member or friend who they may be coming to visit.

The last thing these people need is addi-tional stress trying to find a place to park.

That is why the Dogwood Deck on Man-ning Drive and the Ambulatory Care Cen-ter (ACC) Lot off Mason Farm Road are reserved for hospital and dental school patients and visitors weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

All too often, however, parking has not been available for patients and visitors because the spaces are taken by faculty, staff and students who are going to class or work, or in the case of resident students, sometimes storing their vehicles.

To address the problem, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) renewed its efforts to monitor entrances and check license plate numbers in these parking areas before issuing tickets to any vehicle belonging to a faculty member, staff member or student. And for those people who had legitimate reasons for parking there, DPS also has made it easy to appeal the tickets online.

Criticism about the policy was voiced at a recent Employee Forum meeting.

“We understand that employees and stu-dents often have medical reasons to park in the parking deck or ACC parking lot, and we want to make sure they can do that with-out being ticketed,” said Randy Young, DPS information specialist.

“If they’ll obtain a temporary hangtag park-ing permit, they won’t have to worry about getting a ticket.”

People can get the parking permits from:n Booth attendant at the Ambulatory Care

Center off Mason Farm Road;n Dogwood Parking Deck office, just inside

the East Drive entrance;n Public Safety building customer service

window from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (DPS is located on Hardin Drive off Manning Drive.); and

n UNC Hospitals Parking Office (2nd floor, Anderson Pavilion; 966-1031).In addition, faculty, staff and students

can call DPS at 962-3951 to have the hang-tag mailed to them prior to their medical appointments.

If they have an unplanned appointment or emergency, they can also call this same num-ber to provide their license plate information and avoid getting a ticket.

See forUm page 6

The UNC Board of Governors on Feb. 13 approved a scaled-back set of tuition and fee increases that for in-state undergraduates averaged 3.9 percent.

The BOG recommended a tuition increase of $160 for in-state undergraduates at Carolina, along with a $68.17 increase in stu-dent fees for the 2009–10 school year, which would bring the total cost of tuition and fees to $5,456.16 – a 4.4 percent increase.

UNC President Erskine Bowles described the process of reaching these proposals as a careful balancing act between pro-tecting access and affordability, on one hand, with the ability to deliver to students a quality education, on the other.

This task has never been easy, Bowles said, but the extraordi-nary pressures caused by the current economic crisis have made that job harder than ever before. And the worst is yet to come, he said.

“We have a rough row to hoe together, and if we don’t hoe it together we won’t get to the promised land,” Bowles said.

Complicating the situation is the prospect of budget cuts for the 2009–10 fiscal year.

Personnel costs represent 75 percent of the campuses’ operating budget. Under a 5 percent cut, non-personnel costs would have to be cut by 20 percent in order to protect jobs by not eliminating any faculty or staff positions. A 7 percent cut would require cutting non-personnel areas by 28 percent to save all jobs.

That cannot happen, Bowles said, simply because those other areas are no less vital to the operation of the campuses. They include utilities, library books, physical plant operations and building upkeep.

“We will not do this without real pain – pain to our students, to faculty, to our staff and to our chancellors,” Bowles said. “I am going to fight hard to make sure these cuts are as small as possible. I am going to fight hard to make sure they are non-recurring. And I am going to fight hard to make sure they have the least effect on the quality of education.

“But do not think that it will be without pain. Everybody’s ox will be gored, mine included.”

T. Greg Doucette, an ex-officio member of the BOG as presi-dent of the UNC Association of Student Governments, thanked the BOG and General Administration staff for the care they took in coming up with numbers that were generally accepted by students throughout the 17 UNC campuses.

Students care about three things, Doucette said. The first is accessibility: being able to afford getting into college. The next is affordability, which addresses being able to afford staying in college. The final thing students worry about is quality, as mea-sured by the value a degree holds after graduation.

The proposals, Doucette said, take all three questions into careful consideration. But he added, “This is one of those times I am actually glad I don’t have a vote on the board.”

BOG agrees to reduced tuition and fee increases

To what degree cuts affect the quality of instruction and support services depends on the scope of those cuts.

In the extreme, a 7 percent budget cut would mean the loss of around 1,680 jobs, 660 of which are faculty positions, across the UNC system. For Carolina, that would mean a loss of around 230 faculty and 150 staff positions.

The number of courses offered, and the size of each class, also would be affected dramatically.

With a 7 percent cut, the University would have to eliminate almost 450 courses and reduce enrollment by 3,400 students – approximately the size of an incoming first-year class.

The number of undergraduate class sec-tions with more than 100 students would reach an all-time high.

Even a 3 percent reduction would slow the implementation of the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), the University-wide effort to replace aging administrative soft-ware systems that manage student informa-tion, human resources, payroll and finance.

Five percent cuts would strain the Caro-lina Computing Initiative and affect the University’s commitment to meet the needs of all students. In addition, campus police would not be able to keep pace with increas-ing demands, and the University would see a reduction in housekeeping services, among other areas.

If cuts reached 7 percent, research grants

and projects could be compromised because of reductions in research compliance and research computing funding.

StrategiC approaChChancellor Holden Thorp has reminded

the campus community that the scenarios are strictly for planning purposes. Until North Carolina leaders have an accurate estimate of state revenue later this spring, the extent of budget cuts for fiscal year 2009–10 will not be determined.

The University needs to take a strategic approach to decision-making in these tough times, Thorp told faculty, staff and students in an e-mail message last week.

“The great institutions – the ones that will emerge from this economic crisis even stron-ger – will be those that are willing to look hard at what they do and then make really smart decisions. I intend for Carolina to be one of those great institutions,” he said.

So far, the vice chancellors and deans have identified cuts within their units.

“But what we haven’t done is take a good look at ourselves from the cross-Univer-sity perspective to see if there are ways to improve operations and reduce costs,” Thorp said.

The University has asked Bain & Com-pany, a global business consulting firm, to conduct a study to help identify ways to streamline operations so the University can try to become more effective and perhaps save money.

The UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation is funding the study, which is made pos-sible through a restricted gift from a

Carolina alumnus. “I see this study as a great opportunity

to bring in outside experts who can take an objective look at how the University cur-rently operates to meet our campuswide goals and to fulfill our mission to educate students and serve the people of North Car-olina and beyond,” Thorp’s message said.

SuggeStioNS FroM CaMpuSLast month, Thorp invited faculty, staff

and students to propose ideas for reducing costs at Carolina. So far, around 175 people have submitted their ideas to budgetideas@unc.edu.

Frequently mentioned topics include energy savings and sustainability efforts, changes in using technology, pooling cam-pus resources and using salary reductions or furloughs to avoid layoffs.

The Gazette is exploring some of these suggestions in an occasional series, begin-ning with the story below about energy sav-ings across campus.

4 univers i ty gazette

Harvard University 8.4%

Wake Forest University 7.2%

Columbia University 12.1%

UNC-Chapel Hill 10.8%

Stanford University 10.5%

Duke University 10.1%

Yale University 10.0%

MIT 9.6%

Univ. of Pennsylvania 9.4%

Dartmouth College 9.2%

University of Chicago 8.1%

University of Virginia 8.8%

Rice University 7.8%

Emory University 8.8%

Princeton University 7.7%

bLaCk First-year studeNts at top* u.s. uNiversities

*Ranked by U.S. News & World Report.Source: JBHE Research Department.

to help the campus community stay informed, the chancellor’s budget messages and related background, including commu-nications from general admin-istration and state government, are available from a new link, “Carolina budget update,” on the university’s home page, www.unc.edu.

Carolina ranks second in black first-year students

Carolina ranks second in the nation among selective universities and lib-eral arts colleges in the percentage

of African-American students enrolled in the current first-year class, according to The Jour-nal of Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE).

Last fall, 417 incoming black students enrolled, accounting for 10.8 percent of Carolina’s first-year class. Only Columbia University, with 12.1 percent (162 students), ranked higher. Columbia also received the top ranking last year.

“We couldn't be happier that so many tal-ented African-American students have chosen to call Carolina home,” said Steve Farmer, asso-ciate provost and director of admissions. “This has really been one of the University's greatest success stories over the last 20 years. We’re glad to see last year's results recognized in this way.”

This is the 16th year JBHE has published its survey results. Carolina held the top spot for six of the past nine years.

“This recognition underscores the Univer-sity’s extraordinary understanding of what it takes to make Carolina attractive to all peo-ple in our state and our nation,” said Archie Ervin, associate provost for diversity and multicultural affairs.

“Ours is a welcoming, inclusive environ-ment. If a student earns the right to come here, we will do everything we can to help make that person’s stay successful. That is the Carolina spirit.”

The University has been seeking suggestions for sav-ing money at budgetideas@unc.edu. In the first of an

occasional series exploring some of the most frequently

mentioned cost-saving ideas, the Gazette is examining ways to save

energy across campus. Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chancellor

for campus services, discussed many of the key issues involved in reducing energy con-sumption and costs, both from a University-wide perspective and an individual one.

Gazette: How is the University trying to save energy?

Elfland: This is an important issue, and I’m glad the University has received many sugges-tions about saving energy. It gives me a chance to explain Carolina’s commitment to sustain-ability and some of the things we’re doing.

In 2006, Chancellor Moeser signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, pledging that Caro-lina will become climate neutral as soon as

possible – and by mid-century at the latest. We will publish our carbon reduction plan in September.

Currently, almost 90 percent of our car-bon footprint comes from energy we pro-duce or purchase. Fortunately, the energy we produce at the Cogeneration Facility, one of the cleanest coal-burning power plants in the country, has helped us signifi-cantly reduce the cost of energy we purchase from Duke Power.

Our new buildings are being designed to use 30 percent less energy than the national standard. In addition, we’re taking a look at the various ways we can save energy in our other buildings.

Gazette: Can we use monitoring systems to control the temperature inside buildings and turn off the lights when classrooms and labs aren’t in use?

Elfland: We’re testing energy-saving approaches to see what can be applied broadly. With a 200-year-old campus, that presents quite a few challenges since the tech-nology we can use in new construction can’t

necessarily be applied to older buildings. We have a central energy management sys-

tem that allows us to control the temperature in most buildings across campus around the clock. About a year ago, we began a program to reduce heating and cooling in 30 buildings, but have had to scale it back to 20 buildings.

Most of our building control systems are outdated and only allow the heat or cooling to be off or on – not set up or back. And in most buildings we can’t adjust the tempera-ture in individual rooms; any change we make affects the entire building or a major portion of it. So, in buildings with computer servers, we can’t cool only those rooms.

Eventually, we hope to be able to upgrade these control systems across campus, but with the state budget crisis, we simply can’t undertake something of that scope right now. We continue to try to identify additional buildings to include in this program. As part of that effort, we contact potentially affected departments in advance to determine if there

energy savings: What the University is doing

See ENErGy page 10

BUDGET from page 1

February 18, 2009 5

Faculty/Staffn e w s

John halton, professor of computer science, has been recognized for his published research by the University of Cambridge, which awarded him the degree of Doctor of Science. The degree is a higher doctorate and one of the highest academic recognitions any researcher of science can earn.

JenniFer Davis, business officer, and mary White, licensed practical nurse, both in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, have received their depart-ment’s 2008 Staff Excellence Awards. The awards are given to recognize employees who are “outstanding, committed, dedi-cated, dependable, with a positive and sup-portive attitude and who consistently exceed performance expectations.”

ross White, associate director of LEARN NC, has been named North Caro-lina’s statewide director of e-Learning for Educators, a federally funded teacher devel-opment program. White will fill the post while staying on at LEARN. For e-Learning, White will oversee a partnership of five North Carolina educational organizations including LEARN that will partner with similar groups in nine other states.

The UNC Lineberger Comprehen-sive Cancer Center has honored five staff members with excellence awards. They are: patricia Decator, outpatient infusion nurse, and JuDith sWasey, nurse practitioner and clinical instruc-tor, who received 2008 Oncology Nursing

Excellence Awards. ava pettiForD and pamela baker, program coordinators, and katharin Deschesne, clini-cal physicist, were recognized with Clinical Services Excellence Awards. Award winners receive a $1,500 stipend for professional education activities.

terry sullivan , associate pro-fessor of political science and executive director of the White House Transition Project, attended the final meeting of the President’s Transition Coordinating Coun-cil Jan. 9. President George Bush created the coordinating council to help ensure a smooth transition from his administration to that of President Barack Obama.

peter a. leone, associate profes-sor of medicine, has been awarded the 2008 Marty Prairie Award. The award, pre-sented by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services HIV/STD Prevention and Care Branch, is given to individuals or organizations whose work “exhibits distin-guished, bold and innovative community service and/or advocacy that positively impacts North Carolina.”

The European Marketing Academy (EMAC) and the International Journal of Research in Marketing have established an award to recognize long-term research impact on the field of marketing, named in honor of Jan-beneDict e.m. steenkamp, Knox Massey Distinguished Professor of Marketing and area chair of marketing at the

Kenan-Flagler Business School. The new Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp Award for Long Term Impact will be given for the first time at the EMAC conference in Nantes, France, on May 29.

glen h. elDer Jr., research pro-fessor of sociology and psychology, was recently honored by the journal Research in Human Development for his research on life course studies. The special issue was edited by michael J. shanahan, associ-ate professor of sociology. The journal is the publication of the Society for the Study of Human Development.

mark Fraser, John A. Tate Distin-guished Professor and associate dean for research at the School of Social Work, has been appointed editor-in-chief of the new electronic Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, an open-access publi-cation that will give researchers the oppor-tunity to publicly publish their work and retain control over the material. The journal is expected to publish studies and reports covering a broad range of issues.

koyah rivera, pre-college outreach coordinator for the NC Health Careers Access Program, delivered the commence-ment address to the mid-year graduates at Sanderson High School in Raleigh. The cer-emony took place Jan. 29. She discussed the importance of finding one’s passion and life’s purpose, overcoming obstacles and persever-ing to make one’s dreams a reality.

hoNorS

The new Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Dis-tinguished Professorship for Graduate Education is accepting nominations through March 2.

The three-year professorship recognizes the Roysters’ contribu-tions to Carolina and the Graduate School as founders and bene-factors of the Royster Society of Fellows.

Criteria for consideration include a broad interest in graduate education, a record as a scholar and graduate student mentor and an appreciation for a broad range of disciplines.

The person named to the professorship will also serve as the director of the Royster Society of Fellows, where he or she will develop and lead mentoring and training activities that promote

professional development for the fellows.The stipend is $15,000 a year, and funds are available to com-

pensate the department for a release from teaching activities. The appointment will begin July 1.

To nominate a faculty member, submit a nomination letter, the person’s curriculum vita, a letter of support from the depart-ment chair and three references with contact information to Kathy Farinola, farinola@email.unc.edu. Self-nominations are also welcome.

If you have questions, contact Steve Matson, dean of the Gradu-ate School, at 962-3521 or Sandra Hoeflich, associate dean for interdisciplinary education, at 962-6323.

New Royster professorship accepting nominations

Karen Erickson, director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies and professor of speech and hearing sciences, has been selected

as the first David E. and Dolores J. (Dee) Yoder Distinguished Profes-sor in Literacy and Dis-ability Studies in the School of Medicine’s Department of Allied Health Sciences.

Maynard and Caro-lyn Sauder of Arch-bold, Ohio, established the professorship to

honor the work of Yoder, professor emeritus of speech and hearing sciences, and his wife, Dee. Yoder, who chaired allied health sciences

from 1986 to 2000, established the Center for Literacy and Dis-ability Studies.

Erickson is a former teacher of students with significant disabil-ities, including many who used augmentative and alternative com-munication. She is the 2004 recipient of the

National Down Syndrome Congress Educator Award and the International Society for Aug-mentative and Alternative Communication Distinguished Literacy Lectureship Award.

Her current research efforts involve school-aged students who struggle to read and write, school-aged students with complex com-munication needs and children, adolescents and young adults with multiple disabilities, including deaf-blindness.

Erickson receives first Yoder professorship

In Memoriam

refer to the gazette’s web site (gazette.unc.edu/online-only.html) for more information.

riChard aNdrew SMythPhilosophy and Comparative Literature

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6 univers i ty gazette

Next summer, the University’s incoming students will have an opportunity to read “A Home on the Field” by Paul Cuadros, assistant professor of journalism and mass communication

at Carolina. All first-year and incoming transfer students are asked to read a book dur-

ing the summer and participate in small group discussions led by faculty and staff once they arrive on campus.

Carolina’s program, now in its 11th year, focuses on discussion and dia-logue, creating an intellectual climate in which students can come to their own conclusions and turn information into insight.

The 2009 Summer Reading Program Book Selection Committee chose “A Home on the Field,” published in 2006. The book explores class and eth-nic conflict through the story of a Latino high school soccer team in Siler City. It offers insight into the complex issue of Latino immigrants who come to North Carolina to seek better lives and steady work, but who encounter significant community resistance.

A nine-member book selection committee of students, faculty and staff began meeting last fall to consider books for this year’s program.

“He [Cuadros] raises tough questions about what services and oppor-tunities the state of North Carolina should make available to these immi-grants,” said committee chair John McGowan, Ruel W. Tyson Jr. Distin-guished Professor of Humanities and director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities. “We are also thrilled that our students will be reading a book written by a UNC faculty member and one that is about North Carolina today.”

The committee chose “A Home on the Field” from 239 book recommen-dations from students, alumni, faculty and community members.

Four other books were considered as finalists: “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely; “Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran” by Azadeh Moaveni; “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin; and “The Free Men” by John Ehle.

Cuadros, an award-winning investigative reporter specializing in issues of race and poverty, joined the faculty in July 2007.

For more information about the Summer Reading Program, refer to www.unc.edu/srp.

‘A Home on the Field’

chosen as 2009 reading selection

to get people to step back so they can reason through their situation in a rational way.”

A few people have even come to him with the idea of quitting their University jobs before their jobs can be taken away, Blair said.

“They want to reassert control over their lives,” he said. “They do it because they want to be the master of their own destinies rather than victims of forces beyond their control.”

Sometimes, Blair said, he feels as if he is talking people down from a ledge. “It is not rational to resign to avoid being laid off. I have told people to go home and talk to their significant other or anyone they trust who can give them a hard reality check about what the consequences might be.”

There are strong reasons not to consider quitting, he said. The first is that a person may be entitled to receive unemployment benefits if laid off, but not if the person quits. The second is the risk to health-care benefits that a family may need.

Some employees are under financial duress because their husbands or wives have already lost their jobs, Blair said.

He emphasized the importance of not reacting to second-hand information that is likely to be inaccurate and based on rumors. Instead, he advises people to go directly to the source who would have the information and get the answer in writing so there is no question about what was said.

Mari Forbes, an employee and manage-ment relations specialist with the Office of Human Resources, also spoke at the forum meeting. She reminded employees to use the Human Resources Web site, hr.unc.edu, as a resource for a variety of topics. People also can call the Office of Human Resources Ser-vice Center at 843-2300.

In addition, the University’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can help.

“Financial crises can cause difficulties in all areas of our lives,” said Susan Criscenzo, EAP counselor. “Everything else can become a cri-sis as well, particularly relationships.”

While the EAP is not a financial resource, it can provide crucial emotional support to employees. The program is designed to help employees identify problems at their earliest stages, motivate them to seek help and refer them to the appropriate resources.

The service, which is strictly confidential, is free to permanent and temporary employees, as well as retirees; however, any subsequent costs for additional services or for treatment with outside providers are the employee’s responsibility. The University does not main-tain any records of treatment.

The EAP can provide contact information for a variety of community resources and is sensitive to costs when making referrals and networking with providers that are covered by the State Health Plan.

To reach the EAP, call 929-2362.

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BaSKETBaLLhaLL of famErS

hoNorED

DEaN SmiTh, legendary men’s basketball coach from 1961 to 1997, right front, is one of five basketball hall of fame coaches and players honored during halftime of the UNC-Virginia game in the Smith Center on feb. 7. Standing beside Smith is Coach roy williams, who joined Smith in the hall of fame in 2007. also present for the ceremony are, from left, unforgettable former Carolina players Billy Cunningham, james worthy and robert mcadoo.

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Yellowed newspaper clippings, dog-eared postcards, old photos and letters. Even journal entries.

Dig deep enough and we all have random snippets of our lives squirreled away – fanciful, solemn, absurd and sublime snap-shots in time that mark our solitary place in the world.

But what if you take these artifacts, reproduce them, affix them to spools of paper and multiply them by a community the size of Chapel Hill and Carrboro? At that point, what you might have is a rich tapestry that begins to answer two ques-tions: What brought us and our families to this place? What is the legacy we want to leave in our community?

This is the task that the University, Chapel Hill and Carrboro will undertake on three days in March: to document our collec-tive memorabilia and our experiences to form “Our Stories, In Focus – A Community Art and History Project.”

“Our Stories” is a public arts and history collaboration that gives residents the chance to leave their mark by bringing a memento to be scanned or photographed (and returned on the spot) and to participate in oral history, journal writing and story circle sessions.

In addition, professional archivists will lead participants in researching family histories and genealogy, and there will even be the opportunity to reprint the front page of The New York Times from a personally meaningful date.

Artists Leah Sobsey and Lynn Bregman Blass, who collabo-rated on a photography/encaustic wax installation at the Dur-ham Art Guild last summer, will work on the visual part of the project. The photo (top, right) is a detail from their “Time, Lin-eage, Memory” partnership that measured 30 feet by 15 feet.

For these sessions, you may bring whatever has personal meaning to you. As you choose, you might consider your

artifact as a reflec-t i o n o f w h a t brought you and your family to this place, as well as the legacy you want to leave.

O n c e c o m -plete, the art-ists’ work will be installed in a local venue so contributors can see their pieces worked into the community’s paper tapestry.

Also as part of the "Our Stories" project, local writers Jaki Shelton Green and Debra Kaufman will lead participants in jour-nal and memoir writing, as well as a story circle in which they’ll instruct on how to tell a story in the written and spoken word.

The Southern Oral History Program at UNC will be record-ing interviews with residents who come in pairs to tell their stories. These oral histories will become part of the program’s permanent collection at the Southern Historical Collection, said Jacquelyn Hall, Julia Cherry Spruill Professor and the program’s director.

“With the permission of participants, we plan to make the digital audio files available through the library so that commu-nity members can hear – and build on – each other's oral his-tories,” she said.

In describing Carolina’s participation in the project, Hall said, “I see ‘Our Stories, In Focus’ as doing exactly what a humanities program at a major public university should be doing: uniting campus and community in an exploration – and a celebration – of mutual interests and heritage.

“I think it’s vitally important to understand one's own history and especially important for those of us at the University to know the history of our own neighbors,” Hall said. “The Southern Oral History Program has collected over 4,000 interviews from all over the South during a period of 35 years. But we always come back to our own backyard, and each time we do, we are again touched by the depth and character of our local history.

“This particular project is exciting because it interweaves oral history with art and story telling in a creative way, giving us a rare chance to work directly with artists as well as with other scholars. The project also give us a welcome chance to share with our neighbors both what we have learned about the value of oral history for understanding the past and the practical skills involved in oral history research.”

‘our StorieS, iN FoCuS’ workShopSWorkshops will be held on March 3 at the FPG Student

Union (noon-4 p.m.); on March 21 at University Mall (10 a.m.-2 p.m.); and on March 28 at Century Center in Carr-boro (noon-4 p.m.) Before you go, refer to the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission Web site (snipurl.com/btf4v).

Campus, community project explores mutual heritage

Remembering Eve Carson In life, Eve Carson had a gift for making people feel special. As student body president, she shared that gift every day with each person she met.

Thanks to a scholarship bearing her name, Carson’s legacy will continue for many years to come. On Feb. 6, junior Elinor Benami was named the first Eve Marie Carson Scholar.

The scholarship will fund a summer experience after Benami’s junior year and financial aid for her senior year. Benami was selected by a committee of students, faculty, staff and alumni from among 138 qualified applicants. She is double majoring in international studies and economics in the College of Arts and Sciences and plans a career in environmental consulting.

The Eve Marie Carson Scholarship Executive Committee, composed entirely of students, designed the scholarship program. The value of the award will be the cost of attending Carolina for an in-state student for one year.

The University also is honoring Carson during a remembrance at 4 p.m. on March 5 – the day that marks the first anniversary of her murder. The event will be in the Pit, with music starting at 3:45 p.m., and will include remarks by Chancellor Holden Thorp. The Clef Hangers are scheduled to perform.

Chancellor Emeritus James Moeser said during a memorial last year on Polk Place that Carson embodied the Carolina spirit, not only because she reached for excellence for herself but because she reached out to help classmates become excellent, too.

It is in recognition of the spirit she brought to the University that the campus community has embarked on plans for an Eve Marie Carson Garden on the southwest side of the Campus Y. The Building and Grounds Committee has approved a site for the garden and a preliminary design (pictured at left).

Landscape architect Peter Schaudt of Hoeer/Schaudt is developing a concept plan for the garden. Facilities Planning is leading the effort in consultation with Student Affairs, Carolina Dining Services and Student Government leaders.

8 univers i ty gazette

weStMaCott SpeakS at botaNiCal gardeN For blaCk hiStory MoNth

In honor of Black History Month, the North Carolina Botan-ical Garden hosts Richard Westmacott, professor emeritus at the University of Georgia College of Environment and Design, at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 22. Westmacott talks about African-Amer-ican gardens and gardening traditions. As author of “African American Gardens and Yards in the Rural South,” Westmacott conducted the first extensive survey of African-American gar-dening traditions in the rural South. Cost is $15 per person and $10 for members. ncbg.unc.edu/pages/28

got blood? blood drive SoliCitS SlogaN ideaS

The 21st Carolina Blood Drive, scheduled for June 2 at the Smith Center, is in search of a theme and/or logo. Submit ideas by March 3 to Employee Services, CB# 1045, or e-mail employee_services@unc.edu. For more information, call 962-1483.

Concepts should focus on the 21st anniver-sary of the drive as well as the more than 51,000 North Carolinians who have been helped by Carolina's blood donors through the years.

The selected theme and logo will be used on the event poster, T-shirt and Web page, and contest winners will receive a poster, T-shirt and design acknowledgment on the blood drive recruitment Web site.

exhibitSn An exhibition of paintings by Lumbee artist

Willie French Lowery is on display through the end of March in the Love House and Hutchins Forum at East Franklin St. and Battle Lane, sponsored by the Center for the Study of the American South. Gallery hours are 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays. csas@unc.edu

n The March 1 opening reception, from 1 to 3 p.m., for the Ackland Art Museum’s exhibi-tion, “Sage in the Bamboo Grove: The Legacy of Sherman E. Lee,” features music by a Chi-nese zither player and a Chinese calligraphy and brush painting demonstration. snipurl.com/bpr35

readiNgS at the bull’S headn Barbara Frederickson reads from her new

book, “Positivity,” on Feb. 19 at 3:30 p.m. at the Bull’s Head Bookshop.

n Local poet Lou Lipsitz reads from his work Feb. 24, also at 3:30 p.m. at the Bull’s Head.

leCtureSn Malinda Maynor Lowery discusses “Indians, Southerners and

Americans” at 4 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the Upendo Lounge of the Student and Academic Services Building. The talk focuses on the Lumbee community, examining American Indian identity and federal policy during the Jim Crow era. The talk is one of the James A. Hutchins Lectures presented by the Center for

the Study of the American South.n Bette K. Jacobs, dean and professor at Georgetown University,

gives the 2009 Ethnic Minority Visiting Scholar Lecture on Feb. 25. “The Dance Between Genomics and Diversity,” spon-sored by the School of Nursing, is planned for 3 p.m. in Car-rington Hall’s Fox Auditorium. jcsummer@email.unc.edu

MiNi-MediCal SChool begiNS MarCh 3The annual Mini-Medical School series returns with a program

of lectures and discussions hosted by UNC researchers. Designed for nonmedical participants, this year’s series features the follow-ing topics: “Very Small Wonders: Nanotechnology in Medicine;” “Bug Wars: Bacterial Infections” and “Personalized Medicine.”

Classes are taught by Joseph DeSimone, Rudolph L. Juliano, Roger Narayan, David Weber, Mathew R. Redinbo, William Rutala, Howard McLeod and Lisa Carey.

The series begins March 3; other sessions follow on March 10 and March 17, all from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Friday Center. snipurl.com/bncqp

pepperS SupportS SCholarShip FuNdFormer Carolina football star Julius Peppers has donated

$100,000 to a UNC General Alumni Association scholarship program that supports African-American students. The Light on the Hill Society Scholarship, a tribute to Carolina’s earliest black graduates, supports black first-year students who exhibit academic excellence and the potential to contribute while at Carolina and after graduation.

The society that oversees the scholarship program is part of the Black Alumni Reunion, one of the alumni association’s larg-est groups. Richard “Stick” Williams, chair of the Light on the Hill board, said Peppers’ gift “epitomizes the man that Julius has grown to be.”

Peppers, who also lettered in basketball at Carolina, was a key contributor to the Tar Heels’ reaching the 2000 Final Four. In football, he won the Lombardi Award, given to the country’s top college lineman, and he was a unanimous All-American in 2001 before being drafted in 2002 by the Carolina Panthers.

botaNiCal gardeN CaMp opeNS For Nature explorerS

Registration is open now for the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s summer camp: Nature Explorers 2009. Three one-week sessions are offered: June 22–26 or July 6–10 for children 6–8 and July 13–17 for children 9– 11. Cost is $225 for mem-bers, $250 for non-members. Call 962-0522.

wilSoN library eveNtSn Bluegrass multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien speaks about his music and career on Feb. 27 in “A Conversation with Grammy-winning Musi-cian Tim O’Brien” at 10 a.m. in the Hanes Arts Center Auditorium. Music professor Jocelyn Neal moderates the program, sponsored by the Southern Folklife Collection. n Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Stanford Fair Use Project, speaks on March 3 at 5:30 p.m. in the Pleasants Family Assembly Room of Wilson Library. His talk, “From James Joyce to Harry Potter to John Lennon,” covers the state of fair use law and its impact on schol-arship and free expression. A reception begins at 5 p.m. Falzone is one of the lawyers representing street artist Shepard Fairey, who is in a copyright dispute with the Associated Press over his iconic image of Barack Obama.n Author Susan Block discusses her research on Van Eeden, a Jewish settlement in North Carolina during World War II, in a program March 5 at Wilson Library. Her free public talk, “Mules to Mozart: Holocaust Escapees at Van Eeden,” begins at 5:45 p.m.

The program marks the opening of the exhibit “Cultivating the ‘Great Winter Garden’: Immi-grant Colonies in Eastern North Carolina, 1868–1940” in the North Carolina Collection Gallery of Wilson Library. A reception and exhibit view-ing begin at 5 p.m. snipurl.com/br8u2

auditioNSn Auditions and interviews for the Summer Youth Conserva-

tory are set for Feb. 21–22. A cast of young thespians, ages 10–18, performs Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” this summer as the culmination of the Summer Youth Conservatory – a collaboration between PlayMak-ers Repertory Company and the ArtsCenter of Carrboro. Participants receive training from professional actors, and

Newsi n b r i e f

with a tSoNg iN her heartWhen Mayron Tsong was a little girl, her home was filled with pianos. In her father’s work-

shop there were as many as 45 at any one time. Everyone in her family played, even the cats.“The cats really liked to play along with us," laughs Tsong, who recalls how they would

jump on the keys during her practice sessions. All that practice paid off. This year Tsong released her first solo album and played at Carnegie Hall in New York City.”

So begins a profile in the winter issue of Endeavors, Carolina’s research magazine, which features mayron Tsong, Steinway artist and assistant professor of piano in the music depart-ment. She performs on campus march 4 at 6 p.m. in hill hall’s auditorium, joining other faculty members in a New music Ensemble to perform with hip-hop artist and slam poet Saul williams. read the Endeavors story online: research.unc.edu/endeavors.

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this year the conservatory is expanding to offer TheatreTech, a training program in scenic, costume and lighting design. Admission to the conservatory is by audition. TheatreTech students are chosen by interview. www.artscenterlive.org

n Representatives of nine theater companies will be on campus March 14 to cast for more than 20 summer outdoor histori-cal dramas. To audition as actors, singers, dancers or techni-cians, applications must be made by March 2 to the Center for Dramatic Art. www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/auditions

CoMputer-baSed traiNiNg Cut due to budget reduCtioNS

Information Technology Services at Carolina is ceasing its computer-based training on Feb. 28 because of mandated bud-get cuts, but users are encouraged to use it until that date.

Other training resources are being researched and

information about alternative IT training will be available at learnit.unc.edu.

lauNC-Ch CoNFereNCe to ‘rethiNk, redeFiNe, reiNveNt’

The Librarians' Association at the University of North Car-olina at Chapel Hill (LAUNC-CH) holds its spring confer-ence on March 9 at the Friday Center. This year's conference, "Rethink, Redefine, Reinvent: The Research Library in the Dig-ital Age," looks at how research libraries are positioning them-selves for the future. www.lib.unc.edu/launcch/conference

regiSter For haveN traiNiNgThe HAVEN program (Help Advocate Violence End-

ing Now) provides ally training for students, faculty and staff to learn how to respond in a meaningful way to sexual and

relationship violence. HAVEN allies serve as “safe spaces” for students who need information, referrals and support. The next training session is Feb. 25. snipurl.com/br8zj

appliCatioNS opeN For urC graNtSApplications are due Feb. 23 for the University Research

Council’s Small Grant Program for research and publication grants. Maximum award is $5,000. research.unc.edu/red/internal.php#urc

Cpr ClaSSeS oFFeredThe UNC Hospitals American Heart Association Train-

ing Center offers community CPR classes, open to students, faculty, staff and the public. The next class, which includes

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performance thursdays on the ter-race: alex van gills. graham Memorial. Noon.

Lecture School of education’s william C. Friday distinguished lecture. kathleen McCartney, harvard u, speaks about early childhood development and poverty. reception follows. Morehead bldg. 4–6 pm.

workshop kenan-Flagler business School Center for Sustainable enterprise: “get-ting ready for Capital in a Challenging economy.” keynote address: Jim dean. 4:30-8:30 pm. $ snipurl.com/bpgei

seminar program for the humanities and human values: “oil, power and Social Stability.” Ctr for School leadership development. Fri, 4:30-9 p.m. Continues 2/21, 9 am-1 pm. $ adventuresinideas.unc.edu

meet a scientist Morehead planetar-ium and Science Center: Neuroscientist gary duncan leads an exploration of the human brain. 12: 30, 1:30 p.m. snipurl.com/bpnv1

performance pauper players pres-ent “Company,” through 2/24. union Cabaret. $ www.unc.edu/pauper/reserve.html

poet, former poet laureate. Carroll. 7:30 pm.

performance thursdays on the terrace: the Friday afternoon Jam. graham Memo-rial. Noon.

performance goat island theatre ensem-ble presents “the lastmaker,” a “per-formance archive of restless ghosts from varied pasts.” Swain hall. also on 2/28, both at 8 p.m. For ticket information, call 962-2311 or e-mail comm.@unc.edu.

Lecture Carolina Center for Jewish Stud-ies: Sylvia and irving Margolis lecture on the Jewish experience in the ameri-can South: “evangelical Christian Sup-port of israel.” Stephen Spector, Stony brook u. Friday Ctr. 7:30 pm.

performance Carolina Jazz Festival, through 2/28. www.unc.edu/music/jazzfest

reading Morgan writer-in-residence read-ing: Mark Strand, pulitzer prize winning

Next calendar includes: March 5 – March 18 | deadline for submissions: 5 p.m., Mon., Feb. 23 | e-mail: gazette@unc.edu | Fax: 843-5966: Clearly mark for the gazette. | Campus box: 6205. the gazette calendar 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.

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Local audiences will see familiar faces and places in the multimedia performance of “Continuous City,” on stage feb. 20 and feb. 21 at 8 p.m. in memorial hall. The Builders association, a New york-based group, stages the work, which blends performance by live actors, text, video and sound, and takes place in part wherever it is performed. its theme concerns how loved ones communicate from

a distance in the 21st century. www.carolinaperformingarts.org

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HeartSaver First-Aid, CPR and AED (Auto-mated External Defibrillator), is set for Feb. 21 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost is $30, plus cost of textbook.

More classes are scheduled for March 21 (HeartSaver Pediatric First Aid) and March 30 (HeartSaver AED). E-mail Glynn Looka-bill (glookabi@unch.unc.edu).

Saul williaMS to be artiSt-iN-reSideNCe iN MarCh

Hip-hop artist and slam poet Saul Wil-liams visits campus during the first week of March as the music department’s artist-in-residence. His visit includes the following performances:n March 1 – “America: Hopes, Dreams,

Realities.” Williams performs with the Car-olina Choir and UNC Chamber Singers from 2 to 4 p.m. at Memorial Hall;

n March 2 – Williams presents his works and hosts a question-answer session from 8 to 10 p.m. in the Great Hall of the FPG Student Union;

n March 4 – Williams appears with the UNC New Music Ensemble from 4 to 6 p.m. in Hill Hall’s Auditorium; and

n March 5 – Williams and the Arditti String Quartet perform “The Dead Emcee Scrolls” from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Memorial Hall.

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“The School of Medicine’s strength in the field of communication disorders research is due in large part to the leadership provided by professors Yoder and Erickson,” said Wil-liam Roper, dean of the School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs and CEO of the UNC Health Care System.

“How fitting it is that we recognize David Yoder and his contributions to and leadership in the field by selecting Karen Erickson as the inaugural Yoder distinguished professor.”

During their careers, both Erickson and Yoder have been instrumental in promoting lit-eracy as an important communication tool for people with severe communication disorders, said Lee McLean, current department chair and associate dean of the School of Medicine.

Erickson’s work was featured recently in the School of Medicine’s Medical Bulletin; refer to tinyurl.com/528gxq.

The Yoder professorship will be presented to Erickson during the biennial David E. Yoder Symposium, to be held March 6 at the Carolina Club in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center.

For information, contact Maryann Koziel, 966-5975 or maryann_koziel@med. unc.edu.

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ahEC – CommUNiTy mEDiCaL CarErobert BaileyDavid holmesPratyush mehta

BioChEmiSTryrhonda Scott

DEaN of STUDENTS offiCEDoris martinjonathan Sauls

NEw STUDENT ProGramSDianna Curtis

EDUCaTioNjeffrey GreeneClint Kalejessica Lindsayjudy PerrySharon PowellNadya yuskaev

DENTaL ECoLoGyr. Lynn fennellStephanie hyattValerie millerhaven Taylor

hUmaN rESoUrCESKevin adcockregina Stabile

faCiLiTiES SErViCESmary CravenDavid fraley

fiNaNCiaL PLaNNiNGPanthea Crabtreehenry Price

DENTiSTry – CLiNiCaL SErViCESamanda BlackLouise CollinsTracie harrellCarletta jo Keith

GENETiCSLouisa Baroudi

ENViroNmENTaL SCiENCESmelody Levyrebecca LloydElise PohlNataliya Vanchosovych

raDiaTioN oNCoLoGyNatalya alexandrovaGina williamsLiyun yu

mEDiCaL SChooL aDmiNiSTraTioNjerilyn freeDavid Kinton

Bernice mayoannabelle Stein

ViCE ChaNCELLor for STUDENT affairSDebra EatmanNatasha harrisPamela Locklear

Star heelS

Coble and Kalleberg to run for faculty chair post Two veteran faculty members have

agreed to run for the position of Chair of the Faculty.

McKay Coble, professor of design and chair of the Department of Dramatic Art, and Arne Kalleberg, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology, will be on the bal-lot during the annual faculty elections. Both have taught at Carolina since 1986.

The elections will be conducted by elec-tronic survey April 13–20. The new chair will succeed current faculty chair Joseph Templeton, who will step down June 30.

As the resident scenic and costume designer for PlayMakers Repertory Com-pany, Coble has created sets and costumes

for many plays including “The Little Prince,” “The Glass Menagerie/Well,” “Amadeus,” “Pericles” and “Cyrano.”

She currently co-chairs the Dance at Car-olina Task Force and serves as a trustee of Chapel Hill’s Paul Green Foundation.

Coble was a 2006 Academic Leader-ship Fellow at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities and has held a number of lead-ership positions both in her department and at the University level. She served the Col-lege of Arts and Sciences as a member of its administrative board from 2002 to 2005 and as chair of its Division of Fine Arts from 2003 to 2006.

Currently, she is a member of the college’s Fixed Term Faculty Committee and the advisory board for the Program in Humani-ties and Human Values.

Kalleberg’s writings have focused on the sociology of work, organizations, occupa-tions and industries, labor markets and social stratification. His most recent books are “The Mismatched Worker” and “End-ing Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream,” which he co-edited.

The 2007–08 president of the American Sociological Association, Kalleberg chaired the Department of Sociology from 1990 to 2000 before serving as senior associate dean in the Graduate School and senior associate dean for social sciences and international pro-grams in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He has held numerous elective leadership positions on campus, including serving as member of the college’s Council of Chairs, the Faculty Council, the Faculty Executive Committee and the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee, which he chaired in 2005–06.

He has also chaired both the Estab-lished Lectures Committee and the Faculty Research Committee.

The faculty chair serves as the key spokes-person for faculty interests and holds office for a non-renewable term of three years. Candidates are nominated by the Chancel-lor’s Advisory Committee.

For more information, contact the Office of Faculty Governance, 962-1671, or refer to www.unc.edu/faculty/faccoun. A sample ballot will be available online and in the Uni-versity Gazette on April 1.CoBLE KaLLEBErG

are special situations we aren’t aware of. Gazette: Are there other things that can help?Elfland: There are many things we can do

as individuals to save energy. Turning out the lights when we leave a room makes a huge difference in energy consumption, especially with around 40,000 faculty, staff and students on campus at some point during the day. The same can be said for powering down comput-ers at the end of the day and adjusting ther-mostats both during and after the workday.

Last January, across the University, we

phased out incandescent light bulbs and want people to use the energy-saving com-pact fluorescent lights instead. We also have a policy to buy products with Energy Star certification when those products are avail-able. Lab equipment uses a similar energy rating system. Our Sustainability Office is leading the effort to educate the campus community about ways to save on energy consumption, and related costs, while we contribute to protecting the climate.

Gazette: Could the University keep any savings from reduced energy costs?

Elfland: Most of our energy budget is allo-cated by the state of North Carolina, based

on energy we've actually used plus projected price increases, so any energy-related cost savings will revert to the state, not to the University. But that doesn't diminish the importance of reducing our energy use.

Gazette: What will happen with these suggestions about ways to save energy?

Elfland: The campus community has sub-mitted many excellent energy-saving ideas. While we might not be able to incorporate all of them right away, we’re keeping track of them and want to include as many as pos-sible into Carolina’s carbon reduction plan. So, thanks to everyone who has weighed in on this topic.

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February 18, 2009 11

Carolinaw o r k i n g at

During this year’s General Assembly session, legislators must find a way to plug as much as a $300 million hole in the State Health Plan’s balance sheet for this fiscal year.

For the next two fiscal years, the plan will need another $800 million to stay solvent, according to estimates. Conse-quently, premiums, co-pays and possibly even deductibles are likely to increase.

The plan typically holds its annual enrollment in March for changes effective July 1. However, enrollment this year may be delayed until as late as April to give legislators more time to decide what changes may need to be made to the plan.

If those changes are not known, the plan would likely hold a second enrollment period to allow employees to make changes based on the new information, said Brian Usischon, senior

director for benefits and employee services. Jack Walker, executive director of the State Health Plan,

recently said he might recommend to the General Assembly that the State Health Plan offer the following: n A monthly premium of $200 to $240 for employees who

enroll their spouses and are younger than 30 (the current premium is $462);

n A discount for employees and their spouses who are ages 30 to 39; and

n Increasing co-payments on doctor's office visits and some brand-name prescription drugs.The State Health Plan would need to raise premiums for

dependent coverage by 31 percent during the next two years if no changes were made to the current plan design (such as

deductibles, co-payments and other benefits). That would raise the monthly premium for family coverage under the PPO SmartChoice Standard (80/20) plan from $489.44 to $640.18 in mid-2010.

One option the General Assembly has proposed includes a premium increase of 8 percent this year and next year, but it is not yet known how this would translate to other changes to the plan, Usischon said.

Even if the enrollment is delayed, the new premium structure is not expected to go into effect until Oct. 1, but given the plan’s current financial difficulties, this date may change.

“It's important to note that these recommendations are just that – only recommendations,” Usischon said. “The General Assembly has not yet voted on any changes.”

office of human resources: State health Plan update

Judith Rizzo knows that Jim Hunt took a risk seven years ago when he hired her to run what would become the James B. Hunt, Jr., Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy.

And for many of the same reasons, it was no less a leap of faith for her.

She would relocate to a state that, despite its phenom-enal growth in places like Charlotte and the Triangle, was still predominantly rural. She was “urban straight up and down,” hav-ing spent the previous six-and-a-half years as the deputy chancel-lor for the New York City school system.

Rizzo had also served as a deputy superintendent for the public school system in Tacoma, Wash., where she championed school-based management and oversaw the implementation of school accountability protocols. In addition, she spent 16 years working in Boston Public Schools and seven years as a principal in nearby Lowell, Mass.

Would her now-fading Boston accent and her big city ways be accepted, she wondered. Then, there was the unknown of work-ing for an organization that not only was new, but that had estab-lished a unique mission that no other organization had – or has yet – attempted.

In many ways, the man for whom the institute was named provided its strength and purpose, Rizzo said.

Hunt, during two eight-year runs as governor from 1976 to 1984 and from 1992 to 2000, established a national reputation for making public school improvement not only his business, but also his area of expertise. That is why, during the administrations of presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and now Barack Obama, his name appeared on the list of potential education secretaries.

“When Jim Hunt said, ‘C’mon down, let’s have a conversation about education,’ they knew that what they were going to get was going to be good,’” Rizzo said.

The idea of the institute was to keep the conversations going. In December 2002, seven months after the institute opened its doors, it sponsored its first Governors Education Symposium, which was attended by 32 governors.

“It was held at the Rizzo Center and Governor Hunt was tickled that so many of the governors thought it was my own center,” Rizzo said.

The original plan was to hire a leader who had been a policy wonk – someone who was part of a prestigious think tank and

examined the ills of education from afar. Rizzo, on the other hand, was a “practitioner,” someone who had to respond to crises as they arose – from budget battles to the Manhattan schools’ response in the aftermath of 9/11.

It was while she was in the middle of doing all these things that Rizzo and Hunt crossed paths. “As it turned out, many of the things that I had made happen in New York City were things he had championed as governor,” she said.

In Rizzo, Hunt was getting someone who had direct respon-sibility over 40 superintendents in a school system of some 1.1 million students – roughly the number of schoolchildren in the entire state of North Carolina.

Instead of a policy wonk, Hunt saw in Rizzo a practitioner with the responsibility of crafting reforms and making them work. She also did so in a city that had grappled for years with the same kind of social and demographic issues that states like North Carolina had only begun to experience in recent decades.

For instance, Rizzo implemented a special educational district to provide direct oversight of the city’s low-performing elemen-tary and middle schools and instituted longer school days to give these students more instructional time.

“The more we talked, the more we discovered we could pretty much finish each other’s sentences, because we were looking at the same problems, only from very different perspectives,” she said.

build For the loNg ruNThe institute does not advocate, Rizzo emphasized. It attempts

to analyze and synthesize the most current information so that government leaders have it available in a format that is condensed enough to inform their policy decisions. As Rizzo said, “We are not pushing them in any direction except toward the truth.”

Rizzo also encourages governors and legislators to think beyond the next election cycle. If reforms are to last, especially the big ones, they need to be built for the long run, she said.

While the institute is intended to serve all 50 states, its relation-ship to North Carolina is particularly strong. It conducts a retreat with North Carolina legislators each year to review education data and policy.

Last year, the institute initiated two publications.

Reform-minded educator sees

new connection to Carolina a natural fit

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Like most members of the sandwich generation, Sue Coppola has a lot on her plate. Coppola, a professor in the School of Medicine’s Division of Occupational Sci-

ence, also helps care for her mother, who has dementia, and her daughter, a high-school student just learning to drive.

The sandwich generation is the group of middle-aged adults who are raising children while also providing financial support or care to their parents. Thanks to increases in life expectancy, the situation is becoming more common for many Americans, including Carolina faculty and staff members, Coppola said.

“The demographics are quite compelling,” she said. “It’s going to put increasing strain on families, who already provide 80 percent of care.”

About one in eight Americans between the ages of 41 and 59 are caring both for children and aging parents, according to a 2005 study by the Pew Research Center.

Many of these caretakers miss work to attend doctors’ appointments with older family members or to handle crisis situations. That costs employers about $33.6 billion in lost pro-ductivity each year, according to a 2006 study by the National Alliance for Caregiving.

About 80 percent of caregiving for older adults is performed at home, most often by women, and the fact that more women have become employed in recent decades complicates the issue, said Anne Whisnant, vice president of the Association for Women Faculty and Professionals, which sponsored a work-shop last November about caring for older adults. Whisnant is also director of research, communications and programs for the Office of Faculty Governance.

“It’s different now when the main caregiver in many cases is also employed,” Whisnant said.

Although juggling different roles can be stressful, Cop-pola said it is important to remember that aging also has a silver lining.

“There are a lot of wonderful gifts to aging,” she said. “All the data shows that people generally have higher life satisfaction as they age. There’s a satisfaction that you’ve gotten through a lot of the hurdles in life, even if you’re sorry that life is coming to

a close. And spending time with an aging parent can be very rewarding.”

Meanwhile, a wealth of resources for older adults is available through the Univer-sity and in Orange County. Coppola and other UNC experts offer several tips for faculty and staff members caring for an aging family member.

Because social isolation is one of the most critical problems that older people face, con-necting with others and feeling productive is important.

“The people who live to be centenarians are people by and large who have something to do tomorrow,” Coppola said.

Creating new family roles, such as having a grandparent bless the food at special meals, can bring a sense of purpose. The Orange County Department on Aging can provide information about activities for adults ages 55 and older; call 245-2000.

Taking steps to prevent falls is crucial. “Falls are a huge killer of people,” said Victor Marshall, director of the UNC Institute on Aging.

Last year, the institute helped found the N.C. Falls Preven-tion Coalition. The 30-member organization uses social-mar-keting techniques to teach people how to reduce the risk of falls, such as by removing throw rugs and installing grab bars in showers. To reach the coalition, call the North Carolina Injury and Violence Prevention Branch at 707-5425.

Aging experts also advocate preparing legal documents before a crisis arises. A living will specifies the treatments an individual would like to receive, and a health-care power of attorney authorizes another person to make important medi-cal decisions if the person is unable to express those wishes. Both documents can make caring for a loved one easier.

Fostering self-reliance is another key component. For instance, creating an environment in which older adults have

access to do their own laundry is one way to help them stay active. An occupational therapist can help develop a plan for accomplishing this.

In planning and implementing care for an older loved one, it is beneficial to find an interdisciplinary team of doctors who will work together to develop the treatment plan. The Inter-disciplinary Geriatric Evaluation and Treatment Clinic in the UNC Center for Aging and Health is such a resource; call 966-1459.

Even people who are not caring for an aging family member can be an advocate for innovative education in geriatrics.

Last fall, English professor Jane Thrailkill started talking with students about how they could incorporate tools from litera-ture into their work with older adults.

“There’s an element of detective work to what they do, and attention to the small detail that may prove to be the lynchpin,” she said. “Those aspects of what they’re up to are frequently involved in literature.”

The students discussed how to observe key details – such as dirty dishes in the sink – that could be a quiet sig-nal of depression and how this insight might keep a problem from escalating.

Editor’s Note: Sara Peach, a master’s student from Durham in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, wrote this article.

12 univers i ty gazette

The inaugural issue of “Concepts” focused on the importance of providing integrated services, particularly health services to low-income children, as a key to their academic success.

“Blueprint,” an eight-page policy primer, focuses on criti-cal issues in education policy. The inaugural edition included a review of the standards that states have adopted to delineate what students should know at each grade level, from K–12. The review was based on an in-depth study that the National Research Council conducted at the institute’s request.

“Their research demonstrated variability that was greater than anyone had imagined, not only between states, but within states and within different schools in the same districts,” Rizzo said. “These results were dramatic, and alarming.”

Local control of schools is the tradition in the United States,

but Rizzo said school boards needed to be smart about control-ling only things they understand well.

Complicating the issue, she said, state-created tests are pro-duced through a democratic process that lends itself to adding more and more requirements until the curriculum becomes “a mile wide and an inch deep.”

As a result, there are far too many standards for an end-of-grade test to cover, leading to multiple-choice questions that cannot test for the higher-order thinking skills students will need in a global economy, Rizzo said.

“We need to go back to teaching kids more of what the United States has always been a leader in, and that is creativity,” she said.

CoMiNg hoMeRizzo said it was an exciting time to be in her business, with

the election of Beverly Perdue as governor and Obama’s selec-tion of Arne Duncan, head of the Chicago school system, as his

education secretary. Also, the institute’s yet-to-be-realized opportunities after

becoming affiliated with Carolina last summer are reason for excitement, she said.

Since its inception, the institute had been attached to the office of UNC President Erskine Bowles, but Bowles decided the institute and other similar organizations with education-related missions could work better if each were tied to a par-ticular campus within the UNC system.

“Becoming a part of Carolina was really like coming home,” Rizzo said.

“It just felt so natural and so right. In a funny way, we have more freedom than ever before because Carolina is in a position to better understand what we are trying to do and to become a part of it.”

For more information about the institute, refer to www.hunt-institute.org.

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Sandwich generation finds challenges in caring

for aging family members

Sue Coppola, right, helps 91-year-old june watson review her bills during a visit to watson’s home near Chapel hill.