|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Crowell, associate vice chancellor for economic development and director of the Office of Technology Development, came to Carolina after helping guide the development of Centennial Campus at N.C. State University. One of the reasons he came here was to be part of something as big and exciting as the development of Carolina North. But he emphasized from the start that the blueprint for that development remains a work in progress. Yes, the designs are exact and detailed. But none are etched in stone. Tony Waldrop, the University's vice chancellor for research and development who along with Crowell spearheaded rollout efforts, said it is important for all stakeholders to understand their input is welcome. And that time will be taken to incorporate that input before the plan is finalized for approval. Among the Gerrard Hall audience, traffic and potential impacts on surrounding neighborhoods emerged as primary concerns. Waldrop, in response to these concerns, cited the need to collaborate with the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and with appropriate Department of Transportation planners. He pointed to the existing fare-free bus service, which is partially subsidized by the University, as an example of how past collaboration has worked. From the start, University leaders have billed the development of Carolina North as the key to the University's future. Perhaps no other university in the world could match the abundance of intellectual capital and land, located in such a vibrant research and entrepreneurial region as the Triangle. Indeed, perhaps no campus has in its possession a parcel of land a mile away from its campus with enough acres to contain all the existing campus buildings with land to spare. The first phase, which would be built over five to seven years, would have the scale and look of McCorkle Place and would eventually accommodate as many as 2,000 employees. But Thomas R. Linden, the Glaxo Wellcome distinguished professor of medical journalism who spoke at the Gerrard Hall forum, said he was concerned about the project because of its unprecedented scope. "The more enthusiastic you get the more depressed I get," Linden said. Linden said he moved to Chapel Hill from Los Angeles to get away from an overpowering urban environment and fears the Carolina North project could create the same kind of urban environment here. Waldrop, who found areas of agreement with many audience members, took issue with Linden's argument. Carolina is a major public research university and as that research enterprise continues to grow, modern research space must be made available to accommodate it. Waldrop also emphasized that Carolina North, in many ways, will be a place to expand the University's multiple missions. It won't be just a research park that allows for partnerships with the private sector, government and other research institutions in areas such as biotechnology and genomics. It won't be just a place to add classroom space for teaching. It won't just be a "living and learning community" where people live close enough to work to walk and close enough to service retail stores to avoid getting in their cars and fighting traffic to find a place to get a sandwich or a cup of coffee or a gallon of milk for their cereal the next morning. It will be all those things, and by combining them, it will become more. At the same time, one would be hard pressed --- even 50 years from now when Carolina North could be fully developed -- to view the project as another Los Angeles. Of the 963 acres, only 240 acres, roughly 24 percent of the parcel, will be developed, Waldrop said. And of the 240 acres, 36 acres will be tucked away for green space and 21 acres for landscaped parks, with another 15 acres remaining as natural areas. The concept now calls for much of the development to take place on the flattest portion of the property, including the area that now encompasses Horace Williams Airport, which University officials hope to close. Leaving so much of the property undeveloped would help protect wetlands and streams, as well as leave intact miles of nature trails. One speaker at the Gerrard Hall forum, who identified herself as a graduate study in history, said she already visits the Carolina North property every day to walk her dogs. She said she was concerned that the humanities would be shut out of development in favor of hard sciences that are better able to attract private partners and donors. Waldrop said that planners are committed to preventing Carolina North from becoming just a research park for science. There is already a commitment to have 50 percent or more of the development to be devoted to academic use, Waldrop said. Waldrop cited as an example the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, which already has expressed a strong interest in locating on the property. "They would go out there tomorrow if the opportunity existed," Waldrop said. With each piece of development, the same set of questions will be asked. Would the proposed development help to prepare better students? Enable new knowledge? Help to recruit and attract faculty and students? Respect and protect the quality of life of people living in and out of its borders? Waldrop said no ironclad timetable has been set to bring a plan for Carolina North to University trustees for approval. The plan will have to be modified based on feedback. Zoning changes will be needed from both the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro before development can begin. Still, when asked, Waldrop said he might be overly optimistic, but "I'd like to think in 2005." University ropes in free-range file sharing The University has issued an alert to faculty and staff, as well as students, warning of the increasing personal risks involved with illegal file sharing. A campuswide e-mail and an ad placed in the "The Daily Tar Heel" by Information Technology Services (ITS) pointed to a subpoena the University has received regarding an alleged case of file sharing. It is just one example, the e-mail said, that the risks are very real for those who illegally trade copyrighted music, movies, game and software over the Internet using file-sharing programs. ITS cautioned that the risks include not only possible campus disciplinary action but also criminal prosecution and the initiation of civil suits by copyright holders. The ITS document said that automated methods have made it easier for copyright holders to identify infringements. "Even modest sharing may be noticed," it noted. In August, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) brought lawsuits against 261 individuals for illegally sharing copyrighted music. Of these, 52 settled during September for amounts ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. In addition, the ITS memo warned of the security risks associated with the use of peer-to-peer file sharing applications. Beginning in August, it said, an increase has been seen in the number of computer viruses introduced via file sharing applications. Also, many of these programs share information by default, which can be a significant risk if confidential information such as patient records are stored on a computer system. For this reason, schools or units with data requiring high security may have determined that individual users in those units may not use peer-to-peer file sharing applications. To read a copy of the alert and to review the campus' copyright policies and the Digital Millennium Copy Act, see www.unc.edu/policy/copyright.html or contact copyright@unc.edu. For assistance with removing peer-to-peer file sharing applications and mp3s or other materials, contact your departmental computer support professionals or call 962-HELP. Elizabeth Kistin wins Rhodes scholarship Elizabeth Kistin of Corrales, N.M., a senior at Carolina, has won a 2004 Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England. A double major in political science and Latin American studies, Kistin will use the scholarship to earn a master's degree in developmental studies, exploring the effects of non-governmental organizations on indigenous populations in Latin America. "Ultimately, I would like to work with the United Nations or an international non-governmental organization for the development of rural Latin America," she said. The daughter of Martin and Sidney Kistin of Corrales, Kistin graduated from Albuquerque Academy in 2000. A Morehead Scholar at Carolina, she has a grade-point average of nearly 3.9, has made the dean's list every semester and been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. "I know I speak for the Carolina community in expressing our pride in Liz," said Chancellor James Moeser. "She has made the most of all that a Carolina education has to offer. Her excellence in academics, service and leadership make her an ideal choice for an honor as rare and distinguished as the Rhodes Scholarship." Kistin brings to 37 the number of Rhodes Scholars from the University since the program began in 1902. Carolina students have a long tradition of outstanding achievement. Last December, senior Morehead Scholar Karine Dubè of Canada was chosen for a Rhodes Scholarship, becoming the 13th Carolina winner since 1980. Carolina ranks second among public universities in numbers of Rhodes Scholars produced. The award pays all tuition, fees and living expenses for two years at Oxford, plus travel expenses to and from the university. The scholarship will cover a third year at Oxford if it is needed for a student's area of study. Its value varies by academic field but averages $30,000 per year. Thirty-two U.S. students were chosen Nov. 22 for the prestigious scholarships, created in the will of English statesman Cecil Rhodes. Originally, 963 students had been nominated by 366 colleges and universities across the country. Kistin advanced from New Mexico state selection interviews Nov. 19 in Albuquerque to final interviews Nov. 22, in Houston, for the Rhodes district covering Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Ninety-nine finalists from 58 colleges and universities reached the finals. Each of eight U.S. districts chose four winners. "Liz Kistin is one of those remarkable students who has managed to be an effective presence on campus, in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community, and even in several Latin American countries where she has spent her summers," said English professor George Lensing, director of distinguished scholarships and coordinator of the Rhodes nominees. "Her professors praise her unstintingly. Her energy and dedication seem never to flag, whatever her task. In every sphere, she works to be an agent of social change. It is difficult to imagine a student who has more comprehensively drawn upon the rich variety of opportunities that she has found here." Kistin came to Carolina in 2000 on the Morehead Award, a full four-year scholarship modeled on the Rhodes. The awards -- to 60 to 70 freshmen annually for excellence in academics, leadership and character and physical vigor -- include funding for four summer enrichment experiences. Those experiences and others abroad fueled Kistin's interest in development and poverty reduction in Latin America. While teaching adults and children in Costa Rica in summer 2001, she witnessed the dismantling of a village of impoverished immigrants after an eviction notice from a bank. "I arrived at dawn the day of eviction to help the families save what they could," she wrote. "In desperation, we reduced homes to salvageable roofing and nails. ... With the exception of temporary shelter in the municipal gym, the families of El Esfuerzo had nowhere to go." Their despair continued to haunt Kistin after she returned to Chapel Hill. Volunteering at a local assistance center, the Interfaith Council for Social Services, she helped found Project Rush Hour, to keep the center's food pantry and financial aid program open during evening hours. "I am responsible for recruiting volunteers, educating them about the network of social services and mentoring students as they become comfortable engaging in what are often difficult, emotional interviews," she wrote. On campus, Kistin organized a hunger and homelessness conference for student and community groups seeking solutions to those problems. This fall, as chair of student government's public service committee, Kistin publicized campus and community service opportunities. She also helped run a skills-building and networking conference for 130 Carolina and Duke University students interested in leadership and service. Summer 2002 took Kistin to New York City to work for UNICEF, writing and pitching news releases and helping to launch that year's Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fund-raising campaign. Last summer she began research for her senior honors thesis while in Ecuador, examining the influence of a nongovernmental organization on development and democratization in 25 communities. Her topic was suggested during another study abroad, in spring 2002, with host families in the mountains, on the coast and in the capital of Nicaragua. There, a feminist leader challenged Kistin's faith in nongovernmental organizations as antidotes to problems of the developing world. "She urged me to consider that unchecked aid, while cushioning against abject poverty, may also prevent substantial and sustainable change," Kistin wrote. Also in Nicaragua, she worked with muralists intent on combating poverty, who encouraged change through their public art. From that experience, Kistin designed a for-credit course, "The Murals of Revolutionary Latin America," which she will teach next semester to up to 18 Carolina undergraduates. Also next semester, Kistin will recruit speakers for Great Decisions lectures at the University and facilitate weekly discussions on the talks. Her teaching has extended to designing bilingual curricula in English and Spanish for preschoolers, tutoring middle and high school students and creating and implementing a curriculum to tutor three Spanish-speaking women in English. Since 1999, Kistin has been on the advisory panel for student concerns for the College Board. In August and September, she was a student adviser and publicist for "Tuesdays with Friday," a speaker series hosted by President Emeritus Bill Friday at the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence. Kistin has played intramural soccer, ping-pong and volleyball and coached in the local Rainbow Youth Soccer League. She had no trouble with the Outward Bound course undertaken by all Morehead Scholars before their freshman year, having been an outdoor educator for three years at her high school. "Action constitutes just one of my responses to the desperation I witnessed in El Esfuerzo," she wrote. "I strive to base my service-oriented actions on a foundation of knowledge in language, culture, history and politics." Oxford, she believes, will be the perfect place to lay that foundation.
Office's work pays off for Rhodes winner When students ask about the Rhodes Scholarship, George Lensing has to be brutally honest. "First of all, I'll say, `No, you won't win the Rhodes Scholarship,'" said Lensing, the director of the Office of Distinguished Scholarships. "`There will be over 900 officially university-endorsed students and there will be 32 Rhodes Scholars. But let's see what we can do to make you competitive.'"
For a Carolina student to win a scholarship as prestigious as the Rhodes -- or any of the other dozens of scholarships for which the Office of Distinguished Scholarships helps students apply -- it takes hours of work on the part of both the student and helpful faculty members. That's where Lensing comes in. A professor of English on top of his job advising applicants for major scholarships, he helps students craft personal statements and prepare for intensive interviews required by many award committees. And sometimes, a student he advises actually wins. "In the case of Liz Kistin, I have to swallow those words," he said. Kistin, a senior from Corrales, N.M., recently won one of 32 Rhodes Scholarships awarded to American students for two years of study at Oxford University in England. Weekly visits with Lensing in October and November to revise her personal statement and practice for a series of interviews played a crucial role in Kistin's successful application. "I probably met him once a week, tweaking application stuff, proofreading," she said. "He was really wonderful in helping me feel really prepared." Despite the long odds that face a prospective winner of a major scholarship such as the Rhodes, Lensing and his assistant Jan Hutton work hard to make sure the best and brightest of the University are aware of the opportunities. Lensing solicits nominations from faculty members, and he meets personally with Morehead Scholars, Robertson Scholars, Carolina Scholars and any other students with the potential and the desire. When Carolina students win these prestigious awards, the reputation of the University is certainly enhanced. But, Lensing said, that's not why he does what he does. "I'll tell you the truth, I'm not interested in doing this for the school's image," he said. "It's to make these opportunities available to students because I think we have students that can compete with the best." Lensing also makes sure that the student benefits from the experience regardless of whether a scholarship is eventually awarded. Writing a 1,000-word personal statement, as is required by the Rhodes selection committee, forces an applicant to examine his or her life experience and future goals. "They're going to benefit from all of this introspection and self-evaluation," Lensing said. "The ones who don't win the big scholarships but have been through that review process, even though they've invested hours and hours, would tell you it's beneficial." Kistin is only the most recent Carolina student to turn that self-evaluation into a lucrative post-graduate scholarship. In the 100 years of the program, University students have won 37 Rhodes Scholarships - including two who have benefited from Lensing's expertise since he began working in the Office of Distinguished Scholarships in the fall of 2002. "He was really helpful in terms of getting ideas and working on the personal statement, which was the most challenging part," Kistin said. "After a few conversations with him, he helped me lift things out, condense what I was trying to say." And with Lensing continuing to recruit and help students to apply for these prestigious scholarships, it's likely Kistin won't be the last Carolina student to make him swallow his words. Donation nearly doubles size of music collection It might seem that a three-bedroom house with a three-car garage would be a little lonely for just one person. Not if he had 60,000 records to keep him company.
Movie posters, magazines, song folios, cassette tapes, soundies (precursors to music videos) and 60,000 78-rpm records comprised the personal collection of Eugene Earle of Nipomo, Calif. Earle recently donated his collection to the Southern Folklife Collection in the manuscripts department of Wilson Library. "It was amazing to go out there and pack it up and oversee the shipment," said Steven Weiss, sound and image librarian and head of the collection. "It's the culmination of a lifetime of work. Gene's house was literally packed with records." The records donated nearly doubled Carolina's collection. It now includes more than 160,000 sound recordings, making it the largest collection of Southern folk music in the South. Weiss believes the collection is second only to that of the Library of Congress. Earle, a retired electrical engineer, said he thought that Carolina would be a good home for his collection because the artists were from or sang about Appalachia. So he was, in a sense, returning the music home. Earle had visited the Wilson Library collection in April. "I was very impressed by how serious they were about their collection," Earle said. "It was well catalogued, well organized and well preserved."
Earle developed his passion for music as a youth in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. It all began when he walked three miles to the Sunday matinee and heard Gene Autry sing, "Sing Me a Song of the Saddle." Autry inspired Earle's love of music when he was 9 years old. "The first records I bought were mail-order from the Sears Roebuck catalog," Earle said. "Seven Gene Autry records. I paid 25 cents apiece for them, plus shipping." But it was Australian collector John Edwards who really encouraged him to develop his discography, Earle said. Edwards and Earle exchanged letters in the 1950s, before Edwards died in a car accident in 1960. Edwards left his collection to Earle, who, with colleagues, established the John Edwards Memorial Foundation. Formed in California in 1962, the foundation managed Edwards' collection of recordings, correspondence and other research materials. Carolina purchased the collection from the foundation in 1983. That collection was combined with the University's Folklore Archives in the fall of 1986 to form the Southern Folklife Collection. Earle truly was passionate about collecting. He used his vacation time to scour the country looking for records. He was on mailing lists for several record auctions. He would pick a location and research radio stations in the area that were on the air in the 1930s. He also would advertise in the local papers. "One of my best record collections came from a radio station in Kalispell, Mont.," he said. "I purchased 3,000 to 4,000 records there, and it was one of my largest purchases ever." It was on one of those vacations that Earle had the chance to make the first recording of Arthel "Doc" Watson. Blind since childhood, the North Carolina native is a Grammy award-winning artist and a Carolina honorary degree recipient. Ralph Rinzler of the Greenbriar Boys and Earle traveled to North Carolina to record Clarence Ashley, vocalist and guitar and banjo player. Watson accompanied Ashley on the guitar. Watson was so impressive that Rinzler and Earle asked if they could record him separately. The group traveled to Watson's house, where Earle recorded "The Train that Carried My Girl from Town" and several other songs. When Rinzler and Earle returned to New Jersey, where Earle was living at the time, Rinzler played the tape for several record executives there. Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, liked the tape, so he released "Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's," Watson's first commercial recording. Earle said he is almost certain that the original reel tape from the recording at Watson's home is included in his donation to Carolina. The collection, which will require original cataloging, contains hundreds if not thousands of artists, Weiss said. It has 900 transcription discs (16-inch discs) of the Sons of the Pioneers, "Lucky U" radio program, which is almost all the shows ever broadcast -- a rare treasure, Weiss said. Earle also had nearly complete runs of Mainer's Mountaineers, a North Carolina-based group; Bill and Charlie Monroe; Bill Cox and Cliff Hobbs and Jimmie Rogers. Earle estimated he had about 80 to 90 percent of their works. "He would try to collect all of the recordings that exist of a particular artist that he loved," Weiss said. "I think the collection has some recordings that are pretty rare. There also are test pressings mixed in. Test pressings are unreleased takes done in the studio and are very rare. There may be very few of these in existence other than the ones that are here." Even Earle himself is unsure of how many artists are in the collection. "I couldn't even begin to tell you how many artists," he said. "When I first started collecting, I didn't limit myself. If it was from the `20s or `30s, I collected it. But they weren't always my favorites." With the potential for so many unknown gems in the collection, Weiss' first goal is to catalog it. Then, Weiss said, he will focus on digitizing the collection, which will ensure that the recordings will not be lost. At the current staffing level, Weiss estimates it will take five to 10 years to catalog and digitize the collection. "I would like to get a grant to get this collection digitized in an orderly fashion," he said. "But we'll be doing digitization on an as-needed basis until that happens." Grant secures new home for North Carolina's largest archaeological collection The largest and most comprehensive archaeological archive in North Carolina -- including one of the most important collections of Cherokee and Catawba Indian artifacts anywhere -- is one step closer to moving into a secure, state-of-the-art facility at the University.
The University's Research Laboratories of Archaeology has received a $450,000 federal grant to help renovate 3,200 square feet of space in Hamilton Hall for the long-term preservation of the North Carolina Archaeological Collection. The grant to Carolina is the third largest of 63 "Save America's Treasures" grants recently awarded nationwide by the U.S. Department of Interior's National Park Service. Only historical collections of national significance are eligible for these awards. The College of Arts & Sciences will provide matching funds for the project from overhead receipts generated by research. The North Carolina Archaeological Collection contains more than 5 million catalogued artifacts and records documenting the history of Indian cultures in the state and srrounding regions over 12,000 years. The collection includes artifacts made of pottery, stone, bone, shell, charcoal, metal and glass. "As a source of archaeological information on the Cherokee and Catawba nations and their predecessors, this collection is unsurpassed," said Vincas P. Steponaitis, professor of anthropology and director of the Research Laboratories of Archaeology. "It also includes the excavated materials from some of the most important archaeological sites in the eastern United States." The collection has resided at the University for more than 60 years. When Steponaitis arrived in 1988, the artifacts were stored in an old warehouse without adequate ventilation, climate-control or shelving. In 1992, the archive moved to a more accessible and suitable location in Wilson Library, where it remains today. The library needs that space for its growing collection of books, so the University has designated 3,200 square feet in the basement of Hamilton Hall as a new home for the artifacts. The Hamilton Hall space will require extensive renovations to ensure that the collection is safely preserved, Steponaitis said. Plans call for a climate-controlled air distribution system, compact shelving to accommodate the growing collection, waterproof exterior walls and flooring, new plumbing and lighting, an upgraded fire protection and alarm system, and a redesigned ramp to provide access for persons with disabilities. The renovations are expected to be completed in 2006. In addition, all of the artifacts will be repackaged in archivally sound containers to ensure long-term preservation. Because the collection is mostly pre-Columbian, it has special significance for American Indians, Steponaitis said. It contains artifacts from hundreds of archaeological sites, with a major portion from two National Historic Landmarks: the Town Creek Indian Mound in Montgomery County, including a reconstructed Indian village and museum that are visited by thousands of school children every year; and Hardaway, the oldest excavated archaeological site in North Carolina, located in Stanly County. Steponaitis and colleagues have worked closely with tribal communities throughout the state and region to make the collection accessible to scholars and the general public. Cherokee potters have used some of the ceramic artifacts in a series of workshops designed to revive a traditional pottery style that died out in the late 19th century. University research archaeologists have brought the artifacts to public school classrooms and designed online resources for teachers to use in lessons about Native American history and culture. "This has been an extraordinary resource for research, teaching, exhibits and other public programs," said Steponaitis. "Much of our current knowledge of the state's prehistory is based on this archive, and much more remains to be learned from it." Trustees delay tuition decision The University trustees on Nov. 20 delayed until January a vote on a campus-based tuition hike that would raise undergraduate tuition $300 a year for three consecutive years. The proposal, which still would need approval from the UNC Board of Governors and state General Assembly, was similar to one developed a year ago that was shelved because of the state's hard economic times. The trustees' Nov. 20 decision to delay came amidst discussion among trustees to differentiate between in-state and out-of-state students and consider the possibility of imposing steeper increases on the latter. These discussions came on the heels of the controversy generated by a proposal before the Board of Governors that would raise the 18 percent cap on out-of-state students admitted into the UNC system. Earlier in November, the Board of Governors delayed action on whether to increase the cap to allow time for further study. University Trustee Chair Richard "Stick" Williams told fellow board members he was "a little bit disappointed" in the tenor of the debate about raising the cap. Carolina leaders had argued in favor of raising the cap because of the educational benefits it would help foster for all incoming students. Under the proposal, all qualified North Carolinians would have been assured a space on a UNC campus. Carolina would have enrolled more in-state students each year this decade and assured that at least one additional resident student was enrolled for each additional out-of-stater. "This University is for the people of North Carolina, and we take great pride in what we deliver to the sons and daughters of this state," Williams said. Given the high number of out-of-state applications that the University gets each year, it is clear that many out-of-state students view a Carolina education as a bargain, some trustees argued. Chancellor James Moeser suggested that no dramatic change should be made overnight. If there are to be changes, he said, the University should seek to avoid any sudden, abrupt shift because out-of-state students already here chose to come to Carolina based on an expectation of the amount of tuition they should pay. He also cited the possible impact on merit-based scholarship programs such as the Morehead and Robertson. Moeser also said it is important to remember that campus-based tuition increases are different than increases initiated by the General Assembly in that with campus-based increases, all the revenues generated stay on campus. Even better, University officials can control how those added revenues are spent. In contrast, revenues from tuition increases initiated by the legislature are controlled by lawmakers, Moeser said. But trustee Philip Carson took issue with the idea of raising tuition at all. What is needed is a more systematic approach between the state legislature and UNC system, he said. By raising tuition voluntarily at the campus level, Carson argued, "we've let the legislature off the hook." "They should do their job rather than pass it on down to us." Pattern
of careful study The task force was co-chaired by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Shelton and Student Body President Matt Tepper and included faculty, staff and students. The task force, in its written report, said the reason for recommending the increase was to "generate resources that supplement state appropriations in order to enhance the quality of academic programs." Uses of the proposed tuition increases set aside: Underlying
principles Chief among them is protecting access to the University for qualified students from poor or modest backgrounds. The 40 percent set aside for need-based aid is consistent with previous increases that have been approved. The recently announced Carolina Covenant is further evidence of that commitment. Another priority is to generate revenues to attract and keep the best and brightest faculty members who are most likely to be targeted for recruitment by peer institutions throughout the country. But the idea of differentiating campus-based increases to charge out-of-state students more than their in-state counterparts is a new wrinkle that will have to be ironed out by the time of the trustees' next meeting in January. Given the lack of time to hold the meeting, the tuition task force will not be reconvened. Instead, Shelton will develop a recommendation or recommendations for the trustees to consider. The trustees, in turn, will forward any recommendation they act upon in January to the UNC Board of Governors. That board, which has the authority to call for tuition hikes apart from campus-based measures, will forward its recommendation to the General Assembly for final action. Carolina First puts focus on faculty support The Carolina First Campaign has reached 62 percent of its $1.8 billion goal, raising $1.12 billion as of Nov. 19. What sometimes gets lost in the computation of such big numbers are the big purposes for which the money is being raised: faculty support, student support, research, strategic initiatives and building the campus. In a November report to the University Board of Trustees, Trustee Paul Fulton, who is helping to spearhead the campaign, focused on the money that has already been raised for faculty support and how some of that money has already been spent. As of Nov. 19, $165 million had been committed to faculty support, or 55 percent of Carolina First's $300 million goal for this area. Of the $165 million, $131.21 million has been received in cash; $21.83 million in pledges and $12 million in deferred gifts. Fulton said, in recognition of the University's critical need to recruit and retain outstanding faculty, the chancellor and the campaign leadership are spending additional time and energy on the goal for faculty support. Fulton noted that already, with the exception of the broad "strategic initiatives" category, faculty support has been the most successful category. Consider: Of the $165 million raised for faculty support, $76 million has already been put to work to the benefit of faculty. Fulton said campaign funds have already helped recruit these national teachers and scholars: In addition to endowed professorships, endowed fellowships have helped recruit and retain faculty. For example, the Spray-Randleigh Fellowships, funded by the Spray Foundation of Atlanta and the Randleigh Foundation Trust of Chapel Hill, helped the University retain 13 current faculty and recruit three new faculty during the 2002-03 academic year, Fulton said. During the current 2003-04 academic year, these fellowships have been used to retain faculty members and recruit four others, he said. "It's clear that the campaign is having a major impact on faculty recruitment and retention at Carolina, and we want to do more," Fulton said. At the February meeting of Carolina First's steering committee, members will consider raising the goal for faculty support to $400 million, he said.
Researcher's bug for ants began as a boy Kye Hedlund has been fascinated by ants since he was a kid. But he didn't set out to become an ant researcher -- it just sort of happened. Fifteen or so years ago, he took a course in plant identification in Carolina's biology department. But the botanists, he says, already know too much. "Botanists came through here in the 18th century and found what was here," he says. So Hedlund turned back to bugs. "Insects, on the other hand, are not only the majority of the world's species, but are just virtually unknown. We probably have described only 1 percent of the world's insects." Hedlund can tell you that there are about 200 ant species in North Carolina, about 700 in North America and about 10,000 worldwide. His specific ant interest is in systematics -- the classification of organisms and the evolutionary relationships between them (sometimes also called taxonomy). There are fewer than 10 ant systematists in the United States, Hedlund says, mainly because the money isn't there. "Generally, with insects, if it doesn't attack corn or tobacco, it doesn't get any funding. Fire ants have been the best thing that ever happened to ant researchers," he laughs. "But ants are pretty much ignored, except for the small group of scientists that are compelled to study them." Hedlund's own compulsion began when he got interested in biodiversity -- the number of different species of plants and animals in a given environment. As biodiversity goes, things aren't exactly rosy -- in some places species are rapidly disappearing before they're scientifically studied, and before we know much about the roles they played in their little corners of the world. "When we cut down the Brazilian rainforest, for example, we're losing a lot of species that we hadn't even known were there," Hedlund says. So Hedlund decided he'd do something about it. You might guess that he trooped out, found and identified some ant specimens and placed them in a museum. He did, and does. He's a regular contributor to -- and one of six honorary curators of -- N. C. State University's Insect Collection. But Hedlund isn't your typical biologist. Or let's be more clear: He's not a biologist, period. There's no lab bench in his Sitterson Hall office. No zoology library down the hall. Not a microscope in sight. No, Hedlund is an associate professor of ... computer science. Yep. For years, Hedlund designed computer chips such as those Intel Pentiums you always hear about on TV. But the work frustrated him. "Chip technology changes so fast," he says. "You do something and it's relevant for two or three years, and the technology has moved beyond it. I wanted to do something that related to the world's problems. I want to produce tools that other biologists can use." Enter Hedlund's online catalog of North American ants. It is, Hedlund says, a first step toward making the world's knowledge about ants readily accessible via the World Wide Web. It's not a "Golden Guide" to ants, Hedlund cautions, but a resource intended for any ecologist who is interested in ants. "It's dense, technical work," he explains. "If an ecologist has an ant before him, he has five questions to ask: What species is this; how do I recognize this species; where does it occur; what does it do in terms of its natural history; and where do I find out more? The online catalog aims to compile everything that is known about those five questions." Hedlund is the first to admit that research in computer science this ain't. On the other hand, most other ecologists wouldn't be able to put together a MySQL database that automatically generates web pages via a UNIX server. So Hedlund has turned his experience in programming, databases and web development into a reference work for other scientists. But that's not enough for Hedlund. "As a computer scientist, I'm a tool smith," he says. "If you want to do the snakes of Panama, or the butterflies of Brazil, okay, import all of my tools -- and then, of course, provide all of your own data -- and you'll be up and running to do a web site similar to this, for other organisms." "I want to be the patron saint of the web for systematists," he laughs. "These people are overworked; they don't necessarily know anything about computers, and the real underlying goal in all this is to make it easy for them to make their work available on the web. So this ant project, although it's pretty big even by itself, is more a demonstration project." Hedlund says that if researchers can think of questions that they couldn't even imagine without his web-based tools, then his work will have been a success. He imagines a user querying his database to find out what species are in North Carolina. "We just crank that right out, and that's produced on the web site. And then the user's question might become, `Oh, OK, what's in South Carolina? Hmmm ...What's in South Carolina that's not in North Carolina?' Then, `Why? Is there some correlation with habitat? It's mostly those on the coastal plain and in sandy areas that are in South Carolina but not North Carolina. Hmmm ... Are those also found farther south? Maybe they're southern species that come up from ...'" His voice trails off. It's hard to say whether he's more excited by the possibilities of the technology or by the ants themselves. Or maybe it's the idea of helping to save a little sliver of our world. One ant at a time. Hedlund's ants web site can be found at www.cs.unc.edu/~hedlund/ants/catalog. Provided by the
Office of the Vice Chancellor
|
 |
