UNIVERSITY GAZETTE | May 23, 2007 | The University of North Carolina

Campus Recreation’s Kids ROCK! (Recreational Opportunities for Carolina Kids) teams up adults and children to learn new skills. The next event, set for May 26 from 10 a.m. to noon, will teach the use of map and compass to find one’s way in the great outdoors. In this case, teams will be working to discover hidden treasures at the Outdoor Recreation Center.

To participate, e-mail Marty Pomerantz (pomerant@email.unc.edu) at least two days prior to the event. There is no charge for Kids ROCK! Programs.

Faculty, staff, students and local residents are invited to participate in a third round of community meetings about Carolina North on May 29.

The meetings will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Room 2603 of the School of Government’s Knapp-Sanders Building. Presentations will be repeated at 5:30 p.m. in the same location.

University representatives will present two revised conceptual drawings with possible approaches to issues including open space, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, utilities and land use on the UNC-owned property.

Attendees will have opportunities to ask questions and share comments. After a brief presentation, attendees can discuss the plans and programs with UNC staff in small groups.

For more information, refer to carolinanorth.unc.edu. Two more community meetings are planned for June 21.

David Taylor, author of “Ginseng, the Divine Root,” will give a public reading at the North Carolina Botanical Garden on June 11, sharing his insights into the plant that thrives in subcultures ranging from the North Carolina mountains to the streets of Hong Kong.

The 7 p.m. discussion is free but reservations are required by calling 962-0522. For more information, refer to www.ncbg.unc.edu.

The University Archives and Records Service invites the University community to its 2007 Records Management Liaison Annual Meeting on June 13, from 8:30 a.m. to noon in Wilson Library’s Pleasants Family Assembly Room. Come prepared to share experiences, learn about improvements in the records service, view some of the gems in the University Archives collection and possibly win one of two prizes.

Presentations will be made by Caroline Walters, University Records manager; Janis Holder, University archivist; and Susan Ballinger, assistant University archivist.

The exhibition “Greetings from North Carolina: A Century of Postcards from the Durwood Barbour Collection” will open June 14 in the North Carolina Collection Gallery of Wilson Library. Barbour, a Carolina alumnus and resident of Raleigh, recently donated his collection of 7,894 historic North Carolina postcards to UNC’s library.

The collection contains views of almost every town and city in the state, along with images of mills, courthouses, textile factories, stores, hotels, parades, fires, floods, train wrecks and more. About 150 postcards from the collection will be on display through Sept. 30. Barbour will speak about his collecting on July 12 at 5:45 p.m. in Wilson Library. For more information, call the North Carolina Collection Gallery at 962-1172.

The Program on Integrative Medicine is presenting a summer session to learn about mindfulness and how to apply it to daily life. Techniques will teach students how to slow down, set priorities and stay calm, focused and relaxed in ways that can enhance the body’s natural adaptive and healing ability.

To register for the seven-week summer session, to be held June 6 to July 25, e-mail Becky Coble (rcoble@med.unc.edu) or call 966-8586.

The 13th Annual Summer Public Health Research Videoconference on Minority Health will take an interdisciplinary approach to explore the question “Does Racism Make Us Sick?” on June 25 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History. Satellite and Internet broadcasts will be available for off-site participants.

Stephanie Crayton, media relations manager for UNC Health Care will moderate the panel, presented by the School of Public Health Minority Health Project. Speakers include Luisa N. Borrell, Columbia University School of Public Health; Gilbert C. Gee, University of Michigan School of Public Health; Karina Walters, University of Washington School of Social Work; and David R. Williams, Harvard University.

Registration for onsite or remote participation is free and may be completed online at www.minority.unc.edu/institute/2007. Members of the general public, as well as public health professionals and students, are encouraged to participate.

Carolina football graduation rate earns recognition

For the fourth consecutive year, the University has been recognized for graduating at least 70 percent of its football student-athletes by the America Football Coaches Association. Carolina was one of five Atlantic Coast Conference institutions to receive the honor. The ACC, Big Ten and Mid-American lead all other conferences with five, followed by the Big East, Big 12 and Southeastern with four. The other four ACC teams that met or exceeded the 70-percent mark were Duke, Florida, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Overall, 32 institutions were recognized for graduating 70 percent or more of their football student-athletes. The combined graduation rate of the 107 schools that responded to the survey was 60 percent, surpassing the mark of 58 percent in each of the previous two years.

The study involved the first-year class from the academic year of 2001-02, including those who entered at that time but who did not receive financial aid until after their initial year, or who transferred from another institution and subsequently received a grant-in-aid.

Family alert initiative at children’s hospital wins award

A new initiative at the N.C. Children’s Hospital that empowers family members of patients to call for help in the hospital is being honored by the National Patient Safety Foundation.

Tina Schade Willis accepted the Socius Award on behalf of the hospital on May 4 at the National Patient Safety Foundation Congress in Washington, D.C. The hospital earned the award for its new Family Alert Initiative, a pilot study conducted as an addition to the existing Pediatric Rapid Response Team system.

Willis led the development of the Pediatric Rapid Response Team with Celeste Mayer, patient safety officer for UNC Hospitals. The hospital activated its Pediatric Rapid Response Team on Aug. 1, 2005. It was the first hospital in North Carolina, and one of the first nationwide, to do so.

For the record

The May 9 issue of the Gazette incorrectly identified Royce Murray. He is not retired, as the photo’s caption stated. The Gazette regrets the error.