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(09/06/11 8:47pm)
Elvis Presley: This one’s from way back in the vault — 1954, to be exact. Elvis’ performance on the Louisiana Hayride radio show helped launch him to stardom. If you want to dig toward the roots of rock ‘n’ roll, start here.
(12/02/08 5:00am)
Trees are a quintessential element of Christmas but thousands of Fraser fir Christmas trees in North Carolina are threatened each year by a root-rotting pest.With North Carolina's Christmas tree business the second largest in the nation various researchers at N.C. State University have committed the years to finding a cure for Phytophthora.If discovered a cure would help the estimated 50 million Fraser fir Christmas trees growing on more than 25000 acres of N.C. land which produces more than 19 percent of Christmas trees in the United States.In Ashe County alone where the disease killed 77124 trees in 2006 growers can pull in about $55 million per year in tree sales and another $7 million with wreaths and garlands said Della Deal the agriculture extension agent for the Ashe County Christmas Tree Association.Phytophthora presents a potential danger to many growers in the state affecting about 9 percent of fields and causing an estimated $1.5 million in damage each year.Since 2004 when three hurricanes came through the state the disease has been worse.The mold which N.C. State plant pathology assistant professor Dr. Kelly Ivors and her research team have been studying for two years is a water mold which attacks the root system of the tree" eventually causing it to die.""The branches will start growing orange and the grower will realize he has a problem"" said Jeff Owen, an area extension forestry specialist with N.C. State who also researches Christmas trees.Owen said that once established, the spores of the disease can stay in the soil for years and that the farmer might have to move tracts of land.Ivors' team began experimenting with a possible breakthrough with mulch to prevent those circumstances.Owen said the enzymes that break down the mulch also break down the cell walls of the disease. The mulches seem to be helping in some fields"" said N.C. State plant pathology professor Michael Benson.The study, however, will not be concluded for another three to four years, he said.There is also a genetic approach to fighting Phytophthora — methods such as root grafting and looking at natural resistance in other types of fir trees, such as the Turkish fir.I don't think that one particular thing is going to be the entire answer"" said John Frampton, a professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at NCSU, who has been researching Phytophthora for a decade.To combine the approaches will help us combat this root rot problem.""Owen said the research revolving around the mulch is particularly innovative.""It's exciting because it is an organic approach to reduce a disease problem.""Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/31/07 5:00am)
University physicists are refuting the Big Bang theory with a new cosmological model stating that the universe has no beginning or end.
The cyclical model, proposed by UNC physics professor Paul Frampton and graduate student Lauris Baum, consists of four parts: expansion, turnaround, contraction and bounce.
"It all starts all over again," Frampton said. "It has happened an infinite amount of times and will happen an infinite amount of more times."
Dark energy, discovered by scientists in 1998, is a negative pressure that causes the universe's expansion. Dark energy, a ratio w, of pressure to density, was crucial to Frampton's model.
After billions of years of expansion, space divides into separate patches that contain only dark energy and low-energy radiation, he said.
"The patches become disconnected after all the structure disappears - black holes, galaxies, solar systems are completely disintegrated."
At turnaround, the patches, which each represent one universe, stop expanding and start contracting. The contracting phase facilitates structure formation, and then the universes bounce outward, rebuilding individually.
The most important scientific breakthrough of the 20th century occurred in 1934 when Richard Chase Tolman established the oscillatory universe hypothesis. Before Tolman, the concept of an ever-expanding-and-contracting universe conflicted with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that entropy, or disorder, always is increasing.
Using Tolman's work, Frampton and Baum put forth that entropy increases from one oscillation to the next before ceasing to exist within the patches.
Frampton's model differs from its only rival cyclical model, proposed by Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok in 2002, in the exact value of w. In the Steinhardt-Turok model, the value of w never is below negative one, whereas in Frampton's model it can be slightly below.
"They are competing theories at this point," Frampton said.
Frampton, who has been studying cosmology for eight years, said the analysis needs more technical calculations before it is complete.
The model will be published in the Physical Review Letters' Feb. 16 issue.
"There is no beginning and no end in this model. That's the conclusion," Frampton said. "Time never began, and it never ends, which is more satisfying."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/12/06 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
My Morning Jacket
Okonokos
4 Stars
There is a complicated nature to the live album.
Many, and likely most, live albums are filler, either intended to capitalize on the success of a previous release (The Fray's Live at the Electric Factory: Bootleg No. 1) or to fulfill a contract quickly and cheaply so the label can drop an artist (Iggy Pop's T.V. Eye 1977 Live).
But in some cases, a live album becomes an artist's crowning achievement. Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison comes to mind.
With the live album, Okonokos, My Morning Jacket strives for classic.
Granted, the album is a follow-up to 2005's critically acclaimed Z, and the set list on Okonokos utilizes many of its predecessor's songs.
But it also spans MMJ's career with songs from the band's debut album, The Tennessee Fire, through each album until Z.
Many songs are given extended treatment to showcase the band's instrumental talents, but MMJ never loses sight of the songs themselves. It's not an unending series of meandering solos, but instead provides a listening experience unique from the studio originals.
And with no obnoxious banter between songs, MMJ keeps the focus on the music.
With a delicious sonic mixture of pop, psychedelia, country and Southern rock influence, My Morning Jacket moves effortlessly from hook-laden pop-rock ("Off The Record") to ethereal country balladry ("I Think I'm Going To Hell").
The recording is top-notch with each note in each layer coming through clearly while never drowning out James' falsetto.
There's not much more one could ask from a live album.
Whether or not Okonokos becomes a classic is yet to be determined by album sales, lasting influence and so forth.
Point is, Okonokos is a good album by a good band, and it's nice to listen to. Whether or not it becomes another Frampton Comes Alive! doesn't really matter right now.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(10/12/06 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Sarah McLachlan
Mirrorball: The Complete Concert
3 stars
It's amazing how live music can be a time machine.
Flash back eight years to a time when Sarah McLachlan and her determined clan of rock songstresses filled concert venues across the country with Lilith Fair. The year was 1998, and McLachlan recorded Mirrorball, the live album from which she would glean even more notoriety, not to mention a somewhat-overplayed live single.
The Canadian singer-songwriter's newest release, Mirrorball: the Complete Concert, takes its listeners back to a time when all America had to worry about was Monica Lewinsky. To a time when McLachlan's live version of "I Will Remember You" was on the radio almost as often as Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." Almost.
While the original 14-song Mirrorball was essentially a live greatest-hits album, the new release includes the entire Portland, Ore., concert, stretching a mammoth 23 songs over two disks.
McLachlan's hit parade still shines on the new release, with its haunting versions of "Adia" and "Possession," but the more obscure songs show McLachlan and her band to be prolific performers. Piercing harmonies punctuate "Ice," while the lilting guitar solos in "Vox" give it a jam band feel.
Heard live the songs take on new life. McLachlan's band injects energy that awakens even the most demure song.
McLachlan's vocals are equally sharp, each song showcasing her considerable range. Admittedly, her free-floating voice sometimes howls too freely, but it will suit listeners who value sultry emotion over perfect pitch.
Mirrorball: The Complete Concert paints a more complete picture of McLachlan, showing that she was much more than the brooding singles that flooded radio waves in the late '90s.
Like a Frampton Comes Alive! for the '90s, Mirrorball is a snapshot from the past that showcases McLachlan's talent, versatility and popularity.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(04/26/06 4:00am)
Writing cramps and ink-covered hands might be a thing of the past for test-takers as a 21st century version of the blue book gains popularity among UNC professors.
A computer program called Securexam Student improves the quality and clarity of tests, many professors have found.
"It's disconcerting when we ask students to put away everything and pull out a No. 2 pencil," says Charlie Green, assistant vice chancellor for teaching and learning.
"Students actually perform better if allowed to work within their native medium - in this case, the keyboard."
The process is simple: Students download the Securexam Student software from a Web site, bring their laptops to class, start up the program and fire away.
Exams are secure the minute students save the file.
"If you try to open it again, it would just be a bunch of gibberish," Green says. Professors are equipped with their own version of the Securexam software that decrypts the files.
UNC is in the pilot stage of Securexam. Students first started leaving their pencils and pens behind in August 2003 when a few large classes used Securexam Student.
The following summer, UNC used the program to administer the English placement exam and purchased a license that would enable as many as 1,000 students to download the software onto their computers.
Green says the coming school year might lead to an increase to 10,000 licenses.
Kenneth Janken, professor of African and Afro-American studies, used Securexam for two semesters. Among his reasons for using the program was to ensure that the in-class essays he received were original material.
"I'm reasonably confident that there will not be any cheating," he says of Securexam. "That isn't the case with the blue book."
Last week administrators discovered that students had gained prior access to two physics exams, which caused instructor Paul Frampton to void the tests. Part of the reason for using Securexam is to prevent similar cheating scandals.
But some students have their doubts.
"If you're sitting next to somebody that's taking the exact same test," says junior Brandon Cates, "I don't see what will stop someone from looking over on your computer screen."
Whether Securexam will prevent trips to the Honor Court is unclear, but professors are pleased with the product's effect on the overall quality of the work they grade.
"It's clear to us that the writing produced electronically on an exam is much better than when it is handwritten," says English professor Todd Taylor.
He adds that the writing is more thoroughly developed and refined, perhaps because students can revise their work without ink blots.
Janken says that overall he can get a truer picture of what students know, though the program isn't breaking the curve.
"A higher percentage complete the exam," he says. "But I don't think that grades have necessarily gone up."
The program could be more secure, but Securexam is not quite perfect - something Cates has experienced firsthand.
In two separate classes, Afro-American and American studies classes, Cates' computer froze up, and he was forced to restart his laptop in the middle of the exams.
"My computer is one of those computers that works when it wants to," he says.
And when his laptop decided not to work, it took away minutes from his test-taking time.
The program spared his work, but Cates says these experiences make him want to stick with the time-tested blue book.
"I would rather write it out," he says. "There are too many other technical issues."
But minor problems are worth the convenience, some professors say.
"We've had frustration with batteries and hard drives freezing up," Taylor says. "But compared to the problem of trying to read the scratch that people produce during examinations, it's a no-brainer."
Digital test-taking is spreading across the country - two hundred universities already use Securexam Student, according to the company's records.
The Software Secure company released the program in 2000 after fewer than two years of development, president Doug Winneg says.
"Now faculty members can go to the beach with their laptops without having to bring 100 blue books and lose them in the ocean," he says.
But before professors stop taking their blue books scuba diving, students must master the software.
"There's been some anxiety leading up to it, and students will say, 'What if my computer crashes? What if I get distracted by the 'click, click, click' of other people typing?'" Janken says.
"But when it is over, it seems that those fears have been exaggerated."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(04/25/06 4:00am)
Students in an introductory physics class illegally gained access to two tests earlier this semester, potentially altering the grades of about 140 classmates.
Administrators learned of the breach last week, causing PHYS 25 instructor Paul Frampton to throw out two of the semester's four tests and allow students options in weighing the remaining tests and assignments.
The February 24 and March 31 tests were accessed through the Internet before their administration, Frampton said.
He said administrators do not know the identities of the students who obtained the test.
The class took the fourth test of the semester Monday - the same day the final changes to the grading system were announced.
"The new grading procedure makes every effort to be fair to all the honest students," Frampton said.
Students will have several options of how to weigh the remaining tests and assignments, he said.
"We are hoping that this new grading system is harmless to those who were honest but won't allow those who were dishonest to benefit from their dishonesty," said Laurie McNeil, chairwoman of the physics and astronomy department.
But some students said they were counting on the earlier test scores to help their final averages.
"The nature of unethical behavior is that it tends to affect far more people than oneself," McNeil said.
Frampton and McNeil declined to comment about how the test was accessed, citing a desire to avoid similar incidents in the future.
Both said they have no way of knowing who cheated or how many students were involved unless the students or their classmates step forward.
They said they will pursue Honor Court charges against any student they find to have cheated.
The number of academic dishonesty cases presented to the Honor Court is on the rise, said Student Attorney General Candace Debnam. But this increase does not necessarily reflect a spike in student cheating, she said, pointing to a better reporting system.
But the Internet and other technology offer more resources for students to cut corners, leading to new difficulties in enforcing the Honor Code.
"We can't block Google from every computer on campus," Debnam said. "But we try to educate students about the potential consequences of plagiarism through outreach on campus."
University events, faculty training and resources such as the Writing Center seek to help students raise their grades ethically, officials said.
Frampton and McNeil said they believe the academic misconduct was limited to only a few students.
"I still have faith in UNC students," McNeil said. "I'm sorry that a few have not lived up to that."
Contact the News Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(04/18/05 4:00am)
from staff reports
(04/19/01 4:00am)
Inspiration Information