Let's put our well-earned diplomas to good use
For years, the infamous brain drain worldwide has made the United States the recipient of many of the world’s brightest minds. Now that we have some incentive, let’s return the favor.
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For years, the infamous brain drain worldwide has made the United States the recipient of many of the world’s brightest minds. Now that we have some incentive, let’s return the favor.
Study abroad. Just those two words are enough to start a flood of romanticized ideas of far-away places and expectations.
PUNO PERU — If I had an itinerary it would've listed this town as just a short stop on my way to Bolivia. But I unintentionally yet fortunately landed there on Feb. 2 — the main day of the Festividad en honor a la Virgen de la Candelaria — the biggest festival in Peru and one of the three biggest in South America.Having expected a small town in which to pass a few hours between buses" I watched in awe as all types of rhythms and costumes pulsed by me. Finally I found someone who could explain the significance of the parade.""See those masks they're wearing? They're made out of their own hair that they've collected their entire lives."" The group behind them wore clothes woven entirely out of alpaca fiber. They were llama herders" she explained.About 2400 dancers celebrated one of the more than 80 regions of Peru. Each group performed in the stadium then danced down streets where locals tourists and ice cream vendors gathered to watch.After the sun set the celebration still echoed through the streets and one thought stood out in my head as I was trying to silence the drums and welcome sleep: The thousands of people below weren't just celebrating being Quechua or Aymara — they were all celebrating being Peruvian. Their faces energy and dedication showed their pride.Trying to imagine what such a festival would look like in the U.S." I couldn't get past an image of a Coca Cola-sponsored parade showcasing the latest ""Real World"" and ""Laguna Beach"" stars" some overpaid athletes and McDonald's stands providing the plump crowd with plenty of Big Macs. Maybe they'd even throw in some pilgrims for a splash of history.It's a cynical view maybe but I don't think it's that far off. When I asked a Swedish friend of mine to characterize the U.S. he thought for a minute and responded" ""Big — big everything" world police guns and sports" lots of sports."" I've found McDonald's and Coca Cola even in some of the smallest" most rural corners of the world. People from across the globe use words they've picked up from MTV — foshizzle and crunk juice for example —with ease. These are the things that have come to define modern American culture.Yet I think it's safe to assume few Americans would describe this fat fast-paced consumptive image of our culture when asked what culture they identify with even if they identify as American. We are a country of immigrants — a melting pot. But in the process of melting we have broadcast an identity that neglects the origins of our country that make it beautiful.When many Americans celebrate the cultures we identify with it's often apart from being American. It's an Indian celebration an Irish dance or a Native American festival. If we are the melting pot we claim to be those celebrations are all American. They have made the U.S. what it is and so can be celebrated together under the umbrella of American pride rather than becoming catalysts for self-segregation.So I say we take a lesson from the dancers in Puno. We should all put down the Big Macs turn off MTV put together the most festive symbolic costumes we can think of dance through the streets and celebrate being the cultural hodgepodge that is the real United States of America.
I'm still convinced the world won't unite until aliens invade our planet. But Obama may be the next best thing.On Jan. 20 the more than one million Americans in Washington D.C. weren't the only ones cheering. People across the world joined in. Because we all — Democrats Republicans Independents Apathetics and Anarchists alike — have something to celebrate: inspiration.Obama's wave of inspiration reached corners of the world long overdue for a dose of hope. Even if he doesn't turn his creamy campaign rhetoric into reality as much as he promised for the moment he has given people — lots of people — hope. And a little worldwide hope and inspiration are worth celebrating no matter who you are.In Kenya inauguration feasts were washed down with bottled beer donning Obama's face. At Obama's former elementary school in Jakarta Indonesia students spun in traditional costumes while watching the swearing-in.Moneygall an Irish village celebrated its tie to Obama through a great-great-great grandfather with red white and blue decorations.A couple in Cali Colombia" baptized their inaugural-born child ""Barack Obama Sandoval"" with the hope that he" like Obama will prosper from humble beginnings.And here in Peru 12 shamans from regions of Peru Brazil Bolivia and Mexico met in Lima to conduct an Andean ritual that was reserved for Inca and pre-Inca rulers during ancient times. The name of the ritual Jatun Sonjo in Quechua" translates as ""Big Heart."" ""Today we dedicate it from Peru to Obama" because he is the first black president and his heart is big for the world" explained shaman Juan Osco to the Associated Press.Envision millions of people from all walks of life and all cultures simultaneously celebrating one event. It's hard not to crack a smile, even if they're all celebrating with hope for different things.More than anything" I hope he is a politician of equality. I make $345 per month. Just to buy a camera here I would spend two months without food. Imagine trying to support a child studying" explained Lucio Ferro, a national police officer based in Cusco, Peru. As his eyes allowed a hint of a smile to escape, he remarked, I think he will make good changes because he has lived in need and felt what it's like.""It was that same hint of a smile that every taxi driver" tour guide and waiter had after finding out I'm from the U.S. and they could ask me about Obama.As his smile faded" Ferro said he also expects there will be less violence with the Obama administration because he has a worldly conscience. ""He'll have to fix all the errors of your previous president"" like the war with Iraq.""Obama sparked life in villages thirsty for inspiration and caused simultaneous" worldwide celebration.If Obamania has grown extreme it certainly is not unwarranted. No matter who we are we have plenty to celebrate. Even if you disagree with Obama's policies you can't disagree with people believing in the U.S. again or with the hope in the eyes of people who have long forgotten how to believe in change.
You can bake delicious bread several ways. It's the same with a baby" said Kathy Higgins" director of the UNC Division of Midwifery.""Whether you choose a midwife or a doctor" the outcome is essentially the same — a healthy baby" she said. It's a difference in the journey.""Midwives work as a team with physicians" who are available in case of complications.The midwifery division provided birth care to about 500 women in the last fiscal year Higgins said. The division grew by about 500 percent during the past six years.Nikki Lewis' mother suggested she use a UNC midwife after hearing good reviews about the department. Midwife Jane Arnold stayed with Lewis during 25 hours of labor. Slight complications encouraged Arnold to team up with a physician and Lewis gave birth by Caesarean section with Arnold at her side.—
UNC midwife helps a local teen through her pregnancy.
Not until his sophomore year in college did Scott Wilson get to know a gay student.""I grew up in a really small town"" said the Whiteville native. You have these presumptions that gay people are this way … and they're not.""Wilson's presumptions shattered when three gay students joined his club gymnastics team last year.""It kind of made me see that it's not bad; it just is"" Wilson said.He came out in May.Wilson still didn't have a group to identify with. But he soon started sitting outside Lenoir Dining Hall with two friends in August.By mid-September, their three-person lunch gathering had grown into a social hub now known as the gayble."" It grew to around four tables with 15 people" he said.About five guys sit at the gayble throughout the day. Others including straight friends float in and out" peaking around lunch hours.""It had gotten to where it was like you had to make an appearance here as a member of this community" he said. But the table is more than a social spot.We have so many different ways of life all converging around this one commonality amongst us explained Wilson. And how it's different for each person how each family has a different reaction to it" different dating experiences.""The table has provided Wilson support during the college equivalent of his adolescent years.""When you're gay and you don't come out until later" all of that six or seven years of emotional development kind of gets crammed into one or two years he explained.So Wilson recently went on his first date at the age of 20.When my sister was going on her first date my mother helped her pick out what she should wear and helped her think of things she should say" he said. They kind of did that for me a little bit.""Having a place like the gayble would have helped Wilson feel comfortable coming out earlier"" he said.""It was kind of something I was dealing with on my own — and not very well.""Wilson said the table is the kind of safe haven for expression and visibility that could've helped him come out sooner.""I would've been able to say ‘maybe it's not bad that I'm this way.'""Students seek this kind of visibility before coming out" said Terri Phoenix director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer Center. Discrimination against gays still exists at UNC despite its liberal reputation Phoenix said" referring in particular to an incident of assault in 2005.""It creates this climate where it's kind of intimidating to come out"" she said. People really feel like they are second-class citizens.""First-year Cameron Parker said the gayble provides a relaxed environment where he can talk openly.Discussion ranges from light-hearted conversation to political debates and advice on coming out. ""It's kind of like ‘The View""'"" Wilson said. ""We have the crazy liberals" like me" and then you have the crazy conservatives.""A few months ago it was just another wobbly table outside Lenoir. But for several gay students on campus"" it has become a way to connect with a community.""I think it fosters a sense of cohesiveness that hasn't necessarily been there before"" Wilson said. Everyone kind of yearns for something like that.""Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu
When John B. Turner drove his family to church Sunday mornings, he passed through all the worst neighborhoods of Atlanta instead of taking the main drag.He took it upon himself to really make sure that we knew the plight of others"" said his daughter Marian Hopkins, a lecturer of exercise and sports science at UNC.The World War II veteran and former dean of the School of Social Work, now 81 years old, is in the hospital recovering from a fall and slowing down after spending his life serving others.Turner's passion for service motivated him to enlist in World War II. But as a black man in the '50s, Turner had to fight just to have the chance to serve.He would have a vision and did not stop"" said Jack Richman, current dean of the School of Social Work. If it didn't work"" he'd find another way.""He became one of the Tuskegee Airmen — the first black U.S. military flyers in WWII. ""Don't fly too high!"" his mother warned him when he told her the news.But because the military insisted on maintaining segregated units" his squadron did not fill up before the war ended" and he was never deployed.""His life had been impacted during those years by becoming more sensitive to the social conditions of African Americans"" Hopkins said.So when he returned home from the military, he kept fighting. He dedicated his life to social work and eventually became dean of the School of Social Work.When Turner hired Richman as assistant dean in 1983, he told him to watch his fingers.We're going to change the fan belt with the engine still running"" Richman remembers Turner said about the way he was going to change the school.His main goal as dean was to turn a mediocre social work school at a great university into a great school at a great university, Richman said.He really brought it to where it is today.""The School of Social Work is now No. 8 in the nation" according to the U.S. News & World Report.Turner also established a home for the school. With help from Charles Kuralt and Jack Tate" Turner raised enough money to move the school from five buildings on the ""wrong"" side of Franklin Street to one building on Pittsboro Street — the Tate-Turner-Kuralt building.He also established the Jordan Institute for Families" a branch of the school that works to strengthen families and engage communities.After years of contributing to the school Turner retired in 1992. He now lives in The Cedars of Chapel Hill at Meadowmont.In 2007 Richman honored Turner by naming a new professorship — the Sandra Reeves Spears and John B. Turner Distinguished Professorship — after him.His passion for others pervaded nearly every aspect of his life. After enlisting in the military and doing social work for years Turner continued to welcome people of every culture into his home travel to further his understanding of people and instill humanistic principles in his family.Richman said he remembers Turner as a dean whose office door was always open.He was that way with everyone" Hopkins explained.""I watched him talk with people who were of varying walks of life. It didn't matter who they were" what color they were she said. He could immediately find a common thread. … Before too long" it was human to human."" Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
Talking about Sutton's Drug Store makes Don Pinney smile the way most people smile when they talk about home.After 30 years working there" that's exactly what it is.""My mama would bring me for breakfast when I was little and sit me on the stool down there" said Pinney. As I grew older you know" these four walls became home.""Both of Pinney's parents worked at Sutton's while he was growing up. When he was 14 years old" he started working there" too. Now he's running the restaurant.""I got kids from 30 years ago" who are not kids anymore" come to see me every football game just to see if I'm still here.""He described the experience as a big family"" boasting his employees' work ethic and contributions to Sutton's atmosphere. He said he tries to greet fellow local business owners as one would imagine someone greeting neighbors from their front porch.Pinney's customers can count on his hearty laugh and genuine smile.And he can count on ""the old guys"" a group of his regulars that come to the counter every morning. Some have been having the same breakfast, down to number of cups of coffee, for 30 years.Don's incredible"" said 77-year-old Sutton's regular William Hooke, over his usual meal of grilled cheese and chips. He's a great host.""To stay true to that description"" Pinney tries to balance tradition with changing consumer demand. He had Coca-Cola Co. adjust the syrup levels of his soda machine to preserve the fountain taste of the Coke he enjoyed when he was a child. But he also has expanded the drug store's menu to include more than 90 items.""As times change" people's tastes change" explained Pinney. Who thought Sutton's would ever sell veggie burgers?"" Pinney" who is now 44 years old remembers walking down a partially unpaved Franklin Street to get milkshakes from Sutton's when the pharmacist still filled prescriptions by mixing powder and filling capsules instead of counting pre-made pills. The walls were six feet higher back then lined with ceiling-high shelves and sliding ladders.It was that pharmacy process that led to the counter he now manages. Compounded prescriptions as they are called took a while to fill and customers began to want coffee or soda while they waited. As the pharmacy process evolved explained Pinney" the counter adjusted to become its own destination. But more than veggie burgers and prescriptions have changed since Pinney ate breakfast at the counter every morning growing up.There are no more ""Beat Duke"" parades on Franklin Street. The town no longer comes out to see Sutton's new awning. The rent is much higher.Still some things have stayed the same.Pinney's son Clay" a senior at Carrboro High School played at Sutton's when he was 5 years old just like Pinney did when he was a child. And in what is becoming family tradition Clay too works at Sutton's.Though Pinney said some things have made it much harder to have a business on Franklin Street" he has no plans of leaving his home away from home.""If I have my way" as long as I'm breathing" Sutton's will be here.""Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.