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(04/14/10 4:38am)
The Student Supreme Court unanimously decided not to call for re-election in the District 5 race for Student Congress, dismissing candidate Taylor Holgate’s suit against Board of Elections Chairman Pete Gillooly.The court found that the Board of Elections violated the Student Code by failing to obtain a letter from ITS certifying that the voting software was secure.The published opinion states that the court declined to call for a re-election because the board’s violation was not so egregious as to compromise the results. At a March 17 hearing, Chief Justice Emma Hodson said no decision would be announced until an opinion was released.But the court issued the decision without the opinion on April 6 to be able to swear in Luke Woodcock as District 5 representative with the other elected candidates at the student government inauguration held the same day. Hodson declined to comment on the ruling.Holgate filed a suit against Gillooly in February, claiming the board was negligent when ensuring that the online voting system was secure and when certifying the results of the Feb. 9 election.She added that the board failed to properly publicize the provisional ballots for those who were unable to vote through Student Central.Problems with the online voting system disenfranchised as many as 296 voters who might not have voted out of fear that their votes would violate the Honor Code.Holgate lost the election for Greek housing district representative by 25 votes.Gillooly said the discrepancies that prevented students from voting were not the fault of the board.Holgate said she has been discussing plans with Erik Davies, who served as her legal counsel in the case, to set up an organization for students who want to challenge student government. “It would be a people’s prosecutor type of thing to help students who have been harmed by the system that’s in place,” she said.Gillooly said he was satisfied with the court’s decision.“I was surprised that the case went this far in the first place,” he said. “I didn’t think their claim was grounded in anything.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(04/07/10 1:39am)
The 2010 incoming class of freshmen will be the first required to live in either on-campus housing or Granville Towers for their first year.Although 99 percent of freshmen already live in those locations, Larry Hicks, director of Housing and Residential Education, said that administrators opted to formalize the policy as a symbolic gesture displaying the value UNC places on living on campus.“The campus feels that (living on campus) is critical enough to make the requirement to formalize the relationship between living on campus and student success,” Hicks said. “Since only 1 percent of first-year students live off campus, it’s not an issue of retaining students to bolster revenue or anything like that.”According to the housing Web site, students who live on campus are presented with more opportunities to interact with professors outside the classroom, attend cultural events, work on campus and participate in student groups.“Living on campus has a direct correlation to student academic success,” said Rick Bradley, assistant director for housing. “For a student to not live on campus, they lose out on feeling a part of the UNC community as a whole, as well as some of the success factors tied to their academic performance.”Bradley said campus safety features — like blue security lights — also make on-campus housing ideal for freshmen.The policy also applies to transfer students who have earned fewer than 30 credit hours and are enrolled full time at UNC.Students are permitted to submit an appeal to receive a waiver of the requirement.Exceptions to the policy are provided for students age 21 or older, students living with a spouse or children, military veterans with at least two years of active service and students with disabilities that would make living on campus difficult.Hicks said freshmen who might choose to commute from their homes in Chapel Hill or nearby towns would need to fulfill the exemption requirements in order to live at home and commute. Bradley said no other students should be affected by the policy, which does not affect current freshmen.Students who enroll for the first time this summer are required to live on campus during summer school. Junior Justin Langdon said the University’s decision to force freshmen to live on campus was inappropriate. “I think they’re kind of overstepping the school’s bounds. It doesn’t seem very fair,” he said. Faculty Chairwoman McKay Coble said she could understand the reasoning behind the policy change.“I think particularly getting used to a campus the size of Carolina can be tough for people,” she said. “It’s certainly one way to get people involved in their residential communities right off the bat. But I do think it’s too early to tell for sure.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(03/29/10 5:01am)
Monty Cook, senior vice president and editor of The Baltimore Sun, is returning to Chapel Hill to lead an experimental digital news production and research initiative.Cook, a 1986 graduate of UNC, and his students will work out of a classroom in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication that is being renovated for the project.Cook, who will join the faculty on April 1, answered a few questions for The Daily Tar Heel on what he sees in the future of journalism and what work he’s most excited about at UNC.DTH: What do you see as the future for metro papers? How will local papers and metro papers work to provide comprehensive coverage of individual cities?Monty Cook: I think print is going to be around for some time. The question of ads as a primary way to generate revenues is something that the entire industry is struggling to addresses right now. We’re certainly seeing an effort on the digital side, with the Web and iPhone apps. It’s an effort to find out how to really fund journalism, and how publishers are getting what they call a fair value for the work that they’re doing. What we’ve seen in the past several years is sort of an erosion of the ability to cover a lot of the things that newspapers used to cover regularly. As an industry, we have to find a way to protect what I’ve always called our covenant with the community, and that’s to have their backs and write the types of stories and pieces that really affect people’s lives. We’ve got to find a way to protect the content.I think that print will be around for a while, but it will have to evolve. We’ll see a lot in the next several years that will determine how that plays out.DTH: What vision will you bring to your new role at UNC?MC: I’m excited about the digital news project, very excited. The goal is really to provide a hands-on environment for research and experimentation of digital news, audience habits, social media — how all of these play into how we deliver, gather and disseminate the news.This newsroom will be a place where research and study is central.We’ll be working with student journalists to create greater understanding of their roles, not just as student journalists, but marketing, social media, and how these things play a part in creating stories and getting them out to audiences.In terms of research, we’ll be looking at things happening with the culture and how that influences the way you communicate. What services and devices are making it easier to get news? What do we do with the news once we’ve read it? Pass it on to others through Facebook? Twitter? How do we gather news? All of these things that really play a part in the 21st century role of journalism.It’s not just enough to innovate. We have to take part in intense experimentation and be willing to risk-take. This is a fabulous opportunity for the students of the school and to help digital and traditional media companies where we can with feedback and research.DTH: What about the position are you excited for?MC: The thing that excites me most is that all of us at the school, we get to discover together. And there are a lot of knowns — we’ve seen the industry shifts. But to be discovering what the unknowns are, helping define what those are, and also defining what news standards have to be put in place for journalism in the 21st century as evolving continues — the discovery portion of this is really what excites me.DTH: What it was like to work at the Baltimore Sun?Monty Cook: It’s really been a rewarding experience. I’ve been here almost six years, only the last 15 months as editor, but I was also director of content development and a deputy managing editor here. The Baltimore Sun is 173 years old as an institution, and it has always held the highest standards for journalism in this country. The roster of journalists who have worked here is legendary, and it’s just been an honor for me to have worked here.DTH: Have you seen HBO’s The Wire, season five that was based on the Sun’s newsroom? What is the consensus in the newsroom on the show’s interpretation of their business?MC: Yes, I have. The Sun did cooperate a little bit with David Simon on The Wire with the use of logos and those sorts of things. My only take was, and I did watch the entire season, it was a very good newspaper drama for the show itself. I think it depicted journalism accurately, and I think it depicted the Sun accurately as of ‘93, ‘94, ‘95. I think there was one point in the show where the editor character gets up and talks about the prospect of layoffs because of news moving to the Internet. Throughout the narrative that season, you didn’t see anyone posting to the Web, and you didn’t see anyone doing social media. You only saw people in sort of the traditional 20th-century role that journalists had. It was a great drama, and as dramatizations go, there’s always some licensing that gets taken, so we recognize that.DTH: How do you feel about social media like Twitter or Facebook? Can this be a form of news?MC: Oh, absolutely. We created a director of audience engagement position in our newsroom and a team of six community coordinators who engaged audiences every single day and pushed our journalism in certain topic areas. I look at social media as a huge player in the way that news gets passed along. It is essentially the digital word of mouth. The new news ecosystem that’s developed — and the rate not only is quickening, it's actually breathtaking — it leads to the opportunity for the public to be more informed. Social media is not journalism in and of itself, but it is a powerful tool to be used by journalists to further the work that they do.DTH: Do you think there will continue to be a market for traditional reporters? Could independent bloggers take this role?MC: We have to protect the work that reporters do, the important work of providing the type of journalism that will make a difference in people’s lives and will watch out for their interests. That is the real danger here. And there are various models of how this will happen. I think social media and bloggers will have a role. While I believe that readers and the public are much more informed than they have been, they also select and pick and choose the types of info they want to receive a lot more than in the past. There are a lot of things that can help fill in the gaps, but you want to make sure that there will always be organizations in a city to provide the types of stories and the types of watchdog pieces that really can have an effect in the way we all live.DTH: How do you feel about paywalls? Do you think people should have to pay for their news?MC: I’m someone who likes to see a lot of information and likes to look at things from a research and study aspect. The Wall Street Journal has had a paywall system for about a decade now, and it’s worked very well for them. I’ve also heard that the New York Times is looking to start using paid access later this year or in 2011. There are people who are saying we must get fair value for the news we produce, and there are others who believe that free news is the only way that will work. There are a lot of questions we have to figure out. Do you destroy your audience by putting up a paywall? Do you devalue your ad clients by making readers pay to see the Web site? It’s going to be a good year to see.DTH: You graduated from UNC in 1986. How do you feel about moving back to North Carolina?MC: There were always two pieces to this decision — one professional, one personal. I was born in Lenoir, in the western part of the state, and my parents still live there. I still have a fondness for the school and the community, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to come back. I’m really looking forward to what we can do here.
(03/18/10 3:17am)
UNC’s Student Supreme Court heard a case Wednesday between Board of Elections Chairman Pete Gillooly and former Student Congress candidate Taylor Ann Holgate, who requested a re-vote for the District 5 election.The court will make a decision on the case in a week and a half at the earliest, Chief Justice Emma Hodson said.Holgate claimed the Board of Elections was negligent when ensuring that the online voting system was secure and when certifying the results of the Feb. 9 election.She said problems with the online voting system disenfranchised several voters, who might have deferred from voting out of fear that their votes would violate the Honor Code.Incorrect class standing and residence information could have kept as many as 296 students from voting, although Kris Gould, Gillooly’s legal counsel, said fewer than five students in District 5 were likely prevented from voting.Holgate lost the election for the Greek housing district representative by 25 votes.“With the system we have now, there’s no mechanism for checking if people have updated their (housing or class) information,” Holgate said. “If students have the wrong information, they have to commit an Honor Code violation to vote, and that’s not right.”Gillooly said the discrepancies in the housing information that prevented students from voting were not the fault of the BOE and do not merit holding another election.“Besides the fact that the alleged difficulties are not under the control of the board, I saw little evidence to convince me to invalidate the results based on small voting problems,” he said.“Additionally, I feel that it is improper to invalidate the results for a single district based on her accusations.”Holgate’s first complaint was dismissed for citing an incorrect portion of the Student Code. She made that complaint in conjunction with District 1 candidate Marc Seelinger.Gillooly said the court’s decision could impact future student government elections.“I worry that if she wins, any other losing candidate could repeat her argument for another election,” he said.Holgate said she simply wanted to see the BOE provide a fair election for the students.“It’s not so much about winning,” she said. “It’s more about calling attention to these problems. People don’t understand how much power student government has. If they have that kind of power, we should be able to elect them, and that should be through a fair election.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(03/05/10 3:50am)
Move over, Cancun — Honduras is the new tropical destination for students on spring break.But they won’t be spending all their time soaking up the sun and slurping drinks with umbrellas.Several University service groups are hosting trips to Honduras during the break to help medicate, nourish and clothe the people of this impoverished nation.
(02/16/10 6:12am)
In today’s election, students will pick the person who will be their voice to UNC administration — and also decide the course for the future of student government.Juniors Hogan Medlin and Shruti Shah will compete in a runoff election today to be the next student body president, the primary student liaison to the administration.Shah received 16 percent of the vote in last week’s election and hopes to overcome Medlin’s 44 percent with three eliminated candidates’ support and an additional week of campaigning.The next president will have a chance to influence a variety of issues on campus, including Greek relations, budget matters, grading policy and a new academic plan.But in addition to influencing policy, Medlin and Shah could alter the role of student government, having taken distinctly different views on how the organization can have the greatest impact on campus.Medlin wants to expand the cabinet — which currently has more than 40 members — to further incorporate more student participation in the organization and expand the scope of existing and emerging initiatives.“For me, my vision next year is more inclusive of the student population. It allows more students to get involved,” he said. “Downsizing cabinet, in my opinion, can be a downfall to the student representation.”But Shah said she intends to streamline student government by connecting committees and projects with existing campus resources to let the organization focus on implementing policy and becoming more efficient.“I see student government as a connecting organization, one students can come to as a resource,” she said. “Student government should work simply in student policy and cooperate instead of competing with other organizations.”Shah fell 28 percentage points behind Medlin in the general election and will look to overcome this gap in today’s election, just as current Student Body President Jasmin Jones beat frontrunner Thomas Edwards last year.Edwards said he thinks eliminated candidate endorsements play a significant role and have the potential to encourage voters to throw their support behind a candidate.“If you’re in Hogan’s or my situation, people naturally have animosity toward you, and there’s the supporting the underdog concept,” he said.But unlike last year, not all eliminated candidates have made endorsements, creating a greater sense of unpredictability. Monique Hardin, the third-place candidate who gathered 14 percent of the vote and more than 1,000 votes, has not endorsed either candidate.
(02/09/10 6:33am)
It hasn’t been a typical election season.With giant castle-shaped plywood signs and calls for narwhals and a Google revolution, the last month has been characterized by a set of polarizing and unusual characters.But it will end today like any other election season — with a vote.
(02/05/10 6:21am)
Two new administrators will take office this spring, and the relationship forged between them could influence how successful each will be.
(01/29/10 5:05am)
Students might never have to receive a phase five ticket to the nosebleed section of the Smith Center again after this season.On Feb. 9, the student body will elect the next Carolina Athletic Association president, who represents students’ interests to UNC’s athletic department.“The CAA president is the voice of the students to the athletic department,” said John Russell, the current CAA president.While the CAA president oversees the planning of Homecoming week and other activities, the task of crafting the men’s basketball ticket policy has been an issue for candidates.After a season marked by low attendance and a new phase system that distributes one ticket to students instead of two, the candidates’ proposals to rework the policy created under Russell’s presidency might be the determining factor in this year’s election. Two CAA veterans — Brandon Finch and Tom Kuell — are running for president. Both said they wish to change the policy. But they have different approaches.The current system distributes about 6,000 tickets individually.Russell said the CAA president meets with athletic department members and other student leaders to determine the ticket policy.“It’s a collective decision by all parties. It’s not one person making the decision,” he said. “The CAA president does have a good bit of influence.”Associate Athletic Director Clint Gwaltney said the athletic department strongly considers the CAA president’s proposals. “(The president) is an elected official of the student body,” he said. “Their voice is very well-heard.”Brandon FinchFinch, who currently serves as the CAA secretary, has participated in the group for three years.“I’ve gone way beyond the role of a traditional secretary,” Finch said. “There are six different committees, and I’ve taken a part in and been there to assist each. I’ve done everything I can to be a part of this organization.”Finch wants to eliminate the phase system and have general admission for most nonconference games. He plans to create a student task force to gather student feedback through surveys and forums when rewriting the ticket policy.“I don’t think it should be dealt with behind closed doors,” he said. “I want to get as much student opinion as possible as we revamp and move away from the old policy.”Tom KuellKuell, the current CAA vice president, has also served in the group for three years. He said he has the necessary experience for the job.“I work with John (Russell), for John — I live with the guy. I know the responsibilities of being the CAA president,” he said. “There’s not that learning curve.”Kuell will have students vote to either keep the one-ticket policy or return to the two-ticket plan.Kuell also wants to implement an online group ticketing system, in which students can create groups of up to about 25 people. The lottery would still distribute tickets individually, but the system would ensure that everyone in the group receives the same phase.“The group ticketing solves the problem of never getting a ticket, which was a problem with the two-ticket policy, and it solves the problem of never getting to sit with friends, which was a problem with the one-ticket policy,” Kuell said. Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/27/10 5:51am)
He’s been a ballroom dancer, a resident adviser, a Glee Club treasurer and speaker of Student Congress. And now he wants to add student body president to his resume as well.Joe Levin-Manning — the candidate who lists 14 leadership positions, 17 extracurriculars and four public service projects on his online biography — is running for student body president on a platform of personal experience and extensive involvement at the University.“I love everything about Carolina. It’s something I truly value and treasure,” he said.”
(01/26/10 6:22am)
With a platform that suggests re-naming Chapel Hill, constructing a chair lift from Davis Library to the Dean Dome and turning the first floor of Davis Library into a narwhal tank, student body president candidate Nash Keune is poking fun at the way student elections are run.While some students have questioned whether Keune is taking the election seriously, the junior economics and history major from Germantown, Md., is trying to portray himself as an atypical candidate for student body president.“I’m the maverick in this election,” Keune said. “Actually, I use that word way too much — I don’t want to go too rogue.”Keune ignores many of the ideas common to his competitors’ platforms, which focus on making small improvements in areas such as student safety and academics.It is clear from the language and outlandish examples in his platform — such as the aquarium and chairlift — that Keune is opposed to bureaucracy and an isolated student government that does not reflect the opinions of students.Instead of feasible solutions, Keune’s focus is his message — students will be electing themselves if they elect him. That’s his rallying point, asking students to vote for him based on his average student appeal.Unlike most of his competitors, he has no background in student government, but he said this gives him a different insight into UNC.“He’s never been in student government before, so he isn’t coming from the viewpoint of a small student government minority,” said Stephen Estes, Keune’s campaign manager. Keune is editor-in-chief of the Carolina Review, a conservative student publication, although he said his political views will not greatly affect his policies in office.“I probably won’t be invading Iran,” he said. “Although I can’t say for sure, I just can’t see that happening at this point.”Admitting that some of his platform points are “a bit radical,” he said they are meant to reflect the attitude of students who come from outside of student government.“I think that the platform represents the interests of the students, rather than the interests of the small minority in the student government establishment who have become disconnected from the life and concerns of the average student at Carolina,” he said.Christopher Jones, Keune’s chief of staff, wrote in an e-mail that students have already responded positively to Keune’s campaign.“In our planning meetings last fall, I saw so many of our campaign staff become inspired by Nash,” Jones said. “I could see the fire in their eyes. They knew that by joining Nash’s campaign they were joining something special.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(12/10/09 4:52pm)
With final exams beginning Friday, Daily Tar Heel writer Courtney Tye sat down with Christina Perry, a learning specialist at the Learning Center, to get advice on how to study for various types of final exams.
(10/14/09 6:01am)
Even Kanye West didn’t dare interrupt.That’s how Carolina Students for Life advertised Tuesday night’s “Best Abortion Discussion Ever.”And they were right. For an abortion discussion at UNC, which has a tradition of raised voices and confrontational crowds, the talk was surprisingly cordial and respectful. The only interruption was the timekeeper.“We really wanted to engage the student body in an open discussion about abortion and let them have the chance to hear both sides of the issue in one setting,” said Jennifer Boone, the anti-abortion group’s co-president.About 100 people attended the debate, which was held in the Great Hall of the Student Union. The event cost a total of $11,125, of which $9,625 came from student fees.Scott Klusendorf, president of the Life Training Institute, a group that trains people to defend the anti-abortion position, argued that side.“We’ve had Klusendorf speak at some of our events before, so we are familiar with his presentation,” Boone said. “We’re all big fans of his.”Nadine Strossen, former president and first female president of the American Civil Liberties Union, argued for abortion rights.“We wanted Strossen to be a part of our event because we know she and Klusendorf have debated previously in successful events,” Boone said. “Looking at all of her accomplishments, we knew she would be a great candidate to debate with Klusendorf.”Strossen’s arguments centered on her philosophy that women have the right to choose how to handle their own bodies.“The ACLU has always defended the right of mature individuals to make their own decisions about what to do with their own bodies,” she said. “The government must not coerce a woman one way or the other about this personal choice.”Klusendorf countered, saying a fetus is a human being and is entitled to fundamental rights.“I think Nadine is absolutely correct — if the unborn are not human,” he said. “But the unborn are distinct, living and whole human beings.”After each speaker was given a speaking period and a seven minute rebuttal, attendees were able to anonymously submit questions to be answered by the speakers.Ashley Tyndall, a former Carolina Students for Life president who moderated the debate, said the group has attempted to sponsor debates before.“We’ve had a lot of problems with other organizations not being willing to co-sponsor the event with us, so we had to decide to step up and do it ourselves,” she said. “It makes me so happy that we’ve finally achieved this.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/07/09 4:46am)
The A.It is every student’s goal. It is supposed to represent mastery of a subject. It is a mark that distinguishes the best students from their peers.But it has slowly and surely become the norm. At UNC and institutions of higher education across the country, it is the grade that is most frequently given out.Since the 1960s, universities have seen an increase in the number of high grades awarded — a trend that is making it harder to distinguish top students from one another and calling into question the philosophy of grading.And the national trend has started to hit home.Motivated by a report last year that detailed grade inflation at UNC, the Faculty Council will hold a discussion Friday about campus grading policies.Sociology professor Andrew Perrin, who will lead Friday’s discussion, said he hopes it will focus on grading philosophy at UNC and what could be causing the trend.“I think it’s something that everybody’s worried about across the country,” Perrin said. “UNC is not unique by any means.”Among the report’s findings was the fact that 82 percent of all grades given out at UNC in fall 2008 were A’s or B’s. The most common letter grade, given out 45 percent of the time, was an A.But the nature of the issue — present in every corner of higher education — could complicate UNC’s discussions of what to do.“If we are the only ones to change, what does that do to our students when they get beyond Carolina?” said David Bevevino, the student body vice president. Bevevino served on the committee that wrote the report and will lead Friday’s discussion with Perrin.Changing UNC’s policy without confronting the national trend could have negative repercussions for students if other schools don’t also address the issue.Students could be hindered in comparison to their counterparts from other schools when applying for jobs, scholarships and graduate schools. It could also hurt the school in national rankings.The history of gradesGrade inflation is not a new issue. In the 1960s, the nation first saw grade inflation because of the Vietnam War, said Stuart Rojstaczer, a retired Duke professor who runs a Web site concerning grade inflation.“If students flunked out, they would go to Vietnam,” he said. “Professors inflated grades to make sure that students could avoid the draft.”After the Vietnam era, higher education experienced a brief deflation of grades, which stabilized from 1975 to the late 1980s.But after that, grades began to rise again. Rojstaczer attributed the current rise to a new “consumer mentality.”“A lot of schools are concerned about customer satisfaction,” he said. “And students are the customers.”UNC’s grades have followed a similar trend, rising from a 2.992 average in 1995 to 3.213 in 2008.Elite private institutions have seen more grade inflation than their public counterparts, creating inequality and an inability to compare.“Some of the difference is due to better quality at private schools, and the fact that wealthy families who have higher expectations of grades and tend to be pushier are more likely to send their kids to private schools,” Rojstaczer said.Addressing the issuePart of Friday’s conversation could center on various ways UNC would combat inflation if the faculty deem it a problem.And UNC wouldn’t be the first to have that talk. Grading has become a topic of conversation at all levels of higher education, from elite private institutions to small liberal arts colleges.Much of the work in addressing the issue lies in understanding what has caused it.“We could just take the trite approach and say that these students are smarter, but that’s not the case,” said Lewis Carson, associate director for institutional research at N.C. State University.“It’s most definitely a problem. But the difficulty is in how to confront the issue,” he said.Some institutions, like Seton Hall University, have regularly discussed the issue, which has helped rein in inflation.“We address it each year. It’s an ongoing discussion and dialogue among the faculty,” said Christopher Kaiser, Seton Hall’s associate dean for undergraduate student services and enrollment management.Some schools have moved beyond discussion and started to act. Princeton University implemented a quota system that limits how many A’s each department can award. That approach has been applied at several other schools.“In this method, students are compared against each other rather than on some random distribution the teacher provides,” Carson said.Perrin said he hopes Friday’s discussion begins a campuswide evaluation of grades at UNC. While people need to keep the national ramifications in mind, he said UNC should begin to address the issue, even if it has to do so alone.“I don’t have any predefined notions of where we want to be heading with this,” Perrin said. “What I really care about is that we stop sticking our heads in the sand.”Staff Writer Jeannine O’Brian contributed reporting.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/16/09 4:59am)
For months, Kenneth Harris traveled three hours each direction from Hertford, N.C., to receive cancer care at UNC.On Tuesday, he helped the University celebrate the opening of the N.C. Cancer Hospital, which public officials hail as a high-tech facility devoted to statewide cancer care and support. The Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted the dedication ceremony, which included a ribbon cutting and remarks by several UNC and state officials, including UNC-system President Erskine Bowles, Chancellor Holden Thorp and Gov. Bev Perdue.The hospital — a state-of-the-art facility that patients, doctors and administrators say will revolutionize cancer care — has been under construction for four years.“Today marks a red-letter day in North Carolina,” Perdue said. “We are reaffirming our brand one more time in our commitment to the health and care of our people.”Harris, who served as a ribbon cutter in the ceremony, was also featured in the hospital’s photo exhibit, “The New Face of Cancer Care,” in the center’s lobby.“The staff and their knowledge make a world of difference,” Harris said. “I can’t imagine how much better the treatment will be in a facility like this.”“Any time someone is sick, there’s nervousness and apprehension, but this facility is nice and relaxing. It looks more like you’re going to a jazz concert than a hospital.”The dedication also featured a ribbon display, video booth and live streaming of the ceremony online.The new facility, which cost the state $180 million and a total of $207 million, is one of only 40 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the country.A comprehensive center, a facility with all services in one location, reduces traveling from the doctor’s office to the hospital or to other care facilities for patients. “We are very fortunate to have the whole team here in the building to see the patients when they come, so that patients don’t have to drive from building to building to see different specialists,” Nurse Manager Sue Haney said.A consolidated center is also convenient for those who commute to receive cancer care.The facility features a “telemedicine” conference center, which allows cancer specialists to consult patients and each other without traveling. Dr. Shelton Earp, director of the cancer center, said the Internet communication system will help build relationships between patients and specialists, improving overall care.Another feature of the hospital is the Patient and Family Resource Center, which offers educational resources, wigs, hats and scarves, and comfortable couches where patients can rest.The Clinical Trials Unit of the hospital allows specialists to test drugs and analyze the results. Dr. Richard Goldberg, physician-in-chief at the cancer hospital, said he hopes it will become a “magnet for people with cancer.” “We want to be a resource to people by providing specialized services and collaborating with people where they live,” he said. “The best place for support is at home.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/09/09 3:48am)
Blasting music, colorful posters and chants filled Rams Head Plaza on Tuesday night as student government members hosted an open house to recruit new members and inform the UNC community of all that they do.Cabinet members manned tables with signs, sharing information with interested students and drawing attention to their respective committees.“We wanted to give the student body a chance to meet our Cabinet and give people who are considering applying for a committee a chance to meet some of the people they will be working with,” said Student Body Vice President David Bevevino.About 55 members make up the Cabinet, each leading a certain committee or special project. Chairmen for each committee are selected each spring for the following school year.Although previous open houses have been held in the Student Union, Bevevino said student government chose to hold the event in Rams Head Plaza because of its open nature, higher foot traffic and convenience to Rams Head Dining Hall.Student Body President Jasmin Jones was also at the open house, handing out flyers, dancing and cheering to raise interest.“Student government was one of the first organizations I joined after coming to Carolina, and it’s a great way to give back to the campus community,” Jones said.Freshman Jamal Little, who heard about the open house through the student government listserv, said he wants to join the First-year Focus Council, which lets freshmen have a voice in student government’s executive committees.Little said he also wants to join Speakers at Carolina, a group that works to bring speakers to campus and publicize their events. The program originally was conceived by former Student Body President Eve Carson three years ago. They brought their first speaker last year.“I really want to get involved in student government because I want to actually do something here at UNC and really make a positive impact on the Carolina community,” Little said.Freshman Brady Cody, a political science and public policy major, also expressed interest in joining.“I signed up for the Student Body Outreach because working on an executive committee seems like a great way to get involved in the student body,” Cody said.That committee advertises student government’s work to inform the campus and increase the success of their projects.“Everything that goes on through the student government goes on through the help of the student outreach programs,” Cody said.Student government also pushed to recruit new members earlier this semester at Fall Fest, where the organization collected contact information for more than 500 students.“We’re looking for all kinds of people to get involved in student government,” Bevevino said. “Some people have the mindset that student government attracts a certain kind of person, but that’s not true.“We need people who are passionate about issues; people who are passionate about UNC; people from all classes, majors and backgrounds.”Jones echoed Bevevino’s call to students.“Being involved in student government through any of these committees will really contribute to the student experience,” she said.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/03/09 4:39am)
A recently increased student fee will help support child care costs for more than three times as many student parents as last year.Amid disagreements, students voted in February to increase the fee more than 500 percent from $2.44 to the current $12.81 per student in order to expand the program.The fee increase will allow the program to support about 40 student parents, a number that is more representative of the people seeking to use the program.“Prior to the increase in the fee, we were serving about 13 students and had 68 on the waitlist,” said Aimee Krans, UNC Student Parent Association Advisor. The fee, which will be combined with up to $36,000 from the University, is distributed to student parents for child care costs.The average cost for day care at the University Child Care Center is $1,126 per month or $13,515 per year. The stipend distributed to student parents will remain at about $699 per month but will be provided to more students.The money collected from the fee is sent directly to the child care provider of the parents’ choice. All providers must be licensed by the state of North Carolina with a rating of at least three of a possible five stars.“For student parents, finding quality affordable child care is an enormous challenge,” Krans said.“Without financial assistance to subsidize their child care costs and safe and reliable options for unmet child care needs, students may face a difficult choice of either leaving their children in unacceptable conditions or dropping out of school. These funds will help a number of students avoid this difficult dilemma.”Since it began in 2002, the subsidy program has funded child care for 71 students, of which 44 have graduated and 22 are currently enrolled.The graduation rate for these students is 93 percent, nearly five percentage points higher than UNC’s six-year graduation rate of 88.1 percent for the entering class of 2002.Freshman Claudia Cuador said that despite the program’s benefits, the fee is excessive considering what students already have to pay.“I understand that student parents need help paying for child care, but I don’t think it should be at the expense of all the other students,” Cuador said.But junior Leah Josephson, who lobbied for the fee increase last year, said she feels that the extra cost to students is worth the trouble.“I think it’s an important service for the University to provide, especially because one of UNC’s goals is to provide an equal education to everybody,” she said. “Without this service, UNC wouldn’t be accomplishing that goal.” Student Congress originally voted against putting the fee increase to a vote last spring. But former Student Body President J.J. Raynor collected enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot anyway, where it passed by about 500 votes. Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/26/09 4:44am)
The Roosevelt Institute Campus Network recently named UNC’s group as the most outstanding chapter of the year.The UNC chapter of the nonprofit network, which comprises more than 75 campus chapters that focus on developing policy, won the award for a renewed focus on practical applications of its research.“This past semester saw a lot of reorganization, and we had incredible people who came together and made what was really an experiment nationally recognized,” said David Bevevino, vice president for policy research at UNC’s chapter.The chapter won the national award partly due to that considerable reorganization, which included applying the research to real-world problems.UNC’s branch of more than 80 members was founded in 2005, making it one of the oldest Roosevelt Institute chapters. The first chapter was started at Yale in 2004.The UNC chapter recently added eight projects that work with specific clients to address problems.“This is a shift from more of a think-tank model about policy issues to implementing solutions and actually going somewhere. We need to not only come up with solutions, we need to also follow through,” said Taylor Isenberg, vice president for policy implementation.UNC’s chapter sent three students to this year’s national conference earlier this month in Hyde Park, N.Y. Columbia University and Michigan State University’s chapters also were nominated for the award.National delegates also voted to make UNC Roosevelt Institute President Libby Longino a member of the National Student Advisory Board, which helps organize Roosevelt at the national level. “Reaching this point in four years is a huge accomplishment, and we couldn’t have done it without Libby Longino as president,” Isenberg said. The organization’s goals include engaging, empowering and promoting solutions to policy issues at local, state and national levels by getting students involved in public policy.“We have worked really hard to amp up activity from all of our members and in our policy centers,” Longino said. “I hope that being recognized on a national level for our work will serve as inspiration as we continue forward and that we can maintain the same effectiveness in the future.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(07/08/09 4:00am)
With new printing upgrades students and staff will now only see their own print jobs at campus printing stations.New security features will require University students and staff to sign in using their Onyens and passwords at Information Technology Services printing stations. Unlike before this will allow users to see only their own print jobs at the ITS stations while keeping other print jobs private.On Monday Campus Services Information Technology will install the Pharos version 8.0 upgrade. All campus printing stations will be closed from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. while the upgrades are installed.In addition to updating the print system Campus Services IT will also add a security feature to the ITS print labs that requires login with an Onyen.The LDAP connector will also protect students from others using their accounts to pay for print jobs. For instance if a student forgets to log out of a release station no one else will be able to use their account to pay for documents" since only their own print jobs are viewable.""On a laptop or lab machine" enter an Onyen and a job title in the Pharos popup client. No password is required at this point" said Cristóbal Palmer, a graduate student in the School of Information and Library Science, explaining the features of the new system.This allows me to send a print job to my hallmate who is in an ITS lab for him to print"" for example.""The upgrade will also allow students using 64-bit versions of Windows to take advantage of the printing service by installing a new pop-up client.Students who have the Carolina Computing Initiative printing system installed on their laptops will not need to make any changes as the Pharos pop-up client will be internally updated. Unix users will still be able to print to ITS labs" as well" by simply substituting their Onyens for their usernames when printing. ""One main concern students seem to have had is about Macintosh users losing the ability to print with the new system" but the upgrades will be compatible" Classroom Management Director Jason Li said. There are no issues at this point. Everyone seems to be on board and pleased with the upgrades.""Because the updated system will require an Onyen and password login at printing stations"" only students and University affiliates will be able to access printing services. Local residents using public computers at the Davis Library and Undergraduate Library will no longer be able to print to the ITS lab printers through the purchase of a guest print card.Backgrounds on all ITS lab computers have been changed to a message detailing the upgrades and new lab policies. Students will also receive an e-mail explaining the changes.""I think this change is a great step in the right direction" but I can picture more improvements in the future Palmer said. For example I think swiping your One Card should automatically fill in your Onyen when you walk up to a station" but that's not something this upgrade will be able to do.""Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.