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(08/20/08 4:00am)
Click here to visit UNC Forum.
UNC Forum - an independent, open online forum created by students for students - is up and running.
But UNC student government is interested in taking the reins and giving the site a unc.edu domain, which gives the site legal protection under the University.
Student government's backing could help grow the now-fledgling site that had 101 registered members as of Tuesday.
(05/22/08 4:00am)
J.J. Raynor has a list of five goals on a bulletin board in her office. One of today's was to write a compelling speech for today's Board of Trustees meeting.
The speech will be among Raynor's first formal remarks as student body president.
"She's going to give us an update about what's going on around campus and lay out an agenda that's important to her," said Roger Perry, chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Among other issues, Raynor and the board will discuss the University's public service Web site and blue lights initiative.
But Raynor said she is most excited about a presentation on academic advising. She and the board will discuss a new "personal advising system" at today's meeting.
"We've had a long review process for advising," she said. "We're trying to find out why student surveys remain positive, yet advising has such a bad rap on campus."
Raynor said it is difficult for students to get personal and professional advice from advisers because advising departments work in teams rather than pairing advisers with individual students.
Since she was inaugurated April 1, Raynor said she has tried to promote the Carolina Way as former Student Body President Eve Carson envisioned it.
Raynor said she wants to redirect UNC's focus from competition with peer institutions to its function as the first public university.
"It's important to set a theme and keep it throughout the year - something that shows off her personality not only as a leader, but as a person; someone who understands before trying to be understood," said former Student Body Vice President Mike Tarrant.
Another goal on Raynor's bulletin board that she plans to discuss at today's meeting is a new mentoring program, which the University will introduce in the fall.
The program will connect one sophomore, junior and senior to a group of about 20 freshmen to help them make the most of opportunities the University has to offer.
"It's a way of inspiring people to start organizations, lead organizations and do research by introducing them to older students with similar interests," Raynor said. "We really want to connect students."
In March, Raynor took a seat on the chancellor search committee before she even took office, after the committee invited her to serve in Carson's stead.
"She serves as a very effective member of the board," Perry said. "She's a person who's skilled at reaching out to the student body."
The first Board of Trustees meeting is usually an opportunity for the student body president to meet the trustees and present her goals, but Raynor said this year's will have a different function.
"I've already got a rundown of each Board of Trustees member and what they're interested in," she said.
"This meeting will be a chance for me to frame the year and show the board that I am a resource for them that accurately represents the students."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(04/24/08 4:00am)
After a conversation with writer-comedian Angela Shelton, you would never guess that she was a victim of childhood abuse.
But Shelton, 35, doesn't dwell on her past. She spends her time writing and performing comedy, as well as filming an online cooking show for her Web site.
"Violence and joy cannot coexist," she said. "I want to help people live joyful lives."
And she isn't alone. She has discovered that 28 other women with the name Angela Shelton also were victims of rape, incest or domestic violence.
(02/18/08 5:00am)
Editor's note: Assistant Features Editor Nate Hewitt participated in the tryout for the 21st season of the "Real World." Here is his first-person look at what happens when people stop being polite and start being real:
Maybe I just didn't fit one of the "Real World" stereotypes.
For seven hours Saturday, I was one of hundreds of eager teens and 20-somethings who filled out forms and waited their turn to sit in the hot seat with casting director Megan Sleeper.
(02/14/08 5:00am)
A lot of singles like to refer to Valentine's Day as "Single Awareness Day" because it makes them realize they're alone.
But being single does have its advantages. It exempts you from all the expensive wining, dining and bouquet-purchasing, as well as gives you a chance to experience something different.
Fashion with a passion
Instead of breaking the bank for a dinner at a pricey, crowded restaurant, put your money toward something that you won't just forget about tomorrow.
(01/18/08 5:00am)
Ye Olde isn't over the hill yet.
(11/20/07 5:00am)
About once a week, Chapel Hill resident Joy MacVane leaves out cookies, brownies or other goodies for students who walk by her yellow house on the northern part of Henderson Street on their way to class.
"It all began last fall with two dozen Toll House cookies," MacVane said. "I woke up on a Monday morning and felt really depressed. So I found a little old round metal table and set them out by the road."
Though her roadside goodie stand started out as a one-time thing, the success of the table kept her going.
"Students started leaving notes that said things like, 'I really needed this' or 'You made my day,'" she said. "It seemed that people's thanks was way bigger than just a cookie."
The table will take a festive bent Thursday, when MacVane said she is planning to serve desserts to any students who are sticking around instead of going home for Thanksgiving.
Senior Amy McCall, who has lived in Town House Apartments for two years, said it's now nothing unusual to pass the home and see a blanket draped over a table, concealing a batch of freshly baked cookies.
The table is always publicized by a sign that says "Go Tar Heels" or "Don't worry. No one's watching," McCall said. She, like many students who live in nearby apartment complexes, uses a shortcut by MacVane's house to get to campus.
MacVane stocks the table in the morning, and the treats are gone by the afternoon. She said the success of her table has also inspired her to start a nonprofit organization called Table.
"I just realized that food has a greater purpose than just nutrition," she said. "The mission is to bring college students together to feed hungry children in Chapel Hill and Carrboro."
MacVane has already leased a space at 405 W. Weaver St. in Carrboro and plans to open the center in January.
The idea for the nonprofit came on a day in September when she put out a sign with her usual baked goods that asked students to come over and help bake desserts for the local homeless shelter.
"All they really serve for dessert at the shelter are broken cookies and stale cake," she said.
MacVane said that she didn't expect to get much feedback from the sign but that 11 people showed up to help her bake.
"We baked four big sheet cakes, frosted them and put big Carolina blue sprinkles all over them," she said.
"They handed them over to the volunteers at the shelter and saw how thankful everyone was," she said. "They got such satisfaction from it that they were all asking, 'What other things can we do like this?'"
Junior Kathy Herington, a Town House resident who helped bake for the homeless shelter, will serve on Table's board of directors.
"This sounded like something I really was working for, not something you do once and walk away from," she said. "I want to find a way to feed a portion of my community and do it well."
MacVane, who has lived in Chapel Hill with her husband, Ed Calamai, since 1993, said the town's children hold a special place with her because her three grown children all attended Chapel Hill schools.
But MacVane said her contributions to pedestrian students don't stop at baked goods.
During the winter, she leaves out a carafe of hot chocolate, made with milk instead of hot water, and a stack of plastic foam cups.
"We try to make everything fresh homemade, except when Carolina beat Duke," she said. "That day we put out a whole lot of junk food."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(08/22/07 4:00am)
There was a time when taking a year off after high school to find yourself was frowned upon.
But taking a "gap year" has become a growing trend in recent years for academically motivated students before going to college.
Sixteen UNC students took gap years during the 2005-06 school year, and 30 students took gap years during 2006-07.
Gap-year experiences have ranged from working on a political campaign in Washington, D.C., to studying art in Italy, said Barbara Polk, senior associate director of undergraduate admissions.
But the experience must be something that the student cannot get at UNC. If gap year students enroll in another university, their acceptance to UNC is revoked.
"A lot of students have a unique opportunity," Polk said. "They see this long road ahead of them, and they want to take a break. They feel like they can focus better if they take a year off."
And Morehead-Cain Foundation scholars are particularly pushed to take a gap year after high school.
"Students that do gap years are better prepared for the future and come in with more maturity," said Charles Lovelace, executive director of the foundation. "They have a better perspective of what they hope to accomplish."
Six of the 25 students taking gap years during the 2007-08 school year are Morehead-Cain Scholars.
Haley Koch is a sophomore Morehead-Cain scholar. Although she graduated from high school in 2005, Koch said she is not ashamed of being old for her class.
Koch planned her own experience abroad, combining service and travel. She lived in 25 countries in Africa and the Middle East between July 2005 and August 2006.
"I expected that my gap year would give me the chance to engage with the world in a different way," she said.
She had the opportunity to teach music in a refugee camp in Palestine, sing in the Xhosa language with orphans in South Africa and debate with Israeli soldiers who held automatic rifles on their laps.
"I found that I could . see the similarities, the generosity and the hope people had," Koch said.
Although the Morehead-Cain Foundation did not help with Koch's traveling expenses, the foundation began partially funding gap year travels in 2006 with a maximum of $7,500 for each scholar.
To get permission for a gap year, students must pay the $100 enrollment deposit and submit a written request to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions stating why they want to defer their entrance to the University.
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(08/21/07 4:00am)
CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, the Tuesday page 18 story, "Franklin food on a budget," incorrectly identified a Joe's Joint dessert. The restaurant no longer sells the item. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
It's 2 a.m. You've got the munchies. And a bag of Funyuns just isn't going to cut it.
The Daily Tar Heel visited the six Franklin Street eateries that are open past 1 a.m. and asked the staffs about their most popular menu items. Here are the results, which are ordered by price - starting with the least expensive item.
(04/26/07 4:00am)
Almost every UNC student who has lived on campus has a P2P story.
Anne Marie Trivett, a junior, once saw a girl who was standing in the P2P while it was in motion fall and hit the back of the bus - laughing hysterically.
Freshman Dida El-Sourady saw a drunken student berate everyone on the bus for not being at his drunken level - at 8 p.m.
Now the beloved buses are in the process of getting updated.
When the fall semester begins, three new buses will have replaced the familiar Thomas Built Buses.
The brand-new buses, which the University purchased from ElDorado National in Riverside, Calif., can be seen in UNC's Department of Public Safety parking lot on Manning Drive.
"These particular buses should do better over a period of time," P2P manager Lee McRae said. "It's a better quality of bus."
McRae said not much will change. Like the current P2Ps, the new buses have perimeter seating and are 33 feet long.
Students praised the system for its service to the UNC community.
"It's really convenient not to have to walk back in the dark, especially because I live in Odum Village" Trivett said.
Though the P2P's serves to transport students safely at night, junior Bridgette Allen said the bus has served as her designated driver.
"We call it the 'Party-to-Party' bus," Allen said.
Students say they doubt the face-lift will change much.
"It's fun to ride with all the drunk people, but I'm sure they'll be in the new ones," said sophomore Dhivya Arumugham, adding that she is looking forward to being able to reach the rails, which will be lower in the new buses.
Student fees pay for the P2P buses to be replaced every five years, McRae said.
But students probably will have to wait until next semester to see the new buses in action.
"We're waiting to receive the licenses for the buses," McRae said. "We would like to have them up and running before the summer, but it's doubtful."
But the current P2Ps will live on. McRae said one bus will become a mobile command unit for campus police; another will be auctioned off; and the third will remain as a backup.
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(04/26/07 4:00am)
Exams are here again. It's time to return overdue library books, lose more sleep and overcrowd campus libraries.
And while students will be working hard to make the grade, campus leaders also are working to provide students with ways to get away from the grind.
Stress stops studying
Anxiety is never more prevalent among students than at exam time, said Frank Kessler, a skills counselor at the Learning Center.
"It's important not to panic," Kessler said. "Take deep breaths, and get yourself back to focusing on the exam itself."
(04/23/07 4:00am)
Safety belts? Check. Adequate fuel? Check. Lights off? Check.
"Everything we do in flying is a checklist," flight instructor Betsy McCracken said Friday just before takeoff in a Cessna 152.
She buckled her safety belt and put on her headset before flipping a series of switches and narrating her movements.
"How do you feel about turbulence?" she asked the passengers. "If you are uncomfortable, tell me now."
The plane rolled around the track as she spoke to an unseen voice back at the airport. The headphones made her voice audible over the roaring engine.
The machine lifted slowly in the air, its tiny frame struggling against the wind to stay airborne.
"You saw Pittsboro from the ground," she said. "Now you're seeing it from the air."
McCracken is an instructor at the Wings of Carolina Flying Club, located about 35 minutes from campus at the Sanford-Lee County Regional Airport.
The club, which was founded in 1961 as the Chapel Hill Flying Club, is a nonprofit organization with open membership. Its flying classes, seminars and medical examinations are open to the public.
"It's very well run because it's a club and not a business," McCracken said. "It's easy. If you pass your medical, you can take flying lessons."
Members can use the lessons to earn hours toward getting their Private Pilot Certificate, which allows pilots to fly solo. But members don't have to have certification goals. Some members just take flight lessons for fun.
The club operated out of Horace Williams Airport until 2001, when Chancellor James Moeser did not renew its contract, citing recent accidents as the reason for his decision. There were three plane crashes between 1999 and 2001.
The airport is part of the future site of Carolina North, UNC's satellite campus.
"UNC students, staff and faculty have always been a big part of the club," said John Hunter, club maintenance director and UNC alum.
Hunter said that although the club has moved farther from campus, it is still the most convenient and inexpensive way for students to learn to fly.
"We still have a lot of student interest," he said. "You can bring in all kinds of people right into the airport, and it's great."
Junior Rob Rouphail, who has been taking lessons at the club since December, said he wants to become certified as a commercial pilot.
"This place is so awesome," Rouphail said. "It's a close-knit environment, and it's a lot more affordable than everywhere else."
Club Administrator Jim Bauer said the club's primary goals are to promote safe and inexpensive aeronautical training and education.
"We have fun, but at the same time we concentrate heavily on safety," Bauer said. "You don't find that combination in any one flying organization that often."
The facility includes classrooms, a weather briefing facility and a flight simulator. Hangars house both private planes and planes owned by the club.
The club also hosts social events such as cookouts, safety seminars and club flying trips.
"It's a good way to meet other people who are interested in flying," McCracken said. "Listening to these presentations are well worth it and interesting."
She said that members' ages range from 15 to 72 and that membership includes both rookies and retirees.
Hunter said the club's ground school is the most popular way to get involved. Sessions will be offered in the summer and fall of 2007.
"You really feel when you're done with the school that you know what you're getting yourself into," he said.
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(04/17/07 4:00am)
Jill Fitzgerald, senior associate dean of the School of Education, will serve as interim dean of the school during the 2007-08 academic year, Provost Bernadette Gray-Little announced Monday.
Tom James, the dean of the school, who is leaving to become the provost of the Teachers College at Columbia University, said Fitzgerald has been integral in developing academic programs and soliciting grants for research.
"It's an excellent choice," James said. "She's a nationally distinguished scholar and is well-respected within the school."
The search committee for the new dean, which will include faculty, staff and students, will be selected during the next two weeks, Gray-Little said.
Jean Folkerts, dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will head the committee.
Folkerts said she will meet with different members of the faculty in the education school to discuss their needs and expectations for the new dean.
Gray-Little also said administrators and the committee will discuss and settle on a job description for the post in the coming weeks.
During the summer, the committee will advertise nationally to attract applicants.
The new dean is expected to take office in summer 2008.
Fitzgerald, who will take over July 1, said that James' departure will be a great loss to the school but that she expects to continue his policies and implement new ones during her term.
"We have a lot of momentum," she said. "It's an exciting time to be in the School of Education."
Gray-Little said she expects Fitzgerald to continue projects that James started during his term.
"We're going to express our support for him by continuing his initiatives," Gray-Little said.
Fitzgerald said that she will not pursue the dean position after her interim term but that she is interested in returning to her associate dean post.
"The new dean will make his own decisions about what he wants in his administration," she said. "But I hope to continue."
Fitzgerald said it's important that the dean maintain close relationships with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and potential donors to the school.
"We're looking for a dean that not only understands the internal day-to-day activities of the school but also can establish excellent external relationships with other units on campus," she said.
Fitzgerald has worked as an elementary school teacher in New York, Ohio and West Virginia. She has been at UNC since 1979.
Fitzgerald said she has not discussed her new salary with the provost, but her current salary is $102,191. James' salary is $211,000.
"The School of Education provides a deep public service to the state," she said. "It's important to have a dean who understands that."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(04/13/07 4:00am)
Chapel Hill police closed sections of East Franklin Street for about 20 minutes Thursday after landscapers cut a gas line at the Center for the Study of the American South.
The center, which is located at 410 E. Franklin St., hired UNC landscaping to prepare for its April 21 grand opening.
Chapel Hill Fire Department and Chapel Hill public safety officials arrived on the scene at about 2:15 p.m. and had repaired the line by about 3 p.m.
The roadblocks caused traffic to be backed up on Raleigh Street from Franklin Street to South Road. Several police cars were parked along Raleigh and East Franklin streets.
Chapel Hill Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Borgesi said sections of Franklin Street were blocked as a safety precaution.
Borgesi said that natural gas fumes tend to travel on a linear plane in the direction of the wind and that car ignitions could spark a fire if they came in contact with gas.
Jim Wucthrich, a UNC grounds technician, said that the old gas line was buried about 3 feet underground and that the garden workers hit it with a Dingo machine, a hydraulic device used for digging trenches, near the southeast corner of the building.
Chemistry professor Joseph DeSimone, who specializes in environmentally friendly manufacturing, said the leak easily could have been a problem if it hadn't been controlled.
"It's a highly flammable gas, and in lots of places in the country, houses explode because of gas leaks," DeSimone said. "If you have an ignition source and have the gas accumulate, it could ignite."
But he said natural gas is less dangerous when it is outside because it's not contained as much.
He also said it was good that the fire department responded quickly and effectively to a problem that had potential to be very dangerous.
"We've got a really good fire department here," he said.
Assistant University Editor Kelly Giedraitis contributed to this article.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(04/12/07 4:00am)
Consuming beer and liquor together is more likely to cause someone to get sick than drinking one of the two.
Psychology professor Jeannie Loeb uses this example to explain the concept of memory binding - how the brain associates different elements to predict an outcome.
Loeb, 37, is not afraid to use examples that keep her students interested in the topic.
"She talks to us rather than down to us - like she's one of our peers," said junior Elizabeth Cecil, a psychology and studio art major. "You can tell she really cares about her students."
That attitude has helped Loeb, who began teaching at UNC in 2005, quickly become one of the University's most popular professors among students.
Loeb's "Biopsychology" class is full this semester. Her "General Psychology" class has just five out of 120 seats open.
She said she likes to make her classes as interactive as possible by communicating directly with students and by encouraging them to participate.
"It's important that the students have fun when they learn and pay attention," said Loeb, who received a doctorate degree in psychology from UNC in 1998. "I like to make sure students are interested in the material and that they can relate it to their lives."
And students in her classes said that she's successful in her endeavor to make a seemingly dull subject interesting.
"She does a good job of presenting the material," said junior Hannah Travlos, who is taking Loeb's "Biopsychology" class. "She gives really funny examples using her friends and family."
Loeb said her favorite part about the field of psychology is that she always learns new things and that textbook definitions are constantly being updated.
"Everything about it is so exciting," Loeb said "And I want the students to be as excited as I am."
Karen Gil, chairwoman of the Department of Psychology, said Loeb is among the top 10 percent of professors in the department every semester when administrators look at course evaluations.
"Her greatest quality is her enthusiasm for the subject matter," Gil said. "We're just thrilled to have her."
Loeb also is the director of undergraduate research in the psychology department. She said that although she doesn't participate in the research herself, she likes to get a lot of students involved.
She said the two aspects about UNC that she appreciates the most are student interest in the field and the support of the psychology department.
"This is my dream job," she added. "I just absolutely love it, and I really hope it shows in class.
"I want to be here forever."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(04/12/07 4:00am)
A professor at UNC-Wilmington has filed a lawsuit against the school claiming that he was denied a promotion because of his conservative views.
Mike Adams, an associate professor of criminology, said that the board of trustees discriminated against him because of his Christian beliefs and that the university violated his constitutional rights.
"We're really trying to establish, with evidence, that there was differential treatment," Adams said.
The 36-page lawsuit states that Adams was denied his civil rights and promotion to full professor in 2004 and 2006, despite being qualified.
The lawsuit also requests that he be granted immediate full professor status and monetary compensation for damages and legal fees.
UNC-W officials released a statement denying the allegations, stating that the decision was an academic one.
The statement went on to say that it is not uncommon for professors to be denied full professor status.
"We are prepared fully to defend ourselves," the release stated.
The committee that evaluated Adams for the promotion said he did not meet the criteria it was looking for, which included community service, teaching reputation and scholarship.
The Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington.
Adams has taught at UNC-W since 1993 and has been an associate professor since 1998.
He said that he considered himself a liberal and atheist until 1996, when he made a visit to an Ecuadorian prison, which prompted him to convert to Christianity and adopt conservative views. He said he became fully committed to his faith in 2000.
Adams said he first publicized his new viewpoints by responding to an e-mail from a female student who asserted that President Bush was responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Adams forwarded his response, which disagreed with the student, to other UNC-W officials, after which University administrators treated Adams differently, the complaint states.
"It was a fundamental change in the administrators' perception of him when he came out with his conservative views," said David French, Adams' attorney who drafted the complaint.
Adams has been a national columnist for Townhall.com since 2003. One of Adams' most controversial columns, from March 14, is called "How to Bomb a Gay Bathhouse."
French said that administrators requested that Adams change the content of his online columns and that he stay away from faculty meetings.
According to the lawsuit, Adams also was investigated multiple times for breaking into another professor's office and spraying poison gas, which the lawsuit states were false allegations.
He was cleared of the charges in 2006, French said.
"It's going to be difficult for the University to deny that they were motivated by something improper," French said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
A Chapel Hill man who placed ads in The Daily Tar Heel looking for female models is set to appear in court today on a charge of simple assault.
Paul Walters, 42, was arrested March 16 on charges of assault and battery and was released the next day on $500 bond.
On Feb. 16, a female student at UNC responded to Walters' ad, which promised women $15 per hour for modeling.
The student, whose name was not released by police, reported that she went to Walters' residence, 106 Timber Hollow Court, Apt. 253, where he took pictures of her and touched her inappropriately, said Jane Cousins, spokeswoman for the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Walters, who could not be reached for comment, does not have an attorney yet, according to the Orange County Clerk's Office.
Matthew Sullivan, Chapel Hill police crisis counselor, said that he has talked to people who have been harmed in similar scams but that many incidents go unreported.
"Typically it's a guy who solicited folks to be models and victimized them in the process," Sullivan said.
Kevin Schwartz, general manager of the DTH, said Walters has been suspended from placing any future ads in the paper.
"We've taken ads like that over the years without any complaints," Schwartz said. "We have a liberal acceptance policy."
He added that readers must decide for themselves if they want to respond to ads that look suspicious and that the ad would have been removed immediately if any student called to complain.
Walters has placed classified ads seeking models in the DTH since April 2004, said Lisa Reichle, business manager of the DTH.
The most recent version of his ad, which read "artist seeks female model - no experience necessary," ran sporadically from June 2006 until March 19.
Dorothy Bernholz, director of Student Legal Services, said women should be wary of responding to modeling ads that aren't affiliated with an agency.
"You shouldn't go to a remote location by yourself," she said.
"It's one thing to go to Hanes Art Center for a modeling job sponsored by the UNC art department. It's another to go to a trailer in Orange County."
Sabrina Garcia, domestic violence and sexual assault specialist for Chapel Hill police, said it's important to research the business thoroughly and ask for references before responding to suspicious modeling ads.
"Trust your gut," Garcia said. "Make sure that the moment you feel uncomfortable with the setting, person or activity, that you remove yourself."
Garcia said it's not only important to report sexual assault but also to testify in court.
"Oftentimes people feel embarrassed or they blame themselves," she said. "They may not have the energy or want to continue with the process but want someone to know what has happened."
Staff writer Patty Kuo contributed to this article.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(03/23/07 4:00am)
The room was silent. About a dozen people, some dressed in robes and some in sweats, walked around the room in steps so small they seemed to make no progress.
After 10 minutes of continuous walking, they had traveled only a few yards.
They were engaging in kinhin, a kind of walking meditation. With their eyes fixed to the hardwood floor, they breathed in and out as they shifted their weight from one foot to the other.
It was a normal Tuesday at the Chapel Hill Zen Center, which provides a place for members to practice kinhin and other forms of meditation six days per week.
The center, founded by a small group of friends in 1981, focuses on the Soto Zen school of thought, which teaches that meditation can lead to personal enlightenment.
Mo Ferrell, a layperson at the center, gives lessons in the meditation practice. She said she grew up as a Lutheran but has been practicing Zen since 1977.
"It makes more sense to me," she said. "Everything is interconnected Our actions affect this earth we live on."
Zen is a form of Buddhism, which teaches that mental suffering is self-created and can be solved by meditation.
"It's a way to address the problem of suffering in the world," she said.
Buddhism teaches that because humans are blinded by greed and hate, they are unable to realize that they are enlightened.
"Everyone has an enlightened nature," Ferrell said.
"It's a matter of waking up to the fact that you're already enlightened."
She said that because no prior training is necessary to practice Zen, experienced members and newcomers are on the same spiritual level.
Paul Boyle, a chemistry professor at N.C. State University and a priest at the temple, said people of all religious backgrounds can practice Zen.
"In Zen, there is no notion of a deity," he said. "It is a universal practice which can be taken up by anyone regardless of other beliefs they hold."
Creation and the afterlife aren't as important in Buddhism as in other religions, Boyle said.
Tim Kroll, a 2001 UNC graduate, attends services regularly at the Zen Center.
"It's easier to think about what is going on right now rather than what has already happened," he said.
"It allows me to be a little more present for the people and activities in my everyday life."
During another meditation session Tuesday, the members sat silently facing the walls. Some chose to sit cross-legged and others kneeled, but all were still.
This form of meditation, called zazen, involves sitting still in silence for about 30 to 40 minutes. Though silent, it is a communal activity.
"There is intangible support from sitting in a group," Ferrell said.
"People have different flexibilities," she said. "It's more challenging for some than others. Americans are not really accustomed to sitting on the floor."
When practicing zazen, the members formed their hands into a position called a mudra, where the left hand rests on top of the right hand, with both palms up and facing opposite directions. The two thumbs barely touch, forming an oval shape, which Ferrell said helps maintain concentration.
"It's difficult to be relaxed and awake at the same time," she said. "When the mind gets distracted, always try to subtly adjust the posture."
Ferrell said posture and breathing are the most important elements of the Zen practice.
"We try to bring stillness to the body so the mind will settle down," she said.
"You should start with the body because the mind is too busy to settle down first."
Ferrell said it's important for people to keep visual contact with the room and to have some awareness of what's going on around them.
She said there's a lot of misinformation about the Zen practice.
"Having a blank mind is not really Zen," she said. "We don't try to stop thought; we just try to notice thinking."
She also said people who practice Zen do not worship Buddha or statues, but rather look for Buddha within themselves.
"We see it as a piece of art you admire in a museum, not as a god or an idol," she said.
"That's Buddha, I'm Buddha."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(02/21/07 5:00am)
Editor's note: The Daily Tar Heel has tracked four freshmen since August, gauging their health habits as they adjust to college life. Each month, the freshmen are weighed by the DTH and answer questions. Freshman David Luther did not return this semester as he is in basic combat training.
When freshman Jordan Little remembers dating in high school, she remembers being picked up in a car and having her date meet her parents for the first time.
"My dad really wanted to meet the guy first," Little said. "He was old-fashioned, so we spent a lot of time together at my house."
(02/20/07 5:00am)
When the founders of the Black Student Movement first began organizing at UNC in 1967, they focused their efforts on increasing the power of the black voice.