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(01/17/08 5:00am)
The Lenoir Mainstreet space formerly occupied by Pita Pit is scheduled to reopen today with a new tenant - Mediterranean Deli.
Both restaurants have Franklin Street locations, but the deli is farther away from campus than its predecessor, a factor which officials said might be crucial in its success.
"I think it will add a very nice flavor to Lenoir," said Jamil Kadoura, the owner of Mediterranean Deli. "Mediterranean food is becoming trendy and very popular."
Kadoura said the University approached him about moving into Lenoir Mainstreet last summer, looking for Mediterranean food to complement the Asian, Mexican and American dishes already served there.
"It's a good fit for Lenoir in terms of something that they're not already doing in there," said Scott Myers, director of food and vending.
Myers added that the deli already has a successful presence on campus: Student Stores sells wraps, pasta and pitas from the restaurant, and the Daily Grind carries its baklava.
"We studied the situation, and it's not going to be a cheap thing for us to do," Kadoura said. "What happens after one semester, I really don't know."
Both he and Frank Ryan, owner of Pita Pit, mentioned the expenses involved, including University fees and the cost of hiring additional workers. Pita Pit came to Lenoir at the beginning of the fall semester.
Ryan said the on-campus location increased Pita Pit's total number of customers but "cannibalized" business at the Franklin Street site.
"There was a significant trade-off in that people did not walk across the street any longer, so I watched my business go down pretty dramatically at Franklin Street," Ryan said.
"At the end of the day I was no better off to have that location and Franklin Street than I was just to have Franklin Street."
Ryan said Pita Pit has since recovered from its slump.
Kadoura said that his restaurant is largely visited by professionals and other non-students during the day and that he doesn't think his original location will lose business.
He added that he thinks the campus location might draw faculty members and other University employees, in addition to students, because its traditional Greek-oriented Mediterranean food is likely to appeal to diners looking for healthy options.
This is one of several changes to Lenoir Mainstreet since the summer. Restaurants such as Burger King and Tortilla Fresca also have been replaced by new options. The space that housed Pita Pit previously offered a take-out meal plan option.
"It's going to be a challenge . to make a profit, but I think we can," Kadoura said. "It will be a great thing for us to do."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(01/17/08 5:00am)
The Honor Court might be the last group students would expect to find hosting a bar night, but to Chairman Dan Cowan, the apparent contradiction makes perfect sense.
The seniors-only event, which will start at 10 p.m. today at East End Oyster & Martini Bar, is designed to promote responsible drinking.
"I think a lot of time, people don't realize that there can also be conduct sides of the Honor Code. We were trying to think of creative ways to get the message out," Cowan said.
The Honor Court is co-hosting the night with the senior class. Senior Class President Ashley Shores said a substantial increase in DUI citations last semester led the two groups to promote awareness of ways to get home without driving.
About a quarter of the approximately 70 Honor Court cases last semester were DUI infractions.
Cowan said a new measure to impose a minimum punishment on students with DUI offenses is waiting to be approved by Chancellor James Moeser.
If enacted, the measure would require offenders to serve at least one semester of alcohol suspension - with possible additional requirements of rehabilitation classes or community service - and a semester of probation.
Shores and Cowan said their goal is to get students to take steps to prevent such an outcome before they get in the car.
"Especially for seniors last semester, if you get a DUI, it would just be horrible," Shores said.
"People will go out and drink no matter what, but if we can get people to think about it before they do, we're doing our job."
Cowan said the event's organizers will pass out cards to students as they leave, with information including facts about the honor system, guidelines for blood alcohol content levels, phone numbers for a taxi service and the P2P, and a list of ways to get home without driving.
Suggestions include selecting a designated driver before going out, calling a cab - or a friend - and taking the P2P or Safe Ride bus home.
Although the event started as a joke among Honor Court officials, Shores said she thought it would be much more likely to get seniors' attention than mass e-mails that might be deleted before they were even opened.
She said senior class officials might consider partnering with the Honor Court on similar projects in the future if tonight's event is successful.
"I think it's interesting because obviously people view the honor system as being not in favor of drinking, but it's good because it's showing that it's fine to drink if you're of age and you can do it responsibly and you plan ahead," Cowan said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/30/07 5:00am)
Three master's students from UNC's School of Public Health set out earlier this week to increase local senior citizens' awareness about health care issues.
The team sought to help attendees at a local senior center prepare to vote in the upcoming presidential elections by educating them about candidates' health care stances.
Miriam Mutuku, Erica Nelson and Michelle Sonia gave a half-hour presentation called "Vote for Your Health" on Tuesday at Whitaker Mill Senior Center in Raleigh.
They registered five new voters and gave about 10 others information on absentee ballots and other ways to vote if they can't get out to the polling centers.
Jennifer Gray, activities director at the center, said she thought the team was able to help the seniors who attended the presentation.
"It was great," Gray said. "They all really, really appreciated their help."
The trio said they took on the project as part of an assignment to raise voter awareness about public health issues.
Although senior citizens typically are well-represented at the polls - about 11 percent of registered voters in Orange County are at least 66 years old - the students said they chose to focus on the demographic because of the obstacles that prevent many of them from voting.
"Some of them have transportation issues and have maybe moved recently, and they have come to be a fairly transient population . and may not update their registration accordingly," Nelson said.
She said seniors also sometimes have trouble with transportation or mobility on Election Day.
The government offers ways to get around those problems - such as absentee ballots or drive-up voting, in which volunteers will run ballots out to cars if the driver has difficulty walking - but many people are unaware of their options.
Another important aspect of the program was providing information about presidential candidates' stances on health care issues.
The team had trouble getting senior centers in Chapel Hill to sign on to the project, Nelson said, so they headed to Raleigh.
She also said she thought the centers that declined might have assumed that the team had a partisan agenda.
"We wanted to make sure that we were as bipartisan and objective as we could be because we didn't want to try to sway the seniors to vote in any particular way," Sonia said.
The team members chose the three leading candidates in each party and compiled information about their health care positions.
Although the turnout at their presentation was smaller than expected, the students said, they were pleased with the awareness they raised.
"They were really happy that we went over the candidates' messages, particularly toward seniors," Sonia said.
"I think a lot of times, it gets a little muddled and confused."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(11/27/07 5:00am)
UNC's housing recontracting process will begin earlier than usual this year for prospective residents of the Ram Village undergraduate apartments.
Starting Monday and continuing through Jan. 15, Ram Village tenants will have the chance to reapply to remain in the same apartments during the 2008-09 school year.
After those requests are filled, current Ram Village residents who want to move to different apartments can sign up in person Jan. 23.
(11/16/07 5:00am)
Members of the UNC community know what they're looking for in a new chancellor.
They want change but also continuity, growth and an upholding of the Carolina Way - in short, they want a little bit of everything all at once.
About 30 people attended the final chancellor search committee forum Thursday night, voicing diverse wishes for a new University leader.
"These are representatives from a variety of groups and interests that express themselves very articulately," said Nelson Schwab, chairman of the chancellor search committee.
One of the key traits attendees wanted the next chancellor to have is a commitment to diversity - specifically in admitting more low-income and minority students and doing more to integrate them into the community.
Many also said they want a chancellor who will be a visible presence on campus, interacting with students, faculty, staff and community members on a regular basis.
Other items on the wish list include a commitment to public service, an interest in helping to keep tuition costs down and a desire to maintain and improve UNC's study abroad programs.
Schwab said the committee already has begun the next step in the search process. Using the notes he took at other forums, Schwab formed a draft of a position statement regarding the requirements for the next chancellor.
Committee members will comment on the statement and update it with new information from Thursday's forum before finalizing it Dec. 12.
But even without a formal position statement, Schwab said about 75 candidates already have applied.
"There's a lot of interest," he said, adding that the position was just advertised in several academic periodicals earlier this week.
As the search process continues, Schwab said he doesn't know how many candidates will end up applying.
"All I want to do is find the right one," he said.
Staff writer Meghan Woods contributed reporting.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/30/07 4:00am)
Naite Alexander is proof that Homecoming royalty are more than just pretty faces.
Alexander - last year's Homecoming king - started the Equality, Diversity, Unity, Community and Teenage Education program, which brought 60 to 70 high school students to UNC to pique interest in higher education.
"The service does help because Carolina is very service-oriented," Alexander said. "Every little project makes a difference somewhere."
While the impact this year's king and queen will have has yet to be seen, the three candidates vying for the crowns said they are fleshing out their projects.
"To be quite honest . I just have a vague idea," said Bert Ellison, this year's sole candidate for king. He said he does not have a timeline for volunteers to start teaching kids about nutrition and fitness as part of his B-Happy, B-Healthy, B-ert program.
He said a friend works at an area school and has talked to teachers there about his idea. Ellison also has discussed the idea with his boss at the Student Recreation Center.
Queen candidate Meredith Jones' project, "Read to Succeed," would send UNC students to read books at local elementary schools. Jones said she has identified five potential partner schools.
But the candidates said they are having trouble finalizing their plans without having all the facts.
"It's kind of hard right now not knowing how much support we're going to get," Jones said. "A budget? A committee? We don't know."
Alexander said that although the Carolina Athletic Association gave him campaign funds, he received no other money from the University. EDUCATE's funding came from Upward Bound, a program that helps prepare high school students for college, and other outside resources.
"We're doing footwork on our own," candidate Angela Crocker said of her service project - hosting a series of concerts to support the Amani Children's Foundation, which aids orphans in Kenya. She said she already has begun looking at local venues and is trying to get groups to perform.
Her Homecoming initiative ties in with a project she started as Miss BSM, raising $3,400 to send a Black Student Movement member on a two-week service trip to Kenya.
"Regardless of whether I'm elected or not, I'm going to do both," Crocker said. But she said she didn't want to say anything yet about possible venues or acts.
Students can vote between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday on Student Central or at one of the eight polling sites around campus.
The ballot also will include a referendum to amend the Student Code to require the student body to vote on increases for four student fees.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/26/07 4:00am)
After six months in office, Student Body President Eve Carson and her fellow officers have learned that they can't prepare for everything.
Executive branch officials said that by the halfway point of their terms, they have had to shift their priorities to incorporate new issues that have come up.
"You sort of have to roll with the punches a lot," Student Body Treasurer Jordan Myers said. "The platform's almost a glimpse of one moment."
He said that even when Cabinet members work on issues that seem to be the same each year, such as tuition increases, new wrinkles are constantly arising.
"There's a lot, lot, lot of stuff that we do that wasn't in the platform, and it's important stuff," Student Body Secretary Mac Mollison said.
Aiding in the University's search for its next chancellor is among the administration's top priorities, but that concern arose only last month when Chancellor James Moeser announced he is stepping down.
The executive branch formed a committee earlier this week that will seek student input and present it to the formal search committee.
The administration has had to confront other unexpected issues throughout its term.
Student Body Vice President Mike Tarrant - whose job is to respond to new developments - pointed to the administration's work last spring in defeating the Faculty Council's Achievement Index. The index would have introduced a new grading measure to students' transcripts.
Carson also organized a campuswide effort to recognize the shooting at Virginia Tech in April and collected letters and posters from UNC students to send.
Tarrant also mentioned his and Carson's successful effort in late July to keep a voting site for municipal elections near campus.
Officers said they work hard to strike a balance between focusing on new issues and original platform goals.
Tarrant said he decides who should tackle the incoming projects.
"I think the biggest thing is looking at the issue and seeing what its potential impact would be on the student body and on the University," Tarrant said.
He said the administration as a whole spends most of its time working on issues addressed in Carson's campaign platform.
"Eve Carson can't be running an administration that's still living in last year," Mollison said of the need to adapt to events. "Eve has a list of six or eight things, and she looks at that list every day and says, 'What can I do on this?'"
He said Carson focuses her personal efforts on these issues, many of which come directly from her platform.
The 149-page October Report still is being finalized, but officers said they were pleased with their progress so far.
"We haven't run the numbers yet, but I feel thrilled about the progress we're making," Mollison said.
Both Mollison and Tarrant said they thought the administration will be able to work through its platform by the time it leaves office.
Notably, several issues in Carson's platform were not included in the October Report.
They included Carson's promises to push for gender-neutral bathrooms, to extend teaching assistant stipends to include dental coverage and to put a Yogurt Pump in the Student Union.
Mollison attributed the discrepancies to committees failing to submit full reports of their efforts and said they most likely will be corrected when the document is revised.
While Tarrant said he was confident about the administration's trajectory, he cautioned that some of Carson's ideas might take time to come to fruition.
"You can't finish every project in your 12 short months that you have here," Tarrant said. "But you do hope those are projects that are continued on in future administrations."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(10/10/07 4:00am)
Student Congress voted by about a two-thirds majority Tuesday night to send a controversial resolution back to committee for further review.
The measure called for a campuswide referendum to allow the student body to determine if stipends received by seven executive and judicial branch officers should be given on a need-only basis.
Congress members voted to re-examine the resolution after 40 minutes of debate about its wording and constitutionality, as well as the justification for stipends.
In the original resolution, officers would have had to prove financial need by providing documentation that they had worked at least 10 hours per week for at least six of the 12 months prior to taking office.
"There may be a better way to demonstrate need, but this seems simple," Congress Speaker Tyler Younts said.
After debate about the effectiveness of the resolution, Younts moved to amend it so that affected leaders could prove need by showing they received need-based aid through the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid.But the meeting ended without a conclusion on how need should be determined.
Rep. Val Tenyotkin objected that the Student Code provides no basis for holding a referendum to amend Title V, which governs financial affairs. He said Congress has power to amend this section of the Code without student input.
"This referendum is not in the constitution, making it unconstitutional," he said. "This resolution is powerless."
Younts argued that students should be able to vote on the stipends because they are allowed to vote on fee increases.
Students pay about $16,000 per year for the stipends - about 60 cents per student. Stipends range from $125 to $300 per month.
Representatives also amended the proposed resolution by removing its preamble, which was not allowed under the Code.
"Making two amendments on a bill is not proof that it is not well thought out," Younts said.
He said he has considered the measure since 2005, when a motion to stop stipends altogether was defeated in Congress.
Members also confirmed four appointments made by Student Body President Eve Carson as well as members of the Carolina Athletic Association Cabinet. Three student groups also received funding.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/11/07 4:00am)
Problems with the One Card system Monday left some students scrambling for alternative ways to accomplish their daily tasks.
Students reported difficulties printing at ITS printing labs using their One Cards. But the problems extended to transactions requiring a One Card, including using meal plans, dining flex and expense accounts.
"Anywhere on campus where you have the One Card system could be affected," said Charlie Green, assistant vice chancellor for teaching and learning.
Sophomore Kelly Mason was in the Undergraduate Library printing lab about 1 p.m. and noticed the problems.
"I came in, and just all the printers were jammed," she said, adding that she saw the printers working again about an hour later.
But officials said Monday's problem wasn't related to recent issues with the Pharos printing system. Instead, it stemmed from the CS Gold software system that runs One Card operations.
Jim Clinton, director of card operations, said the database problems began about 9:30 a.m. and worsened during the morning.
He said that despite the delays, students were able to accomplish what they needed to.
His office was in contact with the system provider throughout to resolve the issue. A database restart fixed the issues shortly after 1 p.m.
"We're happy to say it's back up and running now," Clinton said.
The cause of the problem was related to a database connectivity issue and was identified by mid-afternoon.
Clinton said he originally wanted to postpone the restart until 3 p.m. to avoid the lunch rush at Lenoir and Rams Head dining halls, but a system crash forced him to act two hours earlier than planned.
Mike Handy, a sales manager at Student Stores, said he saw problems from about 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.
"When we swiped the card, it wasn't working," he said. "The screen was frozen. . I just announced it to the customers, and they were really good about it."
Handy said students attempting to make purchases with their One Cards still were able to buy what they needed with cash, credit or debit accounts.
Hyatt said One Card transactions made while the system is offline typically go through when the connection is re-established. But he said students' One Cards likely would not be charged with the attempted transactions.
Students can check their card balances online and get any incorrect charges reversed at the One Card office.
By about 4:30 p.m., CBORD, the vendor of the CS Gold software, also had made changes expected to prevent the problem from occurring again, said Craig Hyatt, systems specialist for auxiliary services.
"This is a very, very stable system," Hyatt said. "I don't know that we've ever had this specific problem."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/29/07 4:00am)
When George Fu came to UNC this semester from the National University of Singapore, he was interested in learning about American culture as a whole. But he soon found that the University has a culture all its own.
"I have heard so much fun stuff about UNC, like Halloween celebration on Franklin Street and the streaking tradition in the library one day before the exams," he said in an e-mail.
"But the top of my list would be to experience a basketball match between UNC and Duke! I won't miss that for anything in the world!"
Fu is one of more than 1,200 international students at UNC. Like him, some come to America for a year or a semester, while others - both undergraduate and graduate students - stay longer to obtain degrees from the University.
These students receive basic information before they arrive on campus, ranging from an overview of the University to a packing guide for the North Carolina climate, said Diana Levy, assistant director of the Office of International Affairs.
Once at UNC, students have several days of orientation and welcome events before classes begin to acclimate them to the University.
The Office of International Student and Scholar Services has various services to help them meet people, including weekly conversation partners and monthly outings with an off-campus family. The goal is to let the students experience American culture outside the University.
"It's a great opportunity for Carolina students who want to interact with international students," Levy said, citing the program's benefits for both exchange and University students.
But even with these support systems in place, the transition is not always an easy one, said Bria Cook, president of Easing Abroad Students Entry, which works to make exchange students feel more comfortable at the University.
"Just coming into a new place can be really overwhelming. I know that UNC can be really big," said Cook, who said her own study-abroad experience makes it easier to relate to others. "A lot of students that come here have never really experienced a campus like this."
EASE is working with about 85 exchange students this semester.
Cook said the organization hosts about eight special events each semester, including runs to Target, student-led trips during school breaks and meals at local favorites such as Maple View Farm and Ham's Restaurant. In the past, the group has sponsored everything from Thanksgiving dinners to sports teams.
Like the international student office, EASE also pairs exchange students with UNC students to aid in the transition. "Some become best friends," Cook said.
Fu said he is still getting used to some aspects of UNC life. His university in Singapore usually requires one textbook per course, and he doesn't live in a residence hall there. He said he has had to learn to speak carefully to ensure people understand his English.
But he has had good times too, such as finding food at Penang on Franklin Street that reminded him of home, and he said he is excited by UNC's culture of student involvement in organizations.
"It has been great so far!" he wrote. "The people here are friendlier than I thought, and they really make me feel at home even though I am so far away."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/21/07 4:00am)
This fall changes to UNC law school students' transcripts will bring the school's grading policy more in line with those of peer institutions.
The School of Law's transcripts now will display letter grades rather than numeric ones, and students' class rank will no longer be included.
The top 10 students in a class will be the only ones to receive ranks, which will not be displayed on their transcripts but may be added to their r
(08/21/07 4:00am)
Students hoping for a grande frappuccino on their way to class from South Campus will have to hold out until late October, as construction of the new on-campus Starbucks has been pushed back.
The coffee joint originally was set to replace the End Zone sports cafe at the Rams Head Center by late September, but construction has barely started.
Despite the delays, Scott Myers, director of food services and vending, said construction is on target with the latest schedule, and Carolina Dining Services still is advertising the shop as "coming soon."
Although Starbucks will be located in the Rams Head Center, Myers said its construction will not impede students' access to the nearby dining hall.
"There should be no interruption to the flow of normal operations," he said.
The project is being managed by CDS contractors in partnership with Starbucks.
Myers said the venue will offer a full-service menu in addition to its signature coffee drinks.
It also will provide wireless Internet access.
Although the design is still being finalized with architects, Myers said it likely will provide some space for students to relax. The arcade upstairs will be converted into a study area.
"We've asked for something comfortable - comfortable settings," he said.
According to the most recent plan, Starbucks will be open until 11 p.m., although Myers said the time is subject to change.
Alpine Bagel Cafe, another campus venue that serves coffee, is open until 1 a.m. most days. The Daily Grind coffee shop closes at 8 p.m. weeknights and is not open on weekends.
The decision to replace the End Zone with a Starbucks came as a result of focus group discussions conducted in the spring by the Student Dining Board.
But student response to the Starbucks has been mixed.
"I'd rather it be a restaurant," sophomore Daniel Thomas said. "I think there are enough coffee shops on campus that we don't really need another one right there."
Freshman Kathia Davidson said she might use the Starbucks as a study location but added, "I'm not a Starbucks person. I just don't like the coffee."
Another eatery also is under construction at Rams Head.
A Subway is set to open inside Rams Head Market within a few weeks, but construction is not expected to affect the facility's operations.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(04/25/07 4:00am)
The debate on the proposed Achievement Index continued to rage Tuesday night at a question-and-answer session hosted by the co-chairmen of the AI task force.
More than 20 students came to have their questions answered about the system, which is being touted by proponents as the solution to grade inflation.
Attendees also were encouraged to sign a petition to the Faculty Council opposing AI. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, 39 students had signed the petition, which is located online at www.petitiononline.com/uncai.
AI detractors, including Student Body President Eve Carson and task force co-chairmen Mike Radionchenko and Danny Randolph, say the costs of the proposed system would outweigh the benefits.
"I sincerely believe that if you understand it, you cannot be for the AI," Carson said at the session.
They argue that because AI, unlike grade point average, is relative, it will discourage cooperation among students and lead to unnecessary competition.
"If your AI goes up, someone else's AI goes down," Randolph said. "It certainly puts a disincentive for you to help anyone else at UNC out."
The Faculty Council is set to vote on whether to implement the system at 3:45 p.m. Friday in the Hitchcock Multipurpose Room of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center. While this is not the final vote, Randolph said he expects the administration to follow the council's recommendation.
Speakers on both sides of the fence said AI would make grading more fair for students, but Carson said she'd rather see the University tackle the problem of grade inflation with peer institutions instead of trying a new measure alone.
UNC would be the first school in the country to implement AI.
"If UNC is going to be a trendsetter or a leader, we have to have the best system possible," she said.
"There's got to be something better than AI out there."
AI takes into account not just a student's performance in a given class - as a GPA does - but also other students' grades in that class and in their other classes.
The result, supporters say, is a system that rewards students for doing well in more difficult classes.
"It is the fairest way of comparing students across their accomplishment in the whole University," Andrew Perrin, a member of the council's educational policy committee's grading subcommittee, said in an interview before the meeting.
With AI, he said, students won't suffer for choosing rigorous classes or majors.
Because AI calculates one's performance in a class relative to other scores, students would have less control over it and would be unable to predict their scores.
Radionchenko said it probably would begin with next fall's freshman class.
Officials said they aren't sure how graduate schools and businesses will react to the new number.
Tuesday's presentation showed AI calculated on the same 4.0 scale as GPA, but Perrin said that if implemented, AI likely would be reported in a different way - probably a percentile score - to avoid confusion.
Officials still are deciding how AI would be calculated for transfer and international students, as well as how much the system would cost.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(04/18/07 4:00am)
On the surface, the concert looked like any other.
(04/16/07 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Refilling a prescription is now as easy as reloading an Internet page with Campus Health Services' new prescription reorder site.
The service, which officially began April 2, allows users to order prescription refills online and pick them up five business hours later at the health services pharmacy.
"It just gave another option for folks," said Rita Proctor, campus health pharmacy director. "It may be easier for you to do it online."
The pharmacy already allowed 24-hour refill ordering via phone, but Proctor said officials had planned to implement an online service for more than three years.
"We'd always wanted it. We just thought it made sense."
Proctor cited students' increasing tech-savvy as a motivation, adding that officials hope to compete with other pharmacies that allow online refill orders.
CVS, Walgreens and Target all have systems that let customers order refills via the Web and pick them up at the store of their choice.
The service carries no extra charges and is available to anyone eligible to use Campus Health Services - students and their spouses or domestic partners - and has a prescription filled by Campus Health.
The online form is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Orders placed after pharmacy hours, which are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, are added automatically to the queue and processed five hours after the pharmacy opens.
Proctor said one of the biggest challenges in implementing the system was getting orders to come directly into that queue. Other systems look similar to UNC's but use e-mail-style forms that must be read and entered by a technician.
The service allows customers to order only one month's worth of prescriptions at a time, something Proctor said she hopes to fix in time. Customers who need more refills must order them via the phone system or in person.
"The hope is that we'll begin to see more of a shift toward the Internet," Proctor said.
Seven customers ordered refills online Wednesday, and Proctor added that she anticipates that number to increase as more students hear about the service.
"I've heard of it, but I haven't used it," freshman Leigh-Ann Pecoraro said. "None of my prescriptions are through Campus Health."
Proctor said students with prescriptions being filled elsewhere must schedule an appointment with a health services provider to transfer their prescriptions.
Despite its imperfections, she said she's pleased with the new system.
"It truly is a win-win thing. Anything we can do to help students access that better, we'll just keep looking for opportunities to do that."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Online prescription refills
How to use the service:
(04/11/07 4:00am)
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and globetrotter Nicholas Kristof will lend some of his experience covering human rights abuses around the world to an audience today at UNC.
The New York Times columnist, noted for his coverage of the crisis in Darfur, will give a lecture, titled "Global Society," as part of the Campus Y's sixth annual Human Rights Week, which kicked off Monday.
"I think it's especially important to have big-name speakers like Kristof . that have been there first-hand," said Cindy Plante, a representative of UNC's Student Congress.
"We can't even fathom abuses like this."
Kristof also will host an armchair discussion from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Campus Y building to talk with interested students.
Kristof's visit is funded by the Phillips Ambassadors Program, which will provide scholarships to its first group of undergraduates studying abroad in Asia this year.
The money comes from an amount within the Phillips Ambassadors Program's private fund set aside for a kick-off event, said Dee Reid, director of communications for the College of Arts and Sciences.
She said Kristof - who with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, has written two books about Asia - also will meet with the first group of Phillips Ambassadors over lunch today.
Kristof, who served as a correspondent and an associate managing editor for the Times before becoming a columnist in 2001, has written more than 60 columns about the Sudanese conflict, although he covers other humanitarian issues as well.
That conflict, usually cited as beginning in 2003, centers on human rights abuses perceived to be perpetrated along racial lines, with government-backed Arab militias oppressing black Africans.
Though the situation is considered by many to be a modern genocide, advocates argue that the international community is not doing enough to stop the violence.
Kristof's columns and video reporting often combine the personal stories of people in the region with suggestions to the U.S. government about how to improve the situation.
He stunned a standing-room only crowd at N.C. State University in February with some of those stories.
Nate Nihart, co-chairman of the Campus Y's advocates for human rights committee, said his organization has been active in publicizing Kristof's visit, although not in funding it.
He said Kristof's work on the conflict in Sudan and surrounding nations made him a natural choice to speak during Human Rights Week.
"It's one of the worst human rights abuses that appears in contemporary society," Nihart said of the Sudan situation.
"So it's pretty relevant."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(03/30/07 4:00am)
UNC admitted its first female student in 1897, but it took 100 years to create a center specifically to meet the needs of women.
This year the Carolina Women's Center is celebrating its 10-year anniversary by looking to the future with new initiatives.
The center was formed out of a recommendation by the Chancellor's Task Force on Women at Carolina the previous year. For the first three years of its existence, the center was led by an advisory board.
The center received its first director, Diane Kjervik, in 2000.
Kjervik served as a part-time director until December 2005, when she stepped down. In July 2006, Donna Bickford became the center's first full-time director.
"One of the reasons the job was attractive was the opportunity to make change on a broader level," Bickford said of her reason for leaving her position as a professor in the University of Rhode Island's Women's Studies Program for UNC.
She said that her work in the classroom allowed her to reach out to students on a one-on-one level but that directing the women's center allows her to work with a larger number of people.
Bickford also said she hopes to bring a new "robustness" to the center, connect more closely with faculty members and target activities toward graduate students to bring the female community on campus closer together.
The center, which houses a lactation room and a women's studies library, has been located on Franklin Street since 2001.
Its stated mission is to "empower women and promote their equality in all spheres of life and to celebrate the work of women that betters humankind."
"We care about all issues that are related to women," Bickford said.
The center historically has focused on four issues related to women: campus safety, child care, mentorship and scholarship. It recently added a fifth initiative, Bickford said - working against sex trafficking.
Among the center's offerings are courses that provide female students with self-defense skills and safety information.
It also sponsors a mentorship program in which female juniors and seniors work with older women in career fields related to their courses of study.
This semester there are two sessions of the introductory ENGL 102 class in which students develop their English skills while helping to develop Web sites to provide more information about the center's history, Bickford said.
But among the center's most well-publicized functions are its events. Wrapping up today is Women's Week, a part of the Women's History Month celebrations.
The center also holds lectures, film screenings and other programs that explore the intersections among gender, ethnicity and race.
Next month there will be a conference on sex trafficking, and the center is working to develop a four-year undergraduate leadership program, said Chimi Boyd, the center's assistant director.
Bickford said the center seeks to serve "the broadest definition of female" - all who identify as women. But she stressed that although the center's initiatives relate disproportionately more to women, they also impact men. She said the center has many male allies and advocates.
Though the directors spoke proudly of the advances the center has made over the past decade, Boyd said the work is far from complete.
"Even though women make up a majority of the student population here, they're underrepresented in leadership roles," she said. "Until that changes, there will always be a need for a women's center."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(03/21/07 4:00am)
If female students were a novelty at UNC in 1919, female administrators were even rarer.
That was the year Inez Koonce Stacy began serving as women's adviser at the University. Her first order of business was fighting for on-campus housing for female students - the first was established in 1921.
By the 1940s, when Katherine Kennedy Carmichael took over the position, renamed dean of women, the job description had changed significantly.
(02/19/07 5:00am)
Patricia Wallace was walking down Franklin Street in 1985 when she heard it. Another time, going down the back steps of Carroll Hall, she heard it again: "No way we're going to have a girl student body president."
The naysayers were wrong. Wallace went on to become UNC's first female student body president, serving during the 1985-86 academic year.
Since her term, just two other women have served in the University's highest student office - Reyna Walters for the 1998-99 academic year and Jen Daum for the 2002-03 year.
(02/14/07 5:00am)
After round one of the student body president election, Eve Carson and Nick Neptune were left standing and will battle head-to-head in a runoff election Tuesday.
Carson received 40 percent of votes cast, while Neptune got 33 percent. The 7,441 total votes cast represented the highest voter turnout in student election history.
The results are considered complete once candidates submit their financial statements today. A runoff election is held when no candidate garners more than 50 percent of votes.