UNC-system president Erskine Bowles to step down
The UNC-system Board of Governors bid goodbye to the system’s President Erskine Bowles at its last meeting of the year Friday.
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The UNC-system Board of Governors bid goodbye to the system’s President Erskine Bowles at its last meeting of the year Friday.
Ballot errors in two N.C. counties prevented some people from having their say in Tuesday’s elections.
The drink affectionately named “devil in a can” and “liquid cocaine” by its fans on Facebook soon could leave shelves in many areas around the country — but not at UNC.Some lawmakers and universities are trying to ban Four Loko and other alcoholic energy drinks, claiming the potent mix of caffeine and alcohol is dangerous to consumers.UNC and Duke University officials said they have not seen significant problems with the drinks.But after several college students drinking Four Loko were hospitalized for alcohol-related reasons at schools in Washington and New Jersey, a media frenzy erupted around the products.“It seems like everyone is waking up at the same time to the unique danger of this product,” said Linda Schactler, director of public affairs at Central Washington University.The university has banned all alcoholic energy drinks after an off-campus party serving Four Loko resulted in nine students being sent to the hospital. One student almost died, she said.Schactler said the incident was unprecedented.“We have had parties and alcohol issues, but as far as I know, it hasn’t been 50 people and nine people weren’t sent to the hospital,” she said. “That sets it apart.”UNC has begun a discussion about the beverages because of the controversy.The University has not received any notices of problems involving the substances, so no policies have been proposed yet, said Dean Blackburn, assistant dean of students at UNC.Duke has not acted against the substance either.“At this time we are not planning to do that, but we are monitoring the situation,” said Keith Lawrence, spokesperson for Duke.A 23.5-ounce can of Four Loko has an alcohol content of up to 12 percent — three times that of Bud Light — and as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.The caffeine masks the sedative effects of alcohol, allowing people to keep drinking without getting tired, said Dr. Allen O’Barr, director of UNC Counseling and Wellness Services.“The buzz of the alcohol only feels good while the alcohol level is rising, unless a stimulant is added,” he said. “The caffeine in the drink is allowing you to take your alcohol level higher and get into more dangerous situations.”Andy Dobson, beer manager of TJ’s Beverage and Tobacco, said the responsibility rests on consumers.“This is what they’re asking for,” he said. “If you’re too stupid to realize you can’t pound four 12 percent beers in 20 minutes … you deserve what you get.”The store has increased its stock of Four Loko as the drink becomes more popular on campus.“It is very much a college kid trend,” Dobson said.But the companies behind the products say student drinking will not be solved by banning alcoholic energy drinks.“Curbing alcohol abuse on college campuses will not be accomplished by singling out a lone product or beverage category,” said the makers of Four Loko in a statement responding to the incident at Central Washington University. Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
As the federal government tries to make college education more attainable for undocumented immigrants, Georgia is doing the opposite.
Private donations to universities are bouncing back this year even as the economic slump continues.
In the next three months, the UNC-system Board of Governors will be reviewing the Four Year Tuition Plan, which was created in 2006 by system President Erskine Bowles to provide more stability to the tuition process.
While Republicans campaign nationwide to take over Congress in November, Democrats targeted students Tuesday night in hopes of maintaining their majority.
RALEIGH — Supporters of the Republican Party crowded around a big red bus Thursday afternoon with one clear message — “Fire Pelosi.”
UNC-system schools raked in more federal funding for research than ever before — thanks in part to the recession.
Hurricane Earl is nearing North Carolina, but the coast is the only area likely to be affected.
North Carolina public schools will be receiving much-needed funds after winning a competitive federal grant.
This article was published in the 2009 Year in Review issue of The Daily Tar Heel.
This article was published in the 2009 Year in Review issue of The Daily Tar Heel.
A lack of funding for prevention has prompted a rapid rise in North Carolina’s syphilis cases.Rates have nearly doubled in the past year — a 90 percent increase from September 2008 to September 2009. There were 684 reported cases of syphilis from January 2009 to September 2009.Rates remained steady or even declined for several years before.
Students at University of California-Berkeley barricaded a classroom building with bike chains, and other students across the University of California system were arrested as they demonstrated against a 32 percent tuition hike approved by administrators. The protests spanned the whole system, which serves 220,000 students on 10 campuses.The UC-system Board of Regents, the equivalent of the UNC-system Board of Governors, approved a 32 percent tuition increase for in-state and out-of-state undergraduate students last week in an attempt to lessen the impact of a $1.2 billion state budget deficit. The fee increase puts the system’s in-state tuition at more than $10,000 for the first time in its history. A third of the revenue will go directly to financial aid for families with incomes of $70,000 or less, said Leslie Sepuka, the spokeswoman for the UC Office of the President. “The reason we are undertaking this is to preserve the quality of education,” Sepuka said.She said that even with tuition increasing, the university system will suffer budget cuts to make up for the lack of funding received from the state.State funding for the UC system has declined to half of what it was in the 1990s, Sepuka said. “It isn’t only the students shouldering this burden,” she said. “The entire staff is facing a furlough plan, with pay cuts anywhere from four to 10 percent.”But students said they feel fees and budget cuts were targeting the middle class. “Students are definitely still up in arms,” said junior Miranda Henely, a student at UC-Berkeley. “It’s impossible to ignore what’s happening.”Rumors and videos of alleged police brutality in stemming the protests have circulated widely, further enraging students.“Police were bashing people’s hands and crushing people’s hands,” Henely said.Urvi Nagrani, a junior at UC-Santa Barbara, said the protestors at a Board of Regents meeting requested a discussion with administrators but never received a reply.“They have a great deal of power over the universities,” she said. “But they don’t really have to engage with us or see the effects.”But Sepuka said there has been dialogue between the president of the UC system, Mark Yudof, and student newspapers. She said conversations like that have made protesting die down.“I worry it’s just going to run out of steam,” said Stephanie Velednitsky, a junior at UC-San Diego who participated in a sleep-in at a UC-Davis auditorium.Velednitsky said one fault of the protests were students’ lack of alternate options.“I feel like a lot of the arguments I heard were just, ‘We don’t want to pay, this is unfair,’” she said.In an e-mail to students, UC-Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau stated that the student protests should not have been aimed at administrators. “Let us not forget that we are all fighting for the same cause: to maintain the public character of our university by sustaining Berkeley’s excellence and accessibility. ... Let us work together, not in opposition, to move forward our cause,” he stated.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
A major funding source for state financial aid could be inadequate for meeting students’ need in only three years.A joint legislative committee met for the first time Wednesday to address the pending financial aid dilemma.With more families qualifying for aid, and with funding for it depleting, the Joint Select Committee on State-funded Student Financial Aid was needed, said N.C. Sen. Richard Stevens, R-Wake, co-chairman of the committee.Much of the funding for state financial aid comes from the escheat fund, money that comes from a collection of unclaimed property.If the registered owner of a property dies or cannot be reached and has no living relatives, the state claims the assets and devotes them to the N.C. State Educational Assistance Authority.But at the current spending rate, the escheat fund will be insufficient for supporting financial aid in only three years, Stevens said.As of June 30, the fund contained about $500 million, according to data from the Fiscal Research Division, which provides analysis and budget information to the General Assembly. But they project that the fund will fall to about $50 million by June 2012.“Not enough money is coming into it, and we’re taking out more money than is coming in,” said Richard Bostic, principal fiscal analyst in the Fiscal Research Division.Bostic said more than 55,000 students received financial aid in the past year. The average grant was $2,300.“Those grants are at stake in the next couple years,” he said. “The only options are to cut funding or try to replace it with general funding or some other source.”During the past 10 years, the state has gone from giving $50 million to $343 million in need-based student financial aid, said Shirley Ort, director for scholarships and student aid at UNC. She attended the meeting to offer a campus perspective.Stevens said even if 50 percent of the revenue generated by a state-mandated $200 tuition increase comes back to the UNC system for need-based aid, as system President Erskine Bowles has proposed, it won’t compensate for the escheat fund’s shrinking assets.“The only other source is the state’s general fund, basically,” Stevens said. “That’s why we’re going to be looking at some things like consolidating some of the programs.”Stevens said the committee will look at the efficiency of administering aid, the qualifications for financial aid and the community’s awareness of what is available during the next several months.The next meeting, on Dec. 8, will address the escheat fund, said committee member N.C. Rep. Larry Bell, D-Sampson. The committee might draft legislation to improve the financial aid process for the state if it sees reason to do so.“There’s a bipartisan interest in the high cost of education, and I also feel that if we come up with legislation, it will receive bipartisan support,” he said.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Correction (Dec. 1 8:21 p.m.): Due to a reporting error, this story misstated that that the headquarters of the N.C. Healthcare System was located in Charlotte, N.C. There is no headquarters. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Correction (Nov. 5, 2009 12:11 a.m.): Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this story misstated the role of Capstrat. The business assists with UNC’s marketing, while staff on campus handle the University’s public relations. The story has been changed to reflect the correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Correction (Nov. 5, 2009 12:13 a.m.): Due to reporting errors, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Campbell and Wingate universities have doctorate degrees in pharmacy. Both offer “doctor of pharmacy” degrees. The story has been changed to reflect the correction.
University researchers now have a hand in converting their ideas into marketable products through a program that could eventually extend to the whole UNC system. N.C. BioStart creates business models for researchers seeking to launch startup companies to market their innovations. Researchers with ideas for new drugs, therapies and medical devices will collaborate with external consultants as well as faculty and students from Kenan-Flagler Business School to design plans for their products.“This should provide them with a small amount of money to get them off the ground,” said Cathy Innes, the director of the Office of Technology Development at UNC.Innes said right now there are 15 candidates at UNC who could potentially receive support from the program. Each grant could be worth as much as $50,000. The grant should be enough to do the basic preparation for a business plan and market analysis to convince major partners to invest, said Ted Zoller, executive director of the Center of Entrepreneurial Studies in the business school.The goal of N.C. BioStart is to support UNC faculty members such as Richard Samulski and Xiao Xiao, who started their own pharmaceutical company in 2003 before the program was founded.Samulski is leading the country’s first gene therapy trial for Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. He and Xiao formed their company and received millions in funding from the Muscular Dystrophy Association to continue their work. Without grants from programs such as N.C. BioStart, many of the faculty’s ideas would be sold to pharmaceutical giants — sometimes ending with ideas getting lost in the shuffle or inventors not getting the credit or profit they deserve, Zoller said. “Many of these researchers have tactical innovations that could change the face of our world,” Zoller said. “The goal is to support the innovators.” However, the process is just starting, said Margaret Dardess, associate vice chancellor for strategic alliances in the UNC School of Medicine. Dardess said they are still finding funding for grants and considering expanding eligibility to all UNC faculty.Innes said they hope to extend the program to N.C. State University in the next three years if it is successful and then they will consider extending it to other schools in the UNC system as well.“The process has started, and I think it’s working,” said Dardess. “I think this will make it easier for faculty to translate their ideas into commercial practice.”Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.