Innovate@Carolina supports entrepreneurship, research
This story appeared as part of the 2010 Year In Review issue. The Daily Tar Heel resumes publication Jan. 10.
Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The Daily Tar Heel's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
40 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
This story appeared as part of the 2010 Year In Review issue. The Daily Tar Heel resumes publication Jan. 10.
A bleak budget climate prevented the Democratic N.C. General Assembly from appropriating funds toward capital projects at UNC for the current fiscal year.
The Daily Tar Heel and seven other media outlets filed a lawsuit Thursday against four University officials seeking access to public records related to the football team.
Despite nationwide financial woes, UNC continues to flex its muscles as a major research institution.
Gay marriage is not legal in North Carolina, but one local couple has found an interesting way to circumvent that.
A pile of loose bricks, some orange traffic cones and dried, cracked mud are the only visible signs of Thursday night’s flood at Avery Residence Hall.
Dozens of researchers at UNC could have their work permanently halted after a recent ban on human embryonic stem cell research.
Despite a whirlwind of controversy, the South Road bridge project might not be officially discussed for up to two years.
In as few as six years, University Square could be well on its way into an ambitious redevelopment. The redevelopment would revamp the look of the site, creating a 25-foot-wide sidewalk for outdoor dining and window shopping, a full acre of green space and stores facing the street instead of buried behind rows of parking.
With an empty stomach and a Cookie Monster mask, Trip Poole was poised at the starting line Saturday on Franklin Street. Poole, an N.C. State graduate student, had two goals — winning the Chick-fil-A Challenge and putting his school’s stamp on UNC’s version of the Krispy Kreme Challenge. He was one of more than 100 racers who gathered for the Interfraternity Council’s first Chick-fil-A Challenge, during which participants ran two miles to University Mall, ate a 12-pack of chicken nuggets and made the return journey up a grueling hill all for the sake of the N.C. Children’s Hospital.
There will be a gang of shooters on campus Wednesday at the Outdoor Education Center. Luckily, they will all be actors. EnviroSafe Consulting and Investigations Inc. is conducting a practice exercise without real weapons to put UNC’s emergency response plans to the test. The actors will be antagonists in a drill to help the UNC Department of Public Safety and other local safety and law enforcement agencies prepare for the possibility of an actual on-campus shooting. The drill, which the General Administration required for all UNC-system schools, will cost $26,009 per school and provide the opportunity to review campus safety from the top down. The UNC-system is paying for the drills. Chancellor Holden Thorp and other administrators will be overseeing the drill from an administrative perspective, while the safety agencies — including the Chapel Hill and Carrboro police departments — address the physical threats. Students are not expected to be affected by the drill except for a five-minute talk on how to respond in an emergency, which Thorp has asked professors and teaching assistants to host in their classes from 8:45 to 8:50 a.m. At that time, the University’s siren system will sound, and Alert Carolina text messages will be sent out to subscribers. A perimeter will be established around the Outdoor Education Center to keep students, local residents and any others who are not on the approved list away, said Ron Campbell, emergency management coordinator for DPS. “Safety is paramount,” he said. He said the security is intended both to keep bystanders safe and also to keep them from photographing the event, a policy he attributed to the wishes of the responding agencies. “Some people who participate might work in other counties or states as undercover agents, so they don’t want their members to be photographed,” he said. DPS spokesman Randy Young said the number of participants was being withheld from the responders to create a more realistic simulation. “We’re responding to a situation as it develops,” he said. “So that’s going to be something determined by the hosting organization.” Campbell said, in the interest of creating a realistic environment, he was not informed of the weapons the simulators will use. He said the drill would present the University with a chance to reevaluate its emergency protocol in a situation as close to reality as possible. Campbell added that using a third party contractor with state and national experience improves the drill’s credibility and gives UNC a better chance to determine whether it needs a policy change or not. “One of the great things about doing these drills is being better prepared,” he said. The University is currently developing an RSS feed that would automatically update its Twitter and Facebook pages in reaction to real campus emergencies, University spokesman Mike McFarland said. In preparation for the drill, McFarland said that UNC has notified the community of the drill through advertising, YouTube videos and door hangers for those who live near the Outdoor Education Center. Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
It is unclear whose fault it is, but UNC administrators seem to have a hard time communicating with students sometimes. And when there’s an important message that needs to get out, this is a problem. The University has recently taken steps to bridge the gap, but many students said they still feel out of the loop. These issues have been highlighted recently by the transition to the new registration system, ConnectCarolina, and next week’s campus shooter drill. College students are notoriously busy, and some don’t have the time to acquaint themselves with the University’s various news releases. Others said they would simply rather do other things with their time. Of more than 20 students polled on campus Wednesday and Thursday, none had heard of the shooter drill set for next Wednesday, with most saying they never read official University e-mails. “No, I don’t delete them,” said sophomore Briana Mayes. “But I just click on them and read about the first line or so.” She also said she was wary about registering for classes with ConnectCarolina, mainly due to a lack of information. “I played around with it a little bit because one of my friends told me about the tutorial,” she said. “I’m just worried that when it comes down to registering, I’m going to mess it up.” For that reason, the University has made a large push to advertise ConnectCarolina and tell students how to use it with a Web site and kiosks offering students guidance. The University has purchased several pages of advertising in The Daily Tar Heel in the past few weeks, and student government has manned the Pit to guide students through the new registration system. Junior Jay Adamson, who worked on a video about ConnectCarolina for student government, said the efforts of administrators and student government are becoming more important because the system could be difficult for students to understand. “It’s not something you can just jump into,” he said. “You need to have someone advising you or do the tutorial before you register.” Most students said they were worried about the shopping cart feature, which allows students to add as many classes as they want for automatic registration, as opposed to Student Central’s system of picking classes one by one. Others were concerned about their actual registration time and other problems. Many of these issues have been addressed in the advertising and in campuswide e-mails. Debra Beller, information communications specialist for ConnectCarolina, said there was no way to adjust students to the program gradually. “I realize there’s a learning curve to get over,” she said. “But it’s a much, much better system.” She compared the change to a revamping of Facebook’s home page, saying that much of the confusion is unfounded and that the new system would soon be embraced. “I’ll bet you anything that six months from now, people will be saying, ‘I don’t know how we did anything with the old system,’” she said. Effectively communicating instructions for Wednesday’s shooter drill has been more troublesome because the drill is voluntary. The drill at the Outdoor Education Center will teach emergency responders how to react to a shooter on campus. Chancellor Holden Thorp said he believes this is an opportunity to spark discussion on campus about emergency preparedness. In a formal e-mail, Thorp asked that all professors and teaching assistants hold an instructional discussion on emergency preparedness in any class they teach Wednesday from 8:45 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. During that time, the University community has been asked to remain indoors to practice an appropriate response. But none of the students interviewed knew of the drill, even though a link with information appears prominently on UNC’s Web site. To offset that problem, UNC spokesman Mike McFarland said UNC will continue to advertise in the days leading up to the drill through Alert Carolina. He said the text message system, which can send texts to its approximately 38,000 subscribers in less than two minutes, would send out several messages on Tuesday and Wednesday. But that communication platform has had its own problems. When the University received a bomb threat last February, it took Alert Carolina more than two hours to tell students. About eight months later, students were never informed of a stabbing on Halloween at a fraternity house. Mayes said she was signed up for the text message system but felt like she never got alerts. She added that she doubts the value of the discussion on preparedness. “I feel like that’s kind of silly,” she said. Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Junior Sarah Frier will be the 144th editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel after gaining a majority approval from the editor selection committee Saturday.“It’s an incredible feeling to know that I’ll have the chance to shape the next year of The Daily Tar Heel,” she said, adding that her selection was a relief but also carried much responsibility.She will serve as editor for the 2010-11 school year. “As much as it’s a weight off my shoulders, it’s an even bigger weight on them,” she said. Committee members said they believe she has the qualities to make a good editor. “I thought she did a great job responding to the questions,” said Chapel Hill resident Fred Black. “I think The Daily Tar Heel is in good hands with her as editor.” Black, a leadership development consultant chosen to be a voice of the Chapel Hill community on the committee, said he was impressed with Frier’s preparedness and ability to answer tough questions about how she plans to handle the upcoming trials of the men charged with killing former Student Body President Eve Carson.“I like the idea that she’s thinking ahead,” said Black in reference to Frier’s plan to bring in outside help to properly instruct writers how to cover long, complicated and high-profile trials. Frier said two of the main things she is looking forward to tackling as editor-in-chief are an increased scrutiny of University finances and making the paper more involved in the community at large as it moves off campus to a new office on Rosemary Street. She also said that while she was the only candidate for the position, that doesn’t mean she will be less accountable and open to suggestions. “I know sometimes I may not have the right answer,” she said. “But anyone who has feedback on how to move forward — I would love to hear it … The more ideas on the table, the best ones come out.”And she doesn’t have to look past the newsroom for help.“I’ll be around for the next few weeks to lend a hand,” said outgoing editor-in-chief Andrew Dunn. “I’m excited to see what she does with the paper next year.”Frier said that as the paper moves off campus, she could see its future evolving into more of a conversation and debate with the University and town, and that she believes that will lead to a better paper and news process. The committee’s final vote tally will not be released, but Frier received at least six votes from the 11-member panel made of students, faculty, community representatives and The Daily Tar Heel staff.
Correction (April 6 12:20 a.m.): Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the location of the Chick-fil-A Challenge. The race will begin at 8 a.m. at 313 E. Franklin St. The story has been changed to reflect the correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Any elementary schooler can tell you that 68 is greater than six.Walter Shur, who is 81 and has been playing pingpong for 68 years, has consistently beaten senior Calvin Young, who has been playing for six years, in tournaments at UNC and in friendly matches.But Shur’s streak could end at any moment, as he believes Young is on a path toward pingpong greatness.“He has everything needed to be an absolutely top player,” said Shur, who serves as Young’s mentor and frequent competitor. Young, a 22-year-old senior business and computer science major from Apex, has been perfecting his pingpong game since he was a junior in high school, acquiring a professional coach, local competition and a formidable topspin forehand along the way.Young said he learned to play pingpong by emulating what he saw in YouTube videos.“Amazing,” Shur said when he heard that, shaking his head in disbelief. “I don’t think there’s a limit to how good he could be.”Upon arriving at UNC, Young attempted to start a club pingpong team, but couldn’t find enough interest among students to sustain it.He signed up to play in a tournament at UNC and expected to do well considering the level of competition among his peers.“I thought it was going to be a breeze for me to take it,” said Young of the tournament. “But then Walter showed up.”Shur — who was one of the best junior players in the nation some decades ago, won the Texas state championship twice and was a top 10 racquetball player while in his sixties — encouraged Young to come to the Seymour Center, one of Orange County’s senior centers, to find better competition.“All of them are really talented players,” Young said. “I really enjoy coming here and getting my butt whooped.”Last summer Young landed an internship at Google Inc., in California, where he unexpectedly acquired a professional coach in addition to future job prospects.Shashin Shodhan, 31, who made the U.S. Olympic table tennis trials in 2000 and barely missed making the team, served as Young’s first formal coach and saw the student’s game improve immensely.Over the summer, Young perfected his offensive style of play, in which he attacks with strong forehands and heavy topspin.“I serve it short and play a few short shots until my opponent gives me one I can jump on,” he said.When playing against Young on Saturday, Shur was often backed up as far as possible from the table and simply lobbing back returns rather than playing more aggressively.Shodhan said only a small number of players can make a living from the sport, which is not particularly profitable in North America.“It’s actually easier to make a living as a coach,” he said. “As a player, only the top hundred in the world can make a living.”Despite his talent, Young would likely have an especially difficult time breaking into the sport considering his late start.“He would have to put in a lot of time because a lot of players who are top in the nation have played from a very young age, and Calvin is starting late,” Shodhan said. While the Olympics will remain a distant dream for the senior, he plans to continue to work on his game in California, where he has a job lined up with Google for after graduation.“It’s probably the best region in table tennis in the U.S.,” said Shodhan, who runs a pingpong club in the area and coaches players as young as 7 years old. “We have leagues, lots of tournaments, lots of good players. It’s quite good.”Shodhan said he’s excited to see where Young’s career will take him.“I could definitely see him being competitive,” Shodhan said. “I see talent in him. He works hard.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
In just a few years, the University might not have enough beds for its students.The Office of Housing and Residential Education has worked to promote the benefits of on-campus living, but it may have underestimated its own appeal. Housing could face a bed shortage as soon as fall 2012.In such a case, housing will help students without an on-campus room find housing on a case-by-case basis with either Granville or somewhere off-campus.Rick Bradley, assistant director of the housing department, said that two years ago housing had to place about 25 female students in Granville because of a lack of beds for them on campus.There are 120 extra beds available on campus, but with the University’s probable growth and the closure of Odum Village, these spaces may not last long.In 2001, UNC created a master plan to determine growth on campus, which officials are still using and updating to guide housing decisions, including construction projects. There are no immediate plans to expand existing dorms or build new ones, Bradley said. All income for campus housing comes from rent paid by students. Odum Village, which typically fills all 446 of its beds, will be made unavailable to students in fall 2012 because it will no longer comply with fire code regulations.If growth continues when the site is unavailable, seniors and graduate students could either be denied on-campus housing or be put in a housing lottery to accommodate for the shortage.Campus housing remains highly popular among underclassmen. Approximately 85 percent of freshmen live on campus their first year, which Bradley attributes to the positive aspects of University residence hall life.Sophomore Quentin Adams, who lived for a semester each in Hinton James, Cobb, Ruffin and off campus, said he enjoys the personal feel of University housing.“I like to walk through campus and see what’s going on,” he said. “Living off campus can feel too detached at times.”And while a large number of freshmen on campus is predictable, Bradley said a significant number of upperclassmen do the same. About 850 seniors and just under 500 graduate students live on campus, mostly in apartment-style residence halls.Odum Village, which offers full apartments, and Baity Hill, which provides married student housing, are in high demand among graduate students who want to live on campus. This year 321 undergraduate and 125 graduate students live in Odum Village, and Baity Hill holds about 390 graduate students. Anna Wu, director of facilities planning, said the site could temporarily be used for non-residential purposes like office space. Eventually, though, she said it could be converted to more high-density housing, possibly modeled after Ram Village.Ram Village, built in 2006 as part of the University’s plan to accommodate a growing student body, has risen in popularity.When the facility first opened, 850 students applied for 920 available spots. In comparison, 1,300 students applied for those 920 spots for the current school year.Four other sites have been marked as potential sites for housing expansion. But it will not be open by 2012 to absorb the residents of Odum Village.Despite possible shortages, Wu said the ideal number of students living on campus is only around 44 to 48 percent of the student body, showing that off-campus living has a strong appeal. Bradley said more than 51 percent of students at UNC live on campus, but the University will not enforce that range.“The number is a minimum benchmark only,” Bradley said. “We would not decrease the housing campus supply just to reach that level.”Not everyone sees the allure of living on campus. Sophomore Max Shepherd, who moved off campus after his freshman year.“It’s nice to be able to get away from it all sometimes, and having a large space to work on and relax in is great,” he said.Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Correction (Feb. 11 12:54 a.m.): Due to a reporting error, this story is incorrect. Although Board of Elections Chairman Pete Gillooly stated Tuesday that all three passed, the $6 student organizations fee increase did not pass. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for this error.With the passage of three fee referendums in Tuesday’s election, students will be out an extra $6.92 next year.
Correction (Feb. 17 12:23 a.m.): Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this story misstated the amount that former student body president candidate Nash Keune spent on his wooden castle sign. He spent $246.51 total in the election. This story has been changed to reflect the correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
With the creation of a new sustainability group, UNC is taking another step toward its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.The Energy Task Force, announced Thursday at the Board of Trustees meeting, will look at both the state of campus sustainability and, more specifically, at the coal-burning cogeneration plant on Cameron Avenue.The task force’s announcement followed a year of lobbying by the campus Sierra Club, which had been pressuring the University to wean itself from coal use through the Coal-Free UNC Campaign.Two members of the task force, chemistry professor Royce Murray and Mary Cooper, co-chairwoman of student government’s environmental affairs committee, said they were unsure about group’s specific goals and duties because it won’t meet for at least another week.The announcement also came four days before a speech by James Hansen, an internationally recognized climate change expert. Hansen, whom Al Gore once called “the scientist with the most powerful and consistent voice calling for intelligent action to preserve our planet’s environment,” will deliver a free speech at 7 p.m. today in Memorial Hall.Coal will most likely be a large part of Hansen’s speech, said Laura Stevens, a Sierra Club organizer, because it has been such a prominent topic of debate both on-campus and worldwide. Switching to a partial coal substitute at the cogeneration facility is one of 15 carbon reduction strategies included in the University’s 2009 Climate Action Plan. It is also one of only two strategies that will cost the University money rather than cutting costs, according to the plan. Switching to a 20 percent coal substitute would cost UNC about $30 per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent saved. In contrast, making buildings more energy efficient would save the University about $100 per metric ton. Simple solutions like switching to entirely double-sided printing or reducing air travel in favor of teleconferencing would save more than $200 per metric ton.But Stevens said the monetary costs of coal are a non-issue considering the environmental threats posed by coal. “Energy efficiency isn’t enough to reach carbon neutrality,” she said. “I would be hard-pressed to see a way UNC could reach carbon neutrality without addressing coal.”Despite the Sierra Club’s concerns, UNC is a national leader with regards to sustainability. The University received 96 of 99 possible Green Rating points from the Princeton Review last year — the highest among N.C. schools and one of the best in the nation.The University began a sustainability minor in 2008 and offered 307 sustainability-related courses last year from 29 departments in five different schools.But the construction of Carolina North, starting in 2012, is expected to raise carbon emissions by more than 100,000 metric tons, according to the Climate Action Plan. This poses an obstacle to UNC’s plan to reduce overall emissions.But Chancellor Holden Thorp said he believes the task force will spearhead that effort. “We can always learn more, do more, and improve,” he said. “That’s what this is about.”Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
With students getting back into the swing of classes after winter break, many might have troubles focusing on their work.They’ll surf the Web in class and stare out windows, and many might try to attribute their lack of attention to afflictions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.But Mike Willoughby of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute says students claiming this probably aren’t afflicted with the disorder, since many students don’t have its full symptoms.Most people aren’t diagnosed with ADHD, and those who are tend to outgrow it by the time they reach college.While students can’t suddenly develop ADHD, they can be beset with other disorders that make them inattentive.