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UNC presidency Bowles' dream job
Erskine Bowles, UNC system
North
Carolina State Cracks ‘Most Connected Campus’ List
College rankings
Keeping
the ones that get away
Graduation rates, UNC system, Erskine Bowles, Brad Wilson, BOG
Inside
Politics: Lobbying reform takes shape
Rick Glazier, University of North Carolina Board of Governors
Police
arrest reveals rifle on campus
NCSU Campus Police, Sgt. E.
Farmer
NC hog-waste
lawsuits settled
Hog-waste research
Pork
giant agrees to new waste curbs
Hog-waste research
4.9%
NC jobless rate is lowest since 2001
Michael Walden
Respecting
the owner-pet bond
Michael Davidson, College of Veterinary Medicine
Fungus
gnats are probably buzzing you and your plants
Cooperative Extension Q&A, David Goforth
Workshop
on watershed protection will be Feb. 2
Patrick Beggs, Cooperative Extension
SPLAT:
Alternative reader debuts at N.C. State
Debut of new student publication - SPLAT, Student Affairs
All's
new in symphonyland
J. Mark Scearce, NCSU Music Department
NCSU
Debuts New Catalog
Andrew Pace, Susan Nutter, NCSU Libraries, Endeca technology
COASTAL
BUSINESS
Kannapolis Biotechnology Center
Scholars
debate Word of the Year for 2005: ‘truthiness’
Michael Adams
Homeless
murder saga
Stephen Middleton
Universal
design efforts grow
Richard Duncan, Center for Universal Design
Senior-proofing
help is available
Center for Universal Design
UNC presidency Bowles' dream job
Jan. 22, 2006
Greensboro News & Record
By Lanita Withers
© Copyright 2006
CHAPEL HILL -- Erskine Bowles thought he missed his shot at his dream job.
The last time the UNC system needed a president, he had just committed to serve as Bill Clinton's chief of staff.
"It broke my heart that I couldn't think about it, but I had just taken this job ... so I couldn't leave the White House at that point in time," Bowles told the News & Record in a recent interview. "When I had to say 'no,' I kind of thought that opportunity had just passed me by."
But the timing worked out eight years later. After two failed runs for the U.S. Senate and a stint helping with the U.N. response to the tsunami in Southeast Asia, Bowles heard that UNC President Molly Broad was retiring.
"From my viewpoint, there's no sense me trying to be coy," the Greensboro native said. "I really wanted it."
Bowles was unanimously elected to the post in October and became the 16th UNC president Jan. 1.
"If you take his professional and life experience, and you apply it against the criteria that we used in the search process, it leads you to the conclusion that Erskine Bowles was the best qualified person for this position," said Brad Wilson, chairman of the UNC Board of Governors.
"He has a deep understanding and affection for North Carolina. He has started and led very successful businesses, and he has served in government in a variety of capacities. ... You roll all that together and you end up with a very qualified person in the form of Erskine Bowles."
Informed leader
Before Bowles assumed the post, he first became a student.
The UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus read up on the history of the 217-year-old university and studied the long-range plan for its future. The successful 60-year-old poured over budgets from previous years and visited all 16 campuses, talking with chancellors, trustees, faculty, deans, staff and students.
"When he came to campus, it was just a very impressive day," said Pat Sullivan, UNCG's chancellor. "He was absolutely, thoroughly prepared."
N.C. A&T Chancellor James Renick had a similar reaction.
"I was very impressed with him, and the feedback from everybody I talked to that had time to spend with him was quite positive," Renick said. "He had spent a lot of time getting to learn A&T and getting to learn the system."
Being well-versed is a hallmark of Bowles' participatory leadership style, said Billy Ray Hall, the president of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, who has known him for almost a decade.
"A lot of people are good at letting you prepare the case," Hall said. "He's more inclined to know the case, the pros and cons, and be participating with you in making the decision rather than reacting and choosing one of the solutions you present to him."
Bowles won't just get his hands dirty, Hall said. "He probably gets his elbows dirty."
William Friday, president emeritus of the UNC system, said of a conversation years ago "it was so apparent then to me that the university was the place that he would make his mark someway, somehow."
"Now the time had come," Friday said.
If Bowles has one shortcoming, Hall said, it's that he needs to take time to rest.
"I don't know how long he can go at that speed. ... That tight, focused energy is great and it gets the results," Hall said, "but I also hope he's able to at least recharge occasionally."
Changing economy
Bowles begins his presidency during the continuing transformation of the state's
economy from one based on textiles, furniture and agriculture.
In the past, people who didn't attend college could still get good-paying jobs, Bowles said. But those days are gone.
"I believe more than ever that it is critical for this state and for this nation that we have more people better educated if we're going to be competitive in this new knowledge-based, global economy," he said.
It can't be assumed that America is on the cutting edge, he said.
"People tell me all the time, 'Erskine, don't worry about the loss of these low-skill jobs because America is going to create the next new thing,' " Bowles said. "I'm afraid ... that next new thing is going to happen in China or India, and those new jobs of the future are going to be there and not here."
The task ahead
Not unlike the CEO of a major corporation, the president of the UNC
system leads an organization of close to 200,000 students, more than 37,000 employees,
nearly 11,000 faculty members and a budget that exceeds $6 billion.
Bowles can tick off a list of topics facing the UNC system that'll need attention. They include ensuring there's enough teachers, that the system has a seamless relationship with community colleges, that higher education is affordable and accessible, and that the system is training people for the jobs of tomorrow.
But he said his priorities will evolve over time.
"In that thread of things, there are lots of things to focus on. I've got to take each one of those ideas and come up with a plan of action of how to make them real," Bowles said. "This is not a sprint. This is a marathon."
Wilson, the UNC board chairman, outlined four specific challenges he believes Bowles will face: tuition, seeking money from the General Assembly, finding ways that UNC and the state's community colleges can spur the economy, and the continued development of the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.
A&T's Renick agreed that one challenge always facing the president is finding money to support school initiatives.
Sullivan said other hurdles are dealing with growing enrollment, boosting graduation rates and ensuring access.
Both local chancellors said Bowles was up to the challenges.
"He brings a fine analytical mind and a broad perspective on the importance of the connection of the university to the people as well as to the General Assembly," said Sullivan, who called Bowles a "proven bipartisan builder."
"His own experience in politics shows he can build bridges and forge coalitions," Sullivan said.
Bowles said he hopes his extensive background in politics and business, as well as his international contacts, can benefit the system.
"I think it will help us get additional resources from the legislature," he said.
A member of the boards of General Motors, Cousins Properties and the N.C. Mutual Life Insurance Co., Bowles has responsibilities outside the university system.
But Wilson said Bowles has made it clear his No. 1 commitment is being UNC's president.
And while Bowles has asked board members to alert him if they feel his outside interests are becoming an issue, Wilson said those activities could be an asset.
"I think his service on many of the boards brings a perspective and exposure to the university," Wilson said.
Tar Heel ties
Bowles' roots in the state are deeply anchored.
He graduated from UNC-CH with a business degree in 1967. Two of his three children and some of his uncles and siblings are also Carolina graduates.
His father, the late Hargrove "Skipper" Bowles, was a state legislator, candidate for governor and a major force behind the private fund raising for the Dean E. Smith Center on Skipper Bowles Drive.
"My dad's heart and soul is in the place," Bowles said. "I can't walk into the Dean Dome and not feel him there."
Sullivan said Bowles' "long, deep ties to North Carolina ---- his birth here, his being raised here, yet spending time outside the state and being active nationally and internationally ---- gives him a very broad perspective of what's important for North Carolina for the very long future."
But there was one tradition of the university ---- the president's inauguration ---- that Bowles initially didn't want to embrace.
In a December memo to the UNC General Administration Council, he asked if he could forgo the ceremony and use the money saved for need-based scholarships.
Bowles said he's never been a pomp and ceremony kind of guy and he wants North Carolinians to know he understands resources are limited.
He's already pledged to take $125,000 of his $425,000 salary and devote it to scholarships.
But he's been convinced that the history and traditions of the university are important.
Bowles' inauguration will be at UNCG's Aycock Auditorium on April 12. Additional events will be held at A&T.
"This is my chance," Bowles said, to really talk about what we're going to do in higher education over the next decade in North Carolina."
Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lwithers@news-record.com
Jan. 23, 2006
WRAL.com, News & Observer, Raleigh Triangle Business Journal, Local Tech Wire (SC)
By staff report
© Copyright 2006
RALEIGH – North Carolina State University is among the 25 college and universities named to the “Most Connected Campuses” list from The Princeton Review.
The third annual list was based on questions asked by The Princeton review and Forbes of 361 colleges and universities. Points were assigned based on capabilities at each campus, such as the availability of a campus-wide network, a campus wireless network, whether streaming of audio or video of classes was available, and whether students can take courses online.
For complete details, see: www.forbes.com/2006/01/19/connected-campuses-princeton-review_06conncamp_land.html?partner=yahootix
Inside Politics: Lobbying reform takes shape
Jan. 23, 2006
Fayetteville Online
By staff report
© Copyright 2006
Starting next year, North Carolina lobbyists will have to meet stricter rules concerning gift spending on lawmakers and reporting. And people will have to wait six months after leaving the General Assembly or state government before registering as a lobbyist.
Bob Phillips, executive director of the North Carolina chapter of Common Cause, called the legislation that passed last fall and signed into law “the most significant piece of lobbying reform ever passed’’ in North Carolina. For the first time, the tougher lobbying rules will apply to anyone with the executive branch of government, including the Council of State and department heads, he said.
On Thursday, Phillips thanked local legislators who voted for the lobbying reform. He gave each of them certificates by the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying Reform, which represented more than 75 groups, including Common Cause, and state and business leaders.
Common Cause is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group founded in 1970 to lobby for government accountability.
Phillips said lawmakers “understood that government works best when there is transparency or full sunshine on the process.”
State Reps. Margaret Dickson and Marvin Lucas, both Democrats from Fayetteville, attended Thursday’s event at Cumberland Hall Auditorium at Fayetteville Technical Community College. The auditorium, which seats about 300, was about three-fourths full, mostly with students.
“I think it’s a great benefit when people feel good about their government,” Dickson told the crowd.
Phillips said no major lobbying scandals in Raleigh sparked reform. Instead, The Center for Public Integrity in Washington said in 2003 that North Carolina’s lobbying laws were dismal and needed to be improved.
Professor Glazier
At Fayetteville State University, it’s professor Rick Glazier.
The state representative from Fayetteville is teaching four classes in the university’s criminal justice curriculum.
Glazier started to work Jan. 9 as a volunteer. The University of North Carolina Board of Governors didn’t approve his petition to teach until the board’s meeting Jan. 13.
Members of the General Assembly must get approval from the Board of Governors to teach while they campaign for a seat in the legislature.
In a letter to the board’s Committee on Governance, FSU Chancellor T.J. Bryan said Glazier had indicated in his petition that he will “engage in minimal campaign activities during this time.”
Glazier said he knows of at least two other General Assembly members who teach at the college level.
Rep. Paul Luebke of Durham teaches sociology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro teaches art at Bennett College in Greensboro.
Glazier said he talked to Luebke and Adams before deciding to teach full time.
Glazier said he is teaching a full load of four classes this semester and will get an annual salary of $57,000. He said the salary will be prorated when he doesn’t teach a full load during the legislative session.
The General Assembly usually meets for the first seven months of odd-numbered years and in May and June in even-numbered years.
Glazier is teaching two sections of introduction to criminal justice and a seminar in criminal justice for upper-level students. The seminar covers legal and court issues, law enforcement and trial and correction issues, he said.
Glazier said he has taught one course each fall for 14 years at Campbell University’s law school. He said he plans to continue to teach that course.
He taught seven years in the Fayetteville Technical Community College criminal justice department. He has been an adjunct professor at FSU in the past and N.C. State University in criminal law.
“There hasn’t been a year, other than the two years when I was chairman of the school board, when I haven’t taught,” Glazier said.
“I will continue to take a couple of cases a year to keep my hands in the profession and will have a couple of clients as a consultant,” he said.
“This is just a natural extension and something that I have wanted to do for a long time,” Glazier said.
Campaign kickoff
State Rep. Marvin Lucas is kicking off his re-election campaign Jan. 31 with
a reception at the John D. Fuller Recreation/Athletic Complex, 6627 Bunce
Road.
Meetings
The Democratic Men’s Club of Cumberland County will meet at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday
at the Haymont Grill & Steak House, 1304 Morganton Road. Club President
Jeff Null is the speaker. The club will elect new officers.
The Executive Committee of the Cumberland County Republican Party will meet at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Cumberland County Headquarters Library, 300 Maiden Lane.
Police arrest reveals rifle on campus
Jan. 23, 2006
News & Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2006
An Apex man who carried an assault rifle onto the N.C. State University campus early Sunday morning was arrested by campus police for driving while impaired.
Campus police pulled over Ramel Kosuan Parker, 25, of 8316 Bells Lake Road in Apex, after suspecting he was driving drunk, said NCSU Police Sgt. E. Farmer. Parker was driving through the southern part of campus on Morrill Drive near Carmichael Auditorium.
Officers arrested Parker for driving while impaired, then searched his car and found a 7.62 millimeter SKS assault rifle. It was unclear whether it was loaded.
According to the incident report, Parker is not a student at NCSU. He was released from the Wake County jail Sunday on a $5,000 bond.
Jan. 21, 2006
Charlotte Observer
By BRUCE HENDERSON
© Copyright 2006
The nation's largest hog producer settled environmental lawsuits Friday by agreeing to new anti-pollution measures at its 275 N.C. hog farms.
Smithfield Foods will spend several million dollars on the measures to
settle with the Waterkeeper Alliance, a national environmental group
that filed two
N.C. lawsuits in 2001.
The alliance said it hopes to persuade state regulators to require similar
measures, aimed at preventing hog wastes from reaching water sources, at
the state's nearly 2,000 other hog farms.
" We'd like to see everybody else doing it," said executive director Steve Fleischli.
Most farms pipe hog wastes into open pits, called lagoons, and spray liquid from the pits to fertilize fields. Lagoons may contaminate groundwater, environmentalists say.
Liquid wastes running off saturated sprayfields sometimes reach streams.
Smithfield agreed to measures at the 275 farms owned by a subsidiary,
Murphy-Brown. The 1,200 hog growers who work under contract with Murphy-Brown
aren't
affected.
Under the agreement, consultants will assess lagoons at the farms to
identify risks to groundwater, the water source for most rural N.C.
residents.
The company will assess polluted runoff from sprayfields, testing buffer zones, artificial wetlands and other control structures.
Murphy-Brown will also link its farms to computerized systems that
prevent spraying when it rains, which can wash wastes off the field.
Also, automatic devices will shut off spraying when wind exceeds
15 mph.
" We are not doing it just to do it," said Dennis Treacy, a Smithfield vice president. "The costs we are incurring we believe will benefit all our farms."
North Carolina's boom in hog farms reached the public eye in 1995, when a burst lagoon dumped 25 million gallons of waste into Eastern North Carolina's New River. More lagoons flooded after Hurricane Floyd struck in 1999.
At most hog farms, state regulators rely on twice-annual inspections and farm records to keep pollutants in check. Farms get special attention if contaminants show up in nearby wells or streams.
The N.C. Division of Water Quality fined 13 hog farms in 2005 for letting wastes reach surface waters or not reporting high lagoon levels.
Researchers at N.C. State University have examined alternative waste systems for five years, but the hog industry says they're too expensive.
Larry Baldwin, who patrols eastern rivers as the Lower Neuse riverkeeper, said the agreement is "an interim step toward getting away from (lagoon and sprayfield) systems altogether."
The agreement, filed in federal court in Greenville, must be reviewed by the Justice Department and approved by the court.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Henderson: (704) 358-5051.
4.9% NC jobless rate is lowest since 2001
Jan. 21, 2006
Winston-Salem Journal
By Richard Craver
© Copyright 2006
North Carolina's unemployment rate reached a nearly five-year low of 4.9 percent in December, the N.C. Employment Security Commission reported yesterday.
The rate, which was 5.2 percent in November, is the lowest for the state since March 2001. It is also the first time that the state's rate has matched the national rate since last May.
The state benchmarked its employment data in January 2005 to meet new federal guidelines, which resulted in monthly rates being revised upward in many instances.
The commission reported that the state had a net gain of 4,600 jobs during December, including 1,900 in trade, transportation, warehousing and utilities, and 52,900 since December 2004.
"We are seeing tremendous growth in numerous sectors of employment," said Harry Payne Jr., the chairman of the commission,
The decline in the jobless rate drew mixed reactions from economists.
Some economists said that a 4.9 percent jobless rate is more evidence of a healthier state economy, considering that the rate was 5.7 percent in July.
By traditional definition, an employment rate of 5 percent or below signifies an economy in which everyone available for work has a job.
"A sub-5 percent rate is an important signal to the rest of the country that the North Carolina job market is strong despite the significant restructuring occurring," said Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University.
Other economists caution that the state is continuing to develop what they call "an hourglass economy." They said that more job growth is occurring in the upper end and lower end of the work force, while manufacturing jobs are being squeezed out by lower-cost production in other countries.
The commission reported that North Carolina lost 2,400 manufacturing jobs in December and that the manufacturing sector is down 13,200 jobs since December 2004.
Economists have said that the state's unemployment rate does not factor in people who are underemployed for their skill level or have given up looking for work. When those people are included, the economists said that the jobless rate could be at least 2 percent higher.
"We're seeing very lucrative jobs being created on one end and very low-wage service jobs on the other," said John Quinterno, a research associate for the N.C. Budget & Tax Center in Raleigh. "Education is becoming the line of demarcation in our society.
"The people caught in the middle are those people who have been let go from traditional middle-class jobs, particularly in manufacturing. They had a modest educational attainment, yet were working a job that paid a more-than-livable wage.
"Their next job, in many instances, has been at a lower wage."
The lower jobless rate is promising for the state, given its painful transition from a manufacturing base to one focused on services, technology, logistics and distribution, said Arthur King, an economics professor and former dean of the School of Business and Economics at Winston-Salem State University,
"We're getting closer to our traditional status as a lower-unemployment economy compared with the nation as a whole," King said.
Walden said that the top three job-growth sectors in North Carolina in 2005 were professional and business services, government, and educational and health services.
"These have been fast-growing sectors and are expected to continue to be. They also pay average to above-average salaries," Walden said. "But certainly, we will always have underemployed folks in a rapidly changing economy. I just don't know how many."
• Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com
Pork giant agrees to new waste curbs
Jan. 21, 2006
News & Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2006
The world's largest pork producer agreed to take new measures to stop hog manure from polluting waterways, according to a settlement announced Friday.
The accord, reached between Smithfield Foods and a coalition of environmental groups, settles a lawsuit contending that two hog farms in Jones County routinely disposed of waste in a manner that violated federal laws and threatened human health. The settlement applies more broadly to all 275 farms in North Carolina owned by Murphy-Brown LLC, Smithfield's hog production subsidiary.
North Carolina is the nation's second-largest pork producer, making its disposal of hog waste a serious environmental concern.
More than 10 million swine are massed in 2,600 farms, many of them factory operations in rural counties east and south of Raleigh. The farms produce huge volumes of manure and urine, which are flushed from barns into open-air waste ponds and later sprayed onto fields as fertilizer.
During rainy weather, the fields can become saturated, causing liquid manure to seep into waterways. In extreme cases, the holding ponds can burst.
The agreement, filed in federal court in Greenville, requires Smithfield to pay for a study of groundwater pollution near its farms to determine whether the waste ponds are leaking and polluting wells.
Most residents of Eastern North Carolina depend on groundwater for drinking water.
The agreement also requires farms to install early warning equipment to prevent spraying of liquid manure during wet weather, when it is most likely to run off and pollute waterways. It also calls for selected farms to monitor runoff into streams for two years.
The lawsuit was brought by Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental group based in Tarrytown, N.Y., the Neuse River Foundation in New Bern and the Lower Neuse Riverkeeper.
Steve Fleischli, executive director of the Waterkeeper Alliance, said the agreement represented a milestone in efforts to protect North Carolina's waterways.
"Over time, we will see improvement in both groundwater and surface water quality as a result of this settlement," Fleischli said. "Our focus will now turn to convincing the rest of the industry to follow Smithfield's lead."
Dennis Treacy, vice president of environmental and corporate affairs for Smithfield Foods Inc., of Smithfield, Va., said the company estimated the cost at several million dollars.
"If you looked at Smithfield and our behavior on Murphy-Brown farms, you've seen a series of environmental improvements and efficiencies," Treacy said. "This is just the next logical step."
Smithfield fought unsuccessfully to have the lawsuit thrown out. But a federal judge ruled in 2001 that the environmental groups could pursue their claims. Chief among them was that hog waste endangered human health and should be regulated as hazardous waste. Had the environmentalists won that point in court, pork producers could have faced stricter regulations for disposal of hog waste.
"My guess is Smithfield was very eager to settle that particular claim," said Michelle Nowlin, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, which advised on the lawsuit. As a member of the Smithfield Agreement Advisory Panel, the center worked to counter the industry's economic experts.
Environmentalists emphasized that the changes to waste disposal methods were interim measures until holding ponds could be replaced.
"It's a good step, and Smithfield is to be congratulated for putting some controls over the current process," said Larry Baldwin, the Lower Neuse Riverkeeper who was a party to the lawsuit. "We're still working toward the goal of getting rid of the lagoon and sprayfield systems throughout North Carolina."
Researchers at N.C. State University are overseeing a five-year, $17.3 million effort to find alternative methods of treating hog waste. The research money was provided by Smithfield Foods, along with Premium Standard Farms; both had an agreement with the state in 2000 to find new technologies.
Once N.C. State researchers identify better methods of handling hog waste, the pork producers are required to switch to the new disposal system on company-owned farms in three years.
Staff writer Wade Rawlins can be reached at 829-4528 or wrawlins@newsobserver.com.
Fungus gnats are probably buzzing you and your plants
Jan. 22, 2006
Charlotte Observer
By David Goforth
© Copyright 2006
Q. In the fall I repotted my houseplants that had been out all summer. Recently, I noticed some little fruit fly/drunkard-type critters were coming from the plants. What are they, and how do I control them? Insecticidal soap doesn't seem to be working. There are a million different insects in the world, so I can't positively identify these without a sample. I suspect, however, that these are fungus gnats.
Like fruit flies, fungus gnats are in the fly order. That means they have
two wings. Most plant pests are not flies, so they have four wings
as adults.
Fungus gnats are dark-colored and have relatively long legs compared with
many flies, although their legs are shorter than those of mosquitoes. They
do not
have the piercing snout of a mosquito.
Fungus gnats will hatch out of the soil. They live on fungus and algae in potting mixes that have a lot of organic matter. They also can eat plant roots, but normally they don't do much damage to the plants.
The lack of control you noticed is from new insects hatching out. Insecticidal
soap wouldn't control the eggs or larvae in the soil, although it would
kill some of the adults.
You would probably have the same results from other insecticides, although
mushroom growers have successfully used methoprene.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOT A QUESTION?
Send your question for the Master Gardeners to Cabarrus Neighbors. E-mail cabarrus@charlotteobserver.com,
fax it to (704) 786-2185, send regular mail to 371 Concord Parkway N., Concord,
NC 28027. Or send your question directly to Cabarrus extension horticulture
agent David Goforth at David_Goforth@ncsu.edu, call him at (704) 920-3320
or fax to (704) 792-0539.
David Goforth
Workshop on watershed protection will be Feb. 2
Jan. 22, 2006
Charlotte Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2006
ENVIRONMENT
Find out whether you are eligible for a state-paid conservation easement on
your property at a workshop on protecting the Coddle Creek and Upper Rocky
River watersheds. The workshop will be 6 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at Penske Racing
South's facility in the Mooresville Business Park, 200 Penske Way, Mooresville.
Refreshments will be served.Details: Patrick Beggs, (919) 515-4525 or patrick_beggs@ncsu.edu.
Planned assisted-living facility gets federal boost
DEVELOPMENT
Concord will receive $3 million in federal funding for an assisted-living
development for the elderly in downtown Concord. The planned opening
of the project is
late 2007.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development will issue a $1 million
Brownfields Economic Development Initiative grant and a $2 million Section
108 loan for
the development.
Funding will cover most of the nonconstruction costs associated with the project, including site acquisition and demolition
Jan. 23, 2006
News & Observer, Charlotte Observer
By Yonat Shimron
© Copyright 2006
As a volunteer chaplain at Rex Hospital for several years, Robert Gierka had a calling to offer care and compassion to those in grief.
Now he wants to extend that empathy to people saddened by the loss of their pets.
Gierka, 49, aims to be a full-time pet chaplain, and he has the support of leaders at N.C. State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
"A lot of pet owners view their dogs and cats as members of the family," said Michael Davidson, director of veterinary medical services at the school. "If they lose a pet, it has the same sort of emotional impact as losing a child or a spouse. We need to recognize that."
Davidson said he is working with Gierka to try to secure private grant money to pay for a full-time pet chaplain as part of the vet school's faculty -- a novel idea in veterinary training. The chaplain could serve clients who bring their sick pets for treatment, and teach students how to deal with anxious owners.
To Gierka, a publications manager at NCSU, the role of pet chaplain is needed in a society that has not yet accepted the human-animal bond as a valid relationship, which is often felt most acutely in death.
"People say, 'Get over it.' But people are struggling," said Gierka. "There's no easy way to get over it."
The soft-spoken chaplain sees his role as a grief consultant, ready to offer a compassionate ear to people struggling with the loss of a pet. Already, Gierka is being called on to offer guidance in some of N.C. State's veterinary courses. This semester, he will work with a professor who is teaching her students how to help pet owners decide to euthanize a terminally ill animal.
The idea of pet chaplaincy came to Gierka six years ago when a friend called to tell him about an experience at a church picnic. The woman had taken her two dogs to the event, only to be chided by her pastor.
"But this is a family picnic," Gierka's friend told her pastor. "This is my family."
In listening and offering comfort to his friend, Gierka realized he was, in effect, serving as a pet chaplain. So he investigated to see whether there was such a thing. He eventually set up a Web page (www.petchaplain.com), and bought an embossing stamp with the title. In his Bible, he stamped "pet chaplain" on the page meant to record "births."
"It's a midwifery process," he said, referring to the pioneering of a new field.
Growing up in upstate New York, Gierka had 14 cats, a few dogs and rabbits at one point. He currently has no pets.
His approach to chaplaincy is inter-faith. Reared a Roman Catholic, Gierka is now a member of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh. He said he's careful not to impose any religious view on the pet owners he counsels, but to bring in spiritual elements if they so desire.
Last year, for example, his friend Pam Carpenter lost her cocker spaniel, Niki. Gierka offered to conduct a memorial service, playing classical guitar pieces and reciting spiritual prayers. He encouraged Carpenter and her husband to share memories of Niki.
Carpenter said the experience helped her get over the loss, unlike her experience 13 years earlier with a cocker spaniel named Paige. The Carpenters had rushed Paige to the vet school's animal hospital after the dog mysteriously started hemorrhaging. She died on the operating table.
"There was absolutely no one around who understood what we were going through," Carpenter said. "I went into a depression."
But pet chaplaincy made Niki's passing a little more bearable, she said.
"This is such an important service to offer to validate the experience you're having."
Staff writer Yonat Shimron can be reached at 829-4891 or yonat.shimron@newsobserver.com.
SPLAT: Alternative reader debuts at N.C. State
Jan. 23, 2006
News & Observer
By Roger Van Der Horst
© Copyright 2006
N.C. State senior Mike Massey wanted to see a publication on campus that focused more on student life than he felt the main student newspaper, the Technician, did. So he founded one.
SPLAT debuted Jan. 14, when it was available in local businesses, and was distributed for free to students Jan. 17. The first edition features articles on the "post-disaster disaster" in New Orleans, the monthly First Friday art gallery walk downtown, and Hillsborough Street. SPLAT also ran a contest -- a mystery called "Murder You Wrote" with clues that readers could use to solve the crime. (Characters included the football coach.)
The winner earned a $25 prize but told Massey to keep the money for the magazine. That's a good thing. Massey says he's getting no funding from N.C. State Student Affairs.
"I took out loans; I went to my piggy bank; I sold about $1,100 in ads. It's been very difficult," the English major says.
Still, he's forging ahead and hopes to have more on the local music scene. Massey expects the next issue of SPLAT to come out Feb. 13.
Jan. 22, 2006
News & Observer
By Craig Jarvis
© Copyright 2006
Composers -- both famous and aspiring -- converged in Raleigh this weekend to talk about and listen to what the future of orchestral music will sound like.
Jennifer Higdon, a leading American composer, came to town to participate in a panel discussion about new music at Meymandi Concert Hall on Wednesday night. Joining her on the panel, which was meant to explain contemporary music to classical audiences, were symphony music director Grant Llewellyn; composer J. Mark Scearce, N.C. State University's music department director; and critic Roy C. Dicks, who reviews classical music and theater for the N&O.
Higdon's concerto for orchestra was one of three original pieces by American composers the N.C. Symphony was scheduled to perform on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Edgar Meyer, considered the world's leading double bassist, was also on the program to perform his original bass concerto. A program featuring British composers will be presented in February, along with another panel discussion.
Also in town were three finalists in the N.C. Symphony's first young composer competition. They were to spend this weekend lunching with Meyer and Llewellyn, meeting with Higdon and symphony officials and taking in the concerts -- "a whirlwind tour through symphonyland," says symphony general manager Scott Freck.
After soaking up all that knowledge, they will revise their compositions. One will be selected to receive a cash prize, and the chosen piece will be performed by the symphony next year during its 75th anniversary celebration.
Keeping the ones that get away
Jan. 21, 2006
Charlotte Observer
By Mary C. Schulken
© Copyright 2006
Somewhere in North Carolina there's an 18-year-old college student wondering about his future. He didn't do well on his courses last fall, and the spring semester's not much better.
Maybe he's homesick. Maybe he parties 'til the cows come home. Maybe he doesn't know what he wants to do. Maybe he's having a hard time juggling that off-campus job he needs to pay the bills.
If you've been in that predicament -- and I will tell you I have -- then you know this kid is at risk of not graduating. The most recent University of North Carolina system statistics show that three-quarters of the first-time freshmen entering the state's universities in 2000 did not graduate in four years. Only 42.2 percent of the freshman class entering in 1999 graduated after six years.
Every time a college student drops out, taxpayers lose money they have
invested. But more important, North Carolina also misses out on valuable
human potential.
Those facts have drawn the attention of new UNC system President Erskine
Bowles and Brad Wilson, chairman of the Board of Governors.
" We've got to retain more of these kids and train them for the jobs that are out there," Bowles said at the board's first meeting this year.
More than rhetoric
Talking about graduation rates fits right in with the outcome-based
model being pushed by Bowles, a Wall Street investor and former Clinton
White
House chief
of staff. It's a shrewd political strategy. Pitching tangible results
will go over well in the state legislature, where Bowles will be
twisting arms
to shore up university funding.Yet this issue is due more than rhetoric.
And it
will come with a price tag.
Only one of North Carolina's universities -- UNC Chapel Hill, the flagship campus -- graduated more than half of the freshmen entering in 2000. Only six graduated more than 50 percent of those entering in 1998. Only one -- again, Chapel Hill -- graduated more than 70 percent in six years.
The 4- and 6-year rates are significant because surveys like Kiplinger's use them as benchmarks.
They also highlight a valuable loss of prosperity and productivity. A 2003 report from the American Council on Education found that the lifetime earning power of an individual increases a million dollars with a bachelor's degree.
What's going on?
Nationally, graduation rates are tied to SAT scores and class
rank. The more those figures go down, the tougher time kids
have. Chapel
Hill's
average SAT score for entering freshman is 1300. But not
every university can be
that selective
about what academics call "student engagement."
UNC Charlotte enrolls some 22,000 students. It is North Carolina's fourth-largest university. Yet its most recent 4-year and 6-year graduation rates were among the bottom one-third of the 16 campuses, at 25.8 and 46.5 respectively.
Provost Joan Lorden said the university has had success with freshman learning centers, where students receive individual attention, as well as success housing freshmen together on campus.
Yet there's not enough money for the things that work
the best: on-campus freshman housing, on-campus jobs
and faculty
tutors.
"
It's all time and money," she said. That's not what lawmakers in Raleigh
want to hear.
Time and money
Financial aid is a significant factor in whether students
graduate, Lorden said. One important issue is how
federal work study
funds for on-campus
jobs are allocated. They are based on historical
formulas rather than need. That
means relatively new universities like UNCC lose
out to established campuses like Chapel Hill -- regardless
of
need. That's wrong,
and Congress needs
to change it.
Still, increasing the number of graduates will require money for dorms, faculty and financial aid that must either come from state funds or private fund-raising. It can't come from student tuition, which has increased as much as 70 percent in the past 10 years at some of the state's universities.
" It's time we elevate our attention and our resources to that side of the equation," Wilson said.
He's right. It's the right priority.
Mary C. Schulken
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mary Schulken is an Observer associate editor. Write her at The Observer, P.O.
Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308, or e-mail mschulken@charlotteobserver.com.
Scholars debate Word of the Year for 2005: ‘truthiness’
Jan. 23, 2006
Western Herald (MI)
By Cora Majewski
© Copyright 2006
Many people would expect deep, heated debates and discussions to transpire when scholars and academics get together, but rarely is it on the definition and merits of the word “muffintop” or “truthiness.”
The Word of the Year and the Creative Word of the Year for 2005 were two topics discussed at the American Dialect Society conference in Albuquerque, N.M., earlier this month.
Western Michigan University students Kevin Kane and Brooke Pearson, along with Dr. Lisa Minnick from WMU’s Department of English, presented their paper titled “Divided by a Common Language? Language Attitudes and the Northern Cities Shift” at the conference.
“Our paper explores awareness of and attitudes towards the Northern Cities Shift (NCS),” Kane said, adding that they recorded the speech of people from Michigan with NCS and played it for other Michigan speakers to test the saliency and status for standards and correctness.
Many people, Kane noted, rate the Michigan dialect as the “most correct” form of an American’s speech.
“We consider whether the status of Michigan speech might extend to speakers with NCS features or whether NCS may cost Michigan speech some of the prestige it has long enjoyed among speakers of U.S. English,” he said.
Although presenting the paper in front of some of the most prestigious academics in the field was valuable, Kane said one of the most entertaining aspects of the conference was the Word of the Year contest.
In a room filled with 80 to 100 academics, words like “crotchfruit,” another word for children, and “bumpernuts,” the fake testicles that people sometimes hang from the rear bumper of their cars, were debated over as candidates for the most creative word of the year.
The most popular word, however, was “whaletale,” which is the band of thong underwear visible above the waistline of pants.
“Truthiness,” as heard on Comedy Central’s satirical news show “The Colbert Report,” was chosen as the Word of the Year. According to Colbert, the word means the quality of stating concepts one wishes to be true, rather than facts.
Michael Adams, a professor specializing in lexicology at North Carolina State University, said in an Associated Press interview that it means “truthy, not facty.”
“The national argument right now is, one, who’s got the truth, and two, who’s got the facts,” Adams said. “Until we can manage to get the two of them back together again, we’re not going to make much progress.”
Other words which were considered included “heck of a job,” as coined by U.S. President George W. Bush, and words related to Hurricane Katrina, like “Katrinagate.”
For more information about the contest or the American Dialect Society, visit www.americandialect.org.
Turn to page two for a list of other words and phrases which were under consideration this year.
Jan. 23, 2006
Chronicle of Higher Education (DC)
By ANNE K. WALTERS
© Copyright 2006
Veronica Woodlief has always wanted to study marine biology but is not too enthusiastic about the landlocked programs offered by colleges in her home state, Pennsylvania.
She wants to attend the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. But it charges out-of-state students about $13,600 annually in tuition and fees — more than three and a half times what it charges in-state students, and more than she can afford. Instead of applying there directly from high school in 2003, she chose to work after graduation to save enough money to move to North Carolina and establish residency. She settled there last spring and hopes to take introductory classes at a local community college and transfer to Wilmington in the fall of 2007.
Whether students like Ms. Woodlief will be able to afford going to public colleges out of state is something that more policy makers will have to consider, as out-of-state tuition — on which some institutions rely — rises beyond many students' reach.
Like Ms. Woodlief, many students are daunted by the rising cost of attending a public college in another state. At many colleges, out-of-state tuition is so high that growing numbers of students are staying away. As a result, in states like Florida and Colorado, the number of out-of-state students has been falling. And colleges in other states, from North Carolina to Wisconsin, are now being forced to ask whether high out-of-state tuition is keeping students away.
State appropriations often fail to keep up with the growth of colleges' budgets, forcing the institutions to raise tuition to fill budget gaps. But lawmakers and college officials are usually under pressure to hold down tuition for state residents, so they look to students from elsewhere to bear a greater share of higher-education costs.
Increasing tuition for out-of-state students can backfire, however. If too many of those students look elsewhere, colleges could be left with even less tuition revenue than before the raises were put in place.
Colleges' "ability to keep spiking prices is really becoming limited," says Travis J. Reindl, director of state policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. "In a growing number of states, they are reaching a point of diminishing returns."
Cash Cows
The annual tuition and fees for out-of-state students at four-year public colleges, on average, is $13,164, compared with an average of $7,673 for in-state students, according to the College Board, a difference of $5,491. Ten years ago, the difference between tuition for residents and nonresidents was about $4,500.
Because out-of-state students pay so much more, attracting them can mean a significant infusion of cash for colleges, while losing them can leave colleges in the position of having to attract many more in-state students to make up for the lost revenue.
Some higher-education officials worry that the rising cost of nonresident tuition is leaving public colleges less economically diverse. "If mobility is tied to socioeconomic ability, fewer and fewer lower- and middle-income students will be able to go to a different state," says John Barnhill, director of admissions and records at Florida State University. Most students who can afford to attend an out-of-state public college can afford to attend a private institution instead, he notes.
The $21,900 that the University of Colorado at Boulder charges most nonresident undergraduates is about what they would pay at many private institutions. Officials say the university uses money from those students to subsidize tuition for in-state students, who pay about $4,400, and to make up for shortfalls in state funds.
In the 2004 fiscal year, the 32 percent of undergraduates who came from other states provided two-thirds of the university's tuition revenue.
The practice is already hurting the university in the market. Last fall the institution enrolled 6.5 percent fewer out-of-state undergraduates than in the previous year — and 12 percent fewer freshmen. While bad publicity from a series of recent scandals may account for some of the downturn, officials there attribute most of the decrease to cost. To reverse the trend, the university has started to guarantee out-of-state undergraduates the same tuition for four years, and has set up a merit-scholarship program specifically for out-of-state applicants.
Other public universities in Colorado have also seen downturns in enrollments from beyond state borders. At Colorado State University, which has about 500 fewer out-of-state students than it did a decade ago, the out-of-state tuition is actually a better bargain than it was then, says Tony Frank, provost and senior vice president. But, he says, prospective students probably don't look at it that way: "As out-of-state tuition goes up, they say, Why not pay and attend a private?"
When low state appropriations force colleges to look to nonresident students to balance their books, access for in-state students can suffer.
"It's pretty hard to fulfill the public mission to educate the citizens of your state if all the economics are pointing you to educate the students of other states," observes P. Kay Norton, president of the University of Northern Colorado.
Diversity Threat
In Florida out-of-state tuition at public colleges increased by 64 percent from 2000 to 2006, and public universities began seeing drops in their enrollments of out-of-state undergraduates starting in 2002. The state's public universities have lost more than 2,800 out-of-state students since the fall of 2001, when such enrollments peaked. All but two of the state's 11 public universities have experienced declines in their out-of-state enrollments this year.
Florida higher-education officials say there are other factors besides tuition that have contributed to such enrollment declines. Among the other factors they blame are the attacks of September 11, 2001, which led to stricter immigration policies and a decline in foreign-student enrollments, and the increase in scholarships in nearby states, such as Georgia, designed to entice students to attend college closer to home.
Florida is a fast-growing state, and large jumps in the number of state residents attending its public colleges have helped to make up for the decrease in out-of-state students, says Mark Rosenberg, chancellor of the state university system. He declined to quantify how many in-state students would be required to make up for the drop in out-of-state students, who pay nearly five times as much in tuition as residents pay.
The drop in out-of-state students concerns Mr. Rosenberg because it makes his campuses less diverse. The number of black freshmen enrolling in the public-university system dropped sharply this year, and system administrators who investigated the numbers blamed the decline solely on the large number of black students from other states staying away from Florida. This month, Gov. Jeb Bush announced a multi-pronged effort to increase minority enrollment in the system (see article on Page A24), but its focus, so far, has been only on Floridians.
Size Helps
In most states, big-name flagship campuses seldom have trouble attracting students from elsewhere. When tuition for out-of-state students climbs, it is usually the smaller, lesser-known campuses that suffer.
The University of North Carolina System's out-of-state enrollments have climbed, but the growth is driven almost entirely by increases on its main campuses, at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Elsewhere in the system, Appalachian State University enrolled 13 percent fewer out-of-state students last fall than a year before, and lost 100 out-of-state students who had attended the previous year. Some of those students may have decided to transfer to cheaper colleges in their home states or to work in North Carolina to gain residency so they can pay less in tuition, says Harry L. Williams, associate vice chancellor for diversity and acting associate vice chancellor for enrollment services. Appalachian State's out-of-state tuition is $17,000 compared with $7,000 for in-state students.
University officials are trying to offer out-of-state students more support to keep them on the campus, but unlike their counterparts at private colleges, can do little to adjust the price that individual students pay.
Even on the system's most popular campuses, such as Chapel Hill, out-of-state students feel burdened. That campus's Out of State Student Association has collected several hundred signatures on an online petition to make tuition increases more predictable.
Joy Kasaaian, a senior at Chapel Hill and president of the association, argues that while it is understandable that taxpayers in a state should be charged lower tuition, it is unfair for public colleges to substantially raise the tuition of students who have already enrolled. She characterizes the system's attitude toward out-of-state students as, "How much can we get out of them for them to still come here?"
But not all states are turning to out-of-state students to provide an extra revenue boost. Some states, like those in the upper Midwest, need those students to fill seats, and university officials are looking to lure out-of-state students with low tuition to make up for predicted shortfalls in the number of in-state students over the next decade.
First-time freshmen and transfer students will pay $114.55 per credit hour at South Dakota public colleges this fall, down from the current rate of $242.60. The goal is to increase the number of students by 194 and prevent a projected $1-million revenue shortage, says Robert T. Tad Perry, executive director of the state's Board of Regents.
Jan. 22, 2006
Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
By Barbara McIntyre
© Copyright 2006
Homeless murder sagaHudson resident Duncan Othen writes about homeless people
in Kindness Kills, and it is his portrayals of them that make the novel work.
Othen populates his chilly Chicago streets with folks such as Sally Malloy,
whose self-appointed task is to say nice things to everyone who passes her,
and Bible Bob, who diverts runaway girls from smooth-talking pimps. The homeless
population is declining, but not for the right reasons: A serial killer is
at large.
Sally witnesses a murder, crouching in an alley as gentle Burt, called ``Street Claus'' for his habit of giving away his meager possessions, has his throat slashed. But the voices in Sally's head say she mustn't identify the killer.
The police are clueless. Lydia Dupree, a social worker who's wary of men, and Ryan Dolan, a former cop who now listens to motivational tapes and tries not to drink, naively team up to find the killer.
Ryan and Lydia are likable enough, but Othen, with many years of service as a volunteer at the Haven of Rest, has displayed a more impressive talent and sensitivity for developing the personalities of his homeless characters.
Kindness Kills (345 pages, softcover) costs $18.99 from www.pleasantwordbooks.com
Reality of Black Laws
In The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Early Ohio, historian
Stephen Middleton explains that Ohio was not as enlightened as one
might think when
considering the ardent abolitionism that took place in the 19th century.
The Black Laws prevented black witnesses from testifying against white defendants; they required them to pay school taxes while barring their children from public schools. Middleton devotes a good portion of the book to explaining the aftermath of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, in which professional slave catchers roamed the state, kidnapping free black people and selling them into slavery.
The Black Laws also required a definition of who was black and who was not -- a distinction that often was left up to a county clerk whose thumbs-down meant disenfranchisement. One example is that of a Greene County white woman who married a man who was one-eighth black. Their children were blocked from attending public schools. The state Supreme Court upheld the law, but the children were allowed to attend the school -- because they had ``overwhelmingly white features.''
The Black Laws holds plenty of interest for the student of history, but is not for casual reading. Of its 363 pages, 100 of them are notes and bibliography. Stephen Middleton is a professor of constitutional history at North Carolina State University. The book costs $26.95 in softcover from www.ohio.edu/oupress.
Book signings
• Former Beacon Journal writer Thrity Umrigar will sign her
novel The Space Between Us on Monday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers
at
Legacy Village
in Lyndhurst.
On Tuesday, actor and author Ron McLarty will sign The Memory
of Running, which has been getting a tremendous amount of
media attention.
Joseph-Beth
events
are at 7 p.m.
• Umrigar will also sign her book at 7 p.m. Thursday at Borders
Books and Music in the Chapel Hill area, 335 Howe Ave., Cuyahoga
Falls.
• On Saturday at 4 p.m., Larry Rakow will visit Loganberry
Books, 13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights, to give a talk
called
``From Meggendorfer
to Sabuda:
A Brief History of the Masters of Pop-Up Books.'' Rakow is
the president of the Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society.
Admission is $3 for non-NOBS
members.
-- Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Jan. 21, 2006
Newark Star Ledger (NJ)
By PEGGY O'CROWLEY
© Copyright 2006
What if every home built in the United States could accommodate an elderly or disabled person with special needs, but looked like an ordinary house with great architectural style?
That's the goal of the universal design movement, a growing number of architects, aging specialists and activists for the disabled who would like to see the theory put into practice. And, they predict, with the growing number of Baby Boomers entering their 60s, that's more likely to happen.
Although current development of single-family homes with universal design is "spotty," Richard Duncan, the senior project manager for the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University said he believes "people will be smart enough to seek out universal housing, housing with well-integrated features."
Simply put, universal design in residential housing includes features that can be used by everyone, including the disabled or elderly, at little or no extra cost and without drawing any undo attention to the adaptations. Features include wider doorways and hallways to accommodate wheelchairs, no-threshold entryways, a wheel-in bath or shower and a bedroom on the first floor.
The key is building these into the home, not trying to make modifications later, Duncan said. For instance, building closets stacked on top of each other that can be converted into an elevator shaft is much less expensive than trying to put a lift in a two-story house.
The homes are not only suitable for the disabled or elderly, they allow what is being called "visitability," giving access to parents or friends with special needs. So far, only a handful of states and municipalities require that single-family houses adapt to those standards, including communities in Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Vermont, Kansas and Arizona.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) would make it a federal requirement to make homes accessible. While Schakowsky said it would help alleviate the isolation of the disabled, it's also a smart economic move, considering that, by 2020, the number of people between 65 and 84 years old is expected to increase to 47 million.
But many believe it's going to take education and time for universal design to become more common in residential housing. "It has to be consumer driven. People have to tell the builder, 'This is what I want,'" said Richard V. Olsen of the Center for Architecture and Building Science Research at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Components of universal design for housing include:
At least one step-less entrance to the home.
At least one bedroom and accessible bath on the ground-floor entry level. The bathroom should have a curbless shower or one with an integral seat, as well as an adjustable, hand-held shower head and grab bars installed in the shower and by the toilet.
Doors that are 32 to 36 inches wide, with lever handles.
Rocker light switches 44 to 48 inches high and electrical outlets at least 18 inches high.
Handrails on both sides of steps.
The kitchen should have a non-skid floor, cabinets with adjustable shelves, front mounted controls on all appliances and a side-by-side refrigerator with pull-out shelving. The dishwasher should be raised on a platform so loading does not require as much bending.
Front-loading washers and dryers with front controls and raised on platforms to reduce bending.
Closets should have power-operated clothing carousels or adjustable closet rods and shelves.
Source: Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University.
Senior-proofing help is available
Jan. 21, 2006
Newark Star Ledger (NJ)
By Peggy O'Crowley
© Copyright 2006
Susan Mason of Flemington faced a frightening dilemma last fall. Her multiple sclerosis had advanced to the point she could not climb the stairs in her duplex or get in and out of the bathtub. Help came from an agency she had never heard of: the Housing Accessibility and Repair program run by the Hunterdon County Housing Corp.
"They got me a brand-new (lift) chair so I could go up and down the steps. They tore out my tub and installed a walk-in shower that is wheelchair accessible," said Mason, 54, a billing clerk who could not afford the renovations. "It's been the greatest thing for me."
Like Mason, most Americans want to "age in place," or stay in their homes as they get older. But often finding out exactly what modifications they need -- and the potential costs -- is overwhelming for many.
Fortunately, there are a wealth of agencies, organizations and government services available.
National
The AARP is one of the best sources for information. It has extensive articles about modifications in every room of the home, including a checklist that goes over various features, from lighting to non-skid carpeting to how to organize a laundry room. It also lists helpful books and articles. Everything is available on its Web site, www.aarp.org/families/home_design.
The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University. The center's web site includes an extensive check list on universal design features that covers every room in the house, as well as outdoor areas. Included are tips on lighting, hardware, and adaptive appliances such as audible and visual alarms for the doorbell, smoke detectors, or monitors. Visit www.design.ncsu.edu/cud.
The National Association of Home Builders maintains a list of Certified Aging in Place Specialists, contractors and remodelers who have taken courses on modifying homes to make them more livable for older people. The lists are at www.nahb.org.
The Web site for General Electric Appliances includes a Q&A about universal design for kitchens and provides a list of appropriate products the company sells at www.geappliances.com/design_center/universal_design/.
Find out more about universal design at www.universaldesign.com or www.concretechange.org, the Web site of a group that advocates for more residential housing that conforms with universal design. HGTV, the home and garden cable television show, also carries articles about universal design on its Web site at www.hgtv.com.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture runs a program, Rural Development, that provides grants up to $7,500 for repairs and removal of hazardous conditions in the homes of low-income seniors. Regions covered in north and central New Jersey include Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset and Morris counties, as well as West Milford Township in Passaic County. Applicants must be 62 or older. Call (908) 852-5424 for more information.
State
New Jersey Protection and Advocacy Inc. is a nonprofit group that helps the disabled make adaptations through home modification and applied technology products. Jamie Prioli, an assisted technology practitioner, makes home assessments, recommends both modifications and products, and helps seniors find funding sources. She also does workshops at senior centers and other groups. She can be reached at (609) 292-9742. New Jersey Protection and Advocacy Inc. also has a Web site, www.njpanda.org.
The New Jersey Coalition for the Advancement of Assisted and Rehabilitative Technology is a consortium of experts in the field. Its Web site, www.njcart.org, also has an extensive data base of services and companies.
New Jersey Institute of Technology's Center for Architecture & Building Research publishes pamphlets and workbooks on various topics, including creating supportive home environments for children and adults with disabilities. "A Home for Life: Home Modifications for Aging in Place with an Intellectual Disability" is about developmentally disabled adults, but many of its recommendations are suitable for the elderly. One section focuses on adaptations for residents with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. They include installing alarms on doors to alert caregivers that a person is wandering; screened porches with no doors or locked doors; camouflaging doors with murals, and installing switch plates and toilet seats with contrasting colors to make them easier to use. Order publications at www.cabsr.org.
Counties
Many counties either run their own programs or contract with volunteer groups who provide home modification services to their elderly or disabled residents. Here's a list of groups and the work they do:
Essex: The county Office on Aging has a contract with Life Management Inc. in Montclair, which offers a senior home repair program. A professional plumber, carpenter and electrician are available to provide minor repairs and modifications, such as installing smoke detectors or adding grab bars or rails. The program is free for seniors whose health and safety would be threatened without the repairs. Call (973) 677-7800 to set up appointments.
Hunterdon: Since 1998, the Hunterdon County Housing Corp.'s Housing Accessibility and Repair, or HAR, program has helped more than 350 senior and disabled residents make adjustments so they can stay in their homes. This group undertakes among the more ambitious projects of any organization in the state. The HCHC installs lifts in two-story homes; enlarges doorways; installs barrier-free roll-in shower stalls, and builds wheelchair ramps, as well as smaller projects like installing grab bars and extra railings. The group is looking for volunteers. Call (908) 806-4196.
Middlesex: The Senior Corps Retired and Senior Volunteer Program offers a Mr. Fix It program in which volunteers make minor repairs or safety modifications, such as installing grab bars or extra rails, for elderly or disabled homeowners. The services are free, although donations are appreciated. Steven Milchman, the volunteer coordinator of the program, said new volunteers are always needed to carry out the more than 300 jobs the programs performs yearly. Call (732) 249-6330 to ask for services or to volunteer.
Morris: Catholic Charities' Hope House in Dover runs a program called Operation Fix It for elderly or disabled Morris County residents. Services include installing smoke alarms, replacing alarm batteries, installing grab bars and extra rails, and carpentry and masonry projects. The program conducts a home health and safety assessment to determine what needs to be done. There is a $10 service fee per visit. Volunteers are needed. Schedule an appointment or volunteer with Paige Urban, at (973) 361-5555, ext. 119.
Passaic: The county Department of Senior Services has a program called Caregivers Assistance for Relief, Education, and Support, or CARES, that provides funding for modifications, equipment and other needs that caregivers request. For instance, the program will pay for installation and rental of a stair lift for someone who can no long get up stairs. Call (973) 881-4950 for more information.
Somerset: The Somerset County Office on Aging has a handyman program in which volunteers perform minor repairs and modifications for senior homeowners. Seniors are requested to pay for parts; labor is free. Make an appointment at (908) 541-5715; jobs are assigned monthly.
Sussex and Warren: Northernwestern New Jersey Community Action Project, or NORWESCAP, runs a safe housing program that provides senior homeowners with health and safety renovations. Projects include installing ramps, grab bars, hand-held shower heads and outdoor lighting, checking heating systems and replacing locks. The program operates on a sliding scale basis; services are free for those who qualify. Call (908) 475-6591 for more information.
Union: The county Division on Aging offers a residential maintenance program for low-income senior citizens that provides small home repair and safety improvements. Call (888) 280-8226. Also, the Union County Senior Citizens' Council installs grab bars for county residents at no cost. A donation is appreciated. Call (908) 964-7555.
Warren: The Chore Corps, run by the Warren County Division of Senior Services and NORWESCAP's Retired Senior Volunteer Program, provides handyman repairs and jobs around the house for Warren County seniors. Labor is free, but clients are expected to pay for materials. Call (908) 763-0437 for more information.
-- Peggy O'Crowley
Jan. 21, 2006
Library Journal (NY), News & Observer (NC)
By staff report
© Copyright 2006
North Carolina State University Libraries (NCSU) has taken an important step in making catalogs more robust and user-friendly, deploying the Endeca ProFind™ platform to add capabilities patrons expect from web browsing. The catalog now can provide search results ranked by relevance, and users can refine navigation by topic, author, genre, language, material type, format, and availability. Sorting options include publication date, title, author, call number, and popularity. Also, the application displays a "breadcrumb" of the refinements selected that allows backtracking and broadening of search results. Also, users can browse by subject without searching at all.
Endeca's technology is used in TLC's CARL•X library system that has been installed in a few public libraries, but NCSU worked directly with the company, which mainly sells its software to retailers. Andrew Pace, NCSU's head of systems, said that last year he began examining Endeca and similar products offered by AquaBrowser and RLG. NCSU is known for being on the leading edge; vice provost and director of libraries Susan K. Nutter was LJ's 2005 Librarian of the Year.
Pace, known for his colorful denunciations of OPACs, said, "We don't have any relevance in Sirsi—the last thing cataloged is at the top of the list, which is not great when you add 5000 government documents in a batch load. We're hoping to expose titles that users wouldn't be able to find." While other libraries may be using Endeca technology, "the thing that's really first for [our library] is the [Library of Congress] classification browsing. We took LC subject headings and broke them up into their four component parts."
Jan. 21, 2006
Myrtle Beach Sun News (SC)
By staff report
© Copyright 2006
GOLF TOURNEY
American Cancer Society benefit Feb. 11
The American Cancer Society Grand Strand Golf Daze 2006 will be Feb. 11.
Twenty-five golf courses along the Grand Strand have partnered with the American
Cancer Society. After paying for the course greens fees and cart, a $10
minimum tax-deductible donation to the Society will be collected from all
golfers.
Pricing with 2006 Myrtle Beach Golf Passport will be honored.
Special weekend hotel and golf packages are also available. Volunteers are also needed to help that day at the course.
For more information please contact American Cancer Society office in Myrtle Beach at 1-877-ACS-9416 or log onto www.cancer.org.
FOUNDATION
Billionaire David Murdock has unveiled plans for a $120 million nonprofit
foundation to operate a lab at a $1 billion biotech hub he's helping
to build in Kannapolis.
Murdock outlined his plans for the still unnamed foundation at a meeting
of the state Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission.
The panel was being briefed about the planned N.C. Research Campus on the
site of former textile giant Pillowtex.
Murdock, owner of Dole Food Co. and Castle and Cooke developers, said he is using his own money for the foundation. He said he wanted to dispel any speculation he wanted to profit from the lab.
About $100 million will cover construction of the lab and pay for equipment, such as nuclear magnetic resonance machine that provides extremely detailed visualization of molecules, Murdock said. The rest of the foundation's money will support other work at the 350-acre campus, including a math and science high school for girls, said project manager Lynne Scott Safrit.
Work has already begun on the Core Lab facility, the first to be built for the campus.
Demolition at the site is about four months ahead of schedule, Safrit said. Dole will have a significant presence at the campus, as will the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and N.C. State University.
Murdock also said he has not chosen a site for a Dole frozen fruit packaging plant he plans to bring to North Carolina.
Dole is building a$54 million salad production plant in Gaston County.