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NCSU Researchers Helping Perfect Artificial Retina
Gianluca Lazzi, electrical engineeringWorth getting up for
Blanton Godfrey, College of Textiles
Pet prescriptions
on the rise
Karen Munana, neurology; Teresa DeFrancesco, cardiology and critical care
Pharmacists
profit from pet-care trend
Gigi Davidson, clinical pharmacy
Student
architects show plans for historic site
Kofi Boone, landscape architecture; College of Design students
Promising
Outlook For Holiday Shopping
Michael Walden, agricultural and resource economics
Take
a walk, enjoy the arts in downtown Durham
Stephen Wainwright, College of Design
NCSU
cadets pay tribute to war veterans
NCSU commemorations
Region
Honors Veterans In Various Ceremonies
NCSU commemorations
UNC
board honors Holshouser
Board of Governors; Molly Broad
School
loses control of finances
UNC system
Tuition
moratorium fails
UNC system
Agreement
will bring textile institutes closer together
Josef Kurz,
who has had lectureships at NC State
NOAA
to Retool Research Programs
Leonard Pietrafesa, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Nuclear
Research Receives Boost
nuclear engineering
Study
suggests older men ‘blindsided’ by divorce
Barbara Risman, sociology
GOOD
MORNING LOWCOUNTRY
Author Matthews
Vanderbilt
to Lead Army Nanotech Program
nanotechnology
Nov. 9, 2004
Asheboro Courier-Tribune
By Kathi Keys
© Copyright 2004
ASHEBORO - Asheboro City Schools will address $7.7 million in facility needs at all three levels - elementary, middle and high - through the 2005 school bond referendum.
At a Monday night work session on the school district's new long-range facility plan, members of the Asheboro City Board of Education reached a consensus on the school system's immediate needs.
The board will take official action at its regular monthly meeting Thursday night for presentation to Randolph's County Manager Frank Willis by Dec. 1 as part of the bond referendum process.
The long-range facility plan, originally presented last month, showed that three school campuses have adequate space for growth - Guy B. Teachey Elementary, North Asheboro Middle and Asheboro High.
Therefore, a combination of additions/renovations and energy-saving improvements would take place at those three schools to handle student enrollment at all levels. A realignment of elementary school attendance lines would also be necessary to coincide with completion of the Teachey construction.
The $7.7 million which has been identified by the Randolph County Board of Commissioners for the city schools would break down in the following estimates for the May 3, 2005, bond referendum: Teachey, $4.20 million; NAMS, $2.35 million; and Asheboro High, $1.15 million.
Additional classrooms and a new gym/multipurpose room would be provided at Teachey, along with renovation of the existing cafeteria/multipurpose room for the school cafeteria and energy improvements.
At NAMS, additional classrooms would be constructed, the cafeteria and media center enlarged and energy improvements made.
At AHS, funds would be used to provide additional classroom space at the former motel's building nearest the railroad tracks and in what is now a two-story shop area in the main building. There would also be energy improvements.
The chosen option was one of three which architect John Sinnett of Smith Sinnett Associates presented to the board Monday night.
A second option would provide the same work at AHS, additional funds for the Teachey project, reduce the scope of work at NAMS and start renovation of the Early Childhood Development Center (the old Balfour school).
The third option called for the same work at AHS as the first two choices, more funds for Teachey as in the second proposal, additions/renovations at both NAMS and South Asheboro Middle School and some work at ECDC.
Board members preferred the first option because of its additional classroom space.
Superintendent Dr. Diane Frost said she concurred with the board and Sinnett on the first option. "This gets us classroom space, seats for kids. ... We can then work on the longer range plan for the other schools, a new elementary school eventually and a major addition at the high school."
Energy improvements discussed during the session relate to projects such as window replacements - like completed over the summer at AHS - and the changing of light ballasts and bulbs. Sinnett explained that replacing T-11 bulbs with the more efficient T-8 bulbs could result in an energy costs payback in less than four years.
He also noted that the board has a four-phase approach to meeting facility needs. "You have immediate needs, short-term needs, mid-term and long-range needs."
Enrollment projections, as part of the long-range facility plan, have been prepared by Operations Research/Education (OR/Ed) Laboratory at the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at N.C. State University.
The projections show that, by doing the expansion at Teachey, there would be enough elementary school capacity in all five elementaries until the 2010-11 school year. The other projects would provide sufficient middle school capacity for several years while high school enrollment would continue to exceed capacity.
The most immediate projects previously identified, prior to completion of the long-range facility plan, were additions at both Teachey and NAMS.
In September, the Randolph County commissioners decided that voters should determine the funding of immediate school construction needs for Asheboro, along with Randolph County Schools and Randolph Community College, through a bond issue.
Both the county schools and RCC also have a Dec. 1 deadline to identify their project descriptions to the county.
Nov. 2004
Business Leader
By Gary Greene
© Copyright 2004
For a copy of this article, contact News Services at 5-3470.
Nov. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By SABINE VOLLMER
© Copyright 2004
Major McCoy was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 11 months old.
Now 3, he regularly takes phenobarbital, potassium bromide and Valium to control his seizures.
His treatment, which costs about $2,000 a year, is not unusual for those who suffer with epilepsy. But Major is an Australian shepherd -- and so far the drugs have never given him more than 35 days without a seizure.
Major's illness illustrates a problem faced by pet owners and veterinarians. With few drugs tailored for animals, veterinarians are more and more turning to human drugs to treat anything from allergies to heart disease in pets. And although the practice is legal, there is limited evidence to suggest that the drugs will be as effective in the animals as they might be in their human companions.
But researchers at veterinary colleges such as N.C. State University's are working to change that. The school regularly runs clinical trials with pets as the patients to test the effectiveness of human drugs on their ailments.
Karen Munana, an associate professor of neurology at NCSU's veterinary college, is an investigator in a three-state study that tests how well Keppra, a seizure drug prescribed for humans, works in dogs whose seizures have been hard to regulate.
Major's owner, Mary Grace McCoy, enrolled him in Munana's clinical trial three weeks ago. She gives Major his medication at their home in Pittsboro and then takes him to NCSU for regular checkups. She doesn't know whether Major is getting Keppra or a sugar pill, but she still believes participating in the study is worth it.
"He's a perfectly normal dog between the seizures," McCoy said.
If the three-year study shows Keppra works well in dogs, the drug could be a valuable addition to a vet's tool kit despite its cost, Munana said. A month's supply costs $200.
"There are plenty of people who would be willing to pay that," she said. "But we want to make certain it works and there are no side effects in conjunction with other drugs."
Keppra is made by UCB Pharma, of Smyrna, Ga. A spokeswoman for the company, Lisa Garman, said researchers have the freedom to investigate Keppra as a drug for dogs. But UCB Pharma doesn't intend to pursue the animal-health market.
"We're not a veterinary medicine company," Garman said.
UCB Pharma's stance is basically the problem facing veterinarians and researchers.
For large pharmaceutical companies, the financial reward of pet drugs is not great enough to go through the expense of clinical tests required for FDA approval.
Even Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company with an animal-health division in Greensboro, focuses primarily on human health.
Animal health is projected to generate 2.6 percent of Novartis' $27.9 billion annual sales this year, said Martin Flueckiger, an analyst with Bank Leu in Zurich.
But at least one company sees the potential in pets.
BioSite, a San Diego company that makes cardiovascular diagnostic kits for humans, has developed a dog-specific version.
Teresa DeFrancesco, an associate professor of cardiology and critical care at NCSU's veterinary college, said that based on the initial data she has received, "it works great."
More than 3 million dogs in the United States have heart disease and could use the test, said Ferran Prat, BioSite's director of strategic planning. With those numbers, the company will probably market the dog test, Prat said.
Expected to be priced at less than $50, the test would cost a fraction of the more than $300 dog owners now pay for X-rays and sonograms to diagnose heart failure.
"There's lots of interest," Prat said. "It's worth trying."
Pharmacists profit from pet-care trend
Nov. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By JEAN P. FISHER
© Copyright 2004
Cats with depression. Ferrets with diabetes. Dogs with overactive bladders.
Pets have many of the same medical problems as their human companions, but too often the medicine cabinet is bare of drugs specifically developed for animals. So for years, veterinarians have relied on specialty pharmacies to mix up custom compounds of medicines originally developed for humans for their animal patients.
"Sometimes, it's the only way they can get the medicine," said Danny Barnes, a pharmacist and co-owner of Triangle Compounding Pharmacy in Cary.
An animal may require a dosage that's not available commercially. Or a pet may need a medicine that's no longer available for people. A human nausea drug that was pulled from the market because of potentially dangerous drug interactions is the first-line treatment for cats with a usually fatal form of severe constipation, said Gigi Davidson, a pharmacist and director of clinical pharmacy for the N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine.
Veterinary compounding has mushroomed since 1996, when the federal government formally authorized the prescribing of human medicines to pets. It has since become an important niche for compounding pharmacies, which also cater to human patients who need specialized medicines. Veterinary preparations can make up a third or more of a compounding pharmacy's total business.
With the growth has come more scrutiny. Last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed some restrictions on what pharmacists are allowed to do to create customized compounded medicines for pets.
The move was aimed at blocking companies that used compounding as a way of circumventing the lengthy and costly drug approval process. Regulators generally aren't concerned with veterinarians or pharmacies unless they are marketing a commercial product.
Jennifer Burch, a pharmacist who owns Central Compounding Center in Durham with her father, pharmacist Bill Burch, has opposed the FDA restrictions. She asked customers to send letters to the agency, emphasizing that compounded medicines keep their pets alive. The FDA is expected to clarify its position on veterinary compounding this year.
Compounding can be a solid business for pharmacies. There is generally no insurance for custom compounds for humans or animals, so people pay full price. And many are glad to pay extra to get medicines that are formulated to be more palatable to pets.
Compounding pharmacies will disguise seizure medication as liver-flavored doggie treats. They'll tempt a ferret with banana or grape-flavored diabetes drugs. And they win the praise of grateful owners of felines by replacing pills with medicated creams that can be absorbed through the skin.
Central Compounding started doing veterinary compounding several years ago, when Bill Burch's cat was diagnosed with thyroid problems. Bill Burch had to coax a pill down the unwilling kitty's throat every morning.
"He would come to work and he'd look like he'd been beaten up," Jennifer Burch said. "His hands would be all scratched up, his arms would be bitten."
Transdermal creams for cats are still among the most popular compounds the pharmacy sells.
You get some interesting patients, Burch said. She has made medicines for a chinchilla with gallstones, for example. And recently, a veterinarian called for her help in treating a bird with high cholesterol.
"We put that bird on a bird dose of Lipitor," Burch said.
Take a walk, enjoy the arts in downtown Durham
Nov. 11, 2004
Durham Herald-Sun
By Jim Wise
© Copyright 2004
DURHAM -- Poking around flower beds at 3 a.m. is not the typical working style for Durham photographer M.J. Sharp. Art, however, has callings all its own.
"I think I just wanted something very different," she said. And there was something in the aspect of her weeping daffodils -- or tulips, or black-eyed Susans, or daylilies for that matter -- in the nighttime that dictated: Document me.
So Sharp -- a self-described "pathological extrovert" and a photojournalist accustomed to picturing people like basketball coach Dean Smith, sprinter Marion Jones or workers in a transmission factory -- set out in the dark, with a pot of tea, a portable radio and an antique camera.
Some of the results of her six-months' quest make up "Through a Glass, Darkly" -- one of the exhibits along the way of this weekend's Durham Art Walk.
"It was kind of this solitary meditation process," she said.
Art Walk is a multi-open house at 26 shops, studios, residences, restaurants and other assorted points in downtown Durham. Starting at the Durham Arts Council, the self-guided tour and shopping opportunity includes paintings, glasswork, T-shirts, greeting cards, jewelry, pottery, porcelain, scraps and, yes, photography.
Going on both Saturday (10 a.m.-5 p.m.) and Sunday (1-5 p.m.), the 2004 Walk is an expanded edition of a formerly one-day event established in 1998 as a means of populating the old business district on weekends.
Walking starts at the Durham Arts Council, at 120 Morris St. near Five Points, where coffee, pastries, goodie bags and route maps are given out -- and where the Durham Art Guild's annual juried show is on view, along with two other exhibits.
From that point, walkers have a variety of places to go. For instance:
-- Liberty Arts, 538 Foster St., the metal-casting studio and foundry where a 2,500-pound, 10-foot-long, larger-than-life bronze bull is nearing completion for a new Corcoran Street park (open Saturday only).
-- Manbites Dog Theater, 703 Foster Street, where Marni Goldshlag's quilts and fabric work are on view in the lobby.
-- Through This Lens, 303 E. Chapel Hill St., a photography gallery.
-- The Scrap Exchange, 548 Foster St., a nonprofit store dealing in "industrial discards" rescued from the city dump.
-- The Baldwin Building, 107 W. Main St., offering tours of loft apartments under construction.
-- Clear-Vue Glass, 121 N. Gregson St., where you can look at glass artistry and consult on getting a windshield fixed.
-- Main Street Deli, 212 W. Main, where Pistol Magazine founder Brian Greene is showing his artwork and talking about his literary review.
-- SeeSaw Studio, 347 W. Main St., founded by Duke University zoologist, N.C. State design professor and sculptor Stephen Wainwright, described in the current Duke Magazine as "a nonprofit, after-school design-and-business program for youths."
-- Durham Arts Place, 305 E. Chapel Hill St., a building full of studios devoted to painting, photography and, in one case, lamp-making.
The Arts Place is where you'll find M.J. Sharp's flower pictures, which proved to be a technical challenge and a change of pace.
Used to working against a publisher's deadline, Sharp found herself, for a change, waiting. "Many nights I would lie around in various shrubbery or roadsides," she wrote in an artist's statement, "staring up dolefully at the daisy or tulip or iris that refused to make the leap from pretty to meaningful, and eventually I would just declare defeat and go home to bed."
Then there was working with a 4-by-5 Graflex, a press camera from the 1940s that affords the photographer a great deal of creative control along with considerable weight and bulk.
"A lot of normal rules are different because the format is different," she said. "It's a way to get yourself into that beginner's mind."
And then there was the question of subject lighting at 3 a.m., which Sharp variously answered with streetlights, flashlights, video lights and something called a "candela."
"I hated going out there in the middle of the night," she said. "I really love these pictures, but they were created with a lot of frustration."
---
What: Art Walk: Self-guided show-and-sale tour of 26 artistic places
When: Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1-5 p.m.
Where: Downtown Durham, starting at Durham Arts Council, 120 Morris St.
COST: Free
Additional information: 560-2719, www.durhamarts.org
NCSU Researchers Helping Perfect Artificial Retina
Nov. 12, 2004
WRAL
By Dr. Allen Mask
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Six million people in the United States and 25 million worldwide are blind because one layer of cells on their retinas no longer work.
Researchers, including those at North Carolina State University, are working to develop an artificial retina that is already showing progress.
With the help of an experimental artificial retina, a man who has been blind for 50 years is able to recognize high-contrast images.
A tiny camera on a pair of glasses sends signals to a device attached to an implant on the retina.
In people with retinosa pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, the photo-receptor cells on the retina do not work.
"We replace this functionality with electrical signals that we provide," said Dr. Gianluca Lazzi, an associate professor in electrical engineering at N.C. State.
Lazzi is working on just one piece of the artificial retina puzzle. Nine institutions -- including five national laboratories -- are refining the device to make it smaller, more powerful and less invasive.
The prototype model had just 16 electrodes that stimulate neural cells in the retina.
"We need a large number of electrodes to achieve meaningful vision, like facial recognition. We have demonstrated that we need at least 1,000 electrodes," Lazzi said.
By the year 2013, researchers believe they will accomplish just that -- the ability to recognize a face, or even read. A future version will be wireless, with the camera transmitting to a receiver behind the lens, relaying the signal to the retina.
"It will take years to develop a device that is safe and effective, but we believe that we are paving the road," Lazzi said.
Only six people have the prototype artificial retina as part of the clinical trial.
NCSU cadets pay tribute to war veterans
Nov. 12, 2004
News 14 Carolina
By Tracey Early
© Copyright 2004
Future members of our country's military paid tribute to war veterans on Thursday at N.C. State.
The Arnold Air Society, a student run organization within AFROTC at the university, held its annual Veterans Day commemoration on the steps of the Bell Tower.
For N.C. State students, Veterans Day started Wednesday night. Cadets, two at a time, guarded a candle-light vigil until sunrise.
By 6 a.m., hundreds of others stormed the front lawn of the Bell Tower after an early morning warrior run.
Bee Thao of the Navy ROTC said,
“At first it's because you have to but then you start realizing the significance
of the Veterans Day run. The training
that we do here, it's nothing compared to what the veterans had to go through
and it helps us understand a little bit more."
One of those veterans is Emily Gile. The retired Woman Air Force Service
Pilot helped carry the wreath for the university's ceremony. She said it's
an honor to still be recognized for her service, 50 years later.
"We didn't think of it that way then. We just wanted to fly and do the job that we were to do. We didn't think about being something special. Everybody loved to fly and wanted to do the job and that was, and we just did it," she said.
Gile served as a WASP for nine months in World War II. Afterwards, she never lost her love of flying.
"I flew planes for a little airport in Miami. I came to Charlotte and I came to, well I came over here to the Raleigh-Durham Airport too."
Now she shares her experiences with others and students who aspire to serve in uniform, like Laomar Guiros, are listening.
"You don't want to feel too emotional but you do want to remember those like my dad, my grandfather, all those people that gave their lives and tried to work hard for this country and the trumpet, especially you just feel it inside,” Guiros said.
Women Air Force Service Pilots were the first women in history to fly American military airplanes. Military leaders discontinued WASP at the end of World War II.
Student architects show plans for historic site
Nov. 11, 2004
Kinston Free Press
By Bob Shiles
© Copyright 2004
When she looks at the Kelly's Millpond of the future, Megan Vershave envisions a place of natural beauty where people will want to visit over and over again and tourists will stop on their way to the beach. They will come to marvel at the large cypress trees, enjoy a leisurely picnic lunch, explore the pond by kayak, fish and learn the history of the old mill.
Vershave, a native of Greenville, was one of eight landscape architecture students from N.C. State University's College of Design to present the Kinston-Lenoir County Parks and Recreation Commission with ideas for developing Kelly's Millpond Wednesday.
The pond would be one of the sites linked to the proposed 16-mile stretch of the Mountain to the Sea Trail that would pass through Lenoir County.
Bill Ellis, director of parks and recreation, said the commission will apply for a $500,000 state grant in February to rebuild the dam and begin developing the site as a millpond. There will be no cost to taxpayers, he added, since landowners surrounding the pond will be donating their land as a match for the grant.
"The students did a great job. They gave us plenty of food for thought," Ellis said. "Of course all of this at this point is totally conceptual."
The students and Kofi Boone, an assistant professor in landscape architecture, are working on designs that would combine the area's cultural, natural and historical elements along the proposed Mountain to the Sea Trail. So far, most of the work on the 900-mile trail that will provide a travel way for hiking, bicycles, horses and paddling by water on federal, state, local and private lands, has been west of Raleigh.
"This part of the state has real potential," Boone said. "Lenoir County can be a pioneer in this area."
Promising Outlook For Holiday Shopping
Nov. 12, 2004
NBC-17
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Local shoppers took advantage of the Veterans Day holiday Thursday to hit the mall, and retailers hope that bodes well for the crucial holiday shopping season, which starts in two weeks.
"I'm not a shopper. I don't like to shop," said Darby Quirk, who was at Triangle Towne Center with her family Thursday. "I read the paper and thought it's a good day to get out and take advantage (of sales)."
This holiday season already is showing signs of a stronger economy, with retailers hiring more temporary employees and stocking shelves.
"Consumer spending this year is up 6 percent, 6-and-a-half percent over last year. I see no reason why that won't extend into the Christmas season," said Mike Walden, an economist at North Carolina State University.
Despite recent spikes in oil prices and the cost of recovering from hurricanes, Walden said a good holiday season would continue the trend of increased spending into 2005.
"It would obviously help solidify in people's minds that the economy is back," he said. "I think if they heard that Christmas was good, that people opened their wallets and spent, I think that would add to the perception that the economy is indeed back."
Region Honors Veterans In Various Ceremonies
Nov. 11, 2004
NBC-17
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Various ceremonies and tributes were scheduled for Thursday and this weekend to honor area military veterans.
Following an all-night vigil at the North Carolina State University Bell Tower, about 400 Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets ran down Hillsborough Street about 6:30 a.m. in an annual tradition known as the Warrior Run. That was followed by a wreath laying at the Bell Tower and a tribute to Emily Gile, one of the first women to fly an American military aircraft during World War II.
Raleigh's annual Veterans Day parade downtown Thursday morning included a flyover by an Apache helicopter from the North Carolina National Guard. A ceremony on Capitol Square featured a replica of the Vietnam memorial wall, a flyover by F-15 fighter jets from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and a speech by Maj. Gen. William Ingram, adjutant general of the N.C. National Guard.
A free concert by the North Carolina Symphony was scheduled for 2 p.m. at Meymandi Concert Hall in the BTI Performing Arts Center.
The University of North Carolina planned a 2:30 p.m. Veterans Day ceremony at Polk Place, behind South Building, on the UNC campus in Chapel Hill. The ceremony featured a review of the university's Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC units, a speech by retired Army Col. Sam Holliday, a veteran of both Korea and Vietnam, a performance of marshal music and a reception in the nearby armory.
The Carolina Troop Supporters and the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund will host a Yellow Ribbon 5-K Run and other activities in Chapel Hill Saturday to raise money for the families of soldiers killed in battle. The run starts outside the UNC Student Union Building at 11 a.m. Saturday, and other activities scheduled include a flag ceremony, live music, guest speakers and a silent auction.
Downtown Hillsborough merchants will host "Hillsborough Homefront" at 11 a.m. Saturday. The World War II remembrance will include oral histories from veterans of that war and period music.
Nov. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
CHAPEL HILL -- Former Gov. James E. Holshouser Jr. of Southern Pines received the UNC Board of Governors' highest award Thursday for his longtime service to education.
Holshouser was presented the University Award at a banquet at UNC-Chapel Hill. He was honored for his public service, progressive leadership and longtime support of education at all levels.
The former governor, a Republican, led the state in the 1970s and presided over the consolidation of the 16-campus university system. He also established a statewide public kindergarten program, and his administration pushed the first building program for the state's community college system.
In 1979, Holshouser was elected to an eight-year term on the UNC board and was re-elected to a four-year term when legislation was changed in 1987. Since 1991, he has served as a member emeritus.
He has served 25 years on the board -- the longest continuous tenure of any member. He led the search committee that led to the hiring of UNC President Molly Broad in 1997.
School loses control of finances
Nov. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By JANE STANCILL
© Copyright 2004
CHAPEL HILL -- UNC system President Molly Broad said Thursday that her office has taken control of financial matters at the N.C. School of the Arts following a state audit that revealed nearly $1 million in misspent or misappropriated funds on the campus.
The UNC system's internal audit chief has been temporarily assigned to the Winston-Salem school. And the UNC finance chief will review and approve any budget transfers, new hires, employee job transfers and overtime or special expenditures.
The system administrators will remain in charge indefinitely, Broad said.
She said she stopped short of revoking the arts school's management flexibility. The UNC system gives campuses authority to keep unspent state money each year and to make personnel changes. Broad did place the school on a 90-day notice to make improvements or lose its budget freedom.
The audit findings, released Oct. 5 by State Auditor Ralph Campbell, said several school employees diverted or misspent state money on unauthorized overtime expenses, Cadillac payments, travel and a down payment on a condominium for the chancellor, Wade Hobgood.
Money was shifted from foundation accounts to a secret bank account, and Campbell likened the situation to an Enron-style scandal.
Hobgood has said he did not know about the financial mismanagement. Several employees have resigned.
Broad said she will form two teams to look at foundation policies and to come up with a plan to better inform the Board of Governors about the financial health of the 16 state campuses. The UNC board currently does not review audit reports and financial statements from university-related foundations.
Nov. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By JANE STANCILL
© Copyright 2004
CHAPEL HILL -- A proposed moratorium on tuition increases at UNC system campuses died Thursday, opening the door for another painful debate about rising costs for college students.
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors won't set 2005-06 tuition fees until early next year. But already, there are strong feelings about the issue.
Ben Ruffin, a board member and former chairman, suggested a freeze on tuition now that the state's economy is improving. In recent years, students have paid a larger share of educational costs, supplanting what used to be covered more fully by the legislature's appropriations, he said.
"I just think we're going in the wrong direction," Ruffin said. "As long as we continue to raise funds in this manner, we will get a smile and a handshake, and [legislators] will say, 'Do it again next year.' "
Tuition has soared at public campuses in the past five years, since the UNC board allowed schools to seek their own tuition increases and then keep the revenue.
The UNC board has generally gone along with those requests, saying the campuses needed the money during the state's budget crunch. Only in rare cases has the system board scaled back a campus tuition increase, although a tuition freeze was enacted for the 2003-04 academic year.
Members of the Board of Governors' budget and finance committee did not go along with Ruffin's idea for a moratorium next year. The reality, some said, is that state law entitles campuses to come forward with tuition requests each year.
"We cannot tell them not to come," said Jim Phillips, chairman of the committee. "We do not have that authority."
The board is likely to get another barrage of requests -- setting up a debate that some members referred to as the "tuition rodeo."
That's OK, said board member Peter Hans. "I don't like raising tuition," he said. "I thought last year some of the schools made very good cases, and some did not. I think we ought to give the schools a chance to come forward and make that case."
The decision may come down to a question of which schools can afford to raise tuition -- in other words, which campuses can handle the accompanying financial aid for needy students. A wealthy campus such as UNC-Chapel Hill would likely be able to cover financial aid, but Elizabeth City State University might not.
"It's not going to be that everybody gets something," board member Bill Burns said.
Former Gov. Jim Holshouser said the trend in climbing tuition has serious implications, because the state constitution includes a provision for free tuition "as far as practicable."
"One of these days, the court is going to say what it means to be free as close to practicable," he said.
NCSU Duo Develops Super-Strong Nylon
Nov. 2004
Textile World
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
Two researchers at the North Carolina State University (NCSU) College of Textiles, Raleigh, N.C., have created the strongest aliphatic nylon fibers known. Their goal is to develop economic alternatives to high-strength fibers such as aramids for use in ropes, parachutes or tires, among other products; or in composite materials used in high-temperature applications.
Alan Tonelli, Ph.D., KoSa Professor of Polymer Science; and Richard Kotek, Ph.D., assistant professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science, are using nylon 6,6 thermoplastic polymer, which is easier to work with than aramid; but it is difficult to stretch and align the fiber, and to remove the elasticity.
Tonelli and Kotek dissolved the nylon 6,6 in a solution of gallium trichloride in order to dissolve the hydrogen bonds and stretch the polymer chains. “Once the fiber is created, it is soaked in water to wash away the gallium trichloride, allowing the hydrogen bonds to re-establish,” Tonelli said.
“It looks promising,” Kotek said. “Just on the first try, we’re getting strong fibers.”
Tonelli said the fibers are as much as 10 times stronger than typical aliphatic nylons. He and Kotek also are looking at alternative solutions using nylon 6,6.
Agreement will bring textile institutes closer together
Nov. 12, 2004
China Post, Taiwan
By David Smith
© Copyright 2004
Josef Kurz, vice-director of the Research Institute Hohenstein, visited here to sign an agreement with the Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) and to visit the Taiwan establishment.
Kurz, who has been working in the textile industry since 1950, is visiting Taiwan for a second time. This time, the scientist who has been employed at Hohenstein for more than 40 years, said "I came to see the institute here, how they work, what they do," he said. The two entities have significant differences but also many similarities; both are funded by private industry and government, however the ratios differ somewhat.
Hohenstein, which was founded in 1946, just after the end of the Second World War, receives 80 percent of funding from industry and 20 percent from government.
TTRI, which opened its doors in 1959, gets 65 percent of its funds from the government and the other 35 is provided by private industry. Kurz said that though industry and his institute have always been somewhat independent of each other he feels that its time for them to change.
"The time is over I think when the industries develop something and the textile institutes develop something, " he stated. He said that in order to be efficient and develop products quicker for the market they must work together. Kurz lauded the Japanese for their approach in bringing products to market.
"Universities know a lot about scientific basics, the Japanese take these basics and make new products. The Japanese use the knowledge from all over the world, and in a short time, bring a product to the market. I think we should do the same" Kurz said. Kurz said that Hohenstein and TTRI will work together on new kinds of textiles and their uses.
He divided them into three categories: One, technical textiles: two, health care textiles; and three, mart textiles (with electronics). "These are the frame for the exchange of knowledge, " he said. He said they would try to integrate the research between the two institutes and create a good exchange of information of products going to market.
"Institutes are a place between the basic research and the products. We help the companies to come to the market. Our aim is the product to the market, so we know a lot about the environment of the market, the people. " He said they have certain expertise that the manufacturers might lack.
"We can measure the comfort of the textiles, the microbiological effect of textiles, to help our colleagues in the industry bring products to market." Kurz, who has had lectureships at places from North Carolina State University to the University of Zagreb talked about a new approach in textiles to help the people in their daily life to be healthier.
But he said those products are not cheaper ones that just anyone can produce. "Such things can only be done in countries where the companies and the research institutes are prepared to cooperate together," he said.
NOAA to Retool Research Programs
Nov. 12, 2004
Science Magazine
By David Malakoff
© Copyright 2004
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has embraced suggestions to consolidate some laboratories and make its funding practices easier to understand. But officials have rejected a proposal from an outside advisory panel for a new science czar.
"This looks like a very good start," said Science Advisory Board chair Leonard Pietrafesa, of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, reacting last week to NOAA's plan to shake up its $350 million research program, which includes everything from space-based climate and weather studies to fisheries research and deep-sea exploration. The outside panel, led by climate scientist Berrien Moore of the University of New Hampshire, Durham, suggested in August that the agency consolidate half a dozen laboratories in Boulder, Colorado, and revamp a convoluted external grants program. The panel also called for the agency to develop 5- and 20-year science plans and to put the agency's research programs under the control of a new senior administrator and an allied advisory board (Science, 11 June, p. 1579).
On 3 November, NOAA officials told the board that they have nixed the last two ideas because of congressional opposition to any more bureaucratic layers. Instead, NOAA Deputy Administrator James Mahoney says his position has been "restructured" to increase his oversight of research. Officials said they expect other changes will take place over the next 18 months, including clarifying both the amount of money available and the application process for extramural researchers and creating a Web-based grants management system. "I don't think anyone would give NOAA an 'A' for our involvement with outside" researchers, Mahoney said. He also promised to increase the number of administrators overseeing key science programs, saying that although NOAA has "an abundance of capable researchers," the administrative corps "is very thin indeed."
Perhaps the biggest question mark is the fate of NOAA's six Colorado laboratories. Congressional critics have argued for lumping the labs together into fewer and less expensive units, but researchers worry that the move could hurt science programs. Mahoney says a task force could issue a consolidation plan as early as this fall, followed by another group looking at NOAA's ecological research programs. Any proposed changes, however, must survive vetting from the White House Office of Management and Budget and win the support of Congress.
Nuclear Research Receives Boost
Nov. 11, 2004
KVAL, OR
By Dawn Marie Woodward
© Copyright 2004
Corvallis -
Oregon State University will play a significant role in a 10-year, $4.8 billion
initiative that was announced Tuesday – the development of the nation’s premier
laboratory for nuclear energy research, development and education.
Increases in the university’s research, educational programs, student scholarships and faculty base are all planned, officials say, mostly in the OSU Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics. OSU could receive $10 million or more over 10 years under the new initiative.Officials of the U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday they have selected the Battelle Energy Alliance to establish the Idaho National Laboratory.
This alliance is made up of a consortium of universities and institutions, including Battelle Memorial Institute, OSU, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, Ohio State University, the University of New Mexico, the Idaho universities and a number of industry partners.The alliance was selected over three other finalists in the bid to run the new lab.
“OSU has been working to promote university collaboration within the state,” said OSU President Ed Ray. “But clearly, partnerships across states with other major universities also represent an important way that we can bring Oregon to the forefront of important national research and economic development opportunities.”
Todd Palmer, an associate professor in the OSU Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics, said that “we are extremely excited to have been awarded this contract.” “This is a testament to our collaboration with other universities, and our work as the lead institution in the Western Nuclear Science Alliance,” Palmer said. “We’re committed to working with other schools to improve designs for the future of nuclear power.”
Universities involved in this alliance will conduct regional outreach and take the mission of the Idaho National Laboratory to other universities. “The contract will also bring a major influx of money through Oregon State for nuclear energy research, and many departments can benefit from that,” Palmer said. “In addition, each school in the consortium is involved in different areas of research and faculty members from across campus will be able to bid for the money going through the partners.”
MIT will house the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, North Carolina State will operate the Center for Simulation, and OSU will expand its nationally recognized Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Research Laboratory. The OSU lab has become a national leader for studies of thermal hydraulics and reactor safety, officials say.
The contract will also provide OSU half the funding it needs for six new faculty positions. Faculty will be added in research areas that relate to national goals of energy independence and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and the initiative should also generate a greater number of scholarships and fellowships for students.
"Large, multi-institutional collaborations, such as the one represented by this contract are increasingly important in the federal research environment,” said Rich Holdren, vice provost for research at OSU. “We have been working strategically over the last several years with Battelle to make opportunities such as this one accessible to us."
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, in making the Tuesday announcement, said that “the Battelle team brings an outstanding reputation, an excellent plan and a superior management team that will make the INL a world-class, multi-program laboratory."
“This new laboratory was the missing element in our strategy to provide long-term energy security for the nation,” Abraham said. “We needed a laboratory that can work with the other labs in our complex, academia and industry to advance nuclear power technology and create an entirely new type of nuclear energy plant for the longer term future.”
The Idaho National Laboratory will conduct science and technology research across a wide range of disciplines, including materials, chemistry, the environment, and computation and simulation. It will also play a key role in ensuring the nation's security by helping to protect the country's critical infrastructure and preventing the spread of nuclear material.
One of the laboratory’s first major tasks will be to lead an international research and development effort to create an advanced nuclear energy technology called the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, which could produce both inexpensive electric power and large quantities of hydrogen – a way to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Study suggests older men ‘blindsided’ by divorce
Nov. 11, 2004
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN
By Karen Guzman
© Copyright 2004
A steely sky, heavy with ominous clouds, threatens to drench this Raleigh, N.C., neighborhood.
Mike Jannicelli isn’t fazed. He parks outside a roadside coffee shop and strides for the door.
When you’re 52, raising a blended family of teenagers and regretting the errors of your past, rain is nothing to fuss about.
“I wanted to make this one work, definitely,” Jannicelli says of his defunct previous marriage. “There were things that I was accepting that no guy in his right mind would.”
The soft-spoken Air Force veteran is remarried now, but he has walked a long road back to stability. And he has his hands full these days helping raise his new wife’s 16-year-old twin sons and a 12-year-old son.
He’s satisfied. “But another side of me is saying I’m too old for this mess, trying to keep a marriage relationship together and a family together,” he says.
Four years ago, Jannicelli, like many other middle-age men, found himself suddenly divorced.
Some say they never saw it coming. Others struggled too long to hold a bad thing together. At a time in their lives when they’d hoped to be kicking back in an empty nest, these guys were nestless.
A recent study by AARP suggests men suffer more in divorce, and it’s often their wives who want out. The advocacy organization for the older-than-50 crowd surveyed 1,147 divorced men and women between ages 40 and 79. Some findings: 66 percent of women asked for a divorce, while only 41 percent of men did.
More women reported embracing their new single status. Older men, the study indicates, don’t do “alone” well.
This comes as no surprise to Barbara Risman, chairwoman of the Council on Contemporary Families and a professor of sociology at North Carolina State University.
“Men depend on their wives as their primary social support network,” Risman says. “They are much less connected emotionally to other people. They find themselves very lonely and often marry again very quickly.”
A particular type of man is hardest hit, and he’s often the one who says he was blindsided by his wife’s desire to leave.
“Most of these men are not tuned into the emotional content of their relationships,” Risman says. “They are often totally flabbergasted that their wives are unhappy.”
A self-described Type-A careerist, Greg Sweet says he often worked 18- to 20-hour days as vice president of a communications firm.
“I came out to find a moving van in front of my house. That’s how I found out,” he says.
Sweet, of Raleigh, realizes now that his marriage was beset with problems, some of which he exacerbated.
“All the signs were there that she was unhappy,” he says. “I’m sure had I not had my head buried in my business, I could have seen that and dealt with it.”
The marriage lasted only one year. But Sweet, 45, took valuable lessons away from it and says he and his ex are good friends today.
“I’m much more aware,” he says. “I look at what it is I’ve done to create a situation if there’s a problem.”
Financially self-sufficient women, without children at home, are more likely to opt out of an unsatisfying relationship, Risman says.
“She’s probably stayed in a marriage that wasn’t satisfying for a long time for reasons that have to do with family,” she explains.
Women aren’t rejecting the institution of marriage, Risman says. They just want good ones. So do men, even after a divorce.
Jannicelli met his current, and third, wife online. His first marriage also ended in divorce. He has two adult children and visitation rights with an adopted daughter.
After his last split, he considered staying solo. He toyed with the idea of returning to an old job – driving tractor-trailer rigs.
“I thought maybe that’s what I was destined for, get back in a cab of a truck and skirt across the country,” he says. In the end, he stayed put. “I decided I was gonna stay local and stay in touch with my daughter and try to get on with things.”
Jannicelli is grateful for another chance.
“After all I’ve gone through, I’m glad at where I’m at now. It’s a constant learning experience.”
Nov. 11, 2004
Charleston Post Courier, SC
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
It seems that in election years and in years when Supreme Court justices are ailing (both would be now), we hear a lot about the Founding Fathers.
In case you thought the Founding Fathers consisted only of the usual faces we see on our money... Washingtons, Jeffersons, Benjamins... GMLc has strived over the years (do we get an award?) to bring you information about the Lowcountry's contribution to that particular American pantheon.
You can get more information by reading our favorite short history of Charleston, Robert Rosen's "A Short History of Charleston," or our favorite lengthy history of South Carolina, Walter Edgar's "South Carolina: A History."
FORGOTTEN FOUNDER: Better still, you can read Dr. Marty D. Matthews' new book about Charles Pinckney.
Pinckney (1757-1824), as pluff-mudders know, was a principal architect and signer of the U.S. Constitution. He was also a militiaman, governor, legislator, senator, ambassador, orator and planter. He lived a long life and is buried somewhere in the St. Philip's Episcopal Church graveyard.
Saturday, Matthews will present and sign copies of his book "Forgotten Founder: The Life and Times of Charles Pinckney" at 2 p.m. at Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, situated on a remnant of Snee Farm, one of Pinckney's seven farms.
It's Our Favorite Price.
Author Matthews is an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University.
Although the Lowcountry boasts a national historic site on Pinckney's land, "the fates seemed to have conspired to wipe him out (of history)," Matthews said. "The house that is there (at the park) post-dates him. One of the overpasses of Interstate 95 goes over the house where he stayed in Philadelphia. His house on the Congaree River is no longer there. His house in Charleston burned."
Pinckney was also overshadowed by famous relatives.
"Which Charles Pinckney?" Matthews said. "There's Charles Pinckney, the husband of Eliza (Lucas). There's Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and there is my Charles Pinckney... Constitutional Charlie or Blackguard Charlie. He was called Blackguard Charlie because he broke with his family and became a Jeffersonian Republican. The rest of his family were Federalists."
Ask Matthews more about his Charles Pinckney at 1254 Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant.
THE ROMANS ARE COMING: Meanwhile, Roman soldiers will take over Ridgeville
this weekend.
We're not kidding.
We knew the world of historical re-enacting was bizarre, but we didn't know it meant men in leather skirts and lace-up sandals. We're fairly excited.
The Living Historians of the Sixth Imperial Legion of Rome are holding the first Roman encampment in South Carolina. Romans soldiers, circa 74 A.D., will be camped Saturday and Sunday, 10-5, at Givhans Ferry State Park, 746 Givhans Ferry Road, Ridgeville.
There you will see a Roman army camp, legionaries, equipment, armor and weapons, gladius and pila (weapons?) demonstrations, soldiers' life exhibits, gladiatorial games, Roman pottery and blacksmithing, papyrus writings, Roman food (pasta?) etc. Park admission is $2.
LAGNIAPPE: Finally, for our little something extra... The World Toilet Summit
will be held in Beijing Nov. 17-19. Workshops will be held on the humanized
toilet, the popularization of the environmental toilet, toilet management
and hygiene, toilet designing and energy-saving measures. Visitors will be
taken to see what World Toilet Summit's Web site describes as "the achievements
of the toilet constructions in Beijing in recent years."
World Toilet Day, we believe, is Nov. 19 this year.
The World Toilet Organization, according to the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association, a member, "asks each individual, in their respective country, to request better equality (more facilities for women); more accessibility & special provisions (for the disabled & mothers with babies); clean toilets (for everyone); and more toilets (for the less fortunate)."
Vanderbilt to Lead Army Nanotech Program
Nov. 11, 2004
Nanoelectronics
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
The Vanderbilt School of Engineering will lead a new $2.4 million multi-institutional nanotechnology program funded by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to develop radically improved electronics, sensors, energy-conversion devices, and other critical defense systems.
Called the Advanced Carbon Nanotechnology Research Program, it will explore various nanostructures of carbon, including diamond, at the molecular level to develop next-generation materials that can be used in a wide range of defense devices and systems. The Army Research Laboratory funds will support the program's first year of operation.
Jimmy L. Davidson, principal investigator of the new program is a professor of electrical engineering and professor of materials science and engineering at Vanderbilt and will coordinate the research efforts. In addition to Vanderbilt, the University of Kentucky, North Carolina State University, the University of Florida and the International Technology Center will participate in the program.
Although carbon is the most versatile of elements and is the foundation of most fuels, synthetic materials and biological systems, little is known about its behavior at the nanoscale level.
In addition to conducting research into carbon-based nanotechnology, the new program will train graduate students to work in the emerging field and will establish close interactions among U.S. industry and government laboratories.
Initial goals include developing diamond/carbon nanostructures for biological and chemical sensors, developing a new energy-conversion device, and developing electron emission devices for advanced electronics.
Work in biological and chemical sensors may focus on carbon-derived nanotubes, electrodes, and microtips could detect toxic chemical agents. The program will also investigate thermal-electric energy conversion devices based on diamond/carbon vacuum field emitter nanostructures, which can provide power and cooling systems that are more efficient, clean, and environmentally friendly.
Work in electron emission devices may focus on new cold-cathode electron emitters and gated-field emission devices, which could improve performance, efficiency, and reliability in advanced electronics. Infrared-emission displays can be used in infrared imaging and sensing equipment. These materials may also be useful for medical, biological and chemical applications.