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4-H plans kids workshop, drama camp, service work
Donna Mull, 4-H
NCSU
PROFESSOR UNRAVELS MORE OF DNA MYSTERY
Paul Agris, biochemistry
No-fare
bus rides end for 2 colleges
transportation
Critic's
Picks - Classical
J. Mark Scearce, Music Dept.
Open
a present, and the past
NC State cirriculum, ecomics, political science
4-H plans kids workshop, drama camp, service work
Dec. 10, 2004
Charlotte Observer
By DONNA MULL
© Copyright 2004
Q. Is 4-H offering any special holiday programs for youth? I am looking for some special activities for my children to do this holiday season.
Catawba County is offering several holiday programs for youth. The Holiday Workshop is planned from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Extension Center in Newton. The Holiday Workshop is for youth in grades K-6. Children will spend the morning creating a variety of handmade crafts suitable to give as gifts or use at home.
The items include chenille stem candy cane, holiday pencil topper, reindeer ornament, photo snow people, falling snowman ornament, stick snowman, wooden spoon cats and a mitten handprint ornament. In the afternoon, youth will go to Hickory Community Theatre to see "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The cost is $15 for the morning or $20 for the full day.
A Holiday Drama Camp will be 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 27-31 at the Extension Center. Youth will learn theater production and drama basics as they write, produce and perform an original play.
The drama camp is sponsored by the 4-H Players Drama Club. Teens from the club will work with the drama camp participants to help them learn acting techniques and prepare the play. The camp is directed by Cyndi Whittaker, who is an experienced performer with the Hickory Community Theatre and Green Room.
The cost for the camp is $55. Early-morning care is available starting at 7:30 a.m. if needed. The deadline to register for the Holiday Workshop is Wednesday.
For more information or to register for the drama camp or Holiday Workshop, contact the Extension Center at (828) 465-8240.
4-H teens from the county have been involved in a variety of service projects during the holiday season. They spent a day working at the Operation Christmas Child Processing Center in Boone. They will volunteer with the Catawba County Christmas Bureau later this month.
The 4-H Teen Club meets monthly at the Extension Center in Newton, and youth are involved in a variety of educational and service projects throughout the year. For information about joining the 4-H Teen Club, contact the Extension Center. Prior participation in 4-H is not required to join the 4-H Teen Club.
Donna Mull is an extension agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension in Catawba County. Address questions about 4-H to her at NCCE, PO Box 389, Newton, NC 28658; fax (828) 465-8428; or e-mail Donna_Mull@ncsu.edu.
Dec. 10, 2004
LocalTechWire
By Rick Smith
© Copyright 2004
The interest in the scientific community has changed to how and when genes are turned on and off, and pertinent to my research, how the codes in DNA are translated into working proteins. We are interested in the speed and accuracy of how the DNA codes for amino acids are read into the production of proteins.’ - Dr. Paul Agris
RALEIGH – Unraveling the secrets of DNA has been a great detective story for decades, with giants of science such as the late Francis Crick and his partner James Watson. Recently, a North Carolina State University professor and other researchers deciphered a few more clues.
Unfortunately, Crick died before one of the theories he expounded took a further step toward being proved true by NCSU’s Paul Agris, a PhD and a professor in the Department of Structural Biochemistry.
It’s called the Wobble Hypothesis.
Asked if the world owes a great deal to Crick and Watson, who were awarded a Nobel Prize for their discovery of DNA, Agris replied: “Absolutely. I have met both. I have a letter from Crick supporting the Modified Wobble Hypothesis. Sorry to have seen him pass- away this year, prior to the publication of the paper.”
Agris and researchers in Great Britain and Poland published the modified wobble theory in the December edition of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. Crick created the original wobble concept in 1966 in an attempt to explain how DNA codes were translated by RNA even though there are far fewer RNA.
Beyond genome mapping
Mapping the human genome, as great an achievement as it has been, is far from the end to genetic research. Understanding how genomic mapping takes place is crucial to further understanding how DNA/RNA interact and then using that knowledge for drug development or other applications.
“The interest in the scientific community has changed to how and when genes are turned on and off, and pertinent to my research, how the codes in DNA are translated into working proteins,” Agris explained. “We are interested in the speed and accuracy of how the DNA codes for amino acids are read into the production of proteins.
“There are two major areas of interest. We speak of genetic information as if it is individual genes that are turned on or off. Actually there are some 30,000 human genes, many of which are on all the time and some of which are turned on depending on cellular requirements.
“But what is really fascinating - and for which we need more information - is that certain genes are regulated together. Which genes are turned on together, which genes are turned on while others are turned off, which genes are turned off together? Why? What are the advantages for the cell to do so?
“The other major area of interest is how to alter gene expression to the benefit of human health. The work we have accomplished opens some avenues of investigation on how to use RNA chemistry to alter gene expression.”
Understanding the Wobble Hypothesis
So, Local Tech Wire asked, what is the significance of the modified Wobble Hypothesis?
“The Wobble Hypothesis of 1966 was just that an hypothesis,” Agris said. “In 1991, I altered it to the Modified Wobble Hypothesis. Now the original and the modified versions have been proven. Not only proven, but because of the technology (high resolution x-ray crystallography) used to study the way in which the codes are read, we have a physical and chemical understanding of how "wobble" works.
“The Hypothesis was precipitated by the fact that there were too few transfer RNAs (about 40 tRNAs) to read 61 genetic codes for amino acids. tRNAs carry individual amino acids to the protein synthesizing machinery (the ribosome). Each tRNA is specific for a certain amino acid. Each tRNA reads at the ribosome a genetic code for the that specific amino acid. Crick suggested that a single tRNA would have to read more than one code since we have 40 tRNAs and 61 codes. (Mitochondria have even fewer tRNAs.)
“Thus, he coined the use of the word 'wobble' as a description of a tRNA reading more than one code.
“In studying tRNA biochemistry, I found that cell's have to chemically alter the area of some tRNA molecules that reads the genetic codes for the tRNA to be accurate and specific in that reading. Thus, I proposed a Modified Wobble Hypothesis that says that chemical modifications of tRNA in some case restrict code reading to one or two codes, whereas other modifications expand code reading to three or even four codes.”
Argis, who earned B.S. degrees in chemistry and biology at Bucknell University in 1966 and his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1971, said the Wobble Hypothesis captured his attention “when I discovered that the cell's chemical modifications were important for tRNAs to be able to read the genetic codes.”
Argis’ work could prove crucial to the development of drugs and “new ways to target the protein synthesis machinery in pathogens” as scientists better understand the tRNA codes.
“The chemical modifications important to the Modified Wobble Hypothesis can be used as targets of new antibiotics,” Argis said. “They also can be used as tools in the creation of new proteins, possibly with new amino acids.”
Argis also pointed out that NCSU owns a patent on a “cell's particular chemical modifications in translation.”
A key to understanding how all DNA translation works is the process called x-ray crystallography which provided atom-level information.
“X-ray crystallography produces a snap-shot of the time at which the tRNA is physically decoding the genomic information,” Argis explained. “We turn the x-ray information into a 3D picture of the chemical interaction that has taken place.”
For more details on Argis’ work, see: biochem.ncsu.edu/faculty/agris/agris.htm
No-fare bus rides end for 2 colleges
Dec. 10, 2004
News and Observer
By CINDY GEORGE
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH -- There are no
more free rides for constituents of St. Augustine's College and Shaw University.
The Raleigh Transit Authority voted unanimously to stop honoring ID badges
from both campuses Dec. 31.
Contracts with both schools ended in August, and neither campus negotiated a new deal with the city for the UPASS program. UPASS offers free rides to students, faculty, staff and employees of local institutions who flash an ID card. Riders can go anywhere the city bus goes.
The city has continued to accept Shaw and St. Aug's IDs for free rides for more than three months.
"We were being good partners," authority member Kim Crawford said at the meeting Thursday.
Signs announcing that the program ceases at year's end for those affiliated with both campuses will appear on city buses Monday.
"On the placards, we state, 'For more information about the discontinued service, call the administrative office at this school or this school' and let folks know where to contact," said Mike Kennon, Raleigh's interim transit director.
Shaw and St. Aug's were among the first partners in the UPASS program, signing on in January 2003. Riders from the colleges accounted for about 5 percent of bus ridership in September and October, according to the latest figures available.
This week, Shaw officials questioned the city's numbers, which showed 5,874 rides in August, 8,245 rides in September and 8,956 rides in October for those who flashed Shaw IDs for free rides. Under the expired contracts, Shaw was charged $172.50 a month for UPASS. St. Aug's was charged $183 a month.
Because so many riders are affiliated with the colleges, new contracts would cost the schools 10 times as much.
The new monthly installment for Shaw would have jumped to $1,780; St. Aug's would have been charged $1,683 monthly.
Officials from both schools said the higher fees for new contracts made it impossible for them to stay in the program.
Charges are based on average ridership at 35 cents per UPASS ride, a discount from 75 cents for standard fare.
Negotiations with both schools broke down this week. The city has asked both schools to pay for the months following the August contract expiration that the city continued to provide free rides.
This week, Shaw paid $1,035 it owed for six unpaid months. The college has agreed to pay for December early next year.
St. Aug's still owes $549 for September, October and November, Kennon said.
A St. Aug's spokeswoman said the college is not in arrears because its contract ended in August. St. Aug's did not send written notification to the city requesting to end the service until Oct. 29.
As of Jan. 1, UPASS will remain available to those with identification issued by N.C. State University, the city of Raleigh, state government and Wake County government.
Staff writer Cindy George can be reached at 829-4656 or cindy.george@newsobserver.com.
Dec. 10, 2004
News and Observer
By Roy C. Dicks
© Copyright 2004
The Triangle's two largest community-based choral groups have their Christmas concerts this weekend. Luckily, the schedules make it possible to see both, and both deserve to be seen.
Saturday night in Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall, the N.C. Master Chorale highlights composers with N.C. connections. Topping the list with two works is J. Mark Scearce, who became the head of N.C. State University's Music Department this fall. Many will remember Scearce from his previous stints in the state, as composer-in-residence at N.C. State and for the city of Hickory as part of the national "Meet the Composer" program, and from his compositions presented by the N.C. Symphony, Mallarme Chamber Players and the National Opera Co.
The first of Scearce's works on the program is from 1992, a commission by N.C. State titled "Morning Star," a quiltlike weaving together of four African-American spirituals ("Mary Had a Baby," "Rise Up Shepherd," "Behold That Star," "My Lord What a Morning").
The second work, "Ecce Stella" (commissioned last year by the Portland Choral Arts Society in Maine), is in two parts: the first, a setting of a poem by British writer Robert Bridges about the last Christmas eve before World War I; the second, lines from Matthew's biblical telling of the Christmas story. Brass, bells and a bagpipe accompany the piece.
Conductor Alfred E. Sturgis leads his singers in other works by N.C. composers, including Robert Ward and Dan Locklair.
Saturday night and Sunday afternoon in Duke Chapel, the Choral Society of Durham also has brass accompaniment for its program of works ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. In addition to composers Byrd, Gabrieli, Praetorius, Bruckner and Britten, conductor Rodney Wynkoop guides the choir in Donald McCullough's "Canite tuba: A Christmas Triptych," which had its premiere at the Kennedy Center in 2001. It sets Latin texts for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany.
Dec 10, 2004
News and Observer
By Jon Sanders
© Copyright 2004
For a copy of this article, contact News Services at 515-3470.