A five-year plan for parking and transporta-tion
calls for a new funding formula to limit the
increase in annual parking permits, but still gen-erate
the additional $6.1 million needed to con-tinue
operations by the 2015–16 school year.
Chief Jeff McCracken, director of public safety,
appeared at the Employee Forum meeting on
Jan. 11 to review the planning process and to intro-duce
Fred Burchett, a consultant from Kimley-
Horne and Associates Inc., who reviewed the nuts
and bolts of the funding strategies that the com-pany
helped develop.
A series of public forums for students, Uni-versity
employees and the general public are
scheduled. Input from the forums will be instru-mental
in making any changes before the plan
is presented to the Board of Trustees in March,
McCracken said.
McCracken told forum members that the pre-vious
five-year plan actually expired a year ago,
but it was extended for a sixth year because of the
economic situation.
The economy may not be better this year,
but the rising costs of operating the transpor-tation
system, which include maintenance
of the park-and-ride lots and the fare-free
bus service offered by Chapel Hill Tran-sit,
dictate the need for a new plan for the
Carol ina Facul ty and Staff News
Vol. 36, No. 2
gazette.unc.edu
Transportation plan eases reliance on parking revenue
During his campus visit on Jan. 20, UNC President Tom Ross
toured some of the research labs in the Carolina Physical
Science Complex.
In the photo at top, Rich McLaughlin, professor of mathemat-ics,
demonstrates for Ross, center, research conducted in the Fluids
Lab, located in Chapman Hall. The lab includes a 13,000-gallon wave
tank that is used by marine scientists and mathematicians who study
fluid dynamics.
Pictured from left are Roberto Camassa, Kenan Professor of Math-ematics;
Brian White, assistant professor of marine sciences; McLaugh-lin;
Ross; and Chancellor Holden Thorp.
In the photo at right, Carrie Donley, director of the CHANL (Chapel
Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Laboratory) Instrumentation
Facility, presents Ross with a quarter containing micron-sized logos
of the 17 UNC system campuses. The logos were milled into the coin
using a beam of focused gallium ions and imaged with a scanning
uni v e r s i t y
See TRANSPORTATION page 4
DISCOVERING
A LOVE OF
TEACHING
10
CONE,
CAROLINA’S
INNOVATION
CHAMPION
6
PAVING THE
WAY FOR
SYNTHETIC
BLOOD
12
January 26, 2011
Ross visits Carolina
on tour of campuses
See ROSS page 11
2 University Gazette
Ten student-led scholarly projects designed to enhance collaboration between Carolina and Duke University each have been awarded
a $5,000 grant as part of the inaugural Kenan-Biddle Partnership class.
“We received more than 90 proposals, which made the selection process highly competi­tive,” said Ronald Strauss, executive associate provost and co-chair of the grant selection com­mittee. “We are confident that the 10 projects chosen are well designed to achieve the benefits intended by the partnership.��
The Kenan-Biddle Partnership is funded
by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable
Trust and the Mary Duke Biddle Founda­tion. Partnership grants promote student-
initiated, inter-institutional projects designed to foster collaborations between the
two universities.
Each project was required to include at least one public exhibition, presentation or perfor­mance, and proposals made jointly by students from both institutions received preference.
Grants selected are:
n Sharing the Mantle for Positive Peace: Collective Leadership Models for Youth and Adult Partnerships in Preventing
Youth Violence;
n Shifting Trends: an Experiment in After-school Computer Literacy Programs;
n Duke/UNC-Chapel Hill Working Group in Contemporary Poetry;
n Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering and Science (FEMMES);
n Triangle University Food Studies;
n Primate Palooza: Multidisciplinary approaches to biodiversity conservation;
n The Community Empowerment Fund: Dur­ham Branch;
n Examining Undergraduate Involvement in the Grassroots Movement for Global
Health Equity;
n Duke-UNC Bhutanese Empowerment Project (BEP); and
n Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill Students Work­ing for Sustainable Agriculture.
Proposals for the 2012 class of grant recipients will begin in November.
EDITOR
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Dan Sears (962-8592)
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ON THE WEB
BANJO-PLAYING CARDIOLOGIST
David Tate is an interventional cardiologist at UNC Hospitals who moonlights as a bluegrass musician. “What really makes a good musician and what really makes a good physician are a real dedication to lis­tening,” he said in the most recent installment of “real doctors, real people.”
http://bit.ly/e8rAcq
FISCAL ANALYSIS TOOL ANSWERS BUDGET QUESTIONS
A collaboration that began with three School of Gov­ernment faculty members – Bill Rivenbark, Dale Roe­nigk and Greg Allison – has turned into a Web-based dashboard that helps local N.C. governments analyze and communicate their current financial condition.
http://bit.ly/fLvD9Z
MAPPING N.C. MOVIEGOING
Documenting the American South’s “Going to the Show” illuminates the experience of movies and moviegoing in North Carolina from the introduction of projected motion pictures (1896) to the end of the silent film era (circa 1930). At left is a 1931 postcard from the beach-front Lumina Theatre at Wrightsville Beach.
http://bit.ly/8GQTaL
10 UNC-Duke projects receive
Kenan-Biddle Partnership grants
The University tests the emergency sirens and text messaging each semester as part of the Alert Carolina safety awareness campaign. The next siren test is scheduled on Jan. 31, between noon and 1 p.m.
Anyone outside on or near campus, including downtown Chapel Hill, may hear the sirens during the test, which checks equipment and reminds students, faculty and staff what to do in an emergency. No action is needed.
The sirens will sound an alert tone along with a brief pre-recorded public address message. When testing is complete, a different siren tone and voice message will signal, “All clear. Resume normal activities.”
Other than during a test, the sirens will only sound for an imminent, life-threatening emergency such as an armed and dangerous person on or near campus, a major chemical spill or hazard, or a tornado sighting.
If the sirens sound, go inside or take cover immediately. Close win­dows and doors. Stay until further notice. The sirens also broadcast short pre-recorded voice messages. When the threat is over, the sirens sound again with a different tone and a voice message announces, “All clear. Resume normal activities.”
“The sirens are our most direct way to quickly tell people about a life-threatening emergency on or near campus,” said Chief Jeff McCracken, director of public safety. “We conduct regular tests to remind everyone what the sirens sound like. We want students, faculty and staff to think about what they would do in a real emergency.”
In an emergency, the University will post safety-related announce­ments and updates on the Alert Carolina website as quickly as possible, but authorities caution that it may take time to investigate the situation, verify the facts and provide the campus with instructions.
During next week’s test, the University also will send test text mes­sages – one when the sirens sound along with a second one to mark the “all clear” – to more than 47,000 cell phone numbers registered by stu­dents, faculty and staff in the online campus directory. To learn more about updating online campus directory information so that emergency text messages can be received, refer to alertcarolina.unc.edu and the news brief on page 8.
The University also communicates about an emergency through means including campuswide e-mail and voice mail (only for cam­pus land lines), the Adverse Weather and Emergency Phone Line
(843-1234) for recorded information and the University Access Chan­nel (Chapel Hill Time Warner Cable Channel 4) along with other cam­pus cable television channels.
The Alert Carolina campaign educates the campus community about what to do in an emergency and where to go for safety-related informa­tion and resources. Samples of the alert and “all clear” audio tones also are available at alertcarolina.unc.edu.
University to test emergency sirens Jan. 31January 26, 2011 3
Strauss agrees to lead UNC Global on permanent basis
Ron Strauss has agreed to drop “interim” from his role in leading UNC Global.
Strauss, the University’s executive associate provost, has served as interim chief international officer for more than a year while the University conducted a search for a new associate provost for UNC Global.
But after interviewing the two finalists recommended by the search committee and choosing the person to offer the job, Bruce Carney, executive vice chancellor and provost, said he asked Strauss to fill the role.
Carney said his decision was driven by the ongoing fiscal situation and the impact upcoming budget cuts will have on the provost’s office.
Chancellor Holden Thorp told the campus community ear­lier this month that cuts equal to a 5 percent reduction in state funding were necessary in anticipation of inevitable cuts for fiscal year 2011–12 as the state faces a $3.7 billion deficit.
Carney told the Faculty Council at its Jan. 14 meeting that until the fiscal climate improves, he has no plans to initiate the search again.
“I’m happy to say that Ron Strauss, who has filled that role splendidly on an interim basis, was persuaded to take on the chief international officer role permanently,” he said. “This is good news because UNC Global is very important to all of us.”
To accommodate the change, some of Strauss’ regular duties will be reassigned within the provost’s office, Carney said.
ONE MORE LEAN YEAR
Thorp said he asked administrators to implement cuts in pro­grams, operations and staffing effective July 1 to offset the pos­sibility of returning a total 5 percent reduction in state appro­priations this fiscal year. It was one way to prevent widespread anxiety in waiting for what is almost-certain bad news for
next year.
“It’s good to demonstrate to the legislature that we under­stand the difficult circumstances and choices they have to make, and that we realize everyone in state government will have to make painful decisions to get through the situation we’re in,” Thorp told the council.
“Since these cuts will affect the classroom more than they have in the past, it will show that additional cuts beyond this will have a huge detrimental effect on the classroom.”
Understandably, making additional cuts creates stress within the units, he said, but this strategy served the University well two
years ago.
Units received budget cut numbers covering one-time
See FACULTY COUNCIL page 5
Faculty members have many concerns about protecting sensitive information, judging from the number of questions that have arisen at the last couple of Faculty Council meetings.
To respond to the wide range of concerns about information tech­nology issues, a full hour of the Jan. 14 council meeting was devoted to information presented by Larry Conrad, vice chancellor for informa­tion technology and chief information officer, and Stan Waddell, infor­mation security executive director and information security officer.
With an average of 30,000 attempted hacks daily on the Univer­sity’s network, IT analysts are doing “deep-dive analysis to figure out where the bad guys are and what they did,” Waddell said.
His general advice to the campus community: “If you suspect that a critical system or one that is hosting or processing sensitive data is compromised, stop and put in a remedy ticket to ITS Security.”
He advised people to scan systems that store sensitive information at least monthly to identify missing security patches and improperly configured services, and he advocated eliminating data at the end of the retention period.
People should not surf the Web on systems that contain sensitive data because it is easy to click on an ad that looks legitimate, and is on a legitimate site, but includes malware, Waddell said. “The Web is a bad place,” he said.
Sensitive data should be encrypted. In fact, both Waddell and Con­rad advised against using personally owned computers to store sensi­tive information, and they reminded faculty that any mobile device that stores sensitive information – including cell phones, thumb drives and external hard drives – must support information encryption.
At the suggestion of one faculty member, many of these tips may be passed on to new students in upcoming CTOPS sessions.
The IT presentations and answers to questions from the Decem­ber Faculty Council meeting are available at www.unc.edu/faculty/faccoun/agendas/2010-11/A11FC01.shtml.
FACULTY SEEK ADVICE ABOUT
IT SECURITY
New UNC President Tom Ross faces a new year with a new approach to respond to a recurring challenge: bracing for another round of state budget cuts that could be more severe than in 2009 and 2010.
On Jan. 14, during his first meeting with the UNC Board of Governors, Ross proposed a comprehensive review of academic programs across the university system – a move he acknowl­edged would require faculty, staff and administrators to think anew about making the UNC system more efficient.
This process, he acknowledged, would not be easy, but it is necessary so the UNC system can survive economic hard times while preserving the academic core missions of its
17 member institutions.
“It does have some pain, and we’ll have some controversy,” Ross said. “Change is hard.”
But with a projected $3.7 billion revenue shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, change is unavoidable, he said.
The state and national economy is gradually improving, but the loss of federal stimulus dollars that has bolstered universi­ties the past two years will no longer be available.
Ross named James Woodward, former chancellor of UNC-Charlotte who later served as interim chancellor of N.C. State University, to lead a review of UNC system programs begin­ning this spring. The group will send its recommendations to the BOG for its consideration.
Ross emphasized that he did not know how much program duplication existed, and that some duplication of programs and services was necessary and appropriate.
He described the review as a means to achieve greater opera­tional efficiencies in academic programs throughout the sys­tem. That could result in the elimination or consolidation of some degree programs, and it could lead to more collaboration within and among campuses – for example, by finding ways to use available technologies more effectively and make support services more efficient.
The overall goal, Ross said, is to maximize scarce resources and avoid unnecessary duplication. It builds on former UNC President Erskine Bowles’ work to pare down administrative costs and implement efficiency strategies that would protect academics from state budget cuts.
Similarly, at Carolina, Chancellor Holden Thorp has used the Carolina Counts initiative to implement recommendations from the Bain & Company study as a way to improve opera­tional efficiency and protect classrooms and labs.
Ross, who took the helm of the UNC system after serving as Davidson College president for the past three years, inherits an operationally streamlined university system that in the past four years already has weathered $620 million in state cuts – with more ahead.
Estimates show that a 5 percent cut in state appropriations could lead to a loss of 900 positions across the UNC system, including 400 faculty positions, with a significant number of course sections being eliminated.
The potential cuts would be implemented even as the UNC system grapples with accommodating an increasing number
of students.
Calling the effort an economic restructuring, Ross said it was important to recognize that the cuts are permanent and require finding new, less expensive ways of educating students – and new ways for campuses to work together.
Ross calls for systemwide review of academic programs4 University Gazette
Throughout the development and imple­mentation of the student services phase of ConnectCarolina – known as Campus Solutions – various advisory groups have pro­vided input.
Now that Campus Solutions has become fully operational, Information Technology Services (ITS) wants to continue gathering feedback about concerns, issues and sugges­tions for potential changes to the system.
Key to providing feedback is the new Con­nectCarolina Users Forum, which represents faculty, staff and students who use Con­nectCarolina, the Universitywide initiative to replace aging administrative systems for stu­dent services, human resources, payroll and finance. The users forum takes the place of the various Campus Solutions advisory groups.
The ConnectCarolina Users Forum will meet for the first time on Feb. 9 from 3 to
4:30 p.m. in Toy Lounge, on the fourth floor of Dey Hall. The meeting is open to everyone on campus, and anyone with administrative access to ConnectCarolina applications has voting membership (ITS staff are not eligible for voting membership).
Topics the forum might address include:
n Identifying new functions or changes to existing functions that would help improve administrative business processes or user interactions;
n Providing input about the priority of sug­gested changes;
n Identifying seminar topics about Con­nectCarolina capabilities; and
n Initiating collaboration for business processes across departments, centers
and schools.
The users forum chair will provide feedback to the Enterprise Applications Coordinating Committee (EACC), formerly known as the Campus Solutions Stakeholder Committee. That group has governed the development and implementation of Campus Solutions for the past three years and, as the EACC, will be responsible for approving changes to Campus Solutions.
The 10-member EACC eventually will broaden its focus to the human resources/payroll and finance components when those are ready to move out of the development and implementation phases.
Current Campus Solutions applications include functions for undergraduate and grad­uate admissions, student registration, financial aid, student financials and academic advising as well as the eProcurement component
of finance.
CONNECTCAROLINA USERS
FORUM TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK
TRANSPORTATION from page 1
2011–12 academic year to raise the revenue needed to meet future financial obligations,
McCracken said.
By 2015, it is expected that an additional $1 mil­lion will be needed just to cover a 3 percent infla­tion rate.
The University’s share of the total cost to offer fare-free service to all Chapel Hill Transit riders is expected to increase by $2.6 million in the next five years, and the University’s subsidy to employ­ees who use Triangle Transit buses to get to work is expected to increase by $270,000 during the same period.
An estimated $2.2 million would be designated to pay for capital construction for additional employee and patient/visitor parking spaces pre­viously approved in the development plan.
SHARING THE BURDEN
Parking permits will not increase for three years. The new plan does call for a 2 percent increase in 2012–13, requiring permit holders to pay an addi­tional $5.70 to $16.13 per year, based on a sliding scale that is tied to an individual’s income.
Because the 2 percent increases would be based on this same sliding scale, the increase for lower-paid employees would be smaller than that for higher-paid employees, said Cheryl Stout, assistant director for parking services.
For employees paid biweekly, the 2 percent increases for each paycheck would range from
24 cents to 67 cents.
Burchett said the new five-year plan recognizes that the annual permit fees are already at the high end of the range of what universities charge. For that reason, other funding strategies have been developed to limit the increased cost.
Funding strategies outlined in the five-year plan in the order they will be implemented are:
n 2011–12 – Increase the transportation fees charged to students and departments;
n 2011–12 – Convert spaces for hourly visitors in the Bell Tower Visitor Lot, which would also accommodate the need for short-term parking on central campus;
Carolina Covenant report card shows
scholars making significant academic gains
A new report card shows the Carolina Covenant helps close the graduation gap between low-income and other students.
The University compared Carolina Covenant Scholars who enrolled in 2005 with a group of 2003 entering students who would have qualified then for the program, which provides a debt-free education.
Carolina Covenant students performed 9.6 percentage points better in four-year graduation rates (66.3 percent) than the com­parison group, according to the study conducted by the Univer­sity’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.
Graduation rates for all students gained 2.5 percentage points and, overall, were slightly higher.
The retention rate for 2005 Covenant Scholars in their third year was 4 percentage points higher (90.2 percent) than for the 2003 group and very close to the mark for all students
(93.5 percent).
Most noteworthy of all is that the graduation rate among male Covenant Scholars increased a dramatic 27 percent over the 2003 male comparison group, narrowing the achievement gap between Covenant men and women.
“We’re pleased the report card shows that the Carolina Cov­enant is doing much more than removing socioeconomic barri­ers for our students,” said Shirley Ort, associate vice provost and director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid.
“The mix of financial, academic and personal support appears to be contributing significantly to improved retention and gradu­ate rates of students from low-income families.”
Ongoing research and evaluation, such as that revealed in the report card, always has been part of the program. Findings also help inform administrators about University policy.
Under the Carolina Covenant, eligible low-income
students who are admitted can enroll without worrying about how they will pay for their education. And, if they work from 10 to 12 hours per week in a federal work-study job, they can graduate debt-free.
The Carolina Covenant also includes academic and personal support services to help the scholars make the most of their
college experience and succeed in completing their undergradu­ate degrees.
In fall 2010, Carolina enrolled 558 new Carolina Covenant Scholars – more than 11 percent of the first-year class. Currently, 2,200 Covenant Scholars are studying at Carolina, and more than 2,900 students have benefited from the program since it began.
For more information about the Carolina Covenant
report card, refer to www.unc.edu/carolinacovenant/files/2010/reportcard.swf.
A Carolina Covenant Scholar celebrates with her family dur­ing Commencement in 2008. She is one of more than 2,900 students who have enrolled in the program since its inception in 2005.
See TRANSPORTATION page 11January 26, 2011 5
Faculty/Staff
news
MICHAEL EMCH, associate professor of geography, has been awarded a 2010–11 Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Uni­versity of Canterbury in New Zealand from February to July. His research will seek ways to determine what is more important in disease transmission: where one lives or social connections.
Six faculty members are among 503 scientists who have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advance­ment of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society, in recognition of their efforts toward advancing science applica­tions that are considered scientifically or socially distinguished.
The new fellows are: KERRY S. BLOOM, Thad L. Beyle Distinguished Professor of Biology; PAUL W. LESLIE, profes­sor of anthropology and department chair; WENBIN LIN, pro­fessor of chemistry; DINESH MANOCHA, Phi Delta Theta/Matthew Mason Distinguished Professor of Computer Sci­ence; PATRICK F. SULLIVAN, Ray M. Hayworth and Family Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and professor of genet­ics; and JOHN F. WILKERSON, John R. and Louise S. Parker Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy.
ELIZABETH J. MAYER-DAVIS, professor of nutrition, has been named president of health care and education for the American Diabetes Association. She will serve as the association’s primary spokesperson and advocate regarding clinical management of diabetes care principles.
Women’s soccer coach ANSON DORRANCE is the recipi­ent of the Honor Award for 2010 from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NCSAA). He received the award at the NSCAA convention in Baltimore this month.
RICHARD ELLINGTON, the ITS facilities manager who retired in January, was presented with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine at his Jan. 14 retirement party in honor of his 43 years of “dedicated and exemplary state service at Carolina.”
HONORS
Joseph S. Ferrell, secretary of the faculty since 1996, was hon­ored Jan. 14 with the General Alumni Association’s Faculty Service Award. The award was established in 1990 and honors faculty members who have performed outstanding service for the University or the association.
Ferrell, who also is a professor of public law and government in the School of Government, joined the faculty in 1964 after earn­ing both his bachelor’s degree in science teaching in 1960 and a law degree in 1963 from Carolina. He earned a master’s of law specialty in 1964 from Yale University.
Ferrell has been a member of the Committee on University Gov­ernment since 1974 and was chair from 1978 to 1985 and from 1992 to 1995. He has served on many other committees through the years, including the SPA Employees Grievance Committee, and chaired several, including a task force on administrative processes and the search committee for a new School of Education dean in the mid-1990s.
“I cannot think of a better recipient than Joe Ferrell, who has done so much for the University,” Chancellor Holden Thorp said at the Jan. 14 Faculty Council meeting.
Known for his institutional memory and the dignity with which he carries out his duties as faculty secretary, Ferrell was once described by former Faculty Chair Sue Estroff as the living archive of the campus and “the keeper of the spirit and the letter of the law
of Carolina.”
In 2003, Ferrell’s peers honored him with the prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award, and the University recognized his many contribu­tions with a C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award.
“He is a person of uncommon grace and wit whose love for this place has benefited virtually every member of this campus for many years,” the Massey citation said.
By nature, Ferrell is much more comfortable shining the light on others than on himself.
Anyone who has attended Commencement or University Day ceremonies has been treated to Ferrell’s wry, gentle wit as he recognizes honorary degree and distinguished alumna and alumnus award recipients in his eastern Carolina drawl. Little of what he says, in fact, actually appears in the citation or program.
Through the years, Ferrell has served as a trusted adviser to a range of people, from county commissioners
to chancellors.
With expertise in property tax, county government and the N.C. General Assembly, he has been an instructor,
consultant and scholar to the Legislative Research Com­mission, which included work on the revision of the North Carolina Constitution.
He also has served as staff counsel to the House and Senate Committees on Local Government and as editor of the Daily Bulletin and North Carolina Legislation, the school’s annual summary of acts of the General Assembly.
Ferrell, longtime faculty secretary,
honored for service to the University
DONN YOUNG
reversions for the current fiscal year as well as a new reduction equivalent to a 5 percent recurring cut in state appropriations for 2011–12. That information is included on the
Carolina Budget Information website, uni­versityrelations.unc.edu/budget.
On a positive note, private giving is improving, Thorp said, citing a report to the Board of Trustees in November that showed commitments were up 22 percent. In addi­tion, the number of endowments under water – that is, valued lower than when the money was given – has decreased from well above 100 to less than 30 for next year.
��We’ve made huge, huge progress there, and that is very important for us long term,” Thorp said.
There is a growing baseline of revenue in North Carolina and across the country, Thorp said. The January state revenue report shows signs of a slow, steady economic recovery, but it is not expected to be enough to compensate for the state’s looming budget deficit this year.
FOOTBALL INVESTIGATION
Since not all faculty members have heard Thorp’s regular updates to Faculty Council about the NCAA and University investigation into the football program, on Jan. 14 he sent the faculty an e-mail message, which is posted on the chancellor’s blog, holden.unc.edu.
Although there was no new information to report, Thorp said he was pleased that there had been no evidence of widespread problems in the academic support program beyond the incidents uncovered during the investigation.
“We will take steps to make sure the aca­demic problems we found don’t happen again,” he said.
FACULTY COUNCIL from page 36 University Gazette
Cone’s mission: to help Carolina realize its potential to
become one of the most innovative universities in America
Judith Cone was driven, even in high school. Looking back, she sees that she had little choice.
“I was inspired by teachers who expected excellence and always pushed me beyond what I thought was possible,” Cone said. “I also had a father who expected perfection.”
Her father was a Southern Baptist minister in the gritty steel town of Granite City, Ill., but Cone held dreams too big to be forged there.
She took every honors course available so she could get into a great college and embark on a career in science. But that dream was shattered after she won a full scholarship to Northwestern University – and her father refused to let her go.
“You will not go to that den of inequity,” he told her.
Flabbergasted, she asked, “What is that?”
“Chicago,” he said.
So she enrolled at William Jewell College, a small lib­eral arts school tucked safely away in Liberty, Mo., that her
father approved.
Two years later, she dropped out and got married. By the time she was 26, she was divorced with two young daugh­ters and without a job, and needed a place to live. Desperate for help, she sought out a dean she had known as a student at
William Jewell.
“I need a job, she told him. “I need a place to live and a place to finish my education.”
“OK,” the dean responded.
“OK to what?” she asked.
“All of it,” he said.
He arranged for her to go to school for free, created a 40-hour-a-week job for her on campus and found a place for her to stay.
Within two years, she graduated and started her career as the first-ever learning disabilities teacher in a small struggling town outside Kansas City, Mo. The conditions were so bad there that after the superintendent hired her, he said he couldn’t imagine why she took the job.
Nearly all the children she taught lived in public housing projects. And it did not take her long to realize she needed to know more to really be able to help them.
Undeterred, she enrolled in the University of Kansas, where she earned a master of science degree with honors in learning disabilities as she continued teaching. At the same time, she partnered with another teacher to raise money for the things the students needed that neither their parents nor the district could give them.
They raised enough money to bring in a school nurse, estab­lish a clothes closet and a breakfast program, and develop an outreach program to parents. And before she turned 30, Cone wrote an instruction manual for learning disabilities that was adopted by the state.
“You think you are going down a path, then life gives you something else,” Cone said.
MAKING IDEAS REAL
Cone eventually quit teaching when she married a psycholo­gist with three children of his own, and decided to stay home for the next six years to pull their separate broods into a family.
Cone and her husband co-founded two management-
consulting firms with clients such as General Motors and AT&T, but in 1991 Cone left in search of a new challenge.
She found it three years later when she joined the Ewing Marion Kaufman Foundation, a $2 billion foundation based in Kansas City, Mo.
These recurring themes of risk-taking, reinvention and dis­covery are not merely threads that run through the course of Cone’s life. They are the innate forces that continue to propel her life and give it purpose.
Because she had an opportunity to foster those same ideals even deeper into the culture at Carolina, she left her position as vice president of emerging strategies at the Kaufman Foun­dation in 2009 to become Chancellor Holden Thorp’s special assistant for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Since she came here, Cone has occupied a tiny office in the basement of South Building, borrowing support from other units and working with a term of employment measured in months, not years.
All of that suits her just fine. It is the mission that matters to Cone: to help Thorp realize Carolina’s potential to become one of the most innovative universities in America.
Toward that end, Cone in the past year led the creation of the Innovate@Carolina: Important Ideas for a Better World roadmap, the University’s vision for using innovative ideas to solve pressing problems (innovate.unc.edu).
“In Chancellor Thorp, Carolina has a leader who believes it is the University’s responsibility to translate its knowledge and
See CONE page 7
It has now been more than a decade since Rich Superfine and Russ Taylor were invited to the White House to take part in America’s Millennial Celebration on the National Mall. Then, on New Year’s Day in 2000, C-SPAN broadcast a live nanotechnology experiment they conducted.
At the time, Superfine, a professor in phys­ics and astronomy, and Taylor, a professor in computer science with a joint appointment in physics and astronomy, were leading the charge of the scientific and technological breakthrough called nanoscience, which gave scientists the tools to measure, manipulate and organize matter on the nanoscale – one to 100 billionths of a meter.
Ten years later, they still are. Evidence of their innovative drive is apparent in Rheomics, the second company the two men founded together at Carolina. Also part of the venture is co-founder Richard Spero, a former gradu­ate student of Superfine who joined his lab
in 2005.
To understand what this new company can offer scientists, hark back to a remark Taylor made in 2000 to cool the rhetoric about how nanoscience was about to change the world.
Taylor compared the nanoManipulator, the computer tool he played a central role in building, to a sandbox in which scientists push objects around or make marks in the sand.
“Nanotechnology has taken on the role of the next big thing,” he said. “And it will do amazing things. But we don’t know what all those amazing things are yet.”
Superfine and Taylor believe Rheomics can offer a new set of tools to streamline difficult experiments for a wide range of researchers so that amazing insights can happen faster
and simpler.
Superfine credits the ingenuity of graduate students like Spero who, when confronted with a problem that impedes their work, seek ways to solve it.
When Spero joined Superfine’s lab, he grew frustrated at the labor-intensive, time-consuming procedure he had to follow while conducting experiments on the perme­ability of blood clots.
He had to position his blood specimen on the microscope. Then he had to use a separate piece of software to take videos to analyze the changing position of different particles over time. Finally, he had to run another computer process that crunched a bunch of numbers, line by line, to calculate the statistics of the particles’ behavior.
“The experiment, as a whole, consisted of data acquisition from the microscope, image analysis on the video data and then the analysis of the statistical data,” Spero said. “Each step had to be done on its own, and each step had
Graduate student’s push to
improve workflow leads to
creation of new company
Rheomics founders are, from left, Richard Spero, Suresh Balu, Russell Taylor and Richard Superfine, shown in the conference room at the Carolina Launch Pad facility in RENCI.
See RHEOMICS page 7apply it to the real issues facing the academic and non-academic worlds,” Cone said. “He has challenged us to extend our goals beyond excellence in research and teaching. He is acutely aware of the serious issues facing people and the planet here in North Carolina and around the world.
“When he looks at the history of Carolina and the many examples of how Carolina was not satisfied with the ways things were at the time, and did something unique to improve the situation, he is inspired to continue that tradition. He wants to accelerate innovative responses to unmet needs. He wants us to be a great research university that is connected and relevant.”
The way to fulfill that vision for innovation is to invite the entire campus community to generate ideas and share them, and then provide a mechanism to make them real, Cone said.
It is a mission for which she comes fully prepared – and committed.
In her 15 years with the Kaufman Foundation, Cone carved out her niche by developing and funding programs to educate entrepreneurs, including collegiate entrepreneurship education initiatives. Among the signature projects she developed was an experiment called the Kaufman Campuses Initiative that seeks to make entrepreneurial education accessible to students and faculty across all fields of study.
Carolina was one of the eight pilot campuses selected in 2004, resulting in the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative.
A LIFE COMING FULL CIRCLE
In many ways, Cone marks her arrival at Carolina as a sign­post of her life coming full circle.
As a single mother, she had to scramble and scrap just to be able to reach her goals. She didn’t merely accept what life gave her, she went after what she wanted, even when she wasn’t sure exactly what that was.
It is that impulse, she believes, that is at the heart of entrepre­neurial thinking. And that is what she wants to perpetuate.
“Some think that innovation and entrepreneurship belong to the sciences or to the business school, but this is not the case,” Cone said. “It is an approach to a problem or opportunity that couples passion with discipline and persever­ance. It is about success­fully implementing a better approach.”
Just as her high school teachers and the dean at William Jewell helped her, Cone wants to help people reach for
distant possibilities.
“You give a creative person a nurturing, supportive environ­ment and they will do more than you could ever script or imagine,” Cone said. “And to me, that’s the exciting part about entrepreneurship
and innovation.
“Our message to our students, to our fac­ulty and to our staff is, ‘If you are not satisfied with the status quo, then you have the power to change it.’
“I am looking at all 40,000 people who work at UNC to be a part of this vision. Recognizing a need, viewing it as an opportunity, being data-driven in testing your ideas, and then working very hard to make your vision real is the heart of what makes institutions great and the world better.
“It is a privilege to play a small role.”
January 26, 2011 7
to be babysat with somebody standing over it to make sure nothing went wrong.
“By the time I obtained my Ph.D. in 2010, we had developed a pipeline that inte­grated all these separate systems to the point you could set the specimen on the microscope, hit a button and come back a few hours later and get your answer.”
That automated process is captured in the company’s name, Superfine
said. The root meaning of “rheo” means to flow, gush or burst. The suffix, “omics,” suggests that this new technology will be part of the next revolution
in biology.
Spero later joined Superfine in “Launch the Venture,” an interactive, six-month course for members of the Carolina community who are seeking help in evaluating the feasibility of their potential company, designing a business strat­egy and creating a business plan.
Rheomics is licensing University technology developed by the Center for Computer-Integrated Systems for Microscopy and Manipulation, the NIH-funded national resource led by Superfine and Taylor that invents and builds new instrumentation systems and applies them to biophysics research projects involving researchers at Carolina and around the country.
Also working with Rheomics is Carolina alumnus Suresh Balu, an experienced entrepreneur with a background in product and market strategy, management consulting and investments.
“In the next decade, systems that quickly measure the stiffness and viscosity of blood clots, biofluids and cancer cells will be instrumental to the diagnosis and treatment of disease,” said Superfine.
“We eagerly look forward to introducing our first product in this emerging area of biomedical instrumentation. Carolina Launch Pad is the perfect environ­ment for Rheomics to continue developing its technology and refining its go-to-market strategy.”
RHEOMICS from page 6
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who has led an effort to build a controversial interfaith cultural center in lower Manhattan, will deliver the 2011 Weil Lecture on American Citizenship at 7:30 p.m.
March 16 in Hill Hall. Admission is free, but tick­ets will be required.
The biennial lecture, supported by private funds and hosted by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, is the featured event in a series of con­versations on American citizenship. Last fall, a fac­ulty committee representing a range of disciplines invited Abdul Rauf to deliver the lecture. The com­mittee has organized two panels that will lead up to the talk.
Abdul Rauf, a naturalized U.S. citizen and Kuwaiti-born imam, founded and chairs the Cor­doba Movement, which seeks to improve under­standing among people of all cultures and faiths.
Abdul Rauf promotes the Cordoba House, a center to encourage multifaith understanding at Park 51, the proposed cultural center located near the site of the World Trade Center tragedy. He plans to lead interfaith activities at the center. He is neither speaking for Park 51 nor raising funds for the center in his current appearances around the country. Besides UNC, he will speak at other uni­versities, including Harvard, Yale and Columbia.
Abdul Rauf leads Masjid al-Farrah, a mosque at a different site in Manhattan. He also founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement, the first Muslim organization committed to bring­ing American Muslims and non-Muslims together through programs in academia, policy, current affairs and culture.
“The Weil Lecture brings people to campus to stimulate discussion about American citizen­ship,” said Bill Balthrop, interim institute director and professor of communication studies. “There is no doubt that Abdul Rauf will spark thoughtful conversations.”
In addition to the Weil lecture, the institute will host two free public panels on citizenship. A
Feb. 22 panel will address civil discourse; another, on March 1, will discuss religious tolerance. Both will be from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the University Room of Hyde Hall.
In 2003, Abdul Rauf led cultural awareness training for FBI employees in the bureau’s New York field office. In 2007 and twice in 2010, he traveled to the Middle East to talk about religious tolerance and Islam in America as part of a speaker program organized by the State Department’s
Feisal Abdul Rauf to give Weil Lecture on citizenship
See WEIL page 11
CONE from page 68 University Gazette
WORK OF M.F.A. STUDENTS ON DISPLAY
“First Year,” the work of eight first-year M.F.A. students in the fine arts graduate program, is on exhibit through Feb. 11 in the art department’s John and June Alcott Gallery.
The work explores a variety of themes and media, including site-specific sculpture and installation, large-scale painting, per­formance, video and photography.
UPDATE INFORMATION IN ONLINE
CAMPUS DIRECTORY
ConnectCarolina, the University’s new integrated adminis­trative system, centralizes management of information about faculty, staff and students in one integrated system. The infor­mation in the campus directory is duplicated in all of the Uni­versity’s administrative systems, including payroll and benefits, and needs to be frequently checked and updated, if necessary.
To check a listing, log into MyUNC (my.unc.edu) using Onyen and password. Click on Update Personal Information to review and make any changes. For complete information and a sample page, refer to help.unc.edu/181.
CAMPUS RECREATION
n Feb. 5 – Kids Rock! Volleyball will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the Rams Head Recreation Center. Coach Joe Sagula and the varsity volleyball team will give instruction, lead drills and give a brief demonstration. To R.S.V.P. for the free program, e-mail ajstern@email.unc.edu.
n Feb. 6 – A 60-Minute Triathlon will be held at 10 a.m. at the Bowman Gray Pool in the Student Recreation Center, with 15 minutes for each swim, bike and run event. For informa­tion, e-mail ajstern@email.unc.edu.
‘ANGELS IN AMERICA’ OPENS JAN. 29
PlayMakers Repertory Company’s presentation of “Angels in America,” Parts I and II, will be on stage from Jan. 29 to March 6 in the Center for Dramatic Art. Tickets are $10–$45. Call 962-7529 or visit www.playmakersrep.org.
LECTURES, SEMINARS, SYMPOSIA
n Feb. 2 – The Carolina Transportation Program of the Cen­ter for Urban and Regional Studies will host a talk by Peter Haas, one of the creators of the Housing + Transportation Affordability Index. The talk will be held in Wilson Library’s Pleasants Family Assembly Room at 5:30 p.m.
n Feb. 2 – Elizabeth A. Duke, Carolina alumna and member of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors, will speak in the business school’s Koury Auditorium at 5:30 p.m. as part of the Dean’s Speaker Series. Duke took office at the Federal Reserve on Aug. 5, 2008. Prior to that, she was senior executive vice president and CEO of TowneBank in Virginia. R.S.V.P. for the free lecture to kfbsrsvp@unc.edu.
n Feb. 3–4 – The Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise will present the first program in a new series of annual interdisciplinary symposia on sustainability and innovation in global contexts. “Micro­franchising in Emerging Markets: Innovation in Practice and Research” will be held at different locations across campus. Refer to http://bit.ly/ejGNky for complete information and to register.
n Feb. 3 – The Program in the Humanities and Human Values will present the Uhlman Family Seminar titled “In the Name of God? Interpreting Religious Law,” with support from The Carolina Center for Jewish Studies. From the earliest days of the Torah to the present, spiritual authority has stood behind law in the Judaic tradition.
In this seminar, four panelists will investigate Jewish law, its history and its contemporary legacy. The program takes place from 9:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Center for School Leadership Development. An optional lunch is available. Registration is required, with fee. See adventuresinideas.unc.edu or call 962-1544.
n Feb. 3 – The topic of the next Carolina Innovations Semi­nar will be the Centers of Innovation grant program that was launched by the N.C. Biotechnology Center in an effort to make innovation and commercialization a strategic priority for North Carolina. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. in 014 Sitterson Hall. http://bit.ly/d31mFv
n Feb. 4 – The Kenan institute of Private Enterprise will hold its Business Across Borders Summit from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rizzo Conference Center. The meeting will provide tactical information on how to do business successfully in developing regions of the world. www.kenaninstitute.unc.edu/ontheground
n Feb. 10 – Belgian political theorist Chantal Mouffe will deliver the 2011 Mary Stevens Reckford Lecture in Euro­pean Studies. The free public talk, “An Agonistic Approach to the Future of Europe,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Hanes Art Center auditorium. A reception and book sale will follow. On Feb. 11, Mouffe will participate in a workshop in Hyde Hall for faculty and graduate students, “Space, Hegemony and Radical Critique.” http://bit.ly/fzzwfg
n Feb. 15 – Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh will give a free, public lecture at 4:30 p.m. in Gerrard Hall. Hersh, who reports on U.S. foreign policy and national security for The New Yorker magazine, will discuss the Obama administration’s continuing war effort in Afghanistan, among other topics, in his talk, “A Report from Washington on the Obama/Bush Foreign Policy.”
His visit is sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Center for Global Initiatives and the Global Research Institute.
‘A FIRE IN MY BELLY’ ON DISPLAY AT THE ACKLAND ART MUSEUM
An installation of David Wojnarowicz’s unfinished film “A Fire in My Belly” is on display through Feb. 13 at the Ackland Art Museum.
With the installation in the second-floor study gallery, the museum joins a national conversation about artists’ rights, cen­sorship and other issues, said Ackland director Emily Kass. “We are a teaching museum,” she said. “One of our most important roles is to provide a neutral location where issues in art – his­torical and contemporary – can be studied and debated.”
News
in brief
GOLDSTEIN GIVES SEMINAR SPEAKERS THE ROCK STAR TREATMENT
THEY’RE THE KIND OF POSTERS that get sta­pled to telephone poles advertising an indie rock band’s concert – and also the kind that get swiped under cover of night to decorate a dorm room. The message is understated and the info is insider – unless you work in Carolina’s biology department.
Every time a new poster goes up, everyone there understands that it’s a promo for the next in the department’s Distinguished Seminar Series.
Bob Goldstein, professor of cell and develop­mental biology, designs each of the series’ iconic posters. He walked to campus from Carrboro during his first years at UNC, he said, and was inspired by what he saw along the way. “I loved seeing posters around town made by Ron Liberti and Casey Burns, who are well-known band poster artists,” he said.
“I saw posters by Patrick Cudahy and Chip Hoppin from The Merch later, and loved those, too. They all put loads of talent and effort into producing the posters, I think in part because they love the music. The posters I design are just science-style derivatives of theirs,” Goldstein said, “and I feel lucky that the nice guys at The Merch are willing to screenprint them.”
Nevertheless, Goldstein’s posters are attracting a lot of attention out­side the UNC community. Quite a few blogs and websites have taken note, and this comment from io9.com is typical: “What if we lived in a universe where scientists were neo-psychedelic rock stars and played gigs in college towns? The University of North Carolina’s biology depart­ment has the answer.”
Listen to Goldstein talk about the series: http://bit.ly/gFF7zh and read a recent review in The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://bit.ly/fQpKyp.
GOLDSTEINJanuary 26, 2011 9
David Wojnarowicz, an artist active in the New York City art scene during the 1980s, made “A Fire in My Belly” in 1986-87. He later disassembled the work and never completed it. He died in 1992.
The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery removed a four-minute version of the film last November, under pressure from the Catholic League and some members of Congress. The Ack­land is showing the artist’s original fragments of the film as well as the version removed from the National Portrait Gallery.
On Jan. 27, a panel discussion will be held with faculty mem­bers at 6 p.m. It will be free and open to the public. Refer to www.ackland.org for more information.
DEADLINES TO WATCH
n Feb. 5 – Nominations are being accepted from among stu­dents, faculty, staff and alumni to become members of the Order of the Golden Fleece, UNC’s oldest honorary society. Members are selected based upon service to the University as reflected in scholarship, motivation, creativity, loyalty and leadership in academic and extracurricular pursuits. Mem­bers also display exemplary character in all facets of their lives. www.unc.edu/ogf
n Feb. 11 – Nominations are open for the 2011 Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Student Activities and Leadership. Information and nomination form are online: www.unc.edu/chancellorsawards/nom.html. For more information, contact Tammy Lambert (966-3128 or lambert2@email.unc.edu).
n Feb. 18 – The Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost and the APPLES Service-Learning Program are soliciting proposals for Ueltschi Service-Learning Course Development Grants. Five $8,000 course development grants and three $1,500 service-learning mini-grants will be awarded to help develop or enhance a service-learning course that benefits the University and campus community. For complete information, see http://bit.ly/dLi06T.
n Feb. 21 – Applications are being accepted for the spring University Research Council (URC) small grant program for faculty and professional librarians. There are two types of grants, research and publication, and the maximum total award is $5,000, to be used over a two-year period. For infor­mation, call Jennifer Pruitt (962-7757) or refer to http://
bit.ly/gSo277.
‘SOLO TAKES ON: 2’
A series of three one-person performances in rotating reper­tory, with the theme “Odysseys of Identity,” is playing through Jan. 30. Sponsored by the Department of Communication Studies, the performances are held in Swain Hall’s Studio 6. Tickets are $5 per show or $10 for a pass to all three. For infor­mation, see http://bit.ly/eO8T2k.
‘FRASIER’ ACTOR PIERCE TO BE
HONORED AT PLAYMAKERS BALL
Television, theater and film star David Hyde Pierce will receive this year’s PlayMakers Distinguished Achievement Award on Feb. 12 at the 23rd annual PlayMakers Ball.
The ball, held at the Carolina Inn, is the annual fundraising gala for PlayMakers Repertory Company.
A black-tie affair with a Valentine’s Day theme, the ball will feature the award ceremony followed by dining and dancing to the music of the Bill Bolen Orchestra.
For tickets, contact Lenore Field (452-8417 or lenore.field@gmail.com).
The Global Big Screen film series: ‘Budrus’
“Budrus,” an award-winning documentary film about peo­ple who choose nonviolence to confront a threat, will be shown Jan. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the FedEx Global Education Center.
The film focuses on a Pal­estinian community organizer who unites Palestinians from all political factions and Israe­lis in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s separa­tion barrier.
The screening will be fol­lowed by a discussion with Nadav Greenberg of Just Vision. http://bit.ly/gqMHxC
NEWS IN BRIEF SUBMISSIONS
Next issue includes events from Feb. 10 to Feb. 23. Deadline for submissions is 5 p.m., Mon., Jan. 31. E-mail gazette@unc.edu. The Gazette events page includes only items of general interest geared toward a broad audience. For complete listings of events, see the Carolina Events Calendars at events.unc.edu.
‘Local Histories: The Ground We Walk On’
An exhibition of more than 50 artists from across the United States will open Jan. 28 in the former Chapel Hill Museum. Titled “Local Histories: The Ground We Walk On,” the show represents a collaboration between the Town of Chapel Hill and the Department of Art and fea­tures the work of current and former students and faculty as well as others from the region and across the country.
The opening reception for the exhibition will be held Feb. 11 from 5 to 9 p.m. The venue is located at 523 East Franklin St. Hours for the show are Tuesday–Friday, from
2 to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, from noon to 7 p.m.
“Local Histories” includes art as varied as videos about UFOs in Puerto Rico to sculptures utilizing tobacco, chairs, plastic snakes and a model of Michael Jordan’s childhood home to paintings of the Middle East and surreal funerals.
It was curated by elin o’Hara slavick, Distinguished Term Professor of Art, and Carol Magee, assistant professor of art. To learn more, see localhistories.wordpress.com.
Below left, “O LOST,” cut stone, 2010; by Elizabeth Hull, visual materials archivist in Wilson Library. Below right, the drawing by alumna Lauren F. Adams is part of a series of vinyl drawings installed on the windows in the exhibition.10 University Gazette
Carolina
working at
Temple Northup likes to recall his days
in Hollywood.
He spent seven years there writing scripts for sitcoms before coming to Carolina as a doctoral student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he now teaches ethics and audio-video classes.
Northup moved to Los Angeles in 1999 after graduating from Wake Forest, and landing his first job through his brother, Fred, who had already been there working on the TV show “Living Single.” Life in L.A. is about networking.
That first job was at Warner Bros., work­ing on a sitcom called “For Your Love.” Then, when NBC decided to create a show featuring chef Emeril Lagasse, producers chose Northup to work with the writers. Unfortunately, that show was short lived.
But cancellations are part of a sitcom writer’s life. “You never know what’s going to happen,” Northup said. “One day you’re on the air, and the next day you’re out of a job. You just have to learn to adapt.”
The sitcom “Half and Half,” which ran from 2002 to 2006, aired his first script.
“To have so much of my script make it through was amazing,” he said. “Produc­ers rewrite the hell out of scripts. I mean, your favorite joke usually doesn’t make it through, but mine did. That was a very pow­erful experience.”
So was partying with the stars, which required some creative tactics on his part.
A favorite was to call to add his name to the guest list, using the Warner Bros. Stu­dios caller I.D. for legitimacy.
“Or I would have my friend Heather flirt with the bouncers and pick a random name off the V.I.P list while they were talking,” he said. “I would then arrive a few minutes later, and she would tell me who I was sup­posed to be that night.”
One night, however, he got more than
he expected.
It was the premiere of “Dawson’s Creek.” Knowing that company presidents usually don’t attend the parties, Northup walked to the door and told the bouncer he was Jamie Kellner (president of The WB network).
The bouncer stared at him and asked if he was sure. When Northup said yes, the bouncer replied, “That’s funny because Mr. Kellner just went in a few minutes ago.”
Not ready to admit defeat, Northup said, “No, I’m Jamie Kellner Jr. I’m his son.”
The bouncer’s assistant entered the party and came back with someone Northup had never seen. As the man looked at him, Nor­thup stared back and began mentally pack­ing up his office. But the man said, “Son! Let’s go in and have a drink.”
Although that night was unforgettable, Northup knew that life in Hollywood wouldn’t always be this way. That realiza­tion brought him back to North Carolina in
From Hollywood
to Chapel Hill, finding
a new passion
See NORTHUP page 11
After extensive review and consideration of all available options, the Office of Human Resources (OHR) has decided to end Carolina Kids Camp, effective this coming summer.
Started in 1992, Carolina Kids Camp was a summer day camp provided by OHR for the children of the University’s permanent employees and students, UNC Health Care employees and Gen­eral Alumni Association employees as a service to the University.
“Given the role that Carolina Kids Camp has played for many University families during its 18-year history, this was a very hard decision,” said Brenda Richardson Malone, vice chancellor for human resources.
“With the serious budget challenges facing the University, though, we must take all necessary and prudent steps to meet our budget requirements, while still focusing on the crucial human resource services that we must provide to our employees.”
The camp was partially receipt-supported, but tuition and fees did not fully cover the support resources involved in put­ting the camp on, particularly staff time and effort, Malone said.
To help the University community through the transition, OHR has compiled a list of day camps in the surrounding area. Refer to http://bit.ly/fDmLiA.
ULEAD PROGRAM NOMINATIONS
The University Leadership Education and Development Program (ULEAD), a 10-week educational program for middle managers, is now accepting nominations for its next session, which begins in September.
The program includes six core classes, a comprehensive leadership assessment, peer coaching and team projects that are designed to have a significant impact on improving the effectiveness of institutions. Class topics include crucial con­versations, negotiations, ethics, strategic thinking and the busi­ness of higher education.
Detailed information about ULEAD and the application pro­cess is available at hr.unc.edu/training-development/special­ized-programs/u-lead/index.htm.
Eligibility criteria are included on the website. Apply by
March 15 online or by contacting the Office of Human Resources’ Training & Talent Development unit at 962-2550 or training_development@unc.edu.
For additional information, contact William Frey at
962-9685 or will_frey@unc.edu.
HR news: Budget constraints force Carolina Kids Camp to closeJanuary 26, 2011 11
electron microscope at a magnification of 1,700, Donley said.
The logos, which were milled inside the Q in the quarter, could have fit 250 times within the Q or 20 times within George Washington’s eye. Because the logos were too small to be observed with the naked eye, the scientists took an image of them with one of the lab’s microscopes, and presented that along with the quarter.
These two labs are an integral part of Caroli­na’s research enterprise, which has doubled in the last decade, reaching more than $800 mil­lion in extramural support last year – including $177 million in federal stimulus funding.
ROSS from page 1
TRANSPORTATION from page 4
As grounds crews work to clear the sidewalks, a bicyclist makes his way onto campus after an overnight ice storm Jan. 10.
2008. His students keep him here.
“I’m lucky to be at UNC where the students are moti­vated and smart,” Northup said. “I don’t have a lot of time to spend worrying about if you guys can complete a sen­tence. I also am able to feed off of your energy, and that makes the environment much more fun.”
Maintaining that environment calls for some untradi­tional teaching methods.
One morning during his 8 a.m. class, Northup’s stu­dents heard a voice similar to his, but his mouth didn’t move. As the students watched in amazement, their instructor climbed onto a table and danced to “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
“I mean, it’s an 8 o’clock class and most students are about to fall asleep halfway through,” Northup said. “I decided to record my voice, and at a certain point I had the PowerPoint start heckling me and telling me how boring it was.”
The exchange between the live teacher and the recorded voice definitely brought energy back into the room. While he admits teaching might not always be quite that enter­taining, Northup has found a new career direction.
“I know it sounds cliché, but I think that having pas­sion is important,” he said. “You should also learn to be flexible. Things can change in a matter of seconds.”
After he completes his Ph.D. in the spring, Northup may leave UNC to look for a full-time position teach­ing college students, but will remember his time at
Carolina fondly.
“There is so much life and diversity here. I will never for­get the great faculty and staff, and most of all the students,” he said.
Editor’s Note: TeQuia Clark, a senior journalism and mass communication major from Hendersonville, wrote this article.
NORTHUP from page 10
Bureau of International Information Programs.
Students, faculty and staff with UNC One Cards may pick up tickets beginning Feb. 28 at the Memo­rial Hall Box Office. Starting March 3, the remaining tickets will be available to the general public to pick up in person at the box office. People are advised to call the box office at 843-3333 first to confirm that tickets are available.
On March 16, the lecture will be broadcast live to the Hanes Art Center auditorium, where seats will be available to UNC students, faculty and staff as well as the general public on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets will be required.
The Weil Lecture, founded in 1915 by brothers Henry and Solomon Weil of Goldsboro, has been given by speakers including presidents Taft and Carter; U.S. Senators J. William Fulbright, Nancy Kassebaum and John Kerry; Eleanor Roosevelt and
the late Daniel Schorr, a CBS and National Public Radio correspondent.
The institute supports UNC faculty through pro­grams on leadership and teaching, showcasing faculty work and seeking to form collaborative, interdisciplin­ary groups that promote intellectual exchange.
WEIL from page 7
The University offered admission to the fall 2011 entering class to 5,104 candidates who applied by the first of two admis­sion deadlines. These students were chosen from a record first-deadline pool of 14,018 – an increase of 7 percent over last year. The University expects 3,990 new first-year students to enroll next August.
“We think these students will do great things here at Car­olina and far beyond. We look forward to welcoming them next fall,” said Steve Farmer, associate provost and director of undergraduate admissions.
First-deadline admitted students hail from 97 North Caro­lina counties, 45 U.S. states and 21 countries. Of those stu­dents who reported race or ethnicity, 30 percent identified themselves as American Indian, African American, Hawaiian or Pacific Islander or Hispanic. Fourteen percent will be the first generation of their family to graduate from college.
“These students are exceptionally strong,” said Farmer. “They include award-winning writers, accomplished research­ers and talented athletes, actors and musicians. They’re also exceptionally public-minded.”
Farmer said the candidates who were not admitted also were strong students.
“The decisions were difficult,” he said. “We’re sorry that we’ve had to disappoint so many good students. We wish them well and are confident they will find colleges where they will thrive.”
The first deadline for fall admission was Nov. 1 and the final deadline was Jan. 18. Admissions officials expect to have a final overall count of applications by Feb.1. Through mid-day on
Jan. 21, a total of 23,473 applications had been received, sur­passing last year’s total of 23,271 and marking the sixth consecu­tive record year for applications. During this period, applica­tions to the first-year class have increased by 26 percent.
UNC sees 7% increase in first-deadline applications
n 2013–14 – Increase daytime parking permits by 2 percent based on the current sliding scale, depending on employee income;
n 2013–14 – Establish a new $250 charge for park-and-ride permits for employees and commuting students who use the service in con­cert with fare-free bus service from Chapel Hill Transit;
n 2014–15 – Establish a new night-parking program that would charge $250 for an annual permit, $5 for a weekly permit and $1 for a one-day permit (daytime permits would be honored under this new system, and weekend parking would remain free); and
n 2015–16 – Raise from $8 to $10 the maximum daily amount that could be charged for parking on the southern end of campus.
The plan also will yield an estimated $602,000 in annual revenue by using a remote cashiering system in pay lots and an electronic online method to issue temporary-use permits, among other measures.12 University Gazette
Research pushes
nanomedicine forward
A team of scientists has created particles that closely mir­ror some of the key properties of red blood cells, potentially helping pave the way for the development of synthetic blood.
The new discovery – outlined in a study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (http://bit.ly/i70YDj) – also could lead to more effective treat­ments for life-threatening medical conditions such as cancer.
University researchers used technology known as PRINT (Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates) to pro­duce very soft hydrogel particles that mimic the size, shape and flexibility of red blood cells, allowing the particles to cir­culate in the body for extended periods of time.
Tests of the particles’ ability to perform functions such as transporting oxygen or carrying therapeutic drugs have not been conducted, and they do not remain in the cardiovascu­lar system as long as real red blood cells.
However, the researchers believe the findings – espe­cially regarding flexibility – are significant because red blood cells naturally deform in order to pass through micro­scopic pores in organs and narrow blood vessels.
Over their 120-day lifespan, real cells gradually become stiffer and eventually are filtered out of circulation when they can no longer deform enough to pass through pores in the spleen. To date, attempts to create effective red blood cell mimics have been limited because the particles tend to be quickly filtered out of circulation due to their inflexibility.
POTENTIAL FOR CANCER TREATMENT
Beyond moving closer to producing fully synthetic blood, the findings could affect approaches to treating cancer. Cancer cells are softer than healthy cells, enabling them to lodge in different places in the body, leading to the disease’s spread. Particles loaded with cancer-fighting medicines that can remain in circulation longer may open the door to more aggressive treatment approaches.
“Creating particles for extended circulation in the blood stream has been a significant challenge in the development of drug delivery systems from the beginning,” said Joseph DeSimone, the study’s co-lead investigator, Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Can­cer Center and William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Profes­sor of Chemical Engineering at N.C. State.
“Although we will have to consider particle deformability along with other parameters when we study the behavior of particles in the human body, we believe this study represents a real game changer for the future of nanomedicine.”
‘PRINTING’ CELL MIMICS
University researchers designed the hydrogel material for the study to make parti­cles of varying stiffness. Then, using PRINT technology – a technique invented in DeSimone’s lab to produce nanopar­ticles with control over size, shape and chemistry – they created molds, which were filled with the hydrogel solution and processed to produce thousands of red blood cell-like discs, each a mere 6 micrometers in diameter.
The team then tested the particles to determine their ability to circulate in the body without being filtered out by
various organs.
When tested in mice, the more flexible particles lasted 30 times longer than stiffer ones: The least flexible particles dis­appeared from circulation with a half-life of 2.88 hours, com­pared to 93.29 hours for the most flexible ones. Stiffness also influenced where particles eventually ended up: More rigid particles tended to lodge in the lungs, but the more flexible particles did not; instead, they were removed by the spleen, the organ that typically removes old real red blood cells.
The study, “Using Mechano-biological Mimicry of Red Blood Cells to Extend Circulation Times of Hydrogel
Microparticles,” was led by Timothy Merkel, a graduate
student in DeSimone’s lab, and DeSimone.
The research was made possible through a federal Ameri­can Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus grant pro­vided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Support was also provided by the National Science Foun­dation, the Carolina Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, the NIH Pioneer Award Program and Liquidia Technologies, a privately held nanotechnology company developing vaccines and therapeutics based on the PRINT particle technology. DeSimone co-founded the company, which holds an exclusive license to the PRINT technology from UNC.
Other UNC student, faculty and staff researchers who contributed to the study were Kevin P. Herlihy and Farrell R. Kersey from the chemistry department, Mary Napier and
J. Christopher Luft from the Carolina Center for Can­cer Nanotechnology Excellence, Andrew Z. Wang from the Lineberger Center, Adam R. Shields from the physics department, Huali Wu and William C. Zamboni from the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Ther­apy at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and James E. Bear and Stephen W. Jones from the cell and developmental biol­ogy department in the School of Medicine.
The study is an example of the type of research that sup­ports the Innovate@Carolina Roadmap, UNC’s plan to help Carolina become a world leader in launching Univer­sity-born ideas for the good of society. To learn more about the roadmap, visit innovate.unc.edu.
Synthetic blood
Left, shown are colorized screenshots taken from a video Merkel and DeSimone put together that illustrates the flex­ibility of the synthetic red blood cell mimics passing through a channel in a microfluidic device: http://bit.ly/gaSZ14.
Graduate student Timothy Merkel, right, and Joseph DeSimone, Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Chemistry, stretch out a sample of the squishy hydrogel polymer they used to make synthetic red blood cells. In the background is a reel-to-reel system that enables the researchers to manufacture large quantities of these particles.
Above left, synthetic red blood cell mimics are shown releasing from an adhesive film into a drop of solvent. The particles were manufactured using PRINT (Particle Replication in Non-wetting Templates) technology, which allows scientists to produce micro- and nanoparticles with customized dimensions and properties. (Image courtesy of Merkel and DeSimone.)