Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Graduating Right on Time
"The Story" American Public Media
Last week, 92-year-old Roscoe Dillard Griffin graduated from the University of North Carolina after leaving school seven decades earlier. At the very end of his senior year, Dillard says he left college to manage his family's shoe store. He also met a girl and fell in love. Gail Clower, Dillard's daughter, says she never knew her father didn't have a degree. The two talk with Dick Gordon about how Dillard managed to complete his final university credits, and what finishing his degree means to their family.
UNC Tip Sheet: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1121/107/
State and Local Coverage
Thorp calls U.Va. business model ‘risky,’ not for UNC
Triangle Business Journal
Public higher education insiders do not believe declining state appropriations will force North Carolina to change the way its public universities operate – as has happened in some states. … “I think it’s a very risky model,” says Holden Thorp, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “There are states that have tried this and have really struggled because they’ve gotten to the point where the students are paying (amounts as high as) private university tuition, and that forces them to compete in a whole different way in the marketplace.”
New UNC computer system comes to $75M
Triangle Business Journal
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is testing the first phase of a new administrative computer system costing $70 million to $75 million – one of the largest non-capital projects in the school’s history. UNC has spent the past two and a half years working to upgrade its more than 20-year-old mainframe computer with PeopleSoft’s Web-based systems. University officials say the new system will ease the processing of admissions, student records and financial aid applications and likely will save money over the long run.
Bolshoi Ballet Comes To Chapel Hill
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The Bolshoi Ballet from Russia will make a stop in the Tar Heel State on a rare performance tour starting June 10th. Emil Kang, executive director of UNC Performing Arts says ballet is a treat for partakers. The 180 members of the ballet will arrive in Chapel Hill shortly before their first performance on June 10th. The ballet company seldom tours outside of Russia.
UNC News Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2444/107/
UNC-CH student will study in Asia in Phillips Ambassador program
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Natalie Sutton, a junior from Chapel Hill who attends UNC-Chapel Hill, has been selected as a Phillips Ambassador for study in Asia. Sutton, a business major, will study in Singapore this fall at the National University of Singapore Business School.
UNC News Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2558/107/
Tragedy drives med student
The Rocky Mount Telegram
Most of Mike Mallah’s career goals are centered around one life-altering event – the murder of his father. Mohammed Mallah was fatally shot during a robbery at his Rocky Mount convenience store in 1995 when his son was 10. The event shaped Mike Mallah’s dream of becoming an emergency room doctor – a dream that he stepped closer to this year with his graduation from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill on May 10. He also has been accepted into the university’s medical school. The journey hasn’t been without trials, however.
UNC Tip Sheet: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1121/107/
Principal: Class rankings create 'unnatural' competition
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
When Meg Barrow applied to Harvard University, she told them her GPA – a 4.0 – but there was one piece of information she couldn’t give them – her class ranking. … At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one-third of this year's applicants did not report a class rank, according to UNC officials. While UNC and Duke said they prefer to know a student's class rank, they see it as only part of the story.
Campus police help warranted (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
The party-hardy lifestyle has characterized downtown Chapel Hill for generations. It's what keeps alumni coming back to the vibrant neon playgrounds of their youth. For many, it's the stuff of fond memories, rites of passage and the making of legends. It's also the siren call that propels the current class of students to seek out some chill thrills and to make their mark. It's the same type of campus culture that spills into the nightclub scene in any college town.
Protesters seek 'clean' death penalty bill
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The Historic Thousands on Jones Street Coalition and the NC Coalition for a Moratorium — with support from recent polls — called on state legislators to pass a "clean" version of the NC Racial Justice Act, free of amendments that would restart executions before the courts can sort out important legal questions. … A UNC study found that a defendant's odds of getting the death penalty increase by 3.5 times if the victim was white.
Issues and Trends
State eyes shorter school year
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Legislators are talking about cutting the 2009-10 school year short by five days because of the budget crisis. Public schools would employ fewer assistant principals, teaching assistants and social workers under a proposed education budget presented this week. Cutting the school year from 180 days to 175 next year would save $100million. In 2010-2011, the school year would be reduced by 10 days to 170 days, saving $200million. Teachers and other school staff would be furloughed, creating most of the savings.
Related Link: http://universityrelations.unc.edu/budget/
documents/2009/Erskine%20statement%20052209.pdf
Lawyer: Former NC first lady won't quit her job
The Associated Press
Former North Carolina first lady Mary Easley will not resign from her job at North Carolina State University, her attorney said Thursday, defying advice of university superiors that she step aside from the $170,000-a-year position. Raleigh lawyer Marvin Schiller said at a news conference with Easley at his side that she plans to continue her work, saying that he believes the university should keep the promise it made to the former first lady in hiring her under a five-year contract.
Related Links: http://www.newsobserver.com/1573/story/1538190.html
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5188562/
http://wunc.org/programs/news/archive/SLL0522_maryeasley.mp3/view?searchterm=unc
Loved ones hold memorial for slain commander
News 14 Carolina
… Meanwhile, family and friends have set up a memorial scholarship in Springle’s honor. The scholarship supports military dependents who are working toward a master’s degree in social work at UNC-Chapel Hill. Springle completed his undergraduate and graduate work at UNC-CH before going to the University of Alabama for his Ph.D.
Educating illegals (Opinion)
The Winston Salem Journal
For several years, the state has wrestled with the question of whether students who are illegal immigrants should be admitted to the public community-college system. Currently, they're barred. But the state is once again taking up the issue. There are several good reasons why these students should be admitted. … The University of North Carolina system considers illegal immigrants for admission if they have graduated from a U.S. high school, pay out-of-state tuition and do not get government financial aid. There is no reason that the community-college system shouldn't do the same.
Martin is top candidate for A&T post, newspaper says
The Winston Salem Journal
The UNC board of governors is expected to name the new chancellor of N.C. A&T State University at a special meeting this morning on the university's campus in Greensboro. The board's only action will be to vote on a candidate who was chosen by Erskine Bowles, the president of the UNC system. The vote will take place in an open meeting at 11 a.m. "We expect the candidate to attend the meeting and address the board following the election," said Joni Worthington, the vice president for communications for the UNC system.