VOLUME 115, ISSUE 129
BREAKING THE MOLD
Particle research
is ‘cutting edge’
BY KEVIN KILEY
STAFF WRITER
While the product of Joseph
DeSimone's research is too small
to see. its impact might be larger
than anyone can imagine.
DeSimone, a chemistry profes
sor, and his research team work
with tiny nanoparticles, which are
so small they can only be seen by
the most powerful microscopes.
'ln general 1 feel like we're
on the cutting edge," said Stuart
Williams, a third-year gradu-
ate student in
DeSimone's
lab. “Or at least
I hope so."
The team
has been trans
forming the
field of nano
technology
research since
2004, when
it developed a
technique of
manufacturing
nanoparticles.
“We real
ized that we
could make a
particle, which
no one had
done before,"
DeSimone
said.
The pro
cess known
as Particle
Replication
FOCUS
RESEARCH
See a particle
replication inter
active graphic at
dailytarheel.com.
in Nonwetting Templates, or
PRINT uses laser-cut plates
to make a mold out of a Teflon
like material to which nothing
can stick. The mold can be filled
with almost any substance to cre
ate the particles.
“It’s like an ice cube tray for
nanoparticles." DeSimone said.
Research in DeSimone's lab
now revolves around employing
these particles to confront some
of the worlds biggest problems,
from cancer to global climate
change.
“1 think it's important to work on
the big problems," DeSimone said.
Drug delivery
DeSimone and his lab first set
out to use the new technology in
the medical field.
“1 was approached by faculty for
doing some drug delivery work, so
we went down that path," he said.
One of the lab's major projects
includes studying the way the
body takes in drugs and creating
more efficient ways to deliver sub
stances to combat diseases.
“I was dismayed at how
unsophisticated the traditional
approach to drug delivery was,"
DeSimone said.
So he set out to change it.
Using PRINT, lab members can
Film highlights air guitar legends
Students can test skills in Jan. contest
BY KELLY YANG
SWF WRITER
Everyone owns an air guitar, but
it takes a special kind of person to
be an air guitar champion.
Amateurs looking to leam how to
rock out in their own style will get to
see the pros on the big screen.
Today the Carolina Union
Activities Board will show the docu
mentary‘Air Guitar Nation,’ which
showcases some of the greatest air
guitar players in recent years.
‘The film is for everyone that
ever rocked out to a loud guitar,'
said Dan Crane, who plays Bjorn
Turoque, the documentary's fea
tured air guitarist “Or anyone that
ever laughed at their drunk cousin
making an ass out of himself at a
wedding by standing on a table
announcement
WORK FOR LA COLINA
The Daily Tar Heel's monthly Spanish
language section is hiring reporters,
translators and copy editors. Applications
are due Jan. 16 in Union 2409. Contact
lacolinadeskßgmail.com with questions.
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Hanjun Zhang works on the PRINT process in professor Joesph DeSimone's laboratory. Their research focuses
on studying drug intake and improving the efficiency of substance delivery in the body to combat diseases.
create particles out of materials
that decompose in the body and
place drugs inside these particles.
These particles are made out of
organic materials so that they will
not harm the body.
Researchers then can study how
cells take in the particles and the
effect the new delivery system has
on fighting disease.
The lab has worked mainly on
delivering oncology agents sub
stances that can stop the uncon
trolled cell division that leads to
cancer.
These oncology agents use recep
tors to seek out and attach to cer
tain cells to stop the uncontrolled
division of the cancerous cell.
In addition to fighting cancer,
they are trying to improve the effi
ciency of other drugs by the same
methods, ensuring that the drugs
get to the correct cells.
“With cancer, we’re trying to
kill cells,” DeSimone said. “With
SEE RESEARCH, PAGE 5
and channeling Angus Young.’
CUAB's art collection commit
tee chairwoman Lindsey Paytes
said the documentary is just one
part of a three-part series.
“Bjom Turoque will later speak
in the Great Hall, and then the
actual championship will take
place on (Jan.) 25 in Gerrard Hall,"
Paytes said. “The documentary
serves to give people an idea of
what air guitar is."
Amanda Kao, CUAB's fun com
mittee chairwoman, began working
to bring the event to UNC after wit
nessing an air guitar championship
in New York City last summer. She
immediately drew up plans to bring
the urban phenomenon to UNC.
“Air Guitar Nation' has been
out for a while, but not too many
city | \uw n
HOOKAH BAR OWNER BUSTED
"I apparently took an ID I shouldn't
have,' said Adam Bliss. The owner
of Hookah Bliss, of 418 W. Franklin
SL, is charged with allegedly selling
alcohol to minors last weekend.
Serving the students and the University community since 1893
www.dailytarheel.com
Particle replication Tar Heel style
The process is'Particle Replication in Nonwetting Templates" (PRINT), but
researcher Joseph DeSimone compares it to an “ice cube tray for nanoparticles.'
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SOURCE: tOSEPH DeSIMONE. WWWNANOWERr.COM DTH/REBECCA ROLFE
WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY
Time: 7 p.m. today
Location: Union Auditorium
Info: www.unc.edu/cuab
people know about it," Kao said. “It
started in northern Finland and
includes a UNC alum. C. Diddy,
who won the U.S. championship."
Directed by Alexandra Lipsitz,
the documentary follows contes
tants such as C. Diddy played by
David Jung through air guitar
competitions, including the U.S.
Air Guitar championships.
Crane said the production com
pany originally intended to do a
“no talent" talent show.
But as the crew shot more foot
age, Chine said, they realized they
had a bigger story than that.
Td say the brief flash of a naked
Finnish man rocking out with his
you-know-what out is something
that the ladies out there might look
forward to," he said.
Kao said students who want to
compete in the Jan. 25 event can
send their contact information to
her at www.unc.edu/cuab.
“The documentary is definitely
interesting and unconventional,"
she said. “It’s what CUAB is look
ing for."
Crane stressed that the movie is
not just for aspiring air guitarists or
fans of the video game phenomenon
“Guitar Hero," but he said he does
think those people will like the film.
“The film rocks," he said. “It’s
an exponentially more exciting 90
minutes than watching your stoned
roommate play ‘Guitar Hero.' Thist
me.’
Contact the Arts Editor
at artsdesk@ unc.edu.
dttilytarhecl.com
UNC VS. N.C. STATE
Read a preview of the men's
basketball team's Saturday
matchup against ACC rivals N.C.
State. The teams will play at
noon in the Smith Center.
Gun control
may tighten
Task force backs
federal standard
BY CAROLINE DYE
STAFF WRITER
New recommendations from
the N.C. attorney general to
improve campus safety in light of
the Virginia Tech shootings mir
ror federal gun control legislation
signed into law Tuesday.
An N.C. task force on public
safety recommended Thursday that
the state legislature require invol-
untary commit
ment orders to
be added to the
national back
ground check
database.
The federal
legislation pro-
INSIDE
Read about the
findings of the
Atty. General's
security report.
PAGE 4
sides financial incentives for states
to take such action adding their
mental health records to the FBl's
database of those ineligible to pur
chase firearms.
Capt. Bobby Collins of the
Orange County Sheriff’s Office
said that he thinks the measure
would be effective if adopted by
North Carolina.
“Until that happens, we’re going
to be restricted." he said. “I think
that there are some mental illness
es that should be reviewed on the
issue of gun control. The benefit
ANALYSIS
N.C. educational
model may shift
UNC Tomorrow
yields tall order
BY ERIC JOHNSON
SENIOR WRITER
WINSTON-SALEM - The
UNC Tomorrow Commission
delivered its much-awaited final
report to the system's Board of
Governors Thursday, laying out 28
pages of broad recommendations
for the future of North Carolina's
public campuses.
The commission's charge was,
in essence, to travel around the
state and ask North Carolinians
what they want from their pub
lic universities. It turns out they
want quite a lot.
“The response across the state
was overwhelming," said Norma
Houston, executive director of
UNC Tomorrow.
Now the board must decide if
those demands can be met.
Their answer will go a long way
in determining what public higher
education in North Carolina will
look like for decades to come.
The report offers some stark
challenges to the traditional model
of university education, asking
UNC administrators to focus far
more resources on nontraditional
paths to a college degree.
Taken as a whole, the com
mission’s findings pose a basic,
almost philosophical question of
what a public university ought to
be doing in the 21st century.
“The report of the commission
is a really good start, but that’s
all it is," said BOG Chairman Jim
Phillips. “There are an awful lot
of recommendations in there, and
we’re not just gonna snap our fin
gers and make them happen."
The first task will be boiling
down 28 pages into a realistic list
of action items.
Given the breadth of the com-
SEE COMMISSION. PAGE 5
this day in history
JAN. 11,1980...
Senior Elizabeth Messick is hit by
a slow-moving transit bus on East
Franklin Street. She is taken to
N.C. Memorial Hospital and said
to be in good condition.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2008
would be to the public at large."
The federal legislation was
strongly influenced by calls for
tighter gun laws after April's Va.
Tech massacre.
The shooter in the Va. Tech inci
dent, Seung Hui Cho. had a history
of mental health issues that did not
show up on his background check
when he successfully applied to
purchase a firearm.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-
N.Y'., who sponsored the nation
wide bill, released a written state
ment Tuesday declaring, “This
important legislation will close the
wide gaps in our nation's firearm
background check system."
But Capt. Ricky Buchanan of the
Durham County Sheriff's Office is
skeptical that the law would reduce
gun violence in general. “1 don't
know what percentages of killers
are mentally ill," he said. “People
who tend to kill are going to kill."
Hannah Perry of Perry’s Gun
Shop, in Wendell. 10 miles east of
Raleigh, said she supports the mea
sure because it could help prevent
some of the most extreme cases of
gun violence.
But she added that potential
gun customers already have to
answer questions regarding their
mental state and that gun shop
owners can refuse to sell guns
to those they think are mentally
SEE GUN CONTROL, PAGE 5
UNC Tomorrow'!
recommendations
After a statewide listen
ing tour, the UNC Tomorrow
Commission issued dozens of
recommendations for the UNC
system and its 17 campuses.
Some suggestions are more
feasible than others, and the
system's governing board will
spend the next few months
deciding what changes should
be made.
Among the suggestions:
► Consider allowing undocu
mented immigrants to pay in
state tuition. They presently pay
the much higher out-of-state rate.
► Focus on recruiting more
male students, with special
attention toward black males.
Overall, the UNC system is
disproportionately female, and
the gender gap is widest among
black students.
► Develop minimum admissions
standards and dearly commu
nicate those standards to high
school students. Officials want to
reduce the high dropout rate at
many system campuses.
► Examine whether some degree
programs should be eliminated or
consolidated. The idea is to focus
resources more efficiently across
all 17 UNC campuses.
► Tailor new degree programs to
meet the state's economic needs.
► More collaboration with busi
ness, government agencies and
nonprofit groups.
► Greatly expand online educa
tion programs.
► More focus on access for part
time students and adult learners.
* Get more funding for summer
programs, so students can con
sider a year-round curriculum and
graduate more quickly.
weather
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H 66, L 39
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games 9
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opinion 10