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CAMPUS BRIEFS
Board of Elections to hold
special elections meeting
There is a mandatory candi
dates’ meeting for the special today
at 8 p.m. in the Pleasants Family
Assembly Room in Wilson Library.
Candidates wishing to appear on
the ballot Nov. 5 must attend.
Open seats include 1 seat in
District 4, undergraduates in
Granville, 3 seats in District 8,
graduates in Arts & Sciences,
Humanities, and 2 seats in District
9, professional schools.
Faculty Council concerned
with fewer investment picks
UNC faculty expressed discon
tent Friday with a systemwide plan
that would limit where they can
invest for retirement.
Faculty said at a meeting of the
Faculty Council that they heard
about the change too late and that
it could limit new investments they
plan to make.
Starting Jan. 1, faculty will
have a choice between only two
vendors when deciding where to
invest their money for retirement
either Fidelity Investments or
TIAA-CREF.
The change to decrease the
number of vendors is in response
to Internal Revenue Service regula
tions that shift more responsibility
for faculty investments from the
employees onto the University.
Employees used to be respon
sible for monitoring loans, with
drawals and investments with the
retirement account. Now that is
the University’s role.
Many faculty at the meeting said
they were upset they were not noti
fied earlier that the supplemental
retirement program would change.
UNC swimmer released from
hospital after one month
Sophomore Allison Barnes was
released from UNC Hospitals
Wednesday afternoon, where she
was receiving care for an “apparent
severe hyperthermic episode.”
Barnes was admitted to the hos
pital Sept. 9 in critical condition
and was upgraded to stable condi
tion Sept. 16.
“Allison’s rehabilitation will take
some time, but we’re optimistic con
cerning her overall recovery,” Keith
Barnes, her father, said in a state
ment issued Thursday. “We would
like to thank all those who have sup
ported us over this ordeal.”
CITY BRIEFS
Carrboro businesses plan
campaign to promote town
Five Carrboro businesses hope a
new advertising campaign known
as Walk Carrboro will bring cus
tomers and retail traffic to down
town shops.
A group of business owners
plans to publish local area maps to
help visitors locate shops, restau
rants and galleries.
Owners of the Wootini Gallery,
N.C. Crafts Gallery, Open Eye Cafe,
Nested and Jesse Kalisher Gallery
are working together to find ways to
draw customers into local shops.
The project currently has nei
ther financial support nor guidance
from the Town of Carrboro.
Visit City News at dailytarheel.
com for the full story.
Dozens perform at Carrboro
weekend poetry festival
Poets from all over North
Carolina performed Saturday at
Carrboro’s third annual West End
Poets Weekend.
About 35 local, published and
award-winning poets participated
in the 12-hour event at Carrboro
Century Hall and DSI Comedy
Theater.
The festival, organized by
the town through the Carrboro
Recreation and Parks Department,
celebrated the diversity in poet
ry, Recreation Supervisor Kim
Andrews said.
Visit City News at dailytarheel.
com for the full story.
Special Olympics coaches
needed for swim classes
Special Olympics Orange County
seeks volunteer swim coaches for
its fall swim program.
Coaches must be comfortable
in the pool and enjoy swimming.
Volunteers will work with begin
ning to intermediate swimmers
ages 6 to 21.
No certification is required to
participate, but each volunteer
must commit to help with at least
one class per week.
The season lasts through Dec.
3. All classes are held either at the
Chapel Hill Community Center or
theYMCA.
To participate or see a list
of practice times, call Special
Olympics coordinator Colleen
Lanigan at 968-2787 or send an
e-mail to clanigan@townbfchapel
hUl.org through Oct 24.
—From staff and wire reports
Airport will generate funds
County official: ‘lt’s an opportunity’
BY KATY DOLL
SENIOR WRITER
A consultant’s survey from ear
lier this year states that anew air
port in Orange County could mean
$53 nullion in revenue.
But county officials caution
that this is an opportunity, not a
guarantee of overnight revenue
increases.
The new airport could have an
annual economic impact of S4O
million to $53 million, compared
to the $lO million the Horace
Williams Airport generates, accord
ing to a study from consulting firm
Talbert & Bright Inc.
In addition to simply building
the airport, local officials must
bring in businesses and promote
the new airport, said Bradly
Broadwell, economic development
director for Orange County.
“Nobody says, ‘BuUd it and these
people are going to come,”’ Broadwell
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Wendy Schwade examines Owen Jenning's teeth on Sunday at Kidzu Children's Museum. The museum charges no admission on
Sundays. Thanks to a grant from the Orange County Partnership of Young Children, Kidzu offers kids' health programs once a month.
KIDZU KEEPS KIDS WELL
Dental health first focus of year-long project
BY PATRICIA LAYA
STAFF WRITER
With Halloween right around the comer,
a local children’s museum thinks now is a
good time for parents to get their children
dental checkups.
Kidzu Children’s Museum had free screen
ings and toothbrushes for children Sunday
afternoon to kick off its dental health month.
“Our two main goals are to enlist par
ents or caregivers in supporting their kid’s
healthy development and to expand our out
reach to children in need,” said Cathy Maris,
executive director of Kidzu.
She said the museum hosted the event so
parents could learn to keep their kids healthy
before the Halloween candy binge begins.
A grant from the Orange County
Partnership for Young Children allowed
Kidzu to set up a year-long project that pro
motes child development and child health
resources for families. Dental health month
is the first in a series of child health-focused
Fundraiser contributes to Zanzibar scholarships
UNC students fund girls’ educations
BYANIKAANAND
STAFF WRITER
Sophomores Bryanna Schwartz
and Katherine Novinski remem
ber the moment they first met
15-year-old Shemsa this summer
in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
“When she walked in, we knew
we were going to choose her right
away,” Schwartz said.
TVenty-two girls in Zanzibar
vied for scholarships from UNC’s
nonprofit organization Students for
Students International. The money
the girls received would provide
them with four years of secondary
school education and give them the
opportunity to be competitive in the
career world.
With limited scholarships avail
able, Schwartz and Novinski car
ried the responsibility of choosing
the recipients from a pool of distin
guished applicants. For these schol
ars, it only costs $295 a year to spon
sor one girl’s secondary education.
Schwartz and Novinski said that
in her interview last summer Shemsa
spoke confidently with a big smile
on her face about her future goals
of becoming a doctor. She did not
mention the fact that her family still
lives in Pemba, a small island near
Zanzibar, and that they use most of
Top News
said. “It’s an opportunity.”
The new airport will serve as a
replacement for Horace Williams
Airport, which is closing to make
way for UNC’s satellite research
campus, Carolina North.
Two residents’ groups have
formed to protest the airport place
ment process and said expanding
the tax-base is not in the public
interest
But Broadwell said there is a
real opportunity for the airport to
make new jobs and provide more
revenues.
“What I don’t understand is why
do people believe $53 million won’t
show up,” Broadwell said. “You bet
ter have a reason why you don’t
believe something to fight it.”
Kevin Fitz Gerald, head of the
airport authority and a senior med
ical school official, said the 2008
survey addresses what an airport
would do for Orange County.
events at the museum.
Wendy Schwade, a dental hygienist with
North Carolina’s Division of Public Health,
set up a booth Sunday with basic reminders
about children’s dental health.
“If you start with a good regime early on,
it’s possible that you will never have prob
lems like tooth decay,” Schwade said.
She focused on issues like how to pre
vent baby bottle tooth decay, how to clean a
baby’s mouth and teeth and how to provide
healthy food to children.
“A lot of times parents are blamed for
their children’s teeth issues, but I don’t
believe that,” Schwade said. “Parents care
about their children, but they just don’t
know how to take care of their,teeth.”
Angela Cooke, dental division director
of the Orange County Health Department,
accompanied Schwade at the event. Cooke
said prevention and education can help
avoid high dental expenses.
“You can end up in the (operating room)
the family income to pay for her to
reside in a Zanzibar hostel. It was
important to Shemsa’s family that
she get the best education possible.
After their trip to Zanzibar,
Schwartz and Novinski realized
how much $295 could change
Shemsa and nine other girls’ lives.
S4Si holds fundraisers through
out the year to help raise money for
the scholarships. S4Si sponsored
one such event —a swing dance
Friday in the Great Hall of the
Student Union. The event, which
135 people attended, raised SBB4
toward die scholarships.
S4Si focuses on young women
because of the growing disparity
between men’s and women’s educa
tion. Women often are perceived by
society as “future mothers” and are
not given priority when it comes to
family finances.
“If given the decision to send a boy
or a girl to school, a family is going to
send their son,” Novinski said.
Schwartz and Novinski reviewed
applications from the highest
achieving schools in Zanzibar.
They gauged the girls’ academic
achievement and commitment to
the community, interviewing them
in English, their second language.
They also took into consider
The survey takes into account
changes that anew airport would
have from Horace Williams, such
as a 5,500-foot runway compared
to the existing 4,005-foot runway.
The extra runway space and
other adjustments would allow
larger, heavier aircraft, which
means more commercial opportu
nities as small planes cannot hold
as much cargo or weight.
“It’s an analysis done by looking
at impacts of other airports across
the state and making some judg
ments,” Fitz Gerald said.
A larger airport could bring in a
new job sector, such as businesses
who need access to airplanes or
aerospace industry.
“It would be a vehicle,” Broadwell
said. “It would be an asset that may
be able to attract opportunities in
anew sector.”
Broadwell spoke from his experi
ence working on an airport expan
sion during his time in Maryland.
SEE AIRPORT, PAGE 5
and paying thousands of dollars,” Cooke said.
As children went one by one through
their checkups, later rewarded with brightly
colored toothbrushes, their parents got the
opportunity to ask the dental hygienist ques
tions about when to take their kids to their
first dentist appointment and whether pedi
atric dentists are really necessary.
“They have a leg up,” Schwade said.
One Sunday each month for the next year,
a child health advocate will visit the museum
to provide free information and services.
Museum admission is $4 for adults and
children and free on Sundays because of a
grant from Durham Regional Hospital.
Next month, Kidzu will help parents find
a good health care plan for their children.
Maris said the museum strives to give
children a fun environment to learn and
experience ways to take care of themselves.
“What better way to learn about impor
tant health issues than to learn while playing
at Kidzu.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
“Tour decision
determines whether
or not they get that
extra push. It's
incredibly hard
BRYANNA SCHWARTZ, sasi
ation the girls’ family situations
in terms of financial status and
responsibilities around the home.
“Choosing the scholars made me
realize how much of an impact S4Si
really has,” Schwartz said. “You can
be on campus raising money, but
until you actually see it, you can’t
really realize how much these girls
are getting out of the scholarship
and how much it really changes their
lives.”
After Zanzibarian students fin
ish their secondary education, they
have to pass a national exam to take
more advanced courses. They also
must pay for textbooks, supplies
and extra classes’ tuition.
Despite coming from a financial
ly poor background and living away
from her family, Shemsa scored at
the top of her class on the national
exams, Schwartz said.
The duo were not only impressed
by the young scholars’academic work
but also by their way of life. Schwartz
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2008
The story so far
April 2002: Officials announce
Horace Williams Airport will close
to make room for Carolina North,
UNC's satellite research campus.
May 2005: Study concludes
that a site in White Cross,
southwestern Orange County is
the best location for anew air
port to replace Horace Williams
although expansion at RDU is
best overall.
August 2008: N.C. General
Assembly bill gives UNC Board of
Governors ability to create airport
authority to site and
eventually build replacement
airport in Orange County.
August 2008: Kevin Fitz Gerald
is appointed head of the
authority to choose anew site
and application process begins for
15 members from the county and
University.
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COURTESY OF BRYANNA SCHWARTZ
Bryanna Schwartz, a member of the S4Si fundrasing committee, talks
with potential scholarship recipients at a girls' school in Zanzibar.
said that after visiting Africa, she
learned to appreciate the girls’ work
ethic, humility and simplicity.
‘lt’s so hard because all these
girls are telling you these amaz
ing things they want to do in their
future, and all they need is that
Schools’
efforts
can give
a boost
University R&D
helps economy
BY MICHAEL DAUGHERTY
STAFF WRITER
Experts anticipate that univer
sity research will bolster states’
economies through the current
economic crisis.
Despite the nation’s current
economic struggles, states should
continue to invest in university
research because of long-term
benefits in jobs and other areas,
said John Hardin, acting execu
tive director of the N.C. Board of
Science and Technology.
“University research is essen
tially the seed corn for economic
development,” John Hardin said.
Although Gov. Mike Easley
reduced the UNC system budget by
2 percent, university research is still
likely to power local economies.
UNC-system research provides
more than 5,000 jobs statewide,
said Steven Leath, UNC-system
vice president for research.
The state spent almost sl.l bil
lion last year on the system schools’
research and development projects.
Within the system, UNC-Chapel
Hill, N.C. State University and
N.C. Agricultural and Technical
State University generate the most
research and development jobs.
A study conducted by Families
USA found that in North Carolina
every National Institute of Health
dollar invested in university research
and development projects generated
more than $2 of economic activity.
Research is an economic pillar for
states with large university systems.
Last year the University of
Michigan system invested more
than $876 million in research
efforts. The system employs about
20,000 people in research fields,
said Lee Katterman, project man
ager in the Office of Vice President
for Research.
The university’s focus on research
is part of the reason for the low
unemployment rate around the
main Ann Arbor campus, he said.
That focus attracts many busi
nesses to the area that hope to profit
from an innovative atmosphere and
an educated workforce, he said.
And a well-supported research
and development initiative is crucial
to sustaining a healthy economy.
“There’s no question that it’s the
university R&D engine that really
drives a robust, modern, high
tech economy,” said David Lee,
University of Georgia vice presi
dent for research.
Some states are partnering pub
lic universities with the private sec
tor to connect the local economy
and university research and devel
opment, Lee said.
UGa.’s efforts alone have gener
ated 170 companies.
And the economic benefits
extend beyond people involved
directly with research.
“When the research is completed
and successful, a number of people
SEE R&D SPENDING, PAGE 5
extra little push,” Schwartz said.
“Your decision determines whether
or not they get that extra push. It’s
incredibly hard.”
Contact the Features Editor
atfeatureß@unc.edu.
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