3Q, 2009 - UNC Charlotte Magazine

UNC Charlotte The magazine of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte for Alumni and Friends • v16 n3 q3 • 2009

Learning to Serve

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Levine Scholars = Future Leaders

What makes this initiative so special, and so important, is its goal — to develop compassionate, ethical leadership for our region.

UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

You don’t have to look far to see that UNC Charlotte has undergone amazing transformation in just a short time period.

The campus experience has changed in nearly every regard since the University’s founding. These changes include the many new academic initiatives at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels and facilities that provide our students and the community with the best possible environment for learning that we can create.

In this issue of UNC Charlotte magazine, you will learn about a new, exciting initiative that signifies the University’s maturation as an academic institution (see “Learning to Serve,” on page 10). In fact, the recent development of the University’s premier scholarship program, the Levine Scholars Program, is a watershed moment in the University’s history.

In partnership with Sandra and Leon Levine and the Leon Levine Foundation, the University has created a four-year, full ride scholarship program specifically aimed at producing citizen-leaders for the Charlotte region. Over just the next 10 years, the Leon Levine Foundation has committed to providing more than $9.3 million in merit-based scholarships.

A scholarship initiative of this magnitude will not only strengthen the University’s ties to the community; it also will allow UNC Charlotte to compete with the best institutions in North Carolina and throughout the United States for academic talent.

However, what makes this initiative so special, and so important, is its goal — to develop compassionate, ethical leadership for our region. The program’s emphasis on community service will provide Charlotte with a cadre of truly committed young people devoted to working in our neighborhoods and with community organizations across the city.

Charlotte is a vibrant, growing city. In designing this program, it was the wish of the Levine’s, as well as the desire of those at UNC Charlotte who were involved in shaping the program, that our scholars connect with all that Charlotte has to offer. Through their service to community and dedication to life-long learning, we believe the Levine Scholars will make an enormous impact on our campus and in the community as they engage with Charlotte’s civic, corporate and non-profit leadership.

The first class of Levine Scholars will arrive in fall of 2010. We hope you will join us in welcoming them to the Queen City, and we look forward to sharing news of their accomplishments with you.

Cordially,

Philip L. Dubois Chancellor

www.UNCC.edu

contents

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22

10 20 features

departments

10

3

Learning to Serve

News Briefs

26 Center Stage

14

The Gift of Literacy

18

Living Together

22 The Health

28

49ers Notebook

36

Building Blocks

38 Alumni Notes 41

Perspective

Care Conundrum

32

A Journey Through Time

alumni profiles 16

Brian Toomey

32 student success 20 Rocking the Campus

On the cover: On Aug. 18 Leon and Sandra Levine joined Chancellor Dubois to announce the creation of the Levine Scholars Program. The campus will welcome the first Levine Scholars in fall 2010. Cover illustration by SPARK Publications. www.UNCC.edu

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Whole Lotta Stakin’ Going On This 2009-2010 academic year at UNC Charlotte will be the greatest ever. It will be hard to beat 2008-2009, but this year will see even more velocity in the University’s trajectory, even as we begin a slow climb out of an awful recession.

The recession is important to mention only so that it can be set aside as a topic of hand-wringing regarding the growth of UNC Charlotte.

Certainly, recession-related budget cuts have played havoc with important and practical plans UNC Charlotte had for our faculty and staffing levels to finally catch up – almost – with our rate of growth. Not only did the campus experience a reduction in force to the tune of a relatively modest 13 displaced employees, but we are also unable to hire scores and scores of new people for positions that were desperately needed. Gloomy? Not when you consider the good news.

Leaf thorough these pages and you will see examples of changes that signal more than continued growth; they signal critical mass of the sort that fires school spirit – not just among alums and students, but among all people of goodwill who are willing to stake their claim in UNC Charlotte.

Start with the cover story. The creation of the Levine Scholars is the largest individual gift commitment ever presented to UNC Charlotte. The program commences immediately with marketing and recruitment and will yield our first cadre of super-scholars next fall. The University, through the generosity of philanthropic titans Leon and Sandra Levine, has just stepped to a higher plane. Read about it beginning on page 10.

See the photo spread about the big, beautiful Student Union, pages 4, 34 and 35. This awesome facility is huge in ways beyond its 196,000-square-foot size. The union is the new magnet for students because it provides for them a much needed home away from home on campus – a home with all the amenities that a first-class university should offer.

Also this year, two strategically important facilities will rise from the ground – our Center City classroom building at Ninth and Brevard uptown and our Energy Production Infrastructure Center on campus. Much has been written and said about both, but to be able to actually see them becoming real is going to be fantastic. A third such facility was completed this summer: the Bioinformatics building. With the Center City building, we stake our claim to enhanced access to people who live and work uptown, and become an even more significant presence – a true landmark – in the Center City. With EPIC, we are working in partnership with the leading energy organizations in the Charlotte region to train specialists and develop new technology. With Bioinformatics, we’re building one of the largest such programs in the United States.

Finally, UNC Charlotte’s “Stake Your Claim” branding campaign is hitting full throttle with advertising, giant pickaxes located around town and the introduction of the 4.NINER K run and walk event to help raise funds for scholarships. There’s a whole lotta stakin’ going on at UNC Charlotte.

John D. Bland, Editor Director of Public Relations

UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

Volume 16, Number 3 Philip L. Dubois Chancellor Ruth Shaw Chair of the Board of Trustees Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Community Affairs David Dunn Editor Director of Public Relations John D. Bland Creative Director Fabi Preslar Contributing Writers Rhiannon Bowman Phillip Brown Lisa Lambert Paul Nowell Allison Reid Karen C. Wilson Staff Photographer Wade Bruton Circulation Manager Cathy Brown Design & Production SPARK Publications

UNC Charlotte is published four times a year by The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 ISSN 10771913 Editorial offices: Reese Building, 2nd floor The University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University City Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28223 704.687.5822; Fax: 704.687.6379 The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is open to people of all races and is committed to equality of educational opportunity and does not discriminate against applicants, students or employees based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability.

Regards,

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17,500 copies of this publication were printed at a cost of $.70 per piece, for a total cost of $12,300.00.

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www.UNCC.edu

R-E-S-P-E-C-T for a Common Injury

Avoiding and Treating the Ankle Sprain

By Lisa A. Lambert nearly 23,000 Americans each day. As the academic year approaches and you and your loved ones gear up to take to the field, consider the following advice:

UNC Charlotte professor and undergraduate athletic training director Tricia Hubbard recently made headlines with research into a common, often ignored health issue — the ankle sprain.

Hubbard joined experts at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association annual meeting to review research evidence for methods used to prevent recurrent ankle sprains.

What they found was not surprising; what is surprising is how few athletes (of the professional and weekend warrior variety) properly deal with ankle injuries. These pesky injuries take more time to heal than most people realize, and most sprains require rehabilitation regimens.

Sprains result when the elastic fibers that hold the ankle together, ligaments, are stretched beyond their normal range. Severe www.UNCC.edu

sprains are characterized by partially or completely torn ligaments.

Commonly, sprains are caused when the foot lands on an uneven surface or object and turns either in or outward beyond the acceptable range of motion. Athletes often suffer sprains and tears when they land wrong after jumping, make quick directional changes or step on another player’s appendage. Along with athletes, women wearing high heels or platform shoes are at higher risk, Hubbard said.

Without proper treatment what might seem like a simple ankle sprain develops into chronic, long-term joint pathology for some 30 to 40 percent of people, Hubbard said.

In a July 2009 New York Times article, Hubbard provides tips for prevention and treatment of ankle sprains, which affect

When Sprains Happen With any ankle sprain, the ankle should be immediately immobilized to protect the joint and allow the injured ligaments to heal.

The ankle should be immobilized for at least a week for the simplest sprain, 10 to 14 days for a moderate sprain and four to six weeks for more severe sprains.

As with other such injuries, the recommended first aid for an ankle sprain, goes by the acronym RICE: R for rest, I for ice, C for compression, E for elevation. In other words, get off the foot, wrap it in an Ace-type bandage, raise it higher than the heart and ice it with a cloth-wrapped ice pack applied for 20 minutes once every hour (longer application can cause tissue damage).

This should soon be followed by a visit to a doctor, physical therapist or athletic trainer, who should prescribe a period of immobilization of the ankle and rehabilitation exercises. An anti-inflammatory drug may be recommended and crutches provided for a few days, especially if applying pressure to the ankle is too painful. If you can’t walk more than five steps without limping you should be using crutches.

Athletes who’ve suffered sprains should exercise preventive measures during future physical activities. Studies show that wearing a lace-up ankle brace is more effective than taping the ankle in preventing re-injury.

While circumstance dictates a good many injuries, others are preventable. Hubbard said wearing shoes appropriate for your activity goes a long way.

Lisa Lambert is senior writer in the Office of Public Relations.

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news briefs Student Union Ushers in New Era

A new era in UNC Charlotte’s history and student life began this fall. After 10 years of planning and two-and-a-half years of construction, the new $65 million, 196,000-square-foot Student Union opened.

At virtually every university, the student union is the community center of the campus serving students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors. “Everything in the Student Union has been done with the

students in mind and with their input,” said Associate Vice Chancellor for the Student Union Jim Hoppa.

The Union becomes the new headquarters for the Student Activities Office, providing a connection and resources to almost 300 student organizations and activities. The Student Government Association, Campus Activities Board and Student Media Office will have permanent offices in the Student Union. The building also houses the Center for Leadership Development and the Multicultural Resource Center.

The Union houses a variety of food options as well as Barnes and Noble at UNC Charlotte, a new two-story campus

bookstore. The Union also hosts a 210-seat movie theatre, lounges, meeting rooms, an art gallery, outdoor and patio seating areas and ample space for gathering, study and relaxation. Services include a copy and mailing center, laptop computer checkout, hair salon, ATMs and the I.D. Card office.

Movies, which are free for current students, will be open to the public for a nominal fee.

The new Union replaces UNC Charlotte’s Cone University Center, built in 1962. The Cone Center will remain open to provide space for meetings, student support and additional campus dining.

Continued on p. 34

Ribbon-cutting ceremony, Sept. 24

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news briefs CRI Welcomes First Entrepreneur-in-Residence Biomedical engineer Guy Rachmuth, is the first-ever Entrepreneur-in-Residence for the Charlotte Research Institute (CRI).

Rachmuth, who recently relocated from Cambridge, Mass., will work to match researchers and technologies with high-level professionals who have the Guy Rachmuth ability to create new private sector relationships that may lead to new startup business ventures or licensing opportunities to existing companies.

An accomplished entrepreneur, Rachmuth designed novel integrated circuits that mimic brain signals in realtime for his thesis work as a post-doctoral fellow at MIT. He completed the work under the direction of the MIT/Harvard Division of Health Sciences. He later launched NeuroAnalogICs, a start-up company aimed at commercializing this thesis work. The company attracted venture capital investments and government grants.

The Charlotte Research Institute’s new Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program is designed to support scientific, entrepreneurial and commercialization opportunities at UNC Charlotte.

Rachmuth, who holds an M.S. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in biomedical engineering, has consulted for life sciences-oriented startups and investment banks in the Boston area.

“The Charlotte Region is growing significantly and attracting high quality consultants from around the world,” Carl P.B. Mahler II, director of UNC Charlotte’s Office of Technology Transfer stated.

The Entrepreneur-in-Residence program is a 12-month appointed position. Licensing revenue from existing UNC Charlotte-owned technologies are reinvested back into the University to support additional research activities. www.UNCC.edu

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Helene Hilger will lead a project to produce brown grease-to-biodiesel technology through UNC Charlotte’s Infrastructure, Design, Environment and Sustainability Center.

New IDEAS Center to Help Fuel Regional Biodiesel Production Efforts UNC Charlotte, together with Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities, Central Piedmont Community College and the Centralina Council of Governments, recently was awarded a Green Business Fund Grant presented by Gov. Bev Perdue at a reception held this month. The $85,000 grant, along with a $99,850 grant from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina will aid in the study and development of a highly integrated biodiesel production facility for Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities.

The regional partnership will cultivate an oil seed crop on five acres of land owned

by Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities and irrigated with reclaimed water to produce biodiesel fuel.

According to Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities, technology for converting virgin seed oils and yellow grease into biodiesel is well proven, however much less study has been done on brown grease currently removed from restaurant grease traps and black grease collected in sewer lines. Often grease is taken to landfills because it is mixed with wastewater. Grease poured down drains is the leading cause of sanitary sewer overflows in the Utilities 4,000-mile wastewater collection system.

The work will be conducted through UNC Charlotte’s new Infrastructure, Design, Environment and Sustainability (IDEAS) Center; Center director, Helene Hilger will serve as the principal investigator of the project. The Center will determine how much brown grease is generated in the county, its chemical makeup and how much biodiesel could be produced from the region. The funding also supports a vetting process to identify qualified vendors with brown grease-to-biodiesel technology.

Students from UNC Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College will assist with various aspects of the projects. Central Piedmont’s Center for Sustainability will produce learning modules from the agricultural and biodiesel production activities to strengthen the Charlotte region’s green workforce.

Centralina Council of Governments is administering the grants through its Clean Fuels Coalition.

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news briefs

for the Performing Arts

Cone Distinguished Professorship awarded to Aliaga-Buchenau Associate professor of German Ana-Isabel Aliaga-Buchenau is the latest member of the faculty to receive the Bonnie E. Cone Early-Career Professorship for Teaching. She received the honor at convocation, Tuesday, Aug. 18.

In presenting the award, Provost Joan Lorden cited Aliaga-Buchenau’s role in revising the German curriculum to make it “more appealing to students without compromising on standards and tradition.”

Aliaga-Buchenau also is credited with revitalizing the Certificate in Translation: German, considered the program’s most popular option.

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“Her (Aliaga-Buchenau) was completed at Georgenthusiasm and devotion August Universitat Gottingen, make her an excellent where she majored in French mentor,” said Lorden. “She and English literature and encourages students to study linguistics. abroad and those who excel The Cone Early-Career to continue for advanced Professorship in Teaching was degrees.” established in 1992 to recognize Robert Reimer, chair a faculty member who exhibits of languages and culture excellent teaching early in his Ana-Isabel Aliaga-Buchenau studies, in support of Aliagaor her career. A three-year Buchenau, wrote, “She represents that appointment, the professorship includes which makes our profession rewarding and an additional salary stipend and faculty ultimately a joy to practice.” development funding. In addition, the Aliaga-Buchenau joined UNC Charlotte recipient’s name is inscribed on a special in 2002. She earned a Ph.D. and a master’s permanent plaque. Only five members of in comparative literature from UNC the University faculty may hold this title at Chapel Hill. Her undergraduate work the same time.

2009-2010 Season

Performing Arts Calendar Features Full Slate of Events The Department of Music proudly announces the Faculty & Friends Concert Series; a series of concerts performed by UNC Charlotte’s outstanding faculty along with their friends and colleagues. This series of concerts will feature masterworks of the chamber music and vocal repertoire, a tribute to jazz legend Charlie Parker, and the Inaugural Recital of violinist David Russell, the newly appointed Anne R. Belk Distinguished Professor of Music.

The Department of Music will also present nearly 30 student ensemble performances during the 2009 – 2010 season. These concerts feature UNC Charlotte’s choirs, concert bands, jazz ensembles, orchestras, and chamber ensembles.

Season subscriptions for the Theatre Mainstage Series, the Dance Ensemble Series, and the Faculty & Friends Concert Series are on sale now at www. unccboxoffice.com and through the Box Office located in Robinson Hall for the Performing Arts on the UNC Charlotte campus. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. except on university holidays.

For additional event and venue information, call the Box Office at 704-687-1TIX (1849) or visit www.performances.uncc.edu.

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news briefs

Business affairs vc named outstanding leader Elizabeth Hardin, vice chancellor for business affairs, was among the 25 outstanding women from the Charlotte area honored at the 13th annual Women in Business event presented by the Charlotte Business Journal.

As head of the Business Affairs Division, Hardin serves as chief financial and administrative officer for UNC Charlotte. In that role, she is responsible for policy, strategy and operational oversight for the campus administrative infrastructure that provides the people, space and dollars necessary for the University to fulfill its institutional mission.

During the past year, Hardin chaired the steering committee for the Center City Building project. Earlier this year, the University broke ground on the $50.4 million project, which is the only UNC system classroom building conceived and designed specifically to serve the business, organizations and residents of an urban www.UNCC.edu

Army, Air Force ROTC Get New Home in Renamed Memorial Hall During the past year, the Brocker Building, which housed the former Student Health Center, has been transformed. Now Memorial Hall, the building has become the headquarters for the Army and Air Force ROTC programs on campus after a year long complete renovation.

The Brocker Building formerly served as the University’s student health center from the early 1970s.

In late 2007, UNC Charlotte opened a new state-of-the-art Student Health Center located at the intersection of Cameron Boulevard and Mary Alexander Road. Facilities Management Design Services was given the task of converting the old building into the new home of the ROTC departments.

The entire interior of the building was demolished and removed. The University Classroom Support Department has installed new “Smart Room” capabilities in the classrooms to bring the building up to current University standards.

Memorial Hall “Memorial Hall is a milestone in the history of ROTC at UNC Charlotte,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Rogers, commander of AFROTC Detachment 592. “I attended UNC Charlotte 20 years ago as an Air Force ROTC cadet. Having a dedicated Military Science and Aerospace building demonstrates the University’s commitment to our programs. We are grateful to be here.”

A wall inside the entrance way to the building has been reserved for the design and construction of a memorial that will commemorate UNC Charlotte students who have served in any branch of the Armed Services and lost their lives in service to the country.

Army and Air Force cadets will conduct the research to find the UNC Charlotte Veterans who have died in the line of duty.

Lt. Col. Eddie Johnson, chair of Military Science and Leadership Studies, stated, “It is an honor for Army ROTC to be housed in a building dedicated to fallen veterans. As we move through uncertain times, it will serve as a monument to those who have sacrificed and to the future leaders that will come from Memorial Hall.”

Photo by Mathew Brown

International Programs Plans Speakers and Films The International Film Series at UNC Charlotte is co-presented by the Office of International Programs and the Global Film Initiative and funded through the Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Fund.

Six films will be screened on-campus during the 2009-2010 academic year. The films are critically acclaimed and examine universal themes of love, tragedy, family and community through the lens of people across the globe. Film titles include: Getting Home (China), Mutum (Brazil), Possible Lives (Argentina), Sleepwalking Land (Mozambique), Song from the Southern Seas (Kazakhstan) and What a Wonderful World (Morocco). Details will be provided as they are confirmed.

For more information on these and other events, contact Rebecca Vincent at rebecca. vincent@uncc.edu or 704-687-7305.

UNC Charlotte friends and alums are also invited to join the OIP Facebook Group for information on these and other events or follow our new blog, Niner International, to get the scoop on upcoming programs, read international perspectives of students and colleagues or provide feedback.

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center. Hardin also is providing leadership in the development of the most broadly encompassing campus master plan in the University’s history. The plan will address not only the specifics of the campus’ infrastructure but the University’s integration with its surrounding community.

Beth Hardin She also created the fiscal roadmap that has enabled the University to weather the loss of more than 12 percent of its general funds.

A graduate of the University of Georgia

with a master’s degree from Harvard Business School, Hardin held positions with Sara Lee Hosiery Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton and Bank of America before joining the University. During her UNC Charlotte tenures, Hardin has served as special assistant to the chancellor, interim executive director of the Charlotte Research Institute and associate vice chancellor of business affairs. She also was vice president for administration at the University of Wyoming from 2003 to 2006.

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news briefs Wilder to Lead UNC Charlotte J. Murrey Atkins Library Stanley Wilder, former associate dean, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester, is UNC Charlotte’s new head librarian.

According to Joan Lorden, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, Wilder “is highly Stanley Wilder respected as a thought leader for the profession (in academic research libraries)” and is known by his colleagues “as an innovator who has removed barriers to access library resources.”

Wilder said he was impressed with the level of support Atkins Library received from University leaders and across campus.

“The UNC Charlotte community clearly loves its library and understands how a strong library contributes to teaching and research. Inside the library and out, UNC Charlotte exudes a strong sense of aspiration, a committed resolve to be great.

Implementing a strong engagement approach with faculty, staff, students and the community, Wilder has successful experience in areas such as collection development, digital scholarship, scholarly communications and fund raising. He currently oversees a $3 million project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that will result in, according to Wilder, an “open source search system unifying retrieval of print and electronic scholarship.”

Public Health Programs Earn Accreditation The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) recently awarded initial five-year accreditation to UNC Charlotte’s Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) and Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) degree programs.

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Crossroads Coordinator Wins Prestigious Civic Engagement Award Susan Harden is the recipient of the 2009 Civic Engagement Professional of the Year Award.

Harden, coordinator for UNC Charlotte’s Crossroads Charlotte initiative, recently received the award from Campus Compact during a special ceremony held on campus.

A national coalition of more than 1,100 college and university presidents, Campus Compact represents some six million students who are committed to fulfilling the civic purposes of higher education.

The Civic Engagement Professional of the Year Award highlights the critical and valuable role of the community Susan Harden engagement professional in higher education. It honors an individual who not only has become a vital link between the community and campus but who is central to realizing the vision of the engaged campus.

During this past year, Harden introduced new Crossroads-themed courses such as UCOL 1200 Freshman Seminar and LBST 2215 Citizenship. More than 600 students participated in the courses, which resulted in almost 2,000 community service hours.

In addition, Harden spearheaded the development of a strategic network of Crossroads partners for service learning and event collaboration. These partners include: CharlotteMecklenburg Schools, Levine Museum of the New South, YWCA and the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Crossroads Charlotte is a broad-based effort to address the challenges of race, class and privilege in Charlotte. More than 50 area governmental, corporate, nonprofit, faith-based and educational institutions are active Crossroads partners.

and Human Services’ Department of Public Health Sciences, the UNC Charlotte Public Health Program becomes the fourth in the state to earn CEPH accreditation, joining UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Greensboro, and East Carolina University. In total, CEPH has accredited 80 public health programs and 41 schools of public health worldwide.

“We are among a selective set of institutions that demonstrate the faculty talent and broad vision to prepare the next

generation of public health workers,” said Andrew Harver, chair of Public Health Sciences.

E. Winters Mabry, MD, Health Director, Mecklenburg County Health Department noted, “National certification demonstrates how UNC Charlotte has strengthened its offerings, and become a resource for developing a highly trained public health workforce to meet current and emerging challenges, and to respond to the ongoing www.UNCC.edu

news briefs

Student Health Center Receives AAAHC Accreditation UNC Charlotte’s Student Health Center recently received accreditation by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC/ Accreditation Association).

According to David Rousmaniere, director of the Student Health Center, achieving this distinction distinguishes the University’s Student Health Center from many other outpatient facilities.

“We believe our patients deserve the best,” stated Rousmaniere. “When they see our certificate of accreditation, it means that we as an organization care enough about our patients to strive for the highest care possible.”

More than 3,600 ambulatory health care organizations across the United States are accredited by AAAHC. Ambulatory health care organizations seeking accreditation by the AAAHC undergo an extensive self-assessment and on-site survey by experts – volunteer physicians, nurses and administrators who are actively involved in ambulatory health care.

The Student Health Center, located at the corner of Cameron Boulevard and Mary Alexander Road opened in fall 2007. The $7.5 million building, at almost 32,000 square feet, features 21 medical examination rooms. Services provided include, but are not limited to, general medicine, gynecology, physical therapy, radiology, nutrition and psychiatry.

Computer Science Professor Receives NSF Career Award Computer science professor Tiffany Barnes is studying how to use artificial intelligence to transform education.

Her efforts have resulted in a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award.

Barnes, an assistant professor in the www.UNCC.edu

Department of Computer Science in UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics, will receive $646,982 during the next five years to support her research, “Educational Data Mining for Student Support in Interactive Learning Environments.”

“I am honored and delighted to receive the NSF Career Award to advance my research in developing software to make education better for students learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Barnes. “This award will enable us to engage more graduate and undergraduate students in computer science research that has a direct benefit on society.”

Creating intelligent learning technologies from data has unique potential to transform the American educational system, by building a low-cost way to adapt learning environments to individual students, while advancing research on human learning, Barnes said.

The goal of her project is to create technology for a new generation of datadriven intelligent tutors, enabling the rapid creation of individualized instruction to support learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. It has the potential to develop individualized learning support for a broad audience, from children to adults, including students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields, Barnes said.

The NSF Career Award is the foundation’s most prestigious honor in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of their education and research programs within the mission of their organization.

Belk College Student Crowned Miss North Carolina Katherine Southard, a student in the Belk College of Business Master

in Business Administration program, recently was crowned Miss North Carolina 2009.

As winner of the pageant, Southard receives a $12,000 scholarship and the chance to compete for the Miss America crown next January in Las Vegas. Southard earned undergraduate degrees in business and dance from Elon University.

Photo by Lenn Long

needs of our diverse community.”

“This accomplishment is a significant step in our strategic plan to increase our educational and research capacities in public health,” said Karen Schmaling, Ph.D., dean of the College of Health and Human Services.

Katherine Southard

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Computer science professor receives NSF grant Yu Wang, assistant professor in the College of Computing and Informatics Department of Computer Science, has received a grant from the National Science Yu Wang Foundation (NSF) for the collaborative research project “An Integrated Environment-independent Approach to Topology Control in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks.” The total grant, which is for $462,561, is from the foundation’s Networking Technology and Systems Program.

Wang, in collaboration with Harish Sethu from Drexel University and Liang Cheng from Lehigh University, will study how to intelligently control the topology of wireless ad hoc networks so energy consumption and network interference are reduced while capacity is maximized.

These new algorithms will speed up the actual deployment of energy-efficient highperformance wireless ad hoc networks with benefits to many known civil or military applications.

A wireless ad hoc network is a loose collection of wireless devices that are capable of communicating with each other without the aid of any established infrastructure or centralized administration. Minimal configuration and quick deployment make wireless ad hoc networks suitable for a variety of applications, such as disaster recovery or military battlefields.

Wireless ad hoc networks are expected to play an important role in the future wireless generation.

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New scholarship program to foster community engagement

By Paul Nowell

UNC Charlotte’s rising star is about to shine even brighter.

In the fall of 2010, the first group of 15 Levine Scholars will take their place among their peers on campus, attending classes and starting to look for ways to use their extraordinary talents and gifts to make the Charlotte community a better place to live.

The prestigious academic awards were made possible by philanthropists Leon and Sandra Levine, who donated $9.3 million in August to UNC Charlotte over 10 years for the merit scholarship program to develop community service leaders.

Al Maisto, associate dean for the Honors College at UNC Charlotte and Interim Director for the Levine Scholars Program, said the concept derived from the Levine family’s ongoing efforts to give back to the Charlotte community.

Maisto noted the Levine Foundation has been very active in supporting causes ranging from medical care to museums and higher education.

“Here’s a way to inculcate leaders from this city, the state and even the entire United States into this community,” he said. “Our hope is for them to stay here after they graduate so they can instill their academic prowess, leadership skills and business talents into the Charlotte community to strengthen its level of giving and philanthropic accomplishments.”

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“We hope that the Levine Scholars will engage in lives of learning, service and leadership here in the region we love and call home.”

His words are not hyperbole. The program has been compared with the esteemed Morehead-Cain Scholars at UNC Chapel Hill, Park Scholars at North Carolina State University and Benjamin N. Duke Scholars at Duke.

The largest individual academic gift commitment in the university’s history, the Levine Scholars Program triples the amount UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip L. Dubois (standing) joins Sandra and Leon Levine at a press conference to announce the largest individual gift in University history. The $9.3 million gift will fund the new Levine Scholars Program.

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An overflow crowd gathered in the new Student Union to learn more about the University’s premiere scholarship program. The inaugural class of Levine Scholars will join the University community in fall of 2010.

Dr. Mike Richardson and Niles Sorensen, vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs, were instrumental in planning for the Levine Scholars Program.

of four-year aid that UNC Charlotte offers incoming freshmen.

Within four years, officials hope to have 60 Levine Scholars on campus.

Levine, founder of the successful Family Dollar Stores chain, said he and his wife were pleased to use some of their foundation’s $200 million for the merit scholarships. Other beneficiaries of the foundation include The Levine Museum of the New South, Levine Children’s Hospital and the Sandra and Leon Levine Jewish Community Center.

“We are delighted by the opportunity to be able to support a program that exemplifies one of the most fundamental values – that individuals can make a real difference in the community,” Levine told a packed news conference on the UNC Charlotte campus on Aug. 18. “We hope that the Levine Scholars will engage in lives of learning, service and leadership here in the region we love and call home.”

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Chancellor Philip L. Dubois called the creation of the Levine Scholars Program a “transformational” event for the University. “To me, this is more than the establishment of a scholarship program,” he said. “It’s a watershed moment in our history.”

Dubois said the Levine Scholars Program signals UNC Charlotte’s maturation as an academic institution as the university seeks to compete with top institutions in the state and country for academic talent.

“What makes this initiative so special, and so important, is its goal – to develop compassionate, ethical leadership for our region,” he said.

The scholarships will cover all tuition and fees, housing and meals, books, a laptop computer, and funding for four summer experiences, as well as an $8,000 grant to support community service work over four years at UNC Charlotte. The value for in-state students will be about $90,000 and about $140,000 for out-of-state students.

Eleven scholars will come from North Carolina; four from across the country. They'll work with Charlotte's corporate and civic leaders.

Provost Joan Lorden said: “Today’s students in general, and especially the brightest and most talented students, are looking for more than just a classroom experience. They want a real laboratory to test what they learn and to make meaningful contributions to the community.

“Those opportunities are abundant in Charlotte and the Levine Scholars Program will give UNC Charlotte the opportunity to actively recruit these young people and offer a financial package that convinces them to attend here.”

Paul Nowell is media relations manager at UNC Charlotte. www.UNCC.edu

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Pound the Pavement Oct. 24 event to boost need-based scholarship support

By Phillip Brown

“We hope the Charlotte community will stake their claim in support of education by providing assistance to these students.”

–David Dunn

www.UNCC.edu

For fall semester, UNC Charlotte welcomed a record enrollment of nearly 24,700 students. Come spring, a significant number of these students may be unable to continue their studies due to state budget cuts to need-based financial aid.

Rather than standing still, UNC Charlotte leaders are racing to assist these students through the 4.NINER K. A 4.9 kilometer race/walk, the 4.NINER K is designed to be a community-wide event to raise funds for need-based scholarships.

“This year, financial aid applications are up 30 percent. With less aid from the state, some of our neediest students will be unable to return in the spring,” said David Dunn, vice chancellor for university relations and community affairs. “But UNC Charlotte is a pioneering institution. We’ve always exhibited a ‘can do’ attitude when tackling any problem. We’ve staked our claim to providing an outstanding educational experience for the greater Charlotte region.

We hope the Charlotte community and the UNC Charlotte family will join us in this fund-raising effort and stake their claim in support of education by providing assistance to these students.”

The first-ever 4.NINER K run/walk is set for Saturday, Oct. 24, on the UNC Charlotte campus. Registration begins at

7:30 a.m. with a start time of 8:49 a.m. at the new Student Union on Craver Road.

Participant fees are: $15 for UNC Charlotte students, $26 for single runners/walkers and $49 for couples or families of four if registered prior to Friday, Oct. 23. Onsite registration will be higher. Children age 14 and younger are free.

“One hundred percent of all race proceeds will go directly to the 4.NINER Fund,” said Edna Dash from university relations and community affairs, who is helping to organize the race along with the University’s Alumni Association. “Besides supporting such a worthwhile cause, runners and their families will enjoy a postrace barbeque and other activities, including 49er Fan Day.” Following the race, prizes will be awarded to the overall top three male and female participants as well as the top three men and women per age groups. At 11 a.m., 49er Fan Day begins in Halton Arena; UNC Charlotte men’s and women’s basketball teams will hold scrimmages, and players will sign autographs.

Online registration can be completed via the Web at http://syc.uncc.edu/4NINERK. aspx. For more information about the 4.NINER K or to request mail-in registration forms, e-mail Dash at edash@ uncc.edu.

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fe a t u re

The

Gift of

Diane Browder is champion of disabled students

Literacy

By Lisa A. Lambert

Diane Browder understands the profound joy of literacy. As a child, her mother instilled in the young girl a passion for reading that she would nurture for life.

Browder, the Snyder Distinguished Professor of Special Education at UNC Charlotte, has made a career of passing along that joy along with other educational opportunities to countless children who just a decade ago would have been written off as unable to learn even the most basic literacy skills.

Children like Sam. Sam, a precocious 8-year-old, was born with Downs Syndrome.

Sam’s special education teacher, Amy, had searched for a years for a way to help her students master basic academic skills including word recognition.

Browder understood Amy’s frustration.

For nearly three decades she has maintained a close connection to K through 12 schools, talking to teachers and parents about the pitfalls and successes of modern special education programs.

A ground-level awareness of the problems inherent in educating moderately to severely disabled students, coupled with a passion to 14 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

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provide individuals with disabilities equal access to educational opportunity, led Browder to a career in special education. A desire to share the gift of literacy inspired Browder to embark on a research project meant to shed light on best practices in literacy education for students with disabilities.

Her research team’s review of the literature revealed that a tested, effective literacy curriculum for moderately to severely disabled students simply did not exist. So she led the team to create one.

“Dr. Browder’s work exemplifies solid, empirical research in an area that is an extremely difficult one in which to conduct research,” said Martha Thurlow, director of the National Center on Education Outcomes. “She applied creativity to an area where others were thinking inside the box — novel approaches that helped move her thinking and her research light years from where they would have been otherwise.”

The result of Browder’s work is a language-rich literacy curriculum for children ages 5 – 10 with moderate to severe developmental disabilities. The Early

Literacy Skills Builder (ELSB) is multiyear program with seven distinct levels and ongoing assessments that allow students to progress at their own pace.

Sam sits across a table from Amy. She holds up an index card and asks Sam to point to the word that best describes Moe, the star of the ELSB curriculum. “Is Moe a frog, or a book?” she says. He rocks back in his seat and thrusts his finger forward, touching and repeating the correct word.

Amy praises his choice and he smiles broadly, clearly pleased.

Prior to the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, Sam would have been denied access to education. As late as 1970, many states had laws excluding children who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed or intellectually disabled.

In the last 30 years a sea change has taken place — the nation has moved from paying little or no attention to the needs of individuals with disabilities, to accommodating these individuals’ basic needs, and finally to providing programs and www.UNCC.edu

fe a t u re services for all children with disabilities and their families.

Before the enactment of IDEA, most individuals with moderate to severe disabilities received services in isolated settings. In 1967, for example, almost 200,000 persons with significant disabilities were housed in state institutions. Many of these settings provided only minimal food, clothing and shelter.

While educational opportunities for children with disabilities have grown by leaps and bounds since the implementation of IDEA, Browder’s research led the way in demonstrating how to teach academic content including not only literacy, but also math and science to students with significant cognitive disabilities. Her work also contributed to understanding how these students can “show what they know” through alternate assessments.

“It is fair to say that Dr. Browder’s work has changed the way we educate and the expectations we hold for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities,” Thurlow said. Browder’s contributions were also recognized by the American Association on Education Research where she was selected as the Special Education Distinguished Scholar of 2009.

The ELSB curriculum is being used by Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, who have partnered with Browder to test educational innovations for the past decade. The ELSB was also endorsed by the Council of Special Education Administrators and is being used in school systems nationwide. And lawmakers have taken notice, using Browder’s research

“Dr. Browder’s work has changed the way we educate and the expectations we hold for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.” findings on alternate assessment and access to general curriculum to craft national policy. At the request of former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Browder was named to the National Technical Advisory Council, created by the Department of Education to strengthen No Child Left Behind.

Browder cautions that, though strides have been made to improve special education, the U.S. educational system needs a significant, sustained investment in research to keep forward momentum.

“I think what’s going to be really important for special education in the 21st Century is to maintain some of the gains that have been made, and to keep funding research. I hope people will remember that investing in

children is a long-term gain,” Browder said.

In addition to her research and work in the schools, Browder has helped to shape the next generation of education leaders as coordinator of the doctorate in special education at UNC Charlotte. The UNC Charlotte special education department recently was ranked in the top 10 nationwide by the Chronicle of Higher Education for scholarly productivity.

She also mentors a talented research team who have conducted teacher training in places as diverse as California, South Dakota, Chicago and Louisiana.

While at UNC Charlotte, Browder has secured more than $8 million in federal research funding and student support monies.

She has published several books that are considered seminal within the field of special education. These books provide teachers with tools to successfully integrate students with developmental disabilities into the mainstream of American schools.

“Her research has helped to make sure that students with significant cognitive disabilities are no longer pushed to the side and segregated in special classrooms. She has led the fight to integrate these children into American society and schools,” said Steve Graham, editor of the journal Exceptional Children. “For those children who are most vulnerable, Dr. Browder has increased the likelihood that they will be able to serve a purposeful and meaningful life, living and working alongside the rest of us.”

In addition to her professional training, Browder learned some very important lessons from her niece, who is severely disabled. Witnessing the struggles and triumphs of a family member increased Browder’s commitment to a field in which she has excelled and to which she has made immeasurable contributions. Browder noted that the many teachers and students who share her work continue to inspire her hopes and expectations.

“I have short-term and long-term hopes for students with moderate and severe disabilities. In the short term, I hope they’ll delight in learning, and in the long term I hope that learning is durable and applies to life outcomes as adults,” she said. “My hope is that they’ll sustain the joy of learning for a lifetime.”

Lisa Lambert is senior writer in the Office of Public Relations.

Diane Browder was awarded the 2009 First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal.

She is pictured with Chancellor Dubois and First Citizens executive Marc Horgan. www.UNCC.edu

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a l u m n i p ro f i l e s

By Rhiannon Bowman

The Accidental Fencing Instructor 16 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

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www.UNCC.edu

a l u m n i p ro f i l e s

UNC Charlotte alumnus Brian Toomey got his first taste of fencing as an undergraduate.

He now owns Charlotte Fencing Academy and passes on his love of the sport to the academy’s 90-plus students.

“The kids have a lot of practice making mistakes, but the sport builds responsibility and true self-reliance.”

www.UNCC.edu

Brian Toomey got started in fencing – swords, not boards – because he needed to take one more class to fill his schedule during his sophomore year at UNC Charlotte, not because he was in love with the sport. In truth, fencing was his third choice for an alternative elective.

Nonetheless, he quickly became passionate about the sport. By his senior year, he was president of the university’s fencing club. After graduation, he returned to campus to volunteer as an assistant coach. Today, Toomey, now 33, owns the Charlotte Fencing Academy on Reames Road In 2002, he started the academy with three students. Now, the school boasts a roster of 90.

That number doesn’t include students who participate in satellite programs, where the academy hosts beginner classes, at various private schools and for the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation Department.

In addition to offering classes, the academy offers weeklong camps and teaches students and parents how to repair equipment. When possible, Olympic fencer Peter Cox, who participated in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, participates in the clinics.

Besides sharing his expertise, said Toomey of Cox, “He’s always been a good mentor.”

Presiding over the UNC Charlotte fencing club, Toomey said, laid the foundation for the fencing academy. It gave him experience managing large groups and promoting the sport. However, managing the fencing academy is not his day job.

By day, the computer science major is a computer programmer at Bank of America.

While his job helps keep the academy’s books in the black, Toomey said he foresees a day when he can work at the academy full time. Meanwhile, his friend of a dozen years, Jeff Kallio, handles the academy’s day-to-day operations. He also is a UNC Charlotte graduate who earned a degree in criminal justice in 2004.

Both men are excited about sharing their love of the sport with their students. “We have such a solid impact on the kids,” said Kallio, adding that the sport boosts confidence and instills leadership skills.

Grace Kennedy, whose two sons are academy students, calls fencing, “the sport of good manners.” She said she’s witnessed a big difference in her teenage sons, both of whom have attended the academy for four years.

Another bonus for her: Her boys are able to compete against females and adults, something nearly unheard of in other sports.

The coaches lead by example, displaying the sport’s core values of honor, integrity and courage,

| UNC CHARLOTTE

while teaching students to play what Toomey calls, “physical chess.”

But unlike chess, he said, the board is constantly changing. Fencing, Toomey said, is about playing games against your opponent and realizing every fencer has different advantages and disadvantages.

Fencing, which got its start more than 1,000 years ago in England, often brings to mind images of knights weighted down with chain mail, heavy armor and large shields. Today, fencing is a competitive sport, not a form of warfare. The advent of bullets ended the need to carry a sword onto the battlefield.

Fencing is one of only four sports included in every modern Olympic Games since the first in 1896, according to the U.S. Fencing Association. Women were first allowed to compete in 1924, though it wasn’t until the 2004 Olympic Game in Athens, Greece, that women’s Sabre, a type of sword, became an official part of the Olympic program.

Even though the sport is highly competitive, Toomey encourages his students to play when they’re practicing, and not to take themselves too seriously.

“It’s like any other martial art,” he says, “it takes a long time to get good at the basics.” And, he added with a boyish smirk, “Often, at first, you just get beaten up. You have to learn how to lose before you learn how to win.”

One of the reasons why Toomey is attracted to fencing is that it allows him to exercise his martial arts skills. “I like the one-on-one competition,” he said. Plus, Getting to hit people with metal swords is always a little fun.”

Though many fencers in the sport might sniff at being compared to martial artists, Toomey thinks it’s a natural fit, “because,” he said, “you have to take the time to practice movements over and over again until you can do them without thinking.

Discipline is mandatory.”

“The kids have a lot of practice making mistakes,” said Kallio. But, he added, the sport “builds responsibility and true self reliance.”

Kennedy agreed, adding that fencing takes a big time commitment. One thing her family likes about the sport is, unlike in sports such as soccer, fencers get to choose which competitions they want to participate in, often deciding with the help of their coaches.

“This is a very supportive atmosphere,” she said. “Egos are left at the door. Everyone is treated the same.”

Rhiannon Bowman ’08 is a freelance writer based in Charlotte.

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fe a t u re

Living Together

Using public spaces to promote cultural understanding

By Lisa A. Lambert

Jose Gamez

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Charlotte and the words “growth and development” are synonymous. The region has added nearly 150,000 newcomers since 2000. City leaders, non-profit organizations, private citizens and business owners grapple daily with issues that arise from rapid growth and demographic change.

Like many major metropolitan areas, development in Charlotte has come in waves, with Uptown as the epicenter and each new suburb springing up farther still from the core of the city.

This form of growth constitutes urban sprawl.

Travel just a few miles from Uptown to witness the consequences of sprawl. Abandoned shopping centers sit back from the road amid desolate acres of cracked pavement parking lots — once an optimistic paean to consumerism, now a sad reminder that time marches on and tastes change.

“As these areas become less attractive to middle class shoppers, you find a middle-belt of aging urban areas. These second-tier suburbs, constructed between the 1940s and 1980s, are now hemmed in,” said Jose Gamez, UNC Charlotte associate professor of architecture and urban design and director of the Design + Society Research Center. “Nicer suburbs are now found further out.”

City planners, aided by UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute, have begun to re-imagine the region’s growth patterns with an emphasis on compactness and quality of life. Sustainability has become a watchword. At the same time, the middle-belt areas have attracted new inhabitants, often recent immigrants.

Gamez studies the circumstances found in the middle-belt areas.

Before the 2008 economic crisis and concurrent www.UNCC.edu

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Center Provides Expertise to Community Through his work as director of the College of Arts + Architecture’s Design + Society Research Center, Jose Gamez hopes to chip away at some of the misunderstanding that fuels cultural conflict, while giving UNC Charlotte students an opportunity to work with the community to hone their skills and solve real-world problems.

The Uptown studio engages UNC Charlotte students and faculty with civic leaders and developers on projects ranging from public green space to public art.

“It’s important to expose students to a set of real world constraints and to instill in them a sense of civic responsibility. As professionals, architects will often be asked to engage in a civic debate,” Gamez said.

The center has evolved into a think-tank focused on urban design-related issues.

rise in unemployment, Charlotte was ranked ninth in the nation for immigrant population growth. Nearly 10 percent of the city’s inhabitants hail from Latin America.

A significant portion of the immigrant population has settled in the middle-belt areas Gamez described. He said these areas are attractive to newcomers because they are affordable and are located within close range of employment opportunities.

“A whole host of cultural patterns come with immigrants — they use the space differently than from the way often intended, or designed, to be used,” Gamez said.

Empty asphalt can become a springboard for informal activities such as people congregating or street vendors selling food and amenities.

Conflicts arise when these activities violate existing legislation, including zoning laws, or rub up against cultural norms.

Case in point – Charlotte city leaders recently passed an ordinance to prohibit taco trucks from selling food after 9 p.m. The ordinance also stipulated that trucks stay 400 feet from each other and residential areas.

The ordinance caused quite a stir. Proponents argued that the trucks provide a service (affordable fast food) to clientele who often don’t get off of work until late in the evening.

Opponents argued that the trucks are a nuisance and that their presence encourages loitering, littering and loud noise. At the heart of the controversy was a clash of cultures driven by dispute over the activities that should or should not take place in public space. www.UNCC.edu

| UNC CHARLOTTE

Gamez points to one ongoing project as a prime example of kind of collaboration fostered by the center. The project was a public art study conducted on behalf of the Arts and Science Council on Central Avenue.

“I made the case to them that one way to begin to repair some of these older, auto-oriented neighborhoods would be to offer more amenities like public art that would give people a place to sit, move around,” he said. “We did a study looking at opportunity sites where we’d be able to introduce art and landscaping that would build the visual fabric. We proposed that they could recognize the international qualities of that corridor.”

The community’s residents reached consensus after some wrangling over the nature of the artwork and what it would depict.

A mural project representing the old and new elements of life along Central Avenue has been commissioned. The murals will be printed on canvas and hung from storefronts.

Taco trucks, like this one, were the subject of controversy in cities across the United States, including Charlotte.

“The arguments around noise that were made were probably not malicious, but at the same time this is an urban landscape and diversity is a part of that,” Gamez said. “The legislation has begun to stifle an emerging population that has a lot of ‘publicness’ as part of its lifestyle — North Americans are not as public; we have different cultural norms.”

The cultural rituals of Latin Americans and Europeans include daily gatherings and socialization outside of the home.

“Some of it has to do with dense urban conditions and wanting to get into an open space. Those things don’t always synch up cleanly with the way North Americans live,” he said.

One step toward mitigating cultural conflict and enhancing understanding between immigrants and long-time residents involves remapping the legal landscape. Gamez said that revising outdated legislation would go a

long way to allow developers and government to rebuild and repair cities, making them pedestrian friendly and creating greater degrees of population density.

With greater density comes a stronger social fabric and increased social interaction.

“Legal constraints have often shaped a lot of what cities end up with. For instance, San Francisco has an historic Chinatown that’s a tourist attraction and highly prized amenity because in the 1800s the city enacted a series of laws that wouldn’t allow the Chinese to live outside of a certain district,” he said. “In an odd way the restriction had a long-term benefit. The social fabric of that part of town has persisted and maintained a magnetism for folks of Asian descent.”

Gamez points to Chinatown as one example of a set of negative conditions arising from segregation that produced an odd benefit.

“We appreciate the benefit without thinking about the circumstance that produced it,” he said.

Charlotte has witnessed explosive growth in its immigrant community in recent years, so it is likely conflicts such as the taco truck affair will continue to arise for public debate.

In the meantime, Gamez, who grew up in Texas and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in California, said spaces that encourage rather than prohibit social interaction can go a long way to increasing understanding among Charlotte’s dynamic population.

Lisa Lambert is senior writer in the Office of Public Relations.

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student success

Rocking the Campus (And the World?)

By Karen C. Wilson Rock and roll is as much a part of college as studying, but for some it’s serious business.

Brandon Kirkley, a UNC Charlotte graduate student in communications, and Jocelyn Ellis, a senior studying business administration, each serve as lead singers for their bands Brandon Kirkley and the Firecrackers and Jocelyn Ellis and The Alpha Theory. But they’re also trying to lead their groups toward commercial success and mass appeal using knowledge and skills they’ve gained in their studies at UNC Charlotte.

Both bands already have developed large followings both on and off campus with their unique sounds and original music, performing at Charlotte venues such as Tremont Hall and others throughout the Carolinas.

Brandon Kirkley and the Firecrackers, who often go by the shorter acronym BKTF, has opened for several acts that have traveled through the region. Jocelyn Ellis and The Alpha Theory plan to perform in New York City this fall.

The bands recently helped celebrate the grand opening of the new $60 million student union, performing at Norm’s Game Room. Following the performance, they took some time to talk about what they’ve done and what they hope to do.

Brandon Kirkley and the Firecrackers Brandon Kirkley, a graduate student at UNC Charlotte, is hard to miss with his funky hair, cowboy boots, booty shorts and distinctive tattoos.

His tattoos tell something about who he is, he said.

Kirkley sports a black and white tattoo of the late Michael Jackson on his right arm. Michael Jackson is one of his favorite pop artists.

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“I’d love to be a pop musician. As long as I can make enough money to support a family, I’ll keep doing this.”

“My mom says she’d play Michael Jackson when I was in the womb and I’d start kicking,” Kirkley said.

He had the tattoo long before the scandal-ridden artist died. This summer it helped a fan recognize Kirkley as he lounged on the beach in Myrtle Beach, S.C. On the other arm, there’s a tattoo of the Queen City’s symbol, a crown. And if you look closer, you’ll see the skyline in there, too. Kirkley was UNC Charlotte’s Homecoming King in 2008 so a crown seems fitting.

On his upper left arm, there’s a small tattoo that simply says “Kitten.” The tattoo honors a nickname his grandfather had for his grandmother.

Kirkley and UNC Charlotte graduate Chris Fulton, who plays bass and harmonica, are the two constants in BTKF, Kirkley said. The two met when Kirkley was a sophomore studying mass communications at UNC Charlotte.

Drummers and guitarists have come and gone, leaving to join the army or get married and “grow up.” But Kirkley and Fulton see their band as a business and hope to make a living from it for as long as they can.

Kirkley describes the band’s music as ’90s pop rock, but with influences from throughout the decades.

“I’d love to be a pop musician. As long as I can make enough money to support a family, I’ll keep doing this,” Kirkley said.

Kirkley will graduate in 2010 with a master’s degree in liberal studies, focusing on new and old media. He said his communications studies at UNC Charlotte have helped him to market himself and the band.

Over the summer, Kirkley took on another significant role at UNC Charlotte, becoming the first station manager of Radio Free Charlotte, UNC Charlotte’s new digital radio station. www.UNCC.edu

student success

| UNC CHARLOTTE

With nearly 25,000 students attending UNC Charlotte, the university needs a student-run radio station and now it has one called Radio Free Charlotte, said faculty advisor Scott Phillipson.

The digital radio station started broadcasting in July, playing edgy underground music accessible via the Internet. The station also has interviewed various bands performing shows in Charlotte and plans to report UNCC news and possibly create a morning traffic report.

“We’ve already probably had a least a couple of hundred students want to be involved in the station either as DJs or in leadership positions,” Phillipson said. “Some leadership positions are getting college credit.”

Radio Free Charlotte is located in the basement of the new Student Union along with other Student Media organizations including the Utimes, Sanskit and Niner Online.

Graduate student Brandon Kirkley manages the station. The radio station started with no funding, but has been able to build a staff by offering experience and college credit.

The station started with no funding, Kirkley said, but has been building a reputation as a station where you can get something different, maybe something you haven’t heard elsewhere. Kirkley’s building his DJ roster now. Students don’t get paid, but they can get college credit and experience that may help them land a job after college, he said.

“We’re underground edge music,” Kirkley said, adding that he has not played his own music on the station, but that the station will have a show dedicated to local performers in the future.

The station’s staff includes Chris Wetterer, the assistant station manager, public relations director Alexa Smith, program manager Stephanie Lockwood, program manager Matthew Brown, sports director Scott Lieberman, and media director Jin-Hee Pae. “It’s terrible we’re not getting any funding,” Kirkley said. “But things are only going to get better.”

Kirkley said the station has developed several podcasts it is broadcasting until it builds its roster of DJs for continuous live broadcasts. Phillipson said he expected to go live in September.

Kirkley said the station is broadcasting music students may not hear anywhere else in Charlotte.

Phillipson said Radio Free Charlotte began as a project in his new media in communications class. Students helped him work on the project for two years before it became a reality, he said.

So far, Radio Free Charlotte, has had more than 2,700 page views and expects its audience to continue to grow as more people learn about the station. The potential audience for the station is unlimited, Phillipson said.

“By doing it online, we can broadcast literally all over the world,” Phillipson said.

Tune into Radio Free Charlotte by visiting www.radiofreecharlotte.uncc.edu and clicking “Listen Live.”

Jocelyn Ellis and the Alpha Theory While Jocelyn Ellis was testing her skills in every talent show she could find on campus, The Alpha Theory was already jamming with members Jesse Seibold, the 28-year-old drummer, and UNC Charlotte senior, Jeff Taylor, the 32-year-old guitarist, and Nathan Woolard, 28, a 2004 UNC Charlotte alumnus.

Seibold, who graduates with Ellis in December, said he first discovered Ellis in one of his economics classes. He overheard her talking to another student about music.

“I checked her out a few times when she www.UNCC.edu

was playing around campus,” Seibold said.

He heard her CD and saw her perform and decided to ask her to sing with The Alpha Theory.

“It was crazy,” he said. “It just clicked.”

Ellis has been the lead singer of the band since last fall. Ellis and the band describe their music eclectic mix of urban folk and indie rock.

Ellis studies business management at UNC Charlotte. She does independent research on the music industry to learn more. Her coursework and research has already helped the band, she said. Ellis Continued on p. 31 Q309

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fe a t u re

The Health Care

Conundrum Edited by Lisa A. Lambert

health care system and the proposals for change that are now circulating in the halls of Congress.

What are the measures of a “good” health care plan, in your opinion?

William Brandon

Health care reform has a long and storied history as a political hot-potato. The recent debate over health care reform has raised ire among Republicans and Democrats alike, while bringing issues Americans seeking medical care confront everyday to the fore.

As a new administration attempts to make headway on the issue, a confused public attempts to sort out the propaganda from the truth.

With the hope of offering our readers some nuance and clarity about a timely issue that affects us all, we asked UNC Charlotte experts some questions about the current 22 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

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Michael Thompson, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Coordinator of the Master of Science in Public Health Program — A health system is comprised of six components: health services delivery (the actual services delivered to a patient or community, both personal and non-personal); health workforce (the people performing the services); health information systems; medical technology and products; health financing and payment systems; and leadership and governance.

How a health system is organized reflects a combination of political and pragmatic forces.

Typical indicators we use to assess health system performance include infant mortality rates, life expectancy at birth, access to care (measures such as immunization rates, insurance coverage, and appropriate utilization of primary and emergency care services) and cost (per person, as percent of gross domestic product, and for specific procedures and conditions).

President Obama has outlined eight broad principles or characteristics of the health system he favors. These principles are largely in line with what we know to be the best practices for community health: • Reduce long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government (efficiency) • Protect families from bankruptcy or debt because of health care costs (efficiency, equity)

• Invest in prevention and wellness (effectiveness, efficiency) • Improve patient safety and quality of care (effectiveness) • Guarantee choice of doctors and health plans (equity) • Assure affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans (equity, effectiveness) • Maintain coverage when you change or lose your job (equity, efficiency) • End barriers to coverage for people with preexisting medical conditions (equity).

William Brandon, Metrolina Foundation Distinguished Professor of Public Policy on Health — In the current political context we need to focus on the best practical plan that can emerge, not some ideal “best.” A good plan should include the following provisions: • A public plan • Definition of basic comprehensive coverage that all health insurance plans would have to achieve or exceed • The end of subsidies for Medicare Advantage plans (but I’m unsure about ending subsidies for employer-sponsored insurance) • Reasonable limits on copayments (say 80%) and deductibles with annual individual and family maximums • Community rating of public, individual and small group health insurance • Guaranteed issue • Elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions and waiting periods • Coverage of mental health conditions that is the same as coverage of physical conditions (i.e., “mental health parity”) www.UNCC.edu

fe a t u re • Authority for the Federal government to negotiate lower payments for prescription drugs (in light of its volume purchases) • Preemption of state regulation of health insurance • Active federal regulation of self-insured employment-sponsored coverage along with the anticipated federal regulation of individual and small-group markets.

What are the main causes of the increase in health care costs?

William Brandon — The main causes of health care cost increases include: Expanding payrolls in the health sector (both the number of employees and the wages and salaries); Increased application of technology; The increasing cost of drugs, which will escalate as biomedical researchers turn recent advances in biology into practical treatments or diagnostic tools.

How have healthcare systems in other countries treated the issue of personal responsibility? Are there reward systems and punishments for health behaviors? Are any such programs currently being considered for mass consumption in the United States?

What are the pitfalls of drafting legislation to promote or discourage health behaviors?

William Brandon — Although it is possible that the final health reform legislation will be written to encourage medical organizations and insurers to emphasize preventive care, it is not realistic to include sanctions for unhealthy individual behavior in health care legislation. Health reform legislation that insures universal access is going to be hard enough to get enacted; Americans resist having government tell us how to live our lives. I’m sure that the most committed proponent will be happy if he/she can obtain an individual mandate to secure individual insurance. One way to enforce that mandate is by charging the IRS to verify coverage through its annual tax reporting system.

Does the lack of mandated behavioral change mean Congress doesn’t care? Not at all! This Congress is to be complemented in its efforts to give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco products after many www.UNCC.edu

| UNC CHARLOTTE

years of work by advocates. Much of the action in encouraging healthy behaviors must occur at the State level. Think of Federal action to encourage states to enact seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws.

Is prevention emphasized in the current reform debate? Could more of an investment in prevention/health education result in savings later?

William Brandon — Early in the debate advocates of health reform tried to use potential savings from prevention as part of the justification for claiming that health reform would not add to the deficit. The “show me” attitude of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) seems to have quieted that dubious claim. Although everybody wants to see preventive care and healthy lifestyles, the fact is that real dollars will have to be spent up-front for any real change to be achieved and savings, if the programs are successful, only come sometime in the future. So the green-eyeshade guys are probably right to be dubious about the claims of significant savings.

The best way to incorporate prevention into the plan would be to include a hefty tax on cigarettes, the nastiest killer among the lifestyle issues, as part of its health reform financing. Partially financing health reform with “sin taxes” has not been a major part of the discussion. In this economic downturn many States have had to turn to these taxes for additional revenue. Moreover, many of them also depend on income from the tobacco settlement. Thus, as a matter of practical politics, it is probably not feasible to propose this effective form of prevention as part of health reform legislation.

If a public option is available, would the insurance costs of those who are now insured go up?

Michael Thompson — Depending on how a public option is implemented, the costs should go down. Right now, private insurers mostly cherry-pick (screen to maximize membership of low-cost, health workers), leaving higher-cost groups for government programs and the ranks of the uninsured.

Despite our history with Medicare showing that the government can effectively,

Michael Thompson

equitably, and efficiently operate a public option plan, the opposition to health reform plays on people’s mistrust of the government and the label ‘government run.’

The misguided fear that extending coverage to the uninsured and underinsured will limit the coverage those of us with insurance now enjoy ignores the facts. Medicare operates at less than one-fifth the administrative costs of private insurers. Medicare provides guaranteed access to those who are qualified.

Medicare utilizes the existing private medical services delivery system to provide clients their choice of care provider.

Others mistakenly point to the high tax rates in European countries that provide universal health care as a sign that public options are inherently expensive. True, European tax rates are higher than in the US, even when combining federal and state taxes. But, the gap is not as great as portrayed and is not an apples-to-apples comparison.

Europeans finance virtually all of their healthcare expenditures through taxes. The US finances its healthcare expenditures through a combination of taxes, direct payments by individuals, and payments by businesses on behalf of employees and dependents. Taken together, we spend more than twice as much per person and nearly three times as much as a percent of our gross domestic product and have poorer health outcomes. Paying two to three times more for an inferior product hardly makes the present system seem like a good value.

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What’s the best approach to a public option?

Michael Thompson — The best public plan, in terms of health outcomes, is one that utilizes a community rating. That is, the financial risk is equitably borne by all members of the community. A low-risk patient might end up paying a slightly higher premium so that an extremely high-risk patient can pay an affordable rate. Some of this cost-shifting, however, is offset by savings in ensuring timely, effective preventive care and early treatment to all, where the uninsured currently add about $1,000 to an insured’s premium.

Two other factors must be considered integral to a viable public option. First, the government should be allowed to integrate its care systems or to leverage its buying power across those systems. Second, payment systems must be reengineered and realigned to value the production of health over the delivery of a service.

Why are we considering a socialized system?

Michael Thompson — As we engage in this debate, we must be certain to disaggregate discussions on changes to the health care delivery system and changes in the health care financing and payment systems, and to use precise terminology.

Far too often, the term socialized medicine and nationalized medicine are used interchangeably, when they are distinct.

Globally, health care systems take on four primary models, all of which are “socialistic” to varying degrees: • a national health system, where the government finances and largely runs (employs) the health system (like the UK) • a national health insurance system (like Canada and Japan) where the government finances the system through taxes and direct payments and operates healthcare like an insurance company contracting with providers in private practice • a national sickness insurance system (like The Netherlands, Germany) where the government finances the system through taxes and direct payments, but leaves the insurance company functions to 24 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

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independent or quasi-governmental agencies and care delivery to private and municipal providers.

• a mixed system, which incorporates aspects of two or more of the above models (like the United States) The United States currently operates subsystems of all three types, and still has a substantial number who are uninsured.

Our military is served by a system identical to the United Kingdom’s national health services. Our elders and our impoverished children are served by a national health insurance system (Medicare, CHIP), and employer-based coverage is similar to a national sickness insurance system.

Unfortunately, the Cold War left us with the notion that socialism and communism are synonymous. They are not. The United States operates many services in a “socialistic” fashion (that is for the benefit of all...

“United we stand, divided we fall”). We see no threat to our ‘Americanness’ from public education, from emergency medical and fire services, or from municipal water, sewer, and trash services. Recognizing that we (individually and collectively) benefit, we support these services whether we use them or not and, in fact, take great pride in offering these services. Why, then, is healthcare different?

Is there danger of the government rationing care? Don’t insurance companies already hold that kind of sway?

William Brandon — The short answer is that the U.S. government is not going to “ration” care. A good test of this claim is Medicare. Traditional fee-for-service Medicare pays for all necessary medical care.

In fact, it almost certainly also pays for a good bit of unnecessary care. Sometimes new procedures or drugs are introduced that are not recognized for a while by Medicare. Such delays are the result of bureaucratic inertia.

Although it rarely comes up in Medicare, there are a few procedures like partial birth abortion that the U.S. government has decided it will not pay for. Personally, I find it offensive that the U.S. Congress should

dictate to my doctor what she can do. But those procedures are very rare.

Michael Thompson — Insurance coverage is the gateway to our health care system.

Rationing exists now. What changes under health reform is who participates in that rationing decision and what their competing interests are.

Currently the rationing is largely vertical (you have coverage or you don’t). A public system makes the rationing more horizontal (ensuring everyone has comparable access).

An insurance company executive is incentivized to charge clients as much as possible and to pay providers as little as possible, maximizing profits. Insurance companies further their aim by practices such as rescission, whereby the policies of suddenly expensive clients are retroactively revoked for the slightest omission or error in their reported medical history. Doctors report factoring insurance coverage into their treatment plans and options presented to patients.

A public plan executive’s interest are aligned with the client’s: maximizing the health of its clients in order to keep costs down, as it is the clients, through direct, payroll, and other taxes who fund the system.

Worldwide, public systems and public option systems provide results (life expectancy, infant mortality, access to and appropriate utilization of care) far superior to the current U.S. system for less than half the cost we now pay. By restructuring our system, we could fully cover every American in a way that provides timely www.UNCC.edu

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access to basic primary and preventive care and access to more specialized care. We could have coverage similar to what those who are insured now enjoy, for about the same total costs.

Will all the people who now are uninsured have some form of coverage when government driven health care reform is enacted?

William Brandon — The conventional wisdom is that it is impossible to cover literally everybody. In particular, no one is proposing that the legislation cover illegal immigrants. Depending on who is doing the talking, I have heard proponents aim to cover 95 to 97 percent of those eligible (not including illegal immigrants).

What are some of the current proposals to decrease health care costs overall? And what are the pros and cons of implementing these measures?

William Brandon — This question is important because of what both proponents and opponents seem to want to hide.

Have you noticed that nobody is talking about managed care or HMOs — health maintenance organizations that combine the functions of providing health insurance and the delivery of care? The fallback for those claiming that a public plan violates Republican party principles is the “cooperative,” which is supposed to be a part of self-reliant, individualist western farmermentality. Almost the only health example that these conservatives can provide is Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, which was founded in 1947. Group Health is an HMO! Proponents of reform promise that health care costs can be reduced by “integrated health care systems” such as the Cleveland Clinic. Although such health care systems often accept patients paying on a fee-for-service rather than prepaid (or capitated) basis, the doctors are salaried and the care is managed. Yet I have not heard one of the proponents say that cost control will be achieved by managed care instituted and enforced by salaried physicians working in a group practice model.

The private sector instituted managed www.UNCC.edu

care in the 1990s after the failure of Bill Clinton’s health reform plan and it did slow the growth of health care costs. But the American people, urged on by organized medicine, revolted. The terms HMO and managed care almost became obscenities for health care consumers.

If a public option is available, would the insurance costs of those who are now insured go up?

William Brandon — The idea of the public option is that those getting insurance from the individual or small group model would switch to the public insurance plan if it was cheaper. It is pretty clear from the proposed House legislation that those three types of plans would be community rated (with some kind of cross subsidy if one plan suffered adverse selection). In fact, it is an important empirical question whether insureds would migrate to the cheaper plan on an annual basis if the coverage is comparable. (Insurance exchanges, an entirely new institution, will have to be formed and begin to function before we can find out whether consumers of individual insurance policies do move among the offerings according to price.) What no one seems to be talking about is the fact that employment-sponsored insurance will continue to be experience-rated and that most employers, in fact, are large enough to self-insure rather than purchase insurance policies for employees.

To what extent would the government be directly involved in the administering of health care?

William Brandon — Clearly some level of government will have to write the regulations governing how a brand new market for health insurance will function.

No one is talking about the U.S. government administering health care (other than the systems for the military, veterans, and native Americans which it currently organizes).

What I don’t understand and have not heard anyone discuss, is how state regulation of health insurance can survive if the federal provisions for the individual and small group markets contained in the House

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legislation are enacted. It seems to me that the House bill is an implicit preemption — take over — of the power given to the States in the 1940s to regulate all sorts of insurance. Many of the opponents of the bills popular with Democrats want one to be able to buy insurance without regard to the state in which one is residing. So maybe one consensus is for the federal government to take back its power to regulation health insurance. Ha! I’ll believe that when I see it.

What alternatives to the Administration’s proposals are being offered by the opposition?

William Brandon — I’ve heard opponents suggest that “co-operatives” that will be generated outside of government can provide the cost-consciousness that current insurance arrangements do not promote. See my comments about Group Health of Puget Sound above.

A deeper level of opposition suggests that a free market in which insurance has more de-regulation so that it can be bought across state lines would allow more Americans to gain access to affordable private insurance. This claim usually comes with the complaints about specific coverage mandates by state legislation which increases costs. In the current context, most of the opponents at least give lip service to the need to end the exclusion of pre-existing conditions. But they are very quiet about whether community rating would be required. Without community rating those with chronic conditions will not be helped when told “we don’t exclude you from our insurance pool, but to be covered you will have to pay five times as much as those without your condition.”

Vouchers or refundable tax credits have often been proposed by those who want to expand health insurance coverage and avoid an expansion of government involvement.

Because of the high cost of health insurance, excessively high levels of funding would be required. And even experts favoring vouchers or tax credits admit that the goal of universal coverage would not be approached.

Lisa Lambert is senior writer in the Office of Public Relations.

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Lighting the Way Nature Intended

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Recent advances in building science research and technology have opened up new horizons for daylighting, or harnessing natural light to illuminate building interiors. The Daylighting + Energy Performance Laboratory is a gem within the College of Arts + Architecture. The lab takes an active role in shaping public policy

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and offers design assistance to architectural firms. Through applied research focused on energy systems and lighting technologies, the lab brings valuable solutions to the community.

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Dale Brentrup, professor of architecture and director of the Daylighting + Energy Performance Lab, leans on a model of the proposed home for a new center with the College of Arts + Architecture – the Center for Building and Integrated Design Research. The center will focus on the study of energy performance and productivity.

It’s a house of mirrors, it’s a customized stand-up tanning device…no, it’s the Artificial Sky. The CIE overcast sky simulator

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reproduces the Piedmont region’s overcast conditions and through physical modeling allows students and faculty to determine the most effective ways to maximize natural lighting.

Looks like a bunch of computers, right? Well, they are computers, used as a parallel processor, this “Beowulf Cluster” is a render farm used to process data for one program, the lighting simulation software RADIANCE. Information gathered from the weather station located

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on top of the Storrs Building is used as input for the lighting simulations processed by these machines. The weather station collects data, such as horizontal illuminance and irradiation, that help ensure accurate daylighting simulations for the Charlotte region. Also collected are dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, precipitation and wind speed.

These metrics are used to teach students about the climatic forces their building designs should be responsive to. www.UNCC.edu

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Is it the precursor to the Segue? No, it’s Zappy, the electric, three-wheeled scooter. Zappy makes its rounds to local schools, for example, to demonstrate how solar radiation and other renewable energies can be used in daily life.

These lamps are not your ordinary reading lights — they are part of a kit that is being used to verify concepts in a new research venture between the lab and its corporate partners. The objective is to develop new technology for the simultaneous control of glare, daylight and electric light.

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But of course, it’s Ben Futrell.

Behind every great professor is a competent alum. Futrell graduated from UNC Charlotte with a master of architecture degree, and decided to stick around. Now he coordinates the activities of the Daylighting + Energy Performance Lab. Graduate assistant Lauren Hargrave stands in the background.

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And this might appear to be your ordinary digital camera; actually, it is…but it is used in a not-soordinary way. The camera is part of a

field acquisition system for evaluating luminous distribution. That’s researchese for quantitatively measuring the brightness of surfaces with a camera.

This tool can be used for analyzing glare in daylit space and create verification models for use in the render farm.

What lab would be complete without a skateboard?

Architecture student Colin Campbell (not pictured) keeps the skateboard handy. One way to get the creative juices flowing, we suppose. But there’s one caveat – Dale’s not allowed to use it.

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Men’s Basketball: Niners Face Xavier and Temple at Halton Arena The Atlantic 10 has released the 2009-10 men’s basketball conference schedule which has the 49ers playing four of the A-10’s six 2009 post-season teams at Halton Arena. The A-10 slate inclues home-and-home series with Xavier, Richmond and George Washington. In addition, Halton Arena will play host to Duquesne, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis and Temple. Both Xavier and Temple participated in the 2009 NCAA Tournament while Duquesne reached the NIT and Richmond advanced to the College Basketball Invitational.

Included in the schedule is the listing of five TV games for the 49ers, including two nationally-televised contests.

Charlotte’s home game with Saint Louis, Jan. 17, will be carried by CBS College Sports while the 49ers road game at Massachusetts, Jan. 30, will be seen on ESPNU. Three other home games: vs. Temple, Jan. 27; vs. Duquesne, Feb. 17 and vs. Xavier, Feb. 20 will be part of CBS College Sports syndicated regional package. The Charlotte 49ers local television package has not been released.

The schedule has the 49ers playing four of their last six games at home, including the regular-season finale vs. Richmond, Mar. 6. The 49ers A-10 opener will be Jan. 9 vs. St. Bonaventure at Halton Arena.

Game times have not been released.

The home schedule lines up as follows (asterisks denote conference games):

November Thurs. 5 Fri. 13

December Wed. Tues.

Sat. Tues.

2 8 12 29

January Sat. Sat. Sun. Wed.

2 9 17 27

February Wed. Wed. Sat. Wed.

3 17 20 24

March Sat. Tues.

Fri. Sat. Sun.

6 9 12 13 14

JOHNSON C. SMITH (Exhibition) UNC ASHEVILLE East Carolina WINSTON-SALEM STATE GARDNER-WEBB MERCER GEORGIA TECH ST. BONAVENTURE* SAINT LOUIS* TEMPLE* GEORGE WASHINGTON* DUQUESNE* XAVIER* SAINT JOSEPH’S* Richmond* A-10 Championship First Round A-10 Championship Quarterfinals A-10 Championship Semifinals A-10 Championship Finals CBS

at a cost of either $1000 (Green) or $2500 (Gold). Flexible payment options are available and you can purchase an FSL for as little as $29 a month.

Money raised through FSL sales are critical to upfront costs in starting a football program.

Join the Rush to make Charlotte 49ers football a reality and purchase your FSL today by going to charlotte49erfootball.com or calling the athletic ticket office at 704-687-4949.

In order to protect our house we have to build one!

Help make football a reality at UNC Charlotte by purchasing your FSL (49ers Seat License) today.

FSLs give you the right to purchase season tickets to Charlotte 49ers football games, scheduled to hit campus in 2013!

FSLs are available at two different levels 28 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

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Charlotte Athletes Give To School Tools Campaign Once again the Charlotte 49ers have teamed up with Classroom Central, Communities in School, and WSOC-TV Channel 9 for the 2009 School Tools Campaign to provide the basic school supplies for those students who are unable to afford them.

Student-athletes from the volleyball team, men’s basketball, and track and field teams,

Campus Site Atlantic City, N.J. Atlantic City, N.J. Atlantic City, N.J.

along with Norm the Niner, delivered the school supplies collected on campus to the WSOC studio in downtown Charlotte.

In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area alone, there are more than 2,000 students who are homeless, and one in two public school children show up to school without the basic supplies.

Each year, the average teacher spends $1,200 of their own money in order to provide the necessary school supplies for their students.

Last year, Classroom Central distributed more than $4.45 million in free school supplies to 80,000 students in our region. Charlotte collected 500 pounds of supplies for the 20082009 school year.

49ers to Host 6th Annual Let Me Play Luncheon The Charlotte 49ers Athletic Department will host the 6th Annual “Let Me Play” Luncheon, Monday, Nov. 2 at The www.UNCC.edu

49 e r s n o t e b o o k Charlotte Convention Center. The event, a brainchild of 49ers Director of Athletics Judy Rose, celebrates the role that athletics plays in the development of young women.

Registration for the event begins at 11:30 with lunch and the program to follow at 12 noon.

Started in 2004, “Let Me Play” is intended to attract and mobilize influential women throughout the Charlotte community and to illustrate the profound effect that athletics can have on their lives.

The program annually includes key note speakers as well as a presentation from a current 49ers female student-athlete.

Among those that have spoken at the event are 49ers academic and athletic allAmericans Sharonda Johnson (track and field) and Lindsey Ozimek (women’s soccer) as well as former standouts Karen Shugart (women’s basketball) and Krista Long (volleyball). Shugart was serving as Aiistant to the Special Agent in charge within the Presidential Protection Division of the Secret Service while Long was Vice Preident of Ryland Homes.

Natalie English, Senior Vice President for Business and Education Advocacy with the Charlotte Chamber is chairperson of the 2009 event.

Last year, the event raised $101,000

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and attracted 600-plus attendees. Proceeds from the event benefit the Charlotte 49ers women’s athletic program.

49ers to Host A-10 Women’s Soccer Championship The two-time defending Atlantic 10 Champion Charlotte 49ers women’s soccer team will host the 2009 Atlantic 10 women’s Soccer Championship, Nov. 5-8 on-campus at Transamerica Field.

The 49ers will be looking for their third straight title and the automatic NCAA tournament bid that goes to the tournament winner.

The A-10’s top six teams will converge on Charlotte for the three-day event. The tournament opens on Thursday, Nov. 5 with two games between seeds 3-6. The top two teams receive first round byes and will play in the A-10 semifinals, Friday, Nov. 6 against the first round winners. The championship is slated for Sunday, Nov. 8.

Charlotte, which returned 10 starters from the 2008 A-10 Championship team, will contend for their fourth straight A-10 regular-season title. The 49ers are led by 2008 A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Whitney Weinraub and 2008 A-10 Midfielder of the Year Hailey Beam.

Oni Bernard, sophomore fullback/midfielder

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U.S. - Russia Relations:

A Restart

By Lisa A. Lambert

July marked the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing. Astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first men to ever walk on the moon — and the whole world watched that iconic moment in awe.

But before Aldrin and Armstrong, there was Yuri Gagarin, the first human in outer space, followed by a host of other Russian cosmonauts, including Valentina Tereshkova, who in 1963 became the first woman in space.

For more than a decade, achievement in space was a feather in the cap of the Soviets, and a thorn in the side of the United States.

UNC Charlotte Professor Emeritus of Political Science Nish Jamgotch focused for most of his professional career on the relationship between the United States and Russia. In view of the moon landing anniversary, Jamgotch said now is the perfect time to reflect on the legacy of the Cold War and the ways in which the “Space Race” led to greater communication and diplomatic overtures between the Superpowers.

To appreciate the genesis of the space race requires a rudimentary understanding of United States – Soviet relations prior to and in the aftermath of World War II. Before the United States entered the war, many politicians and military leaders painted the German Nazis and Communist Soviets 30 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

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with the same broad brush. But as the war raged on, United States and Soviet interests more closely aligned, spawning a spirit of collaboration against a common enemy.

The “strange alliance” between the United States and Soviet Union deteriorated rapidly after the war, when the superpowers tried to implement two very different and incompatible visions for the post-war world.

The Cold War, characterized by heightened tension and intense rivalry, began in earnest in 1945 and a nuclear arms race ensued.

The United States had demonstrated its technological superiority with the creation and successful deployment of the atomic bomb. During the Cold War, both countries committed enormous resources to build up weapons stockpiles, creating what Jamgotch calls the “delicate balance of terror.”

Then, in 1957, the Soviets launched a gleaming, beeping silver satellite the size of a basketball into orbit. More important than what Sputnik actually accomplished was what the satellite signified – Soviet technological superiority. At least, that’s what the American public assumed.

While the successful launch of Sputnik was a demonstration of advances in rocket thrust technology, Jamgotch said Soviet power was greatly exaggerated by the American media

and lawmakers.

Still, the perception of the United States as the world leader in space technology and therefore the leader in missile development was shattered with the beep of a tiny satellite.

The space race was on.

Citizens of the United States quickly rallied around a common cause — one-upmanship on a grand scale.

The space race had profound effects on the U.S. educational system, as well as on the psyche of the public. School children were challenged to excel in math and science and the public was encouraged to imagine, to dream big. Space became the new frontier.

Which brings us full-circle. The United States put a man on the moon in 1969, an event that was both a singular achievement and vindication for the time and resources devoted to the space program.

After the moon landing, the space race continued, though not at its previous frenzied pace. Over the years, the space relationship between the United States and Soviet Union served as a barometer for relations on the ground.

In 1975 the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project culminated in a joint docking of the American spacecraft with the Soviet spacecraft.

The primary purpose of the mission was technological and symbolic, marking the end to the tension of the space race and the adoption of a policy of détente, or the overall easing of tensions between the superpowers.

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, relations between the United States and Russia have entered a new, complex phase.

Soviet communism had committed suicide.

While much of the mutual ignorance of the past is gone, profound cultural and ideological differences remain, Jamgotch said.

However, Jamgotch is hopeful – he said www.UNCC.edu

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Stamp Collection Highlights U.S. – Soviet Space Race UNC Charlotte Professor Emeritus of Political Science Nish Jamgotch traveled to the Soviet Union three times prior to its collapse and reconfiguration into multiple states.

During his travels, he amassed a collection of government-issued stamps commemorating Russian achievement in space.

Jamgotch donated his collection to UNC Charlotte. It is housed on the third floor of Atkins Library and will be featured in the Chancellor’s suite on the 5th floor of the Reese Building for the month of November.

The inscription on the collection reads: To highlight the importance of U.S. and Soviet achievements in space, and to encourage future U.S. – Russian cooperative relations, these stamps were donated by Nish Jamgotch, Jr., Professor of Political Science, 1966 – 1993.

Jamgotch, a distinguished political scientist whose teaching career at UNC Charlotte spanned nearly 30 years, said “We have so much in our society that is divisive and conflict-laden. We need more vigorous efforts that will bring us together for joint, creative problem solving.”

The public is invited to view the collection.

the fundamental, and most important, lesson of diplomacy is as applicable today as it was during the Cold War: You must be willing to talk to your adversaries to come up with mutually beneficial agreements.

“Now is the time to re-start our relationship with Russia,” he said.

Lisa Lambert is senior writer in the Office of Public Relations. www.UNCC.edu

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taught the band to how to copyright its music so it can’t be stolen. They credit her with helping turn the band into a profitable small business.

“We get royalty checks and that’s thanks to Jocelyn,” Taylor said.

Ellis said her family didn’t really want her to study music. And when she applied to the university’s school of music program, she didn’t get accepted. But Ellis said nothing could stop her from trying.

Being a student and a budding recording artist at a major university has helped in other ways, too. Ellis said she earned her

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stage chops through her performances at UNC Charlotte events.

“When I came to college, my main thing was that I wanted to chase my dream,” she said.

She performed for up to 500 people in some of the talent shows on campus, she said, “It prepared me.”

To learn more about Jocelyn Ellis and The Alpha Theory or to listen to their music, visit http://jocelynellis.net/.

To learn more about Brandon Kirkley and the Firecrackers or to listen to their music, visit www.bktf.net.

Karen C. Wilson is a freelance writer based in Charlotte.

Indie Rock Alive and Well in Charlotte Indie-alternative rockers the Sammies also have some deep UNC Charlotte roots.

Guitarist Will Huntley and his brother, Joe, who plays drums, grew up in nearby Wadesboro, N.C. They formed the band when Will would come home for long weekends from UNC Charlotte.

Will Huntley graduated in 2001 with a The Sammies degree in marketing and Joe graduated from UNC Charlotte last year with a psychology degree. Fellow band member Ben Levine earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from UNC Charlotte and two former band members also attended the university.

Will Huntley said the university was the background to the formation of the Sammies.

“When there was a lack of anything else to do, we’d grab some acoustic guitars and crappy keyboards and just play anywhere,” he said. “Our biggest challenge was there were virtually no clubs to play at close to the University.”

Their fans would trek down to south Charlotte to catch the Sammies at The Room, a club which became a top venue for Indie music. They also played larger places such as the Visulite Theatre in the Elizabeth neighborhood.

The influences on the band run as wide and far as their personal stacks of CDs, Huntley said, ranging from David Bowie to Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Strokes. “We grew up on classic rock and we love pop songs,” he said.

Along with their local hero status, the Sammies have attained much wider success. Their songs have been featured in feature films such as “Employee of the Month” and popular television shows including “Friday Night Lights.”

The Sammies are currently working on their third album. Meanwhile, Huntley and the others are putting their college education to use.

“There’s not a lot of money to be made in the music industry right now so we are fortunate enough to have been able to use our college degrees to find decent jobs,” he said.

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fe a t u re

A Journey Through Time James Tabor leads a five-year archeological dig in Jerusalem

By Allison Reid

It wasn’t a typical summer break for UNC Charlotte professors James Tabor and Shimon Gibson. Tabor, religious studies department chair, and Gibson, an archaeologist and adjunct religious studies professor, led nearly 50 students, alumni and other volunteers in an archaeological dig in Jerusalem in June and July. During this second year of their excavation at Jerusalem’s Mount Zion, the dig team unearthed an extremely rare 2,000-yearold limestone cup inscribed with 10 lines of Aramaic or Hebrew script.

Although such ritual cups are common, especially in areas that were inhabited by priests, they are usually unmarked or bear only a single line of text, such as a name, said Gibson. “To have 10 lines of text is unprecedented,” he said in announcing the find.

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A view of the city of Jerusalem from the site of an archeological expedition led by UNC Charlotte professors James Tabor and Shimon Gibson.

The team unearthed this rare 2,000-year-old limestone cup. The 10-line inscription is written in Aramaic or Hebrew.

a team of epigraphic experts to determine the meaning of the text, which is clear but cryptic. The ritual cup is made that much more newsworthy due to the inscription’s mysterious nature, says Tabor. He figures it has been purposefully encoded, which adds a new level of intrigue to the purpose and meaning of the vessel.

The extraordinary nature of the ritual cup has been covered by the media internationally, including the Jerusalem Post and the Los Angeles Times. Tabor says he expects the dig to get more media coverage after the inscription is deciphered. The cup has been handed over to the The Israel Museum, where it will be put on display. www.UNCC.edu

fe a t u re Other findings The dig also produced a sequence of building remains dating from the first century A.D. through the Byzantine (fourth century A.D.) and Early Islamic (sixth century A.D.) periods.

One interesting find was a house complex with a mikveh, or purification pool, with a remarkably well-preserved vaulted ceiling. Inside the house, the dig team found three bread ovens that dated to the year 70 A.D. Ten murex shells were also found on the site.

These shells are believed to have been used for the dye that priests used to color the vestments at that time. This further proves that the dig site was once the priestly quarter of Jerusalem, according to Tabor.

In addition, a large, arched building with a mosaic floor from the Byzantine period was uncovered.

Unprecedented project UNC Charlotte is the only U.S. university that has been given a license to dig in Jerusalem in more than 20 years.

“There are archaeologists at other prestigious

Shimon Gibson, an archaeologist and adjunct religious studies professor, and James Tabor, religious studies department chair.

universities who are extremely jealous of us in that regard,” says Tabor. “They ask me, ‘How did you pull this off?’”

The Mount Zion dig, co-sponsored by the religious studies department and the anthropology department, is a five-year project.

Tabor hopes to complete the digging by 2012, and the team’s goal is to start developing an archaeological park in 2013, depending on funding. The park, which will be called “A www.UNCC.edu

Journey through Time,” will highlight the diverse and complex cultural history of the area – covering Muslim, Jewish, and Christian history.

“We’re committed to preserving all levels of culture,” says Tabor. “Unlike other archaeological digs, we’re purposefully leaving the site intact, so visitors to the park will be able to explore the full range of history of this multicultural area.”

Not your typical study abroad experience Religious studies graduate student Melissa Fleischer won a competitive $1000 scholarship from the journal Biblical Archeology Review to participate in this summer’s dig. She is writing an article about her experience with the dig that will be published in the journal in early 2010. Fleischer says her experience on the dig in Jerusalem was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“I had always dreamed of having the opportunity to dig in the Holy Land,” says Fleischer. “I loved that I was able to represent UNC Charlotte. The opportunity to learn from

| UNC CHARLOTTE

Nearly 50 students, alumni and other volunteers joined an archaeological dig in Jerusalem in June and July.

the best during the Mount Zion excavations will facilitate my graduate studies and help me narrow my research interests.”

Students can participate in the dig for either two- or four-week periods, with a two-week commitment equaling a three-hour course credit. Tabor points out that students don’t have to be specializing in religious studies or archaeology to benefit from the experience at Mount Zion.

“They can come with no dig experience, and in two weeks we give them enough exposure that they’re useful to the dig,” says Tabor “We call it a field school.”

Tabor says the most rewarding aspect of the dig experience for students may be the exposure to the incredible diversity of Jerusalem.

“They are observing and experiencing first hand the complexity of the Middle East,” says Tabor. “Every day, students will see orthodox Jews walking with Muslims and Christians.

Jerusalem is just this huge panoply of everybody mixed together, and that can be an eye-opening experience.”

For more information about the Mount Zion excavation, go to www.digmountzion.com. The dig and the development of the park rely on gifts from individuals and organizations. For more information about contributing, contact Sharon Harrington at scharrin@uncc.edu or 704-687-0082.

Allison Reid is director of communications in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

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49 e rs n o te b o o k

Continued from p. 4

Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Student Union

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The Union is 196,000 square feet.

That is more than 20,000 square feet larger than the Biltmore House. It’s the equivalent of 41.7 basketball courts or 7,289 pool tables. There are actually four pool tables inside the building (no basketball courts).

It took more than 659,511 accident-free man hours to construct the magnificent building. No one was injured during the construction process.

This is the first building on campus with waterless urinals, saving up to 40,000 gallons of water per year. (That’s money we’re not flushing away).

Every Starbucks employee endured over 75 hours of intense training and is certified on at least 27 specialty drinks and lattes, making it quite easy to get a skinny-frappy-caramel-mocha thingy.

The Union has created more than 100 new student jobs and counting.

In one week, the Crown Commons Pizza Station will use 375-plus pounds of cheese.

There are 72 steps in the Rotunda staircase (10 trips per slice of pizza).

With 23 flat panel displays throughout the building, the Union offers 1,156 digital inches of viewing pleasure.

The Student Union is the new headquarters for more than 300 student organizations and activities planning more than 1,600 events a year that educate and involve over 200,000 annual attendees.

The Union represents a milestone in UNC Charlotte’s history.

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49 e r s n o t e b o o k

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Above: Works by UNC Charlotte art professor Jamie Franki were featured in the first public exhibit at the art gallery in the new Student Union.

Left: Chancellor Dubois officiated at the formal dedication of the Student Union on Aug. 28.

www.UNCC.edu

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building blocks

When Miss Bonnie

Speaks…

Convocation 1965 – when we were still UNC-C. Miss Bonnie Cone, UNC Charlotte founder and, at that time, acting chancellor, addresses the university’s first convocation as a four-year, UNC system school. On July 1, 1965, Charlotte College was elevated to become UNC Charlotte, the fourth branch of Consolidated University of North Carolina that then included only UNC Chapel Hill, N.C. State and UNC Greensboro.

Miss Bonnie loved UNC Charlotte so much that she is buried on campus, on the edge of the Susie Harwood Garden, near Fretwell Hall. No one has ever Staked their Claim like Miss Bonnie Cone. For a biography of this amazing woman access http://cone.uncc.edu/bonniecone.

36 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine magazine || Q309 Q309

www.UNCC.edu

Ivy League taLent

FROM a

MagnOLIa

tOwn.

To find world-class talent, you don’t have to look any farther than UNC Charlotte.

Whether it’s academics, athletics, or the arts, we’re home to top achievers and leaders.

23,000 students strong and growing, UNC Charlotte boasts an award-winning faculty, notable alumni, and an outstanding student body. Stake your claim to a university that’s home to academic achievement.

Kenechukwu Onwugbolu Marketing, Honors Program, Class of 2011

www.UNCC.edu

Mona Abbasi, Biology/Pre-Med, Honors Program, Class of 2011

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a l u m n i n o te s

alumni news

Alumni Association Presents TIAA-CREF Alumni Golf Classic Date: Monday, October 12, 2009 Registration: 8 a.m.

Shotgun Start: 9:30 a.m.

Where: Pine Island Country Club 1701 Stoneyridge Drive Charlotte, NC The Alumni Association will hold the 11th annual TIAA-CREF Alumni Golf Classic on Monday, Oct. 12, at Pine Island Country Club. Head men’s basketball coach Bobby Lutz will be playing in the tournament. All proceeds will support the Dr. Greg Davis needsbased scholarship fund.

Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. the morning of the tournament, and a

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About UNC Charlotte Alumni Association: The UNC Charlotte Alumni Association serves more than 80,000 UNC Charlotte alumni. In addition to serving alumni through our affinity and advocacy programs, the Alumni Association serves UNC Charlotte students by providing scholarships. For more information on the Alumni Association, visit www.unccharlottealumni.org.

shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. will get the event officially underway. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided during the day.

If you would like to play in the TIAACREF Alumni Golf Classic, please fill out the registration form on our website or call the Alumni Association at 704-6877799. The tournament is $125 per player.

Hole sponsorships can be purchased for

$250. After registering online, the Alumni Association will contact you.

For more information on the golf tournament, contact the Alumni Association at 704-687-7799, or visit our Web site at www.unccharlottealumni. org. For more information on Pine Island Country Club or to learn more about our sponsors, please visit www.pineislandcc. com, or www.tiaa-cref.org.

www.UNCC.edu

alumni notes

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Have you signed up for Niner Connection yet?

UNC Charlotte Alumni Association Launches Online Community

October Reception at Childress Vineyards Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Time: 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Where: Childress Vineyards 1000 Childress Vineyards Road Lexington, NC UNC Charlotte alumni in the Triad area of North Carolina will be gathering on Oct. 7 at Childress Vineyards in Lexington. Along with Chancellor Dubois, head men’s basketball coach Bobby Lutz and head women’s basketball coach Karen Aston will be at the event to share information about their upcoming seasons.

If you would like to attend the October reception, please register and include payment through our website. Registration is $15 per person and includes heavy hors d’oeuvres and wine.

The Alumni Association will host a number of regional alumni receptions in 2009-2010.

Please continue to check our Web site to see if we’re coming to a city near you!

For more information on the Triad event, contact the Alumni Association at 704-687-7799 or 800-745-8622 or visit our Web site at www.unccharlottealumni.org. For more information on Childress Vineyards, call 336236-9463 or visit www.childressvineyards.com.

The Alumni Association has officially launched Niner Connection, an online community for UNC Charlotte alumni. Niner Connection allows alumni to network and socialize online through the Alumni Association’s new website.

“In format it is similar to Facebook, except that Niner Connection is only open to UNC Charlotte alumni. Alumni can search for former classmates, post class notes, set up personal profiles, update contact information, register for events, and set up blogs. It really is amazing what the system entails,” said Katie Conn Suggs, director of marketing and communications for the division of Development and Alumni Affairs.

With the new system, the Alumni Association hopes to encourage alumni involvement with the University.

“This system allows alumni to connect with each other and the University like never before. We’re excited to see how our alumni respond to it,” said Chip Rossi, director of Alumni Affairs.

The new Web site and Niner Connection can be found at www.unccharlottealumni.org For more information, please contact the Alumni Association at 704-687-7799.

“Plan C” for football stadium

At their Sept. 17, meeting, UNC Charlotte trustees reviewed Chancellor Dubois so-called Plan C for a temporary football stadium to be located on the site of an eventual permanent stadium. Previously, the plan has been to modify the Belk Track & Field facility to serve as a temporary football stadium. But further analysis showed that the most cost-effective option was to situate the temporary stadium in space adjacent to Phillips Road, between the Hayes Baseball Stadium and the Charlotte Research Institute complex. Pictured here is one option for the stadium; no final decisions have been made.

www.UNCC.edu

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a l u m n i n o te s

1970s Richard Best, ’79, an award-winning architect, has donated $100,000 of his $1 million dollar prize from a United Arab Emirates real estate TV reality show to help end world hunger.

1990s Lewis “Wile” Bridgforth, ’93, recently earned a master’s of science in management of information systems from Lawrence Technological University.

Rodney Graves, ’97, took a position with UVEST/LPL Financial in March 2006.

Thomas Nesbit, ’99, has pledged 50 percent of profits from his book Deep Fried to 826 National, a nonprofit organization that helps children write and publish.

PUT ON YOUR

RUNNING

SHOES& STAKE YOUR CLAIM

Jason Suggs, ’98, recently earned a master’s certificate in Return on Investment (ROI) methodology from Villanova University.

2000s Samantha Badger, ’08, a Fayetteville native, is working as an associate producer for the “Fox News Rising” morning show on the Fox Charlotte TV station. She is featured on a segment called “Sam on Cam,” in which she teaches people about Twitter. Samantha also was featured recently on the cover of Charlotte Style magazine.

Rob Covert, ’06, is currently working for UNC Charlotte as an application analyst.

Cassie Duncan, ’09, was recently selected to be an “agent” of the Fiesta Movement, a six-month-long social media campaign designed to generate excitement about the highly anticipated Ford Fiesta, the new fuel-efficient small car that goes on sale next year. As part of the Fiesta Movement, Duncan is one of 100 individuals who will test drive and “live” with a European version of the Ford Fiesta for six months.

Jason Feltis, ’08, recently began employment with Inmar, CMS in Winston-Salem.

Susan (Cannon) Heffron, ’99 & ’02, married Brian Heffron on April 25, 2009. The couple currently resides in Fort Mill, S.C. 40 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

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RUN/WALK FUNDRAISER FOR NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS

10-24-09 SYC.UNCC.EDU

What are you doing?

It is time to share what you’ve been up to lately and let other Alumns help you toot your horn or spread the word on small or large achievements. We want to hear from you.

Visit Alumni Affairs Web site at www.unccharlottealumni.org and tell us what you’ve been doing.

Or write Alumni Affairs, UNC Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 www.UNCC.edu

perspective

| UNC CHARLOTTE

Why Develop Cancer Vaccines?

By Pinku Mukherjee Cancer is a global disease and remains a major cause of death worldwide. We all know of someone close to us who has been affected by this devastating disease. Conventional cancer treatments, such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy, are non-specific; they target not only the rapidly dividing cancer cells but affect normal dividing cells, which results in side effects and limited treatment efficacy. Surgical removal provides a good prognosis for tumors confined to the primary site, but patients with advanced-stage cancers are at high risk of relapse and metastasis.

Such cancers eventually become resistant to chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and oncologists have nothing much to offer these patients.

As an immunologist, I realized early in my career that medical treatments that control the immune system are amongst the most successful and widely utilized. For example, vaccines prevent bacterial and viral diseases; immunesuppression avoids the rejection of organ and bone marrow transplants; antibodies treat arthritis; and aspirin reduces immune

www.UNCC.edu

cell-induced inflammation. Despite its obvious scientific appeal, utilizing vaccines as an approach to prevent or treat cancer has not been fully exploited. This prompted my work to develop immune-modulating therapies against cancer.

In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in developing vaccines against cancer, which I strongly believe has the potential for controlling disease, prolonging time to recurrence and ultimately even serving as a preventive measure. The relatively new human Papilloma virus vaccine against cervical cancer proves this possibility. However, few cancers are induced by viruses. In general, our immune system is extremely efficient at getting rid of foreign proteins. Because cancers arise from our own cells that have undergone genetic mutations, our immune system is tricked to believe that the growing tumor is “self” and should not be attacked.

Recent advances in tumor immunology reveal that tumor cells do express altered “self” proteins that can be

recognized by our immune system as “foreign” against which an immune response can be elicited. Yet, the tumors adapt various immune escape mechanisms to hide from the activated immune cells. In principle, we have been able to marshal the exquisite specificity of the immune system to precisely target cancer cells without harming normal cells.

Our research focuses on the development of novel cancer vaccines that not only activate the existing immune response against the “foreign” tumor-specific proteins but also suppress the factors that allow the tumors to escape immune recognition and death. The goal is to develop immune memory against the cancer, so that if the cancer recurs, it will be recognized immediately as foreign and be rejected. The implications of developing immune-based therapies are profound as they present an attractive alternative to cancer management. The expectation is that such an approach will cause fewer side effects and prevent metastasis and recurrence better than conventional therapies.

UNC CHARLOTTE magazine

One of three larger-than-life Stake Your Claim pickaxes adorns First Citizens Plaza in Uptown Charlotte.

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Charlotte, NC Permit No. 949

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28223-0001