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The Family Life Center (FLC) grant program added a new director, Vonda Graham. Graham comes to the FLC program from the Youth Opportunities Program, where she worked with a similar population.

Because the FLC program works with middle school-aged youth, Graham’s experience as a middle school science teacher gives her an advantage in addressing the issues the participants face in the classroom and on a daily basis, said Lynda Parlett, interim director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs.

“We are very pleased to have someone with Ms. Graham's background, compassion and enthusiasm leading the Family Life Center and believe that, combined with staff members Elaine Brewington and Brenda Jacobs, this will be the best year ever for the program!” Parlett said. “I hope you will have an opportunity to meet and work with Ms. Graham as we make every effort to develop the potential of at-risk children in Robeson County.”

Eighth graders photographing dust storms on Mars

CLIO, S.C. - Eighth graders in a local school are on a mission to Mars this fall to measure dust storms after a satellite orbiting the Red Planet snaps a photo for them.

Dr. Tony Curtis and Dr. Judy Curtis (Mass Communications) worked with eighth graders at Marlboro County School of Discovery in Clio, S.C., as the students devised a plan to study the dust storms. Now that plan has been accepted by the Mars Student Imaging Project (MSIP), sponsored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University’s Mars Space Flight Facility.

MSIP allows students to take their own research pictures of Mars using a camera onboard NASA’s 2001 Odyssey spacecraft orbiting that planet.

The School of Discovery is a public magnet school with 150 students. Joan Wafer is the teacher who motivated the students in her eighth grade science classes to enter the MSIP competition. They will work for three days with scientists, mission planners and educators at ASU in Tempe, Ariz.

Dr. Tony Curtis is a volunteer NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador. He and Dr. Judy Curtis advised the students on writing, researching, media and the Solar System.

“Mrs. Wafer is an amazing science teacher,” Dr. Tony Curtis said. “She is very eager to broaden the horizons of her students. She sparks their curiosity and encourages them to accomplish anything they can imagine.”

To create their MSIP proposal, the students had to learn space science and astronomy including the place of Mars in the Solar System and the history of Mars exploration with NASA explorers such as Viking, Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers, Global Surveyor and Odyssey.

The professors helped students understand research methods and design and showed them how to write journalistic reports for mass media, research papers for sharing reports, and Web sites for public presentation.

The students examined mass media images of Mars from a variety of sources. They watched Hollywood's interpretation of Martian civilization and read the famous Orson Wells’ radio program The War of the Worlds.

The students eagerly read everything in their library and then turned to the World Wide Web for photos and the latest news from Mars. Their sources included NASA Mars Exploration site at mars.jpl.nasa.gov and Space Today Online at www.spacetoday.org, a site created and edited by Dr. Tony Curtis.

“We became explorers on the Internet,” they explained. “We used the technology to explore Mars that is millions of miles away and bring it right into our classroom.

“Last year, we watched the curious red object in the sky as it came closer and closer to the Earth,” the students said. “We became more curious when Mrs. Wafer said we could participate in the Mars Student Imaging Project and if we worked hard we might be selected to go to Arizona State University to see Mars a little closer.”

”The students were attracted to the idea of comparing physical processes on Mars with those on Earth,” Dr. Judy Curtis said. “Their research question is, ‘How does the elevation, latitude, and longitude affect the number of dust storms that occur on Mars?’”

The students wrote in their proposal, “Dust storms to us were the most curious and interesting looking features on Mars.” They noted that dust storms “produced strange patterns. It was surprising to see dust storms as bright patches on the Martian surface. We found out that it was due to sunlight reflecting off of the basalt dust grains.”

“Because we are in the hurricane season and experienced a tornado at our school, even though it did not produce a dust storm here, we became interested in learning about dust devils, tornadoes and dust storms and how they are formed on Mars,” the eighth graders wrote in their proposal.

The students’ slogan for their project is, “Curiosity creates interest and interest demands exploration and exploration paves the way to discovering the unknown.”

MSIP officials said the students did a “Great job! We found it to be a great project.”

The School of Discovery team will receive an image of their selected site from the 2001 Mars Odyssey satellite and submit a final scientific report for publication in the online MSIP Science Journal.

The students hope NASA will be able to use their research results for years to come as the space agency plans landing sites for future missions. The students pointed out that homes on Mars, clothing to be worn there and even laboratories will have to be designed to protect human beings from dust storms, some of which last a long time.

The students employed the scientific method. The project curriculum is aligned with National Science Education Standards and fits within existing school science curriculum. It teaches the required objectives and standards using real world science rather than worksheets or simulations.

Article by Dr. Collier appears in Musicae Scientiae

Dr. William Collier (Psychology) had an article published in a European academic journal.

“Musical scales and brightness evaluations: Effects of pitch, direction, and scale mode” by Collier, W. G., & Hubbard, T. L. was published by Musicae Scientiae, (2004, Vol. 8, pp. 151-173). Musicae Scientiae is the journal for the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music/ESCOM)

Three attend criminal justice conference

Dr. Fran Fuller, Dr. Rich Kania and Dr. Mario Paparozzi (all Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice) were in Raleigh, N.C., on September 22-25 to attend the concurrent meetings of the North Carolina and Southern Criminal Justice associations.

For Dr. Kania, it was his last U.S. appearance before flying off to Belarus to begin his Fulbright year. He was on a death penalty roundtable at the SCJA. Dr. Paparozzi was named secretary-treasurer and Dr. Fuller was elected to the board of North Carolina Criminal Justice Association.

Kenney is Robeson Kiwanian of the Year

Dan Kenney (Athletics) was named Kiwanian of the Year by Kiwanis of Robeson. The award is presented to the Kiwanian who makes a dramatic impact on the community and the club.

The Kiwanis of Robeson is a Lumberton civic organization with more than 70 members that focuses on serving children. In 2003-04, the Kiwanis of Robeson contributed over $28,000 to area organizations including UNC Pembroke. At the University, the Kiwanis of Robeson supported the Friends of Sampson-Livermore Library and the Morris Britt Scholarship.

The Morris Britt Scholarship was awarded to Elizabeth Taylor of Lumberton, daughter of Janet Taylor (Advancement).

Dan Kenney has served on the Kiwanis of Robeson board of directors since 1999.

Dr. Cherry is named pastor emeritus

Dr. Russell T. Cherry Jr. (Religion) was named pastor emeritus of the First Baptist Church of Lumberton. He served as pastor of the church from 1970-1992.

Dr. Cherry has remained active in his ministry, serving as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Bladenboro and teaching religion at UNCP.

He was honored by the church on Sunday, September 12 during the morning worship service.

UNCP shines in Chevy to Levee

UNCP faculty and staff and their families shined at the Chevy to Levee road race on Sunday, September 26 at Luther Britt Park in Lumberton.

In the one-mile Family Fun Run, the first female finisher was Aminah Ghaffar (daughter of Abdul Ghaffar, Student Activities).

5K (3.1 miles) results:

• Overall Winner - Graduate Assistant Mike Jimenez time 16:41
• Female (age 1-14) - 3rd place, Morgan Haskins (daughter of John Haskins, Women's Basketball)
• Male (age 25-29) - 1st place, Gautam Nayer (graduate student)
• Male (age 30-34) - 3rd place, Reggie Oxendine (Regional Center)
• Female (age 35-29) - 2nd place, Kelly Haskins (wife of John Haskins)
• Female (age 50-54) - 2nd place, Mary Shultz (wife of Larry Shultz, Education)
• Female (age 60-64) - 2nd place, Faye Caton (mother of Karen Granger, Education)
• Male (age 65-69) - 2nd place, Bob Caton (father of Karen Granger)

10K results:

• Overall - 3rd place, Holden Hansen (Theatre) with a time of 40:21
• Female (age 25-29) - 1st place, Katherine Thompson (daughter of Tommy Thompson, HPER)
• Female (age 30-34), 1St place, Sonia Tinsley (HPER)
• Female (age 35-39), 1st place, Lisa Baker (Social Work)
• Female (age 40-44), 3rd place, Amy Deny (wife of Eric Dent, Business)
• Male (age 40-44), 3rd place, Eric Dent (Business)
• Male (age 45-49) - 1st place, John Haskins (Women’s Basketball)
• Male (age 50-54) - 1st place, Dan Kenney (Athletics)
• Female (age 55-59) - 1st place, Marion Thompson (English)

Birthdays, October 1-15
Marilyn Blackburn
Randall Blue
John Bowman
Debra Branch
Barbara Brayboy
Brenda Bullock
Dena Council
Kapica Davis
Robert Earnest
Carrie Elkins
Wm. Bruce Ezell, Jr.
Bill Gash
Rena Hill
Darlene Hunt
Airo Jacobs
Loretta Jones
Penny Jones
Chester Jordan
Ila Killian
Charles Lillie
Ronald Loftis
Michaela Mackley
David Newton
Cathleen Oxendine
Cynthia Oxendine
Larry Rodgers
Denisha Sanders
Willie Scott
Sonia Tinsley
David Young

New Hires
Sherry Hunt - Office Assistant, Education
Daniele Johnson - Printing Unit Supervisor, Business Services
Charles Kearney - Help Desk Assistant, UCIS
Kevin Goins – Plumber, Physical Plant
Querida Hunt - Office Assistant, Regional Center
James Rogers - Applications Programmer, Healthy Start

Promotions
Tabitha Locklear - Computer Lab Coordinator III, UCIS
Vonda Graham - Human Services Coordinator, Sponsored Research
Teresa Tubbs - Associate Director, Financial Aid

Engagements

Angie Locklear (Media Center) and Samuel C. Samuel will be married on November 21, 2004, at 3 p.m. at Rock Assembly of God in Red Springs, N.C. The University community is invited to attend.

NCFlex enrollment opens on October 11

NCFlex annual enrollment is October 11 through November 5. Booklets and enrollment forms were mailed to employees’ campus addresses last week.

Additions: Two new plans have been added to the NCFlex Plan.

1. Voluntary group term life insurance:

• Provides a benefit if you die
• No accumulated cash value
• Can elect coverage up to $100,000 without providing evidence of insurability (Up to $500,000 coverage with evidence of insurability and approval by ING.)
• Monthly premiums are based on your age as of your effective date of coverage and the coverage amount you choose. See page 8-9 of your enrollment Booklet.

2. Cancer insurance:

• High option or low option available
• Must enroll during annual enrollment to be guaranteed coverage without providing Evidence of Insurability

Plan changes:

• Flexible spending accounts – NCFlex is now offering a new convenience card feature, which allows users to pay for certain expenses directly, instead of filing paper claims.
• There is a small annual fee of $6 (an additional $5 will get your dependent(s) a card). If enrolled in the flexible spending accounts, a separate convenience card enrollment form is included with your flexible spending account claims kit.

Dental: New rate structure for the dental plan will become effective January 1, 2005.

High option:
Employee only - $31.34
Employee and spouse - $62.72
Employee with one child - $60.20
Employee/ two or more children - $76,04
Family - $110.66

Low option:
Employee only - $17.12
Employee and spouse - $34.38
Employee with one child - $33
Employee/ two or more children - $42.02
Family - $58.76

High option:
Effective January 1, 2005, the High Option annual plan deductible will increase from $25 per individual to $50 per individual. No deductible will apply to Diagnostic and Preventive services.

Low option:
Effective January 1, 2005, the Low Option annual plan deductible of $50 per individual will apply to all services including Diagnostic and Preventative.