UNC Charlotte Magazine, 1Q, 2009

8/14/2019 UNC Charlotte Magazine, 1Q, 2009

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UNCCharlotteThe magazine of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte for Alumni and Friends v16 n1 q1 2

Consder the Ble DotIlluminating Earths Energy Future


2/44

When economic concerns o the currentmagnitude dominate the national discourse,it is tempting to ocus on the near-term;issues that require long-term planningsometimes end up on the back burner.

Environmental issues are among those thatmay all into the latter category, despiteevidence that environmental damage can

lead to undesirable and oten irreversibleconsequences.

I believe the University o North Carolinasystem can play a pivotal role in chartingthe course or environmental stewardship.For our part, UNC Charlotte has adaptedbusiness practices and encouragedinnovative approaches to educating thenext generation o global citizens. By better

managing our waste, land and buildings, weare positioned to reduce hostile impacts onthe environment while successully ulillingthe primary unctions o teaching andresearch.

The University has made progress onmany ronts. Weve come a long waysince the beginning o our aluminum can

recycling program (circa 1987):UNC Charlotte operates a compostingprogram as well as an award-winningconstruction and demolition recycling/re-

use initiative. We recycled more than 1.6million pounds last year.The University has reduced the useo petroleum products by investing inalternatively-ueled cars. We now have 20

lex-uel vehicles and 67 Electric UtilityCarts or maintenance, housekeeping andother on-campus use.The Housing and Residence Lie andHousekeeping departments have madeeorts to signiicantly reduce water, energyand chemical use.

The University holds biannual campusclean-up days. More than 200 student,

sta and aculty volunteers collected 149bags o trash, 84 bags o recyclables, seventires and 150 pounds o construction anddemolition material in October.All new construction will attainLeadership in Energy and EnvironmentalDesign (LEED) certiied status.

To underscore our commitment toenvironmental responsibility, UNCCharlotte has designated a ull-timesta position to ensure environmentallyresponsible practices are developed,

implemented and evaluated. We awaitthe results o the irst UNC Charlottesustainability assessment, which will

outline the scope o sustainability activitiecurrently taking place at the Universityand recommend actions to develop amore environmentally responsible UNCCharlotte.

Our concern or sustainability alsoextends to teaching and research. Facultymembers and students rom UNCCharlottes colleges o Arts + Architecture,

Engineering, and Liberal Arts and Scienceare researching responsible solutions toenvironmental problems (see the articlein this issue entitled Consider the BlueDot), and developing courses that prepargraduates to respond to environmentalissues. Faculty and students provideenvironmental education in the communit

likewise, private industry and governmentaagencies use University resources, such asthe Environmental Assistance Oice orSmall Business and the Urban Institute, to

plan projects that greatly beneit our regionWe applaud these eorts and look

orward to testing and exporting innovativsolutions to environmental problems to oucampus and broader community. We also

recognize that we have a lot o work to do.hope that you will join us in protecting thenatural environment. Only through ourcollective eorts will we be able to preservethe beauty and resources that have sustaineprevious generations.

Cordially,

Philip L. DuboisChancellor

UNC CHARLOTTE magazine www.UNCC.e

NC CHARLOTTE | chancel lor s letter

Our concern or

sustainability also

extends to teaching

and research.

Faculty members

and students rom

UNC Charlottes

colleges o Arts

+ Architecture,

Engineering,

and Liberal Arts

and Sciences

are researching

responsible solutions

to environmental

problems.

Cultivating a Greener University


3/44www.UNCC.edu Q109 | UNC CHARLOTTE magazin

contents | UNC CHAR

On the cover:The globe is shrinking, and so are its resources. UNC Charlotte aculty

and students are working on real-world solutions to environmental problems.Illustration by Gary Palmer.

eatures

10 Eye on the Economy

12 Consder the Ble Dot

19 Crme andPnshment n Chna

20 Operatectre: OpenngDoors Throgh Opera

26 Edcaton andthe Economy o Le

departments

3 News Bries

6 Research Bries

34 49ers Notebook

36 Giving

40 Class Notes

43 Perspective

alumni proles28 Boris Bluz Rogers

32 Michael Wilson

19

12

20


4/44UNC CHARLOTTE magazine | Q109 www.UNCC.e

John D. Bland, EditorDirector o Public Relations

UNC CHARLOTTE | ed itor s desk

Grabbng YorAttenton We Hope!

Years ago when I was a full-time managing editor, my boss the

editor-in-chief had a great habit of adding new editorial compo-nents to the magazine on a regular basis. Sometimes these were whole

new departments, other times they were simple series of news-you-

can-use tips, special profiles or whimsical touches. The result was a

magazine that was always evolving. That magazine was successful

financially and editorially; we whipped the competition and won

national awards.

At UNC Charlottemagazine, we have begun to take that same

approach. In 2008 we introduced 49ers Notebook, which provides one or two pages

o the latest news rom the Athletics department. Then last summer we added Per-

spective to the inside back cover.With this edition, weve introduced two new components we hope youll enjoy.

On the two middle pages weve presented a large-scale photographic spread eaturing

Athletics Director Judy Rose on the historic day when the trustees approved a 49ers

ootball program. A middle-o-the-book photo spread will become a regular eature,

presenting a close-up look at something signiicant and dramatic in the campus

experience.

Weve also added a new eature called Building Blocks, on page 39. In every

edition youll see a photo or other graphic rom the University archives. We hope these

images will speak to you about the great change that has occurred in the lie o this great

university and perhaps they will ill some o you with eelings o nostalgia.

Each edition will continue to present ull-length eature articles and two or three

proiles o accomplished alumni. The Chancellors Letter, Class Notes and News Bries

will continue to anchor the magazine.

We hope youll enjoy the changes and the growing quality oUNC Charlotte.

We are working hard to make it a un read. Let me know how were doing.

Regards,

Volume 16, Number 1

Phlp L. DbosChancellor

Rth ShawChair o the Board o Trustees

Vice Chancellor or University Relationsand Community Aairs

Dad Dnn

EditorDirector o Public Relations

John D. Bland

Creative DirectorFab Preslar

Contributing WritersRhannon Bowman

Phllp BrownMke HermannLsa LambertPal Nowell

Class NotesKate Conn Sggs

PhotographerWade Brton

Circulation ManagerCathy Brown

Design & ProductionSPARK Pblcatons

UNC Charlotte is published our times a

year by The University o North Carolina

at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd.,Charlotte, NC 28223-0001

ISSN 10771913

Edtoral oces:

Reese Building, 2nd loor

The University o North Carolinaat Charlotte

9201 University City Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28223

704.687.5822; Fax: 704.687.6379

The University o North Carolina at

Charlotte is open to people o all races andis committed to equality o educational

opportunity and does not discriminate

against applicants, students or employeesbased on race, color, national origin, religion

sex, sexual orientation, age or disability.

The University o North Carolina at Charlott

Prnted onrecycled paper

17,300 copies o this publication were printedat a cost o $.70 per piece, or a total cost o $11,968.35.



Prominent Community Leaders toQuarterback Football Fundraising Campaign

On Feb. 10, UNC Charlotte named

inluential community leaders Mac Everett,Johnny Harris and Gene Johnson to lead theCharlotte 49ers Football Fundraising CapitalCampaign. The powerul team also includes atrio o UNC Charlotte alumni who are chieinancial oicers at three major corporations.

Everett, who is general chairman o theWachovia Championship and chaired the49ers Football Feasibility Committee, and

Harris, president o Lincoln Harris, will serve ashonorary chairs. Johnson, chairman and CEOo FairPoint Communications and a 1973graduate o UNC Charlottes Belk College oBusiness, was named chairman.

In addition, the 49ers introduced three otherUNC Charlotte alumni as executive chairs:David Hauser, chie inancial oicer or DukeEnergy Corporation; Bob Hull, chie inancial

oicer or Lowes Companies, Inc.; and JoePrice, chie inancial oicer or Bank o America

Corporation.Former Carolina Panthers standouts Mike

Minter and Mike Rucker have signed on ascampaign ambassadors.

We have a great opportunity to makehistory, said UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip

L. Dubois at a press conerence on campus.We have an opportunity to bring our campusand our community together like never beore.

We have assembled a leadership team thatcombines an array o community and businessleaders and inluential alumni.

Everett and Harris have played major rolesin Charlottes sports landscape or many years.Everett has been involved with the Charlotte

Regional Sports Commission and the CharlotteBobcats as well as the Wachovia Championship.Harris, a member o the Carolina Panthersownership group and president o QuailHollow Club, played a key role in ounding the

Wachovia Championship and landing the ACCootball championship and 1994 NCAA MensBasketball Final Four in Charlotte.

Johnson, secretary o the universitys Boardo Trustees, has been a staunch supportero the 49ers athletic department or over30 years. A tireless advocate or UNCCharlotte, Johnson has served on the Belk

College o Business Advisory Council, theAlumni Board o Governors and the Board oDirectors o the 49ers Athletic Foundation.

He was inducted into the UNC CharlotteAlumni Hall o Fame in 1997 and wasnamed a Distinguished Alumnus in 2000.

Everybodys in the game, said 49ersDirector o Athletics Judy Rose. Weunderstand that adding ootball will impactmore than the 49ers athletic department andmore than UNC Charlotte. This is about

Charlotte and it will take the vision andsupport o departmental, university andcommunity leaders to insure success. This is

just the beginning, but history is in the air.Ater nearly two years o study and

research, Dubois made his ootballrecommendation to the university Board oTrustees on Sept. 18, 2008. The Board o

Trustees passed the recommendation withoopposition in its vote, Nov. 13, 2008. TheCharlotte 49ers expect to ield a ootballteam in 2013.

For more inormation, visit www.charlotte49erootball.com.More athleticsinformation can also be found in the 49ers

Notebook on pg. 34.

Campaign chairman Gene Johnson addresses the crowd at the Feb. 10 press conerence.



NC CHARLOTTE | news br ies

news briesEnergy Building will be EPIC

UNC Charlottes Board of Trustees got a preview in

January of the architectural design for the new EnergyProduction and Infrastructure Center (EPIC), which willbe located on the Charlotte Research Institutes campus.

The presentation by David A. Creech, ofNarmour Wright Creech Architects, featured severalrenderings of the building, which will house thedepartments of Civil & Environmental Engineeringand Electrical Engineering in a collaborativeteaching and research facility.

At 200,000 square feet, the EPIC building willprovide classroom, office and laboratory space toaccommodate growth in energy infrastructure researchand collaboration with industry partners, includingDuke Energy, and construction partners like AREVA,

Parsons, and Shaw Group.UNC Charlotte proposed to create EPIC in response

to a projected 30 percent increase in the demand for

energy in the United States by 2030. Industry leaders arelooking toward UNC Charlotte to help address a criticalshortage in the intellectual capital necessary to modernizecurrent energy production operations and facilitate thedevelopment of alternative energy sources.

Groundbreaking on the building is scheduled forlate summer of 2009 and the target date for completionis July 2011. Funding for the project was temporarilyplaced on hold earlier this fall. However, the Council

of State determined earlier this month to allocate theremaining $57 million in construction funds so theproject could move forward.

Creech told the trustees the building would be LEEDcertified, at the Silver level.

As an energy center, we want to lead by example,Creech said. The three-story structure will make ampleuse of natural light along with other energy-savingfeatures, he said.

CHANGiNG TiMES

CHANGiNG MiNDSAs part o the Changing Places: rom

Black and White to Technicolor year-longexhibit at the Levine Museum o the NewSouth, UNC Charlotte is the educationsponsor or an exciting speaker series calledChanging TimesChanging Minds.

The series kicked o Feb. 18 witha conversation about Charlotte at aCrossroads. UNC Charlotte is sponsoring amonthly panel discussion by thought leaders

rom throughout the community, includingaculty rom UNC Charlotte.

UNC Charlotte is participating in order to

share intellectual capital and resources of the

University and enhance dialogue created by the

exhibit. The exhibit explores how individuals

in the Charlotte region are dealing with therapid and diverse growth created by the influx

of newcomers from across the United States and

around the globe.

As the education sponsor, the University

will host a monthly speaker series at the Levine

Museum every third Wednesday from February

2009 through February 2010.UNC Charlotte

Community Conversations: Changing Times...

Changing Mindswill feature expert panelists

from the University accompanied by business

Groundbreaking on the building is

scheduled or late summer o 2009 and

the target date or completion is July 2011.



news br ies | UNC CHAR

GOvERNOR-ELECT PERDuE

HELD ECONOMiC ROuNDTABLE

AT uNC CHARLOTTE

Governor-elect Beverly Perdue held aneconomic roundtable with more than 30business leaders on the UNC Charlottecampus, including Charlotte Bobcats owner

Bob Johnson and Duke Energy CEO Jim

Rogers.Perdue came away rom the meeting saying

it was a beneicial dialogue as she prepares totackle the budget shortall.

There was some very high qualitydiscussion with some o the brightest businessleaders in the world, Perdue said ater themeeting, which lasted about two hours.

The event was chaired by Chancellor PhilipL. Dubois along with Johnson, Rogers andBank o America executive Cathy Bessant.The moderator was UNC Chapel Hills

Ferrel Guillory.Beore the discussion, an overview o

the national economy was provided by JeKane, senior vice president o the Federal

Reserve Bank o Richmond. Kane also isa member o the UNC Charlotte Boardo Trustees. Following that, Je Michael,director o the Urban Institute at UNCCharlotte, gave an overview o the regionaleconomy.

In his remarks, Rogers told Perdue theproduction o so-called clean energy

should be beneicial to the North Carolinaeconomy. We can make Charlotte thecenter o clean technology and clean energy,he said.

Dubois said it was imperative or thestates public universities to be prepared toenroll thousands o additional students overthe next decade and beyond. He speciicallypointed to the need or state legislativeapproval o unding or new academic

buildings.

Governor-elect Beverly Perdue

Je Kane

Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers

professionals and community leaders to discuss

the specific challenges and opportunities resulting

from Charlottes burgeoning demographics.

Each dialogue will begin at 6 p.m. at the Levine

Museum followed by a reception.

Upcoming topics include sustainability, the

impact of growth on infrastructure and religion

in Charlotte.

For more information, see the insert inthis edition.

uNC CHARLOTTE EARNS

NATiONAL RECOGNiTiON FOR

COMMuNiTY ENGAGEMENT

UNC Charlotte has been selected for a

prestigious 2008 Community Engagement

elective classification by the Carnegie Foundation

for the Advancement of Teaching.

The designation recognizes institutions

that have internalized and sustained their

commitment to collaborate with communitiesthrough teaching, research, and outreach.

From the beginning, this University has

had a rich history of community involvement,

said Owen Furuseth, Associate Provost for

Metropolitan Studies and Extended Academic

Programs at UNC Charlotte. We now work

with private corporations to expand the reach

of our engagement while also deepening our

existing relationships.

UNC Charlotte is joined by Appalachian

State University, East Carolina University,

North Carolina Central University, UNC

Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, UNCPembroke, and Western Carolina University

among the 119 institutions honored with the

classification this year.

With the announcement, the proportion of

North Carolinas public universities deemed by

the Carnegie Foundation to be community

engaged far exceeds that of peer state systems

across the country, including California, Texas,

and Wisconsin.

This national recognition is a natural

outgrowth of the Universitys UNC Tomorrow

initiative, through which all UNC campusesare seeking to increase their outreach and

responsiveness to their surrounding communities

and the state as a whole.

The fact that over half of North Carolinas

public universities have been nationally

recognized for their commitment to working

with communities sends a strong message

for the future of our state, said Leslie Boney,

UNC Associate Vice President for Economic

Development Research, Policy, and Planning.

BELK COLLEGE JOiNS

ELiTE GROuP iN SPORTS

MARKETiNG COMPETiTiON

UNC Charlotte students traveled to

Arizona in January to vie against seven teamsfrom across the country in the NationalSports Forums third annual NSF CaseCup Competition. Teams participate in the

24-hour competition to solve a businessproblem using skills learned in theiracademic program.

UNC Charlotte joins an elite group of

universities to participate in this years case

competition. Previously, the competition

had been an invitation-only event built

around six of the nations top sports masters

and MBA programs, including Arizona

State University, the University of Oregon

and Ohio University. The NSF invited four

schools to apply for two additional spaces inthe 2009 competition. UNC Charlotte and

the University of Memphis were selected.


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NC CHARLOTTE | research br ies

UNC CHARLOTTE magazine | 1Q09 www.UNCC.e

research bries

RAPiD SAND FiLTER DELivERS

CLEAN, SAFE DRiNKiNG WATER

As an efficient, inexpensive, low-tech way to

treat water, Dr. James Amburgeys research could

bring clean, safe drinking water to potentially

billions of people.Simplicity is the primary objective of the rapid

sand filter system Amburgey is developing. The idea

is to make it as simple as possible, he said. All that

is needed is some PVC pipe, sand and inexpensive

treatment chemicals. The only way to practically

deploy a system to the people of less developed

countries is for it to be inexpensive and simple.

Amburgey, an assistant professor of Civil

and Environmental Engineering, specializes in

drinking and recreational water treatment. He

has done work in the past with slow sand filters,

but his latest research with rapid sand filters isdemonstrating the ability to clean water much

more effectively and 30 to 50 times faster.

One significant challenge with sand filters

is in removing Cryptosporidium oocysts,

Amburgey said. One crypto is five microns in

diameter, but the gaps between grains of sand are

approximately 75 microns. So, we have to get the

crypto to stick to the sand grains.

To achieve this, Amburgey has developed a

chemical pretreatment scheme based on ferric

chloride and a pH buffer that is added to the

water. In its natural state, Cryptosporidium is

negatively charged, as are sand grains, so they repel

one another. The chemical pretreatment changes

the Cryptosporidium surface charge to near

neutral, which eliminates the natural electrostaticrepulsion and causes it to be attracted to and stick

to the sand grains via van der Waals forces.

In research using a prototype of this system

in his lab, Amburgey and his students have done

preliminary tests on waters from local rivers,

creeks and wastewater treatment plants. Their

results are typically greater than 99 percent

removal for Cryptosporidium-sized particles.

A common problem in drinking water

treatment facilities is that changing water quality

requires changes in the chemical pretreatment

dosages, Amburgey said. Our tests, so far, haveshown that this system utilizing only a single set

of chemical pretreatment dosages is effective on

all waters tested to date.

Another advantage of the system is that it can be

adapted by using local sands or crushed rock that

are indigenous to a particular region of the world.

KOSARA BRiNGS ExPERTiSE TO

AmericAn ScientiStREADERS

Computer Science Professor Robert Kosara

is interested in all things visual from

photography to architecture to art. Since last

summer he has used his ability to translate the

latest in visual communication research to the

written word with his column in the publicatio

American Scientist.

My research is in information visualization,which produces images from abstract data so th

we can use our powerful perceptual system to

understand them, Kosara said.

This is somewhat similar to the way a

microscope (or other instrument) is used

in science, only visualization experts look at

phenomena that are not physical, such as bank

accounts, health data, genomes, or flight delays

Kosara added.

In addition to the column, which covers top

including image models that chart the flow of a

around bat wings, schematics to help scientistsunderstand protein structures and Venn diagram

utilized to compare techniques to diagnose

autism, Kosara runs a Web site (http://eagereyes

org/) where he discusses issues in visualization

technology and visual communication.

From a shimmering wave o orange emergesthe shape o a bat, its outstretched wings ready

to propel it out o the rame. The image, which

took rst place in inormational graphics in the

2007 National Science FoundationScience and

Engineering Visualization Challenge, is rich with

aerodynamic detail derived rom observations o

bats in wind tunnels and simulations o the airfow

around their wings when fying. Kosara delves

into the making o the image with its creators or

a column in American Scientist. Image courtesy

o David H. Laidlaw, Brown University. Research

supported by NSF and AFOSR.

Dr. James Amburgey works with student Alice Wang on the rapid sand lter prototype.




CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE

SuRPASSES FuNDRAiSiNG GOALLast all, the UNC Charlotte Center

or Real Estate celebrated the end o itsund raising campaign Developing Talent,Building the Future when campaign co-chairs Fred Klein, senior managing partnerat Childress Klein Properties, and Todd

Mansield, chairman and CEO o CroslandLLC, announced that the campaign raised$4.4 million, surpassing its $4 million goalby 10 percent.

The campaign included unds orincreasing scholarships and ellowshipopportunities or students; expanding thereal estate curriculum in the Belk College oBusiness; and creating programs or industryproessionals.

Lead donors to the campaign who

contributed at the $500,000 level were

American Asset Corporation, Bank of AmericaCharitable Foundation, Bissell, Childress Klein

Properties, Crosland LLC and the Wachovia

Foundation. Other significant gifts included

$250,000 from Batson-Cook Company and

$100,000 each from Shelco, Inc., K&L Gates

and Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP. A full

list of donors is available at www.belkcollege.

uncc.edu/real_estate/campaigndonors.html.

UNC Charlottes ties to the real estate

community are longstanding. Earlier this

decade, the university raised $2 million to

establish the Center for Real Estate. In the1990s, real estate leaders joined together to

endow a distinguished professorship in real

estate in the Belk College of Business. Steve

Ott, who joined the faculty of the Belk College

of Business in 1999, is the John Crosland Sr.

Distinguished Professor of Real Estate and

director of the Center for Real Estate.

The university offers a concentration

in real estate at the MBA level as well as a

post-graduate certificate program. The MBA

real estate concentration currently enrolls 30

students and has graduated more than 60.

Faculty and graduate students also conduct

research on issues related to real estate,

addressing topics ranging from tax increment

financing to public-private partnerships in

school construction to the impact of public

transit on development.

The Belk College of Business is committed

to serving the citizens of North Carolina

through excellence in teaching, research and

service, said Joseph B. Mazzola, dean of the

Belk College.

GRANT CREATES

SCHOLARSHiP PROGRAM FOR

NONTRADiTiONAL STuDENTS

The Bernard Osher Foundation has awarded

UNC Charlotte a $50,000 grant to create

a scholarship program for nontraditional

students. Unforeseen circumstances can

interrupt the pursuit of a college degree. UNC

Charlotte will use the grant to help make thedream a reality.

The Universitys Office of Adult Students

and Evening Services (OASES) will administer

the program, designated the Osher Reentry

Scholarship. This award will fund up to 25

scholarships of $2,000 ($1,000 per semester).

To qualify, prospective recipients must have

college credits from a four-year institution but

must have at least a five-year gap in enrollment.

In addition, students must be pursuing their

first baccalaureate degree, have good academic

standing, demonstrated financial need and asignificant period of future employability.

For more than a decade, UNC Charlotte

has instituted a number of programs to

assist nontraditional students, including the

Nontraditional Student Organization, which

provides academic and social support; the Adu

Mentoring Program for Students, comprised

of teams of adult volunteers to advise and

assist returning students, and the 49er Finish

Program, a recent initiative that identifies

UNC Charlotte students who have been away

from the University for up to 10 years but whohad left with enough credits to return with

senior-level standing. Prospective Osher Reent

Scholarship applicants do not need to have

previously attended UNC Charlotte to apply.

viSiONiNG FORuM TO CHART

uNC CHARLOTTES COuRSE

UNC Charlotte, much like the Queen City

itself, has experienced a tremendous increase in

growth and diversity.

These changes, coupled with alterations in

work, family structure, age, lifestyle, technologand other factors have contributed to a sharp

decline in community engagement during the

past quarter century, according to Harvard

uNivERSiTY SELECTS

FiRM FOR iNTEGRATED

MARKETiNG CAMPAiGN

UNC Charlotte has announced that

a local agency, Tattoo Projects, has been

selected to assist the university in the

development of an integrated marketing

campaign. Tattoo Projects will help UNCCharlotte develop creative strategy and

implementation plans.

The research weve conducted over the past several years has shown we must continually

improve our communications about this university, said David Dunn, vice chancellor

for University Relations and Community Affairs. This firm has excellent skills in brand

strategy and communications implementation. They know this market very well and theyll

help us to better tell our story.

The University has already begun to revise its image with an updated logo and identity

system rolled out to the university community in August. This includes an updated version

of the university Crown and standard adaptations of the logo for colleges and units

within the university.

The communications efforts will now begin to move from internal to external audiences.In order for the Charlotte area to understand all the things the university provides we

have to have a clear, unified voice in the marketplace, Dunn said. We are a completely

unique resource for our area and the only urban, research university in our system. There

are countless opportunities for our community to engage UNC Charlotte.

Numerous faculty, staff and students will interact with Tattoo Projects through this

process, but they will primarily coordinate efforts through University Relations and

Community Affairs.

This is an important step for us to take, said Richard McDevitt, director of Marketing

Services. The more people know about UNC Charlotte, the better they understand the

critical role we play in this region.



NC CHARLOTTE | news br ies

news briesUniversity researcher Robert Putnam, authorof Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revivalof American Community.

To reverse that trend, UNC Charlotte isincreasing its efforts to teach the importanceof community engagement and, using the

Crossroads Charlotte model, is creatinga vision of what the University will looklike in 2015. With grant funding from theFoundation for the Carolinas, UNC Charlottewill hold visioning exercises on campus to

depict plausible futures for the University.Developing University scenarios would be

an outgrowth of the Crossroads Charlotteinitiative that identified four likely scenariosfor the city based upon Putnams surveyof 40 communities. His research revealedCharlotte-Mecklenburg has high levels offaith-based involvement and philanthropy,but low levels of social and interracial trust.

The first visioning was held in November;another will be scheduled this winter, in theBarnhardt Student Activity Center traininggymnasium. Students, faculty, staff andalumni are encouraged to participate in thisevent; participants do not have to remain theentire time.

For more information, contact Kerrie Stewartat [email protected].

uNC CHARLOTTE FLEET

HAS GONE GREEN

In an effort to be good stewards of theenvironment, UNC Charlotte has created afleet of alternatively fueled vehicles. NorthCarolina mandated that 75 percent of all state

motor fleets operate on alternative fuel byJanuary 2009, and the campus master plan

calls for a pedestrian-friendly campus as well.Since 2005, UNC Charlotte has added

approximately 51 low-speed, battery-electricvehicles to its motor fleet. Plans are underwayto add at least 90 more.

UNC Charlotte added 24 DaimlerChrysler Global Electric Motorcars to

the fleet that includes 24 Club Cars, twoTrolleys, one EZGO Electric Vehicle, and twColumbia Par Car Summit NeighborhoodElectric Vehicles.

Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) wasselected because they met most o theuniversitys neighbor electric vehicle goals.The GEM line o electric vehicles can belicensed to operate on 35 mph roads, have

automotive saety restraints, our-wheelbraking, automotive tires and built inrollover protection.

Were thinking about the utureand looking or ways to protect theenvironment, said acilities constructionengineer Steve Terry. And were also tryingto teach our students how importantrecycling, reduction o ossil uels and

conservation o water is, so they can takethat knowledge out into the world.

GEM has proposed doing a case study ofUNC Charlottes green fleet.

PROFESSOR PENS

HiSTORiCAL THRiLLER

Someone has a copy of the lost Shakespeare play Loves

Labours Won, at least thats the premise of A.J. Hartleys

new historical thriller What Time Devours. In his latest

novel, UNC Charlotte Theatre Departments Distinguished

Professor of Shakespeare Andrew Hartley (A.J.) weaves a

literary murder mystery based on a well-researched centuries-

old mystery.

Hartley said most scholars believe Loves Labours Won

did exist. Not only was it written and probably performed,

but it was published.

But the play, a comedy, has since vanished.

For many years it was assumed that Loves

Labours Won was an alternative name for

The Taming of the Shrew, but a booklist

written in 1603 lists the two as separate works.

What Time Devoursis Hartleys third

historical thriller, following The Mask of AtreusandOn the Fifth Day. Critics have compared

Hartley to Dan Brown, author ofThe Da

Vinci Code. According to Publishers Weekly,

he avoids the missteps of most attempts

to cash in on the Da Vinci Code zeitgeist

by focusing on the faithful rather than the

freewheeling conspiracies.

Andrew Hartley

Cover oAndrew

Hartleys

latest novel,What Time

Devours

This GEM vehicle is one o many that can be seen on campus.




Future President,Vice PresidentVisit UNC Charlotte

U.S. Senator and vice presidential candidate Joseph

Biden visited UNC Charlotte to rally support or histicket in October. The day-time event in Halton Arena

was open to the public and drew approximately 1,500people. More than 25,000 people gathered on theintramural ields opposite o Duke Centennial Hallon Nov. 3 to see then-candidate-now-U.S. President

Barack Obama make his second-to-last election eveappearance. The crowd waited patiently in the rain,listening to music and speeches rom candidates orpublic oice, including U.S. Senator Kay Hagan.The University hosted members o the community,aculty, sta and students or the event. Both events

were sponsored by the College Democrats studentorganization.

Barack Obama provided the only election-eve visitby a presidential candidate in UNC Charlottes history.

Grigg Hall is estooned in fags and bathed in light as a crowd braved drenching rain on election eve.

Joe Bden made an

mpassoned plea at Halton Arena.


12/440 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine | Q109 www.UNCC.e

NC CHARLOTTE | eature

Weve got an economic crisis on our

hands. For those o us living in theCharlotte area, we were spared some o theearlier pain that aected other regions. Butnow that the nation is irmly ensconced ina major recession, many o us are ocusedintently on the present how we are goingto maintain and improvise during thesechallenging times.

UNC Charlotte invited Tony Plath,associate proessor, Belk College o Business

to look down the road a bit and talk abouthow economic conditions may change theCharlotte region. Here is what he said.

How much responsibility did the CEOso Bank o America and Wachoviahave or the current banking crisis?

Plath Both banks were heavily involvedin packaging mortgage loans into securitiesand selling these packages in the debtmarket, a process known as securitization.This practice was one o the contributingactors to the speculative run-up in nationalreal estate prices.

But there were many other contributingactors to the rapid escalation in real

estate prices occurring between 2002 and2007 that were well beyond the control oCharlottes big banks. Other contributingactors included lax ederal regulation

within the mortgage underwriting marketand a willingness on the part o someconsumers to borrow more than they couldaord to repay in order to acquire largerhouses.

One o the things weve learned romthe current inancial crisis is that marketstability in our ast-moving and globally-

connected inancial markets depends vitally

on inormation transparency and a collectisharing o risk between inancial institutionthat participate in the market.

Collective sharing o risk means each

Edted by John D. Bland

EconomyEyeon thePlath Oers insghts on Charlotte Bankng



eature | UNC CHAR

o the inancial institutions responsibleor creating, distributing, and exchangingsecuritized loan packages maintains skinin the game throughout the lie o thesecuritized package. This provides a inancialincentive to honestly and accurately evaluatethe riskiness o the package at its creationand then monitor this risk level careully ...over the lie o the package.

I wed done these sorts o things in theearly days o securitization between 1995and 2007, we would likely have avoidedmuch o the current inancial crisis that

were experiencing today.

What is the outlook or Charlotte as abanking center in three to ive years?

Plath Its a good bet that Charlotte willremain a inancial destination city or theretail inancial services industry or yearsto come. As we emerge rom the currentinancial crisis in late-2009 or 2010,the inancial services industry will begingrowing again and Charlotte will be amongthe irst urban regions o the country to

beneit rom this growth because o itsstature as a banking center.

There are at least three importantcharacteristics driving Charlotte orward as

a inancial center: People, inrastructure,and reputation. As a large inancialcenter, Charlotte has a concentration o

well-educated and proessionally skilled

people in the inancial services industrythats unparalleled in virtually every othercity in the nation. Accordingly, inancialservices companies throughout the nationlocate here in order to be able to tap in tothe outstanding labor market or inancialservices proessionals. That explains whyGMAC is likely to relocate its corporate

headquarters to Charlotte, and why bothMorgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs arepresently recruiting rom the greater-Charlotte labor market or skilled bankingproessionals as these irms ramp up theirnew bank holding companies.

In addition, the urban inrastructure inthe greater-Charlotte market compares mostavorably to just about every other urbanregion in the United States.

Finally, the Charlotte region has a

reputation or strong cooperation betweenthe public and private sectors o the regionaleconomy, placing local government andregional businesses in a cooperative andcollaborative relationship with one another.

Are community banks in bettershape than the banking giants?

Plath No. Community banks,traditionally deined as banks with totalassets below $1 billion, ace the same sorto inancial hardships that are acing ourlargest banks. Falling real estate prices,increasing loan deault rates, diminishedproitability and alling levels o capitaladequacy characterize just about all banks

these days, regardless o size.

There are a ew important dierencesbetween crisis management within the bigand small banks, however. First, largerbanks have greater diversiication acrosstheir loan portolios, so their heaviestloan losses concentrated in certain partso the country are oset by relativelystronger loan quality in other areas o the

banks geographic territories. Smaller bankstypically operate in signiicantly narrowergeographic areas, and banks in areashardest hit by alling real estate prices ace a

particularly diicult uture in 2009.Second, bigger banks have an easier

time raising new equity capital in thestock market. Wells Fargo, BB&T, and

Bank o America have all been successulin supplementing the TARP inusion ogovernment equity capital with new publicsales o common and preerred stock inrecent months. Community banks ace aar more hostile reception among investorsin trying to sell new shares o stock in thecurrent economic environment, and its

virtually impossible or them to raise newequity capital in the public arena.

Access to equity capital is vitallyimportant or banks, because without itthey cant write down their loan losses, makenew loans, grow their assets, and maintaina suicient quantity o required equityin their businesses to continue businessoperations. We will likely lose many o thenations current population o community

banks through voluntary consolidations,

outright sales, government-arranged bankcombinations, and even outright ailureso many small and regional banks in the

United States.

What type o regulation do you

recommend or the banking industry

Plath Beore the end o 2009, well

likely see a joint proposal rom the TreasurDepartment, the House Financial Services

Committee, and the Senate BankingCommittee or sweeping reregulation o thinancial services industry and reorm odeceptive and unair lending practices in thmortgage loan industry.

We will likely see the Treasury proposea sweeping new inancial regulatory abricled by a systemic-risk regulator, andlikely name the Federal Reserve as the best

candidate to assume the responsibility or

regulating systemic risk within the U.S.inancial system. This change would givethe Fed broad responsibility or oversighto the entire inancial system, includingcommercial banks, investment banks,brokerage irms, insurance companies,and other inancial services providers thatoperate across the American economic

landscape.

Continued on p.



In our obscurity, in all this

vastness, there is no hint that

help will come rom elsewhere

to save us rom ourselves.

-From a CommencementAddress Delivered

by Carl Sagan, May 11, 1996

Consider the

Blue

DotBy Lsa A. Lambert

More than a decade ago, Carl Sagan

asked us to consider the pale blue dot.

Sagan was reerencing the Voyager

1 photo o the solar system taken 4

billion miles rom our planet, in whichthe Earth appears slightly larger than

the head o a pin. When you look at

that photo, Sagans description o our

planet as a lonely speck in the great

enveloping cosmic dark becomes

palpable, as does humanitys total

interdependence.



eature | UNC CHAR

Calls to consider the impact o our actions uthe Earth have grown in number and volumein recent years as the eects o climate changeand population growth become apparent. UNCCharlotte researchers have been considering

the dot, and are passing their knowledge oenvironmentally responsible practices to studenand the community.

Featured here are several stories aboutinnovation, collaboration and promising resear

with the potential to aect lives around the gloThese are but a ew o many examples o thepotential solutions and knowledge our aculty ato todays environmental quandaries.

BuiLDiNG ON THE

PRiNCiPLES OFSuSTAiNABLE DESiGN

Think o the way you use the earths resourca transaction at a grocery store. You roam the apull pre-packaged items rom the shelves, pay tcashier and leave. Then you consume those goo

and repeat the cycle. Your community continuto grow, so more grocery stores pop up becausesingle store cant support the needs o the entircommunity.

The image becomes complicated when wereplace the grocery store with Earth, and all o

those items with inite resources such as oil, ancome to realize that despite continuous upwardtrends in population growth, theres nowhere e

(aka alternative Earth) or us to go when our pruns out o resources. The way were living cansustained.

Desperate times call or brilliant theories. Ththeory o sustainability states that community,environment, economy and culture are allinterrelated and mutually dependent, explained

Associate Proessor o Civil and EnvironmentaEngineering Helene Hilger.

In the Western world, the notion osustainability has translated to living in such a that uture generations can enjoy the quality othat you did, with enough resources remainingmake that possible, she said.

A tall order when you take into account thatall o our economic systems depend on pullingmaterials out o the earth, making stu out o

it, and selling it especially given that thesame amount o resources are here now as whehomosapiens started walking the globe.




For better or worse, our economic

systems are embedded in our environmentalsystems.

Within engineering and architecturecircles, sustainability theory has morphedrom buzzword to practice in ways neverbeore imagined, largely because o shitingattitudes and advancing technologies.

The Lee College o Engineering is

addressing sustainability as it educatesstudents in its use, conducts research tourther its development and partners withproessionals in its application.

Sustainability theory says you have tolook at all impacts o a project, said Hilger.The design impacts the ecosystem, whichsupports the economy, which supports thesocial system.

Sustainable design theory advocatesconserving natural capital by using ewer

raw materials and more reused and recycledmaterials.

This means wasting less material andlandilling less material, Hilger said. Toconserve energy resources, you should uselocal materials, so less transportation is

involved. Examples are using pine or woodloors in the South and ir or loors in the

West.In addition, Hilger said practitioners o

sustainability theory consider the entire lie

cycle o any acility or product they design.

When we buy a new CD, that CDdoesnt create a lot o pollution but whatdid it take to make the CD and what aboutall o the packaging? Hilger added.

The vast majority o producers o goodsdont experience the ull cost o theirproduct on society. Ultimately, the publichas to pay or the discard o the waste;

anyone living within sight o a landill willattest to the urgency o the issue.

The growing importance o sustainabilityis making it a hot topic or students andproessionals alike.

Students now have to learn sustainabilitytheory to make them successul engineers,Hilger said. And proessional engineers alsohave to adopt it and begin incorporating it

into the way they do their work.To spread the word about sustainability

to the proessional engineering community,College o Engineering aculty membershave been delivering talks to area, state andnational groups.

In addition to oering courses insustainable design, sustainable land

development, and sustainable stormwater management, the Department oCivil and Environmental Engineering,along with Mechanical Engineering and

Architecture, piloted a multidisciplinarysustainable design course. As their course

project, student teams had to tackle theproblem o renovating an abandoned bigbox retail acility in Charlotte. With help

rom city and county oicials and severalUNC Charlotte aculty members, thestudents developed two conceptual designsor a sustainable renovation o the vacantcomplex.

A number o research projects in theCollege o Engineering also now havestrong sustainability components. One is inthe area o storm water, in which researchers

are looking at ways to treat and minimizestorm runo by using bio-retention basins,grassed swales and a whole group o othertechnologies in place o curb and gutter.

Another research project is looking at theeasibility o grinding up gypsum board andusing it as a soil additive at newly developedsites, either on top o soil or tilled in just

beore grass is seeded.On a larger scale, researchers are working

to establish a regional construction and

FLY ASH CONCRETE PROviDES

MANY GREEN ADvANTAGESThe remarkable thing about Ph.D.

student Brett Tempests ly ashconcrete is that it is very green.Green in the sense that it is good orthe environment.

The environmental advantage o ly

ash in concrete goes ar beyond justusing it as aggregate iller. Chemicallyactivated ly ash is actually used inplace o portland cement, which resultsin a tremendous reduction in CO2emissions.

Whats diicult to explain to peopleis theres no portland cement in thisconcrete, Tempest said. Most peoplethink you cant make concrete withoutportland cement, but you can.

Portland cement is made by heatinglimestone to very high temperatures,which releases the CO2 inherent inthe limestone. For every ton o cementproduced, a ton o CO2 is released.

Its not just the energy needed toheat the limestone that accounts or theCO2 production, Tempest said. Its thereleasing o the CO2 rom the limestoneitsel. That is what Portland cement is,and theres no way around it.

In testing, the ly ash concrete isproving to have superior chemicaland temperature resistance comparedto cement-based concrete. Thecompression strength o the material iscurrently at about 3,000 psi.

A Department o Energy grant,made to the Department o Civiland Environmental Engineering inthe amount o $492,000, provides80 percent o unding or uturedevelopment and improvement o thely ash concrete.

Ph.D. students Brett Tempest, let, andOlanrewaju Sanusi, center, and masters

student Mitch Taylor research the best fy

ash and activating solution mix or their

concrete. A 3x6 cylinder o fy ashconcrete in a universal testing machine.



eature | UNC CHAR

demolition recycling center. The center willcreate a stock pile o materials and studymethods or reuse.

KNOWLEDGE

SAvES POWER

When it comes to saving energy,knowledge is power, explained Robert W.Cox, assistant proessor o electrical and

computer engineering at UNC Charlotte.Cox and colleagues at the Massachusetts

Institute o Technology have developed

a non-intrusive load monitor, or NILM,that can assess the operational status omultiple electrical loads rom a single set omeasurements collected at a central point.Simply put, the sensor tracks and reportson how much energy is being used inyour home rom the rerigerator, to thetelevision set, to the lighting system andbeyond.

The system weve worked on involves alow-cost, highly reliable device you couldinstall in a commercial building, industrialacility or home, Cox said.

Buildings are the highest users oenergy, representing 40 percent o the totalenergy consumed. Further, 20 percent othe energy consumed is wasted because

electrical devices either arent used ormaintained properly, resulting in slightproblems in the unction o the device that

a homeowner wouldnt necessarily notice.

NILM generates data that helpsdetermine which electrical devices might beoperating ineiciently.

For example, i your air conditioner hasa rerigerant leak, it will turn on and orequently, thus using more energy andresulting in a higher monthly energy bill.NILM will detect and diagnose the leak.

In addition to providing diagnostics,NILM is an educational tool, Cox said.NILM provides consumers with a report otheir day-to-day energy use.

A lot o what people call phantomload your television, washing machine all o those appliances continuouslypull electricity, even when youre not usingthem, he said.

Cox advises homeowners to avoid usinghundreds o watts o phantom load by

plugging electrical devices into a powerstrip, so the power supply can be cut o

with a lip o the switch when the deviceisnt in use.

According to Cox, NILM is the onlydevice o its kind. Typically, you would

have a sensor or every load. Our systemuses one sensor to see what all o the loadsare doing, Cox noted.

The device, a metal box installed next tothe breaker cabinet, includes a sensor thatconnects to the breaker panel. Inormation

rom the sensor is then ed into a centralcomputer. Ultimately, the researchers hopeto make the device wireless, so homeowners

can check the data rom their desktops.Imagine, or instance, an IM-style pop-upbox on your computer screen that remindsyou to check your air conditioner.

Though the NILM wont likely beavailable or commercial consumptionor another two years, it hasnt escapedthe attention o business and industry.Researchers currently are conducting six-

month tests o the device in commercialbuildings and residential settings throughcontracts with Epri and Duke Energy.

I all o this sounds mildly uturistic,its about to get a little Orwellian. Coxexplained that Duke Energy hopes toclosely monitor energy use in the homesthey service because ultimately, utility

providers want to be able to controlconsumers energy use in certain situations.

In the summer, when everyone has the

air conditioning on, the utility companies

would be able to shut your air o or oneor two cycles to avoid a black-out, Coxsaid. You probably wouldnt even notice.

Rather than a diabolical scheme to wielunprecedented power over unsuspectinghomeowners, the Duke Energy NILMtrials are part o the Uniied NationalSmart Grid project. Smart Grid aims

to replace the United States antiquatedelectricity transmission and distributionsystem with a ail-sae, modernized energyinrastructure capable o carrying largeamounts o electricity over long distances

A similar project currently is underway inBoulder, Colo.

BEHiND THE CuRvE:

SOLAR FiNDS FOOTHOLD

OuTSiDE OF uNiTED STATES

Sometimes seeing is believing. In thelate 1970s and early 1980s, Germancitizens and politicians became believers.

Widespread damage to the countrys orescaused by air pollution spurred a passionor environmental protection that remain

a national obsession, according to the LAngeles Times.

But this ethically driven movement toeliminate pollution served an ancillary




HOW TO HARvEST

HYDROGEN

By Nancy OatesHydrogen is natures simplest

atom one proton and one electronLayers o electrons, called shells,orbit around the atoms nucleus,which contains the protons. Each

shell has a set number o electronsat which it is most stable. I it hasmore electrons in its outer shellthan its stable point, it looks to givesome away, and is called positivelycharged. I it has less than its stablepoint, it wants to share anotheratoms electrons, and is callednegatively charged.

The outermost shell o a hydrogenatom is most stable with twoelectrons in it. The hydrogen atom,with only one electron, is drawn toother atoms. When it combines with

another hydrogen atom to makea hydrogen molecule (H2), it is astable compound. The outermostshell o an oxygen atom is moststable with eight electrons in it, butby itsel has only six electrons. Whentwo hydrogen atoms share theirelectrons with an oxygen atom, theresult is the very stable moleculeH2O, water.

With a ive-year grant rom theNational Science Foundation, UNCCharlotte Assistant Proessor oChemistry and Nanoscale Science

Sherine Obare wrests the hydrogenatoms away rom the oxygen inwater with the use o catalysts,nanoparticles that break down asubstance without being consumedin the process. She exposes titaniumdioxide (TiO2) to sunlight. Theultraviolet energy TiO2 absorbsseparates the positive charges romthe negative charges. She addsa platinum nanoparticle catalyst,which stores the negative charges,acting like a mini-capacitor. Then sheadds water. The catalyst releases

the stored negative charges, whichwrench the hydrogen atoms awayrom the oxygen.

To read more about Obaresgroundbreaking work, visitExchange: A Magazine for the

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

at www.coas.uncc.edu/docs/v3.1-Exchange-W08.pd

purpose to strengthen Germanys

economy. Because the country boasts someo the worlds most stringent environmentalregulations, Germany has developed a widerange o new green technologies; and solarenergy is chie among them.

Mohamad-Ali Hasan, UNC Charlotteassociate proessor o electrical andcomputer engineering, said the United

States is in danger o lagging behind the resto the world as the market or alternativeenergy sources expands.

Germany powers whole cities withsolar energy. They now hold most o theintellectual property rights when it comesto solar energy technologies, Hasan noted.There is a lot o work being done toadvance solar technology in China. In act,

Zhengrong Shi, the CEO o Suntech, isnow the wealthiest man in China and his

company is the eighth largest solar panelproducer in the world.

The move to embrace solar technologythroughout the world is intensive, Hasansaid. The solar sector grew 67 percent lastyear leaps and bounds ahead o other

sectors.I hate to see us loosing this vital

technology sector. Historically, the UnitedStates leads the world in technologicaldiscovery and development, but ournumerous accomplishments rest alongside

some egregious examples o missedopportunity in recent decades, Hasansaid. We have a good example in the

lat-panel display (FPD) market. Back inthe mid 1990s, industry leaders deemedthat there would be no uture in FPDsdue to problems with viewing angles andspeed. The Japanese, Koreans and otherscontinued their research and now they ownboth intellectual rights and manuacturingacilities or this trillion dollar businesssector.

Rather than shy away rom solar,Hasan said the U.S. energy industryshould embrace the development o solartechnologies as one component o a multi-aceted solution to our energy crisis.

Global demand or energy is increasingwith time. Well not reach a plateau anytime soon, he said. Frequent blackouts in

China, ormer Eastern bloc countries andArica underscore the world-wide need oraordable, clean energy.

When it comes to abundance andenvironmental impact, you wont yet ind abetter alternative than solar. The world will

need 20 gigawatts o power by 2020 thewattage o solar energy bathing the Earthin one hour is greater than our collectiveyearly need. And a little bit o solar goes along way, Hasan said.

We could start with residential areas.

I I cover 20 percent o my roo with solarpanels, it will produce enough poweror my home, Hasan explained. In act,

covering an area the size o the state oOklahoma with solar panels would generateenough energy to power the whole o North

America. Moreover, the panels are maderom silicon, a material extracted rom sand.I it degrades, it will turn into non-toxicsand again.

Hasan, who is teaching a new coursecalled Fundamentals o Solar Cells, spends

a lot o time debunking myths about solarenergy. Perhaps the two most widespreadmyths are: 1) solar only works where thereis abundant sunshine; and 2) solar power istoo expensive.

Sure solar panels work when thereis light, but the energy can be stored inbatteries or later use. Energy management

and interaction with the power grid is well-established technology, Hasan said.

As or the cost, expensive is a relative



term. For the average homeowner,

installation costs between $10 and $20thousand (beore the Federal tax credit),and panels come with a 25-year warranty.However, the lietime o the panels canbe much longer. I you divide the cost othe panels by their lietime, solar panelsare a cheaper alternative compared tocommercial power sources, Hasan said.

When investigating going solar,homeowners must consider the irreversibledamage caused by use o non-renewableenergies, as well as the savings incurred overthe course o the lie o the technology.

Like lat panel displays, with moreresearch and development the solartechnology will become more aordable,he added.

The technology is there we have toput our minds to developing it to replace

the polluting energy sources, Hasan said.We have the resources, money and thedynamics. Were not a static society. We take

whatever is new and better and adopt it.

MASTERiNG THE

AvAiLABLE: NATuRAL

DAYLiGHTiNG

Beore the Industrial Revolution,mankind conducted business betweensunup and sundown. But in the late 19thCentury, all o that changed the advent

o electrical illumination marked the end oFather Times imposition on our work andleisure activities.

But as weve come to spend more andmore o our time in the workplace, therelationship between our built environmentand well-being has met with scrutiny.

A decade-long trend in building scienceresearch indicates that people are morecomortable, productive and perhaps mostimportantly, eel healthier in buildings thatare speciically designed to accommodate

the use o daylight as the primary source oworkplace illumination, said Proessor oArchitecture Dale Brentrup.

The concept o harnessing naturallight to illuminate building interiors isas old as the window itsel, but relativelyrecent advances in lighting research andtechnology have opened up new horizons

or daylighting.Daylighting also represents the single

largest new opportunity or energy savings

in commercial lighting today and or the

oreseeable uture, Brentrup noted.Rather than relying on component

technologies, daylighting is shaped anddelivered by the architecture itself, and its free!

Enter the School o ArchitecturesDaylighting + Energy PerormanceLaboratory at UNC Charlotte. Along witha sun machine and sky machine, youll

ind graduate students and aculty who enjoycrunching numbers and care deeply about theenvironmental impact o buildings.

The lab uses two instruments toassess the impact o sky luminance andsolar radiation. The Artiicial Sky, whichsimulates the average overcast conditionso the Piedmont region, and a Fixed SunMovable Earth Heliodon, which simulates

actual solar penetration.Under Brentrups direction, lab staers

are working with the University, as well aswith local industry and government, to igureout how current practices have impacted ourcarbon ootprint.

Daylighting is directly related to the ideao carbon reduction, said graduate student

Lindsay Frizzell, who is working on a projectto quantiy energy eiciency. For everykilowatt hour o energy we save, were cuttingapproximately two and a hal pounds ocarbon dioxide emissions.

According to a recent Brookings

Institution study, the Charlotte regionscarbon ootprint is among the nationsheaviest. The study rated 100 large regionsrom least ootprint to biggest andCharlotte ranked No. 72, with emissionsrising signiicantly aster than the nationalaverage.

While buildings can be retro-itted to

be more energy eicient, Brentrup saidthe greatest amount o energy savings canbe achieved by designing new buildingsin accordance with environmentallyresponsible practices. He is working withthe University to develop guidelines orensuring the eiciency o new buildings,and has consulted with the architects o thStudent Union and the Energy Productio

and Inrastructure Center.During his 15-years at the helm o

the Daylighting Lab, Brentrup also hasdeveloped numerous partnerships withinMecklenburg County. Local architects angovernment have consulted with the lab ithe design o acilities including ImaginonFreedom Center (400,000 square eet o

County oice space), the Health and SociServices Building, and the RenaissanceRecreational Sports Learning Academy, anew project in the pipeline.

OuT WiTH THE OLD,

iN WiTH THE GREENThe old oten becomes new again. Take

ashion, or example. Recognize those

skinny jeans and sweater dresses? Theyare new adaptations o 80s styles. In someinstances, the same can be said or greenbuilding practices, or what AssistantProessor o Architecture Thomas Gentrypreers to call environmentally responsiblebuilding.

As a contractor in the 1970s, Gentry wathinking andbuilding green. He has built

and designed award-winning passive solarhouses, earth sheltered houses and double-envelope houses. In the 1990s, he utilizedstraw bale construction techniques toinsulate walls techniques irst practicedat the turn o the century.

Straw bale construction is one example a technique that could be put into wide-

scale practice (in appropriate regions), i

eature | UNC CHAR

Continued on p. 3


20/44


By Pal Nowell

CrmeandPnshmentProessor

expands

understandin

o Chinas

criminal

justice system

8 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine | Q109 www.UNCC.e



A BOOK, A PLANT AND A FiSH.

These three gifts are what convicted felonsare given on their first day in prison in China,

one of the worlds oldest and least understood

civilizations.

While most of us would raise an eyebrow

to this type of criminal justice, Professor Paul

Friday believes the unusual items given to

the new prisoners represent far more than

inappropriate offerings.

To Friday, an internationally recognized

scholar who teaches criminal justice at UNC

Charlotte and received UNC Charlottes

International Scholar Award in 2007, theritualistic presentation of the three gifts to

the inmates explains a lot about the Chinese

philosophy about crime and punishment.

Despite the images of Chinese prisons in

the West, Friday suggests they might actually

be more progressive than their counterparts in

other nations, even in the United States, where

prisons are criticized for being largely ineffective

and overcrowded with repeat offenders.

The book is for the prisoners education,

so they can be re-socialized, Friday said,

acknowledging the book is a less-than-subtlemeans to inculcate the inmates with citizen

responsibilities to their communities and reaffirm

social values they might have forgotten or ignored

while they were on the wrong side of the law.

The plant is supposed to teach the inmate

how to take care of a living thing that depends

completely on him or her to survive.

Finally, Friday explains the fish is placed into

a large tank with scores of others just like it,

where it is nurtured by all the cellmates in the

prison dormitory. The lesson to be learned here

is trust and communal responsibility.Symbolism is very important to the Chinese

people, Friday said. For the inmate, if they

study hard and nurture the plant and fish, the

reward can be points toward early release.

Friday learned about the practice from

his years of collaboration with his Chinese

counterparts. As far back as his graduate

school days in the late 1960s, he has traveled

extensively to countries in Europe and Asia.

Hes always maintained a strong interest in the

internal dynamics of Chinas much-maligned

criminal justice system.

I started getting interested in China about

10 years ago when they started opening up to

the West. They started an open-door policy an

I saw it as an opportunity to go there, he said

in an interview in his University office, which

is overflowing with Chinese art pieces and

awards he has earned from educational and lawenforcement institutions from around the glob

Through perseverance, a lot of networking

and a little bit of luck, Friday has earned

a reputation as an entrusted and objective

colleague among Chinas leading criminologist

and scholars.

It didnt come easy or quickly.

I went to one of the first (criminology)

eature | UNC CHAR

Continued on p. 3

Fridays campus oce is decorated withvariety o artiacts and awards he has collect

over the years, many o them rom China. has been traveling to the country since 199




Operatecture:Opening DoorsThrough OperaBy Lsa A. Lambert

The Four Tenors launch into O Sole Mio.

West Mecklenbrg Hgh School stdent

isaah Bell (let) jons hs mentor, recent

uNC Charlotte gradate Traen Harrngton,

to perorm n ront o an adence o nearly

300 stdents n the school adtorm.



eature | UNC CHAR

The students ile into the auditorium,

mill around, laughing and joking. Thesound o gum snapping and teenage voicesmingles with the sound o opera musicpouring orth rom the school soundsystem. Two-hundred-plus students jostleinto the auditorium aisles, stuing theirbook bags under the wooden seats.

Abdullah Birdsong, West Mecklenburg

High Schools director o choral activities,resembles an air-traic controller standingat the ront o the auditorium, answeringstudents questions and waving them totheir seats, black microphone in hand.

Backstage, men and women in costumeexercise their vocal cords in preparation orthe upcoming perormance.

Anne Harley, UNC Charlotte proessor

o music perormance, explains to the crowdwhat they will soon experience. Then, recent

UNC Charlotte graduate Traven Harringtonopens the program with a stirring renditiono the Negro spiritual Ride On.

Back stage, West Mecklenburg eleventhgrader Isaiah Bell prepares or his debut.

Bell strides slowly, conidently, across the

stage, dapper in a black suit. His classmatesregister their recognition audibly but quietdown as soon as he launches into O SoleMio. They are mildly astonished as theirclassmate annunciates each word in Italian,as i the aria were written in his native

tongue. He sinks graceully to one knee,arm outstretched, beseeching his elusivelove.

Bell, the ourth tenor in what is usually athree-tenor perormance, then strolls over tothe UNC Charlotte students who will joinhim. Together, they lit their voices as thearia draws to a close. The audience erupts incheers and applause.

Harrington currently serves as amentor to Bell, who is interested inpursuing a career in music. For Bell, an

unlikely genre o music and a ortuitousconnection between the University and

West Mecklenburg High School helped tobroaden his horizons.

We were real active in church, and whenI moved to Charlotte I met Mr. Birdsong,Bell said. Bell learned that Birdsong hadtrained as an opera singer in college. Bell

was skeptical at irst, but came to respectopera because it is, in his words, melodicand controlled.

Mr. Birdsong told me he wanted me

to participate in this program, so I startedworking on my voice to try to get it tosound like his.

In no time, Bell was brushing up on hisItalian.

Now in its third year, the UNC Charlotteprogram Bell ondly mentioned knownas Opera or All exposes students

at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Equity Plushigh schools to various modes o artisticexpression. Harley launched the program

with a grant rom the UNC CharlotteChancellors Diversity Challenge Fund.

THE ExPERiENCE

OF OPERATECTuRE

Opera or All welcomes students and

teachers rom local high schools and UNCCharlotte in all artistic disciplines, as wellas parents, alumni, and volunteers rom thecommunity, to produce opera, both in highschools and at UNC Charlotte. Opera or

All presents workshops and perormanceson high school campuses throughout theacademic year, culminating in rehearsals and

production o opera at the university.According to Harley, students in

Equity Plus schools oten ace challenging

economic circumstances. The purpose

o the outreach is to broaden both thehigh school and UNC Charlotte studentscultural experience, she noted.

Student and aculty volunteers romthe Department o Music, School o

Architecture and the Digital Design Centein the College o Arts + Architecture, havetaken live operatecture perormances to

more than 2,000 students.Operatecture combines the traditional

elements o opera production with thelatest in digital design and real-time motioand sound-capture technology underdevelopment by students and aculty atUNC Charlotte.

The goal o the program is to perormopera scenes or high school students who

have had limited exposure to the arts, andespecially or those interested in pursuing a

music career.Harley, who conceived o the program,

said the arts have a tangible impact onsociety. In act, a 2006 study by theNational Endowment or the Arts showedthat there is a very powerul association

between participation in the arts andengagement in the community.

The study reveals that people whoparticipate in the arts also engage in positivcivic and individual activities such asvolunteering, going to sporting events, and

outdoor activities at signiicantly higherrates than non-arts participants. The studyalso reveals that young adults (18 - 34) sho

a declining rate o arts participation andcivic activities.

Beauty is a pragmatic good a civilbuilding block, Harley said. Students canbe taught to use the power and disciplinethey learn in artistic pursuits to bettersociety. We have a horriic example osocieties that want to perect things andpeople, such as Nazi Germany, but the

arts represent an expression o love orthe human element which is, by nature,imperect. Nurturing artists is essentiallycultivating that love o humanity. Thatsmuch more interesting to me than thepursuit o perection, Harley added.

As a graduate student, Harley witnessedirst-hand the transormative power o

the arts through her work with a non-proit organization, Sarasa, that broughtproessional perormers to prisons and

Beauty is a

pragmatic good

a civil building

block. Students

can be taught to

use the power and

discipline they

learn in artistic

pursuit tobetter society.

Anne Harley




juvenile detention centers.

Not only did the program allow inmatesto experience a reprieve rom the diicultieso incarceration, but Harley, who hadbeen raised in wealthy neighborhoods andattended private schools, said the experiencealtered her perspective as well.

Harley knows the UNC Charlottestudents who donate their time to the

program (they receive no pay or collegecredit or participating) will reap similar

beneits. The experience o perormingthis service transorms our students and us,

she said.At irst glance, opera might seem an

unlikely choice or an outreach program.But Harley said opera is used because itrepresents the whole spectrum o the arts.

As an art orm, opera embraces music,dance, theatre, poetry, costume, lightingand set design, digital technology, acrobatics

and sometimes even eatures dogs, horses,elephants, puppets and trampolines.

The process or mounting an opera is a

metaphor or all kinds o coming together,

Harley said. Our programs strength lies inthe wide variety o avenues through which itinvites its audience in.

Opera operates through the senses o thebody sound, color and image and theintellect poetry, geometry, architecture to present to each audience member atransormational artistic moment, Harley

noted.At the heart o the perormance is the

human voice. An opera is a play set tomusic. Music is speech intensiied. The

speech is given a pitch that usually cango much higher than the spoken voice generally, the higher the pitch, the moreintense the emotion.

Theres something special about anyvoice perorming in any tradition, Harleysaid. The human voice, when its beingused to express the soul o the singer, is one

o the most powerul tools we have to reachinto another person.

Ater the Opera or All program visits

a participating high school, the students

have an opportunity to travel to the UNCCharlotte campus each January to viewa ull-scale operatecture perormance,ollowed by a tour o campus and a meal inone o the Universitys dining halls. Eachyear, talented high school students areselected to perorm in the winter opera.

Bell was one o ive high school students

chosen by Harley in conjunction with highschool choir directors to perorm alongside

UNC Charlotte undergraduates in themainstage production o this years opera.

PARTNERSHiPS viTAL

TO ARTS EDuCATiON

Abdullah Birdsong comes rom a longline o educators and scientists. He is amon

Abdullah Birdsong, director o choral activitie

or West Mecklenburg High School, helpslead a question and answer session with UNC

Charlotte perormers and an audience o near300 high school students.



eature | UNC CHAR

the third generation in his amily to attend

college, but he relishes the opportunity tohelp students who would likely be the irstin their amilies to pursue higher education.

Each day in the classroom he strivesto show students their options are not aslimited as they might have imagined.

I think society sometimes rowns uponthe arts as a valid avenue or our kids,

Birdsong said. I try to convince studentsthat the arts are alive, that theyre needed,

and that i you go into a career in music youdont have to be broke all o the time.

At a growing school, where the emphasis onimproving academic achievement takes centerstage, unding or the arts can be low on the

list o priorities. Birdsong said community

partnerships are vital to provide students thekind o arts education they deserve.

Ive been in contact with severalorganizations we can partner with tobring good content to our kids withoutit being inancially prohibitive to theschool, he said. We are always in needo more resources. I theres a community

organization that supports the arts and ourmissions and values align, then we partner.

When UNC Charlotte approachedWest Mecklenburg about the Opera or

All program, Birdsong met with Harleyand Nancy Ham, a UNC Charlottegraduate who continues to help coordinatethe program. As he listened, he wasoverwhelmed with emotion.

When they presented to me I was almostin tears or what they wanted to do or ourstudents, he said.

While the expanding students musicalhorizon is a undamental aspect o the program,Birdsong noted that the trip to campus can

prooundly alter his students aspirations.

Weve had kids who did not thinkcollege was an option realize I have UNCCharlotte in my backyard. I dont haveto go across the country. I can study with

world-class aculty here and potentially liveat home, he said.

For some, that college eel might justbe the motivation they need to make a lie

changing decision.As the program at West Mecklenburg

drew to a close with a question and answersession, it appeared as i the students were

indeed daring to picture themselves in aworld that, while only a ew miles away,might be light years away rom their day-today experience.

To bring Opera or All to yourcommunity or school, contact Dr. AnneHarley at 704-687-4464 or [email protected].

Lisa Lambert is senior writer in the UN

Charlotte Office of Public Relation

UNC Charlotte undergraduate students Sarah

Proctor (middle) and Branden Nicholson (let),

and West Mecklenburg High School student

Isaiah Bell (right) rehearse backstage prior toan opera outreach perormance. The student

volunteers do not receive credit or their

participation in the program.



NC CHARLOTTE | center stage



center stage | UNC CHAR

All

SmilesAthletics Director Judy

Rose had good cause to

smile on Nov. 13, 2008 when

the UNC Charlotte Board o

Trustees voted in avor o

starting a ootball program.The moment is one o the

most important in 49er

athletics history and in the

lie o UNC Charlotte.

Going ater what you

want takes courage and

achieving it takes everyone.

Uniting this campus and

this city with this game isnt

a challenge its an honor,

she said.


28/44


6 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine | Q109 www.UNCC.e

We meet people along the way who teachand inspire us to dream big. We learn, build

lives, contribute to our communities, and passon our wisdom to the next generation. Thisis the economy o lie, according to SenatorMarc Basnight.

The longest-serving legislative leader inNorth Carolinas history now in his 13thconsecutive term in the state senate and hisninth as president pro tempore is a strong

proponent o education, and a student o theworld; but he does not hold a college degree.

Basnights education began in earnest

with a chance meeting in the late 70s. As ayoung entrepreneur, Basnight signed on to a

construction project or Elizabeth City nativeand oil tycoon Walter Davis. They struckup a riendship, and Davis shared his love opolitics, international and state aairs withBasnight. Many long conversations and stackso required reading later, Basnight enteredNorth Carolina politics.

As a small business owner and public

servant, the Senator rom Dare Countyunderstands the role o education in the grandscheme o things.

North Carolina is a place o opportunitybecause o our educational initiatives,Basnight said.

In order or these initiatives to achievesuccess, you have to put your money whereyour mouth is; Basnight has delivered timeand again.

During his two decades in oice, Basnighthas helped increase scholarship undingthroughout the state and has supported majo

Education and the

Economy o LieBy Lsa A. Lambert

Marc Basnight chats with customers

in his Manteo, N.C. restaurant.


29/44

eature | UNC CHAR

www.UNCC.edu Q109 | UNC CHARLOTTE magazin

unding initiatives to the tune o millionso dollars, many resulting in hundreds othousands o square eet in new acilities.

UNC Charlotte projects including theScience Building, Energy Production and

Inrastructure Center (EPIC), and Center CityClassroom Building are but a ew examples.

But Basnight makes it very clear education is not just about buildings, its aboutthe acquisition and transer o knowledge,creation o employment opportunities, and

overall improvement in the quality o lie orthe states citizens.

I meet people who graduated rom UNCCharlotte who now make their contribution inthe community, and they aect their city andthe state. I everyone is working and providing

or their existence, thats a thriving economy,he said.

Innovative solutions to some o the worlds

most pressing dilemmas, such as alternativeenergy production, are needed now more thanever. Basnight said the states public universitysystem will help make North Carolina aleading exporter o new technologies.

UNC Charlotte is preparing theinnovators, dreamers, and designers, he said.We need a new energy package who

will design this new technology? Let it be

UNC Charlotte researchers. Thats why wereinvesting in new buildings and aculty. Thats

why we make the commitment to the school to let the university aect the world, not

just its immediate area.With its established, well-respected

university and community college system,North Carolina is in a better position than

most states to stave o the brain drainphenomenon, where the most educatedcitizens leave the state or opportunity

elsewhere. However, studies indicate a largegap between the high-tech employmentopportunities that are rapidly emergingin the state and the skills o the NorthCarolina workorce.

The companies and businesses just arent

going to come i you dont have an educatedworkorce, Basnight said. Thats why yougrow EPIC and the technology. Thats whatUNC Charlotte has to aggressively pursue.

MAKiNG HiSTORY

To overcome the trying economic timesahead will require the same leadership thatproduced another milestone or higher

education in North Carolina the $3.1billion bond issue passed in 2000.

North Carolinas universities continue toreap the beneits o the bond issue, whichinjected much-needed capital or buildingprojects into the states growing universitiesand community colleges. Historicallegislation begins somewhere; this piece olegislation happened to be the product o

a brainstorming session that took place inBasnights oice.

We were looking at the inventory oneeds o our college campuses. We wouldlook at the existing need and appropriateunds to address it, but we were growing sothe inventory needs list just grew quickerthan we could address it, Basnight said. At

the end o each year wed have greater needsthan beore, and we had all o these peoplemoving to the state. We ound ourselves

growing in number larger than 40-plusother states.

The states explosive growth created both a

burden and a great opportunity legislato

Documents

UNC Charlotte Magazine, 1Q, 2009