UNC’s new chancellor, Holden Thorp, was elected by the UNC Board of Governors on May 8. Photo courtesy UNC news services.

Members of the Board of Governors; President Bowles; Trustees Perry and Schwab and all of the UNC Board of Trustees; members of the Search Committee … Thank you!

This is an incredible day for my family and me. And I am so grateful for the opportunity to lead the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Chapel Hill Police investigators held a news conference at 11 a.m. today (Saturday) to announce that they had surveillance photos of a “person of interest” driving murdered UNC Student Body President Eve Carson’s SUV. The individual in the photos was using Carson’s ATM card and appears to be driving her blue 2005 Toyota Highlander. He is seen wearing a Houston Astros baseball cap.
UPDATE: Monday 11:23 a.m. Police are trying to enhance the photo to get a better look at a second male in the backseat of the vehicle. From the CHPD release: More »

Tonight there’ll be a candlelight vigil for student body president and UNC trustee Eve Carson, who was shot and killed early Tuesday morning.
Here’s the official site set up by the university.
This from the Chapel Hill Police:

Yesterday morning at approximately 5:00 am, Chapel Hill Police responded to reported gunshots in the area of Davie Circle. Officers checked the area and located an unidentified female 18-25 years of age lying in the intersection of Hillcrest Drive and Hillcrest Circle.

This morning at approximately 9:00 am a positive identification of the victim was made by police investigators and the office of the medical examiner. The victim has been identified as Eve Carson age 22, a UNC senior and current UNC student body president. Eve was a resident of Chapel Hill and a highly regarded member of the university community. Our condolences go out to the Carson family and the entire university community that knew Eve. More »

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to enter into a 90-day agreement with UNC to explore the feasibility of a landfill gas-recovery project.
Commissioners and county officials have said they would like to launch a possible gas-recovery project at the landfill as a way of reducing greenhouse gases. County staff had recommended in November that the commissioners request proposals from private firms as well as the university, but university officials said they would not bid against private firms.
The board had agreed in December to consider a proposal by UNC to use county landfill gas to power the university’s Carolina North Development. More »

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

When a voting site was first opened at Morehead Planetarium in 2000, plenty of students, joined by a host of elected and university officials, lined the steps for the opportunity to cast a ballot on campus for the first time. And while the idea of an on-campus voting site has focused on getting more students to turn out, it’s proved even more popular among university employees and those who frequent downtown as a convenient way to do one’s civic duty.

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UNC News Services

Lt. Col. Jeff McCracken, deputy director of the Department of Public Safety at UNC, has been named the university’s director of public safety and chief of police.

McCracken, a law enforcement veteran with more than 15 years’ experience, will on August 1 take the helm of a department with a $25 million budget and responsibility for law enforcement, security, transit, transportation planning and traffic and parking. The department includes 200 permanent and 100 temporary employees, including 25 sworn reserve police officers and 52 full-time sworn officers.

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“When Artistic Expression Becomes a Livelihood: The Stories and Handiwork of Indian and Kenyan Women” will be displayed Thursday, Aug. 2 through Sept. 20 in UNC’s FedEx Global Education Center.

Visitors can see embroidered pieces by women in India and hand-dyed and woven wool rugs by women in Nairobi, Kenya. Photos and written stories of the artists and their communities will be posted. Both groups support their families with sales of their works.

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Carolina Performing Arts tickets on sale
Single-event tickets for all performances in the 2007-08 Carolina Performing Arts season are now on sale. Highlights will include the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Yo-Yo Ma, Nritygram Dance Ensemble of India, STOMP and many more. All performances are in Memorial Hall on the UNC campus.

The season will open Sept. 13 with a concert by Al Green and special guest Lizz Wright and end on May 6 with classical pianist Mitsuko Uchida. Also included in the season are concerts by the UNC music department and the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra.

For tickets and information, visit www.carolinaperformingarts.org, call 843-3333 or visit the Memorial Hall Box Office on Cameron Avenue, open from noon to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays during the summer. Tickets are $10 for Carolina students.

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University planners say this is a first pass at the initial phase of development at Carolina North. Source: UNC Chapel Hill

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Planners for Carolina North concluded their series of community meetings last week with the third presentation of the school’s efforts to craft a design for Carolina North.

Jack Evans, the project’s executive director, said that the first 15 years of buildout at the site will add roughly 2.5 million square feet of university programs, partnerships, housing and retail, commercial service and civic space.

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UNC News Services

Students at UNC recently honored three faculty members, one staff member and six teaching assistants for excellence in undergraduate teaching and service to students.

The 2007 Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Awards honored faculty members Marcie Fisher-Borne, an adjunct faculty member in social work; Hannah Gill, Ph.D., a lecturer in international studies; and Mark McCombs, a lecturer in mathematics.

The winning staff member was Amon Easterling Anderson, internship director for the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative.

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Ronald Wesley Hyatt. Photo Courtesy of UNC News Services

UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL — Officially, Ronald Wesley Hyatt was a professor, coach and faculty marshal at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for nearly 40 years, and a winner of the state’s highest honor, the Order of the Long-Leaf Pine from the governor, in 2004.

Unofficially, Hyatt, who died late Wednesday (June 13) after a long battle with cancer, was one of the most sincerely enthusiastic and warm – and ever-present – boosters of positive progress by individuals within the Carolina community and by the university as a whole.

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