News Watch

A Quick Look at News Across the Region

Compiled by Sam Calhoun

Hendley to be Grand Marshal of Boone Christmas Parade
On Wednesday, December 9, at the Jones House Community Center, Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson formally asked Doc Hendley, founder of Wine To Water, to be grand marshal for the Boone Christmas Parade. The parade begins at 10:00 a.m. this Saturday, December 12, and follows King Street. For more information, call the Downtown Boone Development Association at 828-262-4532.

Lees-McRae College Student Receives State Award
Aaron Linville of Lees-McRae College received the 4th annual North Carolina Campus Compact Community Impact Student Award during the Compact’s Student Conference held at Western Carolina University November 7.

Twenty-seven college students across the state received the award for making significant, innovative contributions to their campuses’ efforts to address local community needs.

Sylva Councilwoman Stacy Knotts and the Compact’s executive director, Dr. Lisa Keyne, presented the award to Linville before an audience of more than 220 college students and guests representing 25 higher education institutions. Linville also received the Governor’s Volunteer Certificate of Appreciation and a congratulatory letter from Rep. Heath Shuler.

Linville is a senior honors student, majoring in history and religious studies, from Laurel Springs. He approached Danielle Usedom, director of campus recreation and other Lees-McRae College staff with the idea to create a community climbing team for local children in Banner Elk, ultimately leading to the formation of the Kids’ Climbing Team. The team meets twice a week and is free to children in the community. Members learn rock climbing techniques and teamwork and are challenged to think creatively and stay active and healthy.

North Carolina Campus Compact is a statewide coalition of higher education presidents and chancellors established to encourage and support campus engagement in the community.

New Watauga County Board Appointments
In late November, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners appointed five residents to various county boards. The commissioners appointed Janet Miller to a second, three-year term on the Board of Adjustment; appointed Billy Martin to the Northwest Regional Housing Authority Board; and appointed Keith Tester, Margaret “Pinky” Hayden and Jan Winkler to three-year terms on the Watauga Medical Center Board of Trustees.

Tarleton Appointed to N.C. Zoological Park Funding and Organization Study Committee
Rep. Cullie Tarleton (D-93) was recently appointed to the North Carolina Zoological Park Funding and Organization Study Committee. House Speaker Joe Hackney announced the appointments this week.

The committee will be responsible for studying funding issues associated with the Zoological Park, including current and expected capital and operational needs, current sources of revenue and potential funding mechanisms. The committee will also study the current organizational structure of the Zoological Park and other potential organizational structures, including, but not limited to, reorganization as an authority, as a private nonprofit corporation or as another entity to determine which organizational structure would most effectively achieve the mission of the Zoological Park.

“I was a member of the Zoological Park Council for over 25 years and part of the leadership team that built what I think is a world class zoo. The state zoo is an important institution in North Carolina, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to review and study how it is funded and organized,” Tarleton said. “I hope that our work leads to a plan that will help the zoo fulfill its mission of education and preservation.”

AppalCART Sets Another Record
AppalCART, Watauga County’s public transportation authority, reported a system-wide ridership of 143,891 passenger trips for November 2009, which sets an all-time record for the month of November. The previous record of 125,083 was set in November 2008. The authority’s ridership increased 15 percent while miles of service increased by 12 percent and hours of service by 15 percent, as AppalCART had an extra Orange Route bus scheduled this year.

The bus service in the Boone area accounted for 139,994 passenger trips in 42,026 miles of service compared to 122,231 trips in 37,388 miles for November 2008. AppalCART experienced an increase of 37 percent in ridership on its paratransit routes, which provide door-to-door transportation for people with disabilities that prevent them from riding the bus service. Paratransit trips increased in number from 617 in November 2008 to 849 in November 2009. For more info, click to www.appalcart.com or call 828-264-2278.

Change in Watauga Commissioners’ Meeting Schedule
The Watauga County Board of Commissioners will not meet on Tuesday, December 15. The next meeting of the board will be Monday, January 4, 2010, at 9:00 a.m. in the Commissioners’ Boardroom in the Watauga County Administration Building. For more info, call 828-265-8000.

N.C. Humanities Council Awards $6,531 to ASU Belk Library
The North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, recently awarded $59,581 in grants for public humanities projects, including a $6,531 award to ASU’s Belk Library.

Projects supported by the N.C. Humanities Council are vital to its commitment to serve as an advocate for lifelong learning and thoughtful dialogue about all facets of human life. Through grants and public programs, the council facilitates the exploration and celebration of the many voices and stories of North Carolina’s cultures and heritage.

N.C. Humanities Council awards during this grant cycle include a $6,531 award to Belk Library at ASU for “Sexuality and Gender Identity in Appalachian Communities,” an oral history project documenting the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) presence in Appalachian North Carolina and its effect on regional character and social development. Project components include a public symposium and contribution to a national interactive website. The completed oral histories will be donated to ASU’s W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection, providing a platform for future research. The project director is Kathy Staley. For more info, email staleykl@appstate.edu or call 828-262-6724.

ASU Receives $300,000 Grant To Assist Mexican University with Green Projects
ASU recently received a three-year, $300,000 grant to enhance the capacity of a Mexican partner institution, Fundación Universidad de Las Américas Puebla (FUDLAP), with its renewable energy and energy efficiency educational programs and activities.

The project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development/Mexico through Higher Education for Development under the Training, Internships, Exchanges and Scholarships (TIES) Program.

ASU is one of only five U.S. universities to receive funding under the TIES Phase IV Cycle 1 Competition. The award was announced by the USAID/Mexico Mission Director at the TIES conference that took place in Veracruz, Mexico, and attended by Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, associate vice chancellor for international education and development, and Jeff Tiller, chair of the Department of Technology, who represented ASU at the conference. Lutabingwa, Tiller and Dr. Jeff Ramsdell, coordinator of building science in ASU’s Department of Technology, will direct the project.

“I am very pleased that Appalachian has been awarded this project,” Lutabingwa said.

“The project will greatly facilitate our efforts to deepen the relationship between Appalachian and FUDLAP beyond the traditional student and faculty exchanges. This project will lay the foundation for developing innovative joint academic programs that match several of our existing programs.”

The goal of the project is to promote public and private expansion of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency technologies, thereby increasing efficiency of energy use and decreasing Mexico’s dependence on fossil fuels.

Four objectives will be achieved under this project: (1) increasing the capacity of FUDLAP students and faculty to conduct research on, and contribute to curriculum development related to renewable energy and energy efficiency; (2) strengthening FUDLAP curriculum in renewable energy and energy efficiency so that the faculty and students are better prepared to carry out research and conduct pilot and demonstration renewable energy projects; (3) building capacity among public institutions to develop and implement energy sector policies and regulations; and (4) promoting the use of small-scale renewable energy systems in rural communities in Mexico.

According to Tiller, nine graduate students from FUDLAP will take graduate-level courses and conduct research in ASU’s Department of Technology beginning in the fall 2010 semester. At the end of their experience, the students will receive a certificate in renewable energy and energy efficiency issued by ASU. The courses they take at ASU will transfer to FUDLAP and count toward a master’s degree in environmental engineering with an emphasis in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

In addition, nine faculty and staff members from each institution will participate in exchanges between ASU and FUDLAP. The faculty members will be in residence at each institution for 21 days to one month of teaching, conducting research, seminars and visiting renewable energy sites in the United States or Mexico. The faculty/staff exchanges also will help strength FUDLAP’s new major in alternative energies that will be incorporated into the newly established Ph.D. and master’s degree program in environmental engineering.

ASU and FUDLAP students enrolled in the courses will work in teams to develop solutions to those problems using the available renewable energy technologies. Students will meet with each other either by e-mail or videoconference to work on their projects. The best solution(s) will be selected for installation and testing in a rural community in Mexico. The winning team(s) from ASU will travel to Mexico at the end of the semester to meet face-to-face with the FUDLAP team to work on the installation and testing plan. The initial fieldwork will be carried out mainly in two rural poor communities located in isolated regions of Mexico—Los Llanos and Las Cucharas.

For more information, contact Lutabingwa in the Office of International Education and Development at 828-262-2046 or lutabingwajl@appstate.edu.