BUNN, NC -- 5/17/99 -- Farmer Steve Mitchell, left, shows young tobacco plants to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty member Lan Mao, right, during a tour of his Franklin County farm Monday to kick off the Tar Heel Bus Tour. Mao, a native of Beijing, China, who has lived in California, is a research instructor in cardiology and among more than 30 faculty and administrators new to North Carolina who are on this week's issue-oriented bus tour. DCS/Dan Sears

BUNN, NC -- 5/17/99 -- Participants in UNC-Chapel Hill's 1999 Tar Heel Bus Tour listen to a presentation by Franklin County farmers John and Betty Vollmer, lower right, during a stop at the couple's strawberry farm Monday. The Vollmer's discussed trends facing tobacco growers and their experiences with diversifying their farming operation by adding crops such as strawberries. The issue-oriented bus tour helps faculty and administrators new to North Carolina better understand the state that produces 82 percent of the university's undergraduate class. DCS/Dan Sears

BUNN, NC -- 5/17/99 -- Franklin County farmer John Vollmer, center, talks to participants in the 1999 Tar Heel Bus Tour during a visit to his farm on Monday. He and his wife, Betty, left, told UNC-CH faculty and administrators new to North Carolina about changing their farm from tobacco to other crops. The issue-oriented tour will cover more than 1,000 miles this week. DCS/Dan Sears

BUNN, NC -- 5/17/99 -- Mike Smith, foreground, 1999 Tar Heel Bus Tour leader and director of the UNC-CH Institute of Government, leans down to pick a strawberry as Roberto Quercia, assistant professor of city and regional planning, watches. Faculty and administrators from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who are new to North Carolina stopped at the Franklin County farm of John Vollmer on Monday, the first of a five-day tour of North Carolina. DCS/Dan Sears

WILLIAMSTON, NC -- 5/17/99 -- Fannie Lambeson, right, discusses her experiences Monday in the UNC-CH-based North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program with Tar Heel Bus Tour participants who visited the New Fellowship Christian Church. Listening intently were, from left, Tom Linden, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Peggy Bentley, department of nutrition, Roberto Quercia, department of city and regional planning, and Larry Band, department of geography. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty and administrators new to the Tar Heel state are on a 1,000-plus-mile trek this week to learn about the state's economy, issues and people. DCS/Dan Sears

WILLIAMSTON, NC -- 5/17/99 -- Breast cancer survivor Dorothy G. Cherry talks to Tar Heel Bus Tour participants about her battle with the disease during a stop Monday at the New Fellowship Christian Church in Williamston. The church serves as the Martin County home of the North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program, which is based at UNC-CH and aimes to close the black-white mammography rate gap in a five-county area. Participants in the issue-oriented bus tour are faculty and administrators new to North Carolina. DCS/Dan Sears

NEW BERN, NC -- 5/17/99 -- Members of the Tar Heel Bus Tour examine an historical marker in New Bern noting the creation of what is now called Pepsi-Cola. The inventor cited on the marker, Caleb Bradham, concocted the now popular drink at his drug store on the corner at left. Thirty-six UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and administrators new to North Carolina are touring the state this week during a 1,000-plus-mile, issue-oriented bus tour. DCS/Dan Sears