News Release

CHAPEL HILL -- Situation comedy writing, astronomy, the latest in medical research and Southern musical traditions are among the varied list of classes and lectures offered starting in September through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.

"Situation Comedy Writing with Steve Neigher," an eight-week workshop beginning Sept. 8, will be held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. each Wednesday (except Sept. 15) at UNC’s Center for Dramatic Art.

Students will become virtual staff writers on a fictitious situation comedy, allowing them to learn the dynamics of the writing process used in Hollywood. Each student will be responsible for his or her own episode outline and first draft and will receive input from other writers in the class.

Neigher, a professional scriptwriter since 1978, has received a Writers Guild of America award for "Barney Miller" and has written for or produced numerous series. He is a visiting professor in communications studies in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The cost is $750 for registrations received before Aug. 27 and $775 after that date.

The "Creative Writing Workshop with Michael Chitwood," a 10-week workshop beginning Sept. 13, will be held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. each Monday (except Oct. 18) at The Cedars in Meadowmont.

Writers with works-in-progress will refine and revise their work with the help of Chitwood and fellow participants. The sessions will consider both poetry and prose, focusing on participants’ work and reviewing examples from well-known writers.

Chitwood is the 2003 winner of the Roanoke-Chowan Award for "Gospel Road Going," judged that year’s best volume of poetry written by a N.C. resident. He is the author of four poetry collections and a book of essays and is a visiting lecturer in UNC’s Creative Writing Program.

The cost is $750 for registrations received before Aug. 27 and $775 after that date. Class size is limited to 16 participants.

"Ideas to Go," presented in collaboration with UNC’s Endeavors magazine, presents four evening presentations on the research of UNC faculty members. A question-and-answer session will follow each presentation.

The presentations, each starting at 7 p.m. at the Friday Center, are:

· "Technology for People with Disabilities," Oct. 5. Dr. Richard Goldberg, a research assistant professor in the School of Medicine’s department of biomedical engineering, supervises student projects for people with disabilities in the local community. Three of the student projects under his guidance have won the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America’s national student design competition.

· "Media, Sex and Adolescents," Oct. 12. Dr. Jane Brown, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is one of the principal investigators on a five-year project called "Teen Media: The Mass Media and Adolescents’ Sexual Health," funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Her research focuses on how adolescents’ health is influenced by mass media and how the media can help adolescents live healthier lives.

· "Live from Chile: The SOAR Telescope," Oct. 19. Dr. Bruce Carney, Samuel Baron professor and chair of the College of Arts and Sciences’ department of physics and astronomy, and Dr. Wayne Christiansen, professor of physics and astronomy, will discuss the Southern Astrophysical Research, or SOAR, telescope. Designed to produce the best quality images of any observatory in its class worldwide, the SOAR telescope is funded through a public-private partnership including UNC. Christiansen will broadcast live from the site in Chile, with Carney at the Friday Center.

· "Advancements in Cystic Fibrosis," Oct. 26. Dr. Richard Boucher, Kenan professor of medicine and director of UNC’s Cystic Fibrosis-Pulmonary Research and Treatment Center, has pioneered novel approaches for the treatment of cystic fibrosis. He has received the Doris Tulcin and Paul Di Sant’Agnese Cystic Fibrosis Research Awards and is one of four founding scientists of Inspire Pharmaceuticals.

Cost is $100 for the entire series or $30 per program before Sept. 25 ($120 and $35 after that).

The Community Classroom Series features 12 courses in the fall, each held at the Friday Center:

· "Finding the Story: A Workshop in Creative Nonfiction," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, Oct. 4 through 25. Class size is limited to 12 participants.

· "Wild About Harry Truman," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, Oct. 25 through Nov. 15.

· "The Meltdown of American Medical Care," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 5 through 26.

· "The History of Europe Since 1945," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 5 through 26.

· "Applied Improv," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 5 through 26.

· "The Power of Language: Martin Luther King and James Baldwin and the Civil Rights Movement," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Oct. 6 through 27.

· "Riddle Me a Rhyme," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Oct. 6 through 27.

· "Oral History Workshop: Reconnecting with Family and Community," held 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Oct. 6 through 27.

· "Southern Music: Part II," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Oct. 6 through 27.

· "Ten Secrets of Highly Successful Women," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 7 through 28.

· "Paradoxes," held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 7 through 28.

· "Plein Air: Landscape Painting Workshop," held 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 7 through 28.

Cost is $100 per course ($115 for those registering after Sept. 17). The fee covers the cost of instruction and course materials.

For additional information on class instructors, topics and registration, click on http://fridaycenter.unc.edu and then click on the program of interest under the "Conferences and Institutes" heading; or contact Mary Morrison at (919) 962-2643 or (800) 845-8640.

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Friday Center contact: Mary Morrison, (919) 962-2643 or mmorriso@email.unc.edu