News Briefs

John Dobson, who has earned the nicknames "Star Monk" and "the Pied Piper of Astronomy" for his influence on amateur astronomy, will speak at UNC’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on Feb. 7.

Dobson, 89, will discuss "The Recycling Universe" at 7 p.m. in the Star Theater. The event is free to the public.

A former monk in the Ramakrishna Order, Dobson is the founder of the Sidewalk Astronomers, a group of amateur astronomers that hosts public viewing sessions, informal sidewalk stargazing opportunities and other events. With his lanky build and long white ponytail, he is a familiar sight on San Francisco street corners, where he positions homemade telescopes and invites passersby to peer at the stars and planets.

Dobson also teaches others to build their own telescopes, using a mount he invented. He speaks nationwide on cosmology and philosophy and has been featured on public television and in numerous national publications.

Dobson’s presentation is part of the Morehead Center’s "Speaking of Science" Series. More information is available at www.moreheadplanetarium.org.

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UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Kenan-Flagler Business School are teaming up to offer a program for business journalists on Feb. 28 and March 1.

Award-winning teachers from both schools will lead the UNC Business Journalism Workshop sessions, to be held at Carroll Hall’s Freedom Forum Conference Center.

Professors from UNC Kenan-Flagler include Dr. Edward Maydew, who will address taxes, government and business; Dr. Wayne Landsman, who will cover financial accounting; and Dr. Robert Bushman, who will address corporate governance.

  Journalism professor Chris Roush, a former business journalist and director of the Carolina Business News Initiative at UNC, will help journalists tie together what they learn in "How to Write Great Business Stories." Journalism professor Larry Lamb will cover corporate communications.

  Other special features include:

· A talk from N.C. State Treasurer Richard Moore about his role on the board of the New York Stock Exchange and issues related to executive compensation;

· Remarks from Dr. James Smith, senior fellow and director of the Center for Business Forecasting at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise; and

· Training in forensic accounting using a Bloomberg terminal.

Tuition for the workshop is $125. The deadline to register is Feb. 12. For more information, visit http://jomc.unc.edu/execed/ or call (877) 668-0674.

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UNC’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education, in cooperation with UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, is now accepting applications for the 2005 Carolina Business Institute.

The Carolina Business Institute is an intensive program designed for current students and recent college graduates who did not major in business but plan to enter the business world.

For four and one-half weeks – May 23 through June 22 – UNC Kenan-Flagler graduates and faculty will guide institute students through a sequence of lectures and case studies based on real business situations. Students engage in interactive learning exercises and, working in teams, manage their own business in competition with other teams.

Applications for the 2005 Carolina Business Institute must be submitted prior to March 31. The institute is held at the McColl Building on the UNC campus.

More information is available at fridaycenter.unc.edu/cbi or by calling (800) 845-8640 or (919) 962-2643.

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Dr. Don Bailey, director of UNC’s Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), has been appointed to a national committee that helps assess Head Start.

The appointment was made earlier this month by Tommy Thompson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Advisory Committee on Head Start Accountability and Educational Performance Measures will help assess the progress in developing and implementing the Head Start National Reporting System. The committee also will recommend how to integrate this reporting with other ongoing assessments of Head Start effectiveness.

The committee reports to the assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families. Committee members serve two years.

Bailey has directed FPG since 1992 and is a Kenan distinguished professor at UNC. He has published more than 120 articles, chapters and books related to mental retardation and developmental disability. His research specializes in early intervention for young children with disabilities and for their families.

Bailey is directing a longitudinal study of children with fragile X syndrome, the leading inherited cause of mental retardation.

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News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu