Asheville Citizen-Times - Five mountain artists have received 2006-07 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship Awards. They were among 14 N.C. visual and film artists and two choreographers chosen among more than 325 applicants. Awards, $8,000, are for continued work.
Recipients include Jody Servon, a visual artist from Blowing Rock and gallery director of Appalachian State University, whose recent work includes an installation of painted walls, projected video, sound, drawings, photographs and sculptures. Read the full article

Raleigh Charter is state’s only school with answers missing. Exam officials apologize but pass blame

Raleigh News and Observer - Caitlin McDevitt spent hours each week studying and working with tutors for her Advanced Placement exams to get what she thought would be the payoff: college credit. But the Raleigh Charter High School student is instead getting apologies from the College Board, the nonprofit group that owns the AP exams, because her tests have disappeared.
Though many parents and students may not realize it, the College Board says 1,000 AP answer sheets are typically lost each year.
This year, they include five filled out by current and former Raleigh Charter students, who have three choices: retake the tests, get a refund or let the College Board project their scores.

Rob Poe will retake the calculus and psychology exams in January if they aren’t found. The Appalachian State University freshman won’t get the credits he wants unless he does. He plans to spend his winter break cramming.
It has been several months since he took both AP classes, so his mother isn’t optimistic. She anticipates paying $1,600 for a summer session at Appalachian in Boone. Read the full article

WWAY - Gov. Mike Easley announced Thursday that five UNC campuses are ranked in top 50 “best values” by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance report. Read the full article

Winston-Salem Journal - Stroll down the brick and stone walkways of Old Salem, and it’s obvious that the buildings and artifacts preserved there represent an irreplaceable link to the past.

Another collection, however, has been quietly growing in importance over the years - the large stock of heirloom seeds gathered and saved by Old Salem’s gardeners.

Such diversity protects the genetic stock that a plant species could need some day to overcome problems posed by disease or pests, said Christoff den Biggelaar, an agroecologist in the Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Program at Appalachian State University.

“If you look at common crops such as corn, you’re only talking about five or six different types of seed that dominate the market,” den Biggelaar said. “That means that if a disease breaks out, you’re going to have a disaster, because your genetic diversity is so small. When fewer and fewer seeds are grown, then we’re cutting the legs out from under ourselves.”

Heirloom seeds have often been bred to fit conditions in a particular place. That means that a local gardener probably won’t have to take special measures - such as using commercial chemicals or constantly watering - to make them grow well, den Biggelaar said. Read the full article

Asheville Citizen-Times - UNC Asheville rose from 50th to 32nd as a best value in public colleges for in-state students and from 56th to 38th as a best value in public colleges for out-of-state students, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.

Appalachian State University ranked 34th the nation in terms of best value for undergraduate costs and 42nd in terms of cost for an out-of-state undergraduate education, according to the Kiplinger ranking, with UNC Chapel Hill topping both lists. Read the full article