The Department of Theatre and Dance, College of Fine and Applied Arts, and the Office of Cultural Programs will host the 2007 North Carolina Dance Alliance Annual Event: Weaving Communities Through Dance, Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 8-10. The event marks NCDA’s 25th anniversary. All events are open to the public. For complete schedule information, registration and fees, visit www.ncdancealliance.org.

The Department of Theatre and Dance will present the dark comedy “The Waiting Room” by Lisa Loomer Nov. 13-19 in I.G. Greer Studio Theatre. “The Waiting Room” contains mature themes and is not appropriate for young children. Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and Monday, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Nov. 18. Tickets are $10 and $6. Call the Valborg Box Office at 3063 for tickets and more information, or visit www.theatre.appstate.edu.

Because Veterans Day falls on a Sunday this year, Appalachian will hold a ceremony honoring veterans on Monday, Nov. 12. The event begins at 7:30 a.m. at the memorial beside B.B. Dougherty Administration Building. A continental breakfast will be served in the administration building lobby following the ceremony. The public is invited. Brian Stokes will be the guest speaker. Stokes enrolled at Appalachian in 2005 as a 26-year-old freshman. Prior to his arrival in the High Country, Stokes spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving deployments to more than 10 countries during his military career, including two tours of duty in Iraq.

The National Center for Developmental Education (NCDE), housed in the Reich College of Education, is inviting proposals for its 4th International Conference in Access and Developmental Education to be held Sept. 24-27, 2008, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The deadline for submissions is April 1, 2008.

The conference is designed to encourage an international dialogue on topics related to research in access, developmental education, learning assistance, and diversity in postsecondary education.

The Conference Program Committee welcomes proposals on any topic related to developmental or access education and related support services for underprepared college students. Appropriate proposals might include reports of program activities based on research and theory, reviews of assessment instruments and techniques, results from master’s theses or doctoral dissertations, reports of ongoing program evaluation, reviews of literature, models for evaluation, summaries and analyses of state or local data collections activities, or research-based theories or models, especially those including application to goals related to diversifying higher education.

For additional information or to submit a proposal, visit http://www.ncde.appstate.edu, or call 3057.

UNC-Greensboro will host the Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching February 8-10, 2008, at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. The 2008 conference theme is “Learning by Design.” The deadline for proposal submission is Nov. 16. Proposals may be submitted at https://utlc.uncg.edu/conference/lillysouth/form.jsp. Additional information about the conference is available at http://www.uncg.edu/tlc/lillysouth/.

Chronicle of Higher Education
Most colleges have two or three levels of remedial math, also known as precollege or developmental math, starting with arithmetic and ending with beginning or intermediate algebra. The courses are typically pass-fail and not for credit, and are a prerequisite for credit-bearing math courses and most degree-granting majors and programs.

Estimates vary, but many community-college educators and experts say that on average between 40 percent and 70 percent of new students entering two-year colleges around the country place into remedial math.

“There are students taking these courses three, four, five times before they can pass them, and many who drop out, give up before they do,” says Barbara S. Bonham, coordinator of the higher-education graduate program at Appalachian State University and a consultant to colleges on remedial education. “That’s incredibly disturbing, and demonstrates that something is wrong — with the curriculum, with the teaching, with something or a combination of things that must be identified and addressed at every institution.” Read full story

Raleigh News and Observer
Fighting global warming could be a boon for North Carolina’s economy, researchers said Tuesday. If the state implements a host of strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions, more than 325,000 jobs and $20 billion could be added to the state’s economy by 2020, according to a preliminary report from Appalachian State University. Read full story

Winston-Salem Journal

It was raining so much yesterday in the middle of the drought that it was hard to see the colorful mountain leaves.

Scientists across the state had predicted that the drought would mute leaf colors this fall.

But Gary Walker, a biology professor at Appalachian State University, had bucked the trend, predicting that the northwest mountain counties may have gotten just enough rain over the summer to produce good color. Read full story

Baltimore Sun
Football players and other athletes who engage in vigorous exercise for 90 minutes or more, such as cyclists and swimmers in hard training, appear to be at greater risk for contracting community-acquired MRSA because of the exercise, says David C. Nieman, an exercise immunologist at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. Read full story

Winston-Salem Journal

Tuition bills have gone up for students at North Carolina’s four-year colleges this year, but the increases are slightly less than national averages, according to the College Board’s annual report on college costs.

The average cost of tuition and fees at four-year public colleges for in-state students in North Carolina has increased 6 percent, from $4,067 to $4,320, according to the report. For in-state students, tuition and fees this year at the 16 colleges in the UNC system vary from $2,897 at Elizabeth City State University to $5,176 at UNC Chapel Hill.

Even with the rising costs, an undergraduate degree at a North Carolina college is still a bargain, said Esther Manogin, the director of financial aid at ASU.

“When you think about it, a student can graduate from Appalachian (State University) for the price of an SUV,” Manogin said. “Contrary to an SUV, which is going to depreciate greatly, the second you drive it off the lot, education is going appreciate.” Read full story