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The mayor of a Kansas town that turned itself into a “green” community following a tornado in 2007 visits �������޹�����Ʒ this month to talk about the challenges and successes his town discovered throughout the recovery and rebuilding process.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents in the latest �������޹�����Ʒ Poll disagree with the idea of using school vouchers to help parents pay for their children to attend private or religious schools instead of public schools, and nearly the same number believes doing so would weaken public schools.

International Education Week returns to �������޹�����Ʒ this month with a series of events that run from Nov. 15-19, 2010, and include concerts, a special College Coffee and a panel discussion on NAFTA. The annual national program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education this year focuses on Mexico, its people and its influence on American culture, politics and economy.

When it comes to closing a nearly $3 billion state budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, more than 6 in 10 North Carolinians support an increase in the sales tax by 1 cent per dollar spent, according to the latest �������޹�����Ʒ Poll. More than half of respondents – 56 percent – said they would oppose the elimination of state jobs to address the gap.

Periclean Scholars in the Class of 2011 have worked for three years to raise awareness of environmental issues in the nation of Sri Lanka, and in January, the group will host a national conference there with support from a $5,000 grant from the American Cultural Center run by the U.S. Embassy.

At a time of economic uncertainty with constant demographic shifts in the United States, more Americans identify themselves not by who they are, but by who they are not – and increasingly that’s “not being Muslim.” International scholar Reza Aslan explored that trend in a Wednesday lecture where he cautioned his McCrary Theatre audience that rising anti-Muslim rhetoric is, in fact, putting America at risk.

�������޹�����Ʒ senior Teri Horn has received the North Carolina Campus Compact’s fifth annual Community Impact Student Award for making significant, innovative contributions to her campus’ efforts to address local community needs. Horn was one of 34 college students across the state to receive the honor.

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue has appointed School of Education Dean David Cooper to the Governor’s Education Transformation Commission, a new board of influential leaders who will advise the governor on the use of federal “Race to the Top” funds for implementing the “Career and College: Ready, Set, Go! Initiative” across North Carolina.

�������޹�����Ʒ senior Tyler Anderson wrote major portions of the code for a new iPhone/iPod Touch application released by the Iconfactory, a graphic design and software firm based in Greensboro, N.C. The application was approved by Apple for distribution on its iTunes App Store on Oct. 13, following a rigorous quality review for compliance on Apple's mobile devices.

For the next two weeks, �������޹�����Ʒ is hosting a traveling NASA exhibit that showcases images of the universe taken from the Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer telescopes, and an astronomy class led by assistant professor Dan Evans presented the community outreach project to students and faculty Tuesday at College Coffee on the Phi Beta Kappa Commons.