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Half of North Carolinians oppose a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages in the Tar Heel State, according to the latest ���ϲ����� Poll, but just one fifth of respondents support full marriage rights for gays and lesbians.

Pam Kiser, Watts-Thompson Professor in the Department of Human Services, has accepted the position of Interim Dean of ���ϲ����� College, the College of Arts and Sciences, and will start her new role with the university on June 1.

���ϲ����� senior Victoria “Tori” Davis has been named the recipient of a DACOR Bacon House Foundation fellowship for graduate study in international affairs, a $10,000 award that will assist her this fall as she begins work toward a doctorate in political science en route to a career with the U.S. Foreign Service.

More than half of North Carolinians are unaware that state laws exist to allow public access to government records, according to the latest ���ϲ����� Poll, but nearly all respondents feel democracy is best when it operates openly.

Nancy Mairs, a contemporary nonfiction writer whose works have received national acclaim, visits ���ϲ����� on March 17 for a 7:30 p.m. lecture in Whitley Auditorium sponsored by the Liberal Arts Forum. Mairs will also spend part of her visit to ���ϲ����� working with students in a creative writing/nonfiction class.

In another sign of its commitment to teaching ethical values, the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business has formally adopted the Principles of Responsible Management Education, which connects the university with an international group of business schools that encourage social responsibility in the creation of a sustainable global economy.

A new book by ���ϲ����� professor Jeffrey C. Pugh interprets the thoughts of a German theologian executed by the Nazis in the final weeks of World War II. As Pugh writes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer remains relevant today, for political and religious figures continue to cite his writings – often incorrectly – in justifying their own agendas.

A new ranking by The Princeton Review, in partnership with USA Today, names ���ϲ����� one of the nation’s top values in higher education for 2009. The report, released Jan. 8, is based on 30 factors in three areas: academics, costs and financial aid. Schools chosen “provide high-quality academics at a reasonable price – either by keeping sticker prices in line, or by offsetting high costs with great financial aid packages.”

A majority of North Carolinians favor laws to ban cell phone use while driving, even though more than half of mobile phone users report doing this regularly, according to the latest ���ϲ����� Poll. Respondents to the poll also supported a statewide ban on smoking in public places.

Joseph Kalichstein, a renowned musician whose piano performances have garnered international accolades, will perform classical works in a March 12 campus performance as part of the Adams Foundation Recital Series sponsored by ���ϲ����� and the (Burlington, N.C.) Times-News.