Portal:North Carolina/Featured/PastFA - Student Portal Polk

December 2, 2011 to February 15, 2013

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (also known as UNC, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, or simply Carolina) is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. First enrolling students in 1795, it is one of the multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States.

All undergraduates receive a liberal arts education and have the option to pursue a major within the professional schools of the university or within the College of Arts and Sciences from the time they obtain junior status. In both teaching and research, UNC has been highly ranked by publications such as BusinessWeek and U.S. News & World Report. The university forms one of the corners of the Research Triangle in addition to Duke University in Durham and North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

UNC has a strong history in athletics, most notably in men's basketball, women's soccer and men's lacrosse. The North Carolina Tar Heels share rivalries with other Tobacco Road schools and have provided many olympians to United States teams. The student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel has won national awards for collegiate media, while the student radio station WXYC provided the world's first internet radio broadcast.

February 17, 2008 to December 2, 2011

The Kinston Indians are a minor league baseball team in Kinston, North Carolina. The team, a High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, plays in the Carolina League. Professional baseball in Kinston dates back to 1908 when they fielded a team in the Eastern Carolina League. Kinston adopted the name "Indians" at the start of their relationship with Cleveland, in 1987. They are currently one of the oldest and most successful franchises in their circuit.

Baseball has been popular in Kinston since the late nineteenth century, and it fielded many excellent amateur clubs. Despite this, the small city was unable to sustain a viable professional team until the mid-1920's. Earlier attempts included an aborted campaign in the Class D Eastern Carolina League in 1908 and an "outlaw league" team in 1921 and 1922. The latter was notable for being managed by former major league pitcher George Suggs and College Football Hall of Fame member Ira Rodgers. Due to the efforts of the city's business leaders, former local amateur star Elisha Lewis, and George Suggs, the town secured a team in the Virginia League for the 1925 season.

February 2, 2008 to February 16, 2008

The Hamlet chicken processing plant fire was an industrial disaster that took place at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina, USA on September 3, 1991, after a failure in a faulty modification to a hydraulic line. Twenty-five people were killed and 54 injured in the fire as they were trapped behind locked fire doors. Due to a lack of inspectors, the plant had never received a safety inspection in 11 years of operation, and it is thought that a single inspection would have easily prevented the incident.

A full federal investigation was launched, which resulted in the owner receiving a 20-year prison sentence, and the company received the highest fines ever handed out in the history of North Carolina. The investigation also highlighted failings in the authoritative enforcement of existing safety regulations, and resulted in a number of worker safety laws being passed. Accusations of racism were leveled at both the fire service and the city of Hamlet in the aftermath of the fire. The latter dispute, concerning a memorial service organized by the city, resulted in two separate, near-identical monuments being erected. The plant was never reopened.

January 19, 2008 to February 1, 2008

The Cape Fear Shiner, Notropis mekistocholas, is a species of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family. It is endemic to the central part of the state of North Carolina in the southeastern United States and is only found in the shallow streams of the Cape Fear River Basin. The fish is small and yellow with black lips and a black stripe which runs down the middle of the fish's side. This shiner is normally found in mixed schools with other minnow species. It is unique amongst its genus because it has elongated intestines that are specifically adapted to a primarily herbivorous diet. It can breed twice a year and normally lives for only two or three years in the wild. The males and females are normally similar in appearance but become different colors in the spawning season. This species of shiner was not discovered until 1962.

The shiner is critically endangered due to its small population size and threats to its habitat from dam construction and pollution. It was first recognized as threatened in 1987. The species has since undergone a successful captive breeding program and its status has been a significant factor in the destruction of a dam that destroyed part of the shiner's habitat. However, the species is still limited to just five populations in the wild and some experts believe that a single toxic chemical spill into the Cape Fear River could wipe out all of these.

January 3, 2008 to January 18, 2008

Duke University is a private coeducational research university located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B. Duke established The Duke Endowment, prompting the institution to change its name in honor of his deceased father, Washington Duke.

The University is organized into two undergraduate and eight graduate schools. The undergraduate student body, which includes 40 percent ethnic minorities, comes from all 50 U.S. states and 117 countries. In its 2008 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the undergraduate division eighth in the nation, while ranking the medical, law, and business schools among the top 11 in the country. Duke's research expenditures are among the largest 20 in the U.S. and its athletic program is one of the nation's elite. Competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the athletic teams have captured nine national championships, including three by the men's basketball team.

December 22, 2007 to January 2, 2008

Pettigrew State Park is a North Carolina state park in Tyrrell and Washington Counties, North Carolina in the United States. It covers 17,800 acres (72 km²) around Lake Phelps, south of U.S. Route 64 near Roper and Creswell, North Carolina. Pettigrew State Park is open for year-round recreation including hiking, camping, fishing, boating and picnicking.

Pettigrew State Park is named for Confederate General J. Johnston Pettigrew, who lived in a nearby home. It surrounds Somerset Place, a North Carolina state historic site. Pettigrew State Park was established during the Great Depression after the land was leased from the Farm Security Administration, a New Deal program of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt.

Pettigrew State Park surrounds Lake Phelps, one of the oldest lakes in the eastern United States and a former hunting and fishing ground for the Algonquian peoples. Archaeologists have found dugout canoes in the lake that are up to 4,400 years old, preserved by its unusually clean waters. Pettigrew is home to an abundance of wildlife: Lake Phelps is a primary wintering location for several types of waterfowl, including Canada geese and Tundra swans. The park is also home to the woodland creatures, such as raccoons and white-tailed deer, that are commonly found along the east coast of the United States. Lake Phelps contains several species of game fish including largemouth bass and catfish.

December 8, 2007 to December 21, 2007

James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 â€" June 15, 1849) was the eleventh President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1845 to March 4, 1849. Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, but mostly lived in and represented the state of Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as Speaker of the House (1835â€"1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839â€"1841) prior to becoming president.

A firm supporter of Andrew Jackson and his beliefs, Polk was the last "strong" pre-American Civil War president. Polk is noted for his foreign policy successes. He threatened war with Britain then backed away and split the ownership of the Northwest with Britain. He is even more famous for leading the successful Mexicanâ€"American War. He lowered the tariff and established a treasury system that lasted until 1913. A "dark horse" candidate in 1844, he was the first president who retired after one term and did not seek re-election. He died three months after his term ended.

As a Democrat committed to geographic expansion (or "Manifest Destiny"), he overrode Whig objections and was responsible for the largest expansion of the nation's territory. It exceeded the Louisiana Purchase. Polk secured the Oregon Territory (including Washington, Oregon and Idaho), then purchased 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million km²) through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexicanâ€"American War. In the end, Polk completed the acquisition of most of the current contiguous 48 states.

November 25, 3007 to December 7, 2007

The Lumbee are a Native American tribe of North Carolina, though their origins are disputed. While Lumbees today identify ethnically as Indians, according to documentary sources they are in origin a mixture of European American, African-American, and Native American. The name "Lumbee" derives from that of the Lumber River (or Lumbee River) that winds through Robeson County.

Ancestors of the present-day Lumbee were first recognized by the State of North Carolina in 1885 as Croatan Indians, and have been requesting benefits from the federal government since 1888. In 1956, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill, HR 4656, better known as the Lumbee Act, which recognized the Lumbee as a Native American tribe. The Lumbee Act denied the federal aid that comes with full status as a federally recognized tribe. The Lumbee are not eligible to re-apply for federal recognition.

November 10, 2007 to November 24, 2007

East Carolina University is a public, coeducational, intensive research university located in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. Named East Carolina University by statue and commonly known as ECU or East Carolina, the university is the largest institute of higher learning east of Raleigh, North Carolina and the third-largest university in North Carolina. With an enrollment of 25,990 students, it is the fastest-growing campus in the University of North Carolina system.

The North Carolina General Assembly founded ECU on March 8, 1907 as a teacher training school and selected Greenville as its seat on July 2, 1908 with the first classes beginning in 1909. While East Carolina has historical strengths in education, nursing, business, music, theater, and medicine, it offers over 100 Bachelor degree areas of study including mathematics, hospitality management, engineering, construction management, computer science, exercise physiology, political science, and social work.

October 27, 2007 to November 9, 2007

The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 â€" January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 â€" May 30, 1912), were two Americans who are generally credited with building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, they developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made mechanical fixed wing flight possible.

October 12, 2007 to October 26, 2007

North Carolina State University is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Named "North Carolina State University at Raleigh" by statute and commonly known as "NC State" or "NCSU", the university is the principal technological institution of the University of North Carolina System. The North Carolina General Assembly founded NC State on March 7th 1887 as a land-grant college. Today, NC State has an enrollment of over 30,000, making it the largest university in North Carolina. While NC State has historical strengths in agriculture, design, engineering, and textiles, it offers over 100 Bachelor degree areas of study including mathematics, meteorology, economics, political science, forestry, physics, and education.