Over the years, research has shown that Latino youth face numerous risk factors when integrating into American culture, including increased rates of alcohol and substance use and higher rates of dropping out of school.

But a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows adolescents who actively embrace their native culture — and whose parents become more involved in U.S. culture — stand a greater chance of avoiding these risks and developing healthier behaviors overall.

Charles Keith Springle was a “kind and gentle person, just the kind of person you want in a social worker,” and he was well prepared to assist soldiers who were mentally scarred by combat.

That’s how former School of Social Work colleagues and others remembered Springle after learning that the Navy commander and UNC-Chapel Hill graduate was among five people U.S. military officials say were shot and killed at a military clinic in Baghdad on May 11. Springle, a decorated officer, husband and father of two, was 52.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has named School of Social Work professor Sheryl Zimmerman a Mary Lily Kenan Flagler Bingham Distinguished Professor.

This distinguished professorship is one of the most prestigious honors the University can bestow upon a faculty member. Zimmerman, a nationally-known expert in the field of aging, was approved for this highly competitive appointment by the UNC Board of Trustees on April 14.