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Sri Daya Mata, who for more than five decades was the leader of one of the most influential Hindu groups in the United States and an ardent advocate of the healing power of meditation, died on Tuesday at the group’s retreat for nuns in Los Angeles. She was 96. The society, whose monks and nuns adopt Indian names, teaches that there is a unifying truth behind all religious experience, and the group encourages its members to honor their roots in other faiths. Most members follow a vegetarian diet, practice yoga, chant and meditate Sri Daya Mata, who was born Faye...

Shut down a UNC campus?By Eric Ferreri - Staff writer Modified Thu, Nov 04, 2010 02:50 PM File this under "Worst Case Scenario." UNC President Erskine Bowles is broaching something many would surely view unthinkable: If budget cuts continue at higher levels than now anticipated, might an entire public university campus be shut down? "If you have 20 percent budget cuts, you'll have to think about closing down campuses," Bowles told members of the UNC system's Board of Governors today. "Period." That was the second time this morning Bowles broached that notion - an extreme one, no doubt, but one...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Efrem Zimbalist Jr. finally got his badge. The actor who portrayed cool and canny Inspector Lewis Erskine on the TV series "The F.B.I." was named an honorary special agent Monday — the FBI's highest civilian honor.

Bowles 2002 October 4, 2001 To: Campaign Staffers  ***For your eyes only*** Now that I've announced that I am running for Senator from North Carolina, it's time to get this campaign going!!!!!  The bad news is, of course, that everyone thinks I am a Clinton lap dog.  But the good news is that I have done a package deal with the Clintons to come to North Carolina to support my campaign!  Yeah!  Here is what the deal looks like - everyone pay special attention. The A Team Bill Clinton:  Bill provides major firepower for the primary where our nation's first ...

Bowles coaches with UNC's Smith on campaign trail By GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press Writer CHAPEL HILL, N.C.(AP) - While other Democratic U.S. Senate candidates took to the business of campaigning or governing Tuesday, Erskine Bowles lived out a Tar Heel boy's dream. At a Chapel Hill community center, Bowles led a group of young basketball players to victory over a group coached by Dean Smith, the former North Carolina coach who has endorsed Bowles. "If you don't think it's a thrill to be endorsed by your lifetime hero, then you don't know what happiness is," Bowles said before taking...