To kick us off, here’s my take on how to quickly and inexpensively remove permanent marker from a dry erase board. Whether you need this because you accidentally grabbed a permanent marker while giving a presentation or because an entire floor’s white board were vandalized, this quick trick can save time (and elbow grease previously used scrubbing!).

What tricks do you want me to feature? Leave a comment below and you may be featured in an upcoming video!

The experience of parents dropping off their students offers less distraction, and more difficulty. In today’s world of GPS trackers in cell phones and moms and dads adding sons and daughters on Facebook, it’s widely accepted that this generation of parents is more involved in their childrens’ lives than ever before. This creates a challenge for university personnel, who must ensure that both the incoming crop of students and their parents feel cared for and comfortable with the move-in process, while still allowing for the inevitable separation that will occur.

According to this LA Times article, more and more colleges and universities are offering “parent orientations” to help parents adjust to the idea of leaving their children on their own. These workshops address nearly every detail about the college experience that might give a parent anxiety, including dorm life, financial aid and alcohol abuse. Some schools are even hiring new staff to serve as full-time parent liaisons.

And this NY Times article (with the accompanying ‘Letter to the Editor’ responses!), looks at approaches taken by universities designed to “punctuate and speed the separation,” including formal departure ceremonies and official check-out times for parents.

Any personal or professional stories from members? Over-anxious parents, attending seminars for first-year students? Or sneaking into freshman book discussion groups? What changes have been made (if any) to manage those parents who have a tough time letting go?

Actually, we’ll start by  talking about the Ember Grille, which is the Westin’s restaurant. Hotel restaurants get a bad rap, and sometimes this is for good reasons. Not so with the Ember Grille. It’s not cheap; entrees are $15-$22 for lunch, $18-$36 for dinner, and $18.99 for the breakfast buffet, but online reviewers, including the Yelp crowd, say Ember is generally worth it. Ember offers American food; sandwiches, steaks, fish, plus appetizers to share or for a light entree (hummus and veg, for example).

For cheaper eats that require no silverware, look to Matt’s Chicago Dog, at 435 Tyron Street. The address is a bit deceiving; Matt’s is located in a greenspace between several buildings and Tyron and College streets. To find it, go east from the Westin on College Street — a left turn from the front door. The greenspace will be in the block between Stonewall Street and East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Reviewers praise the all-beef hot dogs and noticeably fresh produce toppings. There are sandwiches available as well.

Sushi and Asian fusion can be found at Room 112 at 112 Tyron Street. Make a left out of the Westin onto College Street, turn left on 4th Street, then make a right on Tyron. Note, Room 112 is closed on Sunday. If sushi isn’t your thing, there are soups, salads, noodles and wok dishes as well.

Just want a treat and willing to walk a bit for it? Go to Crave Dessert Bar, 500 West 5th Street. Turn left from the Westin on College Street. Turn left on 5th Street, then go five blocks. There’s a full bar in addition to a menu of salads, sandwiches, and of course cupcakes, cakes and cheesecakes, in addition to other yummies.

Are you looking for something–a wine bar, a show, a decent bagel? Let me know, and I’ll try to find a place that’s handy to the Westin Charlotte.

Hello, and welcome to a new week! This week, Inside HigherEd marks the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and its subsequent destruction with two stories; one discusses how rebuilding involves more than construction and the other talks about what happens when the worst financial crisis in decades hits right after Katrina. A literal, then a financial storm can do a number on an institution. Read about these issues and others at Inside HigherEd.

IN KATRINA’S SHADOW: Five years after storm, New Orleans colleges work to rebuild enrollment, faculty and — in some cases — trust.

A RECOVERY AT RISK: Delgado Community College has finally passed its pre-Katrina enrollment levels — only to face massive budget cuts that could reverse the progress.

BLINDING TECHNOLOGY OF ONLINE LEARNING: Will digital education face legal scrutiny for shutting out blind students?

3 MILLION AND COUNTING: As policy debate rages about for-profit colleges’ value, their enrollments continue to soar, nearing 12 percent of all students.

YOU’VE BEEN PRE-APPROVED: New project aims to track down students who have enough credit to earn associate degree but, for whatever reason, never were awarded one.

POLITICS OR CIVILITY? New sociology research suggests that nonpolitical campus characteristics may influence whether conservative students thrive with or feel intimidated by faculty at overwhelmingly liberal institutions.

WHO’S ON FIRST? U.S. investigates gender equity complaint that conference policy of having women’s basketball teams always play first in doubleheaders make them seem like “warm-up” act for men.

THE SATISFACTION GAP: Sociologists consider why their graduates appreciate the major in college, but don’t when they are a few years out.

TAKE ME AWAY, COUNTRY ROADS: West Virginia’s universities offer a case study in internationalizing largely from scratch.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Georgia Gwinnett has boosted retention by giving its faculty smartphones and encouraging students to call them.

Our meetings and events manager, Lisa Martin, has made several trips to Charlotte while planning the 2010 conferences. She recommends Mert’s for their award-winning soul food. Mert’s is less out-of-the-way than some of the options below, so if you’re limited for time, this is a good option. At 214 College Street, it’s a straight 10-minute walk northeast from the Westin. Lisa warns that speed isn’t Mert’s selling point, but taste more than makes up for it.

My source for this list is RoadFood.com, a site maintained by Jane and Michael Stern, who travel the country looking for out-of-the-way places to enjoy hot cuisine, not haute cuisine. How do they make this dream life work? By telling the rest of us about it. They have written books and articles about their finds, and won three James Beard journalism awards for their work. Here’s their recommendations for Charlotte:

Bar B Q King: At this drive-in eatery that allows you to never leave your car, the Sterns recommend the fried seafood, in every form the restaurant offers. It gets a “worth planning a day around” rating.

Bill Spoon’s Barbecue: Spoon’s is known for its yellow mustard slaw, which adds color and crunch to pulled pork sandwiches. It seems the Sterns and their followers rate every menu item highly, from the barbecued chicken to the banana pudding. It is really hard to type “banana pudding” without having any of that yummy stuff handy.

John’s Country Kitchen: Breakfast is the way to go here; pancakes, fried livermush and grilled biscuits are popular.

Lupie’s: This is one of those places where macaroni and cheese is, somehow, considered a vegetable. However, vegetables are also vegetables, and very tasty at Lupie’s. They have a vegetarian chili, in addition to the meat version, which the Sterns recommend. If you follow the link to the Sterns’ website, you can see one of the most beautiful photographs ever taken of a bacon cheeseburger.

Old Hickory House: There was no energy wasted on the ambiance here, but after sampling the slow-smoked pork butt, crispy-oily hushpuppies and goopy, meaty Brunswick stew, no one seems to care.

Penguin Drive-In: Have you ever wanted to eat a burger as big as your head? The Penguin Drive-In offers you this opportunity. The burger will be tasty too, as will the fries and deep-fried pickle chips. Once again, clicking the link will show you pictures of beautiful, massive burgers. The Penguin Drive-In also gets the Sterns’ highest rating: “Worth driving from anyplace.”

Price’s Chicken Coop: Not surprisingly, the fried chicken is recommended, but the Sterns also enjoyed the sweet potato pie, fried apple pie (in case regular apple pie was too healthy for you) and the Cheerwine available from a vending machine. There’s no place to eat-in, and aside from eating your car, the only other handy option is to sit on the side of the road with your cardboard-packaged chicken dinner. But it seems to be worth it, as Price’s also gets a “Worth driving from anyplace” rating.

Let’s start with the museums. Charlotte has a lot to talk about there, as the city gained three new museums in just the past year.

One is the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, where you can see works by Miro, Degas and Ernst, among others. Admire the building too, with its four-story atrium, which suffuses the building with natural light. The fourth four gallery extends far over the plaza outside, and seems to be held aloft by an oblong column rooted in the ground.

Another is the Mint Museum, so named because the building was formally the first branch of the U.S. Mint. (Its name makes me think of ice cream and mojitos, though.) Now it is home to a huge selection of artwork:  early American pieces; ancient pieces from the North American continent; American and European ceramics; costumes and accessories; Asian art; African art; maps and contemporary pieces.  In addition to its usual displays, the Mint has rotating special exhibitions as well. Are you into shoes? “The Heights of Fashion: Platform Shoes Then and Now,” will be on view while you’re in Charlotte. It seems very apros, as platforms have swung back into vogue again. (Current styles are more Louboutin than Disco Stu, though.)

The third is the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. The Hewitt Collection, containing works from prominent African-American artists who achieved international recognition and broke new ground, has a permanent home at the museum. John and Vivian Hewitt were not who you picture when the words “art collectors” come to mind. He was a writer, she a teacher, and they saved and prioritized so they could purchase art. In 1998, they pledged their collection to the Harvey B. Gantt Center. In addition, other galleries display rotating exhibits.

Kelsey Rozema, best of luck at the University of Illinois!

During move-in this year, or in previous years, what are some unusual items students brought with them, feeling they were essential to a happy life on campus? Were they right, or did some things turn out to be less important in college life than they were during high school?