Since Christmas lands on a Sunday this year, there won't be any coupon inserts in Sunday's newspaper.

There will, however, be a handful of coupons in Parade magazine.

Enjoy your holidays.

 
N.C. Central University's magazine is getting a facelift.

The magazine, NCCU Now, used to come out sporadically. And over the last few years, its cover has been dominated by James Ammons, the former chancellor now at Florida A & M University.

NCCU's remade magazine, which will print twice a year and be distributed to 35,000 alums and other interested folks, is intended to have a substantive bent.

The Fall 2008 issue, for example, features a cover story about the early college high school initiative between the university and the Durham Public Schools.

"It's a different kind of content," said Miji Bell, NCCU's public relations chief. "It's not just 'hey, homecoming's coming up.' " 

The magazine takes the place of the university's alumni magazine by adding an alumni section to it. 

This fall, the full-color, 42-page issue also has a feature on creating an international campus, a look at the campus art museum's current exhibit, alumni profiles, and a story about the university's new BRITE facility. 

BRITE is the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise facility that opened to much fanfare earlier this year.

NCCU is launching a new, $50 million capital campaign, and Chancellor Charlie Nelms figures on using the magazine to help sell the university and its message.

"We need to tell our story much more consistently," he said.