Roses to John Boggess and John Soper, two surgeons at UNC Hospitals who have launched moonlighting careers as rock musicians -- not for individual glory but to raise money for gynecological cancer research and treatment.

The two doctors, who specialize in female reproductive cancers, and four other musicians play in a six-piece band called N.E.D. (No Evidence of Disease).

The combo began as a one-shot deal; a colleague put Boggess and Soper, each of whom played in bands during their younger days, together with four other musicians to provide musical entertainment at a medical conference. They held a single rehearsal and played the next night.

The annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists wasn't exactly Woodstock, but they were a hit. They followed that up with another conference gig, began writing their own songs and will record an album this spring. Proceeds will benefit the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation.

Rock on, docs.

Along similar lines, Roses to the Cornucopia House Cancer Support Center and the many staff, volunteers and participants who ensure that its services are available free of charge to anyone affected by cancer.

Cornucopia House offers a host of workshops, classes, support groups and other services for patients, family members, friends and others. Cancer touches virtually all of us in some way, and we're fortunate to have an organization like Cornucopia House available to us.

This Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Cornucopia House will hold its signature fundraising event, "A Chocolate Affaire," at the Carolina Club. Special bouquets go to the honorary co-chairs of the event: H. Shelton Earp, director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center; and H. Kim Lyerly, director of Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Longtime corporate supporter GlaxoSmithKline also deserves praise for its presenting sponsorship of this year's event. The efforts by Lineberger, Duke and GSK over the years and for the 10th anniversary of "A Chocolate Affaire" help Cornucopia House fulfill its promise to provide support and to empower individuals and families coping with cancer.

Roses to Paperhand Puppet Intervention, which is one of the most creative artistic groups you'll find anywhere.

Paperhand, which has been around for 10 years, recently moved into its very own space, in the lovely little burg of Saxapahaw, 10 miles west of Carrboro. The group will make its home in the Saxapahaw Community Center on the banks of the Haw River.

That space will give Paperhand room to create the magnificent creatures -- "puppets" doesn't do justice to their evocative beauty -- that populate their productions. It will also provide performance space; the first production there, "Hungry Ghost," runs through this weekend. It'll come to The ArtsCenter in March.

The special magic of Paperhand is not only the brilliance of its puppetry, but the creative energy, sense of community and spirit of good will that glow in its work.

Raspberries to UNC system President Erskine Bowles for his choice of words in discussing the possibility of implementing unpaid furloughs for university employees as a way to deal with funding cuts.

A furlough, Bowles said, is "a good tool to have in the toolbox."

To a senior administrator with a comfortable salary, it may be a good tool. To a staff member living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to keep a family afloat, a week without pay isn't a tool. It's more like a crisis.

Bowles deserves credit for calling for reductions in the size of proposed increases to tuition and fees at the state's public universities. And it may be that furloughs will be the least bad option for absorbing funding cuts; losing your pay for a week is better than losing your job altogether. But Bowles would have been well served to express that in a way that acknowledged the serious distress such a move might impose.