April 10, 2003

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and
programs cited recently:

Brain secrets of addiction revealed 
BBC
State of the art technology has allowed scientists an insight into how brain
chemicals prompt people into addictive behaviour. Experiments on rats 
reveal that the brain appears to release a neurotransmitter called dopamine 
before and after a dose of cocaine...The researchers, from the University of 
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, say this is an "unprecedented" finding. 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2932149.stm
(Additional coverage includes CBS News (Canada), MSNBC, Scientific 
American, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the Raleigh News and Observer.)

Link on Hard Arteries, Vein Clots Found
ABC News
Researchers Find First Link Between Hardened Arteries, Vein Clots
A study has found a link between hardening of the arteries and blood clots 
in veins, a discovery that could spur new research on ways to prevent the 
life-threatening blockages..."We need to understand how the risk factors 
that contribute to atherosclerosis might also contribute to heightened 
thrombosis," said Smith, who directs the Center for Cardiovascular 
Science and Medicine at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/ap20030410_144.html

Mind Work: How a Ph.D. Affects Black Women
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Education has always played a big role in my family. My mother certainly 
inspired and encouraged us to achieve, and most of us did relatively well in 
school.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v49/i31/31b01401.htm
(Note: Trudier Harris is a professor of English at the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a 
subscription to access articles.)

State and Local Coverage

Keep alcohol at bay 
News and Observer
For some boaters, drinking seems a natural part of marine recreation. 
But mixing alcohol with boating fun is a deadly combination, state 
authorities report. It's the second-leading cause of boating crashes and 
boating-related injuries and fatalities in North Carolina, just behind bad 
weather/hazardous waters, according to a multiyear study conducted by 
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And, authorities point 
out, alcohol-related crashes are entirely preventable.
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2427433p-2259152c.html

Former colleagues proud of Baddour (Letter to the Editor)
Chapel Hill Herald-Sun
We are faculty and staff members at the University of North Carolina 
School of Law who worked with Dick Baddour when he was assistant 
and associate dean of the school in the mid-1980s. Dick left us to join 
the department of athletics at the university in 1986. 
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/chhletters/index.html#340467

Coach weighs UNC offer 
News and Observer
When Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams weighed an offer from 
North Carolina three years ago, it turned into seven days of Hamlet
on the hustings. This time the deadline is tighter and the action 
abundant. Whether the ending also will be different may be known 
as early as today. 
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/unc/story/2427378p-2259136c.html
Additional Coverage:
http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/18-340572.html
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030410&Category=APS&ArtNo=304100510&Ref=AR

Rich soil for ideas and startups
News and Observer
Syngenta Biotechnology's Triangle operations have proven to be a 
fertile breeding ground for budding entrepreneurs. Scientists and 
others who have honed their skills at Syngenta and its predecessors 
-- Novartis and Ciba-Geigy -- have founded and are running a new 
crop of young agbio companies such as Athenix, Cropsolution and 
Paradigm Genetics...Evola noted that, a few years ago, Syngenta 
brought in members of the business faculty at the University of 
North Carolina at Chapel Hill to teach its scientists about business 
and financial issues. "We wanted to build on the culture of innovation," 
he said.
http://newsobserver.com/business/story/2427531p-2259093c.html

State program focuses on ABCs of reading (Question and Answer)
News and Observer
Teaching children to read may not be rocket science, but many educators say 
reading instruction needs to be more scientific, or at least based on better science -- 
and nowhere is this more true than for students with learning disabilities. ... We
talked to David Lillie, a former education professor at UNC-Chapel Hill who is 
helping lead the reading initiative, about how some teachers are unlocking the 
reading puzzle for children. 
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2423937p-2255943c.html

In Chapel Hill, jubilation 
News and Observer
The phone rang about 7 a.m. in Maha Alattar's home in Chapel Hill. It 
was her father, calling from the suburbs of Washington. "Baghdad fell!" 
he told her. Then her mother picked up the phone. 
"She was just laughing and laughing, just ecstatic," said Alattar, 34, an 
assistant professor of neurology at UNC-Chapel Hill who fled Iraq with 
her family when she was 13. "This feels like a dream. I'm watching these 
people hammering on the base of the statue of Saddam, and it reminds 
me of the Berlin Wall."
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2427423p-2258980c.html
(Similar stories also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News and on WRAL-TV.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Scaling back Easley tax plan 
Black, Morgan: Don't halt 2 cuts 
News and Observer
Democratic House Speaker Jim Black said Wednesday that he doesn't 
think he can muster the votes for Gov. Mike Easley's $460 million tax 
package, so he and his Republican counterpart, Richard Morgan, are 
planning to scale it back. Black said he and Morgan will promote 
Easley's recommendations to delay two scheduled tax cuts: a half-
penny reduction in the sales tax and a reduction in the personal 
income tax for the state's wealthiest taxpayers.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/2427582p-2259139c.html

War and Illness Cloud Prospects for Study Abroad
The New York Times
Lindsay Enders, a biology major at Earlham College, is thoroughly excited about 
her plans to study in Kenya starting in August. . ... But this year, with the terror 
alerts, the war, and now the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, 
study abroad has become a far more jittery proposition. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/09/education/09STUD.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Lawmakers in tug-of-war over proposed mental hospital
Chapel Hill News
A battle is brewing in the state House of Representatives over the location of a 
new state psychiatric hospital. And the fight has caused a split among Orange 
County’s legislative delegation. ... They have also pushed for a site that’s easily
accessible for psychiatrists and researchers from the UNC School of Medicine, 
which have a number of long-running residency and research programs at 
Dorothea Dix hospital in Raleigh.
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/story/2422458p-2254712c.html

Sprinkler ordinance needs to be targeted (Editorial)
Chapel Hill News
After the nightclub fire that killed 99 people in Rhode Island earlier this year, there’s 
no question that Chapel Hill and Carrboro need to take steps to prevent a similar tragedy here.
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/opinion/story/2422439p-2254644c.html

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please
call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, (919) 962-2091
or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu