April 28, 2004

Carolina in the News

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

National Coverage

A New Leaf in Kentucky: City Bans Indoor Smoking
Los Angeles Times
Here in the heart of tobacco country, where farmers have nurtured fields of rich burley leaf since the 1700s, Lexington has done the unthinkable: banned smoking....Tobacco consumption in Kentucky has in fact dropped slightly in recent years, said Ferrel Guillroy, a expert on the South at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.


After Tragedy, Lacrosse Looks for Answers
The Washington Post
In the six weeks since Cornell lacrosse player George Boiardi died after being struck in the chest by a ball during a game, high school and college coaches, lacrosse officials, doctors and parents have asked the same question: Would additional chest protection decrease the chances of another death?...Frederick Mueller of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina said he is aware of five lacrosse deaths from commotio cordis.

Regional Coverage

Bresciani credits A&M's traditions
Bryan College Station Eagle, TX
Dean Bresciani was a campus orientation volunteer at California's Humboldt State University more than 20 years ago when he decided to make a career out of working with college students....UNC Chancellor James Moeser referred to those accomplishments in an e-mail explaining Bresciani's departure that was circulated on the university's campus.


State & Local Coverage

The Fire Next Time? (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
Many people associated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will never forget the Mother's Day fire of 1996 that killed five students at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house after a graduation party....Recklessness and irresponsible behavior on the part of college students may be normal. But such behavior should never be tolerated when it's life threatening.

Construction costs hit ceiling
The News & Observer
North Carolinians are about to feel the effects of record steel prices that have sent construction costs soaring nationwide....UNC system staff members met this week with leaders from the state association of contractors, Carolinas AGC. On the agenda: rising prices for construction materials.

Caseworkers move from 'gotcha' to 'how can we help?' approach
The Asheville Citizen Times
Linda Sexton first became involved with Child Protective Services in southern Georgia when she failed to take the youngest of her three children to the neurologist for his annual visit....In intensive family preservation services, caseloads should be as low as two to four per worker, says Ray Kirk, research professor at the School of Social Work at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Fee seen for stormwater utility
The News & Observer
Water under the bridge and elsewhere in this town will be as pristine and pollutant-free as modern technology permits if a new stormwater management utility works as planned by town officials....UNC-Chapel Hill, which owns nearly 12 percent of all the identified impervious surfaces in town, has protested the proposal.

Town Council approves setting up stormwater utility
The Chapel Hill News
A new stormwater management utility was green-lighted by the Town Council on Monday night, but questions remain about how hard the new program will hit ratepayers' pockets.

Infant abuse up after Floyd
The News & Observer
The stress created by Hurricane Floyd in 1999 led to an increase in the number of babies injured or killed from being shaken, leading researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill to suggest that public health officials focus attention on child abuse prevention after natural disasters.

Roses & raspberries
The Chapel Hill News
Roses to the UNC athletics department for improving graduation rates of its football and basketball programs....Roses to Courtney Bumpers, UNC gymnastics prodigy, who won the school's first national title in gymnastics.

Chapel Hill group will keep alive Ruark's writings
The Chapel Hill Herald
In 1957, novelist and columnist Robert Ruark visited UNC, his alma mater, to speak to students, recognize his favorite professors and go over to his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Issues & Trends

Money can buy? (Editorial)
The News & Observer
Money can't buy happiness, and there's little evidence that a lot more of it is the key to landing a top-drawer chancellor for N.C. State University. This is, after all, a highly prestigious job at a great university. Not exactly breaking rocks under a hot sun.

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please call Russell Campbell at News Services, (919) 962-2091, russell_campbell@unc.edu, or Mike McFarland in University Communications, mike_mcfarland@unc.edu

Note: Web links on this page are time-sensitive, so stories might not be available after the day they first appeared.