 |
April 25, 2005
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:National Coverage
None of the Above
The New York Times
Two years ago, fifth graders taking Texas's annual standardized science test faced this multiple-choice question: "Which two planets are closest to Earth?" The four choices were "Mercury and Saturn," "Mars and Jupiter," "Mercury and Venus" and "Venus and Mars."...."On most of the tests that are created today, the people who write them and the people who review them do a conscientious and good job," says Gregory Cizek, an education professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has been an elementary school teacher and a test writer for ACT Inc.
Registration required.What Does the Selection of the New Pope Portend for American Catholic Youths?
The New York Times
In the days after Pope John Paul II died, only his role in helping bring on the collapse of Communism earned more comment than his gift for reaching young people with the challenge of the Gospel....But those recollections only made it all the more jarring to be simultaneously poring over a National Study of Youth and Religion, undertaken at the University of North Carolina, and its findings about American Catholic teenagers.....
Registration required.Gen. Pace Tapped to Head Joint Chiefs of Staff
"All Things Considered" National Public Radio
President Bush names Marine Gen. Peter Pace to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. If confirmed, he will succeed Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers. Pace saw combat in Vietnam and was a commander in the ill-fated U.S. military intervention in Somalia.
Note: Richard Kohn, chair of the Curriculum of Peace, War and Defense in the College of Arts and Sciences, was interviewed for this story.Newspapers struggle to avoid their own obit
The Christian Science Monitor
Will the last American newspaper lose its last reader before the middle of the century? Journalism professor Philip Meyer thinks it's possible....If the trend continues, there won't be any readers left within a few decades, says Mr. Meyer, an author and former reporter who teaches at the University of North Carolina.
Note: This same opinion-editorial column, which originated in USA Today, was also published in Sunday's The News & Observer.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/q/story/2342342p-8720451c.htmlFat or fit? In excellent shape but still labeled overweight
The Baltimore Sun
Greg Peyser and Benson Erwin never think of themselves as overweight....University of North Carolina researchers reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association last month that 56 percent of the players in the NFL are obese, and Tucker said the NFL is examining the findings.
For Brecht, an Ironic Encore
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Bertolt Brecht, darling of the leftist theater for much of the 20th century, was a scheming, duplicitous, unwashed man. And wasn't he the one who didn't write any of his own works?...."The share of the female collaborators" in Brecht's work "may have been underestimated before Fuegi went to the extreme opposite," says Siegried Mews, a professor of Germanic languages at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who was one of four scholars who published an extensive rebuttal of Brecht and Co., including a long list of corrections, in the 1995 edition of The Brecht Yearbook.
Subscription required.Ice Princesses
The New York Times
THE S.U.V.'s, one with "FIGRSK8R" plates, began rolling into the parking lot of the Triangle SportsPlex before sunrise. .....Yet the number of girls skating this weekend is an indicator of skating's overall health. Even though Hillsborough is a short drive from Chapel Hill, home of the dynastic University of North Carolina women's soccer team, Megan says she doesn't "get" soccer.
Registration required.Regional Coverage
An unspoken problem
St. Petersburg Times
Jennifer Kent, who just finished her first year of law school at the University of Florida, has gotten plenty of advice from UF's Career Services department on how to land a job in the legal field....Joanna Grossman, a visiting law professor at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, said most women cope with harassment rather than confront it.
State & Local Coverage
UNC says its incoming class the most talented ever
The Chapel Hill Herald
Autumn Carroll grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina and says she would have been perfectly comfortable attending college close to home.....UNC officials already have started bragging about Carroll and her class, calling the incoming class of 2009 the most academically talented in the university's history.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr05/newclass041905.htmlUNC students fret over homelessness -- theirs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Some UNC-Chapel Hill students are cracking jokes these days about the possibility of sleeping on Franklin Street park benches come fall....The university will soon experience a housing crunch because of increased demand for rooms and the coming closing of the 1,000-student Morrison dormitory for renovations.
Related link: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/ncwire_news/story/2345288p-8723443c.htmlUNC debates grade rules
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As UNC-Chapel Hill makes its push to be the country's best public university, some campus leaders are asking whether its students should be allowed to stay in school with anything below a C average....Jerry Lucido, vice provost for enrollment management, and Lynn Williford, provost for institutional research and assessment, updated professors on factors related to retention and graduation rates.
Good times, changing times for Habitat for Humanity (Commentary)
The Chapel Hill News
Our boots tracked thick, brown mud across the floor boards....On Friday, UNC Chancellor James Moeser is expected to join local elected officials to work on one of the houses there.
UNC Campus On Alert Again After Meningitis Scare
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
On Friday, a student at UNC-Chapel Hill was diagnosed with presumptive meningococcal disease, which can cause a form of bacterial meningitis. So for the fourth time this school year, students are lining up for antibiotics.
Related links:
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-600309.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/orange/story/2339381p-8717497c.htmlTime is short for college seniors
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
College graduation is just weeks away. Pressure is high on seniors who haven't yet found employment or begun interviewing.....Since 1982, when the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill hired Marcia Harris as head of university career services, three major economic recessions and one unprecedented economic boom have caused college hiring to ebb and flow.
Bone marrow transplant program helps children
The Chapel Hill Herald
More than anything, 3-year-old Anna Donaldson wants to go to the playground, said her mother.....Both received entirely new immune systems through UNC Children's Hospital's Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant program.
A date with destiny
Outer Banks Sentinel
Even though most science students were busy doing experiments in the school building before April 11, a selective few had the chance to pour their chemicals outside in one of the most advanced technological science spaces on top of wheels....The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's traveling science learning program developed an idea five years ago to bring quality science into secondary schools in North Carolina by inventing Destiny, a traveling science laboratory fully-equipped with the latest in technology.
UNC actions don't inspire residents' trust (Letter to the Editor)
The Chapel Hill News
I read with interest UNC Vice Chancellor Nancy Suttenfield's letter regarding the delay in the South Columbia Street improvements (CHN, April 17). In her letter regarding the recently announced funding problems delaying improvements to South Columbia Street, she stated that UNC had kept its word and that Councilmember Bill Strom had mischaracterized the facts by implying UNC had not kept its promise.
Cancer fund-raiser was a big success (Letter to the Editor)
The Chapel Hill News
On April 9, the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center held its second annual Beach Ball at University Mall in Chapel Hill. Thanks to the efforts of many committed volunteers, generous sponsors and an extremely supportive community, the Beach Ball raised more than $100,000 to benefit UNC's cancer research, treatment and prevention programs.
Others deserve credit for health project (Letter to the Editor)
The Chapel Hill News
Thanks so much for the rose in the April 13 Chapel Hill News in my honor for arranging HIV testing at the Apple Chill Festival....Lauren Hill helped with the HIV testing information and is our liaison with the UNC Student Health Action Coalition, or SHAC.
Health-care jobs in demand, but pay may be an issue
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The health-care sector has a reputation for being recession-proof. Even in times of economic stress, people still get sick and need care. At hospitals, where most health-care jobs are concentrated, the "help wanted" sign is almost always posted.....UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, for example, recently said it was eliminating 200 positions, most of them non-clinical jobs. At the same time, UNC is also looking for about the same number of people to fill jobs elsewhere in the system.
For group, feast is a learning experience
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Many Jews gathering around the table tonight for the start of Passover will be surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for the ritual meal known as a seder.....Today it's not uncommon to find as many as 40 percent of a Jewish congregation consisting of Jews by choice, said Yaakov Ariel, a professor of religion at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Lawrence Naumoff experiments with literary realism in story of Hamlet fire
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
It's the novelist's prerogative to twist and tease fact into fiction. Nevertheless, author Lawrence Naumoff began his latest novel with a note to the people most likely to be invested in his story.....In his introduction to the book, the UNC Chapel Hill creative writing professor and Chatham County resident addressed the citizens of the Richmond County city.
Cate Edwards Helps Launch Generation Engage
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
The daughter of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is part of a new initiative to get young people involved in politics....For Edwards, it's a chance to share her enthusiasm for politics, just as her father shares his concern for the poor as head of UNC-Chapel Hill's new Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.
Departing Tar Heels leave a legacy (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
In retrospect, Friday afternoon's press conference seemed somehow preordained. Once the Tar Heels cut down the nets in St. Louis, once they were officially NCAA champions, we all knew they weren't coming back, didn't we?
Related editorial: http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/hsedits/56-600213.htmlUniversity: Will drop protests if rezonings clearly temporary
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC is willing to back off its protest of rezoning parts of the Horace Williams/Carolina North land -- but with conditions.
Town-gown forum misses the mark (Commentary)
The Chapel Hill Herald
It's not often that the mayor of Chapel Hill, the chancellor of UNC, a key UNC trustee, an outspoken councilman and several prominent residents address town-gown relations at a public event. That's just what happened last Thursday during the first panel of WCHL's "Building Bridges" community forum.
Note: This is not available online.Issues & Trends
Working in tandem, N.C. budget-writers make pitch for more taxes
The Associated Press (N.C.)
In a variation on the traditional state budget dance, lawmakers in the House and Senate are putting potential budget cuts on the table early in the process this year - perhaps paving the way for tax hikes and a lottery....Chancellors at the University of North Carolina's 16 campuses had been briefed on the proposals.
UNC budget cuts would be devastating (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Everett Dirksen, a crusty mid-20th century Republican senator from the Midwest, was renowned during his era for his offhand remark about how the government spent money. "A billion here, a billion there," Dirksen said, and "pretty soon it adds up to real money."
Erskine Bowles wants to lead UNC
The Charlotte Observer
On the day the University of North Carolina officially began its search for a new president, former U.S. Senate candidate Erskine Bowles said he wants the job of leading the 16-campus system.
Related links:
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2342305p-8720431c.html
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-600261.htmlTuition bill gets quick punches from right, left (Commentary)
The Charlotte Observer
Between Rush Limbaugh and Gov. Mike Easley, supporters of a bill to cut down on high school dropouts and make more productive taxpayers out of illegal immigrant students have had a rough two weeks.....State Rep. Rich Glazier, D-Cumberland, is a principal sponsor of the N.C. bill. He says the common misperception is that illegal immigrants will displace students at UNC-Chapel Hill or N.C. State, taking hundreds of seats that would go to legal North Carolina residents.
State would reap benefits in investing further in education of children of illegal immigrants (Editorial)
The Asheville Citizen-Times
Several Western North Carolina lawmakers have signed on to a worthy bill that would benefit the state by encouraging workforce development and by contributing to the success of people whose families are an unacknowledged, but essential part of the state's economic well-being.
Taking sides on tuition
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The proposal to extend in-state tuition rates to some children of illegal immigrants landed like a bombshell at the General Assembly. When House Bill 1183 was introduced April 12, it had bipartisan backing and big-name support from school superintendents, former UNC system President William Friday and former Gov. Jim Hunt.
Related link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/q/archive/story/2342610p-8720358c.html
Produced by News Services, Carolina in the News is an e-mail sampling of current news media coverage about Carolina people and programs, as well as issues and trends that affect the university. Stories usually will be online and available free for a limited time - often one to two weeks. Expiration dates before stories move to archives vary by media outlet. Some outlets require free user registration or a subscription.
Carolina in the News is also posted daily to the News Services Web page, http://www.unc.edu/news/clips/index.shtml.
Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.