April 19, 2006

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

From business students to builders
Financial Times (United Kingdom)
Students, faculty, alumni and staff from Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina can feel justifiably proud of their latest project - a newly built home. Working with Habitat for Humanity, the non-profit organisation, members of Kenan-Flagler helped to build the two-storey house, not only raising funds but also donating their time- more than 1,200 building hours - to the building project.
UNC Media Advisory: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2006/habitatadv040606.htm

National Coverage

Fetch Like an Eight-Armed Man
Science Magazine
With no rigid parts, an octopus can bend its arms into positions that would snap the bones of even the most flexible human contortionist. ...The study is "exciting" because it shows a novel mechanism which reduces the number of variables that an octopus has to control to move its arms, says muscle expert Bill Kier of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Such strategies could be used by engineers to design flexible robotic arms, he says.

Anorexia Treatment: No Magic Bullet
WebMD
Antidepressants and other drugs are not effective treatments for anorexiaanorexia nervosa, but behavioral therapy can help prevent recovering anorexics from relapsing, according to findings from a review of eating disorder studies. ...The review of the scientific literature was conducted by the Evidence-based Practice Center of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr06/anorexiaahrq041706.htm

Planning Nanotech From The Ground Up
Chemical & Engineering News
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." That timeless admonition, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, could become a mantra for the fledgling nanotechnology industry, according to a developing community of chemists who advocate infusing green chemistry and engineering into the design of nanotech-based products. ...Other scientists also offered innovations at the symposium.In two talks, Joseph M. DeSimone of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University described the use of pourable perfluoropolyethers that can be photochemically cross-linked in a "solventless" process to form thin films.

Regional Coverage

Deficient in B-12? (Opinion-editorial column)
The Detroit Free Press
Tired and run down? No appetite? Trouble walking? Depressed or irritable? Do your hands or feet tingle? ...Among vegetarians or vegans, B-12 deficiency "is a viable concern," says Suzanne Havala Hobbs, a registered dietitian with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a well-recognized writer on vegetarian issues.

Leading cheers can be a health hazard (Opinion-editorial column)
The Hillsboro Free Press (Kansas)
A smart columnist steers clear of writing about cheerleaders. You can criticize a coach, player or team, but if you say anything that can even be remotely construed as being critical of cheerleading, you might as well criticize moms and apple pie. ...The University of North Carolina found that cheerleading is responsible for nearly half the high school and college injuries that lead to paralysis or death.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun03/muell062403.html

State & Local Coverage

First School could bring exciting results
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute is a jewel in our midst, a world-class institution born and bred in Chapel Hill. Like Division TEACCH, the School of Government, the Highway Safety Research Center and several other university-affiliated institutions, FPG has been a trailblazer, a central repository for knowledge and research data in its field.

Be warned: There may be benzene in that beverage (Commentary)
The Charlotte Observer
There's benzene in some soft drinks and other beverages sold in the U.S., many of them consumed regularly by children. That simple statement should be enough to prompt serious action by the government. It hasn't. ...Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy at UNC.

Cancer benefit was a huge success (Letter to the editor)
The Chapel Hill News
On April 8, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center held its third 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 $110,000 to benefit UNC's cancer research, treatment and prevention programs.
Related Link: http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/story/2931062p-9375997c.html

Issues & Trends

A Good Start (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
Erskine Bowles taught the leaders of all 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina system an important lesson last week: The installation of a UNC president, and even a campus chancellor, does not have to be a highfalutin and expensive undertaking. Now let's hope that he also taught state leaders something about the teaching needs of public schools.

Students given early taste of college
News 14 (Time Warner Cable, Raleigh)
Beginning next year, some Union County students will take the first steps toward earning a college degree during their freshman year in high school. ...The program takes five years to complete, and upon graduation, participants can transfer into any school in the University of North Carolina system as a junior.

Fact and myth duke it out (Opinion-editorial column)
The Orlando Sentinel
The two Duke indictments handed down late Monday -- and a handful of inconvenient facts about race, sex and class in the South -- have demolished some of our cherished stereotypes and busted the merchants of victimhood. ...Nevertheless, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education has named Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill among the top schools in the nation for African-Americans.

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.