April 30, 2007

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

Quality becomes commodity in brand battle
Financial Times (United Kingdom)
You know that awful feeling when you walk out on stage in front of thousands of ecstatic fans, and it turns out that half the women in the front row are wearing the same outfit as you? ...Professors Nirmalya Kumar (London Business School) and Jan-Benedict Steenkamp (University of North Carolina) knew of no other concise summary of the private label versus premium brand phenomenon - or none that looked at the implications of this clash for retailers and manufacturers alike.

Autistic adults need help finding work
The Leader-Post (Regina, Canada)
Parents with autistic children who have had to fight and are continuing to fight for early intervention treatment programs for their children, are facing the additional challenge of helping their adult children find meaningful employment. ...Studies show it is possible for people with higher functioning autism and Asperger's Disorder to work, but programs, training and job placements must focus on the person's skills, interests and needs, said Michael Chapman, services director with the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children's (TEACCH) supported employment program at the University of North Carolina.

National Coverage

Omega-3s are three-fers
Newsday
Omega-3 fatty acids are a triple benefit, according to a number of scientific studies emerging in recent years. ...During that time, investigators at the University of Minnesota, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of North Carolina and the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in Maryland, conducted three neuropsychological tests to study attention and memory.

Ex-Football Great Battles Dementia
CBS News
Football Hall of Famer John Mackey once helped win free agency for his fellow players, but now, as CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras reports, he's helping to win another battle for players who have long since retired. ...However, a University of North Carolina study into 2,500 former NFL players showed they faced a 37 percent higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than other men their age.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct05/guskie101005.htm

John Edwards pushes focus on poverty in book
The Los Angeles Times
With the Iraq war dominating this weekend's California Democratic convention, presidential candidate John Edwards turned to a collection of essays to try to spark interest in his signature domestic theme: poverty. ...The book evolved from seminars at the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity that Edwards established at the University of North Carolina after the 2004 election.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec06/povertycenterbook121106.htm

Tooth decay is on the rise for kids
The Associated Press (National)
Tooth decay in young children's baby teeth is on the rise, a worrying trend that signals the preschool crowd is eating too much sugar, according to the largest government study of the nation's dental health in more than 25 years. ..."The same things contributing to the obesity epidemic can also contribute to tooth decay," said Dr. Gary Rozier, a dentist who teaches public health policy at the University of North Carolina.

Day care study raises hackles, more questions
The Associated Press (National)
When the National Institutes of Health issued some good-news-and-bad-news findings this week for working parents with young children, it started with the “good” news. ...The statistician for the NIH study, Margaret Burchinal, says it has raised more alarm than is merited. “Every parent is worried that they’re doing something wrong, something that’s hurting their child,” said Burchinal, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina.

'Healthy models' initiative precedes NYC's Fashion Week
The Associated Press (National)
The American fashion industry says it wants its models to be healthy, not anorexic, not bulimic and not chain-smokers. ...But Dr. Cynthia Bulik, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a former president of the Academy of Eating Disorders, said she'd like to see the fashion industry adopt stricter standards in an effort to protect two populations: the models and all the young girls who look up to them.

Look Who's Minding the Store
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Bruce E. Roselle has more than a passing interest in his son's M.B.A. course work at the University of St. Thomas's Opus College of Business, in Minneapolis, Minn. ...The association's Web site lists nearly 50 colleges and universities with family-business programs in the United States, Canada, and Britain. Among them are Babson College, Kennesaw State University, Loyola University Chicago, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

NYPL Settles With iBiblio
LibraryJournal.com
The New York Public Library (NYPL) has reached a settlement with iBiblio, "the public's library and digital archive" at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, for harvesting records from its Research Libraries catalog, which it claims is copyrighted. ...Simon Spero, iBiblio employee and technical assistant to the assistant vice chancellor at UNC–Chapel Hill, said NYPL requested that its library records be destroyed, and the claim was settled with no admission of wrongdoing.

Regional Coverage

UK's first billion (Editorial)
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.)
Why has the University of Louisville had a bigger endowment than the state's flagship institution, the University of Kentucky? ...In Kentucky, there has been no culture of giving to public universities of the kind that has made, say, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill what it is today (and one of the things it is, let's not forget, is a massive economic development asset for that state).

Alabama, Mississippi alone with full state tax on groceries
The Associated Press (Regional)
This summer, Alabama and Mississippi are set to become the only states that apply their full state sales tax to groceries without any relief for low-income families. ...Ferrel Guillory, director of the University of North Carolina's program on Southern politics, says the fact that everybody pays the sales tax -- even a little -- appeals to political conservatives.

Blackberries as a business
The Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)
Mumper will be leaving Kentucky in early June to take an endowed professorship in the school of pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he will also direct the Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery.

Handcuffing is not the answer (Opinion-editorial column)
The Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel
A furor has emerged in Milwaukee's African-American and Hispanic communities in recent weeks over the proposal by the Milwaukee Public Schools' administration to have safety assistants use plastic handcuffs to restrain students whose behavior is out of control. ...Walter Farrell Jr. is professor of management in the school of social work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Apology for slavery in Missouri is all about money (Opinion column)
Meramec Journal (St. Louis, Mo.)
In Missouri they are at it again. Who are they? "They" are state Rep. Talibdin El-Amin, D-St. Louis. ...Tim McMillan, a professor of African and Afro-American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pointed to laws passed in Chicago and other cities earlier this decade requiring businesses with city contracts to disclose whether their companies had ever profited from slavery.

How would the Romans build Glass City Bridge?
The Toledo Blade (Ohio)
What if you had to build a 130-foot-high bridge across the Maumee River without the help of the 900-ton cranes, the internal combustion engine, and electricity? ...George Houston, a retired classics professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will talk about how the Romans would have tackled their own Glass City span at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a free public lecture in the Little Theater at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Cape faces tough fight for wastewater funds
Cape Cod Times (Mass.)
Here's the lesson town officials took away from yesterday's conference on wastewater funding: Think locally because the federal government is not going to help with money. ...In the 1970s, the federal government was spending up to $12 billion a year to help fix wastewater problems. Last year, it spent $1 billion, said Jeff Hughes, director of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina.

Childhood obesity has multiple effects (Editorial)
Gentry Courier-Journal (Ark.)
Gordie had always been an overweight child. He spread butter in quarter-inch layers on his toast, smothered his baked potato with sour cream and delighted in devouring huge hot fudge sundaes. ...A recent University of North Carolina study found that two million American adolescents became obese during the period between 1996 and 2001, and 1. 5 million remained so as they became adults.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct03/gordon101303.html

There are many ways to keep hardware healthy
Ventura County Star (Calif.)
Here are some recommendations to keep the physical plant going strong: Stay active. Regular physical activity helps to maintain and improve memory, maintain and improve mental ability and prevent dementia. ...According to a University of North Carolina study, brain cells are restored when people abstain from excessive alcohol consumption. Limit yourself to no more than one drink a day if you are over 65.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov04/alcoholabstain110504.html

State and Local Coverage

UNC professors enjoy biggest raises in years
The Triangle Business Journal
The average salary for a full professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill swelled nearly 10 percent over the past year - more than 2.6 times the national rate - even as UNC's top brass pushes for more money to keep bumping up pay. ..."I've been at UNC for 21 years, and this is the biggest increase I've seen," says Executive Associate Provost Stephen Allred.

UNC workers get service awards
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill will honor six employees today with 2007 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Awards, one of the university's top honors:
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr07/masseyaward042607.html

UNC faculty reject AI proposal
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
In the basketball world, AI is a nickname for Allen Iverson, who's also known as "The Answer." At UNC this spring, AI is the short name for "Achievement Index," a controversial proposal to put a new performance measure alongside grade-point averages on students' transcripts. ..."I'm deeply concerned that this proposal has the potential to divide our campus," UNC American Studies professor Joy Kasson said.
Related link: http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/568634.html

Police Urge Caution After Attack Reported at UNC
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
Police at the University of North Carolina have warned those on campus to take extra safety precautions after a reported assault Friday evening. The alleged assault took place near UNC's Arboretum around 11 p.m., police said, when a female UNC student was walking through the Arboretum and was grabbed from behind.
Related link: http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=3536

UNC to Install Campus-Wide Siren
WTVD-TV (ABC, Durham)
UNC-Chapel Hill will soon install a campus-wide siren system. Its purpose will be to send a loud alert to everyone across campus in case of an emergency. Campus officials say the plan has been in the works for over a year, but in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, the idea has become a priority.

Students consider impact of genetics
Rocky Mount Telegram
After weeks of studying the chemical aspects of DNA, Rocky Mount High School students, joined by researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, debated the legal, ethical and societal implications of the body's blueprint. The presentation by Dominico Vigil, a pancreatic cancer researcher, and Yvette Langdon, a grad student studying heart development, is part of UNC-Chapel Hill's collaboration with the federal government's Human Genome Project.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr07/dnaday041907.html

Grads in demand, again
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It took six years, but it was bound to happen: The job market for graduating seniors has returned to levels unseen since the recession and terrorist attacks of 2001. ...But a good market for graduating seniors is not necessarily the same thing as a strong market for everyone, said Marcia Harris, head of career services at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Energy idea hits mayor
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton is challenging area residents to reduce their carbon footprints. ...He said he "audited" his family's spending on gasoline, electricity and natural gas and estimated the family was generating 81 pounds of carbon dioxide a day. He's now inviting residents to join him and the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment in the challenge.

Legislation targets human trafficking
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A woman was locked in a house for two years as a servant. Another woman was held in a hotel and made to prostitute herself. ...Last weekend, the Carolina Women's Center at UNC-Chapel Hill held a conference on sex trafficking.

A beautiful bounty
The Burlington Times-News
This is my favorite spot: over the frog pond where irises soak among the reeds. ...There’s no cost for admission, so visitors to the 10-acre display garden owned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wander in and out as they please.

Offer by Beazer: $100 for praise
The Charlotte Observer
Shortly after Andre Gray bought a new home in north Charlotte in 2001, he recalls receiving two letters in the mail. ...The standard is whether investors relied on the information, said Thomas Lee Hazen, a law professor at UNC Chapel Hill. He said courts are particularly sensitive to misstatements about compensation.

Building cap came too late
The Charlotte Observer
After an area becomes high growth, it's often too late for governments to try to control it, said a state planning expert. "By the stage development is established, if you're concerned about influence in that development it's too late," said Richard Ducker, associate professor of public law and government at UNC's Institute of Government.

Bail, bond study finds racial bias in Wake
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A study conducted by a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student has raised questions about whether bond amounts set by Wake County magistrates for black defendants are higher than those for white defendants.

School Solutions: Corporal Punishment
WFMY-TV (CBS, Greensboro)
Whether corporal punishment, or a bill to eliminate it, are good ideas depends on who you ask. ...According to a survey conducted by UNC Chapel Hill's School of Social Work, 68 school districts list corporal punishment as a possible consequence.

Black professor gives ‘Mockingbird’ a new perspective
The Asheville-Citizen Times
Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” has inspired a slew of programs throughout the region as part of The Big Read, the National Endowment for the Arts initiative being administered here by Together We Read. Now, there’s one more major step in the reading and discussion process — Trudier Harris, professor of English at UNC Chapel Hill is coming to Asheville to reveal, as few others can, what Lee’s story might have been if she’d represented African-American points of view.

Lost has been found, sheds light on Christian message
The Winston-Salem Journal Book Review
The poles of Christian religion are usually expressed as “faith” or “works.” ...Erhman, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is an entertaining writer, with no ideological ax to fit to unsuspecting necks, but the actual wordage of the recovered Gospel is perhaps a bit too slight to expand into even 200 pages.

Diabetic cyclist trains for fourth 24-hour marathon
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Tony Cervati says he isn't sure how many bikes he owns. But when he wants another, he half jokes he'll buy his wife one first. ...In 2005, Cervati attended a conference of the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association, and met Joe Largay, a physician's assistant at the UNC Diabetes Care Center and Type 1 diabetic who did 24-hour races in teams. Largay specialized in treating diabetic athletes.

Athletes get money game plan
The Associated Press (N.C.)
A few years from now, UNC quarterback Cameron Sexton might become an instant millionaire in the NFL draft. Then again, the communications major might face a football-free future and enter the work force.

Implicit profiling (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Regarding the April 22 news story "Sheriffs help feds deport illegal aliens": Migration is increasing globally, in large part because of the increasing inequality across political borders. North Carolina is at the forefront of the globalization of the American South, and as such must be ready to shed its misconceptions of the other and instead focus on understanding. ...Margaret E. Bentley, Ph.D., Professor of Nutrition and Associate Dean for Global Health and Lara Vaz, Doctoral candidate, Health Behavior and Health Education, UNC School of Public Health

Issues and Trends

UNC officials hit the road for state input
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC officials don't think they can best meet the needs of the state by sequestering themselves in the system's General Administration building in Chapel Hill. This spring, the UNC system has launched an ambitious plan to do statewide outreach to learn more about how it can help North Carolina residents.

Legislators juggle politics with budget
The Associated Press (N.C.)
As House budget-writers work this week to complete the core of their state budget plan, they will evaluate the financial and political risks of spending around the edges. ...Legislators tried to remove some of the politics last year, focusing instead on large construction projects on University of North Carolina campuses and creating a competitive grant process for community colleges for awards from a $20 million pool.

Tobacco's time is fading
The Associated Press (International)
The Troxler family grew tobacco for generations in North Carolina. A few years ago, with federal price supports about to vanish and time to tend the labor-intensive crop becoming scarce, Steve Troxler decided to stop. ...This year, the House has approved -- and the Senate is considering -- a ban on smoking in all state government buildings. Pending legislation would ban smoking in and around University of North Carolina buildings and in long-term care facilities, while at least four bills offer ways for local governments and airport authorities to set their own smoking rules.

Med school to increase class sizes
The Daily Reflector (Greenville)
The Brody School of Medicine is planning for the largest incoming class of would-be doctors in its 30-year history. ...Later expansions also could introduce out-of-state students, which Brody does not accept now. Hardy said nonresident students would help with ECU recruiting — competition will stiffen with the UNC-Chapel Hill's proposed Charlotte expansion — and economics — out-of-state students pay higher tuition.

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.