August 16, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current International Coverage

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

Judge Oks UNC Students To Read Quran 
The Guardian (UK)
Incoming freshmen at the University of North Carolina will participate in discussion 
groups on Islam's holy text after a judge ruled that having them read about the Quran 
did not threaten religious freedoms. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-1950456,00.html
(Note: This Associated Press story, originating from the Raleigh Bureau, is appearing in 
print and on Web sites of several major nation newspapers and media outlets including 
The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, The San 
Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Baltimore Sun, The Atlanta
Journal Constitution, The Contra Costa Times, The Orlando Sentinel, The Cincinnati 
Post, The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette and the Grand Rapids Press. 

Chancellor Moeser also granted several interviews following yesterday's ruling. A 
number of those stories from national and state outlets are detailed later in today's report. 
Others include CBS Radio News, the North Carolina News Network [90-plus radio 
stations], WUNC-TV, WUNC-FM and WNCN-TV.)

Current National Coverage

Federal Judge Refuses to Block Assigned Reading of Book About the Koran 
at U. of North Carolina
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A federal judge on Thursday refused to grant a temporary restraining order to block 
a requirement that incoming freshmen and transfer students at the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill read and discuss a book about the Koran. 
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/08/2002081601n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

Studying Islam
Talk of the Nation
National Public Radio
Since Sept. 11, Americans are increasingly curious about Islam. But, when a university 
required its new students to read a book about the Koran, a law suit got filed. What 
should we know about the Islamic world and what's the best way to learn it?
http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnpd01fm.cfm?PrgDate=08/15/2002&PrgID=5
(Note: To listen to the program, please scroll down to "Studying Islam.")

National News Notes

A story about the summer reading program including an interview with Chancellor Moeser 
and additional footage and reporting from Chapel Hill is expected to air on ABC-TV's 
"Nightline" Tuesday, August 20, at 11:35 p.m. on WTVD-TV (ABC). For more 
information, please visit http://abcnews.go.com/Sections/Nightline/

Regional Coverage

Freshmen tackle early lesson
Atlanta Journal Constitution
The backwoods of coastal McIntosh County are 200 miles away and decades 
removed from the ivory towers of Georgia College & State University. But the story 
of the struggle for civil rights in that segregated community in the mid-1970s is the first 
lesson taught to freshmen entering this public liberal arts campus for the fall semester... 
Freshman reading assignments made headlines recently when three University of North 
Carolina students sued the school over their assignment, "Approaching the Quran: The 
Early Revelations," by Michael Sells...
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/friday/metro_d3c579eb31d9f1d2002c.html

North Carolina News Notes

Rev. Jan Rivero, Campus Minister at the Wesley Foundation, and Rabbi Sharon Mars 
from North Carolina Hillel, will be interviewed on WNCN-TV's (NBC-Raleigh) 
"At Issue" public affairs program airing Sunday, August 18 at 11 a.m. Rivero and Mars 
are among the UNC campus ministers who issued a statement of support for the summer 
reading program earlier this week.

State and Local Coverage

Judge refuses to halt UNC Quran program
Charlotte Observer
UNC Chapel Hill can continue, at least through today, a controversial summer program 
that requires this fall's freshman class to read parts of the Quran and discuss it upon their 
arrival.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/3874120.htm

Judge upholds Islam readings at UNC 
Durham Herald-Sun
A federal judge denied a request Thursday that would have halted UNC’s summer 
reading program, allowing a series of campus discussions of a controversial book about 
Islam to take place as scheduled. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-257819.html

UNC Quran reading is upheld
News and Observer 
UNC-Chapel Hill's summer reading assignment on the Quran is an academic exercise, 
not religious indoctrination, a federal judge said Thursday in a ruling that allows the 
controversial program to proceed.
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/1641638p-1668095c.html

Judge allows UNC to discuss book 
Greensboro News and Record
A federal judge refused Thursday to stop a UNC-Chapel Hill summer program assigning 
new students to read a book about Islam's holy text.
http://www.news-record.com/news/local/gso/uncsuit16.htm

Court: Quran studies are OK
Winston-Salem Journal
Judge Carlton Tilley denied yesterday a request from a conservative Christian organization 
to stop the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from having freshmen participate in 
discussions Monday on a book about the Quran.
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/MGB7I24IX4D.html

Judge refuses to block Quran reading requirement
WNCN-TV (NBC -- Raleigh) 
A federal judge on Thursday refused to block a summer reading program for incoming 
freshmen at the University of North Carolina who were told to read a book on the 
Quran, Islam's holy text. 
http://www.nbc17.com/news/1616201/detail.html

UNC reading program goes to court
News 14 Carolina (Time-Warner)
It looks as if UNC-Chapel Hill freshmen will read the book that has become the center 
of a national controversy. The book focuses on the principals of the Quran.
http://rdu.news14.com/content/top_stories/?ArID=12060

UNC board panel reconsiders academic freedom 
After the UNC Board of Governors received harsh criticism for failing to affirm academic 
freedom in the UNC-Chapel Hill Quran controversy, a board committee will meet via 
telephone conference call Thursday to reconsider the issue. The News & Observer reported
incorrectly today that the meeting would involve the full Board of Governors. 
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/1641638p-1668096c.html

Peeling the Orange 
"Now more than ever" is the marketing slogan shown on banners alongside the newly 
opened UNC Student Union...
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-257804.html

YMCA plans to renovate 1904 building 
The paint is peeling, the walls are cracking, and the top two floors are unusable. This isn’t 
how it was when Virginia Carson, class of 1971, was an UNC student activist spending a 
lot of her time at the campus YMCA building. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0396810413
(Note: The Chapel Hill Herald requires free registration to access articles.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Cambridge Tries U.S. Model To Make Profits on Patents
The Wall Street Journal
For more than a century, scientists at the University of Cambridge have benefited from 
what many would call a splendid deal: If they invented something, they kept the rights to it. 
If they commercialized it, they usually kept the profits. The university has long been proud 
of its freewheeling approach to intellectual property. But that tradition is likely to fall soon. 
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1029437727843641475,00.html?mod=todays%5Fus%5Fmarketplace%5Fhs
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription to access articles.)

The right budget way (Editorial)
It's called "setting the stage" in budget season. The state House budget now has been 
formally rejected by the Senate, which means budget-writers from both houses will convene
to get down to what they knew they were going to have to get down to months ago. They'll 
hammer out a final budget in conference with leaders of each chamber...
http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1641425p-1668085c.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