August 2, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

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

A Base Rocked by Violence 
The Washington Post
The men arrive stealthily at psychologist Tom Harbin's office, a few miles outside 
Fort Bragg. They are elite troops practiced in secrecy: Green Berets, Special 
Operations pilots, Delta Force. They know they risk much by coming here... 
Catherine Lutz, a University of North Carolina anthropologist and author of the 
book "Homefront: A Military City and the American Twentieth Century," called 
Fayetteville "the dumping ground for the problems of the American century of war 
and empire."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33481-2002Aug1.html
(Note: News Services helped connect Lutz with the reporter.)

Lives testimony to U.S.-Israeli ties
USA Today
The five Americans who died in the cafeteria bombing at a Hebrew University 
campus here made dark history Wednesday. They were believed to represent the 
largest number of Americans killed in a single act of violence in the region... 
Dina Carter, 37. An amateur sketch artist and sculptor, Carter, born in North 
Carolina, immigrated to Israel in 1990. She converted to Judaism and became 
an Israeli citizen. Carter was a graduate of Duke University with a master's 
degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. 
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-08-01-victims_x.htm
(Note: Other coverage known to date mentioning Carter and her connection to 
UNC includes The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago 
Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Miami Herald, 
The Winston-Salem Journal, Greensboro News and Record, and The News 
and Observer.)

Should College Kids Be Required to Read About the Koran?
History News Network
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assigns three books to incoming 
students every year. This year, one of the books, by Michael Sells of Haverford 
College, is about the Koran. Amazingly, the assignment of the book has sparked 
controversy and now a lawsuit. The legal action by three anonymous students is 
supported by a right-wing Christian organization, the Family Policy Network.
http://hnn.us/articles/889.html

Infant killings spur call to action
The Chicago Tribune
Alarmed by a surge in the killing of babies and toddlers this year, Chicago Police 
Supt. Terry Hillard will meet Friday with those who investigate such homicides. 
About a dozen children under the age of 3 have been killed in the city each year 
since 1996. So far this year, 11 such homicides have occurred. Thirteen were 
reported in all of 2001... "Obviously, there are still missed cases, especially 
[sudden infant death syndrome] cases that may be homicides," said Dr. Marcia 
E. Herman-Giddens, a researcher on child mortality at the University of 
North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/showcase/chi-0208020187aug02.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed

Teams trying to take heat
The Clarion-Ledger (Mississippi)
According to figures in a study by the University of North Carolina released last 
week, seven football players suffered heat-related deaths in the past two years 
nationally at all levels, compared to 15 in the 1990s and 13 in the 1980s.
http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0207/30/s01.html
(Note: This story originated as a UNC news release. Other 
coverage known to date includes The Houston Chronicle, The Journal Sentinel 
(Wisconsin), The Lexington Herald Leader (Kentucky), The Hartford Courant 
(Connecticut), and The St. Cloud Times (Minnesota).)

Harvard ends confusion over early action codes 
The Daily Pennsylvanian (Student publication -- University of Pennsylvania)
Harvard officials put an end to a series of misunderstandings about their 
admissions policies earlier this month when they released a statement saying that 
they would abide by the Early Action and Early Decision guidelines laid out by 
the National Association of College Admissions Counseling... In early May, 
for example, the University of North Carolina chose to completely abolish Early 
Decision by choosing to only offer applicants the options of regular decision 
or non-binding early notification. 
http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/08/01/3d48ae22a5023

National News Notes

The MSNBC television program "Nachman" featured Michael Sells, author 
of this year's summer reading program selection, "Approaching the Qur'an," 
and Joe Glover, president of the Family Policy Network, on Wednesday, 
July 31. The focus of the program was the recent lawsuit against UNC 
involving the summer reading program. For the complete transcript, please 
visit http://www.msnbc.com/news/788808.asp and scroll halfway down 
the web page. 

UNC researchers were mentioned in an article in the August/September issue 
of Muscle and Fitness magazine about a recent study that found that total 
daily food intake has increased over the past 20 years.

State and Local Coverage

University seeks fast end to suit over Islam text
Charlotte Observer
Lawyers for UNC Chapel Hill asked a federal judge Thursday to dismiss from 
a lawsuit five people who claim a requirement for new students to read a book 
on Islam violates their First Amendment rights.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/3783368.htm
(Note: Other coverage based on Associated Press reports includes the 
Winston-Salem Journal.) 

House may bar closure of airport 
State legislators moved a step closer this week to ruling on the fate of the Horace 
Williams Airport when a House subcommittee approved a budget stipulation that
would bar UNC from closing the airstrip. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-253366.html

Study links turnout, race and income 
Fewer North Carolina voters tend to come to the polls in poor counties with high 
numbers of minorities, while wealthy ones with above-average numbers of whites 
generally have the best voter turnouts, according to a new study. "This is a pretty 
standard finding," said Thad Beyle, a political science professor at UNC-
Chapel Hill. "It's no great surprise."
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/1603009p-1630158c.html

Driver rules get tougher 
Greensboro News and Record
On a warm summer evening, a group of friends may pile into the car with a novice
driver behind the wheel and head to a movie theater in Burlington or a fast-
food restaurant in Greensboro. Some high schoolers may car pool to campus... 
Robert Foss, a researcher at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center in 
Chapel Hill, said his studies found that two passengers in a car with a driver 
age 16 or 17 more than doubled the risk of an accident.
http://www.news-record.com/news/government/license01rk.htm

Don’t accuse students of ignorance (Letter to the Editor)
Fayetteville Observer
I found the July 27 editorial, “Faith, Knowledge,” extremely interesting. After 
reading through the editorial, ironically, I felt like I was the one receiving a sermon. 
The editorial emphatically backed up the University of North Carolina and 
decried anyone who didn’t want to read selections from the Quran as ignorant. 
It called the suit “rubbish” and included the words “nonsensical” and “an 
astonishing leap of illogic.” 
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/obj_stories/2002/aug/e02lett.shtml

Hafiz poetry would complement UNC requirement (Letter to the Editor)
"I Heard God Laughing” — Hafiz (c. 1320-1389) was one of the great Persian 
poets, and unfamiliar to the Western world. The previous title of a recent book 
of his poetry translated by Daniel Ladinsky might have been another choice 
of reading material to be added to the university’s required list for students...
http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/chhletters/index.html#253266

A place to learn (Letter to the Editor)
Wilmington Morning-Star
EDITOR: The gentleman from Surf City is concerned about the University of 
North Carolina at Chapel Hill “requiring”incoming freshmen to read a book 
about Islam. They actually are given a choice: read the book or write a paper 
as to why you should not...
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/opinion/letters/stories/15136lettersstorypage.html

Hacker positive word for prof 
The word "hacker," for many, conjures up images of online outlaws and cyber-
robbers, of bright, but nerdy, young miscreants tapping madly on keyboards in 
darkened rooms while computer screens flicker in the background. But Greg 
Newby, an assistant professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information 
and Library Science, thinks of hackers in a totally different light: They are the 
pioneers of the Internet, the illuminati of the computer world, security experts 
who wield more good than harm in cyberspace.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1603128p-1630165c.html

Peeling the Orange 
The first new UNC dormitories in 15 years will be temporarily nameless when they 
open this month. For the moment, they’ll be known by their compass direction from 
the Manning Drive residential towers in the shadows of which they lie. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-253388.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

House to plug in $125 million over governor's objections 
Gov. Mike Easley might object, but House budget writers will go ahead and 
plug $120 million now held in an account controlled by the governor into their 
state spending plan. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/state/6-252905.html

Duke's foreign students online 
A new system to electronically track foreign students studying in the United States 
is up and running, and Duke University was the first to use it. The new database, 
called the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System [SEVIS], went live in 
July. http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-252990.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