August 22, 2002

Carolina in the News

Summer Reading Program Coverage: National Broadcast Highlights

• ABC-TV, "Nightline"
  The summer reading program was sole topic of Wednesday's edition of "Nightline," 
  hosted by Ted Koppel. The segment, titled "Required Reading 101," featured a five-
  minute story by Correspondent Deborah Amos that featured an interview with 
  Chancellor James Moeser, Jon Gilbert, a freshman who is a strong advocate of this 
  year's selection, Dr. Michael Sells, author of the book, an unidentified freshman who 
  was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the university, and Terry Moffitt, 
  chairman of the Family Policy Network. Following Amos' story, Koppel interviewed 
  Dr. John Esposito, a religious studies professor from Georgetown University, and 
  longtime higher education critic David Horowitz. The transcript of this program is not 
  online and not expected to be immediately available.
  

• CNN-TV, "Newsnight with Aaron Brown"
  The reading program was the focus of a three-minute story Wednesday based on 
  reporting from Chapel Hill earlier this week. Carl Ernst, professor of religious studies, 
  sophomore Alek Shah, freshman Daniel Miller and freshmen Israa Forham were 
  among those interviewed by CNN correspondent Jason Bellini. The transcript is 
  available online at http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0208/21/asb.00.html
  

• MTV News was also among the national media outlets on campus Monday. Its 
  producers are planning to use the UNC material in an upcoming story about 9/11 that 
  will explore relative issues to the perception of college students.
  
  Current National Coverage
  
  Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina 
  people and programs cited recently in the national media:
  
  To Read the Koran (Editorial)
  The Washington Post
  The public firestorm over the University of North Carolina's decision to ask that incoming 
  students read a book about the Koran is a peculiar display of enthusiasm for ignorance. The 
  university made an altogether rational judgment, in light of the circumstances in which this 
  country finds itself, that students might benefit by reading and discussing a book titled 
  "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations" by a professor at Haverford College named 
  Michael Sells. 
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47251-2002Aug21.html
  
  Lesson on a Bookshelf (Letter to the Editor)
  The New York Times
  To the Editor: "Required Reading" (editorial, Aug. 19) describes the attempts by some 
  religious groups and state legislators to bar incoming freshmen at the University of North 
  Carolina at Chapel Hill from reading an assigned book about the Koran...
  http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/22/opinion/L22KORA.html
  (Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)
  
  Editorial cartoon by Gary Varvel
  http://www.creators.com/0811/gv/gv0815g.gif
  (Note: Varvel's editorial cartoons appear in The Indianapolis Star.) 
  
  Associated Press coverage on the reading program also has appeared in The Herald (Rock 
  Hill, S.C.), and The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.).
  
  National News Notes
  
  Marilie Gammon, professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health, is scheduled to 
  appear later today on "Working Assets Radio with Laura Flanders," which airs on KALW-
  FM in the San Francisco Bay area. She will discuss her recent research about breast cancer in 
  the Long Island, N.Y. area. To listen to the program online, please go to
  http://www.webactive.com/workingassets/archive.html and go to the August 22 broadcast.
  
  State and Local Coverage
  
  N.C. State resolution backs academic liberty 
  Charlotte Observer
  Showing its support of a summer reading assignment at nearby UNC Chapel Hill, faculty at N.C. 
  State University have approved a resolution in support of academic freedom.
  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/3912923.htm
  (Note: This Associated Press story also appeared in today's Winston-Salem Journal 
  http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/news/MGBH4CBY55D.html)
  
  Better late than never for an ideal (Editorial)
  Durham Herald Sun
  Brad Wilson, chairman of the UNC Board of Governors, got it right the other day when he said 
  the board’s Aug. 9 failure to adopt a resolution backing academic freedom “was not our finest 
  hour.”
  http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/hsedits/56-259515.html
  
  View from Ohio: Boy, am I embarrassed! (Letter to the Editor)
  Charlotte Observer
  Last year I moved from the Raleigh area to Columbus, Ohio, and I admit to ribbing the locals 
  about their public universities. State support for higher education here pales compared to North 
  Carolina, and the academic standing of Ohio state schools reflects that... The Columbus paper 
  carried reports on the appalling behavior of N.C. legislators and the UNC board of governors...
  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/3912832.htm 
  (Note: The Charlotte Observer published three letters to the editor about the summer reading 
  program. To view all the letters, go to the above url and scroll down the web page. The letter 
  from J. Alston Gardner, chairman of the UNC Advisory Board for International and Area 
  Studies, also appeared today in the Greensboro News and Record and the News and 
  Observer.)
  
  Attend to the budget (Letter to the Editor)
  News and Observer
  I read with interest the comments of state Rep. Larry Justus in your Aug. 20 story on the UNC 
  summer reading assignment. [Justus was quoted as saying "It seems to me the university might 
  have done some long-term damage with the legislature.... Sooner or later, it's going to come 
  back and haunt them."] ...
  http://newsobserver.com/editorials/letters/story/1662766p-1684950c.html
  (Note: The News and Observer published three letters to the editor about the summer reading 
  program. To view all of the letters, go to http://newsobserver.com/editorials/letters/.)
  
  Editorial cartoon by J.P. Trostle 
  Durham Herald-Sun
  http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/columnists/trostle/
  
  UNC Deserves Credit For Fighting to Preserve Academic Freedom (Letter to the Editor)
  The Daily Tar Heel
  To the Editor: Bravo to UNC, to Professor Carl Ernst and to Chancellor James Moeser for 
  sponsoring this year's required reading of "Approaching the Qur'án: The Early Revelations" by 
  Michael A. Sells!...
  http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/08/22/3d64eafbc3406
  (Note: The Daily Tar Heel published two letters to the editor about the summer reading 
  program. To view both of the letters, go to http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/SEC/Reader%27s+Forum.)
  
  Great minds grow in UNC vineyard (Commentary)
  Charlotte Observer
  Remember back in the old days, when here in the South drinking was considered a horrible sin 
  by religious hardliners?... In this month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there is a study 
  by Duke University's Medical Center chronicling the alcohol consumption, education level and 
  diet of 4,435 people who attended UNC Chapel Hill from 1964 to 1966.
  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/columnists/don_hudson/3912933.htm
  
  UNC deserves intervention on airport (Commentary)
  Chapel Hill Herald
  It seems UNC is getting its just deserts. It was just last year that officials there called on the state 
  Senate to intervene in some business that really should have been up to the town. Negotiations 
  with the town over UNC’s planned construction on the main campus weren’t going the university’s
  way, and so it decided that the best course of action was to walk away from the bargaining table. 
  http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/columnists/wright/
  
  Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina
  
  College Enrollments Projected to Rise 15% by 2012
  The Chronicle of Higher Education
  Enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions is projected to increase to 17.7 million
  in 2011-12 from 15.3 million in 1999-2000, more than a 15-percent jump, according to data
  released Wednesday by the U.S. Education Department. 
  http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/08/2002082205n.htm
  (Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles. )
  
  Credit check (Editorial)
  News and Observer
  North Carolina has lost its coveted AAA bond rating with Moody's Investors Service -- a 
  downgrade that could be costly when state bonds are issued -- and certainly that should signal to 
  Governor Easley and the General Assembly the need to stabilize the state's budget.
  http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1662707p-1684994c.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