August 28, 2002

Carolina in the News

Special Summer Reading Program Coverage Summary

As part of the National Press Club’s “Afternoon Newsmaker” series, Chancellor James 
Moeser discussed “A Tempest in a Textbook: Academic Freedom and the Qur’an Controversy” 
on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Among the highlights:

• CSPAN and CSPAN 2 aired the chancellor’s session live nationwide Tuesday 
  afternoon and in repeat broadcasts overnight. The program included his remarks 
  and a question-answer session with more than 40 Washington-based journalists. 
  To see the text of Moeser’s remarks, go to: 
  http://www.unc.edu/chan/speech_archive/npcspeech_8_2002.html
  
  

• Resulting coverage included a National Associated Press story focusing on the 
  chancellor’s comments. That story was distributed to print and broadcast outlets 
  across the country. Among major newspapers publishing it today included The 
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Boston Globe. Other broadcast coverage 
  to date from the session includes Dow Jones International News, MSNBC, FOX 
  News and promotional spots on CNBC-TV for its weeknight public affairs 
  program, “Capital Report.”
  
  

• Alan Murray, co-anchor of CNBC-TV’s “Capital Report” and a UNC alumnus, 
  interviewed Chancellor Moeser about the reading program for Tuesday night’s 
  program. The lengthy segment also featured interviews from Raleigh with two 
  UNC students: Matthew Carter, a senior business major, and Rebecca Chasnovitz, 
  a freshman pre-med major. Carter, a member of the Student congress, was against 
  the selection. Chasnovitz spoke in favor of the selection and program.
  
  

• Others attending the press club session represented ABC-TV, CNN, Associated 
  Press TV, Dubai TV (affiliated with the BBC, originating in the United Arab Emirates), 
  PBS-TV, Worldnet TV, Voice of America, BBC, Congressional Quarterly, Black
  Issues in Higher Education, Religion News Service, Cox Newspapers, the American 
  School Board Journal, as well as D.C.-based reporters for The News and Observer, 
  The Durham Herald-Sun and The Fayetteville Observer-Times.
  
  

• Additional coverage today focusing on the program includes opinion-editorial columns
  in The New York Times and Newsday.
  
  

National Highlights 

University says students surprised by backlash over Koran 
The Boston Globe
University of North Carolina freshmen, assigned to read a book on the Koran, were more 
puzzled by a challenge from a religious group, Chancellor James Moeser said yesterday. 
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/240/nation/University_says_students_surprised_by_backlash_over_Koran+.shtml
(Note: This national Associated Press story was also featured in today's edition of The 
Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/today/news_d3c67615824cc1210069.html 

Cuckoo in Carolina (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The New York Times
he ruckus being raised by conservative Christians over the University of North Carolina's 
decision to ask incoming students to read a book about the Koran — to stimulate a campus 
debate — surely has to be one of the most embarrassing moments for America since Sept. 11.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/28/opinion/28FRIE.html

Christians Can Learn Much From the Quran (Opinion-Editorial Column)
Newsday (N.Y.)
Should college students be required to read the Quran? That is what the University of North 
Carolina recently asked incoming students to do in preparation for orientation week discussions 
at Chapel Hill. Outraged, the Family Policy Network in Virginia recruited three students to join 
in a lawsuit attempting to stop the assignment.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpgoo282840877aug28.story?coll=ny%2Dviewpoints%2Dheadlines

Sanitizing Islam (Editorial)
The Jerusalem Post
In Funtua, Nigeria, last week, a 30-year-old mother named Amina Lawal was sentenced to 
death by stoning by an Islamic court for "adultery," although in her case this means only having 
sex out of wedlock... Meanwhile, the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the 
right of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to require this year's 3,500 freshmen 
to read Approaching the Koran: The Early Revelations, by Haverford College religious studies
Prof. Michael Sells.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1029920526127

Religious dialogue might not be easy, but it really is necessary (Commentary)
San Antonio Express-News
The way I see it, we've got two ways to deal long-term with the religious strife that underlies much 
of the murder, mayhem and violence around the world… Unfortunately, none of this is going to be
easy, as 20 freshmen at the University of North Carolina learned last week when they gathered to 
begin reading a book about the Koran, under the instruction of James Moeser, their brave chancellor.
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1055&xlc=793080
(Note: This syndicated column previously appeared in the Seattle Post Intelligencer.)

An unlikely, provocative target
Baltimore Sun
Moises Kaufman is a born outsider. The son of Eastern European Holocaust survivors, he was 
raised as an Orthodox Jew in deeply Catholic Venezuela and had nowhere to turn in that macho 
society when he began to realize, at age 9, that he was homosexual. Eventually he turned to the 
theater, and today the 38-year-old critically acclaimed director and playwright is credited with 
two of the most widely produced plays in American regional theater... Protests of public 
school reading assignments have become almost a ritual; recently the same conservative group 
that is protesting UM's plans unsuccessfully sued the University of North Carolina over its 
assignment of a book about the Quran, claiming unconstitutional religious indoctrination.
http://www.sunspot.net/bal-te.laramie28aug28.story

State Highlights

Book won't be last provocative pick, Moeser says 
News and Observer
UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser said Tuesday that the university would continue 
to pick "provocative" books for its freshman summer reading program and that he feared no 
long-term fallout from state lawmakers angered by this year's choice of a work about the holy 
teachings of Islam.
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1679888p-1700379c.html

Chancellor defends Quran decision 
Durham Herald-Sun 
UNC Chancellor James Moeser told the National Press Club on Tuesday that the university 
picked a book on the Quran for campus discussion groups to encourage students to form their 
own conclusions about the religion. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-261432.html

Turning a page on the Quran controversy (Opinion-Editorial Column)
News and Observer
With UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser choosing to reaffirm his position before 
the National Press Club on Tuesday in Washington, bad blood continuing to flow against him 
in Raleigh and the prospect of incoming attacks on the university from religious groups, it 
appears that the civil warfare over "Approaching the Qur'an" has left wounds that will not soon 
heal in the fabric of North Carolina. 
http://newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1679663p-1700341c.html
(Note: Mark Walton is chairman of the Center for Leadership Communication in Chapel Hill. 
He was CNN's first chief White House correspondent.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Bowles shifts into overdrive 
News and Observer 
A student asked Democrat Erskine Bowles, as he campaigned at UNC-Chapel Hill, if a 
newspaper photo showed him praying before his recreation basketball league team played a team 
coached by Dean Smith. "If you ever coached against Dean Smith, you'd be praying, too," 
Bowles joked to more than 300 people packed into a UNC-CH lecture hall.
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1679882p-1700381c.html

Kinnaird for state Senate (Editorial)
Chapel Hill News
Too often in politics, voters are faced with a choice between the lesser of two evils. In Orange 
County this year, unfortunately, we must choose between the greater of two goods... Lee’s position
also gives him a perch to look out for the interests of UNC. Several years ago, he helped negotiate 
crucial budget flexibility for UNC, and this year he apparently has succeeded in blocking efforts to 
siphon some $120 million in federal “overhead receipts” from the university into the state general fund. 
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/opinion/story/1677760p-1698506c.html

University asks Carrboro to annex more land
Chapel Hill News
The university has added 303 acres of its Horace Williams land to its request for annexation into 
the Town of Carrboro. But officials at Carolina say the move should not be read as an indication 
that plans are moving forward on developing the property.
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/news/story/1677776p-1698501c.html

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(919) 962-2091 or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu