August 29, 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:

Islam's anguish (Editorial)
The Boston Globe
Two unsettling events a world apart - the stoning death sentence for a Nigerian woman who 
had a child out of wedlock, and the flap over readings from the Koran assigned to students at 
the University of North Carolina - seem to have little in common besides references to Islam. 
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/241/editorials/Islam_s_anguish+.shtml

Book stirs ill wind against Muslims (Editorial)
Florida Today
There's an ill wind blowing in North Carolina that's fouling one of America's most cherished 
principles-- religious tolerance. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, administrators 
always select one book for incoming freshmen to read to help open their minds to a complex 
world. 
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/opedstoryA26761A.htm

10 Colleges Announce Events to Mark the Anniversary of September 11
The Chronicle of Higher Education
...The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will hold a convocation in honor of its alumni 
killed during the attacks, a volunteer fair, and an evening candlelight vigil to remember all of the 
victims. 
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/08/2002082906n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

Oakland Mills Bucks Strong Results in County SAT Scores 
The Washington Post 
Howard County's high schools for the most part continued their strong showing on the SAT last 
school year, but the numbers at Oakland Mills High School, one of the system's oldest and most 
diverse, showed a sharp decline... Principal Marshall J. Peterson had anticipated that his school's 
score would drop, based on earlier tests besides the SAT that the students had taken... The 
Class of 2002, he said, had high-achieving students who were accepted to top schools such as 
the University of North Carolina and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "but they were
fewer."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6634-2002Aug28.html

Effect of Smallpox Vaccine May Be Longer, Study Says
The New York Times
Scientists at the University of North Carolina have reported additional evidence suggesting that 
immunity conferred by smallpox vaccine may last longer than had been thought, at least for some 
people. But they and other researchers cautioned that the findings, from laboratory blood tests,
might not apply to people actually exposed to smallpox.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/29/health/29SMAL.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

This coverage resulted from a UNC news release and media relations efforts involving News 
Services and the School of Medicine. To view the news release, please click here. Other coverage
known to date include The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Reuters, Agence France
-Presse, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Charlotte
Observer, the News and Observer, and the Durham Herald-Sun.

On Long Island, Scientists Keep Studying Breast Cancer Rates That Are Not Unusual
The New York Times
When scientists announced this month that a widely anticipated federal study of breast cancer had 
failed to find links to pollution or other environmental factors, attention was again focused on the 
prevalence of the disease on Long Island, where the study was based... The lead investigator on 
the study, Dr. Marilie D. Gammon, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina's School 
of Public Health, said she never alluded to a Long Island breast cancer epidemic in applying for 
the grant. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/29/nyregion/29CANC.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles. This coverage originated 
from a UNC news release and joint promotional efforts with the School of Public Health, among others.)

Tax-free cigarettes available through Native American Web sites
Minnesota Public Radio, "Marketplace"
Sky-high cigarette taxes, a clamoring public, the Internet, and a loophole in the sovereign status 
of Native American reservations -- add them all up and what you get is an e-business made in 
smoker heaven. Reporter Melinda Penkava explores the booming tax-exempt Internet enterprise 
spreading among tribes, and the costs of circumventing state tax laws. 
http://www.marketplace.org/
(Note: This program featured an interview with Kurt Ribisl of the School of Public Health. This 
national program aired locally at 6:30 p.m. on WUNC-FM, 91.5 FM. To listen to the program, 
go to the above url and click on "Listen" underneath "August 28." The transcript is not available 
online.)

Gecko glue round the corner
Nature
Strong, waterproof, re-usable adhesives could be just around the corner, thanks to geckos... 
This study shows nicely that you can pull the essential principles from biology" to make a simple 
man-made adhesive, says Bill Kier, a zoologist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel 
Hill, who works on how the sucker muscles of octopi and squid generate a different type of 
adhesion.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020826/020826-2.html
(Note: A related national Associated Press story was also featured in the Miami Herald and 
USA Today.)

Children in need require compassionate experts in child welfare (Letter to the Editor)
The Miami Herald
The extremist views held by Regier raise serious questions about his fitness to serve as 
Florida's child-welfare chief. Gov. Bush would do well by Florida's children if he were to 
withdraw Regier's appointment. 
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/3950337.htm
(Note: Morton Teicher is Dean Emeritus of the School of Social Work.)

Students at public schools should not be required to take religion classes (Editorial)
Rocky Mountain Collegian (student publication from Colorado State University)
How would you feel if you showed up to your first day of freshman orientation to find out a 
required class for you would be solely focused on teachings of a religion opposite of your own? ... 
The University of North Carolina is currently being sued by some students with help from a Christian
conservative organization because they were being forced to take a class called "Approaching the 
Koran; the Early Revelations."
http://www.collegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/08/27/3d6b0e84c2af8?in_archive=1

National News Notes

The September issue of "Sports Illustrated for Kids" features a "Back to School Match" that lists 
athletes and the colleges they attended along with their major. Among the athletes, Mia Hamm is 
featured as a UNC graduate.

State News Notes

Excerpts from Chancellor Moeser's National Press Club speech Tuesday regarding the summer 
reading program are scheduled to air today on WUNC-FM's public affairs program, "The State 
of Things," as part of an update story on the issue. The segment is scheduled to air at approximately 
12:45 p.m. and again as part of the repeat program broadcast at about 8:45 p.m. WUNC-FM 
can be heard at 91.5 FM and online at www.wunc.org.

State and Local Coverage

Three cheers for UNC (Opinion-Editorial Column)
Charlotte Observer
As a former assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs in the Clinton administration 
(1997-2001), I believe the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill should be congratulated 
for its decision to ask incoming freshman to read "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early 
Revelations" -- and for standing up to the barrage of criticism that decision has evoked from 
certain quarters..
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/3951810.htm
(Note: Ambassador Karl F. Inderfurth is a professor at the Elliott School of International 
Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of UNC 
Chapel Hill (1968) and is originally from Charlotte.)

General Assembly should leave education matters to educators (Editorial)
Asheville Citizen-Times
The General Assembly has shown a disturbing tendency in recent weeks to meddle in affairs 
better left to the state university system. Earlier this month, the House voted to withhold money 
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill because the school had assigned a book 
about the Koran, the holy text of Islam, as reading for incoming freshmen.
http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/editorial/18962

Terry Sanford grad spends summer in Africa
Fayetteville Observer
Terry Sanford graduate Candice Woodcock accepted her Morehead Scholarship and moved into 
a mud hut... The Kenya stay was Woodcock's self-designed summer experience required by the 
Morehead Scholarship. She arranged her travel with Global Routes, a nonprofit group that provides
internships and high school missions to foreign countries... As a Morehead Scholar, Woodcock 
receives up to $64,000 for her UNC college education, the summer programs and a laptop computer. 
The program was started by John Motley Morehead in 1951 and has since been awarded to more 
than 2,300 UNC students.
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=flipside&Story=5096234

Christian History (Letter to the Editor)
Winston-Salem Journal
The people crying foul regarding the University of North Carolina's mandate that incoming 
freshmen read a book about Islam need a lesson in church history...
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/opinion/letters/MGBX7HIUC5D.html
(Note: The Winston-Salem Journal also published two letters to the editor in today's edition. 
To view these letters, please go to 
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/opinion/letters/MGBU2XBNE5D.html)

Who’s responsible for Quran brouhaha? (Letter to the Editor)
Chapel Hill News
Do university officials bear some responsibility for the General Assembly’s interference with
university policy? The similarity between the negative effects of the McCarthy era, including the 
Speaker Ban Law, have been pointed out by university officials.. 
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/opinion/story/1677756p-1698516c.html

Terror and timing (Letter to the Editor)
News and Observer
UNC Law School Dean Gene Nichol's plea in support of "academic freedom" (Point of View 
article, Aug. 20) missed the point by a mile...
http://newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1682562p-1702994c.html

Tolerance for those who want to kill us? (Letter to the Editor)
Fayetteville Observer
Franklin Graham was right: "Islam is an evil religion." On what basis could such a conclusion 
be drawn? 
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=opinion&Story=5109453#
(Note: The Fayetteville Observer published two letters to the editor about the summer reading
program. To view both letters, please go to the above url and scroll down the web page.)

The state hospital at 50
Chapel Hill News
Seen from the air in 1952, N.C. Memorial Hospital was a compound of buildings surrounded 
by forest -- the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was nowhere in sight
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/story/1677796p-1698439c.html

Biotech startup hires its CEO 
News and Observer
Scott Neuville, former chief executive of SAS Institute's iBiomatics business, has signed up as chief 
executive of a startup formed by four professors in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's
pharmacy school.
http://newsobserver.com/business/story/1682657p-1702992c.html

Duel Degrees, MD/MBA Programs
WTVD-TV (ABC)
In this day of managed care and sky-rocketing health care costs, more and more doctors and health 
care workers are going back to school to learn how to manage their practices.... Duke and UNC 
are no exception, and doctors studying the business of medicine believe in the long run, it will pay 
off for the patient. Dr. Rich Toselli is a neurosurgeon and associate chief of staff at UNC...
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/082702_NH_MDMBA.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Updates on Billion-Dollar Campaigns at 17 Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The 17 American universities that are seeking to raise at least $1-billion collected a total of almost 
$170-million in gifts and pledges during the last month for which they had data available. Most 
universities made only slight gains; the University of Texas at Austin was the only to bring in more 
than $30-million in July. 
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/08/2002082909n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

House delays cutting off of per diem 
News and Observer
The state House voted Wednesday for a resolution authorizing state spending to continue through Sept. 
30 with cuts imposed this year -- after delaying a provision to cut off legislators' daily expense money.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/1682691p-1703008c.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