August 7, 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 Timely Subject -- and a Sore One 
The Washington Post
No one complained two years ago when the University of North Carolina 
required its incoming freshmen to read a book about the lingering effects of 
the Civil War, nor last year when it assigned a book about a Hmong immigrant's 
struggle with epilepsy and American medicine. But this year, the university in 
Chapel Hill is asking all 3,500 incoming freshmen to read a book about Islam 
and finds itself besieged in federal court and across the airwaves by Christian 
evangelists and other conservatives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52484-2002Aug6.html

'No Closed Doors'
Newsday
Disappointed by the results of a long-awaited study on breast cancer and 
pollution, activists and scientists alike yesterday said they would keep pushing 
for research into possible environmental causes of the disease... At a news 
conference in Uniondale, the $8-million study's principal author, Marilie 
Gammon of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, 
said she shared the letdown feeling expressed by many advocates that her 
study, published yesterday, found no evidence that four toxic chemicals cause 
breast cancer, and only limited evidence for a fifth.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-licanc072812840aug07.story?coll=ny%2Dlinews%2Dheadlines

The Researcher: Marilie Gammon 
Newsday
Epidemiologist Marilie Gammon discusses the results of the $8-million federal 
study that found no clear link between certain pollutants and breast cancer on 
Long Island.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-gammonaudio.audiogallery?coll=ny%2Dlinews%2Dheadlines

Video interview with Gammon
WABC-TV (New York metropolitan area ABC-TV affiliate) 
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/WABC_080602_libcancer.html

(Note: This coverage resulted from a UNC news release and related media 
relations efforts involving News Services, the School of Public Health and the 
National Cancer Institute. Gammon was also scheduled to appear on the 
WABC-AM (New York metropolitan area ABC radio affiliate) talk show 
"The John Gambling Show" at 10:15 today (no online link available) and was 
interviewed by the National Public Radio New York affiliate, WNYC-FM 
(no online link available). 

Other coverage known to date includes New York Daily News 
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/8973p-8435c.html, WNYW-TV 
(New York metropolitan area Fox-TV affiliate) 
http://164.109.58.26/dynamic/08_06_2002.html, News 12 Long Island 
(an all news cable station in Long Island)
http://www.news12.com/CDA/Articles/View/0,2869,5-5-45576-20,00.html, 
Environmental News Service http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-06-06.asp, 
and WCBS-AM (New York metropolitan area CBS-Radio affiliate) 
http://wcbs880.com/StoryFolder/story_1879157395_html

A National Associated Press story was broadcasted on NorthWest Cable 
News (a 24-hour Northwest news network that broadcasts to over 1.9 
million homes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, Alaska and 
northern California) 
http://www.nwcn.com/health/stories/NW_080602HEBpollutioncancer.63d38d0d.html 
and featured on the website of the Deseret News 
(Utah) http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,405022363,00.html.)

Regional News

UGA works to woo blacks
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Helen Riley's memories of high school in Savannah can make a college 
admissions officer wince. Now a biology major at the University of Georgia, 
Riley, 22, remembers routinely seeing UGA recruiters in her majority-white 
Windsor Forest High. But friends from majority-black high schools said recruiters 
never visited their schools... Compared with other schools, Georgia lags in the 
percentage of African-Americans in the student body. Of the 30,867 students 
enrolled in the spring, just 5.7 percent were black. The black enrollment at the 
University of Virginia was 7.8 percent; at North Carolina, 9.8 percent, and at 
South Carolina, 15.6 percent. 
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/today/metro_d305cbbb8556006d1051.html
(Note: UNC's success with minority recruiting was the subject of a major front-
page package published last fall. The stories, based on a visit by a reporter to 
Chapel Hill, contrasted Carolina's experiences with those in Athens.)

National News Notes

The Fox News Channel program "The O'Reilly Factor" featured Steve 
Crampton, lead counsel for the American Family Association, on Tuesday, August 
6. The focus of the segment was the pending lawsuit against UNC involving the summer 
reading program. No details about the program are online

State and Local Coverage

Smith Center, airport focus of legislative debate
Horace Williams Airport would remain open, state funding for UNC's Smith Center 
would be eliminated and tuition breaks for some graduate students would end under 
a proposed budget rolled out by the state House of Representatives Tuesday.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/08/07/news00.html

UNC and Duke form clinics to tackle housing issues
Come the fall semester, lawyers and students from UNC and Duke will join the 
effort to find solutions to the area's affordable housing dilemma. "Even given the level 
of resources available, it really requires cooperation between a complex array of 
different entities, for-profit developers, municipal governments, nonprofits, lawyers 
and accountants to make it happen," said Tom Kelley, a professor in the UNC 
Law School. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/08/07/news01.html

Group tries to meet area housing needs (Letter to the Editor)
Thank you for your commentary on affordable housing (July 28). Housing security 
is basic to family life. The community also gains from affordable housing... UNC 
has indicated its concern for affordable housing for its personnel. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/08/07/opinion04.html

Ruling expected next week in UNC lawsuit
UNC-Chapel Hill administrators are moving ahead with plans for 180 small group 
discussions on this year's controversial summer reading assignment, while lawyers for 
the university move to block efforts from a conservative Christian group to stop the 
program.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/08/07/news04.html

UNC's doctrine (Opinion-Editorial Column)
As has been widely reported, three students, along with two leaders of the Virginia-
based Christian organization The Family Policy Network, are plaintiffs in a lawsuit 
against UNC-Chapel Hill. The suit opposes a summer reading requirement that 
incoming freshmen and transfer students read "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early 
Revelations" by Michael Sells.
http://newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1616776p-1644506c.html

Perspiring to find classroom inspirers (Editorial)
If it seems our Tar Heel summer must be at its sweltering peak, then that's a 
dependable tip-off: Before long, North Carolina's public schools will throw open 
their doors for another year... According to a survey by the American Federation 
of Teachers, passed along recently by the Program on Southern Politics, Media 
and Public Life at UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina's average teacher salary 
during 2000-01 ($41,496) ranked 21st in the country, and its average beginning 
salary ($29,786) ranked 14th, both showing improvement. 
http://www.news-observer.com/editorials/story/1608700p-1635759c.html

BUFFER ZONES: Hurricane protection has merits, drawbacks
Winston-Salem Journal
By the time that Virginia Beach petitioned Washington for hurricane protection 
money, the ocean had whittled the city's beach to less than 100 feet wide in places... 
"The sandstorm of beach nourishment produces a veneer of sand over the area," said 
Charles Peterson, a professor of marine science at the University of North Carolina. 
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/news/regional/MGB8UT69J4D.html

A new fight brews over annexation
Wilmington Morning Star
The Great Brunswick County Land Battle continues. Belville and Leland are both 
trying to annex the same neighborhoods; Leland started earlier, but Belville skipped 
a step and seems to be further along... David Lawrence of the Institute of 
Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said the statute 
doesn't require a formal study. It requires a resolution of intent and an annexation 
report.
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=WM&Date=20020806&Category=CANTWELL&ArtNo=208060305&Ref=AR&Profile=1004&Sectio
nCat=Local

Shark repellent?
Wilmington Morning Star
Count Alvaro de Marichalar of Spain rode his personal watercraft all the way from 
Rome to Wrightsville Beach last month during a trans-Atlantic journey intended to 
bring a world record to his home country. He wasn't about to take a chance with 
sharks... Frank Schwartz, a professor at the University of North Carolina 
Department of Marine Sciences has studied sharks and other fish for about 45 
years. He remembers reading about chemical packets the Air Force once used.
http://wm.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73106933280187&Avis=WM&Dato=20020805&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=208050306&Ref=AR

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Pell Grant Program May Still Be $1-Billion Short, Education Lobbyists Say
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Less than two weeks after Congress and President Bush agreed to provide an extra 
$1-billion to make up for a shortfall in the Pell Grant Program, higher-education 
lobbyists say that the program may need another $1-billion to provide grants to 
eligible students. 
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/08/2002080701n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

Sept. 11 to Be Marked With Music and Tributes
The New York Times
From the beginning of the morning commute until the sun lowers over the Hudson 
River, New York City will be transformed into a state of perpetual commemoration 
on Sept. 11, with readings, concerts and odes to the dead, tributes that in many cases 
grew out of ideas from people around the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/07/nyregion/07MEMO.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

House debates raises, perks, ratios 
Question by question, amendment by amendment and pizza slice by slice, members 
of the House Appropriations Committee slogged through a $14.3 billion budget plan 
late into the night Tuesday. The broad outlines of the plan -- pay raises for teachers 
but not state workers, a new early retirement program, education initiatives ordered 
by the governor and a judge -- faced lots of questions.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/1616890p-1644525c.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