August 9, 2004

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

National Coverage

Roll Over, Martin Luther
Time
Benchmark statistical moments are almost always anticlimactic. ... Comments Christian Smith, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: "the mainline always thought, we are America. What's The Big Deal?"

A Carolina Oasis
The Chronicle of Higher Education
As institutional amenities go, it's hard to top the Coker Arboretum, a five-acre oasis of old trees and shady paths near the historic heart of the University of North Carolina's sprawling and congested campus here.
Subscription required.
(Note: News Services arranged the visit to the arboretum as part of an extended visit to campus for Biemiller earlier this summer. He previously reported on the university's innovative stormwater management program.)

Giving Islam short shrift
The Kansas City Star
The 9/11 Commission offered a simplistic view of radical Islam in its recent report because it failed to draw on insights from academic scholars, some of those researchers say. ...Carl Ernst, professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, also faults the commission for not focusing "on issues of international law and criminality."

It's no boondoggle
The Lexington Herald-Leader (Ky.)
Ann and Jack Armentrout came to Mercer County from Columbus, Ohio, to spend the day at Shaker Village. ... Overall, attendance at outdoor dramas is down, according to the University of North Carolina-based Institute for Outdoor Drama.

Airport property could mean Northland economic boom (Editorial)
The Dispatch Tribune (Kansas City, Mo.)
We applaud efforts by the Kansas City Aviation Department to bring economic development to thousands of acres of city-owned land around Kansas City International Airport. ... The airport site could become an "aero-tropolis," a name coined by Dr. Jack Kasarda, director of The Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina.

State & Local Coverage

Out of focus on Islam (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer
The report of the 9/11 Commission has received much attention, particularly regarding its recommendations on restructuring the intelligence establishment.
(Note: Carl W. Ernst is Zachary Smith distinguished term professor of religious studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Bush says quotas biased
The News & Observer
Making a sweeping defense of his commitment to racial equality, President Bush stood by his opposition to race-based college admissions in an appearance Friday before a national conference of minority journalists. ... Jerry Lucido, UNC-Chapel Hill's vice provost and director of admissions, and other admissions directors have argued that evaluating merit goes beyond grade-point averages and SAT scores

Signing up a storm (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Not long ago, we were chatting with Gov. Mike Easley about a pile of bills on his desk for his signature -- or perhaps the veto. He didn't like to use the veto, he said, but sometimes he has to. ... The bill includes $180 million for a cancer center at UNC Chapel Hill

Learning behavior
The Winston-Salem Journal
One Monday morning, Perk Steele and his tutor ran through the rooms of his house, hopping from activity to activity. ... Most parents have relied on the TEACCH method, a treatment that was developed at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the 1970s.

Shoot, we just talk that way (Editorial)
The Wilmington Star-News
If you're not from around here, here's a chance to learn how people from North Carolina talk. A web site developed by some of the folks who maintain the North Carolina collection at the University of North Carolina can help.

Colleges teach parents to cope
The News & Observer
If you love something, set it free, the saying goes. ... "I think it's a different culture now, that parents are more like friends to their sons and daughters than a generation ago," said Judy Deshotels, director of the office of new student programs at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Basketball star lends support to hospital fundraiser
News 14 Carolina (Time Warner)
Former UNC and NBA basketball star Eric Montross lent his name to an effort to raise money for the N.C. Children's Hospital.
(Note: WCHL-AM also covered this event.)

Rocks may tell tale of first land plants
The News & Observer
Before Patricia Gensel can bring more rocks into her fourth-floor laboratory, she must haul others out. Otherwise, safety crews warn, her floor might fall down. But good things come from the UNC-Chapel Hill paleobotanist's collection of thousands of very old rocks.

UNC outprices itself (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer
Heard the one about the kid who kills his parents and then begs for mercy because he's an orphan? Welcome to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where such twisted logic passes for management. The board of trustees last month approved placing advertising signs in Kenan Stadium and the Dean Dome.

DWI: Sobering acquittals
The Charlotte Observer
Judges in North Carolina let off more than a third of drunken driving suspects who test over the legal alcohol limit but fight the charges in court. ... "Judges take an oath to follow the law, and I think they mean it, but they also want to keep their jobs," said Jim Drennan, of UNC Chapel Hill's Institute of Government.

GOP bulldog Ballantine softens his bark
The Charlotte Observer
Patrick Ballantine joked with a guest at his hospitality suite back during the state Republican convention, pointing out that another candidate for governor was serving strawberry shortcake while the Ballantine buffet offered a different treat: beer. ... A UNC Chapel Hill study found that 80 percent of those newcomers come from the Midwest and Northeast and are somewhat less conservative than the overall electorate in the state. ... "Ballantine has spent much of his legislative career as an opposition leader, in opposition to a governor who won these Republican votes," said Ferrel Guillory, director of UNC Chapel Hill's program on Southern politics.

Issues & Trends

Bush Backs Ending Admission Preferences for Children of Alumni
The New York Times
President Bush told a convention of 5,000 minority journalists on Friday that colleges should not give preferences for admission to the children of alumni, a position that put him at odds with his own history at Yale University.
Registration required.

It's time for more academic research (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
A University of North Carolina task force is developing ways of keeping violent students out of UNC classes

Background Checks (Editorial)
Winston-Salem Journal
It's a sad fact of American life today that air travelers are frisked at security checkpoints, ... It is also necessary to start checking the criminal backgrounds of young people applying for admission to University of North Carolina campuses.

Produced by News Services, Carolina in the News is an e-mail sampling of current news media coverage about Carolina people and programs, as well as issues and trends that affect the university. Stories usually will be online and available free for a limited time - often one to two weeks. Expiration dates before stories move to archives vary by media outlet. Some outlets require free user registration or a subscription.

Carolina in the News is also posted daily to the News Services Web page, http://www.unc.edu/newsserv/clipsindex.htm.

Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.