August 24, 2004

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

Injected contraceptive raises STD risk - study
Reuters (International Wire Service)
Women who use the injected contraceptive Depo-Provera have a higher rate of sexually transmitted diseases, U.S. researchers reported on Monday....This holds true even when behavior and other factors are taken into account, the research team at the National Institutes of Health, University of North Carolina and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found.

Book seems to urge discrimination in US against Arabs, Muslims
The Daily Star (Lebanon)
A new book by right-wing columnist Michelle Malkin, "In Defense of Internment," argues in favor of extensive discrimination and racial profiling against Arab-Americans and Muslims in the United States, and passionately defends the imprisonment of tens of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II....Some scholars have already passed a similar judgment on "In Defense of Internment." Eric Muller, a law professor at the University of North Carolina who has written extensively on the subject, told The Daily Star, "Malkin's argument depends on a studied ignorance of the overwhelming evidence in the historical record, documented by dozens of scholars, of the impact of racism and wartime hysteria on those who conceived of and planned and implemented the incarceration of Japanese-Americans in World War II."

Regional Coverage

New N.C. law provides funds for base buffer zones
The Daily News (Jacksonville, NC)
A bill signed recently by Gov. Mike Easley that authorizes spending nearly a half-billion dollars on university projects will have some local effect beyond academics....It includes renovation of the cancer center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and construction of a new stroke and heart center at East Carolina University in Greenville.

State & Local Note

Penny Gordon-Larsen, assistant professor of nutrition, will be a guest today on WUNC-FM's "The State of Things," for a discussion of childhood obesity. The program airs at noon and will rebroadcast this evening at 8. The department of nutrition is jointly housed in Carolina's Schools of Public Health and Medicine.

State & Local Coverage

Grants give students an education
The Daily Tar Heel
Nayeli Lozada didn't speak English when she moved to North Carolina from Mexico City three years ago....Shirley Ort, UNC's director of scholarships and student aid, said she hopes high school students who come from low-income families will not be discouraged from attending a university because of financial reasons.

Moeser reaches out on N.C. tour
The Daily Tar Heel
A hair salon, a dental clinic and a marine science research center shared something in common over the summer - Chancellor James Moeser paid them a visit....As part of the Carolina Connects program, Moeser traveled statewide to highlight and strengthen the University's connections throughout the state.

At UNC, book talks are absolutely quiet
The News & Observer
When UNC freshmen and transfer students took their seats in classrooms Monday to discuss the summer reading assignment, there were some notable absences.

Reading talks lack past fire
The Daily Tar Heel
Controversy was not an issue in Monday's summer reading discussions as incoming students and University leaders dissected David Lipsky's "Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point."..."I liked this book," said Provost Robert Shelton, who led a discussion with 10 students.

UNC teaching assistants see progress in $500 pay increase
The Chapel Hill Herald
As the postcards piled high atop his desk, one thing became clear to UNC Provost Robert Shelton: The grad students had a valid concern....UNC ranked 15th out of 18 peer institutions in terms of the average salary it pays its graduate students, according to the group's 2003 report.

Why exclude? (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer
In an Aug. 18 column, Dennis Rogers characterized UNC-Chapel Hill's anti-discrimination policy for student organizations as "silly," but his objections don't stand up to scrutiny.

Equal access at UNC (Letter from Editor)
The News & Observer
Regarding "Religion again issue at UNC-CH" (Aug. 15 news article): I'm embarrassed. I'm angry, too, but mainly I'm embarrassed that our flagship university in Chapel Hill takes my money and the name of my state hostage to attempt to force its ideology on its students.

Slicing up 'globaloney'
The News & Observer
Harvard University President Lawrence Summers tells a good story about a bygone congressional leader who, when asked if he planned to go abroad during a congressional recess, replied: "No, I've been there." Until recently, responses similar to that were common among Americans....Peter A. Coclanis is associate provost for international affairs and a professor of history at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Keeping guns out of kids' hands (Commentary)
The Charlotte Observer
When it comes to children and guns, there is some good news to report: According to a national study published in June in the journal Pediatrics, the rate of both fatal and nonfatal injuries inflicted by guns on children 14 and younger declined by more than 50 percent in the 1990s....At UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Tamera Coyne-Beasley and colleagues devised a community-based firearm safety program for adults that included distribution of gun locks and instructions on how to use them.

More students go online for books
The News & Observer
With the fall semester just getting started, there are likely to be long lines at Triangle university bookstores in the coming weeks. But Brian Barr, a sophomore transfer student at UNC-Chapel Hill, has no plans to be among the masses.

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.