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August 8, 2005
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Clue to stopping prostate cancer
BBC News (United Kingdom)
The process, which is part of aging and is controlled by certain genes, results in cells - and tumours - failing to respond to normal growth signals. ...Commenting on all of the work, Dr Norman Sharpless, from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and Dr Ronald DePinho, from Harvard Medical School, said questions remained.
National Ranking Update
“The 2006 Fiske Guide to Colleges” ranks Carolina among the 17 very “best buy” public universities in the United States and Canada based on the quality of the academic programs in relation to the cost of attendance. “Often touted as one of the best college buys in the country, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gives students everything they want, both academically and socially,” the guide’s article on Carolina says. “The 200-year-old history of this school creates an atmosphere of extreme pride, a love of tradition, and monumental school spirit.” Another 28 private colleges and universities were selected as “best buys.” Among the publics, peer campuses included the Universities of California at Berkeley and Wisconsin. The only other N.C. campuses on the list were UNC-Asheville and Elon University. No Web link available.
National Coverage
Being 13 What's on their minds? TIME takes an inside look at an age of mystery and challenge
Time Magazine
What does it mean to be 13, backstage adults, watching on tiptoe, waiting to go onstage? ...While that may not sound like a lot, says Marcia Herman-Giddens of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has been studying the onset of puberty in American children for more than a decade, "there's no evidence that the age of menses has stopped falling. When will it stop? When girls are 9?"
Where Are the War Heroes?
The New York Times
One soldier fought off scores of elite Iraqi troops in a fierce defense of his outnumbered Army unit, saving dozens of American lives before he himself was killed. ..."No one wants to call the attention of the public to bloodletting and heroism and the horrifying character of combat," said Richard Kohn, a military historian at the University of North Carolina.
State Laws for Gifted Education: An Overview of the Legislation and Regulations
Black Enterprise
To fill a gap in the literature, this article provides a comprehensive, concise, and current overview of the state laws- specifically, statutes and regulations-concerning gifted education for K-12 students. ...For example, focusing on identification policies and practices, researchers at the University of North Carolina (Coleman, Gallagher, & Foster, 1994) requested and analyzed a whole host of state policies and practices, including "state laws, mandates, regulations, and guidelines," "statements of philosophy and/or goals," and "procedural information."Author-professor Max Steele dead at 83
The Associated Press (National)
Author Max Steele, who led the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's creative writing program for two decades, has died at the age of 83. Steele died Monday after a brief illness, the university announced Friday.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug05/steeleobit080505.htm
Regional Coverage
Habitat leader wants 'positive relationship' with Fuller
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
The safe move might have been avoidance. ...Jonathan Reckford didn't play it safe. Right after he was named new CEO of Habitat for Humanity International on Thursday, Reckford placed a call to Millard Fuller. Millard and his wife, Linda, founders of the housing nonprofit in 1976 in Americus, Ga., were fired by the Habitat board this year and have since started a similar organization in Americus. It's called the Fuller Center for Housing.
Note: Reckford, the son of Professor Emeritus Kenneth Reckford, is a 1984 alumnus of Carolina and was a Morehead and Luce Scholar.Hope - and hype - in the cancer war
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Over Sunday brunch in 1999, Peter J. Levine threw out an idea that would propel the lawyer-turned-entrepreneur to the frontier of molecular research. ...David Ransohoff, a University of North Carolina epidemiologist, says results cannot be trusted unless they can be produced again and again: "Figuring out whether a result is real and not simply caused by chance is determined in part by validation - by reproducing the result in an independent set of samples."
Why getting older is getting easier
The Detroit News
At age 67, I have joined the hip generation. ..."Humans are outliving their skeletons," said Dr. John Winfield, a rheumatologist and Smith Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina. "Our skeletons were designed for us to die in 30, 40 or 50 years. Now we are living to be 70, 80 and 90."
New ideas needed in schools, workplace to curb homicides (Opinion-editorial column)
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The surge in homicides in Milwaukee's inner city has reached epidemic proportions. ...Walter C. Farrell Jr. is professor of social work and associate director of an urban investment strategies center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Nonsense that is "No Child Left Behind" (Opinion-editorial column)
The Los Angeles Canyon News
When I think of No Child Left Behind, I visualize children who are about to fall off some precipice of failure being hauled up to a higher standard of achievement. ...Dr. Mel Levine at the University of North Carolina Medical School said, "We’re seeing an epidemic of people who are having a hard time making the transition to work - kids who had too much success early in life and who’ve become accustomed to instant gratification."
State's Baptist youths hit beach
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Determined to help people get into heaven, Melissa Sanford said she was ready to wander the beachfront witnessing to strangers for Jesus. ...The National Study of Youth and Religion, conducted by Christian Smith at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, also found about 80 percent of teenagers are affiliated with a church, and more than 50 percent worship two to three times a month.
State & Local Coverage
UNC tuition issue raises question of what belongs in the budget
The Associated Press (N.C.)
The storm over whether campuses in the University of North Carolina system should have the authority to set their own tuition rates has abated at the General Assembly.
Related Link: http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/
WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031784295442Despite heat, lots happening in Raleigh and Washington (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
August usually brings the dog days to N.C. politics -- hot, humid, nothing much stirring. ...Probably it's mere coincidence, but within a few more hours, budget negotiators announced resolution of significant issues that had delayed a state budget. Basnight tossed in the towel on a measure to give UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State autonomy to raise tuition, and House and Senate leaders agreed on a cigarette tax hike that would raise the tax to 30 cents a pack the first year and 35 cents the second.
Related Link: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_
ColumnistArticle&c= MGArticle&cid=1031784290025&path=!opinion!article&s=1037645509163
Tuition questions, still (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
State Sen. Marc Basnight of Manteo is president pro-tem of his chamber and a fellow used to calling the shots and most of the time, getting what he wants. On the issue of independence in setting tuition at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University, this legislative session didn't fall into the "most of the time" category.
UNC surviving (Letter to the editor)
The Wilmington Morning Star
Your recent editorial with an appalling headline “UNC’s survival at stake” is highly misleading …, and (the average person) may even pass the word around that our public universities are either going broke or folding down.
Writer's mentorship meant much to father and son (Opinion-editorial column)
The Chapel Hill News
I lost a good friend on Monday. It really hurts. Max Steele was 83, but his death is premature. ...John G. Blanchard is a senior associate athletics director at UNC and a resident of Chapel Hill.
Dole seeks N.C. universities' help for biotech center
The Associated Press (N.C.)
The head of Dole Foods wants four North Carolina universities to help create a biotechnology research center in Kannapolis as part of his plans to revitalize the economically troubled region. David Murdock or his representatives have approached officials at North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Duke University.
Home away from home
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Armed with a list, coupons and their parents' money, Jody Porowski and Breck Fisher set out on their mission. The assignment: shop until they had everything they needed for their suite in Craige Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Related Link: http://newsobserver.com/business/story/2699581p-9136881c.htmlBefore work comes homework
The Charlotte Observer
In today's job market, young people need to be armed with more than just a good education and a great outfit to land that first job. ...Marcia Harris, director of career services at UNC Chapel Hill, says to practice interviewing with a career counselor or with someone who has interviewing experience. Her advice: stay true to yourself.
'Baby blues' in the spotlight
The Charlotte Observer
The spat between Brooke Shields and Tom Cruise is bringing attention to a subject that rarely gets celebrity billing: postpartum depression. ...Women and families need to be educated about postpartum depression and there needs to be regular screening for depression during pregnancy and after delivery, according to Dr. Cort Pedersen, a UNC Chapel Hill psychiatry professor.
'65 voting act unlocked N.C. politics
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It was 40 years ago today that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into the law the Voting Rights Act -- ushering in the end of widespread voter discrimination that pervaded the South and bringing blacks in North Carolina into the political fold. ..."There is a fear among many blacks that they will lose the gains they made," said Anita Earls, director of advocacy at the Center for Civil Rights at UNC-Chapel Hill. "I think it's a legitimate fear."
Pending pardon puts life on hold
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Silvester Smith always thought he wanted to be an ironworker. He liked the idea of welding beams together to make towering steel buildings, stepping nimbly across sky-high skeletons. ...The state constitution gives Easley broad discretion on pardons and commutations, said Richard Rosen, a UNC-Chapel Hill law professor. There is no appeals process if a governor denies a request or simply doesn't act on it.
Related Link: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/12326302.htmlHillsborough groups eye ways to improve town's walkability
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
Local residents are working with town government to make it easier to walk around town. ...The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough sought ideas for Churton Street in 2003 by inviting students from local college and university planning departments to submit designs. Only UNC Chapel Hill responded, but officials liked the ideas the students offered. The winning design included suggestions for landscaping along Churton Street, facades for buildings and banners along the street.
Narrow Roberts (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Your editorial about Judge John Roberts' views on the Endangered Species Act ("Hapless toads," Aug. 2) was informative but missed a deeper point. Roberts' witticism about the "hapless toad that, for reasons of its own, lives its entire life in California" implied that the federal government could regulate only if the toad crossed state lines, not if the activities endangering it were involved in interstate commerce. ...Richard Andrews, Lambeth Professor of Public Policy, UNC-Chapel Hill
126 UNC physicians Included In The Best Doctors In America
WFMY-TV (CBS, Greensboro)
"I am very pleased with this recognition of our faculty's clinical excellence by Best Doctors," said Dr. William L. Roper, dean of the UNC School of Medicine and chief executive officer of the UNC Health Care System. ...The Best Doctors in America® database contains the names and professional affiliations of approximately 33,000 doctors in the United States, all chosen through an exhaustive peer-review survey that asks: "If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, to whom would you refer them?"
Technically, the moon doesn't have a dark side and is only completely full for a short time
The New Bern Sun Journal
Ever wonder if the moon has a dark side? It doesn't, really. ..."The orbit of the moon is locked so that one side of the moon always faces the Earth and we never see the back side of the moon," said Jesse Richuso, an astronomy educator at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Firefighter money may flow
The Chapel Hill Herald
It could be another week before they know for sure, but town officials are hopeful that money could be forthcoming to help pay for new firefighters in the Chapel Hill Fire Department. ...However, town officials have argued that growth at UNC Chapel Hill is increasing the demand on the town's fire department.
UNC study links weight gain, breast cancer risk
The Chapel Hill News
A study led by a UNC epidemiologist has shown that gaining more than 24 pounds after age 50 increases a woman's risk of breast cancer by 62 percent. ...Marilie Gammon, a epidemiology professor at the UNC School of Public Health and deputy director of the Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility, was the principal investigator.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug05/postmenopause080105.htmIssues & Trends
Bowles is all but anointed (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Not only did Erskine Bowles, class of 1967, graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill, but there are small family mementos sprinkled around campus. ...Which is one reason Erskine Bowles is all but being measured for a cap and gown to become the next president of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system.
Related Link: http://www.newsobserver.com/print/sunday/opinion/story/2699704p-9137074c.html
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/news/clips/index.shtml.
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