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Aug. 8, 2006Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Shampoo chemical study ‘flawed’
Chemistry World (London)
A US scientist has suggested that pregnant women should avoid using shampoos and other cosmetics containing the chemical diethanolamine (DEA), after finding that it inhibited brain development in mouse foetuses. ... Steven Zeisel of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US, who led the research team, stressed that pregnant women should not be panicked by his results.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug06/zeiselDEA080306.htmNational Coverage
Clot fibers stretch science
The Associated Press (National)
Fibers that make up blood clots are more elastic than rubber bands and stretchier than spider webs. ... To heal a wound, those clots have to be both strong and flexible, to withstand the pounding of regular blood flow, explained study co-author Dr. Susan Lord, a pathology professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul06/fibrinfibers073106.htmPostpartum depression hits dads, too
HealthDay News
Almost as many new fathers as mothers suffer depression after the birth of a child, a new study shows. ... Dr. William Coleman is a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina and chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on the psychosocial aspects of child and family health. "Physicians do a very poor job asking about or detecting postpartum blues in the mother, and they may not even see the father," he said.
One fat meal affects cholesterol
MSNBC
Before you bite into that burger or devour that doughnut, first chew on this: Just one high-fat meal can affect the body's ability to protect against cholesterol. UNC’s Dr. Cam Patterson, chief of the Division of Cardiology in the School of Medicine, discusses the negative affects of high-fat meals.
Regional Coverage
Seniors to get new lease on college life
The Dallas Morning News
Jack and ElaRuth McCullough plan to spend their old age surrounded by young people. ... "Many boomers remember college as a great time of life, so they'll be trying to recapture some of that zeitgeist," said Denise Snodgrass, assistant director of the University of North Carolina's Center for Creative Retirement.
Bay Area journalism schools race to keep up with the Web
The Oakland Tribune
Help wanted: College graduate with knowledge of Web design, blog experience, digital video editing skills and traditional writing background. ... Phil Meyer, who teaches journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, encouraged educators to take risks and increase their rate of error.
Chinese herb may yield drug for AIDS
The Boston Globe
An experimental therapy with humble beginnings as a Chinese herbal remedy is generating excitement among researchers battling HIV when doctors are concerned about the ability of the virus to thwart drugs designed to fight it. ... Panacos estimates its drug could garner $500,000 to $1 billion in peak annual sales from a drug candidate initially spotted by a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who was screening natural products in search of potential HIV therapies.
Refusing To Give Up The Fight
The Hartford Courant
For nearly three years, lawyer Richard Gross pressed wrongful death suits against jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney, alleging that chemicals and radiation at the company's plants caused fatal brain cancer in scores of employees. ... "There are no known chemicals that cause human brain cancer," said James Swenberg, director of the University of North Carolina's Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility.
Parents aren't down with modern slang
The Tennessean (Nashville)
Moms and dads, you may want to pay close attention. ... Connie Eble, an English professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, studies slang. "Teens use slang when they are trying to fit themselves into the popular culture they are living in."
Golfers report mediocre fitness scores
The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
If golfers aren't on a Grand Strand golf course in the busy spring and fall seasons, chances are they're in a buffet line or a bar. ... The survey results are consistent with studies on the overall health and obesity rates of the general public in the U.S. Studies conducted by the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health released in 2002 found that 61 percent of U.S. adults are overweight, and obesity in adults ages 20 to 74 doubled between 1962 and 2002, from 13 percent to 27 percent of the population.
Medical response times on increase
The Augusta Chronicle
How long an Aiken County resident waits for an ambulance is a crapshoot. ... "There is very little science behind EMS, and it's mainly because we don't have data," said Daniel Patterson, a doctoral student at University of North Carolina who is researching emergency response.
Study: Shampoo ingredient may affect brain development
WIS-TV (Columbia, S.C.)
Can't remember where you put your car keys? You may be able to blame your shampoo. ... At the University of North Carolina - suds are under study. Dr. Steven Zeisel's work with mice shows a compound called diethanolamine - DEA - an ingredient found in shampoo and many other products, robs the developing brain of memory cells.
Related links: http://www.nbc11.com/health/9633699/detail.html
http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=131538
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug06/zeiselDEA080306.htmA tale of 2 stories about anti-Semitism (Opinion column)
The Boston Globe
Two incidents occurred on July 28. Both took place on the West Coast; both involved an American venting his hostility to Jews. ... Just this year, for example, Mohammed Taheri-azar, a philosophy major at the University of North Carolina, deliberately rammed a car into a crowd of students, saying he wanted to ``avenge the death of Muslims around the world."
State & Local Coverage
N.C. waters getting cleaner
The Daily News (Jacksonville)
North Carolina had fewer bacteria-caused swimming advisories on the coast in 2005 than the previous year. ... The current water quality standards were based on epidemiological studies in which scientists documented illness in people who swam in front of effluent pipes that discharged different levels of bacteria into the water, said Rachel Noble, assistant professor of water quality of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City.
New law upsets teens
Eden Daily News
A new law that punishes underage drivers who use cell phones while driving has Eden teens questioning why they are being singled out. ... A 2002 study by the University of North Carolina's Highway Research Center estimates that at least 1,475 cell phone-related crashes happen annually in North Carolina. The study also found that cell phone-related crashes were less likely than non cell-phone-related crashes to result in fatalities.
Wikipedia makes it's presence known
WCHL-AM (Chapel Hill)
Not only has Wikipedia wiggled itself into American’s popular consciousness, it has real uses in the world of academia. That was UNC Professor of Information Technology Paul Jones. He praises Wikipedia as a starting point for research, but says like any encyclopedia, college students should be beyond using it as a source in a paper.
You don't know the Tar Heel toast?
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
... William S. Powell, history professor emeritus at UNC-Chapel Hill and an authority on N.C. history, explained the nickname in a 1982 article in Tar Heel magazine.
Related link: http://www.newsobserver.com/266/story/467998.htmlCrash kills UNC senior
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A UNC Chapel Hill senior from Charlotte with plans to become a nurse midwife and a wedding 10 months away was killed Saturday on Interstate 40 near Wilmington.
Issues & Trends
Ripping apart his nest (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Ask the average state lawmaker if North Carolina has outstanding public universities, and you'll get a resounding "yes." Most of them are products of the 16 campuses that make up the UNC system.
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.
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