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Aug. 15, 2006
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Overweight now outnumber under-fed around the world
The Times (London)
There are now more overweight people in the world than those who have to go hungry, a conference of experts in Australia has heard. ... Barry Popkin, a professor at the University of North Carolina, said that the world’s slide into obesity has happened with dramatic speed.
Related link: http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20128210-949,00.htmlOverweight 'top world's hungry'
BBC News (United Kingdom)
There are now more overweight people across the world than hungry ones, according to experts. US professor Barry Popkin said all countries - both rich and poor - had failed to address the obesity boom. ... Professor Popkin, from the University of North Carolina, said that the change had happened quickly as obesity was rapidly spreading, while hunger was slowly declining among the world's 6.5bn population.
Related link: http://english.people.com.cn/200608/15/eng20060815_293120.htmlVLJs: The rise of the hub busters
domain-b.com
A buoyant global economy, and a overstretched hub-based aviation sector, are seeing the rise of alternative forms of business travel for . The VLJ answers many such needs. ... Research by John Kasarda, a professor at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, and as quoted in an article (Rise of the Aerotropolis, Fast Company, July 2006), would show that in the last 30 years global GDP has risen 154 per cent, and the value of world trade has grown 355 per cent.
National Coverage
25 New Ivies
Newsweek
You could call it a classic case of supply meeting demand. ... If a moviemaker needs an idyllic setting for a film about college life, Chapel Hill might be just the place. Elegant buildings, many in Greek Revival style, dot the lush campus filled with dogwoods and azaleas. For a prestigious public university, the atmosphere is relaxed, many students say. "It's a combination of absolutely first-rate academics and a wonderful sort of collaborative, low-key culture," says Stephen Farmer, director of undergraduate admissions.
UNC mention: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14325172/page/7/
Kaplan news release: http://sev.prnewswire.com/publishing-information-services/20060814/NYM11614082006-1.htmlEar Infection? Think Twice Before Inserting a Tube
The New York Times
When my sons were preschoolers in the early 70’s, ear tubes were all the rage for children with recurring ear infections. ... For example, in a four-year study of 83 children primarily from low-income families, Joanne E. Roberts and colleagues from the University of North Carolina found “no evidence of a significant relationship between a history of O.M.E. or hearing loss and children’s later academic skills in reading or word recognition during the early elementary school years.”
Smart sporting key to safer student athletes
The Associated Press (National)
It's that time of year: Kids hit the sports fields running, and often hobble back off. ... University of North Carolina scientists tracked 22 years of high school sports to conclude that about one student athlete out of every 100,000 players suffers a severe, occasionally fatal, injury or illness.
Competition in the Triangle
BusinessWeek
North Carolina's Research Triangle Park was way ahead of its time at its conception 50 years ago. The idea: Have businesspeople chip in to buy a big piece of land—between Duke University in Durham, North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—to be managed by a nonprofit agency.
Regional Coverage
Cuban finances exposé site, short-sells firms it reported
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)
Mark Cuban is pushing the envelope once again, but this time it has nothing to do with his courtside conduct or his criticism of NBA officials. ... "I am bothered by Cuban's actions because it gives the impression that people involved in business journalism are out to make a buck by playing the market with the information we possess, and if people think that, then we lose all credibility," said Chris Roush, a former business reporter who teaches journalism and heads up the Carolina Business News Initiative at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Sweet overload: New light shed on fructose-corn syrup
The Denver Post (Colo.)
If it were cast in a Hollywood movie today, high-fructose corn syrup might well be starring as a suspect set free for lack of evidence. ... "Right now we're concerned about all caloric sweeteners," says University of North Carolina nutrition professor Barry M. Popkin.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/healthybeverage030806.htmTechnology ‘like the Enterprise’
The Gwinnet Daily Post (Lawrenceville, Ga.)
The wall-mounted mechanical pencil sharpener, a mainstay of classrooms for decades, sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the new technology in one of Georgia Gwinnett College’s new lecture halls. ... A number of similar text messaging features have been implemented at other schools, such as Montclair State University in New Jersey or the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. But GGC is looking to push the envelope a little farther.
Battle for the U.S. House
Media General News Service
For 16 years, voters in the hazy mountains of North Carolina's western tip have returned conservative Republican Rep. Charles Taylor to Congress. ... "To a certain extent, 2006 has a 1994 feel to it," said Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Southern Politics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Triggering interest
The Washington Times
College students have organized clubs on dozens of campuses to defend their Second Amendment rights -- and to have fun with guns. ... At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dax Dixson founded the Tar Heel Rifle and Pistol Club. He said he thought fellow students would benefit from shooting, a skill he started learning before elementary school.
State & Local Coverage
UNC Chapel Hill, Davidson College dubbed 'new Ivies'
The Charlotte Observer
Davidson College and UNC Chapel Hill can add a new superlative to their résumés: Newsweek has dubbed them two of the nation's "new Ivies." ... The opening line of UNC's citation said its Chapel Hill location could be the perfect setting for a film about college life. UNC also was one of only four public universities included on the list.
Russian baby boomers of 'Sputnik Generation' tell their stories
The Outerbanks Sentinel
Candid interviews with eight Russian baby boomers are the subject of a new book by Dr. Donald J. Raleigh, a historian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The four men and four women featured in "Russia's Sputnik Generation: Soviet Baby Boomers Talk about Their Lives" (Indiana University Press, 2006) were first-graders in 1957, the year the Soviet Union launched its first Sputnik satellite.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug06/russiabook080406.htmChasing Crusoe
"The State of Things," WUNC-FM
University of North Carolina professor Rich Beckman was featured on today's (Aug. 15) edition of "The State of Things." Three hundred years ago Alexander Selkirk opted to be marooned on an island rather than endure his English captain. His four-year long adventure inspired the classic novel Robinson Crusoe. Last spring a group of students from UNC-Chapel Hill returned to the island, four hundred miles off the coast of Chile, to document the legacy of Robinson Crusoe. Prof. Rich Beckman and graduate student Jay Heinz talk about the project.
Note: "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and 6 a.m. on Saturdays.Pedicabs start service Wednesday
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Greenway Pedicabs will formally celebrate the opening of its operations with a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. Wednesday outside the Carolina Inn at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Troupe conveys message in a big way
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
How many puppeteers does it take to put a 25-foot-tall Buddha in the lotus position? That would be five. ... The big Buddha appears in the Paperhand Puppet Intervention's new production, which opens this weekend at Forest Theatre, the outdoor stone amphitheater at UNC-Chapel Hill.
The New World Festival of the Arts celebrates 25 years
The Outerbanks Sentinel
Celebrating its 25th year, The New World Festival of the Arts will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 16, and Thursday, Aug. 17, on the waterfront in downtown Manteo. ... Most recently he collaborated with the University of North Carolina's Center for Craft, Creativity and Design to develop an educational exhibition, publication and CD-ROM resource promoting more creative design solutions for transportation projects.
Issues & Trends
Surging UNC tuition may risk lawsuits
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Public university tuition has spiked so dramatically in recent years that UNC leaders are inviting a lawsuit, according to a new, wide-ranging analysis of how the UNC system is governed.
Related link: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/15275611.htmCenter: UNC changes are needed
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The UNC Board of Governors' decision to increase tuition in seven of the past eight years could violate the state constitution and could invite a lawsuit, a new report warns. The report, by the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research, also recommends that the state governor, and not legislators, choose members of UNC's Board of Governors, and that the university system improve its long-term planning and oversight of athletics.
Related link: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/15275577.htmCoastal students top UNC transfer study
The Daily News (Jacksonville)
Students who complete their associate’s degrees at Coastal Carolina Community College and transfer to four-year institutions in North Carolina outperform students from the 57 other North Carolina community colleges and University of North Carolina natives, according to the 2004-2005 Transfer Student Performance Report from the UNC-General Administration.
2 law schools open this month in N.C.
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Legal education in North Carolina will take an innovative turn this month with the opening of two urban law schools in Greensboro and Charlotte. ... Applications for law school dipped slightly in the past year, said Jack Boger, dean of the law school at UNC Chapel Hill.
Related link: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/15272248.htmKannapolis, county talk money for research campus
Kannapolis Independent
The City of Kannapolis made a case Monday evening to Cabarrus County commissioners on self-financing bonds as a way to pay for improvements around the site of the future North Carolina Research Campus. ... This will include space for laboratories from North Carolina State University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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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