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Aug. 17, 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
Eat To Live: New obesity reports disturb
United Press International
Like the scientists warning of the dangers of global warming who are dismissed as emotional woolly liberals, those producing devastating predictions on the cost to personal health and government health budgets of obesity seem to be crying into the wilderness. ... Professor Barry Popkin from the University of North Carolina told the IAAE conference in Australia that the burden of obesity, and the illnesses it causes, are shifting from the rich to the poor in rural as well as urban areas across the globe.
Regional Coverage
A long-distance connection
Post Independent (Glenwood Springs, Colo.)
Tuesday night Leslie Robinson of Rifle had a phone conversation about the Colorado Minimum Wage, Amendment 42. ... Robinson participated in a statewide conference call that discussed the minimum-wage amendment with Edwards, who heads the Center of Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina.
Old subway cars become fish habitat
Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Penn.)
Did we know they were deep-sixing old New York City subway cars off New Jersey? ... In 2004, a University of North Carolina study found that more than three in four fish tested and sold as red snapper in eight states were actually other species.
State & Local Coverage
UNC professor lands $6.2M Kellogg grant
The Triangle Business Journal
A professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has scored a $6.2 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to research academic underachievement among minority boys. Oscar Barbarin, a distinguished professor at UNC's School of Social Work, will use the five-year grant to support the Promote Academic Success initiative, a project designed to implement and support partnerships among organizations such as Head Start, public schools and community agencies to bolster the academic and social development of minority males between the ages of 3 and 8.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug06/kellogg081606.htmFDA approves Hunter syndrome treatment after UNC-led trials
The Triangle Business Journal
Clinical trials led by an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant approval of the first treatment for Hunter disease, UNC announced Wednesday. Dr. Joseph Muenzer, an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UNC's School of Medicine, led the phase II and phase III trials that found that weekly infusions of idursulfase are effective in treating an enzyme deficiency in patients with Hunter syndrome.
UNC Health Care release: http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2006/Aug/idursulfaseCancer centers to join forces on project
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The V Foundation for Cancer Research announced a $1 million collaboration Thursday between Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. The foundation will award the four-year grant to a research project between Dr. Charles Perou of UNC and Dr. Joseph Nevins of Duke. Building on the prior work and advances at both institutions, their study will aim to individualize treatment for breast cancer patients.
Demolition of UNC's West House begins
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
With the crunch of wood and toppling of bricks, a tiny house caught in a tug of war between preservationists and UNC-Chapel Hill administrators began coming down Wednesday afternoon.
Animal shelter needn't rush off
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Orange County Animal Shelter can continue to operate off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on Carolina North property until the new shelter is built, university and county officials determined last week. In July, UNC-Chapel Hill told the county it might have to move the shelter sooner than the target date of September 2009 because the university is cleaning up an old chemical dump nearby.
Staph faces a stronger opponent
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
At long last, there is more than one drug that can knock out antibiotic-resistant staph -- one of the deadliest and most common types of bacterial infection. ... Such infections can kill 80 percent of patients if not treated properly, and clinicians are unwilling to take a risk on a medicine they aren't sure works as well as the standard therapy, said Dr. Peter Leone, an infectious disease doctor who practices at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. "
Luncheon on impact of Hispanic population
Pisgah Mountain News (Asheville)
The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, in conjunction with North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry and the North Carolina Bankers Association will hold a luncheon meeting Sept. 27 in Asheville to discuss the economic impact of North Carolina’s growing Hispanic population. ... John D. Kasarda and James H. Johnson Jr. of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise of the Kenan Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill produced the report.
Candidates downplay Black's effect on state elections
Rocky Mount Telegram
With N.C. House Speaker Jim Black fielding allegations of corruption, some are wondering how the controversy might affect elections across the state. ... "This seems to be the one thing they can get their hands on right now," said Thad Beyle, professor of political science at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
'Breaking down walls' target of UNC students' retreat
The Chapel Hill Herald
At UNC, James Jolley has found it easy to just interact with students who share his point of view. "It's hard to find reasons and times and places to get out of those comfort zones," said Jolley, a senior at the university.
Issues & Trends
Enough is enough (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Here are words no college student wants to hear: tuition hike. Yet in North Carolina, residents who attend state universities have heard it seven times in eight years. That's not only excessive, it's legally risky. A report released this week concluded that the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors has put the state in dutch by allowing steep, unpredictable tuition hikes.
A close look at UNC (Editorial)
The Greensboro News & Record
The University of North Carolina rates as one of the state's most important assets, but how it operates may be a mystery to most people. A five-year study by the private North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research sheds light on what's right and what's not about the state university system.
Improving food crops' nutritional value focus of lab
Kannapolis Independent Tribune
When David Murdock announced his vision for the North Carolina Research Campus, he did so with several partners standing with him. Two of them were former University of North Carolina system president Molly Corbett Broad and current system president Erskine Bowles.
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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