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Aug. 22, 2006Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Climate change will curb global surge in fat people
The Record (Ontario, Canada)
Being fat is the new normal, but it won't last. ... "Obesity is the norm globally, and under-nutrition, while still important in a few countries and in (certain groups) in many others, is no longer the dominant disease," said Dr.. Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina this week at a conference in Queensland, Australia.
National Coverage
Planets Askew in the Heavens, and Here on Earth, a Mess
The New York Times
Uncle Wes bought a solar system mobile for my daughter’s fourth birthday this spring. ... “What happens when we find a pluton on a pluton?” asked Allen F. Glazner of the University of North Carolina.
Maybew we are different: New book argues female brain wired to nurture
USA Today
Being a woman, says neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine, is like having giant, invisible antennae that reach out into the world, constantly aware of the emotions and needs of those around you. ... But while sex-based differences are clearly present, David Rubinow, chairman of the department of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says those differences don't exclude the effect of non-sex-related factors involving biology, culture or the environment.
Group pushing for restrictions on teenage driving
The Associated Press (National)
A national expert on teenage drivers thinks it's time Kansas puts the brakes on 16-year-olds getting full privileges on the road. "The way we have done it, we walk them up to the edge of the pool, shove them in and hope they survive," said Robert Foss, director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.
Related link: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/aug/21/safety_experts_state_drivers_license_age_too_low/A+ College Real Estate
Forbes
For students, the mention of college conjures images of sprawling quads, crowded libraries and all-night parties. ... Rhonda Butler, sales manager at Fonville Morisey Realty's Chapel Hill, N.C., office, near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, breaks down a local example.
Regional Coverage
Fat Clock says it's time to watch our weight
The Sacramento Bee
Actress Kirstie Alley, one-time star of the Showtime comedy series "Fat Actress," may have lost 65 pounds thanks to Jenny Craig, but thanks to the rest of America, the Fat Clock is piling up poundage. ... "Obesity is the norm globally, and undernutrition, while still important in a few countries and in targeted populations in many others, is no longer the dominant disease," professor Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina told a conference in Australia.
Related links: http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/08/22/100liv_d1smoots001.cfmPrescription drugs tailored to your genes
The Oakland Tribune
Race and ancestry can help explain risk factors for diseases and lead to better treatments, but making generalizations is dangerous, scientists said at a national conference on genomics, race and health disparities on Friday. ... The study points out that children don't have an even playing field when they are prescribed medications. Yet development of drugs for anyone except white Europeans has been slow, said Howard McLeod, director of the Institute for Pharmacogenomics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Pentagon official's contract at Texas university is focus of inquiry
The Austin American-Statesman (Texas)
Federal authorities and the University of North Texas are investigating the school's contract with a Pentagon official who claimed a $310,000 university salary last year but didn't do any work for the school. ... Officials at two other universities, George Washington University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said they discussed with Schafer the possibility of such an agreement in 2004.
Mesaba Airlines contract talks stalled
The Detroit News
Mesaba Airlines, the regional carrier for Northwest Airlines, is in a stalemate with its workers over $17 million in wage and benefit concessions the company says it needs to emerge from bankruptcy court. ... John D. Kasarda, distinguished professor of management at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagier Business School and an expert on airline infrastructure, said the groups don't have much to lose, because of the extent pay and benefits have deteriorated in the industry in the past 10 years or so.
Accentuate the positive
The Arizona Republic
Bad news seems to be everywhere. ... In a study begun months before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Barbara L. Fredrickson, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that people identified as being resilient and optimistic before the tragedy were half as likely to suffer depression afterward as those more pessimistic by nature.
Scientists invent cavity fighting candy
WNDU-TV (South Bend, Ind.)
Imagine being told by your dentist to eat more candy. For some, it sounds like a dream come true. ... "There are a number of foods that have this quality that are what we called anticariogenic," explained William Vann, DDS from the University of North Carolina.
State & Local Coverage
Police check parties as students return to Chapel Hill
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
For some students returning to UNC over the weekend, party cheers turned to tears in beers as police scooped up underage lawbreakers.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/factsheets/b2s_fall2006.htmLocal news briefs: UNC professor gets $6.2M grant
The Chapel Hill Herald
A UNC social work professor has received a $6.2 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to develop and analyze ways to combat academic underachievement problems for minority boys.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug06/kellogg081606.htmAward to support pain study
The Chapel Hill News
Miranda van Tilburg, an assistant professor in the School of Medicine's Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, has received a $499,230 award from the National Institutes of Health's Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research Program.
UNC news brief: http://www.unc.edu/news/briefs/2006/081406.htmDentistry school receives award
The Chapel Hill News
The UNC School of Dentistry has received the 2006 Leadership Award from the N.C. Health Careers Access Program (NC-HCAP). The award recognizes the school's efforts to recruit, admit, retain and graduate underrepresented minority students.
UNC news brief: http://www.unc.edu/news/briefs/2006/081006.htmNurses group taps professor
The Chapel Hill News
Susan Foley Pierce, a professor in the School of Nursing, has been elected secretary of the American Nurses Association. Pierce, who will serve a two-year term, was elected in June.
UNC news brief: http://www.unc.edu/news/briefs/2006/081406.htmQuiet veteran of WWII battle
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A braggart would have told you that in World War II he drove the first American armored vehicle across the bridge at Remagen. Or that those big oaks on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus were once acorns in his palm. ... In 1958, Dunsmore's landscaping prowess brought him to UNC-Chapel Hill to oversee the leafy campus grounds. This included the Morehead Planetarium's well-known rose bushes.
A daffy decision on Pluto (Question-answer)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Some astronomers say Pluto is too small and peculiar to be considered a planet. But last week a committee of the International Astronomical Union recommended not only keeping Pluto's planethood but also granting the status to three more worlds. Wayne Christiansen, professor of astronomy and director of the Morehead Observatory at UNC-Chapel Hill, thinks this is a bad idea.
Is car-free possible? (Opinion-editorial column)
The Chapel Hill News
I try to go car-free, but I'm not a prompt person, so it's hard. There are bus schedules to meet and then there's that matter of leaving 10 minutes earlier to bike the mile or two to the places I could drive to in three minutes. ... Ernie Patterson of the UNC Employee Association noted in a recent newspaper article on his choice to go car-free every day, that some of his lower income co-workers spend as much as 10 percent of their income on transportation.
Where there's a will, there's a fray (Opinion-editorial column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In 1920, Maggie Ross, the richest woman in Union County, N.C., died. Neither she nor her older sister Sallie, who died in 1909, ever married or had children. ... (Kenneth R. Janken teaches Afro-American studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. His biography, "Walter White: Mr. NAACP," is just out in paperback.
Petitioners worry about accessibility of UNC Hospitals
The Chapel Hill Herald
Local General Assembly members say the idea of using legislation to remedy concerns raised over access to care at UNC Hospitals is premature. ... Karen McCall, vice president of marketing and public affairs for UNC Healthcare, is a member of the coalition that presented the petition. She said the hospital has tried to respond to issues raised when the coalition met with officials in the past.
Issues & Trends
Rank Colleges, but Rank Them Right
The New York Times
Early this morning, U.S. News & World Report will send e-mail messages to hundreds of college administrators, giving them an advance peek at the magazine’s annual college ranking. They will find out whether Princeton will be at the top of the list for the seventh straight year, whether Emory can break into the top 15 and where their own university ranks. The administrators must agree to keep the information to themselves until Friday at midnight, when the list goes live on the U.S. News Web site, but the e-mail message gives them a couple of days to prepare a response.
Biotech campus has tenant
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Billionaire David H. Murdock named the first tenant of a research campus that's expected to help revive this former textile town, signalling that the massive project is moving ahead despite questions about its public financing. ... The first building on the campus is the 311,000-square-foot David H. Murdock Core Lab, which will have specialty equipment, lab space and temporary homes for researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and N.C. State University. Duke University also intends to occupy a building on the campus.
Related link: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/15326976.htmBioMarker Group to be first tenant in research campus
The Winston-Salem Journal
Officials at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis said yesterday that the BioMarker Group, a Winston-Salem company that markets a blood test for diabetes, will be the first tenant in the research campus.
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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