Aug. 25, 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

Laser surgery saves twins' lives
United Press International
A new laser surgery is being used to save the lives of identical twins suffering from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, or TTTS. ... Dr. Anthony Johnson, a high-risk pregnancy specialist at the University of North Carolina Children's Hospital, said the only hope of saving both twins' lives is a new laser surgery to correct the blood flow between the twins.

Obesity a weight issue (Opinion column)
The Winnipeg Sun (Canada)
It's a bizarre world. Even as starvation claims 25,000 people a day around the globe, according to UN statistics, it turns out that worldwide, more people are overweight than undernourished. About 800 million people around the world lack enough food, but a little more than a billion are now overweight or obese, professor Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina told a meeting of the International Association of Agricultural Economists.

National Coverage

“Out of Control: AIDS in Black America”
ABC News
As the world marked the 25th anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS this summer, one important story was mostly ignored: AIDS is an epidemic in the African American community and it's spreading fast. ... Rates of all sexually transmitted diseases are higher among African Americans than other groups, and once those rates start to rise, says Dr. Jim Thomas of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Note: Dr. Adaora A. Adimora, from the Division of Infectious Diseases in the School of Medicine; and Dr. Jim Thomas from the School of Public Health, were featured on yesterday's (Aug. 24) edition of "Out of Control: AIDS in Black America." To view video, click here: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2348370

At International AIDS Conference, Big Names Emphasize Big Gaps
Science Magazine
When Bill and Melinda Gates gave the keynote speech here at the XVI International AIDS Conference, it signaled that this mega, biannual meeting had evolved far from its roots as the premier gathering for researchers to swap their latest scientific findings. ... This is a tremendous drug," said Joseph Eron, a clinician at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who has patients in the study.

Regional Coverage

Vet school dean takes UNC job
Columbia Daily Tribune
Joe Kornegay, dean of the University of Missouri-Columbia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, is resigning effective Oct. 16 to accept a research position at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Field of green
The Baltimore Sun
When a new bank branch opens in the Twin Cities, it's possible that along with balloons and giveaway pens, customers will be greeted by Goldy the Gopher, the University of Minnesota mascot. ... "It's something that many universities struggle with because no one has enough money," said Jan Boxill, a senior lecturer and director of the Parr Center for Ethics at the University of North Carolina who has written a book on sports ethics.

Test pending on football player's death
The Record-Searchlight (Redding, Calif.)
It may be months before family and friends know how and why 16-year-old Willows football player Brian Parks died. ... There were eight high school fatalities in 2005 indirectly related to football, the University of North Carolina's National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research reported.

Festival allows participants to bite into summer
The Roanoke Times (Va.)
Slicing, sauce, salad. Cherokee purple, red Brandywine, Nebraska wedding. ... So he grows several hybrids developed by University of North Carolina horticulture professor Randy Gardner to do well in this climate.

State & Local Coverage

Campus green vision is urged
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When it comes to planning Carolina North, some Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents want the UNC-Chapel Hill trustees to think less like corporate CEOs and more like visionaries. Members of the Chapel Hill and Carrboro delegations to the Carolina North Leadership Advisory Committee -- a group brought together to develop guiding principles for the research campus' development -- asked university leaders Thursday to preserve "in perpetuity" 75 percent of the more than 900-acre tract where the campus will be built.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug06/cnorthadvance081706.htm

Leaders disagree about Carolina North open space
The Chapel Hill Herald
Leaders from UNC, Chapel Hill and Carrboro butted heads on Thursday over how much of Carolina North should be permanently reserved for open space.

Graham County's records policy disputed
The Associated Press (N.C.)
A Graham County man seeking copies of county budget and salary records was surprised to learn of a new policy that gives the government up to 30 days to comply with such requests. ... David Lawrence, a professor of public law and government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said some counties and municipalities establish public records policies as a way of laying out how such requests will be fulfilled.

Official sued for blocking injury settlement
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom is being sued on grounds that she allegedly imposed an unconstitutional Medicaid lien on $75,000 owed to an 11-year-old Durham girl injured in a motorcycle accident. ... The University of North Carolina's School of Government analyzed the Ahlborn decision in a bulletin earlier this year.

Food stamp use up
Rocky Mount Telegram
The number of people in Edgecombe County on food stamps rose by more than 700 over the past year and a half, putting the county at eighth in the state overall in terms of participation. ... Arne Kalleberg, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a fellow at the Carolina Population Center, concurred.

UNC grad in segregated cast
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It's no surprise that a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate is part of the new cast of "Survivor." The surprise is that her white skin is central to the reality show's gimmick.

Flags at UNC Health (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A petition raises this issue: Has the publicly supported UNC Health Care System taken steps toward economic efficiency that are hurting the poor who seek medical care? With that question in mind, Erskine Bowles, president of the University of North Carolina system, has responded with due concern.

Director selected for N.C. Hillel
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Joshua Blumenthal has been named executive director of N.C. Hillel, a student organization that strives to create an environment in which Jewish life will thrive and enrich the experience of the students, staff and faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill and other campuses throughout the state.

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.

Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.