December 13, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina 
people and programs cited recently in the national media:

In Vast Expansion of the European Union, Pluses but Also Perils Lie Ahead
The New York Times
No one questions that this is a historic moment: Not quite all of Europe, but 
most of it from the Atlantic Ocean to the Russian border, is all but certain to 
agree this week in Copenhagen to fulfill a decades-long dream and fuse itself 
into a single entity in the name of peace and prosperity. ... "You don't want 
countries getting in that are angry, or unnecessarily angry," said Milada Anna 
Vachudova, a professor at the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill. ... 
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/international/europe/13EURO.html

The Georgia students on this recruiter's mind
The Christian Science Monitor 
Bustling beneath a sculpture of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee carved 
into a nearby hill, the little town of Stone Mountain is a testament to the New 
South's growing black middle class. ... "Flagship universities like ours have a 
broader social responsibility, and that is to create leaders for all the 
communities in our state," says Gene Nichol, dean of the University of North 
Carolina's law school. ... 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1213/p03s01-usju.html

Rockville biotech OK'd for schizophrenia drug
The (Md.) Business Gazette
Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc. and its partner, pharmaceutical giant 
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., have entered the multibillion-dollar market for 
drugs to treat schizophrenia. ... "Abilify represents an important new treatment 
for schizophrenia," said Jeffrey Lieberman, a professor of psychiatry and 
pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ... 
http://www.gazette.net/200250/business/news/135304-1.html

Health care: Success or demographic nightmare?
Harvard Gazette (university publication at Harvard University)
An aging global population presents a demographic nightmare that will have 
fewer working young people supporting larger numbers of retirees, raising the 
specter of fiscal deficits, economic stagnation, and a decline in the global 
position of today's Western powers. ... Last week, Paul Hewitt of the Global 
Aging Institute at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 
Washington, D.C., and Victor Marshall, director of the University of North 
Carolina Institute on Aging, presented their contrasting views of the future. ... 
http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/12.05/13-aging.html
(Note: This story also included a color photo of Marshall.)

North Carolina News Note

David Weber, professor of epidemiology in the School of Public 
Health and professor of medicine and pediatrics in the School of 
Medicine, was interviewed yesterday on WPTF-AM (680 AM) about 
the concerns and threats of smallpox. No online links are available. Weber 
was also interviewed by WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh) and is expected to 
appear in a story airing today during the early evening newscast.

State and Local Coverage

Furniture sales may turn around
High Point Enterprise
The home furnishings industry received a big sign Thursday that its 21/2-year 
retail sales slump finally may be breaking. ... "It's nice to hear once in a while 
that an economic forecast becomes outdated so quickly in a positive way," 
said James Smith, a senior fellow and director at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for Business Forecasting. ...
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6374962&BRD=1332&PAG=461&dept_id=414366&rfi=6

A day of honor, recuperation 
News and Observer
Peachee Wicker chuckles in her typical wry way when she mentions that the 
Orange County commissioners designated today, Friday the 13th, Jake 
Wicker Day. Her husband, W. Jake Wicker, 79, recognized by county 
officials for 47 years of service with the UNC Institute of Government, 
was unable to attend the ceremony Tuesday night. ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/2018924p-1952497c.html
(Note: A related story appeared in The Herald-Sun,
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-298616.html)

N.C. gets $215,000 in arts grants
Triangle Business Journal
North Carolina will receive $215,000 in grants to support community arts 
programs across the state - including several in the Triangle, according to 
U.S. Sen. John Edwards' office. ... The University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill will get $25,000 to develop a museum exhibition examining how 
spirituality has been expressed in contemporary art. ...
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2002/12/09/daily64.html

UNC School of Public Health receives $621,451 grant
Triangle Business Journal
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health has 
received a federal grant to develop, implement and evaluate computer-based 
education programs for prenatal patients about genetic carrier testing. 
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2002/12/09/daily61.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Holding the line (Editorial)
News and Observer
If any institution in North Carolina can be said to have had a monumental 
influence on the state's proud, progressive tradition, it is the public university 
system. ... 
http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/2018625p-1952327c.html

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, 
please call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, 
(919) 962-2091 or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu