December 2, 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:

Clinical trials are suffering
The Los Angeles Times
Clinical trials are essential to medical progress -- they're the only way of testing whether new 
drugs, surgical techniques or experimental devices actually work. But researchers are finding 
it increasingly difficult to find volunteers. ... "This is really an indictment of medical research," 
said Dr. Giselle Corbie-Smith, co-author of the study published last week in the Archives of 
Internal Medicine. ... "We expected to see differences, but we didn't expect to see such high 
levels of distrust across the board," said Corbie-Smith, an assistant professor of medicine at
the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. ... 
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-trials2dec02.story
(Note: Corbie-Smith's study was the subject of a UNC news release, 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov02/corbie112002.html. 
The Los Angeles Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Academy a leader in attacking Web abuse
Baltimore Sun
With one bold stroke last week, the U.S. Naval Academy became a leader in the battle 
against college students who illegally swap music and movies over the Internet. ... The 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is regarded as having one of the toughest policies 
on Internet piracy. In 1998, a student was expelled. ... But the school has never resorted to 
taking away a computer as part of an investigation, said Jeanne Smythe, the university's 
director for computer policy. ...
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-ar.academy27.story
(Note: The Baltimore Sun requires free registration to access articles.)

Rosy Predictions Can't Erase Thorny Budget Problems 
The Washington Post 
Proving that anyone can be an economist, the cheery finance professor from the University 
of North Carolina reassured General Assembly leaders that Virginia was at the forefront of 
a national recovery from a year-long recession. All the signs say so, according to James F. 
Smith of Chapel Hill, who cited record levels of personal income, comparatively low 
unemployment, a robust housing market and a promising holiday shopping season. ... 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39200-2002Nov25.html

Phila. needs more supermarkets (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The recent protest over the proposed development of a McDonald's restaurant at Girard 
Avenue and 27th Street raises a perennial question: How can we attract more supermarkets 
to Philadelphia? ... These conclusions are reinforced by a University of North Carolina study 
published in this month's American Journal of Public Health. It found that people ate better 
when supermarkets were in their community. ...
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/opinion/local2/region/4621845.htm

Why Are Black Students Lagging?
The New York Times
The persistent academic gap between white and black students has touched off difficult and 
often ugly debates over the question why. Are racist stereotypes to blame? Substandard 
schools? ... Where Professor Ogbu found that some middle class blacks were clueless about 
their children's academic life, for example, Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, a sociology professor at 
the University of North Carolina, instead concluded that such parents were often excluded 
from the informal networks that white parents use for information about courses, gifted 
programs and testing. ... 
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/30/arts/30RACE.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

A risky crossing
Chicago Tribune
Crosswalks put the elderly in danger if the painted strips aren't accompanied by stop signs 
or signals to slow traffic, a new study finds. ... Especially on wide, busy streets, "as volume 
gets higher, there needs to be more than two lines of paint across the street to make for a 
safe crossing," said Charlie Zegeer, associate director of the Highway Safety Research 
Center at the University of North Carolina. ... 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/q/chi-0212010354dec01.story
(Note: The Chicago Tribune requires free registration to access articles.)

Mellon Foundation Honors 5 Humanities Scholars With $1.5-Million Awards
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has named five scholars as winners of Distinguished 
Achievement Awards. ... Susan Wolf, a professor of philosophy at the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill. ...
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/12/2002120205n.htm
(Note: To see a UNC news release about Wolf, go to 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov02/mellon112202.html. The Chronicle 
of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

National News Note

Bill Ferris, senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South, 
was featured on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition Sunday" for a four-part series 
about the best recordings yet to be released on compact disc. To listen to Ferris' comments, 
go to http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.jhtml?prgId=10&prgDate=12/01/2002 
and scroll down to "CD Wish List."

Current Regional Coverage

AIDS hitting South hard 
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Lowell Stafford often finds himself on Saturday nights in the Club Dejà Vu ... HIV infection 
and sexually transmitted diseases follow Interstate 95 along the East Coast, often showing up
in pockets near exits, said Peter Leone, a University of North Carolina health researcher. ...
http://www.timesdispatch.com/frontpage/MGBA1DXB69D.html

Tom Bank's story 
Mobile (Ala.) Register
The scar that runs across Tom Banks' left knee is a reminder -- some might even say a trophy 
-- of his days as a center for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League ... 
According to a survey requested by the NFL Players Association and conducted by the 
University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, more than 61 
percent of former NFL players had concussions during their playing days, most saying they 
were not sidelined after those injuries ... 
http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1038651420184190.xml

Survey finds split over emphasis on football in Alabama 
Mobile (Ala.) Register
A high number of Alabamians believe that coaches might jeopardize a player's safety to win 
a game, but half also think that sports are worth the risk of injury, a new poll indicates. ... Dr. 
Fred Mueller, who heads up the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury 
Research, based at the University of North Carolina, said, "Sometimes there are accidents 
that not too much could have been done to prevent." ...
http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1038478631260490.xml

State and Local Coverage

Duke, UNC ardently court black faculty, reach high rank 
News and Observer
Kerry Haynie, a political science professor who specializes in African-American and state 
politics, is in big demand. ... Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill were praised recently by the 
Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, which ranked Duke first and Carolina sixth among 
leading universities in the overall integration of African-Americans on campus. ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1985881p-1932586c.html

Criteria to measure Carolina education 
The Herald-Sun 
UNC officials are close to finishing a master list of criteria that they'll use to compare Carolina 
with its peer institutions. The effort, announced by Chancellor James Moeser during his State 
of the University address earlier this year, is a way of measuring the quality of a Carolina 
education. ...
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0401720200
(Note: The Herald-Sun requires free registration to access archives.)

Measurement criteria fall short (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun
UNC’s quest to compare itself to the country’s other high-caliber public universities is about to
go into high gear, as officials finish setting out the criteria they’ll use to further the effort. ...
http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/chhedits/57-293640.html

Uncommon spaces: UNC to expand arts 
The Herald-Sun
If you ask Gerald Bolas his thoughts on the new Arts Common being developed in the 
northwestern corner of UNC’s central campus, you’d best bring a comfortable chair. It may
take a while. As director of the Ackland Art Museum, Bolas is one of several key players in 
the long-term development of that section of campus ...
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-294227.html

Still a sour taste (Editorial)
News and Observer
Oh, now we get it. Everybody was in a tizzy about nothing over yonder at Chapel Hill. All along, 
Chancellor James Moeser's $376,000 deal with outgoing university counsel Susan Ehringhaus 
was to be paid with private money. ...
http://newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1979656p-1929099c.html

UNC Employee Forum push for presence on trustees board stalls
Chapel Hill Herald 
Continuing efforts by UNC's Employee Forum to win some sort of representation on the 
university's Board of Trustees don't appear to be making much headway. The issue wasn't 
addressed directly by the board during its most recent meeting last week, and forum Chairman 
Tommy Griffin didn't speak publicly about it during the session. ...
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0401720205
(Note: The Herald-Sun requires free registration to access archives.)

Open-minded medicine (Editorial)
News and Observer
Generally speaking, disease doesn't discriminate by race or gender. Some medical professionals 
do, unfortunately, when they fail to include adequate numbers of African-Americans or women 
in research studies. It's satisfying to see a corrective push coming from UNC-Chapel Hill. ... It's 
encouraging that UNC's School of Public Health and the GlaxoSmithKline Foundation have 
developed a program called Ethnicity, Culture and Health Outcomes ...
http://newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1987665p-1933699c.html

Group taps into service mind-set (Question and Answer)
News and Observer
With 50 alumni in the Peace Corps, UNC-Chapel Hill is 10th among the nation's colleges and 
universities sending volunteers off to foreign lands for two-year stints with the 41-year-old 
organization. This fall, the corps opened its first recruiting office, with two part-time recruiters, 
on the Chapel Hill campus, one of 40 such sites nationwide. ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1987873p-1933758c.html
(Note: Badi Bradley, a graduate student in city and regional planning, is a 
UNC Peace Corps recruiter.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

A Brand New Start for College Athletics 
The Washington Post
For a philosopher who specializes in analytical metaphysics, Myles Brand knows more than 
most about the passion invested in college sports. ... The same issues have long troubled 
William C. Friday, former president of the University of North Carolina and a leader of the 
Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. ... 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58582-2002Nov30.html

Governors aim to take lead on education 
The Herald-Sun
Although they delivered it with different accents, the common message from governors gathered in 
town on Sunday was that public education must continue to improve, and that governors should lead 
the way. ... The James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy is hosting the 
conference in Chapel Hill as its inaugural event. The institute, which Hunt founded about two years ago
in his fourth term as governor, is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the UNC system. ...
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-294295.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