December 3, 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:

Lean Plate Club: Step Away From the Buffet and No One Gets Hurt (Commentary)
The Washington Post 
Nutritional mischief. That's what can undermine healthy eating and exercise habits during 
the holidays -- unless you take steps now to counter it ... Move away from the food. That 
means the buffet table, platters of food and bowls of snacks. Stationing yourself near food 
makes eating simply too easy and mindless. "The nature of foods at this time of year 
becomes much, much richer," notes Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University 
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ... 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58447-2002Nov30.html

What's Normal? A Look at Asperger Syndrome (Book Review)
The New York Times
It was an exciting moment for me — and, I imagine, for other parents of children with 
the baffling neurological disorder called Asperger syndrome — when The New York 
Times Magazine published Lawrence Osborne's "Little Professor Syndrome" in June 
2000. ... The introduction approvingly quotes Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrician at the 
University of North Carolina, as saying, "We're pathologizing all human behavior, and 
in so doing we're creating an institutionalized nightmare — a truly mad system in which
everyone is `sick.' " ... 
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/03/health/children/03BOOK.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Israeli Icon Under Fire
The Chronicle of Higher Education
On the last day of October, a cavalcade of foreign dignitaries and Israeli officials joined 
hundreds of ordinary citizens making their way to the top of a plateau overlooking the 
Dead Sea ... He twists and distorts things," says Jodi Magness, a professor of early 
Judaism at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, who has excavated at 
Masada in recent years. ...
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v49/i15/15a01601.htm
(Note: To read a UNC news release about Magness' recent appointment, go to
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov02/magness112602.html. The Chronicle 
of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

Now That's a Dream Team
Fortune Magazine
The CEOs are down by ten and heading into foul trouble, but they're looking to make a 
big comeback in the fourth quarter ... At center we've got William Harrison, CEO of J.P. 
Morgan Chase--he played a little at the University of North Carolina ...
http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=210195

Cruises redefine getting sea sick
Palm Beach (Fla.) Post 
Stomach-flu outbreaks hit all-you-can-eat cruise ships. Time was when such headlines 
would be ignored -- chalked up to too many vodka martinis, a spoiled salad or 
seasickness. ... "The very fact the question has come up is a good thing because we need 
doctors, health care workers and especially the general public to be alert to these 
situations," said Dr. Bill Roper, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention in Atlanta from 1990 to 1993. ...
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/tuesday/news_d3ce23d4552a8171001e.html
(Note: Roper is dean of the School of Public Health.)

Music Pirates at the Naval Academy?
BusinessWeek Online
It's the most brazen crackdown on music file-sharing so far. On Nov. 21, the U.S. 
Naval Academy seized almost 100 computers from students suspected of downloading 
unauthorized copies of songs from the Internet. ... At the University of North Carolina 
at Chapel Hill, for example, if a student is found to have a copy of, say, the new James
Bond movie stored on the network, the university will remove it and notify the computer 
user. ...
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2002/tc20021127_2314.htm

$757,000 grant for AIDS research center in East Bay
Oakland Tribune
The University of California's systemwide AIDS research program awarded $757,000 to 
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley to create the East Bay AIDS Research 
Institute, the university announced last week. ... "Neuroblastoma is a peripheral nervous
system tumor in children," said Dr. Andrew Olshan, a professor at the University of North 
Carolina's School of Public Health, which conducted the study and recently released its 
findings. ...
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1726%257E1025192,00.html

Across-the-town insight into names and places in the news
The San Diego Union-Tribune
... Thousands of San Diegans have won master's degrees from San Diego State's business 
school since its founding in 1955. ... Cross-town rivalry looms for SDSU, as UCSD 
prepares to launch its new MBA program in 2004. Its incoming dean, Robert Sullivan, is 
a choice in the spirit of the mandate by UCSD's heretical founder, Roger Revelle, that the 
faculty "reinvent higher education." Sullivan comes from the University of North Carolina 
at Chapel Hill, where he built an MBA program that is delivered by business schools 
spread across five continents. 
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/morgan/20021201-9999_1m1morgan.html
(Note: To view this brief, go to the above url and scroll down the page.)

Current Regional Coverage

USC to narrow focus of research projects
The State (Columbia, S.C.)
To some officials at USC, the state's self-proclaimed flagship university has gone adrift 
over the years, becoming a rudderless vessel with no real direction ... Pastides and 
Sorensen say if all goes well, USC's biomedical program could be on the same level with 
UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia within a decade. ... 
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/4641040.htm

One More With Spirit
The Times Record (Fort Smith, Arkansas)
Americans may be going into stores with less cash in their pockets this year but more 
Christmas spirit in their hearts, according to a national consumer group. ... Earlier this year, 
a professor at the University of North Carolina published a report that stated a down turn 
in the economy actually improved the health of the nation. Heavy drinking, eating and 
smoking decline when the economy dips, the study reported. ...
http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2002/November/29/news/with_spirit.html

State and Local Coverage

Planetarium launching in new directions
Herald-Sun 
For more than half a century, UNC's Morehead Planetarium has taught the school children 
of North Carolina about the stars. But the planetarium is headed in a new direction these 
days. Officials hope to build upon its traditional foundation, the star theater, and open up 
an array of new scientific experiences to visitors ... The leader of the initiative is Holden 
Thorp, a chemistry professor who, last year, was named director of the renamed 
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. ...
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0401720244
(Note: The Herald-Sun requires free registration to access articles. To read a UNC news 
release about the upgrades, go to 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov02/starbeth111302.html)

Moeser contrite over deal 
The Herald-Sun
Contrite and solemn, UNC Chancellor James Moeser admitted Monday that the financial 
agreement he made with departing university attorney Susan Ehringhaus was an "error in 
judgment." ... 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-294642.html

Board scolds UNC leader 
News and Observer
University of North Carolina leaders Monday criticized the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor's 
"excessive and indefensible" financial settlement with his departing legal counsel ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1989903p-1935144c.html

Critics object to beach project
Charlotte Observer
Property owners who have watched waves lap at their doors and town officials worried 
about losing a valuable tax base to erosion are looking forward to a new, wider beach at 
Emerald Beach. ... Tursi cited the findings of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a 
University of North Carolina biologist that the populations of mole crabs and coquina 
clams were lowerafter sand was pumped onto the beach. ...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/4640548.htm

Study supports preschool programs
Fayetteville Observer
A study indicates that the type of early childhood education offered by Smart Start 
preschool programs helps poor families and saves taxpayers money. ... The study was 
conducted by Steven Barnett and Leonard Massey of Rutgers University and is based 
on the Abecedarian Early Childhood Project at UNC-Chapel Hill's child development 
institute. ...
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=news&Story=5308690

When Textile Factories Close, Communities Feel Pinch
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
When two Carolina Mills yarn-spinning plants closed last year in Ranlo, 250 people lost 
jobs. But the losses, according to Carolina Mills president Steve Dobbins, didn't stop there.
... Michael Luger, an economist at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan Flagler School of 
Business, said that's the heart of the bedroom community's dilemma. ...
http://www.wral.com/news/1812351/detail.html

End of a Southern company town
Charlotte Observer
This way, Bip Carstarphen says, motioning toward the back of his office, down the stairs 
to his parking lot, out the door to his town. He points past his car and up a hill that is Main 
Street ... "It had to do with economic pressures and keeping a loyal work force," says 
Jacquelyn Hall, a UNC Chapel Hill history professor and co-author of a book on mill
town culture. ...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/4640391.htm

String Master
Winston-Salem Journal
Early one morning in June 1925, three men carrying musical instruments walked through 
Spray Cotton Mill to collect their paychecks. ... "Doffing was a particularly dusty job," 
said Glenn Hinson, a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill. ... 
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/MGBT8FIF49D.html

Teens face driving curbs 
News and Observer
Cars crammed with teenagers will become more of a rarity on North Carolina's highways 
Sunday, when a new state law takes effect restricting the number of passengers young 
drivers may carry. ... According to the Highway Safety Research Center at the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, traffic accidents account for 40 percent 
of deaths between the ages of 15 and 19. "That just dwarfs any other cause," said 
Robert D. Foss, a research scientist with the center. ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1982134p-1930668c.html
(Note: The Raleigh Bureau of the Associated Press also distributed a story last 
weekend quoting Foss on the change. A UNC release on that subject is available by
clicking here.)

Showtime on the Back Porch
Chapel Hill News
The evening's shift did not get off to an especially auspicious start ... Crisis resolved, Freddy 
Jenkins was able to resume preparations for his usual Friday night shift as host of WUNC 
radio's popular "Back Porch Music" show ...
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/our_town/story/1980213p-1929373c.html

Health center offers gym’s features, UNC’s experts 
The Herald-Sun
To Pat Kropp, the new workout facility where she exercises is much more than just a gym. 
And that’s the point. Kropp is a member at The Wellness Center at Meadowmont, a new 
health facility operated by UNC that opened last week ... 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-294579.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Supreme Court to Revisit Colleges' Diversity Efforts
The New York Times
The decades-long wait for the Supreme Court to return to the heated topic of affirmative 
action in university admissions ended today when the justices announced that they would 
review two cases challenging the University of Michigan's consideration of race to ensure a 
diverse student body for its law school and undergraduate program. ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/03/politics/03AFFI.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Court tackles race, college admissions 
News & Observer
The Supreme Court said Monday that it would reconsider the use of race in college 
admissions, returning to the vexing issue for the first time in a generation ... Leaders of the 
16 campuses in the University of North Carolina system will watch the case closely. ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1989906p-1935195c.html

Jewish students rally to tell Israeli viewpoint 
News and Observer
Hanukkah celebrates a Jewish military victory long ago, but the eight-day festival, which 
begins tonight, may have a special appeal for a group of Jewish students in the Triangle. ... 
At Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill, Jewish students have stepped up their involvement in 
previously dormant pro-Israel organizations and are training new members to be better 
advocates for the Jewish state ... 
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1979711p-1929045c.html

Triad, state universities get few federal R&D dollars
Triad Business Journal 
Triad universities snared only $2.6 million of the $14 million in direct federal dollars — 
known as "earmarks" — that flowed to North Carolina colleges for research projects in 
2002. ... UNC-Chapel Hill received $7 million for six research projects, including studies 
of the environmental financing needs of small communities, the health effects of air pollution, 
and ways to improve logistics management for military and business operations. ... 
http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2002/11/25/story4.html

RTP transit link eyed 
News and Observer
Building a busway or rail line between Chapel Hill and Research Triangle Park would be 
expensive but feasible, and leaders from the western Triangle want to move ahead with a 
closer look at their options. 
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1974825p-1926106c.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