December 6, 2004

Carolina in the News

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

National Coverage

Debate brews over pre-empting state laws on subprime lending
USA Today
Subprime lenders and bond firms say a recent rash of state laws against predatory lending has increased their costs, made it impossible to operate in some areas and dried up lending to the most in need: consumers with the worst credit. ... A 2003 study by the University of North Carolina showed that the number of loans carrying penalties if they were repaid within the first three years dropped 72% after the state predatory-lending law took effect, while rising in nearby states.

College parents just can't let go
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
They're known as "helicopter" parents, a moniker for moms and dads who hover -- even when their offspring reach college age. ... But there can be too much of a good thing, according to Helen Johnson, who managed parent programs at Cornell University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

State & Local Coverage

Carolina Covenant gets $900,000 gift
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Carolina Covenant continues to reel in the bucks. Months after a big commitment from Pepsi, the new, high-profile UNC student aid program has landed another big fish -- a $900,000 donation from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.
(UNC news release)

Journalism veteran has learned by teaching (Question and Answer)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Chuck Stone will retire as a full-time faculty member next year after 13 years at UNC-Chapel Hill. Stone, the Walter Spearman Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, was the first black columnist and senior editor at the Philadelphia Daily News.
(Note: Additional coverage included News 14 Carolina (Time-Warner, Raleigh))

Herald-Sun to get Kentucky owner
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Herald-Sun of Durham, which has been owned by the Rollins family for 109 years, is switching to a new family. ... When Paxton acquired the Forest City Daily Courier in 1998, it kept management in place and didn't cut jobs, though it did raise advertising and subscription prices, said Jock Lauterer, a journalism lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
(Note: WUNC-FM also reported on the sale of The Herald-Sun and featured comments from Richard Cole, dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. This story aired on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.)

UNC law school courts Edwards
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The UNC law school is courting U.S. Sen. John Edwards, hoping that Edwards will consider teaching now that his campaigning days and his Senate career are ending.

Districts back on agenda
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The hottest topic in Clayton politics -- race-based election districts -- will be on the agenda again when the Town Council meets Monday. UNC-Chapel Hill professor David M. Lawrence of the Institute of Government said not to expect any firebombs.

Graduations set at Triangle campuses
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
December brings the end of the calendar year and -- for some students -- the end of their college careers. ... UNC-CHAPEL HILL ... SPEAKER: George Lensing, English professor and director of the Office of Distinguished Scholarships

Pink tickets just for students
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
At Woodstock, it was "don't take the brown acid." The advice for those looking to score seats at a North Carolina basketball game is, "Don't buy the pink tickets." Unless you're a current student at UNC with a valid student ID, you can't get into the Dean E. Smith Center with one of those pastel passes, no matter how much you paid that stranger in the parking lot for it.

Workers vent in Chapel Hill
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
For years, public employees in this college town have disrupted meetings, marched and shouted from megaphones to protest what they see as poor working conditions and low pay. To hear them tell it Saturday, their efforts haven't done nearly enough for those on the lower and middle rungs of the employment ladder at UNC-Chapel Hill or at Town Hall.
(Note: A similar article in The Herald-Sun)

Group looks to plates for aid
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The struggle to put more Hispanic students through college has been going on for years. Now, a Latino advocacy group in Raleigh may have hit on a simple solution: license plates. ... Most popular specialized plates: UNC-Chapel Hill: 4,950

At UNC, curriculum goes to the high bidder (Letter to the Editor)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Controversy over the Pope Foundation's proposed funding of a curriculum at UNC-Chapel Hill shows that some faculty and students are predictably naïve about money matters as they while away their time in the Ivory Tower.

Issues & Trends

A College President Goes Back to School
Weekend Edition (National Public Radio)
Roger Martin, president of Randolph-Macon College and a cancer survivor, is enrolled as a freshman at St. John's College in Annapolis, Md. Martin, 61, says he's learning things about campus life that he can use in his administrative role -- including some lessons that are humbling.

Holding sway on the campuses (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Boston Globe
I like the old maxim that academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small. How else to explain the intramural conflicts that erupt over such searing campus issues as tenure and parking?

A gift's ideology (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
N.C. State University should refuse the $4 million gift of land from Edward Gore Sr. (news story, Nov. 24). What kind of message does it send for a state university to destroy coastal habitat in order to finance environmental studies?

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/newsserv/clipsindex.htm.

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