Dec. 1, 2005

Carolina in the News

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

National Coverage

US Set to Carry Out 1, 000th Execution This Week
Reuters
The United States is virtually certain this week to execute its 1,000th prisoner since 1977 with two inmates scheduled to die by lethal injection in North Carolina and South Carolina, where they are unlikely to be granted clemency, experts said on Wednesday. ...Death-penalty experts said North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley is unlikely to spare Kenneth Boyd, who is scheduled to die on Friday for killing his estranged wife and her father in 1988 in front of his children. "He's not one to limit these sorts of things," said University of North Carolina political science professor Thad Beyle.

Regional Coverage

Runway may put SBIA in flight path for new jobs
The San Bernadino Sun
It took 262,000 tons of concrete, 21 months and $35 million to rebuild the 10,000-foot runway at San Bernardino International Airport. ... John D. Kasarda, a transportation specialist at the University of North Carolina, said that without the new runway, SBIA "had little to no prospect of attracting passenger or air cargo."

State & Local Coverage

New Memorial Hall takes in $850,000
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
So far, UNC-Chapel Hill's newly renovated Memorial Hall is a hit. The venue has passed $850,000 in ticket sales for its 2005-06 season, well on the way to reaching its budgeted $1 million in sales, said Emil Kang, the university's executive director for the arts. The figure includes sales for shows already passed as well as advance sales for shows later this season.

Hurricane Economics
"The State of Things," WUNC-FM
The 2005 hurricane season ends today. Twenty-six named storms and four hurricanes hit the U.S., making this season the worst, and most expensive, on record. As preparation turns to rebuilding, host Melinda Penkava looks at the economic realities of hurricanes. This program is produced in cooperation with the students of Professor Patrick Conway's first-year seminar class at UNC-Chapel Hill entitled "The Economics of North Carolina." "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and 6 a.m. on Saturdays.

All scrubbed up and ready to learn
The Charlotte Observer
Meredith Myers missed AP biology class Tuesday morning, and AP English, too. ...While the state's population grows, the supply of doctors isn't keeping pace, a new UNC Chapel Hill study suggests. The Association of American Medical Colleges and other groups support a 15 percent increase in medical school enrollments in 10 years.

Area keeps up growth of jobs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Triangle continued to add jobs and put people to work in October, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 4.1 percent. This continues a strengthening of the job market that's been under way since mid-summer. Statewide, unemployment has also been dropping, though not as rapidly as in the Triangle. ...But James F. Smith, an economist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says the Triangle job market will continue to improve in 2006.

Lawyers: Lottery panel tour of Tenn. violates open meeting law
The Associated Press (N.C.)
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission's planned trip to Tennessee appears to violate open meetings laws, some lawyers argue, although the commission chairman disagrees. ...David Lawrence, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Government, agreed, saying that even if the commissioners don't deliberate they will be taking up public business.
Related Link: http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051201/NEWSREC0101/512010310

Issues & Trends

Campuses sued over organizations' rules
The San Diege Union-Tribune
A religious-liberties organization has sued San Diego State and Cal State Long Beach over a fraternity and two other student organizations that refuse membership to gays and non-evangelical Christians. ...The Alliance Defense Fund is a nonprofit tax-exempt organization with a $17 million fund it uses to pursue Christian-liberties cases, according to federal records. It has filed similar cases against universities nationwide, and one is pending against the University of North Carolina for its refusal to grant official status to a three-member Christian fraternity there.

Not what’s needed (Editorial)
The Daily Tar Heel
Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free — or at least at a reduced price? It’s the same idea of renting textbooks at UNC-Chapel Hill rather than buying them. And though the prospect of cheaper books is appealing, it might not be the best solution for the University. UNC-system President-elect Erskine Bowles had expressed support for the idea of encouraging textbook rentals as a way to help defray the cost of higher education. Naturally, that would be wonderful for students.

 

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.