Dec. 6, 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

Updates on Billion-Dollar Campaigns at 25 Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The 25 American universities that are seeking to raise at least $1-billion collected a total of $311.8-million in gifts and pledges during the last month for which they had data available. ...The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $1.585-billion as of October 31 (increase of $12.9-million in the last month); the goal is $2-billion by 2007.

Teens influence by mom's attitude about weight
HealthDay News
Mothers who worry about dieting and staying thin pass those concerns on to their teenagers, researchers report. ..."The three other motivations were weight, peer and parent motivation," said study author Katie Haverly, a graduate student in the Department of Health Education and Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina. "But these were reported much less then personal fulfillment."
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/haverly113005.htm

Women turn to strength training for health, stamina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mary Huber's wavy brown hair gently frames her face, which happens to be contorted at this particular moment into a grimace. ..."What we see with a lot of our athletes is that they want to improve their power production, how fast they can move," said Chris Hirth, a trainer for the University of North Carolina. "As they get larger muscles, they gain power, which helps them strike a ball fast, run faster. It also helps with injury prevention."

Is suburbia harmful to your health
The Baltimore Sun
After a day on the run -- in and out of her son's day-care center, up and down two flights of stairs like a yo-yo at work -- Kathleen Yancosek likes to unwind with a good, brisk walk. ... A team of researchers from the University of Maryland and from the University of North Carolina has set up the Montgomery County study to see whether they can pinpoint features in the workplace and at home that get some people moving while turning others into couch potatoes.

Leaders defend overseas trips paid by taxpayers
The Baltimore Sun
Since June 2004, Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens has traveled at taxpayer expense to Finland, Russia, Denmark, China, back to Denmark and once more to China. ... Because local leaders are most knowledgeable about what resources they can offer business, they are relevant players in seeking to attract economic development, said Jonathan Q. Morgan, a government professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "State officials shouldn't do it alone," Morgan said.

UW picks book for all new students to read
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The University of Washington will ask each incoming student to read the same work of non-fiction -- what it's calling the "Common Book" -- before they come to campus next fall. ...The University of North Carolina began asking its incoming students to read the same book in 1999. The school generated controversy in 2002 when it selected "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations" as its freshman pick a year after 9/11. UNC's current freshman class read "Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story" by Timothy Tyson.

State & Local Coverage

Duke, UNC scholars reveal autism finding
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Children with autism undergo abnormal brain enlargement before the age of 2, but scientists are not sure how it occurs and what significance it has in the development of the neurological condition. ..."We do not know whether this brain enlargement plays a primary role in autism, or is a downstream effect of another process," said Heather Cody Hazlett, assistant professor of psychiatry at UNC. "Further studies of very early brain development may help us better understand the timing and nature of this brain overgrowth."
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec05/cody120505.htm

Bush takes economic news on tour
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The war in Iraq is dividing America. Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are a headache. But President Bush came to North Carolina on Monday to focus on what he said is good news: the economy. ...Meanwhile, John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who probably will seek Bush's job in 2008, criticized Bush in a statement. "The president's words are nothing more than a politician's attempt to help himself," said Edwards, director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. "Instead, he should be helping the American people. The legacy of this President is a mess in Iraq, millions of Americans falling into poverty, millions without health care, and out of control gas prices."

Bush's visit is a far cry from that of predecessor (Commentary)
The Winston-Salem Journal
The first time a sitting president visited Kernersville, he came without entourage. No phalanx of Secret Service agents. No attendant media horde. No photo opportunities and certainly no aides scurrying about to make sure the president's message was spun properly. ..."Washington's visits were extraordinary events," says Bill Leuchtenburg, a professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina and an expert on the presidency.

Turning losses into profits
The Triangle Business Journal
Nearly two years ago, William Roper came into his new job as chief executive officer of UNC Health Care with a mission to turn the minus sign on UNC Hospitals' bottom line into a plus. ..."The major thing we want to do going forward is grow patient volume and therefore grow top line revenue," Roper says. "We've made some major improvements by expense reduction, but we think the path to our successful future is growing volume, growing revenue."

UNC, N.C. State post gains in billion dollar campaigns
The Triangle Business Journal
Both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University inched closer to the finish line this month in their billion-dollar fundraising campaigns, according to survey results posted by The Chronicle of Higher Education. UNC raised $12.9 million in October toward its $2 billion fundraising goal, bringing its current total to $1.585 billion.

UNC lands $19 million to study jaw, neck pain
The Triangle Business Journal
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has reeled in a $19 million research grant from the National Institute of Dental Craniofacial Research to study causes of debilitating jaw and neck pain. ... "Our initial purpose is to identify the biological, psychological and genetic risk factors that contribute to pain and dysfunction associated with TMJD," said William Maixner, professor at director of the Center for Neurosensory Disorders at the UNC School of Dentistry.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec05/maixst120505.htm

Local foundation donates $100K to UNC
The Charlotte Business Journal/Triangle Business Journal
A private foundation in Charlotte has donated $100,000 to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to help fund lupus research. The L. Jack and Ella Shaw Spiers Foundation made the contribution, which will count towards the university's Carolina First fund-raising campaign, to UNC's Thurston Arthritis Research Center.
Related Link: http://www.lincolntribune.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3439
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec05/spiers120205.htm

Donors award more than $950,000 in merit scholarships
The Kinston Free Press
The University of North Carolina awarded more than $950,000 in academic merit scholarships for 2005-06 to 149 freshmen - 121 from North Carolina and 28 from other states. All awards are renewable for each of three more years of undergraduate study, bringing the total value of the awards to more than $3.8 million. Many were created by private donations.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/scholnames093005.htm

State proposes better coverage
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The 580,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and dependents covered by North Carolina's medical insurance plan will have more than one choice for health care next fall -- something they haven't had in five years. ..."It put many people in crisis situations, between the cost of dependent coverage and a plan that doesn't meet everyone's needs," said Tommy Griffin, a machinist in the heating and air conditioning department of UNC-Chapel Hill. Griffin is president of the Employee Forum, which represents university employees, and a member of the State Employees Association of North Carolina's executive council.

Wal-Mart
"The State of Things," WUNC-FM
Southeast Raleigh is set to get a new Wal-Mart. Many residents there can hardly wait to see the low prices, but in Chatham County, rumors of a new Wal-Mart have already mobilized local opponents. Host Melinda Penkava looks at the good and bad of the retail giant, and its impact on communities. This program was produced in cooperation with students in Professor Patrick Conway’s first-year seminar class at UNC-Chapel Hill entitled “The Economics of North Carolina.”

Blogs grow as a PR device
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
More companies are wading into the blogosphere. Increasingly, they're discovering that Web logs, online journals that serve up news and commentary, can be an effective marketing tool. So they're creating blogs that are aimed at boosting the company's image, although they may be written by a single executive expressing his or her point of view. ...The track record of corporate blogs is hit-or-miss, said Larry Lamb, who teaches public relations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Filmmaker's 'Wish' comes true
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Oh, today is a packed day for Sean Overbeeke. ...Filmed during a three-day shoot last year, the movie had a crew and supporting cast made up of students from UNC-Chapel Hill (where Overbeeke graduates this month) and the N.C. School of the Arts, not to mention members of Overbeeke's own family. (His aunt and uncle served as executive producers and his 9-year-old cousin plays a pivotal role.)

Writer should remind that our history can burn us or save us (Opinion column)
The Winston-Salem Journal
Racing north on Interstate 85 about a half-hour past Durham, you might have seen the exit for Oxford. ...His story is so riveting that you hardly realize his book is padded with a lot of history about race relations that hasn't made it into mainstream history books enough. Maybe that's why Blood Done Sign My Name was this year's choice for the reading program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lesson from Hong Kong (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Regarding Kenneth Dobyns' diary Nov. 27: For all the talk and legislation on improving education in this country, one important component is missing: a decent salary for each teacher. ...In Hong Kong, where I come from, teachers enjoy high regard in society. Taking my mother as an example, she had been an elementary school teacher for more than 30 years. Her salary when she retired was about the same as that of a UNC professor, from whom I rent a room. Furthermore, my salary when I started working as a medical technologist at UNC Hospitals three years ago is even higher than that of Dobyns' after four years of teaching.

Issues & Trends

Board lists ideas for improving downtown
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Downtown Partnership's board papered the walls Monday with ideas big and small for improving downtown. ...Downtown needs to be "attractive, vibrant and safe," said board member Nancy Suttenfield, a vice chancellor at UNC. Foy added uniqueness as a key quality, while Lex Alexander pointed to diversity and Perry added 24/7 activity.

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.

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