Dec. 15, 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

Facing Down the Flu
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Imagine it: Tomorrow, in Southeast Asia, a bird-flu virus gains the ability to spread quickly among human beings. Patients begin to flood the hospitals. ...The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faced a test of its preparedness in mid-2003, when a staff member there was diagnosed with SARS. The university had to treat the patient while preventing further spread of the disease and heading off public panic. Daily conference calls took place among officials of the hospital, the university, the county health department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other groups. University health-care workers set up a tent city in a parking lot to screen the patient's contacts and co-workers.
Note: Registration required.

Science of Suburbia Gets Closer Look
Discovery News
Suburbia is the fastest growing, least understood land use in the United States, say scientists trying to fill the hole in scientific understanding of how pavement, roofs, lawns and household septic systems are changing streams, lakes and bays. ...To get a handle on just what different sorts of suburban developments do, Larry Band of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tracked how much nitrogen — usually escaped from sewage and over-fertilized lawns — was getting into streams in Baltimore and Baltimore County, Md.

Taking on poverty may help Democrats win over religious voters
The Chicago Tribune
Christian activist the Rev. Jim Wallis told hundreds of religious protesters gathered near the Capitol Wednesday that there was a scandal this December, but it wasn't the conservative-stoked controversy about retailers and others using "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." ...She cited as a potential model former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who made poverty a central theme of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 before being named John Kerry's running mate. Now considering another presidential run, Edwards heads the Center of Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina Law School.

Regional Coverage

Researchers Say Vitamin In Cereal May Prevent Flu
NBC-4 (Burbank, Ca.)
In the midst of flu season, you may be able to protect yourself from the flu with a simple vitamin. The vitamin selenium is added to many cereals. Research from the American College of Rheumatology showed the mineral may help protect people from the flu and arthritis, NBC4's Dr. Bruce Hensel reported. ...Former studies showed the mineral might protect against prostate cancer. But in the latest study from researchers at the University of North Carolina said having low levels of selenium in the blood may trigger the flu virus to mutate into a more dangerous form.

State & Local Note

Dr. Ed Baker, director of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, will appear on the television show "North Carolina People" with Bill Friday on December 16. Baker will be talking about public health in general, public health issues relevant to North Carolina, and the work of the Institute.
http://www.unctv.org/ncpeople/watch_people.html

State & Local Coverage

University of North Carolina to host international journalists
The Associated Press (N.C.)
The University of North Carolina is among six schools selected for a new program that will bring international media professionals to the United States. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced Tuesday in Washington the State Department will be a partner in the Edward R. Murrow Fellows Program. It is named for the CBS newsman who also served as director of the U.S. Information Agency late in his career.

Christmas Wish List
"The State of Things," WUNC-FM
Though materialism may cloud the true message of the holiday season, a little perspective can change everything. At least that's what "The Christmas Wish List" (DPI Entertainment 2005), a short film by UNC student Sean Overbeeke, seeks to relay. Host Melinda Penkava talks with Sean Overbeeke about writing, directing and producing his first professional film, and about his first steps into the limelight.

UNC looks to town for parking aid
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC won't be digging its own big hole in the ground for parking related to its planned Arts Common project. ...Steve Allred, executive associate provost at UNC, recently gave a presentation to a Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce group on the Arts Common project, for which Allred has led the planning. The university's plans for the northwest corner of campus have features such as a new music building that includes a large performance hall and smaller recital hall. The envisioned underground parking would have been along Columbia Street and Cameron Avenue, with some 280-300 spaces.

Council to get into specifics for city’s strategic plan
The Courier Times (Roxboro)
Roxboro City Council will continue its strategic planning process Saturday during a daylong session at City Hall with a pair of representatives from the University of North Carolina School of Government's Public Intersection Project.

Issues & Trends

Blue Cross Foundation to fund Duke initiative to help uninsured
The Triangle Business Journal
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation will fund a four-year initiative by the Duke University Center for Health Policy aimed at helping state leaders expand programs to help the uninsured. ... Two juniors from Duke and a master's degree candidate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Public Health will be chosen each year for the next three years to participate in the program. The first three candidates have already been selected and will begin work this summer.

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.