Dec. 16, 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

Researchers Close in on Alcoholism Genes
HealthDay News
U.S. scientists are honing in on the location of genes that influence drinking behavior in smokers. ..."We looked for chromosome regions that had genes that affect patterns of drinking behavior," corresponding author Kirk C. Wilhelmsen, an associate professor in the departments of genetics and neurology at the University of North Carolina, said in a prepared statement.

State & Local Coverage

Trial's weight hinges on ruling
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
If former CIA contractor David Passaro gets a federal judge to rule his way, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, CIA Director Porter Goss and others could be testifying at his trial, which Passaro hopes will prove he was authorized to beat an Afghan detainee. ..."If there is no public authority defense, then it really does become a simple assault case," said University of North Carolina assistant law professor Richard E. Myers II, a former federal prosecutor.

Public workers used in promos
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Bull City's hometown TV station is planning to promote its news team's ability to cover live news by faking it. ...John Sweeney, a journalism professor at UNC-Chapel Hill who specializes in advertising and sports communication, said the shoots raised interesting issues about staging events.

New twists on an old sound
The Charlotte Observer
Woody Platt grew up in the bluegrass country of North Carolina, but he didn't grow up listening to traditional mountain music. ...But the bluegrass music of the area followed him to college-rock-entrenched Chapel Hill, where he and his bandmates, Mike Guggino, Graham Sharp and Charles Humphrey, started the group as students at UNC Chapel Hill. (Fiddler Nicky Sanders joined two years ago).

Choral concerts brighten winter
The Chapel Hill Herald
"The experience is heavenly," said Neil Shipman, president of the Chapel Hill Community Chorus, referring to this past week's final rehearsals when all sections of the 135-member chorus, the instrumentalists and the soloists finally came together after rehearsing their parts separately. ... "I was used to a pretty high level of performance," he said. "I frankly didn't expect to find [choral performance] of such high quality in a small town like Chapel Hill." Shipman attributes the quality to (Sue) Klausmeyer's "superb direction." Klausmeyer, who also conducts the UNC Women's Glee Club, spent a year in Amsterdam studying baroque style and technique.

Peeling the Orange
The Chapel Hill Herald
Talk about willpower. Two UNC Hospitals heart patients walked from their rooms to a news conference this week, and then back to their rooms. It took a good bit of mental and physical strength to make the trek, considering the two men have congestive heart failure, need heart transplants and had new heart pumps implanted last month while awaiting the transplants. For now, they have new leases on life.

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.