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Dec. 5, 2007
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Protein That Monitors Blood Vessel Growth Identified
MedIndia.com
Scientists have identified a protein which seems to play a significant role in monitoring new blood vessel growth, thereby preventing a number of problems. Upon injury, the body grows new blood vessels to repair damaged tissue. However, too much growth may sometimes cause problems—like when new blood vessels in the eyes leak and are not treated, they may cause diabetic retinopathy and blindness. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School have now found in a study that the CIB1 protein appears to control new blood vessel growth.
Related Link: http://in.news.yahoo.com/071205/139/6o2lk.html
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec07/cib1120407.htmlNew direction for development of psychotropic drugs
SpiritIndia.com
A panel of academic, industry and government representatives, presenting at the ACNP Annual Meeting, concluded that several factors have impeded the development of novel treatments for mental illness, including: incomplete understanding of the impact of mental illness on the brain; continued skepticism of results from animal models for certain disorders, and an outdated paradigm of treatment and the industry preference toward so-called "me-too" drugs. ... "There is near universal agreement that we've had only modest progress in developing drugs for schizophrenia and affective disorders in the past several decades. This panel discussion is part of a broader effort to determine why new drug development has been such a historically inefficient process," explained Dr. Bryan Roth, Professor of Pharmacology at UNC Chapel Hill and Director of the NIMH Psychoactive Drug Screening Program at the National Institutes of Health.
National Coverage
Cell biology sideshow draws a crowd
Nature.com
“Talent is not a pre-requisite,” said Kerry Bloom, a cell biologist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, minutes before he judged Cell Slam, a scientific sideshow that drew a crowd of more than 500 cell biologists during their society’s annual meeting. “Spirit — that’s what we want.”
Regional Coverage
Give credit to Wanner (Letter to the Editor)
The Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
I was shocked and dismayed to read in the Daily Press the suggestion that the county administrator's position may be jeopardized by the change brought about by the election of a Republican majority in James City County ("Is JCC head's job in doubt?" Nov. 21). ... I now direct the entrepreneurship program at the University of North Carolina but continue to own property in the county.
Note: This piece was written by Ted D. Zoller, Executive Director of Kenan-Flagler Business School.
State & Local Coverage
Leadership at UNC Chapel Hill
WUNC-FM
UNC-Chapel Hill is looking for a new chancellor. Searches for academic leaders are notoriously long, and have gotten more complicated and difficult in recent years. Dave DeWitt reports on the long road to hiring a new leader at UNC.
Mobile labs bring biotechnology to science students
The Daily Reflector (Greenville)
Biology students at Farmville Central High School used advanced equipment Tuesday to differentiate between the blood of a healthy individual and a person with sickle cell disease. Fanette Entzminger's ninth-grade biology class undertook the assignment in one of two 40-foot buses fully equipped as a traveling science lab. The two buses will hit several Pitt County high schools this week, said Lisa Pierce, science education specialist, who leads the lessons on the Destiny bus. The two buses, affiliated with the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, travel the state conducting a variety of labs that teachers train for in advance.
UNC Media Advisory: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2007/destinypitt112907.htmlOut in the cold (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Even on Tobacco Road, the writing is on the wall for smoking. It's becoming harder to find places to light up legally...At UNC-Chapel Hill, signs note that smoking will be banned within 100 feet of all campus buildings.
Related Links: http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-904475.cfm?
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=279593
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071204/HEALTH/71203051/1250
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec07/antismoking120407.htmlMed School & the Rx Industry
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
Medical students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have asked the school for help curbing the influence of the pharmaceutical company reps on campus. They say drug promotions and industry gifts pose an ethical problem for doctors-in-training. Host Frank Stasio gets the story from Adam Linker, a reporter with the Triangle Business Journal, and Medical Ethicist Dr. Philip Rosoff, from Duke University Medical Center.
Related Link: http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=5255Online games and epidemics
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
In September 2005, the "Corrupted Blood" plague affected millions of people across the world. The only catch was…it all happened online. The story might have ended there were it not for two academics who saw an opportunity to study the online outbreak and people’s real-life reaction to it. Nina Fefferman, assistant research Professor at Rutgers University, and Eric Lofgren, a graduate student in epidemiology at UNC-Chapel Hill, join host Frank Stasio to discuss how make-believe outbreaks in online games can advance the study of real-life epidemics.
Cisco chases global prospects
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Cisco Systems' campus at Research Triangle Park has 3,500 employees, an all-time high. But even as it expands, the 12-year-old RTP campus is destined to lose its status as the second-largest operation in the technology company's global empire. ... Still, innovation comes cheaper in India, where an engineer's pay is about half that of an equivalent position in the U.S., said Peter Brews, associate dean at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Drunken-Driving Among Hispanics Focus of WRAL Documentary
WRAL-TV (CBS)
The high rate of drunken driving accidents involving legal and illegal Hispanic immigrants is the focus of a WRAL News documentary airing Wednesday at 7 p.m. ... According to a recent study from the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, Hispanics involved in car crashes are two-and-a-half times more likely to be drunk than white drivers and three times more likely to be drunk than black drivers.
More women on campus: Cause for concern? (Special to the Observer)
The Charlotte Observer
Women students are gradually dominating college student bodies. The incoming freshman class at UNC Charlotte is 51.5 percent female; at Elon University, 57.5 percent female; at UNC-Chapel Hill, 60 percent female. These numbers reflect a nationwide trend.
Community college policy under review
The Charlotte Observer
Leaders of North Carolina's community college system have asked state Attorney General Roy Cooper to review whether they acted legally by requiring the system's 58 colleges to admit illegal immigrants. ...Andrew Reynolds, a British citizen and expert on European politics at UNC Chapel Hill, said Lancaster's argument carries an element of truth, as illustrated by recent riots in predominantly immigrant suburbs of Paris.
Think twice before reaching for that sausage biscuit (Column)
The Charlotte Observer
It's one thing to say we should all eat more fruits and vegetables. It's quite another to say lay off the sausage biscuits. Government-sponsored studies of people's reactions to dietary recommendations such as "eat less sugar" or "choose more fiber-rich foods" suggest that most of us want, and need, more specific advice about which foods we should eat more of and which we should avoid.
Note: Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy at UNC-Chapel Hill.Local actors share stage in ‘Little Prince’ play
The Fayetteville Observer
When Kenneth Strong was education director at Cape Fear Regional Theatre nearly a decade ago, Lesley Shires was a high school student with her eye on an acting career. ... The two former Fayetteville residents are starring in a Chapel Hill production of “The Little Prince.” The play, which will run through Dec. 16, is being staged by the PlayMakers Repertory Company at the Paul Green Theatre. ... “I feel honored to work with her,” said Strong, now a theater professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “She was fantastic then, and she’s amazing now.”
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov07/littleprince110907.htmlRTI-Lead Team Receives Up to $2M for Biofuels Project
WRAL-FM (CBS)
Researchers at RTI International will receive up to $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for a new biofuels project that its backers believe could be a breakthrough on multiple fronts in developing alternative fuels. ... Myers called the DOE funding the “first victory” for the recently created Research Triangle Energy Consortium, or RTEC. It includes Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State as well as RTI. NCSU and RTI began working on the DOE proposal even before RTEC was formally announced.
Three at East Rowan nominated for Morehead
The Salisbury Post
Three East Rowan High School students have been nominated for the Morehead-Cain Scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They are Cameron Brown, Lauren Cress and Ben Huffman.
Burr in the running for high GOP Senate post
The Winston-Salem Journal
When it comes to selecting its leaders, the U.S. Senate has generally mimicked a race for student-government president: Freshmen need not apply. ...“The interesting thing here is what it says about the state of the GOP right now,” said Ferrel Guillory, a political scientist at UNC Chapel Hill.
'Messiah' slated at UNC on Dec. 9
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The North Carolina Symphony will perform Handel's "Messiah" at 8 p.m. Dec. 9 in Memorial Hall, UNC Chapel Hill. Featured soloists will be Nancy Argenta, soprano; Daniel Taylor, counter tenor; Benjamin Butterfield, tenor; and Philip Cutlip, baritone.
Trial set in lawsuit against UNC coach
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A sexual harassment lawsuit against the University of North Carolina women's soccer coach is scheduled to go before a jury April 7...Jennings first filed suit in 1998. A federal judge dismissed the case in 2004, but the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back for a jury trial.
Related Link: http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/
2007/11/30/University/Campus.Briefs-3125122.shtmlIssues & Trends
System chief: Let illegal aliens in
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In a passionate defense of allowing illegal immigrants to attend the state's community colleges, system President Martin Lancaster said Tuesday that there was no basis in policy or law to deny anyone admission.
The Dangerous Wealth of the Ivy League
Business Week
It's only fitting that Whitman College, Princeton's new student residence, is named for eBay (EBAY) CEO Meg Whitman, because it's a billionaire's mansion in the form of a dorm. ...The question of whether all this spending is a good thing defies easy answers. Gold-plating new dorms raises issues of taste and donor ego. More than before, impressionable students and ambitious parents have come to view college as a form of conspicuous consumption.
Just add cash
The Economist
STAND next to the bronze statue of Benjamin Franklin on the University of Pennsylvania's College Green at midday and along with the chirps of grey squirrels you will probably hear the squeal of buzz saws. Penn is erecting a new building for its Annenberg Public Policy Centre just off Franklin's grassy quadrangle. ...n its annual survey, College Planning & Management, a trade magazine, calculates that America's colleges and universities completed $15 billion worth of building in 2006—an astonishing 260% increase since 1997—and will start projects costing about the same amount this year.
A brain drain at UNCA? (opinion)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Last spring, an institute that specializes in higher education set out to determine whether faculty of the University of North Carolina system are adequately compensated. This is a subject that stirs up heated debate in university communities: Are UNC campuses experiencing a brain drain because higher salaries outside the university system are drawing away top talent?
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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