February 3, 2004

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

International Coverage

High Aspirin Doses Best at Preventing Colon Cancer
Reuters (international wire service)
Previous reports have shown that regular aspirin use can reduce the risk of
colon cancer. Now, new research suggests that the strongest benefits occur
with aspirin doses higher than those recommended for preventing heart disease....
In a related editorial, Dr. Robert S. Sandler, from the University of North
Carolina in Chapel Hill, warns that "until we have different or better information
from randomized trials, aspirin use should be limited to persons at higher risk for
(tumors)" and to persons without diseases for which aspirin use might be
hazardous.

Benefits outweigh risks for pregnant women on anti-depressants: researcher
CBC News
New research in the journal Pediatrics is cautioning pregnant women that taking
anti-depressants known as SSRIs may pose risks to the nervous systems of their
unborn babies....Researcher Philip Zeskind of the University of North Carolina says he found unusual behaviours in the babies exposed to the drugs, including
erratic heart rate changes and a tendency to startle easily.

National Coverage

Discovering A Lighthouse On A Cloudy, Rainy Day
Eureka Reporter (Oregon)
There are many joys to living on the North Coast, and those include taking a ride on a rainy, cloudy weekend....One of the best concise descriptions of Oregon's lighthouses is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/or.htm), from which the following information is taken.

State and Local Coverage

UNC hospital chief to resign
The News & Observer
The state-supported UNC Health Care System, which lost $3.7 million on its hospital business last year, will spend $768,476 to buy out the contract of its second in command.
Related links: http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-442833.html
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2004/02/02/daily10.html

Virus traced to dining hall
The Herald-Sun
Local health officials say they now believe the virus that struck more than 300 UNC students last month originated in Lenoir Hall, the main cafeteria on the UNC campus.
Related links:
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/3298794p-2944708c.html
http://www.wral.com/news/2812283/detail.html

Student Hopes for a Trip to 'Mars'
WTVD-TV (ABC, Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill junior Kate Harris' travels have taken her to some of the planet's most exotic locales: Mongolia.... Borneo... and then she's going to Antarctica this fall. But her dream trip is to a place far, far away... the fourth rock from the Sun.

Carolina's crisis of confidence (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
By most reckonings, UNC is one of the best public universities in the United States. Indeed, a recent study commissioned by the European Union opined that the Chapel Hill campus ranked with the best in the world. UNC's aspirations run even higher. Chancellor James Moeser and his predecessor, Michael Hooker, have said it should try being America's best public university, period.

Images bear witness to human condition
The News & Observer
The orphanage is up on an urban rooftop in S 1/2o Paulo, Brazil, and crowded with dozens of babies, all abandoned to foster care by their families....The exhibition can kindle discussion in a number of disciplines, said Barbara Matilsky, the curator of exhibitions at the Ackland.

Scalping crackdown
The Chapel Hill News
The scalpers were skittish Wednesday night as fans streamed toward UNC's Dean Smith Center for the men's basketball game against N.C. State.
Related link: http://newsobserver.com/front/story/3296545p-2942880c.html

Issues and Trends

For Science, Bush's Budget Offers Very Small Increases -- or Cuts
The Chronicle of Higher Education
President Bush released an austere budget for 2005 on Monday that would provide very little growth or, in some cases, cuts in spending for research programs. But the plan gives modest increases for the two largest sources of federal funds for academic scientists, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

NIH Budget Would Hold New Grants Steady, Limit Increases in Dollar Amounts
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The budget for the National Institutes of Health would rise modestly under President Bush's budget for 2005, growing by 2.7-percent, to $28.804-billion. The details of the spending plan offer researchers some good and bad news: The agency expects to hold steady the number of new grants awarded and to shrink spending increases for grant renewals to a rate less than inflation.

Smith, Holland Call For Freshman Ineligibility
The Washington Post
Troubled by lagging graduation rates of men's basketball players, two pillars of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball and former adversaries -- Dean Smith and Terry Holland -- stood shoulder to shoulder yesterday in favor of making freshmen ineligible to compete in varsity sports.
Related link: http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2004/02/2004020313n.htm

Lobbyists proposal draws criticism
The Herald-Sun
A Town Council committee will continue looking into the idea of requiring lobbyists to register with the town, although the concept clearly doesn't sit well with some committee members....The prospect of the town trying to make such a lobbying law apply to UNC officials was particularly nettlesome to committee members Dorothy Verkerk and Edith Wiggins, who said Monday that they felt a recent citizens' petition calling for a lobbying law was aimed largely at the university.

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please call Russell Campbell at News Services, (919) 962-2091, russell_campbell@unc.edu, or Mike McFarland in University Communications, mike_mcfarland@unc.edu

Note: Web links on this page are time-sensitive, so stories might not be available after the day they first appeared.