February 10, 2005

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

Plant biotech goes open-source
BBC News
Scientists need to pay for licences if they use Agrobacterium; thought to be the only bacterium able to transfer foreign genes into plants....Dr Jeff Dangl, a plant scientist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, US, praised the work, saying the science was "very tight".

National Coverage

'Broken-heart syndrome' has medical link
USA Today
A sudden shock, such as hearing news of a death in the family, can trigger a condition that appears to be a massive heart attack except that the victim suffers no lasting damage, a study reports today....Folklore long has held that traumatic events are capable of triggering an apparent heart attack, and today's study solidifies the link between the emotions and the heart, says Sidney Smith, a cardiologist at the University of North Carolina and a spokesman for the American Heart Association.
Related link:
The Associated Press (National)

Survey finds religion important to many teens
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
Mike Laheta, 13, of St. Matthias Catholic Church in Parma, figures it this way when it comes to alcohol, drugs and sex: "If you do something bad, it's like you're hurting God," he said....The result is growing numbers of teens replacing traditional faith with an "alternative religious vision of divinely underwritten personal happiness and interpersonal niceness," said Christian Smith, the University of North Carolina sociologist who led the study.

State & Local Coverage

UNC tuition increases ensure excellence (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
As trustees, our responsibility to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is to make sure our campus is doing all that it can to help North Carolina....Roger Perry is a member of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees and president of East West Partners Management Co. based in Chapel Hill.

Moeser to pitch raising tuition
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
If he were a betting man, UNC Chancellor James Moeser wouldn't gamble on his university's tuition increase proposal this week.

Free means free (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
I would like to congratulate Judith Wegner of UNC-Chapel Hill (Feb. 8 Point of View article "Tuition hike passes constitutional tests") on doing a remarkable job of managing to explain to us poor non-law professors how "free of expense for tuition" does not really mean that tuition should be free.

Davidson may levy developer's fee
The Winston-Salem Journal
Drive past former farmland on N.C.150, and it's clear that the temporary cash crop in Davidson County is new homes....The developers won, but Rich Ducker, a land-use specialist and professor at the School of Government at UNC Chapel Hill, said that the decision probably will be appealed, although the General Assembly didn't approve the fees.

Heart health starts with you
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Last year, it occurred to Marvin Malecha, dean of N.C. State's College of Design, that maybe he ought to see a doctor....Dr. Magnus Ohman, director of the UNC Heart Center and chief of cardiology at UNC Hospitals, 40 percent to 60 percent of people who have a heart attack have near-normal cholesterol levels.

Wake educator survives brain hemorrhage
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Principal Tammie Sexton doesn't take her days for granted anymore....Dr. Sten Solander, chief of interventional neuroradiology at UNC Hospitals, said a third of patients die, and another third suffer some disability, such as weakness in an arm or difficulty speaking.

William & Mary eyes UNC law dean
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
Gene Nichol, dean of UNC's School of Law, is a step from the presidency of the College of William & Mary.

Issues & Trends

Michigan Governor Proposes Offering $4,000 Reward to Students Who Complete 2 Years of College
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan has proposed replacing the state's merit-based program of college scholarships with a pledge to automatically give students $4,000 each if they complete two years of postsecondary education or apprenticeship training.
Subscription required.

Virginia Lawmakers Approve Plan to Give Public Colleges More Autonomy
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Virginia lawmakers endorsed legislation this week that would grant the state's public colleges more operating flexibility and would lay out a process by which some institutions' governing boards could seek even greater management freedom from the state. However, the legislation, which was approved in separate bills by both chambers of Virginia's legislature, stops short of allowing universities to form new charterlike relationships with the state, as three of Virginia's top institutions had sought.
Subscription required.

 

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/newsserv/clipsindex.htm.

Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.