Feb. 14, 2006

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

Aerotropolis is an idea with wings
The Australian
Flyin, buy, fly out. It's that simple, says airport cities guru John Kasarda, who practises what he preaches. At Queensland University of Technology's invitation he dropped into Brisbane from the US last week to expound his views on a new phenomenon, the aerotropolis. ...Professor Kasarda is director of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill campus. He was in Australia under the vice-chancellor's distinguished visitors program at QUT, which has strong research links with Brisbane Airport Corporation. Professor Kasarda said within 15 years worldwide passenger traffic would increase from 3.9 billion to 8.2billion annually.

National Coverage

Drug combination prevents HIV infection in monkeys
Reuters
An injection of two drugs normally used to treat HIV patients completely protected monkeys from becoming infected with the AIDS virus, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. ... Dr. Myron Cohen of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said the study suggested that people who know they are at high risk of infection might be able someday to protect themselves by taking a pill. "Adolescent women in South Africa go from having a 10 percent risk of HIV infection to a 30 percent risk in a matter of two years," said Cohen, who was not involved in the study. "This is a big epidemic that is not going away."

Time to Get Out, for the Body and the Mind
The New York Times
After spending a weekend in the country, my grandson Stefan, then 5, remarked: "The good thing about the country is you can go pee-pee outside. The bad thing about the country is you have to drive everywhere." ...Chapel Hill, N.C., the base of Active Living by Design, is another test case. There, a mile from the University of North Carolina, a community called Carolina North is being developed. A combination of homes, stores, parks and playgrounds will result in a "mixed-use community of pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods well connected to Chapel Hill's network of sidewalks and bus routes," the planners say.

Three Southern writers to be honored
The Associated Press (National)
Playwright Beth Henley and William Faulkner scholar Noel Polk are to be honored later this month for their contributions to literature and film. ...Ferris, senior associate director at the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi for nearly 20 years and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

2006 College Academic All-Stars First Team
USA Today
Meet the top 20 USA TODAY 2005 College Academic All-Stars, all members of the first team: Kate Harris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Home: Georgetown, Ontario, Canada. Age: 23. Major: Biology. GPA: 3.96. Graduated: December. Career goal: Astronaut/astrobiologist. Accomplishments: To learn more about how microbes might exist in an extreme environment like Mars', Kate spent a month in Antarctica studying water seeps for a paper submitted to the Geological Society of America Bulletin; presented paper on microbial diversity of deep-sea subsurface fluids at American Society for Microbiology general meeting; founded Space Talk (www.unc.edu/space), student group advocating space sciences;
Related Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-02-14-allstars-honorable-mention_x.htm
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/harris112705.htm

Salty water treats disease
The Indianapolis Star
The salty mist that Devon Conley inhales throws him into a red-faced fit of coughing. Sometimes the fit continues for five minutes or more. ...Researchers in Australia and at the University of North Carolina put the surfers' tale to the test. With backing from the U.S. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, they had a group of CF patients inhale 7-percent saline solution twice daily for a year while a control group inhaled normal saline.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan06/cfrelease010706.htm

Regional Coverage

Sex and love - even a hug - have health benefits
The Salt Lake Tribune
Now more than ever, researchers are discovering the potential health advantages of being in love and involved in a healthy sexual relationship. ...Researchers at the University of North Carolina studied the effects of hugging and found that hugs increased levels of oxytocin, a "bonding" hormone, and reduced blood pressure, which can cut the risk of heart disease.

Relationships help with healing
The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wis.)
Since she began dating her husband 12 years ago, Cheryl Seelig of Clintonville has fallen crazy in love three times. ...Kathleen Light, professor and director of the Stress and Health Research Program at the University of North Carolina, said there is new information that in animals, at least, oxytocin lowers the risk of infection after getting a wound and speeds healing. Additionally, animal research shows that oxytocin linked to living with family members versus strangers lowers inflammatory processes involved in causing heart disease.

Six-month ban won't stop frats
The Athens-Banner Herald (Ga.)
A moratorium on fraternities and sororities in Athens might not stop two fraternities with plans to move into houses off of the University of Georgia campus. ...In Chapel Hill, home of University of North Carolina, fraternities and sororities only are allowed on university-owned property, city planner Kai Monast said. Greeks can get a special permit to build in high-density areas off campus, but the town council can turn them down for any reason, he said. Chapel Hill's rules are similar to ones proposed by Lynn.

College, one Facebook at a time
The Mankato Free Press (Minn.)
One need look no further than the words of this Minnesota State University freshman to see the impact of something called Facebook, the online site that is state of the art of college socializing: “I don’t know where I’d be without Facebook,” said Amanda Puckett. “I’d be so bored.” ...Astonishingly, 94 percent of this year’s incoming freshmen at the University of North Carolina signed up.

State & Local Coverage

2 join Carolina North panel
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The town will participate in a UNC-Chapel Hill committee set to discuss the Carolina North research campus, despite some reservations. Council members Cam Hill and Bill Strom, two of the main skeptics of the committee, were appointed as liaisons Monday night. At the council meeting Feb. 27, town leaders will appoint two residents who will serve alongside them. The committee's goal is to try to forge some consensus vision for the controversial research campus by bringing in a diverse group of perspectives. Ken Broun, the UNC-CH law professor and former Chapel Hill mayor heading the committee, said he wants the group to consider all ideas and views, and report to the chancellor within a year.

Graduation rates (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Thanks for articulating the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees' interest in improving graduation rates in the Feb. 6 editorial "Faster toward degrees." It noted that more can be done to encourage progress. UNC's recent ranking as the top value in public higher education by Kiplinger's Personal Finance helped illuminate this issue for trustees. Among the four factors feeding into Kiplinger's analysis of academic quality was a comparison of four- and six-year graduation rates. UNC's current rates are about 67 percent and 83 percent, respectively. Encouragingly, projections show that we already are expecting them to rise. ...Jean Almand Kitchin, Vice Chair, UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees.

UNC begins jaywalk citations
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Arash Arabasadi was in full no-justice-no-peace mode as he denounced the expressionless police officer who had confronted him. ...He had picked the wrong day to jaywalk on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Monday was the first day of campus police cracking down on what some said was a trivial infraction. Three citations in all were issued. Arabasadi, a senior, was the first to be cited with the $110 fine and $25 court fee. His fellow students sympathized and cried overkill on a day when both university and town leaders took steps they say will make pedestrians safer.
Related Links: http://www.newsobserver.com/158/story/400134.html
http://www.nbc17.com/news/7020000/detail.htm
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-701355.html
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-701378.html

UNC joins work on Web archive
The Chapel Hill Herald
Two university faculty members have joined efforts to build a permanent archive of digitized text and multimedia materials on the World Wide Web. The UNC Library and the School of Information and Library Science recently joined the Open Content Alliance (www.opencontentalliance.org/), a group of organizations from around the world that are constructing the archive. The school is the first from a university to join the alliance; the library is the first library to contribute manuscript materials.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/open020906.htm

Op-ed columnist to speak March 6
The Chapel Hill Herald
Frank Rich, op-ed columnist and former theater critic at The New York Times, will discuss art, culture and politics March 6 at 7 p.m. at UNC. The free public lecture will be in Hill Hall auditorium, with a reception afterward in the Ackland Art Museum. No tickets are required.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/frankrich021006.htm

UNC library offers tour
The Chapel Hill Herald
Photographs documenting historic North Carolina events, including the integration of UNC, will be part of a free "African-American History" tour today at the university's Wilson Library. The 90-minute guided tour, offered during Black History Month, will begin in the library's lobby at 3 p.m. Historic documents and photos showcased will include the manuscripts of George Moses Horton, a former slave from Chatham County who became the first black man to publish a book in the South.
Note: No link available.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/briefs/2006/020706.htm

Black history available online
The Chapel Hill Herald
Learning about black culture and history on the World Wide Web is now easier, thanks to a new online guide from the UNC Library. Studying black poets of the Appalachian region? Interested in the black inhabitants of Canada, Cuba or the Caribbean? Wondering how many African-Americans have been U.S. senators? It's all at www.lib.unc.edu/stone/webguide/. Raquel Cogell, librarian for UNC's Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History Library, developed the guide to bring quality resources to the attention of students, teachers, librarians and researchers. It is now the largest such site that she can identify.
Note: No link available.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/blackhistoryweb020906.htm

Lottery ads must rely on soft sell
The Charlotte Observer
State lottery officials plan to team up with an advertising firm today that can help with one of their most vexing challenges: How do you sell the new state lottery when you're not allowed to suggest that people play it? ..."Lotteries are notoriously difficult accounts," said UNC Chapel Hill advertising professor John Sweeney, adding that there are often "too many cooks. There are going to be so many opinions measuring what's appropriate or inappropriate."

Credit union league chief promotes community banking
The Rocky Mount Telegram
North Carolina credit unions have served local communities for generations, building investments for its members and their families for the future, said Daniel Schline, vice president of governmental and regulatory affairs for the N.C. Credit Union League, based in Raleigh. ...A recent University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill study shows that credit union members in North Carolina saved more than $336 million over using a bank, said Jeff Hardin, a communications specialist with the N.C. Credit Union League.

Tax cuts swamp the savings
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
During his first term, President Bush engineered tax breaks that favored the rich and helped convert budget surpluses into deficits. Now Bush claims he is worried about the deficits and pledges to cut them in half by 2009. Earlier this month Congress passed a budget-cutting bill that Bush applauded. What does the legislation do? Mostly, it cuts spending on low-income programs like Medicaid, welfare, child support enforcement, foster care and student loans. ...Arthur Benavie is professor emeritus of economics at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Issues & Trends

U. of Minnesota Expands Scholarships for Low-Income Students
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The University of Minnesota system will expand an existing scholarship program that covers tuition and fees for undergraduates eligible to receive federal Pell Grants, it announced on Friday. Under the expanded program, the university will match Pell awards with an equal amount, which may give some students from low-income families some money toward additional expenses, like housing. ...Minnesota joins a small number of public universities -- like the Universities of Maryland at College Park, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Virginia -- that in recent years have replaced loans with extra grants for lower-income students.
Related Link: http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/02/13/minn

The students' burden (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
When the UNC Board of Governors hiked tuition and fees last week, it capped a decade of unpredictable (and steep) increases in student costs for North Carolina. That's a dangerous precedent. It ought to stop. The most responsible way to stop it is to price tuition and fees according to this simple principle: Students should pay no more than approximately a quarter of what it costs to build and operate our state universities.

Law school nears reality (Question-answer)
The Charlotte Observer
Eugene Clark, inaugural dean of the Charlotte School of Law, said the city's first bricks-and-mortar law school will announce the location of its new campus by month's end. ...Obviously banking is one. But at the same time I realize there is a significant banking law presence at UNC Chapel Hill. We don't want to duplicate what other people are doing. Certainly we'll look at community development. Sports law is interesting as well. But rather than us presume what Charlotte needs, once we get our faculty on board, we will engage in the community and then we will determine what our unique contribution will be.

Lenovo wins partnership worth $1.53M-plus
The Triangle Business Journal
Indiana State University has sealed a deal with The Lenovo Group to purchase an estimated $1.53 million worth of ThinkPad computers for faculty and scholarship students. ... Indiana State's program is similar to ones at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Clemson University. UNC-Chapel Hill launched its Carolina Computing Initiative in 2000. The program requires all incoming freshmen to purchase laptop computers that meet university specifications.

ECU and Turnage to form alliance
The Washington Daily News
Steve Ballard, chancellor of East Carolina University, made a swing through Washington last Monday, touring the Turnage Theater and attending a party in his honor at the North Carolina Estuarium. ...An ECU dentistry program would not compete with the existing one at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Ballard said, because of its focus on rural areas and primary care. The school’s experience recruiting future doctors for rural areas at the Brody School of Medicine prepares it well to do so in dentistry, Ballard said.

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.