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Feb. 20, 2006
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:National Coverage
Making peace with war
The Detroit News
Late at night, Amber Kier can feel the heat of the desert rising around her. The stench of trash and diesel fuel fills her nostrils and the rumble of an approaching Humvee grows louder in her ears. ...Some Guard members who spend the vast majority of their lives in the civilian world fall in love with the intense bond forged between soldiers in a war zone, said Dennis Orthner, a University of North Carolina professor who studies the impact of war on military families.Trial may shed light on CIA's detainee tactics
The Miami Herald
Abdul Wali was an Afghan man who U.S. authorities suspect launched rocket attacks against a military base in Afghanistan. David Passaro was an American hired by the CIA to interrogate detainees during the U.S. war in that country. ...'Politically, it really is significant,'' said Richard E. Myers II, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law. "If CIA officials come to court and say no one has this authority -- that's a very broad statement that will have an effect on people around the world.''
NRA, businesses clash over gun bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Motorcycle repairman Jarrett Dover knocked over a trash can at the shop in Doraville, spilling some of its contents. ... A University of North Carolina study, covering a five-year period in the '90s, surmised that workplaces permitting guns were about five times as likely to experience homicides as those where weapons were banned. The analysis dealt only with shootings in North Carolina.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr05/loomis042105.htmlRegional Coverage
Cancer funding cuts could derail Del. programs
The News Journal (Del.)
Three years ago, the federal government set a goal of ending all deaths from cancer by the year 2015. ...The proposed cuts come as the cost of research is going up, fueled by expensive technology. The competition for NIH grants is increasingly fierce. Last year, only 11 percent of applicants for NIH cancer grants got them, said Dr. H. Shelton Earp III, director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Cheerleaders sustaining more and more injuries
Aberdeen American News (S.D.)
Cheerleading practice is winding down as Amanda Schwartz, Becca DeVaney, Jenna White and Nellie Pooler attempt to execute a chair lift. ...Still, not all coaches are so careful. The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina found cheerleading to be the leading cause of direct catastrophic injuries among female high school and college athletes, accounting for more than half of the 101 such accidents since 1982. Cheerleaders have suffered paralysis, skull fractures, brain damage, comas and concussions.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun03/muell062403.htmlMissionaries visiting Durant
The Durant Daily Democrat (Okla.)
Durant just had two missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints move in to work in the area. These young men are among 56,000 19 to 21 year olds who volunteer their time for 18 months to two years of their lives at their own expense to serve missions for their Church, also nicknamed, the “Mormon Church.” ...The Mormon Church has a heavy emphasis on families, and has a reputation, according to a recent study done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as having the “most spiritually oriented teenagers” in America.
State & Local Coverage
Chapel Hill working to keep tuition low (Letter to the editor)
The Charlotte Observer
The writer is chairman, UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees. In response to "Out, devilish detail" (Feb. 15 editorial): In developing campus-based tuition proposals UNC-Chapel Hill tracks only the rates at 10 other major public universities, including Michigan, Virginia and Berkeley. When considering faculty issues, such as salaries, we do benchmark with the national public and private peer campuses with which we compete. ...Nelson Schwab, Charlotte.
Schools buy into study abroad
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Here's how much universities want their students to study in faraway lands: Schools are shelling out millions of dollars on real estate in European cities. UNC-Chapel Hill last year acquired a $5 million, 18th-century building in London for its European Study Center. ...At UNC, where about 37 percent of undergraduates study abroad, Chancellor James Moeser said the university was lucky to find property in London. "Having a place where we can really center our own programs in London will be a tremendous asset," he said. "This is a very, very attractive program where we can really do some wonderful things. I think it fits totally with our posture of becoming a global university and encouraging our students to seek out opportunities abroad."
Ancient maps to soon go online
The Chapel Hill Herald
While they may study places and people that are thousands of years old, scholars at UNC are at the forefront of modernizing antiquity. Researchers long have had to dip into hefty and static atlases to study the stomping grounds of Alexander the Great or the Roman emperors, but they soon will be able to do so on a comprehensive, open-source database on the Internet -- thanks to UNC's Ancient World Mapping Center.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan06/ancientmapping012506.htmWhat's going on
The News & Observer (Raleigh)High dental rating: The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education reports that, among primarily white dental schools, UNC-Chapel Hill's has the most black students. The 50 black students make up 15.7 percent of the dental school's student body.
Law symposium: Several prominent voices in the national debate over religion in public schools will take part in a daylong symposium Friday at the Carolina Inn, adjacent to the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Attendance is free, but there's a $25 fee for those who wish to have lunch on-site.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/lawsymposium021606.htmVice Dean leaving: Robert Golden, vice dean of the School of Medicine, has been named dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Golden, former chairman of the psychiatry department, has been at UNC-CH for 20 years. He will assume the Wisconsin job in July.
Nursing gift: James A. and Jane W. Smith of Hendersonville have established the Jane Winningham Smith Doctoral Scholarship in Cardiovascular Nursing with a pledge of $13,000 each year for the next seven years.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/smithendowment021406.htmADA Officer hired: Ann E. Penn, most recently director of Equal Opportunity-Affirmative Action and the Women's Resource Center at Kent State University, has been hired as equal opportunity-Americans with Disabilities Act officer at UNC-Chapel Hill.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/eopenn021306.htmScavengers now our companions (Question-answer)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Donald T. Lysle, Kenan distinguished professor in the Department of Psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill, teaches a course in animal behavior and has an interest in canine evolution. He has two dogs: Haley, a Doberman, who has been getting acupuncture treatment for spinal disorders (right); and Loki, a border collie, who is training to be a search and rescue dog. Lysle also is a volunteer with N.C. Search and Rescue Dog Association, an organization dedicated to finding individuals lost in wilderness areas of North Carolina.Condition of skin put man on map
The Charlotte Observer
Even more than most black people who lived in the segregated South, Dolph Setzer's skin color affected everything he did. ..."Skin color is still a very important marker for your social identity," said Harry Watson, director of the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC Chapel Hill. "People will say, `I'm black and that means something. I don't want you to stereotype me, but recognize the fact that I have a certain kind of history and as likely as not, that's going to shape who I'm likely to marry, what church I'm likely to go to, how I'm likely to vote.' Likewise, if I'm white."
Funding gap is proving stubborn
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Choices are dwindling when it comes to leveling the financial playing field for Orange County's two school systems. ...A UNC-Chapel Hill study found the funding difference gives high school students in the city schools more course offerings than high school students in the more rural county schools, among other advantages.
Crowded market: Housing market attracts hundreds of new Realtors
The Triad Business Journal
Nandi-Amaris Daniels could never picture herself as a real estate agent. ..."We're not at that saturation point yet if people are still entering," said Michael Luger, a professor of public policy, business and planning at UNC-Chapel Hill. But the Federal Reserve Bank has raised interest rates 13 times since June 2004, and some say the housing market could start to cool by the end of the year.
Project Survival: Jujube Restaurant
The Triangle Business Journal
Ted Zoller - Executive director, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School: Zoller is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship and is the primary liaison to UNC's Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative. He serves as Kenan-Flagler's liaison to external partners including the Center for Entrepreneurial Development, regional venture capitalists, local economic developers and regional business leadership. He is a former associate dean for business and finance at the UNC School of Government and high-tech entrepreneur and principal with American Management Systems Inc.
Searching for a diagnosis
The Chapel Hill News
Kristin Sayre learned early to discount nothing in life. The past four years have been the most difficult and ultimately, most rewarding of her 29 years, bringing the knowledge of her strength and perseverance. ...“We’ve been trying for a long time to come up with a way to detect ovarian cancer easily,” said Dr. Linda Van Le, a full professor in the division of Gynecology /Oncology of the Obstetrics/Gynecology department at UNC-Chapel Hill. She said there are blood tests and ultrasound screenings but little else. One of the reasons may be that it’s less common than breast, lung or colon cancer, which effects funding.Scholar, author to speak at UNC
The Chapel Hill Herald
Robin D.G. Kelley, a leading scholar in African-American studies and author of books including "Yo' Mama's DisFunktional! -- Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America," will speak Feb. 23 at UNC. The lecture will be part of a free public program beginning at 7 p.m. in UNC's Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, off South Road near the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower.
Note: No link available.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/robinkelley021006.htm
Troupe presents striking 'Salome'
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Richard Strauss' opera "Salome" is not easy to produce. Its vocal, orchestral and staging demands, not to mention its still-shocking subject matter, make it just an occasional visitor even in the world's top houses. The Opera Company of North Carolina's exceedingly successful production in UNC-Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall confirms its credentials as a viable regional company, an achievement belying its mere decade of existence.
Art-to-art talk
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Fixed to the painting were pieces of seventh-grader Nayeli Silva. A curled lock of brown hair. Shells collected on the first day she ever saw the ocean. ..."Honestly, they've been pretty fearless," said Natalie Larsen, a UNC-Chapel Hill master of fine arts student who helps with the project.
Issues & Trends
UA's next president to stress quality
The Arizona Republic
When Robert Shelton left Arizona as a ninth-grader in 1963, the state was in the early stages of dramatic change. ...Decades later, the 57-year-old Shelton will return to his native state to lead its oldest university at a time when Arizona is changing even more rapidly. The executive vice chancellor, provost and physics professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will take over the post on July 1, replacing retiring president Peter Likins.Gifts to colleges increase in 2005
The Associated Press (N.C.)
Donors gave an all-time record of at least $25.6 billion to American colleges and universities in 2005, an increase of 4.9 percent over the year before, thanks largely to greater generosity from alumni and foundations.
With teachers aging, county fears shortage
The Charlotte Observer
Kay Turner won't teach forever. The Robinson Elementary School veteran has been teaching for 29 years. She has no plans to stop anytime soon but realizes that stopping is inevitable. ...Statewide, higher-education officials are looking for solutions to churn out new teachers. A task force headed by the University of North Carolina system recommended starting an online teacher scholarship database and lobbying the legislature to increase teacher pay.
Tough task set for teacher training
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC system President Erskine Bowles has ratcheted up the pressure on the campuses to produce quicker and better solutions to the state's public school teacher shortage. He called the system's education deans together recently and told them he would make UNC's education schools his first priority under one condition -- that they take stock of their teacher-training programs and eliminate things that don't work.Officials, church to launch private school
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Officials associated with the successful Durham Scholars program for inner-city youths plan to launch a tuition-free private school serving up to 250 students in grades K through 8 in North-East Central Durham. ...Michelle Howard-Vital, associate vice president of academic affairs for UNC, said there had been significant research on this sort of "problem-based" instructional philosophy. She said studies have shown that making curriculum relevant was likely to motivate students to learn. She cited teaching entrepreneurship as an example.
The state's promise (Editorial)
The Greensboro News & Record
The UNC system's Board of Governors has to perform an unenviable balancing act each year. It must weigh the many needs of the system's 16 campuses, with their diverse and growing enrollments, against the state's constitutional mandate: that the benefits of public higher education "as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense." And compared to many other public colleges and universities nationwide, the board and the system's schools have done a commendable job of keeping the cost of higher education affordable, particularly for North Carolina residents.
State dollars needed for Mudrock's 'biopolis' on rise
The Triangle Business Journal
Annual taxpayer costs to fund the state's portion of billionaire David Murdock's proposed public-private research center in recession-ravaged Kannapolis will be 14 percent higher than initially suggested. Draft budget figures prepared by University of North Carolina System officials put the yearly cost at about $28.5 million by the fifth year of the project. Of the total, $13.6 million, or 48 percent, would be earmarked for salaries for university scientists who would be based at the facility, with the rest going to cover operations and research expenses.
Harold Martin (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
Greensboro's N.C. A&T State University may well try to hire Harold Martin as its next chancellor and lure him away from the chancellor's spot at Winston-Salem State University. If that happens - if it isn't happening already - Martin may well give the offer strong consideration. ...e's pushed it from being a small "suitcase" school to the fastest-growing institution in the University of North Carolina system, a school that's now in the midst of a $35 million capital campaign, as Laura Giovanelli reported in Thursday's Journal.
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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