Feb. 12, 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

Love can keep your heart healthy
China Daily (Beijing)
Valentine's Day is not all about mushiness, flowers and chocolates, for now a new research has shown that Cupid's magic works as far as the health of your heart is concerned. ...Doctors at the University of North Carolina, in America, found cuddles can lower blood pressure and boost levels of the relaxing feelgood hormone oxytocin.

National Coverage

Obama Bets His Magic Will Endure `Freak Show' of U.S. Politics
Bloomberg
In November 2005, longtime Democratic activist George Stevens Jr. sat in a rapt audience as Senator Barack Obama delivered a speech at the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award ceremony. ..."Can anyone maintain a rock star stance for very long without being in the trivial business of rock and roll? The answer is no,'' said Terry Sullivan, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Beware the BMI
McClatchy Newspapers
Carolina Hurricanes' captain Rod Brind'Amour is a fitness fanatic, often stretching, riding a stationary bike and lifting weights – on the same day the team practices. ..."BMI should always be used as a screening tool, not a diagnostic tool," says Dr. Eliana Perrin with UNC's School of Medicine.

Mormon Soul Patrol
McClatchy Newspapers
His face is soft. His shirt is pressed. As the 19-year-old missionary speaks, he sounds rehearsed but sincere. ...Nodding along is Stockton Perry, 21, a member of Chi Psi fraternity. He wears flip-flops, fleece and a dash of scruff. He's sprawled under a tree on UNC-Chapel Hill's picturesque south quad, eating Chick-fil-A as he listens.

Dangerous drug reactions
Ivanhoe Newswire
Today, 82 percent of Americans will pop a prescription pill. Almost everyone takes a prescription drug at some point and these drugs can sometimes lead to dangerous consequences. ...Paul Watkins, M.D., a hepatologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, diagnosed Hollister's reaction. He says she didn't do anything wrong.
Note: Ivanhoe has a syndicated television series and its reports are broadcast in 250 markets reaching 80 million U.S. households.

Surprising Evaluations of Graduate Education (Letter to the editor)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The results of the Academic Analytics study of faculty productivity are more than counterintuitive, as Lawrence B. Martin claims. In the cases of at least two sociology departments, they are demonstrably wrong. ...Andrew J. Perrin, Assistant Professor of Sociology,University of North Carolina

Regional Coverage

Law school named amid controversy
The Miami Herald
It took years to get through the Florida Legislature and lots of hardball politics, but today Florida International University will inaugurate its $40 million law school building, named after Rafael Díaz-Balart, the grandfather of U.S. Reps. Mario and Lincoln Díaz-Balart -- and in an only-in-Miami twist, the former father-in-law for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. ..."What's always fascinating about South Florida politics is the way that the politics of the island, in its historic context, seems to insinuate itself into the politics of South Florida,'' said Louis Perez, a Cuba expert at the University of North Carolina.

Proposed UF fee heads for skeptical Legislature
The Gainesville Sun (Fla.)
University of Florida President Bernie Machen's proposal to charge undergraduate students an extra $500 per semester is already in trouble with Republicans, Democrats and a new governor intent on leaving Florida's rock-bottom tuition right where it is. ...Machen wants to vault UF into the elite top 10 class of public universities, a group that now includes institutions such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Religion isn't bad for kids (Column)
The Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
Richard Dawkins' book, "The God Delusion," has been a New York Times bestseller for more than 16 weeks. ...Christian Smith, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, led a massive, authoritative study called the National Study of Youth and Religion.

State and Local Coverage

UNC to dedicate George Moses Horton Residence Hall to honor slave and poet
The Chatham Journal Weekly
The university and greater communities are invited to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s dedication on Monday (Feb. 12) of George Moses Horton Residence Hall, formerly Hinton James North, now named for a slave and poet from Chatham County.
Related link: http://www.chapelhillnews.com/106/story/5391.htm
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb07/hortonhall020907.html

Students do lab work on science bus
The Charlotte Observer
"Hey, Emily, come on board. ... Put your goggles on," Jane Wright called out to the first student boarding the bus. ...You didn't need to have a doctorate to do the experiments aboard Destiny, an outreach program from UNC Chapel Hill's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
UNC Media Advisory: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2007/destiny020207.html

Biotech center awards $1.9M in grants
The Triangle Business Journal
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center said Friday it has awarded $1.9 million in grants to four North Carolina universities to boost biotechnology research and teaching collaborations. ...UNC Chapel Hill landed six grants worth a total amount of more than $750,000.

UNC reflects on legacy of activism on campus, in town
The Chapel Hill Herald
Walk through the Pit on UNC's campus, and chances are you will see students protesting the war in Iraq, genocide in Darfur and any number of other things. ..."There is a lot of activism among students," said Tim West, director of UNC's Southern Historical Collection. "We wanted people to recognize that there's a legacy and there are lessons to be learned."

Environmentalists weigh in on First School
The Chapel Hill Herald
As UNC and school officials plan the details of their First School project, local environmentalists are trying to make sure that the proposed complex would have a minimal impact on the natural environment. ...Dianne Bachman, assistant director for facilities planning at UNC and project manager for the First School site, said officials would work closely with environmental consultants who have been studying Carolina North as a way to keep impact on the land low.

Good work
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
John P. Kichak, vice president and chief information officer for UNC Health Care, was selected as one of Computerworld's Premier 100 Information technology Leaders for 2007. The honorees will be recognized at Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference in Palm Desert, Calif.

Honorable mentions
The Chapel Hill Herald
Gary Marchionini, Boshamer Distinguished Professor in the UNC School of Information and Library Science, recently received the 2006 Contribution to Information Science Award of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Society of Information Science and Technology. ...David Hartzell has been named the first Steven D. Bell and Leonard W. Wood Distinguished Professor in Real Estate at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School. Bell and Wood, both alumni, endowed the professorship with a $2 million gift in 2001.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan07/bellwoodprofessorship013107.html

UNC student elections tomorrow
WCHL-AM (Chapel Hill)
It’s almost time for UNC students to head to the polls and vote on who will be the next student body president. Daily Tar Heel Editor Joe Schwartz says the president has a powerful voice on campus.

Death penalty issue on the rise
The Associated Press (N.C.)
Not since 1992 have candidates for governor in North Carolina thought the death penalty was an issue worth talking about, and even then no one was debating the merits. ..."It's just not an issue that's been brought up," said Thad Beyle, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Judge is asked to remove Nifong
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Saying that Mike Nifong's name now means injustice, a political foe of the district attorney asked the courts Friday to remove him from office. ...James Drennan, a professor at the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, said legislators intentionally made it tough to remove district attorneys.

Corning builds pollution traps
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Since the dot-com flameout nearly destroyed one of the nation's oldest companies five years ago, Corning has rebounded under the helm of chief executive Wendell Weeks. ...Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning, will speak at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, 5:30 p.m. Monday. The lecture in the McColl Building's Maurice J. Koury Auditorium is free and open to the public. Free parking will be available in the business school parking deck.

Shareholders, eat your spinach
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Corporate annual reports might seem a bit outdated in the Internet age, but the documents are rich in valuable information for investors. ..."It won't necessarily be misleading, but it will be the optimistic view of the future," said accounting professor Robert Bushman of the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

The time is right for routine HIV testing (Opinion-editorial column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
There are now over 20 FDA-approved drugs for HIV/AIDS in the United States, and several new and promising treatments are on the horizon. Last summer the first one-pill/once-a-day regimen became available for first-line therapy. ...Amanda Peppercorn, M.D., is an infectious disease physician who teaches at the UNC School of Medicine.

Vi$ionaries (Book Review)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
We live in an age of astounding, if unequally distributed wealth. While John Edwards tries to get us worked up about Katrina victims, the rural poor and people living in the projects or on "the rez," we often seem more interested in Lamborghini shortages, bonuses at Goldman Sachs and Manolo Blahnik shoes. ...Peter A. Coclanis is associate provost for international affairs and a professor of history at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Ella Baker: Grassroots visionary who laid civil rights foundation (Commentary)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Ella Baker was the single most important organizer and intellectual behind the African-American freedom movements that transformed American history in the last half of the 20th century. Though Baker herself would resist the assessment -- "strong people don't need strong leaders," she liked to say -- her grassroots vision reshaped our world. ...Timothy B. Tyson is in the American Studies Department at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Howard Thurman: Teacher of teachers, leader of leaders, preacher of preachers (Commentary)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It is not widely known that the great theologian and educator Howard Thurman had a profound impact on Martin Luther King Jr. and on a generation of activists and advocates of social justice. When a prominent black journalist and scholar visited the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, he wrote: "I was not at all surprised to find King reading not Gandhi, but Howard Thurman." ...Reginald F. Hildebrand is associate professor of Afro-American Studies and History and interim director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black History and Culture at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Franklin Street Danger
WTVD-TV (ABC, Raleigh)
Some medical workers in Chapel Hill say UNC's victory parties are a disaster waiting to happen. ...Traditional bonfires and leaping fans are common when it comes to celebrations on Franklin Street, but Dr. Bruce Cairns says those antics need to change. "We just need to change the culture because when people get hurt they get hurt badly," Cairns explained.

Issues and Trends

For All the Attention Paid to Diversity, Older White Men Still Lead Most Colleges, Presidential Survey Finds
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The remarkable thing about the profile of the typical college president -- a married, graying white man with a doctoral degree -- is how little it has changed over the last 20 years. ...Since the council's last previous study, Rita Bornstein, president of Rollins College; Audrey K. Doberstein, president of Wilmington College; and Molly C. Broad, president of the University of North Carolina system, were all replaced by men.
Related link: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/02/12/harvard

Students' protest doesn't stop hike
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Despite protests by students who said a $1,250 tuition increase amounted to price gouging, out-of-state tuition and fees at UNC-Chapel Hill will rise to nearly $21,000 in the 2007-08 academic year.
Related links: http://www.newsobserver.com/1366/story/541772.html
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-818173.cfm

Hold that line (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Most North Carolinians don't need to be reminded college sports are loved in the Tar Heel state. ...North Carolina contributed to that trend with the full blessing of the UNC system Board of Governors. Three times in the past three years that board has rubberstamped annual compensation contracts worth millions for coaches, including Roy Williams and Butch Davis at UNC Chapel Hill and Tom O'Brien at N.C. State.

Council set to vote on project
The Chapel Hill Herald
There's another moment of truth coming Monday for plans to redevelop a downtown parking lot into condos, shops and public space. ...Ward has argued that, with the town pushing for more green design in other projects, including those of UNC, it should clearly require the LEED silver level and the 20 percent efficiency improvement in the contract, in part to set an example.
Related link: http://www.chapelhillnews.com/106/story/5399.html

Former coaches recruiting for higher education PAC
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Former Tar Heel basketball coaches Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge are no longer just dues-paying members of the powerful UNC-Chapel Hill-focused political action committee, Citizens for Higher Education. They're putting their recruiting skills to work.

UNC-Rocky Mount partnership requests funding from government
The Daily Herald (Roanoke Rapids)
The organization hoping to add a Rocky Mount location to the University of North Carolina system recently requested contributions from two local governments.

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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