January 23, 2003

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

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

Fossil of 4-Winged Dinosaur Casts Light on Birds and Flight
The New York Times
Scientists in China have found the fossils of a feathered creature, identified as a 
small dinosaur, that they say casts new light on the origin of birds and their ability 
to fly...Even though he disputes the predominant view of a direct link between 
dinosaurs and birds, Dr. Alan Feduccia, an ornithologist at the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill, called the newfound fossil "a new kind of animal that 
we've never seen before." Its characteristics, he said, "argue against a ground-up 
origin of flight." ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/23/science/23DINO.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Even at home, portions are getting bigger 
Albany Times-Union
Americans aren't just supersizing their portions in fast-food restaurants, they're 
doing it in their own kitchens. ... The study was conducted by researchers at the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and appears in today's Journal of the 
American Medical Association. ...
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=95858&category=NATIONAL&newsdate=1/22/2003
(Additional national coverage of this study includes Cincinnati Post, Grand 
Rapids Press (Mich.), Charleston Gazette/Daily Mail/Sunday Gazette-Mail 
(W. Va.), Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)
and Capital Times/Wisconsin State Journal. An interview with Nielsen also 
aired on WPHL-TV (Warner Brothers, Philadelphia) on Tuesday.)

Growing focus on health should aid New Urbanism
New Urban News (Ithaca, NY)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s campaign to reform Americans’ 
unhealthy way of life is growing into an impressively well- financed effort — one 
that should help New Urbanism in at least two important ways. ... The grants are 
being used to launch a comprehensive attack on Americans’ sedentary habits and 
on the ways in which physical activity has been “engineered out of daily life,” in 
the words of public health expert Rich Killingsworth. ... “New urban communities 
often harbor suburbanites who don’t know how to change their behavior,” says 
Killingsworth, program manager of Active Living by Design, a $16.5 million 
program started by the foundation. “They’re still driving to their destinations.” ...
http://www.newurbannews.com/health.html
(Note: Active Living By Design is affiliated with the School of Public Health.)

North Carolina News Notes

WLFL-TV (Warner Brothers, Raleigh) aired a story on its 10 p.m. news show 
Tuesday night that featured Bill Hall of the UNC Highway Safety Research 
Center demonstrating how to properly install child car seats. This story resulted 
from the UNC Health Care news release, 
http://www.unchealthcare.org/newsroom/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?release=buckle_up_kids.htm. 

Carol Gilmer, an audiologist who is director of the adult cochlear implant
program at UNC Hospitals and a clinical instructor in the School of
Medicine, was interviewed on "Charlotte Talks" on WFAE (90.7
FM) on Wednesday. For more information, go to 
http://www.wfae.org/wfae/nav1024.cfm?cat=18&subcat=91.

State and Local Coverage

UNC may change parking deck plan
Chapel Hill Herald
A massive construction program on campus and the advent of fare-free bus 
service have changed traffic patterns enough that UNC officials now want to 
make changes to the university’s development plan...The changes would affect
plans for a parking deck on the south side of Manning Drive on the southeast 
corner of campus. Officials want to scrap that project and build two other 
decks in its place, one near the Cobb residence hall and the other near the 
existing Health Affairs parking decks. ...
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-312303.html

Budding astronaut dreams of mission to red planet 
The News and Observer
Though it's a six-month journey in Earth's quickest spacecraft, Mars never feels 
far away to Kate Harris. ...This month, with a much shorter voyage to the Utah 
desert, the UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore got closer than ever to her lifelong 
dream of reaching the red planet. ...
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/2125604p-2022278c.html

Campus Keeps King's Dream Alive
The Daily Tar Heel 
The voice of Martin Luther King Jr. echoed through Polk Place on Wednesday 
afternoon as a group of about 40 students, faculty and staff gathered at the steps 
of South Building for the "Show of Hands for Peace and Unity." ... 
http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/01/23/3e2ff04c723ab
(Note: Other media covering the event yesterday include The Chapel Hill Herald, 
The Chapel Hill News, WTVD-TV (ABC, Raleigh), Carolina Week, and 
the University Gazette.)

Don't supersize your waistline 
News and Observer
Just like our waistlines, the reality gap between serving sizes listed on food 
labels and food guides and the portions most of us actually eat is widening. 
Experts believe ever-increasing portion sizes are directly linked to the 
epidemic of obesity...Portion sizes began growing in the 1970s, expanded 
substantially in the 1980s and continue to grow, according to a UNC-
Chapel Hill study published Wednesday in The Journal of the American 
Medical Association. ...
http://newsobserver.com/features/story/2125564p-2022317c.html

Changing of the guard (Opinion-Editorial Column)
Chapel Hill News
Over the past year, four Southern states have experienced a “changing of 
the guard” as a long-time politician has moved on from a major role in that 
state’s political life. ... 
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/community/story/2120170p-2018261c.html
(Note: Thad Beyle is a professor of political science at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Easley Undergoes Successful Surgery
WNCN-TV (NBC, Raleigh)
Gov. Mike Easley was back at work Wednesday after undergoing surgery 
to repair his shoulder and rotator cuff, his surgeon said. Dr. Bill Garrett, who 
removed bone spurs from Easley's left shoulder during surgery at UNC 
Hospitals, also discovered that the governor's rotator cuff was 90 percent
torn so he repaired that injury as well. ..
http://www.nbc17.com/news/1929070/detail.html
(Note: Other coverage includes the News and Observer, the Charlotte 
Observer and News 14 Carolina (Time Warner, Raleigh))

One Step at a Time
Winston-Salem Journal
Amanda Bennett lies supine on a mat. ... Amanda has juvenile rheumatoid 
arthritis, a disorder that causes inflammation of the joints. ... Amanda's JRA 
started as systemic but is now considered polyarticular, said Leonard Stein, her 
doctor and a pediatric rheumatologist at the University of North Carolina 
Hospitals. ... 
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/MGB75SBD7BD.html

Group proposes justice reform 
News and Observer
A delegation of criminal justice authorities agreed this weekend that state
leaders should explore new crime investigation techniques to avoid mistaken 
convictions. ... Delegate Rich Rosen, a UNC-Chapel Hill law professor,
said another improvement could be expanding the State Bureau of 
Investigation's crime lab ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2115123p-2014147c.html

The economy's next act... 
News and Observer
The economy is getting better: There will be fewer layoffs than last year. 
Consumers will carry more money in their pockets. And businesses will buy
new computers and software, giving the Triangle's technology sector a much-
needed boost. That's the consensus among economists surveyed by The News 
& Observer about their predictions for North Carolina and the Triangle in 
2003. ... "We're coming back, but it's a slow, steady slog," said James F. 
Smith, an economist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ...
http://newsobserver.com/business/story/2112724p-2011856c.html

Web Report Card To Show Which Hospitals Make The Grade 
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
A new health report card will soon let the public know which hospitals make 
the grade. "The idea is that patients can pull up the Web site and get information 
they can understand," said Dr. George Sheldon, chief of surgery at UNC 
Hospitals. ...
http://www.wral.com/health/1919851/detail.html
(Note: This coverage was the result of UNC Health care pitching efforts and 
a news release, 
http://www.unchealthcare.org/newsroom/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?release=sheldon_quality.htm)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Spinning Race 
Newsweek 
No one in Washington can be as ominously sympathetic as Dick Cheney. 
He was that way last week, when he placed a call to Theodore Olson, 
solicitor general. President George W. Bush was preparing to take a 
politically explosive step, filing friend of the court briefs opposing the 
University of Michigan’s use of racial preferences in admissions. ...
http://www.msnbc.com/news/861383.asp?0nw=n2d

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please
call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, (919) 962-2091
or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu