January 7, 2004

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

International Coverage

American footballers endure 'car crash' blows
New Scientist, UK
American footballers sustain a blow to the head equivalent to a severe car
crash in every game, a new study has found....Head injuries are a serious
concern in American football, says Frederick Mueller, head of the
department of exercise and sports science at the University of North
Carolina.

National Coverage

Majoring in Debt
The Progressive
Higher education is a basic social good. As such, it should be available to all,
without cost, who meet admission standards. The federal government, as the
guarantor of social rights, should bear primary responsibility for providing free
college for all....Universities themselves are responding. The University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently announced a plan to cover the full
costs of education for poor students without forcing them to take on loans.
Students will have to work in state and federal work-study programs at a
manageable ten-to-twelve hours per week.

State and Local Coverage

His brothers' keeper: Double donor gives life
The Herald-Sun
Martial Bednar's gifts to his family might put him into the medical history books....
He was released from UNC Hospitals in late November after the experiment -- a
clinical trial that was being offered through the Lineberger Comprehensive
Cancer Center.
UNC News Services release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan04/transplant010604.html

Man donates bone marrow to 2 siblings
The News & Observer
A New York man is thought to be the first American to donate bone marrow to two siblings, including one brother who lives in Pittsboro and underwent a transplant at UNC Hospitals this past November.

Man donates bone marrow to his two brothers
News 14, (Time Warner, Raleigh)
A New York man may have made medical history at UNC-Hospitals in Chapel Hill....Late last year he donated bone marrow to his brother who lives in Pittsboro but donating marrow is nothing new to him and that's how he may have made history.

Pittsboro Man Perfect Family Marrow Match For Second Time
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
A Pittsboro man is celebrating a second chance at life thanks to his brother....A
year and a half ago, doctors diagnosed Mike Bednar with multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells. He is doing much better after a bone marrow transplant at University of North Carolina Hospitals in November.

Construction to peak in '04
The Chapel Hill News
The wave of construction on the UNC campus is slated to reach its climax in 2004, and UNC officials say that - if all goes well - several major projects will be completed before the year's end...."Likely in 2004, we will have more projects underway than at any other point in the program," said Kevin MacNaughton, special assistant for capital projects.

Resident seeks changes to plan
The Chapel Hill News
An online petition urging changes to the university's draft plan for the Carolina North project has gained a number of signatures, and now that the holidays are over its author hopes to gather more....Laurin Easthom, a Chapel Hill resident, created the petition last month in response to UNC's draft plan to build a major research and residential development on the Horace Williams tract.

UNC facilitates zipping about
The News & Observer
Four new silver Volkswagen Beetles will be just a hop, zip and a jump away for many UNC-Chapel Hill students and staff as the spring semester gets under way today.... "I think that particularly in this environment, the program stands a great chance of taking off," Deborah Freed, UNC-CH transportation demand coordinator, said in a prepared statement.
Note: Today, in the Swain parking lot, a demonstration of the zipcar was presented to members of print and broadcast media. WRAL-TV, WB-22, NBC-17 and The Chapel Hill Herald were in attendance.
UNC News Services release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan04/zipcar010504.html

Cary in midst of e-meeting
The News & Observer
By logging on to www.townofcary.org and clicking their mouse a few times, Cary residents can join the debate about the town's future from their home computers...."Cary has been one of the communities at the forefront at pushing technology, and this is one of the ways they are showing leadership," said Kevin FitzGerald, of the Center for Public Technology at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government.

Oh, essay, can you see?
The Fayetteville Observer
It's a strange little word that sometimes invokes rolled eyes and even fear. "Essay."....Others, like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, require two essays. One short (250 words), and one long (500 words).

Honoree got start at A-B Tech
Asheville Citizen-Times
Growing up the youngest of seven children in a poor Swannanoa family, Ernest Grant was determined to get a college education and a job in the health-care field....So with the help of a guidance counselor at Owen High School, he mapped out a path that eventually would land him a role as Sparky the Fire Dog, helping children understand the hazards of fire, and national honors for his skills as a nurse at the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill.

Issues and Trends

A New Campus Crusader
Newsweek
Growing up in Georgia, Mary Sue Coleman was caught in the school-desegregation battle. After the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954, hard-line segregationists threatened to padlock public schools before they would admit black students. So Coleman's father moved his family north to Iowa. "My parents were very scared," recalls Coleman. "They wanted to go to a place where public schools were supported."

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please call Russell Campbell at News Services, (919) 962-2091, russell_campbell@unc.edu, or Mike McFarland in University Communications, mike_mcfarland@unc.edu

Note: Web links on this page are time-sensitive, so stories might not be available after the day they first appeared.