January 13, 2004

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

National Coverage

Cue the Chorus
CBS Sunday Morning
Why are old-fashioned harmonies suddenly so cool at Yale and University of
North Carolina and on campuses all across the country. CBS News
Correspondent Rita Braver finds out.
Note: UNC's Loreleis was one of two a cappella groups featured in this news
segment. Correspondent Rita Braver visited the campus in December and spent the day following the group as they performed in the Pit, had an afternoon rehearsal and performed in a concert in Gerrard Hall. News Services helped coordinate the visit. The actual broadcast is not available online.

Costly New Drug For AIDS Means Some Go Without
The Wall Street Journal
North Carolina doctors and health officials met last year to tackle a wrenching
dilemma. Roche Holding AG's new AIDS drug, called Fuzeon, was beating the
toughest strains of the virus, giving patients who didn't respond to other medicines
a new chance to live.....In March, Dr. Hicks and four other doctors huddled at the
University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill campus to hash out a proposal to the state. The pitch: Enroll a limited number of patients and make doctors prove they met certain medical criteria -- something the program had never required before.
(Subscription required.)

Good News: No More Coke in School. The Bad News? Snapple is Replacing it
The Wall Street Journal
Some schools are finally making moves to get soft drinks out of schools -- but often
the replacement drinks they choose are just as bad or worse...."Consuming all these calorically sweetened drinks -- soft drinks, juice drinks, sports drinks -- they all contribute to weight and obesity in the U.S.," says Barry Popkin, nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It's all just sugar water."
(Subscription required.)

Mysterious Prions May Give Clues To Other Neurological Disorders
The Wall Street Journal
As agents of disease they "break all the rules," according to the Boston Globe. "They seem to have no genetic material of their own. They are not subject to immune attack. And they can't be 'denatured' by heating, digesting them with enzymes or hitting them with chemicals."...A better understanding of prions might also help halt the spread of mad cow and the other conditions they cause. Looking into doing just that, researchers at the University of North Carolina have found that "under proper conditions, an enzyme can fully degrade the prion -- or protein particle -- believed to be responsible for mad-cow disease and other related animal and human diseases," a statement from the school said.
(Subscription required.)

State and Local Coverage

Campus 'Zipcars' a worthy experiment (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
It's not going to change the world as we know it -- or even Carolina as we know it -- but the introduction of "Zipcars" on the UNC campus is a good idea.

Israel's fence gets in the way (Point of View)
The News & Observer
To break Israel's deadlock with the Palestinian Authority, a vicious tit-for-tat of violence and repression, moderate Israelis and Palestinians, led by prominent but out-of-power political leaders, have created an unofficial citizens' peace initiative. Late last year they agreed on a viable two-state peace settlement called the Geneva Accord....Tony Oberschall is professor of sociology, emeritus, at UNC-Chapel Hill. He writes and lectures on peacemaking, violence and terrorism.

New first trimester screening test can provide mothers reassurance, more options
News 14 (Time Warner, Raleigh)
Three to five of every 100 pregnancies will be affected with a major malformation or birth defect. These disorders account for up to 30 percent of infant deaths and infants who survive often face serious, long-term health problems....Anthony Johnson, DO, is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and director of UNC's Reproductive Genetics and AFP Laboratory.

Raleigh task force shuts out public
The News & Observer
A task force appointed by the City Council to choose a downtown developer met in a session closed to the public Monday in possible violation of state law....But the law does not allow a closed session for the purpose of considering an independent contractor, according to David Lawrence, an expert on the state's Open Meetings Law at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government.

Leader marries brass, wind well
The News & Observer
Michael Votta, Jr. is a busy man. In addition to teaching conducting and orchestration at UNC-Chapel Hill, he conducts the Triangle Brass Band and the N.C. Wind Orchestra -- groups with full but separate seasons.

Colleges ax journals deal
The Herald-Sun
Having grown weary of the continuously escalating prices of academic journal subscriptions, four local universities are taking something of a stand against the world's major publisher of scholarly research. Since 2000, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, N.C. State and N.C. Central University have pooled their resources to purchase a package of about 1,300 scientific journals from Reed Elsevier, the dominant name in academic publishing.

Issues and Trends

3 Public Universities Try to Ease Va.'s Reins
The Washington Post
Virginia's three top public universities are seeking to cut some of their ties to state government in what they describe as a bid to gain more control over their destinies after years of dwindling state funding.
(Registration required.)

UNC tuition increase request should be examined carefully (Editorial)
Asheville Citizen Times
The University of North Carolina system and its member institutions are considering tuition increases for students, hoping to use the funds to increase financial aid and salaries. It's a proposal that should be examined very carefully.

Holding the line (Editorial)
The News & Observer
North Carolina's constitution guarantees residents a higher education that is free "as far as practicable," but officials of the University of North Carolina system have stretched the interpretation of "practicable" over the past few years. In fact, it's been stretched so thin one that can just about see through it. Tuition and fees at UNC-Chapel Hill, the flagship campus, have gone up 70 percent over the last five years; at N.C. State, the figure is 65 percent. And at N.C. Central, it's 48 percent.

Red-light cameras left in place, for now
The News & Observer
Some people would like to bring the red-light traffic camera program to a screeching halt.  Others would like to mash the gas....With Carolina North, a major UNC-CH development proposal, on the horizon, she suggested that town officials look to Madison, Wis., a college town that has an ordinance to address similar concerns.

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.