January 18, 2005

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

Women need that healthy touch
The Sunday Times, UK
An affectionate stroke of the back or neck may bring your loved one far more benefit than just a few minutes' relaxation....Kathleen Light, a psychiatry professor at the University of North Carolina's school of medicine, who led the research, said: "It is a new finding for humans.

National Coverage

U. of Virginia to Expand Financial Aid to Help Neediest Students
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The University of Virginia will try to enroll more of the neediest students in the state, as well as more community-college students, by expanding a key financial-aid program....The original program was based largely on the Carolina Covenant, an effort at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to attract students from low-income families and enable them to graduate debt-free.
Subscription required.
Related link: The Daily Progress

A New H.I.V. Alarm
The New York Times
Jonathan M. Perry has never been shy about being identified as gay at Johnson C. Smith University, a historically black college here....'The stigma of being gay drives kids into higher-risk behavior such as doing club drugs and engaging in anonymous sex,'' says Dr. Peter A. Leone, the state's medical director for sexually transmitted diseases and an associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Four More (War) Years (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Washington Post
George W. Bush has chosen to call himself a war president, but as he embarks upon a second term, he confronts a challenge no American war president has ever before encountered....Richard Kohn heads the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Workers' Rights at Risk
Los Angeles Times
After a local clothing factory owner refused to hand over dues collected by a union, labor leader Bahlakoana Shaw Lebakae turned to an unlikely ally: Gap Inc...."Many corporate leaders recognize they need to treat their employees well, but the markets don't reward that kind of corporate behavior, particularly in companies operating within China," said Susan Aaronson, a University of North Carolina professor working on a project on corporate social responsibility.

Peer pressure can silence students
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
When 13-year-old Gabrielle Hanley has a question about something a teacher said in one of her classes at Cudahy Middle School, she doesn't dare raise her hand to ask her teacher to explain...."I think kids who aren't asking questions are likely to have incomplete comprehension of what they're learning," says Mel Levine, a pediatrics professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-chairman of All Kinds of Minds, a non-profit organization that studies differences in learning.

Coming to London: 'American-style' service
MSNBC
For Aleda Roth, the implications were obvious. A regular visitor to Britain for a decade and a half and an expert in operations management, it's her business....[Aleda] Roth, a professor at Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the co-author of a study on Britain's hospitality industry.

Castro Out of Context (Commentary)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
No foreign head of state has defied U.S. efforts at regime change longer than Fidel Castro. Since 1959 he has survived an armed invasion, repeated assassination attempts, years of political isolation, and decades of economic sanctions. Forty-six years later, Castro is alive, if not so well, 90 miles away, still in power, still defying the United States....Louis A. Pérez Jr. is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Subscription required.

Mississippi Healing (Commentary)
The Washington Post
All of us have people we can turn to when we're in need of inspiration. For many years, one such person in my life has been former Mississippi governor William F. Winter, a man whose courage and leadership, especially on racial and educational issues, have been demonstrated for decades....Almost two months ago, I decided to mark Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday by writing about a speech Winter made in mid-November to a seminar for southern state legislators in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Note: Governor Winter's remarks were made at the Seminar for Southern Legislators, cosponsored by UNC Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life and Program on Humanities and Human Values.

High Museum Appoints African American Art Curator
Atlanta Daily World
Michael E. Shapiro, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green Director of the High Museum of Art have announced that the High has appointed Michael D. Harris as Consulting Curator of African American Art, which is a newly created position....As a consulting curator, Harris will continue his duties at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as Associate Professor of African and African American Art History, a position he has held since 1996.

State & Local Coverage

Moeser picks tuition plan
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC Chancellor James Moeser has selected the smallest of three tuition hike options recommended to him by a campus task force.

All-news WUNC in national spotlight
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
About 8 million people across the nation soon will be able to push a button, turn a knob or flip a switch and broaden their knowledge of North Carolina business.

He collects, protects Southern history (Tar Heel of the Week)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
His peers call him a gentle giant. Tim West, who measures half an inch over 6 feet, is not of gargantuan stature. But the soft-spoken Charlotte native and director of the UNC-Chapel Hill Southern Historical Collection is a titan in the library world.

Beware the dangers of overreaching (Question and Answer)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
William Leuchtenburg, a retired UNC-Chapel Hill history professor, is a scholar on the American presidency. He is a Democrat.

A chat with... Paul Jones, UNC-CH
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When IBM announced this week that it released 500 software patents to the public, programmers in the Triangle and across the globe gained access to trade secrets from a computing giant known for zealously protecting its huge portfolio of patents.....A veteran programmer, UNC-Chapel Hill professor Paul Jones, 54, has long been an advocate for loosening restrictions on intellectual property laws that keep computer code out of the public domain.

UNC scholar's new book takes shot at 'Da Vinci Code'
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
Bart Ehrman will admit that the person seated to the left of Jesus in Leonardo Da Vinci's famous "Last Supper" masterpiece seems a bit effeminate. But that doesn't mean it's a woman, Ehrman points out, nor does it necessarily mean the person is Mary Magdalene.

Flexibility might help kids learn (Commentary)
The Charlotte Observer
Consider this anecdote, as told by Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrician and UNC-Chapel Hill scholar.

Tradition, discovery -- and debate
The Charlotte Observer
A dormitory at UNC-Chapel Hill bears her name. History hails her as an eloquent champion for higher education for women and better public schools for black and white children.
Related letters to the editor of The News & Observer (Raleigh):
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/saturday/opinion/story/2026208p-8409932c.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/saturday/opinion/story/2026210p-8409972c.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/saturday/opinion/story/2026211p-8410120c.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/saturday/opinion/story/2026209p-8409969c.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/saturday/opinion/story/2026206p-8410100c.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/saturday/opinion/story/2026207p-8410041c.html

Keeping Social Security solid (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
During his first term, President Bush used false claims to stampede us into war with Iraq.....Arthur Benavie is emeritus professor of economics at UNC-Chapel Hill and author of the 2003 book "Social Security Under the Gun."

Dr. Bush's off-target remedy (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
President Bush headed out to Collinsville, Ill. -- the country's purported "hell hole of justice" -- to make his claim for medical malpractice reform....Gene R. Nichol is dean and the Burton Craige professor of law at the UNC School of Law.

My body, my buddy
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Six preschoolers settle down in a circle on the polished wood floor, sticking close to their mothers and eyeing one another....Psychologist Cynthia Bulick, director of the UNC Eating Disorders Program, encourages parents to help children separate self-esteem and body esteem.

Innocence projects multiply (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Innocence projects are springing up across the United States....In evaluating inmate claims and conducting investigations, the center draws upon the work of students and faculty at Duke University School of Law, UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Law, N.C. Central University School of Law and Campbell University's Wiggins School of Law.

N&R looks to break tradition with Web changes
The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area
News & Record Editor John Robinson says he wants a revolution. Online, at least....The biggest significance of the News & Record's online experiment is simply the fact that the paper is doing it, said UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor Philip Meyer, author of the new book "The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age."

Targeting school poverty
The Charlotte Observer
Capping poverty at Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools could boost achievement, improve teaching quality and reduce the gaps between "have" and "have-not" schools, according to organizers of a conference on Monday....John Boger, deputy director of the UNC Center for Civil Rights in Chapel Hill, presented national and local data arguing that high concentrations of poverty squelch academic achievement and hamper recruitment and retention of teachers.

Barber-Scotia getting down to business
The Charlotte Observer
Next fall, Barber-Scotia College will move away from its liberal arts tradition, focusing instead on entrepreneurship and business education, college president Gloria Bromell-Tinubu announced Monday....UNC-Chapel Hill offers a business administration degree with a concentration in entrepreneurship and has indicated an interest in working with Barber-Scotia on its emerging program, as has the University of Texas, Bromell-Tinubu said.

Reactions mixed to paper's firings
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It took the Durham Herald-Sun's new owner, Paxton Media Group, about a day to overhaul the paper, by firing top managers and longtime employees and cutting 81 jobs....Phil Meyer, a UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor, said that by firing popular employees and cutting staff, Paxton risks alienating the community.

Triangle amenities bring in extra dollars
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Wearing a pink Theory blouse over a black Bebe tank and Juicy corduroy pants, Marianne Psilos clearly has a fondness for fashion...."Foodies go nuts in the Triangle," said James F. Smith, an economist at UNC-Chapel Hill, who describes himself as a foodie, or epicurean.

Race enters ballot tiff
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The disputed ballots at the center of the struggle for the state education chief job were cast disproportionately by black voters, a collection of voting rights organizations said Friday....Anita Earls, director of advocacy for the UNC Center for Civil Rights, said the higher percentages, combined with the lingering effects of past discrimination against black voters, makes disregarding the ballots discriminatory.

Currituck schools go tobacco-free
Outer Banks Sentinel
The Currituck County Board of Education adopted a 100 percent Tobacco Free Schools (TFS) policy at its meeting Monday, Jan. 10 in the gymnasium of the Knott's Island Elementary School....The Partnership is guided by a governing board comprised of local health directors and representatives from the NC Division of Public Health and the NC Institute for Public Health at the University of North Carolina.

UNC Health Care has vaccine
The Chapel Hill Herald
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-566409.html has flu shots available for existing and new UNC Health Care patients.

Oratory contest inspires students
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Pumping his index finger with fury, Mitch Baker bellowed grim statistics at the crowd of college students, most of them black....A three-panel judge deemed Baker the best speaker. The contest is held annually by UNC-Chapel Hill's Kappa Omicron chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Student assignment receives criticism
News 14 (Time Warner, Charlotte)
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' student assignment plan received more criticism Monday in a 22-page report from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ifill of PBS to deliver Weatherspoon Lecture
Outer Banks Sentinel
Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service will deliver the Weatherspoon Lecture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School on Jan. 26.

Issues & Trends

UNC officials urge campuses to look at new research areas for grants
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
A change in federal budgeting has UNC system and campus officials scrambling to adapt and shift priorities...."We're revising all our projections about federal research," said Carolina Chancellor James Moeser.

President Bush Would Pay for Pell Grant Proposals by Making Student-Loan Program More 'Efficient'
The Chronicle of Higher Education
President Bush announced on Friday that he will seek to raise the maximum Pell Grant by $500, to $4,550, over the next five years, as well as to eliminate a $4.3-billion shortfall that has plagued the program for the past several years.
Subscription required.

Bush's Budget Will Seek Modest Rise in Pell Grants
The New York Times
Two weeks before the release of what the administration says will be one of the tightest budgets in recent times, President Bush told college students Friday that he would propose a modest increase in Pell Grants, the nation's primary scholarship program.
Registration required.

Changes in federal student loans afoot
Press-Gazette (Green Bay, Wis.)
Proposed changes in the federal guaranteed student loan program for college students could save $12.3 billion over 10 years, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

CU plans new rules for automatic entry
The Denver Post
The University of Colorado plans automatic admission for the top 10 percent of students in every Colorado high school graduating class beginning next fall.

Engines of growth
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Triangle economy is expected to chug along this year with solid growth....Health-care providers are adding manpower, too. The area's three largest -- Duke University Health System, UNC Health Care and WakeMed -- will add more than 1,000 positions this year.

 

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/newsserv/clipsindex.htm.

Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.