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Jan. 19, 2006Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Cystic fibrosis therapy advance
BBC News (United Kingdom)
Researchers have discovered a highly promising treatment for lung problems associated with the deadly condition cystic fibrosis. The treatment involves inhaling a salt water aerosol solution almost twice as salty as the Atlantic Ocean. This helps to cut damage by restoring a thin lubricant layer of water that normally coats airway surfaces. Details of the US and Australian collaboration are published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was carried out by the University of North Carolina and the University of Sydney.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan06/cfrelease010706.htmNational Coverage
Salt water mist better for cystic fibrosis - study
Reuters
Mists of inhaled salt water can reduce the pus and infection that fills the airways of cystic fibrosis sufferers, although side effects include a nasty coughing fit and a harsh taste. ...In the second study, Scott Donaldson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his colleagues found that a 7 percent salt mist "produced a sustained acceleration of mucus clearance and improved lung function" because it helped hydrate the lungs.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan06/cfrelease010706.htm
Related Link: http://edition.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/01/18/cf.saltwater/Saltwater therapy helps ease cystic fibrosis
USA Today
Australian surfers have helped inspire a new way to treat a deadly genetic disease. ...Doctors in Australia and the USA decided to test whether saltwater might replace that missing lubrication. They hoped the extra salt would draw water out of lung tissue onto the airway, providing a thin layer of liquid to ease mucus out of the lung, says Richard Boucher, who directs the cystic fibrosis center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and led the American study.
Saline Solution Helps Cystic Fibrosis Patients Breathe Easier
HealthDay News
Researchers believe they've found a way to clear the thick mucus from the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis so they will be less vulnerable to life-threatening infections. The idea is to induce a slick, watery surface to the airways so that this mucus can slide away, explained Dr. Richard C. Boucher, director of the Cystic Fibrosis Pulmonary Treatment and Research Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Related Link: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/117/112651.htmSaltwater Might Reduce Cystic Fibrosis Lung Problems
NBC News Channel
Researchers have identified what they believe is a simple, effective and inexpensive treatment to reduce lung problems associated with cystic fibrosis, or CF. The findings are from two separate studies, one from the University of North Carolina researchers and the other from Australian researchers. Both studies are published in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Related Link: http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4381095
Note: NBC News Channel is the feeder service for the 250 affiliates around the country.Race for the millions
The Baltimore Sun
Maryland is on the way to its most expensive political season in history, with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announcing record-breaking fundraising numbers yesterday, and his nearest Democratic rival, Mayor Martin O'Malley, nearly keeping pace over the past year. ... The large sums of money likely to be spent this year - many believe Ehrlich will reach $20 million and the Democratic nominee will raise well over $10 million - are to be expected in the current political environment, said Thad Beyle, a University of North Carolina political science professor who studies governors' races. Spending is going up everywhere, he said.
Clean and Green
Scientific American
Stain repellents confer easy-to-clean convenience to carpets and clothing thanks to substances called fluorosurfactants. ...University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers hope to patent a new antistain chemical based on short chains they unveiled at the American Chemical Society meeting last August. They found a way to stiffen the C4 chains by propping them up with extra hydrocarbon groups. These achievements may only be scratching the surface of short-chain fluorosurfactants' potential.
State & Local Coverage
Scientists: Salt water helps those with disease
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Scientists in Chapel Hill and Australia have discovered that inhaling simple salt water protects the lungs of people afflicted with cystic fibrosis. ...“This is the first therapy that seems to interfere with the early steps of lung disease,” said Dr. Scott Donaldson, a pulmonalogist at UNC-Chapel Hill. “It raises the possibility that we may prevent or delay the progression of lung disease.”
Related Link: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=eye_on_health&id=3824986
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan06/cfrelease010706.htmUNC Study: Saline Solution Safe Treatment For Cystic Fibrosis
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
Twenty-year-old Louisa Chrisco went to North Carolina State University to further her future, but cystic fibrosis has always threatened to cut that future short. ...Two teams of researchers, including one from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studied the effects of hypertonic saline treatments on test subjects with cystic fibrosis. They found that a simple saline solution helps patients breathe easier and, perhaps, live longer.
State's anti-tobacco efforts for youth making strides
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina, long dominated by loyalty to the golden leaf, is now one of the nation's surprise success stories in fighting youth tobacco use. ...Dr. Adam Goldstein, director of UNC-Chapel Hill's Tobacco Use Prevention and Evaluation Programs, said North Carolina's teen initiative had made major progress in its second year.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec05/goldste120705.htm
Safety: Cheerleading as a sport in own right gets more guidelines
The Winston-Salem Journal
Three cheerleaders hoisted Cecily Smith above their heads this week, holding one of her legs as she stretched the other near her ear. ...Steve Marshall, an epidemiologist at UNC Chapel Hill and a researcher on the 2004 state injury study, and Brenda Shields, the lead author of the Columbus Children's Research Institute study, said that coaches should be certified.
Study: N.C. near top for teen driving deaths
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Former Raleigh TV newswoman Kathy Fowler said she felt "like all other teenagers -- invincible, maybe even immortal" the night she was a passenger in a car that veered off the road and slammed into a tree. ... "We have one of the best GDL programs in the nation," said Arthur Goodwin, senior research associate for the UNC Highway Research Center.
UNC gears up to get thoughts on Carolina North campus
The Chapel Hill Herald
Members of at least five committees or groups have endured long meetings and crafted detailed reports in recent years on many facets of the Carolina North campus that UNC hopes to build some day. Even so, a firm proposal for Carolina North has yet to emerge from the offices of Chancellor James Moeser and university planners. And the university now is gearing up for a new committee and new effort to gather input on the major project, planned for land west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
'Magical Thinking' author to speak
The Chapel Hill Herald
Joan Didion, author of the best-selling memoir "The Year of Magical Thinking," will speak on Feb. 28 at UNC. The book won the 2005 National Book Award for nonfiction. As the 2006 Morgan Writer-in-Residence at UNC, Didion will present a free public reading at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall. An observer of politics and culture, Didion has written nine nonfiction books and five novels.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan06/didion011706.htmHope, grants keep researchers in hunt for HIV vaccine
The Triangle Business Journal
Peter Young is chasing a killer that is ravaging Africa and threatening lives in his own backyard. ... AlphaVax was formed as a result of efforts to commercialize a vaccine therapy developed by collaborating laboratories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. "The Army's interest was in finding a single vaccine therapy that could be used broadly for a wide range of disease targets that could affect the troops," Young says.
Food Bank diversifies
The Triangle Business Journal
As a result of Hurricane Floyd, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina distributed nearly 19 million pounds of food in 1999, up from just over 10 million pounds the previous year. ...Through a separate partnership with the School of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Food Bank is working with dentists who volunteer to provide care throughout the region using a dental bus donated by the Baptist Men's Association in Snow Hill.
Firm focuses on gene to help heart
The Triangle Business Journal
NanoCor Therapeutics hopes to offer patients with congestive heart failure a noninvasive treatment that could boost the heart's power to pump. ...Carfostin is the result of collaboration among Jude Samulski, director of gene therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Dr. Roger Hajjar, a cardiologist at Harvard University; and Evangelia Kranias, director of cardiovascular biology at the University of Cincinnati.
Town lauded for health component in plan
The Winston-Salem Journal
Lewisville was among the first municipalities in the state to include a health-and-wellness chapter in its comprehensive plan, but other cities and towns should follow that example, Phillip Boyle, an expert in public administration, said recently. Boyle, an adjunct professor at the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, singled out Lewisville last week during a lecture in Wilmington sponsored by the institute and the N.C. League of Municipalities.
Rules aren’t exact for photo lineups
The Greensboro News & Record
No firm rules exist in the Greensboro Police Department when it comes to conducting photo line ups during criminal investigations. ...Greensboro police officials said last week that detectives follow methods published in “Arrest, Search, and Investigation in North Carolina,” a book by Robert L. Farb at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Institute of Government.
Attorney: Princeville broke law at meeting
The Rocky Mount Telegram
An expert on N.C. open meetings law and county government said Princeville's controversial meeting last Friday was a legal gathering for business, contrary to the town attorney's opinion. But officials still violated the law during the meeting, another lawyer said. ... Everette-Oates objected, and David Lawrence, a municipal government and open meetings expert from the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina, said Everette-Oates' opinion was correct.
Regional battle lines drawn over Catawba
The Charlotte Business Journal
A battle over rights to Catawba River water may soon split the region's business community, just as it is dividing area political leaders. ..."I'm not in a position to say whether the (transfer) impact would be minor or major," says (David) Moreau, a UNC Chapel Hill professor. "It's not going to be an easy decision."
Issues & Trends
States Boost Budgets for Colleges
The Wall Street Journal
States have put more money into higher education this fiscal year in what amounts to the biggest increase in appropriations for colleges and universities since 2001. And as many state governors head toward elections, some are promising even better prospects next year for tuition-paying families.
Our Opinion: Four excellent candidates for UA president (Editorial)
The Tucson Citizen
Finding a person to succeed Peter Likins as University of Arizona president is an exceptionally difficult undertaking. ...(Robert) Shelton was born in Phoenix and is familiar with many of the specific needs of UA. And he has a strong record in hiring a diverse university administration.
Related Link: http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=4380795Campus reaction to pres. finalists positive
The Arizona Daily Wildcat
The strong background in business shared by all four UA presidential candidates could prove beneficial for the university's future, especially in the wake of decreased state funding, students and faculty said yesterday. ...Robert Shelton is the executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was also vice provost at University of California, Davis.
Related Link: http://www.dailyorange.com/media/paper522/news/2006/01/19/News/Vice-
Chancellor.To.Interview.For.President.At.Ua-
1477299.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.dailyorange.comUNC provost on University of Arizona short list
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC Provost Robert Shelton is interviewing today to be president of the University of Arizona. Shelton is one of four short-listed candidates for the top job at the state school in Tucson. Arizona hopes to name a replacement by the end of the month for Peter Likins, who will retire as president in June, search committee chairman Fred Boice said Wednesday.Doyle proposes new college aid package
The Journal Times (Racine, Wis.)
Gov. Jim Doyle is proposing a new financial aid package to help high school students with good grade-point averages pay for college. Under the plan, which Doyle is expected to announce during his State of the State address Tuesday night, eighth-graders would sign a pledge agreeing to maintain at least a B average in high school, take college-prep courses and live a clean life. ...Doyle, a Democrat, said the plan, modeled after similar programs in Indiana and North Carolina, would help students get into college in the face of ever-increasing bills.
'The process' mires synagogue's parking plan
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Stanley Robboy and other leaders of the Chapel Hill Kehillah didn't know what they were getting into when they applied for town permission to rent out 50 of the synagogue's existing parking spaces. ...Renting out spaces in parking-limited Chapel Hill is intended as a fund-raiser for the nine-year-old synagogue, Robboy said. UNC-Chapel Hill employees would be the primary users.Somebody's got to pay for them
The Hickory Daily Record
More than half the students of the Hickory Metro Higher Education Center come from outside Catawba County. More than 75 percent live outside Hickory. ...The Future Forward alliance is overseeing the center, which will be turned over to the University of North Carolina system later 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.
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