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Jan. 8, 2007
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Parkinson's drugs linked to heart valve trouble
Reuters
Two "dopamine agonist" drugs commonly used to treat Parkinson's disease -- pergolide (Permax; Eli Lily) and cabergoline (Dostinex; Pfizer) -- may raise the risk of heart valve regurgitation, according to the findings of two European studies appearing in The New England Journal of Medicine this week. ...In a related commentary, Dr. Bryan L. Roth, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, notes that in addition to stimulating dopamine receptors, both Permax and Dostinex stimulate serotonin receptors, a key step in the progression of drug-induced valve disease.National Coverage
Best Values in Public Colleges
Kiplinger Magazine
Students pause in respectful silence as the sun melts into the horizon, transforming Sarasota Bay into a shimmering mass of pink and periwinkle-blue ribbons. ...For instance, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, number one in our rankings for the sixth straight time, Tar Heel students pay $13,584 or less and get small classes, a top-notch faculty and a supportive environment that enables 84% of students to earn a degree within six years.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan07/kiplinger010807.htmHow Colleges Perpetuate Inequality
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Colleges, once seen as beacons of egalitarian hope, are becoming bastions of wealth and privilege that perpetuate inequality. ...For instance, at the "Politics of Inclusion: Higher Education at a Crossroads" conference in September at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I watched the president of the College of William and Mary, Gene R. Nichol, give a stirring speech about the need for elite institutions to pay more attention to socioeconomic disadvantage, suggesting that the rhetoric of inclusiveness was surpassing actual practice.
Happiness 101
The New York Times
One Tuesday last fall I sat in on a positive-psychology class called the Science of Well-Being — essentially a class in how to make yourself happier — at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. ...At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Barbara Fredrickson passes out notebooks with clouds on a powdery blue cover for each student
Disney to unveil website revamp
The Los Angeles Times
The stakes could scarcely be bigger for Walt Disney Co. as it unveils a revamped flagship website today. ...On their own, children as young as 10 go to MySpace after lying about their age to gain entry, said Fred Stutzman, a University of North Carolina graduate student and consultant who tracks social-networking sites. "Once the hormones start kicking in — at 11, 12, 13 — they're getting on these sites."
Researchers develop new HIV test
McClatchy Newspapers
Detecting whether patients with HIV/AIDS are infected with even small amounts of drug-resistant forms of the virus can be done with a test developed by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. ..."A lot of questions are still unanswered, but it's an important step forward," said Dr. Peter Leone, an HIV/AIDS doctor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and medical director of the state's HIV prevention branch.
Hopes For An AIDS Cure Remain Alive
HealthDay News
In the hide-and-seek game played out between scientists and HIV over the last 25 years, the virus has so far been winning. ...Cutting-edge drug therapies have already beaten HIV down to infinitesimally low levels. In 2005, a team led by Dr. David Margolis of the University of North Carolina made a big splash by announcing in The New England Journal of Medicine that it had significantly depleted levels of latent virus in four patients.
Heartache to hope: A roadmap to safety
The Chicago Tribune
The Tribune embarked early last year on a mission to find solutions to teen driving crashes, a problem seemingly so intractable that it grinds down hope and commitment. ..."What I would do with the model as it's set up right now is throw it out and start all over again," said Rob Foss, director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina.
Parkinson's drugs linked to heart valve trouble.
Related link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-0701070003jan07,1,6051162.storyTeens at the wheel, safely (Editorial)
The Chicago Tribune
If this year is like last, dozens of teens will die in car crashes in the Chicago region. ...For the first six months on the road, a 9 p.m. limit is ideal, according to Rob Foss, director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Questions on Education (Question-answer)
The New York Times
My son is a student at a Miami prep school for children with learning issues. ...One by Loring Brinckerhoff, director of disability policy at the Educational Testing Service, highlights colleges with good comprehensive programs, including the University of Arizona in Tucson, Curry College in Massachusetts, Stanford and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Recruiting for the Right
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Ryan J. Sorba stands before a table covered with mini-cupcakes and whoopie pies, calling out to students as they pass. ...The program's field representatives have helped create 1,060 groups and newspapers on 443 campuses, including eight at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and seven at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Publicly Funded UNC Cleaning Study Releases Dust Capture Data
International Facility Management Association
Dr. Michael A. Berry, author of "Protecting the Built Environment: Cleaning for Health," recently completed a study of cleaning at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill that found a standardized approach to housekeeping affords the highest level of cleaning.
State and Local Coverage
UNC, Duke eye joint effort to boost German programs
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
In a break from their normal rivalry, UNC and Duke are considering combining their doctoral programs in German with an eye on becoming a national leader. ...Both the UNC Board of Governors and the Duke trustees would need to approve the proposal, UNC German department chairman Clayton Koelb wrote in an e-mail message.
Meet Rye Barcott
"The State of Things," WUNC-FM
Rye Barcott first traveled Kibera, a large slum in East Africa, as a student at the UNC-Chapel Hill. There, he witnessed the reality of true poverty and how it affects children most of all. Rye shares his experiences in Africa with host Frank Stasio and describes how he was inspired to start Carolina for Kibera, a charitable organization that helps provide education, health care and other community services to the people of Kibera.
Marine Captain Rye Barcott on Africa's worst slum
"North Carolina People," UNC-TV
Rye Barcott, President and Founder, Carolina for Kibera, Inc., was featured on Friday's (Jan. 5) edition of North Carolina People with William Friday to discuss his experiences in Africa.
James Peacock, anthropology professor, UNC
The Triangle Business Journal
North Carolina will never fence out the rest of the world as long as James Peacock's advocacy of cultural understanding continues to resonate as it has throughout his career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Etta Pisano, director, UNC Biomedical Research Imaging Center
The Triangle Business Journal
Thanks to Dr. Etta Pisano, detection of breast cancer may be entering the digital age. Pisano organized and led a nationwide study from 2003 to 2005 that put digital mammography on parade and spelled out the limitations of existing film mammography. More than 49,000 women participated in the study at 33 sites in the United States and Canada.
Edwards' poverty center will press on (Commentary)
The Charlotte Observer
John Edwards may have left the poverty center he started at UNC-Chapel Hill, but it isn't going away. When Edwards joined the Democratic presidential race last month, he quit as director of UNC's Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity.
Edwards coverage is too much for some
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
One of the certainties of publishing The News & Observer these days is that whenever a story on John Edwards runs, someone complains that the paper gives him too much attention. ...Still, Curran, the Chapel Hill reader, says she thinks the paper needs to bring more scrutiny to Edwards, such as the arrangement that gave him a perch at UNC's law school between campaigns. I had also wondered about that.
Test could improve HIV treatment
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A new test that detects whether patients with HIV/AIDS are infected with even small amounts of drug-resistant forms of the virus has been developed by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. ..."A lot of questions are still unanswered, but it's an important step forward," said Dr. Peter Leone, an HIV/AIDS doctor at UNC-Chapel Hill and medical director of the state's HIV prevention branch.
'Reform' puts mentally ill in homes for elderly
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The number of people with mental illness in North Carolina rest homes has grown by 15 percent -- to more than 6,200 -- since 2002. ..."Sitting around all day with cigarettes and TV is not so great for recovery," said Dr. Scott Stroup, a UNC-Chapel Hill psychiatrist who has studied the mix of mental health patients with older people. "For young people with their lives ahead of them, a rehab focus would be better."
Tissue banks may get rules
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A state House committee, reacting to the federal shutdown last year of a Raleigh human tissue procurer, is preparing to propose basic rules for tissue banks. ...The N.C. Commission on Anatomy, which oversees whole-body donations to medical schools, will recommend the state set up such a regulatory board when it meets in the next few months, said Noelle Granger, a professor of medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill and the commission's chairwoman.
State fears biosolids too close to homes
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Possible health concerns have kept the state from renewing Burlington's permit to spread biosolids on 175 acres in western Orange County, though the applications continue and are legal under state rules. ...The Orange County Board of Commissioners agreed to spend $10,000 to have two epidemiologists from UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Public Health collect data on water and air quality near the western Orange County site.
Trading computers for time
The Charlotte Observer
The Caldwell County Board of Education is set to consider a policy Monday that would allow former board members who remain involved with the school system to use district-issued computers and dial-up Internet access. ...The move is unusual, but legal, as long as the computer is used for public purposes, said Fleming Bell, a professor at the UNC Chapel Hill Institute of Government. Generally, public agencies must receive fair market value for their old equipment.
Clothing store aided in cancer benefit (Letter to the editor)
The Chapel Hill News
Talbot’s at Eastgate Shopping Center and its patrons must be commended for an incredible display of community spirit. This holiday season, the UNC Oncology Hats With Heart program received a wonderful gift. (Hats With Heart offers comfortable, hand-crafted hats at no charge to UNC patients experiencing hair loss due to cancer treatments.)
He recast Southern history
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Few knew the South like George Tindall -- from Mississippi sharecroppers to Texas oil wildcatters, from hellfire preachers to cotton mill lint heads. ...Tindall, a retired history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, died last month at age 85. A memorial service will be held Saturday at Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec06/tindall120406.htmIssues and Trends
Crimson, all right (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The University of Alabama, once the football school of football schools, might have spent $30 million-plus to hire on a few Nobel laureates to boost its academic reputation. ...At the price fetched by Saban, fans of UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State, where new coaches are in the $2 million range, might think they've scored bargains.
Developers heading north
The Chapel Hill News
Developers have plans for at least 1,400 new housing units — more than half as many as in the entire town of Hillsborough — all within a 2.5-mile radius of the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Weaver Dairy Road. ...And that’s without mentioning Carolina North — the 8-million-square-foot campus the university plans to build west of MLK Boulevard between Estes Drive and Homestead Road over the next 50 years.
Tax turns (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Last February, notables from around the state and nation gathered in Raleigh to discuss North Carolina's tax system. ...On the needs side, North Carolinians didn't have to support a 16-campus UNC system in the 1930s for the relatively few students who went to college.
UNC-RM recommendation expected by March
Rocky Mount Telegram
If there's one thing the proposal to establish a University of North Carolina campus in Rocky Mount does not lack, it's support.
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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