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Jan. 12, 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
Syphilis back with a vengeance in China, report says
Reuters (International)
Syphilis, which was largely eliminated in China between 1960 and 1980, has returned with a vengeance and urgent intervention is needed to curb the epidemic, according to researchers in China and the United States. ..."Syphilis has returned to China with a vengeance. The data demonstrates a syphilis epidemic of such scope and magnitude that it will require terrific effort to intervene," said lead researcher Myron S. Cohen, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
Related link: http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20070111-062258-5221r
Note: This story ran in more than 20 news outlets around the world.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan07/chinasyphilis.htmSyphilis rates 'soaring in China'
BBC News (United Kingdom)
A new report published in a leading medical journal suggests China is seeing alarming and rising rates of the sexually transmitted disease, syphilis. ...The study involved doctors from China's National Centre for STD Control in Nanjing and from the University of North Carolina's School of Medicine. Dr Myron Cohen, a co-author of the report, described the spread of the disease as "fantastically rapid".
Note: The BBC's interview with Dr. Myron Cohen of the UNC schools of medicine and public health, was set up by News Services and aired on BBC World Service, heard locally on North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC 91.5 FM.Syphilis 'back with a vengeance' in China
Guardian Unlimited (United Kingdom)
China is suffering its biggest wave of syphilis in more than 50 years as a cocktail of changing sexual mores and weakening public healthcare takes its toll on the world's most populous nation. ..."Syphilis has returned to China with a vengeance. The data demonstrates a syphilis epidemic of such scope and magnitude that it will require terrific effort to intervene," lead researcher Myron S Cohen, director of the centre for infectious diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, told the Reuters news agency.
Related link: http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=40322National Coverage
Colleges Boost Aid to Poor Students
Time Magazine
Ten years ago, just about anyone with a high school diploma could win admission to the University of Louisville. ..."All of us in higher education have been concerned about access and affordability," said Shirley Ort, director of scholarships and student aid at Chapel Hill. "But we did this frankly to simplify our message. With all the media focus about spiraling college costs, we were afraid too many students were being scared away."
Syphilis Resurgent in China
HealthDay News
Syphilis was all but eliminated in China from 1960 to 1980 but has reappeared and become a rapidly increasing epidemic that requires urgent intervention, according to a report in the Jan. 13 issue ofThe Lancetmedical journal. ..."Syphilis has returned to China with a vengeance. The data demonstrates a syphilis epidemic of such scope and magnitude that it will require terrific effort to intervene," report co-author Dr. Myron S. Cohen, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.
Related link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10940-syphilis-rates-skyrocket-in-china.html
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan07/chinasyphilis.htmIn Thailand, U.S.-style care without the expense
McClatchy Newspapers
When Paul Reeve needed major dental work, he shopped around. The best deal came from a University of North Carolina Chapel Hill-trained dentist who would do the work for $10,000, instead of $37,000 quoted by others he questioned in the Charlotte, N.C., area. The hitch? The dentist works in Bangkok, Thailand.
Regional Coverage
Emory tries to become more affordable
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Emory University on Thursday announced plans to make it easier for low- and middle-income students to attend, joining the ranks of other elite institutions who have reached in recent months and years to try to make the cost of higher education less debt-ridden and daunting. ...Harvard, Priceton and some public institutions including the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina have reduced costs for needy students in recent years.
An Offensive Charge (Editorial)
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Supporters and detractors agree: He's not your off-the-rack president. ..."Any initiative he takes despite the lessons of history is altogether in keeping with his character throughout his presidency," an emeritus presidential historian at the University of North Carolina, William Leuchtenburg, says.
Model solution
WHDH-TV (NBC, Boston)
First Madrid banned skinny models from the catwalk. Then Milan followed. Later this week, American designers will tackle the "skinny" issue. ..."Our concerns with the fashion designers' guidelines is that they just don't take the problem with eating disorders seriously enough," said Dr. Cynthia Bulik, a professor of eating disorders, at the University of North Carolina.
State and Local Coverage
Local officials praise selection of House speaker nominee
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
News that local attorney and longtime Rep. Joe Hackney is one step from becoming the N.C. House leader played well among local officials in his district Thursday. ...It would be a milestone to have a House speaker from a district that includes Orange, said Thad Beyle, a longtime UNC Chapel Hill political scientist. That hasn't happened in the past at least in part because of the perception that Chapel Hill was just too liberal, Beyle said.
Dentists Hope Mouth Guards Keep Athletes Smiling
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
Missing teeth often tell a story of game injuries on the field, court or ice, but the North Carolina Dental Society is trying to get more high school athletes to wear mouth guards to protect their smiles. ..."Those are the sports we're primarily targeting to try to get those athletic directors to see the need and to help their athletes," said Ashley Shaaf, a student at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry who volunteers in the Dental Society campaign to get more custom-made mouth guards for high school athletes.
A history of Pfiesteria
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Two state public health officials are reassigned for being overly-skeptical that pfiesteria can cause harm to people. But a scientific panel headed by then UNC-Chapel Hill public health dean Bill Roper finds little long-term injury among people exposed to coastal North Carolina waters where Pfiesteria has been found.
Country music’s women profiled
The Fayetteville Observer
Country music has always featured a female perspective. For every Hank Williams, there’s a Loretta Lynn. ...(Jocelyn) Neal, an assistant professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will discuss the evolving role of women in country music. Her research spans from the 1930s and singers such as Patsy Montana to the present day and artists including the Dixie Chicks.
Issues and Trends
UNC system eyes assessment plan
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
Some UNC students would be required to take standardized tests to assess how effective the academic programs are at their campus, under a proposal the system's Board of Governors discussed Thursday. ...About 300 students on each UNC campus would be tested as freshmen and again as seniors, said Allen Mabe, UNC's vice president for academic planning and university-school programs.
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/news/clips/index.shtml.
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