July 19, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

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

A year after Stringer death: NFL wary, few changes
USA Today
When the Vikings report to training camp in Mankato, Minn., next Friday they know "a 
lot of people will be taking a good look at (us) for a lot of reasons," owner Red McCombs
says... Last season, the deaths of a college player and a high school player also were 
attributed to heatstroke. From 1995 through last season, there were 19 such deaths in 
high school and college football, according to the National Center for Catastrophic 
Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/stories/2002-07-19-cover.htm

Unknown reptile fossil found
Miami Herald
The fossilized skull of a flying reptile from the age of the dinosaurs shows it sported an 
impressive bony crest and may have lived on fish captured while skimming the surface of a 
steamy southern lagoon... Alan Feduccia, a dinosaur expert at the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the authors "have done a splendid job of bringing this large and 
remarkable ... pterosaur back to life."
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/news/politics/3689097.htm
(Note: Other coverage to date mentioning Feduccia includes the Canadian Press, CBS News 
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/18/tech/main515560.shtml, Contra Costa Times 
(California) http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/3693661.htm, and 
Deseret News (Utah) http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,405018497,00.html)

National News Notes

Dr. Wayne Litaker, a member of the Program in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology 
and adjunct professor at the School of Medicine, was featured Thursday on 
National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" about the marine organism Pfiesteria. 
To listen to the segment online, please visit
http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/segment_display.cfm?segID=146889. Litaker's research was the 
subject of a UNC news release http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun02/pfiesteria061802.htm

State and Local Coverage

Easley orders 2,600 jobs cut 
Declaring the General Assembly at a budget impasse -- and the Republicans to blame -- 
Democratic Gov. Mike Easley on Thursday ordered 2,600 state jobs eliminated to begin 
closing a $1.5 billion shortfall. Easley invoked his emergency powers to start slashing the 
current year's budget without General Assembly approval. With no revised spending plan 
in sight 18 days into the new fiscal year, he said, he had no choice... Daughtry said House 
Republicans were willing to use other pots of money to help balance the budget. He pointed 
to university overhead receipts from research grants, tobacco payments in the Golden Leaf 
Foundation and money in the Clean Water Trust Fund. "There are other ways to get revenue 
than to raise taxes," he said. "Our caucus is pretty solid about not raising taxes."
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/News/story/1566189p-1595207c.html

Strictly by the book 
It's no wonder the red-lettered sign above Leah McGinnis' desk says "no more splitting 
headaches." McGinnis, assistant head of UNC-Chapel Hill's undergraduate library, is in 
charge of moving 75,000 books -- in Library of Congress order -- from one building to 
another in 95-degree heat
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1566108p-1595200c.html

Audit outlines overruns 
UNC President Molly Broad released a consultant's review of the UNC Women's and 
Children's hospitals project and said the university administration will apply its findings to 
better manage future construction projects. Specifically, she said the university will follow the 
consultant's recommendations as it proceeds with its vast statewide construction program 
financed by $2.5 billion in bonds approved by voters in 2000, with the intent of avoiding 
repetition of the mistakes that occurred with the hospitals.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/1565991p-1595178c.html

Pictures give teens glimpse into future 
The efforts of a UNC graduate student and the cooperation of participants in the Carolina 
Women’s Center’s Teens Climb High program have created a photography exhibit -— and 
a master’s thesis —- to remember. Artist Diane Choplin asked seven of the roughly 30 girls
in the TCH program to consider the ways they see themselves now and the ways they see 
themselves in the future. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-248640.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Harvard Will Honor Other Colleges' Binding Early-Decision Programs
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Officials at Harvard University said Thursday that the institution will honor the early-decision 
commitments of other colleges, ending weeks of speculation that Harvard might attempt to 
enroll students who were admitted both to Harvard and under another college's "binding" 
program this fall. Admissions officials at many elite colleges had worried that the early-decision 
system would unravel if Harvard stopped recognizing applicants' commitments to other colleges 
as sacrosanct.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/07/2002071901n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires subscription to access articles.)

Families Scramble to Pay Tuition; Colleges Begin Offering New Aid
The Wall Street Journal 
The falling stock market and the slow-growing economy have made paying for college a big 
problem for many families. With fall tuition bills just starting to arrive, families are trying to 
figure out how to pay the tab from decimated stock or education-savings accounts. Some 
are asking colleges to boost financial aid, others are applying for loans, and some say they 
may even be forced to switch to cheaper schools.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB102694746495869360,00.html?mod=personal%5Fjournal%5Fhs%5F1
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires subscription to access articles.)

Albany No Longer a Secret in High-Tech Chip World
The New York Times
It sounded forced when, a few years ago, local officials took to calling the verdant Hudson 
River basin Tech Valley. More people scoffed at the nickname, and the strained boosterism 
it represented, than used it. No one was scoffing today, when a consortium of the world's 
biggest computer chip makers announced that they would plant their new, $400 million 
research and development center here, at the State University of New York. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/19/nyregion/19TECH.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Post-Sept. 11 crackdown limits immigrants' access to colleges 
Where at one time it was extremely difficult, now it’s virtually impossible for illegal residents 
statewide and nationally to earn a college degree, experts said Thursday at N.C. Central 
University... The UNC System, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the N.C. 
Community College System are assisting the commission, which will give a final report to 
the General Assembly when it convenes in late January. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-248681.html

Research pays off for universities (Letter to the Editor)
Wilmington Morning Star
EDITOR: North Carolina is blessed with an outstanding university system. The 16 campuses 
of the UNC system have brought national recognition and prominence to our state, as well as 
educating millions of our citizens. In this time of tight budgets and departmental cuts, our 
universities need our support....
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/opinion/letters/stories/14698lettersstorypage.html
(Note: Samuel H. Poole is the former chairman of the UNC Board of Governors.)

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, 
please call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, 
(919) 962-2091 or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu