July 2, 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:

J.P. Morgan and Citigroup Face Fresh Scrutiny Over Enron Work
The Wall Street Journal
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer used an arcane state law to win a settlement 
from Merrill Lynch & Co. Now, that same law could make life difficult for the nation's
two biggest banks...
..."In many respects, the Martin Act is more flexible than federal securities law," said 
Thomas Lee Hazen, law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 
"And it's at least as powerful as the federal and possibly more so because of some 
lessened intent requirements."
http://online.wsj.com/page/0,,2_0033,00.html?mod=2_0033
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription to access articles.)

Breast-cancer preventive drug offers new hope--and risk
Chicago Tribune
Millions of women at high risk for breast cancer should consider taking prescription 
drugs that can prevent some cases of the feared disease, even though the medicine may 
give them other serious medical problems, a prestigious federal panel recommended 
Monday...
..."These are pretty substantial effects and are worth considering," said Dr. Linda Kinsinger 
of the University of North Carolina, the study leader. But the drugs' side effects create 
"something of a dilemma for patients and doctors when it comes to decision-making."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi-0207020175jul02.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed
(Note: This originated as a UNC News Services release 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun02/kinsing062502.htm. Other pick up includes 
the Herald Sun http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-243211.html)

More young adults losing the fat fight 
Cincinnati Post
Americans may blossom in young adulthood, but quite a few also seem to balloon in their 
20s and 30s. A new study of people who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s found that 
26 percent of men and 28 percent of women were obese by the time they reached 35. 
More than 80 percent of those who were obese by their mid-30s became dangerously heavy 
after ages 20 to 22, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found. 
They reported their findings Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. While other research 
has shown that overweight teens are likely to wind up as obese adults, Dr. Kathleen 
McTigue, the lead researcher for the new study, said, "Our findings suggest that more focus 
needs to be placed on the young- adult period, with particular emphasis on selected 
subpopulations."
http://www.cincypost.com/2002/jun/28/fatyoung06-28-2002.html
(Note: This originated as a UNC news release 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun02/mctigue053102.htm. Other national pick up 
includes MSNBC http://www.msnbc.com/news/768467.asp and WTVD (ABC) 
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/health/061702_NH_ageweight.html)

Implausible Deniability: The SEC Turns Up CEO Heat
TheStreet.com
Harvey Pitt has likely ruined the summer vacations of many of America's top CEOs. The 
Securities and Exchange Commission's latest edict requires written statements, under oath, 
from senior officers of the 1,000 largest public companies -- or those with revenue greater 
than $1.2 billion in their last fiscal year -- attesting to the accuracy of their financial statements 
and saying whether they had been reviewed with the companies' audit committee...
...CEOs have sometimes been able to rely on audit committees," said Thomas Hazen, a law 
professor at University of North Carolina. "This makes it clear they can't hide behind 
somebody else's numbers." 
http://www.thestreet.com/markets/taleofthetape/10029865.html

National News Notes

Walter C. Farrell Jr., professor of social work, public health and public policy, was featured 
on today's edition of the National Public Radio program, "The Connection," in a program 
about the benefits and shortcomings of school vouchers. To listen to the program, visit 
http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2002/07/20020702_a_main.asp.

State and Local Coverage

Overhead receipts undergird important university research (Opinion-Editorial Column)
Legislators struggling to balance the state's budget during these hard economic times are rightly 
asking us, as chancellors of North Carolina's research universities, about our funding and 
operations. When it comes to research, the most complex topic to discuss may be what is 
called overhead receipts. These funds are vital to us because they provide the infrastructure 
that pays dividends in job creation, technology transfer and scientific discoveries that improve 
people's lives. If legislators seeking money to fund the state's other needs were to take this 
money, it would undermine our ability to compete for research grants and, we think, work 
against our state's long-term interests.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/3583719.htm
(Note: Observer editors invited Chancellors Moeser and Fox to submit this column on 
overhead receipts as a follow-up to a joint editorial board visit they made to The Observer 
last spring.)

UNC center to help smaller builders
UNC officials hope the recent opening of a resource center near campus will help draw small 
contractors to the more than $1 billion in construction work getting under way on the Carolina 
campus. Carolina has opened The Historically Underutilized Businesses Resource Center, 
an office designed to bring firms owned by minorities and women into a loop long dominated 
by larger companies. The HUB center is housed in the Giles Horney Building, a UNC facilities 
center on Airport Road. There, prospective contractors can peruse potential jobs, look at 
project plans and read up on bidding guidelines, a collection of information not always available 
in one central location. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-243200.html

MED SCHOOL COURSES: Spanish for students a good idea (Editorial)
The figures from the 2000 census tell the story: Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group 
in the nation and soon will overtake blacks as the U.S.’ largest minority population. More than 
35 million American residents, according to the census, now describe themselves as Hispanic. 
The figures hit home, as well, as they revealed that during the period from 1990 to 2000, North 
Carolina led the nation in the increase in the number of Hispanics, up 394 percent during the 
decade...
...That’s why the decision by UNC’s medical school to offer credit for Spanish courses for medical 
students is both laudable and inevitable. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/chhedits/57-243113.html

Listening Post: A way of life (Speech Transcript)
From the commencement address at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by U.S. Sen. 
John Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat. My oldest daughter, Cate, had a favorite saying in high 
school: "A ship is safest in port, but that's not what ships are for." Ships are for making that courageous 
voyage. You're getting a passport today, a degree that can take you lots of places physically and 
professionally. You can stay "in port" physically and professionally. But, maybe, just maybe, that's 
not what your degree is for...
http://newsobserver.com/news/q/story/1501756p-1532153c.html

John Sanders has been a university star for more than 50 years
This story started 75 years ago. In the Johnston County town of Four Oaks, a son was born to David 
Hardy and Louie Jane Sanders on this date. John Lassiter Sanders became one of North Carolina's 
favorite sons -- director of the Institute of Government for a total of 22 years. At the age of 17, he 
moved to Raleigh to study architecture at N.C. State University. After one quarter, he joined the U.S.
Navy to serve his country during World War II. After one year, the war ended and he returned to 
State for another year, then transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...
..."John comes as close to being a Renaissance man as anyone I've ever known," said Jake Wicker, 
a professor in the UNC School of Government. He listed architecture, sculpture, painting, history, 
law -- "he has very broad interests and has supported these interests." The two men became friends 
while students at UNC and have both served the Institute of Government for nearly a half-century. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/06/30/town00.html

Rules may threaten college Webcasts 
Student disc jockey Meredith A. Neville played everything from jazz to Sonic Youth to Malaysian 
dance music last Wednesday morning on WXYC-FM. During her three-hour shift, she sent out more 
than 40 songs over the airwaves. And over the World Wide Web. WXYC, UNC-Chapel Hill's low-
wattage student station, is billed as the first radio station anywhere to put its broadcast online, around 
the clock, starting in 1994.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1503206p-1533426c.html

The Jewish Diaspora 
Q Inge Simonsen of Raleigh asks, "When and by whom were the Jews expelled from Palestine and by 
what routes did they migrate?" 
A There have been several attempts to wipe out the Jewish presence in Palestine, but no expulsion has 
lasted long. The Babylonian exile stands out in Jewish minds, but scholars now think only the elite of 
Jewish society left Palestine for Babylonia, now Iraq. And they weren't forced to stay long...
..."For the first time in 2,000 years, you now have two Jewish centers, in Palestine and in America," 
said David Halperin, professor emeritus of religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 
"It's hard to say which is more important. It's hard to imagine the Jewish world without both." 
http://newsobserver.com/features/life/story/1496704p-1527152c.html

Developing a Weight Loss Lifestyle At A Young Age 
WTVD (ABC)
A new report finds children are spending twice as much time in the hospital for obesity-related disease. 
What's more, hospital costs linked to childhood obesity have more than tripled over the past 20 years. 
Health reporter Angela Hampton joins us now with more on how some local children are trying to 
reverse that trend...
...Adults knew the exercise event would have to be fun for kids to like it. Dianne Ward with the Department 
of Nutrition at the UNC School of Public Health adds. "There's no competition, it's not meant to be 
punishment, it's not meant to be physical training. It's really meant to be a good experience, get out of the 
classroom enjoy the outdoors, move your body around, enjoy your friends." 
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/health/051002_NH_Walkers.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Town's politics may be shifting 
As chairman of the local American Civil Liberties Union chapter, Mark Dorosin hoped to be as idle 
as the proverbial Maytag repairman. After all, Chapel Hill has long been seen as a refuge for radical 
thinkers, a liberal oasis in a state that elected Jesse Helms to the U.S. Senate five times in a row. But 
over the past 10 months, Dorosin has found himself tilting at issues that make him wonder whether this 
college town -- the place right-wingers once suggested fencing in as a cheap way to get a state zoo -- 
still leans as far to the left.
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1505677p-1535894c.html

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