July 24, 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:

University sued over Islam reading assignment
CNN
Three students and a conservative Christian group have filed a lawsuit against the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, alleging a summer reading assignment 
violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. The lawsuit was filed Monday 
in U.S. District Court in Greensboro by three unnamed incoming freshmen and the 
Family Policy Network, a Virginia-based nonprofit group that seeks to inform the 
public about moral issues. 
http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/07/24/islam.unc.lawsuit/index.html

(Note: History Professor Harry Watson, who has been involved with the reading program, 
also was interviewed Tuesday night by the British Broadcasting Corp. for an upcoming 
radio segment about the program.)

Congress Passes Nurse Reinvestment Act
NurseZone.com
After months of waiting, nurses around the country received a boost from Congress when 
the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed the Nurse Reinvestment Act July 
22. The legislation creates programs designed to curb the growing shortage of nurses in 
hospitals and health care settings throughout the United States... “Passage of the act 
acknowledges the importance of nurses in health care, today and in the future,” said Linda 
Cronenwett, RN, Ph.D., dean of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 
School of Nursing. 
http://www.nursezone.com/job/MedicalNewsAlerts.asp?articleID=9061&MainCurren

University in Birmingham Selects Louisville U. Leader as President
The New York Times
The board of the University of Alabama voted unanimously today to name the acting 
president of the University of Louisville, Carol Z. Garrison, president of the University 
of Alabama at Birmingham... Ms. Garrison was born in Montclair, N.J. She earned 
a bachelor's from the University of North Carolina, a master's in nursing from the University 
of Alabama at Birmingham and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from North Carolina.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/24/education/24BAMA.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles..)

Regional Coverage

Attack doesn't empty waters
The Sun News (South Carolina)
A shark attack on a teenage girl over the weekend apparently didn't scare swimmers out 
of this beach town's waters... There have been 20 confirmed shark attacks in North 
Carolina since 1870, said Frank J. Schwartz of the University of North Carolina Institute 
of Marine Sciences in Morehead City. 
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/news/local/3723306.htm

State and Local Coverage

Call us ignorant of Quran (Commentary)
I hated "Moby-Dick." OK, so I haven't actually read Herman Melville's classic, but I'm 
sure I wouldn't like it. Never been to France either, but I'm sure I'd hate it, too. They eat 
snails and speak a foreign language, don't they?... Lawyers for the Virginia-based Family
Policy Network and three incoming freshmen filed suit Monday against UNC-Chapel Hill 
over a requirement that all freshmen either read a book or explain why they won't. 
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1578428p-1607145c.html

Winning Quran reading case against UNC is likely to prove difficult 
To win their case against UNC, lawyers for a Christian values group must prove that the 
university, by requiring incoming students to read a text on Islam, is promoting the religion. 
Doing so may prove difficult, according to some local constitutional scholars. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-250226.html

UNC sued over Islam assignment
Charlotte Observer
A Christian organization in Mississippi is suing UNC Chapel Hill, claiming a requirement 
that freshmen read a book on the Islamic faith violates the students' First Amendment rights. 
The suit, filed Monday, asks a federal court in Greensboro to order the school to drop 
the requirement.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/3722622.htm

Roses and Raspberries
Raspberries to the Family Policy Network, for its ongoing crusade against University of 
North Carolina over UNC's Quran summer reading assignment. The right wing Christian 
organization this week filed suit against the university to block the program, which assigned 
incoming freshmen to read a book, "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations." The
suit says the assignment amounts to state advancement of religion, in violation of the 
Constitution. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/24/opinion03.html
(Note: To view this article, please scroll down the web page.)

Clean up the mess at Horace Williams (Editorial)
There's a mess out at the Horace Williams property. The more obvious problem is the 
waste buried there, from a landfill and chemical dumped operated by UNC decades ago. 
The materials pose a threat to the environment and, potentially, human health and safety. 
The less visible mess is the political and financial problem of getting it all cleaned up. There 
are questions about who is responsible for a cleanup, how to do it, and how to pay for it.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/24/opinion00.html

Town wants university to clean up waste sites
Town officials say they'd like to see a closer examination of the potential hazards from 
waste sites at the university's Horace Williams property along with a clear timetable for 
cleanup of the sites. "It's time for the university to make a firm commitment with a firm 
timeline to correct the problem," Town Council member Bill Strom said after an initial
review of material forwarded to the town by the university on Friday.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/24/news01.html

SURVIVOR: Robert Thoma a miraculous example (Editorial)
People who survive cancer once are considered lucky. Beating the disease twice? Very 
lucky. After beating cancer three times, Robert Thoma is a miraculous inspiration for the 
rest of us. Thoma, a UNC design engineer, was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease
in 1978, when he was just 33. For any chance at defeating the cancer, he had to undergo 
harrowing chemotherapy that his body could scarcely tolerate. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/chhedits/57-250198.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

U.S. Senate Panel Approves 12-Percent Increase for NSF
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday approved a healthy increase 
of nearly 12 percent for the National Science Foundation's budget next year, providing a 
total of $5.353-billion. The proposed increase was more than double that suggested by 
President Bush in February. He supported a budget of $5.035-billion for the 2003 fiscal
year, which begins October 1.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/07/2002072402n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires subscription to access articles.)

GOP gets challenge on budget 
Serious business or political theater? That was the $288 million question when budget 
writers in the state House announced tentative spending recommendations Tuesday but 
said the House budget had a big hole in it after a sales tax package failed last week... 
"It will still be painful," said Mark Fleming, the UNC system's lobbyist, "but this is about 
the best we could have hoped for." That increase would save $52 million, as opposed to 
$42 million in the Senate plan. The House proposal also discontinues about $1.2 million 
in support for the Dean Smith Center at UNC-Chapel Hill.
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/1578415p-1607144c.html

ECU gets high U.S. ranking 
In just about every measure, the Triangle's three major research universities tower over 
the rest of the state's colleges and universities when it comes to patents, licensed inventions 
and the creation of spinoff companies... The highest ranking by the Triangle's three first-
tier research universities was UNC-Chapel Hill's 12th-place finish in a category that 
compares the number of licenses or options on university technology that companies 
purchased with the total number of inventions disclosed.
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1576038p-1604924c.html
(Note: To see the rankings from The Chronicle of Higher Education online, please visit 
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i45/45a02401.htm)

N.C. panel approves 10 percent tuition hike 
Wilmington Morning Star
North Carolina community college students may be looking at a 10 percent tuition increase. 
The State Board of Community Colleges approved a resolution Friday authorizing an increase 
once the Senate and House Appropriations Committees have agreed on the same amount. 
The Senate has already approved an in-state increase of $3.25 per credit hour, raising tuition 
from $31 to $34.25 per credit hour, and an increase of $17.50 per credit hour for out-of-
state tuition, raising it from $173.25 to $190.75 per credit hour.
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/news/stories/14870newsstorypage.html

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please call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, 
(919) 962-2091 or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu