July 26, 2002

Carolina in the News

Summer Reading Program coverage

3 Freshmen Sue U. of North Carolina Over Assigned Reading About Koran
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Three unidentified freshmen at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sued the 
institution in federal court this week over a book about the Koran that is part of a required 
summer-reading program. 
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/07/2002072603n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires subscription to access articles.)

Moeser hails book on Islam 
Without discussing any specifics of the lawsuit filed earlier this week by a conservative 
Christian organization, UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser on Thursday lauded 
the faculty for choosing a book on Islam for the annual summer reading program. In his 
state of the university address nearly a year ago, Moeser said universities should be 
public squares for the great issues of the times -- places that challenge traditional values 
and take up politically thorny topics without fear of censorship.
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1584445p-1612445c.html

UNC chancellor defends required Quran assignment
Tight-lipped since being named earlier this week in a lawsuit accusing UNC’s summer 
reading program of being unconstitutional, Chancellor James Moeser spoke out Thursday,
vigorously defending the program’s merits. In comments to university trustees, Moeser 
discussed at length the controversial decision to require incoming students to read and 
write about a text on the Quran, a move that inspired a lawsuit by a Christian values 
group. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-251099.html

UNC Not Backing Away From Summer Reading Program Choices
WRAL-TV (CBS)
University of North Carolina Chancellor James Moeser has lauded the school's faculty for 
choosing a book on Islam for the annual summer reading program. Without mention of a 
lawsuit filed earlier this week by a conservative Christian organization, Moeser told the 
UNC Board of Trustees on Thursday that he was proud of the faculty ``for having made 
an insightful and, yes, a provocative choice.'' 
http://www.wral.com/news/1578471/detail.html

Religion and Academia (Editorial)
Winston-Salem Journal
A lawsuit filed by a conservative Christian organization and three soon-to-be students 
against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an affront to the First Amendment 
and to intellectual integrity. The suit, filed in federal district court in Greensboro by the 
Family Policy Network, a Virginia organization, and three incoming UNC freshmen, claims 
that the universityis violating the students' right to religious freedom by requiring them to 
read Approaching the Qur'n: The Early Revelations, a book about Islam.
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/opinion/MGB1MHQE34D.html

Reading to understand isn't reading to believe (Letter to the Editor) 
Charlotte Observer
In response to "UNC sued over Islam assignment" (July 24): I want to ask those students 
who oppose UNC's summer reading selection: What are you afraid of?...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/3737639.htm

Why study Islam? (Letter to Editor)
Wilmington Morning Star
EDITOR: Now, let me see if I can get this straight. An atheist gets a court to disallow 
God’s name in a school – and now, next year, our University of North Carolina at Chapel 
Hill will (require incoming freshmen to read a book about Islam.)... 
http://wilmington-stage.updatethis.com/opinion/letters/stories/14931lettersstorypage.html

RELIGION: Toppling the wall (Editorial)
The Florida Times-Union
If the anti-religious left really believes the Constitution erects a wall of separation between 
church and state, it should be furious with the University of North Carolina for requiring 
freshmen and transfer students to study Islam. 
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/072402/opi_9990871.html
Current International Coverage

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

Bush warned to focus on US economy 
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Radio)
Could it be a case of "like father, like son?" Well in Washington, political pundits say 
President George W Bush is in danger of making the very mistake his dad made, a decade 
ago. A sluggish economy was crucial in ending the presidency of George Bush Senior after 
just one term in the White House... 
JAMES SMITH: The good news for the President is that most signs at the moment are 
that the underlying level of economic activity and the rate of growth is far better than the 
perception of investors.
TIM LESTER: But head of the University of North Carolina's Centre for Business, Prof. 
James Smith, concedes those perceptions are a real threat for the Bush administration. 
Historically, Americans have re-elected presidents in good economic times and kicked 
them out in bad....
http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/s612167.htm

X-rays made from carbon nanotubes
Electronic Engineering Times (UK) 
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could be used to make portable medical and industrial X-ray 
machines. US researchers from the University of North Carolina have generated X-ray 
radiation suitable for medical diagnostics using a CNT-based field emission cathode... 
Professor Otto Zhou, director of the North Carolina Centre for Nanoscale Materials, 
said: “Because the CNT cathode operates at room temperature, the size of the X-ray 
tube can be reduced and the power consumption is low. 
http://www.electronicstimes.com/story/OEG20020724S0002

Current National Coverage

10 great places for theater under the stars
USA Today
Sure, the play's the thing. But at outdoor theaters hosting historical dramas, Shakespearean 
festivals and religious plays, so is the setting. Scott Parker, director of the Institute of 
Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, steers USA TODAY's 
Laura Bly to some summer favorites where the scenery plays a leading role.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/vacations/great/outdoor-theatre.htm

John Muir pioneers the way to Martinez festival 
San Franscico Chronicle
It's not enough for folks in Martinez that their new outdoor drama, "Mountain Days: The 
John Muir Musical," was a success, selling out seven of its eight shows last summer... Such 
outdoor dramas are growing nationally, said Scott Parker, director of the Institute of 
Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/07/26/CC224475.DTL

Workouts under hot NCAA glare Panels consider stricter rules to make summer sessions 
safer for the players 
USA Today
Let Mike Aguirre tell you how he used to spend his summer vacation. Initially a football 
walk-on at Arizona State with no scholarship to cover his college costs, the history major
and aspiring wide receiver from Mesa, Ariz., had to make some money. So he worked 
from 5 a.m. until 1 p.m., loading boxes of snack chips in the back of an airless tractor-
trailer. The temperature sometimes hit 130 degrees.... Dodds' panel, which also includes 
Purdue football coach Joe Tiller, North Carolina sports medicine director Bryan Smith 
and Nebraska trainer Jerry Weber, is scheduled to develop a package of formal proposals
this month. 
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020725/4305945s.htm

Oversight Favored For Corps Projects 
The Washington Post 
The National Academy of Sciences yesterday called for independent reviews of large-scale 
Army Corps of Engineers water projects, a significant victory for conservationists and fiscal 
conservatives who have questioned Corps analyses for years... "There's clearly a problem 
with credibility," said David H. Moreau, a University of North Carolina professor of 
environmental planning who served on the study team.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A666-2002Jul25.html

Military marches into middle schools
Chicago Tribune 
Teasing is inevitable for the young cadets at Madero Military Academy. But when T-shirt 
and shorts-wearing pupils from Madero Middle School, in the same building, make fun of 
Julie Delagarza's spiffy military uniform, the 7th grader has a ready answer... But 
anthropology professor Catherine Lutz, who studies the military's role in society at the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is skeptical. Lutz, author of a study in the 1990s 
called "Making Soldiers in the Public Schools," said she was not aware that military-
style programs had filtered down to middle schools and expressed concerns about introducing 
the "career of soldiering" to such young pupils.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/showcase/chi-0207260345jul26.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed

Regional Coverage

Trinity Valley player collapses
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Sam Rogers was just trying to show the younger players "how it's done," their coach says. 
But Rogers, a senior football player at Trinity Valley, might not have heeded his own body's
warnings and ended up in the hospital Tuesday after collapsing from heat exhaustion... 
According to a study released Thursday by the University of North Carolina, 20 football 
players nationwide have died of heat-related illnesses since 1995, including three last year.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/3738502.htm

Analysis: Home front turns shaky for president
South Florida Sun-Sentinel 
President Bush forged a lasting bond with the American people as they suffered together 
through the adversity of terrorism, but corporate scandals and a shaky economy have seriously 
damaged his plans on the home front... “The administration has to be on the defensive right 
now,” said Thad Beyle, professor of political science at the University of North Carolina, 
who tracks polls across the country. 
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-bush072602.story?coll=sfla%2Dnewsnation%2Dfront

National News Notes

Dr. Fred Mueller, chairman of the department of exercise and sport science, was
interviewed last night on CNBC's "The News with Brian Williams" regarding a recent study 
he authored on heat-related football injuries among high school players. Mueller was also 
interviewed on WRAL-TV (CBS) about the same study.

Dr. Robert McMurray, professor of exercise and sport science, was featured this 
morning on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," about the amount of exercise in 
physical education classes of school-age children.

North Carolina News Notes

Two Carolina School of Medicine faculty were interviewed on WTVD-TV (ABC) last night 
in stories related to President Bush's speech in High Point about limiting awards for non-
economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. Dr. Matthew Ewend, section chief of 
neuro-oncology in the Department of Surgery's division of neurosurgery, was in 
the audience for Bush's speech and was interviewed by reporter Scott Light. Dr. Richard 
Toselli, director of the Spine Center in the division of neurosurgery, was interviewed 
by reporter Angela Hampton at the Ambulatory Care Center on the UNC campus.

State and Local Coverage

McColl quits as UNC trustee 
Hugh McColl, former chief executive of Bank of America, has resigned from the UNC-
Chapel Hill Board of Trustees after missing several meetings. McColl joined the board last 
July not long after retiring from the bank that he transformed from a medium-size Charlotte 
institution into the largest in the country.
http://newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/1584341p-1612582c.html

BOT wants airport closed this year 
The Horace Williams Airport must close by the end of the year, according to a resolution 
adopted Thursday by UNC’s Board of Trustees. In a two-paragraph statement, the board 
pledged its continued support to the Area Health Education Centers program, which currently 
flies UNC doctors around the state using the airport
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-251031.html

Peeling the Orange
The true hue of Carolina blue if the focus of an ongoing debate since the color was adopted 
shortly after the birth of the first state university here. The Dialectic Senate, a significant UNC 
student organization of those early days, chose blue to denote "honor and excellence... A 
sign board bearing quotes of Gandhi and Thomas Jefferson was recently erected along the 
South Columbia Street sidewalk beside UNC’s Hanes Art Building. It actually relates to a 
steel sculpture frame in the nearby Alumni Sculpture Garden....
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-251022.html

Buying land at track site considered
Charlotte Observer
The Cabarrus Board of County Commissioners and the Kannapolis City Council are considering 
buying $6 million to $7 million of land to attract an indoor track-and-field center... David 
Lawrence, professor at the Institute of Government at UNC Chapel Hill, said it's fairly 
common for local governments to buy land as an incentive for industrial projects. Usually, 
Lawrence said, the company buys the land and the city or county reimburses it for the cost.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolina/counties/cabarrus/3730096.htm

Program to warn Hispanics about drinking and driving
Winston-Salem Journal
The Mecklenburg Safe Communities Program introduced a campaign Wednesday aimed at 
teaching Hispanics not to drink and get behind the wheel... A study last year by the UNC 
Highway Research Center found that 10 percent of accidents involving Hispanics were alcohol-
related, compared with 4 percent involving other drivers.
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/news/MGBXQ56I34D.html

Trouble brewing for UNC lacrosse players
Police expect to bring charges against two UNC lacrosse players today because the players 
allegedly used a credit card belonging to the UNC Athletics Department to buy beer, said Lt. 
Gary Blankenship of the Carrboro Police Department. The transaction, in which $94 worth 
of beer was charged, occurred at about 10 p.m. Sunday at Spinx Oil Co., at 421 W. Main 
St., Blankenship said. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-251067.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Play Hard, Study Hard
The Wall Street Journal
We've inveighed before against the habit of some universities to exploit their athletes, often 
minorities, who enrich the schools by performing splendidly on the court or playing field -- 
to the delight of students and generous alumni -- but who never get an education in exchange. 
The ugly secret behind college sports is that graduation rates for black and Hispanic athletes 
are abysmal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1027641305928693080,00.html?mod=taste%5Fprimary%5Fhs
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires subscription to access articles..)

Princeton Pries Into Web Site for Yale Applicants
The New York Times
At the height of the college admissions season in early April, the director of admission at 
Princeton and possibly others in his office improperly and repeatedly entered a Web site set 
up to let Yale applicants know if they had been accepted as students, officials at both Ivy 
League universities confirmed yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/26/education/26IVY.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Support aired for proposed NCSU hotel 
A panel of N.C. State University trustees examining the need for and financial viability of an 
executive conference center on the Centennial Campus heard plenty of support Thursday from 
the university and from companies on the fast-growing campus.
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1584443p-1612452c.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