July 31, 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:

Robert Shelton, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, was featured on 
"On Point," a live evening news program broadcasted on WBUR-FM, the 
National Public Radio affiliate in Boston, about the summer reading program. 
Also featured on the program was Michael Sells, author of this year's selection, 
and Stephen Crampton, chief council with the American Family Association 
Center for Law & Policy. To listen to the program online or for more 
information, please go to: 
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2002/07/20020730_a_main.asp

'I Couldn’t Turn My Back’ 
Newsweek
It was a risky decision. After fleeing the Soviet war in Afghanistan 17 years ago, 
Farhad Ahad, 32, left a comfortable life in the United States last week to come home. 
Like hundreds of other Afghan professionals, Ahad, a former Enron employee, is betting 
that his devastated country is now ready to be rebuilt... 
http://www.msnbc.com/news/780113.asp
(Note: Ahad is a 1999 graduate of the Kenan-Flager Business School.)

Getaway: Museums, fine dining await in Chapel Hill 
Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
On a clear summer day, under sky painted Carolina blue, this Georgia Bulldog 
ventured into Tar Heel country and discovered a college town that has more than a
little in common with Athens.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/travel/content/0702/31getaway.html

District opens ranks to military academy 
The Press Enterprise (California)
There will be snappy salutes and crisp, pressed uniforms. Students will address their 
instructors as "sir" or "ma'am." And there will be discipline... Catherine Lutz, an 
anthropology professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, co-
authored a 1995 study on the rapid growth of Junior ROTC programs titled, "Making 
Soldiers in the Public Schools." 
http://www.pe.com/localnews/morenovalley/stories/PE_NEWS_nmcadet29.e7ac.html

State and Local Coverage

Grant backs UNC statewide geriatric effort 
Seniors in North Carolina may soon have more options for medical treatment, and 
better service from health care providers, thanks to a multimillion-dollar grant awarded 
to UNC’s Program on Aging and a network of agencies that help deliver health care 
throughout the state. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-252548.html

Footnotes
Even though the men's basketball program at UNC-Chapel Hill recently logged its worst 
season ever, T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps and other athletic apparel bearing the Tar Heel logo
were still at the top of the charts... N.C. State University, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke 
University received a combined total of $5 million in grants from the Howard Hughes 
Medical Institute to support programs to bring undergraduate teaching and research in 
the life sciences closer together.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1592418p-1620210c.html

They're number one! They're number one! 
You can't find bigger fans of the BBC Newshour broadcast weekday mornings on WUNC 
(91.5-FM) than at this newspaper... "It basically means we reach a greater percentage 
of people than other public radio stations," said Michael Arnold, WUNC's program 
director. "It is particularly encouraging because a lot of other stations also are seeing 
audience increases after Sept. 11, which was when a lot of people turned to public radio 
for news and information." 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/28/news09.html
(Note: To view this article, please scroll down to the bottom of the web page.)

Reading the Quran -- and Bible -- at Carolina (Commentary)
"What are we going to do about that guy?" This is a question some of the folks at 
UNC-Chapel Hill are asking about Joe Glover. Glover is president of the Virginia-
based Family Policy Network, which calls itself "a conservative Christian group." 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/31/opinion01.html

Next year, try a fresh approach (Commentary)
I picked up the book that's causing all the fuss over at Carolina, Michael Sells' 
"Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations." Although the book is enlightening, 
don't expect to see me turning up at a mosque anytime soon for afternoon prayers. 
And that will probably hold for nearly every freshman required to read Sells' book 
as part of UNC-Chapel Hill's summer reading program. 
http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1596135p-1623962c.html

A misguided agenda? (Letter to the Editor)
Greensboro News and Record
You are correct to reference UNC's mission in your editorial of July 25. One could 
say, and I will, that a mission is an agenda, and at times an agenda can be very 
misguided...
http://www.news-record.com/news/opinions/letters/wedletters1.htm

Hispanics follow jobs to Triangle 
The Triangle's hot job market over the past 20 years attracted Hispanics at a faster pace 
than any of the nation's other 99 large metropolitan areas... This dispersal was driven by 
businesses, such as poultry processors and construction companies, that advertised for 
workers in Spanish-language newspapers in Texas, California and Mexico, said Jim 
Johnson, a demographer at UNC-Chapel Hill
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1596314p-1623943c.html

Healthy, affordable and best of all, nearby
Charlotte Observer
Health Department brings fresh produce to Beatties Ford Road area Problem: There 
are four times as many supermarkets in affluent areas as there are in low-income 
neighborhoods, according to a study done last year by the UNC Chapel Hill 
Department of Epidemiology.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolina/counties/mecklenburg/3768579.htm

Problems shut down campus voting center
In the fall of 2000, a one-stop voting center at the Morehead Planetarium opened 
with great fanfare, including a joint ribbon cutting by basketball coach Matt Doherty 
and then-head football coach Carl Torbush. But at some point after the election someone 
dropped the ball, and the use of the planetarium site, one of only three such centers in 
Orange County, is now a question mark. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/31/news01.html

On-campus polling site is needed (Editorial)
The campus vote is too important to overlook. That was proven two years ago, when 
nearly 4,000 people voted at a special "one-stop" voting center set up at the Morehead 
Planetarium. No telling how many of those voters were UNC students, but surely the 
number was greater than in previous years. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/31/opinion00.html

Forum generates ideas for building employee housing
Affordable housing experts from Cary, UNC, Duke and Raleigh recently tossed around 
a multitude of ideas that local governments or the university could use to help employees 
purchase or rent homes in the area -- second mortgages, grants for down payments, 
assistance with closing costs... Bob Knight, assistant vice chancellor for finance and 
administration, said the university would like to see well articulated goals for any affordable
housing initiative and that it first needs to solicit more input from employees about what 
kind of assistance they might want. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/28/news01.html

Looking for fresh ideas for affordable housing dilemma (Commentary)
Why can't Chapel Hill be more like Cary? That's a question not frequently heard on this 
edge of the Triangle. But some folks interested in affordable housing are looking at the 
Wake County boomtown as a model for ways we might enable people who work in 
Chapel Hill to live here also. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/28/opinion01.html

Generator fuel enters creek after spill at hospital 
A spill at UNC Hospitals dumped 1,100 gallons of generator fuel into Meeting of the 
Waters creek, but cleanup crews were able to keep it from reaching the N.C. Botanical 
Garden and other sensitive spots downstream. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-252558.html
(Note: Other coverage includes The Chapel Hill News
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/31/news06.html.)

Roses and Raspberries
Raspberries to UNC Hospitals, for failing to notify the Chapel Hill Fired Department after
a diesel oil spill this week. Some 600 to 1,000 gallons spilled when workers were pumping 
fuel from one tank to another. Hospital workers tried to contain the spill, and the Chapel 
Hill Fire Department was called only when a passerby noticed the smell. Firefighters 
ended up containing the spill in a tributary of Morgan Creek. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/31/opinion03.html
(Note: To view this article, please scroll down the page.)

In Brief: Memorial service set for Tim McLaurin
A public memorial service for Hillsborough novelist Tim McLaurin will be held Friday in 
Raleigh at 7:30 p.m. at University Theatre (also known as Stewart Theater) located in the 
Talley Student Center on N.C. State University's Central Campus. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/07/31/news10.html
(Note: To view this brief, please scroll down the web page. For more information, please
visit http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul02/mclaurin073002.htm.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Hopes of Drawing Fans Fuels Binge in Stadium Building
The Wall Street Journal
Big-time college sports just keep getting bigger. Literally. Despite shaky economic times 
and criticism from academic quarters, major colleges around the country are on a construction 
binge, spending huge sums to build and expand stadiums and gyms. With competition for 
athletes -- and lucrative TV dollars -- growing more rabid, schools hope that fancier stadiums 
will put them ahead of their peers in attracting top recruits and more paying fans.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1028063824890087120,00.html?mod=real%5Festate%5Fwsj%5Fhs
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription to access articles.)

Tuition increases cut differently 
As a UNC system committee continues to look into the impact of increasing tuition and fees, 
it is becoming apparent that rising costs are having different effects on different campuses. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-252553.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