July 19, 2004

Carolina in the News

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

National Coverage

Some Fishy Red Snapper
The Washington Post
Fish lovers, beware: The fish you bought at the grocery store may be an impostor, according to new research....To teach his students about genetic testing, Peter B. Marko, an assistant professor of marine sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, had his students test 22 fish sold as red snapper at nine stores in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

As Industry Pushes Headsets In Cars, U.S. Agency Sees Danger
The Wall Street Journal
Earlier this month, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., joined New York in requiring drivers to use headsets or other so-called hands-free devices when they talk on cellphones....In the summer of 2003, a study by University of North Carolina researchers appeared to suggest that cellphone use by drivers wasn't a big problem.
Subscription required.

Dieters will have another option
Los Angeles Times
Americans love artificial sweeteners...."To the best of my ability to judge, Splenda seems to be the safest of the alternate sweeteners. I'm not aware of any health professionals who have a serious concern about it," says Suzanne Havala Hobbs, a registered dietitian who teaches in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

No Day at the Beach
Scientific American
Our planet's beleaguered oceans have been making headlines all year, with gloomy reports on collapsing fisheries, invasive species, plastic pollution and more...."It's a flawed system," observes Mark Sobsey, an environmental microbiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Researchers: Sweetener Gets a Bad Rap
National Associated Press
A popular sweetener used in everything from soda pop to baby food that some have blamed for America's increasingly bloated waistline is being unfairly maligned, say Virginia Tech researchers....Barry M. Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who worked one of the studies that produced a negative evaluation of high fructose corn syrup, defended the work.

Something's fishy about red snapper
The Christian Science Monitor
All set to splurge on a fillet of red snapper - at about $7.95 a pound - for a midsummer meal?...A study released Thursday by the University of North Carolina found that more than 75 percent of store-labeled red snapper it tested from nine unnamed retailers in eight states bore the genetic makeup of other fish.

Seeing red(fish) isn't hard
Houston Chronicle
Texas has redfish. If you aren't catching them, you may be slinging the wrong bait in the wrong spot at the wrong time....Frederick S. Scharf (now a professor at the University of North Carolina) and Kurtis K. Schlicht did this work from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's lab in Dickinson.

Absentees may swing election
Orlando Sentinel
The obscure class of late-arriving ballots that helped swing Florida and the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush may be back again in greater numbers this year...."I think it breaks much closer this time," said Richard H. Kohn, a professor at the University of North Carolina and chair of the school's Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense.

When children find their faith
Orlando Sentinel
Luz Gonzalez and Raul Acetty had little religion in their lives, either in their native Puerto Rico or in their first four years in Orlando.... Indeed, according to the National Study of Youth and Religion, conducted by the University of North Carolina, only 17 percent of teens say their faith is stronger than their parents' faith.

Arizona ranks near top in fatal household injuries
Arizona Republic
Arizona ranks third in the nation for unintentional household injuries that lead to death, according to a new study....The state is second nationally in three categories: drownings, suffocations and poisonings, according to the study compiled by the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Center.

Starting small, thinking big
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
A standard-sized basketball hoop looms over Tech Fort Worth's lobby where Clyde Higgs walks past it every day...He'd been exposed to a vibrant incubator environment in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, which draws on research activity at Duke University, the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University.

Regional Coverage

Bait and switch (Editorial)
Concord Monitor
There's a sucker caught every minute, and some of them might be sold as red snapper....Students and professors at the University of North Carolina gathered the filets sold at premium prices as red snapper in eight states including New York and Massachusetts.

Gridiron safety
The Daily Journal, Johnson County, IN
Everywhere Greenwood Community High School football players look, they see reminders to keep their heads up when blocking or tackling.....The survey, conducted by Dr. Frederick Mueller of the University of North Carolina and the American Football Coaches Committee on Football Injuries, also found only four indirect fatalities during last year's high school football season.

State & Local Coverage

Campus bond projects hit snags
The News & Observer
For evidence of the multibillion-dollar makeover of the state's public college campuses, look no further than N.C. Central University, where a distinctive new dormitory is rising with steel beams that mimic an eagle's wings in flight....."The next nine to 12 months are going to be real challenging, and the activity is going to step up dramatically," said Paul Fulton, a UNC-Chapel Hill trustee and co-chairman of the Higher Education Bond Oversight Committee.

Borrowing for UNC projects approved
The News & Observer
Cancer patients and stroke victims would receive treatment in state-of-the-art hospitals....The bulk of the package is a list of University of North Carolina system projects, including a $180 million cancer hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill and $60 million for a cardiovascular diseases institute at East Carolina University.

Special interests get their way
The News & Observer
State lawmakers dealt the video poker industry a winning hand, boosted tourism interests with a longer summer vacation and shored up billboard owners' rights to collect cash from towns and counties that want to take down their signs....A $468 million borrowing package that won final approval Saturday will provide a long-sought $180 million cancer hospital to UNC-Chapel Hill and $60 million for a cardiovascular disease institute at East Carolina University.
Related link: The Winston-Salem Journal

Trustees to study arenas ad issue
The Herald-Sun/The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC trustees will decide this week whether the university should seriously consider the sale of corporate advertising in its two high-profile athletics arenas.
Related link: The News & Observer

Trustees to vote on money for Campus Y
The Chapel Hill Herald
To get an idea of just how long it has been since the Campus Y building has been fully operational, go up to the abandoned second floor and look at Room 203, once occupied by Habitat for Humanity and a number of other student groups.

Teen film reviewer wins Wolfe award
The Charlotte Observer
Thanks to a scholarship named for the author of "You Can't Go Home Again," Andrew Chan of Charlotte will soon be leaving home for Chapel Hill...."We found Andrew Chan to be absolutely effervescent, both in person and on the page," said Bland Simpson, associate professor of English and co-director of the Wolfe Scholarship Program.

A Tough Decision
The Winston-Salem Journal
By the time you read this, Riley's Discount Furniture on Jonestown Road will be shutting down...."It's good for some people," said James Smith, the director of the Center for Business Forecasting at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Prostate cancer risk gap puzzles
The News & Observer
The numbers don't surprise the Rev. John Godbolt, but they are disturbing and unacceptable: Black men, the people in his flock at Christ Gospel Church of Fayetteville, are more than three times as likely to die of prostate cancer as white men....Starting in August, scientists at UNC-CH will lead a large national study designed to explain why African-American men suffer higher death rates from the disease.

Moore firing spurs political fight
The Fayetteville Observer
An accounting dispute over a Moore County park project has turned into a political battle between a former assistant county manager and the chairman of the Board of Commissioners....David Lawrence is a professor of local government law and finance at the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Boost in grad rates a goal
Fayetteville Observer
Officials at Fayetteville State University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke want to improve graduation rates....Six-year UNC system graduation rates for the years of 1997 to 2003 range from 38 percent at FSU to 82.8 percent at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Pricey fish found in eye of beholder
Daily News, Jacksonville, NC
Chris Mathis pointed to a tray of red-skinned filets sitting in the ice counter of Mathis Seafood Market in Beaufort....The issue arose last week after the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported a marine science class project found that three-fourths of the red snapper tested by students was actually another species.

Data helps hospitals to better care
Greensboro News & Record
In 2003, employees at Moses Cone Health System advised only 29 percent of patients with heart failure to stop smoking....Moses Cone, which owns all the hospitals in Greensboro, received a below-average rating for its overall treatment of patients with heart failure. UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill received the same below-average grade.

Archaeologists uncover 437 year old Spanish fort in Burke County
The News Herald, Morganton
If a news headline such as this fails to get your attention, what does it take to spark your interest in a really unique discovery right here in our own backyard?...In recent years this Upper Catawba Valley Archaeology Project has grown into a major research effort with the addition of colleagues Dr. Rob Beck of Southern Illinois University and UNC-Chapel Hill doctoral student Chris Rodning.

Bankruptcy filing signals end for Triangle Labs operations
Triangle Business Journal
Triangle Laboratories made a name for itself by sniffing out hazards in the wake of natural and manmade disasters and in the fight against disease.....Triangle Labs in 2002 landed a $1.5 million National Institutes of Health grant for cancer research through a collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

UNC betting another $100M
Triangle Business Journal
University of North Carolina officials are making a down payment on a $245 million plan to create a science campus they believe would catapult the school to the forefront of a research revolution fueled by genomics and biotechnology.

UNC's venture plan doesn't fly; new approach pondered
Triangle Business Journal
Two years after the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill launched a program to begin venture capital funding of campus spinoffs, no investments have been made and the plan has been scaled back.

Local scientists see clear advances in treating eye disease
Triangle Business Journal
Universities and companies in the Triangle are making progress in treating a number of eye diseases....Dr. David Wallace, a pediatric ophthalmologist in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been conducting clinical trials aimed at improving children's vision.

UNC students helping seniors; plan Fitness Fair
The Herald-Sun
Couch potatoes over 60 from throughout the Durham area who haven't seen fit to learn about fitness are to have their chance Thursday at the Golden Years Fitness Fair at the Duke Street Senior Center. ...The event, from 1 to 4 p.m., is being organized by four active young women pursuing health-related degrees at UNC who have spent the summer helping elderly Durham residents pursue healthful activities.

Office doors edify, entertain
The News & Observer
Richard Lischer, a professor at the Duke University Divinity School, has a small strip of white paper posted on his office door: "If God had wanted me to spend my whole life in my office, He would have given me a nicer office."...At UNC-Chapel Hill, Helen Tibbo, a professor in the School of Information and Library Science, has an office door plastered with pictures, cartoons and cards galore of poodles.

Doctor's son pursues study of Chinese medicine
The Herald-Sun
When Eric Karchmer attended Princeton University as an undergraduate, he planned to become a doctor, like much of his family....In 1991 Karchmer moved to Chapel Hill to attend graduate school in anthropology at UNC.

Issues & Trends

The engine of growth in the knowledge age (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Boston Globe
The Boston area is home to an unparalleled engine of local, national, and global economic growth, health, security, and quality of life. Why? Because it attracts, nourishes, and draws on some of the world's most talented minds....Charles M. Vest is president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lawrence H. Summers is president of Harvard University.

Piles of projects (Editorial)
The News & Observer
A new cancer hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill and a cardiovascular center at East Carolina University are worthwhile, needed projects for the University of North Carolina system and the state. They've been recognized as such by the UNC system's Board of Governors, which approved them and asked the legislature to pay for them. That system of approval is tried and true and over 30 years old, dating to the formation of the UNC system after decades of public institutions fighting for limited state dollars in a chaotic and political way.

Franklin Street repaving project rolling ahead
The Herald-Sun
Road crews will return to Franklin Street on Monday night to continue work on repaving the downtown thoroughfare, eventually from Henderson Street to Merritt Mill Road.

Produced by News Services, Carolina in the News is an e-mail sampling of current news media coverage about Carolina people and programs, as well as issues and trends that affect the university. Stories usually will be online and available free for a limited time - often one to two weeks. Expiration dates before stories move to archives vary by media outlet. Some outlets require free user registration or a subscription.

Carolina in the News is also posted daily to the News Services Web page, http://www.unc.edu/newsserv/clipsindex.htm.

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