July 7, 2005

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

'Brain drain' puts Africa's hospitals on the critical list
The Financial Times (London)
The recently completed district hospital in Thyolo in southern Malawi would not look out of place in a more developed country except for one thing - a chronic shortage of medical staff. ...Dr Francis Martinson, UNC's programme officer in Malawi, rejects such claims. "The government is always searching to blame everyone apart from itself. Most people have left the system because they don't like it."
(Available only by subscription)

National Coverage

Program Helps North Carolina Guard, Reserve Families
American Forces Press Service (National)
Concern for deployed guardsmen and reservists from North Carolina and compassion for their loved ones left behind prompted a retired general to spearhead the creation of a program to help the combatants' families, particularly those in remote areas. ...Funded through a Defense Department grant, the program's hub is at UNC's Chapel Hill, N.C., campus, in partnership with other universities, including Duke, North Carolina State, East Carolina, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro and Virginia Tech.

Is Heart Surgery Worth It?
Business Week
You start breathing hard after climbing stairs, and your chest hurts. ...One of them, Dr. Nortin M. Hadler, professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of The Last Well Person, is urging the U.S. medical establishment to rethink its most basic precepts of cardiovascular care.

Bloodstream Fat Linked to Heart Problems
The Associated Press (National)
New research gives the first solid evidence that a type of fat in the bloodstream can trigger the earliest steps that lead to clogged blood vessels, the top cause of heart attacks. ...More research of phospholipid levels in all types of people -- not just the largely white group already suspected of heart problems in this study -- is needed, said Dr. Sidney Smith, director of the center for cardiovascular diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and past president of the American Heart Association.

UnitedHealth to Buy PacifiCare Health for $8.14 Bln
Bloomberg News
UnitedHealth Group Inc., the No. 2 U.S. medical insurance company, said it will buy PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. for $8.14 billion, gaining the biggest manager of plans subsidized by the U.S. Medicare program. ... Insurance executives ``are afraid that if they don't jump in right now, they will lose their chance to gain market share,'' said Jonathan Oberlander, associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and author of ``The Political Life of Medicare,'' in an interview.

State & Local Coverage

Number of podcasts growing
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Mix 101.5 has joined the ranks of podcasters. ...Public radio station WUNC-FM expects to become a podcaster in the next few months. Joan Siefert Rose, the station's general manager, said WUNC hopes to begin offering local news and feature stories and its news show "The State of Things."

Brothers in arms
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
When he was in the military, he drew on his background as a wrestler. Now, as a wrestler, he finds himself drawing on his life in the military. ...He returned home last winter. This fall, he will join his younger brother and former Riverside teammate, Vincent, on the UNC wrestling squad.

Shrink-a-size me
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
There are many reasons Merab Morgan decided in April to eat nothing but McDonald's fast food for 90 days. ...Barry Popkin, director of the Interdisciplinary Obesity Center at UNC-Chapel Hill and a professor of nutrition and public health, has studied the relationship between large fast-food portions and the obesity epidemic. Eating only at McDonald's isn't healthy, he said.

Town deserves funds for fire coverage (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
State legislators who argue, in effect, that the town of Chapel Hill doesn't deserve more state help in paying for fire protection for the UNC campus are misguided.

New bypass around suburb likely to help many eastern travelers
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The new U.S. 64 bypass around the Raleigh suburb of Knightdale is likely to be a good thing for travelers from much of eastern North Carolina, say local officials. ...Cutting the roughly 80-minute drive time by 10 or 15 minutes "improves the opportunity for collaboration" among entities such as East Carolina University, N.C. State and UNC-Chapel Hill, Chaffee said.

'Blackbeard' returns to Bath
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In a low-key, decidedly non-swashbuckling manner, the black-clad sea captain strolled across the floor of the Golden Tankard tavern in Bath one night recently and introduced himself to a demure young woman.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may05/dramas052705.html
This story was pitched by News Services.

Issues & Trends

The Higher Cost of Giving: Colleges Raise Bar for Donors
The Wall Street Journal
Would-be donors to colleges should brace for sticker shock in an unusual place: The cost of creating scholarship funds at some schools is soaring.
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription to access articles.)

A UNC president's worth (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It's inconceivable to most North Carolinians that the salary of Molly Broad, president of the UNC system, would be inadequate at $300,000-plus. After all, a car and a huge home also come with the job.

Back in harness? (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
I agree with the writer of a July 2 People's Forum letter that the UNC system needs public servants like William Friday, not the money-greedy business CEOs. The state shouldn't agree to pay a $500,000 salary to the incoming UNC president and demoralize the other equally important people on the university payroll.

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/news/clips/index.shtml.

Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.