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July 10, 2006
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Veiled threats (Editorial)
The Sun Star (Philippines)
IMELDA does not have a head for numbers. She can't remember her age. Asked about her children, she does not name them, reciting their birth dates instead until she stumbles on the fourth child and gives up trying to recall at all. ... However, a team of epidemiologists from the School of Public Health in the University of North Carolina concluded that, after studying different households and communities in Cebu, the education of mothers is only a significant factor in economically better-off families.Gates move to shut out kala-azar, killer which targets the poor
The Indian Express (New Delhi)
Ninety per cent of the world’s 2 lakh annual kala-azar cases occur in five nations—Brazil, Sudan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India. And half of all the world’s cases together occur in Bihar. ... The Foundation has till now committed nearly $180 million to iOWH for a host of different projects, approximately 96 per cent of its funding. Also, they have made one grant, to the University of North Carolina, to work on a new oral drug for kala-azar.Good-looking do better in exams
The Times (London, United Kingdom)
Beauty may be more than skin deep after all. New research suggests that good-looking people do better in exams and thus probably in later life, than the plain or downright ugly. ... A recent study from the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina found that tall people earned £400 more a year than their shorter colleagues.
National Coverage
Edwards Urges Ohio to Hike Minimum Wage
The Associated Press (National)
Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, a potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, told supporters of a ballot issue to increase the state’s minimum wage that a hike in Ohio would be the first step toward increasing wages across the nation. ... Edwards, who directs the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina School of Law, also spoke to supporters of the minimum wage hike Saturday at a rally in Cincinnati that drew about 300 people.
Convictions spotlight history of corruption
The Associated Press (National)
Two Alabama governors have been convicted of wrongdoing in 13 years, and a steady stream of Cabinet members have run afoul of the law for decades. ... "This ought to be a warning bell to Alabama that maybe it's time to revisit the code of ethics," as well as laws on campaign financing and open government records, said Ferrel Guillory. Guillory has plenty of experience looking at the issue. He's a native of Louisiana who's now the director of the Program of Southern Politics, Media and Public Life at the University of North Carolina.
Air cargo still under radar despite deaths
The Miami Herald
At 24, Nicholas Hibberd already was teaching others to fly, and with the hours he logged ferrying freight, this pilot's son was chasing his own dream of passenger flight. ... In the U.S., air express accounts for more than 70 percent of air cargo shipments, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found.
A leap of faith: Most kids don’t choose their church
The Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
The Sunday service at the blue-domed St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Fort Lauderdale runs for more than an hour and a half. ... The National Study of Youth and Religion, conducted by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, interviewed more than 3,300 youngsters between the ages of 13 and 17 in 2002.
A quick look at slavery reparations efforts
The Associated Press (National)
Some key recent developments in the push for slavery reparations: ... Academics are researching the issue and publicizing their work at conferences, including one in February at the University of California, Berkeley, and two in March at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Clues from coal fields (Commentary)
The Christian Science Monitor
Two days after I arrived in southeastern Kentucky, a coal mine explosion killed five men in nearby Harlan County. In the four weeks since the miners died, I have traveled through the coal-field counties in Kentucky and West Virginia. ... Nick Anderson is a student at the University of North Carolina and an intern with Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.'Panic! Markets, Crises, & Crowds in American Fiction'
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Around the turn of the 20th century, a wave of financial panics shook the United States, driving investors to ruin and novelists to their pens and typewriters. There was a boomlet of financial fiction, says David A. Zimmerman, as writers gathered "like seismologists" around the latest quake. ... In Panic! Markets, Crises, & Crowds in American Fiction (University of North Carolina Press), he shows how writers found drama and suspense in the swings of the stock market and commodities exchanges.
Regional Coverage
Certification = Quality?
The Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
Every night after teaching at Bethel High School in Hampton, Charles Barhite sifted through hours of videotape of his history classes, looking for a 20-minute stretch of film that showed he could be a nationally certified teacher. ... However, National Board certified teachers are above-average in how they interact with students and how their students score on standardized tests, said Thomas Ward, one of the professors who did the study with University of Virginia and University of North Carolina researchers.
Bush’s Mental Illness Screening Squad On the Move
The Sierra Times (Corning, N.Y.)
The tax dollar funded mental health screening programs popping up in every corner of the nation represent an enormous gift to Big Pharma from the Bush administration. ... The study leader, Philip Zeskind, a psychologist and research professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina, noted that SSRIs disrupt the neurological systems of children, and said "this is more than just a possibility, we're talking about hundreds of thousands of babies being exposed to these drugs during pregnancy.
Latest convictions put spotlight on history of corruption in Ala.
WTVM-TV (ABC, Columbus, Ga.)
Two Alabama governors have been convicted of wrongdoing in 13 years, and a steady stream of Cabinet members have run afoul of the law for decades. ... Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program of Southern Politics, Media and Public Life at the University of North Carolina, says this ought to be a warning bell to Alabama that maybe it's time to revisit the code of ethics, and its laws on campaign financing and open government records.
State & Local Coverage
Universities on way to filling bank accounts
The Triangle Business Journal
Two Triangle universities are steaming ahead in their quest to raise more than $1 billion each. ... Over in Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina had raised $1.75 billion as of May 31, up $40.5 million over April. UNC-CH leaders are shooting to raise $2 billion by next year.Duke Medical Center ranks No. 7
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Duke University Medical Center is the seventh-best facility in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report. ... UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill saw seven of its medical specialties rank in the top 50 programs of their kind nationally: cancer, 40th; digestive disorders, 26th; ear, nose and throat, 18th; gynecology, 14th; kidney disease, 29th; urology, 31st; and psychiatry, 22nd.
Note: No available link.
UNC Health Care News Release: http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2006/Jul/usnews2006Rebirth comes 'Unto These Hills'
The Associated Press (N.C.)
When James Bradley returned to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' reservation after eight years away from the mountains of western North Carolina, he found "Unto These Hills" -- the outdoor drama about Cherokee history that has been a summertime tradition for more than half a century -- in disarray. ... "Presenting the same play for that long a period of time is really quite unique in America," said Scott Parker, director of the Institute of Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "There are times when sometimes these shows need to be refreshed and retold."
Related Link: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/14995995.htm
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr06/seas042806.htm
Principals head back to school
The Greensboro News & Record
Principals of the state's lowest-performing high schools -- including four in the Triad and surrounding area -- will go back to school July 17 to learn business-management techniques. The new training is a partnership with the N.C. Principal's Executive Program and the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Business. The program was created in part to take advantage of successful business-management techniques, said Howard Lee, chairman of the State Board of Education.UNC gets grant for kidney disease unit
The Chapel Hill News
The UNC Kidney Center has received $100,000 from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust of Winston-Salem to help purchase a mobile outreach unit. "Chronic kidney disease can be prevented," said Donna Harward, director of education for the UNC Kidney Center.UNC Program Teaches Dental Students How To Work With Children
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
Many bad habits start early in life, but so do good habits. That’s especially important to know when it comes to taking care of your child’s teeth. The WRAL Health Team talks with Dr. Rocio Quinonez, clinical assistant professor in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry, about issues important to the care of young children’s teeth.Ministry wins grant for HealthCare Center
The Charlotte Observer
The Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry recently received its second state grant of $75,000, enabling it to double the hours that its free HealthCare Center will be open. ... There are more than 18,000 people in Catawba County who are uninsured, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill and studies funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
Breast-feeding support (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Thanks for running the July 5 AP story "Breast milk builds preemies' brains"). With the swirl of emotions, misinformation and guilt provocation in the press concerning breast-feeding, this report focused on the evidence. ... Miriam H. Labbok, M.D., professor of the practice of public health and director, Center for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care, School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill.Simpler way to give drugs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The little plastic cups that hospital nurses use to give pills to patients could disappear over the next two years. ... UNC Hospitals, WakeMed and Duke Hospital have single doses of medication wrapped and coded and are moving toward bedside bar-coding, hoping to implement it within 24 months.
A change of art
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Until last month, a quiet surprise was tucked into the dimly lit rotunda of the Morehead Planetarium on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Among a circle of portraits in the small and little-known gallery was the painting of a young 17th-century woman identified as Rembrandt's sister, Liesbeth van Rijn, poised as if in the very shadows of the room.
Kannapolis annexation questioned
The Charlotte Observer
Kannapolis city leaders plan to meet soon with residents of the Odell community to discuss the future of the fast-growing area in northwest Cabarrus County. ... In this case, Cabarrus County is the political subdivision that owns Lake Howell, said David Lawrence, a professor at the N.C. Institute of Government at UNC Chapel Hill.
Autism trailblazer Schopler dies at 79
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Eric Schopler, an international pioneer in the humane and effective treatment of autism, died from cancer Friday at age 79. Forty-one years ago, the UNC-Chapel Hill psychologist co-founded a program that rejected the notion that destructive parents caused autism. Instead, he recognized autism as a brain disorder -- one that could be managed.
Issues & Trends
At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust
The New York Times
Nearing graduation, Rick Kohn is not putting much energy into his final courses. ... Department of Education statistics show that men, whatever their race or socioeconomic group, are less likely than women to get bachelor's degrees — and among those who do, fewer complete their degrees in four or five years. Men also get worse grades than women.
Bowles OKs staff assembly for system
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC President Erskine Bowles has approved a bid from the employee forums of all 16 UNC campuses to form a systemwide staff assembly. The assembly will represent staff members and nonfaculty employees from each UNC campus and from the system's General Administration, and it will report directly to Bowles.
Making It Through (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
Every year, millions of students nationwide start college, often to hoopla and news coverage. But as time passes, too many of those students will quietly drop out for any number of reasons. ... Of students who entered WSSU in 1998, only 43.7 percent had earned degrees six years later, in contrast with 81.3 percent at UNC Chapel Hill, which led the UNC system in that rating, the Journal's Laura Giovanelli recently reported.Legislature blows it on out-of-state scholarships (Opinion-editorial column)
The Asheville Citizen-Times
I disagree with the N.C. General Assembly giving in-state status to out-of-state athletes. ... About three years ago, UNC-Chapel Hill asked for the limit on out-of-state students to be raised from 18 percent to 23 percent.
Survey: Majority opposes student database
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A recent survey shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose creating a national database to collect personal information from every college student -- a move a federal commission has suggested as a way for Congress to track federal funding and make more informed policy decisions.Interim chancellor named for Winston-Salem State
The Associated Press (N.C.)
An associate vice president in the University of North Carolina system will serve as interim chancellor of Winston-Salem State University while officials seek a permanent officeholder, the UNC system announced Monday.
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.
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