July 14, 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

No needles needed for fetal blood test
United Press International
Doctors said Thursday that noninvasive ultrasound techniques can check on whether a fetus is suffering from anemia. ... Kenneth Moise Jr., professor of obstetric and gynecology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, said a new study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, confirms that the ultrasound technology is not only as good as invasive amniocentesis but actually appeared to be more accurate.

Teenagers influenced by popular classmates
United Press International
A study by scientists at two U.S. universities finds teenagers are more likely to be influenced by popular, well-liked classmates. The study by researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found adolescents are likely to say they would engage in aggressive and risky behaviors if they believed they were in a chat room with highly popular adolescents who endorsed such behaviors.

National Coverage

An easier way to detect cancer in young women
ABC News
When she was 39, Christina Koenig, a single mother, noticed a lump in her breast and went to the doctor. ... "Ever since we got these results, radiologists have wanted to go digital," said Dr. Etta D. Pisano, director of University of North Carolina Biomedical Research Imaging Center and the lead researcher on the 2005 study.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/acrin091605.htm

More Disabled Kids Live With Single Women
The Associated Press (National)
Children with disabilities are more likely to live with a single woman - whether she is a mother, grandmother or a female foster parent - than other children, according to a new study. The findings by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicate that organizations aimed at helping disabled children must also consider the particular problems faced by the single women who often care for them, said Philip Cohen, an associate professor of sociology at the university.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul06/cohen071106.htm

Firm honored for Hopkins campus master plan
The Baltimore Sun
A Baltimore architectural firm was honored this week for its master plan of the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University, more than five years after the plan was developed. ... Since then, the firm has developed master plans for more than 30 colleges and universities, including the University of North Carolina, the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Regional Coverage

Safety Hits Home
Occupational Hazards (Cleveland, Ohio)
Meet Rover. He is an affable hound and a persistent home safety champion. ... The Home Safety Council, one of the pioneers in home safety advocacy, sponsored a study, "The State of Home Safety in America," that was conducted by the University of North Carolina's Injury Prevention Research Center.

Case prof to lead national foster care reform study
Crain's Cleveland Business (Ohio)
A Case Western Reserve University social work faculty member has been chosen to help lead a national team studying foster care reform. ... The team, which includes a faculty member from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and one from the University of California at Berkeley, will complete the study in December.

UNC-based clusters take 74, 104 in world's TOP500
Supercomputing Online (Kearney, Miss.)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Dell research computing cluster, called Topsail, is among the world's top 75 supercomputers, as ranked by the Top500 Project. Ocracoke, another cluster housed at UNC, is 104th.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul06/itscluster071106.htm

State & Local Coverage

Journalism dean aspires to teach students flexibility
The Chapel Hill Herald
As the new dean of UNC's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Jean Folkerts has what she calls "the best job in my field." ... At UNC, one of her main goals will be to encourage variety. Students should learn about multiple types of media instead of focusing on one area, she said. Courses should teach writing, not just for print, but for the Web and other outlets. They should also incorporate information about how online news sources are changing the industry, she said.

New leader shows talents
The Daily Tar Heel
Bernadette Gray-Little said her first week on her new job at UNC was a little busier than she'd expected, but she hasn't run into too much trouble yet. Those comments bode well for the University's populace. Gray-Little, who took over as provost from Robert Shelton on July 1, is UNC's chief academic officer.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/gray-little020806.htm

100 days of allred (Editorial)
The Daily Tar Heel
Wednesday marked the end of the beginning for the administration of Student Body President James Allred. As Allred's folks leave the first 100 days of their time in power behind, things seem to be going well for the ambitious platform that the SBP came to power with.

Latinos feel empowered by marches, study finds
The Charlotte Observer
Immigration reform marches and fiery debate this year have Latinos feeling more unified, politically involved and discriminated against, a new study found. ... The challenge, though, is the number of illegal immigrants who can't vote and the number of young people who historically don't get involved because they're mobile and haven't built a family, said Ferrel Guillory, director of the Southern politics program at UNC Chapel Hill.

Shielding teen workers (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Construction evidently has reached such a pitch in North Carolina that the industry is filling more jobs with minors. ... Yet when UNC's Injury Prevention Research Center in Chapel Hill interviewed 187 teenagers working in construction, a surprising 84 percent of them had done tasks illegal for people their age.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun06/teenworksafety063006.htm

Suit against coach revived
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina women's soccer coach Anson Dorrance cut reserve goaltender Melissa Jennings in 1998 saying she was out of shape, but as a legal opponent she's showing remarkable endurance.

Price backs voting law's renewal
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
U.S. Rep. David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, urged the House Wednesday to renew the Voting Rights Act, which requires 40 North Carolina counties to get federal clearance before making voting or election changes. ... "The biggest reason why we still need the act is because some changes make it harder for minority voters to take part in elections," said Anita Earls of UNC's Center for Civil Rights.

Golden Gates
World Magazine (Asheville, N.C.)
When Warren Buffet last month pledged $37 billion to charity—$31 billion going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and $6 billion to the foundations of his wife and children—many business leaders, philanthropists, and journalists lauded the insurance tycoon's gift, which constitutes 85 percent of his total fortune. ... Large grants on the global health front include a $75 million donation toward various vaccine projects, $28 million to reduce cervical cancer in developing countries, and $23 million to the University of North Carolina for medical research combating disease in Africa.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may06/gatesgiftDB289052206.htm

Peeling the Orange
The Chapel Hill Herald
In case we needed more to worry about when it comes to the potential problems of global warming, a UNC professor was among several geologists quoted recently in a Canadian Press report on concerns about the prospect of more earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. ... Professor Allen Glazner, a volcano specialist in UNC's Department of Geological Sciences, was among those raising concern in the report, posted on the Discovery Channel's Web site.

Peeling the Orange
The Chapel Hill Herald
They're not as famous as the fabled, old stone walls built more than 150 years ago around the UNC campus boundary. But the high rock walls on Raleigh Street at the East Franklin Street corner of North Campus still have an important role today and are getting some much-needed attention.

Tax rate cannot change
Wilson Daily Times
Although the board voted to drop the rate by 1 cent Monday, the action was too late to be valid. ... Durham researched the law and also consulted with an attorney who specializes in government law at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Issues & Trends

No discussion allowed on in-state tuition law
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It looks like last year's law that gives in-state status to out-of-state scholarship recipients in the University of North Carolina system will stand -- for now.

Residents wary of OWASA spreading biosolids
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Even with careful treatment, sewage sludge can hold nasty things, Orange County residents warned the Orange Water and Sewer Authority on Thursday. ... Mike Aitken, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor of environmental sciences and engineering, asked the board to set principles under which they would spread biosolids in the watersheds. He suggested they spread only what the state calls as "Class A" biosolids, which are treated at high heat for a longer period of time, killing more organisms.

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.