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July 24, 2006Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Medication, drugs best for ADHD in some
United Press International
A combination of medication and behavioral therapy is the most cost-effective treatment for children with attention problems, a U.S. study finds. For youngsters with "pure" attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, medication alone seems to be the most cost-effective treatment, but a combination of medication and behavioral therapy is the most cost-effective treatment for children with attention problems complicated by other mental-health issues such as depression, anxiety or aggression, according to study leader E. Michael Foster of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Beware the Devil's candy
The Times (London)
Fat and carbohydrates are the accepted demons of dieters. So fixated have we become with these particular anti-slimming agents that excluding them is considered the only way to lose weight. ... In 2004, Professor Bray and Professor Barry Popkin, a nutritionist at the University of North Carolina, published a paper in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition with further statistics correlating a rise in obesity to a rise in HFCS consumption.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sept04/popkin091604.htmlKathleen McGowan: The Da Vinci descendant
The Independent (United Kingdom)
If you're one of the 40 million readers of The Da Vinci Code, get ready to stretch your credulity still further. ... Bart Ehrman, chair of the department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina and author of Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend, said: "You can survey anyone who is a scholar of early Christianity and they will tell you the same thing - it's completely bogus. There are no records. We have no account of Mary Magdalene even going to France until the Middle Ages and the legend about her going to France sprung up because there was a cult to Mary Magdalene in southern France."
National Coverage
Drug Approved to Treat Rare Genetic Disease
The Associated Press (National)
The first drug treatment for the rare but potentially deadly inherited disease Hunter Syndrome was approved Monday by the Food and Drug Administration. ... "Regulatory approval of Elaprase will enable physicians to move needy patients beyond palliative care and make Hunter Syndrome a treatable disease," said Dr. Joseph Muenzer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who conducted many of the trials of the product.
Cohabitation law struck down
The Associated Press (National)
Though a judge has ruled that North Carolina's 201-year-old law barring unmarried couples from living together is unconstitutional, it doesn't apply statewide, legal experts said. ... "It's not until it gets up to the Court of Appeals that it applies statewide," said Dan Pollitt, a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Today, helmets for all
The Los Angeles Times
College track star Kevin Dare shook the track and field world four years ago when he attempted to pole-vault 15 feet, 7 inches during a Big 10 track meet in Minnesota. ... But recent studies by the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of Pennsylvania found no link between brain injuries and routine ball heading.
The significance of others
The Los Angeles Times
Every now and then, a study comes along that declares our modern life terminally fractured, inspiring weeks, sometimes years, of despairing headlines and intellectual navel-gazing. ... Columbia University sociologist Peter Bearman and co-author Paolo Parigi found in a December 2004 study that they conducted while Bearman was still at the University of North Carolina that half of the subjects who reported they didn't talk about anything to anyone didn't consider themselves isolated.
Rise of the Aerotropolis
Fast Company magazine (New York)
The name wasn't terribly auspicious: Nong Ngu Hao, the "Cobra Swamp." ... In the relatively obscure world of urban planning, Kasarda, a professor at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, has made a name for himself over the past decade with his radical (some might say bone-chilling) vision of the future: Rather than banish airports to the edges of cities and then do our best to avoid them, he argues, we should move them to the center and build our cities around them.
Federal Appeals Court to Rehear Harassment Suit Against U. of North Carolina Coach
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear a sexual-harassment lawsuit against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's women's soccer coach.
State & Local Coverage
UNC sets environmental example (Opinion-editorial column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Some of you may have taken in, as Susan and I did, Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth" while it's been in town this summer. We found the content very powerful and another in a growing list of thought-provoking reports about the environmental issues facing our nation and world. The university's efforts to tackle tough environment and health issues are supported by world-class expertise in our department of environmental sciences and engineering in the School of Public Health and the Carolina Environmental Program (CEP). ... James Moeser is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Note: No available link.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun06/carbon062706.htmSchools to get Project OBSERVE
The Chapel Hill Herald
Along with Chapel Hill High School, 25 high schools across North Carolina will bring the world, or rather the universe, of astronomy into their classrooms via UNC's powerful research telescopes in South America.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul06/projobserve071806.htmMan walks, rides and bikes his way to better transit
The Chapel Hill Herald
Lots of people "talk the talk" when it comes to complaining about traffic at UNC, but few try to change the situation. UNC Employee Forum Chairman Ernie Patterson, though, is talking the talk and walking the walk -- literally. For the steamy month of July, Patterson has vowed not to drive to his job at UNC's Biology Department.
UNC Teflon deal a sore spot at age 7
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Seven years ago, DuPont announced big news in Eastern North Carolina: The huge chemical company intended to build a $275 million plant outside Fayetteville to manufacture Teflon. Every detail was sunny. If a $40 million pilot factory succeeded, DuPont would scale up environmentally friendly technology developed at UNC-Chapel Hill and build a plant.
What Your Vote Says About You
"The State of Things," WUNC-FM
James Stimson, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was featured on today's (July 24) edition of "The State of Things." So you think you're a conservative? Or a liberal? New research shows that you may not know how you fall on the political spectrum after all, and you may be especially confused when you vote. "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and 6 a.m. on Saturdays.
Techies flock to Red Hat
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Triangle will host its first BarCamp today, an "unconference" that lets participants design and lead the agenda. ... "It's going to be a day where people sort of geek out and learn and teach," said Fred Stutzman, a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student and the organizer of the event. Online brainstorming so far (at barcamp.org/BarCampRDU) includes sessions on juggling, programming protocols and making most of social networking sites such as MySpace.com.
Related Link: http://html.wral.com/sh/blogger/2006/06/triangle-techies-heading-for-barcamp.htmlLook who's talking
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In his rise to chief executive of Parata Systems in Durham, Jess Eberdt has been subjected to lots of motivational speakers. ... Indeed, when a company is calculating returns on its investment, the speaker's name may be more important than anything he or she says, said Sridhar Balasubramanian, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler School of Business.
Efforts step up to incorporate Butner
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Efforts are gaining momentum to transform this state-run town in southern Granville County into an incorporated municipality. ... Advisory Council members made clear they want as much citizen feedback as possible. McGee also said he'd like to bring in an incorporation expert from UNC's Institute of Government to help.Edwards takes campaign to the World Wide Web
WCHL-AM
Paul Jones, director of ibiblio.org, was featured on WCHL-AM discussing the arrival of the affect of the digital age on politics and John Edwards' use of bittorent to distribute his message.
Duke law prof has pick of high-profile cases
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Although he appears calm and utterly collected, Erwin Chemerinsky says that whenever he argues before the Supreme Court it's difficult to shake the feeling that one disastrous remark could make the floor open up and swallow him whole. ... "He truly is an exceptional person," says his friend Bill Marshall, a constitutional law scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill. "He is unusual in his energy. He is unusual in his brilliance. He's unusual in his decency. It sounds cliche, but he is truly one of the nicest people you'll ever meet."
Rescuing emergency services (Opinion-editorial column)
Wry, rollicking tale of Southern youth (Book review)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Recent news reporting has highlighted poor pay and working conditions as significant factors in low retention rates for local emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics. ... Daniel Patterson, Ph.D., is a post-doctoral research fellow at UNC-Chapel Hill's Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
If you are not already an admirer of Mark Childress' storytelling prowess (he's best known for his novel "Crazy in Alabama"), his vibrant new book might win you over, provided you enjoy revisiting the cruelties, stupidities, pettiness and high jinks of high school. ... Marianne Gingher is the author of four books, most recently the memoir "A Girl's Life: Horses, Boys, Weddings & Luck." She teaches writing and literature at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Issues & Trends
Democrats make college costs primary
The Chicago Tribune
Sensing a political opening in the soaring costs of higher education, Democrats have seized on college aid and made it a key pillar of their election-year agenda, hoping their pledge to make school affordable pays dividends in November. The daunting expense of college is one of an array of issues facing the middle class--along with health care, gas prices and the minimum wage--that Democrats are molding into a social agenda they hope will resonate with voters.
Diploma to degree at 1 campus
The Charlotte Observer
A seamless path leading from ninth grade to a four-year degree is now open in Caldwell County, officials said last week as they dedicated Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute's newest building. ... Twenty-eight of the state's 58 community colleges, including Caldwell, offer night, weekend and/or evening courses in conjunction with University of North Carolina schools, said Jim Sadler, the UNC system's associate vice president for academic planning.
Textile mill finds new life
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A renaissance is blossoming in this quiet pocket of Alamance County along a rocky stretch of the Haw River. The previous life of the old, brick textile mill in the center of Saxapahaw is over. ... Rent starts at $635 a month for one bedroom, $795 for two bedrooms and $995 for three bedrooms. The housing is drawing a mix of retirees, professors and others at UNC and UNC Hospitals, and couples in which one person works somewhere such as Chapel Hill, and the other in Greensboro, LaGarde said.The news enjoys a summer cruise (Opinion column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Had it not been for the so-called "booze cruise" hosted by the state for bigwigs at public expense over the Fourth of July weekend, what would The N&O have to write about in the news doldrums of summer? ... The UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor, for instance, hosts legislators and other VIPs for lunch and skybox seating for home football games at an average cost of $12,700 per game. The funds come from unrestricted investment income, a UNC spokesman says.
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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