July 28, 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

Vegan diet reverses diabetes symptoms: study
Reuters
People who ate a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on a standard American Diabetes Association diet, researchers said yesterday. ... Barnard’s team and colleagues at George Washington University, the University of Toronto and the University of North Carolina tested 99 people with type-2 diabetes, assigning them randomly to either a low-fat, low-sugar vegan diet or the standard American Diabetes Association diet.

Space-Age Babies
The Moscow Times
During the Brezhnev years, U.S. scholars often relied on Soviet official information without thinking or wanting to think about its true value. ... In this book, Donald J. Raleigh, a historian at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has collected interviews with eight members of the class of 1967 from School No. 42 in Saratov.

National Broadcast Note

School of Nursing Dean Linda Cronenwett will be featured on "The People's Pharmacy" discussing the new report from the Institute of Medicine, which concludes that medication errors are among the most common medical errors. Cronenwett chaired the IOM committee that issued the report. "The People's Pharmacy," a health talk show originating at WUNC-FM in Chapel Hill, airs weekly on more than 500 stations through public radio, the InTouch Radio Reading Service, and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
Note: "Talk of the Nation: Science Friday" -- originally slated to include Cronenwett -- changed to a panel limited to pharmaceutical company representatives.

National Coverage

Study: Men At Higher Risk Of Recurrent Blood Clots
The Associated Press (National)
Among people who have had blood clots, men are twice as likely as women to have them again after finishing treatment, according to an analysis of several studies. ... "We know that diseases manifest in different ways between men and women," said Dr. Sidney Smith, director of the center for cardiovascular science at the University of North Carolina.

State & Local Coverage

UNC-Chapel Hill retreat had larger agenda (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The N&O missed the mark in its reporting of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's retreat with its Board of Trustees this week. The headline, "UNC gets tip on gaining autonomy," (Under the Dome, July 27) and the article's characterization of the retreat could not be further from reality. ... Nelson Schwab is chairman of the board of trustees at UNC-Chapel Hill, and James Moeser is its chancellor.
Related link: http://www.newsobserver.com/580/story/464959.html

Gifts to UNC-CH total $241 million
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill just posted a record-breaking year for donations, surpassing the $200 million mark for the first time. ... "It was really an extraordinary year," said Paul Fulton, a UNC trustee and co-chairman of the committee overseeing the campaign known as Carolina First.
Related link: http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-756363.html
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul06/0506giving072706.htm

UNC names Carolina North chief
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC administrators have stressed an urgent need for Carolina North, and now they are appointing a full-time director who will try to make the planning process go smoothly. Jack Evans, a professor and former dean at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, will start as executive director of Carolina North on Tuesday.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul06/evanscnorth072706.htm

UNC panel talks Mideast
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The packed house had heard a thorough dissertation from five local experts on the hows and whys of the seemingly intractable unrest in the Middle East. ... The panel stared at one another before Timothy McKeown, a UNC political science professor, sheepishly accepted the microphone. "Fools rush in," he said.
UNC event: http://alumni.unc.edu/article.asp?SID=4163

Our View: DuPont puts new Teflon process on hold, a major disappointment (Editorial)
The Fayetteville Observer
DuPont officials say they have not abandoned efforts to make environmentally friendlier Teflon at their Bladen County plant. ... Seven years ago, DuPont announced it would start developing the technology, created by a chemist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Senate OKs employee residency checks
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Thursday was a typical last day on the job for legislators, with most spending as much time talking in the halls as they did at their desks. ... Between the sandwiches, private conversations and last-minute huddles, legislators gave final approval to laws that would give a 15 percent tax credit to film and television productions, allow drinking on Finley Golf Course at UNC-Chapel Hill and at other university system courses, and require state agencies to check whether new employees are legal U.S. residents.
Related link: http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ
_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189656521&path=!localnews&s=1037645509099

Study: Customers may be hurt by cap
The Charlotte Observer
For all the loopholes in the deposit cap law, a new study says it works too well: It limits the nation's largest banks in ways that are bad for customers. ... A UNC professor found Bank of America paid a weighted average of 1.21 percent on its interest-bearing accounts in fall 2005.

For some, religion and business a good mix
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
David Beasley uses the sign of the fish, a symbol for Christianity, in his advertisement in the Yellow Pages for AAA Bail Bonding. ... Nick Didow, professor at the Kenan-Flager Business School at UNC, said businesses using religion as a promotional tool is nothing new.

Triad's larger real estate firms take on a more corporate look
The Triad Business Journal
As the Triad's largest real estate firms have grown over the past few years and expanded their market presence, they have also become more corporate in structure and duties in order to manage their increased size and services. ... And as firms grow, it's not surprising to see them creating specialized positions and departments in order to both run more efficiently and to make the best use of individuals' talents, said Jeff Reuer, an associate professor of organization behavior at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Study: Southeast Raleigh has potential
News 14
A new study suggests that city leaders aren’t capitalizing on the untapped real estate in southeast Raleigh. "Southeast Raleigh has a number of assets and opportunities,” said James Johnson, who is with the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Peeling the Orange
The Chapel Hill Herald
As the story goes, former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms suggested that Chapel Hill be fenced off and used as the state's zoo. Because of construction projects, UNC's campus is dotted with temporary fences and walls. For instance, there are fences around three sides of South Building, where the offices of UNC's top administrators, like Chancellor James Moeser, are located.

Issues & Trends

Dole Food Owner Pours His Fortune Into Health Ventures
The Wall Street Journal
Last year, Dole Food Co.'s owner David H. Murdock negotiated with D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. to handle a massive demolition job in North Carolina. ... The University of North Carolina and other leading academic institutions in the state have already committed to having a presence on Mr. Murdock's campus.

Lawmakers OK ethics reforms
The Asheville Citizen-Times
State lawmakers and high-ranking public officials would still be allowed to accept some gifts and allow lobbyists to raise money for them under ethics reform that largely sailed through the General Assembly on Thursday. ... Bans lawmakers from getting tickets to University of North Carolina sporting events.
Related links: http://www.newsobserver.com/644/story/465288.html
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/
NEWSREC0101/60727018/1001/NEWSREC0201

State agencies may have to verify legal status of new employees
The Associated Press (N.C.)
State agencies would have to verify the legal status of all new employees under a bill given final approval in the General Assembly on Thursday night. ... Under the new section, North Carolina state agencies, including the University of North Carolina and community college systems, would have to use a Department of Homeland Security verification process to confirm that the employee is lawfully present in the United States.

Repair it or raze it, Chapel Hill says
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The days might be numbered once again for the Dey House in Chapel Hill's historic downtown. ... It was later home to a Professor William Morton Dey, who was chairman of the Department of Romance Languages at UNC-Chapel Hill through both world wars. The house is considered by the commission to be one of the 25 oldest homes in town.

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.