June 12, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

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

Absence of Coordinated Reporting Hampers Accident Analysis
Los Angeles Times
An automobile accident occurs somewhere in the United States about every two seconds, 
producing not only a lot of crumpled metal and blood on the pavement but also millions of 
hours of investigation and mountains of paperwork for law enforcement...
...In many departments, officers receive advanced training and attend one of the nation's three 
major accident investigation schools: at Northwestern University, the University of North 
Carolina or the University of South Florida.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/highway1/la-000041154jun12.story

North Carolina News Notes

The North Carolina News Network, comprised of about 90-plus stations across the state, 
has conducted interviews with two Carolina faculty this week for upcoming stories. They are:

• Dr. Susan Ennett, associate professor of health behavior and health education 
  at the school of public health, about her study showing evidence-based drug 
  prevention programs work better than programs such as DARE, which have 
  not been proven effective.
  

• Dr. Mahyar Mofidi, postdoctoral fellow at Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health 
  Services Research, about how a state program had improved access to dental 
  care for poor children in North Carolina. 
  

Both interviews resulted from recent News Services stories about the studies. To see the 
releases, visit: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun02/ennettr052902.htm and 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun02/mofidi060602.htm

State and Local Coverage

Effort to keep airport open won't fly, legislators say
Pilots who use Horace Williams Airport have asked state lawmakers to keep the airport 
open, but legislators say the request is unlikely to result in legislation. University officials say 
they intend to stay on track for closing down the facility but are still waiting for the school's Area 
Health Education Centers program to make arrangements to move before formally closing the 
airport. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/06/12/news00.html

Beware false economies (Opinion-Editorial Column)
Charlotte Observer
Nonprofit organizations provide essential services to communities across North Carolina. 
Often, nonprofits can provide services more efficiently than government, and they make taxpayers' 
dollars go further by leveraging government funds with private donations and volunteer hours...
...A recent UNC Chapel Hill study shows that services and counseling provided by nonprofits 
to victims of domestic violence cost $15.50 per person -- and save taxpayers $159 per case.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/3450470.htm

Roses & Raspberries 
Roses to all the parents, volunteers and community organizations that combined to stage the 
10th annual Project Graduation for this year's crop of high school grads....
...Special kudos go to the many businesses and donors who provided prizes and food for the 
evening; the Chapel Hill police for securing it; and especially UNC, which continues to provide 
its Carolina Union as a venue, even this year when it's under construction. UNC Student Union 
director Don Luse helps plan the event, work out problems, and comes each year and stays
throughout the evening. UNC provides about $1,000 in donated student labor and about 200 
hours of full-time staff labor for the project through meetings, tours, planning, set-up and the 
event itself. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/06/12/opinion03.html

Wonderful community made Project Grad possible (Letter to the Editor)
On Sunday, the first signs of a new dawn were just appearing as the last weary Project 
Graduation 2002 volunteers made their way back to their cars, bone-tired but exhilarated and 
humbled. Only a few hours earlier the UNC Carolina Union was alive with music, laughter and
youthful exuberance. What a night! What a community we live in! 
http://www.herald-sun.com/opinion/chhletters/index.html#236269

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

A Sorority of Power
Newsweek 
It’s probably not politically correct to call Mary Sue Coleman the newest member of an 
exclusive sorority. So we’ll just say that when school starts this fall, women will rule at 
some of America’s most prestigious campuses. Last week Coleman, 58, got the top job 
at the University of Michigan. She joins Shirley Tilghman at Princeton, Ruth Simmons at 
Brown, Judith Rodin at the University of Pennsylvania, Katherine Lyall at the University of 
Wisconsin, Nannerl Keohane at Duke, Molly Corbett Broad at the University of North 
Carolina, Shirley Ann Jackson at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Chancellor Nancy 
Cantor at the University of Illinois, among others.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/760582.asp

Senate budget avoids deep cuts 
The state Senate Tuesday introduced a $14.2 billion budget that cuts spending by about 4.2 
percent but avoids deeper cuts previously suggested in education and human services programs. 
The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to debate the recommendations today and send 
the spending plan to the full Senate for a vote later this week. 
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/1454834p-1486150c.html

Senate plan has fewer school cuts, no lottery
Charlotte Observer
A spending plan proposed Tuesday by the state Senate would cut less from education and some 
health programs than the budget put forth by Gov. Mike Easley, and would do so without creating 
a lottery the governor has endorsed.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/3450317.htm

News in Review: Group to study parking lots
A committee of Chapel Hill Town Council members will study possible development of town-owned 
parking lots at the corners of Rosemary and Columbia streets and Franklin and Church streets. 
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/Issues/2002/06/12/news10.html
(To view this article, please scroll down the web page to the second article.)

Up on the blocks (Editorial)
Now that estimates of a $2 billion state budget shortfall next year are commonplace, Senate 
leaders, thankfully, have taken the first step in acknowledging reality. They said Monday they are 
prepared to raise some $372 million by going along with some of Governor Easley's ideas and 
adding a couple of their own. They acknowledge the package represents "a bridge over troubled 
waters." And it's a bumpy bridge at that. 
http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1454660p-1486158c.html

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, 
please call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, 
(919) 962-2091 or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu