June 25, 2002

Carolina in the News

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

International News Note

UNC Researchers were mentioned in the June 16th edition of The Jerusalem Post 
about a 1997 study that showed how people infected with conventional STDs 
have an increased susceptibility to HIV. (No online link available)

Current National Coverage

Smokers Gasp, Not Just From Cigarettes
The New York Times
One state after another is raising cigarette taxes in this year of gaping budget deficits, 
tapping a source of easy revenue. But the three states in the New York region are 
going even further, effectively forming a high-tax district of their own...
...Kurt M. Ribisl a professor of public health at the University of North Carolina, said 
that no state tax increase had ever caused a decline in revenue. A survey taken after 
a 50-cent cigarette-tax increase in California three years ago showed that only 5 
percent of buyers had turned to no-tax or low-tax sources.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/25/nyregion/25CIGS.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Familiar Blood Pressure Drugs Find an Array of Novel Uses
The New York Times
For 20 years, doctors have used ACE inhibitors to control blood pressure in heart 
patients. But now it is becoming increasingly clear that these drugs — with names like 
ramipril and capoten — can do much more than merely relax the arteries, allowing blood 
to flow more freely...
...Already, many cardiologists are expanding their use of ACE inhibitors and A.R.B.'s, 
but Dr. Sidney C. Smith, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina 
and the chief science officer of the American Heart Association, said not everyone had 
gotten the message.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/25/health/25ACE.html

Judicial Nomination Alarms Rights Groups 
The Washington Post 
A South Carolina federal judge, scheduled for a Senate confirmation hearing this week 
on his nomination to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is facing growing opposition 
from civil rights groups both in his home state and in Washington who say he will make 
an already conservative court tilt even more to the right...
...In addition to the NAACP and the Alliance for Justice, the American Association of 
University Women and a group of 16 professors from three North Carolina law schools
recently sent letters to the Judiciary Committee asking members to take a closer look at 
Shedd's record. The law professors said Shedd "has been a sympathetic participant in 
this judicial campaign to disempower Congress," citing his most controversial ruling -- 
Condon v. Reno...
.... John Charles Boger, a University of North Carolina law professor who helped write 
the letter, said his colleagues were most troubled by the theory that Congress should 
have limited power, which he said Shedd's rulings seem to endorse.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39163-2002Jun24.html

Study Casts Doubt on Cell from Hell's Role in Fish Kills
Scientific American
During the 1990s, massive fish kills plagued bays and estuaries along the East Coast of 
the U.S. People living near and working on these waters also complained of memory 
loss, headaches and other physical ailments. Scientists blamed these frightening phenomena 
on a microorganism named Pfiesteria piscicida, often referred to as the "cell from hell" in 
media coverage of the disturbing events...
...Following up on earlier, unsuccessful attempts to confirm a number of the life-cycle 
stages originally reported for Pfiesteria, Wayne Litaker of the University of North Carolina 
at Chapel Hill and his colleagues pursued a rigorous study of each of the creature’s 
transformations. 
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CCCD6-8E5A-1D13-8B07809EC588EEDF&catID=1
(Note: This story was originated from a UNC release:
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun02/pfiesteria061802.htm)

State and Local Coverage

UNC libraries trim hours to cope with tight budget 
With budget cuts looming and a hiring freeze already in place, officials who run UNC’s 
libraries have pared hours while prepping for even more significant reductions to service. 
Hours at many university libraries have been scaled back even more than they usually 
are in the summer. The amended hours likely will remain in effect all summer, even though 
the hiring freeze hamstringing operations is technically over at the end of June. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-240800.html

`XF' may soon mark the spot for cheaters
Charlotte Observer
A task force has recommended a new grade to indicate that a student at UNC Chapel 
Hill flunked a class because of cheating. A report recommends that instead of an automatic 
"F" and a one-semester suspension, UNC students caught cheating received a new grade 
of "XF."
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/3531542.htm
Note: Other national pick-up of this Associated Press story includes The New York Times (online 
link not available) and CNN (online link not available).

A Reach Too Far? (Editorial)
Fayetteville Observer
A task force wants the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to establish “XF” as 
a grade so that anyone who sees it will understand that the student flunked because of 
cheating rather than failing to hit the books. The idea is innovative. It has been catching 
on at other campuses. The details are well thought-out. And, of course, reducing cheating 
is a worthy goal that few would oppose.
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/obj_stories/2002/jun/e25edit2.shtml

Converts vilify Islam in book 
When the Rev. Jerry Vines got up in front of a sea of Southern Baptist pastors this month 
and described the Prophet Muhammad as a "demon-possessed pedophile," many people 
thought it was a slip of the tongue...
..."Many Christians have never been able to get over the fact that Muhammad was a lover 
and a great husband and father," said Carl W. Ernst, a professor of religion at the University 
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an expert in Islam. Ernst said attempts to discredit 
Muhammad date to the 18th century, when missionaries and Asian scholars, known as 
Orientalists, turned every Muslim virtue into a vice. 
http://newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/1485578p-1516293c.html

UNC Hospitals submits improvement plans 
UNC Hospitals has filed a plan of action to correct deficiencies, mostly involving record 
keeping, found in a review of operations last month by state investigators. UNC Hospitals 
CEO and President Eric Munson sent a package dated June 19 to officials at the state’s 
Division of Facility Services in Raleigh, spelling out how and when the Chapel Hill 
healthcare complex would fix the problems cited by the inspectors.
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-240822.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Degrees of Separation 
Gender Gap Among College Graduates Has Educators Wondering Where the Men Are 
The Washington Post
As Morgan State University President Earl S. Richardson surveyed the sea of newly 
minted graduates at the school's 126th commencement last month, his joy was tempered 
by a question that has grown too conspicuous to ignore: Where are all the men? Not only 
were the head of student government, the senior class president and 96 of Morgan's 141 
honor students women, but so were two-thirds of the university's 860 graduates. At colleges 
and universities across the United States, the proportion of bachelor's degrees awarded to 
women reached a post-war high this year at an estimated 57 percent. The gender gap is 
even greater among Hispanics -- only 40 percent of that ethnic group's college graduates 
are male -- and African Americans, who are now seeing two women earn bachelor's 
degrees for every man.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38887-2002Jun24.html

Mississippi educator returns for UNC post 
Mississippi public schools Superintendent Richard Thompson, who has spent of much 
of his career in North Carolina, will return to the state in August to direct teacher development 
programs run by the University of North Carolina system. Thompson's appointment as 
vice president for university school programs means he will work closely with the 15 schools
of education in the UNC system as well as the state Department of Public Instruction, the 
state's community colleges, lawmakers and local school leaders to improve the training and 
development of classroom teachers.
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1488889p-1519492c.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