June 4, 2003

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

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

Rapid MRI No Better Than X-Ray for Back Pain: Study 
Reuters (international wire service)
An imaging technique known as rapid MRI may offer no benefit beyond conventional
X-rays in diagnosing many cases of lower back pain, according to a report released 
Tuesday.... Dr. Nortin M. Hadler of the University of North Carolina at Chapel 
Hill, who wrote an accompanying editorial, said that it may be difficult for patients to 
understand that images of their spine cannot always pinpoint the cause of their low 
back pain -- or why some conditions found in those images are not the cause of the 
pain, and are best left alone. 
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=2872777
(Note: For more information, go to this UNC news release.)

Killer Virus 
The Washington Post 
In the end, almost no place was spared. When the Spanish influenza virus circled 
the world in 1918, 1919 and 1920, it missed the Pribilof and St. Lawrence islands 
in the Bering Sea. ... "Influenza seemed to rage through sub-Saharan Africa as 
though the colonial transportation network had been planned in preparation for the 
epidemic," wrote K. David Patterson and Gerald F. Pyle, two University of North 
Carolina historians and geographers responsible for initiating much of the reanalysis 
of the pandemic in the 1980s.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10572-2003Jun3.html

Sierra Club Challenges Ford's Fuel Economy at 100 
Reuters (international news wire)
U.S. environmental group the Sierra Club said on Tuesday it plans to run advertise-
ments criticizing Ford Motor Co. for making vehicles that are less fuel-efficient now
-- on its 100th birthday -- than when it began. ... Meanwhile, former Sierra Club 
president Robert Cox said on Tuesday he is running for the Ford board of directors. 
A communications studies professor at the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill, he was head of the Sierra Club from 1994 to 1996 and from 2000 to
2001.
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=2872528

Periodontal Disease Dangerous for the Heart
Ivanhoe Newswire (medical news wire)
A new study shows periodontal disease may increase levels of a protein in the blood 
that acts as a marker of inflammation and indicates an increased risk for cardio-
vascular disease in otherwise healthy persons. ... Researchers from the University of 
North Carolina at Chapel Hill evaluated the association between periodontal disease 
and CRP levels.
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=6309
(Note: This study was the subject of a UNC news release.)

Racial disparity pervades foster care system
The Kansas City Star
In early childhood, Ra'Meka Meeks lived with her mom, grandma and lots of other 
relatives in a Kansas City, Kan., home she called the Big House. ... Race begins to 
recede -- but does not disappear -- as a factor when such things as poverty and
neighborhood locations are considered, said Richard Barth, a child-welfare expert 
at the University of North Carolina who has studied the issue extensively.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/6006879.htm

What Will The McMenu Of The Future Look Like?
The New London Day (Conn.)
America's love affair with fast food has hit a rocky patch. ... “Six or seven years ago, 
I went to a conference and McDonald's was test-marketing those little packages of 
carrots,” said Alice Ammerman, associate professor at University of North 
Carolina's department of nutrition. 
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/mktplace/re.aspx?reIDx=36E8F939-9DCA-408E-B361-E97A5CF243C0
(Note: This Knight-Ridder story also appeared in The Charlotte Observer.)

Killer Mosquito
The Seattle Weekly (Wash.)
In the age of SARS and mad cow disease, there's another public-health danger to 
worry about, and health officials think it will kill birds, horses, and maybe even 
humans this summer. West Nile virus has arrived in the Northwest. ... "This 
substance has a remarkable safety profile," according to Mark Fradin of the 
University of North Carolina, in a 1998 paper on insect repellent safety.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0323/news-westnile.php
(Note: Fradin's research was the subject of a UNC news release.)

Experts work on America's new diet
The Bradenton Herald (Fla.) 
If you're an American, the statistics say you're out of shape - and you don't need 
another study to tell you why. Your life is high in stress and calories and low in free
time and physical activity. ... "The dilemma is, most people are suburbanites who 
don't know any other behavior than driving," says Richard Killingsworth, director 
of Active Living by Design at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 
a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/6007655.htm

State and Local Coverage

UNC salary study finds 1 unit with gender gap 
The Herald-Sun
An evaluation of faculty salaries at UNC has found that just one of 16 academic 
units studied had a statistically significant pay gap between male and female 
professors. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-358720.html

Defect's rise baffles doctors 
News and Observer
Suspicions arose among the baby doctors at UNC Hospitals. They noticed they 
were delivering more and more infants with a weird birth defect in which the 
intestines protrude outside the baby's abdomen. The disorder, called gastroschisis,
is a congenital defect that was supposed to be uncommon, occurring nationally in 
just one or two births out of 10,000. Dr. Matthew Laughon, a fellow in 
neonatology at UNC-Chapel Hill, was intrigued.
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2589436p-2403105c.html
(Note: A link to a UNC news release on Laughon's findings is available at the 
above url.)

Outdoor drama groups gear up for new season
Chapel Hill News
The nation’s oldest outdoor historical drama, Paul Green’s “The Lost Colony,” 
opened Monday in Manteo. ... All those dramas, and the shows at some 118 other 
outdoor theaters throughout the country, look to the Institute of Outdoor Drama 
at UNC for guidance, assistance, training, performers and advice. 
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/story/2588048p-2401724c.html
(Note: For more information, click here.)

Worth a thousand words
Chapel Hill News
In muted tones of gray and brown, a man sits at a desk. ... Parke Harrison, known 
for his works featuring strange machines, is one of 18 photographers whose works 
have been donated from the collections of Carolina alumni and faculty for the 
Ackland’s most comprehensive photography exhibit in 20 years.
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/our_town/story/2587903p-2401584c.html
(Note: This exhibit was the subject of a UNC news release.)

Livestock rules debated 
News and Observer
North Carolina's agribusiness and public health advocates squared off Tuesday 
over whether to allow local health boards to regulate intensive livestock operations
more strictly than state law. ... Their actions were based on complaints backed up 
by a study published three years ago by a UNC-Chapel Hill epidemiologist. 
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2589461p-2403102c.html

BTI leaves one long-distance niche 
News and Observer
BTI said Tuesday it is exiting the market for student calling on college campuses, 
finding its long-distance business less lucrative as mobile phone companies gain 
share.... Others are taking unique approaches. UNC-Chapel Hill, for instance, 
is weighing partnerships with wireless phone companies that could involve 
special branding.
http://newsobserver.com/business/story/2589516p-2403086c.html

Owl family inspires awe
Chapel Hill News
McCorkle Place was all but deserted. It was Saturday morning, the university 
was out of session, and a chilly rain was falling from a low, dark sky. The 
walkways that crisscross campus were empty.
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/snapshots/story/2588050p-2401726c.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Strapped States Look to Schools In an Effort to Ease Budget Woes
The Wall Street Journal
Tough times are driving more students to public colleges, but they'll find huge 
fee increases and cuts in services when they arrive this fall. The major tuition 
jumps are particularly notable because they come at a time when price increases 
are restrained in so many other areas of the economy. The reason: Almost every 
state has a budget crisis, and many are making ends meet by cutting their 
subsidies to state universities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105466354054138900,00.html?mod=todays%5Fus%5Fpersonaljnl%5Fhs
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription to access articles.)

Private colleges spared 
News and Observer
The House and Senate budget proposals each contain tuition increases and tens 
of millions of dollars in cuts for the state's 16 universities and 59 community 
colleges. But both chambers decided not to spread the budget pain to a $78 
million program that assists the state's 36 private nonprofit universities and 
colleges. 
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2589460p-2403094c.html

Misleading phrase (Letter to the Editor)
News and Observer
Your May 29 article "Tug of war over new hospital" contained a brief quote 
from a letter I had written which is potentially misleading. 
http://newsobserver.com/editorials/letters/story/2579125p-2393518c.html
(Note: Robert N. Golden is a professor and chair of the Department of 
Psychiatry.)

Bad Break (Editorial)
Fayetteville Observer
The city in which the University of North Carolina was chartered has no 
proprietary claim to a seat on the UNC Board of Governors. But having no 
voting members from the Fayetteville area makes no sense.
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=opinion&Story=5686519

ACC visits Syracuse 
News and Observer
The mood could be strikingly different today when ACC expansion is discussed 
in two locales about 375 miles apart. 
http://newsobserver.com/sports/story/2589539p-2402980c.html

Roses and Raspberries
Chapel Hill News
... Raspberries to the administrations at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State for
not consulting their faculty athletic councils about expanding the size of the 
Atlantic Coast Conference.
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/opinion/story/2588041p-2401719c.html
(Note: To view this item, go to the above url and scroll down the web page.)

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