June 5, 2003

Carolina in the News

Current International Coverage

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

Cell phone ban called premature
The Gazette (Montreal, Canada)
Until there are more data demonstrating cause and effect, it would be premature to 
restrict cell phone use by drivers, the Canada Safety Council says. ... He cited a 
University of North Carolina study of 38,000 crashes indicating nine per cent were 
caused by distractions. 
http://www.canada.com/montreal/news/story.asp?id=886FFCC9-FB6D-4233-83DD-29AAC8D31C71

Current National Coverage

Possible Brain Protection Found
The Wisconsin State Journal
Antioxidants, already widely promoted as cancer-fighters, also may help protect the 
brain from chronic alcohol damage. ... Noronha, who was not part of the research 
team, said similar findings have been reported at the University of North Carolina, 
but those focused on binge drinking and used a different antioxidant.
http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=wsj:2003:06:03:269472:FRONT

Young obese prone to gum woes 
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dental researchers have found what they believe to be a link between obesity and 
frequency of gum disease in people 18 to 34 years old. ... Dental health researchers 
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May published research that 
found gum disease appears to contribute to dangerous hardening of the arteries.
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/06/05/loc_oh-gumdisease05.html
(Note: This study was the subject of a UNC news release.)

Heart Protection
WIFR-TV (CBS, Rockford, Ill.)
Every year, nearly 1 million Americans undergo medical procedures with a catheter 
to open clogged coronary arteries. Even after the procedure, they remain at high risk
for a heart attack, stroke or even death. Now a new treatment dramatically cuts 
that risk. ... "The thought is that by this combination of blood thinners that you're 
much less likely to form a blood clot in your blood vessels, which is normally what 
causes heart attacks, strokes and death," says interventional cardiologist Steven 
Steinhubl, M.D., of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
http://www.wifr.com/news/features/2/361196.html

Regional Coverage

Rare birth defect on rise in U.S.
The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
A rare birth defect in which the intestines protrude outside the baby's abdomen 
appears to happen more frequently in recent years, say doctors at UNC Hospitals 
in Chapel Hill. 
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/6018084.htm
(Note: This story originally appeared in The News and Observer and was
picked up by the Associated Press.)

North Carolina News Note

WNCN-TV (NBC, Raleigh) aired an interview in the North Carolina Jaycee 
Burn Center with Kinston explosion survivor Jim Edwards yesterday during the 
6 p.m. newscast and again during the evening newscast and today during the 
morning newscast. A link to the video is available at www.nbc17.com (scroll 
down to "FeedRoom Video" and click on "Jim Edwards: A Survivor's Story."). 
During yesterday's 6 p.m. newscast, this story was followed immediately by an
interview with Nick Bandarenko, associate professor of pathology and 
laboratory medicine in the School of Medicine, about the need for platelet 
and plasma donors. The interview was shot in the Platelet and Plasma Program 
donation center in UNC Hospitals. Online links for Bandarenko's interview are 
not available.

State and Local Coverage

N.C. pulls ahead of Virginia (Editorial)
Charlotte Observer 
An editorial in The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot: James Moeser didn't come across as 
a braggart, just a pragmatist. Asked about the differences between North Carolina 
and Virginia colleges last week during a forum on Southern politics, the chancellor 
of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill didn't mince words.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/6016751.htm
(Note: This editorial was reprinted from The Virginian-Pilot and follows up 
Chancellor Moeser's recent appearance at a Southern Journalists Roundtable 
session held here in Chapel Hill.)

Budget ax kills UNC health program for university employees 
The Herald-Sun
Becky Huckaby doesn’t have the luxury of strolling over to UNC’s student 
recreation center whenever she wants to get in a workout. An assistant at Davis 
Library, Huckaby likes the university’s H.E.E.L.S. for Health program because it 
allows her to exercise when she can -- by squeezing in a workout on her lunch 
hour or at an aerobics class after work
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-359106.html

Triangle universities score $1.1M in federal grants
Triangle Business Journal
Scientists at the three major Triangle research universities received the lion's share 
of $1.3 million awarded to North Carolina university professors for use in a variety 
of research, U.S. Sen. John Edwards' office announced Wednesday. ... David 
Kaufman, vice chair of pathology at the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill, received a $258,990 HHSD grant to study how hormones such as 
estrogen and breast cancer drugs behave in the uterus. 
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2003/06/02/daily39.html

Weighing risks for mad cow disease (Commentary)
News and Observer
Mad cow disease is a frightening prospect. The fatal illness is caused by a freak of 
nature, a misfolding protein called a prion that kills by "eating" holes in its victims' 
brains. 
http://newsobserver.com/features/story/2592307p-2405532c.html
(Note: Suzanne Havala Hobbs is an adjunct assistant professor in the School 
of Public Health.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Donors Tipping Scales at U-Va. 
The Washington Post 
The University of Virginia will pass a milestone next year when it expects to draw 
more of its operating budget from private gifts than from state funds -- a scenario 
once unimaginable for a public college. University officials said yesterday that public 
funds will provide almost $131 million next year, based on projections, compared 
with $134 million that will come from private gifts or interest income generated by
the school's endowment. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46125-2003May27.html

Texas Legislature Gives Universities Power to Set Tuition
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Texas Legislature on Monday gave the state's public universities free rein to 
increase tuition in a move that legislators say will help the state combat mounting 
budget shortfalls. 
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/06/2003060401n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access 
articles.)

Big East huddle
News and Observer
Big East school presidents who met Wednesday with Miami president Donna 
Shalala said she pledged to keep an open mind, but none expressed optimism that 
Miami would stay in the Big East instead of joining the ACC. 
http://newsobserver.com/sports/college/story/2592773p-2405504c.html

ACC's efforts worry group
News and Observer
A national coalition of university professors has asked the presidents of the 
Atlantic Coast Conference universities to reconsider their planned league expansion, 
saying it would hurt efforts to curb the "arms race" in college sports. ... UNC's faculty
leaders, who two weeks ago opposed expansion, endorsed the national group's 
statement in a unanimous vote Wednesday. 
http://newsobserver.com/sports/college/story/2592773p-2405533c.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