June 21, 2004

Carolina in the News

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

National Coverage

Out of the Gutter for Good
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Margaret D. Holton and Sharon A. Myers think a lot about stormwater -- about where it goes after it falls on the University of North Carolina's campus here, and about how clean it stays. They think people on other college campuses should be thinking about stormwater, too....Michelle Adams, a principal at Cahill Associates, says that while universities in general are taking the lead in innovative stormwater management, the University of North Carolina is way out in front.
Subscription required.
Note: Lawrence Beimiller, who specializes in architectural coverage for The Chronicle of Higher Education spent three days on campus earlier this month for tours and interviews coordinated by News Services. This is one of several stories or UNC coverage that may result from his visit. University photographer Dan Sears supplied photos for possible use in the print version of the Chronicle.

Gifts and Bequests
The Chronicle of Higher Education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To endow the Richard Cole eminent professorship in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication: $3-million from anonymous donors.
Subscription required.

Health and the Built Environment
WAMU-FM, "The Diane Rehm Show" (Washington, D.C.)
Some say the spread out design of America's suburbs and cities contributes to obesity and other health problems....Richard Killingsworth, associate professor, University of North Carolina School of Public Health director, Active Living by Design.
Note: This radio program is broadcast by public radio stations across the country, including WFAE-FM in Charlotte.

A year later, universities face legal, social barriers
The Detroit News
One year after the Supreme Court upheld the consideration of race in college admissions, continued legal challenges and attacks against minority recruiting and scholarship programs again are threatening the footing of affirmative action....Nationally, many of the nation's colleges, such as the University of Connecticut and University of North Carolina, are seeing increases in minority applications, partly because overall applications are up.
Note: News Services assisted this reporter.

Author: God put a coded message in your DNA
The Miami Herald
Gregg Braden wants to save us from ourselves....Jonathan Marks, an anthropologist at the University of North Carolina who has studied the genetic similarities between humans and chimpanzees, said that with an estimated 3 ½ billion chemical combinations making up the human genome, it's not hard to construct the message you're looking for.

Can Antioxidants Diminish Effects of Alcohol During Pregnancy?
Ivanhoe Newswire
Taking antioxidants during pregnancy may prevent birth defects in babies born to women who abuse alcohol, according to a new study....Researcher Kathleen K. Sulik, M.D., a professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, says the implications of this study apply directly to alcoholics.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun04/antioxidant061704.html

Regional Coverage

Casinos may stand to gain in cyberspace
Las Vegas Review-Journal
If casinos in Nevada and elsewhere in the United States plunged into the Internet gambling market, they would likely gain up to $190 billion annually in sports bets, said Koleman Strumpf, an assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina.

Dedicated Dad; Father devoted to easing children's disease
New Jersey Herald
David Brownstein may not be a doctor, but the Vernon father has made his children's medical care a priority....After the third surgical removal, Brownstein contacted Dr. James Yankaskas, a doctor who has done research on cystic fibrosis.... "Nasal polyps can grow larger and become inflamed, which would make it difficult to breathe through the nose," said Yankaskas, a professor in pulmonary and critical care medicine at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C., in a telephone interview last week.

State & Local Coverage

UNC-CH chancellor takes road trip
The News & Observer
Surrounded by brushes, combs, shampoos and curling irons, the follicle-challenged James Moeser, UNC-Chapel Hill's chancellor, seemed a tad out of place last week in two hair salons near downtown Burlington....Moeser will spend a chunk of his time in the next few months visiting North Carolina's towns and cities, promoting the university's research and public service to the state. The tour, dubbed "Carolina Connects," is part public relations, part education for the chancellor.
Note: For photos of the Chancellor's visit to Burlington, go to: http://www.unc.edu/news/

N.C. support for war eroding
The News & Observer
Events in Iraq this year have often been both bad and -- thanks to shocking video and photos -- unusually memorable....Still, the bad news may only be part of the story, said UNC-Chapel Hill history professor Richard Kohn, chairman of the Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense.

Organizer pulls giant blood collection together (Tar Heel of the Week)
The News & Observer
Katrina Coble is the business manager for the UNC-Chapel Hill computer science department, but on a recent Wednesday she races up and down the steps of the Smith Center, sprinting onto and off the Tar Heels home basketball court, getting a workout that could rival most any college athlete's.
UNC Gazette article featuring Coble: http://gazette.unc.edu/archives/04may19/file.4.html
Note: News Services suggested this story to the News & Observer.

Family seeks a balance
The News & Observer
On the November day five years ago that Cindy and Rob Holeman's son Nicholas was born, certain physical characteristics were immediately apparent: brown eyes, straight hair, mom's smile...."This is an issue where genetics and the environment are so tightly entwined that it's going to take a long time to unwind it," said Dr. June Stevens, a professor of nutrition in the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Note: This is a continuation of the News & Observer's ongoing series about obesity.

$3M journalism school chair a rarity
The Chapel Hill Herald
For Richard Cole, doling out the first $3 million endowed professorship in his professional school's history will be a particularly special occasion....As dean, Cole, 62, has raised more than $25 million for the journalism school, including a $5 million effort to help pay for renovations to Carroll Hall, the school's current home.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun04/cole061004.html

UNC looks at admitting process after shooting death
The Durham Herald-Sun
The killing of a UNC Wilmington student has prompted officials at UNC Chapel Hill to examine their own admissions procedures.
Related link: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/ncwire_news/story/1353497p-7476723c.html

UNC faces hazardous waste suit
The Chapel Hill Herald
A disgruntled subcontractor involved in a dispute over hazardous waste at a UNC construction site now plans to sue the university....UNC officials dispute Gabriel's account of the waste situation.

Waste of Warren money?
The Daily Dispatch, Warren
The legality of the surplus in Warren County's solid waste fund, which was instrumental to 2004-05 budgeting decisions made Monday, is being questioned....This explanation suggests Warren has acted legally, according to an expert on county finance law at the University of North Carolina School and Institute of Government.

UNC workers seek break on health insurance
The Chapel Hill News
With their request for an across-the-board pay increase still before the N.C. Senate, the http://www.chapelhillnews.com/front/story/1349765p-7472643c.html is asking the state legislature to provide affordable health-care insurance to all state employees.

Pamela Duncan
Creative Loafing, Charlotte, NC
Pamela Duncan grew up in Shelby, a mill town in the North Carolina foothills, the daughter of a corrections officer and a textile worker. Her fiction draws its accents from those rural working-class origins, focusing on the intergenerational struggles of Southern women.
UNC Gazette article featuring Duncan: http://gazette.unc.edu/archives/03dec10/file.2.html

Souvenirs of torture in Vietnam
The Independent Weekly
This past week found me sorting through my souvenirs from the war in Vietnam as I prepared to transfer my papers and photographs to the Southern Historical Collection of Manuscripts at UNC-Chapel Hill.

University briefs: Leone, Pilcher earn awards
The Durham Herald-Sun
Peter Leone and Christopher Pilcher from the UNC School of Medicine's division of infectious diseases have received special appreciation awards from the N.C. Division of Public Health.

Issues & Trends

Republican Congressmen Fire Back at College Lobbyists on Renewal of the Higher Education Act
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Two top Republican congressmen have accused college lobbyists of putting their own self-interest ahead of the needs of students, parents, and taxpayers.
Subscription required.

When Students Kill Themselves, Colleges May Get the Blame
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Experts estimate that more than a thousand students at American colleges and universities will commit suicide this year....University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: "Emergency Evaluation and Action Committee Policy and Procedures" (http://www.unc.edu/policies/tapedec98.pdf).
(Requires Adobe Reader, available free)
Subscription required.

How much debt? (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Members of the state House and Senate seem to be on a campaign lately to out-do one another when it comes to borrowing money. They say it's a good time to borrow money for special projects because interest rates are still low.

Even without the projects, N.C. debt will continue to rise
N.C. Associated Press
The General Assembly has spent the past two weeks considering whether to borrow up to an additional $858 million over the next 20 years.

Seeking Chancellors (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
North Carolina's public universities should take lessons from their private counterparts when it comes to replacing campus leaders.

System glitch (Our Views)
The News & Observer
It calls to mind the good old days. Or make that, the bad old days. At one time, individual public university campuses in North Carolina went directly to lawmakers for support on this project or that. The competition among those campuses was intense, and the money limited. Final decisions on what to do and what not to do often came down to which campus had the most clout in the legislature at the time.

Duke accepts tobacco grant
The News & Observer
Duke University, a campus born of tobacco profits, will accept $15 million from cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to study ways to help smokers quit.

Town makes instant MLK decision
The Chapel Hill News
It happened so quickly that if your attention had wandered for a few seconds you'd have missed it....The Carrboro Board of Aldermen, having just received a presentation about the proposed design for the new 10-acre park on Hillsborough Road, prepared to approve the plan.

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please call Russell Campbell at News Services, (919) 962-2091, russell_campbell@unc.edu, or Mike McFarland in University Communications, mike_mcfarland@unc.edu

Past issues of Carolina in the News are located at http://www.unc.edu/news/clips/index.shtml.

Note: Web links on this page are time-sensitive, so stories might not be available after the day they first appeared.