June 22, 2004

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

Maxine Gossell-Williams breaks down barriers
Jamaica Gleaner, Jamaica
Maxine Gossell-Williams may be petite, but she packs a punch. At five feet two inches tall and 118 pounds, she is breaking down barriers in the scientific world....Gossell-Williams will be fulfilling the grant at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, working with Professor Steven Zeisel, who has pioneered a lot of work with choline.

National Coverage

Backyard Dilemma: Which Is Worse -- Using DEET Or Possibility of West Nile?
The Wall Street Journal
Worries about West Nile virus and other bug-borne diseases have raised new questions about the risks and benefits of insect repellent/...In nearly 60 years of use, there are fewer than 50 cases of significant side effects attributable to DEET reported in medical journals, notes Mark S. Fradin, clinical associate professor of dermatology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Subscription required.

Filtering technique offers hope to high-cholesterol patients
Scripps Howard News Service
Cholesterol-lowering drugs did little good for G.F. Simpson, who has a genetic predisposition to high blood cholesterol levels that led to quadruple bypass surgery 16 years ago, when he was 35....Four months ago, however, he started a new blood-washing procedure at University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

State teaches tourism firms how to foil norovirus
Anchorage Daily News
The health department has launched a statewide campaign to stop norovirus from making Alaskans, cruise ship passengers and other tourists sick this summer....She and a team at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill studied more than 77 volunteers who swallowed varying doses of norovirus added to a glass of water.

State & Local Note

Victor Schoenbach, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, was interviewed yesterday evening on WCHL-AM about the annual Summer Public Health Research Videoconference on Minority Health running this week.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun04/minhealthconf061704.html

State & Local Coverage

Taking bite out of dental fear
The News & Observer
Mike Whitaker wears a soft, butter-colored gown tied crookedly in the back, and to all the patients who pass through Murdoch Center's Dental Clinic he hands out toothbrushes or hats, depending on whether they have teeth....."When you're dealing with someone who's so scared, who may be blind, who may be hearing impaired, you have to think of all different kinds of strategies to get them in the dental chair and to get them to open their mouths," said [Donna] Spears, an adjunct professor at UNC-CH Dental School, where she has taught clinical procedures for treating special-needs patients.

Exporting medical practice
The Chapel Hill News
When the Advanced Trauma Life Support class ended, the medical residents streamed out of the lecture room in Berryhill Hall and lined up to grab a quick lunch before heading up to the sixth-floor anatomical labs....They've accompanied ambulance crews on calls, observed the various intensive care units at UNC Hospitals and shadowed physicians treating almost every conceivable sort of medical emergency in UNC's Emergency Department.

Paradigm wins $742K NIH grant
Triangle Business Journal
Paradigm Genetics, Inc. announced Monday that it will extend its liver toxicity research with the help of an additional $742,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health. ...Paradigm has been working in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and with the NIH to study liver diseases for the past year.

Issues & Trends

Lower Expectations for Higher Education? (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Washington Post
In statehouses all over America this spring, politicians once again wrestled with the vexing problem of how to fund higher education. Their deliberations took place against a backdrop of finger-pointing and pain, as they searched for someone to blame for skyrocketing tuition. There are plenty of candidates, including the states, the federal government, universities and students themselves....C. D. Mote is president of the University of Maryland.

Charitable Giving Rises in 2003
National Associated Press
Helped by an improving economy, charitable giving in the United States last year rose by the highest rate in three years, according to a national survey released Monday.

One year after ruling, colleges find affirmative action isn't easy
National Associated Press
One year ago this week, supporters of affirmative action cheered as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld factoring race into college admissions.

Bill saps power of UNC board (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun
Thursday's 92-18 vote in the state House to borrow $338 million for projects at five University of North Carolina campuses contains the makings of serious trouble, both financially and institutionally for the UNC system. With adjournment of this year's short session coming on July 2, the Senate should move quickly this week to knock the props from under the House bill.

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.