March 3, 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

House G.O.P. to Drop Idea of Penalty for Steep Rises in Tuition
The New York Times
House Republicans plan to announce today that they are withdrawing legislation that would have imposed financial penalties on colleges and universities that raised tuition too sharply.....In doing so, the university followed a similar announcement last October by the University of North Carolina.

Harvard revamps financial aid policy
The Dartmouth
Harvard will no longer ask parents earning less than $40,000 to contribute to the cost of their child's education, university president Lawrence Summers recently announced....Other schools have enacted similar new policies. In October, the University of North Carolina instated a new program to provide full aid to students who demonstrate substantial financial need.

Colleges throw lifeline to students
USA Today
The subject line of the e-mail was simple: "Are you depressed?"...So in late January, seniors at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill started getting e-mails urging them to take the online mental health screening tests. "It's too soon to tell" how well the program will work, says UNC research psychologist Jan Sedway.

Trend divides roles of CEO, chairman
Orlando Sentinel
Disney shareholders who hope to divide Michael Eisner's current job are following a path chosen by a growing number of major U.S. corporations....It should, said Anil Shivdasani, a University of North Carolina corporate finance professor who thinks the dual roles never should have been put into one person's hands.

Faith and Families
Christian Parenting
Need a little more motivation to get everyone out of bed and off to church? New research shows that in the long run, regular religious activity is one of the best ways to keep your family strong....An ongoing study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found that teenagers whose families were involved in frequent religious activity-which includes parental prayer-five to seven days a week were much more likely to have good relations with their parents and participate in family activities such as eating dinner together, and less likely to run away from home.

State & Local Coverage

Taylor gave back to UNC (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
Many fine words were said about N. Ferebee Taylor upon the passing of the former UNC chancellor last week....But one thing we didn't hear, which deserves attention, is that Taylor represented one of the last of the great sons of the university who saw it as his duty to give back to the institution that nurtured him and gave him great success.

Info Averse in The Info Age
Up & Coming Magazine (a Fayetteville weekly)
So much in life continues to intrigue me, almost all having to do with the most fascinating creatures on earth, my fellow human beings....It has arisen about now like clockwork in recent years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a university committee selects the summer reading book for incoming freshman and transfer students. The reading is optional and ungraded.

Public voices views on Carolina North
The Chapel Hill News
Many unanswered questions surround Carolina North, the UNC satellite campus slated to be built on the 963-acre Horace Williams Tract.

Planners: No deck in complex
The Herald-Sun
UNC planners have concluded that they can't have both cars and cutting-edge science in the same building....The university will file the modification request by the end of March, said Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for planning and construction.

Planetarium planning front-door expansion
The Chapel Hill News
The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is planning a 10,000-square-foot expansion project that will force the local landmark to close for 14 months.

Stroke risk ends estrogen trial early
The News & Observer
Although once touted as having health benefits, long-term use of the hormone estrogen after a hysterectomy instead exposes women to a higher risk of stroke and dementia and offers no protection against heart disease, researchers announced Tuesday....Participants, including 247 enrolled by UNC-Chapel Hill and 213 at Wake Forest University, were sent letters Monday recommending they quit taking their pills.
UNC News release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar04/heiss030204.html

UNC students quietly protest GOP speech
The Herald-Sun
A group of UNC students that appeared to include some same-sex couples disrupted a campus speech by U.S. Rep. Walter Jones on Monday night.

UNC honors teaching excellence
The Chapel Hill Herald
Several UNC faculty members and graduate assistants won teaching awards recently.

Institution of higher learning
The Chapel Hill News
Michael Jordan was born to fly, Antawn Jamison was born to rebound, Phil Ford and Raymond Felton were born to play point guard. Burgess McSwain, on the other hand, was born to teach...."I loved to play school when I was a little girl," recalls McSwain, now in her fifth decade of providing tutoring and academic counseling to UNC athletes.

Love those green eggs and ham
The Chapel Hill News
Darrett Timmons, 8, settled the floppy striped top hat onto his head, adjusted the microphone in front of him and opened the book in his hands....With Dr. Seuss, familiarity breeds fondness, and the children and adults gathered in the lobby of the N.C. Children's Hospital Tuesday were there precisely because they knew what to expect.

Issues and Trends

Rep. McKeon Is Expected to Drop Effort to Penalize Colleges That Raise Tuition Too Much
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A key Republican member of Congress is expected to announce today that he will no longer pursue a proposal that would penalize colleges that raise their prices too high by preventing them from participating in some federal student-aid programs.
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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

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