March 9, 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

Keep affordable-college ideas coming (Commentary)
The Plain Dealer
The president of Harvard University is hardly the person you'd expect to hear championing the poor....The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example, last fall became the first major public college to announce it would cover all of a needy student's financial burden with grants, rather than loans.

Low-income students could get more help
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Low-income students could get more help.....The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia and Harvard University have all recently introduced programs to ease the financial burdens on their poorer students.

Analysis: New study shows dramatically lowering cholesterol to levels below today's standards may prevent heart disease
"All Things Considered", National Public Radio
The American College of Cardiology is meeting in New Orleans today, and heart specialists there are excited about a new study looking at medications that lower cholesterol. Patients who took high doses of an existing medication were able to reduce their cholesterol to a level far below current treatment targets.....Dr. Sidney Smith, of the University of North Carolina, says more than more than 30 million Americans at risk for heart disease will ultimately need intensive cholesterol-lowering treatments.

Efforts gaining momentum
San Jose Mercury News
Even though candy, chips and cookies have become standard lunchtime offerings at schools, the first salvos in the battle against juvenile obesity are aimed squarely at soda vending machines, critics' most powerful symbol of what's gone wrong with school food policy....She cited a University of North Carolina study that found a close correlation between the increase in overweight adolescents and the decline in physical activity from 1980 to 2000.

State & Local Coverage

NC EconWatch: RTP marketing plan aims for 100,000 new jobs
N.C. Associated Press
plan to revamp the marketing of Research Triangle Park could create 100,000 new jobs in a 13-county region over five years, organizers said Monday....Dr. John D. Kasarda, director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, said RTP is the most successful research park of its kind in the nation.
Related link: http://newsobserver.com/business/story/3403154p-3024662c.html

State paid $5.6 million for basketball arenas last fiscal year
N.C. Associated Press
North Carolina paid nearly $5.6 million during the last fiscal year to help support the operation of college basketball arenas, according to figures released by the UNC General Administration....The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gets nearly $1.1 million to help subsidize the operations of the Smith Center. That amounts to 41 percent of the center's operating cost.

Footing the bill
Shelby Star
On any given winter evening, you're likely to find rabid basketball fans packed into the Smith Center at UNC Chapel Hill cheering for their Tar Heels....The second-largest amount of money going to a basketball arena is nearly $1.1 million to help subsidize operation of the Smith Center in Chapel Hill.

Nursing shortage acute
Kinston Free Press
The state is putting measures in place to address a nationwide shortage of nurses that is having its toll on healthcare....Dr. Linda Cronenwett, dean at the University of North Carolina School of Nursing in Chapel Hill, said the state has a 12-percent nursing vacancy.
Note: On Friday, Dr. Cronenwett appeared on WCTI-TV, WITN-TV, WNCT-TV and TACC 9 discussing the nursing shortage.

No commercial threat seen from parasite
The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.
Two different species of a newly discovered shellfish parasite reside in coastal waters around Morehead City....Pete Peterson, professor of marine sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City, said tests run on the native Eastern oyster (crasostrea virginica) and the native hard clam following the discovery of bonamia in the Asian oysters did not pick up either type.

Downtown study valuable -- as a guide (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
There are no startling revelations or "eureka!" insights in the latest report on the downtown Chapel Hill business district. For months now, we've been hearing much of the same about how to reinvigorate the commercial district....Yes, the town -- if it creates an economic development corporation for downtown, along with UNC and business leaders -- can help recruit new businesses and challenge old businesses to put more money into their operations.

UNC should back lecturer who rapped 'hate speech' (Letter to the Editor)
The Durham Herald-Sun
Regarding UNC Chapel Hill's response to the lecturer who challenged homophobic remarks: The assistant dean of students said, "My big fear is the longterm consequence of this, [that] a lot of instructors won't address homophobic remarks in class."

Issues and Trends

N.C.'s trash troubles pile up
The News & Observer
The Triangle and other parts of North Carolina face a shortage of landfill space in coming years, as people throw away growing mountains of trash yet resist construction of places to dump it.

Questions about sludge (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
Our natural sympathies are with folks in Orange County who are troubled by sludge....Some rural residents of the county are complaining that their health is jeopardized by the treated Burlington wastewater that a private company is spraying on farmers' fields.

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.