March 2, 2005

Carolina in the News

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

National Coverage

Most Players in NFL Obese, Study Says
The Wall Street Journal
It's no secret that size matters in the National Football League, but a study by a North Carolina researcher suggests that 56% of NFL players would be considered obese by some medical standards. ... In the study, University of North Carolina endocrinologist Joyce Harp and student Lindsay Hecht used statistics on the NFL Web site to calculate the body-mass index for each of 2,168 NFL players, nearly all those playing in the 2003-04 season.
(Note: This National Associated Press story was mentioned in today's broadcast of CNN: Live at Daybreak and CNN: Live Today.)
Subscription required.
Related links:
USA Today
Reuters

Doctoring the Report Card? Studying Is Easier
The New York Times
Squared-off B's that look suspiciously like F's and report cards that get "lost in the mail" are becoming endangered species as schools go to new lengths to prevent forging of grades and transcripts. ... Precise data about report card forgery is hard to come by, said Gregory J. Cizek, a researcher at the University of North Carolina who studies cheating.
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State & Local Coverage

UNC health system cutting 200 jobs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC Health Care is eliminating about 200 positions, most of which are vacant, in what may be just the first in a round of cuts aimed at making the state-supported health system more financially stable. ... All 40 will be offered work elsewhere in the system, said Dr. William L. Roper, UNC Health Care's chief executive.

Poll casts wary eye on downtown push
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Most Wake and Durham county residents think highly of the downtowns of their biggest cities, but that doesn't mean they're pleased with efforts at downtown renewal, according to a poll conducted for The News & Observer. ... These and other successful downtowns resulted from businesses and citizen groups working with government to create the downtown they want, said Emil Malizia, head of the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Officials react to faculty protest
The Daily Tar Heel
University administrators said Tuesday that they were not surprised by the sharp criticisms expressed in a letter that denounced a lack of transparency in the process of negotiating plans for a new program in Western civilizations. Officials said that negotiations with the John William Pope Foundation have been open and that accepting the funds will not compromise the integrity of the University.

Hundreds rally to protest beating of gay student
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
In the days following last week's vicious beating of a gay UNC student on Franklin Street, the university campus has buzzed with talk of the incident. Police: UNC student's beating a hate crime
Related links:
News 14 Carolina (Time-Warner, Raleigh)
Charlotte Observer

Roses & (no) raspberries
The Chapel Hill News
... Roses to the 600 UNC-CH student dancers who defied sleep deprivation, aching muscles and boredom to stay on their feet for 24 hours in the annual UNC Dance Marathon.

Issues & Trends

Diary of a college freshman: now accessible online
The Christian Science Monitor
During her first week at Furman University last semester, Amber Kirtley enrolled in a cardio-kickboxing class to avoid the dreaded "Freshman 15." After one intense class, she discovered that yoga was more her speed. ... Increasingly, colleges across the United States are turning to online student diaries as a way to recruit prospective students.

Town drafting wishlist of laws
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Workers at public agencies in North Carolina are free to join unions, but the power of those unions to win better pay and benefits for them is limited.

Produced by News Services, Carolina in the News is an e-mail sampling of current news media coverage about Carolina people and programs, as well as issues and trends that affect the university. Stories usually will be online and available free for a limited time - often one to two weeks. Expiration dates before stories move to archives vary by media outlet. Some outlets require free user registration or a subscription.

Carolina in the News is also posted daily to the News Services Web page, http://www.unc.edu/newsserv/clipsindex.htm.

Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.