March 8, 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

Ancient Artifacts Found on North Carolina Campus
National Geographic
The discovery of 2,000-year-old artifacts on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is prompting archaeologists to rethink their theories about the early presence of Native Americans in North Carolina....The artifacts include spear points and pottery fragments. Their location indicate that small bands of roaming Indians made a seasonal home on ground that later became the site of the nation's first state university, said Steve Davis, associate director of UNC's Research Laboratories of Archeology.

Aspirin Is Found to Protect Women From Strokes, Not Heart Attacks
The New York Times
Regular use of low-dose aspirin does not prevent first heart attacks in women younger than 65, as it does in men, a 10-year study of healthy women has found....The message here is that women need to know their individual risk, said Dr. Sidney C. Smith, director of the center for cardiovascular medicine at the University of North Carolina, who helped write the American Heart Associations guidelines for preventing heart disease in women.
Registration required.

High doses of statins help heart patients
The Associated Press (National)
Taking very high doses of a drug to push cholesterol to very low levels can help people with heart disease avoid strokes and heart attacks, but also can cause liver problems that limit the ability to tolerate such intensive treatment, doctors report...."This is falling into line with what we saw from other trials" involving different types of patients - those who had recently suffered a heart attack, said Dr. Sidney Smith, an American Heart Association spokesman and cardiology chief at the University of North Carolina.

Aspirin Affects the Sexes Differently
The Wall Street Journal
A major new study suggests that aspirin affects women and men differently when it comes to preventing heart attacks and strokes....Typically, says Sidney Smith, a guidelines expert and cardiologist at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, studies involving heart treatments have involved only 10% to 15% women, meaning guidelines based on such data are often based on intuition when applied to women.
Subscription required.

Aspirin may block strokes in women
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In a surprise finding that may change the advice that women get from their doctors, a large study found that women who took a low-dose aspirin every other day had a significant reduction in strokes...."This is important because it gets to that lower-risk group of women," said Sidney Smith, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Tax Panel Explores Decline Of Corporate Tax Base
The Wall Street Journal
Corporate taxes are declining because of sophisticated tax planning, use of stock options, and the global economy outpacing an income tax designed for the industrial age, a leading tax expert said Tuesday...."The corporate tax base is under attack from many directions," Douglas Shackleford, professor at University of North Carolina 's Kenan-Flagler Business School, said in prepared remarks before the Federal Advisory Panel on Tax Reform.
Subscription required.

Online tax bill due for smokers
USA Today
William Blakemore is a pack-a-day smoker in Hightstown, N.J., who started buying cigarettes online several years ago....Most Internet cigarette vendors do not comply with the Jenkins Act, says Kurt Ribisl, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health who studies tobacco marketing on the Internet.

Finding March Madness Online
The Wall Street Journal
This season, many Web sites are rolling out new ways for basketball lovers to relish the game, including offering live video of games, coach interviews and press conferences, and customized delivery of detailed stats on favorite teams....But there are glitches, and it pays to check to make sure your favorite team is covered before signing up for a subscription service, since different sites have partnerships with different schools. University of North Carolina, for instance, partners with a site called CSTV.com (which also is called CollegeSports.com).
Subscription required.

MBA Family Values
Business Week
Craig Mitchell knew exactly what he was looking for in a business school: a curriculum that would make possible a career change from accountant and business-software consultant to investment banking, a placement office that had good relationships with Wall Street firms, and a community where his wife and three daughters would be comfortable and welcome....University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. "Chapel Hill is an ideal environment for a family," says Mitchell. "You can live close to the B-school; the town is very family-oriented. And [then] when we got here, the families at the school completely embraced us."

Pre school: jump-start or child's play
Knight Ridder News Service
It's that time of year when parents troll classrooms to determine which school is right for their child. They quiz their friends...."I think there's no one thing that's a must for children to be successful for school," said Kelly Maxwell, a research scientist at UNC Chapel Hill's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.

State & Local Coverage

Rising building costs hit schools, colleges hard
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Soaring costs are putting school construction projects throughout the Triangle as much as a third over budget....Bruce Runberg, UNC-Chapel Hill's associate vice chancellor for planning and construction, said officials are looking at other compromises as they solicit bids for the rest of their construction projects.

Lobbying Reform
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
Last year, a special state committee found that North Carolina has some of the least stringent lobbying regulations in the country. This year, the Coalition for Lobbying Reform is calling for changes they say would close the "goodwill loophole" that allows lobbyists to wine, dine, and bestow gifts upon state legislators without reporting a cent. Host Melinda Penkava leads a discussion on lobbyist reform. Guests include: Gene Nichol, dean of the UNC Law School and former chair of the Secretary of State's Council on the regulation of lobbying in North Carolina.
Note: This program rebroadcasts tonight at 9.

Report questioning if milk does body good
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Milk does a body good -- or does it?...Milk may not be as important as the dairy industry wants Americans to think, said Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at UNC's school of public health.

Court's significant center (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Court watchers could not be greatly surprised by the result in last week's juvenile capital punishment case....Gene R. Nichol is dean and the Burton Craige professor of law at the UNC School of Law.

Ex-UNC librarian London, 97, dies
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Lawrence Foushee London, a retired noted librarian at UNC-Chapel Hill who had been blind since childhood, died Friday.

Police: UNC madness OK
The Chapel Hill Herald
Perhaps the only people happier than the Carolina students who mobbed Franklin Street on Sunday night were the police who watched over them...."From all signs, it was a civil celebration," said Randy Young, a UNC Police spokesman.

Finally, the community can smile (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
That sound you heard late Sunday afternoon, wherever you were in this town, was the loud whoosh of relief. It was the collective exhalation of a community that had been waiting nervously for just this moment.

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.