March 3, 2006

Carolina in the News

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

National Coverage

Follow curriculum, says HISD consultant
The Houston Chronicle
If HISD is to deliver on its promise of creating a "college bound" culture, the school district must spell out academic objectives in every class, make teachers follow the mandated lesson plans and spend less time on testing, according to a $75,000 curriculum audit presented to school board members Thursday. ...Jacob spent more than 34 years as an educator in Texas schools. She uses the curriculum-audit system developed by Fenwick English, a professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina.

Teaching Lessons (Letter to the editor)
The Black Enterprise
America's colleges of education convinced state legislators years ago that only their graduates should be allowed to teach in public schools. Rather than coming out of traditional academic specialties, therefore, future teachers are products of a "how-to-instruct" curriculum that too often combines political correctness with content-light coursework. ...The mission statement of the School of Education at UNC-Chapel Hill drones that "we are first and foremost concerned with the agenda of constructing democratic learning communities which are positioned in the larger society to support an agenda of social action which removes all forms of injustice."

Regional Coverage

Sinai dedicates unit to memory of woman
The Baltimore Sun
She was born months before her mother's due date. And now, nearly four years after her unexpected death at the age of 28, a hospital unit that treats premature babies will bear her name. ...The foundation has donated medical equipment several times to Sinai Hospital. It is also establishing a scholarship in her name at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, her alma mater.

Sniffling and sneezing; it could be allergies
WNDU-TV (NBC, South Bend, Ind.)
Sniffling and sneezing this time of year usually means a cold or flu. However, this season, it could be an allergy. ..."Trees like to have their pollen out very early in the day so they have more chance to do their thing. If you like to run at 7:00 in the morning you are going to get more pollen exposure than in 5:00 in the afternoon," explains David Peden, M.D, who is an allergist at the University of North Carolina.

State & Local Coverage

Carolina North panel meets
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Some members of a group charged with offering guiding principles for UNC-Chapel Hill's planned Carolina North research campus, which met for the first time Thursday night, are worried that whatever principles they suggest won't be much of a guide. ...Doug Crawford-Brown, a UNC-CH environmental sciences professor, said he hoped the committee could find a way to set benchmarks when it completes its work early next year.

Carolina North panel to offer 'guiding principles'
The Chapel Hill Herald
- There's no pressure on the new UNC-created committee discussing the envisioned Carolina North campus. It's just the future direction of the whole community at stake, UNC Chancellor James Moeser told the committee Thursday at its initial meeting. "Much of the future of our community hangs on the discussions we will have here," Moeser contended, speaking to the nearly 30 members of the group at the university's Friday Center.
Related Link: http://www.dailytarheel.com/media/paper885/news/2006/03/03/City/Towns.Gown.Gather.To.Talk-1654105.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.dailytarheel.com

Clock ticking on school plan
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education has about 10 weeks to decide whether to accept a proposal that would send some of Seawell Elementary's students to a school run by a UNC child development institute. The First School, run by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, would serve students from prekindergarten to second grade. Third through fifth grade would remain at Seawell. While district officials and board members have been enthusiastic about the proposal, parents remain skeptical. ...First School would enroll about 500 students in preschool through second grade in 21 classrooms. The school would be on UNC's Carolina North property, adjacent to the elementary school, which is on Seawell School Road between Estes Drive and Homestead Road.

Three Patients At UNC Hospitals Testing New Heart Pumps Jarvik 2000 FlowMaker Not As Bulky, Noisy As Older Models
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
Many patients have severe congestive heart failure. Their heart muscle is so weak that it cannot pump enough blood to the body. They need an implantable heart pump. Now as part of a clinical trial, three UNC patients have the newest and smallest version of heart pumps. ...UNC heart surgeon Dr. Craig Selzman said Armogida's kidneys, liver and lungs are recovered from the stress of a weak heart. The pump is doing its job, but it is not a lifelong fix. He needs a heart transplant, and now he's in better shape to get one.

Trio takes on monumental task
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A statewide group has selected an artist, a historian and an architect to design a monument in downtown Raleigh honoring the African-American experience in North Carolina. ...The winning artist team was formed by (Juan) Logan, an associate professor of studio art and director of graduate studies and administration in studio art at UNC-Chapel Hill. Logan said the project is a monument for all North Carolinians.

UNC remembers student who died in fall
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
They mourned in red instead of black because red was Keith Shawn Smith's favorite color. At least 400 people, mostly UNC-Chapel Hill students, gathered for a vigil for Smith on Thursday evening at The Pit, the sunken area outside the Frank Porter Graham Student Union building.
Related Link: http://www.dailytarheel.com/media/paper885/news/2006/03/03/University/Living.On.Through.Memory-1654116.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.dailytarheel.com
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/stacyhallfall022406.htm

Event focuses on environmental, social factors affecting business
The Asheville Citizen-Times
Community and environmental considerations are increasingly affecting the profitability of companies worldwide, and this trend will be the focus of a March 30-31 conference sponsored by UNC Chapel Hill’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise. The center is based at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/conferencebio030106.htm

Ballet chanté set for UNC
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
"The Seven Deadly Sins," a ballet chanté, or ballet with songs, will be performed at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in the Center for Dramatic Art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Students and faculty from UNC and Duke University will present the one-act theatrical work in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre of the center, located on Country Club Road.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/sevendeadly022806.htm

Outdoor drama auditions slated
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The Institute for Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is taking applications from actors, singers, dancers and theater technicians for summer jobs at outdoor dramas. Applications are due by Thursday, each with a $30 nonrefundable fee.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/oddaud022806.htm

Carolina Jazz Festival continues
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The 29th annual Carolina Jazz Festival continues today and tomorrow, featuring jazz greats as well as up-and-comers. Highlights today include the UNC Jazz Combos performing at 4 p.m. in Hill Hall on campus. Guest artists for this free performance include Don Braden, Sean Jones and Vincent Gardner.
UNC News Releases: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/jazz021706.htm
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/jazzschedule021706.htm
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/jazzbios021706.htm

UNC speaker to discuss DuBois
The Chapel Hill Herald
Tommie Shelby of Harvard University will discuss "Race, Class and Shame: DuBois on Black Solidarity" Tuesday at UNC. The free public lecture will be at 7 p.m. in Hyde Hall. A book signing and reception will follow. Shelby's presentation will be based on his book, "We Who Are Dark: Philosophical Foundations of Black Solidarity."
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/shelby030106.htm

Picturing the prophet
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
While Christians are accustomed to seeing images of their holiest figures -- Jesus, Mary, the saints -- Islam frowns upon such representations. But lost in the protesting and rioting that have erupted over the Danish cartoons that depict the Prophet Muhammad is one historic fact: Muslims themselves have portrayed the prophet in art. ..."We have lots of pictures of Muhammad in history and biography books," said Carl Ernst, a professor of religion at UNC-Chapel Hill. "These were not sacred books. They were made for the elite, the nobility. They were given as gifts by one ruler to another."

Businesses sell smells
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
How sweet is the smell of success? Well, to Julie Jennings, it's really more of a green tea and lemongrass scent. That's the aroma wafting through her Uniquities clothing shop in Chapel Hill. ..."This has been an underutilized marketing tool," said Robert Lauterborn, professor of advertising at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It has always been there on a conscious level when you walk through a mall and smell popcorn and coffee. But now there is an unconscious level that businesses are starting to explore."

Unlikely estimate (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The March 1 installment of your Illegal Immigration series cited a N.C. Hospital Association estimate that illegal immigrants comprise about one-third of the state's uninsured population. That number is surely wrong and exaggerates the scope of the problem. ...Jon Oberlander, Associate Professor, Department of Social Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill.

Issues & Trends

U hopes to seed biotech cluster
The Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)
To help propel Minnesota into the biotech big leagues, the University of Minnesota announced Thursday it wants $366 million to build five new research facilities over the next decade. The proposal, unveiled in University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks' State of the University speech in Morris, is to ask the state Legislature this session to set up a separate authority and fund it with $330 million in general obligation debt. The new Minnesota Biomedical Sciences Research Facilities Authority would finance one project every two years, with 90 percent of the money coming from the state and the rest from the university.

Textbook costs hit FSU students hard
The Fayetteville Observer
Cory Hairston had to wait three weeks until payday before he could buy the five textbooks he needed this semester at Fayetteville State University. ...In February, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors adopted guidelines to try to reduce textbook costs in the coming year. The board wants to make it easier for students at the 16 UNC schools to get used books through a buy-back consortium and wants its campuses to look at the option of book rentals, among other things.

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/news/clips/index.shtml.

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