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March 9, 2006Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Even 13bn years ago, stars lived fast and died young
The London Times (United Kingdom)
A gigantic star that lived fast and died young in a huge cosmic explosion soon after the dawn of time has been detected by astronomers looking back into the infancy of the universe. ...Daniel Reichart, of the University of North Carolina, who led the scientists, said: "One of the most exciting aspects of this discovery is the brightness of the afterglow -- extrapolating back to a few minutes after the burst, the afterglow must have been exceptionally bright. We are finally starting to see the remnants of some of the oldest objects in the universe."
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/reichartsoar091205.htmNational Coverage
Most Distant Star Burst Detected
The Discovery Channel
The discovery of the most distance and ancient stellar explosion has now been confirmed and pushed back another 100 million light-years to 12.8 billion light-years away. ...Among them is Assistant Professor Daniel Reichart of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began to suspect his team was seeing something unusual when the researchers detected the afterglow of the blast in infrared light, but could not see it in visible light, as is normally the case.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/reichartsoar091205.htmSkip the whole milk. Pass on soda. Drink beer?
The Associated Press (National)
Some prominent nutrition experts put out new guidelines Wednesday urging Americans to cut back on calorie-rich sodas while allowing more leeway for alcohol and lots of room for tea and coffee -- up to 40 ounces a day. ... The panel of six scientists was assembled by Barry Popkin at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, a longtime advocate of curbs on soda. He said he did so because federal dietary guidelines, including the food pyramid, focus on food and miss a significant contributor of calories.
Related Link: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/14053258.htm
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/healthybeverage030806.htmAspirin Protects Wider Range of men Against Heart Disease
Ivanhoe Newswire
More men may benefit from aspirin therapy's protection against heart disease than previously thought. A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reveals taking aspirin cost less and was more effective in preventing heart attacks and other problems in men whose 10-year risk for coronary heart disease was 7.5 percent or greater. Previously, most experts believed aspirin benefited men with a 10-year risk of heart disease of 10 percent or greater.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/aspirin030206.htm
Note: Ivanhoe has a syndicated television series and its reports are broadcast in 250 markets reaching 80 million U.S. households.Studies show kids care what parents think about sex
The Associated Press (National)
When it comes to adolescents' attitudes toward sex, movies matter. And so does locker-room chatter. But two recent studies also note the influence parents have over their children -- even if it is sometimes indirect. ...Dr. Carol Ford, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, lead researcher of the 2005 study, says the findings indicate that parents should make their view on sex clear to their children.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun05/sti062905.htmPoison Frog Uses Less-Toxic Looks to Survive, Study Finds
National Geographic
Many animals avoid being eaten by copying the appearance of their poisonous neighbors. But when it comes to deciding whose looks to mimic, an Amazonian poison frog is teaching biologists a new lesson about this evolutionary trick. ...David Pfennig, who studies snake mimics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the findings may seem counterintuitive, but they "make sense." "These results are likely general to other systems as well," he said.
Colleges scramble after SAT mistake
The Associated Press (National)
College admissions offices scrambled Wednesday to reconsider applications after learning they had received incorrect SAT scores for about 4,000 students who took the exam in October. ...Colleges in other regions seemed less affected. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had 71 affected applications, the University of California at Berkeley had 32 and the University of Georgia four.
Cheerleaders Told To Tone Down Risky Routines
The Associated Press (National)
A national cheerleading safety group is calling for the suspension of certain aerial and towering stunts during this year's college basketball tournaments in response to a cheerleader's frightening fall from a 15-foot human pyramid. ...Chris Kennedy, Duke's senior associate athletics director, said those limitations followed accidents elsewhere, including a 1985 fall by a cheerleader at nearby UNC-Chapel Hill.
Little-used corner of Net becomes piracy battlefield
The Boston Globe
An obscure data network technology called the Usenet has become the newest battleground between the entertainment industry and digital music and movie pirates. ...Meanwhile, huge numbers of illegal video and music files are traded every day on the Usenet. Invented in 1980 at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, Usenet is like a giant bulletin board, featuring tens of thousands of ''newsgroups," each devoted to a particular subject, such as baseball, computer gaming, or anthropology.
'Invest in us,' students tell lawmakers
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.)
With a full scholarship to the University of Louisville, Shelecia Rogers feels lucky but worries about her friends. ...Reed, who won't seek reappointment to the UK board when his term expires in June, also said university presidents need to speak up about getting more money so they can compete with institutions such as the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State.Note: Wednesday's Orlando Sentinel opinion column by Kathleen Parker about the Pit investigation was distributed by Tribune Media Services and has been reprinted in newspapers including The Salt Lake Tribune, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Argus (Fremont, Calif.), The News & Observer (Raleigh) and The Herald-Sun (Durham). Link from yesterday's Carolina in the News: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-parker0806mar08,0,5430364.column?coll=orl-opinion-headlines
State & Local Coverage
The will of Allah? (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, the 22-year-old UNC Chapel Hill graduate charged with injuring nine people when he drove a Jeep Cherokee down a crowded campus walkway, politely told a judge Monday he's "thankful you're here to give me this trial and to learn more about the will of Allah."
Educated, but ignorant (Editorial)
The Robesonian (Lumberton)
Friday's unprovoked attack by an Iranian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tells us a lot about this country's war on terror, primarily that it's impossible to protect all our flanks and it's difficult to identify the enemy, except that he will be a young Muslim man.
Connecting To Sudan
"The State of Things," WUNC-FM
Julius Nyang’Oro, chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was featured on today's (March 9) edition of "The State of Things." When a country is located thousands of miles away and offers little that might be considered in “our national interests” what should we do when that country is afflicted with terrible human rights atrocities?
Researchers: Urban Sprawl Could Contribute To Obesity
WNCN-TV (NBC, Raleigh)
Some local researchers said that urban sprawl is another reason more people are becoming obese. The typical American suburb is comprised of new homes on large lots of land with no banks, markets or shops anywhere in sight. Dr. Daniel Rodriguez, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been studying urban planning for more than a decade and said that urban sprawl is part of America's growing obesity problem.Staph infections spreading
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In August, Sarah Tayler went to an urgent care center with a tender red welt just below her left knee. Spider bite, the doctor said, sending her home with Keflex, a common antibiotic. ...Today, such infections account for about 30 percent of all patients who come in with abscesses or other infections of the skin, said Dr. Jane Brice, an attending physician in UNC Hospitals' emergency room.
Doctors going to patients
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Dr. Marianna Pernia works out of a rolling suitcase and the trunk of her car. ...In 2003 and 2004, the Program on Aging at UNC-Chapel Hill sent nurse practitioners into the community through a special grant. For years, UNC students in nursing, pharmacy, medicine, occupational therapy and social work also have visited patients at home through structured and volunteer programs.
Bristol-Myers lists N.C. as possible plant site
The Charlotte Observer
North Carolina is under consideration, with three other states, for a $660 million Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. manufacturing plant to expand production of drugs through biotechnology. ...Of the competing sites, North Carolina should worry most about Ireland, said economist Jim Smith of UNC Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Orange school boards talk 2006-07 budgets
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Budget season has quietly kicked off in Orange County's two school districts. Though months will pass before school leaders know how much the Orange County commissioners will provide in local funding, early signs suggest the school boards will seek sizeable increases. ...According to a UNC-Chapel Hill consultant's report, many of these items would help students in the county schools perform as well as those in the city schools.
Back here in coach (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
John Edwards, former U.S. senator from North Carolina and vice presidential nominee of the Democrats in 2004, made his way in politics by spending several million of his own dollars to capture a Senate seat and by portraying himself as the voice of the common man. Or, as Edwards put it, "regular people." ...The former senator is expected to run for president in 2008, and in the meantime is head of a poverty center at UNC-Chapel Hill when not jetting around the country, including to key political states, making speeches.Choose desserts with care (Commentary)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Dessert is one of life's simple pleasures. For many of us, it's also one of life's daily challenges. Regular dessert-eating can be the cause of going up one pants size or gaining the extra 10 pounds that make blood pressure medication necessary. ...Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy at UNC.
Tall tales
The Winston-Salem Journal
It pays to be tall. Academic studies over the past 40 years have shown that taller men make more money, are hired and promoted more quickly, and even have better love lives. In one of the most widely publicized studies, researchers at the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found in 2003 that each extra inch of a man's height was worth an additional $789 in annual pay.
Duke resumes tests of blood substitute
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The dean of Duke University's medical school briefly suspended the clinical trial of a controversial blood substitute this week, but says he's since authorized researchers to resume its use. ...Also, the American Journal of Bioethics is due to publish this week articles by ethicists at Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that are critical of the study.Davie Hall may be biting dust
The Chapel Hill Herald
Confucius supposedly said, "Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it." Some UNC administrators aren't seeing any beauty in one campus building: Davie Hall. They're recommending that the structure, home to the university's psychology department, be torn down and built anew. A main reason, they say, is that Davie is not aesthetically pleasing and is out of place on the Cameron Avenue streetscape.
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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/newsserv/clips/index.shtml
Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.
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.
Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.