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March 16, 2006
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Nutrition on the internet
The Daily News (South Africa)
An estimated 93 million people search the internet for health-related information. It's rated the third most popular on-line activity, and diet and nutrition information comprise 44% of health-related searches. The internet has many nutrition-related websites, but how do you know the quality and credibility of the information is up to scratch? The Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina studied 500 websites for their nutrition information accuracy.
National Coverage
Study: Genes may cause risk for anorexia
The Associated Press (National)
Researchers studying anorexia in twins conclude that more than half a person's risk for developing the sometimes fatal eating disorder is determined by genes. Most experts already believe there is a strong genetic component to the disorder, which mostly affects girls and women. The new study "hammers home the fact that these are biologically based disorders," said Cynthia Bulik, lead author of the study who is a psychiatrist at the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb06/geneticsanorexia022806.htmSurvey finds poor health care for all Americans
The Associated Press (National)
Startling research from the biggest study ever of U.S. health care quality suggests that Americans _ rich, poor, black, white _ get roughly equal treatment, but it's woefully mediocre for all. ...Some experts took heart in the relative equality within the survey. "The study did find some reassuring things," said Dr. Tim Carey, who runs a health service research center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Are You Drinking Too Many Calories? The Worst Beverages for Your Weight
WebMD
Why beverage guidelines? Americans consume far too many calories. And at least a fifth of these calories come from things we drink. The worst offenders: sugar-sweetened soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit drinks, and sugary tea and coffee drinks. Now a blue-ribbon panel of six leading U.S. nutrition experts has come up with guidelines for healthy drinking. The panel's chairman is Barry M. Popkin, PhD, professor of nutrition, head of nutrition epidemiology, and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Obesity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/healthybeverage030806.htmNothing but net
CNN.com
College basketball may be the state religion of North Carolina, but the most profitable team in this year's NCAA tournament is a No. 8 seed found nearly 2,000 miles west of that well-established hoops hotbed. ...Defending champ University of North Carolina is second to Arizona with a profit of $10.2 million, and North Carolina State is the only school with even a fatter profit margin than Arizona, as its nearly $9 million in profits constitute a 79 percent margin.
Stanford to boost aid for students
San Jose Mercury News
Stanford University announced Wednesday that plans to significantly improve its financial aid to low- and moderate-income students will kick in this fall. ...Some public universities are making similar efforts. At both the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example, students from families with income below $28,000 for a family of four receive grants covering tuition and expenses.
Merger doesn't thrill investors
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas)
When a big merger or takeover fight like McClatchy Co.'s announced acquisition of newspaper publisher Knight Ridder occurs, the heightened investor interest often drives other stock values in the industry higher. Not so in this case. ...Phil Meyer, a professor of journalism at the University of North Carolina, is another Pruitt fan who predicts success. "Wall Street has always underestimated Gary Pruitt," Meyer said. He cited McClatchy's 1998 purchase of Cowles Media, parent of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, for $1.4 billion.
Misquoting Jesus
The Daily Show
John Stewart interviewed New Testament expert and religious studies department chair Bart Ehrman on The Daily Show about his new book, “Misquoting Jesus,” which documents errors in the Bible that have resulted from copying, interpreting and translating manuscript texts over time. Stewart said, because of Ehrman's book, "The Bible suddenly became more interesting to me.... it became a living document.....I have to say this is one of the most interesting things I have read about a book, that is timeless.” After the interview, Ehrman's book rose to number one on Amazon's list of best sellers.
Public good is served when we know what 'ain't so,' too (Opinion-editorial column)
USA Today
This is Sunshine Week, a worthy effort by journalists to generate public support for removing barriers to government information. But government secrecy is not the only obstacle to the public's right to know. There is also what I like to call the Will Rogers problem. ...Philip Meyer is the Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors. Rogers was a cowboy, philosopher, newspaper columnist, and movie actor. He died in 1935, but, thanks to the Web, the aphorisms attributed to him are immortal. The best of these applies to Sunshine Week: "It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble. It's what we know that ain't so."
The Problem of the Lone-Wolf Terrorist (Opinion-editorial column)
The Weekly Standard (Washington, D.C.)
When a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo surged onto the campus hub known as the Pit around noon on March 3, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students suddenly had far more to think about than the upcoming basketball game against Duke University. The driver, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, had been planning this moment for two months. His checklist: rent a four-wheel drive vehicle so he could "run things over and keep going," pick a time and place to inflict maximum damage (lunchtime at the teeming Pit), prepare two cans of pepper spray and a five-inch folding knife in case he got trapped, and finally, run over UNC students.
Related Link: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/011/972vgart.aspRegional Coverage
Maine urged to boost research
Portland Press Herald (Maine)
Maine's investment in research and development already helps the state's economy and may lead to even greater benefits, according to researchers hired five years ago to study the state's technology initiatives. ... The trick is to maintain the forward economic momentum by not only continuing to invest, but increasing the effort, the researchers said Wednesday. Brent Lane and Michael I. Luger of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for Competitive Economies and Irwin Feller of the American Association for the Advancement of Science were in Maine to talk to state and university officials about their latest findings.
State's research, development dedication starting to pay off
Kennebec Journal (Augusta, Maine)
Maine has increased its investment in research and development 30-fold in the last 10 years but must continue to invest to keep up with other states, a North Carolina research team found. The state hired researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study the state's five-year investment in research and development. On Wednesday, three of the researchers visited the state to release preliminary findings and talk about what the state needs to do to stay competitive.
State & Local Coverage
Muslims rap letter by UNC driver
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Triangle-area Muslim leaders on Wednesday denounced a letter from a 22-year-old man who wrote he staged an "attack" on UNC Chapel Hill students out of a love for Allah. Those who criticized Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar include Aisha Saad, a freshman representative with the university's Muslim Student Association. She said Taheri-azar, a December UNC graduate, used to criticize fellow Muslim students on the way they practiced their religion.
Related Links: http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/418467.html
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-713340.htmlTaheri-azar expects life in prison
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Mohammed Taheri-azar's fellow Muslims describe him as cantankerous and unorthodox in his practice of Islam, yet the man accused of running down UNC-Chapel Hill students says he will sacrifice himself for his religion. "If Allah wills, I will plead guilty to all 18 charges currently against me and I expect a life term in prison," he wrote in a letter received Wednesday by a News & Observer reporter.
Related Link: http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=81902&SecID=2Young mind sure of almost everything (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
The letter from prisoner number T328156 is brisk and to the point. And it definitively answers the question some around here have been debating endlessly over the last 10 days: Mohammed Taheri-azar was, in his own mind, a terrorist. That was definitely how he saw himself, an avenging angel of death, divinely driven retribution. But the letter also makes abundantly clear how very irrelevant such a designation is.
Blacks can relate to stereotyping (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
African-Americans can sympathize with Muslims who believe they are being wrongly characterized due to the misdeeds of Islamic extremists with whom they, in fact, share little. ..."The way we talk about Muslims, we sort of assume they're extremist, and they have to prove that they aren't," Carl Ernst, a UNC professor of Religious Studies who specializes in Islam, told reporter Beth Velliquette. "It's a burden we do not place on Christians."Unlearned lessons (Letter to the editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Regarding your March 12 article "UNC-CH attack renews stress over politics, faith after 9/11," clearly Mohammed Taheri-azar's acts of violence meet the definition of terrorism. As a Christian, I understand the frustration of Muslims who might be offended by American freedoms. I wasn't that happy about "The Last Temptation of Christ" and am often offended by Hollywood. But as an American my disgust for such expressions of "free speech" never produced anger nor would I ever have approved of violence.
Related Links: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/14109831.htm
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/index.html#713159
http://www.newsobserver.com/702/story/418439.html
Projects may near UNC capacity
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
More seats at Kenan and Boshamer stadiums, a new home for the psychology department and expanded space for genome research are part of a proposed expansion on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Concept plans for 14 projects were submitted to Chapel Hill town staff Wednesday. If approved, the total amount of developed space would bring the 729-acre main campus to near-full capacity.
UNC Media Advisory: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2006/dplanmod031506.htmTown gets planned changes at UNC
The Chapel Hill Herald
A new home for UNC's School of Information and Library Science, an enlarged dental school building and a parking lot off Bowles Drive head the list of changes to the university's development plan that Carolina officials submitted to the town Wednesday. ...The university hopes to get approval of the projects, which are still in the "conceptual" stage, by the fall, said Bruce Runberg, UNC's associate vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction.
UNC-Chapel Hill reveals plans for more construction
News 14
Since getting its campus master plan approved in 2001, UNC-Chapel Hill has been under construction. Now the university could be headed for more. Officials have released their latest concept plan for development. “The development plan, in simple terms, is a portion of the master plan,” explained UNC Associate Vice Chancellor Bruce Runberg.
Students skip fun to do Katrina work
The Chapel Hill Herald
For UNC's spring break, Laura Williamson, a sophomore at the university, is helping to rebuild her "adopted" community: the Long Beach neighborhood in Gulfport, Miss. Diane Standaert, a third-year law student, is leading a group that is providing legal assistance to Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/helpothers030806.htmReport: Rural areas' psychiatrists too few
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The state's supply of psychiatrists is not keeping up with population growth in many rural counties, with declines that have left 44 counties with shortages, according to a new report by North Carolina health researchers. ...Erin Fraher, one of the report's authors, said she was surprised to find that 17 counties had no psychiatrist. "I think this is a wake-up call in terms of making sure we continue those investments in residency training," said Fraher, an assistant director at the Sheps Center.
Related Link: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/14113475.htm
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/reportpsychiatrist031406.htm
Finance group seen as a risk
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Durham officials should be wary of doing business with a financial company embroiled in a California bribery scandal, a prominent Duke University law professor says. ...If Rice went out of business after a negative verdict, the quality of the city's insurance in the deal could become paramount. John Vogt, a professor of public finance and government at UNC-Chapel Hill, questioned whether an AAA-rated municipality such as Durham should settle for insurance with a lower rating. "That makes me nervous," Vogt said. "Durham is a AAA. I would like to see AAA insurance."
Ruling used to justify secrecy
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolinians might think all the pay and perks government employees get is a matter of public record. ..."Now it's possible to argue that compensation is only what your salary is -- and if you get a bonus, that's not part of it," said David Lawrence, a public records specialist at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government, which trains and advises government leaders.
Sneezing, sniffling, suffering spring
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The season of sniffly suffering starts with deceptive innocence. ..."It's like when you vomit with food poisoning," says Dr. David Peden, chief of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Environmental Medicine at UNC Hospitals' Center for Environmental Medicine. "It's your body trying to prevent it from going farther south."
Teachers are focus of candidates' forum
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Teacher retention and getting highly qualified teachers in all schools are the district's biggest challenges, according to most of the school board candidates attending Wednesday's N.C. and Durham association of educators forum. ...They are Steven Matherly, a community activist who was arrested for disrupting school board meetings and later acquitted; Phillip Graham, who works as a social scientist with expertise in crime and adolescent behavior; and Kirsten Kainz who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Issues & Trends
Dental school support building
The Daily Reflector
As East Carolina University and UNC-Chapel Hill officials negotiate, legislative support is building for a dental school at ECU. The leaders of both houses of the General Assembly have endorsed the proposal, as have Pitt County representatives in the House and Senate. N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, has been a longtime supporter of an ECU dental school, he said, citing the "chronic need" for more dentists in eastern North Carolina.
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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