May 15, 2003

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

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

Graduations with star power
USA Today
It's college graduation season, and this year's roster of commencement speakers 
has a high celebrity quotient. ... WHO: Actor Bill Cosby WHERE: University of 
North Carolina at Chapel Hill ....
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-05-14-celeb-speakers_x.htm

Health tips ... from UPI 
United Press International
... A study finds that 29 percent of those exposed to the Norwalk virus, 
problematic in the cruise industry in recent years, were completely resistant. ... 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health 
researchers found the 29 percent of study participants who did not carry a 
particular gene called FUT2 did not become infected at any dose level. 
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030514-102009-2217r
(Note: To view this health brief, go to the above url and scroll down the web
page. A UNC news release on this study is available at
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may03/norwalk051403.html)

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?
Entrepreneur Magazine
In 1970, a national survey of business schools found just 16 courses offered in 
entrepreneurship. Since then, entrepreneurial education has taken off like the 
Internet craze. 
http://www.entrepreneur.com/Magazines/Copy_of_MA_SegArticle/0,4453,307167,00.html
(Note: Carolina was ranked 16th in the magazine's first annual list of the nation's top entrepreneurial 
programs at colleges and universities.. To view the rankings, go to 
http://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges/results/1,6454,,00.html?mode=type&list=NT&tier=1. 
To view Carolina's ranking , go to 
http://www.entrepreneur.com/topcolleges/results/1,6454,,00.html?mode=type&list=NT&tier=2)

SEC's Donaldson Seeks `to Advance' Hedge Fund Review
Bloomberg News (national business news wire service)
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson, opening 
two days of hearings on the $600 billion hedge fund industry, said regulators 
are considering steps to protect investors. ... The SEC roundtable discussion 
features 54 participants including hedge fund managers, investors, accountants, 
lawyers and academics. Among the panelists are ... Mark Yusko, chief 
investment officer for the University of North Carolina's endowment ...
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aVDdbljH46Ak&refer=us

A New Age of Germs
Mercury News Washington Bureau (San Jose, Calif.)
Get used to SARS, West Nile, hantavirus, Ebola, Nipah, Hendra, AIDS and 
other nasty infectious diseases. Health experts say we're living in a new age of 
infections. ... ``It's a confluence of many factors,'' said Dr. Fred Sparling, a 
medical and microbiology professor at the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill ...
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/5848957.htm

Regional Coverage

USC mulls department merger
The State (Columbia, S.C.)
The departure of the dean of USC's largest college paves the way for a possible 
merger between the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Science and 
Mathematics, USC officials say. ... A combined college of liberal arts and
sciences is not a novel concept. Many other research universities USC aspires
to emulate are similarly structured, including the University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill ...
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/5864868.htm

State and Local Coverage

Discoverer backs DNA databanks 
News and Observer
James Watson, who 50 years ago co-discovered the double helix structure of 
DNA, was thinking more about getting a decent job and a devoted woman than 
the lasting effect of his scientific triumph. ... The Nobel laureate ... was in Chapel 
Hill on Wednesday for the opening at the Morehead Planetarium and Science 
Center, "DNA: The Secret of Life" ... 
http://www.newsobserver.com/front/story/2539425p-2358046c.html

DNA pioneer gives lively talk at UNC 
The Herald-Sun
James Watson has one simple rule he lives by: He never wants to be the smartest 
person in a room. "If you’re the smartest person in a room, nobody can help 
you," the esteemed scientist told a rapt audience of high school students visiting 
UNC on Wednesday. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-352482.html

Proposed State DNA Database Would Be Used For More Than Just
Solving Crimes
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
When state lawmakers talk about DNA, they are usually referring to its use in 
criminal cases, but DNA also has medical implications, and the state Legislature 
is now looking at using it to boost the business of biotechnology in North
Carolina. ... "On one hand, we are looking for individualized tailored medicine,
but what it's going to take to get there are large resources where we are able to 
look at large numbers of people's DNA medical records," said Dr. Jim Evans, 
of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 
http://www.wral.com/news/2203937/detail.html

United county approach makes sense (Editorial)
Triangle Business Journal
Sometimes, an action is so obvious that it falls under a category called "duh." As 
in, why didn't we think of that sooner? ... Mike Luger and the folks at the Office
of Economic Development, or OED, at the University of North Carolina in 
Chapel Hill are offering up the RTP formula as an idea to stimulate development 
in low-growth counties of the Triangle. 
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2003/05/12/editorial1.html

Awareness key to fighting obesity (Commentary)
News and Observer
Imagine a culture that wanted to fatten its kids. It would be a simple task. Get 
kids to eat more and more calorie-packed foods. Then give them entertaining 
things to do that keep them in their seats. 
http://newsobserver.com/features/story/2539400p-2358011c.html
(Note: Suzanne Havala Hobbs is an adjunct assistant professor in the School
of Public Health.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Bigger Is Better (Commentary)
The Weekly Standard
The Atlantic Coast Conference really didn't have a choice ... The basic question 
is whether the emphasis on sports detracts significantly from the education 
agenda. ... Is the University of North Carolina weaker academically because it 
has a great basketball program and the best (and heavily recruited) women's 
soccer team? Of course not. 
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/680ulsjp.asp

Some fret about ACC expansion
News and Observer
Academic leaders warned Wednesday that a push to expand the Atlantic Coast 
Conference could erode scholarly values and end the ACC's classy reputation as 
a close family of high-minded universities. ... "This decision means it has become 
a follower of money," former UNC President William Friday said. ... UNC-CH 
Chancellor James Moeser said the nine ACC campus executives had agreed 
during their conference call Tuesday to keep mum about their vote.
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/story/2539326p-2357964c.html

Is bigger ACC better? (Editorial)
Greensboro News & Record
The question now for the Atlantic Coast Conference is not how many, but who. 
In the sports-world equivalent to a corporate merger, the venerable nine-team 
collegiate league, whose headquarters is in Greensboro but whose ambitions 
span the Eastern Seaboard, decided this week to grow by three member 
schools.
http://www.news-record.com/news/opinions/ed1thur15.htm

Sense of urgency
News and Observer
The Atlantic Coast Conference must decide which three Big East teams to invite 
to join the league and then move swiftly, Georgia Tech athletics director Dave 
Braine said Wednesday. ... If Virginia favors the addition of Virginia Tech and 
votes against Syracuse, either UNC or Duke would have to change its vote to give
the ACC the seven votes needed to add Syracuse.
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/story/2539326p-2357968c.html

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, 
please call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, 
(919) 962-2091 or news@unc.eduor mike_mcfarland@unc.edu