May 29, 2003

Carolina in the News

Current International Coverage

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

Hormone therapy doubles dementia risk 
National Business Review (New Zealand)
New studies from a prestigious women's health research programme says hormone 
replacement therapy can nearly double the risk of dementia in older women even 
while it substantially increases the risk of stroke -- but the numbers of patients at risk 
remain miniscule, even after the doubling. ... "The strength of the findings last year, as 
well as the new ones, is not only the large number of study participants, but also that
they were randomly assigned to receive daily estrogen plus progestin or placebo," 
said Dr Gerardo Heiss, professor of epidemiology at the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health. UNC was a participant in the 
study.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=6046&cid=17&cname=Asia
(Note: This study was the subject of a UNC news release, 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may03/heiss052703.html)

Current National Coverage

Grim Outlook for Grads
Good Morning America (ABC-TV)
Graduation day is supposed to be a joyful day for college seniors eager to start 
earning paychecks with their new degrees, but from Bunker Hill Community College
in Boston to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the future is not so 
bright for the class of 2003. 
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/Business/GMA030528American_job_hunt.html

Newsweek's high school rankings under fire 
Cleveland Plain Dealer
One Northeast Ohio school - Chagrin Falls High School - made Newsweek 
magazine's ranking of the top 100 high schools in the United States. ... Chagrin Falls,
for example, was ranked 68 nationwide, down from 49 in 2000, because its juniors 
and seniors took 397 Advanced Placement examinations, a number then divided by 
its 133 graduating seniors. "What is the meaning of that?" said Gregory Cizek, a 
professor of educational testing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel 
Hill. "It certainly is not a ranking of school quality. It is more a measure of school 
resources." 
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/105420078967830.xml

Engineering our health habits (Commentary)
The Providence Journal (R.I.)
Okay, the oreo suit has just been withdrawn. ... As an interesting aside, the University 
of North Carolina found that the huge portions at fast-food restaurants may have 
influenced serving sizes at home.
http://www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/projo_20030525_25clharr.15910.html
(Note: This study was the subject of a UNC news release, 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan03/popkin011603.html)

North Carolina News Note

Jeffrey Houpt, dean of the School of Medicine, discussed his recently announced 
decision to step down next year as well as the current state of indigent care in North
Carolina as a featured guest Wednesday on WUNC-FM's "The State of Things," a 
daily public affairs program.

State and Local Coverage

Tug of war over new hospital 
News and Observer
A new state mental hospital has become such a plum acquisition that legislators from 
three counties spent Wednesday morning trying to persuade their colleagues to build 
the new facility in their back yards. ... Wake's argument was bolstered by a letter 
from Dr. Robert N. Golden, chairman of the department of psychiatry at UNC-
Chapel Hill, which uses Dix to train doctors and conduct research. 
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2573788p-2388778c.html

Durham's Cirrus expands, plots tripling of revenue
Triangle Business Journal
Cirrus Pharmaceuticals is shedding its reputation as a mom-and-pop contract lab as 
it gears up to grow from about $3 million to about $10 million in annual revenue over 
the next three to five years. ... In fact, Cirrus' growth spurt began in 2000, says Anthony 
Hickey, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy 
in Chapel Hill who founded the company with Bovet in 1997. 
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2003/05/26/story7.html

Plans to build near cemetery sparks concern
News 14 Carolina (Time Warner, Raleigh)
Some people in Chapel Hill are worried about the future of a cemetery that's more 
than 200 years old. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill plans to build a 
parking deck and a water plant near a cemetery at the intersection of Country Club 
and South Roads.
http://rdu.news14.com/content/top_stories/?ArID=29955
(Note: To view the segment, go to the above url and scroll down the page to
"Watch the Video" and click "Play")

Make sound choices for cubicle cuisine (Commentary)
News and Observer
Do keyboard crumbs and desk dribbles mark your workspace? Join the club. As 
the push for workplace productivity continues, many of us have jettisoned that last 
little oasis of calm in our day -- lunch.
http://newsobserver.com/features/story/2573891p-2388722c.html
(Note: Suzanne Havala Hobbs is an adjunct assistant professor in 
the School of Public Health.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Athletic groups in dark 
News and Observer
The ACC's plans to expand were considered such a tightly held secret that even 
members of N.C. State's athletics council and North Carolina's athletics committee 
were not advised or consulted in advance, according to members of both panels. 
http://newsobserver.com/sports/story/2573859p-2388773c.html

What's education got to do with it? (Editorial)
Wilmington Star-News
Ten faculty leaders at UNC-Chapel Hill voted last week against expansion of the 
Atlantic Coast Conference and asked their betters – the athletic directors and, a 
little farther down, the university chancellors – to let them participate in the 
discussion. 
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030529/EDITORIAL/305290302/1016/editorial

House budget plan panned 
News and Observer
The new $14.8 billion spending plan pitched by House budget writers Wednesday 
got their Senate colleagues and a whole lot of other people talking, but it wasn't 
what they wanted to hear. 
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/2573850p-2388720c.html

Winmore hearing draws opponents, supporters 
The Herald-Sun
A smaller crowd came to Carrboro Town Hall on Wednesday for the second night 
of a public hearing on the proposed 232-unit Winmore subdivision. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-356900.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.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu