May 12, 2004

Carolina in the News

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

International News Coverage

Chlamydia rampant among young U.S. adults
United Press International
More than one in 25 young adults in the United States is infected with the organism that causes the sexually transmitted disease known as chlamydia....The latest results from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a continuing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill investigation, has shown the prevalence of chlamydial infection was higher than expected, especially among men.
UNC release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may04/millerwc050704.html

Economists Glum on Chances of Helping Uninsured
Reuters, UK
While events around the nation are scheduled to raise awareness of the plight of those without health coverage during this "Cover the Uninsured Week," a group of leading policy experts on Monday explored just how difficult making progress on the issue will really be....In just the past year, said Linda Bilheimer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which sponsored the third "Carolina Health Summit" at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, the federal government's fiscal situation has deteriorated badly. With the annual budget deficit ballooning, any additional money to address the problem will be hard to find.

National Coverage

Study says chlamydia affects over 4% of young adults
USA Today
One in 25 young Americans are infected with chlamydia, concludes the first nationwide study of the sexually transmitted disease's prevalence....While women are more likely to suffer complications from chlamydia, they will continue to get infected in large numbers unless men are diagnosed and treated as well, says [William] Miller, an infectious-disease specialist and epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Chlamydia May Affect More Than Thought
National Associated Press
More than 4 percent of young adults in the United States are infected with chlamydia, and the sexually transmitted disease is six times more common in blacks than in whites, researchers say....In a nationally representative study of 14,322 people ages 18 to 26 conducted in 2001-02, University of North Carolina researchers found that 4.7 percent of women and 3.6 percent of men had chlamydia.

Chlamydia Rates Rising
Ivanhoe Newswire
New research shows more than one in 25 young adults in the United States is infected with the organism that causes chlamydia....Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill analyzed more than 12,500 urine samples from study participants across the United States.

Racial Differences in Chlamydia Reported
WebMD
Young blacks are six times as likely as young whites to be infected with chlamydia, and infection rates are nearly twice as high in the South as in the Northeast, according to a study of how common these sexual transmitted diseases are in young adults in the U.S....The study by Miller and colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill involved a nationally representative sample of more than 14,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 26.

Running Vs. Medicine
Forbes
Ideally, everyone would get plenty of exercise, and people who would be helped by pills that treat heart disease or diabetes would take them before dashing out the door for their daily run....Sidney C. Smith, a professor of cardiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of exercise's defenders.

UT wants to cap number of Top 10 admissions
Houston Chronicle
The University of Texas-Austin will ask the Legislature to limit the number of students admitted under the state's Top 10 percent law, part of a new plan to shrink the state's largest public university....Faulkner noted that the percentage of UT students graduating in four years has increased from 29 percent in 1998 to 42 percent today but still lags well behind elite public universities such as North Carolina and Virginia, where it is up to 60 percent or more.

There's an outdoor drama somewhere nearby for travellers in the U.S
National Associated Press
Each summer across the United States, small towns looking to generate tourist dollars come together with professional and amateur actors looking for drama credits to stage family-friendly experiences that are particularly American - outdoor dramas....The Institute of Outdoor Drama (IOD), located at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, lists 118 theatres in 36 states that had outdoor productions last year.

Stone named to NABJ Hall of Fame
Philadelphia Daily News
Chuck Stone - the legendary Daily News columnist who helped save lives during his tenure in Philadelphia - will be inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in August...."It became a cottage industry," recalled Stone yesterday in a phone interview from his office at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He now is a professor at the school, teaching two courses this semester.

State & Local Coverage

PETA again seeks UNC probe
The News & Observer
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is demanding another investigation into inhumane treatment of mice and rats at UNC-Chapel Hill after spying in the same research building a second time.

Study exposes chlamydia risk
The News & Observer
One in 25 young adults tests positive for chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to infertility and ectopic pregnancies....It's also a difficult disease to track. Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill set out to pinpoint the disease's infection rate.

Study: Sneaky STD is prevalent
The Herald Sun
More than one of every 25 Americans ages 18 to 26 has the sexually transmitted bacterial infection called chlamydia -- and many don't even know it....What's more, the infection rate is about six times higher among black people than among whites, according to a nationwide study led by UNC scientists that appears in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.
UNC release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may04/millerwc050704.html
(Note: Other media outlets reporting on the research findings include WRAL, NBC-17 and WUNC Radio. Dr. Miller also inteviewed with USA Today, the New York Times, the NC News Network, WebMD and Bloomberg News.)

A great decision rescued the court (Point of View)
The News & Observer
Like many constitutional lawyers, I find the varied celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education -- taking place across North Carolina and the nation -- immensely heartening. Brown is surely the most central, defining, culture-altering decision ever handed down by a U.S. court. It not only bolstered an unfolding, muscular civil rights movement; it provided direct lineage for the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Suicide shows stresses at UNC
The Herald Sun
While a junior at UNC, Frances Ferris once had a headache so persistent that it didn't go away for a month....Ferris is a member of UNC's Suicide Prevention Task Force, a campus group that's looking into issues related to stress, depression and suicide at the university.

Cameron compromise a good idea (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Down the road, so to speak, Cameron Avenue between Merritt Mill Road and Pittsboro Street is likely to become part of a major transit corridor linking Carolina North with the main UNC campus.

Lobbying Reform (Editorial)
The Winston Salem Journal
The council that spent three months studying North Carolina's legislative lobbying laws did an excellent job of preparing its report....Also deserving of special recognition is Gene R. Nichol, the council chairman. The dean of the University of North Carolina Law School did an excellent job of keeping the council on task and of maintaining momentum toward reform.

UNC announces vice chancellor for IT/CIO
Triangle Tech Journal
Dr. Daniel A. Reed, a key architect in national high-performance computing initiatives who joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in January, has been appointed the school's vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer.

Town of Gibson can't find its mayor
Fayetteville Observer
Town leaders want to know where Mayor David Wayne Boone lives and why he missed Gibson's last Town Council meeting...."The general principal is that in order to hold an elective office, you have to be able to vote for that office," said Bob Joyce, a lawyer who specializes in elections law at the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Annexation move may spark lawsuits
Fayetteville Observer
Dropping Gates Four from Fayetteville's annexation plan has some residents talking lawsuit.....Deleting an area from annexation is not unusual, David Lawrence said. He is a professor at the School and Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina.

Issues & Trends

Budget spends 1-time funds
The News & Observer
Gov. Mike Easley's $15.9 billion budget proposal includes plans to spend about $1 billion that might not be available after June 2005....Weinstein, who lives in one of the state's top tobacco-producing counties, said he would support a cigarette tax increase of 25 cents a pack or less to pay for a cancer center at UNC-Chapel Hill and a heart and stroke center at East Carolina University in Greenville -- projects that many legislators are trying to figure out a way to finance.

New ACC TV deal to increase bucks, exposure
The Herald-Sun
ACC and television officials will announce today the completion of the new-look league's football TV contract, which will broadcast more games nationally and boost member schools' take....UNC athletics director Dick Baddour said he was satisfied that the ACC's new contract accommodated his school's wishes.

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please call Russell Campbell at News Services, (919) 962-2091, russell_campbell@unc.edu, or Mike McFarland in University Communications, mike_mcfarland@unc.edu

Note: Web links on this page are time-sensitive, so stories might not be available after the day they first appeared.