May 17, 2005

Carolina in the News

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

National Coverage

Forest's Colorful Jewels in a Fight for Their Lives
The New York Times
Inside a 10-foot-high fence at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in suburban Washington, woodland wildflowers have been putting on a carefully choreographed show since mid-March....."I'm concerned about many of the spring wildflowers of our woodlands through the northeastern America, where their abundance is being significantly decreased," said Dr. Robert K. Peet, a professor of biology and ecology at the University of North Carolina.

Preschool Expulsions Are Criticized
The Wall Street Journal
Aiming to reduce future spending on everything from remedial education to crime fighting, states are pumping more money into preschools, but new research indicates those programs may be expelling an undue number of the at-risk students they are designed to help...."This just really puts them further at risk rather than helping to solve the problems they face," says Richard Clifford, co-director of the National Center for Early Development and Learning at the University of North Carolina .
Subscription required.

Chemical in kudzu may counteract alcoholic urges
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It may not be long before you'll go to a bar, order a beer or glass of wine and then load up on kudzu pills to avoid getting loaded.....The paper by Scott is a groundbreaker, the first public manuscript which demonstrates that kudzu extract reduces alcohol craving in people," said Dr. David Overstreet, a researcher in the Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Scientists, residents debate merits of sand replenishment
The Associated Press (National)
Carolyn Williams and her husband built a house in the aptly named community of Sandbridge in the 1960s when it had "a nice wide beach."...Depositing sand, of course, suffocates everything that's living. But the ecosystem can recover in three to four months if the material brought in is similar to the beach's natural sand, said Charles "Pete" Peterson, a professor of marine sciences at the University of North Carolina.

Presidential hopefuls target Michigan (Commentary)
The Detroit News
As expected, opponents are ratcheting up efforts against the re-election of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick this year and Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2006....He currently directs the nonpartisan Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity that he founded at the University of North Carolina.

Regional Coverage

There is too a safe driver in Greenville
Greenville News (S.C.)
The driver approached the intersection of Broad and Spring streets in downtown Greenville, S.C., at approximately 9:47 a.m. May 10, 2005.....It's not just cell phones. A study by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center placed cell phones eighth on a list of distractors, below fiddling with the radio and eating and drinking.

State & Local Coverage

Tar Heel Bus Tour makes stop at train station
Rocky Mount Telegram
New University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill faculty members are getting a tour of the state in efforts to understand the places their students come from.

Students At Rival Schools Get Two-For-One Academic Deal
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
This year, commencement ceremonies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University had something in common. Both graduated the first class of Robertson scholars.

Tuition-raising decisions should continue to reside with UNC board of governors (Editorial)
Asheville Citizen-Times
The UNC board of governors understandably, and rightfully, took a stand Friday against a provision of the proposed 2005-2006 Senate budget that would give trustees at N.C. State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill the authority to seek a tuition increase without the overarching university system board's approval.

UNC board objects to tuition plan
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The UNC system's Board of Governors has approved two resolutions in objection to special provisions in the state Senate's budget proposal.

Hollywood director, writer gives insights
The Chapel Hill Herald
When women were first making their directorial debuts in Hollywood, a trio stood out in the industry. Joan Darling, Joan Micklin Silver and Joan Tewkesbury were known as "The Three Joans" of the movie industry...."In the motion picture and theater industry, Joan Tewkesbury is considered as one of the most gifted writers we have," said David Sontag, a professor of communication studies at Carolina. "We're lucky to have her pick up her life and move here for a semester."
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov04/tewkesbury111004.html

A good result from disasters (Editorial)
Wilmington Star-News
If there's a bright side to getting clobbered by hurricanes, it might be that the state is getting good at responding to big emergencies....After Hurricane Floyd, the state set out to strengthen its public health response teams, which operate in all 100 counties and are coordinated by the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A good place to stay (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Administrators at UNC Hospitals missed the point when they proposed closing an on-campus "motel" that serves patients undergoing lengthy courses of outpatient treatment and the families of seriously ill patients. They want to save money, but this is a case of penny-pinching that hurts more than it helps.

UNC Health Care looks at discounts
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
All North Carolinians without health insurance, regardless of income, could soon receive a 25 percent discount off charges for hospital and physician care at UNC Health Care.

UNC Hospitals budget predicts increased profit
Triangle Business Journal
The board of directors for the University of North Carolina Health Care System on Monday approved a fiscal year 2006 budget for UNC Hospitals that projects an operating income of $10.3 million.

Millions in overseas profits flow to Triangle
Triangle Business Journal
Quintiles Transnational plans to bring $117.5 million in overseas earnings back to its corporate headquarters in Durham. Giant Cisco Systems, which bases its East Coast operations in Research Triangle Park, could bring $1.5 billion to U.S. soil....Edward Maydew, a professor of accounting and taxation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School, says estimates of overseas profits eligible to be repatriated run as high as $426 billion.

Digging into a painful past
The Charlotte Observer
A York County, S.C., "living history" museum is re-examining its portrayal of slavery after some black interpreters quit in protest.....As late as the 1980s many living history museums across the South did not include slavery in their presentations and referred to blacks in exhibits as "servants," said Fitzhugh Brundage, a history professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

Students give this house a brain
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Beginning in the fall of 2006, some lucky Duke University students can live in a house where they can hum Destiny's Child and have the stereo play back the tune, where the toaster begins fixing breakfast as soon as the alarm clock finishes wailing and where lights glow midnight blue to match a brooding mood.....The computer science department at UNC-Chapel Hill has conducted research on an "office of the future" in which the ceiling lights are replaced by computer-controlled cameras.

Issues & Trends

Women Outnumber Men Among College Graduates
"Morning Edition," National Public Radio
The gender gap in higher education overall is widening in favor of women. Colleges are handing out 200,000 more degrees to women than to men this graduation season -- even as the debate over attracting women to the sciences continues.

Attracting Women to the Sciences
"Morning Edition," National Public Radio
The California Academy of Sciences has held a seminar to attract young women into the male-dominated world of science. In January, Harvard University's President Lawrence Summers made controversial comments suggesting that innate gender differences prevent women from getting top science and engineering positions. Member station KQED's Rachel Martin reports.

Sept. 11 Graduates Enter New World
"Morning Edition," National Public Radio
Special correspondent Susan Stamberg talks to women graduating Tuesday from her college alma mater, Barnard College in New York City. The three women were just days into their college careers on Sept. 11, 2001, and tell Susan how that day changed their friendships, their academic paths and their plans for the future.

Gifts for grads
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Among the many thoughtful presents from family and friends, University of Georgia freshman Scott Reid found two gifts especially practical: a red canvas folding chair and notecards with the UGA logo....Other college logo chairs, such as Duke, Florida State University, University of North Carolina and University of Texas, are available online.

Speakers describe next UNC president to panel
The Associated Press (N.C.)
The next president of the University of North Carolina doesn't have to be a native of the state, but should understand its heritage and culture, speakers said Monday at a forum on selecting a new chief university executive.

3 see eye to eye on Columbia
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Three town-gown heavyweights have put their political muscle behind the long-delayed effort to add bike lanes, sidewalks and a turn lane to South Columbia Street.

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.