May 31, 2005

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

FT interview: John Edwards
Financial Times (United Kingdom)
For John Edwards, the most painful moment of last year's US election campaign came during one of the presidential debates when George W. Bush told Americans that, even if they disagreed with him, they could be sure where he stood....At home he is leading the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina.
Related link: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/11760606.htm

National Coverage

Man free after doing 35 years for stealing $140 TV set
The Associated Press (National)
After 35 years in prison for stealing a black-and-white television set, Junior Allen is a free man....Rich Rosen, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill law professor who took up Allen's case three years ago, said it was a shame that Allen had not been released decades ago.

Here's a simple test for possible stroke
Detroit Free Press
A three-part test of stroke symptoms makes the Internet rounds periodically that is so elegant in its simplicity that it's a relief to know it has some scientific validity. It's being circulated again now during Stroke Awareness Month....The three-part FAST (Face-Arm-Speech Test) was developed by researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine and presented at the International Stroke Conference in 2003.

Coon Rapids reading system gets pages turning
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.)
It would be wrong to call Lisa Tourville's second-grade class in Coon Rapids a three-ring circus....Some of the principles of balanced literacy seem to square with recent books on helping children succeed. One, "A Mind at a Time," by Dr. Mel Levine at the University of North Carolina, asserts: "From second through fifth grade ... children should reveal a growing capacity to follow directions, understand questions and speak in complete sentences that vary in their [structure and rhythm]. ... Kids who are accurate with the sound system and with sentences should be enjoying reading."

Sun Belt holds reins of nation's politics
Newhouse News Service
By 2030, nearly two-thirds of all Americans will live in the South and West -- the Sun Belt -- according to recent Census Bureau projections.....North Carolina, according to the forecasts, will grow by half. "In the short term, this growth will solidify Republican gains," said Ferrell Guillory, director of the Program on Southern Politics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

State & Local Coverage

Carolina North impact report is useful (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Seventy-five hundred local jobs. Forty-eight million dollars in annual tax revenues. Twenty-six million dollars generated in state income tax, $14.6 million in state sales tax, $2.8 million in local sales tax and $5 million in local property tax.....Carolina North, the massive proposed development for the Horace Williams tract in the center of Chapel Hill, could be a bonanza for the state, the region and the town.
UNC news release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may05/cnorth052505.html
Carolina North impact report: http://cn.unc.edu/economic_impact.pdf
Carolina North website: http://cn.unc.edu

Opposites detract (Opinion and Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
One of my favorite bumper stickers says, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." That's how I see things these days....One challenge created by this growth is the continuing expansion of UNC, which has fully embraced the delusion that bigger is better. Witness the unfolding of Carolina North. This gigantic campus planned for the Horace Williams tract is the new epicenter for town-gown relations.

UNC buying more land for park-and-ride
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC is purchasing two more pieces of Chatham County land that, when combined with another land tract purchased last year, will allow the university to build a new park-and-ride lot on the U.S. 15-501 corridor.

Senate's tuition foray rare, dicey
The Chapel Hill Herald
In wading into the delicate matter of public university tuition, the N.C. Senate has gone where few state legislatures have dared to, a higher education expert says....But Richard "Stick" Williams, who chairs the Chapel Hill campus's board of trustees, was less wary in his recent comments.

Unleash UNC-Chapel Hill creativity (Commentary)
The Charlotte Observer
In passing recent budget special provisions on tuition and out-of-state scholarships, the N.C. Senate has given us an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion about how this state is going to fund its research universities....The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees is committed to creative thought, dialogue and action -- for we believe our citizens and the state's economic climate demand new funding strategies, particularly for our research institutions.

I think (I need library reference help), therefore IM
The Chapel Hill Herald
Davis Library patrons no longer need to go to the reference desk when they need help. They can make like teenagers everywhere and IM....To make its reference librarians more accessible, UNC's research library has added instant messaging to its interactive online services.

Medical school students provide care and caring
The Chapel Hill News
Which came first? Medical students who care more about people than lucrative careers or a medical school that promotes community service to the under-served of society?...When it comes to the medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the answer has to be: both of the above. The Eugene S. Mayer Community Service Honor Society at UNC proves that the people who provide care are overwhelmingly caring.

TV thief released after 35 years
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Junior Allen, who spent 35 years in prison for stealing a $140 television, walked out of prison Friday a free man....Rich Rosen, a UNC-Chapel Hill law professor who took up Allen's cause three years ago, said it shouldn't have taken so long for Allen to win his freedom.

N.C. woman to specialize in Native American studies at Harvard
The Associated Press (N.C.)
Malinda Maynor is a Robeson County native who grew up in Durham but never forgot "her people."...Earlier this month, Maynor finished up work on her doctorate in history at UNC-Chapel Hill with a dissertation, "Native America Identity in the Segregated South: The Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina, 1872-1956."
Note: WUNC-FM aired a story on this topic on Monday.

The best opportunities (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Many thanks to Editorial Page Editor Steve Ford for his insightful May 22 column about the value of North Carolina's research universities and his open-mindedness toward the tuition provision pending in the Senate....The writer is chair-elect of the department of chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill

The Provincials
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
"The Provincials": Durham native Eli Evans published his seminal chronicle of Southern Jews in 1973. The book was an instant classic, combining memoir with journalistic research and reporting to create a historical document. To coincide with the 350th anniversary of Jews in America, UNC Press has reissued Evans' book with a new introduction and many pages of photographs.
This program aired on Monday (May 30).

Nanotechnology
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
North Carolina is among the country's hot spots for the fast growing field of nanotechnology....Host Melinda Penkava speaks with...Joseph DeSimone, a professor of Chemistry at UNC Chapel Hill.....
Note: This program aired on Friday (May 27).

Issues & Trends

Black students seek a niche at UGA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When Juanita Cousins moved into Creswell Hall last August, she taped butterflies to the ceiling above her lofted bed and wrestled with butterflies in her stomach....Recruiters from out-of-state schools like the University of North Carolina and the University of Florida make frequent trips to Georgia to lure the state's best-qualified African-Americans.

Senate's budget proposal carries additional weight
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
State senators didn't just tentatively approve a $17 billion spending plan Wednesday....They cut the UNC Board of Governors out of the loop when it comes to raising tuition at UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University. And they cut the jobs of two DOT officials who have raised the ire of commissioners in Senate leader Marc Basnight's home county.

Town weighs downtown proposals
The Chapel Hill News
Rafael Diaz stood next to the Wallace parking deck on East Rosemary Street, alternately glancing at the brick garage and the conceptual drawings he held of proposed condominiums and shops Ñ the present view and a peek at the possible future...."It seems like it'll be really weird here in two years," the 22-year-old UNC student said.

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.