May 3, 2006

Carolina in the News

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

International

Study shows how land crabs handle molting
United Press International
U.S. scientists say they have determined how certain land crabs use air and internal fluids to survive the highly vulnerable state of molting. ... Working at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, two researchers have discovered how some land crabs survive the process by using air in combination with internal fluids to increase pressure inside their bodies.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr06/skeleton042006.htm

National

New SAT Mystery
Inside Higher Ed
The College Board is trying to figure out why many colleges are experiencing declines in their average SAT scores this year. ... “It’s certainly curious and unusual,” said Stephen Farmer, director of undergraduate admissions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

State & Local Coverage

Two N.C. universities make BusinessWeek ranking
Charlotte Business Journal
Two N.C. universities have made BusinessWeek magazine's ranking of the country's Top 50 undergraduate business schools. The Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the UNC Chapel Hill is No. 11 on the list, with annual in-state tuition of $4,700 and a median starting annual salary of $45,000 for its graduates.

Health coverage elusive for the poor
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The findings of a yearlong study on expanding access to health insurance in North Carolina won't surprise anyone: The main reason people are uninsured is because they can't afford medical coverage. ... The N.C. Institute of Medicine collaborated with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, N.C. Department of Insurance and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Now, what was I going to do?
News & Observer (Raleigh)
The line between an older person's normal absent-mindedness and early dementia can be a thin one. ... It's normal for people to get a little bit forgetful as they age and occasional lapses of memory aren't necessarily worrisome, said Dr. Daniel Kaufer, director of the memory and cognitive disorders program at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Carolina North panel meets Thursday
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Leadership Advisory Committee for Carolina North will meet at 4 p.m. Thursday in Room 204 of the Kenan Center at UNC-Chapel Hill.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr06/cnorthadvance042706.htm

Clock runs out on West House
The Chapel Hill News (Editorial)
West House, a little one-story brick building that has the misfortune of sitting smack in the middle of UNC's planned Arts Common, has always been an odd choice as a rallying point.

Former Coast Guard station taking on new life
Outer Banks Sentinel
Additional funding for renovation of the old U.S. Coast Guard Station in Ocracoke was approved by the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations last week. The station will serve as a second campus for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teachers (NCCAT). ... Established in 1985 as part of the University of North Carolina, NCCAT was the first state-funded center of its kind for teachers in the nation.

Airport land use plan reaches liftoff
Outer Banks Sentinel
Thirty-four acres of land offered to the University of North Carolina's Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) from Dare County in 2004 has been source of controversy for the past two years, but recent finalizations in land use plans and a request to release airport deed restrictions have the potential to satisfy both parties involved.

Issues & Trends

Eligibility Criteria Announced for New College Aid Program
The New York Times
The Department of Education announced yesterday which low-income students might be eligible this fall for a share of $790 million under a major new aid program and estimated that it would disburse about 500,000 of the grants, which Congress created to encourage science, mathematics and language study.
Related Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1155AP_College_Grants.html

A promise worth making (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Only about a dozen universities in the nation have programs that guarantee low-income students a way to pay for college. Now, North Carolina has a second public university in that exclusive group. N.C. State has joined UNC Chapel Hill in making a commendable commitment to help financially strapped students attend college.

Document, don't deport (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Immigration reform took center stage Monday as hundreds of thousands of immigrants took the day off to show what would happen to the U.S. economy if they were to suddenly disappear. And although the protest -- "A Day Without Immigrants" -- didn't bring the U.S. to a standstill, it did show how dependent the nation is on immigrant labor. ... In a January report from the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at UNC, we learned that Hispanics contribute more than $9 billion to the state's economy through taxes and purchases.

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.