May 15, 2007

Carolina in the News

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

International Coverage

Migraine sufferers face risk
Reuters
Middle-aged people with a history of migraines and other serious headaches have an increased risk for an eye disease that can lead to blindness, according to a study published on Monday. ..."What I think this suggests is that there's probably the same problem that underlies both retinopathy and the headaches where there's some dysfunction or problems in the small blood vessels in the retina and the brain," the study's lead author, Kathryn Rose of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a telephone interview.
Related link: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/556412
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/migraineretinopathy051407.html

Deployment raises abuse risk in military families
Reuters
Children in military families are at greater risk of maltreatment after a parent is deployed to conflict areas -- and after the parent returns, a new study suggests. ..."Both departures to and returns from operational deployment impose stresses on military families and likely increase the rate of child maltreatment," Dr. E. Danielle Rentz of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and her colleagues write in the American Journal of Epidemiology. "Such increases in child maltreatment may also extend to families at risk of being deployed."
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/maltreatment050807.html

Pharmacist help cuts heart failure cost
United Press International
Heart-failure patients under pharmacist oversight take their medication more reliably, are in the hospital less and have lower bills, says a U.S. study. "For every $1 we spent on the (pharmacist) intervention group, the healthcare system gained $14 in savings by decreasing emergency room visits and hospitalization," said Michael Murray, lead investigator of the study performed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/heartfailure051107.html

National Coverage

Blood pressure rising around the globe
The Associated Press (National)
The numbers are a shock: Almost one billion people worldwide have high blood pressure, and over half a billion more will harbour this silent killer by 2025. ..."Even in the U.S., the majority of people with high blood pressure are not treated adequately," says Dr. Sidney Smith of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

An Aching Head May Mean Vision Problems, Too
Ivanhoe Newswire
Regular headaches might be doing more than causing a pain in the head. ..."Our findings suggest that problems in the circulatory system of small blood vessels may be an underlying factor," study author Kathryn M. Rose, Ph.D., was quoted as saying.
Note: Ivanhoe has a syndicated television series and its reports are broadcast in 250 markets reaching 80 million U.S. households.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/migraineretinopathy051407.html

Top U.S. Scientist to Use New AIDS Drugs in Bid to Cure Virus
Bloomberg
The top U.S. infectious disease researcher has begun an effort to cure the virus that causes AIDS in a select group of patients, with help from new drugs such as those from Merck & Co. and Roche Holding AG. ...Another risk is that measurement of low HIV levels isn't always accurate. If the virus actually takes longer than eight years to eliminate, or can't be driven out, patients who think they are cured may be taking a chance by halting HIV drugs, said David Margolis and Nancie Archin of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, in an editorial in the same journal.

Tooth decay, diabetes, hyperactivity and more are being linked to heavy soda consumption
Newsday
The 11-year-old patient showed a considerable amount of tooth decay since his last cleaning, prompting his dentist, Dr. Anjali Miranda, to take action: No more soda for the boy at home, and only an occasional soft drink when he eats out with his parents. ...No research to date can prove whether consumers are indeed healthier after sipping nutrient-infused brews, a point made by Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Beverage pyramid shapes choices
Newsday
Barry Popkin takes a hard-line view of soft drinks. When asked if any kind of soda can be a part of a healthy diet, he flatly replies, "No." Popkin, a professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, is a founder of the Beverage Guidance Panel, a nonprofit group of academics and nutritionists that aims to help consumers make healthy choices about what they drink.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/healthybeverage030806.htm 

The Nazi Chronicles
U.S. News & World Report
Julius Mayer, a small-town butcher, escaped from Germany to South Africa in 1936, fleeing the growing Nazi menace to one of the only countries offering visas to Jews at the time. ..."For people working on the history of the concentration camps, of victims, of forced and slave labor, there could be great potential," says University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill history Prof. Christopher Browning.

Regional Coverage

Overtime overkill?
The Oregonian (Portland)
Last month, the U.S. government reported that the business sector was more productive in the second quarter of 2005, in part because workers put in more hours. ...The editorial, written by University of North Carolina environmental sciences professor Dana Loomis, notes that, despite the studys findings, U.S. workplace injury and fatality rates have been declining, even though overtime for U.S. manufacturing workers has been on the rise since the 1970s as manufacturers struggle to compete globally.

Consultant helps shape aerotropolis strategy
The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Tenn.)
The day Tom Schmitt takes over as chairman of the Memphis Regional Chamber in early December, the city will get its first glimpse of what it will take to build an aerotropolis here. ...In the six weeks since Schmitt was appointed head of the 15-member aerotropolis committee, the group has met twice and hired John Kasarda, director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina, to oversee progress.

Star Tribune to refocus on increasing local coverage
The Star Tribune (St. Paul, Minn.)
As it shrinks its staff, the Star Tribune announced a reorganization of its newsroom on Monday with plans to push more reporters into the suburbs to capture new readers and new advertisers. ..."If you have to cut back, it's good to do at least one thing well; local news is a good choice," said Philip Meyer, author of the book "The Vanishing Newspaper" and a professor of journalism at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Perspectives on stay-at-home and working moms
The Knoxville News (Tenn.)
"OK, books away, it's dinner time," Barrie Silberberg told her two children as they settled down at the table in Silberberg's California town house. ...An NIH study led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill psychology professor Margaret Burchinal showed that children who had been in day care before kindergarten were more likely to have behavior problems by the time they reached the sixth grade.

10 aim to please Christians
The Detroit Free Press
When 10 Republican presidential candidates debate tonight at the University of South Carolina, they'll be hoping to appeal to the state's evangelical Christians -- the state's power brokers for the last two decades. "South Carolina is a tad less old South than it used to be," said Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life at the University of North Carolina.

House probes Spellings on student lending controversy
Medill Reports
Members of the House Education Committee pressed Education Secretary Margaret Spellings on the Department’s oversight of student loans. ...Preferred lender lists provided to admitted college students are not all bad, said Shirley Ort, Financial Aid director at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

State and Local Coverage

Faculty tours boat facility
The Daily Reflector (Greenville)
Tar Heel Bus Tour participants sported safety goggles Monday for their stop at Grady-White Boats. The tour, which for five days immerses new faculty from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in state culture and history, stopped at the boat production facility where the professors toured the building and observed the inner workings of the company.
UNC Media Advisory: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2007/bustourcarteret050907.html

Opening world of sound
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Four-year-old Emily Hewett stuffs her mouth full of Bugles snacks as her mom asks her a series of questions. ...CCCDP was created in 1992 by Biggers, a UNC professor of otolaryngology, the branch of medicine that specializes in the treatment of ear, nose, throat and head and neck disorders.

Tradition still holds sway over funerals (Opinion column)
The Charlotte Observer
So what is the hesitation? In his review of "Being Dead Is No Excuse," UNC Chapel Hill's John Shelton Reed, guru of all things Southern, says the South has a reputation for resisting innovation in general. "Whether you're talking about flower arrangements, hymns, liturgy, or funeral food, the right way to do things is usually pretty much the way it has always been done."

N.Y. festival accepts area man’s play
The Asheville Citizen-Times
Good things are happening for UNC Chapel Hill senior and Flat Rock native Patrick Link and his play, “Does the Body Good.” The dramatic art major’s dark comedy has been accepted into the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival, to be held Aug. 10-26. The Fringe Festival is billed as the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues, for a total of more than 1,300 performances.

Issues and Trends

A profound gift (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When it was announced to the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors Friday that a family foundation of C.D. Spangler Jr. was proposing a $26.9 million gift to the system for endowed professorships (it would have to supplemented by an annual matching state appropriation), Spangler wasn't in the room.

Begin budgeting at absolute zero (Opinion column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Talk about missing the big picture. As the General Assembly debates a state budget plan for the next two years, the debate -- as usual -- has been almost entirely about new and controversial items amounting to just 5 percent of proposed state spending. ...Meanwhile, receiving scant attention or debate were the possibilities of major cost-saving reforms in Medicaid (which costs nearly $3 billion a year in state funds alone), the fairness and cost-benefit analysis of current spending on the UNC system ($2.6 billion a year in state general funds), and the $24 billion that will be needed over time to pay promised health benefits to retired state employees.

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.

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