May 29, 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

Music Machine
"In Business," BBC Radio (United Kingdom)
Mark Katz assistant professor of musicology at University of North Carolina was featured in this week's "In Business." Peter Day hears about the music machines... the computer programmes that record companies are using to try to predict which songs will be hits. Film studios are getting in on the act too. Peter Day wonders whether it won’t mean that everything sounds alike.

'Every day is a day lost'; Ontario has refused to fund
medication for Fonthill boy with rare disorder
St. Catherines Standard (Ontario, CA)
Sitting on the living room floor in their Fonthill home, Nick and Sonia Lanese help their son, Andrew, do a puzzle. ...The approval was based on a study by Dr. Joseph Muenzer, associate professor of pediatrics and genetics at the University of North Carolina, who conducted a year-long trial in 2004.

National Coverage

Elite Colleges Open New Door to Low-Income Youths
The New York Times
The discussion in the States of Poverty seminar here at Amherst College was getting a little theoretical. Then Anthony Abraham Jack, a junior from Miami, asked pointedly, “Has anyone here ever actually seen a food stamp?” ...Concerned that the barriers to elite institutions are being increasingly drawn along class lines, and wanting to maintain some role as engines of social mobility, about two dozen schools — Amherst, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, the University of Virginia, Williams and the University of North Carolina, among them — have pushed in the past few years to diversify economically.

A glance at the current issue of The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education:
Black faculty levels at America's colleges
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Black faculty members in higher education are "still only a drop in the bucket," according to a report on the topic by Theodore Cross, the journal's editor and publisher, and Robert Bruce Slater, its managing editor. Nationwide, they found, black scholars account for just over 5 percent of all full-time faculty members. ...That measurement put the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ahead of all other flagships, with a faculty that was 5.9 percent black. It was just one of five flagship institutions where blacks made up at least 5 percent of total full-time faculty members.

Black Faculty in Higher Education: Still Only a Drop in the Bucket
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
JBHE surveyed the nation’s highest-ranked research universities, the most selective liberal arts colleges, and the 50 flagship state universities to determine their levels of black faculty. Overall, the liberal arts colleges have the most racially diverse faculties. Mount Holyoke College had the highest percentage of black faculty of any of the 100 colleges and universities surveyed. ...The 279 black faculty members at the University of North Carolina made up 5.9 percent of the full-time faculty, the third-highest level in our survey. In total numbers, Chapel Hill had the most black faculty members.

America the Generous: A Lost Story of Citizenship (Opinion column)
The New York Times
When Americans bicker over immigration, it's often not long before the topic turns to My Family Came Here Legally. ...My view has been informed by "Americans in Waiting," a book by Hiroshi Motomura, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, about what he calls a lost story of a confident young country that opened itself to newcomers in ways that seem unthinkably generous today.

Folkstreams Documents America, An Hour At a Time
"Weekend Edition," National Public Radio
Tom Davenport has lived most of his life on a farm nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In his younger days, he ran the farm and made films — documentaries were his first love. ...Davenport oversees Folkstreams from a big shed turned production office next to his farmhouse. He works with a group of filmmakers, scholars and archivists, and with two organizations based at the University of North Carolina.

Cities say: Come on and take a free ride
USA Today
Charlottesville, Va., home of the University of Virginia, is poised to earn another distinction: It's considering joining a handful of cities in the USA that have eliminated transit fares in hopes of spurring ridership on public transportation and relieving congestion. ...A fare-free system in Chapel Hill, N.C., in effect since 2002, is "working great," says Steve Spade, Chapel Hill Transit transportation director. The system serves a community of 90,000 in Chapel Hill and Carrboro around the University of North Carolina.

Beaches benefit the mind and body
The Los Angeles Times
The sights, the scents, the sounds, the sand — a day at the beach is packed with stress relief and overall rejuvenation. ...Running and walking in the water — waist deep if you can stand it — is also an excellent, beach-based, cardio workout, said Robert McMurray, professor of exercise and sports science and professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "Water provides resistance to movement, more resistance than the air, so you're getting a resistance workout in."
Related link: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-beach28
may28,1,2864166.story? page=1&cset=true&ctrack=1&coll=la-headlines-health

Don't ditch the dentist
Scripps Howard News Service
Most people should take their teeth to their grave unless they are afraid to visit the dentist. Those are the folks often mumbling something about dentists pulling teeth with rusty pliers. ...Dr. John Williams, dean of the school of dentistry at UNC-Chapel Hill, says he also is aware that some people may have had a painful experience with their teeth during childhood and developed a fear or phobia of dentistry. But, Williams says, modern dentistry is virtually pain free.

John Edwards' populism is a risky bet
The Los Angeles Times
When Elaine Ellis began her rounds as a New York nursing assistant one morning this spring, she had an improbable companion: John Edwards, the Democratic presidential candidate, who had accepted a union invitation to spend the day with a low-wage worker. ...He established a research center on poverty at the University of North Carolina, which gave him a platform for speaking to important Democratic constituencies around the country.

The Toughest Times Bring the Truest Focus (Commentary)
FastCompany.com
People look for strength in a leader, particularly in times of uncertainty. Strength, in my mind, comes from conviction. ...John Edwards, shown here in New York, is director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Regional Coverage

Two top list for 4th Circuit Court seat
The State (Columbia, S.C.)
A state appellate judge from Greenville and a Columbia attorney with Washington connections are the leading S.C. candidates for the seat of retiring U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge William “Billy” Wilkins of Greenville, sources say. ...Michael Gerhardt, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law, said Matthews’ background likely would “get a close look from the Democrats.”

In a cycle of debt
The Star-Telegram (Fort Worth)
It wasn't her first payday loan. Yet the 32-year-old Keller resident seemed blithely unconcerned about the interest rate charged by a unit of Fort Worth-based Cash America, called Payday Advance. ...And it's grown far beyond a niche market, said Michael Stegman of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, formerly a business professor at the University of North Carolina.

Research shows uncomfortable truths about
children left behind when parents go to war
The Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, Ill.)
More than 1 million soldiers have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- and well over a third of them had to leave kids at home. ...According to a University of North Carolina study released earlier this month, abuse of children in military families increased dramatically after the massive troop deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan began nearly six years ago.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/maltreatment050807.html

New study suggests stress on military family may be affecting children
WAVY-TV (Norfolk, Va.)
Anxiety and stress appear to be a taking a toll on some military families. ...Researchers at the University of North Carolina focused on Texas, a state with a large military population. They found that before 9/11, child abuse and neglect rates were higher in non-military families, but after October of 2002, the rate among military families increased about 30 percent.

Behind the wheel, on the phone, styling hair...
The Boston Globe
State Police talk about the time they pulled up to a guy in a fender-bender on Interstate 290 with his airbags deployed and the interior spattered in red. ...As more gadgets come on the market, the problem is becoming more pervasive, said Rob Foss, a researcher at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.

Blowing smoke on R ratings (Editorial)
The Dallas Morning News
How's this for a puff of nannyism: Movies can now receive an R rating for depicting a perfectly legal act. ... Other studies, including one from the University of North Carolina, show that children's exposure to all sorts of media – including unsupervised access to television – also has a correlation with smoking.

Employment: More seniors keep working after retirement
The Fresno Bee (Calif.)
Dorothy Evans, 92, isn't a big believer in sitting at home, watching television -- or, for that matter, retirement. ..."The fact is people are healthier, they are living longer and, for some, they just don't want to stop working," said Victor Marshall, director of the University of North Carolina's Institute on Aging.

Possible culprit identified in decline of honeybees
The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)
They are among the most sensitive and hardest-working creatures in nature. Ancient navigators of the air, honeybees are guided between hive and flower by the angle and direction of the sun. Their internal clock signals the time of day a particular flower's nectar is flowing. And daily changes in the earth's magnetic cycle alert those in the darkened hive to sunrise and sunset. ...A 2004 University of North Carolina study, for instance, found that some neonicotinoids, in combination with certain fungicides, increased the toxicity of the "neonics" to honeybees a thousand-fold.

Scientist's legacy held back by state legislators (Opinion column)
The Statesman Journal (Salem, Ore.)
Linus Pauling is the only man to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes: one in chemistry in 1954 and the Peace Prize in 1962. ...Recently I ran into Dr. Steven Zeisel, past chairman of the University of North Carolina Public Health Nutrition Department, at a conference sponsored by the Pauling Institute. He told me I wouldn't recognize my alma mater.

A Civil War road trip
The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.)
New South: Chapel Hill. A blue spot in a red state, the home of the University of North Carolina has a cosmopolitan atmosphere built around its traditional red-brick campus. It's especially energetic during the basketball season, when UNC and arch-rival Duke regularly go to the NCAA Tournament.

State and Local Coverage

UNC awards $99K for study abroad
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC has awarded a record amount -- more than $99,000 in privately funded, need- and merit-based scholarships -- to 34 undergraduates for study abroad this summer and fall. ...Expanded eligibility criteria for one scholarship and the first-time availability of scholarships from two other funds accounted for the increase, said Bob Miles, associate dean for study abroad and international exchanges.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/studyabroad052407.html

Armstrong foundation funds UNC grant
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a grant from the Lance Armstrong Foundation to study the experiences of head and neck cancer survivors. The three-year grant, worth $246,760, will help health care providers understand how treatment affects patients' lives. Dr. Andy Olshan, professor and chair of epidemiology in the UNC School of Public Health, is the principal investigator of the study.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/lafgrant052907.html

C-STEP their way to UNC Chapel Hill
News 14 Carolina
The jump from Durham Tech Community College to UNC Chapel Hill is becoming easier for students who once thought it could never happen for them. The Carolina Student Excellence Program allows gifted community college students to finish their associate’s degree and then transfer to UNC. ...The program just wrapped up its first year at Durham Tech with 18 students participating. Elizabeth Penton, C-STEP adviser, said statistics indicate they’ll do well when they transfer. “The statistics show our students upon transfer to UNC Chapel Hill perform better or as well as freshmen who matriculate at the University,” said Penton.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar06/jackkentcooke030606.htm

Clinical Trial Pairs Hearing Aid With Cochlear Implant
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
Hearing aids help many people make the most of their hearing ability. But many people with hearing aids need even more help. ...You have both their residual native hearing and the cochlear implant hearing and the brain fuses those two signals together," said Dr. Craig Buchman, a UNC Otolaryngology surgeon.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/cochlear050407.html

Follow along as we work in Africa with infectious disease program
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Dr. William Roper, dean of the School of Medicine, vice chancellor for Medical Affairs and CEO of the UNC Health Care System at UNC-Chapel Hill, writes: UNC's Center for HIV/STDs and Infectious Disease is comprised of a dedicated group of scientists. A significant portion of their research takes place overseas - in China, India, Thailand, Russia, Haiti and several countries in Africa, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Malawi, Madagascar and South Africa.
Note: No link available. For a copy, email Michelle at mgreene@dev.unc.edu.

Carolina North meetings ahead
The News & Observer (Raleigh)/The Chapel Hill News
The public can learn more about the latest plans for Carolina North, the university's future research campus off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, in several meetings over the next two weeks. UNC officials will hold public information sessions on Tuesday at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. in Room 2603 in the School of Government's Knapp-Sanders Building.
UNC Media Advisory: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2007/cnorthadvisory052407.html

Effective help is out of reach for most families
The Winston-Salem Journal
Parents of some autistic children are locked in a battle with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools over what type of care is appropriate for their children. In Part 2 of a series, the Winston-Salem Journal looks more closely at the public and private programs that serve children with autism. ...The school system also uses a method called TEACCH that was invented at UNC-Chapel Hill. TEACCH helps create a structure for autistic children, with a regimented schedule and expectations for behavior and activities.

Stress of deployment increases risk of child abuse, neglect in military families
The Northwest Observer (Oak Ridge)
A new UNC study shows that rates of abuse and neglect of young children in military families in Texas has doubled since October 2002, raising concerns about the impact of deployment on military personnel and their families across the country.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/may07/maltreatment050807.html

'Freedom is not free'
The Charlotte Observer
Every day is Memorial Day for Bobby Tedder. Tedder, a sergeant in the N.C. Army National Guard, spilled his blood on Iraqi pavement last summer when a roadside bomb nearly blew off his left leg. ..."We mark the holiday without a great deal of regard for its purpose and origin," says Richard Kohn, a military history professor at UNC Chapel Hill. "We haven't commercialized it as badly as we have Christmas, but it's in the same vein."

Teens on track for safety
The Charlotte Observer
Some teenagers -- mostly male -- signed up for free Driver's Edge classes in Charlotte this month because they relished the chance to stomp on a car's accelerator and screech across pavement. ...You would assume so. But studies of advanced-skills driving courses -- not Driver's Edge specifically -- found they produced higher crash rates, says Rob Foss, director of the UNC Highway Safety Research Center's Center for the Study of Young Drivers.

Sandals that make the grade
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
You know summer is coming when the American Podiatric Medical Association puts out its annual warning about how bad flip-flops are for your feet. ...Melissa Adelman and Jessica Crowell will appreciate your help. The two UNC-Chapel Hill business students, who recently graduated, came up with the idea as part of a team at the business school in an entrepreneurial competition. They hope the site will eventually work as a comparison tool, helping shoppers figure out their size at different stores and with different designers.

Sunlight, only stronger: Rethinking solar
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The five-decade quest for cheap solar power has produced an alternative energy that's still about four times more expensive than conventional electricity. ...MegaWatt Solar was formed in 2005 by Gregory and Chris Clemens, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill astrophysicist who directs MegaWatt Solar's office of technology.

Renowned vascular surgeon dies
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Dr. George Johnson Jr., considered the founder of vascular surgery in the southeastern United States, died May 15. A professor emeritus of surgery and former chief of vascular surgery at the UNC School of Medicine, Johnson was also a vice chairman of the Department of Surgery, director of the Ambulatory Care Surgery Center, and coordinator of general surgery.

Playing his part
The Daily Reflector (Greenville)
It seemed like a perfect scheme. A high school senior in 1939, Ayden resident Huey Lawrence conspired with his football coach to steal one more year on the gridiron. ...The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wouldn't house the black band members, who lived in a community center while stationed in the town. Town residents were sometimes cruel, he added, although Lawrence said he was never a target.

UNC weight loss program aimed at rural families
WCHL-AM (Chapel Hill)
Health and weight management is the goal of a UNC pilot program target toward rural North Carolina families. Program chief Diane Berry says researchers will examine whether the intervention results in long-term lifestyle changes.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar07/waytohealth032107.html

Issues and Trends

Slash of vacant UNC positions short-sighted (Opinion-editorial column)
The Charlotte Observer
Anyone who has watched state government in action knows that legislators are faced with the difficult task of making complex decisions in a relatively limited time period and without always having the information they need to understand the consequences of those decisions. Such appears to have been the case with the budget for the University of North Carolina system as passed by the N.C. House of Representatives. ...Philip L. Dubois is chancellor of UNC Charlotte.

UNC should raise standards but help marginal students prepare (Editorial)
The Fayetteville Observer
Too many freshmen arrive at North Carolina state colleges and universities unprepared to do the work. ...The UNC System has a long history of educating a range of students — those with excellent preparation and those in need of additional support. Any changes should maintain that tradition in a way that improves students’ lives and saves taxpayers’ dollars.

This shouldn't be like pulling teeth (Editorial)
The Star-News (Wilmington)
It's been a year and a half since the UNC Board of Governors approved a dental school for East Carolina University. Now the General Assembly needs to put up the money. The argument for the school is simple: Only three states have fewer dentists per person. They are fewest of all in rural areas and small towns.

RTP was 'a leap of imagination'
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In the summer of 1957, economic development recruiters from North Carolina traveled the East Coast and parts of the Midwest to get research-oriented companies interested in moving operations to what would become Research Triangle Park. The recruiters brought along brochures extolling the work scientists were conducting at three nearby universities -- the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University in Durham and what was then known as N.C. State College in Raleigh.

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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