November 12, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current International Coverage

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

Good head for game of soccer blamed for brain injuries
The Toronto (Canada) Star
The coroner's verdict: "Death by industrial disease." Nothing unusual in that until you consider the 
deceased and the industry: Jeff Astle, a former top English soccer player... "It's going to be very 
challenging to come to an absolute consensus on the issue," said Dr. Don Kirkendall, who led the study 
at the University of North Carolina...
http://waymoresports.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=waymoresports/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035774254791&call_page=W
M_Home&call_pageid=979619472127&call_pagepath=Home/Home

Current National Coverage

Big-name schools tell early birds to wait
The Christian Science Monitor 
Until this fall, students hoping to attend the University of North Carolina could take advantage of an 
open secret to successful college admissions: Applying early was largely seen as a way to sneak in 
before having to compete with the hordes of applicants who send essays and references in the spring. 
In what many saw as a major gamble, UNC last year became the first prominent institution to announce 
it was dumping its "binding early decision" program... "It's a very brave first step," says Seppy Basili, 
coauthor of "The Unofficial, Unbiased, Insider's Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges." "The 
pressure now will be tremendous on Princeton and Brown, with Duke, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Penn
also feeling tremendous pressure to follow suit... In addition, 82 percent of early applicants were upper-
class whites, while only 62 percent of the regular applicant pool fit that description, says Jerry Lucido, 
the admissions director at UNC...
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1112/p21s01-lehl.html

Even Second-Graders Use PowerPoint in Classrooms
The Wall Street Journal
Shelve that book report: PowerPoint has hit the classroom. Fourth-graders at Bolivar Intermediate 
School in southwestern Missouri, who not long ago would have relied on fat three-ring binders to 
assemble reports about the Show-Me State, are presenting them on PowerPoint this year... Bland 
Simpson, who heads the creative-writing program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 
warns of the day when "we may see people who think in bullets" because of PowerPoint...
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1037059113530143228,00.html?mod=todays%5Fus%5Fmarketplace%5Fhs
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription to access articles.)

The Simpson Factor in Race Relations (T.V. Review)
The New York Times
You might think that, barring some revelation about the murders for which he was acquitted in 1995, 
there is no particular reason to rehash the story of O. J. Simpson. Well, you'll find nothing in tonight's 
HBO documentary about Mr. Simpson to change your mind... A number of people speak thoughtfully 
about Mr. Simpson during this hour. Lawrence Grossberg, a professor of cultural studies at the 
University of North Carolina, says that Mr. Simpson's success gave many people hope that "the 
American Dream was true."...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/12/arts/television/12WERT.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Fuhrman, O.J. symbols of our time (T.V. Review)
Miami Herald
Seven years later, the Trial of the Century has turned into the Hangover of the Millennium. The O.J. 
Simpson case still hovers over us like a poisonous mist, a reminder that America's ancient racial hostilities 
are as toxic as ever... Black And White makes no attempt at all to rehash the evidence from the trial or 
to argue Simpson's guilt or innocence. ''Most people, white and black, didn't actually know the 
evidence,'' notes Lawrence Grossberg, a University of North Carolina sociologist...
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/4496827.htm

Good Health Is Linked to Grocer
The New York Times 
In many American neighborhoods, poor eating habits may stem from a lack of access to fresh, nutritious 
food, new research suggests. The more supermarkets a neighborhood has, the more fruits and vegetables 
its residents eat, according to a study from the University of North Carolina... But transportation is 
probably not the only explanation, said Dr. Steven B. Wing, an epidemiologist at the University of 
North Carolina...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/12/health/nutrition/12FRUI.html
(Note: The Times was among outlets receiving a UNC news release on this story,
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov02/wing110102.html. The New York Times
requires free registration to access articles.)

University of Missouri system offers presidency to Michigan administrator
The Kansas City Star
The University of Missouri system has asked Elson S. Floyd -- a popular Michigan university president 
known for raising money, backing life sciences research and boosting enrollment -- to be its next president... 
Floyd earned three degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: a bachelor's degree in 
political science and speech; a master's degree in adult education; and a doctorate in higher and adult 
education. Floyd served 13 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, beginning in 1978. 
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/4497430.htm
(Note: The Daily Columbia Tribune's report on Floyd is at 
http://www.showmenews.com/2002/Nov/20021111News002.asp)

News about health and medicine 
Seattle Times
... Pregnant women who take multivitamins can cut incidence of a nervous-system cancer among their 
kids by 30 to 40 percent, says a study conducted chiefly at the University of North Carolina that focused 
on neuroblastoma, the most common tumor in infants and children.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/healthscience/134570681_healthvitals10.html
(Note: To read this health news brief, go to the above url and scroll down the page.)

Trial therapy devised for Crohn's sufferers
Contra Costa (Calif.) Times 
Half a million Americans structure their lives around being near a bathroom because of a chronic bowel 
disease. Now a controversial new treatment developed at Washington University may provide a better 
life to Crohn's disease sufferers... "I think it was an extremely important study because it opens a whole 
new concept of the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease," said Dr. R. Balfour Sartor, a Crohn's disease
researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/living/health/4481936.htm
(Note: This story was also featured in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)

Peer Review: Dean Will Help Found Graduate Management School at UC-San Diego
The Chronicle of Higher Education
... As a business-school leader, Robert S. Sullivan has helped countless faculty members and students 
commercialize their ideas by emphasizing entrepreneurship and setting up incubators to translate concepts 
into companies. Now, he is embarking on a start-up of his own -- a new business school. Mr. Sullivan, 
58, who has spent the last five years as dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University 
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will leave in January to become founding dean of the University of 
California at San Diego's new Graduate Management School...
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v49/i12/12a01002.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

State and Local Coverage

Democrats' losses may help Edwards
Charlotte Observer 
As Democrats pick through the wreckage of last week's elections, North Carolina's Sen. John Edwards 
stands among the few Democrats who appear to have emerged from the rubble better off...He needs to 
look no further than his own state for reasons to worry, said Ferrel Guillory, professor of political 
science at UNC Chapel Hill...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/4498620.htm

Doctors Urge Women With Incontinence To Speak Up
WRAL-TV (CBS, Raleigh)
Doctors say overactive bladders are something people rarely talk about, but it affects more people than
asthma and Parkinson's. It affects more women than men.. Jean Kincade, a researcher at the University 
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and, studies behavioral therapies for incontinence through the Wake & 
Nash Women's Project...
http://www.wral.com/health/1779639/detail.html

Heels tickets aplenty
News and Observer
With North Carolina's men's basketball opener just six days away, season-ticket sales are down, meaning 
an unprecedented number of single-game tickets will be available to the public when tickets go on sale 
Wednesday. The unexpected availability occurred largely because UNC's faculty and staff bought fewer 
tickets than in the past. Clint Gwaltney, director of ticket operations, said UNC sold 596 fewer tickets to 
faculty and staff this season after prices rose more than 12 percent, from $362 to $406 for 15 home games. ... 
http://sports.newsobserver.com/sports/college/story/1904349p-1888086c.html

The states of health insurers (Commentary)
News and Observer
Sometime early next year, Insurance Commissioner Jim Long will decide whether Blue Cross and Blue 
Shield of North Carolina can convert from a not-for-profit operation to a for-profit company...
http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1901125p-1885368c.html
(Note: Chris Roush is an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Mass 
Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

A risk the fund has to take 
News and Observer
The man who oversees the state's $53 billion public employees pension fund is about to make some 
mammoth bets with the money... "These is no question that the state is taking on more risk," said Patrick 
Conway, a professor of economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...
http://newsobserver.com/business/story/1897559p-1883111c.html

Artists engage whimsy, create delightful medley of visual joy
The Herald-Sun 
Carolyn Hisel's translucent abstracts and Terri Hallman's friendly balloon-like faces are the perfect 
complement for Allen Wynn's sculpture. All three engage their audience with whimsy... Ben Long, who 
received UNC's Distinguished Alumnus Award in October, is best known in his home state for the religious 
frescos he painted in several tiny churches in North Carolina's mountains and murals that celebrate North 
Carolina's economic and social history... In this small exhibition, second in a series of works by Carolina 
Collectors, Peace Sullivan, a Carolina graduate and a practicing psychoanalyst in New York, has loaned 
three of her Long portraits for this show...
http://www.herald-sun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0401717828
(Note: This coverage follows up on a UNC news release, 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct02/ack100302.htm. The Chapel Hill Herald requires free 
registration to access archives.)

A center for peace (Letter to the Editor)
News and Observer
Thanks for highlighting the new Duke-UNC Rotary Center for International Studies in peace and conflict 
resolution in your Oct. 12 article about university partnerships...
http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1902678p-1886639c.html
(Note: Darla K. Deardorff is coordinator for the Duke-UNC Rotary Center for International Studies.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Colleges Find Diversity Is Not Just Numbers
The New York Times
It used to be that freshman orientation here at Dartmouth College revolved around hiking up mountains 
and sleeping in huts along the Appalachian Trail. But this year one of the highlights was a talk by Karim 
Marshall, a senior, who told the 1,100 new students about his arrival on campus from a predominantly 
black high school in Washington... Decades after colleges and universities across the country began 
actively recruiting minority students, many campuses are more diverse than ever. But that does not mean 
that students connect across racial and ethnic lines...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/12/education/12DIVE.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

UNC aims to bond with new legislators 
The Herald-Sun
For a week now, UNC system officials have watched the state Legislature’s election results with a keen 
eye, tracking races and taking stock of how the statewide voting might affect higher education. At last 
count, there appeared to be 49 new legislators headed to Raleigh in January, 33 in the state House and 
16 in the state Senate. For Mark Fleming, that’s a lot of new people to get to know. "With that many 
new members you have some new relationships you have to build," said Fleming, the UNC system’s 
associate vice president for state governmental relations...
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-287246.html

Now, the fun part (Editorial)
News and Observer
As he indulges his wood-working hobby these days, Governor Easley must have to be extra careful that 
he doesn't slice himself up with preoccupation. For he must be thinking: "Nobody told me being governor 
was going to be easy -- but nobody told me it was going to be like pulling a mule cart up a steep hill in 
an ice storm, either."... GOP lawmakers in the House were hardly shy in criticizing Easley and the 
Democratic majority during this year's painful budget session...
http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1904264p-1888121c.html

Signs of life glimmer amid economic gloom 
News and Observer
It's one of the cruel ironies of this recession: If the Triangle had not been so successful in attracting 
technology companies, it would not be suffering quite so much. The recession has hit those companies 
hardest, helping to make this the deepest downturn the Triangle has experienced in 20 years... 
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1901179p-1885344c.html

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, 
please call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, 
(919) 962-2091 or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu