November 25, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

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

Residents of neglected area hoping for a new supermarket
Miami Herald
Lugging plastic bags heaped with groceries in both arms, Glenda Mobley walks briskly from 
a neighborhood food mart to her low-income apartment two blocks away. ... The more 
supermarkets a neighborhood has, the more fruits and vegetables its residents eat, according 
to a study from the University of North Carolina. ...
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/news/local/4584487.htm
(Note: This study was the subject of a UNC news release, 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov02/wing110102.html)

Test scores, new light shine light on achievement gap
Greenwich (Conn.) Time
With the release of the statewide Connecticut Academic Performance Test scores last week,
it has become clear that the achievement gap is a problem that simply refuses to go away. ... 
Connecticut is one of the leaders in the nation for raising the bar for higher teaching standards, 
said Barnett Berry, a professor of education at the University of North Carolina who 
has studied the state's educational system in depth...
http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-sa-gap11.24nov24,0,6644390.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines

Universities attracting better students, faculty
The Tennessean 
The University of Georgia has become a much tougher ticket since 1993. Whereas some 
students used to be able to rely on decent high school grades and test scores and their
parents' alumni status to get into Georgia's flagship university, now many of them have to find 
other college options. ... The university is getting more recognition as one of the nation's top
20 or 25 public universities, moving closer to top Southern schools such as the University 
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia. ...
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/02/11/25638967.shtml?Element_ID=25638967

Hot Buttons: Talk show topics 
United Press International
Americans make a huge mistake by lumping all Islamist movements together, a University of 
North Carolina-Chapel Hill professor tells United Press International. Sociologist Charles 
Kurzman says while all the Islamic groups purport to spread a "purer" way of life based on 
the word of the prophet Muhammed, local fundamentalist movements like the Taliban are 
insular with no interest in the outside world, and appeal to the poor with little education 
outside strict religious schools. ...
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021124-081942-8189r

Updates on Billion-Dollar Campaigns at 21 Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The 21 American universities that are seeking to raise at least $1-billion collected a total of 
more than $250-million in gifts and pledges during the last month for which they had data 
available. ... The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $873.5-million as of October 
31 (increase of $16.4-million in the last month); the goal is $1.8-billion by 2007. ... 
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/11/2002112209n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

DESTINATIONS: New York City
The Boston Globe
... Chapel Hill, N.C. House tour, Dec. 7-8.. The preservation movement didn't take hold 
until 1972 in this college town, when the University of North Carolina wanted to demolish 
a 19th-century home bequeathed to it by Horace Williams... 
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/328/travel/New_York_City+.shtml
(Note: To view this travel brief, go to the above url and scroll down the page.)

Current Regional Coverage

Managing Midlife: Health: Recognizing heart attack symptoms 
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The symptoms of a heart attack seem so clear: pressure, tightness or pain in the chest. Some 
say it feels like an elephant is sitting on their chest; the sensation lasts for more than a few 
minutes and may come and go. ... High blood pressure, high cholesterol and lack of exercise 
are other conditions that increase the risk of a fatal heart attack. I heard a haunting story from 
Dr. Paula Miller, a University of North Carolina internist. ...
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/sunday/features_d3fd7c08e49251e400a9.html

State and Local Coverage

'Star of Bethlehem' gets upgrade
Chapel Hill News
T.J. Cox hadn't been to the Morehead Planetarium since he was in the fifth grade. But when 
he returned Thursday night with his two small children, he became one of the first people to 
view the newest generation of an old holiday favorite. ... The show became a local hit and 
additional elements were added over the years until last spring, when planetarium director 
Holden Thorp decided that it was time the "Star of Bethlehem" underwent a technological 
overhaul. ...
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/snapshots/story/1960196p-1916140c.html
(Note: This show was the subject of a UNC news release, 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov02/starbeth111302.html)

Local jobless rate rises 
News and Observer
The Triangle's unemployment rate rose in October to 4.9 percent, a sign that finding and 
keeping a job in the current economy remains tough. As many as 32,400 people in the Raleigh-
Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical area reported being out of a job last month, the 
state said Friday. ... "With employment growing, sooner or later, the unemployment rate will 
decline," said James F. Smith, an economist at the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill. "We're getting gradually better." ...
http://newsobserver.com/business/story/1963145p-1917768c.html

Quran suit not resolved 
The Herald-Sun
Three months have passed since the cameras left, since the correspondents from CNN and 
MTV and the rest filed their stories about the triumph of academic freedom at Carolina, since 
the summer reading program controversy seemed to die down. ..
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-291900.html
(Note: This story was picked up by the National Associated Press and was featured in The 
Augusta Chronicle, The Winston-Salem Journal and The Charlotte Observer.)

Footnotes: Triangle universities and colleges 
News and Observer
James Ramsey, UNC-Chapel Hill's former vice chancellor for finance and administration, was 
appointed last week to the presidency of the University of Louisville ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1969020p-1921459c.html

Stations' campaign coverage called lax 
Greensboro News and Record
Elizabeth Dole wasn't the only big winner from the recent election. Triad television stations netted $3.5 
million this year from political ads, according to a group seeking to improve the quality of elections... 
The majority of TV spending this year in North Carolina came in high-profile federal races, said Ferrel 
Guillory of the UNC Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life in Chapel Hill. ...
http://www.news-record.com/news/government/tvspots24rk.htm

Schools get high marks
High Point Enterprise
According to the results of the Carolina Poll, a public opinion poll on a variety of topics, participants 
gave their school systems high overall grades, good ratings on achievement standards and supported 
public school funding over private school funding. The Carolina Poll is conducted twice every year 
by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication. ..
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6174839&BRD=1332&PAG=461&dept_id=414366&rfi=6

Woman sues board over issue of free speech
Charlotte Observer
A south Iredell woman says the Mooresville Board of Commissioners violated her constitutional right 
to free speech when it denied her permission to speak about water and sewer at a meeting this month... 
Before the town denied Sherrill permission to speak, it checked with a state expert on public meetings. 
Fleming Bell, a professor of public law and government at the UNC Chapel Hill Institute of 
Government, was contacted by The Observer to comment on the lawsuit...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolina/counties/iredell/4592943.htm

Black leader of Confederate gray
Charlotte Observer
African American genealogist Rudolph Young expects to be criticized if he's elected to lead a chapter 
of the nation's largest Southern heritage group... UNC Chapel Hill history professor Joel Williamson 
said the degree of interaction between whites and blacks in the pre-Civil War South has always been 
underestimated.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/4593152.htm

Contributed or not, it's still too much (Editorial)
Wilmington-Morning Star
UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser apparently was shocked when people set up a 
howl over his agreement to pay a departing aide roughly $377,000 over two years after she leaves 
her job. ... 
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73117939826141&Avis=WM&Dato=20021125&Kategori=EDITORIAL&Lopenr=211250301&Ref=AR

Credit-card spree at UNC 
News and Observer
Since its inception in 1974, the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at UNC-
Chapel Hill has enjoyed a reputation for selecting promising young doctors and providing them 
outstanding training in clinical research. ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1966769p-1919705c.html
(Note: This story was picked up by the North Carolina Associated Press and featured in today's 
Winston-Salem Journal and Wilmington-Morning Star.)

Millions vanish through misuse 
News and Observer
At UNC-Chapel Hill, the manager of a scholars program for doctors turned it into her personal
piggy bank for groceries, CDs and books, and allowed staff and scholars to walk off with 
computers and furniture ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1966769p-1919797c.html

Schools squeamish about telling names of offenders 
News and Observer
Some UNC campuses insist upon keeping secret the names of employees who steal or misspend 
money or misuse state property. Officials at NCSU, UNC-Chapel Hill, East Carolina University 
and Elizabeth City State University have all declined to identify at least some of the employees
they have reported to the SBI for investigation ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1966769p-1919609c.html

Hot air in golden parachute (Commentary)
News and Observer
Oh, come on. First, UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser tries to convince us that a two-
year, $376,000 retirement package for Vice Chancellor and General Counsel Susan Ehringhaus is 
worth every state-issued penny ...
http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1969018p-1921573c.html


Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Major trends
The Christian Science Monitor 
For Amanda Soland, a junior at Baylor University, there really was no question about what to declare 
as her major - she fell in love with forensic science last spring when she took a course on crime-scene 
investigation. ... Other fields of study that have seen a new surge of life are criminal justice, nursing, 
religious studies, and, at several schools, even accounting. ...
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1119/p11s02-lehl.html

Learning from the drought (Editorial)
Chapel Hill News
The drought’s over. The reservoirs are nearly full, conservation measures have been lifted and rainfall 
has been well above average the last two months. It’s easy to assume that the emergency is over and 
that, indeed, we can go back to our wasteful consumption of water...
http://www.triangle.com/triangle.com/communities/chapelhill/opinion/story/1960200p-1916143c.html

UNC students visit Greene County 
Kinston Free Press
For many students in low-income areas such as Greene County, a college degree might seem like an 
unattainable goal. A group of students from the University of North Carolina is working to change that. ... 
http://www.kinston.com/Details.cfm?StoryID=7160

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