November 17, 2003

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

International Coverage

The next plague: major uncertainties but no doubt it will come
International Herald Tribune
No one knows when or where the next plague will occur, or whether it will be from a natural or bioterrorist attack....While the AIDS virus has causedthe worst pandemic since the plague of the 14th century, most newlydiscovered microbes have turned out to be "little blips that don't get everybody's permanent attention," said [Frederick] Sparling, a professor of microbiology at
the University of North Carolina.

National Coverage

Where Sharing Isn't a Dirty Word
Wired News (wired.com)
...Ibiblio, one of the Web's oldest and largest digital libraries, has all this and much, much more -- and all of it is completely free to visitors, thanks to backing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and technology companies like Linux distributor Red Hat...."Making the invisible visible is what ibiblio does best," said ibiblio director Paul Jones.

College students getting religion in the classroom
The Miami Herald
Students crowd into two of the University of Miami's Religion 101 classes, the latecomers sitting cross-legged in the aisles....''There's a different attitude: It's more acceptable, not as contentious''
to be religious, says Christian Smith, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina who is directing the National Study of Youth and Religion.

Study finds religion to be key in teens' development
The Wichita Eagle
Social scientists and clergy agree: Religion plays a major role in the healthy development of 13-year-olds....Religiously involved families with youths ages 12 to 14 are more likely to have "significantly stronger family relationships" than religiously inactive families, according to the National Study of Youth and Religion, an ongoing project by the University of North Carolina.

Nashville gets $200,000 grant for health
Nashville City Paper
Nashville is one of 25 cities to receive a $200,000 grant to increase active living and
encourage healthier lifestyles....Active Living by Design is a $16.5-million national
program based at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's School of Public Health.

FAU offers seniors tests to gauge their driving skills
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The last time Harold Cline took a driving test, Franklin Roosevelt was president and there were 48 stars on the American flag...."Florida is way ahead of the rest of the states now," said [Jane] Stutts, associate director of the Highway Safety Research Center at University of North Carolina.

Gun toters, you can relax
St. Petersburg Times
The National Rifle Association has an enemies list. One way or another, you're probably on it....Dr. Louis A. Perez, a University of North Carolina professor of history who formerly taught at the University of South Florida, said that upon seizing power Castro actually distributed guns to the Cuban population, reversing course only when street crime became a problem.

State and Local Coverage

An 'in-state' student, out of the projects
Greensboro News & Record
Stick Williams is a man in full....He hit the big Five-O this year, put three girls through college,
has a window office in the Power Building, with a secretary and a view of the park off Tryon. They even made him chairman of the board of trustees at his alma mater, Chapel Hill....

Black enrollment praised
The News & Observer
Once again, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University have received kudos from the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education for their African-American enrollments. UNC-Chapel Hill topped the journal's list for the highest percentage of black enrollment among highly ranked universities around the nation; Duke was second.

UNC to address Carolina North (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
People in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County have a keen interest in the plans for Carolina North, UNC-Chapel Hill's planned living and learning community one mile north of campus on Airport Road....Tony Waldrop is UNC vice chancellor for research and economic development.
Note: This op-ed column also appeared Sunday in The Chapel Hill Herald but is not available online.

Many wowed by UNC proposal
The News & Observer
The day after they were offered a first glimpse of what Carolina North could look like, people from neighborhoods near the expansive satellite campus site were hungry for details....Where would
the roads go? What kind of businesses will be there? What will the homes look like? How many residents? How many employees?

Carolina North raises concerns
The Chapel Hill News
Several members of the town's Horace Williams Citizens Advisory Committee said late last week that they had hoped the university would recommend less parking at its proposed Carolina North site and that it would permanently preserve some of its Horace Williams property.

Airport closing still up in the air
The Chapel Hill News
The university's plans to develop a satellite research campus on its 963-acre Horace Williams property are predicated on the closure of Horace Williams Airport.

Law unclear on cocaine penalty, court rules
N.C. The Associated Press
The state Supreme Court agreed Thursday to stay a lower court ruling that simple possession of cocaine is a misdemeanor and not a felony....The ruling also applies to other drugs, including
PCP and methamphetamine, said Robert Farb, professor of public law and government at UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute of Government.

Anti-copying campaign treads on rights (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
Theft and allegations of theft have been in the news lately, and it's worth comparing the different ways authorities responded to two such cases....The Recording Industry Association of America slapped UNC with a subpoena that targets a user of the university's computer network the association suspects of illegally sharing nine copyrighted songs over the Internet.

Burn victims, caregivers find healing at reunion
The News & Observer
For 12 years, burn survivors from across the South have gathered here to share emotional stories
of loss and healing....In the past year, though, an unusual number of heartbreaking and
miraculous stories emerged from the 21 beds at the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals.
Related links:
UNC Health Care's news release
News 14 story

Golden Leaf invests $40M
Triangle Business Journal
The nonprofit Golden Leaf Foundation has tapped Chapel Hill-based money manager Smith Breeden Associates in its quest to turn the state's share of the national tobacco settlement into a larger pot of cash...."Smith Breeden has been successful in the past," says Mustafa Gultekin, a finance professor at the Kenan-Flager Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Issues and Trends

Post-9/11 Visa Rules Keep Thousands From Coming to U.S.
The Washington Post
More than two years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a thicket of new rules governing the granting of visas to foreigners is dissuading thousands of people from coming to the United States and generating protests from research universities, medical institutions, multinational corporations and the travel industry.

Out-of-state student cap proposal deepens divisions
N.C. Associated Press
The relationship between University of North Carolina administrators and state House members
has been rocky for years....The historic strain resulted in part from budget fights with a Senate -
led by staunch UNC system patrons Marc Basnight and Tony Rand - that has unwavered in its support of the state's 16 public universities.

UNC system workers protest for better pay
The Charlotte Observer
About 30 university employees carrying signs and chanting "meet with the workers" protested a UNC Board of Governors meeting in Chapel Hill Friday saying they need salaries they can live on, better benefits and improved working conditions.

Committee to study out-of-state cap
The News & Observer
UNC Board of Governors Chairman Brad Wilson on Friday asked the panel's budget and finance committee to study the financial implications of raising the 18 percent cap on out-of-state students in the UNC system. The proposal to lift the cap to 22 percent, which drew intense opposition, was put on hold indefinitely by the board's educational planning, policies and programs committee this week.

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please call Russell Campbell at News Services, (919) 962-2091, russell_campbell@unc.edu, or Mike McFarland in University Communications, mike_mcfarland@unc.edu

Note: Web links on this page are time-sensitive, so stories might not be available after the day they first appeared.