November 21, 2003

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

National Coverage

AARP accused of conflict of interest
USA Today
AARP, the nation's leading lobbying force for retirees, has a major conflict of interest
in its backing for a new Medicare prescription drug plan, opponents charge....From its
earliest roots in the 1950s, AARP has been closely tied to the insurance business. It
grew out of a retired teachers group that sought to provide health insurance to its
members. "They have always had this commercial identity," says Jonathan Oberlander, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina who has studied the politics of Medicare.

Vet selling like day-old hotcakes (Columnist Commentary)
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Head games. Wonder if the Flyers medical staff saw the University of North Carolina study this week that said athletes who return too quickly from one concussion are more susceptible to another....Now we all know Eric Lindros was a sissy and wasn't really hurt. Still, it was interesting to read that the researchers found that multiple concussions greatly increased the risk for permanent brain damage.

State and Local Coverage

Out-of-state costs weighed
The News & Observer
UNC-Chapel Hill trustees want to raise tuition again, and this time they want to dig
deeper into the pockets of out-of-state students. The trustees had been scheduled
to consider a plan Thursday for a dramatic increase in tuition and fees for all
undergraduate and graduate students -- including an 11 percent increase in next year's
fees and a $900 total rise in tuition over the next three years.

UNC trustees table higher tuition
The Herald-Sun
UNC trustees tabled a series of tuition increase proposals Thursday, saying they want a plan that would tax out-of-state students more heavily....And UNC Chancellor James Moeser warned trustees to be wary of the affect a sudden out-of-state tuition increase could have on some of the university's scholarship funds.

Fitch gives good rating to UNC-CH
Triangle Business Journal
Fitch Ratings announced Thursday that it has assigned a strong 'AA+' rating to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's approximately $125 million general revenue bonds, series 2003 of The Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina.
Obesity awash in sugar
The News & Observer
While obesity levels have risen in the United States and other developed countries, so too has sugar consumption, primarily in soda pops and fruit juices....Coincidence? Not likely, say researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kennedy remembered 40 years later
The Wilmington Journal
UNC Walter Spearman Journalism Professor Chuck Stone knew Kennedy, having covered him for the Washington Afro-American, a black newspaper. In an exclusive interview with The Journal, Prof. Stone recalls how the young president used to ignore him at White House press conferences, and what he did about it.

Williams supports Baddour
The Charlotte Observer
Just hours before making his debut as North Carolina's basketball coach, Roy Williams said he wouldn't be in Chapel Hill were it not for the way athletics director Dick Baddour handled the negotiations last spring.

UNC is reviewing Baddour's work
The News & Observer
North Carolina chancellor James Moeser said Thursday that he can't think of any reason why the contract for athletics director won't be extended....But he said he won't make a final decision until he receives the final report on Baddour's comprehensive performance review.

House swap stirs debate
The News & Observer
When squeezed between two parking lots, Cam Hill finally found a university land deal that he could go along with. UNC-Chapel Hill plans to take over the five-lot block of West Cameron Avenue where the newly elected Town Council member has made his home for the past two decades. So Hill, a vocal critic of the university, is trading his eclectic bungalow on the western fringes of downtown for a two-story home in a more prominent neighborhood.

Ashes garden to augment cemetery
The News & Observer
There is not enough room in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery for all the Tar Heel born and bred who want to make the hallowed ground their final resting place. So university officials agreed this week to provide another option just beyond the low-slung rock walls surrounding the graves...."We would hope by maybe next year," said Bruce Runberg, the UNC-Chapel Hill associate vice chancellor in charge of the project.

Issues and Trends

Lawmakers Move to Halt Cuts in Aid for College
The New York Times
A change in the government's financial aid formula that would force millions of students to pay more for their college educations will probably be suspended while lawmakers look for other options, Congressional leaders said yesterday.
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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

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