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Nov. 7, 2005
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:National Coverage
Coalition marks 25 years of action
The Chicago Tribune
The crossed arms and downcast looks when Dollie Brewer enters the homeless shelter say: You don't know what I'm going through. ... This weekend, the coalition marked its quarter-century anniversary with an event Sunday that featured former U.S. senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards, who now heads up the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina.
State & Local Coverage
UNC slaves honored for their work
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It isn't often that Rebecca Clark, 90, finds herself in tears. But Saturday, sitting on UNC-Chapel Hill's McCorkle Place --her back to Old East, the dorm where she worked as a maid, her face to the Confederate memorial known as Silent Sam -- Clark began to cry. There, in the sun-streaked shade of the most revered quad at the nation's oldest public university, the UNC-CH Class of 2002 dedicated its class gift.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/unsung110205.htmArt depicts Unsung Founders
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC law student Elizabeth Hartnett sat down at a new table on McCorkle Place Friday, sipped a soda and pondered an inglorious piece of the university's history. ... Archie Ervin, UNC's associate provost for diversity and multicultural affairs, expects the new memorial will draw attention to a part of the university's history that hasn't been adequately addressed. "It depicts how something that is marvelous and bright and shiny was built by people who never got any credit for it," Ervin said. "We don't tend to include them in our history."
Note: No link available. For a faxed copy, email Michelle at mgreene@dev.unc.edu.Memorial welcome addition to campus (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Silent Sam now has company, both literally and figuratively. The McCorkle Place statue that, to some, has represented and reflected that university's "whites-only" origins, has been joined by a sculpture that reminds us the whites were not alone. ...A gift of the class of 2002, the "Unsung Founders Memorial" pays specific tribute to those who literally helped build the university -- and whose contributions have long gone unrecognized. A round, stone table, it is supported by 300 bronze figurines. The figurines, their arms upraised, their bodies solidly planted, are a depiction of the black workers, the slaves and the free men and women, who did so much of the unrecognized dirty work during the university's formative years.
UNC joins telescope research
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill is a partner in the largest diameter telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, and university officials will attend the instrument's coming dedication in Sutherland, South Africa. ..."With our remote observing center here on campus, our undergraduate and graduate students, as well as the faculty, will be able to carry out their work without an excessive travel burden," said Dr. Bruce Carney, senior associate dean for the sciences and Samuel Baron professor of astronomy.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/salt110305.htmState, local officials take steps for possible flu pandemic
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
-- State and local officials say North Carolina has never been more prepared to handle a flu pandemic, including the strain of avian flu that experts fear may make a massive jump from birds to people. ...David Weber, an epidemiology professor at the UNC School of Public Health, said the hospital has systems in place to separate infected people from other patients.Public to aid scholars, athletes
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
State taxpayers will pick up part of the tab for hundreds of out-of-state scholarship students and athletes at University of North Carolina campuses. ...The law will certainly make the university more competitive, said Jerry Lucido, UNC's vice provost for enrollment policy and management. According to UNC's fall 2004 enrollment report, the average SAT score for in-state freshmen was 1275, compared to 1340 for out-of-state freshmen.
Related Link: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/13091399.htmPicnic boosts soldiers, families
The Asheville Citizen-Times
Not knowing what to do about a snake that had made its way into her home, Tammy Heath said she had a “total meltdown.” ...The CSSP is a community-based initiative started at UNC Chapel Hill to provide support for National Guard and Reserve soldiers and their loved ones.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2005/CSSPAshevillefamilyday110305.htmMission: To become a soldier
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In a corner of UNC's Woollen Gym a few minutes past 6 a.m., while a fat October moon shines on Franklin Street and most of the campus sleeps, senior Julia Buckner is getting a leg up. Right leg first, then left, Buckner wraps herself around a length of rope dangling 20 feet from the gym ceiling. A sign on the wall warns, "FOR ROTC USE ONLY."Keeping tabs on cogeneration plant
The Chapel Hill Herald
The university’s upgrade of its cogeneration facility, which has a special-use permit pending with the Chapel Hill Town Council, is critical to meeting campus electrical energy needs and maintaining exemplary environmentally friendly practices that benefit local citizens. Our cogeneration plant off Cameron Avenue is one of UNC’s great operational success stories. Carolyn Elfland is associate vice chancellor for campus services at UNC.
Note: This column is not currently posted online. For a copy, email Michelle Greene at mgreene@dev.unc.edu.Students learn roots through music
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Many students in Jocelyn Neal's music course say they leave each day at least "a little bit country" in a college world where rock-and-roll, hip-pop and rap typically rule. Some might have signed up for the history of country music class at UNC-Chapel Hill thinking it was a "slide" and that all they would do was sit around and listen to Top 40 with a twang.
PlayMakers salute David Hammond
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Each year at the gala PlayMakers Ball, a theater world eminence is honored for lifetime achievement. The impressive list of award winners includes Rosemary Harris, Eva Marie Saint, Hume Cronyn and regional theater pioneer Zelda Fichandler. This year's honoree was found in the ranks of PlayMakers Repertory Company, the professional acting arm of the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Dramatic Art. David Hammond, the company's artistic director, was recognized at last weekend's event.
UNC helps match roomies
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
What if you hate your roommate? Every year, college students struggle with what's known delicately as "roommate conflict." Amazingly enough, UNC-Chapel Hill receives only 30 to 50 requests for roommate changes each year, said Rick Bradley, assistant director of housing. That's impressive when you consider that about 7,300 students live in dorms on campus.
Lack of curiosity is curious
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Over dinner a few weeks ago, the novelist Lawrence Naumoff told a troubling story. He asked students in his introduction to creative writing course at UNC-Chapel Hill if they had read Jack Kerouac. ...The floodgates were opened and the other UNC professors at the dinner began sharing their own dispiriting stories about the troubling state of curiosity on campus. Their experiences echoed the complaints voiced by many of my book reviewers who teach at some of the nation's best schools.
Public pre-K push swells in Carolinas
The Charlotte Observer
Public pre-kindergarten programs in the Carolinas can't expand fast enough for parents. ..."Finding a problem late is harder than trying to help kids before a problem becomes so severe," said Richard Clifford, senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute at UNC Chapel Hill. "Our efforts at remediation have not been all that successful in this country."
Tower may point way of city's growth
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When it is built, Raleigh's tallest building will offer a sky-high view of Crabtree Valley Mall's rooftops and possibly a view of its skyscraping downtown cousins. ..."I was surprised by it, because a lot of the new stuff coming out from downtown has been low-rise, nothing this dramatic," said David Godschalk, a professor of city and regional planning at UNC-Chapel Hill. "I don't think there's going to be a rash of these kinds of buildings. They're so specialized, and it's certainly not in the character of Raleigh."
Boyfriend charged after woman is shot, baby dies
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A Sanford man is charged with killing a daughter he never met. ...A baby born that prematurely is already at risk. There is about a 7 percent mortality rate, even if the mother and baby are healthy, said Desmond Runyan, professor and chairman of social medicine at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
On the cutting edge
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
He tries hard, but 10-year-old black revolutionary Huey Freeman can't seem to rile wealthy white guests at a suburban Woodcrest garden party. They think he's just adorable. And so well-spoken! ...Chuck Stone, retired professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism, chuckles at the scene from a preview copy of "The Boondocks," the TV adaptation of Aaron McGruder's comic strip. He's heard the mark-of-the-beast crack about Reagan many times before.
Groups hope new homes help boost neighborhood
The Chapel Hill Herald
Sure, the house itself is nice, and it'll be terrific to move out of the cramped apartment her family shares. ...The Shahs gathered with several dozen other folks Sunday afternoon at their future home to celebrate this new initiative, which is harnessing the combined resources of three local organizations, along with support and advice from UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, to revitalize a neighborhood that has seen better times.
Finding school volunteers takes full-time work
The Chapel Hill Herald
They sit in the school hallways, patiently helping young children work their way through picture books. They help non-English speaking children through class, and discuss writing one-on-one with students. ... Other volunteers choose an established program, such as School Reading Partners. After training, the volunteers meet one-on-one with students to help them read. Others -- especially UNC journalism students -- choose Coach Write!, a program in which they meet with students about their writing.
Who's minding the kids? (Opinion column)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
When we bump into each other at Kroger or Wal-Mart, remind me to see to it that I'm doing you the favor of properly parenting my child. Because if I don't raise her, this awful culture will, and she'll end up like some of those alcoholic students at Duke, or the sexually confused ones at UNC.
Probe backs UNC's refusal
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Federal regulators say UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill did not violate emergency-care laws in March when it declined to treat a Bladen County boy with a partially severed finger. ..."It was a complicated situation, but we were told that we had followed the ... guidelines," said Karen McCall, UNC Hospitals' vice president for public affairs.
Issues & Trends
For the public good
The Charlotte Observer
This week the governing board for North Carolina's state universities will consider raising tuition next year as much as 10 percent at most campuses. That follows a one-year tuition freeze, preceded by five years of steep hikes. For the sake of cash-starved campuses, particularly the research universities, the UNC Board of Governors should cautiously take that step. Costs for higher education have increased sharply, and funding from the state legislature hasn't kept up.
Admissions crunch extends
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
At least twice a day come January, admission officers from N.C. State University will be on the phone with parents, explaining why their children won't be going to State. ...The average SAT score of 1,186 for incoming State freshmen is about 100 points above the UNC system average. NCSU still runs about 100 points behind the average at UNC-Chapel Hill, where leaders are also sensitive to suggestions that their success nationally has come at the expense of some North Carolina students they used to welcome.
Carolina North a sure issue
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It's very likely the candidates elected Tuesday will be asked to approve Carolina North, the controversial UNC-Chapel Hill research campus. University leaders hope to have the 1,000-acre tract rezoned and the first phase built within five years. The plan now calls for about 8 million square feet of office and research space, and 1,800 residential units. Many worry it will change the character of the college town irreversibly.Hopefuls address town economy
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
By most accounts, Chapel Hill's economy is doing fine. Six of Orange County's 10 largest employers are public entities. This offers a degree of stability to the economy, and UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC Hospitals pay well. The median family income is about $87,000.
University, college leaders back bonds
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
In 1831, French aristocat Alexis de Tocqueville came to United States to study the American system of democracy. He was taken by the way the citizens of this young country took an acitve role in community affairs and was fascinated that American citizens recognized that their personal interests were tied to the interests of the community. He marveled at the associations communities created to exert political power around common goals.
Note: No link available. For a faxed copy, email Michelle at mgreene@dev.unc.edu.
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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