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Nov. 22, 2005
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:International Coverage
Autistics' problem 'reading' faces not related to identifying them: study
CBC News (Canada)
In people with social developmental disorders like autism, the ability to recognize a face may not be related to how well they process facial expression as previously thought, a new study suggests. ...Dr. Aysenil Belger, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found the brain's "face processing" region responded in similar ways in both groups, according to the study presented last at last week's Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting, in Washington.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/autism111505.htmNational Coverage
Small tears in placenta may be relaying HIV to babies
Scripps Howard News Service
Infants may be getting the AIDS-causing virus from their HIV-positive mothers because of small tears in the placenta during birth, a new study suggests. ..."The question has always been, how does the virus get from the mothers to the babies? We have known very little about it," said Dr. Steven Meshnick, a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health and lead investigator for the study.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/mesnick111405.htmAlito's Critics Mine His Record To Expand Attacks Vs. Nominee
Investor's Business Daily
Judge Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination will likely hinge on the issue of abortion, but with more than a month before the battle begins in earnest, Alito's critics are still trying to broaden their assault. ..."Both of those have embedded themselves in the legal system quite significantly," said Bill Marshall, law professor at the University of North Carolina. "It is pretty surprising that twenty years after those cases were decided (Alito) would express such serious reservations about them."
UNC Tip Sheet: http://www.unc.edu/news/newstips/2005/supremetip103105.htmlRegional Coverage
HealthWatch
WMAQ-TV (NBC, Chicago)
Doctors may know why some women infected with the AIDS virus will transmit it to their newborn babies, while others will not. In the past, scientists thought transmission happened in the birth canal. But now, research at the University of North Carolina indicates the transmission of the virus actually happens during labor.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/mesnick111405.htmState & Local Coverage
'I'm staff,' Bowles says
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Erskine Bowles, the next UNC President, said Monday he would be a collaborative, get-it-done leader who wants state campuses to set their own goals. ...Judith Wegner, chairwoman of the UNC faculty, said Bowles' experience in government and business shows. "The sense of, 'Let's identify the nitpicky, wasteful impediments' -- that shows he's lived in Washington," she said.
Related Link: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/13226067.htmBowles bones up on UNC
The Chapel Hill Herald
Erskine Bowles would have been ready if he had had to sit for an exam Monday on "The UNC System 101: Challenges in Educating Our State." He's clearly been burning some midnight oil. Bowles, president-elect of the UNC system, said he's spent several weeks doing his homework on the 16-campus university. He had a plethora of key percentages and dollar figures at his fingertips Monday, from the average debt students in the system have upon graduating (roughly $11,000), to the number of kindergartners in North Carolina who make it all the way through college (about 18 of every 100).
Bowles ends UNC tour at Chapel Hill
News 14
Erskine Bowles, picked last month as incoming president of the University of North Carolina system, wrapped up his tour of the 16 UNC campuses Monday with meetings at his alma mater. ...Paul Fulton, a UNC-Chapel Hill board member who leads a political action committee of school boosters, said it is rare when the viewpoint of alumni are at odds with UNC system.
Campus bowled over
The Daily Tar Heel
Erskine Bowles made his alma mater the last stop on a whirlwind tour of the 16 UNC-system campuses, meeting Monday with University faculty, administrators, trustees and students. ...Trustee Paul Fulton asked Bowles for his interpretation of UNC’s role in the system in light of the summer’s tuition autonomy debate — which pitted supporters of the University against the BOG and system administration.
Related Link: http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/22/4382a2beb1165UNC to allow corporate signs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The University of North Carolina announced plans this morning to allow corporate advertising inside the Dean E. Smith Center and several other UNC athletic facilities, marking the first permanent corporate signage allowed in the basketball arena. ...The agreement will allow the university to maintain and upgrade athletic facilities and to put more money into "medical, academic and outreach support for our student-athletes," North Carolina athletics director Dick Baddour said in a statement released by UNC.
UNC Athletics Release: http://tarheelblue.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/112205aaj.htmlTuition hikes should be predictable (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
As the holiday season arrives, there are many families around the state who can't quite relax yet. In fact, they won't be able let it all hang out until January, when they find out what they will pay in tuition for their UNC students next fall. The UNC Board of Trustees won't decide until then on exactly how much tuition will be raised for the next academic year. The families know the cost will go up -- they just don't know by how much.
The BOT’s betrayal (Editorial)
The Daily Tar Heel
The UNC Board of Trustees discussed the next round of their favorite game Thursday — how to milk more money out of students. Judging from the four proposals for tuition increases that are on the table, undergraduates won’t be alone in feeling the ever-growing squeeze of BOT-approved hikes. In all of the proposals except one, resident graduate tuition would climb faster than their undergraduate counterparts. Only the first plan, Option A — with $300 hikes for graduate and undergraduate residents and $800 for nonresidents — engages in equal-opportunity gouging.
Hike limits frame options
The Daily Tar Heel
In response to a limit on campus-based tuition and fee increases that has left campus leaders considering which hike to reduce, administrators are calling for more collaboration during the process of drafting proposed tuition and fee increases. During its final meeting in October, UNC-Chapel Hill’s tuition advisory task force settled on three proposals that would raise tuition between $250 and $300 for undergraduate residents and $600 to $900 for undergraduate nonresidents.
Off on a good foot (Editorial)
The Daily Tar Heel
It’s heartwarming to see the University and Carrboro town officials play nice. The Board of Trustees approved last week the lease of 1.6 acres of University land to the town of Carrboro so that it could build a new fire substation.
Local men honored for work in N.C.
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Three local residents have won the North Carolina Award, the highest civilian honor the state can bestow. ... Randall Kenan, of Hillsborough, who is a writer and teacher and has spent his life asking questions about race and identity. ...Bland Simpson, of Orange County, who is a musician, writer and teacher. Simpson's career has included performing on Broadway, touring and recording with an old-time string band, playwriting and writing both fiction and nonfiction. Today, he serves as the head of the creative writing program at UNC.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/ncawards111605.htmMom's 'how to' book helps autistic kids
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
When parents of other children with autism heard that Ann Palmer's son, Eric, had entered college, she began getting phone calls and e-mails seeking advice. ...The family took him to therapy sessions and special preschools. Ann and Eric also attended weekly sessions at UNC's Division TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children), where Palmer now runs a program that pairs parents of autistic children with mentors.
Tides carry 'Pearls'
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Like the necklace at the center of Michele Lowe's recent off-Broadway play "String of Pearls," the far-reaching story will inevitably come full circle. It's to Lowe's credit, and to director Trezana Beverley and her gifted cast at PlayMakers Repertory Company, that the play feels so fresh despite its inherent predictability. ...Beverley, a Tony Award-winning New Yorker, has a long history with PlayMakers, the professional company at UNC-Chapel Hill.
The Theory of 'Acting White'
WTVD-TV (ABC, Durham)
You have heard the name-calling before: "Geek," "nerd," "bookworm" or worse. But some say for high-achieving African-American students, there is a special stigma that hits at the heart of their racial identity. ...Dr. William Darity is the director of The Institute of African-American Research at UNC-Chapel Hill. He and Fordham disagree on parts of the theory, but they agree that more teachers need to see beyond the surface of a child speaking or dressing in a certain way.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct05/tyson101105.htmIssues & Trends
Power plant plans OK'd
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A coal-fired power plant operated by UNC-Chapel Hill will be allowed to expand, the Town Council decided Monday night. ...Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chancellor for campus services, argued that it would be environmentally irresponsible not to expand the plant. If the plant can't generate sufficient electricity, UNC would have to get it from Duke Power. "From our perspective, this is a carbon reduction project in itself," Elfland said.
Council OKs plan for UNC plant
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Town Council voted 7-0 to approve UNC's plans for its steam and power plant on Cameron Avenue. The council added conditions to which UNC agreed after a long and sometimes confusing discussion. UNC agreed to work with the town on reducing carbon dioxide emissions on campus and in Chapel Hill. It also agreed specifically to participate in the Cred project, which the town joined earlier this year.
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.
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