 |
Nov. 29, 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
Should Alito's philosophy be fair game?
The Chicago Tribune
As supporters and opponents of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito prepare for his confirmation hearings early next year, the battle has been joined over whether it's fair game for Democrats to oppose him based on his strongly conservative philosophy alone. ... Some suggested the Bork fight represented a sea change in the Senate's consideration of ideology, but "ideology has mattered throughout most, if not all, of our history," said Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina.
UNC Tip Sheet: http://www.unc.edu/news/newstips/2005/supremetip103105.htmlRegional Coverage
Doctors counseling obese kids a lot more
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A new Children's Hospital study has found more than a three-fold increase in the number of times physicians provided obesity counseling to their young patients. ...According to a recently published study led by Dr. Eliana Perrin, of the University of North Carolina, only about one in 10 pediatricians thought they did an effective job at treating their overweight patients.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun05/perrin4061005.htmThe justice system isn't always just
The Wisconsin State Journal
The audience at the Wisconsin Historical Society auditorium had just finished watching an emotional 95- minute documentary, "After Innocence," that followed the lives of about a dozen men around the country who'd been convicted, then exonerated, for crimes they didn't commit. ...Before the first DNA exoneration in 1989, Americans believed in "the absolute sense of infallibility" in the U.S. criminal justice system, said Rich Rosen, director of the Clinical Law Clinic at the University of North Carolina. The idea that wrongfully convicted felons were languishing in U.S. prisons was rarely considered, he said.
Women On Birth Control Pills Diagnosed With Blood Clots
WTVJ-TV (NBC, Miramar, Fla.)
Sixteen million American women take the pill for birth control, acne, irregular cycles, pre-menopause and more. ..."The risk for clots happens once the woman gets on the pill and is highest within the first year of being on the pill. But, even after, the clot risk continues, so women can clot even if they've been on the pill safely for four or five years," said Dr. Stephan Moll, from the University of North Carolina.
State & Local Coverage
UNC has Rhodes scholar
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A senior at UNC-Chapel Hill has become the fifth student attending college in North Carolina to win a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship this month. Kate Harris, a UNC Morehead Scholar from Georgetown, Ontario, was one of 11 Canadians chosen Saturday from among roughly 300 nominees for a scholarship to study at Oxford University in England.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/harris112705.htmSenior at UNC wins Rhodes Scholarship
The Chapel Hill Herald
A UNC senior who is a marathon runner who wants to travel to space someday is the university's newest Rhodes Scholar. Kate Harris, whose home is in Georgetown, Ontario, was one of 11 Canadian students chosen for the 2006 version of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England.
UNC students linked by erudite feats
The Daily Tar Heel
While Jud Campbell has his future set on conflict in Israel, Kate Harris has her eyes toward the sky. Despite the distinct directions the two plan to take, both seniors have received prestigious scholarships to help them along their way. Harris was one of 11 scholars awarded the 2006 Rhodes Scholarship in Canada and Campbell was one of 43 college seniors chosen for the 2006 Marshall Scholarship.
UNC News Releases: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/harris112705.htm http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/marshall112805.htmUNC gets $1M for professorship
The Chapel Hill Herald
Leonard and Tobee Kaplan of Greensboro have donated $1 million to the UNC to establish a new distinguished professorship in the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies. Their gift will create an endowed chair to help UNC attract a leading teacher and scholar in modern Jewish religious thought. Additional funding from the state's North Carolina Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund brings the Kaplan endowment to $1,334,000.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/nov05/kaplanprofessorship112305.htmUNC football team deserves plaudits (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Isn't it odd that as the Indian Summer retreated, as it got colder and the rain came and the leaves finally fell and it truly felt like dark, foreboding autumn, the local football season ended. Well, maybe it wasn't that odd after all. It was that kind of football season -- unexpected, disjointed, a little bewildering. ...That's essentially what they did all season. Against one of the toughest schedules in the nation, UNC never shirked. They may not have been the most talented of teams, but they were surely among the most stalwart. They deserve much credit for persevering in the face of mighty opponents and lowered expectations.
Money to burn, but unfriendly market says no
The Triangle Business Journal
...The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wanted a gauge of how it's doing - in everything - so it put together a report called "Measures of Excellence." The results, reported at the board of trustees' Nov. 18 meeting, were for the most part good, with a few notable exceptions. Chancellor James Moeser said he's not happy with a graduation rate of 81 percent for entering freshmen after six years. "We need to drive that up," he told the board.
Rex, WakeMed in battle for patients in Wake's suburbs
The Triangle Business Journal
Rex Healthcare is embarking on a multiyear expansion strategy that will take it to the suburbs to challenge WakeMed for Wake County patients. ...Steve Burriss, Rex's vice president of ambulatory care, says the expansion is a do-or-die strategy for the health system, which is owned by Chapel Hill-based UNC Health Care. "Just look around the market, and you'll see that the focus of hospitals is not big monolithic buildings, but locating appropriate services in the communities they serve," he says.
Bounty in the red beds (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
You may never have heard of Vince Schneider, a fossil hunter who worked his way up from volunteer to paleontology curator at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. ...Mr. Schneider sort of stumbled upon them after a pair of UNC Chapel Hill students found remains of what many consider to be the T rex of the Triassic period near Durham. But more remarkable than how he found them is what he's finding. "A lot of the animals he is finding we didn't know were in North Carolina, or we didn't know them at all," Smithsonian Institution official Hans-Dieter Sues told the newspaper.
HIV-positive exec ponders work options
The Charlotte Observer
The Society for Human Resource Management reports that two-thirds of large companies and one in 10 small firms have employees who are HIV positive or have the more serious auto-immune disease, AIDS. ...Third, gain perspective about your work possibilities. According to Dr. David Wohl of the AIDS Clinical Research and Treatment Unit at UNC Chapel Hill, "with today's medicines and technology, persons living with HIV can live 20-30 years and continue to be productive in the workplace."
Triangle Iraqis await justice in Saddam trial
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Scattered from Raleigh to Riyadh, many Iraqis who fled Saddam Hussein's vicious regime will see the former dictator shackled and impotent today. ..."He's a mass murderer, and he destroyed my country," said Maha Alattar, an assistant professor of neurology at UNC-Chapel Hill who fled at age 13 with her family in 1982. "I'd like to see him dead."
Judge faces new charges
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
For the third time in a little more than three years, Wake Superior Court Judge Evelyn W. Hill will answer a complaint before the state judicial ethics board that her conduct on the bench was unprofessional. ..."A single event of willful misconduct can support removal from office," said Jim C. Drennan, a court system expert with the Institute of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill.
To give or not to give?
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
You see him a block away, and you know what's coming. Conflicting emotions surge: fear, pity, sorrow, maybe anger. ...But Jan Boxill, a professor of ethics at UNC-Chapel Hill, said people should give in most instances, even if they're not sure the recipient will use the money for basic needs. "Until we find a better way of handling it, do we just ignore them?" Boxill said. "That's hard for me to do. I can't give to everyone, but it's hard for me to ignore someone who is destitute. We can't ignore that there's a problem and that we as individuals have a duty to charity."
Photodynamic therapy aids esophagus problem (Commentary)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
As many as 2 million adults in the United States have a condition called Barrett's esophagus, which stems from a much more common condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. ...Nicholas J. Shaheen, MD, MPH, is director of the Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing at UNC Hospitals.
Issues & Trends
N.C. employee health plan getting praise for a change
The Associated Press (N.C.)
The state employee health insurance plan - a recent drag on the state coffers and an easy target for disgruntled workers - is getting rare praise for an idea that's hardly new. ...University of North Carolina system president-elect Erskine Bowles recently called the current health plan "atrocious."
N.C. Students First (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
North Carolina's children should get first shot at attending this state's fine universities. With public schools trying to better prepare North Carolinians for college, and the state committed to a higher college-attendance rate, an adequate number of places in the University of North Carolina system must be reserved for in-state students. But legislative action taken this year almost guarantees a drop in the percentage of North Carolinians at the most competitive schools.
Students encouraged to broaden horizons
The Winston-Salem Journal
Seven clocks ticked in rhythm on the office wall, their hands covering seven time zones around the world. ...Betsy Brown, an associate vice president for academic affairs in the University of North Carolina system, worries that federal support won’t last forever. Once it goes away, universities would have to find their own money if they want to maintain a higher number of students going overseas.
Coal plant decision a missed opportunity (Letter to the editor)
The Chapel Hill News
Chapel Hill Town Council missed an opportunity to ask UNC to be a leader in renewable energies. Chapel Hill Town Council approved UNC's $72 million expansion of its power plant to make more electricity. The permit allows UNC to convert the plant to make more electricity from its current coal burning levels. But at the Town Council meeting, Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chancellor for campus services, says UNC is going to burn more coal regardless of the $72 million expansion. They have to power UNC's intense new development.
Town stumped by Wi-Fi
The Daily Tar Heel
They’re all talking about it, but no one seems to know where to go from here in the campaign to bring wireless Internet access to the downtown. The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership met Monday to discuss, among other things, the issue that’s been contended by many different parties.
Related Link: http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-673181.html
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.
Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.