October 1, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current International Coverage

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

Regulators: Who is better and why? (Commentary)
The Hindu Business Line (India)
Is telecom performing better than power? A sharper question: Is the telecommunications regulator 
performing better than the electricity regulator? Or is the opposite true?... Going by what experts 
in productivity improvement and performance measurement (David N. Ammons, Professor of Public 
Administration and Government in the University of North Carolina) have to say, "what gets 
measured gets done", there is definitely a need for, and some merit in, looking into the aspect of 
measuring and then projecting the performance and achievement levels...
http://www.blonnet.com/businessline/stories/2002100100250800.htm

Current National Coverage

Cellphone: A Convenience, a Hazard or Both?
The New York Times
When a new technology takes off, it seems to fly with the speed of light. So it is with cellphones, 
now owned by well over half the population and soon to be found in more than 90 percent of 
American households... Distractions abound that can interfere with safe driving. A study supported 
by the Automobile Association of America Foundation and conducted by the University of 
North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center revealed that distractions outside the vehicle, 
like gawking at accidents, other drivers, pedestrians, animals and even road construction were 
the primary distraction culprits in road accidents...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/01/health/01BROD.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.)

Pre-emptive strike on Roe vs. Wade (Commentary)
San Francisco Chronicle
Tommy Thompson sat in a Senate hearing earlier this year and with a straight face and studied 
conviction said the following: "Prenatal services can be a lifelong determinant of health, and we should 
do everything we can to make this care available to all pregnant women." ... "If the objective is for 
poor women to get prenatal care, then you don't need to reclassify the status of the fetus but rather 
reclassify the status of the woman as worthy of health coverage," says Dr. David Grimes, professor 
of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/10/01/ED103934.DTL

'Medicare cliff' deadline arrives 
The Washington Times
Those entering the Potomac Center elder-care facility in Pentagon City during the past few weeks 
were greeted with this bold and foreboding notice taped to the front entrance: "Less than 30 days left. 
On Oct. 1, Congress will slash Medicare funding for skilled nursing care by 10 percent — nearly $2 
billion in 2003 — or $35 per patient per day. Tell Congress to stop the cuts." ... A similar study 
conducted by the University of North Carolina School of Public Health shows that cuts in
funding will lead to cuts in staffing and reduced care.
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20021001-83927192.htm

Cancer's New Enemy
New Architect Magazine
The creators of the National Digital Mammography Archive (NDMA) have lofty goals: to save money 
and to save lives. Funded by a three-year, $6.5 million grant from the National Library of Medicine's 
Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, the NDMA project (http://nscp.physics.upenn.edu/ndma/) lets 
radiologists at four university hospitals retrieve and view mammography images online... The hospitals 
involved—at the University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University 
of Chicago, and University of Toronto—each hope to save as much as $1 million per year by 
bypassing traditional film and development costs. 
http://www.newarchitectmag.com/documents/s=2286/na1002j/index.html

Don't forget dangers that lurk in the home (Editorial)
The Lorain (Ohio) Morning Journal
As you flip through your morning paper most any day you're bound to see the headlines that get us 
wondering if we're safe enough from a new terrorist attack, anthrax or smallpox. Big, high-profile 
worries dominate the nation's news, and the concerns can't be ignored. But, ironically, it looks like 
you're more likely to get seriously hurt, or worse, right there in your own home. Almost 20,000 
Americans die and some 13 million are hurt each year as a result of accidents in the home. The 
economic toll of such injuries is nearly $380 billion a year, according to a recent report from the 
Home Safety Council and The University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center...
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1699&dept_id=46368&newsid=5553465&PAG=461&rfi=9
Note: Additional coverage resulting from a UNC news release 
(http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep02/runyan092602.htm) includes United Press 
International.)

Regional Coverage

Graduated Driver's License Program Begins Tuesday
WVTM-TV (NBC, Birmingham, AL) 
Alabama's new graduated driver's license for teenagers takes effect Tuesday by restricting new 
drivers from hitting the roads after midnight and having their cars packed full of friends... Rob Foss, 
a teen driving specialist with the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, 
said Alabama's law doesn't go far enough, but something is better than nothing. 
http://www.nbc13.com/news/1693917/detail.html

State and Local Coverage

Mobile lab brings high-tech science to West Brunswick
Wilmington Morning Star
The same equipment used by FBI agents to solve murder cases will be available to West Brunswick 
High honor students next week for a special class project. A traveling science laboratory from the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will make a stop at West Brunswick for the first time 
Thursday... The custom-built, 40-foot bus first debuted two years ago after Glaxo Wellcome Inc. 
awarded UNC a five-year, $1.6-million grant to build the bus, equip it and support operations. 
Destiny, as it’s called, stands for Delivering Edge-cutting Science Technology and Internet across 
North Carolina for Years to come... “We really believe we’ve stumbled onto something significant 
here,” said UNC biology professor Walter E. Bollenbacher, the mastermind behind the traveling 
science lab concept. 
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73112446782911&Avis=WM&Dato=20020927&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=209270006&Ref=AR
(Note: For more information about Destiny, please visit 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/apr00/scibus040600.htm)

LOCAL VOICES: 'A nightmare" awaits us if we attack; Reflection is one way to wisdom (Opinion-Editorial Column)
News and Observer
... Blowback is a new term for an age-old problem, the unanticipated consequences of intervention in 
the affairs of other people. The current discovery of this commonplace aspect of international relations 
reflects a lack of historical perspective on the part of the many who see international affairs as a simple
matter of the powerful imposing their will on the weak or of good overcoming evil.
http://www.newsobserver.com/editorials/story/1775032p-1783286c.html
(Note: Michael Hunt is a professor of history at UNC-Chapel Hill. The News and Observer 
published two opinion-editorial columns by local university experts about the conflict over Iraq. 
To view this column, please go to the above url and scroll down the web page.)

Child pedestrian deaths cut by nearly half in '90s
Charlotte Observer
The rate at which children were hit and killed in traffic was cut almost in half during the 1990s as fewer 
kids walked to school and improvements in traffic safety prevented deaths, according to a report 
released today... There may be a risk for children walking to school, but parents should recognize 
there also is a long-term health risk for children who don't, said Mark Fenton, physical activity 
program manager at UNC Chapel Hill's Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/4186427.htm

End of an era: Tree falls at UNC 
The Herald-Sun
The enormous oak tree towered over Polk Place for a century, providing a wide swath of shade to 
generations of Carolina students seeking relief from the sun. Without warning, the mighty post oak fell 
over Sunday afternoon, doing severe damage to two trucks parked nearby. Two workers seated in 
one of the trucks escaped the incident without injury. 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-272305.html

Only Xanthon's technology left
Business Journal
A spinoff of Schaum-burg, Ill.-based Motorola is interested in buying the technology of shuttered 
Xanthon for an estimated $1.2 million to $1.5 million, sources say... But sources close to the deal say
that San Francisco-based Gatx Ventures has foreclosed on Xanthon's assets, which basically consist 
of the licensing rights to a gene-based screening technology developed at the University of North 
Carolina at Chapel Hill. And now the group is ready to sell it. 
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2002/09/30/story4.html

UNC to lead $16.5M initiative
Business Journal
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has chosen the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School 
of Public Health to lead a multi-year, $16.5 million initiative to address how community design and options 
for transportation may impact routine physical activity. Called Active Living by Design, this national 
program is designed to establish innovative approaches to increasing physical activity through community 
design, public policies and communications strategies that can become models for success nationwide. 
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2002/09/30/daily7.html
(Note: This coverage was the result of a UNC news release 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep02/albd093002.htm)

Commissioners to discuss starting water, sewer authority
Charlotte Observer
Union County commissioners will meet Monday to discuss creating a water and sewer authority. An 
independent authority would be a fundamental shift in the way the county's water and sewer systems are 
handled. It would oversee all aspects of water and sewer lines, including where to build them... Water 
and sewer authorities must be completely self-supporting and cannot rely on taxes, said Milton Heath, 
assistant director of the Institute of Government at UNC Chapel Hill. 
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/north_carolina/counties/union/4174161.htm

Health Notes
Charlotte Observer
... Dr. Stephan Moll, director of the thrombosis program at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine's 
Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis, will give a free talk Oct. 8 about blood clots and their risks, 
symptoms and treatments...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/living/health/4179839.htm
(Note: The Charlotte Observer publishes all health notes on the same web page. To view this brief, 
please go to the above url and scroll down the web page.)

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Pro-Israel Web Site Removes 'Dossiers' It Was Keeping on Professors
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A controversial Web site that invited students to share anti-Israel comments made by their professors 
dropped the "dossiers" section it was keeping on individual professors from the site on Monday. But 
the critiques of the professors -- which many of them believe are inaccurate -- remain accessible in other 
portions of the Web site. The Web site, called Campus Watch, is sponsored by the Middle East Forum, 
a pro-Israel research organization.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/10/2002100107n.htm
(Note: Carolina is among the universities currently being monitored by Campus Watch. The 
Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles. A related story was 
featured in The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/27/education/27COLL.html)

House committee endorses parts of Senate incentives 
The Herald-Sun
A House committee on Monday night rejected major portions of a Senate plan to borrow money for two 
building projects and provide some new incentives for business... The Senate plan would lower corporate 
taxes for the initial $30,000 of a company's state income. It also would use money from the national 
tobacco settlement to finance a cancer hospital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and 
biopharmaceutical training center at North Carolina State University...
http://www.herald-sun.com/state/6-272327.html
(Note: A related story appeared in today's News and Observer 
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/story/1779019p-1787128c.html and Winston-Salem Journal 
http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/MGBL3VO9R6D.htm)

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, 
please call Cathleen Keyser or Mike McFarland at News Services, 
(919) 962-2091 or news@unc.edu or mike_mcfarland@unc.edu