October 3, 2002

Carolina in the News

Current National Coverage

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

Va. College to Eliminate 'Early Decision' Program 
The Washington Post 
Mary Washington College announced yesterday it will drop its "early decision" admissions option next year in 
response to growing complaints that such programs add unnecessary stress to the increasingly intense process 
of applying to colleges... Mary Washington's move highlights a nascent backlash against early decision 
admissions. Both the University of North Carolina and Beloit College in Wisconsin announced this year they
would shelve their early decision plans, while Yale University President Richard C. Levin stirred debate with 
his suggestion that all Ivy League colleges jointly agree to drop it...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35679-2002Oct2.html

One Son Offered Fighting Chance
The Los Angeles Times
John and Alicia Bennett learned Wednesday that only one of their two sons—both ill with a rare genetic disease
—is a good candidate for an experimental transplant that could save his life... On Tuesday, a team of doctors, 
psychologists, physical therapists, social workers, speech and hearing experts at the University of North 
Carolina examined Tommy and Hunter in the final stage of determining their eligibility for transplants. Dr. Maria 
Luisa Escolar, a developmental pediatrician at UNC's Center for the Study of Development and Learning, 
said doctors should assist families in deciding about transplants, but not make the decision for them...
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-kids3oct03.story
(Note: The Los Angeles Times requires free registration to access articles. UNC medical center public 
affairs helped arrange this interview; additional coverage is expected on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes II," 
which had a crew in Chapel Hill earlier this week.)

Study Doubts Breast Self-Exams Cut Deaths
The New York Times
A large study in China on breast self-examination found no evidence that it prevented deaths from breast cancer... 
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Russell Harris and Dr. Linda S. Kinsinger of the University of North Carolina 
say that the study should spur doctors to change their advice to women...
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/03/health/03EXAM.html
(Note: The New York Times requires free registration to access articles.. Other coverage known to date
 includes The London Evening Standard (UK), The San Diego Union Tribune, Riverside (Calif.) 
he Lexington (Kent.) Herald Leader, Aberdeen (SD) American News, and the Charlotte Observer. 
WNCN-TV, (NBC, Raleigh) aired two live interviews with Kinsinger and Harris regarding this story. 
Kinsinger was interviewed live during the evening newscast between 6:30 p.m. and 7 and both Kinsinger 
and Harris were interviewed live during the morning newscast between 6:30 a.m. and 7. )

Birth Control's New Buzz
The Wall Street Journal
It may be a young woman's idea of the ultimate elixir: a pill that will keep you from getting pregnant, and help 
you lose weight at the same time... Meanwhile, some medical journals recently have raised red flags about the 
pill... Those kinds of reports prompted the student pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel 
Hill, not to stock Yasmin. The research, says Mary Schlegel, director of women's health, "makes me a little 
wary and makes the head of our pharmacy wary enough" that the university decided not to offer it -- despite 
the "buzz."
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033582956246785233,00.html?mod=health%5Fhs%5Fpharmaceuticals%5Fbiotech
(Note: The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription to access articles..)

Head Start study bars some pupils
The Toledo (Ohio) Blade
More than 2,000 eligible children nationwide - including 20 from the Toledo area - are being denied access to 
the federally funded Head Start program because a consultant studying the program’s effectiveness wants to see 
how they fare... "I have no problem with randomization in this situation given that Head Start is not funded to 
serve all the eligible kids," said Donna Bryant, research director of the Family and Child Care Research 
Program at University of North Carolina.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021003&Category=NEWS04&ArtNo=110030069&Ref=AR

State and Local Coverage

Kenan-Flagler dean to leave
Business Journal
Robert S. Sullivan, dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel 
Hill, has been appointed founding dean of the new Graduate Management School at the University of California 
at San Diego. 
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2002/09/30/daily38.html
(Note: For more information, please go to 
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct02/moeser_statement100302.htm

N.C. oyster crop decimated
Charlotte Observer
North Carolina's oyster crop will take decades and hundreds of millions of dollars to restore because coastal 
waters need cleaning, according to a report released Wednesday... Charles "Pete" Peterson, a researcher at the 
University of North Carolina's Institute of Marine Sciences, proposed a plan similar to an effort to restore 
oysters...
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/4201139.htm

Push for lending reform 
News and Observer
U.S. Reps. David Price of Chapel Hill and Mel Watt of Charlotte, both Democrats, will attend a Washington 
news conference today to push for legislation curbing payday lending. Consumer advocates from the Community 
Reinvestment Coalition North Carolina, North Carolina Fair Housing and a payday loan customer critical of the 
industry will be there, too... Mo Rocca, a correspondent for Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon 
Stewart" was in North Carolina last week doing interviews on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's 
Quran controversy. Rocca interviewed lawmakers in Raleigh and journeyed to Chapel Hill to talk to students 
and a professor. 
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1782656p-1790406c.html

UNC staff group marks 10th anniversary 
The Herald-Sun
Until about a decade ago, staff at UNC didn’t bother trying to become part of the university’s decision-making 
process. Heck, they didn’t even know how to get involved. "When we started in 1992, we couldn’t even get a 
list of committee members," said Linwood Futrelle, a charter member of UNC’s Employee Forum, which 
celebrated its 10th birthday Wednesday. "We fought like hell to get lists and memberships of university 
committees." 
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-273057.html

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

College Presidents Circulate a Statement Decrying Threats Against Jewish Students
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A number of college and university presidents are circulating a statement calling for "intimidation-free campuses," 
but at least one president has withdrawn his support -- and others are holding back -- because the statement 
focuses exclusively on threats against Jewish students...
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/10/2002100301n.htm
(Note: The Chronicle of Higher Education requires a subscription to access articles.)

State House resisting incentives 
News and Observer
A standoff Wednesday over incentives to recruit industry complicated the General Assembly's plans to wrap up 
a "short session" now in its sixth month... The Senate dropped an earlier proposal to issue $175 million of 
special obligation bonds, financed by $25 million in tobacco settlement payments, to build a biopharmaceutical 
training center at N.C. State University and a cancer research center at UNC Hospitals. The House objected to 
those projects. But the new Senate version would direct the governor to give $6 million to the University of 
North Carolina Board of Governors for planning and design of a biopharmaceutical facility and a cancer 
research center...
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1782633p-1790415c.html

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