Oct. 5, 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

Lack of initial antibiotics, more deaths
United Press International
U.S. researchers say failure of initial intravenous antibiotic therapy in hospital patients with complicated infections results in more patient deaths. ..."The results of this study are alarming," said Dr. David J. Weber of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Division of Infectious Diseases. "They clearly demonstrate the harmful consequences of not selecting the right antibiotic for patients presenting with these serious infections."

National Coverage

Heart Beat
The Wall Street Journal
The American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association generally are allies when it comes to promoting awareness and prevention of the risks of cardiovascular disease. ..."The metabolic syndrome is a distraction," says John Buse, a diabetes researcher at University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, and a co-author of the report. He and his co-authors argue that the science behind the concept doesn't warrant labeling a quarter of the population with what amounts to a new disease.

Flooded-out doctors find 'a mess' but bounce back
USA Today
Donning boots and a face mask, pediatrician Floyd Buras got inside his medical office building last week for the first time since fleeing Hurricane Katrina. ...Buras is among an estimated 6,000 doctors in Louisiana and Mississippi displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the largest single displacement of physicians in U.S. history, according to University of North Carolina researchers.
UNC News Releases: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/ricketts092605.htm

Americans moving into harm's way
The Chicago Tribune
A scientific debate remains about whether the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts are being pummeled by hurricanes of greater intensity than in the past, but there is no question that more Americans are moving directly into the path of the storms. ... "There's a saying that there are no such things as natural disasters," said David Godschalk, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina who studies disaster mitigation. "They only become disasters when you put people in the wrong places."

Preaching with hip-hop flavor
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The concert was held at Philadelphia's New Covenant Church. ...In fact, this melding of religious and secular music, though seemingly at new heights, now comes in cycles, says Jerma Jackson, associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and author of Singing in My Soul: Black Gospel Music in a Secular Age.

Mayberry Ph.D.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
At the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, researchers have long browsed manuscripts about the Civil War and Reconstruction. Now they can check out a Martin D-18 guitar signed by the television star Andy Griffith. In September, Mr. Griffith gave the university many collectibles, including personal and professional letters and annotated scripts of his television shows, The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock.
Note: Subscription required.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/griffith090905.htm

Edwards still taking aim at poverty
The Associated Press (National)
John Edwards still is talking like someone running for president, and for him, that means talking about poverty in America. ...He's the director of the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina law school and has crisscrossed the country to speak on the topic. This month alone, he plans to visit 10 universities to encourage young people to do more to eliminate poverty.

Collegians Pool Their Ideas in New Think Tank
The Los Angeles Times
On the agenda for discussion: alternatives to drilling for oil, AIDS prevention in South Africa, improving access to health insurance for children. ...The initiative is being coordinated by Alicia Raia, 20, a journalism major at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. According to Raia, students will formulate research projects and policy proposals in coordination with field experts and other Roosevelt Institution chapters around the country.

Car-less car pools for your kids (Commentary)
The Miami Herald
I have fond memories of walking to Pennell Elementary School through thick piles of autumn leaves in Philadelphia. ...A walking school bus works just like a car pool, and consists of ''a group of children walking to school with one or more adults,'' according to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, one of several organizations that promotes walking school bus programs in the United States.

Cobey to build $10M plant in city
MSNBC
The Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park, the city's newest industrial park, is about to land its second anchor tenant. ...Cobey markets its pump systems worldwide. Among the company's clients are the University of North Carolina, where the pumps were used as part of the institution's hydraulic power system, and the Avista Power Longview Project in Seattle, where its pumps were used in the water injection skids.

Regional Coverage

‘Anti-science’ label may repel scientists
The Kansas City Star
Ben Holt is an up-and-coming biologist looking for a job, but he is wary of Kansas. ...“They want to bring things like intelligent design into classes and downplay the fact of evolution,” said Holt, a postdoctoral researcher specializing in plant genetics at the University of North Carolina. “I find it incredibly troubling.”

Todd to push for more state money for UK
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky)
University of Kentucky President Lee Todd is promising an aggressive push for more funding from the General Assembly next year. His wish list includes construction projects and other priorities aimed at boosting the school's prominence. ...Still, Todd said, UK needs a commitment from lawmakers to approve the necessary upgrades so the university can compete with other fast-growing institutions, including the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina.

IBM Research marks the big 6-0
The Journal News (White Plains, NY)
What do the hard disk drive, a supercomputer smart enough to beat a world chess champ and the excimer laser surgery technique that's fixed myopia in millions have in common? All were invented in the research labs of IBM Corp. ...Frederick P. Brooks Jr., a professor of computer science at the University of North Carolina, said the challenge for IBM and other corporate research labs is twofold: "How to fund and maintain a basic research program in hard economic times, and how to get great ideas to transfer effectively to the product divisions," he said.

Bring a gun to work? What's the NRA thinking?
The Florida Sun-Sentinel
One summer day two years ago, a jealous husband with a semiautomatic handgun walked into a plant nursery west of Boynton Beach. ...In North Carolina, a recent survey found, companies that permit guns to be brought to work saw a risk of homicide five times greater than companies that ban them. "The findings suggest that policies allowing guns in the workplace might increase workers' risk of homicide," states the University of North Carolina study.

Baseline test can ease the blow of injury
The Myrtle Beach Sun News
For a week, sleeping was about all Megan Dion could do. ...But she was lucky in one sense. At that time, Mauldin High was participating in a research program sponsored by the University of North Carolina.

State & Local Coverage

Experts gain greater understanding of cystic fibrosis
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Kathy Jenkins laughs when she describes herself as a "CF guinea pig." ...UNC pulmonary and critical care specialists Michael Knowles and James Yankaskas were among the authors of the study, which involved volunteer participation from more than 1,300 CF patients at more than 50 sites in the United States and Canada, including the internationally renowned CF Center at UNC.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct05/knowles7100305.htm

Southern Fried Potato Kugel
"The State of Things," WUNC-FM
Marcie Cohen Ferris, associate director of the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, and assistant professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Vice President of the Southern Foodways Alliance was featured on today's (Oct. 10) edition of "The State of Things," to discuss her new book, "Matzoh Ball Gumbo, Culinary Tales of the Jewish South" (UNC Press/2005.) The State of Things resident foodie Kelly Alexander joined the conversation which explored the nexus of southern and Jewish food from brisket to sister Sadie's honeycake. The program aired live at noon and will rebroadcast at 9 p.m.

Edwards: Katrina relief 'our shame'
The Associated Press (N.C.)
Too many victims of Hurricane Katrina aren't getting the help they need, John Edwards, a former Democratic candidate for vice president, said. ...Edwards, who heads the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina, said at his news conference that the federal government should start a jobs program for displaced residents of New Orleans to rebuild their city. He did not refer to the cost.

UNC graduation speaker named
The Chapel Hill Herald
A university researcher who has recently made international headlines will speak to graduating students at UNC's December commencement ceremony. Etta Pisano, director of UNC's Biomedical Research Imaging Center and Kenan professor of radiology and biomedical engineering, will speak at the ceremony, which will be at 2 p.m. Dec. 18 in the Smith Center.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/commencement092805.htm

Institute grants UNC school $1M
The Chapel Hill Herald
The UNC School of Information and Library Science has been awarded two federal grants totaling more than $1 million from the national Institute of Museum and Library Services. The first UNC grant, of $804,344, will fund the study "Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science," a three-year project by the school and the UNC Institute on Aging. Researchers will study the career patterns of library and information science graduates, investigating the educational, career, workplace and retention issues they face.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/IMLS092805.htm

Alcoa donates artifacts to UNC
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Alcoa company is donating more than 1.3 million artifacts to UNC's Research Laboratories of Archaeology from the 10,000-year-old Hardaway archaeological site near Badin in Stanly County. The Alcoa Foundation is awarding UNC a $220,000 grant for outreach programs to educate school children and the public about the artifacts and the site, a National Historic Landmark. The two gifts are valued at around $353,000.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct05/alcoa100305.htm

Memorial Hall spending was in line (Opinion-editorial column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
This is one of the most exciting times in the modern history of UNC and our community. It has been my pleasure to have played a role in the fundraising campaign that transformed Memorial Hall into a completely new performing arts facility and kept and enhanced the historic character of the old building. As a result, I am intimately acquainted with Chancellor Moeser's initiative to seize the momentum of the successful campaign. UNC has now dramatically expanded its program of outreach, cultural enrichment and arts education embodied into the new Carolina Performing Arts Series.
Note: There is no link available.

Briggaman receives achievement award
The Chapel Hill News
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce honored "professional volunteer" Irene Briggaman Thursday night with a lifetime achievement award for volunteerism at its annual community service awards ceremony. ...Linda Convissor, UNC's director of local relations, received the Town and Gown Award for fostering a positive relationship between the town and university. Convissor attends all Town Council meetings and works closely with at least seven neighborhood groups. UNC Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall received the Community Enhancement Award for outstanding contribution through redevelopment, beautification or an improved image. The hall recently re-opened after a three-year, $18-million renovation.
Note: Lt. Lori Ann Palazzo of the UNC Department of Public Safety was awarded the "Officer of the Year" award.

Honorable Mentions
The Chapel Hill Herald
http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-654666.html

• Philosophy scholar C.D.C. "David" Reeve has been named the Delta Kappa Epsilon Distinguished Professor, the first professorship at UNC Chapel Hill to be funded by a Greek organization.
  UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct05/DKEprof100605.htms
• The American Academy of Arts and Sciences will officially induct today UNC chemistry professor Joe DeSimone and UNC microbiology and immunology professor Jack D. Griffith as members of its 225th class of fellows. The 196 fellows are leaders in scholarship, business, the arts and public affairs. Founded in 1780, the academy is an independent research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems, with headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.
• Ashley Osment is new senior attorney at the UNC Center for Civil Rights. Torrey Dixon is the center's new fellow.

For autistic child, Happy may be months away
The Associated Press (N.C.)
Molly is waiting for "Happy." It's the name Dale and Susan Williamson want to give to a yet-to-be trained service dog that will eventually help their 3 1/2-year-old daughter cope with the world and her moderate level of autism. ...Molly was officially diagnosed with "early onset autism" about six months ago at the TEACCH Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Donors reflect session issues
The Greensboro News & Record
The list of 2004 campaign donors to Guilford County legislators includes groups and individuals that were involved in some of the biggest controversies before the General Assembly during this year’s session. No one legislator could claim financial support from every cause. But groups ranging from tobacco companies who did not want to see a cigarette tax increase to a group advocating more financial freedom forUNC-Chapel Hill show up on campaign finance documents filed by local legislators.

NCMA's 'Crosscurrents' runs in many directions
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
For the first time in six years, the N.C. Museum of Art has produced a show of contemporary art exclusively from this state. But the uneven "Crosscurrents," which runs through Jan. 8, includes few standouts in a body of work by two dozen artists. ...Of the political work, the most nuanced is elin o'Hara slavick's series of drawings of places the United States has bombed. The UNC-Chapel Hill art professor layered maps and grid lines with what seem to be stains and splotches of bold colors that nearly obscure the underlying geography. I

Issues & Trends

Town set to bump up parking fines
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
The town is set to significantly sharpen the bite of its fine for drivers who park illegally in handicapped spaces. ... "We missed a step," said Kay Johnson, the town's finance director. The main goal with increasing some of the fines is to put them more in line with those charged by UNC on campus. At UNC, the fine for a handicapped-space violation is $250, according to a report Johnson made to the council this spring.
Related Link: http://www.newsobserver.com/print/monday/city_state/story/2814089p-9259829c.html

Bolin Creek fans on roll
The Chapel Hill Herald
Advocates for more land conservation along the Bolin Creek corridor have been on a roll lately. ...A significant chunk of it is part of the Carolina North property owned by UNC, and Otto's group is among those hoping the university will agree to significant protections for that stretch of the creek.

Is N.C. gambling by shifting biotech focus?
The Charlotte Business Journal
Lost in the thunderous rhetoric over David Murdock's proposed 21st-century "biopolis" in a recession-ravaged mill town is the fact that North Carolina taxpayers will be asked to make their largest-ever commitment to an economic development project. ...The first phase of the project calls for construction of a 330,000-square-foot "core building," and that is where the collaboration with the UNC System comes in. N.C. State employees would occupy 50,000 square feet of lab space and a 100,000-square-foot greenhouse. Another 120,000 square feet would be lab and office space for UNC Chapel Hill to use as a research center to test the nutritional advantages of products N.C. State scientists develop in partnership with Dole.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep05/uncnutritioninstitute091205.htm

Rocky Mount prep school offers college admissions advice
Rocky Mount Telegram
It's been seven years since Brenda Wadsworth had to deal with college admissions, and she said she thought she was up to speed. ... Although Sue Clapper, a college admissions officer from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, agreed with Hairston, she said college admission is a family responsibility. "Mom and Dad have a role," she said. "And that role is to support their children academically and understand how important an education is."

Outgoing president deserves thanks (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
With all the hullabaloo over the recent coronation of Erskine Bowles as the next president of the University of North Carolina system, it was pretty easy to forget about the current president of the UNC system, Molly Broad. With all the emphasis put on Bowles' deep roots in the state and his widespread connections, it was pretty easy to forget how Molly Broad came here without those deep roots and connections -- and succeeded nevertheless.

Bowles to Lead U. of North Carolina System
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Erskine B. Bowles, a North Carolina businessman and former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, has been named the next president of the University of North Carolina system.
Note: Subscription required.

Inexcusable! (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
When the University of North Carolina system Board of Governors' presidential search committee resorted to a ruse to keep the public from finding out when -- and with whom -- it was meeting, it violated both the spirit and the letter of the state Open Meetings Law. That the board wanted to conceal its deliberations from the public was bad enough. That it broke the law to do so is inexcusable.
Related Link: http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20051008/EDITORIAL/51008013&SearchID=73222952693767

Rejected, writer goes Splat!
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Mike Massey doesn't think too highly of the guys at N.C. State University who seem obsessed with their pickup trucks, so he made a little fun of them recently in a column he offered to the school newspaper. ...For entirely different reasons, The Daily Tar Heel at UNC-Chapel Hill found itself playing a similar role last month, when one of its columnists made national news with a searing piece that suggested anyone of Arab descent be strip-searched before boarding an airplane.

Cause of blaze still a mystery
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Fire investigators by Saturday had wrapped up their investigation inside the charred duplex where two N.C. State University students died but said they still had not found the cause of the blaze. ...He also advised students to take out the trash before going to sleep, because still-burning cigarettes can start fires there. That is thought to have been the cause of a 1996 UNC-Chapel Hill fraternity house fire that killed five people.

Top issues include neighborhood protection, parking (Opinion-editorial column)
The Chapel Hill News
I am seeking a seat on the Chapel Hill Town Council. I live in Northwoods with my husband, James, who is a lawyer, and my two little girls, Emily and Haley, who are students at Seawell Elementary School. ...New development in Chapel Hill needs to adequately protect neighborhoods. UNC's development, Carolina North, needs more community input that makes a difference in the plan. We need to discourage the emphasis on the automobile as the primary mode of transit, and we need to work with UNC to explore the possibilities in permanently preserving large tracts of this land. What is good for the state, however, must also be good for our town.

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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