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Oct. 28, 2005Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:National Note
Dr. David Weber, a professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and of medicine and pediatrics in the School of Medicine, will be featured tonight (Oct. 28) on NBC Nightly News discussing Tamiflu. Dr. Weber, an expert on international health topics and infectious diseases, is director of the departments of hospital epidemiology and occupational health at UNC Hospitals. The piece slated to air tonight was reported by NBC News health correspondent Helen Chickering and shot at UNC Hospitals. NBC Nightly News airs in the Triangle from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on NBC 17.
National Coverage
AARP Wants You (to Buy Its Line of Products)
The New York Times
For a 47-year-old advocacy group, AARP is acting a lot like a for-profit corporation these days. ...According to John D. Kasarda, professor of entrepreneurship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina, the boomers represent about $1.7 trillion in buying power. "Of course companies will chase this market," he said.
Philip Morris eyes drug delivery biz
CNN.com
A failed attempt by Philip Morris to create a safer cigarette has resulted in a device that may help the company get into the pharmaceutical business, according to a report published Thursday. ..."People are going to ask whether this device is an attempt by Philip Morris to undo all the damage the company did to the public health, " James F. Donohue, chief of the division of pulmonary and critical care at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, told the paper.
Regional Coverage
'Da Vinci Code' garbled, says author
The Birmingham News
Readers of Dan Brown's book, "The Da Vinci Code" - and there are millions of them -are led to believe that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus and that Emperor Constantine decided the books of the Bible. ... "It's a great page-turner," said Bart Ehrman, author of "Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine." Ehrman, a professor of religion at the University of North Carolina, said he understands the novel's popularity, but wishes it didn't mangle history.
Silence Not The Best Way To Encourage Diversity
The Harrisonburg Daily News Record (Va.)
The guest list for my 13th birthday party included Susan Dranitzke, Jeannie Ferrante, Norma Rodriguez and Barbara Valenta – a Jew, a third-generation Italian, a Puerto Rican and a third-generation Czech. ...Unlike my friends in the 1960s, today’s teens know better than to talk about their faith. According to the recent National Study of Youth and Religion, which looked at the religious and spiritual lives of contemporary American teenagers, faith and religious practice is very important to this age group, says Christian Smith, the sociology professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who oversaw the study. But when it comes to being particular about what they believe, the teens get fuzzy, Smith told Myers in his interview.
State & Local Coverage
Giving startups a leg up
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Tony Waldrop, UNC-Chapel Hill's vice chancellor for research and development, wanted a business incubator yesterday. But he thinks he'll have it by 2008. ...UNC is moving forward with plans for an incubator on a 13-acre site across from the planned Carolina North research campus. Though there's no money set aside for the building, the university's board of trustees has approved the site, which is south of Estes Drive. Waldrop wants the incubator up before the rest of Carolina North is completed. "Carolina's long needed this," Waldrop said. "Yesterday would not be soon enough."
Panel to steer new campus
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill will form a community and university steering committee for planning the Carolina North research campus, Chancellor James Moeser told local business and community leaders Thursday. Moeser said he wants the chairman to come from outside the university and wants the group to examine issues such as transportation and housing for the estimated 6,000 people expected to live on the future research park north of the main campus.
Racial queries lead event
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Willie Dixon favors a knit shirt and well-fitting trousers to throw-back jerseys and sagging jeans. He's an honor roll student who plays tailback with the Cardinal Gibbons High School football team, takes four honors classes, writes for the school newspaper and wants to study economics in college. ..."Given the importance and persistence of the achievement gap, I thought it was really good to address this particular issue because so many people subscribe to it," said William Darity, director of the Institute of African-American Research at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Miers' exit, stage right
The Greensboro News & Record
In the case of his failed Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers, President Bush dared value personal loyalty over the loyalty of his own party. He ignored the snarling elephant in the room. ...The president could make a hard right turn in his next choice, such as Patricia Owen or Janice Rogers Brown, constitutional law professor Michael Gerhardt of UNC-Chapel Hill said Thursday. "But can he afford a protracted battle?"
UNC Tip Sheet: http://www.unc.edu/news/newstips/2005/nomination102705.htmNominees may face law litmus test after Miers incident
The Winston-Salem Journal
Harriet Miers' withdrawn nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court will make it more difficult for future candidates who lack judicial experience, legal scholars said yesterday. ...Future candidates for the Supreme Court will be expected to have a more developed record for review, said William Marshall, a professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Black releases federal subpoenas
The Charlotte Observer
Federal prosecutors have demanded records from House Speaker Jim Black spanning a range of people and organizations, from his son's pest control business to a Raleigh topless bar. ..."What's the federal crime here?" said Ferrell Guillory, a politics and media analyst at UNC Chapel Hill. "Or are they fishing through legislative files just to find something?"
N.C. veterans should make for good TV (Opinion column)
The Charlotte Observer
They're two of North Carolina's finest. ...I wrote about Sturkey after he donated 40 years' worth of negatives to the N.C. Collection at UNC Chapel Hill's Wilson Library. A former National Newspaper Photographer of the Year and member of the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame, Sturkey had a poetic eye that connected with Carolina folks.
Chatham schools' rainy-day fund down
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Chatham County Schools' rainy-day fund is unusually low after the purchase of about 1,000 laptop computers for high school students. ...In June 2004, the Chatham County Schools' fund balance was 8.3 percent of its budget, said Jack Vogt, a specialist in local government finance at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government. The average fund balance last year for school systems statewide was 16 percent, he said.
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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