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Oct. 25, 2006
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Amazon River 'switched direction'
BBC News (United Kingdom)
If the Amazon had continuously flowed eastward, as it does now, much younger mineral grains would be found in the sediments, because they would have been washed down from the Andes. "We didn't see any. All along the basin, the ages of the mineral grains all pointed to very specific locations in central and eastern South America," said Mr. Mapes, a graduate student from the University of North Carolina (UNC), US.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/mapesamazon101906.htmBusinessmen may bid for Boston Globe - report
Reuters
Philip Meyer, a professor at the University of North Carolina and a former executive at publisher Knight Ridder Inc., said last week after the Times reported a drop in third-quarter profit that selling the [Boston] Globe would be smart.
National Coverage
Pell Grants Down, Tuition Up
Inside Higher Ed
“Price is not the issue” when it comes to whether or not students go to college, said James Moeser, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rather, he said that the issue is the ability of families, colleges and the state and federal governments to come up with appropriate packages to help students pay for college.
College tuition and fees up more than 6 percent at four-year public schools
The Associated Press (National)
Tuition and fees at public four-year public colleges this fall rose $344, or 6.3 percent, to an average of $5,836, according to the College Board's annual "Trends in College Pricing" report, released Tuesday..."I could cut costs immediately by just having everybody in a larger class. I could also cut costs by not recruiting the best faculty," said James Moeser, chancellor of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which has recently significantly expanded access for low-income students.
Note: This story also appeared in AP member newspapers around the country today including the Houston Chronicle, Deseret News, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Philadelphia Daily News, Chicago Daily Herald, Dallas Morning News, Modesto Bee, and the San Diego Union TribuneSigns That College Tuition Hikes May Ease a Bit
National Public Radio
The double-digit tuition hikes of recent years have slowed, though tuition is still rising faster than the inflation rate in some places, according to the College Board. The group has released its new report on tuition increases at U.S. public and private universities…James Moeser, chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, seconds that emotion. He pounded the table, saying that too much focus on lower tuition amounts to a regressive social policy. Listen to the news story at the following link.
Amazon Switched Direction, Once Flowed Westward, Geologists Say
Bloomberg News
A study of sediment across the Amazon basin showed that minerals in the central part of the continent were so old they must have originated in now-eroded mountains in eastern South America, rather than the more recently formed Andes in the west, according to geologists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Brazil's Universidade Federal do Amazonas.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/mapesamazon101906.htmAmazon River Reversed Twice, Study Indicates
The Washington Post
Sometime around 65 million years ago -- almost yesterday in geological time -- the rise of the Andes blocked the westward flow and sent water back east instead...The discovery was made by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who found 2 billion-year-old samples of the mineral zircon at the center of the Amazon basin -- deposits that could only have come from the now-eroded mountain range to the east called the Purus Arch.
Clock ticks on carriers’ labor dispute
The Associated Press (National)
“Lenders are always concerned about potential lingering conflicts, and if some type of consensus or agreement can be reached, the lenders are often more comfortable in moving forward with the financing that’s necessary,” said John Kasarda, a business professor at the University of North Carolina who specializes in aviation issues.
Kill baseless, batty plan to ban metal bats (Opinion)
The New York Daily News
Most independent experts say there's no safety difference between wood and aluminum. Such experts include academics like the University of North Carolina's Frederick Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, and organizations with an interest in baseball safety, such as the American Legion, which has been in the business since the youth baseball days of Ted Williams and Yogi Berra.
Study: Drink more water, lose more weight
USA Today
When you are trying to lose weight, it's easy to change the beverages you drink, says Barry Popkin, nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "It doesn't matter if you drink bottled water or tap water: Just drink more water. It's a powerful way to cut weight."
State and Local Coverage
With more dignity than success (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
The University of North Carolina did exactly the right thing this week. That, in and of itself, is newsworthy. It does not stretch the bounds of credulity to suggest the university has not exactly distinguished itself in recent years with either foresight or sensitivity to the wants of its supporters, let alone the citizenry at large.
This time, Bunting loses to the system (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
You could see it coming. Everyone could see it coming, except, perhaps, John Bunting himself. Now, looking back, the decision to relieve Bunting of his duties as Tar Heel football coach at the end of this miserable season seems inevitable.
Note: This article is unavailable online.Three recruits say they'll stick with UNC
The Winston-Salem Journal
At least three members of North Carolina's 2007 football recruiting class are standing firm in their commitments after the firing of Coach John Bunting, effective at season's end.
Bunting refused to resign
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina athletics director Dick Baddour said football coach John Bunting was given the opportunity to resign before he was fired Sunday, "and he chose not to do so." Bunting, 25-42 in six seasons at UNC, will coach the rest of the season. But he will be owed $286, 200 a year until January 2010. If he takes a lesser-paying job, the school must make up the difference in his salary.
Aiding UNC's search
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Nine years ago, consultant Chuck Neinas served as middle-man when Texas lured football coach Mack Brown away from North Carolina. This week, the former executive director of the College Football Association was hired to help UNC search for its new coach.
Moeser requests town create standing committee
WCHL-AM (Chapel Hill)
Ideas from community leaders’ trip to Madison, Wisconsin last month may influence UNC’s relations with its neighbors. UNC chancellor James Moeser has asked Chapel Hill mayor Kevin Foy to create a standing committee to review university expansion.
Amazon might have reversed flow long ago
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Two UNC-Chapel Hill geologists, along with South American scientists, have found strong evidence that the world's largest river did not always flow the way it does today. They say the massive Amazon River basin, whose waters move from west to east, once flowed east to west.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/mapesamazon101906.htmUNC School of Education wins $1.2M for teacher service project
The Triangle Business Journal
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education has landed a $1.2 million grant to help design a statewide model for integrating teacher education with community service. Learn & Serve America, which is part of the federal government's Corporation for National and Community Service, awarded the grant to the UNC School of Education's Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/scale102406.htmDentists' objection lacks bite (Opinion Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Some dentists seem worried that if East Carolina University gets its own dental school, we'll end up with more dentists than cavities and they'll be left to panhandle on the streets. I have advocated turning the UNC School of Journalism into a decent barbecue joint for the same reason. I'm tired of bright-eyed young news hounds fresh from academe looking at me like I was a pork chop.
Maximizing resources (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Regarding your Oct. 19 story, "UNC-CH to lay off dental techs," I would like to clarify a few points regarding the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry's restructuring of its Dental Services Laboratories.
Edwards working to keep his name in the spotlight
WCNC-TV (Charlotte)
[John] Edwards founded and leads an anti-poverty center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He takes time away to campaign, he said, for good reason. “Public policy matters in fighting poverty, and having people like Larry Kissell, in the Congress is important,” Edwards said.
Ackland looks for blend of old, new
The Chapel Hill Herald
Two depictions of Prometheus hang side-by-side in the entrance hall of UNC's Ackland Art Museum, and in many ways represent new director Emily Kass' goals for the museum. In a photograph by Brazilian-born artist Vik Muniz, jewelry and trinkets form a vague outline of Prometheus.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug06/AcklandDIRECT082806.html
League to host forum on Court
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Duke University law professor Paul Carrington and UNC political science professor Kevin McGuire will argue the pros and cons of term limits for U.S. Supreme Court Justices. The forum is free and open to the public. It is funded with a grant from the League of Women Voters Education Fund and the Program on Constitutional and Legal Policy of the Open Society Institute.
To know what you're eating, get to know the farmer (Commentary)
The Charlotte Observer
Local farmers will tell you they do more than grow food. They cultivate trust. Trust is a feature sometimes missing in a food-supply system characterized by mass production and gap-toothed regulatory schemes...Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy at UNC.
Issues and Trends
UNC eyes academic 'boot camp'
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Bowles believes too many high school graduates in North Carolina arrive on college campuses academically unprepared, which contributes heavily to lower graduation rates. Across the UNC system, an average of 59 percent of students graduate within six years -- ranging from 35 percent at UNC-Pembroke to 84 percent at UNC-Chapel Hill.
State's higher education leaders talk partnerships
The Daily Reflector (Greenville)
[Erskine] Bowles and N.C. Community College System President Martin Lancaster exchanged ideas about collaboration during a forum at East Carolina University titled "Connecting Community Colleges and the Four-Year Institutions of North Carolina." "Education has to be like a highway that you get on and get off, that you get a skill and you get back on," Bowles said at Hendrix Theater in ECU's Mendenhall Student Center.
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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