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Oct. 26, 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 did a backflip
Discovery News
Millions of years ago, a new study suggests, the Amazon River flowed from east to west, rather than the current eastward path to the Atlantic Ocean..."People use the zircons in ancient sands to reconstruct continents, to understand what might have been upstream," says geologist Russell Mapes, a doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Related Link: http://www.cbc.ca/aih/latestshow.html
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/mapesamazon101906.htmWeight gain means lower gas mileage: U.S. study
The Associated Press (International)
The estimates "are probably pretty reliable," said Larry Chavis, an economist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. "I don't know if it's going to encourage anybody to go out and lose weight to save gasoline, but even for individual families, it could have an effect on their budget."
Concussions a dirty little secret for many in the National Football League
The Associated Press (International)
Among those is a study by the University of North Carolina that reported 10 percent of retired NFL players say concussions have had an effect on their ability to think and remember things as they've gotten older.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct05/guskie101005.htmDNA helps unravel puzzles of ancestry
The Nigerian Tribune
Bert Ely, from the University of North Carolina and colleague from other universities in the United States of America analyzed a database of the human variable region, or HVS – 1 region, of mitochondrial DNA sequences from sub-Saharan Africa. They then compared two samples of African American DNA sequences to the database, to identify exact matches to the sub-Saharan sequences.
National Coverage
Amazon River Once Flowed Other Way, Study Says
National Geographic News
"All the current indicators in the ancient sediments"—including ripple marks and telltale mineral traces—"showed that the current, the river flow, was from the east to the west," said study author Drew Coleman, a geologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
On the horizon
The Christian Science Monitor
The results indicate that the Amazon once flowed east to west, tumbling out of mountains that formed when South America and Africa scraped past each other between 145 million and 65 million years ago. Previous studies from a handful of locations along the river pointed to the possibility that the Amazon had been thrown into reverse. Mr. Mapes; his adviser, Drew Coleman, from the University of North Carolina; and colleagues in Brazil took their samples along some 80 percent of the river's run.
Related Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,225001,00.html
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/mapesamazon101906.htmNorth Carolina AD: No timetable for coaching search
The Associated Press (National)
North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour said Wednesday that he will not set a timetable for finding a replacement for fired football coach John Bunting. "The process is long, just like we thought it would be," Baddour said in a phone interview. "I understand there's a lot of speculation out there. ... We're pleased with where we are, without disclosing where we are."
John Edwards, Once and Future Candidate, Spends Less Time at His Chapel Hill Center
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, reports that Mr. Edwards, a former U.S. senator, has spent only about half of the last two months on the Chapel Hill campus, where he is director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity.Study links smoking, drinking
Scripps Howard News Service
A new study done on rats shows that nicotine can actually reduce blood alcohol concentrations and thus lead to heavier drinking...But only two previous studies have looked at the interactions between nicotine and alcohol, so that little is known about how nicotine influences the metabolizing of alcohol, said Scott Parnell, the report's co-author and a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of North Carolina.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec05/wilhelmsen122105.htm
Regional Coverage
The High Cost of Higher Education
WCAX-TV Channel 3 News (Burlington, Vt.)
"Tuition is going to go up for the simple reason that states are under enormous fiscal pressure from health care, from corrections, all the issues that the federal government has handed down to states without the funding that goes with it," says James Moeser of the University of North Carolina.
Pre-kindergarten (Editorial)
The Daily-Journal (Tupelo, Miss.)
However, even with progress, the highest risk children continue to have more problems and difficulties, a not surprising finding. The University of North Carolina’s evaluation found that More at Four children “made substantial developmental progress” on language, rhyming, math, literacy concepts, and good behavior.
State and Local Coverage
Building models to save lives
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
UNC Asheville announced a community partnership with the Renaissance Computing Institute, a state-funded network based in Chapel Hill. With $500,000 in annual funding for the next three years, RENCI at UNCA will be at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College’s Enka campus.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/rencistatewide102506.htmAsheville to get new computer lab to predict flooding
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
Asheville has landed a new computing center that will bring new jobs and tools to forecast floods and other natural disasters in Western North Carolina. The Renaissance Computing Institute in Chapel Hill today announced plans to expand its reach to western and eastern North Carolina by opening sites in Asheville, affiliated with UNC Asheville, and in Greenville with East Carolina University.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/rencistatewide102506.htmMoeser floats panel on UNC expansion
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser has asked the mayor to help appoint a committee, including residents from neighborhoods bordering the campus, to work with the university as it develops plans to expand the School of Law.
Healthcare is felt in wallet
Winston-Salem Journal
The cost of premiums is driving up insurance prices, said Mark Holmes, a researcher with the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and "the primary contributor is the underlying cost of health care." "Probably one of the largest ones is the change in people's care-seeking behavior," Holmes said.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/dec05/ricketts120605.htmUNC coordinates program for teachers
WCHL-AM (Chapel Hill)
North Carolina’s teaching shortage has produced a crop of educators who aren’t familiar with their district’s community. UNC’s Doctor Keren Zuniga is coordinating a program to get more young teachers into the neighborhood.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/scale102406.htm
Yield to Heels
The Chapel Hill Herald
The UNC Department of Public Safety and HSRC stationed signs and manned various intersections Wednesday to educate pedestrians around campus by highlighting Yield to Heels, an on-campus pedestrian safety education campaign.
UNC Media Advisory: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2006/yieldtoheels102306.htmOut of whack
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
"The thought is that some people need more light exposure to reset their clocks," says Dr. Michael Hill, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UNC-Chapel Hill. "As the days shorten, you're inside a lot, it's more cloudy, our clocks start drifting."Knowledge Trust Honors UNC Internet Pioneers Paul Jones, Joseph Viscomi
WRAL-TV (Raleigh)
Paul Jones and Joseph Viscomi, two of the Internet and World Wide Web pioneers, were among the first five people honored by the Knowledge Trust Honors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Knowledge Trust is supported by UNC’s School of Information and Library Science, It is a program set up to honor people who are helping to shape the future in that field.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/ktawards101306.htm
No way to go (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
John Bunting may be viewed by some as a fellow who didn't get his job done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Indeed, as head football coach, he's had a losing record and attendance has suffered. But in this unhappy season, the most embarrassing "loss" was the responsibility of administrators.Firefighters to aid muscular dystrophy
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Local firefighters will hold a Fill-the-Boot campaign from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The firefighters will set up at locations around UNC-Chapel Hill to solicit donations from those attending the Carolina vs. Wake Forest football game.
Make a good breakfast easy to get (Commentary)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
We don't have a lot of time to think about what to eat. We may not even take the time to eat anything before rushing out the door. Instead, we coast up to a fast-food drive-through window, or we wait until we're settled in at the office and hit the company cafe or snack machine...Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a licensed, registered dietitian. She holds a doctorate in health policy and administration from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Expert: county districting plan will fail
WCHL-AM (Chapel Hill)
A state political expert at UNC believes voter satisfaction with the way things are will cause the county districting plan to fail. Lack of a major electoral race to draw voters may also work against the referendum’s success. That’s UNC political science professor Thad Beyle, who has followed state elections for several decades.
Down East rambler
The Independent Weekly
Bland Simpson didn't start out to write a series of books on the life and history of North Carolina's sound country; it just sort of happened that way. Simpson, a literary professor at UNC, Red Clay Rambler, playwright, songwriter and storyteller, began wandering again the northeastern coastal lands of his childhood in the mid-1980s.
A day for free thinking
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
"October 29th is Turkey's Fourth of July," said Buket Aydemir, secretary of the ATA-NC, which is holding the celebration Sunday at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Goalie may get her day
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to rule within the next several months. If it reverses the ruling, former UNC goalkeeper Melissa Jennings will be free to have a jury trial on her contention that she was sexually harassed by UNC coach Anson Dorrance.
LaRaza leader to speak at UNC
The Chapel Hill Herald
Raul Gonzales, legislative director of the National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino civil rights group and advocacy organization in the United States, will speak at UNC as part of a conference on literacy.
Issues and Trends
College costs up, but NC schools still cost less
News 14 Carolina (Time Warner Cable/Charlotte and Raleigh)
However, the cost of going to a public four-year school in the state went up 10 percent last year, which is four percent more than the national rate. The University of North Carolina system is addressing that issue by capping tuition increases to 6.5 percent over the next four years.
Colleges look to raise $4 billion
The Associated Press (National)
But $4 billion isn't even the biggest campaign announced in higher education this month. Stanford and Columbia just announced campaigns of $4.3 billion and $4.0 billion, respectively. Yale and the University of Virginia recently announced $3 billion campaigns, and 24 universities are officially trying to raise $1 billion or more, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
In-Depth: College towns get down
The Badger Herald (Madison, Wis.)
Unlike in Madison, though, the party in Chapel Hill is not typically violent or aggressive. “We have none of the property damage and looting [and] there is very little confrontation with police,” [Student Body President James] Allred said. OK to include the mounted officers piece but we don’t need “We think that will be a real improvement.”
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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