Oct. 30, 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

Republicans, looking to offset expected losses, focus on Georgia
The Associated Press (International)
"Georgia is counter to the national picture," said Ferrel Guillory, who runs a program on Southern politics at the University of North Carolina. "All the commentary has been about Democrats picking up Republican seats. Well, here's ... maybe two chances for the Republicans to offset some of what they're apparently going to lose elsewhere."

The high priestess of internet friendship
The Financial Times (United Kingdom)
The MySpace page is like an online version of a teenager’s or student’s bedroom wall. “They are tuning into an audience,” said Fred Stutzman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who studies student behaviour on Facebook. “One of the things students do at college is they test out identities.

National Coverage

Person of the Week: Capt. Rye Barcott
ABC News
[Capt. Rye] Barcott first came to Kibera as a student at the University of North Carolina and was shocked by what the outside world had largely ignored — 700,000 people on a patch of land the size of New York's Central Park, living in desperate conditions.
Related links: http://homepage.mac.com/mikeleenews/RyeBarcott/iMovieTheater6.html
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=2611995&page=1

Paying for college 101: Do your homework
The Los Angeles Times
Some four-year universities send counselors to their "feeder" community colleges to ensure that students are able to transfer the maximum number of units, added James Moeser, chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

College Admissions: the Sequel
The Wall Street Journal
[The University of North Carolina] is "reluctant to admit" students who haven't filled math, science and foreign language requirements since it could mean they won't have time for tougher courses as upper classmen, says Stephen Farmer, assistant provost and director of undergraduate admissions.
Note: This article is available through subscription only.

Rocks show the Amazon didn't always flow east
The Los Angeles Times
The Amazon River flows east through South America, pouring 8 trillion gallons of water into the Atlantic Ocean each day — but about 100 million years ago, the world's mightiest river flowed west, from the Atlantic toward the Pacific...Russell Mapes, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, determined that those grains of zircon were about 2.5 billion years old.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/mapesamazon101906.htm

A Slave Story Is Rediscovered, and a Dispute Begins
The New York Times
But the republication has stirred a dispute between its editors — William L. Andrews, an English professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Mitch Kachun, a history professor at Western Michigan University — and the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., who says that “The Curse of Caste” is not, as stated on the jacket, the first novel by an African-American woman.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/collinsbook101806.htm

Treat the kids to a safe stroll
USA Today
The spookiest, strangest, most unfamiliar things millions of U.S. children will encounter when they step outside to go trick-or-treating may be their own neighborhood streets..."You may realize what a lovely environment you have for walking and find more opportunities for doing it," says Lauren Marchetti, director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

1 Hour on Road
The Chicago Tribune
Schools across Illinois and the country have been slashing valuable street driving with instructors to save money, a three-month Tribune investigation has found..."What I would do with the model as it's set up right now is throw it out and start all over again," said Rob Foss, director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina.

State and Local Coverage

UNC capital construction program preserves campus beauty (Opinion Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
I do not have to tell you that Carolina is in the midst of an unprecedented building program. This summer was the peak of construction, but by summer's end, many of the construction fences started to come down as workers completed several key projects, including parts of the Carolina Physical Science Complex, the Ram Village residence halls near the Smith Center, parking decks at Cobb and Jackson halls, and new stone walls along Raleigh Street… James Moeser is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Weighing the options for college
The Chapel Hill News
Many colleges have moved from binding to non-binding decisions, or eliminated early applications altogether; UNC-Chapel Hill was an early leader in this trend. However, many other schools still offer binding early decision, and some students find this an appealing opportunity to focus on their top choices.

1960s anti-war group's revival spreads to UNC Chapel Hill
The Associated Press (N.C.)
Students for a Democratic Society, a radical anti-war group in the 1960s, is enjoying a resurgence on college campuses, as demonstrated by its new chapter at the University of North Carolina.
Related Link: http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-782803.html
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=2102

Forget the Electoral College, let's get out the Stratego game
The Charlotte Observer
Thing is, many states -- including North Carolina -- are actually plaid, says UNC poli-sci prof Thad Beyle, who's been teaching at Chapel Hill since 1967. Our state is more a mix, he says, with Republican U.S. senators, but a Democratic governor and legislature.

Solution to `rigged elections': More parties (Letter to the Editor)
The Charlotte Observer
All of the proposals presented by ECU can be accomplished by raising the class size at UNC Chapel Hill and creating innovative programs for community-based centers. There is little doubt many areas of North Carolina are underserved, but without creating innovative ways of guiding graduates to these areas, the disparity will only grow, all on the backs of taxpayers.

Early voting in Triangle makes its mark
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
For thousands of Triangle voters, every day since Oct. 19 has been Election Day...Among the Triangle's early voters were these three, casting their ballots Thursday at Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill. Early balloting, which started in North Carolina on Oct. 19, is part of a national effort aimed at increasing the vote.
UNC News Brief: http://www.unc.edu/news/briefs/2006/103006.htm

UNC to examine Hispanic health
The Chapel Hill Herald
Not much is known about health issues that affect Hispanics living in the United States, even though they are the country's largest minority group. But UNC researchers recently received a $22 million federal grant to coordinate a wide-reaching study on the topic.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct06/hstudy101206.htm

Helpers need Spanish fluency
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
At the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work, for example, less than 10 percent of the entering class of students is fluent in Spanish, according to Rebecca Brigham, the school's director of field education.

Candidates wrestle with Web survey
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Michael MacKuen, a political science professor at UNC Chapel Hill, said one viewpoint of some campaign planners -- and not necessarily for the dominant candidate -- is, "Just don't take a specific issue stance. It'll only lose you votes."

Business school to host challenge
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Teams of students working on master of business administration degrees at 12 top business schools will apply hedge fund trading strategies to compete at the second annual Evergreen Investments Alpha Challenge at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School on Nov. 17.

Baddour leads with integrity (Opinion Column)
The News and Record (Greensboro)
Dick Baddour has been criticized by some observers for a very tough personnel decision. Like many others, I admire John Bunting for his integrity, values and love of the University of North Carolina, and am disappointed that the team's record has not lived up to its promise. To call for Baddour's removal as athletics director, as some have done, is terribly misguided.

Baddour has done well as athletics director (Opinion Column)
The Chapel Hill News
Dick Baddour, the athletics director at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been criticized by some sports writers, editorial writers and fans. He has just made a very tough personnel decision.

Bunting, Heels get warm reception before, during game
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As he walked off the Kenan Stadium field Saturday evening -- fans applauding despite North Carolina's 24-17 loss to No. 24 Wake Forest -- Tar Heels coach John Bunting doffed his hat in appreciation.

It's as close as your computer
The Charlotte Observer
Fifteen UNC Chapel Hill students, including several from Charlotte, spent the past week in Arequipa. There they joined students from the Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria to work on building a new Web site that they hope will give Charlotteans a glimpse into the lives of the people who live surrounded by three volcanoes: Chechani, Pichu Pichu and Misti.

'Quiet issue' of gay unions gets noisier in S.C.
The Charlotte Observer
North Carolina has a statute banning gay marriage, but no official proposal for a constitutional amendment. However, three of the states surrounding it -- Virginia and Tennessee, as well as South Carolina -- have amendment votes this fall. The reason is politics, said Ferrell Guillory, director of UNC Chapel Hill's Program on Southern Politics.

'Revenue-neutral' rate might be reconsidered
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Joseph Hunt, a professor of public finance at UNC-Chapel Hill, said it would hamstring counties during lean years and give them more money than needed at other times. He said the county should continue determining its needs each year, then setting the tax rate to meet those needs.

Prescription drug prices getting easier to swallow
The Winston-Salem Journal
To keep up with rising costs "insurers either have to offset some of those costs to the consumer, or they have to find a way to increase premiums or offset other costs," said Richard Hansen, an assistant professor at the school of pharmacy for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Malpractice trial continues into weekend
WRAL-TV (Raleigh)
David Weber, an infectious disease expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was criticized by Forrester for claiming in his testimony that Rocky Mountain spotted fever was not rare. Forrester said in 2003, there were 84 cases of the illness in children ranging in age from 5 to 14.

Issues and Trends

Durham businesses see few gains on game day
The Chapel Hill News
According to estimates provided by tourism officials, Duke football generates an estimated $11.2 million on game day, compared to $44.5 million at N.C. State University, and $42.2 million at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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.

Please share any questions, comments or suggestions at news@unc.edu.