September 10, 2003

Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina
people and programs cited recently in the media:

National News

Kids Get Smokes on Web
Newsday
Children as young as 11 were easily able to buy cartons of cigarettes
over the Internet, blocked from purchases in only a handful of cases,
a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association today
reports….Of 83 orders placed in 2001, only four were terminated when the
youngsters failed to provide adequate proof of age, researchers at the
University of North Carolina's School of Public Health and
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center found.
(Note: A UNC News Services release is located here. The report also was
the subject of a media briefing in Chapel Hill Tuesday.)

Cigarettes in reach of kids on Web
MSNBC-Reuters
Cigarettes sold on the Internet are easily available to children with a
credit card or money order because vendors do not or cannot check
the age of buyers, researchers said Tuesday….University of North Carolina
researchers supervised four children, aged 11 through 15, who successfully
bought cigarettes from 50 of 55 Internet vendors in 12 states over a four-
month period in 2001.

The BEST Programs in Academia
Science
University programs that do a good job of training minorities and women
scientists share nine essential traits, according to an upcoming report from
a consortium of government officials, industrial leaders, and educators....
Extended research experiences (the University of North Carolina's Partnership
for Minority Advancement in the Biomolecular Sciences)

State and Local Coverage

Online tobacco sellers rarely card, teens find
The News & Observer
It's easy for underage teenagers to buy cigarettes over the Internet
using credit cards or money orders because almost none of the
vendors verifies buyers' ages, a UNC-Chapel Hill researcher
reported Tuesday.

Other related links:

UNC pushes forward with not-funded cancer center
Triangle Business Journal
Despite not getting state legislators to foot the bill for a $180 million
cancer center building, the University of North Carolina Hospitals is
going ahead with its early predevelopment efforts.

UNC staff get a chance to kick up their heels (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
The subject of money, in a variety of denominations, keeps coming up
around the UNC campus these days.

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Chapel Hill to keep festivals
The News & Observer
The street fairs will go on….Despite a hue and cry earlier this year to do
away with Apple Chill and Festifall, the town's two half-day downtown block
parties, the Town Council decided Monday night to continue the tradition....
In other business Monday night, the council discussed whether to give
town staff clearance to work with university administrators as they
develop plans for Carolina North, which is to be built on the 975-acre
Horace Williams property. UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James
Moeser sent a letter last week making the request.

Charity ride shouldn't be a hard sell
The Chapel Hill News
In the movie “Say Anything,” John Cusack’s character answers a question about
his career plans by saying that he doesn’t want to “buy anything, sell anything,
or process anything.”...UNC Safe Communities/Safe Kids is sponsoring a bike
rodeo skills course that will provide an exciting, safe environment for kids to learn
various skills and practice them until they can ride with confidence and experience.

Note: If you have any questions about Carolina in the News, please call Russell Campbell at News Services, (919) 962-2091, russell_campbell@unc.edu, or Mike McFarland in University Communications, mike_mcfarland@unc.edu.
Note: Web links on this page are time-sensitive, so stories might not be available after the day they first appeared.