September 30, 2003

Carolina in the News

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

National News Coverage

OUR OPINION: Here's how UGA can boost black enrollment (Editorial)
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
This year, the University of Georgia, which has struggled for decades to increase
its minority enrollment, has seen a slight uptick in the number of African-American
freshmen who've enrolled....UNC, which boasts the highest percentage of black
students of any state university in the South, devotes substantial resources to
recruitment, starting with middle schools, an approach UGA is already pursuing.
(Note: News Services arranged for Jerry Lucido, vice provost and director of admissions, to speak with the editorial writer.)

Schwarzenegger picks up key GOP endorsements
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
With only a week left before California's recall election, Arnold Schwarzenegger's
campaign juggernaut is gathering steam...."As you get closer to an election, they (polls)
become better predictors," said Philip Meyer, a journalism professor who
specializes in polling at the University of North Carolina.

`NASCAR Dads' are latest hot political demographic
Knight-Ridder News Service (National Wire Service)
The star of the 2004 presidential campaign may not be a Vermont peacenik
or a four-star general...."It's hard for me to see the numbers
for great swaths of voters" going to the Democrats in the South, said
Ferrel Guillory, the director of the Program on Southern Politics, Media
and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

State and Local Coverage

AlphaVax wins two more federal grants
The News & Observer
AlphaVax won $16.6 million in federal grants to develop vaccines
against two biological agents that could be used in terrorist attacks....
The technology behind the vaccines is a brainchild of scientists from
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and USAMRIID.

Loftin's lawsuit dismissed
The News & Observer
Peter T. Loftin, founder and former chairman of Raleigh telecommunications
company BTI, will have to prove he suffered financial damages before he
can sue the nation's fourth-largest accounting firm for selling him illegal tax
shelters....In many cases, accounting firms approached executives as they
sold their businesses, or soon afterward, and pitched strategies for limiting
or avoiding taxes on the gains, said Douglas A. Shackelford, a professor
of taxes and accounting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gaston County tries to convince restaurants to go no-smoking
The Charlotte Observer
Five Gaston County health employees, working on their own time, are trying
to convince restaurant owners that they will make more money if they make
their establishments no-smoking....Littman, Arvelle Isbell, Marie MacFarland, Paula
Hudspeath and Stephanie Withers are developing the project as part of the
Management Academy of Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill. They hope the
project reduces health risks associated with secondhand smoke.

Issues and Trends Affecting Carolina

Lobbying dollars flow through loopholes
The News & Observer
Last December, lobbyist Don Beason paid for a dinner and conference space
at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro so state Senate Democrats could elect their leaders....
In March, UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University gave prized
ACC Basketball Tournament passes to a dozen influential state legislators,
plus Gov. Mike Easley and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue.

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.