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Sept. 11, 2006Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Physical activity increases breast cancer survival
Women's Health News (Australia)
While exercise has been shown to be a significant factor in preventing breast cancer, its role in prognosis after diagnosis remains unclear but has also been infrequently studied. Page E. Abrahamson, Ph.D. now at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, led researchers while at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill to investigate the relationship between pre-diagnosis physical activity and survival in 1264 women with breast cancer.
Studies Find General Mechanism Of Cellular Aging
Medical News Today (UK)
Three separate studies confirm a gene that suppresses tumor cell growth also plays a key role in aging. The researchers found increasing concentration, or expression, of the gene p16INK4a in older cells; these aging cells worked poorly compared to young cells and remembered their "age" even when transferred from old mice to young mice. The cells of mice bred without the gene showed less sluggishness as the animals aged and continued to function in a manner more similar to cells from younger mice. Teams from the medical schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Michigan and Harvard University observed similar results in pancreatic islet cells and brain and blood stem cells.
Related Link: http://www.medindia.net/news/view_news_main.asp?x=14122
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep06/cellaging090106.htmlNew Report Suggests Will Power Alone Not Effective In Helping Smokers Quit
Medical News Today (UK)
People who wish to stop smoking can significantly increase their chances of success by using medications such as bupropion, nicotine patch, gum, or an inhaler, according to a new report by researchers at the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center.
National Coverage
Regions and Universities Together Can Foster a Creative Economy
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert E. Lucas Jr. long ago argued that economic growth stems from clusters of talented people, and Edward L. Glaeser, a professor of economics at Harvard University, has found a close association between human capital and economic growth. According to a recent study of the economic effects of universities by Harvey A. Goldstein, a professor in the department of city and regional planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Joshua Drucker, a Ph.D. student in the same department, universities influence economic growth more through the production of human capital — through students and faculty members — than via research and development.
Better Yet, No Tuition
U.S. News & World Report
The University of Virginia is one of a growing number of institutions offering some form of free tuition in an effort to attract talented low-income students. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Michigan State University, Miami University in Ohio, the University of Pennsylvania, and Rice University have all eliminated loans from the financial aid packages of low-income students. Princeton University offers loan-free packages to all students who qualify for financial aid. Other schools, like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford universities, eliminate the parental contribution for low-income students but retain the student contribution. So the student may still require loans to cover tuition.
Gene studies show promise in treating aging
Scripps Howard News Service
Three new studies show that a gene that suppresses tumor-cell growth also plays a key role in the aging of various types of cells and, if manipulated, could help treat some of the diseases of aging...Separate teams from medical schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Michigan and Harvard University reported their similar findings in studies of pancreatic islet cells, brain stem cells and blood stem cells. They reported their findings Thursday in three papers published in the journal Nature.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep06/cellaging090106.htmlCome on, get happy
Gannett News Service
Studies have shown that people who adopt an optimistic viewpoint might be better equipped to deal with traumatic situations. In a study begun months before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Barbara L. Fredrickson, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that people identified as being resilient and optimistic before the tragedy were half as likely to suffer depression afterward as those more pessimistic by nature.Activity in year prior to diagnosis improved outlook, study found
HealthDay News
Women who are physically active in the year before they receive a diagnosis of breast cancer are more likely to survive the disease, a new study finds. "We found a beneficial effect on survival for exercise undertaken in the year before diagnosis, particularly among women who were overweight or obese near the time they were diagnosed with breast cancer," said study author Page Abrahamson, a postdoctoral researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Abrahamson led the research while at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Related Links: http://www.rxpgnews.com/cancer/breast/article_4949.shtml
State and Local Coverage
Experts to discuss college affordability at UNC forum
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
The conference, called "The Politics of Inclusion: Higher Education at a Crossroads," begins this evening and runs through Wednesday at the Carolina Inn. It will look at the topic of access to college from many angles...UNC is recognized as a leader in affordability, although tuition there has increased significantly in recent years. Three years ago, administrators launched the Carolina Covenant, which guarantees that qualified low-income students can graduate from UNC debt-free. About 950 Covenant scholars now go to UNC, and some universities have adopted modified versions of the program.
Related Links: http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=1701
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=1699
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2006/politicsinclusionadvisory082906.html
Higher education at a crossroads (Opinion)
The Chapel Hill News
I graduated from a rural high school in Michigan, never expecting to go to college. My family simply did not have the means...In 2003, we created the Carolina Covenant to ensure that low-income students who are accepted to Carolina can get a degree here without incurring debt. The program has been emulated by a host of other universities, public and private. Last year, we opened a new access route to Carolina when the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation selected us to participate in a national program that helps community college students earn UNC degrees after completing two years at a community college. ...Shirley Ort is associate provost and director of scholarships and student aid at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Grim grade on affordability of higher education (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
UNC Chancellor James Moeser on Wednesday delivered an address on the "State of the University." The same day, by eloquent coincidence, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education issued its 2006 Report Card on North Carolina's college and university system...As it happens, a major national conference this week at Carolina is set to address these very questions. "The Politics of Inclusion: Higher Education at a Crossroads" will take place at the Carolina Inn today through Wednesday. Some 150 state and federal experts and policymakers will gather to discuss national solutions to the issues of access and affordability in higher education.
Study abroad scholarships funded
The Chapel Hill News
Via a gift pledged to the study abroad program, Earl N. "Phil" Phillips Jr. of High Point has created the Phillips Ambassadors Program in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The gift will create an endowment that will provide annual scholarships for up to 50 undergraduates. A Phillips Ambassador will have the opportunity to select a summer or semester term of study from more than 40 academic programs in Asia, 10 in China and 11 in India alone.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep06/phillipsambassador090606.htmUNC to establish research center
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC will create one of the only centers on the East Coast to focus solely on American Indian issues and research. The Center for American Indian Research and Community Engagement will be a leader in native scholarship and service, said Bernadette Gray-Little, the university's executive vice chancellor and provost.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep06/aicenter090706.htmlConference looks at genetics, human values
Chapel Hill News
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will host a community genetics forum aimed at engaging the public in discussions about advances in genetics research and promoting community conversations about scientific, health and ethical issues in genetics. On Friday, a scholarly conference, "Finding the Genome: Group Interests in Genetic Research and Testing," will be from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the Medical Biomolecular Research Building on the UNC campus.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep06/geneticsforum090706.htm
In Afghanistan, a deteriorating situation
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Andrew Reynolds, associate professor of political science at UNC-Chapel Hill, recently spent three weeks advising election officials in Afghanistan. It was his third trip to Afghanistan as an elections adviser. The U.S. Agency for International Development paid for his most recent trip. Excerpts from an interview with Q editor Jane Ruffin.
9/11's influence follows two N.C. residents
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
When Jennifer Setzer resolved to change the direction of her life dramatically, she came to Chapel Hill to get a degree in social work. Brian Pendleton has found what he hopes will be his life's work in Chapel Hill as well, as a rookie firefighter with the Chapel Hill Fire Department. The two North Carolinians are at very different points in their lives. But they share a sense of deep satisfaction in their jobs, and their feelings about the 9/11 attacks that happened five years ago today have helped steer them to that work.
Related Link: http://www.lincolntribune.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5372
9/11 like yesterday for Chapel Hill man
The Chapel Hill Herald
"The thing that I realized is that we're not safe," Quackenbush said. "We are not safe and we are still not safe as a country in terms of this type of violence. It's not Pleasantville. It's scary." David Schanzer is concerned, too. Schanzer is director of the new Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which is sponsored by UNC and Duke University and offers a bridge between academics and policymakers at the state, federal and international levels.Recovery is elusive in New Orleans' poor areas, Edwards says
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards and a panel of experts said Friday that a year after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans remains sharply divided between affluent sections that are recovering and poor neighborhoods that are still devastated...The discussion before about 100 people at the University of North Carolina was part of the work of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, which Edwards founded last year following his unsuccessful vice presidential run. The center is funded with private contributions.
Related Link: http://www.heraldsun.com/archives/URNDetail.cfm?URN=0520805843
For Muslims, more time spent educating others
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In North Carolina, anti-Islamic hate crimes jumped from zero in 2000 to nine in 2001, according to the State Bureau of Investigation. Numbers for 2005 are not available, but the SBI reports only one anti-Islamic hate crime from 2002 to 2004. Aukhil moved to the United States in 1978 and to Chapel Hill in 1981 to teach at the UNC School of Dentistry. Last summer, he took a job at the University of Florida. He now commutes between Gainesville and Apex.
Issues and Trends
Web site one-stop shopping for help with Georgia colleges
The Associated Press
North Carolina’s Web site, cfnc.org, which launched in 2000, has been credited with helping increase the state’s college-enrollment rate from 57 percent to 68 percent of high school graduates. ‘‘What we were trying to do is level the playing field,’’ said Bobby Kanoy, senior associate vice president for academic and student affairs with the University of North Carolina system. ‘‘We had to get that information in the hands of students and parents who otherwise wouldn’t have thought about going to college.’’
Bars to college (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina's overriding goal in facing a future of economic change and competition has to be making sure that its young people are well-educated. So as a gauge of the state's success in opening crucial doors, the biennial report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education bears close attention...Proportionately, at the public campuses, the costs of room, board and books add notably to the burden. For instance, tuition has more than doubled at all three Triangle public universities since the 1996-97 school year, to as much as $5,000 at UNC-Chapel Hill. But other expenses push total costs two or three times as high.Higher Education: U.S. still leads the way (Opinion)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Even as they welcome students back to campus, our country's colleges and univesrityes are deluded by their own historical excellence, and their many contributions to U.S. strenth may be eroding. That, at least, is how a pecial commission of the U.S. Education Department sees it. The critique by the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education was issued last month. It said that whie America's colleges and universities have "been the envy of the world for many years," they are no longer training the educated work force needed to win in a global economy.
UNC targets grad rates
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
For several years now, UNC campuses have grown rapidly, welcoming thousands of new students each fall. Now the schools have to make sure more students finish on time. UNC President Erskine Bowles and the Board of Governors have ordered each public university to improve its graduation rate. It has been a priority for Bowles since he started the job in January. On Friday, the UNC board approved a policy that requires campuses to set goals for higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates among freshmen, who are most at risk.Most UNC system heads get pay raises
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC leaders approved pay raises Friday for most of the university system's 16 chancellors. The raises, ranging from almost 4 percent to 10 percent, were set by the UNC Board of Governors and are retroactive to July 1. UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser got a 9 percent raise, taking his annual salary to $337,800. The numbers were the same for James Oblinger, chancellor at N.C. State University. His salary and Moeser's remained the highest among the chancellors.
UNC board OKs raises for administrators, professors
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC system chancellors came out ahead of many other state employees Friday when salary increases were approved by the UNC Board of Governors. After some lean years, the state budget this summer included a pool of money equivalent to 6 percent for raises for professors and administrators. Some did better than others; most chancellors got more than 6 percent.Hospital sues patient over bill as two-year medical ordeal drags on
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
"It just seems incongruous that a hospital founded on improving the health of all North Carolinians is the most aggressive in collecting debt from those who appear least able to pay," said John Hammond, a retired professor of medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill who helped lead the petition effort. Dr. William L. Roper, who took over as the system's chief executive in March 2004, responded to the petition this month with promises that UNC Hospitals will do a better job helping needy patients get care and do more to ensure that people who truly cannot afford to pay are not hauled into court.
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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