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Sept. 21, 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
Immigrant children do as well or better
United Press International
Immigrant children do as well or better than their same-race, American-born counterparts, according to a U.S. study... "The findings also run counter to expectations based upon immigrant children's over-representation in high-risk background categories and general public perceptions of immigrant students," says Tillman. The study was co-authored by Guang Guo and Kathleen Mullan Harris of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Vancouver safe-injection site lauded in international report
The Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Health Minister Tony Clement said the only thing research to date has proven is that ''drug addicts need more help to get off drugs'' but he said there is a paucity of published data to show whether safe-injection sites fight addiction and reduce HIV/AIDS...''It is logical that reducing exposure to contaminated injection equipment and getting users to decrease or discontinue injection-drug use would lead to lower incidence of HIV infection but we simply lack sufficient studies that have gathered data on this,'' said Dr. Hugh Tilson, chair of the committee that wrote the report and a professor at the University of North Carolina.
National Coverage
Student-Aid Officials Say Efforts to Expand Access Need Widespread Backing
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Any program that is intended to increase the number of low-income students attending a college needs the buy-in of faculty members, fund-raisers, and political leaders to succeed...The discussions were held during one of the final sessions of "The Politics of Inclusion: Higher Education at a Crossroads," a three-day conference on the University of North Carolina's flagship campus here. The conference focused on increasing access to higher education for disadvantaged students. Some 150 state and federal policy makers, educators, researchers, and foundation and business leaders from across the country were invited to attend.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep06/poiconf091906.htmThe Wall Street Journal's Guide to Business Schools
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal ranked the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School 8th in its national ranking of MBA programs based on surveys of corporate recruiters. In the annual ranking published today, UNC Kenan-Flagler moved up a spot from last year’s ranking. UNC Kenan-Flagler also was ranked highly for academic excellence, with rankings of 7th in social responsibility and 8th in marketing. By industry, recruiters in health-care products and services ranked UNC Kenan-Flagler 2nd, and recruiters in financial services ranked it 9th.
Kenan-Flagler News: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/News/DetailsNewsPage.cfm?id=310750 Best Values in Public Colleges
Kiplinger's Magazine
The new figures are in, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill once again leads Kiplinger's list of the best values in public colleges. Even though costs at some of the nation's top schools increased by more than 8% for the 2006-07 school year, you can still get an excellent education for less than $10,000 per year. And you have many great colleges from which to choose. In our exclusive survey, we identified the 50 public colleges that combine high-quality academics and affordable costs. We first rated the schools based on several measures of academic criteria, such as percentage of 2005-06 freshmen scoring 600 or higher on the verbal and math components of the SAT or scoring 24 or higher on the ACT, admission rates, freshman retention rates, student-faculty ratios, and four- and six-year graduation rates.
Related Link: http://kiplinger.com/personalfinance/tools/colleges_upd/methodology.html
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan06/kiplingers010906.htmDiversity University
Black Enterprise Magazine
Racial diversity among first-year students is increasing at Ivy League institutions and other high-ranking, predominantly white colleges and universities. The number of firs-year African American students for the 2005-2006 academic year increased at universities such as Vanderbilt, Princeton, and Columbia, according to "The Progress of Black Student Enrollments at the Nation's Highest Ranked COlleges and Universities," a study by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. Of the 30 institutions supplying data, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill showed the highest percentage of African Americans among first-year students at 11.1% a 3% increase from 2004.
Note: This article is available through subscription only.Harvard Plans to End Policy of Admitting Students Early
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Harvard University announced last week that it would discontinue its early-admission program, immediately rekindling a national discussion of the controversial policies that allow some students to receive admissions decisions months before regular applicants..."This is part of a movement in which more people are considering how social class affects where you end up in higher education, or whether you end up in higher education," said Mr. Lucido, who was dean of undergraduate admissions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when that institution replaced its early-decision program with an early-action plan, in 2002.
Drinking While Pregnant May Boost Child's Alcoholism Risk
Health Day News
Children born to moms who drank during their pregnancies are at increased risk of drinking problems by the time they are 21, a new study finds. "We know about the detrimental effects of alcohol during pregnancy on brain development and some physical malformations, but this is one of the best studies showing that alcohol use itself may be another risk factor," says Dr. James Garbutt, a professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It's another reason not to drink during pregnancy."RENCI Bioportal Enhanced with First Workflow
The GRID Today (San Diego, Calif.)
The North Carolina/TeraGrid Bioportal, the web-based biology environment developed at the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), now offers scientists a new capability to help them work more efficiently and effectively...The first workflow offered through the Bioportal is called Gene2Life, developed through collaboration with the Center for Bioinformatics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Gene2Life workflow uses as input either a DNA or a protein sequence and compares that sequence to current databases of known sequences to determine its closest relatives.
RENCI release: http://www.renci.org/news/bioworkflow.php
Regional CoverageFinance magazine: W&M's a good deal
The Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
Higher education at five Virginia colleges is a good deal, accordnig to Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine...Other Virginia schools were the University of Virginia, ranked third-best; University of Mary Washington, ranked No. 16; Virginia Tech, No. 22; and James Madison University, No. 27. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Florida got the top two spots, respectively.
State and Local Coverage
UNC tops Kiplinger's 'best value' list again
The Triangle Business Journal
For the sixth consecutive time, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been named the best value among public colleges, according to an annual report by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. The ranking, which is available online, rates the top 50 values among public colleges. UNC ranked No. 1 for value to both in-state and out-of-state students. Costs per in-state student for the 2006-2007 school year were projected to total $13,584, with average debt per student upon graduation of $13,801. Out-of-state costs at UNC were projected to average $28,232 per student for 2006-2007, according to Kiplinger's 2006 data.
UNC again ranks high on Kiplinger list
WCHL-AM (Chapel Hill)
Twice in one year, Kiplinger has named UNC Chapel Hill as the best value of all public universities. Alysson Mazzarelli is with Kiplinger’s public relations firm. This time around, UNC is the best out of 50 instead of the best out of 100, as it was in January. This new list, which bases the rankings in part by comparing students’ SAT scores with their tuition, is only available online.
4 Carolinas business schools nationally ranked
The Charlotte Observer
Four Carolinas universities placed in the sixth annual Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive rankings of the nation's top business schools, the newspaper and the polling concern announced Wednesday. The University of Michigan Ross School of Business took the top spot. Here's how the Carolinas schools fared in the report, published in Wednesday’s Journal: UNC Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School: No. 8 nationally, up from No. 9.
Kenan-Flagler News: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/News/DetailsNewsPage.cfm?id=3107UNC will mark 213th birthday
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC will celebrate its 213th birthday Oct. 12 with a speech by university system President Erskine Bowles and an awards presentation in Memorial Hall. Students, faculty, staff and the public are invited to the free public ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m. University Day was created by the UNC Board of Trustees to commemorate the laying of the cornerstone of Old East, the nation's first state university building, on Oct. 12, 1793. The university was chartered by the state Legislature in 1789 and welcomed its first students in 1795.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep06/uday092006.htmUNC School of Law considering expansion
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC will celebrate its 213th birthday Oct. 12 with a speech by university system President Erskine Bowles and an awards presentation in Memorial Hall. Students, faculty, staff and the public are invited to the free public ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m. University Day was created by the UNC Board of Trustees to commemorate the laying of the cornerstone of Old East, the nation's first state university building, on Oct. 12, 1793. The university was chartered by the state Legislature in 1789 and welcomed its first students in 1795.
Pledge to support leadership program
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill has received a $5 million pledge from two alumni to support a program in the university's Institute for the Arts and Humanities. The donation, from Barbara and Pitt Hyde, will go to the Academic Leadership Program, which gives professors and others leadership skills. It will be named for Ruel W. Tyson, former longtime director of the institute.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep06/hydegift092006.htm$5M will endow leadership effort
The Chapel Hill Herald
Two UNC alumni have pledged $5 million to endow the Academic Leadership Program in the Institute for the Arts and Humanities and to name the program for Ruel W. Tyson. Tyson, the long-time director of the institute in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences, stepped down in June after being at the helm for nearly 20 years.UNC School of Law considering expansion
The Chapel Hill Herald
The UNC School of Law is eyeing an expansion to accommodate plans for adding more faculty and students. The 40,000 square-foot addition, which would include office and classroom spaces and could cost about $65 million, likely wouldn't be finished for about five years, law school dean Jack Boger said. Officials began looking seriously at building more rooms after UNC gave the school $2 million in recurring funds this summer to expand its offerings. "Our aspiration is to be the best public law school in the United States, and to do that we're going to need the additional space," Boger said.
Audits look at best use of funds
The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, N.C.)
Gov. Mike Easley announced Tuesday that the state Board of Education, the Department of Public Instruction and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education would form a joint task force to conduct performance evaluations. Auditors plan to examine the finances of districts to ensure resources are properly allocated to low-performing schools. Shotwell said he was surprised by the announcement, but he is open to advice. The audit has two waves. Researchers from UNC-CH and finance experts will study the contrasting financial practices of high- and low-performing districts.
Related Link: http://www.edendailynews.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=EDN/MGArticle/
EDN_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149190735348Studying peace, and acting on it (Opinion-Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Today is the International Day of Peace. While the world is obviously anything but peaceful these days, Peace Day gives us the opportunity to reflect on the consequences of war and conflict, and of efforts towards peace. Some of these efforts are happening at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. In 1999, Rotary International established the Duke-UNC Rotary Center for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution, one of six such centers around the world. (Berkeley houses another center, with the others in Japan, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Australia.)… James Peacock, Kenan professor of anthropology at UNC Chapel Hill, is co-director of the Duke-UNC Rotary Center.
At certain age, women have certain diet needs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Menopause is a normal developmental stage for women. It's the point at which the body begins producing less of the hormones estrogen and progesterone until menstrual periods finally stop. For most women, that happens between the ages of 45 and 55...Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a licensed, registered dietitian and author. She holds a doctorate in health policy and administration from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she is a clinical assistant professor in the School of Public Health.
Hispanic hunger is studied: WFU study finds state's rates exceed nation's
The Winston-Salem Journal
The study, however, included only small regional samples of the Hispanic population and is not meant to paint a broad picture of hunger for the entire state or any particular county, said Sara Quandt, the lead author and a professor at Wake Forest's School of Medicine. About 300 Hispanics were interviewed in Forsyth County and Eastern and Western North Carolina. Nearly 601,000 Hispanics live in North Carolina, according to a count released earlier this year by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan06/economicimpact010306.htmArcheologist to visit proposed quarry site
The Smoky Mountain News
Tuckasegee residents are hoping that the proximity of an ancient Cherokee village to the site of a proposed rock quarry will help coax state officials not to issue a permit to the quarry’s operators...The most well-known part of the village site has been dated to between the 1400s and the late 1700s, or the Qualla Period of Cherokee history. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill first excavated the site in the 50s and 60s, finding the post holes of one round structure that may have been used for ceremonial purposes and features associated with it.
Issues and Trends
Congress Broadens an Investigation of College Sports
The Chronicle of Higher Education
A Congressional committee that oversees legislation affecting nonprofit organizations has broadened its inquiry into college sports in recent months, say nearly a dozen college officials who have participated in the investigation...Some conferences have started their own cable-television networks to exploit commercial interests in their games, a move that might have invited government scrutiny, says William C. Friday, former president of the University of North Carolina system and a longtime chairman of the Knight Commission.
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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