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Sept. 13, 2007
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Football's $1,000 Helmet
Time Magazine
Coming soon to a worried parent near you: a sales pitch for a $1,000 football helmet that can monitor the precise location and severity of impacts to little Johnny's head. Leading helmetmaker Riddell plans to begin flooding high schools with take-home brochures this month and to start shipping this concussion-sensing gear to families in November. ... Use of these helmets may seem like a no-brainer. But there's one big problem besides cost: every concussion is different. ... "We don't pull people out of a game or a practice simply because they registered some high-value hit," says Kevin Guskiewicz, director of the University of North Carolina's Sports Medicine Research Laboratory, who will soon publish five semesters' worth of helmet data from UNC players showing the wide range of force that led to concussions.
Antibiotics share killing mechanism
The Scientist
All three major classes of antibiotics share a single mechanism for killing bacterial cells, reports this week's Cell. ... "This is one of those neat, unpredictable findings," said Scott Singleton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who was not involved in the study. "It's really not just a linear extension of what we knew before."
Related link: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/85/i37/8537notw1.htmlNational Broadcast Note
On Thursday (Sept. 14), American Public Media's "The Story" will feature an interview with Brooks de Wetter-Smith, a distinguished professor in the College of Arts and Sciences' department of music. De Wetter-Smith and the program's host, Dick Gordon, will discuss de Wetter-Smith's trip to Antarctica and his project to set the photos from his trip to music. Locally, "The Story" airs weekdays on WUNC, 91.5 FM, at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun07/antartica061807.htmlRegional Coverage
Ramadan a time for 'spiritual purification'
The Richmond Times-Dispatch (Va.)
... "A saying in Islam has God himself saying that while prayer belongs to humanity, the fast of Ramadan is for God," said Omid Safi, professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a recipient of a $100,000 Carnegie grant for research on Islam.
UNC News Brief: http://www.unc.edu/news/briefs/2007/050107.htmlState & Local Coverage
UNC may cut smoking areas
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Smokers at UNC soon could have a hard time finding a place to puff under a proposed new policy that would make the campus nearly smoke-free.
Related link: http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=4554Center gets $10M, 5-year grant
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A schizophrenia research center based at UNC has received a 5-year, $10 million renewal grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Related link: http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2007/09/10/daily14.html
UNC News Brief: http://www.unc.edu/news/briefs/2007/091107.htmlKeep eye on labels for sulfites
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
For the 5 percent of people living with asthma who are also sensitive to sulfites, staying vigilant about the presence of the preservative in foods can be a deadly serious matter. ... Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a licensed, registered dietitian. She holds a doctorate in health policy and administration from UNC-Chapel Hill where she directs the doctoral program in health leadership in the School of Public Health.
Philanthropy
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Smith Anderson lawyers Merrill Mason, Benji Jones, Andrew Fisher and Heyward Armstrong participated as coaches in a program offered by the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. They provided Kenan-Flagler Business School students with advice on legal issues facing startup companies.
When the Bulbul Stopped Singing
"The State of Things" WUNC
During the holiest days on the Muslim and Jewish calendars, Playmakers Repertory Company is staging a play about the conflict in the Middle East. “When the Bulbul Stopped Singing” is a diary account of a Palestinian man living in Ramallah during the Israeli siege of 2002. Joe Haj, producing artistic director, joins host Frank Stasio in the studio to discuss the local and global context of the play.
UNC News Releae: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul07/bulbul073007.htmlImprove the future for our children (Commentary)
The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald
... A recent study done by Dr. Desmond Runyan at UNC-Chapel Hill found that in the Carolinas, for every one case of diagnosed SBS, an additional 150 unreported cases may occur.Wreck inquiry perturbs troopers
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A minor traffic crash involving the captain in charge of internal affairs for the state Highway Patrol is drawing criticism from current and former troopers who say the crash was investigated by someone who would be in a difficult position to find fault -- a lieutenant who directly answers to the captain. ... Eric Rodgman, a senior analyst for UNC's Highway Safety Research Center, said motorists aren't usually ticketed for rear-end collisions, but annual crash reports by the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles show that charges are sometimes filed.
Sex-crime terms have a limit
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The federal government cannot keep sexual predators locked up beyond their scheduled release dates, according to a ruling by a federal judge. ... It might have larger implications for other federal inmates, said S. Elizabeth Gibson, a law professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Board wants Brunswick health survey
The Wilmington Star-News
The Brunswick County Hospital Authority Board took the first step Wednesday to uncovering the county's health care needs. ... Members voted at their regular meeting to invite the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Public Health to the next board meeting Nov. 14.
Ambitious live arts programming at UNC and N.C. State
The Independent Weekly (Durham)
UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University are both attempting to broaden their performance horizons with their fall programs, with events designed to raise the profiles of both campuses.
Greil Marcus and The Handsome Family meet at UNC
The Independent Weekly (Durham)
... Sparks wrote about the song for The Rose and the Briar, an anthology on the American ballad edited by Greil Marcus, the cultural critic who will speak about murder ballads before the band plays UNC-Chapel Hill's Southern Folklife Center Friday.
A grown boy's gerund-driven look at Al Green
The Independent Weekly (Durham)
Al Green performs with Lizz Wright at UNC-Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall Thursday, Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. The show is sold out, but—whether or not you have tickets—Green's 40-year career could keep you busy alongside a turntable for weeks or, here, a lifetime.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug07/events082707.htmlIssues & Trends
UNC panel told communities need help
The Fayetteville Observer
The UNC system must provide more resources and develop quality programs and partnerships so Fayetteville and the region can become successful in a changing economy. That was the message that community leaders gave Wednesday to top officials with the University of North Carolina system.
Related link: http://www.wwaytv3.com/uncw_hosts_education_summit/09/2007Tomorrow Commission to meet at ECSU
The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City)
The University of North Carolina Tomorrow Commission will hold one its "Listening Forums" at the K.E. White Center Thursday, Sept. 20, at 4 p.m. UNC President Erskine Bowles will be among the speakers. The forums are designed to explore how the UNC's multi-campus system can best meet the changing needs of the state over the next 20 years.
Littleton board opts out of Web site
The Littleton Observer
In a contested move the Littleton Town Board of Commissioners reversed itself on allowing town resident Sylvia Alston and Diana Parham to design and maintain a town Web site. In a move initiated by a request from Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem Betty Willis, the town decided to take the advice of the University of North Carolina School of Government Center for Public Technology and withdraw its approval for the Web site.
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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