Sept. 20, 2007
Carolina in the News
Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Polar earthquakes are nothing new, and don’t foretell catastrophe
The Guardian (London)
Your article (Melting icecap triggering earthquakes, Sept. 8) is misleading and alarmist. As a climatologist/seismologist working on glacial seismic activity in the Jakobshavn glacier basin — precisely the area your reporter mentions — I know that local earthquakes (or glacial quakes) are actually fairly common in the area and have been for a long time. … Jose Rial is professor of geophysics at the department of geological sciences, University of North Carolina.
National Coverage
Studies find steroid use in pregnancy mostly safe
Retuers (wire service)
Two new studies are offering mixed signals about the long-term safety of repeatedly giving pregnant women steroid drugs intended to prevent complications once a premature delivery seems likely. While one report in the New England Journal of Medicine found little evidence that the widespread practice is dangerous, another study in the medical magazine offers hints that repeated injections may raise the risk of cerebral palsy in babies born to the women receiving steroids. … "The only significant difference between groups was in attention problems, which were slightly more common in children in the repeat-corticosteroid group, but the difference was small," Alan Stiles of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wrote in a commentary.
Related link: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/357/12/1248
Survey: 3 percent of Americans are binge eaters
CBS News
Binge eating disrupts the lives of 3.5 percent of U.S. women and 2 percent of U.S. men, for an average of eight years, a new survey shows. That makes binge eating more widespread than the other two eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. … Food beckons like an irresistible neon sign to a person with binge eating disorder, says Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., director of the eating disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bulik was not involved in the survey but participated in the news conference.
Regional Coverage
Colleges with the best value for 2007
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Kiplinger magazine surveyed public colleges to find those that best combine outstanding value with a first-class education. For example, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which claimed the No. 1 spot for the sixth straight year, has tuition of $13,500 or less, small classes, top-notch faculty and a supportive environment that enables 84% of students to earn a degree within six years.
State & Local Coverage
XinRay founded, focuses on updating X-rays
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A company founded by physics professors at UNC-Chapel Hill will expand a partnership with a division of German conglomerate Siemens to develop new X-ray technology. Siemens Medical Solutions and Xintek Inc., based in Research Triangle Park, have formed XinRay Systems to put employees working on next-generation X-rays in North Carolina, Germany and China under one roof. Xintek uses nanotechnology licensed by UNC-CH and Duke University. The company was started by Otto Zhou and Jianping Lu, the two UNC-CH professors who developed the technology.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/sep07/zhouxinray091907.html
Science Lab: Glenn students get a new look at possibilities in biotechnology
The Winston-Salem Journal
Biology students at Glenn High School had the chance last Thursday to put on plastic lab glasses and handle expensive scientific equipment. … The students in Kelly Gage’s biology classes participated in a learning program that travels around the state by bus. … The Destiny bus is a project of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at UNC Chapel Hill. The program on solving a crime, known as “Get a Clue,” is only one of many educational programs that are offered on the bus.
UNC Media Advisory: http://www.unc.edu/news/media/2007/destinyguildford090707.html
CMC-Pineville seeks $174M expansion
The Triangle Business Journal
Carolinas HealthCare System is seeking regulatory approval to add a major heart program and Level III trauma center to Carolinas Medical Center-Pineville. … In other developments, plans are in the works to add a medical school at Carolinas Medical Center's main campus in Charlotte. "Carolinas Medical Center has long been acknowledged as an academic medical center, teaching hospital and the major referral center," says Michael Tarwater, chief executive of Carolinas HealthCare. "Through ongoing discussion and cooperation with the UNC School of Medicine, we fully expect that a medical school will also be located here in the future so that our teaching role will be expanded."
Few minority teachers drawn to city, county
The Asheville Citizen-Times
About three years ago, Cortez Johnson was working in the technology department of Buncombe County Schools when he was recruited to teach at the district’s Career Education Center. … “What I have noticed over the past couple years is that our minority pool has stayed about the same, but at the job fairs there seems to be a lot of competition for minority teachers going on the job market,” said Anne Bryan, director of student affairs in the School of Education at UNC Chapel Hill.
N.C. NAACP tackles prosecutors
The Charlotte Post
The handling of the Duke lacrosse case cost former District Attorney Mike Nifong his law license, job and 24 hours in jail. … NAACP representatives agree with Richard Rosen, a law professor at the University of North Carolina who told the News & Observer in a July interview, “There’s not a single bit of evidence that he’s [James Johnson] guilty. I want to know why the prosecutors are still pursuing it.”
Jena 6 gets attention in Eastern Carolina
WITN (Greenville)
The tiny Louisiana town of Jena is gearing up for a planned protest Thursday.60,000 demonstrators are expected to show up to support the group of teenagers dubbed the "Jena Six." … Students from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have taken buses to Jena, Louisiana for the massive protest.
Coalition to address meeting tonight
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Representatives of the newly formed Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism have a list of demands to present to local officials tonight … the coalition plans to request the immediate elimination of Eubanks Road as the site for a proposed solid waste transfer station, as well as a halt to all solid waste activities in the Rogers-Eubanks community no later than November 2009. … Several groups make up the coalition, including both Orange County branches of the NAACP, UNC students from the School of Public Health, Rogers Road neighborhood residents and other local activists.
Hospital authority wants to do health needs survey
The Brunswick Beacon (Shalotte)
Brunswick County Hospital Authority members are seeking a study to canvass the county's health needs. Board members voted last week to solicit a health needs survey proposal from the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health.
Poetry reading on UNC campus
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Poet Gregory Orr will read from his works Thursday, Oct. 11, in Greenlaw Hall's Donovan Lounge on the UNC campus. The reading is at 3:30 p.m. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and two poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Orr is the author of nine collections of poetry and a memoir, which was selected by Publisher's Weekly as one of the 50 best non-fiction books of 2002.
Bellamy events include lecture at Thalian Hall
The Wilmington Star-News
The Bellamy Mansion is celebrating its third annual African American Heritage Weekend starting today. A lecture and book signing with Heather A. Williams, an associate history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will kick off the events. Williams' lecture, "A Vague Fear Came Over Me: Separation and Loss Among Enslaved African American Children," covers her current research on black families reuniting after the Civil War. The free lecture begins at 7 p.m. today in Thalian Hall.
Issues & Trends
UNC campus safety task force moves closer to final report
The Associated Press (N.C.)
A task force on campus safety is moving closer to final recommendations that are due this fall. The UNC Campus Safety Task Force met Tuesday and discussed several ideas, including a policy to force students to leave school when their behavior indicates they can't function in the academic community.
Carolina North design doesn't thrill panel
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
At a forum Wednesday night, town Community Design Commission member Scott Nilsen said he thought sketches of Carolina North's planned Innovation Center looked more Research Triangle Park than Chapel Hill, with too much parking and too little architectural innovation.
Quintiles breaks ground for HQ
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Quintiles Transnational Corp. broke ground at the Imperial Center off Interstate 40 on Wednesday afternoon. … The international contract research organization, which started as a spin-off from UNC Chapel Hill in 1981, is building a new, $50 million, 10-story global headquarters in the business park.
Duke, Peking University team
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
… International partnerships are nothing new for universities in the U.S., and agreements big and small already exist between campuses in the Triangle and China. Health-related fields are particularly active. Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill are working with Singapore health officials, including a formal agreement between Duke and the National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School.
What's up 09/20
The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City)
Tomorrow Commission to meet at ECSU: The University of North Carolina Tomorrow Commission will hold one its "Listening Forums" at the K.E. White Center today 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.