Nov. 8, 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
Questions over government file-sharing study
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
When Industry Canada came out with a study last week that found file-sharing doesn't lead to reduced CD sales — and in fact may even lead to an increase in sales among those who download a lot — it came as a surprise to many, most of all the music industry, which has been arguing for years that downloads are killing the record business…And what about the 2004 study by Felix Oberholzer-Gee of the Harvard Business School and University of North Carolina economist Koleman Strumpf?
Pre-Pregnancy Multivitamins Prevent Prematurity
The Pak Tribune (Pakistan)
According to the research, conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, women who took multivitamins before conceiving were half as likely to deliver their babies before 37 weeks of pregnancy. However, continuing the multivitamins through the first months of pregnancy appeared to have no influence on the risk of prematurity, according to
the American Journal of Epidemiology report.
National Coverage
Study: Anti-Smoking Shot Holds Promise
The Associated Press
A shot that robs smokers of the nicotine buzz from cigarettes showed promise in mid-stage testing and may someday offer a radically new way to kick a dangerous habit…"These are impressive preliminary data," said Dr. Sidney C. Smith Jr., a cardiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and past heart association president.
Regular Exercise Helps Fight Heart Failure
HealthDay News
Exercise boosts the number of progenitor cells in people with heart failure, and those cells in turn repair and rebuild weakened muscle and blood vessels, researchers report…"Both studies point to the beneficial effect of exercise on patients with heart failure," said Dr. Sidney Smith, past president of the American Heart Association and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Science and Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Cholesterol Drug Tied to Sleep Disturbances
HealthDay News
Lowering your cholesterol could interrupt your slumber…"The study suggests that simvastatin [Zocor] is more likely to have sleep disruption," said Dr. Sidney Smith, past president of the American Heart Association and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Science and Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
With the Pill, How Long Is Too Long?
U.S. News & World Report
Covering my first medical conference nearly 15 years ago, I feverishly took notes as the nation's leading gynecologists explained why older women needed hormones to treat the heart-damaging, bone-robbing disease called menopause…"If there's any medicine that can actually protect against cancer, it's an oral contraceptive," says contraception researcher David Grimes, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.
Regional Coverage
Living Green: Disposing of Prescription Drugs
First Coast News NBC 12 (Jacksonville, Fla.)
When it comes to disposing of paper, glass or plastic, if you want to go green the answer is easy… recycle. ..University of North Carolina Environmental Chemist Howard Weinberg agrees. Weinberg said, "There's a lot of information about the side effects of the drugs or what you shouldn't take them with, but there's no information about what to do with the drugs if you don't use them or if they are expired."
Nurses try relaxation for tummy aches
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.)
Few professionals hear more bellyaching than a school nurse…Guided imagery provides a similar distraction and allows the patient to focus on a return to normal routine, said Miranda Vantilburg, a psychologist and research assistant professor at the University of North Carolina.
State & Local Coverage
Some to see benefit from tuition caps
The Charlotte Observer
Many undergraduates at UNC system campuses should get a tuition break next year, thanks to a fatter budget from state lawmakers. Four schools, including UNC Chapel Hill, can't request any tuition increase for in-state undergraduates under a new policy approved by the system's Board of Governors last year.
Note: This story also ran in Thursday's editions of The News & Observer(Raleigh).
Parade
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
As part of a year-long series examining the death penalty, UNC-Chapel Hill is performing “Parade,” a musical about a Jewish man who was lynched in 1913 in Marietta, Georgia. Stage Director Joseph Megel, Musical Director Terry Rhodes and student-performers Rachel Wender and Sean Cassery join host Frank Stasio to perform and to discuss the challenges of staging such a complex and disturbing story.
UNC News Release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct07/parade102607.html
Kidney Center to dedicate truck
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC's Kidney Center will dedicate North Carolina's first mobile outreach truck for kidney disease prevention at 1:30 p.m. Friday. Ronald Falk, director of the UNC Kidney Center, and several distinguished guests, including state Sens. Ed Jones and William Purcell, will dedicate the new 35-foot Kidney Center truck that will be used to provide screenings for kidney disease and education and awareness efforts in North Carolina counties with high rates of kidney disease.
Business school to lose its dean
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The dean of UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School, Steve Jones, will step down when his five-year term ends June 30. He said he would remain on the faculty and contribute to fundraising and new initiatives at Kenan-Flagler.
Related Link: http://www.heraldsun.com/business/21-896641.cfm
Issues & Trends
Board gets recommendations on education's future today
The Chapel Hill Herald
The UNC Board of Governors will receive a preliminary list of recommendations today from the systemwide collection of scholars and citizens charged with mapping the future of education in North Carolina.
Staph cases drop at hospital
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Under pressure to curb antibiotic-resistant staph infections, which kill 19,000 people a year across the nation, one North Carolina hospital is pioneering a system that tests every patient to identify carriers of the superbug…UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and Rex Hospital in Raleigh, which is part of the UNC system, are both pursuing targeted surveillance programs
for MRSA.
Travis Porter, energetic local civic leader, dies at 76
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Family and longtime friends remember Travis Porter as an energetic Durham civic leader…Mr. Porter, a former U.S. Marine Corps captain, served on the UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees and chaired it in 1983-84.