Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Obesity Surgery Seen As Diabetes Cure
The Associated Press
A new study gives the strongest evidence yet that obesity surgery can cure diabetes. …''There is a growing body of evidence that bariatric surgery is an effective tool for managing diabetes,'' said Dr. John Buse of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, the association's president for medicine and science.
Regional Coverage
Pushing Paper
The Philadelphia Weekly (Pennsylvania)
“Come on, people!” Brenda Bowens barks. “Shake a leg. It's a happy Monday!” …“There's just so much competition for their attention,” says Philip Meyer, a University of North Carolina journalism professor and author of The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age.
Payday loans general assembly, stop the usury
The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.)
Do Virginians really need payday loans? A new study from Virginia's southern neighbor proves that states that outlaw predatory payday-lending practices do not put their citizens in a credit crunch. In fact, there is no negative effect on the community. The University of North Carolina Center for Community Capital drafted the study for the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks. It concluded that "the absence of storefront payday lending has had no significant impact on the availability of credit for households in North Carolina."
State and Local Coverage
Moeser's challenge (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
I was standing outside Memorial Hall last November, mingling with a well-dressed crowd abuzz with anticipation of the evening's concert with diva Kathleen Battle. …The legacy of the Moeser era, which will end when he relinquishes his chancellorship in June, will have been to institutionalize an attitude of leadership and a new level of excellence at UNC.
Council to see plans for Innovation Center
The Chapel Hill News
The Town Council will see the most detailed plans yet tonight for the first building in UNC's planned Carolina North campus. …UNC Chancellor James Moeser has asked the Town Council to review the plans ahead of a master plan for the entire Carolina North project.
College-prep program helps Latino high school students (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
…Later that afternoon, I went to work on a fundraiser for Scholars' Latino Initiative, a three-year mentoring program for underprivileged high school students. …That is, until Carolina students arrived. UNC students share their academic experiences and, yes, even a passion for basketball. (Lauren Teegarden is a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is majoring in Latin American Studies.)
Roses & raspberries
The Chapel Hill News
ROSES to Philip Gura, a professor at UNC whose book "American Transcendalism: A History" has been named a nonfiction finalist for a 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award. …Congratulations, professor Gura. We're pulling for you.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/humanities-and-social-sciences/gura-is
-finalist-for-national-book-critics-circle-award.html
County may sue in land swap
The Charlotte Observer
Charlotte attorney Jerry Reese formally filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to stop plans to help bring a minor-league baseball stadium uptown, including asking a judge to block the county from spending millions in bond money to pay for part of the project. …David Lawrence, a professor with UNC Chapel Hill's Institute of Government, said it is possible a lawsuit could reduce the available market for bonds and drive up interest rates.
A losing proposition (Column)
The Chapel Hill News
…Both of my children are currently playing basketball — my son for a recreational team, my daughter for a middle school team. …UNC Professor of Sport Psychology John Silva pointed out in an interview last year that Americans will create a structured competition of most anything.
New Carrboro fund aims to buy companies, train UNC graduates
The Triangle Business Journal
A trio of North Carolina entrepreneurs have teamed to form a private equity fund that also will serve as a training ground for graduates of UNC-Chapel Hill's business school. The venture, Carrboro Capital Corp., is a "search fund" – a private equity pool raised with the purpose of buying out and growing a company. It is being run by First Factors Corp. head Phil Phillips, Montrose Capital Corp. chair and UNC professor W. Clay Hamner, and philanthropist Betty Kenan.
Oscar nominee honors King at UNC
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/Chapel Hill Herald
Early in her address at UNC honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Tuesday, Academy Award-nominated actress Ruby Dee announced that first and foremost, she's a reader. "I'm a reader," she said. "So that's what I'm going to do. I read."
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/arts/ruby-dee-to-give-mlk-lecture-at-unc.html
A long way to go
The Chapel Hill News
The black community has come far, but still has a long way to go to achieve racial equality, said community leaders at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day service at First Baptist Church. …"He had a little light and he let it shine, and we are all better off because of that,"said Dan Pollit, a retired professor at the UNC School of Law, who spoke before the presentation of the award.
Issues and Trends
UNC campuses look to adjust to state's needs
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A UNC official said Tuesday that the 17-campus system will work more closely with public schools and community colleges in an effort to adjust to the state's changing needs. Leslie Boney, UNC's associate vice president for economic development research, policy and planning, said that the state's public universities had come a long way from the mid-20th century, when a faculty member discussing the proposed creation of Research Triangle Park compared that project to prostituting the academy.