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Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:

Regional Coverage

Boys and girls need gender-specific coaching and training
The Dallas Morning News (Texas)

On one hand, the news is great. Of 25,112 people expected to run in next week's Boston Marathon, 10,375 are women, the most ever. … Cheerleading is the leading cause of direct fatal and nonfatal injuries among high school and college women, according to the Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina. "Cheerleading used to be about shaking pompoms," says the center director, Frederick O. Mueller. "Now, it's about throwing people 20 feet in the air."

State and Local Coverage

Acting against gun violence (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

A year ago today, a gunman took the lives of 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech. Our nation looked on in horror, and those of us who lead universities prayed that such senseless killings would not strike our campuses again. …Today, as we join the rest of the country in remembering the Virginia Tech tragedy, we have learned to regard campus gun violence not as a television drama but as a life-and-death issue that directly affects universities across North Carolina. We need to do more than light candles and ring bells to remember the students we and others have lost. We must act to prevent such tragedies from recurring. (Richard Brodhead is the president of Duke University. James Moeser is the chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Related Link:
http://www.charlotte.com/409/story/582785.html

'Find your passion'
The Chapel Hill News

When Elizabeth Edwards realized her weeklong fellowship at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government was going to conflict with the NCAA championship basketball game last week, she was jealous her family would be in San Antonio without her. …After Edwards, 58, shared stories of protesting the war and racial segregation as a student at UNC in the 1970s, the students wanted to know what she thought they ought to be doing today.

The Death Penalty Examined
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM

Capital punishment has been a source of controversy in the United States since its inception.  This year, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill joined the conversation with a year-long program called "Criminal/Justice: The Death Penalty Examined."  The program’s mission has been to deepen the dialogue around the death penalty by engaging students and the local community directly through the arts.  Host Frank Stasio will find out if UNC succeeded from guests Reed Colver of Carolina Performing Arts; Jack Boger, Dean of UNC's School of Law; Julie Fishell, director of the stageplay "Dead Man Walking"; UNC student Carly Swain; and filmmaker Linda Booker.
Note: "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays.

Retiree gives $1.4M to UNC
The Chapel Hill Herald

Melvarene Adair, a retired social services worker, has established a charitable gift annuity with the UNC Foundation, directing nearly $1.4 million to the UNC School of Social Work — one of the largest gifts in the school's history. The donation from Adair, who earned a master's degree in social work in 1976 from the university, will be used to create a $1 million endowment for The Johnson-Howard-Adair Distinguished Professorship.
Related Link:
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2008/04/14/daily16.html
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/
former-social-worker-gives-unc-1.4-million-for-poverty-professorship-scholarships.html


UNC offering psychology help
The Chapel Hill Herald

Children, teens and their families can now obtain psychotherapy and evaluation services at affordable rates through a new community clinic operated by UNC psychologists. The Child and Family Community Clinic is the newest of several community clinics operated by UNC's psychology department.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/
new-unc-psychology-clinic-offers-affordable-services-to-children-teens-and-families.html

Researchers join forces for AIDS vaccine
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

AIDS researchers, frustrated by the failure of efforts to develop a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus, announced Tuesday they would join forces in a worldwide collaboration that merges the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology at Duke University. …CHAVI, established in 2005 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is based at Duke University, but includes a consortium of 70 investigators at 37 institutions, including UNC-Chapel Hill.

Roses & raspberries (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News

ROSES to the Student Health Action Coalition — SHAC — which recently celebrated 40 years of providing free health care to people who otherwise have little access to treatment. …The providers are students in various health-related disciplines at UNC who volunteer their time and expertise. Faculty from the department of family medicine oversee the students' work in the clinic. …ROSES to Emil Kang and his staff at Carolina Performing Arts, who in just a few years have established UNC as one of the nation's premiere venues for world-class arts and cultural performers. Kang, the university's executive director for the arts, has overseen the establishment of the Carolina Performing Arts series, which began in September 2005 with the re-opening of the beautifully renovated Memorial Hall.

Sale of landfill gas gets the go-ahead
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The Orange County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to proceed with final negotiations with UNC-Chapel Hill to use gas from the county landfill. The university has said it wants the gas from the landfill to power its planned Carolina North development and help make the project carbon neutral.

Future planners examine parking
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

UNC-Chapel Hill graduate students want to help the town to find its way out of its downtown parking woes. Nine students pursuing their master's degrees in regional planning presented their most recent report Tuesday night, calling it an "initial, exploratory study."
 
Students protest UNC meeting
The Chapel Hill Herald

Protestors from the UNC community vowed to continue fighting for international labor rights Tuesday, only blocks from where a university committee met with a former U.S. government official instrumental in the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.  …Perez-Lopez was in Chapel Hill to meet with the Licensing Labor Code Advisory Committee, a board made up of faculty members, administrators and students that deals with issues related to the labor code adopted by the university to insure fair working conditions in factories where UNC-licensed apparel is manufactured.

Dental techs lose ruling in suit
The Chapel Hill Herald

Two fired UNC dental technicians who filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the university's School of Dentistry failed to prove they were laid off because they were over 40 years of age, according to a judge's ruling.  …The university decided in October 2006 to fire 15 dental technicians, whose duties include making crowns, retainers and dentures for patients, and outsource their jobs to local labs to save a cost of more than $700,000, according to earlier statements from John Williams, dean of the dental school.
 
Issues and Trends

UNC campuses cooperate for good of state
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…Relations among UNC system campuses have not always been so collegial. But university system officials say the ability of campuses to work together rather than compete is more important now than ever as money for higher education becomes increasingly tight. It is the central theme of a new policy in the works that will change the way public universities are granted new academic programs. …"It's good for every campus, big or little," Roger Perry, chairman of UNC-CH's board of trustees, said of the new policy. "I think it will make the whole system leaner, meaner and more accountable."
 
$5 million micro-imaging deal unveiled
The Independent Tribune (Kannapolis)

The $5 million worth of micro-imaging equipment selected to propel the research at the David H. Murdock Research Institute is quite literally the stuff scientists’ dreams are made of. “I usually don’t dream about science during the night,” said Dr. Mihai Niculescu, with the University of North Carolina Department of Nutrition, of his excitement for the cutting-edge equipment.
Related Link:
http://www.wral.com/business/local_tech_wire/biotech/story/2737728/
 
Protests to mark anniversary of Virginia Tech shootings
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Across the country on Wednesday, protesters will assemble in groups of 32 and lie on the ground for three minutes. The protests will occur at least 80 times in 33 states, each an attempt to shed light on gun laws protesters say are too lax. But the choice of day — one year after a mentally ill gunman killed 32 people on the idyllic Virginia Tech campus — is a matter of some disagreement.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1038775.html
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080416/NRSTAFF/773095629
 
Carrboro mayor to decide on water rules today
The Chapel Hill Herald

Mayor Mark Chilton will decide today whether he will sign a proclamation declaring Stage 1 water restrictions in Carrboro. During a Carrboro Board of Aldermen meeting Tuesday night, just as during the town of Chapel Hill Town Council meeting on Monday night, elected officials heard a report from Ed Kerwin, Orange Water and Sewer Authority director, on the state of the water supply and why the OWASA board voted to go directly from Stage III water restrictions to Stage I restrictions.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/weather/drought/story/1038667.html

Free bus system is worth debating (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

 We agree with city administrators who believe the idea of making rides on Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA) buses free to win more riders is worth pursuing. It's one of those bold ideas that just might work. In Chapel Hill, the conversion to a fare-free transit system has worked well. Since 2002, when the Chapel Hill Transit made the switch to become the only system in the state to offer free rides, its ridership has nearly doubled to 3 million passengers annually.

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