Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Study links kid's autism with parent's mental illness
Xinhuanet (Wire Service/China)
Having a parent with psychiatric problems doubles a child's odds of being autistic, researchers said in a study released on Monday. …"Our research shows that mothers and fathers diagnosed with schizophrenia were about twice as likely to have a child diagnosed with autism," said Julie Daniels of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who worked on the study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.
Related Link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/06/medicalresearch.genetics
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gSyCIzW4er55I73O17_ZvSg9zyzQ
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/mental-disorders-in-parents
-linked-to-autism-in-children.html
National Coverage
Bill Clinton takes his 'Bubba Tour' to small town, U.S.A.
The Associated Press
This little town hadn't seen a president since Harry Truman stopped here—that is, until the other day, 10 administrations, three wars and more than 14,000 days later, when Bill Clinton stood up on a flatbed truck parked under the big pine in front of the county agricultural extension center. …"These are towns not so different from the towns he campaigned in in Arkansas for decades," said Ferrel Guillory, founder of the Program on Public Life at the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of the American South.
Autism's Link to Parents' Schizophrenia
U.S. News & World Report
…Julie Daniels, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, looked at the health records of the parents of 1,227 Swedish children with autism who were born between 1977 and 2003. Those parents were twice as likely to have been diagnosed with schizophrenia as parents of children who didn't have autism.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/mental-disorders-in-parents
-linked-to-autism-in-children.html
Caution urged in choosing gene tests
The Associated Press
Everyone's genes spell out a risk for some disease, and a coming anti-discrimination law is about to give genetic testing a boost. …"Some of these tests are complete rubbish," warns Dr. Howard McLeod, a personalized medicine specialist at the University of North Carolina. "The big challenge for a consumer is figuring out which data is real or not without having to go to medical school."
Fatal Accidents Erode Perk of Off-Campus Lunches
The New York Times
The students used to overflow the wooden booths and green tables at Don Jono’s Pizzeria, racing through pepperoni slices and large sodas before driving the quarter-mile back to Smithtown High School West in time for their next class. …In a 2005 report, researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill found that open-lunch policies at high schools in three local counties contributed to a higher rate of crashes among teenage drivers, and also increased the likelihood of multiple passengers in a car.
Regional Coverage
Stay-at-home moms useful to other people than just their kids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new Wall Street Journal story examines how stay-at-home moms are being used to fill in at companies. …The story continues: “The University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School was able to muster an ‘incredibly talented’ team with eight at-home mothers — including a Stanford University Ph.D. in neuroscience, a University of Virginia M.B.A., an attorney and a former news executive — by tapping female staffers’ neighborhood networks, says Mindy Storrie, Kenan-Flagler’s director of leadership.”
State and Local Coverage
Shelter will get to move
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
If the homeless shelter in downtown Chapel Hill has always looked a little like a jail, it's because it used to be one. …Town staff had recently approached the university for help when it learned UNC-CH was buying the land, Mayor Kevin Foy said Monday. UNC-CH agreed to a long-term lease.
Town staff had recently approached the university for help when it learned UNC-CH was buying the land, Mayor Kevin Foy said Monday. UNC-CH agreed to a long-term lease.
Related Link:
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-948478.cfm
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/town-university-announce-partnership-to-
bring-new-homeless-shelter-to-chapel-hill.html
Cystic fibrosis treatments making great strides
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Cystic fibrosis used to steal the lives of children before their teens. New medical treatments, however, have patients living well into adulthood. …Dr. Peadar Noone, a pulmonologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the most serious symptom of cystic fibrosis is mucus building up in the lungs.
Words for the evildoers (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The National Counterterrorism Center recently suggested that government officials stop linking extreme terrorist groups to Islam and avoid using offensive terminology like "Islamofascists." They should also steer clear of terms like "jihad," mujahideen" and "caliphate" when discussing terrorism, because all have positive connotations in the Muslim world. (David Schanzer is director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Issues and Trends
Candidates rely on family to help get message out
USA Today
On the eve of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton dispatched some of their most powerful surrogates to get out the vote: their relatives. …Joseph Cigna, an Obama supporter who lives in Durham and works for the University of North Carolina hospital system, said he was initially drawn to Clinton but is concerned about her record on trade.
Over 3.5 million register to vote
The Associated Press
Voter excitement, always up before a presidential election, is pushing registration through the roof so far this year – with more than 3.5 million people rushing to join in the historic balloting, according to an Associated Press survey that offers the first national snapshot. …Among the new voters in North Carolina is Shy Ector, 25, of Durham. She favored Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry while a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill four years ago but never actually took the time to make sure she was registered to vote.
Federal consultants prepare to review state's probation system
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
A federal review team Monday began working to identify problems in the state's probation system and suggest ways to eliminate them. An internal investigation of the system's oversight of the two men charged in the killing of Eve Carson, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's student body president, pointed to problems, including staffing, training and communication.
Judges protective of Carson details
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The local legal system has taken additional steps to keep details of the Eve Carson case out of the media. On Monday, Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens postponed a hearing to determine whether accused killer Demario Atwater is eligible for the death penalty.
Related Links:
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-948487.cfm?
http://www.wwaytv3.com/hearing_postponed_for_suspect_in_unc_killing/05/2008
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/16172288/detail.html
http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/2837698/