Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Plastics expert wins $500K Lemelson-MIT award
The Associated Press
Joseph DeSimone's expertise in chemistry has yielded advances in environmentally sensitive plastics manufacturing, medical devices for blocked coronary arteries and minuscule engineered particles that may someday help diagnose and treat disease. …"Maybe it was just jealousy in wanting to have something she had that made me move in that direction," DeSimone, who has appointments as a professor both at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at North Carolina State University, said in a phone interview.
News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/science-and-technology/desimone-awarded-
lemelson-mit-prize-for-innovations-in-polymer-chemistry.html
Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
Inside Higher Ed
…After several years of planning and lobbying, the boards of Duke University and the University of North Carolina have approved the merger of the graduate programs at Duke and UNC’s flagship campus at Chapel Hill. The result will be a single, larger department that will have the sort of scale that few universities could sustain these days in many humanities fields like German — intellectually important, but not in the nanotech way that attracts big bucks from legislatures and donors.
'WALL-E' focuses on its hero's heart
USA Today
As far out as it may seem, the lonely little bot at the heart of Pixar's new animated feature owes a debt to the Boston Red Sox. …When University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill computer science and engineering professor Henry Fuchs recently invited students to make their own robots, they were astounded when their handiwork did their bidding.
State and Local Coverage
Triangle scientist DeSimone wins MIT prize
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Joseph DeSimone, a respected researcher with posts at two Triangle universities, this morning was named the winner of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lemelson Prize. …At UNC-Chapel Hill, DeSimone is a chemistry professor who directs a team of 35 students and associates.
Related Link:
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2008/06/23/daily29.html
Report to tally Carolina North cost
The Chapel Hill News
Taxpayers might get a better idea Thursday night about whether Carolina North is going to cost local governments cash or contribute to their coffers. …Unveiling the draft report while still in progress will help the consultants to "double-check the underlying premises and assumptions of their work," according to Linda Convissor, director of local relations at UNC.
Wait for facts on water regulations before jumping gun (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Cherokee Scout (Murphy)
Failing to enact needed legislation to address an important issue is bad. …Running parallel to legislative debate on the drought is a statewide study of North Carolina’s water resources, trends, and challenges, coordinated through UNC-Chapel Hill.
500,000 photos (Column)
The Chapel Hill News
Can you imagine sorting though that many photos? It is a happy challenge for the North Carolina Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill's libraries. It comes from the family of the late Hugh Morton, which gave the collection all Morton's photos, truckloads of them, more than 60 years of his camera work all over North Carolina.
From Africa to Appalachia
The Chapel Hill News
The banjo — that quintessentially American instrument, staple of down-home musical styles like bluegrass and old-time — wasn't born here, but came to these shores from Africa. …The event is free and open to the public. It will take place in the theater at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at 150 South Road on the UNC campus.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/arts/program-to-explore-southern-
musics-african-roots.html
HIV testing will be available
The Chapel Hill News
Project STYLE, Counseling and Wellness Services, and the LGBTQ center will offer a free, confidential, walk-in HIV testing event on Thursday, June 26, in Fetzer Gym on the UNC campus. …Last year, testing events at UNC provided over 600 people with their HIV status, and the organizers hope to see more testers this year since the rate of HIV among college students is growing, according to a report in Clinical Science.
Issues and Trends
HPU, UNCG mull school of pharmacy
The News & Record (Greensboro)
…UNCG submitted an initial proposal for a school of pharmacy to UNC system officials in May as part of the system's massive planning effort, UNC Tomorrow. …Moses Cone Hospital has a partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill's school of pharmacy.
More scrutiny vowed at NCCU
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A recent discovery that two N.C. Central University employees used campus computers to download music, movies, software and pornography revealed both positives and negatives about the institution's internal checks and balances, trustees concluded Tuesday. …To properly investigate the computing allegations, the university needed the services of two information technology experts with the UNC system and a forensic computer analyst from UNC-Chapel Hill.
State workers rally for better pay, bargaining
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
More than 200 state employees rallied today for higher pay raises than legislative budget proposals currently provide. The workers are pushing for 3 percent raises, or $1,100, whichever is more, plus one time bonuses of $1,000 bonuses.
Chapel Hill considers face-lift for popular alley
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
With stairs aslant and floors uneven, Amber Alley has tripped up many a Franklin Street pedestrian over the years. …UNC-Chapel Hill student Jessica Powell said the alley needs better lighting.