Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
McCain and his campaign largely absent as Obama makes hard run at North Carolina
The Associated Press
It's no coincidence that Barack Obama did his preparation for this week's presidential debate in North Carolina's western mountains. …"McCain doesn't have to work as hard at this state as Obama has to," said Ferrel Guillory, who heads the Southern politics program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But Guillory added that there are "not a lot of issues playing to McCain's advantage right now in North Carolina."
Cell Protein Suppresses Pain Better Than Morphine
HealthDay News
A cell protein routinely used as a diagnostic for prostate cancer appears to also work as a pain medication that is far more effective than morphine but with far fewer side effects, a new report says. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the University of Helsinki found that Prostatic Acid Phosphatase, or PAP, was identical to another protein found on pain-sensing neurons that converts the chemical messengers that cause pain into ones that suppress it.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1717/107/
State and Local Coverage
Our View: Thorp’s Fayetteville roots run deep as he leads UNC-Chapel Hill (Editorial)
The Fayetteville Observer
Holden Thorp may be the coolest-ever chancellor at UNC Chapel Hill. He can do stand-up comedy with an academic twist, and then launch into a scholarly lecture. …North Carolina’s best resource is its people, Thorp said. That’s why one of his goals as chancellor is to build on the merit scholarships program. His charm alone won’t attract potential merit students to UNC, Thorp said. It’s going to require some cash, and maybe some personal attention. He’s got that latter part covered. When he meets students who might be a good fit at UNC, he gives them his cell phone number. That approach makes Thorp the man of the hour for UNC.
UNC chancellor takes field trip, tours IMS
The News-Times (Morehead City)
Dr. Holden Thorp, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, toured the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) Thursday and joined an IMS class field trip to the estuarine environment near the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. …Dr. Thorp was also pleased to be able to see the students on the field trip. The students on the trip were part of UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute for the Environment.
Note: This article is not available online.
UNC Media Advisory:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1682/107/
Hardin Recalls Past University Days
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
A former UNC Chancellor reflects on his most memorable University Days and gives some advice to the new leader of Carolina.
Blue and green (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Less than a year after successfully finishing a $2.38 billion fundraising campaign, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is planning a $4 billion effort to further raise its endowment. …Funds from donors are virtually a necessity, and a smart university presents to alumni the chance to help an institution that gave them the education they needed to succeed, prosper and contribute something worthwhile to society.
UNC Visitors' Center Gets A New Director
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The UNC Visitors' Center has a new director. And there's a good chance you already know her. Missy Julian Fox is one of the heirs of Julian's College Shop on Franklin Street. Fox began her new position on Monday. There, Fox will work with the University to provide service for visitors.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1730/107/
Some UNC-CH workers get raise
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
About 290 UNC-Chapel Hill employees will soon be getting a raise. The university is raising its minimum wage level to $25,000 for full-time employees, an increase of $4,888 from the current state minimum for public employees.
Local firms feel squeeze
The Charlotte Observer
From Fortune 500 corporations to family-owned companies, businesses in the Charlotte region are scrambling to make sure they can keep getting money during the nation's credit crunch. …One saving grace may be the relative health of the N.C. economy compared with other parts of the country, said Jennifer Conrad, a finance professor at UNC Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Wachovia deadline extended to Friday
The Winston-Salem Journal
The fate of Wachovia Corp. appears likely to twist in the wind for at least two more days. …"I'm sure Wachovia's board felt like it was between a rock and a hard place these past 10 days with the exclusivity agreement on one hand and their fiduciary duty to shareholders on the other," said Thomas Hazen, a law professor at UNC Chapel Hill.
Kenan-Flagler creates center
The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School has announced the creation of the Luther H. Hodges Leadership Center to support leadership education and honor the late North Carolina Gov. Luther H. Hodges. Kenan-Flagler established the leadership initiative in 2005 with the goal of developing Master of Business Administration students as exceptional leaders who positively impact the organizations they lead and the communities they serve.
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=8239
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1729/107/
UNC Chapel Hill launches $7M muscular dystrophy research center
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
UNC Chapel Hill will be the home of a new muscular dystrophy research center with the help of a five-year, $7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. …UNC Professor R. Jude Samulski, who is director of the UNC Gene Therapy Center, will lead the Wellstone effort at Chapel Hill along with William Powers, chair of neurology at UNC. "A major theme of UNC's Wellstone Center will be to develop novel, gene-based therapies for muscle disorders in the laboratory and then advance those therapies into the clinical setting," Samulski said.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1727/107/
Blood test finds coronary disease
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A simple blood test could soon replace expensive and invasive exams to detect coronary artery disease. …"If these findings hold for this broad group of population, the test could prove to be a valuable supplement in our management and treatment of patients with coronary heart disease," said Dr. Sidney Smith, a UNC-Chapel Hill cardiologist.
UNC researchers study osteoarthritis links
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
The University of North Carolina’s Thurston Arthritis Research Center has spent the past 20 years gathering data on people in Johnston County. …UNC researchers found African-Americans were less likely than others to develop osteoarthritis in the hands. If the disease is found in the hands, doctors suspect problems in other joints. “If you do it that way in African-Americans, you're going to miss a lot of people who really have multi-joint involvement,” UNC rheumatology fellow Dr. Amanda Nelson said.
Drug discovery firm Trana to commercialize screening technology targeting staph
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Drug discovery startup Trana Discovery plans to commercialize high-throughput test technology that it says could lead to development of anti-infectives targeting staph bacteria. …Trana will work with the Department of Microbiology at N.C. State for microbiological testing, RTI International for toxicity to living cells, and UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Pharmacy for molecular modeling.
No freeze on science (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Citizens of North Carolina and our state government have shown great foresight in developing an infrastructure that supports a world-class endeavor in biotechnology. The Research Triangle is a well recognized example of this leadership of which we can all be proud. We need to have the same quality of leadership at a national level. (Oliver Smithies, Chapel Hill. The writer, a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for 2007, is Excellence professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
County tackles death toll
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Johnston County Commissioner Tony Braswell lives near the spot where a Princeton High School senior and a recent graduate lost their lives last month in a car wreck. …Only Buncombe County, in the mountains, had a worse record for teen vehicle fatalities, according to the UNC Highway Safety Research Center.
Symposium on climate change
The Chapel Hill Herald
National environmental experts and scholars will discuss "The Impacts of Climate Change on an Evolving North Carolina Coast" at an Oct. 17 symposium at UNC. …UNC's David Godschalk and Philip Berke, professors of city and regional planning, will serve on a roundtable of experts that will close the day with recommendations for future research, policy and action.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1722/107/
Poster exhibit examines history of black cinema
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Thankfully, a venue at UNC-Chapel Hill is coming to the aid of those who need to teach their cynical colleagues some big-screen black history. Beginning today, the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History is hosting an exhibit titled "Black Dreams and Silver Screens: Black Film Posters, 1921-2004," which will run through Dec. 5.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/1693/107/
Recent events point to need for renovations to Kenan Stadium
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
…On Saturday, a breaker blew at Kenan Stadium, causing a bank of lights over the northeast side of the stands to go out, which led to a 22-minute delay. After rebooting the lights — UNC turned off the lights in the northwest corner to make the process go faster, said athletic department spokesman Steve Kirschner — the lights on the northeast side went out again. …The school's board of trustees passed stage one of a planned three-part renovation project in May.
Issues and Trends
American Institutions Top British List of World's Best International Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education
American institutions again dominate a British list of the world’s top 200 international universities, the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, according to a BBC News report. …Thirty-seven American universties made the top 100, including six in the top 10.
Related Link:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4910798.ece
State offers paths to 4-year degree (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
North Carolina has much to be proud of when it comes to its public commitment to higher education. Our state's system of public colleges and universities is among the best in the nation. It's upper tier schools, including the flagship campus at UNC Chapel Hill, are traditionally ranked among the best national institutions.