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

International Coverage

Death link to too much red meat
BBC News

Scientists have produced new evidence suggesting eating lots of red and processed meat damages health. They found big meat eaters had a raised risk of death from all causes over a 10-year period. …Writing in the same journal, Dr Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, stressed there were health benefits to eating some red meat. But he added: "The need is for a major reduction in total meat intake, an even larger reduction in processed meat and other highly processed and salted animal source food products and a reduction in total saturated fat."

National Coverage

Daily Red Meat Raises Chances Of Dying Early
The Washington Post

Eating red meat increases the chances of dying prematurely, according to the first large study to examine whether regularly eating beef or pork increases mortality. …"The uniqueness of this study is its size and length of follow-up," said Barry M. Popkin, a professor of global nutrition at the University of North Carolina, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. "This is a slam-dunk to say that, 'Yes, indeed, if people want to be healthy and live longer, consume less red and processed meat.' "

Diets Rich In Red Meat May Be Risky
NPR.org

Eating large amounts of red meat may increase the likelihood of dying from heart disease and cancer, according to a large federal study of AARP members. …But Barry Popkin, director of the obesity center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, believes the findings are still significant. "It's a lot of deaths you save if you go from eating a Whopper once a day to once a week instead," he says.
Related Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-03-24-red-meat-mortality-study_N.htm

NJ city: surprising leader in affordable housing
The Christian Science Monitor

…The difficulty in finding the right balance of location, housing mix, and economic hope for blighted parts of a city makes it unclear if big homeownership-oriented, affordable-housing thinking will return, says William Rohe, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "There is no question about it, home ownership is still a part of the American dream and still something most renters aspire to," Dr. Rohe says. "But there is the larger issue of 'Is the area … one where you ought to be encouraging people with low incomes to buy homes?' "

Regional Coverage

Red meat linked to risk of earlier death
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Eating red meat increases the chances of dying prematurely, according to a large federal study offering powerful new evidence that a diet that regularly includes steaks, burgers and pork chops is hazardous to your health. …"This would be the Rolls-Royce of studies on this topic," said Barry Popkin, a professor of global nutrition at the University of North Carolina, who wrote an accompanying editorial.

State and Local Coverage

Perdue proposes 'truth in budget'
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…Last week, Perdue proposed closing a $3.4 billion deficit in next year's budget through a combination of spending cuts, an influx of federal stimulus dollars and increasing taxes on alcohol and tobacco. …State officials balanced the current budget, which is operating at a $2.2 billion deficit, by relying heavily on unspent salary money. "When you take that slack out of the rope on the front end you begin to work more at the margin," said William Rivenbark, an associate professor of public administration at the UNC School of Government.

Romance language courses still on
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald

Romance languages are not dead at UNC Chapel Hill. Contrary to previous reports, several graduate degree programs in the department of Romance Languages will be merged to foster efficiency. …"We regret the confusion and misinformation circulating in the university community about nine master's and doctoral degree programs in Italian, French and Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages," UNC Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bernadette Gray-Little said in a statement released Monday afternoon.
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=9847
UNC Statement:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2340/107/

UNC scholar has a beef with beef
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

With the National Cancer Institute's warning Monday that red meat is bad for people, a nutritionist from UNC-Chapel Hill added his view that it's also unhealthy for the planet. Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition, in an editorial published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, makes the case to ratchet back meat production and consumption.

'On Golden Pond' filmmaker to teach classes at UNC
The Associated Press

Filmmaker Mark Rydell makes it all look so easy, what with the 26 Oscar nominations his movies such as "On Golden Pond" have garnered. But he recalled his early days of breaking into the business as "awful," and said he hopes he can help University of North Carolina students avoid problems he had. He'll start teaching classes at the Chapel Hill campus this week.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/arts/film-festival-to-screen-
work-by-on-golden-pond-director.html

Yield to Heels at UNC crosswalks this week
The Chapel Hill Herald

Most free T-shirts come with strings attached — an e-mail address, typically, or an entrance fee with the bonus of thrown-in clothing. The T-shirts handed out by the Yield to Heels campaign also come at a price: proper pedestrian safety techniques. …"The idea is to congratulate, point out and identify people who are crossing these particular crosswalks in an acceptable fashion," said Randy Young of the UNC Department of Public Safety.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2327/107/

Campaign to focus on problem areas
The Chapel Hill Herald

Pedestrian problem areas on the UNC campus generally remain the same from year to year. So on Wednesday, consistent with years past, volunteers from the Yield to Heels campaign will station themselves at the crosswalk on South Road by the Bell Tower, on South Road by the Student Recreation Center and on South Columbia at the fraternity court.

Performing Puerto Rico
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM

The resume of Roxana Perez-Mendez includes the construction of the world's tallest hotel in Puerto Rico and being the first Puerto Rican space traveler. Both fictional roles were assumed by Perez-Mendez, a multi-media performance artist and a Puerto Rican native. Now an assistant professor of studio art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Perez-Mendez is continuing her artistic exploration of her homeland's cultural possibilities. She joins guest host Janet Babin to discuss her latest work, which examines the immigrant narrative.
Note: "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays.

Business lecture April 1 on Dubai
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald

Michael Proffitt, senior adviser to Dubai Logistics City, will give a free public lecture, "Doing Business in Dubai," April 1 at UNC. The 5:30 p.m. talk in the Kenan Center dining room is part of the Business Across Borders series sponsored by the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/business/michael-proffitt-offers-advice-on-
doing-business-in-dubai-at-kenan-center-april-1.html

Business students to compete
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald

Teams of entrepreneurial students, faculty and staff from UNC will compete for $50,000 in prizes at the 2009 Carolina Challenge final competition from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Kenan-Flagler Business School's Maurice J. Koury Auditorium.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2334/107/

Reception held for artist exhibit
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald

A reception for Mississippi painter Martha Ferris, amid an exhibit of her works, will be from 4 to 6 p.m. April 7 at UNC. The UNC Center for the Study of the American South is displaying Ferris' pastel portraits, encaustics and more through May 29 at its Love House and Hutchins Forum, 410 E. Franklin St. Gallery hours are 2 to 4:30 p.m. Thursdays.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2337/107/

Issues and Trends

NC education chiefs talk to NC Senate budget panel
The Associated Press

Lawmakers who get the first turn fashioning a state budget this year will hear from North Carolina’s education leaders about Gov. Beverly Perdue’s spending proposal. The Senate Appropriations Committee scheduled a meeting Tuesday to listen to University of North Carolina system President Erskine Bowles, community college system President Scott Ralls and two leaders of the public schools.
Related Link:
http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/4799091/

The Pain of Cuts: UNC system schools would eliminate jobs, trim classes
The Winston-Salem Journal

Gov. Bev Perdue has proposed cutting the state appropriation by 6.5 percent, or $192 million, this year to the UNC system, a measure that would eliminate 1,600 jobs and reduce the courses available for students in the 16-campus system. …Perdue has asked the UNC system to develop scenarios of how budget cuts of 3 percent, 5 percent and 7 percent would affect their schools in 2009-10, UNC President Erskine Bowles said in a March 11 memo to the UNC board of governors.
Related Links:
http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/state/6-1129576.cfm
http://www.fayobserver.com/article_archive?id=1246901&q=unc

Furloughs for State Workers?
WUNC-FM

A new state House measure would allow the governor to furlough some state employees as a last resort to balance the budget. Madison County Democrat Ray Rapp says his bill would let the governor cut payroll without cutting state jobs. …Governor Bev Perdue has said she doesn't like the idea of furloughs. But Rapp says she may need to reconsider.
Related Link:
http://wake.mync.com/site/Wake/news/story/30299/representatives-
consider-state-worker-furloughs/

Chapel Hill developer, mayor swap recriminations
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

A developer accused the Town Council on Monday of rigging its vote against her condo proposal, drawing a stern rebuke from Mayor Kevin Foy. …Georg Vanberg, a political science professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, called out council member Bill Strom for "looking down" and "not paying attention" as he spoke.

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