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

National Coverage

Are we exercising soreness away?
HealthDay News

Although proper exercise can help people deal with and alleviate chronic neck and back pain, a new study shows that health professionals may not be prescribing it as often as they should. …The results, based on a telephone survey by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, showed that those who were given instructions to exercise were nearly twice as likely to have received the order from a physical therapist than from a physician or chiropractor.

Regional Coverage

Study: Too much red meat shortens life (Blog)
The Chicago Tribune

I've never liked the taste of red meat–perhaps because I grew up with a "Little Mac" hamburger maker. But now a new study shows my devotion to a plant-based diet might pay off in the long run. …"Livestock increase greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to global warming," Barry Popkin, director of the Interdisciplinary Obesity Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

State and Local Coverage

$4.5 million grant to fund UNC graduate students
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

A $4.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will create a new graduate fellow program at the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill. The grant will join $2.76 million in funding from the university – most to be raised in private funds – to create the Mellon Graduate Fellowship Program. It will support graduate students in the departments of English and comparative literature, history, philosophy, and religious studies.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2355/107/

N.C tops nation at losing health coverage
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The economic downturn has exacerbated a troubling trend in North Carolina, according to a report Wednesday, adding to the number of people without health insurance at the fastest pace in the nation. Between 2007 and 2009, the number of people uninsured in the state rose by 322,000, or 3.1percentage points, to 1.8 million, according to findings from the N.C. Institute of Medicine and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Related Link:
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/03/23/daily41.html

Going Without: Lack of insurance is often linked to loss of a job
The Winston-Salem Journal

Nuilza Nuñez lost her health insurance eight years ago, when the company she then worked for shut down. …Researchers from the N.C. Institute of Medicine and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the UNC Chapel Hill estimated that between 2007 and 2009, the number of North Carolinians without health insurance increased about 22 percent.
Related Link:
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=322080

Insurance pool sought for local employees
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)

On a day when a new study showed North Carolina leading the nation in the growth of the uninsured, state lawmakers advanced a request from Asheville employers to pool together in an attempt to insure more workers. …Rep. Bruce Goforth, D-Asheville, and other Western North Carolina lawmakers pushed the bill through the committee on the same day an N.C. Institute of Medicine and UNC Chapel Hill study found state residents without health insurance have increased by 322,000 since 2007 to about 1.8 million.

Students 'Make A Wish' come true
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)

Business school students in Chapel Hill are defying the downturn in the economy to help the dreams of sick children come true. It's an unorthodox assignment that's teaching life lessons and changing lives. "We spent the past 48 hours raising as much money as we could for the Make A Wish Foundation," explained UNC Professor Adam Grant.

Popular policy and proven enforcement tool
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Judging from all the negative attention the federal program known as 287(g) has attracted lately, you'd think it was responsible for the recession, global warming and the state budget deficit. …In February the American Civil Liberties Union, joined by law students at UNC-Chapel Hill, charged that 287(g) encourages racial profiling.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1458105.html

UNC Trustees Continue to Examine Budget Cuts
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)

The UNC Board of Trustees Audit and Finance Committee met Wednesday to discuss ways to make state mandated cuts to the budget and hear updates from other university departments and organizations. Richard Mann, vice chancellor for finance and administration, presented a picture of the university’s budget for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 fiscal years.

At UNC, recession brings fundraising changes (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…In economic downturns, folks are less likely to give their money away; at UNC Chapel Hill, that reality is leading the university's advancement operation to tweak its strategies a bit. Private giving to the university is down 8 percent from last year. In a report to campus trustees this morning, advancement chief Matt Kupec highlighted a few areas where his operation is shifting its focus.
Related Link:
http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/orange/10-1131105.cfm

Employees ask for policy on cuts
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald

Amid trepidation over further budget cuts at UNC and perceived mixed messages from administrators, a representative of the Employee Forum on Wednesday asked Chancellor Holden Thorp and the Board of Trustees to "publicly, openly and honestly state what the university's policy is on how it will achieve the next round of budget cuts and whether it will reject budgets that do not include personnel cuts."

UNC-CH students to protest over potential cuts
News 14 Carolina

Students, faculty and university workers at UNC-Chapel Hill will protest education cuts and layoffs at the Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday. Last week, Chancellor Holden Thorpe told employees that he is ordering departments to prepare 5 percent cuts for their 2009-10 budgets.
Related Link:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6729557

Biology prof to receive award
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald

James Bear, associate professor of cell and developmental biology in the UNC School of Medicine, has been selected to receive a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientist Award. Bear, a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, will receive a six-year grant to fund his research into proteins associated with cell motility and melanoma.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2353/107/

Booksearch deal is topic of talk
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald

The legal settlement between authors and book publishers and Google regarding the company's indexing and book scanning project will be the focus of a talk April 14 at UNC.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/science-and-technology/google-booksearch
-settlement-focus-of-april-14-lecture.html

'Ooo Baby' hits high note on 'Idol'
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald

Chapel Hill native Anoop Desai drew measured praise from the judges Wednesday night with a performance of Smokey Robinson's "Ooo Baby Baby" on "American Idol." While the judges were impressed with the East Chapel Hill High School and UNC graduate's vocals, they encouraged Desai to sing with more confidence and showmanship.

Anoop before 'Idol'
WRAL.com

“American Idol” isn’t Triangle native Anoop Desai’s first television appearance. The University of North Carolina graduate student appeared on a popular WRAL children's show in the late 1990s. Desai played “Raj” on “CentralXpress.com,” which won multiple awards, including seven regional Emmys, two national Iris awards and a national Gabriel award.

Issues and Trends

John Hope Franklin dies at 94
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Dr. John Hope Franklin, who died Wednesday at 94, was remembered as the nation's most respected historian of the African-American experience and an icon in the Duke University and Durham communities.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/higher_education/story/1458524.html

Reaction to Franklin's death widespread
The Associated Press

…Joseph Jordan, director, Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at UNC-Chapel Hill “For a lot of folks interested in the history of African-Americans in this country, there are a few who stand out as giants. He was one of them. He defined an era.”

Companies turn to furloughs to save money, jobs
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)

Some businesses and government agencies are imposing furloughs to reduce expenses during the worsening recession. A furlough is a leave of absence from work – without pay – that is done as a cost-saving measure. …“I sure hope we get that, and I think that would be supported by a lot of people who work in the university,” University of North Carolina system President Erskine Bowles said.

Layoffs begin at UNCG
The News & Record (Greensboro)

The layoff process has begun at UNCG as the school tries to cut its budget by up to 7 percent in the coming year. More than 100 employees could lose their jobs, including dozens of faculty. Chancellor Linda Brady announced the layoffs to students, staff and faculty in a letter Tuesday.
Related Links:
http://www.wxii12.com/money/19014093/detail.html
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=121425&catid=57

State Senate Passes Employee Health Plan
The North Carolina News Network

he state Senate passed a new health insurance plan for state employees. To satisfy the complaints of small pharmacies Senator Tony Rand eliminated a new mail order system that would have saved money on prescription drugs for state employees.

BCBS slipping off UNC board
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

For what appears to be the first time in 12 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will not have a voting representative on the board that oversees the state's 16 public universities. Robert Greczyn Jr., the chief executive officer for Blue Cross, withdrew from consideration Wednesday after officials for the State Employees Association of North Carolina lobbied hard against his election in the state Senate. Greczyn and three other candidates withdrew as the voting began, leaving senators with eight candidates to fill eight seats on the UNC Board of Governors.
Related Link:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/controversy-over-
unc-system-board-candidates

New Quintiles HQ stands out
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Dennis Gillings, founder and chief executive of Quintiles Transnational, can see his company's new headquarters before he lands at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. …An impeccable dresser who wears suits custom-made by London tailors, the former professor of biostatistics at UNC-Chapel Hill is one of the Triangle's most successful entrepreneurs. With nearly $3 billion in annual revenue last year, Quintiles is the largest contract drug research company in the world and a driving force behind the Triangle's ranking as the U.S. capital of the contract drug research industry.

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