Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
American Islamic scholars plan Muslim US college in tradition of Brandeis, Notre Dame
The Associated Press
A group of American Muslims, led by two prominent scholars, is moving closer to fulfilling a vision of founding the first four-year accredited Islamic college in the United States, what some are calling a "Muslim Georgetown." …"It is far and away the single most influential institution that's shaping American Muslim thought," said Omid Safi, an Islamic studies professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
The Power of Negative Thinking
Oprah Magazine
Cheer up. Be happy. Find the silver lining. Smile. …"What's intriguing about defensive pessimists," adds Lawrence Sanna, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has also studied the phenomenon, "is that they tend to be very successful people, and so their low opinion of the outcome isn't realistic; they use it to motivate themselves to perform better."
State and Local Coverage
Uganda teen to receive life-saving surgery at UNC Hospital
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
This month, Gift of Life International will fly 30 children and teens in need of medical treatment to hospitals in 13 countries. One of those patients, Patrick Kahuma, 18, of western Uganda, is being treated at UNC Children’s Hospital. …UNC cardiologists and surgeons have been working for several years with DC Children’s Hospital to establish a pediatric heart program at the Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. Every fall, a team travels to Kampala to evaluate children and perform surgical procedures.
UNC Release:
http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2009/May/patrickstory
UNC Hospitals Holds Twitter Try-Out With Heart Procedure
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
No one in Patrick Kahuma's village in a remote part of Uganda will be able to follow it, but UNC Health Care is hoping the rest of the world is watching for regular "tweets," or updates on Kahuma's heart procedure Monday. …Kahuma's procedure is a joint effort between UNC's Project Uganda and several other outreach organizations. …This is the first time UNC has used Twitter to follow a hospital procedure. Check it out via Twitter at http://twitter.com/UNC_Health_Care
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=10397
NCSU vet school, UNC-CH Lineberger Center researchers team up to combat cancer
WRAL.com
Researchers at N.C. State’s veterinary school and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center are teaming up for a project targeting non-Hodgkin lymphoma in both humans and canines. The disease is biologically similar in dogs and humans. However, it is easier to identify problems in a dog’s genome since dogs of the same breed have fewer variations than the human genome, according to the researchers.
UNC Release:
http://www.unclineberger.org/news/2009/release0515.asp
UNC-Chapel Hill Lineberger Center to conduct research with NCSU vet school
WUNC-FM
Researchers at UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and NC States College of Veterinarian Medicine are hoping tissue samples from dogs with non-Hodgkins lymphoma will help them better understand the disease in humans. …Labs from both institutions will study tissue samples from both human and canine patients. Researchers hope that this study will give oncologists and veterinarians greater insights into the diseases biology, and improve their ability to diagnose the disease early.
Note: This story is not available online.
Joining Efforts: Triad group wants to leverage region's assets
The Winston-Salem Journal
…"Aerotropolis" is a relatively new phrase for describing an industrial cluster attracted by and relying on strong transportation links. Although aerotropolises typically cluster around an airport, local leaders are trying to emphasize not just Piedmont Triad International Airport, but also the strength of the area's trucking industry and its highway corridors and distribution centers. …The concept of a Triad aerotropolis surfaced in 2007 when John Kasarda, the director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at UNC Chapel Hill, presented the results of a study on the airport.
Business Briefs
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
"Small Times" magazine has recognized UNC Chapel Hill for its work in nano- and microtechnology. The magazine ranked UNC 5th in the research category nationwide. Rankings are based on a questionnaire gauging a university's capabilities and strengths in research and commercialization, as well as their standing among others via a peer review category.
UNC Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2552/107/
Traveling Science Laboratories Hit The Road
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The Destiny Traveling Science Program is an educational outreach initiative of the UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center that has aimed to serve all pre-college teachers and students across North Carolina. Karen Kornegay, the marketing manager at the Morehead planetarium, says this nine-year-strong program is an excellent educational opportunity that provides hands-on experience.
Tar Heels Also Winning In Classroom
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC has long been proud of the reputation of its sports teams winning on and off the court. New numbers show that legacy continues. UNC Athletic Director Dick Baddour was pleased with the numbers. The NCAA released combined Academic Progress Rates for four academic years ending with the 2007-2008 season earlier this month. The Tar Heels scored a 989 in men’s basketball, where a perfect score is 1-thousand. The average score in men’s basketball is 933.
UNC Release:
http://www.tarheelblue.com/genrel/042309aab.html
Professor tells the story of our town
The Chapel Hill News
Three years ago, Doug Eyre was asked to give a talk at the Chapel Hill Public Library about Horace Williams Airport. Chancellor James Moeser had just announced the university's intention to close the airport to make way for the Carolina North satellite campus, touching off a fierce debate. Given the intense controversy, a big crowd showed up to hear Eyre speak. "It was packed, standing room only," said Eyre, who taught geography and Asian studies at UNC for 44 years.
Commencement caused a stir in 19th-century Chapel Hill
The Chapel Hill News
On May 10, approximately 30,000 people attended UNC's commencement ceremony in Kenan Stadium to listen to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's speech and to honor family and friends earning degrees. Commencement has always been an important event for the university and town of Chapel Hill, but perhaps never more so than in the university's first decades.
Getting people to and from Carolina North (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
It's hard to know what to make of the silence that greeted the recent release of a traffic impact analysis of the Carolina North satellite campus. The study projected that Carolina North would put tens of thousands of additional vehicles on the roads around it every day.
Musings on marriage, smoking and more (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Record (Greensboro)
…The radical left does not practice the tolerance and inclusion it preaches. Former congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo was recently denied the opportunity to speak at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he was besieged by a throng of banner-waving anarchists. Miss California, Carrie Prejean, has been relentlessly attacked since she publicly defended traditional marriage. Never mind that the views expressed by Tancredo and Prejean are shared by the majority.
The case for the Supreme Court (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
May 17th is a singular date in our constitutional history. It was, after all, 55 years ago today that Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the Supreme Court's nation-altering ruling in Brown v. Board of Education — the greatest decision ever handed down by an American court. (Gene Nichol is a professor of law and director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Down by the River
The Fayetteville Observer
Twenty-five years ago, Cape Fear Regional Theatre took its act outside. Since then, the theater has braved rainstorms, mosquitoes and occasionally balky sound and lighting systems to stage an annual play near the banks of the Cape Fear River. …Holden Thorp, son of CFRT artistic director Bo Thorp and now chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote original songs and performed in river shows “Polyester” and “Peace, Love and Rock ’N’ Roll.”
Behind Charleston's facade
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
To outsiders, Charleston, S.C., seems like something of a museum piece, an idyllic portrait of a bygone era of manners and at least the appearance of racial harmony. Now the city's Gibbes Museum is presenting an exhibition that examines that perception and its own role in sustaining the image. Juan Logan and Susan Harbage Page, an interracial married couple who are on the UNC-Chapel Hill art faculty, spent nine months fact-finding to create "Prop Master," a compelling reconfiguration of the main gallery within the Gibbes.
Alumnus Donation Leads To Hands On Learning
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Thanks to a generous alumnus, students in the classics department at UNC can now experience more artifacts first-hand. Donald Haggis… the Nicholas A. Cassas Term Professor of Greek Studies and director of undergraduate studies in the classics department talked about how these artifacts will be used.
CTNC names diverse honorary board
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A diverse and distinguished list of North Carolinians — from Andy Griffith and Maya Angelou to Richard Childress and James Taylor — are publicly giving their support to the work of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina. Nearly 60 prominent state residents and natives were named Sunday to CTNC's honorary board. …CTNC names …Doris Betts — author, UNC Chapel Hill professor
Torturous opinions (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
I give an "F" grade to UNC law professor Joseph E. Kennedy for his wimpy protest of Judge Michael Mukasey (Point of View, May 10), and I applaud Mukasey for ruling that Justice Department lawyers who authored the "interrogation" memo should not be prosecuted. (Patrick Fitzgerald, Raleigh)
Issues and Trends
Mary Easley told to quit NCSU post
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Mary Easley has been told that she should resign from her $170,000-per-year position at N.C. State University because it is in the best interest of the university. UNC system President Erskine Bowles said today that Easley has been given that message. He said he could not elaborate on her response. N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger earlier today also said it was in the best interest of NCSU that Easley step aside.
Connections (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Last week roughed up Mike Easley in a way that politics rarely if ever did to the former two-term Democratic governor and attorney general. …Crucially, they appear to have been less than fully forthcoming about Mary Easley's appointment at N.C. State, which seems to have had its origins in a comment McQueen Campbell made to Chancellor Oblinger, according to Campbell's revised and extended remarks (made to President Bowles). The trustee chairman's previous explicit denial of any involvement was flat-out incorrect, to put it kindly. His dissembling ill-served the public; he was right to resign.