Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Police: 2 dead in NC meat plant blast, collapse
The Associated Press
Police say they have found the bodies of two people in the rubble of a North Carolina Slim Jim meat products plant that was rocked by an explosion. …Four people were in critical condition at UNC Hospitals with burns covering between 40 percent and 60 percent of their bodies, said Dr. Charles Cairns, professor and chairman of the department of emergency medicine at the University of North Carolina. "Anything that covers more than 50 percent of the body surface area is a very major burn and can be complex to take care of and can result in major complications, including death," Cairns said.
Regional Coverage
Institute buys land for new Croatan Sound facility
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)
When the goal is to build an innovative facility to study coastal processes, ideally it should be located on water. That's why the University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute in Manteo decided to pursue purchase of a 200-acre parcel in Skyco along the Croatan Sound rather than be landlocked at the initial proposed site on Roanoke Island. …In 1994, a UNC task force identified the need for a marine research and education facility in the northeast. The institute will partner with UNC-Chapel Hill, East Carolina University and North Carolina State University.
State and Local Coverage
Bolshoi makes rare U.S. appearance at UNC
The Chapel Hill News
Unless you happen to run an institution such as, say, the Kennedy Center, it takes a certain amount of brazenness to contact the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and ask whether they might be interested in coming and performing at your theater. …"You get to the point where you say, 'So, can we discuss having them perform here?' and their first question is, 'Who are you?'" said Emil Kang, UNC's executive director of the arts. "Then they go, 'And have you ever done this before?'" Still, they can't say yes if you don't ask, so Kang asked.
Related Links:
http://www.wnct.com/nct/news/state_regional/article/bolshoi_ballet
_comes_to_nc_town_for_4_performances/38408/
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2605/66/
The Bolshoi Ballet to perform the classics
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
This year's American Dance Festival, which begins performances next week, will look at the influence ballet and modern dance have had on each other. Beginning today, audiences will get to see two ballet classics — "Don Quixote" and "Swan Lake" — performed by one of the great world ballet companies, the Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow. …Chapel Hill is also the only city in which the Bolshoi will present two works, and the performances mark the Bolshoi's premiere in the Southeastern United States, said Emil Kang, executive director of Carolina Performing Arts.
In Depth: Bolshoi Ballet
News 14 Carolina
One of the world's most spectacular ballet companies is set to perform in Chapel Hill this week. The Bolshoi Ballet will perform with the North Carolina Symphony at Memorial Hall on the UNC Chapel Hill campus. Emil Kang, executive director and founder of Carolina Performing Arts, talks about the show in this interview with News 14 Carolina’s Tracey Early.
Explosion victim identified; one body remains, another missing
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
…Tuesday's explosion caved in parts of the roof, sparked fires and caused an ammonia leak. Nearly 40 people were taken to area hospitals. …Four people were listed in critical condition and three were in fair condition Wednesday at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, Dr. Bruce Cairns said. Some of the patients suffered burns over 40 to 60 percent of their bodies, he said.
Related Links:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6857367
http://www.ncnn.com/content/view/4505/26/
Interview With UNC Doctor About Conagra
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
Dr. Bruce Cairns, medical director for the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC, talks to NBC17 about the patients being treated after the ConAgra Foods explosion.
Got Water?
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
No one really knows how much water North Carolinians use every year, and that makes staving off the next drought difficult. On today’s program, we’ll look at how we currently make decisions about water use in North Carolina and ideas for more rational planning in the future. We’re broadcasting live from the Barn at Fearrington in Pittsboro, N.C. with a panel of guests that include: …Fran DiGiano, retired professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill; Greg Characklis, professor in Environmental Sciences and Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill…
Note: "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays.
'State of Things' at the Barn today
The Chapel Hill Herald
A panel of experts will discuss the political and health issues around water, including access to clean, affordable water, drought, shortages and protecting the safety of our water supply during a live broadcast of WUNC's "The State of Things" at the Barn at Fearrington Village in north Chatham County at noon today. Frank Stasio, host of the radio show, will emcee the public forum. The forum is a joint project of the UNC-CH Gillings School of Public Health and WUNC.
UNC Researchers Further Cancer Research
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Research from the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center has led to finding a significant protein associated with the most common forms of cancer. Nancy DeMore, associate professor of surgery at UNC says this finding will go a long way in the fight for saving lives.
UNC Release:
http://unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2009/June/demore/
Clout keeps generics out
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
There's a pretty simple way for the state to save $28 million a year in Medicaid spending, but it has been impossible to get anyone at the legislature to act — until Tuesday. …Hospital officials say that inmates cost more to treat than regular patients. Karen McCall, spokeswoman for UNC Hospitals, said inmates require private rooms and separate check-in and registration. And even though the prison system provides a guard, the hospital must make sure there is 24-hour security. UNC does give a 10 percent discount off the billed price to the prison system, McCall said.
Group: Reduce C-North parking
The Chapel Hill News
How much parking should Carolina North have? The main UNC campus has one parking space for every 515 square feet of buildings. A transportation consultant has recommended cutting that by about 20 percent for the first 15 years for the new campus. A citizens group wants the university to go even farther, providing only one parking space for every 640 square feet of development by 2025.
Still time to improve C-North plans (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
The Chapel Hill News editorial of May 19 laid out very well, starkly, the potentially destructive impact of UNC's planned Carolina North development on the town of Chapel Hill, and criticized the "silence" of our citizens in response to the traffic impact analysis for this project.
Story overstated traffic generation (Letter to the Editor)
The Chapel Hill News
The May 11 News & Observer article "Traffic report jammed with future MLK ills" vastly overstates the impact of Carolina North on area transportation when it reports "the future Carolina North campus will nearly double traffic on the roads that feed it." …It is incorrect to imply that the projected doubling of traffic by 2025 is solely due to Carolina North. (Jack Evans, executive director, Carolina North)
The man behind the library (Column)
The Chapel Hill News
A lot of people think that the big Walter Davis Library at UNC is named after the great basketball player. Ned Cline, the biographer of the Walter Davis for whom the building is actually named, tells how one Chapel Hill student told another that "the library should not have been named for Walter Davis, because Phil Ford was a much better basketball player for the Tar Heel team."
Help diets get A's (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Traditional-calendar school is out. For kids and teens, that means days will be less structured for the next few months. Diets may go on vacation, too. Over extended breaks, it's easy for kids to fall away from their usual eating routines and into a pattern of haphazard meals and snacks. That can cause the quality of their diets to suffer and make it harder to control weight. (Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor in the department of health policy and administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Civil rights activist battles on another front
The Chapel Hill News
John "Yonni" Chapman has spent 40 years fighting for racial justice. …Chapman "brings historical truth to UNC, Chapel Hill and the town not only by documenting racism," said UNC sociologist Sherryl Kleinman, "but also by bringing people together to recognize and celebrate the contributions of black people."
UNC's Breland has lymphoma
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina forward Jessica Breland has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and is undergoing treatment at UNC Hospitals, the school announced Tuesday. "The last few weeks have been a really emotional time for me, but I've got a very positive attitude about my treatment," Breland said in a statement. "I know I'll be back and better than ever soon."
Issues and Trends
Online education in peril as state cuts spending for UNC
The Triangle Business Journal
Expansion of the University of North Carolina System’s online education offerings, which experienced a 130 percent enrollment growth from 2004 to 2008, could come to a halt this fall as budget cuts limit the ability to add degree programs. The timing is not good for students who enjoy the flexibility that online studies offer, but it’s a reality of the state budget situation, says Alan Mabe, UNC System vice president for academic planning and university-school programs.
Hiring Scandal at N.C. State Could Have Wider Repercussions
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The controversy over the hiring of a former governor's wife at North Carolina State University has already claimed the jobs of several high-profile people at the university: the chancellor, James L. Oblinger; the provost, Larry A. Nielsen; the chairman of the Board of Trustees, D. McQueen Campbell III. …But James D. Martin, a chemistry professor who is the chair of the Faculty Senate at North Carolina State, worries that the fallout from the controversy may affect some far less well-known people at the university: staff members, adjunct professors, and graduate students whose jobs are threatened by budget cuts now being considered by the North Carolina General Assembly.
E-mail shot Oblinger's story down
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Late Friday afternoon, James Oblinger called his boss, Erskine Bowles. …Bowles and others provided a detailed account about the tumultuous days and four key moments that led to Monday's firing of Mary Easley and Oblinger's resignation. By far, the most crucial was in the Chapel Hill office as the e-mails were read. At that moment, Bowles said, he knew this problem was so big that the job of NCSU's 13th chancellor was in jeopardy.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1562892.html
Telltale e-mails (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In resigning Monday as chancellor of N.C. State University, James Oblinger cited a "handful" of e-mails from 2005 that contradict his previous denials of involvement in the university's hiring of Mary Easley. The e-mail printouts certainly do shred those denials — UNC system President Erskine Bowles said they made him feel sick — but they do more. They lay out in black and white an abuse of privilege that goes beyond this week's sad events at N.C. State.
Related Links:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20090609/ARTICLES/906099908
http://www.fayobserver.com/article_archive?id=1247373&q=unc
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1562555.html
Smells Like School Spirit
Inside Higher Ed
From battered hot dogs at football games to crisp autumn afternoons, certain smells conjure up memories of college life long after graduation. A new fragrance company is attempting to bottle that nostalgia by selling perfumes based on campuses around the country. Since 2008, Masik Collegiate Fragrances has churned out a small but growing line of campus-specific scents, starting with Pennsylvania State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Louisiana State University.