Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
The Colbert Effect and Troop Morale (Blog)
The New York Times
This week, Stephen Colbert took his show, “The Colbert Report,” to Baghdad as part of a U.S.O. tour. Sending entertainers to perform for the troops overseas has been a long-time American tradition. Maintaining good troop morale is essential to a successful military mission. What does it take to do that, especially in the face of multiple deployments? We asked current and former servicemembers, a historian and the spouse of an Army officer for their thoughts. …Richard H. Kohn is professor of history and peace, war, and defense at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A former president of the Society for Military History, he is co-editor of “Soldiers and Civilians: The Civil-Military Gap and American National Security.”
State and Local Coverage
Hamner, UNC launch Institute for Drug Safety Sciences
The Triangle Business Journal
Researchers at the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are working to create a virtual model to test how new drugs will affect the liver. …The Institute for Drug Safety Sciences, which opened last week and features a 14,000-square-foot research laboratory, will work to study global drug safety issues. It is being led by Paul Watkins, the Verne S. Caviness distinguished professor of medicine at UNC.
Related Link:
http://www.carrborocitizen.com/housing/2009/06/unc-hamner-partner/
NRG Calls For New Controls On Carolina North
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
As the deadline nears for approving the Carolina North development agreement, community groups are urging the Town Council to demand more from the university. …At a public hearing Monday night, members of the group Neighbors for Responsible Growth offered specific language that would tie traffic mitigation measures to building occupancy, meaning UNC would have to agree to help improve roadways around the new campus before moving into any new building.
Related Link:
http://orange.mync.com/site/Orange/news/story/36687/residents-
ask-for-regulations-on-carolina-north/
N.C. keeps close eye on flu
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A recent uptick in the number of pandemic flu cases confirmed in North Carolina reflects not only that the virus is circulating but also that surveillance is especially sensitive. The state reported 96 cases on Friday — including two among N.C. State University students. A UNC-Chapel Hill student had earlier been diagnosed with the new flu strain, and other cases were reported among grade school students in area counties.
UNC Professor Witnessed Pandemic Ruling
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
As the World Health Organization declared Swine Flu an official pandemic, a UNC professor was there to bear witness. Dr. Jim Thomas is the Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Program in Public Health Ethics at UNC. He was one of the world’s leading ethicists called to discuss the implications of the H1-N1 virus.
Talk to focus on ticks, diseases
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The Bynum Front Porch Community Speakers Series continues at 7 p.m. today at the Bynum General Store with Marcia E. Herman-Giddens, president of the Tick-borne Infections Council of North Carolina, Inc (TIC-NC). She will be talking about human-biting ticks in North Carolina, the diseases they carry and proper removal and protection. Herman-Giddens is a child and family health consultant and adjunct professor in UNC's School of Public Health.
Following the masters' footsteps
The Chapel Hill News
Bolshoi Ballet dancers Vitaly Biktimirov, left, and Anna Leonova perform a scene from 'Don Quixote' at UNC's Memorial Auditorium Wednesday. The world renowned Bolshoi Ballet treated Memorial Hall audiences to two performances of 'Don Quixote' last week and will conclude its first visit to the southeastern United States today, with the second of two performances of the classic 'Swan Lake.'
Issues and Trends
Assembly must make hard choices (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It's crunch time — number-crunching time — at the General Assembly. In just two weeks the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is due to be signed into law. As things stand, the budget has only begun to take its final shape. This year's fiscal picture is like none in decades. North Carolina is potentially in the hole by billions of dollars. A recession-wracked economy isn't producing anywhere near the tax revenue of recent years. Yet state government's responsibilities haven't diminished a bit.
Cut out wasteful spending (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The analogy wouldn't work in the dead of winter, but this time of year it's right on target: North Carolina's state budget is like a garden with a weed problem. Lots of good, nourishing veggies, threatened by weeds that can choke out plants we want and depend on. Doesn't anyone know how to operate a hoe? …Kane wasn't even able to quantify those costs for employees in the University of North Carolina system, which refused to disclose pertinent data.
'Private' government e-mails are public business (Editorial)
The Star News (Wilmington)
Government employees who send e-mails from a work account ought to understand that every word they write is the public’s business. That includes a quick note asking the hubby to pick up milk on the way home, or an off-color joke forwarded to friends and family. That’s not how North Carolina’s local governments see it. The body that advises them, UNC’s School of Government, has said all an employee has to do is mark an e-mail “personal” to keep it away from the prying eyes of taxpayers who foot the bill.
Atwater's trial date moved to May 2010
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
After defense attorneys for Demario James Atwater argued Monday they would not have time to prepare a proper defense for their client by November, a judge moved the trial date for the man accused of killing Eve Marie Carson from Nov. 2 to May 3, 2010.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1570603.html
http://www.news14.com/content/local_news/triangle/610739/atwater
-trial-delayed-at-request-of-suspect-s-attorneys/Default.aspx