Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Drivers and Legislators Dismiss Cellphone Risks
The New York Times
…Some researchers say that sufficient evidence exists to justify laws outlawing cellphone use for drivers — and they suggest using technology to enforce them by disabling a driver’s phone. “Just outlawing the behavior cannot possibly go very far toward getting people not to do it,” said Robert D. Foss, senior research scientist at the Highway Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina. “The behavior is too ingrained and compelling.”
Beachgoers beware: Stomach bugs lurk in sand
MSNBC.com
…But a new study shows that some pretty nasty bugs may lurk in those glistening, gleaming grains. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that digging in the sand raised the risk of diarrhea by 44 percent in young children — those under the age of 11. …The beaches included in the study were all within seven miles of a sewage treatment plant. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that beaches far from such plants are safe, says the study’s lead author Chris Heaney, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study was conducted in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2692/71/
NC gov's spending power without budget untested
The Associated Press
Lawmakers have had only several hours to spare twice in the past three weeks before beating a deadline by passing legislation that lets North Carolina state government keep spending while a permanent budget is worked out. …"We don't have a lot of history in this area," said James Drennan, professor at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and expert on the state constitution. The question yet to be answered substantially in court, according to Drennan, is "what kind of inherent power does the governor have to keep the state running in an emergency?"
Regional Coverage
Study: Playing in beach sand may bring medical problems
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania)
One of summertime's innocent pleasures – playing in beach sand – may actually make people sick, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Epidemiology. …"This shouldn't be taken as a reason to stop playing in the sand," said lead author Chris Heaney, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The seven beaches included in the study – located in Rhode Island, the Great Lakes, and the Gulf Coast – were within seven miles of sewage outfalls, so the results may not apply where there are no known pollution sources. But to be safe, he recommended washing hands or using hand sanitizer at the beach before eating.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2692/71/
Hang up the d*** phone (Blog)
The Arkansas Times (Little Rock, Ark.)
Major feature in NY Times this morning on one of my favorite topics — the indisputable danger of using phones, Blackberries, etc. while driving. Yakking drivers have an unrealistic idea of their ability to multi-task. Legislators, many of them yakkers, too, don't want to do anything about it. …“Just outlawing the behavior cannot possibly go very far toward getting people not to do it,” said Robert D. Foss, senior research scientist at the Highway Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina. “The behavior is too ingrained and compelling.”
SOL test loopholes examined
The Roanoke Times (Virginia)
The two investigations into test irregularities that have rocked the Roanoke and Montgomery County school systems in recent weeks are a reminder that illegally manipulating standardized tests is more common that parents and educators would like to believe, according to testing experts. "It's unfortunately common," said Gregory Cizek, a professor of educational measurement at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
State and Local Coverage
UNC has taken in $8.5M from stimulus so far
The Chapel Hill Herald
When it comes to stimulus money for medical and scientific research, UNC is reaching for the moon while hoping to land among the stars. So far, so good for the state's flagship university, which to date has collected more than $8.5 million in stimulus money for a variety of research projects ranging from the study of prostate cancer to synthetic blood substitutes.
PlayMakers wins $30K grant for 'Nickleby'
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
PlayMakers Repertory Company has been awarded a national arts grant for its upcoming production of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby." For the second year in a row, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has honored the professional theater company based in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC.
Related Links:
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/51066.html
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=11093
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2710/66/
'Goosebumps' author at festival
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
R.L. Stine, creator of the "Goosebumps" book series, author Judy Schachner, and author and illustrator Brian Pinkney will participate in the children's portion of the North Carolina Literary Festival, to be held Sept. 10-13 at UNC. Children's activities and authors will be featured Sept. 12 and 13. Thirteen children's storytellers, authors and illustrators will take the children's main stage, and an area will be set aside for children's activities.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2709/66/
Health scientist (Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Whether or not his push for health care reform succeeds, President Barack Obama has made a worthy contribution to medical research by nominating Francis S. Collins to lead the National Institutes of Health. The job is important — the NIH is the largest funder of academic research in the country — and Collins' credentials, which include an M.D. degree with honors from UNC-Chapel Hill, are outstanding.
White House News Release:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-
Intent-to-Nominate-Francis-Collins-as-NIH-Director/
Meet Jim Evans
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
Dr. James Evans is so convinced of the beauty of DNA that he wears it as a fashion statement. He is often photographed sporting a necktie with the double helix peeking out from his white coat. Evans is a molecular biologist and physician at UNC- Chapel Hill and the editor in chief of the journal Genetics in Medicine. He demystifies the subject for students and cancer patients at UNC. And he advises policy makers and teaches judges who need to make practical decisions based on complex science. He joins host Frank Stasio for a conversation about what we know, what we don’t know and what we need to know about genetics.
Note: "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays.
Walking to work keeps commuters slim
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
Trying to get fit but can't work it into your daily schedule? Incorporating even relatively short bouts of exercise into a daily commute appears to deliver significant rewards, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. …And men who walk or bike have lower obesity rates as well as healthier triglyceride levels, blood pressure and insulin levels, said study author Penny Gordon-Larsen, Ph.D., nutrition associate professor in UNC's Gillings School of Global Public Health.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2695/71/
Historians uncover cemetery's secrets
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Nearly 300 poor and older people, mostly residents of the Wake County Home for the Aged and Infirm, were buried between 1915 and 1976 in a Five Points-area cemetery that belongs to the county. …The practice of having each county oversee a home for its poor people stems from the tradition of English poor law, and was more formally instituted in North Carolina when the state rewrote its constitution after the Civil War, said Andrew Dobelstein, a professor emeritus of social welfare and public policy at UNC-Chapel Hill.
No wonder we seek educational options (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Despite so much talk about the economy, more North Carolinians consider education to be the state's No. 1 priority. …Union Independent School, for example, will begin private instruction for low-income and at-risk elementary students next month. In a partnership between Union Baptist Church and the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill, the school was designed to improve academic performance among children in one of Durham's poorest and most dangerous areas.
The greasing of greedy palms (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Call me crazy, but every time I hear a public body putting the squeeze on a developer for cash to stuff the municipal budget, it strikes me as legal extortion. …Yet, there was Hillsborough Town Commissioner Evelyn Lloyd at a public hearing last week unabashedly telling UNC Hospitals execs: "I'm hoping to pick up some money as well as some jobs" from the proposed 68-bed hospital campus UNC wants to build in the southern part of town.
A path to discussion (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
…My personal nightmare is looking on Google Calendar and seeing I have booked two speaking engagements at the same time. Ever since my book, "A Home on the Field" was selected as summer reading at UNC, there is not a day when my e-mail does not have an invitation to speak about immigration. Book clubs, Rotary Clubs, radio shows, schools, libraries and other organizations want to discuss the book and what some pundits have called "the third-rail of American politics." (Paul Cuadros is an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
We Checked It Out: New taxes don't mean new services
The Times-News (Burlington)
A Whitsett resident called the Times-News newsroom with a question about his tax bill and what return he ought to be getting for it. …The caller believed the town should have to provide an additional service if it’s going to levy a tax. David Lawrence, with the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, says there’s no rule that requires cities and towns who increase taxes to provide extra services.
Artist paints, lives immigrants' story
The Chapel Hill News
…Cornelio Campos, who made his journey across the border 20 years ago, paints folkloric and political art. Some of his work depicts prejudice, social and political, against Mexican immigrants. …One oil painting is especially important to him because UNC's Campus Y recently acquired it to display on campus.
20 years in, 'Merge' making it
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Twenty years removed from its modest origins, Merge has grown from occupying part of a bedroom to its own office building — and also to the upper reaches of the charts. …Of course, the program includes a live-music festival, XX Merge. McCaughan and Ballance's band Superchunk will play this week during five nights of sold-out shows at Cat's Cradle and UNC-Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall, alongside an impressive chunk of the Merge roster: Lambchop, Spoon, She & Him, Polvo and many others.
Related Link:
http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/features/54-1183540.cfm
Number of LGBT serving in legislatures triples
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The number of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered representatives in the national legislatures of 18 countries around the world has tripled since 1998. That finding is among those in research by UNC political scientist Andrew Reynolds. His paper, "The Presence and Impact of Openly Gay and Lesbian Politicians in the Parliaments of the World," finds that although these representatives are in the minority in the legislatures in which they serve, their presence correlates with passage of more gay-friendly laws.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2696/1/
Climate LEAP is this week
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The second session of the Climate Leadership and Energy Awareness Program (Climate LEAP) will take place on the UNC campus today through Friday. …The week-long institute, designed by staff from the UNC Institute for the Environment's environmental resource program, UNC's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and the physics and astronomy department in the College of Arts and Sciences, will see students take part in hands-on activities such as lab experiments and computer data modeling.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2706/74/
Minority Business Expo is Sept. 12
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The Black Faculty and Staff Caucus of UNC will host its first UNC Minority Business Expo, "Where Commerce Meets Culture," from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 12 in the Great Hall of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. Besides minority businesses showcasing their services and products to the public, the free expo will provide an information session, networking opportunities and entertainment.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2707/67/
Issues and Trends
Two weeks in, and still no state budget
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
More than two weeks into the 2009-10 fiscal year, the Legislature has been unable to agree on a budget. …The University of North Carolina system has asked its member institutions, including the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, to draft several plans based on cuts ranging from 5 to 20 percent.
Budget blight hits Arboretum
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
The N.C. Arboretum has notified six workers they will be laid off, executive director George Briggs said Friday. …UNC system President Erskine Bowles ordered agencies to make 10 percent cuts to their budgets, Briggs said.
Making the case for a UNCG School of Pharmacy (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Record (Greensboro)
…Factors contributing to the pharmacist shortage include an increase in the number of new prescriptions dispensed, an aging population, a greater demand in patient care and growth in community pharmacies. A 2008 survey of North Carolina hospitals showed that a pharmacist vacancy was the most difficult to fill and resulted in the longest vacant position. Recently, UNC-Chapel Hill received 800 applications for 155 positions in its School of Pharmacy and Wingate University received 1,112 applicants for 70 slots. (Tim Rice is CEO of Moses Cone Health System.)