Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Nanotube-generated X-rays may revolutionise airport scanners, radiotherapy
The Thaindian News (Bangkok, Thailand)
In a breakthrough that may revolutionize radiotherapy and airport baggage scanners, scientists have successfully generated X-rays using carbon nanotubes…“If you look at current imaging technology, technically very little has changed since Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-rays more than 100 years ago,” said Otto Zhou, a materials scientist at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill.
National Coverage
Where to be an entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Magazine
It has no international port, no airline hub and no world trade center, but that hasn’t kept Chapel Hill from becoming one of the United States’ most worldly cities…“I was in Vienna watching the Lipizzaner Stallions, and I asked the Ukrainian woman next to me why she was there,” says Ted Zoller, director of the University of North Carolina’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. “She told me she was in town training with Quintiles, a bioinformatics company. I was flabbergasted; that’s a Chapel Hill startup.
Secrets in the salt
"Nova scienceNOW" PBS
Biophysicist Jack Griffith takes you on a narrated photo tour of quarter-billion-year-old water bubbles…Jack Griffith, Professor of Microbiology and Biochemistry at UNC Chapel Hill, speaks.
Physician trust, early screening reduces disparities for prostate cancer
ScienceDaily
Men who have a regular, ongoing relationship with a health care provider are more likely to receive prostate cancer screening and less likely to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, regardless of their race, according to a University of North Carolina study published in the current issue of the journal Cancer.
UNC release:
http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2009/July/carpenter
Regional Coverage
Stimulus funds research at Wisconsin universities
The Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Before the money started flowing from the $787 billion dollar federal stimulus package, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of oncology and medical physics Michael Gould had gotten high marks for his proposal – but no continuing funding…They will collaborate with UWM chemistry professor James Cook and professors at Stanford Research Institute and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill on the project.
Can all-male high schools boost African-American boys' graduation rates?
The Village Voice (New York)
In 2004, David Banks, a former lawyer and assistant principal at a public school in Brooklyn, joined forces with other members of the African-American philanthropic organization 100 Black Men to address what they saw as the appallingly low rates of high school graduation for African-American males in New York City…"We have theoretical concepts that boys learn differently and need different things, but we have no real way to measure if separating boys is what is actually making the difference in achievement," says Dr. Lionel Howard, research investigator at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina.
12-year-old track athlete notches special trifecta
The Star Press (Muncie, Ind.)
De'Andre Twilley has bragging rights over three of the most talented Central athletes to ever grace the track…Vanneisha Ivy holds the state record in the 100 high hurdles and now runs track for the University of North Carolina.
State and Local Coverage
Efficiency and UNC-Chapel Hill (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When I proposed a major study that would look for ways that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill could be more efficient and effective, my announcement was met with skepticism on campus. I had been chancellor for less than a year, and by all accounts, things on campus were going pretty well in spite of the serious economic situation and budget cuts the likes of which we hadn't seen in many years. (Holden Thorp is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
UNC raised $271M in gifts in 2008-09
The Chapel Hill News
UNCs fund-raising efforts brought in $271.25 million in gifts in fiscal year 2009. The total represented UNC's second highest year in history for this type of support, which accounts for money that is immediately available to the university, according to a news release.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2722/68/
How we Welcome speaks volumes (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Nestled in the Good Book is the familiar pronouncement of an eternal reward for a good deed: "I was a stranger, and you took me in." Welcoming a complete stranger into the home is not a commonplace activity. But in Chapel Hill, the Ronald McDonald House extends that kindness daily to families under stress who come from far and wide.
Roses and raspberries (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
…Roses to UNC, which saw reason on the Great Scooter Debate and dialed way down the fees it will charge for the little two-wheeled contraptions.
Teachers attend garden institute
The Chapel Hill Herald
Eighteen area teachers are spending this week at The N.C. Botanical Garden learning how to create native plant gardens on school grounds, and how to use those spaces as outdoor classrooms. The Botanical Garden has partnered with the City of Durham Stormwater Services Division to offer an Earth Partnership for Schools Institute… Through the institute, teams of teachers will be prepared to return to their schools to establish native plant gardens on their school grounds. The native plantings will be used to enhance learning across the curriculum.
Stolen trailer held oyster shell cache
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Someone stole a trailer full of spent oyster shells from behind Squid's seafood restaurant, and the Coastal Conservation Association wants it back…CCA member and UNC-Chapel Hill microbiologist Chris Elkins bought the trailer two years ago and had a lid installed to keep critters out and the stench in.
The war on drugs
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
The roots of the federal government’s drug policy date back to the late nineteenth century. Today we’re targeting crack houses instead of opium dens, but Arthur Benavie, UNC-Chapel Hill professor emeritus of economics, doesn’t think much else has changed.
Into the classroom (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Our universities have among their missions passing on knowledge, culture and critical thinking through teaching; advancement of knowledge through research; and application of better information for general community improvement and the public good…Recent news and editorial comments have focused on concerns about bloated administration and the challenges of budget restrictions at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Old Roads: Maps from 1760s onward of this area now online
The Winston-Salem Journal
A selection of Winston-Salem-related maps and city directories from the North Carolina room of the Forsyth County Public Library have recently been scanned and made available online…There are 22 maps of Forsyth County available, which can be seen on the North Carolina Maps section of the UNC Chapel Hill University Libraries Web site (www.lib.unc.edu).
Bursting the bubble (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
Sometimes I feel like the kid in the movie "Bubble Boy." | Not in that I don't have an immune system — I do, and generally it works pretty well — but in that, when I'm at school in Chapel Hill, I often feel I'm living inside a very large, campus-shaped bubble.
The new tobacco (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
You don't need to read all of this column to get its message. For North Carolinians it is simply this: Food is the new tobacco…Read UNC professor Barry Popkin's new book, "The World is Fat," and I think you will come to the conclusion that our eating habits are destroying our good health and quality of life in much the same way the habitual use of tobacco does.
UNC’s Ackland Art Museum hires curator away from Harvard
The Triangle Business Journal (Raleigh/Durham)
Peter Nisbet has been appointed the chief curator of the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2731/66/
City to hopefuls: Too early to post campaign signs
The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City)
City officials say it’s too early to have campaign signs posted — even in your own yard…Olson said the city had researched the free speech implications of the sign rules and had been advised by experts at the School of Government of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that cities may place reasonable restrictions on signs as long as they don’t regulate content.
Issues and Trends
NC budget impasse builds hope for tax alternatives
The Associated Press
Lawmakers and interest groups who sense an opening in North Carolina's budget talks over taxes tried Tuesday to build support for alternative methods to generate more revenue or cut costs beyond what Democratic leaders are seeking…The state also could save $50 million by expanding through the University of North Carolina system on a consultant's efficiency study that found UNC-Chapel Hill has too many administrators, GOP members said.
Budget battle not likely to cool in August sauna (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
On Tuesday, Republican legislative leaders suggested their own plan. They outlined $633 million in cuts and savings that they say would help balance the state budget without raising taxes. The list includes: getting $100 million in federal money by allowing more charter schools, saving $14 million by eliminating in-state tuition for out-of-state athletes, cutting $25 million for the state aquarium pier at Nags Head, cutting $5 million in incentives for Apple to locate a new facility in the state and taking $70 million of Golden LEAF Foundation money, which goes to help rural communities, and using it to leverage three times that much in federal matching funds.