Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
New specialty spurs hopes for helping abused kids
The Associated Press
It appeared to be a clear-cut case of child abuse: An infant hospitalized with bleeding in his brain, his father behind bars suspected of shaking the baby. Only after the boy died without his father at his bedside did doctors realize the bleeding was brought on by a vitamin K deficiency — not abuse. …Desmond Runyan, professor of social medicine and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the lack of training makes some doctors reluctant to handle child abuse cases.
Regional Coverage
Building that sand castle could make you sick
The Providence Journal (Rhode Island)
A new study of beaches across the country, including the one at Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick, finds that people who dig in the sand put themselves at greater risk for gastrointestinal illness and diarrhea. …The same message was offered by Christopher D. Heaney, the lead scientist on the beach sand study at the University of North Carolina. He spent the last weekend vacationing at a beach in Little Compton.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2692/71/
State and Local Coverage
A budget update at UNC-CH
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp chimes in today with an update on the university's budget situation. It's his first since the General Assembly approved a state budget, which, for UNC-CH brought a cut of about 7 percent. As Thorp points out, Carolina had already implemented a 10 percent cut plan and as such is a little bit ahead of the game.
Thorp says UNC-Chapel Hill can deal with cuts to budget
The Triangle Business Journal
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp says he believes that the university is well positioned to deal with cuts to state appropriations. The university had been planning for as much as a 7 percent cut in state appropriations. Those projections proved true when the legislature finalized the state budget last week.
H1N1 Cases May Increase With New School Year
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC students will head back to campus soon. With their return, the risk of H1N1 virus will increase. Doctor David Weber, a physician at UNC Hospitals, expects the amount of cases to go up. …However, as winter approaches, Doctor Weber expects to see larger number of cases since families will be staying at home more and students return to classroom.
Inspire Pharmaceuticals is in a whirlwind of change
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Inspire Pharmaceuticals, a drug company focusing on ophthalmic and pulmonary diseases in southern Durham, has gone through a spate of changes this month. …Inspire, founded in 1993, has grown from a UNC Chapel Hill spinout to a public company with its own research and development as well as sales force. Among its 227-person staff, 100 are in sales. The company was taken public in 2000.
Issues and Trends
Perdue defends order to slash recently approved budget
News 14 Carolina
It took just one week for Gov. Bev Perdue to override the $19 billion spending plan approved this month by lawmakers. …Executive Order 21 has some dramatic effects for several state agencies. Some of the biggest cuts include a 4 percent cut to Justice and Public Safety for over $87 million, a 5 percent cut to the UNC System for $125 million and a 5 percent cut to community colleges for around $48 million.
Cut felt deeply by elders eager to learn
The Charlotte Observer
Dan Harris began taking courses at UNC Charlotte 11 years ago. …All of which would not be possible, he said, without an N.C. program that allowed seniors over 65 to have tuition waived for courses taken at state universities. That 34-year-old program was eliminated in the state budget last week as part of a larger package of cuts at UNC institutions.
Correction
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A front-page bar chart Monday incorrectly reported the percentage growth in administrative jobs vs. instructional jobs from 2004-2008 in the 16-campus University of North Carolina system.
Administrative Ranks Grow Faster Than Faculty at U. of North Carolina System (Blog)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Payroll data from the 16-campus University of North Carolina System reveal that administrative positions have increased by 28 percent over five years, outpacing growth in faculty and other teaching jobs (24 percent) and student enrollment (14 percent), according to a report in Raleigh's News and Observer. University officials acknowledged the disproportionate job growth, and said they have been working to trim the ranks of senior and mid-level administrators.
Top heavy (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
At a time when public universities are facing budget cuts that some officials have said will hurt instruction by forcing the elimination of some classes, a golden opportunity has presented itself. The opportunity is a little embarrassing, but it's an opportunity nonetheless. And here it is: return those in a plethora of administrative jobs to the classroom, where they are needed. …But Erskine Bowles, president of the UNC system, acknowledges he'll be looking to slice positions in management. Chancellors at individual campuses are looking as well.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters/story/1651185.html
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20090818/LETTERS/908189995
Our View: UNC system bureaucracy needs the cuts (Editorial)
The High Point Enterprise
We've heard much about bureaucracy in the state's public school system over the years. Now, we're hearing a lot about bureaucracy in the state's university system. Faced with cutting $73 million from University of North Carolina system funding, chancellors of the 16-campus system have begun taking looks at senior- and middle-management level positions for reductions and significant cost savings. And cuts are being made.
UNC administrative bloat costs students (Editorial)
The Star-News (Wilmington)
It’s tough to convince a skeptical public that our state’s public universities need more money to educate students when much of the spending in recent years has gone toward fattening the ranks – and paychecks – of administrators. …UNC system President Erskine Bowles and UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp, who assumed his duties last summer, at least have acknowledged that the system is a little top-heavy. They and the other chancellors need to be even more vigilant about how much is being spent on administrative jobs.
Prosecution: Castillo wasn't psychotic
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…But a UNC-Chapel Hill psychiatrist who analyzed Castillo after his suicide attempt on April 20, 2006, the anniversary of the Columbine school shootings, testified Monday that she did not find him to be psychotic in April, May or as late as June. "It was my best judgment that he did not have psychotic tendencies," said Dr. Karen Graham, a psychiatrist who also works at Oasis, the outreach clinic where Castillo was referred after his release from UNC Hospitals.
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=11462