Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
The game has changed
The Economist
…Retailers have also been giving more shelf space to their own products, on which they earn better margins, further squeezing the big brands by making them less visible. Jan-Benedict Steenkamp, a marketing expert at the University of North Carolina, estimates that the share of private-label goods is now 20% at Wal-Mart and 35% at Kroger, two huge American retailers.
Rape and the Civil War (Blog)
The New York Times
When the topic is sexual violence in wartime, the horrors of the Balkans and Rwanda typically come to mind — not the American Civil War. But in the academic journal Daedalus, Crystal N. Feimster begs to differ with historians who “have accepted without question the idea that Union soldiers rarely raped southern women, black or white, and have argued that sexual violence was rare during the Civil War.” In fact, the University of North Carolina historian writes, “hundreds, perhaps thousands of women suffered rape” during the war, with many assaults likely unreported.
A Peek Behind the Veil (Column)
Inside Higher Ed
OK, so, into a bar walk an Anglican priest, a Muslim imam, a Jewish rabbi and an atheist. Sounds like a ramp to punch line, right? No. That was my panel last month at the 20th anniversary of the Oxford Round Table, at the University of Oxford, England. …My symposium, “Religion and Science After Darwin — Effects on Christians and Muslims” — featured sessions with distinguished thinkers in physics, biology, religion and law from all the intellicrat schools you might imagine: Oxford, Harvard, Boston U., UNC-Chapel Hill, Rutgers, etc.
Celebrities fit right in on Martha's Vineyard
USA Today
…So at 9:50 a.m. on a recent Tuesday, Ross, towheaded son Lucas, 2, and former father-in-law Bill Coleman, 66, await on the porch of Alley's General Store, an island meeting place that stocks everything from old-fashioned penny candy to fishhooks. Coleman, a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, proffers a cup of Alley's perfect coffee, and the tour begins.
Regional Coverage
Fall is Near (Blog)
The Seattle Post Intelligencer (Washington)
…There is another interesting medical study being done at the college and professional level that may mean changes for the detection and treatment of brain and heat related injuries. The University of North Carolina, among others, is requiring their players to ingest a vitamin-sized capsule that contains a thermometer, radio transmitter and battery. …The University of North Carolina seems to be in the forefront of these ongoing studies. They are also studying the G-force it takes in different impact locations for a player to sustain a concussion. They have inserted sensors in players helmets to help with this study
State and Local Coverage
U.S. News salutes Triangle schools
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Local universities fared well, as usual, in the annual college rankings issue of U.S. News & World Report. The magazine's annual "Best Colleges" rankings again placed UNC-Chapel Hill fifth among the nation's public universities.
Related Links:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/usnewsflash-duke-unc-
wake-ncsu-still-good-colleges
http://www.wral.com/news/local/noteworthy/story/5833326/
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/08/17/daily33.html
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2794/1/
Universities Prepare for H1N1 Flu
WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill)
As students make their way to regional college campuses, they'll be finding lots of information on H1N1 flu. …Mary Covington heads student health services at UNC Chapel Hill. She says her office has launched a campus-wide public information campaign. …Covington says UNC is beefing up staffing at student health services and instituting a telephone triage service to reduce overload at the student health clinic in case of an outbreak.
Town picks up as students' return begins
The Chapel Hill Herald
Does it feel like there's a bit more traffic on the roads these days? Longer lines at restaurants and bigger crowds at the bar? You're not imagining, it's real. The reason? UNC students have begun to make their annual trek to Chapel Hill. …UNC students have been drifting into town all week in preparation for the start of school Tuesday. On Wednesday, more than 1,200 returning students moved into campus housing during what Rick Bradley, assistant director of housing and residential education, described as the "unofficial opening day" for returning students.
Child's death revives driving debate
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The death of a Raleigh child who police say was struck by an 83-year-old driver could mean a renewed push for stricter regulation of older drivers, said a legislator who helped kill such an effort this spring. …But Bill Hall, a University of North Carolina researcher, said there's no magic formula for knowing which drivers should have their licenses more heavily restricted. "By and large, the research community agrees that it's not an issue of aging; it's an issue of functional ability," said Hall, manager for occupant protection programs at UNC's Highway Safety Research Center.
Cortese to tell family's story
The Chapel Hill Herald
Nine members of Carina Cortese's mother's family were killed by the Argentine military during what's known as the Dirty War in that country, from 1976-83. The family's fatal struggle against the Argentine military dictatorship will be profiled in "Afterimages of the Disappeared," Cortese's one-woman performance at 8 p.m. Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 at UNC.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2777/107/
UNC takes $50,000 hedge on Hillsborough hospital
The Triangle Business Journal
UNC Hospitals has taken out a $50,000 hedge in case it doesn’t get state approval for a proposed $227 million hospital in Hillsborough. …Ray Lafrenaye, UNC Hospital’s vice president for facilities, says if the $227 million construction requested is approved in September, the application to do predevelopment work won’t be needed.
Issues and Trends
'Mo' Walker was a true hero (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
By all accounts, Morris Walker was the sort of affable young man that one would like to have as a friend. And, we are told, he had many, once inviting 3,000 guests to help him and a friend who shared his birth date celebrate another notch on the calendar while they were students at UNC. …But Mo put aside his love of university — and the zesty university life he led — for what he considered an even greater calling.
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=11508
Williams House hosts cupcake fest for prof's birthday
The Chapel Hill Herald
Putting the icing on the cupcake, so to speak, the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill is paying pastry-laden homage to a former UNC philosophy professor who lived in one of the town's most recognizable houses. …The cupcake festival is a celebration of the birthday of Horace Williams (1858-1940), an influential UNC philosophy professor and the last private owner of the Horace Williams House, 610 E. Rosemary St., which is the headquarters of the Preservation Society.
Nelms puts focus on caps & gowns
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Just about half the students at N.C. Central University do not graduate within six years. …And its six-year graduation rate lags behind a number of other campuses in the UNC system. For comparison, the six-year graduation rate at UNC Chapel Hill, which is the highest in the state university system, is around 85 percent while the four-year graduation rate is around 72 percent.
Community reacts to Sullivan's passing
The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area
The work of former UNC-Greensboro Chancellor Patricia Sullivan will have a lasting impact on both her campus and the community, say many of the people who knew her. …University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles echoed that sentiment, calling Sullivan one of the finest people he'd ever known. "As chancellor of UNCG and as a private citizen, she offered living proof that real success comes from doing what’s right and what’s in the public interest. I don’t think you could leave a finer legacy,” Bowles said.