Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
State and Local Coverage
Report: Freshman class full of 'diamonds'
The Chapel Hill Herald
The UNC Class of 2013 is accented with bright, athletically gifted "diamonds" whose diversity continues to expand over previous years, the UNC Board of Trustees learned in a profile report of the 2009 freshman class given at its meeting Thursday. Stephen Farmer, assistant provost and director of admissions at UNC, presented the trustees with statistics on the class of 2013. This year 23,047 students applied — more than last school year and a five-year increase of 21 percent.
OBX residents learn about offshore wind power
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue and other state leaders are on hand as an Outer Banks community is introduced to the idea of massive offshore wind farms. …Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are expected to describe a new study that found parts of the coast and Pamlico Sound could generate industrial-scale wind energy. UNC researchers are expected to discuss the potential impacts of a wind farm on the coast's economy, quality of life, and environment.
Looking out to sea (Editorial)
The Star News (Wilmington)
Stabilizing gasoline prices have calmed the voices that once called us to “drill, baby, drill,” or to turn our total attention to developing clean alternatives to oil and other fossil fuels. When we don’t feel that pain in our wallets, a sense of urgency falls by the wayside. …A UNC-Chapel Hill professor who also happens to have a vested interest in a fledgling energy company says it is feasible to put wind turbines 40 to 50 miles off the Cape Fear coast, and to transmit power to the mainland at a competitive cost.
Program provides little help for soldiers
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In 2004, U.S. Rep. David Price inserted a $10 million program into the federal budget, sending the money to UNC-Chapel Hill for a new effort to help deployed soldiers of the National Guard and Army Reserves. Five years later, the Citizen Soldier Support Program has spent $7.3 million, but the money has accomplished little for the people it was supposed to help.
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=11914
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/soldier_
program_wastes_federal_money
Board Fired Up For Homecoming
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
At the UNC Board of Trustees’ fall meeting this week, the board took on one issue designed to boost students’ pride and spirit. Student Body President Jasmin Jones had a lot of serious topics to discuss with the UNC Board of Trustees this week. But Chairman Bob Winston says one item on her agenda brought a smile to everyone’s face. Jones says the UNC homecoming parade hasn’t happened since the mid-‘90s, but with a season-closing football game against Duke, the timing was right. And based on her plans, it promises to be a big event.
What is a college administrator, anyway? (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Much has been made of late – particularly in this newspaper – about administrative bloat at the state's public universities. UNC system President Erskine Bowles has called for a massive reduction in administrative positions across the state – to the tune of about 900 jobs, many of them filled. But what, then, is an "administrator?" The broad use of the term is clearly bothering some folks. Take Alston Gardner, a trustee at UNC Chapel Hill. Gardner chairs the board's university affairs committee and this week gave a pep talk of sorts to Interim Provost Bruce Carney and to administrators, er, leaders, er, officials.
Hacker hits UNC-CH study data
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A hacker has infiltrated a computer server housing the personal data of 236,000 women enrolled in a UNC-Chapel Hill research study. Among the information exposed: the Social Security numbers of 163,000 study participants. Though the intrusion was detected in late July, computer forensics experts say it may have happened two years ago, said Matthew Mauro, chairman of the UNC-CH Department of Radiology.
Doctor to give UNC commencement address in December
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Dr. Lisa Carey, associate professor of medicine and UNC Breast Center medical director, will give the December commencement address at UNC-Chapel Hill, Chancellor Holden Thorp announced. Thorp will preside at the ceremony at 2 p.m. Dec. 20 in the Dean E. Smith Center. Thorp chose Carey in consultation with the University's Commencement Speaker Selection Committee, which is made up of an equal number of students and faculty.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2900/107/
How Prepared are N.C. Hospitals for the Flu?
WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill)
Since the middle of August, the number of people walking into emergency departments and doctors’ offices complaining of flu-like symptoms has jumped nine-fold in North Carolina. Now, a federal report released this week says states are not as prepared for a pandemic flu as they should be. So, Rose Hoban asked the question: How prepared is North Carolina? (David Weber, assistant dean at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Medicine and associate chief of staff at UNC Hospitals, was featured in this interview talking about UNC Hospitals plans for pandemic flu.)
Awards will fuel scientists' work
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Three Triangle scientists have won prestigious awards to further their research. Tannishtha Reya, an associate professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University, and Joseph DeSimone, a chemistry professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State, both have received this year's National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer award. The award comes with a five-year, $2.5 million grant.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2898/107/
Study: Color-coded system helped parents understand BMI
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
A color-coded system helped parents participating in a recent study better understand Body Mass Index and whether their children are considered obese, according to a report published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Pediatric Association. …The study, by a team of researchers, including UNC School of Medicine's pediatrician Dr. Eliana Perrin, found that the BMI scale can be confusing for parents.
UNC Release:
http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2009/September/bmi
Big money takes one on the chin (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It's been a rough year for those believing in corporate responsibility and playing by the rules. Pirates of greed and fraud have wrecked the economy. In the process, millions of innocent, hard-toiling workers have been cast aside — losing their jobs, their health care and the security they prize for their families. Doing everything you're supposed to do, and doing it well, hasn't been enough. Larger tides, not of their making, scuttled their course. (Gene R. Nichol is a professor of law and director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
A theatrical crescendo: PlayMakers performs "Opus"
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Musicians in the audience will notice that the actors are miming the correct notes of Beethoven's "Opus 131" in the PlayMakers Repertory Company production of "Opus." It's a detail that the rest of the audience won't see as they are drawn into a behind the scenes look at a fictional quartet in the play written in 2006 by Michael Hollinger. The quartet deals with one missing member, adjusting to a new one and learning the challenging "Opus 131" in less than a week to perform at the White House. The PlayMakers main stage season opener is playing at the Paul Green Theatre at the UNC Center for Dramatic Art through Oct. 11.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2822/66/
Concert to focus on world music
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at UNC Chapel Hill is hosting Los Pleneros de la 21 for a free concert in Memorial Hall at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 in Memorial Hall on the UNC campus.
Author to speak at N.C. Garden
The Chapel Hill Herald
Author Doug Tallamy will speak at the N.C. Botanical Garden's new Education Center at 2 p.m. Oct. 11 on the theme "Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens."
Issues and Trends
New procedures aim to commercialize UNC System research
The Triangle Business Journal
Looking to boost private investments in university research and to monetize more of the results of research, the University of North Carolina System is overhauling the way its universities deal with the private sector. A half-dozen new procedures will be implemented over the next 12 months, with the goal of increasing the dollars coming in to universities to support research – either in the form of direct research grants or in licensing revenue after research is completed.
Year-end university endowment numbers reveal massive carnage
The Triangle Business Journal
It’s hard to imagine a worse year for university endowments than fiscal 2009 turned out to be. The investment funds lost billions of dollars during the year ended June 30, hurting universities’ abilities to fund scholarships, professorships and operations. Duke University’s endowment fell by 24 percent, from $6.1 billion to about $4.6 billion. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s portfolio fell by 19.6 percent, from $2.2 billion to about $1.77 billion.
Alcohol use needs social shift (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
Raymond Cook, formerly a UNC assistant professor, is charged with second-degree murder, driving while impaired and other charges. Cook allegedly was driving a car at 85 mph while under the influence of alcohol. He struck another car and killed a 20-year-old ballet dancer.
Related Link:
http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Ronald+E-+Bogle-+Campus+
drinking+abuse+needs+attacking+now%20&id=3704443-Ronald+E-+Bogle-+Campus
+drinking+abuse+needs+attacking+now