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Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:

International Coverage

This is why we're fat: Your brain on sugar
The National Post (Canada)

Activity in the brain is stimulated not only by food itself, but also by cues suggesting that food is nearby. …When Regina Carelli, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, measured electrical activity in the brain of a rat, she saw something similar. Milliseconds after the animal received a cue it had learned to associate with palatable food, several subsets of neurons responded to the conditioned stimulus by firing robustly.

National Coverage

House panel considers brain injuries and NFL players
CNN.com

Are professional football players at greater risk of dementia and other neurological problems? …Committee members cited a range of studies highlighting the long-term impact of concussions suffered by NFL players. A 2003 University of North Carolina study, according to Conyers, found that players who suffered multiple concussions were three times more likely to suffer clinical depression than the population as a whole.

IBD Treatments Linked to Skin Cancer
Ivanhoe (Newswire)

Immunosuppressive medications used to treat patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are now linked to increasing a patient's risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, found the incidence rate ratio of NMSC is higher in patients with IBD compared to their matched controls (incidence rate ratio: 1.64).
Note: Ivanhoe has a syndicated television series and its reports are broadcast in 250 markets reaching 80 million U.S. households.

Are You Missing Out on These 'Wellness' Freebies?
The Wall Street Journal

…What's more, the literature on the use of financial incentives to motivate behavior change isn't well developed yet, says Laura Linnan, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health who studies the use of incentives in modifying heath behavior. "Most are simple case studies, where a company has tried something – it might have worked for them, but it's only a case of one. It's not something you can generalize to all employers," she says.

In China, too, a health-care system in disarray
The Washington Post

…China's health-care system is in disarray, a side effect of the market reforms that have spurred private enterprise and rapid growth since 1980. …"It's very interesting to see politics in China. Sometimes they are very old-fashioned and sometimes so liberal, even more than in the U.S.," said Liu, who has taught at the University of North Carolina.

A Rethinking of the Gospels
Newsweek

The novelist and literary critic Mary Gordon loves the story of the prodigal son, for she is a Catholic in her bones. …As the University of North Carolina religion professor Jonathan Boyarin explained to me, "not believing in the Messiah-hood of Jesus has for centuries been ingrained as the central point that separates Jews from Christians. And that's precisely the 'good news' that for almost 2,000 years, as Jews generally perceive it, Christians have been trying to stuff down their throats."

Regional Coverage

NFL needs to set an example (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Lexington Dispatch (Kentucky)

When Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., of the House Judiciary Committee asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday whether he thought there was a link between head injuries and long-term disease, Goodell waffled. …Research, including some from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has shown that repeated small blows – from simple blocking, for example – can add up, even in practice.

Goodell ducks hit on brain issue
The Washington Times (Washington D.C.)

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell declined to acknowledge a link between football-related concussions and brain problems later in life Wednesday at a hearing on Capitol Hill but defended the league's record on improving player safety. …A 2007 study by researchers at the University of North Carolina showed a strong correlation between concussions and depression among former NFL players.

State and Local Coverage

Gov. Perdue to present N.C. Awards to six people tonight (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Gov. Bev Perdue will present the 2009 North Carolina Awards, the state's highest civilian honor, to six North Carolinians tonight in Raleigh. The recipients include businessmen who represent two important parts of the state's economy. …And Joseph DeSimone, co-founder of Liquidia Technologies and researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State, will be honored for his contributions to science.

Celebratory Bonfires To Stop
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)

With less than two weeks to go before Carolina’s basketball season starts, UNC Student Body President Jasmin Jones wants to remind students and residents that starting celebratory bonfires can do more harm than good. It took a tour of UNC’s Burn Center to make Student Body President Jasmin Jones take a stand against Franklin Street bonfires.

Judge won't say why aide won't testify
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

 There is a reason Ruffin Poole, a counsel to former Gov. Mike Easley, can avoid testifying before the State Board of Elections. The reason is a secret. …"I have never heard of this procedure before," said Kenneth Broun, a law professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and expert in the area of privilege. But citing the type of privilege could reveal the underlying facts that a party is trying to protect, said Richard Myers, a UNC law professor and former federal prosecutor. "The whole point of a privilege is not to reveal [information] in open court," Myers said.

School board runoff proceeds
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

A state panel decided Tuesday that Wake County should proceed with a closely watched school board runoff, a contest that's likely to ensure a takeover by opponents of historic board policies. …Bob Joyce, a lawyer on the faculty of the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the law does allow a winning candidate to resign before taking an oath. "I don't think the vacancy would exist until the term of the current officeholder expires," Joyce said.

Attorney honored with media law colloquium at UNC
WRAL.com

Raleigh attorney Wade Hargrove was honored Wednesday evening at the Carolina Inn with a surprise ceremony announcing the establishment of an annual media law colloquium in his honor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. More than $200,000 for the Wade H. Hargrove Communications Law and Policy Colloquium was raised by the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (NCAB), the North Carolina Cable Telecommunications Association (NCCTA), the Hearst Corporation and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication Foundation of North Carolina. …He has supported the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the UNC School of Law as an adviser, volunteer and donor.

New state law may shield ‘zombie’ projects in Brunswick County
The Star News (Wilmington)

A new state law intended to spur development stalled by the recession could backfire in Brunswick County. …Defaulting on a bond could be considered a reason to do that, said Richard Ducker, associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government. But he also said he did not know if the new law allows a government to call the bond under the original performance guarantee, since it gives the developer an extension.

System helps doctors treat atrial fibrillation
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)

Doctors develop a trained eye to interpret two-dimensional X-rays or ultrasound images. …Dr. Paul Mounsey, a cardiologist at UNC Hospitals, threads catheters tipped with electrodes into the heart which he can see in real time. Mounsey places “burns on the inside of the heart to break up the electrical short circuits within the heart.”

UNC Testing New Flu Treatment Drug
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)

UNC Hospitals is participating in a trial study for a new flu treatment drug. The drug, called Peramavir, is related to Tamiflu and Relenza which are currently the only two flu treatment medications on the market. …"If they should develop influenza and they develop severe disease that lands them in the hospital, that's where this medication may have a role to play," said Dr. Christopher Hurt, infectious disease doctor at UNCH.

Pilot Program For Robertson Scholars
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)

Two freshmen at UNC and two more at Duke will be accepted into the Robertson Scholars Program for the upcoming semester. Tony Brown, president of the Robertson Scholars Program, says this is a first for the program. The Robertson Scholars started with a 24-million dollar gift in 2000, and currently there are 140 students on the two campuses.  Students enroll at one campus, but they take classes at both schools.  They will spend one semester in residence at the other university.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3050/75/

Issues and Trends

Oblinger may have new job lined up (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

James Oblinger, the former N.C. State chancellor who resigned earlier this year amid questions over his handling of the hiring of former First lady Mary Easley and other issues, is a finalist for another top university gig.

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