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

National Coverage

Obesity puts swine flu sufferers at greater risk, study suggests
The Los Angeles Times

A study in California shows that about a quarter of the people hospitalized for H1N1 complications were morbidly obese, even though less than 5% of the population falls into that category. …Researchers at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill found that 42% of obese mice died when infected with a human strain of flu, while the same virus killed only 5% of lean mice. The lungs of the obese mice failed to produce two crucial kinds of immune cells called cytokines that fight off viruses. There was also a decrease in natural killer cells and T-cells, two other components of the immune system, said Patricia Sheridan, a nutritional immunologist at UNC who worked on the study.

African-Americans Hit Especially Hard By Weakened Economy
"Tell Me More" National Public Radio

Economists who follow the economic outlook for African-Americans began warning more than a year ago that a recession would hit blacks particularly hard, which has proven to be true. Unemployment among African-Americans stands at 15 percent, while the national jobless rate is just below 10 percent. Some of the nation's leading black economists are gathering this week at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University to address the disparity. William Darity, an organizer of the summit, explains the economic climate for African-Americans and ways it can be strengthened.

Regional Coverage

New couples at risk for packing on the pounds
The Houston Chronicle (Texas)

Maybe they're called love handles for a reason. You know, the bit of bulge that started to spill over the belt in the months after wedding bells rang on life's happiest day. …A University of North Carolina study published in June showed that couples are more likely to become obese within the first two years of marriage than those who are dating. Women are also more likely to gain weight when they are living with a romantic partner. “Marriage seems to be kind of risky for men and women, but women seem to be at increased risk when they are living with their boyfriend or are married,” study co-author Penny Gordon-Larsen said.

State and Local Coverage

Duke, UNC rake in funds
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

…Researchers at Duke and UNC Chapel Hill together have raked in nearly a quarter of a billion dollars of the overall $15 billion offered by the government with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act last February. …At Carolina, through September, officials say 137 jobs were created or retained because of stimulus funding. They are expecting more than 400 such jobs retained or added through the two-year funding period.

Grant money flows into more than 500 projects
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Over the past six months or so, nearly a quarter of a billion dollars has poured into the research coffers of local universities. The stimulus funding — more precisely, money for research from last February's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — nationwide offered $15 billion as part of the federal government's incentive plan to spur job growth and retention as well as prod scientific advancement. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University have taken a significant chunk of that funding, with Carolina receiving around $82 million so far and Duke around $147 million.

Veteran reporter to team up with J School
The Chapel Hill Herald

In the future, veteran foreign correspondent David Zucchino has tentative plans to partner with the UNC School of Journalism on two different initiatives. …The second is that Zucchino will potentially teach a course in international reporting next fall. Richard Cole, dean emeritus and current professor in UNC's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, discussed the idea with Zucchino. "When he's here in Chapel Hill, he'll teach it in person, of course," Cole said. "And when he's on the road, he'll teach it by Blackboard, videolink, etc. It will be a great opportunity for students."

From UNC, across the world and back
The Chapel Hill Herald

David Zucchino's life is just as interesting as the stories he writes. A Pulitzer Prize-winning national and foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, the Chapel Hill resident and UNC graduate has traveled to more than 20 countries in his more than 35 years in journalism. …Richard Cole, dean emeritus and current professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, taught Zucchino.

Getting your life back after cancer (Column)
The Chapel Hill News

You completed the chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation years ago. Months and years of follow-up visits prove that you have beaten cancer. However, you find it difficult to regain the life you had before your diagnosis of cancer. (Keith D. Amos, MD, is assistant professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.)

Reasons to go meatless (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

When it comes to our diets, we put a lot of emphasis on calories and cholesterol levels. We're concerned about how diet affects our personal health. But should we also be considering how what we eat affects the planet? There's plenty of evidence demonstrating that production of certain foods contributes substantially to the amount of gases believed to be causing global warming. (Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor in the department of health policy and administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

At UNC-CH, a homecoming parade once again (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

At UNC Chapel Hill, student leaders are bringing back an old tradition: the homecoming parade. Homecoming is this weekend in Chapel Hill, and Carolina takes on Duke in football at 3:30 p.m. The parade will start at 11 a.m. at the Columbia Street/Cameron Avenue intersection. As Student Body President Jasmin Jones writes today in the Chapel Hill News, student leaders want the event to be a town/gown initiative.

Falling tree injured two UNC-Chapel Hill students
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Two female UNC-Chapel Hill students were injured Monday when a middle-aged red oak toppled over with no apparent warning. …Tom Bythell, the UNC-CH forest manager, said there were no outward signs that the red oak had root rot. "It's really difficult to tell," Bythell said. The red oak, Bythell said, looked to be 95 to 98 years old by the number of rings he counted. Healthy red oaks can live 180 years, he said.

Raising 'Rent'
The Chapel Hill News

The second act of the musical "Rent" opens with a question sung by the cast: "How do you measure a year in the life? …Company Carolina's co-producers, Stephanie Waaser and Sarah Sheppard, in collaboration with director Jordi Coats, will bring Jonathan Larson's award-winning Broadway musical to Forest Theater on the UNC campus this weekend and next. Company Carolina is a campus theater company entirely run by students and unaffiliated with any department.

Issues and Trends

Let's listen, then help out (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News

…Last year the IFC sheltered more than 500 men who didn't have something that I take for granted: a home. The new facility, to be located on UNC-donated land next to the United Church of Chapel Hill, a short walk from where my family lives, will allow the IFC to continue its blessed mission. Unfortunately, a number of my neighbors are trying to stop them.

The birthplace of outdoor drama: 204 Glenburnie St.
The Chapel Hill News

When Professor Frederick Koch first had an opportunity to buy the rustic, shingle-sided house at the corner of Glenburnie and Rosemary streets, he probably jumped at the chance. …Recruited by University President Edward Kidder Graham in 1918, Koch took a position at UNC and soon founded another small repertory group, calling them the Carolina Playmakers, and moved into the newly renovated library and campus museum now known as Playmakers Theatre in 1923.

I walk the line (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News

Every day I drive across the University Railway tracks four times, and every day I think about the "Whooper" passenger train, known for its distinctive whistle, that last carried people to Carrboro's station in 1938. …Oh yeah, and a phone call to the UNC Coal Plant to determine if the coal train ran Saturdays — they told me it didn't.

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