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

National Coverage

Is It Time to Retire the Football Helmet?
The Wall Street Journal

This football season, the debate about head injuries has reached a critical mass. Startling research has been unveiled. Maudlin headlines have been written. Congress called a hearing on the subject last month. …"Some people have advocated for years to take the helmet off, take the face mask off. That'll change the game dramatically," says Fred Mueller, a University of North Carolina professor who studies head injuries. "Maybe that's better than brain damage."

Foreign Enrollment in U.S. Graduate Schools Remains Flat, Survey Finds
The Chronicle of Higher Education

The number of international students enrolling for the first time this fall at American graduate schools was unchanged since last year, raising fresh questions about the reliance of U.S. institutions on foreign talent at the graduate level. …At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Steven W. Matson, dean of the Graduate School, said he hoped this year's 14-percent drop in international first-time enrollments would be a one-time event. Academic departments were especially careful in making admissions decisions in the current budgetary environment, he said.

State and Local Coverage

Veterans Day ceremony today
The Chapel Hill News

More than 100 ROTC cadets and midshipmen will assemble in dress uniforms at 11 a.m. today for the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. …The memorial honors University alumni killed during wartime, from the Civil War to the Gulf War.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/counties/orange_county/story/185389.html
http://wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12348
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3093/68/

Nickleby!
The Chapel Hill News

PlayMakers Repertory Company will open the biggest production in its history tonight with the first performance of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby," David Edgar's Tony Award-winning adaptation of Charles Dickens' epic masterpiece. The professional theater-in-residence at UNC will stage "Nickleby" in two parts, running in rotating repertory.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3010/66/

Library celebrating postcards
The Chapel Hill Herald

About 2,000 postcards from World War I will make their Internet debut today on the Web site of the UNC Chapel Hill Library. …They are drawn from the Bowman Gray Collection of World Wars I and II in the Rare Book Collection of the Wilson Special Collections Library. The Bowman Gray Collection features 16,000 graphic images from the wars including prints, postcards and posters. World War I was the golden age of postcards, said Libby Chenault, interim curator of the Rare Book Collection.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3089/73/

Vinyl Records: Music by students, for students
The Chapel Hill Herald

The national record industry is undergoing big changes because of digitalization. But Vinyl Records, a nonprofit, student-run record label for student bands at UNC Chapel Hill, is coming on strong. Vinyl Records, an official UNC student organization, operates out of a donated room in Hill Hall.

Group's students evolving together
The Chapel Hill Herald

Pipes run along the ceiling of the small, gray basement room. Thin muting insulation covers the cold, cinderblock walls. "The studio is about three weeks old," said Andrew Hamlet, a junior psychology major and artistic director at Vinyl Records, a nonprofit, student-run record label for student bands at UNC. …The UNC music department donated the room for Vinyl's headquarters. The space used to be the percussion practice room, Vinyl co-founder Tripp Gobble said.

End incentives and increase jobs (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The headlines on two consecutive days said it all: Dell Computer closing shop and laying off over 900 workers and Cree Inc. adding almost 600 jobs. The difference: Dell – headquartered in Texas – was lured to North Carolina with the promise of over $300 million in incentives, while Cree – a homegrown business spun out of N.C. State University technology – requested no state incentives (although in fairness Cree did get an incentive a few years back to build an expansion plant). When are we going to halt public expenditures on the "buffalo hunt" for footloose industry and instead focus our resources and efforts on the sector that produces by far most of the jobs – existing industry and homegrown business? (Jesse L. White Jr., Ph.D., is director of the Office of Economic and Business Development at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

If you eat fish, know the risk from mercury (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

You may like lemon juice or tartar sauce on your fish. What you may not realize is that another condiment is added to every serving of fish you eat: Mercury. This year, the U.S. Geological Survey released a report showing mercury contamination in every sample of fish taken from 291 streams and rivers throughout the U.S. Worse, North Carolina has the added distinction of being on the short list of states with the highest levels of contamination in the country. (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.)

Perdue: State motor fleet rules need to be revamped
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)

Gov. Beverly Perdue said Tuesday that rules governing how state agencies lease vehicles need to be reworked to avoid wasteful spending. …The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill spent $600,000 on unused mileage the fiscal year that ended in June, while North Carolina State University spent $293,000, according to state records.

UNC-CH Sierra Club takes aim at coal plant (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The Sierra Club at UNC Chapel Hill is taking aim at the coal-fired cogeneration plant on the outskirts of the UNC-CH campus. The club is in the midst of a campaign to convince the university to move beyond coal to renewable energies.

Issues and Trends

College football coaches see salaries rise in down economy
USA Today

…Higher education is in crisis, staggered by a depressed economy that has shrunk state appropriations, endowments and overall institutional budgets. The Berkeley campus has taken a near $150 million cut in state funding and is laying off faculty and staff, imposing furloughs, cutting back new enrollment and paring course offerings while hiking students' tuition. Most sports programs, though, spend on. Starting with football coaches' salaries.
Related Link:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/11/11/coaches

UNC system, Army to team up (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The UNC system and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command are partnering to share expertise. The two agencies will announce their partnership Thursday morning during UNC system Board of Governors meetings. UNC officials are billing the relationship as a "collaborative partnership" allowing the military and academic communities to share expertise and interest in national security.

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