Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
A change of track
Financial Times (United Kingdom)
…But some other schools are not yet ready to make any big changes in light of the crisis. Officials at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business, for instance, are reviewing the school’s curriculum but admit they are unlikely to make any dramatic modifications. The addition of new courses often means taking others away, says James Dean, dean of the school. “We don’t want to make knee-jerk changes, we want to be thoughtful about it,” he says.
How serious is heart health
The Times of India
The latest case in point is Urban Meyer, the football coach to the Florida Gators, who hung up his boots after he was diagnosed with a heart muscle problem. Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and director of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute, said: “All too often, we see patients who have their wake-up calls after a serious heart attack. I think that we need to give Meyer credit for recognizing that heart health is a serious matter before he got to the point where it is too late for him.”
National Coverage
Best Values in Public Colleges 2009-10
Kiplinger's Finance
The economy may be recovering, but the effects of the recession continue to buffet the nation’s public colleges and universities. …The schools in our top 100 best values in public colleges and universities — led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for overall value and by Binghamton University (SUNY) for out-of-state value — continue to deliver strong academics at reasonable prices, in many cases by offering the same or more financial aid as in previous years.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3213/1/
Seeking a Cure for Optimism
The New York Times
Americans are an optimistic, can-do lot. We subscribe to the belief that we have a right to not just pursue happiness, but to be happy. No matter how grim the last year has been, no matter how rotten the economy or one’s own setbacks, people believe it can all change with the flip of the calendar: all you need do is look on the bright side. …Other experts are less definitive. Barbara L. Fredrickson, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been exploring the function of positive emotions since the early 1990s. Dr. Fredrickson, whose book “Positivity” was published this year, differentiates between positive thinking and positive emotion.
Gauging the Dedication of Teacher Corps Grads
The New York Times
Teach for America, a corps of recent college graduates who sign up to teach in some of the nation’s most troubled schools, has become a campus phenomenon, drawing huge numbers of applicants willing to commit two years of their lives. …Financed by the William T. Grant Foundation, the study surveyed every person who was accepted by Teach for America from 1993 to 1998. It is being published this month in Social Forces, a journal published by the University of North Carolina.
For tobacco states, a change is in the air
The Los Angeles Times
…In North Carolina, the king of tobacco producers, a similar law took effect Saturday. "They are people who go to white-tablecloth restaurants, not barbecue joints. They don't want their kids to smoke, they don't smoke, and they are not tied to the tobacco economy," said Ferrel Guillory of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Smoking, Animal Shelter, Ethics Rules Arrive in NC
The Associated Press
A smoldering cigarette butt in a trash can sparked a fraternity fire that killed five students at UNC Chapel Hill in 1996, and smoking materials may have caused a 2007 Brunswick County beach house fire that killed seven South Carolina college students. …People shouldn't have to suffer because someone was careless with a cigarette, said Ernest Grant with the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, which receives as many as 150 patients annually with injuries related to unattended cigarettes. "The whole purpose of this legislation is not to tell people you can't smoke but if you are smoking there's a safer way to do it," Grant said.
Urban Meyer and toll of top-tier coaching
CNN.com
…Meyer's announcement cast a light on the high-pressure world of coaching, particularly at the nation's major college programs — multi-million-dollar operations where, experts say, growing demands both on and off of the field can take a toll on the health of the men who run them. … Dr. Cam Patterson, director of the University of North Carolina's McAllister Heart Institute, said people with high-stress lifestyles often compound the problem with unhealthy eating, not sleeping enough and not exercising. "It's really a constellation of things that can go together," he said. Patterson said he's treated coaches in the past who, like athletes, are sometimes reluctant to admit they're not well.
25 Years in Arthritis: New Treatments, New Hope
ABC News.com
…Most patients would first receive either steroids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but since these do not slow destruction of the joints, physicians would eventually prescribe gold or other agents believed to modify the disease process. At that time, recalled Dr. Nortin Hadler of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "gold salts were in favor … drugs like sulfasalazine and methotrexate [were] just gaining ground."
The Art of Living Mindfully
The Chronicle of Higher Education
…That's not unusual. In the course of her 35-year career, (Ellen) Langer has repeatedly flouted convention, confident that (or indifferent to whether) other researchers will eventually catch up with her. …"Her initial work on mindfulness made it possible for scientifically minded researchers to take on that question," says Barbara L. Fredrickson, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and one of the leaders of positive psychology. "She was bold enough to take it on."
Regional Coverage
Urban Food Deserts Threaten Children's Health (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Huffington Post (New York, N.Y.)
If any of us were forced to live in a desert we'd probably find trying to survive in a barren, desolate wasteland difficult. But through a series of public policies and private sector decisions, millions of mostly low-income and minority families in America have been condemned to subsist in vast urban "food deserts" that pose serious health threats to their children. …In a 2002 study, University of North Carolina researchers found African Americans ate an average of 32 percent more fruits and vegetables for each supermarket in their census tract.
State and Local Coverage
UNC rated best value, NCSU 10th
The Triangle Business Journal
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers the best value among public institutions of higher education for in-state students, according to the latest rankings from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. …Kiplinger’s bases its rankings on a combination of academics, including SAT and ACT scores, graduation rates, student retention rates and student-to-faculty ratios; and financial aid and costs, such as tuition, mandatory fees, grants provided, percentage of students receiving aid and average student debt upon graduation.
Related Link:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/unc-ch-once-again-
the-top-value-in-public-higher-education
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3213/1/
Future looks small to experts
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The last time a new decade dawned, in 2000, people were struggling along without iPods, Facebook or YouTube. …In communications as in medicine, gee-whiz developments will be built on previous breakthroughs, said Ryan Thornburg, an assistant professor at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies online journalism and the future of news. "What I see a lot of today is the realization of ideas that were being tried unsuccessfully in 1999," Thornburg said. "A lot of the ideas we see as trends today were dismissed as flops 10 years ago."
Grads find footing after finance quakes
The Charlotte Observer
…It's impossible to predict when the economy will bounce back, but it looks like the Class of 2010 is also in for a rough ride. At UNC Chapel Hill, the number of companies conducting on-campus interviews this fall dropped 20 percent compared to fall 2008 – and that number was down about 25 percent from 2007. "It's almost like trying to stick your finger in a dam that's leaking," said Tim Stiles, associate director of UNC's career center. "Pretty soon you realize you're going to go with the dam."
No more lighting up when you're eating out
The Charlotte Observer
…North Carolina, the nation's leading tobacco producer, will join nearly 30 other states with similar bans. The change marks a startling shift in a state with deep historical ties to tobacco, public officials and historians say. "Even as recently as a decade ago, this was unthinkable," said Ferrel Guillory, a professor and political expert at UNC Chapel Hill.
Wall tops 2009 sports scene in North Carolina
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Here are the rest of the most interesting people in North Carolina: …8. Kevin Guskiewicz …Suddenly, administrators for high school, college and pro football are paying attention to the permanent damage concussions can cause, thanks in part to Guskiewicz's advocacy. Guskiewicz, a University of North Carolina researcher, has been a pioneer in concussion research and an advocate for player safety. One of his studies a few years ago showed that 595 retired NFL players with a history of three or more concussions were 20 percent more likely to develop clinical depression than players who hadn't suffered a concussion.
Top 10 stories of the decade
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
It was a decade of extremes — extreme weather, extreme violence, extreme reactions, extreme change. Here's our look at the 10 local stories that defined this extreme decade, the most important, compelling stories of the aughts. …9. University leadership changes. …While Brodhead came from Yale and Nelms arrived from Indiana University, Holden Thorp never left home. The Fayetteville native and 1986 UNC alumnus took over as UNC's leader in the summer of 2008 after a meteoric rise. At age 44, Thorp had quickly moved up in the administrative order on the Carolina campus and brought to his new post a young man's energy and interests — he now has his own blog — and the ability to play rock guitar.
Your resolution for 2011? No hangovers.
The Charlotte Observer
Hung over, are you? Want something to quiet that thumping headache? Quench the cotton mouth? Calm the bubbly gut? Well, tough luck. There's not much in the way of genuine cures for alcohol overindulgence, says Dr. James Garbutt, a psychiatrist and alcohol researcher at UNC Chapel Hill's Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/dining/story/263219.html
UNC Release:
http://www.med.unc.edu/www/news/what2019s-the-best-
hangover-cure-truth-be-told-there-isn2019t-one
A1C test urged for diabetes screening
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
New official guidelines for diabetes screening and diagnosis now include a blood test that gives a person's average blood glucose level over the previous two to three months. …At least 50 million adults and children in the U.S. may be well on their way to developing type 2 diabetes, according to John Buse, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and endocrinology chief at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Buse is former ADA president for medicine and science and a member of the International Expert Committee whose report in July 2009 strongly recommended the A1C assay for diabetes diagnosis and for identifying people at high risk for diabetes.
Related Link:
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/6724249/
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3207/71/
Platelet therapy gives injured hope
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…For all its hype, platelet rich plasma therapy, or PRP, is a fairly simple process. It uses a person's own blood, which is spun at high speeds to separate it into its main components – red and white blood cells, and platelets. …But doctors offer caution. Dr. Jeffrey Spang, a sports medicine specialist at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the therapy has much going for it but remains unproven. "The basic science research is very promising, and for that reason, people are excited about it," Spang said. "But the reality is, it's still an investigational process."
Train victim was on her cell phone
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Erin Brett Lindsay-Calkins was talking on her mobile phone when she crashed through an Orange County rail crossing gate into the path of a train that struck her car, killing her and her 5-year-old son, the state Highway Patrol reported Wednesday. …Recent studies have focused on cell phone use as a significant highway safety problem. One survey by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center found that nearly 60 percent of licensed adult drivers in North Carolina had used their phones while driving.
Full-body scanners take focus
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Late Saturday morning, a steady stream of travelers passed through Raleigh-Durham International's scanner as the holiday season drew to a close. Travelers and other airport visitors interviewed said they had no problem with the scans if the machines helped make the skies safer. But not everyone is convinced that the additional expense for more scanners is a wise investment. Christina Ludema, 25, a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the money might be better spent in other areas that save more lives.
Son's dying gift, his kidney, gives his mother a new life
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When Ryan Benton Evans died in 2008, donating all his organs to strangers in need throughout the Carolinas and beyond, his final gift was profoundly personal for one recipient. His mother, Delores Benton Evans, received her son's left kidney — the first-ever organ transplant between a deceased child and parent at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3209/71/
Longtime leader finally takes a break
The Chapel Hill News
As graduate students four decades ago, Jonathan and Mary Howes strolled the campus at UNC — picturesque then, as now — and talked about how nice it might be to one day retire here. The path was circuitous — with stops at Harvard for a fellowship and Washington D.C., for work — but the couple did land in Chapel Hill in 1970 and haven't left. In that time, Jonathan Howes has taught at UNC, worked in state government, spent two terms as Chapel Hill's mayor and, most recently, served as the university's point person on town/gown relations — a vital role for an institution with grand plans for local expansion.
Related Link:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/uncs-howes-retires
UNC Students Participating in Annual MLK Rally
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
This year’s rally in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be held January 18th, and UNC’s chapter of the NAACP will be among its sponsors. UNC chapter president Brian Allison says the group is trying to boost academic presence at the rally. The week of events in honor of Dr. King will include a Unity Dinner meant to bring segments of the community together, as well as a keynote address on January 21st by actor and activist Danny Glover.
Turning the page to 2010 (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
It's Day Three of 2010. Any resolutions still intact? The year we just left behind was a full one, by any measure. It brought joys and triumphs, as well as perhaps more than the usual share of struggles. …The town and university both approved the huge Carolina North project, which over the next half-century or so will significantly change the nature of this place.
Priorities for 2010 (Editorial)
The News & Record (Greensboro)
…UNCG officials have made a strong case for a new pharmacy school in Greensboro. But UNC-Chapel Hill, which operates the lone pharmacy school at a public university campus in the state, seems less than thrilled at the prospect of another such school in the state. UNC-CH has moved forward with plans to establish its own satellite pharmacy campus at UNC-Asheville.
Local officers to get mental health training
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Crisis Intervention Team training will be offered to 27 area law enforcement officers Jan. 11-15. The mission of CIT is to give arresting officers more options when they encounter people with mental illness and to increase the likelihood that persons with serious mental illness will be connected to treatment rather than incarceration. …The Chapel Hill Police Department and UNC Public Safety served on CIT's implementation committee and helped design such CIT law-enforcement training components as "de-escalation techniques."
History on tile
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Lifelong North Carolinian Anna Quinn has combined her love of history and architecture to create a line of coasters, trivets and wall hangings. …As a Wake Forest and NCSU graduate, Quinn jokes that she's annoyed that her top-selling image comes from UNC-Chapel Hill. "As much as I hate to say it, it's the Old Well," she said. Images of lighthouses run a close second.
Issues and Trends
N.C. builds a better rap sheet
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Wake County prosecutor Patrick Latour can search a defendant's criminal history through either of two computer programs. The difference is like switching between Pong and a Wii. The current system presents page after page of dizzying white letters and numbers on a black background requiring complicated, tedious commands. The state's new system is as simple as ordering pizza online. …Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services, as the system is called, is a direct response to the 2008 slaying of Eve Carson, student body president at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Related Link:
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/jan/04/wake-testing
-new-system-for-sharing-criminal-data/news-regional/
Lawyers seek ID of Crime Stoppers tipsters in UNC murder
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Lawyers for the two men accused of killing and kidnapping University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson want to know who called police with what were supposed to be anonymous tips, a request that could undermine one of law enforcement's most effective investigative tools.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6710804/
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/123109/new_541224398.shtml