Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Feds vs. states: Who should run health market?
Kaiser Health News
The fight over whether states or the federal government will have more clout in a proposed health insurance marketplace is escalating — and the outcome has big implications for consumers. … "The liberals in the House are grasping for something that looks like a progressive victory. And the definition of what constitutes a progressive victory keeps narrowing from a strong public plan to weak public plan to a Medicare buy in to a national exchange," said Jonathan Oberlander, an associate professor of health policy at the University of North Carolina.
State and Local Coverage
UNC Student Safe After Haiti Earthquake
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Laura Wagner, a UNC doctoral student who has been working in Haiti, was in her apartment when the earthquake hit. Originally, from California, Wagner received her Bachelor’s from Yale before coming to Chapel Hill. Her interests are medical anthropology and Haitian diaspora.
Word trickles in from Durham-linked Haiti aides
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Little by little, word has been trickling in — and so far, it’s been a relief. … A UNC Chapel Hill student who was in Haiti during the earthquake told an MSNBC reporter Thursday that she hoped she “would die quickly” while trapped under a house that collapsed around her. Laura Wagner, a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology, said she was trapped under piles of concrete and rubble for about 90 minutes before being rescued by a friend who heard her cries, then used a hammer to chip away at the concrete until he freed her.
Related Link: http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-UNC+student+survives+quake%20&id=5560016
A good deal, then and now (Opinion/Editorial)
The Salisbury Post (Salisbury)
On this day 215 years ago, the nation's first state university to open for students held opening exercises in Chapel Hill, setting in motion an institution deeply ingrained in the state's history and character. And it's a great deal, to boot. But first, a footnote. Though the University of North Carolina opened on Jan. 15, 1795, the first student, Hinton James, did not arrive until Feb. 12. Even then, there was hardly a stampede. "For two weeks he was the student body," writes William Powell in his history of the state. By the end of the term, the university boasted two professors and 41 students.
'Fondly We Do Hope …' at UNC
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
It took making a dance to rekindle the love for Abraham Lincoln that choreographer Bill T. Jones had first felt as a 5-year-old child. The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company performs that dance, "Fondly Do We Hope … Fervently Do We Pray …" today at UNC's Memorial Hall. As a child, Jones had been allowed to love only one white man (Abraham Lincoln) unconditionally, Jones has said. Over the years, cynicism replaced that love. But in reading books about Lincoln as research for his evening-length work, Jones regained that love and respect as he learned how Lincoln had changed from someone who had espoused the white supremacist views of his time.
UNC Actor and Professor Dies at 52
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC Professor of Dramatic Art Ray Dooley remembers friend and colleague Ken Strong as a larger-than-life character.
Strong died Tuesday at the age of 52 after a protracted battle with brain cancer, one that he dealt with for almost four years while continuing to teach and act at UNC. In 2007, he performed in a PlayMakers production of “The Little Prince” as The Aviator, a role that Dooley says was profound given his struggle.
One School of Government take on the texting issue (Blog)
The News-Record (Greensboro)
Here's something for Greensboro City Council texters to consider. Here's what the UNC School of Government's Flemming Bell has to tell elected officials in New Bern about their new PDAs, courtesy of Nikie Mayo at the Sun Journal … "Simultaneous electronic communication" among a majority of the members of a public body is counted as an official meeting according to North Carolina statutes, and should be understood and handled carefully lest elected leaders violate the state's Open Meeting Law, said Fleming Bell, a professor and lawyer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Twin Counties join childhood obesity battle
The Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount)
The Down East Partnership for Children has been awarded a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to improve opportunities for physical activity and access to affordable, healthy foods for children and families in Nash and Edgecombe counties. … The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities national program office is housed at Active Living By Design, part of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Issues and Trends
Governor tries to refocus schools goals
The Salisbury Post (Salisbury)
Gov. Beverly Perdue said Wednesday the Core Lab on the N.C. Research Campus was an appropriate place to announce her education initiative aimed at improving student achievement and better preparing them for careers or college. "It's always reminded me of phoenix rising from the ashes," she said. When Perdue visited Kannapolis after Pillowtex closed in July of 2003, she said the spirit of the people was dismal.
Inquiring minds ought to know (Commentary)
Richmond County Daily (Rockingham)
Who is William Woodson? And how did he get to be the chancellor of North Carolina State University? Nobody seemed to know on Friday morning, January 9, when the UNC Board of Governors confirmed his appointment. They knew his previous job title—provost at Purdue University—and a few other items from his official biography. But where did he stand on the issues? Has he made any controversial statements or decisions? Has he ever said anything at all except safe clichés and platitudes? What direction is he likely to take State? Nobody had a clue.