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

National Coverage

Ex-NFL players feel concussions' long-lasting damage
CNN

… At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Kevin Guskiewicz is leading a study of 3,000 ex-NFL players. A small fraction of those players have undergone imaging technology to peer deep into the brain, down to the nerve cells, to try to explain their cognitive problems. "We look for regions where there may be deranged or disrupted fibers," said Guskiewicz, the research director at the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at UNC Chapel Hill. "We are led to believe that in regions where that's occurring, there may be swelling, there may be scar tissue. That piece we don't know yet, but what we're finding in these retired pro football players, especially those with high concussion history, is they tend to have these problems of connectivity."

One Bowl = 2 Servings. F.D.A. May Fix That.
The New York Times

Seeking a new weapon in the fight against obesity, the Food and Drug Administration wants to encourage manufacturers to post vital nutritional information, including calorie counts, on the front of food packages. … “If you put on a meaningful portion size, it would scare a lot of people,” said Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina. “They would see, ‘I’m going to get 300 calories from that, or 500 calories.’ ”

NC universities report steep decline in gifts
The Associated Press

Donations fell sharply at several of North Carolina's larger colleges and universities as the economic downturn seemed to keep the number of larger gifts down. The trend has meant that schools have canceled or postponed construction projects and are cutting the amount of money available for scholarships. … UNC Chapel Hill saw a 7 percent decrease in donations, and the school has changed its focus to asking for small donations from more donors, said Matt Kupec, the vice chancellor for university advancement.

State and Local Coverage

Turning up the heat
The Chapel Hill News

To the Sierra Club, a new energy task force at UNC is a victory of sorts, an acknowledgement that burning coal is a problem. But to UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp, who put the task force together, the issue is far more complex. More than just examining whether the university should be in the coal-burning business, the new task force will examine chilled water, natural gas consumption, state rules on the purchase of power, and other issues.
Related Link: http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/5815504/article-Feb–7–2010?

Take a peek at college costs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Plug in some numbers, and just like that, I know how much to save for a vacation, retirement or to pay off my mortgage early. Plug in a different set of numbers from the fantasy world where I save more, and the future gets even brighter. … I started by plugging in $17,424, the current cost for tuition, fees, room and board, books, etc. listed on UNC-Chapel Hill's Web site (though there's no guarantee that's where he'll end up despite my years of brainwashing).

Mice stave off HIV infection
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The mice in J. Victor Garcia-Martinez's lab at UNC-Chapel Hill foretell a major new breakthrough in the fight against AIDS. Engineered to have human immune systems, healthy rodents have repeatedly been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS, but nearly all have warded off infection. Their immunity comes from a daily, preventive dose of a common anti-retroviral drug. What that means, if the results bear out in human trials under way, is that a pill a day may keep infection away.

Donations to universities plunge
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

… UNC-Chapel Hill brought in $270 million in private donations last year, a 7 percent drop from the previous year as donors worried about dwindling investments. "It's a strong wind in our face," said Matt Kupec, UNC-CH's vice chancellor for university advancement. "The stocks have recovered a bit but the psyches are still fragile." Still, UNC-CH has fared well relative to its competitors. A year ago, the university ranked 19th overall in private donations nationally; this year, it's up two spots to 17 and is the sixth-best fundraising institution among public universities, its best such ranking ever.
Related Link: http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/02/08/story11.html

Community news-based project gets new space
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Scientific Properties is donating space in Golden Belt to VOICE, a community news project staffed by local youths mentored by journalism programs at UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. Central University. The Northeast Central Durham Community VOICE will be opening a newsroom inside Building 4, where it will be equipped with cameras, video equipment and laptops. … Jock Lauterer, director of the Carolina Community Media Project at the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is leading the effort. The project began more than a year ago as an idea from UNC Department of City and Regional Planning, where students there were looking for ways to revitalize the 300-block area of Northeast Central Durham.

OPEN WI-I-I-DE ….
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Despite some tears and an occasional scream, there was plenty for kids to smile about Friday morning as they got free dental care at the Durham County Health Department. The annual Give Kids a Smile Day clinic is sponsored by the health department and the UNC Chapel Hill dental school's Department of Pediatric Dentistry. Future dentists donate their time to help children who might not be able to afford the care.

UNC team vying to dazzle IBM at 2010 Marketing Summit
Triangle Business Journal

A group from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School is among eight MBA-student teams competing to impress IBM at the 2010 Marketing Summit at Wake Forest University. The competition started Thursday with IBM (NYSE: IBM) challenging the MBA teams to come up with fresh ideas for Big Blue’s Smarter Cities initiative, which seeks to revitalize developing markets such as Mumbai, Prague, Rio De Janiero, Singapore and Shanhai.

UNC picks two for second Eve Carson scholarship
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)

Two University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill juniors have been selected to receive the second Eve Carson scholarship that memorializes the student body president who was slain in 2008. The scholarship will pay half the cost of attendance for Caroline Fish and Chase Jones in their senior year and give them $5,000 each for enrichment experiences this summer.
UNC Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3289/107/

Regional partnership's spending questioned
The Charlotte Observer

Faced with a $250,000 deficit, Charlotte Regional Partnership chief Ronnie Bryant stood before his bosses last July and put his job on the line. … As the economy continues to drag, however, economic development agencies of all kinds are going to have to work harder to justify how they spend their money, said Thomas Stith, program director for economic development for UNC Chapel Hill's Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise. Groups that depend on the state for funding, such as the partnership, will be particularly vulnerable as they deal with budget shortfalls, he said.

State looks into leak from UNC pond
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

State regulators want to know why UNC-Chapel Hill waited nearly two months to report a leak of treated animal waste that reached a creek feeding Jordan Lake. The state Division of Water Quality sent a "letter of intent" to the university this week, part of a process that might lead to fines. The letter seeks more information about a leak in a 1.6 million-gallon pond holding treated wastewater at the Bingham Facility, also known as The Farm, west of Carrboro in rural Orange County.

Cadillac care
The Cary News

A new private preschool in Cary will offer yoga in the morning, organic Whole Foods-catered meals for lunch, and learning with child-sized Smart Boards in the classroom. … "For this kind of program to really make a difference in somebody's life, it needs to be available to kids who really need it and who would not have a good early childhood environment without it," said Frances Campbell, senior scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Grant in ‘Heroes’ documentary
The Daily Herald (Roanoke Rapids)

Roanoke Valley resident and community activist Gary Grant is one of three individuals profiled in a television documentary airing Thursday, Feb. 11, at 9:30 p.m., on UNC-TV, North Carolina Public Television. “We hope the documentary provides inspiration for people who believe that one individual can make a huge difference in protecting the environment,” said Dr. Tom Linden, executive producer and director of the Medical and Science Journalism Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The program was written and produced by students in the science documentary television course at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lawyers craft artful argument
The Cary News

Is David Bowden's house sign – the bright orange one that reads "Screwed by the town of Cary" – political protest or a work of art? That may have to be decided by a federal judge. … Bill Marshall, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill who specializes in First Amendment law, said Cary's lack of regulation for certain categories of signs is a "weakness in the case."

In a global view, a fruitful decade (Opinion/Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Over the past few months pundits, professors and pols have gone on and on about how badly things have gone over the past decade, particularly for the economy. A few months' back, a writer from Time magazine referred to the 2000s as "the Decade from Hell." Many purportedly clever British and American publications have taken to calling the "oughties" the "naughties." … Peter A. Coclanis is Albert R. Newsome distinguished professor of history and director of the Global Research Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill.

'Picking Cotton' next summer read
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

"Picking Cotton," the true story of an unlikely friendship between a woman and the innocent man she sent to prison, will be the 2010 summer reading book at UNC. As part of its Summer Reading Program, UNC asks all first-year and incoming transfer students to read a book the summer before they enroll and participate in small group discussions about it the day before classes begin. Faculty and staff lead the discussions for the voluntary, non-credit assignment.
UNC Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3277/75/

Green building innovation event at UNC Thursday
The Chapel Hill Herald

Innovation's role in the future of green building will be explored at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School. Kenan-Flagler's Center for Sustainable Enterprise will present Rob Watson, a pioneer of the modern green building movement, and Dennis Quaintance, owner of Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, in "Wanted: Radical Confidence: Why the Future is in Our Hands Today" in Koury Auditorium.

Issues and Trends

Note: Several Carolina students were included in a New York Times article that focused on enrollment trends and the gender gap at American colleges. In response, Associate Provost and Director of Admissions Steve Farmer posted this message on the admissions blog: http://unc-admissions.blogspot.com/

The New Math on Campus
The New York Times

…North Carolina, with a student body that is nearly 60 percent female, is just one of many large universities that at times feel eerily like women’s colleges. Women have represented about 57 percent of enrollments at American colleges since at least 2000, according to a recent report by the American Council on Education. Researchers there cite several reasons: women tend to have higher grades; men tend to drop out in disproportionate numbers; and female enrollment skews higher among older students, low-income students, and black and Hispanic students.

Want a degree? Get it in three
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Mount Olive College has figured out a way to save its students a cool $22,000: get them a degree in three years. … At UNC-Chapel Hill, first-year students routinely enroll with 20 or 30 college credits completed, said Stephen Farmer, the school's director of undergraduate admissions. While UNC likely wouldn't adopt the same sort of three-year bachelor's degree model that Mount Olive has, it might be open to a 3 + 1 model, where a student could get a bachelor's and master's degree in four years, Farmer said.

Area struggles to regain lost positions
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

This recession has affected workers of all kinds, from the corporate manager with decades of experience to temp workers barely scraping by. Some of those workers have gone back to school and launched their own businesses, charted a new path for themselves that they hope will lead to more stable work. Others have sought and received help from organizations with new federally funded programs.

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