Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Abraxis Jumps After Successful Trial of Cancer Drug
Bloomberg
… “This is exciting news for lung cancer patients and has important implications not only in late stage cancer, but also in earlier stages of the disease,” Mark Socinski, a doctor at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Chapel Hill, and lead investigator of the trial, said today in the Abraxis statement.
Slide Show: College Basketball's 20 Most Valuable Teams
Forbes.com
Our third annual ranking of College Basketball's Most Valuable Teams is based on what the basketball programs contribute to four important beneficiaries (in order of weight): (1) the value of contributions to the institution for academic purposes, including scholarships for basketball players; (2) the net profit generated by the basketball program retained by the athletic department; (3) the value contributed to conference peers via tournament revenue; (4) estimated direct spending by visitors to the county attributable to home basketball games.
Shell Game
Conservation magazine (Seattle, Wash.)
It is widely feared that ocean acidification—caused by rising atmospheric CO2—will weaken the shells of marine organisms. But a new experiment shows that certain species actually increase their shell production under these seemingly harsh conditions. To reach this conclusion, researchers raised 18 species of marine organisms in seawater acidified by different levels of carbon dioxide. Ten species—including corals, clams, oysters, urchins, and scallops—produced less shell as CO2 levels went up.
UNC Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3141/107/
State and Local Coverage
Hello, computer – Recalling UNC's launch into a new age
WRAL.com
In the beginng of computing at UNC-Chapel Hill, a brochure described its first big machine as "the marvelous monster." Today, the smallest smart phone possess far more processing power than the 63,000-ton titan that launched UNC into the computer age. What memories – and how far computer memory has come – from kilobytes to terabytes.
Henry Paulson to speak at UNC
Triangle Business Journal
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will speak at UNC on Monday. … The speech is serving as the launch for UNC’s Global Research Institute, a collection of UNC and visiting scholars who will work to find solutions to key global issues. The institute’s first project is “At the Crossroads: Globalization, the Economic Crisis and the Future of North Carolina.
Chapel Hill chooses Stocks Elementary for study
The Rocky Mount Telegram
The FirstSchool initiative out of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has targeted Stocks Elementary School for observation in an effort to analyze trends that will serve as a foundation for improving the school’s student integration and learning. FirstSchool, a collaborative between the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education and the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, promotes “public school efforts to become more responsive to the needs of an increasingly younger, more diverse population.”
Students get hands-on experience with DNA fingerprinting
The Hickory Daily Record
Wednesday morning, teenagers Morgan Hoard and Tyler Melvin learned who stole an iPod, using DNA tissue taken from the scene of the crime. … The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at UNC-Chapel Hill has a special branch, the DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program. Two buses, specially outfitted as mobile labs, travel around the state to schools doing science labs.
UNC Media Advisory: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3435/107/
Scholars say, keep schools diverse
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A group of Triangle academics pulled up research and data Wednesday as they urged the Wake County school board not to take the final vote to ditch its diversity-based student assignment policy next week. … Professors from UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University also brought the results of years of academic work to a briefing sponsored by the nonprofit advocacy group Great Schools in Wake. They argued against ending the policy of keeping schools socioeconomically diverse, using busing in many cases, to avoid high concentrations of low-income students.
Related Link: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/triangle-academics-urge-wake-to-keep-diversity-policy?storylink=misearch
Lyme disease found in Wake
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As the weather warms and walks through tick-laden woods beckon, state officials have confirmed that Wake County is among the North Carolina counties where Lyme disease is a known threat. … The declaration that Lyme disease exists in Wake County is a "big, big deal," said Marcia Herman-Giddens, an adjunct professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health and president of the Tick-borne Infections Council of North Carolina. Not only will doctors be required to report cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they are also likely to prescribe medications sooner.
Funding would help UNC researchers move findings to market
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
For researchers, there's a name for the place where valuable innovations and promising research go to die before they ever make it to the marketplace: "The Valley of Death." To help college researchers move through that valley, UNC Chapel Hill has signed a memorandum of understanding with a new Raleigh firm, BioPontis Alliance LLC, that's seeking to raise $35 million by third quarter 2010 to help researchers at UNC and other universities move their findings to market.
Issues and Trends
Bus route changes proposed for 15-501
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The western Triangle's three main bus systems are proposing a series of route changes officials think will improve service along the U.S. 15-501 corridor and at other key points in the area. The key benefit riders in Durham would see from the changes is a smoother opportunity to transfer from Durham Area Transit Authority buses at the city's downtown station onto the intercity lines operated by Triangle Transit.
Broken pipes lead to spill at UNC
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
State regulators have issued UNC-Chapel Hill a second violation notice for a treated wastewater spill at its animal holding and research facility in rural Orange County. The March 3 notice comes after broken pipes spilled 1,800 gallons of treated wastewater onto the ground of the Bingham Facility in late February. It follows a notice and possible fine for a December spill of an unknown amount of treated wastewater into Collins Creek, a tributary to the Haw River and Jordan Lake.
Related Link: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/orangechat/state-cites-2nd-violation-at-uncs-bingham-facility?storylink=misearch