Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Class is not always greener
The Financial Times (United Kingdom)
…At University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School , the investment strategy for sustainability seminar courses look at how managers can integrate environmental, social and corporate governance factors into portfolio strategies and investment analysis. However, these remain among a handful of such programmes. And while many schools offer broader courses on areas such as corporate responsibility and social entrepreneurship, few take sustainability issues into more technical areas such as accounting or finance.
The Parent Trip
The Times Colonist (Canada)
Those little rolls of baby fat may actually slow an infant's ability to crawl and walk, according to a University of North Carolina study in The Journal of Pediatrics. Researchers found overweight infants were about twice as likely as non-overweight infants to score low on a test reflecting delayed motor development. Infants with high subcutaneous fat (rolls of fat under their skin) were more than twice as likely as babies without fat rolls to have a low score.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3489/71/
National Coverage
Halting seeds of chronic illness in tots
"The Today Show" NBC
Watching your toddler play, it's hard to imagine that she may already have developed the beginnings of a chronic illness, like heart disease, commonly associated with middle and old age. Even if she’s roly-poly now, it's easy to figure she'll shed that baby fat with her next growth spurt. …“I think parents should be not so much worried as motivated,” says Dr. Eliana Perrin, co-author of a new study published in April in Pediatrics and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Catching something early gives us as parents and pediatricians an opportunity to prevent problems down the road. Parents have a huge role in helping children make healthier choices in what they eat and how often they play.”
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3489/71/
New Studies Eat Into Diet Math
The Wall Street Journal
How many calories must a dieter cut to lose a pound? The answer most dietitians have long provided is 3,500. But recent studies indicate that calories can't be converted into weight through a simple formula. …Still, not all nutrition scientists agree on what the new formula should be, as a look at proposed soft-drink taxes shows. Barry Popkin, who directs the Interdisciplinary Obesity Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, suggests his own conversion factor, based on a paper he co-wrote that was published in an AMA journal.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3410/71/
Step Away From the Coke Machine
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Sometimes an idea takes a while to catch on. In a 1994 op-ed essay for The New York Times, Kelly D. Brownell proposed taxing junk food. The response, he recalls, was immediate and powerful. Among the outraged was Rush Limbaugh, who deemed Mr. Brownell a member of the "high-fat gestapo." A few furious snackers wrote letters to the Yale psychologist noting that they knew where he lived. What a difference 15 years make. …A recently published report by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who had examined the dietary habits of 5,000 people over a 20-year period, found that when soda prices increased by 10 percent, consumption dropped by 7 percent. Charge more and people drink less.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3410/71/
Only 1 in 4 Pregnant Women Gets Enough Exercise
Healthday News
Most pregnant women in the United States do not get the recommended amount of exercise, researchers say. …"Physical activity during pregnancy has a number of health benefits. It may help prevent gestational diabetes, support healthy gestational weight gain and improve mental health," study author Kelly Evenson, research associate professor of epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a university news release.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3480/71/
After years as justice, John Paul Stevens wants what's 'best for the court'
The Washington Post
…The lack of controversy may be one reason he has never been firmly established in the public's mind. And for a time, his votes fit a moderately conservative pattern, though he often struck out on his own in the legal reasoning he used to get to a result. "He was known mostly as being idiosyncratic for many years," said University of North Carolina law professor Michael Gerhardt, a student of the court. "But as time went on, roughly in the last decade or so, he made a very conscious, very deliberate decision to take on a leadership role."
Discrepancies don't shake Christians' faith in the Bible
The Washington Post
…As Christians prepare to mark Easter, the culmination of the holiest week of the year, many are mindful of hard-to-ignore critiques that would deem creeds and Scripture, at best, untrustworthy and at worst, downright false. …Still, they trust what the Gospels say about Jesus's last days, despite the doubts of biblical scholars like Bart D. Ehrman, whose public questioning has made him a best-selling author. …"The view on the religious right, about the Bible being some kind of inerrant revelation or an infallible revelation from God. . . simply isn't tenable anymore," said Ehrman, a fundamentalist-turned-agnostic who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Fiscal Crises and the Question of Community (Column)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
This past fall, the interim chairman of my department of history proposed the formation of an ad hoc committee to recommend how we should deal with an anticipated budget shortfall. …Tip O'Neill, the influential speaker of the House during the Carter and Reagan administrations, once said, "All politics is local." That adage held true in our case as well. Here at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—unlike some institutions (the University of California system being the most glaring example)—we have not faced a catastrophic decline in resources in the wake of the Great Recession. Much of that has to do with the relative strengths of the North Carolina economy. (Christopher J. Lee is an assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he teaches courses on African history and global history.)
Just Stay There (Column)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
…I didn't score the professorship of my dreams, but I did get a promising job as a postdoctoral research fellow in the medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and soon after, was asked to be a teaching apprentice in the university's department of social medicine. "Apprenticing" is academic code for "we'd like you to help us out, but we can't afford to pay you anything." Teaching, however, is my passion, and the department has a well-deserved reputation for excellence; it was a no-brainer to say yes. (Mairead Eastin Moloney is a Ph.D. in sociology and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's medical school.)
Play on Our (Political) Team
Inside Higher Ed
Talking about race, politics or football can be a recipe for conflict. Talking about all three at the same time? That’s an engraved invitation to a duel, especially in South Carolina. …The calls for athletes in South Carolina and Auburn to take political stands are certainly not the first occasions where black athletes have been pressed to take controversial positions. When the former North Carolina Mayor Harvey Gantt ran to unseat Jesse Helms in the U.S. Senate, the University of North Carolina alumnus Michael Jordan was pressed to give Gantt his endorsement. He declined. "Republicans buy sneakers, too,” Jordan said.
'Dynasty' oil tycoon John Forsythe dead at 92
The Associated Press
John Forsythe, the handsome, smooth-voiced actor who made his fortune as the scheming oil tycoon in TV's "Dynasty" and the voice of the leader of "Charlie's Angels," has died after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 92. …He won an athletic scholarship to the University of North Carolina, had a stint as public address announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers, then launched his struggle to become an actor against the wishes of his father.
Related Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/arts/television/03forsythe.html?src=me
Regional Coverage
Students 'pack' up on healthy snacks
The Times and Democrat (Orangeburg, S.C.)
Healthy eating is the focus at St. James-Gaillard Elementary School. In observance National Nutrition Month, students in child development through second at St. James-Gaillard Elementary in Eutawville embraced a fun, healthy-eating initiative called P.A.C.K. Week (Pack Assorted Colors for Kids Week) March 22-26. …Barry Popkin, a researcher and nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina, says today’s kids are not only snacking too often, but the foods they are consuming represent almost completely unhealthy foods, and it may be contributing to the rising rates of childhood obesity. Popkin says the findings show that children are consuming about 586 calories a day from snacks, compared with 418 calories from snacks in 1977.
State and Local Coverage
Short sellers use legitimate practices, UNC study finds
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Short sellers profit by finding stocks or other securities that will underperform the market. But how do the short sellers accomplish this? A new study provides some answers. Short selling – borrowing shares and selling them, intending to buy them back after the price declines – is a divisive issue. Traders who bet on the decline of a company, a currency or even an entire market aren't always popular. …These concerns are largely unfounded, however, according to the new study, titled "How Are Shorts Informed? Short Sellers, News and Information Processing." Its authors are Joseph E. Engelberg and Adam V. Reed, finance professors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Matthew C. Ringgenberg, a Ph.D. student there. The study has been circulating since January as an academic working paper.
University dining expands
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Now, a dozen years after a $13 million makeover, planners want to expand Lenoir again. A new, $5 million project would add second-floor seating and redesign the nearby food court, where the many pizza, burger and salad stations create the sort of backups that might lead a traffic pattern expert to develop a nervous tic. "We are just besieged," said Mike Freeman, director of auxiliary services. "Part of it is that we've gotten better, and part of it is that it's so darn convenient. And we can barely handle it."
Annual meetings may draw fire
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…The structure of the annual meeting dovetails with board governance, currently a hot item in corporate America. Individuals and investor groups are seeking more transparent management. One area under fire is the way that corporate boards work. To Michael Jacobs, a finance professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School, many continue to operate as "good old boys clubs."
Tea-party members turn to nuts and bolts of politics
The Associated Press
Best known for vociferous protests and confrontational placards, members of tea-party groups across North Carolina are starting to channel their energy into more traditional political efforts: choosing candidates for upcoming elections. …"This is very much a classic problem for social movements," said Kenneth Andrews, a sociology professor at the UNC Chapel Hill who has researched how civil-rights and environmental movements have found staying power. "You may be trading one type of influence for another."
Local ABC stores focus on security, but law requires more
The Star-News (Wilmington)
In New Hanover County, full-time detectives paid to enforce state Alcoholic Beverage Control laws are primarily concerned about providing security at ABC stores and making sure cash deposits arrive to banks without threat, according to interviews with officials and an analysis of county contracts and inspection reports. …The law itself can be interpreted as giving local boards authority to dictate where officers should spend their time, but security duties likely were not meant to be included, said Michael Crowell, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government who helped draft Chapter 18B of the state law.
Chance to drill sets up fuel duel
The News & Record (Greensboro)
Raymond Pugh makes his living taking sports fishermen around the Outer Banks when he’s not fishing in tournaments himself. So when President Barack Obama announced recently that he will lift the federal government’s moratorium on exploring for oil and natural gas off the East Coast of the United States, Pugh paid attention. …Pete Peterson, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor in the marine science department and a member of Perdue’s panel, said neither the state nor federal government have gathered enough information to know what the potential impacts of drilling or an accidental spill might be.
Competitive UNC dental school seeks service-minded students
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
When you sit down for a dental exam in North Carolina, odds are the dentist was trained at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry. It has been the only dental school in the state since 1954. There are about four dentists for every 10,000 people in the state. UNC enrolls about 80 dental students a year, so it's very competitive. …“They're not just thinking about what they can get out of it, but they're here for the service that they can provide,” said Al Wilder, a professor and assistant dean for admissions and student affairs at the UNC School of Dentistry.
Sweepstakes cafes serving up fun, games — for now
The Salisbury Post
…For now, the 2008 law is central to the survival or demise of the Internet cafes, and it has come under legal challenge. Meanwhile, a Superior Court judge in Guilford County has issued an injunction preventing law enforcement from cracking down on the sweepstakes cafes while the litigation continues. So the number of Internet parlors keeps growing. "The biggest question is, what will the General Assembly do this summer?" says Chris McLaughlin, assistant professor for the University of North Carolina's School of Government.
Cooking up healthier school menus (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
How long will you live? I can expect to reach age 80 or so, according to government estimates. But many members of my children's generation may not be so lucky. A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that today's heaviest children are more than twice as likely as those at healthy body weights to die prematurely – before the age of 55. That was the U.S. life expectancy nearly a century ago. Then, people often died young from untreatable conditions like tuberculosis. But today's young people are endangered by problems we can prevent – childhood obesity and associated health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. (Brie Turner-McGrievy is a postdoctoral fellow in nutrition at the UNC-Chapel Hill Interdisciplinary Obesity Center.)
A true criminal mastermind (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
From the time the hops are added until fermentation occurs, gallons of bubbly, refreshing, crisp-tasting beer and other types of alcohol have a plan for destruction. And while most people are unable to perceive this masterful plot, it's evident when you consider how the alcohol businesses are operated. Let's run through the brigade of built-in forces beer and alcohol have to mask their true intentions — to cause harm to people, especially those under the legal age. (Chris Howerton is a junior at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in public relations and minoring in business administration.)
Support needed for top graduate students (Letter to the Editor)
The Chapel Hill News
In the last few days we have read the wonderful news that the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust and a private donor have given $5.5 million to support the hiring of young faculty members at UNC. This was reported both in the Daily Tar Heel (March 26), and in the Chapel Hill News (March 28). Chancellor Holden Thorp and Dean Karen Gill both commented on how important this funding is during a time of economic difficulties when jobs available for recent graduates are scarce. Chancellor Thorp is quoted as saying that "there is a risk of a lost generation of Ph.D.s [finding jobs] if we don't do our part." (Jaroslav Folda, N. Ferebee Taylor Professor of the History of Art, emeritus)
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3472/68/
UNC researcher named dean in S.C.
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A noted UNC-Chapel Hill breast cancer researcher will be the new medical school dean at the Medical University of South Carolina. Etta Pisano, who came to UNC-CH in 1989, holds four posts. She is a radiology professor, vice dean for academic affairs in the medical school, director of the Biomedical Research Imaging Center and director of the N.C. Translational and Clinical Studies Institute.
Duke team creating anti-terrorism tool
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It is a worst-case scenario that worries politicians and public health officials: Terrorists detonate a nuclear weapon or a "dirty bomb" in a major city, exposing tens of thousands of victims to the harmful effects of radiation. …James Porto, executive director of the Community Preparedness and Disaster Management Program in the School of Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill, said such a test has been the "holy grail" of disaster response.
'Trail' leads to UNC, Durham
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
…Bringing attention to such a fear of deportation, as well as the limits in educational opportunities that young undocumented immigrants face, is what (Felipe) Matos and three other students from Florida hope to accomplish by walking 1,500 miles from Miami to Washington, D.C. — a journey they call the "Trail of Dreams." Matos, along with Gaby Pacheco, 23, Carlos Roa, 22, and Juan Rodriguez, 20, were in Raleigh this weekend. Today, they are holding a rally at UNC Chapel Hill and walking 12 miles to Durham.
Issues and Trends
Many start, few finish college in North Carolina
The Triangle Business Journal
Only 11 of 100 North Carolina high school freshmen who go on to college end up earning a university degree within four years of enrolling, according to the results of a new study. …Alan Mabe, the UNC System’s senior vice president for academic affairs, says the state’s four-year colleges are implementing new targets for degree completion and setting up new measures for assessing student success. Additionally, the system is ramping up distance-learning opportunities as an option for students who don’t want to, or can’t, matriculate at a college.
Durham board hears concerns about schools
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Tuesday night's "Conversation With Commissioners" on next year's Durham County budget was pretty one-sided. So many folks wanted to tell the commissioners not to cut public school funding that time ran out before the commissioners had a chance to say much. …On Thursday, Great Schools in Wake County, a nonprofit that has emerged as a center of opposition to the county school board's neighborhood schools plan, issued a statement from a group of scholars who said the changes will weaken the system and cost the county more money. Those signing the document included researchers from Harvard Law School, the University of California at Los Angeles, N.C. State, Ohio State, UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Charlotte.
DOT agrees to walks and bike lanes in Carrboro
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The town of Carrboro stuck to its guns, and the state Department of Transportation blinked. DOT said Thursday that it would yield to Carrboro's demand to add bike lanes and sidewalks along a hectic stretch of Smith Level Road – without adding lanes for automobiles. …Townsfolk had been eager for years to add bike lanes and sidewalks along the road on the south side of town. Three public schools are in the area. Children and UNC-Chapel Hill students often walk or ride their bikes along a narrow shoulder.
In Shifting Conference Landscape, Pac-10 Weighs Its Next Move
The Chronicle of Higher Education
As rumors fly over how the Big Ten Conference might expand, the Pacific-10 Conference is doing some soul-searching of its own—hoping to elevate its status among the elite leagues. …That all could change next year if the presidents give the green light. Robert N. Shelton was the provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill several years ago, when the ACC added three new institutions, and was skeptical of whether the move made sense financially. This time around, as president of the University of Arizona, he says a bigger Pac-10 could be a good thing.