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

International Coverage

If you smoke too much 'blame your genes', say experts
BBC News (London)

Smokers who find it hard to cut down or quit may be able to blame their genes, new research suggests. Scientists identified three genetic mutations that increase the number of cigarettes people smoke a day. And several genes appear to dictate how likely you are to take up smoking and how easily you can quit. …The University of North Carolina, Oxford University and Icelandic company deCODE were all involved in the research.
Related Link:
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_smoking-may-be-in-your-genes_1375704
UNC Release:
http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2010/April/smoking-behaviors-genetics

National Coverage

Smoking May Be in Your Genes
HealthDay News

For some people, quitting smoking could be especially difficult because their dependence may be explained in part by genetics, three new studies suggest. …"One region was associated with smoking initiation, and one variant was associated with smoking cessation," said study co-author Helena Furberg, a research assistant professor at the University of North Carolina. "The genetic variants on chromosome 15 that were associated with heavy smoking lie within a region that contains nicotine receptor genes, which other scientists have previously associated with nicotine dependence and lung cancer."
UNC Release:
http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2010/April/smoking-behaviors-genetics

Cancer Drug Seems to Work by Activating Virus
HealthDay News

The cancer drug cyclophosphamide activates a viral infection that helps anti-viral medications eliminate a virus-linked cancer, says a new study. …"What we have learned from this work is a potential means of capitalizing on presence of viral genomes within tumor cells to alter those tumor cells in a way that makes them more susceptible to treatment. Our findings have implications for other EBV-related malignancies that, overall, are among the most common cancers worldwide," Dr. Margaret Gulley, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, said in a news release.
UNC Release:
http://www.med.unc.edu/www/news/unc-study-offers-first-clinical-evidence-of-
anti-cancer-drug-triggering-viral-infection/

Regional Coverage

Learning Curve: Performance anxiety (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A third-grade teacher who outperforms her colleagues in raising student achievement complained to me last week that she earned less than her peer down the hall who had far less impressive results and worked far fewer hours. But her neighbor has a master’s degree and has taught longer, so Georgia pays her an additional $6,000 a year. …While research has not shown a strong link between student achievement and advanced degrees, an ongoing teacher effectiveness study at the University of North Carolina found that teachers who obtained master’s degrees after they were in the classroom improved student achievement in high school math and English and in middle school science.

Is there such a thing as 'spring fever'?
The Baltimore Sun (Maryland)

Now that it's no longer so cold and dark, do you have a big smile on your face? Do you have the urge to skip work and lay in the grass? Two University of North Carolina medical professionals looked at the phenomenon and say: yes, seasons do affect our mood. And "spring fever" is real. Well, sort of. “It depends on what you mean by 'real,'” Jon Abramowitz, professor and associate chair of psychology at the University of North Carolina, told the university.

Study shows teens favor texting over talking
The Wichita Eagle (Kansas)

You probably already think teens text a lot. But just how much might surprise you. …Robert Foss, senior research scientist at the Highway Safety Research Center at University of North Carolina, said that although there is a benefit in training young drivers not to use cell phones while driving, a ban on texting for all drivers would be more effective. "The broader the coverage on something like this, the more chance of an immediate impact," Foss said.

State and Local Coverage

In preparing for the worst, we strive to be the best (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald

Earlier this week, we had a scary what-if scenario to consider: our response to a shooting incident on campus. The two gunmen, hostages and multiple victims were actors participating in an exercise, but the police and other emergency responders were real, and they handled this mock crisis with true professionalism. Any real large-scale incident would quickly involve our partners from Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County. So they were, of course, a very important part of our drill. (Holden Thorp is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)

Local students win scholarships
The Chapel Hill News

The Morehead-Cain Scholarship program has announced its 2014 class. This fall, the program will welcome 64 scholars from around the world to UNC. The local winners include: Melanie Ferguson Rio, who will graduate this spring from Carrboro High School in Carrboro, where she is a member of the school drama department. …Nicole Doris Roscoe, who will graduate this spring from Chatham Central High School in Pittsboro, where she is editor of the school annual and was president of the student body during her junior year. …Akhil Arvind Jariwala, who will graduate this spring from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3565/75/

Three universities collaborate on "Cornbread Nation 5"
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)

Country ham in Kentucky, chicken mull in Georgia, and truffles in Tennessee are among the subjects explored in the recently released “Cornbread Nation 5: The Best of Southern Food Writing.” …“Cornbread Nation 5 is a mouth-watering read that evokes the smells of exotic foods like fried Coke, paddlefish, and livermush, as well as the familiar aroma of field peas, corn, and sweet potato pie,” writes William Ferris, professor of history at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. “Fred Sauceman has edited a truly historic body of reflections on Southern food,” adds Ferris, a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Children with autism spectrum disorders see the world differently
The Record & Landmark (Statesville)

Annalysa Smyth has a smile that can melt your heart in an instant. …The staff at Central Elementary, particularly Annalysa's teachers, have gone out of their way to understand the complexities of her condition, while developing a workable school plan. Smyth said he was surprised at the resources the school district put into helping Annalysa. …The school district also has outside specialists who train district employees and work with the children. Teachers and the autism specialists on staff are also sent to N.C. Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children (TEACCH) training at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Tancredo to speak Monday
The Chapel Hill Herald

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican whose appearance on campus last year was halted by campus police when rowdy and disruptive students shouted obscenities and broke a window, will be speaking at UNC on Monday.
Related Links:
http://orange.mync.com/site/Orange/news/story/50887/tancredo-invited-back
-to-speak-at-unc-group-event/

http://wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=14274
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7406147

Neurosurgery to become department at UNC School of Medicine
The Chapel Hill Herald

The UNC School of Medicine is establishing a new Department of Neurosurgery, effective July 1. The new department will be chaired by Matthew G. Ewend, who currently serves as chief of the Division of Neurosurgery within the Department of Surgery. Neurosurgery has been a division of the Department of Surgery since its creation in 1952. However, recent growth in neurosurgery at UNC has led to a wider role in the Health Care System; these responsibilities are best served by elevating Neurosurgery to departmental status.

Big sports wins mean big money for campuses
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

You won't see Jee Lee on the court at the Smith Center anytime soon, but make no mistake: He's at UNC-Chapel Hill on a basketball scholarship. Lee is one of more than 950 students who got scholarships this year funded by the sale of the university's licensed merchandise. Though UNC-CH is always a popular brand, sales of its apparel surged after the 2009 national basketball championship, providing the university with $4.2 million in royalties – $400,000 more than the previous year. …Along with some extra federal funding for Pell Grants and work-study money, the additional royalty funding helped (Shirley) Ort's office patch together aid packages for the 1,300 more students who qualified for it this year. "It came at a wonderful time," Ort said. "We had so many more students applying and qualifying for need-based aid."
Related Link:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/at-unc-athletics-and-academics-intersect
?storylink=misearch

Conservatives' court-packing ploy (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

When Justice John Paul Stevens was nominated to replace Justice William O. Douglas in 1975, the appointment was widely seen as moving the U.S. Supreme Court to the right. Thirty-five years later, all the signs suggest that President Barack Obama will replace Stevens with a nominee who will continue to move the court rightward. He will do so, moreover, over a shrill Republican chorus that will loudly proclaim, as it has done for over 40 years, that the Supreme Court is a bastion of "judicial activism" where unprincipled justices legislate their policy preferences from the bench. (William Marshall is Kenan professor of law at the UNC School of Law.)

In Eve's garden (Column)
The Chapel Hill News

I almost walked right past it — the Eve Marie Carson Memorial Garden behind the Campus Y building. I guess I had envisioned a shady, quiet space you entered into, not a memorial in the midst of a busy pedestrian area. …Eve Carson was so active, so deeply engaged with everybody and everything, it seemed. It's unexpectedly appropriate that this memorial is not a secluded shrine, not the quiet meditative sanctuary I had imagined – and, I admit, longed for. This place is exactly what Eve Carson would have wanted, a bright gathering spot in the traffic of campus life.

Ackland offers yoga sessions
The Chapel Hill Herald

Explore the world of yoga from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the galleries of the Ackland Art Museum, at Columbia and Franklin streets. Yoga mats and museum cushions are provided. Wear comfortable clothing that will allow you to stretch. Since the galleries can be cool, long sleeves are recommended.

Ackland to host poet Thursday
The Chapel Hill Herald

The Ackland Art Museum hosts award-winning poet DéLana R. A. Dameron, author of How God Ends Us (winner of the 2008 South Carolina Poetry Book Prize), for a public reading of works composed in response to the current Ackland exhibition Jacob Lawrence and The Legend of John Brown, at 6 p.m. Thursday.

UNC Pushes Up CH Broadband Speed Results
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)

While Chapel Hill will continue to vie for Google’s new ultra-high-speed fiber Internet project, one new ranking has the town near the top of the global rankings for average connection speed. Web content giant Akamai Technologies found that Chapel Hill was second worldwide in 2009 with an average speed of more than 17,000 kilobytes per second. That’s faster than any city in Asia or Europe. The results, though, are pushed up by UNC’s high-speed pipelines. Most users in Chapel Hill don’t enjoy the staggering speeds suggested by the study.

Book a study of the 'Professor of Swing'
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

When bandleader James "Kay" Kyser died in 1985 at age 79, he left a legacy that was arguably as much about civic good as music. …During his retirement, Kyser would pursue other causes. Long before creation of the Public Broadcasting System, Kyser was a force behind the creation of North Carolina's public television system. Students at UNC Chapel Hill, his alma mater, still benefit from scholarships from the Kyser Foundation.
Related Link:
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/7185544/article-Kyser-had-lifelong
-connections-to-area?

Issues and Trends

Jablonski Appointed Vice President for Student Affairs at UNH
Connecticut Business News Journal

Margaret Jablonski has been appointed vice president for student affairs at the University of New Haven (UNH) effective August 2, 2010. Jablonski has nearly 30 years experience in higher education and currently serves as the vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the premier public universities in the United States.
Related Links:
http://www.newhaven.edu/news-events/71187/

Atwater hearing set for next month
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Demario Atwater, one of two suspects accused of killing UNC-Chapel Hill Student Body President Eve Carson, is scheduled to appear May 24 in Orange County Superior Court for a hearing about state murder and kidnapping charges.
Related Link:
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/7184132/article-State-prosecutor-
delays-Atwater-hearing?instance=main_article

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