Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Students Pressure University of North Carolina to Abandon Coal
Bloomberg News
Student environmental activists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill won a commitment from administrators to stop using coal for campus heat and power within a decade. The university will begin testing alternative fuels such as biomass to help switch away from coal by May 1, 2020, Chancellor Holden Thorp announced today. The campus generator is among the most efficient in the country and could run for an additional 30 years to 40 years, Thorp said.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3603/1/
Mammograms catch few cancers in young women: study
Reuters (Wire Service)
Mammograms detect few cancers in women under the age of 40 but cause expense and anxiety because women frequently get "false positives" that require follow-up to rule out cancer, researchers reported on Monday. …Radiologist Bonnie Yankaskas of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues examined the records of women aged 18 to 39 when they got their first mammograms starting in 1995, following them for a year to see what happened.
National Coverage
Age requirements for learner's permits
USA Today
As prom season begins, the issue of phased-in driving privileges for teens is heating up. Three Democratic senators are pushing legislation to create a national graduated driver licensing (GDL) law. They say it would replace a patchwork of state laws with a single national standard that encompasses proven safety policies for novice drivers. …The legislation, also sponsored by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has many detractors. "It's not a GDL act at all. It's a raise-the-driving age act," says Rob Foss, director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It's shifting the whole licensing process to an older age for a number of states."
Study: Shaken-Baby Cases Rose During the Recession
Time
…But the findings are a stark reminder that any stressful circumstance — family tragedy, natural disaster or financial downturn — may push parents to the limits of their coping abilities. In 1999, following a devastating hurricane that hit regions of eastern North Carolina, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that in the six months post-hurricane, the rate of brain injuries caused by child abuse jumped fivefold from the rate before the disaster.
Mammograms before 40: Few cancers, many callbacks
The Associated Press
As controversial as mammograms are for women in their 40s, some get them even younger — and new research casts doubt on their usefulness. When to start routine mammograms, at 40 or 50, is debated. But health guidelines don't recommend them before age 40 unless women are at particularly high risk, such as those who carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer-causing genes. …If 10,000 35- to 39-year-olds had a routine screening mammogram, 1,266 would be called back for further testing to find 16 with cancer, reported Dr. Bonnie Yankaskas of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
For Younger Women, Mammograms Not Too Effective: Study
HealthDay News
Mammograms in women under the age of 40 result in many return visits for follow-up screenings but don't turn up cancer very often, a new study finds. …In the new study, Bonnie C. Yankaskas of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues studied a database of 117,738 women who got their first mammogram between the ages of 18 and 39. The researchers followed the women for a year to see what happened to them.
Biodiversity Loss Continues Unabated Despite International Efforts
The Huffington Post
Betting on biodiversity loss is a pretty sure thing. The earth's plant and animal species are disappearing at a sobering rate due to pressures including habitat loss, climate change, pollution and over-harvesting. Despite a few success stories and steps in the right direction, we are falling far short of stemming these losses. (John F. Bruno, marine ecologist; associate professor, UNC Chapel Hill)
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3590/74/
State and Local Coverage
UNC to phase out coal
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC-Chapel Hill today announced plans to phase out the use of coal by 2020. As a first step, the university’s cogeneration plant will soon start testing the co-firing of coal with biomass in the form of dried wood pellets. The university hopes to replace 20 percent of its coal with biomass by 2015. “Universities must lead the transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy,” said Chancellor Holden Thorp. “Today, Carolina takes another big step in that direction.”
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3603/1/
NIH awards $10M to UNC, ECU for heart-disease study
The Triangle Business Journal
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Carolina University received a $10 million grant to study heart disease in Lenoir County. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Lenoir County, and the researchers will work to study the causes of cardiovascular health disparities and will try out new solutions. The grant is supplied by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3600/71/
UNC researchers study proteins surrounding tumors
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Typically, cancer researchers look at cancer cells. But researchers at the University of North Carolina are studying the proteins surrounding tumors in patients with pancreatic cancer to see if they can help predict the cancer’s growth. The protein is called palladin and UNC molecular researchers Dr. Carol Otey and cancer surgeon Dr. H.J. Kim say the intense presence of it is a key molecular marker for pancreatic cancer.
UNC Release:
http://www.unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2010/April/otey-palladin
Local students in Phi Beta Kappa
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A number of local students have been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most honored of all college honorary societies, at UNC Chapel Hill. Less than 1 percent of all college students qualify for the society. Students inducted included Anna Burroughs, Dara Keatts, Tatyana Neplioueva and Stacy Ramsey, all of Durham; and Thomas Breedlove, Courtney Detwiler, Clara Kim, James Kylstra and Greg Margolis, all of Chapel Hill.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3526/75/
UNC TA honored for his teaching
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Daniel Peterson of Durham, a doctoral candidate in psychology at UNC Chapel Hill, has been honored by students at the university for teaching excellence and service to undergraduates. Peterson was one of five graduate student teaching assistants honored. Each of them received $1,000.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3547/107/
UNC Students Getting Ready To Go Abroad
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Seven UNC undergraduates will span the globe this summer after receiving UNC Class of 1938 travel fellowships. Assistant Director Jane Rosenberg says the students were chosen among 44 applicants after a series of interviews. Since 1975, the endowment has funded independent projects abroad by UNC students. It was created by the UNC Class of 1938 who lived through and lost friends during World War 2 in an effort to help foster international understanding and promote world peace.
Weighing United-Continental merger’s impact on US Airways
The Charlotte Business Journal
US Airways Group Inc. Chief Executive Doug Parker has been a strong proponent of airline-industry consolidation. But now that United Airlines and Continental Airlines have cut a $3 billion merger deal that will create the world’s largest airline, Parker faces higher competition as the industry consolidates around him. …John Kasarda, aviation expert and director of the Kenan Institute of Private Entrepreneurship at UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, says Charlotte could benefit from the merger as it puts pressure on US Airways to boost its international service out of its Charlotte and Philadelphia hubs.
Johnston revs up to lower teen fatality rate
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Recommendations made Monday by a special task force hope to reduce the number of teens dying on Johnston County's narrow, rural roads. Since 2005, more than 34 teenagers have been killed in Johnston County accidents. Only Buncombe County had a worse record for teen vehicle fatalities, according to the UNC Highway Safety Research Center.
Moving through midlife
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Hot flashes. Headaches. A tummy that won't go away no matter how many crunches you do. Menopause can be especially vexing for women trying to lose weight. As their estrogen levels drop, their testosterone exerts more influence. …The key is finding the right exercise regimen – one you enjoy, one you look forward to doing and will stick with, says Mary Petters, an exercise physiologist with the UNC Wellness Center at Meadowmont in Chapel Hill. "There's something out there for everyone," says Petters. "You're never too old to start."
Planning for a more urban Raleigh
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Last year, Raleigh adopted a new Comprehensive Plan to guide planning decisions through 2030. This year, the city is in the midst of drafting a new code, known as the Uniform Development Ordinance or UDO. …Like so many other reasons for the region's success, the answer lies with our human capital. It includes enlightened local developers, intensely engaged neighborhood groups and many talented professionals who came out of N.C. State's Design and Engineering Colleges and UNC-Chapel Hill's Department of City and Regional Planning.
Butts to retire (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Dr. John Butts Jr., the chief medical examiner for the past 23 years, is planning to retire this year. Butts, whose office oversees a network of 600 doctors across the state who investigate suspicious or unnatural deaths, will retire July 1, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services announced in a news release. Butts was appointed assistant chief medical examiner in 1975 and became chief in 1987. He also serves on the faculty of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine and as an adjunct assistant professor of pathology at the Duke University School of Medicine.
Issues and Trends
UNC leaders: Furloughs, not layoffs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC system officials want the power this year to institute furloughs across the public university system. UNC system President Erskine Bowles and others say the measure would be preferable to the more than 1,000 layoffs that would be necessary if the spending plan Perdue proposed last week was adopted. Perdue called for a 4 percent cut to the UNC system's budget, which would be added to a 2 percent cut included in the 2-year budget approved last year.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/news/education/story/7533182/
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/unc-leaders-furloughs-not-layoffs
UNC system to pay $100K for search consultant
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The UNC system will pay a Dallas-based consultant $100,000 to assist in the search for the next university president. The system has hired R. William Funk & Associates, a firm whose name may ring a bell. Funk ran the search at UNC-Chapel Hill that resulted in the hiring of current Chancellor Holden Thorp, and he was involved in a recent provost search there as well. Funk has led searches for leaders at dozens of large universities and university systems, including a recent search at Virginia.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/7534741/
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/05/04/article/unc_system_hires_consultant
_for_presidential_search
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/unc-system-to-pay-100k-for-search-consultant