Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Islamic college opens in California
The Arab News (Saudi Arabia)
Zaytuna College held its inaugural classes Aug. 24 and aims to become America's first four-year, accredited, Islamic institution of higher learning. Founded by three Muslim-American scholars, Zaytuna focuses on renewing Islam's intellectual tradition while placing it in the context of American society. …The school's founders expect some of them to become leaders of their communities as imams or in other capacities. Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that would be an important achievement because some foreign-born imams do not understand American culture and society.
National Coverage
Cuts Intensify Identity Crisis for Washington's Flagship Campus
The Chronicle of Higher Ed
…Some flagships, though, have been able to retain more of their public financing. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has long been the gold standard for public support of flagships, with revenue from tuition and fees there totaling less than half the state's contribution. "State money and tuition is a hydraulic," says Paul E. Jenny, Washington's vice provost for planning and budgeting. "One goes up and the other goes down."
New Volume of James Baldwin Writings Demonstrates Timelessness (Book Review)
The Associated Press
James Baldwin's passionate hope for a better America, a United States that he wanted to believe in and that believes in a brilliant Black person, comes through in each piece of this disparate collection. Editor Randall Kenan, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, calls the compendium "a collection of snapshots."
Regional Coverage
Injuries to Ex-NFL Players' Brains Raise Concern
The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.)
The brains of former professional football players are drawing new scrutiny. …Scientific studies in recent years have raised new questions about the effects of football collisions on players' brains. Researchers at the University of North Carolina placed sensors in players' helmets to measure the force of impacts. The study found players routinely sustained impacts above 100 G-force, the equivalent of a passenger hitting a windshield in a car crash at 25 mph. The study also found that some players incurred concussions at relatively low impacts while others showed no signs of concussions at much higher impacts. Another UNC study found that retired NFL players faced a 37 percent higher risk of developing Alzheimer's than other males of the same age.
State and Local Coverage
'MythBusters' coming to UNC Science Festival (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
What attracts a kid to science? I can't speak for everyone, but I think the possibility of making something explode makes a big difference. Isn't that why the baking soda volcano is such a popular science fair project? It also has much to do with the success of Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, co-hosts of the Discovery Channel show, "MythBusters," who are coming to the Dean Dome for a special appearance Sept. 19 at 2 p.m. The 90-minute program, "An Afternoon with Adam and Jamie," will include video clips, outtakes and behind-the-scenes stories from the show. I'll be there, leading a question-and-answer session. (Holden Thorp is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
N.C. scientists helping soldiers
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…At UNC Chapel Hill, scientists are developing technologies to improve training. Greg Welch and a team of computer science researchers at UNC are collaborating with businesses and the Naval Postgraduate School on an intelligent-training system using automatically controlled point-and-tilt cameras, as well as 3-D imaging. "Right now, when Marines train, supervisors in orange vests observe them and take notes. They're experts, but they can't see everything," Welch said.
Lejeune Marines played vital role in Iraq success
The Jacksonville Daily News
When combat operations in Iraq officially end on Wednesday, U.S. Marines will have been absent from the country for more than nine months, having relinquished command of Al Anbar Province to their Army counterparts at the beginning of the year. But, experts say, the contribution of the Corps — with a heavy emphasis on the efforts of Camp Lejeune-based troops — played a vital role in rounding a corner in the war and securing a victory pennant. …Army Lt. Col. Monte Yoder, a professor of military science at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the work of troops in Anbar Province, which culminated in the region’s peaceful transfer to Iraqi control in late 2008, did much to bring the Iraq War’s combat mission to a close.
N.C. Research Campus is picking up steam
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Steven Zeisel, head of the Nutrition Research Institute, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's program here, said Thursday that he had just offered jobs to four new faculty researchers. The recent budget increases for the campus were an important vote of confidence, Zeisel said. Because the campus is in its early phases, that public show of support is crucial as he and other program heads try to lure researchers from some of the nation's best institutions.
The basics of chemotherapy
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Dr. Ned Sharpless is associate director for translational research at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He explains the basics of chemotherapy and how the Chapel Hill-based company he founded is trying to make this toxic treatment more tolerable. Questions and answers have been edited.
WakeMed will curtail prisoners' care
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
WakeMed will stop providing non-emergency care for the state's inmates on Oct. 1, citing the rising cost and hassle of treating those patients. …UNC Hospitals has a contract with the Department of Correction and officials are in discussions about expanding that to other UNC-owned facilities, said UNC spokeswoman Karen McCall. "We're also talking about innovative ways to delivering care, including telemedicine," she said.
UNC investigating academic infractions
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)
The investigation of the football program at UNC Chapel Hill has expanded into possible academic misconduct involving players and a woman who has also worked as a tutor for coach Butch Davis' son. …Friday, Prof. Steven Reznick – a psychology professor who chairs the UNC Athletic Committee spoke with ABC11 about the investigation. "The main thing I hope is we can get this clarified very quickly," he said. Reznick says he still has complete faith in Davis and his coaching staff in leading a team of players who are college students first.
Related Links:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7636832
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/unc/story/8206638/
http://www.ncnn.com/content/view/6306/26/
UNC Release:
http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/genrel/082610aaa.html
Campus in shock over UNC inquiry
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Things hardly were back to normal on the North Carolina campus Friday, a day after Chancellor Holden Thorp announced that the football program is being investigated for academic misconduct. …"I am very saddened by it, but we don't know the details," UNC Board of Trustees chairman Bob Winston said. "We'll react once we get all the information, but I am just tremendously saddened by all of it." Winston said the NCAA requested that the Board of Trustees not be fully apprised of all the details of the investigation, but he did say he has full confidence in the ability of Thorp and Athletic Director Dick Baddour to handle the situation.
UNC football probe needs independence (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
We're glad to hear UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp say the university is treating the charges of academic misconduct and sports agent improprieties in the school's football program "with seriousness." The public could have greater faith in that statement if the university's team of internal investigators included faculty members without ties to the athletic program.
Related Links:
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/9302494/article-Off-the-field-cheating
?instance=hs_editorials
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2010/08/29/59149/resist-rushing-to-judgment.html
Even if suspended, UNC players might travel this week to LSU
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Depending on whose rules were broken, North Carolina football players could wind up in uniform Saturday against LSU in Atlanta, even if they are suspended for the game. If an athlete is found to have broken a school rule, UNC could allow him to travel with the team and wear his uniform on the sideline. But if any Tar Heel is found to have broken NCAA rules, he would not be allowed to dress for the game and likely wouldn't be on the sideline at all.
UNC details academic help
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It is not easy to become a tutor or a mentor for athletes at North Carolina's Academic Support Program. They receive four hours of training before they are hired, including instruction on NCAA compliance. At the beginning of each semester, they sign a form agreeing to follow academic honesty policies. At the end of each semester, they sign another form stating they have neither witnessed, nor committed, any academic fraud or violations.
UNC AD: No end in sight
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It is too early to tell whether North Carolina's investigation into possible academic misconduct extends beyond the football team, athletic director Dick Baddour said Friday. "As I said [Thursday] night, we will use this as an opportunity to look into every aspect of the program; we're early in the process, so part of what we're doing is evolving, so I don't want to get into the details of what other sports could be involved," Baddour said in a phone interview.
Campus tragedy separates mom, daughter
The Rocky Mount Telegram
Donna Sykes and her daughter were inseparable from the time Jesse was born premature with cerebral palsy 19 years ago. That continued until Donna’s death on Aug. 20, when the Spring Hope resident hit her head after falling off a dormitory bunk bed in the middle of the night. Sykes, 49, was spending the night in the Kenan dormitory to help her daughter acclimate to her surroundings as a new student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Marking Katrina, 5 years later
The Chapel Hill Herald
Soon after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Donn Young was back home in New Orleans taking photographs. The opening of an exhibit of his work, panel discussions and more, Sept. 8-10 at UNC, will recognize today’s fifth anniversary of the disaster. “We will seek to explain how the storm impacted people and communities, and how lives are being rebuilt and renewed,” said Gavin Smith, research associate professor in city and regional planning and executive director of the UNC Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters, one of several UNC units sponsoring the events. “We will explore the human impact of the storm.”
Related Link:
http://wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=15708
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3843/73/
UNC Remembers Hurricane Katrina Five Years Later
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC is hosting a number of events in the coming weeks to observe the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The Center for the Study of the American South and the UNC Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters will host workshops and roundtable discussions about the impact the storm had on the residents of New Orleans.
State GOP questions fundraising
The Chapel Hill Herald
State Republican leaders are questioning a UNC professor's use of her university e-mail account to raise money for the campaign of Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, the state's Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in the November General Election. In a news release Friday, state Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer said Jane Brown's use of her state e-mail account to receive RSVPs for the Aug. 31 fundraiser in Chapel Hill is unethical and illegal.
Issues and Trends
New UNC chief ready to lead
The Chapel Hill News
Though wise in the ways of public service and state politics, Tom Ross was still a higher education neophyte three years ago when he took over as president of Davidson College. So to better understand the inner workings of his alma mater, Ross sat down and thumbed through its budget. "Where the money goes is where the priorities are," Ross explained Thursday after being officially named as the fifth president of the University of North Carolina system. "I'll do that here as I did there."
Related Links:
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/08/29/article/ross_ready_to_give_unc_all_he_s_got
http://www.wchl1360.com/details3.html?id=15707
College president, fix-it man (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Charlotte Observer
If you were looking for something bad to say about the next president of the University of North Carolina, detractors might point to his inability to keep a steady job. Everyone wants him to fix something. Tom Ross, the Davidson College president who was chosen Thursday to succeed UNC President Erskine Bowles beginning New Year's Day 2011, has held a series of increasingly important jobs and scores of volunteer posts over a 35-year career that uniquely qualify him for what is arguably the most important job in the state.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/08/29/653459/ross-has-earned-new-post.html
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100826041
President Ross (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Service has defined the career of Thomas W. Ross. And now Tom Ross will ascend to a job whose potential for service to the people of North Carolina is almost incalculable – president of the University of North Carolina system. The Board of Governors has chosen well, selecting a leader who knows the state intimately and has shown commitment to its finest principles.
Related Links:
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/aug/28/tom-ross/opinion/
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/08/28/650751/far-and-wide.html
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/9304106/article-Welcome-back–Tom-Ross?
instance=hs_editorials
30 Ways to Rate a College
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The lines below connect raters to each of the measures they take into account. Notice how few measures are shared by two or more raters. That indicates a lack of agreement among them on what defines quality. Much of the emphasis is on “input measures” such as student selectivity, faculty-student ratio, and retention of freshmen. Except for graduation rates, almost no “outcome measures,” such as whether a student comes out prepared to succeed in the work force, are used.
Man who had gun on UNC property loses appeal
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The N.C. Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a man for having a gun on educational property after he left the weapon in his car and parked in a lot off Porthole Alley. Joel William Minton appealed his conviction on a number of issues after he was convicted during a September 2009 trial. Minton was arrested on April 14, 2009, after UNC police officers walking through the parking lot at the end of Porthole Alley in downtown Chapel Hill saw a box of ammunition on the passenger seat in a car.