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

International Coverage

Football: Concussion awareness needed
United Press International

U.S. athletic trainers have released a video to raise awareness of the seriousness of concussions in football. …"The invisible nature of concussions makes it imperative that athletes and coaches properly recognize the signs and symptoms of concussions, in order to foster quicker diagnosis and medical care when needed," trainer Kevin Guskiewicz of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill says in a statement.

National Coverage

For Head Injuries, a Problem in Practice
The New York Times

…The data was collected through the Head Impact Telemetry System, in which accelerometers inside players’ helmets measure the linear and rotational forces acting on the skull. Available since 2004, the system is used by some college and even high school teams to monitor severe impacts in real time that might otherwise go unnoticed. It is also the primary means by which researchers, particularly at the University of North Carolina, have begun to analyze just what punishment players endure in games and practices.

VA Expands List Of Agent Orange Ailments
"Morning Edition" National Public Radio

Thirty-five years after the end of the Vietnam War, many veterans of that conflict are still battling for compensation for diseases they believe are related to Agent Orange, a defoliant that includes several kinds of dioxins. …"There is no possibility of proving on an individual basis what the exposure was," says Trude Bennett, a public health researcher at the University of North Carolina who studies dioxin exposure. "Even if you could measure the body burden of the chemicals in someone's body now, it would have dissipated from the time of the original exposure.

Number of uninsured Americans hits record high
MSNBC

In a reflection of the battered economy, the number of people without health insurance rose sharply last year to 50.7 million — an all time high — according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau. …“In a word, this is devastating,” said Jonathan Oberlander, professor of social medicine and health policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Teaching Doctors About Nutrition and Diet
The New York Times

…Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill asked nutrition educators from more than 100 medical schools to describe the nutrition instruction offered to their students. While the researchers learned that almost all schools require exposure to nutrition, only about a quarter offered the recommended 25 hours of instruction, a decrease from six years earlier, when almost 40 percent of schools met the minimum recommendations.
Related Link:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/what-doctors-dont-know-about-nutrition/
?partner=rss&emc=rss

Earl Scruggs 'doing fine' after hospitalization
The Associated Press

Earl Scruggs' son says the bluegrass pioneer is "doing fine" after reports the 86-year-old Country Music Hall of Fame member was hospitalized. Gary Scruggs declined to give more details about his father's illness when contacted by The Associated Press on Thursday. Multiple media outlets have reported the legendary banjo player was hospitalized Wednesday because he wasn't feeling well before a concert at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

State and Local Coverage

Three opportunities to turn your kids on to science
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Looking for ways to share science with your kids? For the next couple of weeks, you'll find lots of cool opportunities. The N.C. Science Festival, a celebration featuring science and technology, kicked off last Saturday with BugFest at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and continues through Sept. 26. "This is the first statewide science festival in the country," says Julie Rhodes, coordinator of the N.C. Science Festival. "UNC's Morehead Planetarium and Science Center was interested in developing a regional science festival. The idea was received so well that people said, 'Why not make it a statewide science festival?'"
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3903/107/

UNC recognizes three who were first blacks to enroll
The Associated Press

The first three African-American men to attend the University of North Carolina will be honored in a series of events this week. Thursday marks the 55th anniversary of a federal court decision which said the university could not prohibit Ralph Frasier, his brother, LeRoy Frasier, and John Brandon from attending the school.
Related Link:
http://wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=15896

UNC, Duke academic presses still rolling
The Triangle Business Journal

…But locally, Duke University Press and UNC Press, which typically publish academic books and journals, have held their own against such challenges and have met their budgets in recent years. “I think we’re doing really quite well,” says Kate Torrey, director of UNC Press. “We finished last fiscal year ahead of our forecast by a couple of percentage points and significantly ahead of fiscal ‘09, which was a very rough year for us.”

With separate entity, UNC Health Care to go bidding for doctor practices
The Triangle Business Journal

UNC Health Care is joining the race to gobble up physician practices through a newly created subsidiary. The state-owned health care system has created the Triangle Physician Network LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary that will serve as the channel through which UNC acquires private physician practices. …UNC Hospitals CFO Chris Ellington says the system can provide the physicians access to UNC’s managed care contracts, which means better reimbursement rates for doctors.

FDA approves gout drug developed by Duke doctor
The Triangle Business Journal

…For the past 17 years, Dr. Michael Hershfield has been working to create an enzymatic treatment for severe gout. That quest came to an end on Sept. 14, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Savient Pharmaceuticals’ Krystexxa, a drug created by Hershfield and his colleagues at Duke. …Dr. Beth Jonas at UNC Hospitals says if physicians can diagnose and treat patients early, existing drugs can prevent gout from developing into destructive arthritis. But this new treatment will be critical for patients who do not get treatment early or for whom existing therapies do not work.

Stone Center to host exhibit
The Chapel Hill Herald

The Sonja Haynes Stone Center at UNC Chapel Hill has a free photography exhibition opening in its gallery next Thursday and an opening reception that will happen at 7 p.m. the same day. The center is welcoming the public to join in the opening of Kendall Messick's acclaimed exhibition "Corapeake," which will run through Dec. 3.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3839/66/

GOP chair stumps in Raleigh
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

National Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele came to the state capital Thursday to talk up local GOP candidates for the U.S. House and dismiss talk of party divisions. …Steele is one of several high-profile politicians and commentators coming to the Carolinas this month. Karl Rove will speak at UNC-Chapel Hill next week, Pelosi will travel to South Carolina, and Ann Coulter is scheduled to attend a Wake County Republican Women's Club fundraiser in Raleigh on Sunday.

National Pundits To Discuss Elections At UNC
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)

UNC is bringing two national political pundits to speak on campus in early October. College of Arts and Sciences Communications Director Dee Reid says the timing of the talks is no coincidence. Political experts William Kristol and Mark Shields will discuss the “State of the Union, Mid-Term.” Both speakers come from distinguished political journalism backgrounds.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3896/70/

Malawian man to speak on power of music
The Chapel Hill Herald

Malawian musician Peter Mawanga will present "Hearing is Healing: The Intersection of Music and Public Health," during a lecture/performance about traditional and contemporary music at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the FedEx Global Education Center's Nelson Mandela Auditorium on the UNC campus.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3899/66/

How to tailgate the healthy way
The Chapel Hill Herald

…But eating such high-fat, high-calorie food can easily cause weight gain, said Cynthia Bulik, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the UNC School of Medicine. That’s bad news for millions of tailgaters, fans who celebrate football games by holding parties in stadium parking lots. Most tailgate parties feature grilled meats, creamy cold salads and drinking games such as beer pong and flip cup.
UNC Release:
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2010/September/how-to-tailgate-the-healthy-way
?utm_source=release&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=tailgate

Alert Carolina gets a test
The Chapel Hill Herald

UNC will test its emergency sirens between noon and 1 p.m. Tuesday as part of Alert Carolina, a safety awareness campaign. Anyone outside on or near campus, including downtown Chapel Hill, is likely to hear the sirens during the drill, which tests equipment and reminds students, faculty and staff what to do in an emergency. No action is needed. The sirens will sound an alert tone along with a brief, pre-recorded public address message. When testing is complete, a different siren tone and voice message will signal "All clear. Resume normal activities." Samples of the alert and "all clear" tones are available at alertcarolina.unc.edu
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3891/68/

N.C. should commute death sentences (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Across North Carolina, newspapers, defense lawyers, crime victims, even prosecutors, are calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. In light of revelations that the State Bureau of Investigation offered false or misleading evidence in hundreds of cases, a moratorium isn't enough. All 159 of North Carolina's death row inmates should have their sentences commuted to life in prison without parole. (Frank R. Baumgartner is professor of political science at UNC Chapel Hill.)

Underage drinking and the justice system (Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald

Recent news reports note the dramatic rise in underage drinking charges by local law enforcement (Chapel Hill and Carrboro police departments and UNC Public Safety). This doesn't necessarily mean there is more underage drinking in our community (though it could), and the strong increase in law enforcement prevention efforts isn't accidental.

Issues and Trends

Colleges consider barring students for health, safety risks
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)

North Carolina's community colleges are known for their open enrollment, but safety concerns are driving a new admissions proposal that could limit that. The plan would allow the state's 58 two-year colleges to deny admission if a potential student poses a health or safety risk. College officials said Thursday that there isn't a specific violent incident or health scare on a campus that prompted the idea, but they said that the colleges are growing rapidly and that security is always a concern. …The University of North Carolina system has more stringent admissions policies than community colleges, but they don't include possible health or safety threats.

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