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

International Coverage

Alcohol sensitivity tied to gene
CBC.com (Canada)

People who feel drunk after relatively few drinks may carry a different version of a gene than others who react less strongly to alcohol, a new study suggests. Researchers at the University of North Carolina estimate 10 per cent to 20 per cent of people have a version of a gene that makes them more sensitive to alcohol. These people feel more inebriated than others after the first few drinks.
UNC Release:
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2010/October/scientists-find-gene-linked-to-alcoholism

Some can delay bone density test 10 years
United Press International

Older women with good bone density at 65 may delay re-testing, U.S. researchers say. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine suggest the two-year screening interval — now used for older women over age 65 — may be extended to 10 years if a woman has a normal bone mineral density score.
UNC Release:
http://www.med.unc.edu/www/news/2010/october/older-women-with-normal-t-scores-may-not-need-bone-mineral-density-screening-for-10-years

Google 2.4% Rate Shows How $60 Billion Lost to Tax Loopholes
Bloomberg News

Google Inc. cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the last three years using a technique that moves most of its foreign profits through Ireland and the Netherlands to Bermuda. …Two thousand U.S. companies paid a median effective cash rate of 28.3 percent in federal, state and foreign income taxes in a 2005 study by academics at the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina.

National Coverage

Gene may protect against alcoholism
The Los Angeles Times

Some people possess genetic characteristics that give them a low level of response to alcohol. That means they have relatively little reaction to booze and need a lot of drinks to begin feeling an effect. …The study advances the understanding of why some people become addicted and others do not. But genes aren't the whole story, said the lead author of the study Dr. Kirk Wilhelmsen, a professor of genetics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Related Link:
http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/10/20/feeling-tipsy-from-just-one-glass-of-wine/
UNC Release:
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2010/October/scientists-find-gene-linked-to-alcoholism

Mayo Clinic Calls for Tougher Head-Checking Rule in N.H.L. (Blog)
The New York Times

The Mayo Clinic conference on concussions in hockey called for the N.H.L. to completely outlaw all contact with the head, proposing a rule that would go far beyond the N.H.L.’s current Rule 48 banning blindside hits to the head. …The Mayo working group that came up with the recommended rule included …and Jason Mihalik, a University of North Carolina biomechanist who specializes in hockey head trauma research.

How to detect terrorist plots: Old-fashioned digging (Blog)
The Washington Post

A study of 86 terrorist plots since 1999 found that 80 percent were discovered through old-fashioned police work or tips from the public, not technology-driven counter-terrorism operations. The study by the Institute for Homeland Security Solutions, a research consortium between Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and RTI International, an independent research institute, emphasized the need for local law enforcement, in particular, to recognize "potential terrorist activity during the course of routine criminal investigations."

Did TARP Really Pay Off for Taxpayers? (Blog)
"MoneyWatch" CBS.com

…The loans extended under TARP were exceedingly generous, considering the risk that taxpayers could have been stuck with the bill for massive failures. Warren Buffett got better terms for his investment in Goldman Sachs just a few weeks before TARP. “When you’ve got someone by the balls in a negotiation, you squeeze,” says Karl Smith, assistant professor of public economics at University of North Carolina. “We should have taken the banks for more than we did.”

Regional Coverage

Mayo Clinic out to check sports concussions
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.)

…Kevin Guskiewicz of the University of North Carolina said that 50 percent of concussions in high school football players may go unreported, and 75 percent of athletes do not know the signs and symptoms. Many athletes fear they will be stigmatized or demoted if they admit to being hurt, so they lie about their condition.

State and Local Coverage

Science labs dread end of stimulus grants
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…ARRA, known broadly as the "stimulus" program, has pumped $787 million into the nation's economy – a good chunk of that going to science research. In quick order, it created jobs and spurred ambitious new research programs. …On the other end of the spectrum is Tom Meyer, a UNC-CH chemist overseeing a large, interdisciplinary research project aimed at developing solar fuels. The five-year project – involving six staff members, about 30 postdoctoral fellows and grad students, and 20 faculty members from UNC-CH and four other universities – is supported by $17.5 million in stimulus funds. That's the largest stimulus-funded project at UNC-CH.

UNC Talks Water Resources Issues
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)

UNC is bringing representatives and scholars from nearly 50 different countries together to talk about water. The two day symposium titled “Water and Health: Where Science Meets Policy” will take place on October 25 and 26. The representatives will discuss water issues as they relate to engineering and technology, health, community development, public policy and climate change. UNC professor and co-chair for the symposium Dr. Larry Band says one of the key themes of the conference will be collaboration.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4005/1/

UNC granted $6.6M to finish radiation drug
The Triangle Business Journal

UNC-Chapel Hill researchers have $6.6 million to finish work on a radiation-scrubbing drug that could prove life-saving to people affected by a nuclear accident or dirty-bomb attack. Michael Jay, a professor in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has spent the past five years working to create an orally administered version of diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid, or DTPA, a compound used to treat patients exposed to certain radioactive elements and other metals.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4016/107/

UNC to lead youth violence prevention center
The Triangle Business Journal

The federal government has granted $6.5 million to establish the nation’s first rurally focused youth violence prevention center in Robeson County, which is in southeastern North Carolina off of Interstate 95 on the South Carolina border. Researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill will head up the project.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4012/71/

Doctors urge 'cocooning' for those who can't get flu shot
WRAL.com

…That’s why UNC Hospitals is targeting parents and caregivers of children like Adela to get the vaccine themselves. The strategy is called developing a “cocoon of flu protection.” “Since the flu is passed from person to person, if we can protect the people around Adela from getting the flu, then we can also protect the flu from ever getting to Adela,” said UNC pediatrician Dr. Michael Steiner.

Backlash creates close contest in 7th Congressional District
The Fayetteville Observer

…Ferrel Guillory, a political observer and a lecturer in the school of journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said Republicans have the wind at their backs all over the country. Still, he said he'd be surprised if McIntyre loses. "The master narrative of this election is the strong effort of the Republican Party to gain ground based in large part on voter discontent stemming from the lingering recession," Guillory said.

UNC will face Canes without Burney; Brown to miss remainder of season
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

North Carolina cornerback Kendric Burney will miss Saturday's game against Miami, and cornerback Charles Brown will miss the remainder of the season, the school announced Wednesday. Burney was scheduled to return to the field against the Hurricanes after serving a six-game suspension for violating the NCAA agent benefits and preferential treatment rules. But Wednesday's announcement repeated that issues remain unresolved related to the ongoing investigations into agents and academics.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/21/752689/brown-will-miss-season.html

Issues and Trends

Teen takes deal in phony bomb threats
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Ashton Lundeby, the teenager from Oxford who has spent the past 19 months in a federal detention center, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to lodge bomb threats to entertain select Internet audiences. …UNC-Chapel Hill, Clemson University, Florida State University and Boston College were among the sites targeted.
Related Link:
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20101021/News01/10210319/-1/googleNews

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