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

National Coverage

Health Care Law Could Mandate Free Contraception
The Associated Press

…"There is clear and incontrovertible evidence that family planning saves lives and improves health," said obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. David Grimes, an international family planning expert who teaches medicine at the University of North Carolina. "Contraception rivals immunization in dollars saved for every dollar invested. Spacing out children allows for optimal pregnancies and optimal child rearing. Contraception is a prototype of preventive medicine."

U.S. Says Genes Should Not Be Eligible for Patents
The New York Times

…However, the government suggested such a change would have limited impact on the biotechnology industry because man-made manipulations of DNA, like methods to create genetically modified crops or gene therapies, could still be patented. Dr. James P. Evans, a professor of genetics and medicine at the University of North Carolina, who headed a government advisory task force on gene patents, called the government’s brief “a bit of a landmark, kind of a line in the sand.”

Along the Minimum-Wage Battle Front (Blog)
The New York Times

There’s no actual swordplay, but you can see flashes of steel along with sparks when economists wield their weapon of choice — statistical analysis. …An important new study exploiting this opportunity will appear this month in The Review of Economics and Statistics. The economists Arindrajit Dube of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, T. William Lester of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Michael Reich of the University of California, Berkeley, closely analyze employment trends for several categories of low-wage workers over a 16-year period in all counties sharing a common border with a county in another state where minimum wage increases followed a different trajectory.

Minimum Wage Increases Promote Jobs: Study
The Huffington Post

Increasing the minimum wage does not aggravate unemployment, despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, a new study shows (hat tip to Economix). Even though some economists have argued that paying workers more tends to discourage hiring, wage increases actually leave employment unaffected or even improved, argues the study, authored by Arindrajit Dube of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, T. William Lester of UNC Chapel Hill and Michael Reich of UC Berkeley.

Behind antigay Facebook rant, echoes of civil rights movement
The Christian Science Monitor

…Yet the issue underlying them remains deeply divisive throughout much of the rural South as the push for gay rights takes on some of the aspects of a modern civil rights movement – with small groups attempting to make change on a local level. This week, protesters from Little Rock descended on McCance’s small town, Pleasant Plains, 80 miles away. “Such movements tend to be grass roots that pop up more or less spontaneously in one community or another and are moved by individual people or groups of people who are deeply burdened by discrimination,” says Harry Watson, director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Google slashes overseas tax rate through 'Double Irish' and 'Dutch Sandwich' strategy
The Washington Post

By employing strategies known to lawyers as the "Double Irish" and the "Dutch Sandwich," Google cut its taxes by $3.1 billion in the past three years – moving most of its foreign profit 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.

Creeper! Rando! Sketchball!
The New York Times

When Liana Roux, a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was reading a Facebook event page for her friend’s birthday party recently, she noticed a terse proviso at the end of the announcement: “No randos.” The friend wanted only people she knew to come to her party and thus sought to bar any random strangers, or randos, in collegiate parlance. Roux is keeping track of words like rando for an assignment in a class she is taking on the grammar of current English, taught by Connie C. Eble, the resident linguist in UNC’s English department. Since 1972, Eble has asked her students to compile lists of slang that they encounter in their everyday interactions, and this semester, rando is going on Roux’s list.

Faculty Reps Botch Sports-Oversight Role
The Chronicle of Higher Education

…Faculty representatives who accept those benefits and cheer for their teams say they sometimes worry about how they are viewed. Even though he made annual reports to faculty leaders about athletics and says he kept the university's academic stature foremost in his mind, Jack Evans, who was the faculty athletics representative at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 15 years, is also a fan. "I enjoy watching Carolina teams play, and I certainly enjoy watching them win," says Mr. Evans, who is a professor of operations, technology, and innovation management in the Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Related Link:
http://chronicle.com/article/Frequent-Flier-One-Faculty/125195/

Regional Coverage

Studies offer NFL window into addressing concussions
The Baltimore Sun (Maryland)

…Kevin Guskiewicz, the director for the Center of the Study of Retired Athletes at the University of North Carolina, points to a six-year study of college players who wore accelerometers in their helmets that measured the location and severity of head impacts sustained during practice. Guskiewicz said that on average, North Carolina players had 950 impacts per player per season at practice. (The study was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and by the National Operating Committee in Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE).

Has War Become A Second Class Citizen?
The Tucson Citizen (Arizona)

…This year, issues of war have been “swamped” by voter concerns about jobs, debt and health care, observed Richard Kohn, professor of history, peace, war and defense at the University of North Carolina. And those are domestic issues in which Congress has a more obvious role anyway, he added.

State and Local Coverage

Reducing the Tar Heels' carbon footprint (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald

At Carolina, we're proud of the tar on our heels. But the carbon on our footprint is not something to brag about. Because of the dedication of Tar Heels all across campus, I'm pleased to say that we are making great strides toward reducing that carbon footprint. Earlier this month, our latest greenhouse gas inventory showed that UNC had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions for the first time, by 20 percent, taking us back to 2003 levels. That's a big step toward our commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050. (Holden Thorp is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)

Sayre-McCord Tabbed For Dec Commencement
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)

UNC has selected who will deliver the key speech at Carolina’s December commencement. Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, who is a former Morehead Scholar and a current UNC philosophy professor, will deliver next month’s address. Chancellor Holden Thorp will begin the ceremony on Saturday December 19 at 2 p.m. in the Dean Smith Center. Sayre-McCord’s selection continues the tradition of the university’s use of faculty speakers at December commencement.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4027/75/

Frank Bruni speaking Friday at UNC (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

This is your last reminder: Frank Bruni, former restaurant critic for The New York Times and a UNC alumnus, is coming to Chapel Hill to give two talks on Friday. At 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5 in Carroll Hall, Bruni will give a speech titled: "An Extraordinary Journalistic Adventure." Bruni's reporting career includes movie coverage, Vatican reporting, presidential politics and restaurant criticism.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4023/107/

Anorexic women more likely to have unwanted pregnancies, abortions
The Chapel Hill Herald

A new study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Norwegian researchers has found that women with anorexia nervosa are much more likely to have both unplanned pregnancies and induced abortions than women who don't have the serious eating disorder. These results may be driven by a mistaken belief among women with anorexia that they can't get pregnant because they are either not having menstrual periods at all or are having irregular periods, said Cynthia M. Bulik, the study's lead author and director of the UNC Eating Disorders Program.
Related Link:
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/8533538/
UNC Release:
http://www.med.unc.edu/www/news/2010/october/women-with-anorexia-nervosa
-more-likely-to-have-unplanned-pregnancies

UNC Hospitals urge 'ring of immunity' for flu defense
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Almost everyone is now recommended to get a flu shot, but infants and others who can't get the vaccine are among the most vulnerable to severe illness. That's why doctors at UNC Hospitals are working to build a protective barrier around them, vaccinating their family members and others who routinely spend time with them. "The best way to protect them is build a ring of immunity around them," said Dr. Mike Steiner, a pediatrician at N.C. Children's Hospital. "The only way to get influenza is from contact with someone who has it. You don't get it just out of the blue."

Tiny gadget can help doctors retrieve sponges
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

What's the difference between an RFO and a UFO? RFOs are more common. Retained foreign objects, or RFOs, are instruments and tools that surgeons forget inside their patients. About one in every 5,500 patients who underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic over a three-year period was wheeled into the recovery room with a forgotten object inside, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. …"That's the crux," said Dr. Christopher Rupp, a gastrointestinal surgeon at UNC Health Care in Chapel Hill.
UNC Release:
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2010/October/no-sponge-left-behind

UNC’s new dental school to replace older buildings
The Triangle Business Journal

At the Oct. 1 topping-off ceremony, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry Dean John Stamm and other supporters of the school proudly signed the Carolina blue beam before it was hoisted to the top of the five-story building. The new Dental Sciences Building under construction at the corner of Manning Drive and Columbia Street not only will be the cornerstone for the school’s new research and education facilities, it also will physically connect the School of Dentistry’s three other classroom and office buildings for the first time.

State law may give immunity to Easley
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

A state law may give former Gov. Mike Easley some cover from state investigations. …Michael Crowell, an elections law expert at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Government, said the law is "not as clear as one might like." He and others said lawmakers might have been striking a balance between getting information and prosecuting people. He said there are valid questions about the law: Does the elections board qualify as a court? Does issuing a subpoena grant immunity?

Writer finds fame a little, well, freaky
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Steve Dubner is a literary rock star. As co-author of 2005's "Freakonomics," the 47-year-old North Carolina expatriate is one of the forces behind the wildly popular franchise that delves into the psychology of economics. …"I've been recommending it to my students for quite some time," says Ralph Byrns, an economics professor at UNC Chapel Hill. "In fact, I'm teaching an honors section right now, and I'd say that at least 70 percent of my students have read it. The book's approach is to apply conventional economic analysis to some very unconventional topics to prove all sorts of odd theories. It's brilliant."

A record label, lickety split
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Business plans assigned for college classes usually don't amount to anything. But UNC-Chapel Hill student Reed Turchi not only came up with a plan to create a niche record label, he turned it into the real thing. …"Reed is an unusual student with a lot of initiative," said UNC history professor William Ferris, who made the McDowell recordings. "He was in my Southern music class, started poking around my archive and found those recordings. I gave him my blessing, and he mastered a CD of them. Then he said he wanted to produce a CD for this label he was creating, and it seemed like he had the whole thing done by the next day. Just lightning speed."

Hospital food? Don't turn your nose up if UNC Hospital chefs prepare it
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

If you live in Chapel Hill or Durham, you just might want to think about dropping those "hospital food" jokes. On Friday, a UNC/Rex Hospitals team was awarded first place and a gold medal in the "Cut to the Core" hospital culinary competition hosted by Johnson & Wales University and celebrity chef Alton Brown of The Food Network. A team that included Duke Hospital placed third overall and won a silver medal.

Yale art dean to appear Nov. 11
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Robert Storr, dean of the Yale University School of Art, will address the topic "Opposites Attract: Being of at Least Two Minds About Art and Artists" on Nov. 11 at UNC Chapel Hill. The free lecture will start at 5:30 p.m. in the Hanes Art Center auditorium, 121 East Cameron Ave. Storr comes to UNC as a part of the Hanes Visiting Artist Lecture Series presented by the art department.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4025/107/

Votes sought for program
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Want to start your week out by doing something for someone else? Take a moment to go online and visit http://vote.livestrong.org or http://carolinawell.org and your vote can bring funding from the Livestrong Community Impact Project to Carolina Well, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center's cancer survivorship program.

Heels, Blue Devils are on same page
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University students temporarily put their rivalry aside on Friday when Camp Kesem North Carolina threw its fourth annual KESEMania on the main quad of Duke from 3 to 7 p.m. The event raised money and awareness for Camp Kesem North Carolina, a free weeklong camp for children whose parents have or had cancer. The camp is entirely run by Duke and UNC-CH students.

On the decline: murders and death sentences (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Recently in several parts of North Carolina potential voters received fliers produced by the N.C. Republican Executive Committee charging that Democratic votes for the Racial Justice Act could lead to the immediate parole of death row inmates, allowing them to move into "your neighborhood," thanks to "ultra-liberal" members of the legislature such as Rep. Hugh Holliman. (Frank R. Baumgartner is professor of political science at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

UNC should not hide records subject to law (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer

Two Latin words form the motto of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Lux Libertas – light and liberty. They are appropriate words for a university dedicated to learning. Yet UNC leaders believe that their obligations to student privacy under state and federal law do not give them the liberty to provide as much light about an ongoing football investigation as the state's news media do.
UNC Statement:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4048/68/
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/10/30/769510/bling-kings.html
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story_sports/10117898/article-Burney-s-
return-a-source-of-excitement?instance=main_article

Issues and Trends

Second annual Eve Ball to raise scholarship funds
The Chapel Hill Herald

The Eve Ball, a dance party to benefit the Eve Carson Scholarship Fund that, organizers say, is Chapel Hill's premier costume party, will be held at The Carolina Club on Friday as a meaningful way to remember the former UNC student body president who was slain in 2008. Carson loved a good dance party and dressing in costume, organizers said, so that is the basis for this fundraiser. To create a buzz on campus prior to the event, UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp, along with cheerleaders and student leaders, will be leading students in The Thriller Dance in the Pit at noon today.

Early action (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…The foundation run by insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is starting a $3 million effort, called Shape NC: Healthy Starts for Young Children, that will work with other organizations and universities in the state (Smart Start, N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill among them), to help day-care centers change children's eating habits and increase their physical activity. Many projects will address the problem, but a focus on day care is an especially good idea.

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