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

International Coverage

Teens carry extra pounds into adulthood, add more
Reuters (Wire Service)

The U.S. might be missing an opportunity to rein-in bulging waistlines, according to a new report that shows many obese teens put on extra weight as they grow up. …"People with severe obesity suffer from potentially life-threatening problems," said Penny Gordon-Larsen, a nutrition scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who led the research.

African-Americans may have more foot ills
United Press International

Older African-Americans are three times more likely to have corns, flat feet or other foot ills, U.S. researchers find. Researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill also found in people who were not obese, African-Americans were twice as likely as whites to have bunions and hammer toes. There were no significant differences by race for bunions or hammer toes among obese participants.
UNC Release:
http://www.med.unc.edu/www/news/2010/november/unc-study-frequency-of-foot
-disorders-differs-between-african-americans-and-whites

National Coverage

Doctors 'Freeze' North Carolina Mom Amy Moore to Save Her Life
"World News with Diane Sawyer" ABC

Doctors may have saved a North Carolina woman's life recently by literally putting her body on ice. Amy Moore, a 38-year-old mother, was all but dead when she collapsed at her workplace on Sept. 14, suffering what's called "sudden cardiac death" — despite having no pre-existing heart conditions. According to doctors at the University of North Carolina where Moore was treated, she had no pulse for 20 minutes. …"When I saw her and her family, I thought that her chance of survival was less than 50 percent," said Dr. Joe Rossi, a cardiologist at the University of North Carolina.

Many obese teens put on even more weight as young adults
USA Today

Heavy teen-agers are often destined for skyrocketing weight gain in their 20s, a new study shows.About half of obese teenage girls and about a third of obese teen boys become severely obese by the time they are 30 — meaning they are 80 to 100 pounds over a healthy weight, the new research says. "We see a tremendous amount of weight gain during those years," says Penny Gordon-Larsen, senior author of the study and an associate professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Related Links:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/09/health/la-he-obese-teens-20101109
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/645715.html
http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/09/embargo-4pm-11910-obese
-teens-become-severely-obese-adults/

Best and Worst Fast Food Kids' Meals
U.S. News & World Report

Even if you don't want fries with that kids' meal, chances are your fast food restaurant wants to give you some. …Severe obesity can lead to diabetes, hypertension, asthma, arthritis, and a shorter life, says senior author Penny Gordon-Larsen, a nutrition researcher at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "It's very easy to eat a high-calorie, high-fat diet," she says. "We have so much food around—high-fat, high-sugar, tasty food that we need to be very careful of. Those foods are marketed well to people, and making healthier choices takes a lot more work."

Why are Anorexics More Likely to Have Unplanned Pregnancies and Abortions?
Time

Many women — and doctors too — believe that women with anorexia stop menstruating. First of all, that's not true. And secondly, here's a quick fertility refresher: just because a woman doesn't get her period doesn't mean she's not ovulating. …“It wasn't just a subtle difference,” says Cynthia Bulik, the study's lead author and director of the eating disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It was really a whopping difference. We have got a public health message we've got to get out there.”
UNC Release:
http://www.med.unc.edu/www/news/2010/october/women-with-anorexia
-nervosa-more-likely-to-have-unplanned-pregnancies

Dr. Andrew Weil Gets the Spa Treatment
The Huffington Post

Let's face it: Nutrition isn't mainstream in medicine. According to a study out off the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 88 percent of medical school instructors feel that their students aren't getting adequate nutritional training.

Mount Merapi Forces Change in Obama's Schedule
CBS News.com

…Jonathan Lees, Professor of Seismology and Volcanology at the University of North Carolina describes the material as extremely dangerous to aircraft. Lees told CBS Radio News, "I think all aircraft are vulnerable. Of course it depends on the density of the ash that the plane is flying through. So if the ash is very dense, I don't think any jet engines can survive that."

Top 5 Sports Stories (Column)
The Huffington Post

…I wonder if we're going to see a steep decline in parents allowing their kids to play football? If it's not the issue of helmet-hits, or post playing dementia, consider these stats. According to Fred Mueller at the University of North Carolina, typically 3 high school kids die each year playing football, while 36 players are left paralyzed. Maybe these numbers are small in the universe of kids playing football, but alarming nonetheless.

Death by dichotomy (Blog)
The Washington Post

In Wall Street Journal last week, Alan Metzer claimed that Milton Friedman never would have supported quantitative easing. Yesterday Sarah Palin slammed Bernanke as well. (Karl Smith is an assistant professor of economics and government at the University of North Carolina.)
Related Links:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/11/noah_millman_asks_about_qe2.html

Butternut squash ravioli with butter sage sauce (Blog)
The Christian Science Monitor

I love Sundays. The waking-up-lazily-at-11, the excuse to skip straight to lunch, the afternoon nap and, of course, the intensive Sunday dinner. The last few weeks, it seems as though I cannot be happy unless I’m sweating over a hot stove, etc. (Meghan Prichard is an aspiring foodie living on a student’s budget. A senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, she strives to prepare delicious but affordable meals for herself and when entertaining guests.)

State and Local Coverage

Obese teens pack on more
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Nearly 40 percent of obese teenagers are bound to become severely obese young adults, researchers at the UNC-Chapel Hill confirmed for the first time, and many gain a startling amount of weight. Some packed on 80 pounds or more over the 13 years covered in the study. "That's a lot of weight," said Penny Gordon-Larsen, associate professor of nutrition at UNC's Gillings School of Global Public Health and senior author of the study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Related Link:
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/8597969/

Summers to visit UNC
The Chapel Hill Herald

Lawrence H. Summers, assistant to President Barack Obama for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council, is set to visit UNC on Thursday as part of the university's Global Research Institute series. Summers, a former president of Harvard University, will answer questions put to him by William B. Harrison Jr., a 1966 UNC graduate who is the retired chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan Chase & Co. "I think this is quite a coup for us," said Peter Coclanis, director of the institute, which is a concentration of UNC and visiting international scholars who work toward solutions to key global issues.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4075/107/

UNC honors Evans
The Chapel Hill News

The peers of longtime UNC faculty member and administrator Jack Evans honored him with the prestigious 2010 Thomas Jefferson Award at last month's Faculty Council meeting. Evans, executive director of Carolina North and the Phillip Hettleman Professor of Business Administration in the Kenan-Flagler Business School, has been at Carolina since 1970.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3980/68/

The American Indian Experience
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM

You may know that millions of natives were already in North America when Columbus "discovered" the New World, but you may not know that American Indian history is a story of a complicated and diverse people with cultures and societies more sophisticated than the European settlers ever knew. Host Frank Stasio honors National American Indian Heritage Month with Brandi Brooks, program coordinator for the American Indian Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Theda Perdue, professor of Southern Culture at UNC-Chapel Hill and co-author of the book "North American Indians: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford University Press/2010).
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4044/107/

Carolina North meeting Tuesday
The Chapel Hill News

UNC will hold a public meeting Tuesday, Nov. 16, to explain the permitting process required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before development at Carolina North. The meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m. in the large basement conference room of the Chapel Hill Public Library, 100 Library Drive.

Feeling dizzy
The Chapel Hill News

On a rainy Thursday night in a small studio theater in the UNC campus, a dozen student performers are trying – for the fourth time tonight – to get the pretty dead woman to jump into San Francisco Bay. Hmm, better back up. The pretty dead woman is actually actress Marie Garlock, who is portraying the haunted character of Madeleine in the Department of Communication Studies' production of "Vertigo," which opens Thursday.

Monks inspired, perform dance
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

On Song Mountain in China's Henan Province, choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui found a home, a different way to be in the world and a new creative direction. His new work, "Sutra," shows the results of his time at the ancient Shaolin Temple known for its warrior monks. In this 2008 work, 17 monks display physical strength and agility as well as their spirituality and willingness to try anything — even when it means wearing business suits and dealing with large wooden boxes. Cherkaoui also appears in the first U.S. tour of "Sutra" that stops at UNC's Memorial Auditorium today and Thursday.

Tickled pink (Letter to the Editor)
The Chapel Hill News

On behalf of cancer patients and everyone at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the N.C. Cancer Hospital, thank you to all of the Chapel Hill and Carrboro businesses and groups who have helped us "Turn the Town Pink" to support the UNC Comprehensive Cancer Support Program. (H. Shelton Earp, Director, UNC Lineberger)

Flu shots all around (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…The article indicated that the mother of a 9-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis was getting a flu shot because her daughter could not receive the vaccine. In fact, the child with cystic fibrosis is an excellent candidate for the flu shot, and it would certainly be recommended at UNC Hospital Clinics. The CDC now recommends that everyone over 6 months of age receive a flu shot, except in very rare situations of egg allergy. This is especially important for both children and adults with chronic illnesses. (Dennis Williams, Pharm.D., Eshelman School of Pharmacy, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill)

Exceptional care, about to be lost (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…Some of you may have followed Ruth Sheehan's columns in which she wrote so eloquently about Phil and his journey from 44 years in North Carolina state institutions into the community. If so, you know that the reformed mental health system was never adequately funded or properly implemented. As a consequence, the severely mentally ill have been relegated to prisons/jails and emergency rooms. (Louise Jordan is on the board of Nami-Wake County(National Alliance on Mental Illness). Through Nami, she is working with the Center for Excellence at UNC to develop a group home employee skills training program.)

Take comfort in fruit (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The first brisk, gray days of fall signal it's time for the return of comfort foods. I'm talking about warm, hearty, filling foods like chili, casseroles, warm bread and hot apple pie. These are cold weather foods, and they're what you may crave to help you feel physically and emotionally warm during the winter months. They're very different from the foods you may prefer when it's sunny and hot outside and light, easy-to-digest, cold foods prevail.

Issues and Trends

Donations by the Wealthy Dropped Sharply in the Recession
The Chronicle of Higher Education

Gifts from wealthy Americans to nonprofit organizations, including colleges and universities, plummeted by an average of nearly 35 percent from 2007 to 2009, according to a new study on the giving habits of the rich.

Campus success (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

For the University of North Carolina system, expect a hard, cold rain when the General Assembly puts together the next state budget in the face of a colossal shortfall. The new Republican legislative majorities will be desperate to cut spending, and long-time defenders of the universities such as Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight will see his and his remaining fellow Democrats' influence evaporate. The GOP knife could slice away at positions and programs throughout the system.
Related Link:
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2010/11/10/60669/reading-the-results.html

Grad rates aren't great on campus (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

For years we've been told the $12,000 or so that North Carolina taxpayers shell out annually for every student attending a University of North Carolina System institution is an investment in the future. Fair enough. But the current return on our investment is questionable. The average four-year graduation rate of the UNC system's 16 campuses is 35 percent, a number greatly bolstered by the performance of UNC-Chapel Hill. Tar Heels graduate at a phenomenal 75 percent clip after four years.

More sunshine for state employees (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

A legal opinion issued Tuesday by the state Attorney General's Office says that the new law on personnel records requires that state and local governments release historical information on public employees' salary, employment and discipline. The opinion comes after the Office of State Personnel and several local governments asked whether the new law should only be applied to records created on or after Oct. 1, the law's start date. They suggested that since the law did not specifically cite retroactive information, it should only be applied to newly created personnel records.

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