Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
The long road to Rhodes Scholarship
The Gazette (Montreal, Canada)
…Laurence Deschamps-Laporte, 22, majored in international studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She speaks seven languages, is an artist, long-distance runner and whitewater canoeist, did an internship in Uganda and designed her own study-abroad program in Syria.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4122/75/
PC 'rebuilds Rome in a day' using pictures from Flickr
BBC News (United Kingdom)
The images were analysed by a modified home PC and detailed models created in less than a day. The team behind the system think it may help preserve heritage sites, ensuring they don't end up swamped by tourists. It was created by a team of researchers from the University of North Carolina and the Swiss university ETH-Zurich.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4126/1/
National Coverage
Health Law Faces Threat of Undercut From Courts
The New York Times
As the Obama administration presses ahead with the health care law, officials are bracing for the possibility that a federal judge in Virginia will soon reject its central provision as unconstitutional and, in the worst case for the White House, halt its enforcement until higher courts can rule. …“Any ruling against the act creates another P.R. problem for the Democrats, who need to resell the law to insured Americans,” said Jonathan Oberlander, a University of North Carolina political scientist, who wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine last week that such a ruling “could add to health care reform’s legitimacy problem.”
Diabetes Treatment: How Much Insulin Do You Need?
The Huffington Post
…"There's controversy over how much better you can really do with additional shots," says John Buse, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Diabetes Care Center at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, in Chapel Hill. "I don't see much improvement in overall glucose control in many patients with the rapid-acting insulin taken at meals. And it does promote weight gain and low blood sugar. Is the burden worth the benefit?"
Scholars debate whether time is right for amending the Constitution
The Washington Post
…University of North Carolina law professor Michael Gerhardt joined Tushnet in the view that the elected representatives of the people should be the ones who work out the nation's policy differences, without amending the Constitution or involving the courts. "Elections matter," he said, adding: "One of the things we've got to come to terms with is whether or not we still believe in politics."
For Top Religion Stories Of 2010, A Major Case Of Deja Vu
The Huffington Post
…Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said he is most concerned by the reaction against the organizers of Park51, the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero. "These are the most interfaith-y group of Muslims imaginable," he said. "They are as successful an American story as it gets; it's the perfect immigrant narrative. These are people who get sent by the State Department overseas to say Muslims can live freely in this country, and then they are caricatured as jihadist radicals."
Thanksgiving With an Eating Disorder: How to Make it Easier (Blog)
The Huffington Post
…"We start prepping people [we treat for eating disorders] for Thanksgiving about a month ahead of time," says Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., director of the University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program and author of Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop. …"If you have someone who understands you in your family or friendship circle, talk with them ahead of time and get their support throughout the day," says Bulik.
Regional Coverage
Is Meehan the right pick for UMass? (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Boston Globe (Massachusetts)
Want a world class university? Then, hire a world class educator to lead it. That’s what America’s top public universities do. …However, the academic reputation of UNC’s Chapel Hill campus is already secure; it is ranked number 5 by US News & World Report.
Breaking the code of genetic testing
The Indianapolis Star (Indiana)
…"The genie's out of the bottle, and the task before us is not to try to stuff the genie back into the bottle," said Dr. James Evans, member of a government advisory committee on genetics and society. "It is misguided to approach this from the stance of preventing people from getting information they might want. "We need to ensure that people have reliable, unbiased information about what such testing means and doesn't mean," added Evans, Bryson Distinguished Professor of Genetics & Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Cutting-edge tool in operating room: Good Sam’s wand detects sponges left behind
The Palm Beach Post (Florida)
…The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses – the nurses who are in charge of such counts – reported this year that at least 80 percent of the time a sponge is left in a patient, the operating room count has been completed and, in theory, every sponge has been accounted for. "There's human error involved because we're not perfect, so it's a process that needs to be looked at," said H.J. Kim, associate professor of surgical oncology at the University of North Carolina, who studies counting practices and technology that can improve them.
In depth: WCHA taking steps to avoid head injuries
The St. Cloud Times (Florida)
…At Stuart’s conference, University of North Carolina researcher Jason Mihalik made a presentation in which he said that in NCAA men’s hockey, 1.47 concussions occur per 1,000 player hours and that concussions make up 9 percent of the injuries. That’s the second-most injuries in the sport.
Obesity is a growing problem in every corner of the world
The Minneapolis Post (Minnesota)
…“It’s the worst personification of a diet you can imagine,” said Barry Popkin, director of the University of North Carolina’s Interdisciplinary Obesity Center and author of “The World Is Fat,” referring to meat- and oil-heavy meals, often eaten outside the home. This is coupled with the stifling heat that discourages physical activity and an influx of immigrants who do most of the country’s physical labor.
Dying to be thin
The Monterey Herald (California)
…In fact, the Renfrew Center, which hosts 10 eating-disorder clinics nationwide, cites that nearly 20 percent of the women in their residential and outpatient programs are in their 30s and beyond. Moreover, Cynthia Bulik, Ph.D., director of the eating-disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, reported in the same article that one in two patients is a woman 35 or older.
Aquatic showcase nearby
The News-Journal (Daytona, Florida)
Scientists researching mysterious corals found deep in the ocean off Florida's East Coast finished another research expedition this week, mapping more than 800 square miles and collecting hundreds of specimens of hard corals, soft corals, sponges, crustaceans and fish. …The coral mounds represent "thousands to millions of years of development," and need to be better understood, said the project's chief scientist, Steve Ross, a research associate professor at the University of North Carolina's Center for Marine Science.
State and Local Coverage
Top of the class (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
For all the talk of sports (and sports scandals), high tuition and tight budgets, the Triangle's colleges and universities are primarily places where scholarship, service and students flourish. In many years, recognition comes in the form of Rhodes Scholarship winners at local campuses, and this year is no exception. UNC-Chapel Hill has two Rhodes Scholars (Laurence Deschamps-Laporte, from Quebec, and Steven Paul Shorkey Jr. of Charlotte)and Duke one (Jared Dunnmon of Cincinnati).
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4122/75/
Duke alumna is hunting good ideas to market
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…At UNC-CH, campus leaders hope to raise $125 million in private funds for innovation and entrepreneurship ventures. That money will fund seminars, speakers, forums and campus events touching on innovation, said Lowry Caudill, a UNC-CH graduate who is helping lead its effort. Caudill is a success story that UNC-CH would like to replicate. He studied chemistry at UNC-CH and went on to co-found Magellan Laboratories, a drug development firm in Research Triangle Park. He is one of many students and professors from UNC-CH's chemistry department to turn laboratory ideas into commercial enterprises.
No. 1 killer? Not heart disease
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Displaced by cancer as the No.1 killer of North Carolina adults, heart disease has steadily claimed fewer lives over the past decade, state officials report. Much of the progress has resulted from timely and effective treatments for heart failure, heart attacks and other potentially fatal problems that prompt visits to the emergency room. "We've seen a spectacular decline in deaths from cardiovascular disease both in North Carolina and across the United States," said Dr. Cam Patterson, chief of the division of cardiology at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
Autism program adapts as number of students grows
The Star News (Wilmington)
…Eric has a mild form of autism, a brain disorder that affects one out of 110 people in the United States and about 50,000 in North Carolina, according to statistics on Wilmington's TEACCH Autism Program website. TEACCH is a University of North Carolina Medical School program that helps people with autism and their families cope with the illness.
Curbing childhood obesity
The Winston-Salem Journal
The myth of baby fat is just that, a myth. Parents who expect their significantly overweight teens to burn off that fat later in life are largely misguided. The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has confirmed that obese teens will likely carry that excess with them into adulthood. And that extra weight can have dangerous, lifelong health implications for them.
Long, odd arc of Mike Easley as mystifying as the man himself
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…"Easley was a puzzle to many people in Raleigh, especially the political and journalistic community," said Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "He was not given to press conferences and speeches. … His personal habits and his way of doing things were not what we were accustomed to."
Troop drawdown in Afghanistan expected to go slowly
The Fayetteville Observer
…Richard H. Kohn, a military history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the message coming out of Lisbon was intentionally vague for political reasons. On one hand, it signals to the Taliban and countries neighboring Afghanistan that the U.S. is not going to cut and run. The year 2014 is far enough into the future that the enemies won't be able to simply wait for U.S. troops to leave, Kohn said.
Raleigh water will be safer, but others feel Falls' pinch
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Environmental Management Commissioner David Moreau, who is also chairman of UNC-Chapel Hill's environment and ecology department, agrees. "The lake behaves differently in different parts," he said. "The other relevant fact is different parts of the lake are used for different purposes." The single standard was set 30 years ago, he said, but it's questionable that a standard for drinking water needs to be, or should be, the same as that for healthy largemouth bass.
PlayMakers' 'Amadeus' comes alive with music
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Three seasons ago, PlayMakers Repertory Company successfully produced Peter Shaffer's play "Amadeus." As patrons left the Paul Green Theatre on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, the most common feedback director Joseph Haj heard was this: Great show, but I wish we could have heard more of that Mozart music. Rather than taking those comments to heart, Haj took them to someone who could do something about it: Grant Llewellyn, music director of the N.C. Symphony.
Norman Rockwell originals on exhibit
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
…Exhibit curator John Coffey said he recognizes the power of Rockwell’s images. “Whether you know the name Norman Rockwell or not, his pictures have entered our pysches,” said Coffey, who is also the deputy director of art, curator of American and modern art and adjunct associate professor at UNC Chapel Hill. “You only have to look to the Thanksgiving image — that everyone aspires to at Thanksgiving and so rarely achieves. Many things we consider quintessential American and really just quintessential Norman Rockwell,” he said.
When juveniles face questioning (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Five years ago I sat in a courtroom in Hillsborough, watching a hearing on the defense's motion to suppress a juvenile's confession. J.D.B., the 13-year-old boy charged with breaking into neighbors' homes and taking things, was a special education student. He had been questioned alone in a conference room at his middle school by a uniformed police officer, a police investigator, and the assistant principal. (Tamar R. Birckhead is an assistant professor of law at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Athletes caught in squeeze
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill awaits word from the NCAA on possible penalties for academic misconduct violations tied to its football program, a symbol of the pressures that might have contributed to the current crisis is rising in Kenan Stadium's east end zone. …Since the NCAA changed the admissions standards, Stephen Farmer, the UNC admissions director, said he and others at UNC have tried to work closer with coaches to identify recruits who might be a good fit academically. He said he's never had a coach call him angry about a decision, and has never had a coach try to change a decision, either.
Player's mother presses for appeal
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The mother of University of North Carolina football player Devon Ramsay is calling for the NCAA to rescind its permanent ban on her son and apologize to UNC for failing to respect the school's decision on an academic matter. Sharon Lee, in a meeting she requested with a reporter, said the NCAA's penalty is excessive and cruel considering Ramsay's limited exposure in the case.
Where the facts lead (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
From the start of the NCAA investigation of the Carolina football program, The News & Observer has made its opinions clear. With regard to your Nov. 21 editorial "Thorp's call," we understand the position you take, and we disagree. As Chancellor Holden Thorp has said, we don't feel good about being in this situation, but we do feel good about how we've responded to it. (Robert Winston, Chair, Board of Trustees, UNC-Chapel Hill)
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/11/26/824799/football-apologists.html