Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
State and Local Coverage
UNC team uses tiny particles to mimic blood
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The quest to develop synthetic blood is advancing through the work of UNC-Chapel Hill researchers using tiny particles that are not only the same shape, but same flexibility as vital red blood cells. The team, led by chemistry professor Joseph DeSimone, who invented a technology to mass produce uniquely shaped nanoparticles, builds on the observation that red blood cells are more pliant when they're in the youth of their 120-day life cycle.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4200/74/
UNC doctor: Hope and despair both thrive in post-quake Haiti
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
…Adam Goldstein, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said he couldn't sit idly by and see images of Haiti's devastation without feeling compelled to help. He traveled there during Haiti's presidential election and a cholera outbreak outside the quake zone that has killed more than 3,600 people.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8930906/
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7273710
UNC researches estrogen and disease
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced in a news release Wednesday that its researchers have launched a new clinical trial to see if estrogen replacement therapy could help prevent depression and cardiovascular illness in women between the ages of 45 and 55. Another study published in 2004 found a link between estrogen therapy and an increased risk of stroke and blood clots, but UNC says that study focused on older women.
UNC Release:
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2011/January/estradiol?utm_source=
release&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=estradiol
Thorp Announces 5 Percent Cut At UNC
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
In anticipation of another round of cuts, UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp has announced a permanent 5 percent reduction in the University’s operating budget. The move follows Governor Beverly Perdue’s decision last month to order a one-time 2.5 percent cut in the middle of the fiscal year. UNC is already expecting at least a 5 percent budget cut next year, and given that, Thorp decided there was no reason to wait.
UNC Campus Update:
http://www.unc.edu/campus-updates/budgetupdate
PlayMakers to honor actor David Hyde Pierce
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Actor David Hyde Pierce will receive this year’s PlayMakers Distinguished Achievement Award on Feb. 12 at the 23rd annual PlayMakers Ball at UNC-Chapel Hill. The ball, held at the historic Carolina Inn, is the annual fundraising gala for PlayMakers Repertory Company, the professional theater in residence in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4215/107/
Soledad O'Brien to Speak at UNC
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien will deliver the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture on January 19th at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Hall at UNC. …The lecture will conclude with the presentation of the 28th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4201/107/
Gift cards offered for cancer research
The Mount Airy News
A special incentive is offered to women who participate in research interviews Friday in Mount Airy which are aimed at improving access to cancer screenings. …That entity is a program of the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, which is seeking to increase awareness of cancer and treatment options as part of a new initiative.
Issues and Trends
UNC system leaders to face financial challenges
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Amid a historic state budget crisis, the new president of the University of North Carolina system faces tough decisions that could affect financial aid and tuition for hundreds of thousands of students. The UNC system is likely to be affected by budget cuts as North Carolina state government deals with a projected $3.7 billion deficit for the next fiscal year. The 17-campus system, which educates approximately 200,000 students, receives 13 percent of the state budget.
Related Link:
http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2011/jan/13/unc-board-governors-discuss-tuition-increases-ar-691241/
Colleges hope to hire back retirees
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Strapped for cash and short on staff, the UNC system wants the state to lessen the six-month period that retired state employees must wait before going back to work for North Carolina. If the state scaled that waiting period back to one month, as the UNC system wants, faculty and staff members could draw retirement pay while providing expertise in classrooms and elsewhere that, in an era of budget cuts, may otherwise be lacking, officials say.
Behind a Quiet Retreat
Inside Higher Ed
…Neither the South Dakota Board of Regents nor Black Hills State has a policy regarding administrative retreat rights when another institution is involved. The University of North Carolina System, of which Appalachian State is a part, considers requests for unpaid leave “in the context of specific facts,” said Joni Worthington, a UNC system s
pokeswoman.