Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Peter King's pro-terrorist past
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
…It happens to be an awkward fact that just last month, a University of North Carolina terrorism expert, Charles Kurzman, reported a drop in attempted or actual terrorist activity by American Muslims – 47 perpetrators and suspects in 2009, 20 in 2010. This does not mean that there is no threat, but, when measured against ordinary violent crime, it is slight.
National Coverage
Peter King: The man behind Muslim hearings
CNN
…But other law enforcement officials say they get valuable assistance from Muslim-Americans. And academic studies, like one conducted by Duke University and the University of North Carolina, show fellow American Muslims turned in 48 of the 120 Muslims suspected of plotting terror attacks on the U.S. since 9/11.
'Islamic radicalization' hearing stirs hornets' nest
MSNBC
…"I think it's legitimate to hold hearings on any aspect of radicalization, and I'm not dismissing these hearings out of hand," said Charles Kurzman, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "At the same time, I would be concerned if an intentionally provocative approach to the hearings reduces cooperation with Muslim American communities, which is the opposite of Congress' intention."
Peter King undeterred by critics of Muslim trial
"The Early Show" CBS News
Rep. Peter King, the head of House Homeland Security Committee, begins a series of hearings Thursday on Islamic radicalism in the American Muslim community. …King rejected a Duke University and University of North Carolina study showing that, since 9/11, the Muslim community has thwarted nearly 50 of 120 known terror plots, saying that it left out financing cases, ignored the concealment of terrorism by Muslim leaders, and unfairly gave credit to a Muslim taxi driver for alerting police to the bomb threat in Times Square, New York.
Does Islam have a monopoly on extremists? (Column)
The Chicago Tribune
…A recently released study by sociologist Charles Kurzman of the University of North Carolina finds that, of the 161 Muslim-Americans who have committed or been accused of terrorism crimes since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Muslim-Americans provided information that led to the arrest of 48 of them. In some cases they were turned in by parents or other relatives. And David H. Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security at Duke University and the University of North Carolina, says a research project he led found "Muslim Americans uniformly reject violent extremism." In fact, "The Missing Martyrs," a soon-to-be-published book by Kurzman, turns the usual question around in its counterintuitive subtitle: "Why There Are So Few Muslim Terrorists."
Related Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-03-07-column07_ST_N.htm
Compassion: The Elixir of Life?
The Huffington Post
…Barbara Fredrickson, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that practicing a lovingkindness meditation, of the sort practiced by Tibetan Buddhists, which involves cultivation of feelings of compassion for the self and others, significantly increased vagal tone over a period of seven weeks.
Regional Coverage
What is the real threat posed by Muslim-American terrorism?
Southern California Public Radio (Pasadena, Calif.)
In Washington, D.C., a hearing scheduled for Thursday is already drawing protests. The House Committee on Homeland Security will meet to discuss, "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response." Republican Peter King of Long Island, the committee's chair, says members of the Muslim American community should cooperate more with law enforcement. Civil rights groups say King is unfairly singling out Muslims. How significant is the threat posed by radicalized Muslim Americans? Charles Kurzman joins us. He's a professor UNC Chapel Hill.
Note: This interview was conducted from the Carolina News Studio.
House Homeland Security chairman is radicalizing terror investigations (Editorial)
The Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Mo.)
Understanding homegrown terrorism is vital to U.S. security, but a different kind of question is swirling around Thursday's scheduled hearings of the House Homeland Security Committee: Will they fully explore this crucial topic or are they an excuse for the committee's new chairman, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., to pursue his seething personal suspicions of Americans of the Muslim faith. …The single most productive source of that information was members of the American Muslim community, which provided tips in 48 of the 120 cases. (The Center is a joint project of Duke University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and RTI International.)
An abuse of power (Editorial)
The Miami Herald (Florida)
…The initial premise of the hearings was that Muslim Americans had failed to cooperate with law enforcement regarding incidents of terrorism. The report from the Triangle Center, a consortium that includes Duke University and the University of North Carolina, refutes that argument.
Related Links:
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110308/NEWS/110309555/-1/ENTERTAINMENT?
Title=Ahmed-Romberg-and-Schlakman-Rep-King-s-unAmerican-hearings
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2011/03/king_hearing_on_muslim_communi.html
State and Local Coverage
Innovation's on agenda at UNC
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As UNC-Chapel Hill's chancellor, Holden Thorp, has stressed the importance of bold, inn
ovative thinking. Next week, he'll enlist some of the nation's top entrepreneurs to help drive home the point. On Tuesday, UNC-CH will host the first public forum for the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a body assembled last year by President Barack Obama. Thorp is one of four university leaders on a 24-member panel that includes venture capitalists, philanthropists, educators as well as business titans like Steve Case, who co-founded America Online.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4352/68/
Consequences uncertain as athletes tweet
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…"With today's technology, the things people may have once done in the back seat of a car or in their homes is available for everyone to see," said Barbara Osborne, a UNC-Chapel Hill associate professor who teaches a course on legal aspects of sports. "We know that the children really don't understand the ramifications sometimes."
Western Wake is a magnet
The Cary News
Roughly one-quarter of the 400,000 people who moved to the Triangle since 2000 landed in five western Wake County towns. …Almost 10 percent of the town's residents are Hispanic, according to the census data. "We are a destination place for immigrants, and most immigrants are not white," said James Johnson Jr., a professor at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill who studies the state's demographics.
City leaders pass on efforts to de-annex Brandy Creek
The Daily Herald (Roanoke Rapids)
…“Residents in this community saw their property taxes increase by an average of 700 percent,” said Peter Gilbert, of the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights. Gilbert added foreclosures have devastated the community, foreclosures he said were brought about by the excessive property taxes in the area.
Cary police focus on apartments
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Dr. William Rohe, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the project's tactics could be effective. "The design of the development … the supervision and the management … all can have a big impact," said Rohe, a professor of city and regional planning. Crime "can be managed; it can be addressed."
Google Treasurer Callinicos to speak at UNC
The Triangle Business Journal
Google Vice President and Treasurer Brent Callinicos will give a free public lecture at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School on March 16. Callinicos is an alumnus of Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he received both a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4360/107/
Botanical garden holds clinics
The Chapel Hill Herald
The N.C. Botanical Garden has a Green Gardener Clinic at which a curator, trained volunteer or Orange County Master Gardener is available every weekday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Green Gardener Desk in the new Education Center.
Judging nutritional value in processed foods (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Making smart food choices at the supermarket shouldn't require a degree in dietetics. Sorting out the nutritional do's and don'ts and translating them into simple selections are challenging, though, for most people. That's because dietary recommendations are complicated and include lots of considerations. What's more, it's sometimes hard to follow one directive without running afoul of another. (Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical associate professor in the department of health policy and administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.)