Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
A Stab at Deflating Grades
Inside Higher Ed
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the latest institution to join the battle against grade inflation. On Friday, the university's Faculty Council, by a vote of 21-13, approved a policy that, beginning in fall 2012, will place "contextual" information about students' grades on their transcripts and give individual faculty members reports that compare the grades they award to those given by their peers.
Regional Coverage
Urban planners say land around Cleveland Hopkins International Airport could spark development
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio)
…"They feel the airport could be the one pivotal asset that southeast Michigan has to diversify and strengthen its economy," said University of North Carolina business professor John Kasarda, who coined the word aerotropolis. …Kasarda calls airports the Main Streets of our global economy. Large jets connect people and cargo worldwide, carrying products that may have parts that come from six countries, are assembled in a seventh and sold in an eighth.
State and Local Coverage
Judge denies that she fixed tickets
The Winston-Salem Journal
…In Monday's response, Hartsfield said she dismissed charges in some cases because she disagreed with the district attorney's policy of refusing to drop charges in cases where a person was charged with driving with a revoked license but had a valid license by the time the case was heard in court. She said that she stopped that practice after talking to James Drennan, a professor at the Institute of Government at UNC Chapel Hill. Drennan told Hartsfield that she did not have the jurisdiction to dismiss those charges, the response said.
Marsalis plays music by the Duke
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Branford Marsalis of Durham will perform with the N.C. Jazz Repertory Orchestra at UNC's Memorial Hall Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Marsalis and the orchestra will perform music by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, John Coltrane, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk and other composers.
UNC Chapel Hill honors Durham students' work
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Several local students have been honored by UNC Chapel Hill. During the annual Chancellor's Awards ceremony, Kelsey Salvesen of Carrboro won the Jacques Hardré Undergraduate Award for Excellence in French, which is given to an undergraduate whose work in French language and literature has been judged most outstanding by a faculty committee.
Mayor Kleinschmidt Reacts to Forum
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt says he’s impressed with how UNC students have reacted to last week’s false report of a hate crime. "I am proud of the way the students responded to this, both when they believed a hate crime occurred, and then working with the community in being able to understand how to respond when we discovered it had not occurred," he says. Mayor Kleinschmidt was one of several community leaders who attended a forum last week to discuss hate crimes in the community.
UNC's Matney charged with filing false police report
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
University of North Carolina student Quinn Matney has been charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor, according to Randy Young, spokesman for UNC's Department of Public Safety.
Related Links:
http://www2.wnct.com/news/2011/apr/13/4/unc-officials-say-hate-crime-report-fake-ar-944138/
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/unc-student-who-claimed-hate-crime-cited-for-filing-false-report
Issues and Trends
GOP budget will hurt North Carolina (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Fayetteville Observer
…It is estimated that the current budget proposal will cost 22,000 teacher and teacher-assistant jobs and eliminate teacher assistants from grades 2 and 3 altogether. It cuts 15.5 percent from the university system, making it significantly less competitive in the global education arena. It increases community college tuition, thus putting more stumbling blocks in the way of our residents trying to retrain for new jobs. It reduces More at Four by $30 million and Smart Start by $36 million. (Diane Parfitt represents Cumberland County's District 44 in the N.C. House of Representatives.)