Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Some patients receive repeat colonoscopies too soon, and some elderly get unnecessary ones
The Los Angeles Times
…Dr. Christine E. Kistler of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her colleagues studied 212 patients, age 70 and over, at VA medical centers who had a positive outcome on an FOBT. More than half of the patients (118) had a colonoscopy, while the rest did not. All the patients were followed for seven years.
UNC Release:
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2011/may/fobt
State and Local Coverage
Segregated Halifax
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
Most counties have one school district for all of their students, but North Carolina's Halifax County is an exception. It has three districts for about 8,000 students, and The UNC Center for Civil Rights is targeting them for being separate and unequal. Despite the fact that Halifax County is 39 percent white, two of its districts have almost no white students while one has more than 70 percent. Host Frank Stasio talks with WUNC Raleigh Bureau Chief and Education Reporter Dave Dewitt about the divide in Halifax County.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4525/70/
Mueller honored for his years of work at UNC
The Chapel Hill News
Frederick Mueller, professor emeritus of exercise and sport science at UNC, was honored recently by the university by having a garden near his offices named for him. The Mueller Garden is located between Fetzer Hall and the Stalling-Evans Sports Medicine Center. Mueller, who was recruited to the University as a football player in the 1950s, went on to earn his B.S., M.Ed. and Ph.D degrees at UNC and became a national leader in research into sports injuries.
College Entrepreneurs
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
Helping students become entrepreneurs has become part of the educational mission for many colleges and universities. …Host Frank Stasio talks about college entrepreneurship with …Micah Gilmer, clinical assistant professor of social innovation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Legislature may force more Asheville area Brevard Road work
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
The state Senate is considering legislation that would force the state Department of Transportation to spend nearly $800,000 to remove a section of median installed in late 2010 on Brevard Road. …A recent joint study by a research team at N.C. State University and UNC- Chapel Hill found “no direct evidence of negative economic impacts due to” median installations.
Letter prompts Cary to undo illegal land purchase
The Cary News
…Cary will not pursue the purchase again unless the council resumes work on the project, which remains frozen. If Cary does purchase Frantz's land again, the town would need to use the condemnation process, an expert said. "That's how they're supposed to do it," said Eileen Youens, an assistant professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government.
Nichol to speak at NAACP banquet
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will sponsor its annual Freedom Fund Banquet on May 20 at the Sheraton Chapel Hill Hotel, One Europa Drive. …The banquet speaker will b
e Gene Nichol, director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. He teaches courses in constitutional law, federal courts, civil rights and election law.
Durham boasts highest wages in South
The Triangle Business Journal
…The Business Journals' study found that the typical worker in the Durham metropolitan area – Durham, Orange, Chatham and Person counties – earned $50,480 in 2009, according to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The presence of two major universities (Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill) and a sizable research sector have made Durham the wage leader throughout the South.
A missed chance for justice in court (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When I first heard that Osama bin Laden had been killed, I felt nothing, only numb. I could not sleep that night, unable to relate to the throngs of people on television, pumping their fists and chanting, "USA! USA! USA!" Then I began to ask why. Why was it necessary to assassinate rather than take bin Laden into custody, bring him to the United States and subject him to what is undoubtedly the premier criminal justice system in the world? (Tamar R. Birckhead is an assistant professor of law at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
A proposal for 523 East Franklin St. (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
523 E. Franklin Street holds great potential as a cultural arts venue. The successful exhibition "Local Histories: the Ground We Walk On," which just closed, offers a glimpse of what is possible. However, it will take a partnership between the town and university to sustain it. CHART is a proposed cultural arts space that would host exhibitions, lectures, meetings, performances, classes and conferences. (elin o'Hara slavick is a Distinguished Term Professor of Art at UNC.)
Related Link:
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2011/05/11/64300/a-brilliant-proposal.html
Ads that push junk to kids targeted (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Is time running out for Count Chocula? Tough new standards have been proposed to guide food industry marketing campaigns targeting children and teens. The terms are voluntary, and children born today may be in school before the full impact hits the ads they view on TV, at the movies and online. Still, the move mark
s a substantial step forward in the fight against fat. (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.)
Chapel Hill in watercolor
The Chapel Hill News
…(Brenda) Behr's solo exhibition, "Chapel Hill 23," opened May 1 and closes Aug. 30 at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union Art Gallery on the UNC campus. Art supporters Bill and Scottie Bryan and Ed and Pam Davis are sponsoring a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on May 13. The gallery is curated by the Gallery Committee of the Carolina Union Activities Board.
Issues and Trends
NC Senate looking to spend more on UNC system
The Associated Press
The development of a North Carolina state budget took a slightly different path Tuesday as senators met in subcommittees after the House approved its plan last week and immediately aimed to redistribute the level of cuts in public education. Leaders of the Senate education subcommittee announced they want to spend more than the House did in the University of North Carolina system and less on the public schools and community colleges.
Related Links:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/senate-spending-would-favor-unc
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/05/11/1189500/senate-wants-bigger-education
.html#storylink=misearch
Schools vs. scholarships (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Another 15,000 community college students who rely on lottery proceeds for need-based scholarships aren't nearly so lucky. There are a lot of problems with the state's version of legalized gambling, but the biggest is that voters who approved the lottery in 2005 would no longer recognize the way its $425 million proceeds are divided. …In response, the House of Representatives voted to eliminate one need-based scholarship fund and cut another that helps students in the University of North Carolina System.
After-hours urgent care clinics needed (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill Herald
…Because most people aren't doctors, when an illness or injury occurs at night they tend to go to the emergency room out of an abundance of caution — better safe than sorry. We've heard leaders at both UNC and Duke medical centers warn about the unwise use of emergency rooms driving up costs.
This way was well-traveled
The Chapel Hill News
There were myriad reasons to get dressed up this past weekend. If Mother's Day family dinners weren't incentive enough, there was the matter of a little event on the UNC campus where caps and gowns were standard fare, and high schools are in the thick of the prom season's formal style show.