Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Extend STD treatment beyond patients, say ob-gyns
Reuters (Wire Service)
…That assessment is echoed by Dr. Myron Cohen, who heads the division of infectious diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "To treat the infected person and not the partner creates an impossible situation," Cohen, who is not affiliated with ACOG, told Reuters Health. "From a social-justice point of view, doing nothing with the partner makes no sense."
Fat camp shows China battling the bulge
Reuters (Wire Service)
…Even the most conservative assumptions have the rate of change in overweight and obesity in China doubling over the next two decades, Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, wrote in the July/August 2008 issue of the journal Health Affairs.
No more sleeping in the cheap seats
The Independent (United Kingdom)
…The word on the industry's lips is "aerotropolis" – a term invented by Professor John Kasarda, a transport expert at the University of North Carolina – defined as the sub-city that surrounds an airport, offering residential accommodation, hotels, shopping and entertainment for travellers, airport staff, pilots and cabin crew.
Do genetics make you a harsher parent during recessions?
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
…DNA had been obtained earlier from mothers as part of a long-term investigation of parenting and child development, Science News reports. The findings “reveal one potential genetic pathway by which large-scale economic developments affect child-rearing styles,” sociologist Yang Yang of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told the site.
National Coverage
New focus on concussions is altering prep athletics
The Chicago Tribune
…Prompted by concerns from parents, many schools had already adopted policies, and an increasing number of schools perform testing to evaluate a player's brain function before and after injury. …Many schools tout their state-of-the-art helmets and other equipment, designed to protect the head like never before. There's even a phone app, created by the University of North Carolina, with step-by-step instructions on what to do if you suspect a concussion.
As They Try to Rein In Fraternities, Colleges Stir Debate
The Chronicle of Higher Education
No sooner has another academic year begun than colleges are trying, yet again, to break down those supposed bastions of barbarity, fraternities. …Any attempt to check the Greek system unleashes a fury of opposition. The North-American Interfraternity Conference and campus chapters, for example, have repeatedly blocked trustees at the University of North Carolina from deferring rush there.
Regional Coverage
Awww … freak gout!
The Boston Globe
…“If you convince a lot of people that there is this terrible disease lurking, then it is hard for Americans not to say, ‘Gee, that new medicine sounds good to me,’ ’’ said Dr. Nortin M. Hadler, an arthritis specialist and professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Hadler said that in his experience, the new drugs don’t seem to be more effective than those that have been on the market for decades. A self-described skeptic, Hadler has written extensively about aging and what he calls a growing trend in the medical industry to overuse tests and medications to treat patients.
State and Local Coverage
Despite Cuts, Carolina Continues Commitment to Educational Access
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Despite the impending budget cuts, UNC is keeping its promise and its commitment to provide a quality education to low income students. UNC welcomed almost 4,000 first year students to campus last week, among them, almost 600 are incoming Carolina Covenant Scholars. “The Carolina Covenant is literally a promise that we make to students in North Carolina who apply for admissions that if they get accepted to the university and apply for financial aid and meet covenant eligibility that they can graduate from Carolina debt free,” says Michael Highland, the assistant academic coordinator of the Carolina Covenant Scholars Program.
Cox earn Chancellor's Award
The Daily News (Jacksonville)
Tammy Cox, assistant dean of administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Information and Library Science (SILS), has recently received the 2011 Chancellor's Award in the category of Human Relations. The Chancellor's Awards program celebrates meritorious or distinguished accomplishments by university employees.
Johnston's joints (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The medical complex at UNC-Chapel Hill yields benefits for the state so great as almost to defy description. Patients rely on it for top-notch care even while scientists search for better treatments and even cures. In studying osteoarthritis among residents of Johnston County, UNC shows its commitment both to helping specific North Carolinians coping with a disease and to learning more about that disease in hopes of helping people everywhere.
UNC rejects offer for Rex
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
WakeMed's hostile $750 million bid to buy cross-town rival Rex Healthcare seems to be dead in the water. The Board of Directors of the UNC Health Care System, the parent of Raleigh-based Rex, unanimously rejected WakeMed's offer Friday afternoon. The board concluded such a sale would hurt the quality of patient care, increase costs, and undermine the financial health of UNC Health Care, "thereby increasing our reliance on state appropriations," CEO Bill Roper said in a phone interview after the board session.
Related Link:
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle
/news/2011/08/26/unc-health-care-rejects-wakemed-bid.html
UNC Health Care rejects WakeMed bid for Rex, calls for truce
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
The Board of Directors of UNC Health Care voted unanimously Friday to reject WakeMed's $750 million offer to acquire Rex Healthcare. The chairman of UNC Health Care's board also called for a truce in the war between WakeMed and Rex for physicians and patients.
Related Links:
http://triangle.news14.com/content/645911/unc-health-care-directors-decline-
wakemed-s-offer-for-rex-healthcare
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/15235225/article-UNC-Health-Care-
System-rejects-WakeMed-bid-to-buy-Rex?instance=homefifthleft
Thorp Says Carolina North Construction Is Nearly Ready To Begin
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Another school year is underway with still little apparent progress on the long-delayed Carolina North project, but UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp says construction on the first building is nearly ready to begin. “Over the next year or so, we expect to be coming to the public with some plans for the first building that will house research units that are currently scattered around town,” he says. “That project is up and going.”
Extra police aimed at alcohol wrecks
The Cary News
…Rob Foss, a research scientist at UNC-Chapel Hill, said that a higher arrest tally would have little effect on local drunken drivers. The nation's intoxicated driving rates have remained stubbornly steady for about 15 years despite massive public campaigns, he said. One of the few proven tactics, he said, is to place checkpoints and heavily publicize them afterward.
Defense reinforces self-defense claim in Stan Moretti murder trial
The Fayetteville Observer
Aaron McLeod suffered paranoid schizophrenia and was hospitalized involuntarily three times because of his illness in the two years before Stan Moretti killed him, a psychiatrist testified on Friday. McLeod's records showed he was sometimes violent, said psychiatrist John Gilmore of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gilmore and others treated McLeod between 2003 and 2006, he said.
Incumbency proves key for Knightdale councilman
The Eastern Wake News
…Tom Carsey, a political scientist at UNC-Chapel Hill, said campaign contributions don't necessarily lead to political success but are useful byproducts of good politicking. "Incumbents are in the job because they're successful at promoting their ideas," Carsey said. "They have a base of supporters – local and political – who are familiar their work and, with that, they can create momentum early."
Arts groups pin hopes on drawing a wider audience
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…This fall, a cursory look at the Triangle arts agenda reveals a serious effort to present high-caliber artists of color, across all disciplines. Two organizations Trovillion considers trailblazers – PlayMakers Repertory Company and Duke University's Nasher Art Museum – are continuing their commitments to diverse programming by presenting a world premiere play about the Freedom Riders and a major photography exhibit from the African Diaspora.
Rorschach guided Nasher Museum to prominence
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…"Kim is one of the most highly regarded museum directors in the country," said Emily Kass, director of the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, "and not just for university museums, but overall."
Football Coverage
UNC committee meets to start AD search
The Associated Press
The search committee looking for North Carolina's next athletic director met for the first time Friday under a tricky timeline. The 13-member committee will assist chancellor Holden Thorp in finding a replacement for Dick Baddour, who will step down sometime after the school appears before an NCAA infractions committee in October.
UNC AD search is moving forward
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Lowry Caudill, who chairs the university committee, would like to quickly select the search firm but did not give a timeline. One immediate task for the committee is to finish creating a job description so the athletic director job can be posted; Caudill said the job can't be offered to anyone until it has been posted for 30 days.
UNC AD search committee will seek outside firm
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill took another step forward Friday in the search for a new athletic director. A 13-person search committee comprised of administrators, students, ethics specialists and athletes like former UNC and NBA basketball player Eric Montross, met Friday to discuss their thoughts on filling the position that Dick Baddour has held for 14 years. One thing that came out of the meeting is that they will hire a firm to aid in the search. Committee chairman Lowry Caudill said the firm they chose will be hired with private funds from UNC's athletic department and the Ram's Club.
Sports agent taught class at UNC-CH
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
At a time when UNC-Chapel Hill officials were embarrassed to find that sports agents had infiltrated the football program, the chairman of the university's African and Afro-American Studies Department hired an agent to teach a summer class.