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Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:

National Coverage

A Closer Look at Teeth May Mean More Fillings
The New York Times

…With increasingly sophisticated detection technology, dentists are finding — and treating — tooth abnormalities that may or may not develop into cavities. While some describe their efforts as a proactive strategy to protect patients from harm, critics say the procedures are unnecessary and painful, and are driving up the costs of care. “A better approach is watchful waiting,” said Dr. James Bader, a research professor at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry. “Examine it again in six months.”
Related Link:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/are-dentists-overtreating-your-teeth/

New Hope of a Cure for H.I.V.
The New York Times

Medical researchers are again in pursuit of a goal they had all but abandoned: curing AIDS. …Dr. David Margolis, of the University of North Carolina, said, “Some sort of gene therapy like that, that suppresses viral load to some extent for some period of time, is not a lot different from taking one pill once a day.” Dr. Siliciano and Dr. Margolis are trying to eradicate the virus from the body.

How were they caught? Expert on test cheating explains
"Rock Center with Brian Williams" MSNBC

The Atlanta Public Schools System is still recovering from the worst cheating scandal in American history. …Before they began their own inquiry, the investigators called in Dr. Gregory Cizek to double check the state’s erasure study data. Cizek is professor of Educational Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of “Cheating on Tests: How to Do It, Detect and Prevent It.”

Barney Frank didn’t cause the housing crisis
The Washington Post

…“The more people exaggerate these problems,” Frank told the New York Times, “the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.” Not the most prescient of comments. (Note, however, that in 2003, Fannie and Freddie weren’t yet heavily involved in the mortgage-backed security market. They were actually losing market share to private banks, as the chart on right from researchers at the University of North Carolina shows.)

State and Local Coverage

Kenan-Biddle Partnership Announces 2012 Duke-UNC Grants
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)

A highly successful partnership between UNC and Duke University has entered its second year with another round of grants for collaborative student projects. The Kenan-Biddle Partnership has awarded $5000 each to ten different projects, on topics ranging from LGBT issues to nutrition education to classical music.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4940/107/

UNC Stumbles on Buried 19th Century Building
WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill)

Archaeologists at UNC-Chapel Hill say they've uncovered a structure on campus that is an underground cellar from the early 1800s. Construction crews ran into the buried structure last month while building a new drainage pipe underneath McCorkle Place. Research archaeologist Brett Riggs says it was most likely a storage area for a private residence.

State, Cherokees reach accord on gambling
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…The casino generates about $380 million in economic benefits and attracts 3.6 million annual visitors to the region, according to a tribe-sponsored UNC-Chapel Hill study. Gaming revenues reached $368 million in 2010. "By being more attractive – which the agreement will do – they are hoping their revenues and profits will increase," said Steve Appold, a Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise researcher who worked on the study. Appold said a likely next step for Harrah's is the creation of a destination resort more focused on the larger experience to "attract a larger crowd to stay there longer."

Seminar to look at brain injuries
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

“Preventing Concussion in Sport: From Lab to Law,” a seminar Friday at UNC Chapel Hill will explore the personal and scientific significance of traumatic brain injuries among young athletes. The event features Kevin Guskiewicz, a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award winner and UNC exercise and sport science researcher, and Robert Gfeller, whose son Matthew died after sustaining a traumatic brain injury during a high school football game.

Speakers heap scorn on Duke Energy
The Charlotte Observer

…"Duke Energy has shown itself unworthy of belief," said Gene Nichol, director of the Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity at UNC Chapel Hill's law school. "Any rate increase it now offers should be rejected out of hand." Nichol recited the state's economic turmoil: 1.6 million residents in poverty, including one out of four children; 20 percent underemployed; median income dropping 12 percent in 2010; and 900,000 additions to the state food stamp program since 2008.

Angry customers protest Duke Energy price hike
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)

…Gene Nichol, a professor at the University of North Carolina law school's Center on Poverty , Work and Opportunity, said Duke's changing numbers hurt the company's case. "They have an obligation to prove that these rate increases are absolutely necessary in the public interest," he said. "I don't think they're able to prove anything if they keep gyrating all across the stage."

Issues and Trends

Judge rules to allow evidence from Mahato case in Eve Carson case
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

A judge ruled Monday that evidence about the murder of Duke student Abhijit Mahato can be in
troduced during the trial of Laurence Alvin Lovette, who is facing a first-degree murder charge for the shooting death of Eve Marie Carson.

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