Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Man, myth and the death penalty
BBC News Magazine
Almost 30 years after his conviction for killing a police officer, Mumia Abu-Jamal has had his sentence revised and will no longer be a death-row inmate. …"Thirty years of appeals, and there's no consensus about whether he's an innocent man who's been railroaded because of race or if he's a guilty murderer," says Frank Baumgartner, professor of political science at the University of North Carolina. "There's no resolution in that issue."
National Coverage
North Carolina Makes Lone Shot Count to Take the Title
The New York Times
Ben Speas was a part of last year’s Akron team that won the College Cup. This year, he is the reason the University of North Carolina is bringing the N.C.A.A. men’s soccer championship back to Chapel Hill. Speas, a forward, scored the Tar Heels’ goal in a 1-0 victory over UNC Charlotte in the title game Sunday.
Blagojevich Sentence: Another Governor Disgraced, A Trust Violated
The Associated Press
…Since the days of the New Deal, governors have been gaining power in most states, said Thad Beyle, a retired professor at the University of North Carolina who tracks the changes. State legislators have granted governors the right to serve longer terms and the ability to serve multiple terms. Governors have been given increased veto power and greater control over appointments.
An unexpected B-school arms race for top students
CNN Money
…At UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, which has the second-highest average scholarships reported, $31,565 a year, a group of so-called "Premier Fellowships" that pile one gift on top of another tends to inflate the total, according to Sherry Wallace, who heads up the school's admissions office.
The How of an Internment, but Not All the Whys (Commentary)
The New York Times
…Wrenched out of ordinary life, stripped of many constitutional rights and placed in an unforgiving environment, Heart Mountain’s inhabitants created an alternative universe. Land was farmed, shoes repaired, a newspaper printed and sports teams formed. Remarkably, residents also enlisted in, or were drafted into, the armed forces. Some residents were even imprisoned after resisting the draft, a case examined in a book by the legal scholar Eric L. Muller, a program committee director at the museum. (Eric Muller is a professor of law at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Short but sweet, the new wave of college essays
The Chicago Tribune
If it's been awhile since you looked at a college application, you might be surprised that things have changed since you tackled the obligatory 'Why-do-you-want-to-go-to-our-school?" essay. Today's high school seniors face more perplexing queries in Tweet-like form that seem better suited to speed-dating than scholarship. For example: How would you respond to University of North Carolina's request for "Most overrated and underrated superheroes?" or Yale University's "Recall a compliment you received that you especially value" — all delivered in 25 words or less?
Regional Coverage
Docs must say it straight: ‘Your kid is overweight’ (Editorial)
The Chicago Sun-Times
An astoundingly low percentage of parents with overweight children, even obese ones, recall their doctors mentioning a problem. Just 22 percent of parents, in fact, according to a new study led by Dr. Eliana Perrin of the University of North Carolina. Perrin mined a large government survey conducted between 1998 and 2008.
State and Local Coverage
Does global warming alter tourist behavior?
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A new study from UNC-Chapel Hill seems to indicate that some human weather-related behavior also is being influenced by global warming. Researchers found peak attendance in U.S. national parks that have experienced climate change is happening earlier, compared to 30 years ago. According to the study, of the nine parks that experienced significant increases in mean spring temperatures since 1979, seven also saw shifts in the timing of peak attendance.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4955/74/
Working like a dog
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took a break from studying for their final exams Thursday afternoon by relaxing with Whisky. Not Jack Daniels — Whisky Parker, the therapy dog. …The UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication brought two dogs to the Park Library to help students relax.
Changes in health care spark a feud between Rex, WakeMed
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…For years, Rex and WakeMed managed a delicate dance. They competed heartily for every bit of hospital growth the state allowed in Wake County, quarreling over every 20-bed expansion or suburban satellite. Still, they operated in relative harmony. Doctors could practice at both hospitals; patients had choices. Each developed a niche. WakeMed claimed a speciality in heart care; Rex, bought by UNC Health Care in 2000, developed cancer treatment and a robust surgery business.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/12/1705580/
losing-hearts-brings-worries-to.html#storylink=misearch
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/10/1701332/
in-health-fight-we-back-you.html#storylink=misearch
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/11/1702663/
public-private-for-rex-which-is.html#storylink=misearch
Selectivity, cost sway med school applications
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The University of North Carolina School of Medicine had received a record number of applications by mid-November, and the season’s not over. The surge was expected: Nationally, the number of medical school applicants have been steadily rising, reaching a record 43,919 students applying through the Association of American Medical Colleges for the fall 2011 class.
Blue Cross, UNC build chronic care clinic
The Chapel Hill Herald
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state’s largest health insurer, is sharing in the cost of opening a new clinic with UNC Health Care for up to 5,000 of the insurer’s customers with chronic conditions. The clinic, called Carolina Advanced Health, is meant to provide services for Blue Cross adult customers with illnesses such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes, depression or asthma — in the hope of cutting health care costs.
Duke to address arsenic qualms
The Charlotte Observer
Duke University researchers are expanding their study on the impact that arsenic in well water has on the health of Union County residents. …The Duke scientists, in collaboration with University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill colleagues, are recruiting county residents for the next several months.
Fedora energetic in UNC introduction
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
If the game day product at all resembles the press conference introducing head football coach Larry Fedora, the University of North Carolina fans had better rest up before entering Kenan Stadium.
Fedora accepts challenge of restoring UNC's football team
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Larry Fedora began his first job when he was 13, after his dad found him work with a bricklayer. He grew to loathe those summers out under a bright Texas sun, working with his hands, but he learned something about commitment and drive – about what it takes to build things.
Fedora's hiring quick and painless at UNC
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Larry Fedora had never been to Chapel Hill before, had never seen the University of North Carolina campus. When he rode around town on Wednesday, though, and saw the campus for the first time, he had already agreed to become the Tar Heels' new head football coach.
Tudor: Fedora continues the vintage Brown legacy (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Whether UNC has found its next Mack Brown won't be known for a least a year and probably a lot longer.
But five minutes into Larry Fedora's first day on the job as football coach, there was no doubt the Tar Heels had rounded up a Brown sound-alike.
Power of sheriff position disputed
The Times-News (Burlington)
…According to state law, a sheriff can only be removed from office by a Superior Court judge if the sheriff neglects or refuses to perform his duties, is guilty of misconduct or maladmin-istration in office, corruption, extortion, conviction of a felony or is convicted of being intoxicated, according to Jeffrey Welty, assistant professor of public law and government at UNC Chapel Hill.
Illegal-immigration steps weighed
The Winston-Salem Journal
North Carolina lawmakers are considering whether to delve further into the nation's immigration debate by making it more uncomfortable for illegal immigrants to live in the state. …"I'm a bit surprised that North Carolina would want to go down that road," said Deborah Weissman, a professor at the University of North Carolina law school in Chapel Hill who studies immigration issues. "It does seem to have some indication that some individuals in the legislature would prefer to rid the state of immigrants."
No Arab Springtime for democracy (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Ousted, survived, killed, ousted, survived, resigned. These are the fates of six Arab strongmen who were first confronted with popular uprisings against their rule last spring. Zine Ben Ali of Tunisia (ousted), Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein of Jordan (survived), Moammar Gadhafi of Libya (killed), Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (ousted), Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain (survived) and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen (resigned). Saleh's recent resignation completed a quartet of Arab Spring casualties. (Andrew Reynolds is chair of Global Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. He has been an adviser on election design in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Jordan and is the co-author of the forthcoming book, "The Arab Spring: Political Transformation in North Africa and the Middle East.")
Doing business with high-tech freelancers (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observ
er (Raleigh)
A new generation of entrepreneurs is leveraging the power of cloud-based computing, social networking technologies and a host of apps to provide a broad range of services in the online global marketplace. Constituting a human cloud of talent, these Internet entrepreneurs are referred to as freelancers, e-lancers, soloists, project employees or pay-as-you- go help. (James H. Johnson Jr. is the William Rand Kenan Jr. distinguished professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.)
We dare not waste talent (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…A 2005 study by UNC's Kenan Institute shows that Hispanic immigrants contribute more than $9 billion to the economy annually through its purchases, taxes, and labor (with estimates of these contributions going up to more than $20 billion annually by 2011). Of that $9 billion in 2005, tax revenues were estimated at $756 million while costs to the state to cover education, health care, and corrections totaled $817 million. "The net cost to the state budget must be seen in the broader context of the aggregate benefits Hispanics bring to the state's economy," the report explains.
Saunders: Baby, it's mean out there (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…There's an app – OK, a syndrome – for that. Rhonda Gibson, associate professor in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism, told me about a decades-long research project, begun in the late 1960s at the University of Pennsylvania, that identified something called "the mean world syndrome." "If you're inundated on a daily basis with negative news," Gibson said, "you cultivate this view of the world that it's a more dangerous place than it is."
Red Cross To Host Blood Drive At UNC
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC and the Red Cross will host the 13th Winter Blood Drive at Woollen Gymnasium this Tuesday, December 13, from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Individuals who are planning on donating blood should check to see if they are eligible to be a donor. The blood drive is also in need of volunteers.
Issues and Trends
Get Out of Show Business (Commentary)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
It has been said that when responsible people fail to speak or act, bad things happen. Bad things have happened in intercollegiate sports; now responsible officials have the duty to speak and act. Big-time college sports today bears only slight resemblance to the goals and objectives for which intercollegiate athletics were begun in America. (William C. Friday is president emeritus of the University of North Carolina system and one of the founders of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.)
NCCU seeks 10% tuition increase
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
N.C. Central University's trustees approved a 10 percent tuition increase for in-state undergraduates for 2012-13, plus a hike of $100 per student each year for four subsequent years. With Friday's vote, NCCU joined UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State in seeking multiyear increases in the aftermath of state budget cuts this year.
Related Link:
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/16735541/article-
Tuition-to-rise-by-10-percent-at-NCCU?instance=search_results
Asheville students struggle with higher college costs
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
…And with state universities facing budget cuts, thousands of students like Williams are facing yet another tuition increase next year. This time, the UNCA board of trustees is recommending a hike of $500 in tuition plus an increase in some fees for the 2012-13 academic year.
Chancellor Emeritus Moeser, Carolina Students Remember Eve Carson
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
In light of the trial of Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., the UNC community is remembering Eve Carson. …Even after more than three years, this remarkable UNC Student Body President is still leaving her mark on the hearts and minds of students and faculty at Carolina. Chancellor Emeritus, Dr. James Moeser, was especially close to Carson.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/12/10/1701404/witnesses-testify-
about-defendants.html#storylink=misearch
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