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

International Coverage

Avoid alcohol intake during pregnancy
The Times of India

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause a spectrum of abnormalities referred to as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in the offspring, experts say. …Both Feldman and Philip A. May, a research professor in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at The University of North Carolina, believe these findings reinforce the warning that there is no "safe" level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

National Coverage

Obama to ask Congress for power to combine agencies
The Los Angeles Times

…"Congress has indicated that streamlining the federal government is exactly what they want to do, and this seems consistent with a lot of their goals," said William P. Marshall, former deputy White House counsel under President Clinton and now an expert on presidential powers at the University of North Carolina School of Law. "If there's going to be an area where we're going to see agreement across party lines, this would seem to be an appropriate place."

Recession Slows Growth In Public Prekindergarten
The Associated Press

…Richard M. Clifford, senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said other developed countries — including much of Europe — provide prekindergarten programs. "Kids come into the regular school better prepared to succeed in school," Clifford said. "In the long term, eventually, I think you'll see all 4-year-olds be eligible for pre-K in this country, but it will take a long time."

Will South Carolina race get candidates too dirty? (Column)
CNN.com

Ferrel Guillory teaches courses in Southern politics and campaign coverage in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He directs the UNC Program on Public Life, and he is also a co-author of the series of State of the South reports produced by MDC Inc., a Durham-based nonprofit research firm.

Combination Chemotherapy Meds Shrink Breast Cancer
"World News with Diane Sawyer" ABC

Combining heavy hitting medications for early stage patients with an aggressive form of breast cancer can shrink the tumor and stop its progression, according to two new studies released Monday in the journal Lancet and Lancet Oncology. …Doctors can "get an answer about drugs in early breast cancer in months rather than years, and it takes only a few hundred patients rather than thousands," said Dr. Lisa Carey, medical director of the University of North Carolina Breast Center.

In Extreme Cold, Accurate Passes Are the Least of the Body’s Worries
The New York Times

…Tom Brickner, the team physician for the University of North Carolina and the former medical director of the United States Antarctic Program while he served in the Navy, said that sensation was also to be expected. “Breathing cold, dry air is an irritant to our lungs and to the lining of our lungs,” Brickner said. “People will cough and feel like their chest is tighter. If you’re prone to asthma, that can be an issue, too.”

A Bright Idea for Beating Depression and the Winter Blues
The Huffington Post

…But in a 2009 study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 66 adults with dementia living in long-term care facilities were exposed for varying amounts of time to bright ceiling lights installed in common areas. Compared with participants who did not spend time under the lights, those who were exposed to light therapy for two and a half hours in the morning slept 16 minutes longer at night.

Students Offer Microloans to Help Campus Neighbors Start Small Businesses
The Chronicle of Higher Education

…Few volunteers who run microloan programs are studying business. A chance to develop teaching and documentary-filmmaking skills drew Alexis Seccombe, a graduate student in comparative literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to the campus's Community Empowerment Fund. Among the 70 student volunteers there, majors are "remarkably all over the place," she says.

Gay marriage play '8' goes national during 2012
The Associated Press

…The play will get two showings at PlayMakers Repertory Company, the theater-in-residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The first will be April 9 and the second will be May 8, the same day voters in that state vote decide whether to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. "We look at this as an opportunity to start and carry on a conversation with our community and our students," said A. McKay Coble, the university's chair of the Department of Dramatic Art, who says she suspects it may trigger some controversy on campus.

Regional Coverage

Food allergies require vigilance
The Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia)

…Dr. Wesley Burks, recently appointed chief of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, led the immunotherapy research at Duke. His studies will continue, but move to UNC with him. "We have over 150 subjects in studies right now. We are getting ready to start a series of new studies that will enroll from (age) 12 months on up," Burks said.

State and Local Coverage

Student strives to fill gap in lives of youth
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The summer after her sophomore year in college, Amber Koonce found herself at a men's detention center in Scotland, sharing her thoughts on improving the treatment of juvenile offenders to a group of gray-haired men. …Koonce, now 22, is a senior and Morehead-Cain scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill. The Charlotte native was named one of the country's top 10 college role models for 2011 by Glamour magazine, which cited her creation of a nonprofit called Beauty Gap that sends dolls of color to African girls.

Andrew Young to speak as part of MLK week at UNC
The Associated Press

Civil rights activist Andrew Young will give annual Martin Luther King Jr. memorial lecture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Young was an aide to King, a congressman and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He'll speak Tuesday evening when law school dean Jack Boger and UNC senior Amber Koonce will hold a discussion with Young.
Related Link:
http://www.chapelboro.com/Ambassador–Civil-Rights-Leader-Highlights-MLK-Wee/12008238
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4986/73/

UNC to review practices for coaches contracts
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Former UNC-Chapel Hill Athletics Director Dick Baddour will lead a UNC system group that will study the best practices in coaches contracts, UNC system President Tom Ross announced Friday. The panel will look at what elements should be included in contracts, including language about academic performance of team members, Ross said. That effort could result in policy recommendations to the UNC Board of Governors.

UNC-CH escapes budget penalty this year (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

UNC-Chapel Hill exceeded the 18 percent cap on out-of-state freshmen for two years in a row, which calls for a budget penalty under UNC Board of Governors policy. On Friday, though, the UNC board waived what would have been a $334,652 budget reduction for UNC-CH's over-enrollment of 24 out-of-state first-year students. The fee would have gone to a need-based financial aid program for North Carolinians.

Cancer Decisions Need Support
WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill)

A new study finds that breast cancer survivors had limited knowledge about their surgical options, including decisions that can help prevent recurrence of the disease. The findings are reported in this month's issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Clara Lee, a surgeon at UNC Hospitals, is a co-author of the study. She says the quality of decisions patients make is directly related to how well health providers inform patients about their choices.

DA Cline's claim on Hudson is false, undercut by clock error
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Among the misconduct allegations that Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline has made against Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson, one stands out as particularly damaging: Cline claims Hudson decided to dismiss a murder charge in an August hearing even before all of the state's witnesses had testified. …Richard Myers, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, said it is not misconduct if a judge has an order that reflects an outcome ready to sign at the conclusion of a hearing. "A thoughtful judge often has draft orders prepared," Myers said.

Jobs on rise in North Carolina, outlook unclear
The Fayetteville Observer

…Stam got these figures from a study the legislature ordered from the University of North Carolina Center for Competitive Economies. The study estimated how much money the tax cuts would inject into the economy and how many jobs would result, said Brent Lane, the director of the Competitive Economies Center and a co-author of the study.

Occupy Atlanta takes up church's lease dispute with BB&T
The Winston-Salem Journal

…John Sweeney, a professor in the journalism and mass communication school at UNC Chapel Hill, said the novelty of the protest idea "means there's lots of media interest and sensitivity from the bank to appear cooperative." "Regardless of the facts of foreclosure, there is the fear of a media frenzy," he said. "The ability to move this kind of protest into a larger platform for the Occupy movement is a leap into the unknown. It partly depends on Occupy's ability to keep the thing fresh and topical for a very distracted media industry."

The Long Shadow of Argentina's Dirty War
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM

Between 1976 and 1983 close to 30,000 Argentineans were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by their own government. The military dictatorship rounded up everyone with any possible connection to the left wing. Their plight came to international attention through the weekly demonstrations of a group of women known as “the mothers of the disappeared”. Charlie Tuggle is a professor of broadcast journalism at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been traveling to Argentina to teach every summer for many years, and in 2009 his two daughters, Brynne and Bethany, joined him there. Together the Tuggles decided to tell the story of the grandmothers of the disappeared and the children who have been found. Their documentary is called “Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo and the Search for Identity”. Charlie Tuggle, Brynne Tuggle Miller and Bethany Tuggle Parker join host Frank Stasio with a preview of the film.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5022/68/

The new start (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…Exercise will make you healthier, will help you live longer, will reduce dependence on medication, and will help in many instances those who do have serious illness, specifically cancer, better cope with their diagnoses and prolong their own lives. These are not theories. Doctors know these things are true, right now. And as research at Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill has shown, the certainty of the benefits of exercise is being affirmed with every new study.

Poverty in N.C.: the real numbers (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Poverty is a familiar feature of the holiday season, with the annual appeals to "give to the needy" or "consider those less fortunate." However, we rarely stop to think about what it actually means to be poor. (Ben Chambers is a graduate student at the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill. Sharon Paynter is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at East Carolina University. Professor Maureen Berner of the UNC School of Government assisted with this article.)

Shedding light on N.C.'s 'rendition' connection (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was a searing reminder of the pain felt by those who lost loved ones on that day and in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New York City opened a stunning memorial, which allowed all of us to remember and grieve. A very different panorama greets the families who last week marked a related anniversary – the opening of the Guantánamo Detention Camp on Jan. 11, 2002, and the beginning of the Bush administration's embrace of what Vice President Dick Cheney termed "the dark side." (Deborah Weissman is the Reef C. Ivey II distinguished professor of law at UNC School of Law and teaches the Immigration/Human Rights Policy clinic. Robin Kirk is a writer who teaches human rights at Duke University.)

UNC Center receives funding
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

The Environmental Finance Center at UNC Chapel Hill has been awarded $250,000 by the Water Research Foundation to study new approaches and models to address current and future financial challenges facing water utilities.

UNC faculty member wins competition
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

UNC Chapel Hill professor Richard Marciano is on one of the 14 research teams that won an international competition promoting innovative humanities and social sciences research using large-scale analysis. Eight international research organizations from four countries awarded about $4.8 million to the 14 winning teams that, together, represent a mixed group of scholars, scientists and librarians from the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Hospital buys property
The Chapel Hill News

UNC Health Care will continue paying taxes on Eastowne Office Park property it bought this month from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, a spokeswoman said. UNC paid $14.2 million for the seven buildings that Blue Cross vacated last year as part of a cost-cutting effort.

Local inspiration
The Chapel Hill Herald

Jack Pierson’s composition “Beauty” is the first work visitors will see in a new exhibit at the Ackland Art Museum, titled “The Spectacular of Vernacular.” Pierson took plastic, neon tubing, wood and other materials and made letters spelling “Beauty,” each letter with a different shape, resembling fallen letters or found objects.

Issues and Trends

Ross, no gloss (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

It may rank as the biggest test yet for Tom Ross, who has just marked his first anniversary as president of the University of North Carolina system. After huge budget losses courtesy of the General Assembly, some individual campus chancellors and trustees, along with some members of the UNC system's Board of Governors, have looked to substantial boosts in tuition to recover some of that money.

Nailing theses to UNC's door (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Charlotte Observer

Bosses don't usually appreciate the previous boss hanging around, telling them what to do. This time, though, was different – up to a point. New UNC President Tom Ross is more than equipped to handle the job of overseeing the 16-campus system. But he has moved into the president's Chapel Hill office at an historic time, when the very mission of the university system is threatened by hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts brought on by an enduring economic slowdown.

Former UNC President Bowles honored with University Award
The News & Record (Greensboro)

UNC President Emeritus Erskine Bowles is the 2011 recipient of the University Award, the highest honor given by the UNC Board of Governors. UNC President Tom Ross and board chairwoman Hannah Gage presented the award, which recognizes illustrious service to higher education in North Carolina, during a banquet Thursday evening on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.

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