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

National Coverage

Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
U.S. News & World Report

The housing market might be fragile at best, but some professors and M.B.A.'s say real estate is one area where business school students can find jobs. David Hartzell, a professor of real estate and finance at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School, says between 10 percent and 15 percent of the M.B.A. cohort at UNC specializes in real estate.

MDs Go For MBAs To Learn Business Of Medicine
Investors Business Daily

Spiraling costs, patient backlogs and other health care managing issues are stirring some overachieving physicians to take action. Many are returning to school to get their MBAs in hopes of better understanding the business of health care. The medical school at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is even now offering its medical students the option of a dual MD/MBA degree with the university's UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

State and Local Coverage

Quality, affordability (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

In a Feb. 5 Point of View article, the chairman of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, Wade Hargrove, argued that Chapel Hill's campus is poised to slip into mediocrity unless the Board of Governors increases tuition significantly. Some board members have proposed imposing limits of the amount of the increase each campus can spend on financial aid. Regardless of the amount by which tuition is increased, it is imperative that each campus be allowed to distribute revenue as appropriate between the challenges facing campuses (like faculty salaries and course offerings) and financial aid. (Mary Cooper, Student body president, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill)

Concussion experts differ on youth sports safety
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Two of the top experts on sports-related concussions disagree on whether children less than 14 years old can safely play collision sports such as football. …Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz of the University of North Carolina believes it is important for young athletes to learn how to safely handle contact at an early age and develop those skills against competition that is the same size and age. "Bob and I don't disagree on much, but we do on this," Guskiewicz said.

Rule changes that might make football safer
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Kevin Guskiewicz of the University of North Carolina is involved in discussions within the NFL, NCAA and the National Federation of High School Associations about possible rule changes designed to make football safer. Guskiewicz said any changes need to be based on data, not supposition.

Triangle study may aid arthritic knees
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Arthritic knees, it turns out, try hard to repair themselves. That finding by a team of Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill researchers, published Friday in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, suggests that if a method can be found to halt the breakdown of knee tissue, then the body itself may be able to reverse damage from osteoarthritis. Such treatments are already under study.

Hospitals collect infection data under new law
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…It will take months of working with academic experts, the state hospital association, doctors, patient advocates, members of the public and others to develop proper formats. "Our goal is to do this in a way that's helpful to the public and understandable," said Dr. Zack Moore, medical director for the state's program to prevent health care-associated infections. …Also, he said, the state hospital association has been helping its members do that, and the UNC-Chapel Hill-based Statewide Program for Infection Control and Epidemiology has been effective in reducing the infections.

'Silent disease' symptoms subtle
The Charlotte Observer

Pancreatic cancer is called a "silent disease" because symptoms aren't usually apparent until the disease is advanced. …Clinical trials that offer experimental treatments are "fairly limited," said Dr. Hong Jin Kim, a pancreatic surgeon at UNC Chapel Hill. He and colleagues are looking for ways to improve patients' response to chemotherapy.

Helium shortage could deflate Valentine's Day sales
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)

A nationwide shortage of helium means that balloons expressing messages of love will be in short supply on Valentine's Day. Helium is often extracted from natural gas wells, but it's a pricey process and many companies have scaled back their collection, said Gary Pielak, a chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Cline inquiry hangs on 'elastic' law
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

…"It has to be kind of elastic and vague," said James C. Drennan, a professor of public administration at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government and a former state court system director. "It's intended to cover the full range of conduct that court officials – in this case DAs, but in other cases, judges – engage in, which is in a wide range of activities."

UNC's 18th ram mascot dies; 'Bam Bam' assumes role
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Rameses, North Carolina's 18th ram mascot, died Thursday night of natural causes. He was 8 years old. Pablo, as he was named until he was 3 1/2, was a triplet. He was chosen as the heir to UNC's mascot throne because, "he had the potential for the best horns," said Ann Leonard, one of the ram's caretakers. As part of the school tradition, the rams' twisted horns are painted Carolina blue for special events.
Related Links:
http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/feb/10/unc-mascot-ramses
-found-dead-family-farm-ar-1917167/

http://triangle.news14.com/content/653614/unc-s-18th-ramses-mascot-dies
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/17494059/article-Rameses-the
-18th–UNC-mascot–dies?instance=search_results

Before we trash the rural buffer … (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News

…In the short term, Chapel Hill may want to build a small transfer station of its own. The town has several good locations – with water and sewer and that are not in anyone's backyard. These sites are adjacent to commercial and retail centers, or part of upcoming development projects. If Chapel Hill works with UNC, they can share the costs and possibly use a utility site on the Carolina North Campus.

New artistic director brings new directions for Alvin Ailey
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Robert Battle did not sound as though he had the weight of a dance legacy on his shoulders. Instead, in a recent telephone interview, he seemed energized and excited about his new role as artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The company performs two different programs Monday and Tuesday at UNC’s Memorial Auditorium.

Issues and Trends

Amid protests, UNC system approves tuition, fees hikes
The News & Record (Greensboro)

Amid chants of protest from about 100 students, the UNC Board of Governors this morning approved President Tom Ross' proposal for tuition and fee hikes over the next two years. Ross' plan would raise tuition by an average of 8.8 percent across the system and keeps increases below 10 percent on every campus.
Related Links:
http://www.reflector.com/news/unc-governors-ok-tuition-hikes-907963
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/11/1846056/unc-governors-approve-88-average.html
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/17494467/article-UNC-system-
tuition-increases-approved-amid-raucous-protest-?instance=search_results

Board passes tuition hike plan, students protest
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)

Students from schools in the University of North Carolina system marched on a meeting of the Board of Governors Friday to protest a tuition hike. Despite opposition, the University of North Carolina Board of Governors voted to increase tuition across the system of 16 university campuses by nearly 9 percent on average.
Related Links:
http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/feb/10/16/students-protest-tuition-
hikes-unc-universities-ar-1915586/

http://www.ncnn.com/edit-news/7685-students-unhappy-with-unc-price-increase

Cuts taking toll on quality of universities, accessibility to them (Editorial)
The Star News (Wilmington)

UNCW students will have to scrounge up another $527 next year because the University of North Carolina Board of Governors raised tuition and fees for every campus – over the protests of students who say they’re tired of having the cost of higher education fall so heavily on them.

Another hit (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

In North Carolina, a state where the constitution promises an education as close to free "as practicable," students at the state's institutions of higher learning might well ask, "Who's defining 'practicable' these days?" Because substantial increases in tuition and fees over the last decade and then some have made the hill, the financial hill, steeper for students at all campuses of the University of North Carolina system.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/11/1845248/out-of-reach-tuition.html

Tuition hike bad news for next generation (Editorial)
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)

Storm clouds gathered over North Carolina’s next generation of leaders Friday when the University of North Carolina Board of Governors voted to increase tuition across its 16 member campuses. The vote was, to put it mildly, not received well by students, who held a spirited protest against the vote that featured a group of about 70 demonstrators blocking traffic in a mile-long march between the center of the UNC Chapel Hill campus to the building where the vote was held.

Bad Aim – Know the problem before attacking tuition hikes (Editorial)
The Fayetteville Observer

President Obama, meet Fayetteville State University. And UNC-Pembroke. And other campuses at which tuition is rising – not because of grasping administrators or frivolous spending, but because state legislatures are balancing their budgets on the back of education. Punishing these schools by reducing their financial aid, as the president recently proposed, won't promote high-quality education at a reasonable cost. It will ensure lower-quality education as yet another funding source is cut back.

Republican Stevens to leave N.C. Senate
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Sen. Richard Stevens of Cary, the co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and one of the most influential lawmakers in the Triangle, said Friday that he will not seek re-election. …Stevens has a reputation as a moderate conservative Republican who could work across party lines and was a key ally of the UNC system.

New Seal of Approval
Inside Higher Ed

Academics who specialize in using technology to conduct and enable new kinds of humanities research are in high demand. At the same time, the current ecosystem of scholarly publishing can be inhospitable to their often-idiosyncratic research projects.

Woman reports rape near UNC campus
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)

The report of a rape Thursday near the campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill served as a reminder to young women of the need to be vigilant. A 27-year-old woman told police she was attacked behind Ackland Art Museum after leaving Cosmic Cantina, a restaurant at 128 E. Franklin St. The area is a popular shortcut from the UNC campus to the shops and bars on Franklin Street.

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