Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Map of lost Roanoke colony dating back 425 years may hold new clues
The Global Post (Boston, Mass.)
A 425-year-old map of Roanoke island, may hold clues as to how a British colony that once occupied the land mysteriously disappeared. …“This is really the best new clue in 150 years,” said Brent Lane, adjunct Professor of Heritage Education at University of North Carolina, reported the Outer Banks Voice. “This is really a good solid lead. But it’s not conclusive, and it won’t be until we find something.”
National Coverage
Marriage amendment vote puts national focus on North Carolina
The Los Angeles Times
…Like amendments in Michigan, Idaho and South Carolina, North Carolina's act would severely limit protections for same-sex and heterosexual unmarried couples, said Maxine Eichner, a family law professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The measure would threaten domestic partnership health benefits for local government workers and strip unmarried couples of their rights to make decisions for an incapacitated partner, Eichner said.
I.Q. Points for Sale, Cheap
The New York Times
…For instance, in a University of North Carolina study known as the Abecedarian Early Intervention Project, children received an intensive educational intervention from infancy to age 5 designed to increase intelligence. In follow-up tests, these children showed an advantage of six I.Q. points over a control group (and as adults, they were four times more likely to graduate from college).
Weekly Standard: Obama Asks Students For An 'Amen'
National Public Radio.com
At an event at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on April 24, President Barack Obama tried to rouse the crowd by asking for an "amen." "The fact is that since most of you were born, tuition and fees at America's colleges have more than doubled," Obama said, "And that forces students like you to take out a lot more loans, there are fewer grants, you rack up more debt. Can I get an 'amen'?" The students responded: "Amen!"
Murdoch’s Pride Is America’s Poison (Opinion-Editorial)
The New York Times
…Fox does not live by that code. (Especially the last part. In a speech at the University of North Carolina last month, Ailes boasted, “In 15 years, we have never taken a story down because we got it wrong.” Gosh, even the pope only claims to be infallible on special occasions.)
'Sex, power and melodrama': the meteoric rise and fall of John Edwards
The Associated Press
…"Sex, power and melodrama," said Bill Cloud, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina's School of Journalism, sizing up what gives the story its appeal. "We have the handsome, fallen young prince. We have his wife and the drama of her untimely death. There is a real soap-opera aspect to this whole affair, and people are drawn to that.
U. of North Carolina Investigation Finds Academic Fraud in Department
The Chronicle of Higher Education
More than 50 courses in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s department of African and Afro-American studies featured no-show professors, unauthorized grade changes, and other examples of academic fraud from 2007 to 2011, according to an internal investigation described by The News & Observer, a newspaper in Raleigh, N.C.
Related Link:
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/05/07/academic-fraud-unc
Regional Coverage
Bringing poverty to the forefront
The Register & Bee (Danville, Va.)
What is causing North Carolina’s poverty rates to spiral out of control, and how can we stop it? …Gene Nichol, a professor of law and the director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina School of Law, questioned how the United States is one of richest nations on earth with poverty rates so high. He suggested the nation’s leaders need to start talking about poverty instead of ignoring the problem during Monday’s talk at Rockingham Community College.
Tough guy act by Bulls coach hurting team (Column)
The Rockford Register Star (Illinois)
…Gymnastics is No. 1 in deaths in a 20-year survey of high school athletes and is second to hockey in injury rate. And a University of North Carolina study says two-thirds of all catastrophic injuries for female college athletes the last 25 years have been in cheerleading. Throwing girls in the air is more dangerous than guys colliding in football.
State and Local Coverage
Amendment draws voters to polls
The Daily Reflector (Greenville)
The arguments have been laid out over the airwaves, from pulpits, at coffee houses and city council meetings. Now North Carolina voters will enter the polling booth and decide how they view and define marriage. …University of North Carolina law professor Maxine Eichner wrote a paper in February that argued the state’s courts could interpret the amendment as barring the state from giving any rights to unmarried couples.
Related Links:
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2012/05/07/1175471?sac=fo.opinion
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/05/06/2047216/amendment-on-gay-marriage-divides.html
Passionate Amendment One debate goes beyond gay marriage
The Fayetteville Observer
…Identifying marriage as the state's only valid domestic legal union could roll back the rights of unmarried victims of domestic violence, according to a paper written by four law professors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The professors argue that it could also undercut child custody and visitation rights for unmarried parents and limit the financial and medical decisions unmarried partners can make if their loved one is incapacitated.
Related Links:
http://www.laurinburgexchange.com/view/full_story/18478314/article-Churches
-differ-on–marriage-amendment?instance=popular
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2012/05/06/71238/voting-gone-to-the-dogs.html
The marriage amendment, 1875 (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
If Amendment One passes on Tuesday, it won’t be our first state constitutional provision regulating marriage. In 1875, we altered our charter to declare that “all marriages between a white person and a Negro or between a white person and a person of Negro descent to the third generation inclusive are, hereby, forever prohibited.” (Gene Nichol is the Boyd Tinsley distinguished professor at UNC's Law School.)
Doctor hammers away for better care
The Morganton News Herald
Between 8,000 and 10,000. That’s how many babies he thinks he has delivered during his career. Dr. Alfred W. Hamer Jr. is a fourth generation doctor and recent recipient of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Medical School’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Forsyth pair named to UNC scholars program
The Winston-Salem Journal
Two Forsyth County students are among the 51 Morehead-Cain Scholars in the Class of 2016 at UNC Chapel Hill. Besides covering all expenses for four years of undergraduate study at UNC, the Morehead-Cain program features summer-enrichment experiences. The local scholars are Eric Barefoot, a senior at Reynolds High School and the son of James and Wendy Barefoot of Winston-Salem, and William Whitehurst, a senior at Forsyth Country Day School and the son of William and Jane Whitehurst of Lexington.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5280/75/
N.C. State/UNC project explores external devices for helping the mobility-impaired
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…This is what observation looks like in the Physiology of Wearable Robotics laboratory in Raleigh, a joint project of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at NCSU and UNC Chapel Hill. By using gadgets and devices adapted from other disciplines, motion researchers here are no longer limited to measuring only what they physically observe.
Winston-Salem vying for Big South tourney
The Winston-Salem Journal
Winston-Salem is one of four finalists bidding to host the Big South Conference's men's and women's basketball tournaments, beginning in March. …John Sweeney, director of the sports-communication program at UNC Chapel Hill, said the "real question is the desire of people in Winston-Salem to host the event given that these things require volunteers, business cooperation and local sponsor activation. "The event needs to be something that is a real priority for the major players in town and, hopefully, a popular event with the community."
Landfill setback costly for Brunswick County
The Star News (Wilmington)
Brunswick County's landfill expansion will remain in limbo for the time being. …In the suit, it asks the court to permanently bar the county from expanding the landfill. The community is being aided by the University of North Carolina School of Law's Center for Civil Rights.
How the rules of the game affect prosperity, poverty (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Even before the publication in 1776 of Adam Smith’s “Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” – often viewed as the first full-scale, formal treatise in economics – numerous writers weighed in on the sources of economic growth and economic stagnation. In the 230-plus years since Smith’s treatise appeared, such work has never stopped, indeed, never even slowed down. (Peter A. Coclanis is Albert R. Newsome Distinguished Professor of History and Director of the Global Research Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Golf course could be key to finding Lost Colony
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
…UNC researchers want to hear from others, like Hughes, who might have come across the artifacts. "This clue is certainly the most significant in pointing where a search should continue," said Brent Lane, a member of the board of the First Colony Foundation, of the map.
Report finds academic fraud evidence in UNC department
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
An internal investigation into UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of African and Afro-American Studies has found evidence of academic fraud involving more than 50 classes that range from no-show professors to unauthorized grade changes for students.
Related Link:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/11064527/
Academic fraud at UNC (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
It’s another disturbing story. The term academic fraud is not one to throw around lightly. In this case, it appears to be accurate, however: The University of North Carolina’s internal investigation into its Department of African and Afro-American Studies has found evidence of irregularities in more than 50 classes.
Issues and Trends
UNC workers are right to worry (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Trust us. That’s what UNC system administrators have said in response to staff, faculty and students’ challenges to state Senate Bill 575, which would deprive 22,000 University of North Carolina system employees of job protections now provided under the State Personnel Act (SPA). (Jeffrey M. Hirsch is an associate professor at the UNC School of Law. Sherryl Kleinman is professor of sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Yow’s challenge: Put N.C. State athletic department on top
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Bubba Cunningham, athletic director at UNC, said the university focuses on the Directors’ Cup and ACC championships as primary benchmarks for overall athletic achievement. UNC has continued to finish high in the Directors’ Cup standings despite spending less than the ACC average per student-athlete, an accomplishment Cunningham credits to the school’s coaching staff.
Chapel Hill Police looking for peeper near UNC campus
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
The Chapel Hill Police Department is investigating two reports of a peeping tom in several areas near the University of North Carolina campus early Friday morning.
Related Links:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8648670