Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
Can a divestment campaign move the fossil fuel industry?
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
US climate activists have launched a movement to persuade universities, cities, and other groups to sell off their investments in fossil fuel companies. But while the financial impact of such divestment may be limited, the campaign could harm the companies in a critical sphere — public opinion. …But enthusiasm for divestment, already high on college campuses — student referenda at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, for example, showed 72 and 77 percent support for divestment, respectively — is leaking into the outside world.
National Coverage
Bloomberg Cigarette Plan To Keep Tobacco Products Out Of Sight Receives Mixed Reviews
The Associated Press
…"What's exciting about this (New York City proposal) is that this is the most comprehensive set of tobacco-control regulations that affect stores or the retail outlets," said Kurt Ribisi, a professor of public health and cancer prevention specialist at the University of North Carolina. Moreover, cigarettes' visibility can trigger impulse buys by smokers who are trying to quit, he and city officials say.
Rolling Meadows football player paralyzed in 1999 dies
The Chicago Tribune
Rob Komosa became a symbol of courage and positivity after he was paralyzed during a 1999 high school football practice. …Spinal injuries are relatively rare in football — fewer than 1 in 100,000 high school participants suffer one each year — but even so, researchers at the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill counted 324 incidents at all levels of football from 1977 to 2011.
State and Local Coverage
What Does Disability Mean To You? UNC Student Exhibit Features Personal Stories And Pictures
WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill)
A new exhibit at UNC Chapel Hill aims to challenge the way people think about the word, "disability." It's a collection of photos and narratives written by students called "This Able Life." UNC junior Katie Savage founded the campus group, Advocates for Carolina. She says she hopes the exhibit will help dissolve the stigma often associated with disability and transform the word into something celebratory that empowers and inspires.
UNC trustees meet in closed session, but topic is unclear
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees met behind closed doors Monday morning in an emergency meeting to discuss personnel and legal matters. “We had a very constructive meeting,” Chairman Wade Hargrove said of the event, which lasted a little more than an hour.
Related Links:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9031263
http://www.heraldsun.com/news/localnews/x145779873/UNC-board-meets
-in-closed-session-to-discuss-personnel-legal-issues
Triangle faculty to hold forum to discuss how legislature is damaging state (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Some members of the Triangle's academic community have decided to speak out against what they see as harmful policies coming out of the legislature. A group of scholars are planning a forum on March 28th at the Sanford School of Public Policy to discuss policy proposals that “that will damage North Carolina for decades to come.'' …The forum will be moderated by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among the participants listed are William Hodding Carter III, professor of leadership and public policy at UNC-Chapel Hill…
UNC report supports York Co. residents' sludge concerns
WCNC-TV (NBC/Charlotte)
…Now a report from the University of North Carolina backs up residents’ health concerns. The study was done by interviewing about 40 residents who live within a mile of farms that use sludge. In part, the report says: "More than half of people interviewed reported acute symptoms such as burning eyes, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after sludge had been sprayed or spread. People who live near fields in which industrial swine operations spray waste have reported similar symptoms."
North Carolina Writers Serve Up Spring Reading Options (Blog)
WCHL-FM (Chapel Hill)
…Understanding the actions and attitudes of our parents and grandparents in dealing with the system of oppressive racial segregation that confronted them is one of our great challenges. Some of the best Southern writers deal with our past in ways that make for compelling storytelling. UNC-Chapel Hill creative writing professor Pam Durban steps up to that challenge in her new novel, “The Tree of Forgetfulness.”
Greensboro shooting survivor Danielle Jameison to return to UNC
The News & Record (Greensboro)
Sophomore Danielle Jameison could return to UNC-Chapel Hill as soon as next Monday, according to The Daily Tar Heel. The campus newspaper reported Jameison moved her belongings back into Cobb Residence Hall on Saturday. She plans to return after she recovers from surgery scheduled for Tuesday.