Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Corporate tax reform is more complicated than politicians think
The Christian Science Monitor
…Also on Friday, the Tax Policy Center and the American Tax Policy Institute held a program on the economics of corporate tax reform. There, two panels of tax economists described some of the effects of corporate reform. The participants included Bill Gentry of Williams College, Jim Hines of the University of Michigan, George Plesko of the University of Connecticut, Doug Shackelford of the University of North Carolina, and Eric Toder of the Tax Policy Center. The moderator was Victoria Perry of the International Monetary Fund.
National Coverage
Black Men Often Face Delays in Prostate Cancer Care: Study
HealthDay News
…The gap was even longer, nine days, for black patients with aggressive prostate cancer, according to the University of North Carolina (UNC) study published online March 28 in the journal Cancer. "These are all patients with some form of insurance, [namely] Medicare, so it is not a lack of insurance that delays the care," study leader Dr. Ronald Chen, an assistant professor at UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in a university news release.
Is your smart phone making you lonely?
"CBS This Morning" CBS News
As the cell phone turns 40 years old, you might think that the technology has brought people closer together, but new research shows it can leave us feeling disconnected. Barbara Fredrickson, professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Nick Bilton, technology columnist at the New York Times, and Sherry Turkle, a psychology professor at MIT, discuss the pros and cons of mobile phones.
Emmert sees progress amid 'noise' over NCAA reforms
USA Today
No other chief executive in the history of the NCAA has stirred up a storm quite like this. …"It is as if each entity or individual within the (NCAA) system can point a finger at another entity or individual actor," says Richard Southall, director of the College Sport Research Institute at the University of North Carolina.
Regional Coverage
Ice Rink, Economic Engine (Commentary)
The Stamford Patch (Stamford, Conn.)
…Let us not forget the heart behind this project, Quinn Michael Connally, whom the arena’s namesake is honoring. …The Connally family suffered an insufferable loss in an accident that is almost unheard of. Professor Fredrick O. Muller of the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina said, “(he) had never heard of a death involving a player being hit in the back of the neck with a puck”.
State and Local Coverage
Schizophrenia may give early warnings
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Changes in brain function may foreshadow schizophrenia as early as puberty, nearly a decade before most patients begin showing obvious symptoms, new research from the University of North Carolina shows. Researchers in Chapel Hill looked at brain scans of 42 children, some as young as 9, who had close relatives with schizophrenia. They saw that many of the children already had areas of the brain that were "hyper-activated" in response to emotional stimulation and tasks that required decision-making, said Aysenil Belger, associate professor of psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine and lead author of the study.
HIV researchers at Duke discover route to vaccine
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Researchers participating in the study came from Duke as well as from the National Institutes of Health, Boston University, Stanford University, Columbia University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Myron Cohen, associate vice chancellor for public health at UNC, said scientists at his university have helped locate HIV patients who recently contracted the virus. “We have been committed to trying to find people as close to the day they were infected as possible,” Cohen said.
N.C. Science Festival launches with statewide star parties Friday
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
The N.C. Science Festival, a statewide collection of science events, programs and activities, kicks off this weekend. …The third annual Science Expo at UNC-Chapel Hill will take place on April 13. That event includes demonstrations, hands-on activities, lab tours, exhibits and science talks from professors and students at UNC-Chapel Hill, according to a press release.
McCrory plan would open state's Medicaid business to private companies
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Gov. Pat McCrory wants to overhaul the state’s Medicaid program by having managed care companies offer health care plans for poor, elderly and disabled people. …Dr. William Roper, CEO of UNC Health Care, called the administration plan “a bold initiative to improve Medicaid.” “I look forward to working with them and others on this important endeavor to better serve North Carolina’s patients,” Roper said in a statement.
North Carolina's growing demographic divide (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina continued to grow more rapidly than the nation and the South in 2012, according to recently released census statistics. But, predictably, most of the growth – an increase of 216,602 – was concentrated in the state’s metropolitan areas, especially those along the I-40/I-85 corridor. (Dr. Jim Johnson is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School. Dr. Allan Parnell is Vice President of the Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities in Mebane.)
Rules chairman: Defense of Religion Act won’t be considered in current form
The Associated Press
The Defense of Religion Act resolution filed by two Rowan County representatives will likely go through some changes — if it goes anywhere — in the N.C. General Assembly. …Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the resolution likely would have only symbolic meaning. “Resolutions usually mean nothing more than a belief, and these lawmakers are entitled to have that belief,” he said.
Time Warner Cable submits bid for ultra-high-speed Internet project
The Winston-Salem Journal
The N.C. Next Generation Network project — billed as the fastest lane yet on the information superhighway — has attracted a major Internet provider to provide service. …Wake Forest University, along with Duke University, N.C. State University and UNC Chapel Hill, are establishing the network as part of the GiG.U initiative, which involves 37 universities nationwide. The initiative has drawn more than $200 million in private investment funding.
Exercise & The Brain: New Benefits
WCHL-FM (Chapel Hill)
It is well established that a structured exercise program can help prevent heart disease, stroke, cancer, and obesity. But what about the brain? When I was in the exercise science program at UNC we talked about endorphins, and how they increase with exercise to provide that “runner’s high” after a vigorous exercise session.