Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
National Coverage
Editor’s note: Looking for a quick score? Their advice is to not rush it. (Column)
The Washington Post
…Former AOL chief Steve Case also stressed the importance of building relationships. He advised graduates at the University of North Carolina to focus on things they can be passionate about. Even then, perseverance matters, he said. He told how his first start-up, an early online video game company, sputtered. “As Gameline struggled, most people – including my parents – suggested I put aside my entrepreneurial impulses and passion and get back onto a more normal career path. But I stuck with it, as I believed that someday, somehow, the Internet would change the world.”
UNC Commencement Coverage:
http://www.unc.edu/spotlight/case-be-curious-take-risks/
Untangling What Companies Pay in Taxes
The New York Times
The tax filings of companies, like those of individuals, are confidential. When individual companies want to make the case that they pay large amounts of tax – as many do – they often point to complex calculations from their financial statements that portray the companies in the best light. …But in a 2008 academic paper, three accounting professors — Scott Dyreng of Duke, Michelle Hanlon of M.I.T. and Edward Maydew of the University of North Carolina — suggested that looking at several years, at least, could offer insight into corporate taxes.
Related Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/opinion/sunday/who-will-crack-the-code.html
Unresolved grief can be hidden health risk, experts say
USA Today
…Donald Rosenstein, a professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, is charting new territory into the bereavement process of fathers who lose their wives to cancer. He started a first-of-its-kind support group called Single Fathers Due to Cancer Program, part of the UNC Comprehensive Cancer Support Program. "Everyone has a different reaction to grief,'' Rosenstein says. "We (health care professionals) don't have a lot of good information about how to get people to move on. But these fathers have been been teaching us."
What’s Behind The Drop in U.S. Teen Birth Rates
Time
…If that’s the case, then another cultural phenomena — putting teenage mothers on reality TV shows like “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” — may also be exerting it’s own form of birth control. In a survey commissioned by the The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and Durham, N.C., research firm iRT separated 162 teens from Boys and Girls Clubs in North Carolina into a group that watched three episodes of “16 and Pregnant” and a group that did not.
'Nano' Medicine Might Someday Free Diabetics From Daily Needles
HealthDay News
Researchers have developed a network of so-called "nanoparticles" that theoretically could be injected into the body and release insulin to counteract rising blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. …"The main aim was to mimic the activity of the pancreas. In our system, when glucose levels go up, the nanoparticles degrade to release insulin," said study author Zhen Gu, from the joint department of biomedical engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.
The 'Rite' That Won't Remain Silent
The Wall Street Journal
…On July 6, the Bard SummerScape festival will open with a new dance-theater version by Bill T. Jones and Anne Bogart; the production will travel to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in October. (It had its premiere at the University of North Carolina's festival, "The Right of Spring at One Hundred," which is wrapping up).
Why 'Turd Blossom' Is Metaphor but Not Metonym
The Atlantic
…First, from Graham Culbertson of the department of English and Comparative Literature at UNC – Chapel Hill. He said he liked the piece, but: "I thought I'd take a moment to explain metonym a little more, in case you were interested. Your definition is right but might be a little misleading, while your examples are perfect…"
Regional Coverage
Health answers: What are the health effects of ozone?
The Boston Globe
Q. What are the health effects of ozone? A. Although ozone in the upper atmosphere protects us, near the ground it can harm. Ozone is produced as a byproduct of chemical reactions in sunlight; it’s a component of urban smog and its levels tend to be highest on hot, sunny days in cities. David Peden, an allergist and immunologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says that some people have an immediate reaction to ozone. They find it hard to take a deep breath, and may notice airway pain, irritation, cough, or wheezing.
Study of voting records documents growth of partisanship in Congress
The Jacksonville Business Journal (Florida)
Congress really is getting more polarized. A new academic study proves it. The study looked at Senate voting records since 1900, and found that the disparity between Democratic and Republican votes on legislation widened over time, and fewer senators now vote independently of their parties. “We have not seen the current level of partisanship since the early 1900s,” James Moody of Duke University and Peter Mucha of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill wrote.
State and Local Coverage
UNC scientist turns to tiny particles to treat diabetes
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Nanoparticles – microscopic objects with diameters measured in billionths of a meter – have already aided advances in medicine and science. They are used in the ceramic coatings of solar cells, to make transparent and protective sunscreens, and to more effectively deliver lifesaving cancer drugs. Now, research demonstrates how they could one day help people better manage Type I diabetes. In a paper published in May in the journal ACS Nano, lead author Zhen Gu, assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering department at UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State, and his team showed that clusters of nanoparticles effectively control blood sugar levels in diabetic mice.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/24/2915710/researchers-at-unc-and-nc-state.html
Hunt for world’s oldest WWW page leads to UNC Chapel Hill
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A global quest to find the first World Wide Web page has led to an antique computer at UNC-Chapel Hill. A primitive iteration of that World Wide Web home page, created about a year after the birth of the web, has been preserved on a NeXT computer at UNC-CH. …And it has been diligently preserved by UNC professor Paul Jones, who got a copy from the Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the scientist credited with inventing the World Wide Web.
UNC blood drive marks a quarter century
The Chapel Hill News
Organizers of UNC’s Carolina Blood Drive, which celebrates its 25th anniversary on June 4, hope to mark the occasion by collecting 1,000 units of blood. Among those scheduled to donate – the drive is 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Smith Center – are UNC athletic director, Bubba Cunningham; Patti Thorp;WCHL’s Ron Stutts; UNC’s executive vice chancellor and provost, Bruce Carney; former Voice of the Tar Heels, Woody Durham; chancellor emeritus Paul Hardin and his wife, Barbara; Tar Heel Sports Network announcers Jones Angell and Eric Montross; UNC student body president Christy Lambden; and UNC’s mascot, Rameses.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/6043/68/
UNC celebrates first women's lacrosse championship
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
In the final seconds of the longest NCAA women’s lacrosse national championship game in history, North Carolina coach Jenny Levy didn’t find it strange that a pair of freshman made the biggest plays. …In sudden-death overtime late Sunday night at Villanova Stadium, freshman goalkeeper Megan Ward stopped a point-blank shot from Maryland’s Brooke Griffin. UNC junior Brittney Coppa scooped up the ball and headed the other direction, looking for the elusive goal that would deliver the Tar Heels their first NCAA women’s lacrosse national championship.
Tar Heels write final chapter on wild run
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
North Carolina’s first ACC Baseball Tournament championship since 2007 certainly is one for the books. Most glaringly, there are the 32 innings the Tar Heels played in victories over Clemson on Friday night (and into Saturday morning) and N.C. State on Saturday (Sunday morning).
Genetic tests offer early warnings for disease, for better or worse
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Kristy Lee, a certified genetic counselor at the UNC Cancer Center, said she has counseled patients who have had difficulty interpreting their commercially obtained results. Some seem overly frightened by slight elevations in risks with little statistical significance, while others are shocked to learn they may someday face serious disorders with no known treatment.
Gender non-specific housing still at risk
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A pilot program at UNC that would allow students of the opposite sex to share suites and apartments remains in jeopardy as state senators opposed to such living arrangements continue their efforts to block them at all UNC system schools. Senate Bill 658, which had died in a senate committee, has resurfaced as an amendment to the senate’s $20.6 billion budget proposal approved Thursday, then shipped to the state House so that it may have its turn at crafting the state budget.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/bill-preventing-unc-gender-neutral-housing-returns/12481571/
http://www.news-record.com/news/north_carolina_ap/article_b862f639-7100-5920-8091-e85dbd1874f5.html
C-section surgery saves babies before birth
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Some babies require surgery right after they're born, and other procedures can be done on a developing fetus inside the womb. In the past couple months, a team at the University of North Carolina Hospitals performed life-saving surgeries on two babies in between. …UNC pediatric surgeon Dr. Sean Mclean and UNC-Rex maternal medicine specialist Dr. William Goodnight led a multidisciplinary team to plan the best course of survival for the two babies. "Everyone was on the same page. That helped build confidence in us," said Audrey's father, Brian Robak.
Students rely on internships for careers
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
…Therein, said Tim Stiles, associate director of UNC-Chapel Hill’s career services office, lies the truth about internships: Internships beget more internships and, sometimes, jobs. Stiles has worked at UNC-CH for more than a decade and has witnessed the rise of the internship as a way of life for college students. “Internships, or some type of experiential learning, is absolutely a necessity for undergrads these days,” Stiles said.
Annual doctor visits vital for health of teens and adolescents
News 14 Carolina
Teen health is front and center in today's Healthy Carolina report. Here to talk with News 14 Carolina anchor Claudine Chalfant today is Dr. Tamera Coyne-Beasley, director of UNC Adolescent Medicine Education and a member of the board of directors of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.
For Burmese refugees, festival provides mirror, escape from the past
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
No amount of prosperity or peace can keep Tin Lay Nwe from daydreaming of her home country. But no amount of her native music or food could lure her back. At least, not yet. So, for hundreds of Burmese refugees like Nwe, the soccer pitch off Old Mason Farm Road on Saturday served as a comfortable medium to celebrate the Burmese New Year. “We’re really homesick. All of us,” said Nwe, a Rangoon native who now works in the financial department for UNC-Chapel Hill. “This provides us with a sense of community.”
Dinner With Thorp: Community Leaders Dine With The Chancellor
WCHL-FM (Chapel Hill)
Out-going Chancellor Holden Thorp is welcoming Orange County leaders to his house for dinner Tuesday. Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton is going—he says it is goodbye dinner of sorts but also a time to just talk. …He says Thorp has been a committed community member during, and also before his time as chancellor. During his five years at the helm for Carolina, Chilton says Thorp has successfully built collaborative efforts between the university and local governments in the area.
Support rural charter schools (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
Public charter schools in rural North Carolina present an opportunity for more school choice options and economic development in the state’s 85 rural counties. Parental school choice gives parents the freedom to meet their children’s needs regardless of income or address. (Maggie Parker is working on her masters at UNC – Chapel Hill and is an intern with Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.)
Digging into NC districts, desperation easy to find (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Last year, almost famously, Rep. George Cleveland of Onslow County stated in a committee hearing that “there is no extreme poverty in North Carolina.” Cleveland challenged the U.S. Census Bureau’s findings of intense and growing poverty in our state. (Gene Nichol is Boyd Tinsley distinguished professor at the UNC School of Law and director of the school’s Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.)
Book review: ‘Turnaround’ by Peter Blair Henry
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Although few Americans realize it, the first 13 years of the 21st century have been boom times for much of the world. Indeed, it can be argued that with certain notable exceptions – the U.S., the European Union, and Japan come to mind – the period since 2000 has constituted the greatest period of economic dynamism the world has seen in the modern era. (Peter A. Coclanis is Albert R. Newsome Distinguished Professor of History and Director of the Global Research Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Issues and Trends
University of North Carolina Board of Governors seek new policies to make enrollment more military-friendly
The Fayetteville Observer
The UNC Board of Governors will vote on several policies next month that would improve access to college for active-duty service members and veterans. The proposed policies would streamline the process of transferring academic and work experience credits; address academic withdrawal and readmittance of those who are called to duty; and would give special consideration for admission and course work requirements.
States Raise College Budgets After Years of Deep Cuts
The Wall Street Journal
After cutting spending on public colleges and universities during the economic crisis, many state governments have begun to boost higher-education budgets once again. Lawmakers in Indiana recently approved a $500 million funding increase over two years for state colleges and universities, a 14.6% increase, following four years of cuts. …University of North Carolina President Tom Ross responded that the school's value to the state "should not be measured by jobs filled alone.
NC gun-rights group runs radio ads critical of UNC
The Associated Press
A gun-rights advocacy group is running radio commercials criticizing University of North Carolina system leaders for opposing a bill that would allow students and staff to bring a concealed pistol on campus. Grass Roots North Carolina said ads starting Tuesday in three markets urge listeners to call Senate leader Phil Berger to move ahead legislation that passed the House this month. A provision would allow legally concealed weapons to be stored in locked cars on public college campuses.