Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:
International Coverage
Surgeon shortage linked to burst appendices
Reuters
Living in an area with few general surgeons may make people with appendicitis more likely to turn into ruptured appendix cases by the time they get to surgery, according to new research. "The study shows that access to surgical care, especially general surgical care, is important and low access can have real impacts that affect peoples' health," coauthor Thomas Ricketts of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told Reuters Health by email.
Women at Business School: Virginia Kay
Financial Times
Virginia Kay is a PhD student at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School in the US, where she is well-known for fostering and training service dogs for people who have disabling medical conditions such as quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis and diabetes. The dogs are then placed with owners by Eyes Ears Nose Paws, a non-profit organisation. In September, she will be joining the teaching staff at the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business.
National Coverage
Dads whose wives died of cancer turn to NC group
The Associated Press
…A group that organizers say may be the only one of its kind in the country helped him on his journey to that other side. Therapists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said they started Single Fathers Due to Cancer because they saw a need to help men struggling with their own grief and their children's grief. The group first met in October 2010 after therapists and doctors at the UNC Comprehensive Cancer Support Program realized several young mothers with poor prognoses were being treated there.
Why Partisans Can't Kick The Hypocrisy Habit
National Public Radio
…"Democrats support [military] interventions where Democratic presidents lead them," says James Stimson, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina. "Republicans support them when Republican presidents lead." This isn't just blind faith. Most people don't spend their time reading position papers, so they look to their party's leaders for cues.
Facebook Made Me Do It
The New York Times
… People, of course, have always found ways to manipulate media — whether print, television or digital — to get attention. But Zeynep Tufekci, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, says the vast amplification of the potential audience a single person can reach has raised the stakes for all online activity.
As States Limit Abortion, Future Doctors Fight for Training
The Chronicle of Higher Education
… The teaching of abortion is, of course, fraught with controversy. Many medical schools, with active Christian Medical & Dental Associations and other antiabortion groups, are careful about "not offending people," said Michelle Brown, a student at the University of North Carolina's School of Medicine, at the activism meeting. And state universities rely on legislatures to vote for, and governors to sign, financing measures for new buildings. An administrator, not wanting to offend antiabortion lawmakers, would be reluctant to "ask why students aren't afforded the opportunity to learn comprehensive reproductive health, including abortion," said Dr. Laube.
State and Local Coverage
Supreme Court ruling isn't a game-changer for start-ups that rely on gene technology
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that “naturally occurring” genes can’t be patented isn’t viewed as a game-changer for start-ups that rely on cutting-edge gene technology. Essentially, the possibility that the nation’s highest court might rule as it did already has been factored into the startup universe, said venture capitalist James Rosen of Durham’s Intersouth Partners. … GeneCentric Diagnostics, a tiny Durham startup founded in 2011 with technology licensed from the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UNC School of Medicine, is one gene-oriented company whose patent strategy hasn’t been altered by the Supreme Court ruling.
UNC Hospital gets top 100 award for leadership
Triangle Business Journal
University of North Carolina Hospital was awarded a top 100 ranking by Cleverley + Associates in its annual Community Value Index (CVI) Leadership Award. It was one of four North Carolina hospitals named to the list and the only one from the Triangle. According to Cleverley, the CVI was created to provide an assessment of a hospital’s performance in four areas: financial strength and reinvestment, cost of care, pricing, and quality of care.
Emergency Drill at Davis Library this Wednesday
WCHL-FM (Chapel Hill)
UNC-Chapel Hill will hold an emergency response drill Wednesday at Davis Library, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. During this time, the 7th and 8th floors of Davis Library will be closed and those on campus are encouraged to go to other campus libraries. The area surrounding Davis Library will be closed during this time, as is southern Raleigh St. Vehicles will be detoured down Country Club Road. Raleigh St. will be accessible as far south as the western entrance to the Cobb Deck.
UNC BOG policy could block opposite sex housing
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
When the UNC Board of Governors meets in August, it will consider a policy to prevent students of the opposite sex from sharing suites and apartments. The proposed policy received tentative approval from the board’s Committee on University Governance on Thursday and will be considered by the full board when it meets Aug. 9. If approved, the policy would strike down a gender non-specific housing pilot program scheduled to start at UNC Chapel Hill in the fall.
Political expediency shouldn’t trump student safety (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The UNC Board of Governors seems poised to abandon plans to give an alternative campus housing option to students at UNC Chapel Hill who might be subject to teasing and bullying. Why? Mostly, it seems, because of bullying from the General Assembly in Raleigh, which soon could decide to cut tens of millions of dollars from the UNC system budget over such activities that are deemed “frivolous.”
In mourning (Opinion)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
My wife and I are native Tar Heels, having grown up, between us, in 13 North Carolina towns, moving often with our Methodist minister fathers, mothers and siblings. Imagine our shock when, as we stood in Raleigh with hundreds of other native North Carolinians gathered in peaceful protest of the actions of our General Assembly, we learned that our governor was characterizing the protesters as “outsiders.” We are accustomed to better governors – and to politicians following their better angels. As a former UNC-CH chancellor, I served under two governors, Democrat Jim Hunt and Republican Jim Martin, and I could tell no significant difference in their caring for public and private education and for all North Carolinians, regardless of race, color or financial circumstances.
Familiar protesters (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
An “outsider”? This is a surprising accusation to someone who has raised a family in North Carolina and has been teaching North Carolina students for 20 years. When I looked around at the crowd at “Moral Monday,” I recognized neighbors, parents of my children’s friends, local school board members and clergy. All of us are North Carolinians who love this state. All of us passionately believe that legislation must benefit all North Carolinians, not just the wealthy. And all of us speak for those who cannot make the trip to Raleigh – every resident who attends or has a child in the public schools, community colleges or UNC-system schools; all the North Carolinians who would be forced to pay regressive taxes on groceries and prescription drugs; and all people in need of access to health care and jobless benefits.
UNC leader bashes budget
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC President Tom Ross weighed in Friday on the House budget that passed last week, saying it has “sobering implications” for the university campuses. “Across the country, state leaders from both parties are making strategic investments in their public universities,” Ross told the UNC Board of Governors. “They understand that talent is the most valuable commodity in today’s economic competition, and they’re gearing up to compete.”
Ross asks to see Nyang'oro, Crowder emails with UNC athletic counselors
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC President Tom Ross said Friday he wants to review the email correspondence that shows a cozy relationship between the tutoring program for athletes at UNC-Chapel Hill and the former department chairman who was involved in creating dozens of bogus classes that helped keep them eligible to play sports.
UNC’s reputation tarnished (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Now that the claim that the scandal at the University of North Carolina was solely an academic one has been debunked, can we expect to see the university spend a half million more on public relations? I wonder that the school cannot think of a more productive way to use hundreds of thousands of dollars. I keep puzzling as to what the point the expensive public relations advice is. The academic part would appear to be easy to fix.
Thursday storm killed UNC student
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The storm that swept through Durham on Thursday also hit Chapel Hill, taking down power lines and trees, and claiming the life of a UNC-Chapel Hill senior. Twenty-year-old Xuezhou Nan, of Cary, died after sustaining injuries from a falling tree, according to an email from UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp. Nan, who went by the name Julia, was pinned under a fallen tree near a sorority house on the 300 block of East Franklin Street.
Related Links: http://myfox8.com/2013/06/14/chapel-hill-death-blamed-on-thursday-storms/
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/14/2961062/storms-likely-to-replace-soaring.html
Issues and Trends
UNC needs to be aggressive during budget talks
Triangle Business Journal
Fred Eshelman, who founded PPD Inc., one of the largest pharma services companies in North Carolina and a current member of the UNC board of governors, wants the university system to take a more offensive role in the state’s budget talks, particularly as it relates to funding. The Board of Governors is the body that oversees the 17-institution University of North Carolina System, and Eshelman says he thinks the university leaders are being too passive.
McCrory signs law compelling UNC System to follow own policy
Triangle Business Journal
Apparently, lawmakers and university officials disagree on how well university leaders adhere to their own policies. This week, Gov. Pat McCrory signed into law a mandate for the UNC System to do something it says it is already doing. Specifically, the law (House Bill 903) deals with an agreement to allow students from the N.C. Community Colleges to transfer various credits toward degrees from an institution in the University of North Carolina System. The colleges and universities call this their “articulation agreement.”
McCrory cheers on UNC energy savings
The Associated Press
Gov. Pat McCrory is praising a University of North Carolina system energy efficiency initiative estimated to save $25 million. McCrory said Friday in a statement that the UNC Board of Governors will save $25 million in taxpayer money over seven years through the installation of energy-efficient lighting fixtures and other efforts.
Time to talk about the cap
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The UNC system has again raised the specter of lifting the 18 percent out-of-state student enrollment cap. The reasons outlined for lifting the cap in a report made to the UNC Board of Governors on Thursday include attracting the very best students and advancing economic development. A telling statistic that emerged from the report is that almost half of out-of-state students who attend UNC schools remain in the state after graduating.