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August 12, 2013

Carolina in the News

Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:

National Coverage

Risk of Adult Anxiety Seen in Children’s Stomachaches
The New York Times

Children with chronic stomach pains are at high risk for anxiety disorders in adolescence and young adulthood, a new study has found …But Miranda van Tilburg, an associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, cautioned parents against leaping to the conclusion that a child’s unexplained stomach pain is “all anxiety based, because we don’t know that.”

Contested Memories Find Common Ground In 'The Storied South'
National Public Radio

For four decades, William Ferris tracked down some of the most inspirational artists and historians of the American South. He sat down with Eudora Welty, Alice Walker, Pete Seeger, Bobby Rush and Alex Haley, capturing their reflections on tape and their images on camera.

U. of North Carolina Reverses Gender-Neutral Housing Policy
The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina has decided to  ban the system’s campuses from offering housing in which students of the opposite sex could live in the same suites or apartments, according to the News & Observer. The policy, which had been supported by the trustees of the Chapel Hill campus and by former UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp…

UNC, Duke Student Governments Denounce North Carolina Voter ID Bill
The Huffington Post

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University are normally bitter rivals, but their student governments put aside their differences this week to issue a joint statement denouncing the state's recently passed voter ID bill.

Regional Coverage

BRACK: Now is not the time to turn to North Carolina (Column)
Morning News Online (Florence, SC)

It took North Carolina just one legislative session to do the kind of damage to state government that it took South Carolina lawmakers about 20 years to achieve. … "Overall, this is still a purple state in the sense that the general electorate is very narrowly divided," said Guillory, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

State and Local Coverage

Doing good for others brings happy side effects (Opinion-Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The Bible is right. And so is Charlie Brown. A study from scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill and UCLA shows that we’re better off, in terms of our own health and happiness, doing things for other people than we are from doing things for ourselves. It’s all about the types of cells happiness produces in our immune systems. Now, a massage (or even a really good piece of pizza) can give us that warm feeling of satisfaction. But the cells produced cells in the immune system that responded as if they were under stress.

Duke, UNC students speak out against N.C. voting legislation
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Duke University and UNC students are pushing aside the college rivalry this fall to take a stand against the North Carolina voting legislation changes awaiting Gov. Pat McCrory’s signature. …Ferrel Guillory, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor of the practice of journalism and political commentator on Southern voters, said since he arrived at UNC in 1997, there has been an “expanding sense of the potency of the vote.”

A much-deserved honor (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Back in 1997 when ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon was then working for The Washington Post, he had the occasion to write about UNC men’s basketball coach Dean Smith’s decision to exit from the world of coaching. … And most famously, he brought diversity to UNC and Chapel Hill. Smith attended Binkley Baptist in Chapel Hill, a church that champions civil rights causes. Now retired, Robert Seymour served as Smith’s pastor for decades. Seymour, Smith and a black student at UNC integrated The Pines, one of Chapel Hill’s premier restaurants in its day.

David Shannon’s family finds comfort, 9 months after UNC freshman’s death
The Charlotte Observer

Pieces of David Shannon’s life are scattered among friends – T-shirts, bow ties, mementos from his dorm room. The keepsakes are part of his family’s hope to keep David’s memory alive. Nine months after he fell to his death at a concrete plant in Carrboro, his parents and older brother still struggle with grief. This time last year, they were helping David move from Charlotte into college for the first time, at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Related Link: http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Family-finds-comfort-months-after-UNC-students-death-219233311.html

UNC arthritis fund
WCHL-FM (Chapel Hill)

Our local university will be performing new studies into osteoarthritis, as the National Institute of Health is giving UNC a $5.6 million dollar grant to build the multidisciplinary clinical research center.
With arthritis being the number one cause of disability among the elderly, the center will study the causes of arthritis, as well as study osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and others.
UNC Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/6158/71/

Rental tied to UNC player gets 12 parking tickets
Associated Press

A rental car driven by suspended North Carolina basketball player P.J. Hairston also had a dozen campus parking citations over a two-month period, according to records released by the university Friday.

Issues and Trends

UNC takes much needed tuition 'pause' (Opinion-Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina’s university leaders have long boasted that the state’s public higher education system is a bargain, and indeed it’s so rated in various national surveys. But those who dismiss objections to tuition hikes with the “it’s still a bargain” argument sometimes fail to recognize that the constitutional mandate that a UNC system education be “as close to free as practicable” isn’t just about money. It’s about the state’s commitment to future generations and about the return on investment the state gets by providing education to all.

By the numbers: UNC system's budget cuts
Triangle Business Journal

North Carolina’s university leaders divvied up budget cuts handed down from the state’s taxpayers, putting real numbers in front of chancellors for the first time. … UNC-Chapel Hill will see a net reduction of $14 million.
Related Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/blog/2013/08/chart-progressive-cuts-made-to-uncs.html

Students ill-served by new policy (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

On Friday, we learned that what the latest iteration of the UNC Board of Governors lacks in courage, it makes up for in callous pragmatism. The board – albeit with quite a few different members – last year approved a forward-thinking pilot program for gender-neutral housing that would have given homosexual students the option of sharing on-campus suites with someone of the opposite sex.

UNC board bans ‘gender-neutral’ housing on campuses
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The governing board of the UNC system voted unanimously Friday to ban campuses from letting students of opposite genders live in the same dorm suites or apartments. The decision reverses a housing policy that was unanimously endorsed by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees last year, and it comes just days before the plan was to take effect on the Chapel Hill campus.
Related Links: http://www.wral.com/unc-system-leaders-vote-to-ban-gender-neutral-housing/12758320/
http://www.heraldsun.com/news/showcase/x135061596/BOG-policy-prohibits-gender-neutral-housing
http://wunc.org/post/unc-governors-board-says-no-gender-neutral-housing

Student creates app to help peers find scholarships
USA Today

Slow economic recovery is lessening some parents' ability to pay for college out-of-pocket — and more households are becoming reliant upon scholarships to finance their child's post-secondary education. Thirty-nine percent of families used scholarship funds to pay for college during the 2012-13 academic year, based on data from a recent Sallie Mae study — and now there's an app to make finding them easier: Scholly, released in May.

Quiet No Longer, Rape Survivors Put Pressure on Colleges
The Chronicle of Higher Education

In February, writing on her blog, Tucker Reed identified a classmate at the University of Southern California as the man who raped her. Ms. Reed, then a junior, included his name, three photos of him, and a detailed account of their troubled relationship. The post went viral.
Related Links: http://chronicle.com/article/ActivismFederal-Action-on/141053/
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/09/accused-rape-men-allege-discrimination-under-title-ix

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