Carolina in the News Carolina in the News: Monday, August 4, 2008
| Carolina in the News: Monday, August 4, 2008 |
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| Monday, August 04, 2008 | |
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Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media: National Coverage Olympics ads pushing global, unified themes Associated Press Some ads preach unity and togetherness. Some celebrate the spirit of athleticism. For many advertisers this year, their Olympic spots in the U.S. are more about humanity and athletes and less about national pride. ... The big question for U.S. advertisers is how do they acknowledge China in their domestic advertisements, or do they bother at all, said John Sweeney, an advertising professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Nanosilver use prompts worries of resistant bacteria The Los Angeles Times Could the use of nanosilver products create another problem for medicine -- strains of bacteria that are resistant to silver? Although silver is not used to treat disease, it is used in hospital settings to speed wound-healing, prevent eye infections in newborns and as a coating for catheters, where it can cut infection rates. ... But Dr. David Weber, an infectious disease and public health expert at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, isn't convinced that silver resistance will prove much of a problem. Related Link: http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-he-nanomed4-2008aug04,0,6412170.story Regional Coverage 'Huge problem in the city' Chicago Sun-Times Here's a sobering fact to consider when you're out for a walk -- on average, 71 pedestrians are killed and 930 are seriously injured every year in Chicago. ... The worst intersection in Chicago for pedestrian accidents is King Drive and 79th Street, according to a study by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. A new generation is discovering civic service clubs Times Daily (Florence, Ala.) Tyler Martin, a 23-year-old professional with a high-tech job in computers, has one part of his life that may seem retro to many: He's a member of the Civitan Club, one of the dozens of civic service clubs throughout the nation. ... Our general ability to choose more specifically who we socialize with has also affected civic clubs, said Andrew Perrin, a sociologist at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "If I'm a kid growing up in a small town in 1949 and I don't particularly like the people around me, there's not a whole lot I can do about it. I have to socialize with them because that's the way the society is set up," Perrin said. State and Local Coverage Scholars get the Olympic call The News & Observer (Raleigh) ... For some faculty members, the Olympic work is already done as Friday's opening ceremonies approach. Noel Greis, director of the Center for Logistics and Digital Strategy at UNC-Chapel Hill, began organizing conferences with Chinese officials almost four year ago to discuss the gigantic task of making sure millions of spectators, 10,000 athletes, 70,000 volunteers and countless other details flow together across 302 events. UNC-CH and Tsinghua University then hosted a second conference in 2006 on crisis management at the games, joined by Shu-Cherng Fang, a NCSU professor of industrial engineering. Medical bills pinch elderly The News & Observer (Raleigh) Jake Smith, a man who's good for what he owes, sold his paid-off home of 33 years recently to settle about $15,000 in medical debt that wasn't covered by Medicare. ... "This is a very real issue, and as health-care costs rise, it will only get worse," said Jon Oberlander, a professor of health policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Medicare has never covered all of beneficiaries' health-care costs; and with the premiums and cost-sharing, the bill can add up." Politics might be influencing lab debate The Herald-Sun (Durham) Election year politics are influencing the debate over whether a sophisticated germ-fighting laboratory that would employ up to 200 scientists and hundreds of ancillary employees should be built in Granville County, a leading proponent of the lab says. ... At that same March editorial board meeting, lab proponent William Roper, CEO of UNC Health Care System and dean of the UNC School of Medicine, said his previous work as director of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta makes him confident that a lab at Butner would be extraordinarily safe. He noted that the CDC labs study some of the most deadly viruses and bacteria known to man, including such killers as the Ebola virus. Yet the labs are on the Emory University campus in a densely populated city. Roper noted that he kept his son at a day care center across the street from his lab. Related Link: http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/columnists/guests_ch/110-976552.cfm Jim Dean, UNC-Chapel Hill Triangle Business Journal Jim Dean, incoming dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business, smiles as he recalls one of the questions that came his way from the search committee appointed to interview candidates for the post. One committee member wanted to know whether Dean – if suddenly thrown into the role of UNC basketball Coach Roy Williams last April – would have called a timeout. UNC News Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/business/ dean-appointed-dean-of-uncs-kenan-flagler-business-school.html Triangle colleges hope 'green' look attracts students The News & Observer (Raleigh) ...In The Princeton Review's rankings, Duke, N.C. State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill all scored 90 or higher out of a possible 99 -- placing them in the top fifth of more than 500 colleges and universities ranked. Sweaty trek to honor UNC history News 14 Carolina (Raleigh/Greensboro/Charlotte) Two UNC Chapel Hill graduates braved the heat Saturday to begin a journey celebrating part of the school's history. Bryan Jones and Nicholas Becketti started walking in Wrightsville beach Saturday morning, and they said they won’t stop until they get to Chapel Hill, about 160 miles away. The purpose of the walk is to honor Hinton James, who walked from Wilmington to Chapel Hill back in 1795 and became the school's first student. Jones and Becketti say the trip so far hasn’t been easy. Community Milestones The Winston-Salem Journal Scott Wilkins of Winston-Salem, a student at UNC Chapel Hill, bicycled from Nags Head to San Diego this summer with Bike and Build, a nonprofit project through which college students bike across the country to raise awareness for affordable housing and provide volunteer work and monetary donations. Bike and Build has donated more than $1,144,000 to affordable housing causes. The students bicycled from 31 to 124 miles each day. During their ride, they stopped for 10 days in various places to help build affordable homes. At Wilson Library, a marriage of visual and literary art The Herald-Sun (Durham) n the heart of Mexico, books and art are bound together under the leadership of, would you believe, Durham native Ambar Past. Elsewhere, in little known places, people are artistically recording all sorts of literature in a similar style. ... Although many are crudely sewn, folded and glued, they are a beautiful and unique addition to the Wilson and Sloane Art Libraries at UNC Chapel Hill. Abril defense seeks to bar testimony The Times-News (Hendersonville) Attorneys for Polk County Sheriff Chris Abril, who will stand trial next week for the alleged rape of two underage girls in the 1980s, have asked the judge to bar expert testimony from a state witness. ... Dr. Mark D. Everson, director of the Program on Childhood Trauma and Maltreatment at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, was asked to “provide an opinion as to why the sexual offenses allegedly committed by Mr. Abril against W.G. and M.W. as pre-adolescent/early adolescent girls may have had substantially different impact on their psychological development and subsequent life course.” Honorable mentions The Herald-Sun (Durham) ...UNC School of Medicine researcher Jonathan Serody has received an $800,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the treatment and prevention of graft versus host disease. Honorable mentions The Herald-Sun (Durham) Ian Davis, a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been selected as one of seven national 2008 Rita Allen Foundation Scholars. The three-year, $150,000 grant will support his research into childhood cancer. How to close the black male achievement gap (Opinion-Editorial Column) The News and Record (Greensboro) Two weeks ago in this space I addressed the misinformation that too often steers debate on the achievement gap. As a consequence of flawed analyses from public school insiders and defenders, the Guilford County Board of Education is chasing its tail - running full speed and going nowhere. ... North Carolina's schools of education, like most in the nation, dedicate far more time and effort to amateur psychology and issues of social justice than they devote to academics. A recent study from The Pope Center in Raleigh illustrates that this flawed philosophy dominates at UNC-Chapel Hill, UNCG, UNC-Wilmington, Appalachian State, N.C. A&T and elsewhere. Issues and Trends UNC System, community colleges add health-care degrees Triangle Business Journal Launching new degree programs is often tied to the state of the economy, and these days, the health care sector is seeing increased interest among Triangle educators charged with making those decisions, partly as a response to growing job opportunities within the industry. At the University of North Carolina System, which comprises 16 campuses, new degrees are studied based on a number of factors: Whether there is a pool of students interested in the program; how many additional faculty members would be needed for the program; and if the degree is in an area where employment opportunities are high. New Rules, More Scrutiny for Colleges and Their Lobbyists The Chronicle of Higher Education New federal ethics rules are creating headaches for colleges — and heartburn for their lobbyists. ... At the University of North Carolina system, Kimrey Rhinehardt, vice president for federal relations, says the university has held several training sessions for federal-relations staff members and is about to institute a policy governing interactions with members of Congress. Town considering police review board The Chapel Hill News The Chapel Hill Town Council is currently considering a petition asking them to create a Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB). ... The petition suggests that the CPRB be composed of a former mayor, a former District Court judge, a former Town Council member and representatives from NAACP, the Hispanic community, the Ministerial Alliance and the UNC student government. Establishment of a CPRB by Chapel Hill could serve as a model for other North Carolina communities, an appropriate role for the university community. |