uncnews.unc.edu

International Coverage

Visiting birds (Column)
The Sunday Times (Manila)
My subject today is birds, the kind that come to the Philippines in the winter and return in the spring to their nesting grounds in Russia and China. ...Although magnetite has the obvious function of locking up excess iron, Kenneth Lohmann of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was bold enough to assert that “…it’s very hard to imagine that these crystals aren’t there for magnetic detection.”

National Coverage

Stretching 101
Real Simple
Muscles can ache for a variety of reasons (see below). But no matter what caused the pain, it’s important to stretch out and then strengthen the affected muscles to prevent the problem from happening again (and again). ...There are three common causes of muscle pain, according to Troy Blackburn, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the department of exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Regional Coverage

Stop praying, start reading
The Minnesota Daily (Minneapolis, Minn.)
While it seems to be a growing trend for religious enthusiasts to claim that secular, and even atheist, ideologies are hugging the public square, evangelicalism seems to have more than just outlived the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. ...Most Americans understand the central tenet of a separation of church and state, but a University of North Carolina study revealed few undergraduates can name the clauses that determine the extent of this separation (the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses), or even where it is found in the constitution (the First Amendment).

Immigration issue grows
The Baltimore Sun (Maryland)
For years, Maryland's Democrat-led General Assembly has sidestepped serious debates over illegal immigration, but with the issue at the forefront of the presidential race and in the minds of many voters, that might no longer be possible, legislative leaders acknowledge. ...Sen. Richard Madaleno, the bill's sponsor, cited a 2006 study completed by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill on the costs and benefits of Hispanic immigrants for North Carolina, which found that it had a $9 billion economic impact, far outweighing any costs to the state.

Grounded Globalism: How the U.S. South Embraces the World by James L. Peacock (Book Review)
The Tennessean (Nashville)
Is globalization stealing our jobs and homogenizing our culture? Or is it raising our income levels and bringing us a healthy diversity? University of North Carolina anthropology professor James Peacock looks for answers in Grounded Globalism, arguing that globalization is a process "moving toward worldwide connectivity."

State and Local Coverage

Overheard (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
'I don't even think Jim Hunt has that many friends.' - UNC President Erskine Bowles, congratulating UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser on the successful conclusion of a $2.38 billion fundraising campaign, which included donations from 193,000 people.

More Doctors (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
As North Carolina’s population grows at one of the nation’s fastest clips, it only makes sense that the state will need more doctors. Expansion plans for the medical schools at UNC Chapel Hill and East Carolina University, therefore, appear to be justified.

Dentists to help needy children
The Charlotte Observer
As part of the American Dental Association's Give Kids A Smile program, dentists and other volunteers in Catawba County will offer free educational materials, oral health screenings and free dental treatment to children in need through February. ...Other participating organizations include the N.C. Oral Health Section, the N.C. Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, Smart Start (N.C. Partnership for Children), the UNC School of Dentistry, N.C. Community Colleges, the N.C. Dental Assistants and cooperative sponsors Colgate-Palmolive and Henry Schein Dental.

Study focus is colleges, nurses
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The State Board of Community Colleges on Friday approved a contract for a major study to help identify the best ways for community colleges to respond to North Carolina's urgent shortage of nurses. The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC will conduct the study, which will focus on ideas to improve program retention and increase passing rates on licensing exams for students enrolled in associate degree nursing programs in the state Community College System.

What to do when your medicine is in the news (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
Everyone knows that high cholesterol levels are an important risk factor for heart disease, so it is not surprising that most of the patients I see take one or more drugs to treat their cholesterol levels. (Cam Patterson is chief of cardiology for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, UNC Hospitals, and the UNC Health Care System.)

Archeological findings bury English Only (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
I was watching the debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton with one of my high school soccer players when he turned to me and casually said, "I got sent out of my class today because I spoke Spanish." (Paul Cuadros is an award-winning investigative reporter and assistant professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.)

The new sustainability
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It wasn't that long ago that a sustainable business was one that simply turned a profit year after year. ...A recent Sustainable Enterprise Career Fair at UNC-Chapel Hill, for example, attracted 138 students and 26 companies. Three years ago, less than 50 students met with 20 companies.

Study: Law grads not work-ready
The Triangle Business Journal
Law schools need to do a better job of producing graduates ready to practice law when they enter the work force, according to a report with local ties that is generating national buzz. The study, called "Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law," was spearheaded by University of North Carolina law professor Judith Wegner, and it is prompting law schools to re-examine their curricula.

The upside of a downturn
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Gimme an R! Gimme an E! Gimme a C-E-S-S-I-O-N! What's that spell? ...A recession also works its Lourdes-like magic on businesses and the national economy. It forces companies that grew fat and happy during boom times to renounce their excesses and become leaner and more competitive, said John Kasarda, professor of entrepreneurship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill.

McCain's rise might provide boost for immigration change
The Winston-Salem Journal
Two years after Congress stopped an attempt to pass comprehensive immigration change, the tide may be shifting once again - this time in favor of giving illegal immigrants a path toward legal status, political observers say. ...A study done by the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill estimates that there about 600,000 Hispanics in North Carolina and that about 45 percent are in the United States illegally.

Years in prison -- but is he a killer?
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The thinking must have been, no sense beating around the bush. ...On one side, there was the irresistible force -- an eloquent, passionate plea for justice submitted by two UNC-Chapel Hill law professors and Lake, arguing that Hunt is serving life sentences for two murders actually committed by someone else.

UNC panel chooses summer reading
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Many students entering UNC-Chapel Hill this fall will be reading and discussing a book that challenges ideas about minority rights and social integration. A committee chose "Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights" by Kenji Yoshino as this year's selection in the annual summer reading program.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/students/covering-the-hidden-assault-on-our-civil-rights-is-
summer-reading-program-choice-for-2008.html

Chapel Hill makes room for clotheslines
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A Chapel Hill woman's attempt to save a little energy ran into some rules of neighborhood etiquette last fall. ...Richard Ducker, associate professor of public law and government at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government, agreed with the town's assessment.

In sound booth, lives become legacies
The Charlotte Observer
Let me tell you a story about stories. Angie Forde asked Dawoud Assad to describe the saddest day of his life. He told her about the time he visited his mother in a nursing home and she didn't recognize him. ..."If you think about how we think and how we process information, it's always in story form," says storyteller Brian Sturm, a professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

Movie adaptation planned for book
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A local professor's book about the May 1970 racially motivated murder of a black man in Oxford and the acquittal of the two accused white men is expected to be transferred to the big screen. The movie version of Tim Tyson's 2004 work, "Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story," will be directed by Jeb Stuart, better known in Hollywood for his 1993 theater adaptation of "The Fugitive" that starred Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Tyson, an instructor at Duke and UNC, is elated about the development and Stuart being in charge.

`Gem' reflects black experience
The Charlotte Observer
..."It's a whole lot of things," actor Karen Abercrombie says, reflecting on "Gem of the Ocean," the symbolic title of August Wilson's drama now at Actor's Theatre of Charlotte. ...Visiting director John Rogers Harris, of UNC Chapel Hill, has found the relationships in "Gem of the Ocean" as intriguing as Wilson's larger themes.

Issues and Trends

U.S. Universities Rush to Set Up Outposts Abroad
The New York Times
...The American system of higher education, long the envy of the world, is becoming an important export as more universities take their programs overseas. In a kind of educational gold rush, American universities are competing to set up outposts in countries with limited higher education opportunities.

Tuition, fees rise in UNC system
The Associated Press
Tuition and fees are increasing across the University of North Carolina system. The UNC Board of Governors on Friday approved an average tuition increase of 1.2 percent for in-state undergraduate students. The increase will take effect this fall.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/saturday/city_state/story/933790.html
http://www.citizentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080210/
NEWS01/80209064/1009/news01

N.C. universities remain a bargain (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Everyone wants good value for their dollar, and North Carolina's state universities provide it. UNC Chapel Hill is consistently recognized as one of the best bargains in the nation for higher education, particularly for in-state students.

Tilling the soil in towns
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
Community gardens cultivate more than just food. David Hamilton, a senior at UNC and a member of the student group Carolina Garden Co-Op, runs a community garden on the corner of Senlac Road and Battle Lane, behind Kenan dormitory.

Cone, Baptist make deal to share assets
The News & Record (Greensboro)
Greensboro's Moses Cone Health System and Winston-Salem's Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have announced a partnership they say will improve patient care and slow the growth of the facilities' costs. ...Both hospitals also have joint ventures in place with other health care providers, such as Moses Cone's three residency programs affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill's medical school.

Study: Most W & M faculty feel underpaid
The Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
An extensive survey of faculty at the College of William and Mary found 81 percent of those polled were "moderately" or "very" satisfied with their jobs, although a majority also reported they felt underpaid and lacked enough time to conduct research. ...In the past several years, university officials have raised salaries to put the school in the middle of its peer group, which includes the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.