uncnews.unc.edu

International Coverage

Study: Sleeping More Can Cause More Risks Of Stroke In Women
Top News (India)
Sleep is a very important for healthy life. The inadequacy of sleep creates problems for the women. The new research done at the University of North Carolina showed that the women having improper sleeping hours have more risk of getting a stroke.
Related Link:
http://www.themedguru.com/articles/sleeping_beauties_mind_your_
sleeping_hours-8616455.html

A healthy cross-fertilisation of ideas
Financial Times (United Kingdom)
...As government agencies outsource more of their services to external contractors, civil servants and politicians are spending more time in the company of business people and non-profit professionals. ...Dawn Morrow recently graduated with an MBA/MHA (master of healthcare administration) jointly run by University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and the School of Public Health. Ms Morrow, who is now an internal consultant for a US federal agency, believes what she learnt on the MBA programme will be highly relevant to her public sector job.

National Coverage

Bacteriophage vs Antibiotic Resistance
"The People's Pharmacy" National Public Radio
The problem of antibiotic resistance is increasing. Superbugs like MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph aureus) are becoming harder and harder to treat as they evolve resistance to the most powerful antibiotics used against them. ...David Weber, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Schools of Medicine and Public Health. He’s also associate chief of staff and medical director of infection control at UNC Health Care.

Doctors burn off precancers caused by Barrett's esophagus
USA Today
Today, doctors can prevent cervical and colon tumors by removing precancerous growths. ...More advanced precancers are more dangerous; about five in 100 patients develop cancer each year, says Nicholas Shaheen, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina Schools of Medicine and Public Health.

Clinton targets cost of malaria meds
"Marketplace" American Public Media
Anti-malarial drugs can be so expensive that people with the disease go untreated. Former President Bill Clinton's foundation has struck a deal that would limit the cost of the drugs. Janet Babin reports. ...Steve Meshnick at the University of North Carolina says that'll make the drugs cheaper.

Magnetic sense linked to molecule
Science News
Scientists have identified a molecule that fruit flies need to sense magnetic fields. ...Understanding how animals sense magnetic fields is one of great remaining mysteries of sensory biology, notes Kenneth Lohmann, a neurobiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The New Green Focus for Future MBAs
GreenBiz.com
...In a few short years, eco-friendly practices have gone from being new-fangled selling points to becoming essential requirements, with states vying with each other to offer incentives and legislation that promote green technology and business. ...Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is one of the top ranked schools in terms of course content, according to the Grey Pinstripes survey...

Regional Coverage

"Talk @ 12"
Iowa Public Radio
Tom Daniels, director of Faith, Hope and Charity in Storm Lake, Iowa, and Susan Parish, social work professor at the University of North Carolina, discuss the difficulties faced by families with special needs children.
Note: Talk@12 is a news program that offers a mix of regular guests and newsmakers.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-study-out-of-pocket-health-
care-costs-for-disabled-children-vary-widely-by-state.html

Researchers Link Obesity, Exhaustion
The Post-Chronicle (Denville N.J.)
Pure exhaustion could be tagged as another contributor to obesity, British and U.S. researchers said. ...In other words, you have those feelings, those feelings lead to weight gain and that weight gain leads to cardiac events, says co-author June Stevens, Nutrition Department chairwoman in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

State and Local Coverage

Meet Jan Boxill
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
Jan Boxill grew up playing football with her 11 siblings at a time when girls weren’t even allowed to march in the band because it was too strenuous. She went on to help found her college basketball team, and later became a college coach. For more than 20 years Jan served as the Public Address Announcer for Women’s Basketball at UNC and was even an announcer at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Today, as Senior Lecturer and Director of the Parr Center for Ethics at UNC-Chapel Hill, she writes extensively on sports ethics, gender equity and the moral significance of sports. Jan joins host Frank Stasio to talk philosophy, the Olympics and her penchant for breaking barriers.
Note: "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays.

State Broadcast Note

Today's edition of "North Carolina Now" on WUNC-TV will air a sit down with University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Joe DeSimone, Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of chemistry and winner of the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Prize for innovations in polymer chemistry, on Monday, July 21, at 7:30 p.m. DeSimone is the featured "Newsmaker" guest during tonight's edition of "North Carolina Now," a statewide public affairs program.
For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.unctv.org/ncnow/

Cheers -- if you're a mouse
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Go ahead and take another swig, because refraining from moderate drinking could be a downer for your mental health. According to a new study at UNC-Chapel Hill, mice that were forced to abstain after a month of moderate drinking developed depression a few weeks into teetotalism. ..."Moderate drinking has a lot of definitions, but in this case what it meant is that the mice did not appear dependent," said Clyde Hodge, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology in the UNC School of Medicine and senior author of the study.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-study-ties-ending-
moderate-drinking-to-depression.html

Race may play role in health care experience
The News & Record (Greensboro)
Comparing the way people of different races and incomes get prescriptions may sound like an obscure bit of research. ..."Our physicians are doing their best to provide quality care to an increasingly diverse population, under tight time and resource constraints, in an increasingly complex health care environment," said Deborah Young , clinical coordinator with the UNC-Chapel Hill Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute .

Sludge to be studied for health concerns
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It happens. Tons of it, accumulating with every toilet flush. ...But industrial society -- and its waste -- is different, says Steve Wing, an epidemiologist at UNC-Chapel Hill. "A lot of waste, the human waste, is mixed with chemical waste," said Wing. "There are metals. There are bacteria and viruses and parasites. There are other types of chemicals that are used in industrial processes."

No vacation from alert driving
The Daily Reflector (Greenville)
Drivers on Pitt County highways are experiencing those familiar summer encounters of the slow kind with farm tractors, combines and other heavy, wide and bulky motorized vehicles in their lanes. ...Accidents involving farm vehicles such as tractors are rare in North Carolina, and even rarer in Pitt County, according to experts at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center in Chapel Hill.

Precedent could be set with ruling on easement
The Sun Journal (New Bern)
One way or another, the handling of a controversial Trent River easement that is held by a New Bern hotel could set a precedent in North Carolina law. ...The state's expert on riparian rights, Joseph Kalo, says (C. Gordon) Brown is misinterpreting the case that is the foundation of North Carolina laws that govern public waters. ...Kalo is the co-director of the North Carolina Center for Coastal Policy and a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Denial of parking permits prompts review
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A policy that bans cars with scratched paint from a low-rent apartment complex might not stand up to a legal challenge, some experts said. ...Chuck Szypszak, who teaches real estate law at the UNC School of Government, said a judge might find the conspicuous damage rule to be reasonable, but he would interpret it much more narrowly.

Business owner says illegal immigration costing local jobs
The Salisbury Post
Ron Wetzler has had enough. The owner of Olympic Drywall and Texturing in Rowan County says he's losing out on jobs awarded instead to subcontractors who employ illegal immigrants, mostly Mexicans. ...Mai Thi Nguyen, an assistant UNC-Chapel Hill professor and a GlaxoSmithKline faculty fellow with the Institute of Emerging Issues, said in a May report that illegals migrate to areas with labor shortages, thereby filling jobs that are open and not displacing American workers.

E-Verify service draws praise and criticism
The Salisbury Post
Ron Woodard sometimes advises people who suspect an employer is using illegal immigrants to call the Internal Revenue Service. ...Mai Thi Nguyen, an assistant professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote in a May report that with recent workplace raids for undocumented workers and the emerging threat of lawsuits, employers in North Carolina are aware of the consequences for hiring undocumented workers.

Scientists take part in Carolina Vegetation Survey
The Daily Reflector (Greenville)
Climate and environmental changes over time can impact the growth patterns of vegetation in Pitt County, as in all areas of the state. ...The team included, from left, Nick Adams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tom Wentworth of North Carolina State University, David Knowles of East Carolina University and Ashley Tuggle of Franklin College in Switzerland.

Campers collect used shoes
The Chapel Hill Herald
Wanted: Used athletic shoes. No strings attached. Children ages 6-12 at this summer's Carolina Kids Camp have taken on a challenge to help the environment at the possible discomfort of their noses: collecting used athletic shoes for recycling. The UNC day camp serves children of students, staff and faculty of the University and UNC HealthCare in eight weeklong sessions this summer, lasting through Aug. 8 and each attended by 125-130 campers.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/carolina-kids
-seeking-shoes-to-recycle.html

N.C. history awash in liquor
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
When it comes to booze, North Carolina's history conjures images of spirited temperance rallies, revenue agents smashing mountain stills, and politicians and preachers condemning the "drink demon." Turns out, that history of an ever-dry state is all wet. As documented by the new exhibit at UNC-Chapel's Wilson Library, "Satan in a Bottle," for much of its history, North Carolina was one of the nation's top producers -- and consumers -- of wine and spirits.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/humanities-and-social-sciences/alcohol-
in-n.c.-is-exhibit-topic.html

Unhealthy medicine (Book Review)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
This book begins at the end. The end being your death at about age 85. No matter what you do, no matter how many miles you jog or how many vitamins you take or how many doctors you consult, one day the grim reaper will knock on your door. The question "Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America" aims to answer is how to get to your four score and five. Surprisingly, it argues against relying on many of the accepted practices of modern American medicine. The author of this iconoclastic tract, Nortin Hadler, is a medical professor and practicing rheumatologist at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Express bus service proposed for area
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
To make up for the loss of one popular bus route, the Chapel Hill Transit system is likely to add an express service from downtown Chapel Hill and the UNC campus to the Erwin and Sage roads area in northeast Chapel Hill, off U.S. 15-501. The lost bus is the BCX, a park-and-ride route that runs from the Chapel Hill Bible Church near the intersection of Erwin and Sage roads to downtown and the UNC campus and hospital areas. The route is paid for by UNC.

Issues and Trends

Legislators show stamina
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...The 16-campus UNC system received the go-ahead for $401 million in borrowing for construction projects that will be backed by user fees, ticket sales and private donations. High on the list of projects were sports facilities -- a $50 million expansion at Kenan Stadium and $9.5 million for Carmichael Auditorium at UNC-Chapel Hill, $24 million for Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium at East Carolina University and $8.3 million for Kidd Brewer Stadium at Appalachian State.

State fire protection fund stays at $5.4M
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Chapel Hill Fire Department will not get the extra state funding the agency says it should receive for providing fire protection to state-owned buildings. ...While service to the university will not be interrupted, the cost of fire protection of state-owned properties will continue to be borne by the town of Chapel Hill, as it will in other communities around the state, according to (Department Fire Chief Dan) Jones.

UNC staff back Bowles (Letter to the Editor)
The Triangle Business Journal
This is in response to the June 6, 2008 Biz item "Bowles retreats on UNC System HR push." The article is in need for clarification of a misstatement. I am chair of the University of North Carolina Staff Assembly, a body comprised of elected representatives of the staff organizations on each campus of the UNC system. (J.C. Boykin, Staff Assembly Chair, University of North Carolina Staff Assembly)