uncnews.unc.edu

International Coverage

Boffins design fat-busting video games
vnunet.com (United Kingdom)
US researchers are exploring how interactive digital games could be better designed to improve players' health. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health has received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to carry out the study. "Research shows that young adults play video games as much as, or in some cases more than, children," said Deborah Tate, assistant professor in Chapel Hill School's Department of Health Behaviour.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-health-researchers-explore-
how-to-take-interactive-video-games-to-the-next-leve.html

Whose city? (Book Review)
The Jerusalem Post (Israel)
My personal collection of books about Jerusalem comprises 116 titles. This is a small portion of the many books that deal with the Holy City, or, what the subtitle of this latest addition calls the "City of Longing." (Morton I. Teicher is the founding dean of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University and dean emeritus, School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)

National Coverage

Kennedy at Duke for surgery on brain tumor
The Associated Press
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was at Duke University Medical Center on Monday for a risky six-hour surgery for his cancerous brain tumor, and faces chemotherapy and radiation treatment following the procedure. ..."Almost no malignant gliomas are cured by surgery, but many of us believe that the more you get out, the next treatments, whether they be radiation or chemotherapy, have a better chance of working because there's less tumor there to fight," said Dr. Matthew Ewend, neurosurgery chief at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Related Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Kennedy-Doctor.
html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22university+of+north+carolina%22&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Kennedy's brain surgery is risky, doctors say
The Associated Press
Targeted brain surgery like that chosen for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is a delicate balance -- removing as much tumor as possible improves cancer control, but there's also the risk of harming healthy brain tissue that lets patients walk and talk. ...The tumor usually is not on the surface, so surgeons must choose a path through the brain to get to it, said Dr. Matthew Ewend, neurosurgery chief at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Healing Damaged Brains
Ivanhoe Newswire
There is new hope on the horizon for millions of people who suffer from brain injuries. New research from scientists in the Carolina Resuscitation Research Group at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine focused on newly born neuronal stem cells. They could play a major role in treating brain injuries if scientists could learn how to harness their formation.
Note: Ivanhoe has a syndicated television series and its reports are broadcast in 250 markets reaching 80 million U.S. households.

Regional Coverage

Businesses to face boomer challenge
The Republican (Springfield, Mass.)
America's "graying" and "browning" population driven by aging baby-boomers and a growing population of immigrants means that companies will have to look farther and try harder to attract qualified workers in the future, a demographer said. "At the end of the day the question is, 'Who is going to take care of you when you get old?'" said James H. Johnson Jr., a demographer and professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, yesterday at the seventh annual state-of-the-region conference in the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

After the unthinkable: Coping with untimely deaths
The Jackson Sun (Tennessee)
For most people, life follows an orderly pattern that ends, after a number of years, in death. ...The frustration of not understanding unthinkable pain can be enough to derail even the devout. Among the more noted is Bart Ehrman, who teaches religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Columbus' sewage treatment gets greener
The Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.)
Anyone eating something hard to digest should understand "plug flow," in which the material being digested passes through the system in a single mass. ...The science behind the process was tested in laboratories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The methane-powered engines were improved to run more efficiently on the digestive gases collected in the plug reactor.

Payday lenders unnecessary (Letter to the Editor)
The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
Tim Miller bemoans the Salt Lake County Council's decision to cap the number of payday lenders in the unincorporated parts of the county ("Paean to payday lenders," Forum, May 26) ...A better indication of the impact of banning payday lenders is found in a study by the University of North Carolina a year after that state's ban went into effect. That study, released by the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks and based of interviews with 400 low- and middle-income citizens, indicates that three-quarters of them were unaffected by the ban, and for those who were affected, two-thirds reported that the ban had a positive impact on their lives. (Arthur Sutherland, Sandy)

Fighting potential health horrors
The Indian Country Today (Canastota, N.Y.)
In a commencement address at Marty Indian School's high school graduation May 16, Gary Drapeau, Ihanktowan Dakota and a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe's elected leadership, praised the graduating class. ...Research by Steve Wing and Suzanne Wolf, epidemiologists at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, supports Olive's assessment. Corporate-owned farms tend to site their operations in poor and non-white communities, which are taking the brunt of CAFO-related health risks, the scientists found.

Staying active can alleviate pain for arthritis sufferers
McClatchy Newspapers
Exercise might seem like the worst thing for stiff, aching joints. But it may be just what people with arthritis need. Completing an eight-week program specially designed for people with arthritis improved range-of-motion and reduced pain and fatigue, according to a study of 346 patients conducted by the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

REGION: Cell phone law to debut soon
The North County Times (Temecula, Calif.)
Time is running out. Area residents have one month to buy headsets if they want to carry on telephone conversations, legally, while driving their cars. ...However, earlier this year, Arthur Goodwin, a researcher at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, challenged conventional thinking on the matter. He reported that accident data from Canada and Australia indicated hands-free talking is no safer than talking with one hand on the phone.

State and Local Coverage

North Carolina People with William Friday
UNC-TV
James Moeser, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was Bill Friday's guest this weekend on "North Carolina People with William Friday." The two discussed Moeser's eight years leading the university and his plans for the future.
Note: The program airs on the stations of UNC-TV, Fridays at 9 p.m., with a rebroadcast at 5:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Getting it right with college admissions (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...After reading every application at least twice, and most of them three or more times, we know we've tried our best to get things right. But we also know that it's not easy to predict what a student might do and become, how she might change and grow, over the course of the next four years. (Steve Farmer is assistant provost and director of admissions of UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Making Science Work for Patients
"WUNC News" WUNC-FM
Officials from UNC Chapel Hill say they're ready to take their medical discoveries from the lab and get them into clinic. They'll get assistance from a 61 million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health that they announced yesterday. Doctor Paul Watkins will lead the effort, aimed at 'translating' science into practice. He says UNC researchers will be asking people in North Carolina to set research priorities.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/new-federally-funded-health
-initiative-to-speed-benefits-of-science-to-north-carolinians.html

UNC-CH, USC researchers win grants to explore how video games can promote healthy behavior
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of South Carolina Research Foundation will explore how video games can motivate healthy behavior through grants provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The New Jersey-based group awarded grants totaling some $2 million to 12 teams. The grants can be worth as much as $200,000. The UNC-CH School of Public Health team will investigate how games can motivate players ages 18 to 35 to expend energy.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-health-researchers-
explore-how-to-take-interactive-video-games-to-the-next-leve.html

Study: Child care centers fall short on nutritious meals
The Chapel Hill Herald
Young children in child care centers are not eating the recommended amounts of whole grains, fruits or vegetables during their time at such centers, according to UNC researchers. In a study published recently in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers at UNC's Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention examined the food eaten for breakfast, lunch and snacks by 117 randomly selected children age 2 to 5 years old at 20 North Carolina child care centers.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/children-in-n.c.-child-care
-not-getting-recommended-amounts-of-healthy-foods.html

Blood drive marks 20 years
The Chapel Hill Herald
Nineteen thousand units of blood collected has impacted as many as 59,000 lives, but it took only 64 units to impact Katrina Coble's. Coble is the recruitment chair for UNC's annual Carolina Blood Drive, which has been the largest single-site, single-day drive on the East Coast in the past.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/patient-butch-
davis-urge-giving-at-june-3-blood-drive.html

Funding schools (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
On many school issues, we in Charlotte-Mecklenburg envy Wake County. ...Wake commissioners now are talking about dictating how that money should be spent, and Kara Millonzi, an assistant professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Government, says they have that authority.

Tie service to learning (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
Picture this: A North Carolina youngster who doesn't want to be mentored sits down with a college student who doesn't want to be a mentor. ...A more serious (and more practical) approach would be to help each campus in the state university system create active "service universities" that tie volunteering in public schools directly to learning. One model might be UNC-Chapel Hill's Assisting People in Planning Learning Experiences in Service (APPLES) program.
Related Link:
http://www.shelbystar.com/articles/service_31535___article.html/community_students.html

He wants to save the world (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
To say that most economists lack color and charisma is to state the obvious. To be sure, there have been a few exceptions to this generalization. Today we have Jeffrey Sachs --economist/preacher/rock star -- whose Energizer bunny-ness inspires young people even as it frustrates and irritates his peers. (Peter A. Coclanis is associate provost for international affairs and Albert R. Newsome Professor of History at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

N.C. tick treatment divides professionals
The Star-News (Wilmington)
...Marcia Herman-Giddens is an adjunct professor at the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill and co-founder of the Tick-Borne Infections Council of North Carolina. "In North Carolina, the number of people getting sick and number of diseases they're infected with are increasing because the number of ticks seems to be increasing along with numbers of deer and people," she said.

Inside Politics: Sheriffs support Dole in ads
The Fayetteville Observer
U.S. Sen Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina is getting some help for her re-election bid from various sheriffs who appear in a new television ad. ...Ferrel Guillory, a political observer and a lecturer in the journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said Dole’s ad highlights issues — border security and illegal immigration — that hit home with a lot of Tar Heel voters.

Three win music research awards
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Three musicology graduate students at UNC Chapel Hill have been awarded summer fellowships at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The students will research the 1975 musical "Chicago," the National Negro Opera Company and the World War II music of American composer Samuel Barber.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/arts/unc-library-of-congress-launch-summer-music-fellowships.html

Business school hosts conference
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC Chapel Hill will co-sponsor and host the 28th annual Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference Thursday through Saturday at its Kenan-Flagler Business School. The event, widely considered the premier conference for entrepreneurship research, provides a venue where academics and real-world practitioners link theory and practice.
UNC Event Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/business/unc-to-host-babson-college
-entrepreneurship-research-conference-next-week.html

Towns, university failing on the biking front (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
Why is it there are 10 times the number of cyclists at the University of Wisconsin than at UNC? ...UNC should be the focus of any bike plan for the simple reason that its population size can have the most impact in this area of need.

A new chapter begins for a fine journalist, good friend (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Winston-Salem Journal
A brief item on the Journal's business pages Wednesday said that three of the newspaper's employees had been "let go" the day before in the continuing effort to "reduce costs." ...Tuesday, when I lost Paul O'Connor as a full-time employee, ranks down there for me as one of the toughest days of all. ...He also teaches journalism at UNC Chapel Hill, and he will be doing more of that.

She is a steadfast ally to refugees (Tar Heel of the Week)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Flicka Bateman remembers a night in 2000 when she couldn't sleep because she had told the neighbors' girls she couldn't help them with their homework all the time. ...The energetic community activist and principal of the Hospital School at UNC Hospitals decided not to seek a second council term.

Issues and Trends

Give cars a rest, many bosses say
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Good walking shoes and a fast bike are the choices for many as they deal with rising gas prices. ...But as prices rise, more companies are joining the effort, and more workers are making changes in their commutes. WakeMed, the University of North Carolina and other large employers are encouraging video and phone conferences.

Duke installs campus emergency siren system
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
At Duke University, outdoor siren systems are being installed in seven spots across campus as a last-resort warning in the event of campus violence or natural disaster. ...The sirens are strictly a last-resort tool and can be used only for a small list of very specific reasons, said Randy Young, a spokesman for UNC-CH's public safety office.

Too many offenders strain ranks of probation officers in Rowan
The Salisbury Post
...Local probation officials and Rowan's chief prosecutor say too many other people thumb their noses at the conditions judges order them to live by. They make probation officers — or bail bondsmen — haul them back into court....The murders of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill senior Eve Carson have pushed N.C. officials to examine the state's probation system.

Council turns to spending
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
State Sen. Tom Apodaca's bill to keep Chapel Hill's Horace Williams Airport open has generated a little buzz on OrangePolitics.org, the Web site for "progressive perspectives in Orange County." Apodaca wants the airport kept open until UNC-Chapel Hill builds a new one within 10 nautical miles of it. The university wants to close the airport for its Carolina North satellite campus and temporarily move its medical fleet to a new hangar it would build at RDU.
Related Link:
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/14831.html

Funding boost sought for fire department
The Chapel Hill Herald
A state fund supporting many local fire departments across North Carolina is underfunded, according to a bill introduced by Rep. Verla Insko, who wants to increase the governor's recommended appropriation by nearly 16 times. ...Dan Jones, chief of the CHFD, wrote in an e-mail requesting support for HB 2205 that UNC Chapel Hill and UNC Hospitals accounted for 31 percent of the department's service calls in 2006-07.