unc.edu/news

National Coverage

Party Fears Tight Obama-Clinton Finish
The Associated Press
For all their delight in soaring voter registration and strong poll numbers, some Democrats fear the contest between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton might have a nightmarish end, which could wreck a promising election year. ...Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Southern Politics, Media, and Public Life at the University of North Carolina, said it's probably asking too much of (Howard) Dean and others to step in. In an era of sharply contested primaries and largely meaningless nominating conventions, he said "we don't have any power brokers any more" who could somehow negotiate a resolution.

May Be the Key to Cancer Prevention
Health Day News
Imagine therapies that could cut cancer deaths in half. Well, these "breakthrough" treatments are here, according to a recent American Cancer Society report that said as many as 50 percent of cancer deaths could be prevented with lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and getting screened for certain malignancies. ...Dr. Neil Hayes, a medical oncologist specializing in lung and head and neck cancers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, concurred. "Most of my patients are smokers, so it's rare I see someone truly surprised by the diagnosis. But I don't think they fully think through the risk associated with smoking," he said.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/obesity-may-keep-some-women
-from-getting-screened-for-breast-cervical-cancer.html

Every Drop Counts for Parched Campuses
The Chronicle of Higher Education
...While colleges and universities in the parched Southeast are cutting back on watering, fixing leaky pipes, and installing water-efficient plumbing fixtures, Berry's seemingly plentiful water supply has been a mixed blessing. ...The chancellor of North Carolina State University, James L. Oblinger, challenged James C. Moeser, his counterpart at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to see which campus could save the most water over a three-month period.

Technology driving motorists to distraction (Column)
MSNBC
Sometime in the near future, a driver may be navigating a city street with a three-dimensional GPS interface and breezing through a self-organizing traffic light when her bumper-mounted radar sensor slows her car to avoid a close encounter with another sedan. ...With so many recent arrivals popping up around the world, “I’m confident in saying we don’t know very much,” said Rob Foss, a senior research scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center in Chapel Hill.

Institutions add courses and degree programs in nonprofit management
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The young adults choosing careers today watched as the Twin Towers fell, as Katrina swept onto land, and as the Asian tsunami left devastation in its path. They have led protests against the genocide in Darfur. And they spent most of their teen years with the United States at war. ...From among 35 institutions, the five chosen were Boston University, California State University at Fresno, Portland Community College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Whitworth University.

Regional Coverage

Complex aid applications hinder poor students
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
The question about completing the FAFSA came to Stephanie Covington barely two weeks before her college-bound son was due to apply for financial aid. ...Whatever the explanation, experts say parental procrastination or outright refusal to complete the FAFSA application hampers access to higher education by low-income students. "It's definitely a hindrance," said Stephen Farmer, assistant provost and director of undergraduate admission at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "We can't help people if we can't verify their income."

Eve Marie Carson 1985-2008 (Commentary)
The Santa Barbara Independent (California)
My friend was senselessly murdered last week. Eve Marie Carson was my student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her death has made national news. But this is not what I will remember of her. (Crister Brady is a Santa Barbara native, attended Santa Barbara Middle School, and is now at UNC Chapel Hill on a junior Morehead-Cain Scholarship.)

State and Local Coverage

Duke, UVA and UNC Among Top 20 Business Schools of 2008
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
This year’s report of U.S. News & World Report's rankings of the best graduate school programs offered throughout the country is now available. ...The Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill is ranked number 19. The data is based on surveys conducted in fall 2007 of more than 1,200 professional school programs and some 14,000 academics and professionals.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/unc-schools-graduate-programs-
ranked-by-u.s.-news--world-report.html

UNC junior wins graduate award
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Danielle Maria Allen, a junior at UNC, has been awarded the distinguished Truman Scholarship, worth $30,000 for graduate studies. Allen, the daughter of Mia Allen of Monroe, plans to use the award to attend law school. Allen was one of 65 recipients of the Truman this year, chosen from among 595 applicants who had been nominated by 283 colleges and universities.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/students/danielle-allen-receives-truman-scholarship.html

Nurses help fill gap in psychiatric care
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The School of Nursing at UNC-Chapel Hill is increasing the scarce supply of mental health providers by retraining nurses to diagnose and treat psychiatric illness. What's more, the program recruits at least half its students from North Carolina counties with the greatest shortfall of providers. That means new providers often return to practice where they are most needed.

Ancient cellulose microfibers discovered
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
Looking for evidence of life on Mars or other planets? Finding cellulose microfibers would be the next best thing to a close encounter, according to new research from UNC scientists. The cover story for the April issue of the journal Astrobiology, the new research also pushes back the earliest direct evidence of biological material on Earth by about 200 million years.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/science-and-technology/for-the-paper-trail-of-life-on-
mars-or-other-planets-find-cellulose.html

Bright kids, tight funding
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Here's a logic problem for North Carolina's brightest public school students. What happens to academically gifted students when the federal government demands that schools focus on getting low-performing children up to grade level? ...Mary Ruth Coleman, a senior scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill, said a change is needed. She noted that school districts can currently ignore state education officials' recommendations for changing services to the gifted.

Expert voice (Question-Answer Transcript)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Philip Meyer doesn't pull punches. He called his last book "The Vanishing Newspaper." The 77-year-old distinguished professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill, who is being inducted into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame today, says newspapers need to move aggressively online, attract younger readers and create niche products to serve segments of the market.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/business/two-to-be-inducted-another-honored-at-
n.c.-hall-of-fame-in-journalism-ceremony.html

UNC honors female support
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC has honored three individuals with its University Award for the Advancement of Women. The awards honor individuals who have mentored or supported women on campus, elevated the status of women or improved campus policies for them, promoted women's recruitment and retention, or promoted professional development for women.
UNC News Release;
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/carolina-honors-three-
individuals-with-womens-advancement-awards.html

Playing on D.C.'s court (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
If the Final Four were based on federal grants, UNC-Chapel Hill would still be in the game. The nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics took a closer look at the federal lobbying efforts of the Sweet Sixteen teams in the NCAA Tournament. ...On the lobbying bracket, UNC won $310,000 from the federal government.

Pick up a book
The Chapel Hill News
The life of author Zora Neale Hurston and her book "Their Eyes Were Watching God" will be the center of a local literacy campaign beginning Monday. UNC-Chapel Hill's Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History will kick off a month-long drive to increase literacy as part of a nationwide program called The Big Read.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/humanities-and-social-sciences/stone-center-
launches-big-read-monday-march-31.html

Animals bring bright smiles at N.C. Children's Hospital
The Chapel Hill Herald
When Clara walks into rooms at the N.C. Children's Hospital, she usually gets an excited reaction from the patients she visits. Clara is a cute, cuddly Bernese mountain dog. ...As (Carol) Fenton described, pet therapy at UNC Hospitals is focused on the dog. The dog's human counterpart acts as more of a liaison for his or her pet partner. In order to visit N.C. Children's Hospital patients, the pet and its owner must undergo an intense certification and training process.

Young scientists learn lesson in bureaucracy
The Chapel Hill News
Smith Middle School science teacher Melinda Fitzgerald has the word "rakes" written in magic marker on the back of her hand. It reminds her that years of environmental research with 16 different classes of eighth-graders is meaningless if you forget to bring the right gardening tool -- or if your maps are off by a few feet. ...The school's steep hill at the heart of the erosion problem -- and the students' grant proposal -- is actually owned by UNC. And despite the project's modest goals, Greg Kopsch, the forest manager for Carolina North, told the Smith teachers the help the students were seeking would require "significant commitment" from the university in terms of material, equipment and labor.

ASU students question discovery of toy on noose
The Winston-Salem Journal
The discovery of a small action figure suspended by a noose at Appalachian State University and a news release that followed has students raising questions about how university officials handled the incident. ...Harry Watson, the director of UNC Chapel Hill’s Center for the Study of the American South, said that professors often display keepsakes related to their research in their office, but it would be prudent not to display a noose - which can easily be interpreted as a symbol of hate.

Why do fuel prices fluctuate from town to town?
The Rocky Mount Telegram
When the Telegram asked several motorists this week for their thoughts on the increasing cost of gas, nearly half shared a similar gripe. "Why does gas cost more (in Rocky Mount) than in other areas of the state?" Wanda Williams said, echoing the concerns of others. ...A recent study conducted by students at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill attempted to explain the disparity. The study found that the per-capita income of the town in which a station is located had the most significant impact on gas prices, UNC-Chapel Hill economics professor Stanley Black said. Gas stations in poorer areas typically charge less at the pump – sometimes selling gas at just enough to break even.

One last ride and a rousing salute for 'Disaster Pastor'
The Durham News
The man dubbed "Disaster Pastor" at Westminster Presbyterian will be leaving his post Sunday the way he arrived more than 10 years ago. With flair. ..."I smile when I think about Paul," said church member Julie Fishell, who is an actress, director and teacher in the Dramatic Arts Department at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Rivalry aside, hoopin' it up
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Students from Duke and UNC cooled their intense athletic rivalry for a day and came together Saturday to kick off more than 26 hours of friendly competition for a good cause. The Duke-Carolina basketball marathon, now in its third year, is a fundraising event organized by students from both universities to benefit Health, Hoops and Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides children with serious medical illnesses with opportunities to socialize and participate in athletics.

Issues and Trends

Tobacco ban expands to county buildings
The Chapel Hill Herald
Beginning Tuesday, all county-owned or county-leased buildings will be smoke-free, and no tobacco products will be allowed within 50 feet of a human services building, according to a recently amended Orange County ordinance. ...Local policy changes have reduced exposure to secondhand smoke, and many work sites, restaurants and other venues have adopted non-smoking policies. Both county school systems, the UNC Health Care System and UNC are 100 percent tobacco-free.

Classes for sale? (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
A public university's faculty and administration -- not donors -- should have the final say on the content of courses. Otherwise, the college classroom becomes just another a arena of commerce, not a place where independent learning and research take place. That's wrong. That's why the University of North Carolina system ought to enact a clear policy that forbids universities to seek or accept private funds that come with strings about what will be taught to students. This is an important principle, one that affects each of the 16 campuses.

Chelsea Clinton is scheduled to stump in N.C. today
The Winston-Salem Journal
Chelsea Clinton returns to North Carolina today to campaign for her mother, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. Clinton is scheduled to visit with students at N.C. State University and Peace College in Raleigh, and at UNC Chapel Hill.
Related Link:
http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-03-30-0009.html

Schools pushing research institute
The Winston-Salem Journal
Researchers exploring the molecular aspects of medicine are thinking big about its potential economic impact on North Carolina, including providing incentives to startup companies. ...By far, the biggest effort has been aimed at the proposed $1.5 billion N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis. David Murdock, the owner of Dole Food Co., has pledged about $1 billion of his own money to develop the public-private research campus in collaboration with several N.C. universities, including UNC Chapel Hill, N.C. State and Duke.

State probation system comes up sadly lacking (Editorial)
The News & Record (Greensboro)
A 2004 review of the state’s probation system left little doubt that it was in trouble. But the findings describing glaring deficiencies received only scant response from the General Assembly, which authorized it, and even less from the public. However, those shortcomings have surfaced tragically since the murders of UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson and Duke University student Abhijit Mahato. The young men arrested for committing those crimes were on probation from state courts, but neither received the close supervision the state claims it delivers.

Questions of coverage in student slayings (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
'Mahato, Carson cases marked by uneven responses," read the headline in the Duke student newspaper last week. "Race, sex may affect news." The stories in the Duke Chronicle struck a nerve with students in a class that I teach at Duke. Why, they wondered, was there such a disparity in the coverage of the murders of Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato and UNC-CH student body president Eve Carson?

Case reveals serious flaws in system (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
Both suspects charged in the murder of UNC student body president Eve Carson were on probation when she was killed on March 5. So when security camera photographs of the suspects were circulated, not only locally but throughout the state and beyond, while police were searching for Carson's killers, you would think that someone in the state's criminal justice system -- their probation officers, for example --might recognize them.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2811/story/1019564.html