unc.edu/news

International Coverage

Ancient organism found in rock salt
United Press International
U.S. researchers have discovered cellulose microfibers that may be the earliest evidence of biological material on Earth. Jack D. Griffith of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found the cellulose microfibers in samples he took from ancient salt deposits buried beneath an underground nuclear waste repository near Carlsbad, N.M., the university said in a release.
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

National Coverage

Old Cellulose Found in NM Salt Crystals
The Associated Press
Cellulose dating back 253 million years -- along with some possible ancient DNA -- has been found in salt crystals from an underground nuclear waste dump in southern New Mexico. ''We did see some ancient DNA in the salt, but not a lot, and we have to continue experiments to try to verify that it is ancient DNA,'' said Jack D. Griffith, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
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

An Example of Yourself
The Washington Post
...The concept of modeling -- demonstrating through your own actions the behaviors you'd like your kids to adopt -- is firmly entrenched in child psychology and child-rearing realms. Whether or not they use the word "modeling," just about any parenting guide will advise you to set a good example through your actions: to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. ...William Coleman, a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, confirms modeling's importance, noting that from the very beginning, children pick up cues from the way we treat our spouses, how we resolve differences, and how we express our anger and other feelings.

Heart's Stem Cells Not Created Equally
HealthDay News
Not all heart cells are created by the same universal signal, a discovery that could lead to future treatments for congenital heart disease and heart attacks, U.S researchers say. ..."Not only does it tell us about how stem cells differentiate to create the heart, but it provides us with knowledge that may very well help us to repair heart muscle after a heart attack," researcher Dr. Cam Patterson, director of the Carolina Cardiovascular Biology Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in a prepared statement.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/dis041408.html

Regional Coverage

A Flock in Flux Awaits the Pope
The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)
When the Alitalia Boeing 777, dubbed Shepherd One, lands at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland this afternoon, Pope Benedict XVI will find an American Catholic community in a state of uneasy equilibrium. ...A few years ago, Christian Smith at the University of North Carolina conducted a national study on youth and religion and found a majority of American teenagers subscribed to a kind of faith Smith called "moralistic therapeutic deism."

New study says adjunct professors lack support
The Hattiesburg American (Mississippi)
Jane Brockway, 40, is teaching three freshmen-level college courses this semester. "It's a full-time job," she said. ...A recent study by University of North Carolina suggests that adjunct professors should not teach as many freshman classes, not because they are inferior instructors but because they lack administrative support.

State and Local Coverage

UNC wants feedback on Tomorrow Commission report
The Chapel Hill Herald
With a May 1 deadline looming, UNC's Tomorrow Commission needs to know what the campus community thinks about its report. The commission -- including representatives from business, education, government, and nonprofits in North Carolina -- had as its assignment to determine what North Carolinians needed and wanted from their university system, Michael Smith, UNC vice chancellor for public service and engagement and dean of the School of Government, said at a campus public forum on the report Monday.

Clearing the air on the environment (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill Herald
I've got some good news for those of you who read my column, "Eco-anxiety's gonna get you" last week The good news is that those big clothes detergent bottles are, in fact, recyclable and should not be thrown into our landfill. All bottles are accepted for recycling. ...Orange County's Solid Waste Management Department currently is in negotiations with UNC regarding the university's possible use of landfill methane as an energy source at Carolina North.

Career Moves
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Susan E. Cates has been named associate dean of executive development at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School.
UNC People Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/business/unc-kenan-flagler-names-new-
associate-dean-of-executive-development.html

Issues and Trends

Gunned down
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
In the year since the Virginia Tech massacre in the US, there have been many other serious firearms incidents in schools. ...The list of school shootings in the past year does not even technically include murdered University of North Carolina student president Eve Carson, 22, because she was shot dead by a street thug outside as opposed to at the university. But the murder on March 5 thrust the Chapel Hill campus into shock and prompted further frustration among gun-control advocates.
Related Link:
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880414026
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2732994/
http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1037533.html/

Cost and Red Tape Hamper Colleges' Efforts to Go Green
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The private, nonprofit Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program has become synonymous with green construction, and has kick-started a national conversation about energy efficiency, recycled building materials, and healthy work environments. Even people who know very little about green building know about LEED, as it is commonly known, as a kind of shorthand for environmental achievement. In higher education, where sustainability is a hot issue, LEED certification is often a visible symbol of a college's commitment. Since LEED began in 2000, more than 1,500 college projects have been registered in the LEED program, the bulk of those in the past couple of years.

Paper seeks search warrants in slaying of UNC student leader
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Durham Herald Company, which owns and operates The Herald-Sun and The Chapel Hill Herald, filed a motion in Orange County Superior Court on Monday asking that sealed search warrants in the Eve Carson murder case be opened. Law enforcement officials obtained the search warrants while they were investigating the murder of Carson, the UNC student body president.

Fare-free DATA gaining support
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
City administrators want to take a long, hard look at the idea of dumping the Durham Area Transit Authority's fares and making the system the second in North Carolina to allow riders to board for free. ...Support from UNC -- financial and otherwise -- eased the transition in Chapel Hill, and at least some officials are hoping they can get Duke University to play a similar role here.

UNC student being sent back to Iraq
The Chapel Hill Herald
All he wanted for his birthday was a new pair of shoes. Instead, he got a letter from the U.S. Army saying he was being reactivated and sent back to Iraq. That is how Chris Higginbotham spent his 28th birthday recently. Higginbotham, a first-year master's student in the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has already served four years in the Army.