Home arrow Carolina in the News arrow Carolina in the News: Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Carolina in the News: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 E-mail
Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:

 
International Coverage

Deal to map strategy for environmental health signed in UAE
The Gulf News (United Arab Emirates)

...The Environmental Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) will formulate the strategy in collaboration with a team of experts from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC), in the United States, supported by a network of government bodies including Health Authority - Abu Dhabi UAE, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment and Water, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and Health Authority - Dubai with technical support from World Health Organization (WHO).
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-to-help-united-arab-
emirates-assess-environmental-health-risks.html

Amylin weekly diabetes drug lowers blood sugar
Reuters (Wire Service)

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Monday that a once-weekly version of its Byetta type 2 diabetes medicine led to additional improvements in blood sugar levels over the currently available drug that must be injected twice a day. ..."If approved, exenatide once weekly may provide patients with a treatment option that is on board 24 hours a day, seven days a week, helping to manage their blood sugar and, secondarily, their weight," Dr. John Buse, study investigator and chief of endocrinology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, said in a statement.

National Coverage

Psychologist: Braves suffering from culture shock
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia)

...The Atlanta Braves play at Wrigley Field Tuesday, kicking off a 10-game odyssey to Chicago, , Anaheim, Denver and Arlington, Texas. Hopefully,Jekyll-and-Hyde Land's gone from the itinerary. ..."They may be maximizing the differences between playing at home and away," said Dr. John M. Silva, a professor of sports psychology at the University of North Carolina.

Killer tomatoes? (Editorial)
The Week (New York, N.Y.)

At least 16 states have reported cases of food poisoning attributed to Salmonella Saintpaul bacteria found in raw tomatoes. ...And the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a grant to study the local-food movement and its effects on the environment and public health, so there will soon be more data on how growing practices effect the health of foods and the people who eat them.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-to-study-link-between-
sustainable-farming-and-health.html

State and Local Coverage

UNC-CH to assess risks in Emirates
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

The United Arab Emirates signed a contract with UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Public Health on Monday to assess environmental health risks in the fast-developing nation. UNC-CH researchers will partner with the United Arab Emirates University and the RAND Corp., a global public policy research institution, on the two-year, $7.8-million contract.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-to-help-united-arab-
emirates-assess-environmental-health-risks.html

The Bucket Brigade
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM

When Spring Hope Enterprise editor/publisher Ken Ripley went under the knife last fall, the small town paper could have suffered some serious losses while its chief was hospitalized. Instead, Ripley enlisted the help of some students at the University of North Carolina who were studying community journalism under the tutelage of professor Jock Lauterer. Lauterer and his "bucket brigade" researched and reported for the paper for the entire school semester and kept it afloat while Ripley was in recovery. Ripley, Lauterer, and former UNC student Kate Newnam join guest host Eric Hodge to talk about the outcome of taking a college course into the community.
Note: "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays.

Oak Island pulls ahead of Southport in race to annex land both want
The Star-News (Wilmington)

In Southport and Oak Island's race to annex land between the Brunswick County communities, Oak Island is winning. ..."It matters who started first," said David Lawrence, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Government.

Dangers - Driving & Dialing
WBTV-TV (CBS/Charlotte)

A new study finds North Carolina's law that's supposed to keep teenagers off their cell phones while driving isn't working. ...A study by the Highway Safety Research Center at UNC Chapel Hill-- finds teen drivers talk on their phones now at about the same frequency as before the law took effect December 2006.. a year and a half ago.
Related Link:
http://www.ncnn.com/content/view/2828/26/

UNC blood drive increases its take
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

More than 980 people showed up to give blood at the 20th annual Carolina Blood Drive on June 3 at UNC-Chapel Hill, 210 of them first-time donors. Falling just short of its 1,000-unit goal, the drive collected 966 usable units, up 126 from last year.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/blood-drive-produces-966-units.html

Sustainable food subject of study
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

A team of UNC researchers has received a grant to study the public health impact of moving toward a local, sustainable food system. The team will establish a Gillings Innovation Laboratory through the UNC School of Public Health.
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-to-study-link-between-
sustainable-farming-and-health.html

Grants support space research
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Faculty, staff and student researchers at UNC have received $145,500 in grants to support research in aeronautics and space-related science from the N.C. Space Grant program. ...UNC faculty recipients are astrophysics professors Daniel Reichart and Sheila Kannappan, Jesse Richuso, project coordinator of the OBSERVE project in the UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, and Kevin Ivarson of the physics and astronomy department's Skynet Robotic Telescope Network and UNC and N.C. State biomedical engineering professor Roger Narayan.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/science-and-technology/unc-scholars-shoot-
for-the-stars-with-space-grants.html

$80K awarded to UNC researcher
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Qian Zhang, a postdoctoral fellow at UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been awarded an $80,000 research fellowship by the American Brain Tumor Association. The association awards the two-year grants to young, talented scientists working to further decode the origins of specific brain tumors, and ultimately, to find new and effective treatments.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/unc-cancer-researcher-receives-
american-brain-tumor-association-grant.html

Study links race, prison sentences
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Nonwhite defendants are nearly twice as likely to receive harsher prison sentences as white defendants in North Carolina criminal cases stemming from inflicted traumatic brain injury of young children. That's the conclusion reached by researchers from the Injury Prevention Research Center at UNC, who tracked down what happened in every such case prosecuted in North Carolina in 2000 and 2001.
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/details.html?id=7041
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/non-whites-receive-harsher-sentences-
for-inflicted-traumatic-brain-injury-of-children.html

Whetstone wins prize for artists
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Jeff Whetstone, a photographer and assistant professor of art at UNC, has won an inaugural $10,000 prize for Southern artists from the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C. The Factor Prize acknowledges an artist whose work demonstrates the highest level of artistic achievement in any media while contributing to a new understanding of art in the South. Whetstone competed against more than 250 artists for the honor.
UNC News Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/arts/unc-photographer-wins-inaugural-southern-art-prize.html

Issues and Trends

To Cut Costs, Ought Colleges Look to For-Profit Models?
The Chronicle of Higher Education

It's not just the climbing walls and the salaries for star professors driving up the cost of college. ...Harvey H. Kaiser, another consultant who specializes in space planning, says a few institutions, including the University of North Carolina system, have begun to focus on ways to better track and use their space.

Law school gets provisional approval
The Charlotte Observer

Less than two years after it opened, Charlotte School of Law has received provisional approval from the American Bar Association, officials announced Monday. ...If the Charlotte and Elon schools get full approval in coming years, they would be the sixth and seventh such law schools in the state, joining UNC Chapel Hill, N.C. Central, Campbell, Duke and Wake Forest universities.
Related Link:
http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2008/06/09/daily13.html

Judge to hold hearing on Carson autopsy
The Associated Press

A judge is holding a hearing to discuss the autopsy of former University of North Carolina student body president Eve Carson. Orange County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour said last month he needed more time to decide if he would unseal the autopsy report.