uncnews.unc.edu

International Coverage

Celgene’s Revlimid warrants research in active-controlled clinical trials for
EMEA approval, physicians say
Financial Times (United Kingdom)
Celgene’s attempt to gain European approval for Revlimid based on a single-arm clinical study is a risky move and should be studied in active-controlled clinical trials, physicians interviewed by Pharmawire said. ...Michael Kosorok, director of biostatistics at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill said that single-arm studies are not enough to measure a drug’s efficacy.

National Coverage

Bart Ehrman, Questioning Religion on Why We Suffer
"Fresh Air" National Public Radio
It's one of the oldest faith questions: If there's an all-powerful and loving God, why do human beings suffer? In his latest book, religious studies professor Bart D. Ehrman wrestles with that question — and with the implications of the often-contradictory answers he finds. ...Ehrman, author of Misquoting Jesus and more than a dozen other books, chairs the religious studies department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Quick Takes: Flap on Professor’s Comment
Inside Higher Ed
Some students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were left aghast when a biology professor told his class that “the moral thing for older mothers to do” is to “abort the fetus” if it’s tested positive for Down syndrome. ...The professor, Albert Harris, later said he meant to provoke discussion. “I believe that if I’m going to expect students to express their opinions, I have to express mine,” he said.

Regional Coverage

Where have all the polls gone?
The MinnPost (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Who knew that Mitt Romney would crush John McCain and Mike Huckabee in Minnesota on Super Tuesday? ...Democracy is — or should be — a deliberative process, said Phil Meyer, a journalism professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and a former president of American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).

State and Local Coverage

PPD chief gives millions to UNC pharmacy school
The Star-News (Wilmington)
PPD Inc. CEO Fred Eshelman has made two gifts totaling $10 million to the School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Eshelman pledged $9 million in January to support cancer research at the pharmacy school, according to the university.
Related Link:
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-926044.cfm
UNC News Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/health-and-medicine/eshelman-gift-match
-net-2-million-for-unc-pharmacy-education.html

N.C. raises bet on biotech jobs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Oliver Smithies, a 2007 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, is one of the N.C. Biotechnology Center's biggest success stories. The biotech center, which is largely funded with state tax dollars, spent $899,875 to help the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recruit Smithies and six other researchers.

Murdock research directors named
The Independent Tribune (Kannapolis)
The newly-formed board of directors for the David H. Murdock Research Institute is expected to meet Feb. 25 to discuss purchasing scientific equipment for the Core Research Laboratory. ...Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development at UNC-Chapel Hill. Waldrop is a cell and molecular physiologist who was also a Morehead Scholar.

A call and a shrug
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
News of the resignation of Fidel Castro quickly made its way Tuesday to the more than 2,000 Cubans who live in the Triangle, many of whom got early morning phone calls from Florida and Cuba. ...Now a history professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and the director of the university's Institute for the Study of the Americas, (Louis) Perez has followed Castro's op-ed pieces and pronouncements in the last year with an academic's eye for the subtext.

Remembering Blind Boy Fuller
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
In the 1930's, Durham’s economy was booming, thanks to the success of the tobacco industry. ...Host Frank Stasio explores the artist’s life and legacy and the explosion of the Piedmont blues with Glenn Hinson, chair of UNC-CH's Folklore Curriculum; Joe Newberry, public information officer for the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources; Tim Duffy, founder of the Music Maker Relief Foundation; and blues guitarist Boo Hanks.

National security talk is planned
The Chapel Hill Herald
Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski will give a free public talk about global security challenges at 7:45 p.m. March 5 in UNC's FedEx Global Education Center. Brzezinski, an author, political scientist and geo-strategist, is a professor of American Foreign Policy at Johns Hopkins University's Washington, D.C. campus.
UNC Event Brief:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/former-national-security
-adviser-brzezinski-to-speak-at-unc.html

N&O pursuing female readers
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The News & Observer Publishing Co. is hoping to attract more female readers with two new projects it is introducing this spring. ...Adding niche products that target a specific audience follows a broader trend in publishing, said Jock Lauterer, lecturer and director of the Carolina Community Media Project at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Abortion comments anger some in class
The Chapel Hill News
A professor's comments on Down syndrome and abortion angered some students on the UNC campus last week.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/wednesday/opinion/story/954091.html
http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/501321.html

Dance Marathon is Friday at UNC-CH
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
More than 1,100 UNC-Chapel Hill students have committed to stand on their feet for 24 hours Friday at the 10th annual UNC Dance Marathon. The fundraiser supports the N.C. Children's Hospital.
Related Link:
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-926044.cfm

Issues and Trends

Board, public discuss waste station siting criteria
The Chapel Hill Herald
While decisions to narrow yet-to-be named sites for the county's new waste transfer station remain months away, it's starting to become clear what elements might eliminate potential parcels. ..."It might not be bad for us to be proactive to approach the university, OWASA [Orange Water and Sewer Authority] and large landholders just to see if there are parcels that they would be willing to part with," said (Barry) Jacobs, reiterating a similar point by (Alice) Gordon that the board shouldn't exclude potential partnership with universities, specifically UNC Chapel Hill.

Republicans not fans of Nichol for UNC chancellor position
The Herald-Sun (Durham)/The Chapel Hill Herald
Media speculation that former College of William & Mary President Gene Nichol could surface as a contender in UNC Chapel Hill's ongoing chancellor search isn't going down well with Republicans in the General Assembly. ...The comments by the assembly's two top Republicans followed Nichol's resignation last week. Nichol stepped down after learning that William & Mary's Board of Visitors wouldn't renew his contract in July.