uncnews.unc.edu

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

National Coverage

Research: Pupils don't aim high enough for college
The Associated Press
Four years ago, two of the most influential researchers in higher education dove into a huge pool of data hoping to answer a bedeviling question: Why do so many students who start college fail to graduate? ...The findings paint a grim picture of wasted opportunities, but also suggest even relatively modest efforts to provide students more information and encouragement could substantially "increase social mobility and augment the nation's human capital." UNC is also home to a program of the kind the findings suggest could help boost completion rates — the National College Advising Corps, which places recent college graduates in high schools as college counselors.

Gene Linked to Liver Disease in Cystic Fibrosis
HealthDay News
A variant of a particular gene in people with cystic fibrosis greatly increases their chances of developing severe liver disease, new research shows. ...Researchers from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill analyzed nine variants in five genes previously implicated in cystic fibrosis liver disease. The study included 124 patients with cystic fibrosis liver disease and 843 patients without liver disease.
UNC Release:
http://unchealthcare.org/site/newsroom/news/2009/September/knowles

Dying From Football (Blog)
The Washington Post
So, Carson Palmer startled the football world by saying that someone was going to die in the NFL. I'm surprised only that anyone would be startled by the comment. ...Players die every year from football injuries. To be precise, seven died in 2008, up from four in 2007, after just one in 2006. Between 1990 and 2008, an average of 4.2 died each season. Another 13 died in 2008 indirectly from football (heart failure, heat stroke, and the like). The National Center for Catastrophic Research at the University of North Carolina tracks these deaths and has data back to 1931.

NTSB tells workers to hang up cells
USA Today
The people who investigate the nation's most high-profile transportation accidents must now practice what they preach: They will no longer be allowed to use cellphones while driving. Debbie Hersman, the new chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said Tuesday that employees of the agency are barred from using any wireless device behind the wheel while on duty. ...Research shows drivers talking on any type of cellphone are at greater risk of an accident, said Arthur Goodwin, senior research associate at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.

Unchecked Swine Flu, (sick?) CAFO Workers and Lax Regulation, Oh My
The Huffington Post (New York, N.Y.)
The United States Department of Agriculture agreed last week to buy an additional $30 million dollars worth of pork from the ailing pork industry, for a total of $151 million dollars purchased this year, as recompense for supposed damage wrought by the emergence of the swine flu in our common public lexicon (and the result will no doubt keep kids in public schools flush with factory-farmed sausage pizza this year). ...And [Steven Wing, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill] adds that CAFOs in some regions are often staffed by black and Hispanic workers who might fear racial harassment for reporting safety infractions to OSHA, as well as low-income workers of all races who worry about keeping their jobs in the industry and access to health care, housing, and other services provided by their employers.

Regional Coverage

Weed Eaters: A raw-food movement is beginning to sprout in St. Louis
The Riverfront Times (St. Louis, Mo.)
Angela Raines eats weeds. Lamb's quarters, purslane, dandelions — rugged plants that flourish in Missouri. The kind dogs pee on and landscapers whack. The 27-year-old Richmond Heights resident has been "raw" for the past year. More precisely, she's been "100 percent raw vegan," which means she puts nothing in her mouth that comes from an animal and nothing that's been heated above 118 degrees. Nothing. ...Posits Suzanne Hobbs, a registered dietician at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who has studied the raw diet, "They may feel improvement in how they feel, but there isn't any science to back it up. There are an infinite number of variables."

Study: 75 percent of youth unfit for service
The Fairfax County Times (West Virginia)
Politics makes strange bedfellows. Never was the axiom more true than on Sept. 1, when an odd combination of educators and military leaders came together seeking more money for early childhood education. ...The group cites a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that concludes at-risk children who don’t participate in early-childhood education programs are 48 percent more likely to drop out of high school.

State and Local Coverage

Prospero talks Triangle chefs
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The Triangle has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to accomplished chefs of independent restaurants. To writer Ann Prospero, 31 of them have reputations worth heralding. She plates their stories and recipes in her new book "Chefs of the Triangle: Their Lives, Recipes, and Restaurants." Prospero is one of the 100 writers at this weekend's North Carolina Literary Festival at UNC, where she will talk about her book along with two of the featured chefs -- Bill Smith of Crook's Corner and Bret Jennings of Elaine's on Franklin.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1680343.html
http://books.blogs.starnewsonline.com/10627/bookmarks
-north-carolina-literary-festival/
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2816/73/

Land of the Lost Souls
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
North Carolina native Will Blythe was living in Astoria, Queens and making his living as a freelance writer when he struck up a friendship with Cadillac Man, who was homeless and lived under a bridge near Will's apartment. It turns out that Cadillac Man is a writer too. Their literary exchange, as well as their friendship, are part of the inspiring story behind Cadillac's book, "Land of the Lost Souls" (Bloomsbury/2009). Will and Cadillac appear together this weekend at the North Carolina Literary Festival, but first they join host Frank Stasio to talk about their lives and their work.
Note: "The State of Things" is the statewide public affairs program airing live at noon weekdays and rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays.
Related Link:
http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/long-story-short/view
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2816/73/

Energy Use Policy at UNC-CH keeps buildings warmer
News 14 Carolina
The temperature may feel different in buildings at UNC-Chapel Hill this semester. It's part of the university's new "Energy Use Policy" adopted in July. ...A difference of $11-16 million in energy costs according to a recent efficiency study by Bain and Company consultants. But it's more than saving money. The effort is part of UNC-CH’s commitment to reach climate neutrality by 2050.

Dr. Brian Goldstein Anticipates Speech
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Health-care reform will be the main focus of President Barack Obama’s speech to Congress and the nation tomorrow night. Dr. Brian Goldstein, chief of staff for UNC Hospitals and executive associate dean for clinical affairs says many health care workers are concerned about the plan’s effect on them.

Healthy lunch for A+ kids (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Back by popular demand, it's time for the annual school bag lunch primer. Readers stumped for creative ideas have asked me to weigh in with tips and ideas to help them get started this year. The challenge: What can you pack for a child's lunch that's quick and easy, keeps well out of the refrigerator for a few hours, is nutritious and -- most importantly -- will actually be eaten? (Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor in the department of health policy and administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Seminars still small (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The Sept. 5 story "UNC system struggles with cuts" mentions a course in the Department of History at UNC-Chapel Hill in regard to the recently increased maximum size for first-year seminars. I want to emphasize that the History Department at Carolina is maintaining its high levels of instruction. ... I believe that in these very difficult economic times the state legislature and the university administration have worked hard to protect classroom instruction, and I appreciate their efforts. (W. Miles Fletcher, Professor, Associate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of History, UNC-Chapel Hill)
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters/story/1680489.html

Roses & raspberries (Editorial)
The Chapel Hill News
Roses to the organizers and many volunteers who worked together to package more than one million meals for hungry children in some of the world's most impoverished areas. Community volunteers and students at UNC and other area colleges and universities pitched in for University Million Meals Week 2009.

Issues and Trends

New courts are king
The Chapel Hill News
It would seem that some of the greatest ideas are etched upon the humblest of tablets as inspiration strikes. ...So, it's no surprise that designs for the University of North Carolina's new South Campus Recreation Area are blotched with crumbs and coffee stains. "Literally, on a piece of napkin at Breugger's one day eating a bagel, I sketched out what I would like to see in there," UNC Recreation Director Marty Pomerantz said. "Then I put it on graph paper and gave it to the designers."

CHS to buy 3 helicopters to update fleet
The Charlotte Observer
Carolinas HealthCare System plans to buy three new helicopters to replace three aging ones in the system's MedCenter Air ambulance fleet. ...He said a “potential use” for the sites would be new buildings for the proposed branch of the UNC Chapel Hill medical school, which was approved by the UNC Board of Governors in March 2008. Those plans are on hold as the state wrestles with revenue shortfalls.

Local colleges see spike in flu cases
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)
The start of the school year is leading to a spike in suspected cases of Swine Flu. Triangle universities are dealing with hundreds of sick students. Since August 17, NC State's health care center has diagnosed 200 students with flu or flu-like symptoms presumed to be the H1N1 virus. ...NCCU has 10 flu-like cases so far this year. Duke and UNC wouldn't give a specific number but confirm having cases on campus.