uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

MMA fighters at risk of brain damage
The Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Supporters of mixed martial arts like to tell us that MMA is a legitimate sport, just like, and no more dangerous than, other contact sports, including boxing, football and hockey. ...Until recently, sports-related brain injury was associated almost exclusively with boxing. Physicians and others noticed a collection of symptoms, including tremors, slowed movement, confusion, depression, impulsive behaviours and speech problems in many former boxers, and came to describe the condition as being "punch drunk." ...Shortly thereafter, the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes released a study revealing a correlation between the number of concussions retired football players had suffered and the incidence of depression.

National Coverage

Does Afghan War Have Strong Public Support?
"Morning Edition" National Public Radio
President Obama is weighing whether to send more troops to Afghanistan — even as polls show support for the war declining. ...Generally, when war casualties go up, public support goes down. That's been the case with the three most significant wars since World War II: Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. And it is the case now with Afghanistan, where American casualties in July, August and September are the highest since the war began. But Richard Kohn, a military historian at the University of North Carolina, says the link between casualties and support is not inevitable.

War injury leads to advances at home
The Los Angeles Times
A world away from the roadside bombs and combat injuries of Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans are suffering the same type of brain injury seen in troops coming home from those war-torn countries. ...The long-term effects of concussion are expected to become clearer yet with the publication next year of studies of NFL players with recurrent concussion, conducted by the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes.

More colleges develop classes on how to treat war veterans
USA Today
Universities are creating classes to train students in how to treat combat veterans and their families suffering from war-related mental health problems. ...The University of North Carolina is exploring introducing new curriculum on military culture for its social work graduate students and an internship program at nearby Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, says Bill Ayers, an assistant professor in social work.

When is a kid too old for Mom PDA? (Blog)
The Atlanta Journal Constitution
...“My instincts were right. The shunning of parental PDAs usually happens sometime in grade school, when kids’ social scenes are expanding. That’s when they’re more aware of people’s perceptions of them and don’t want to be seen as little kids, said Liz Pungello, a developmental psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Regional Coverage

What's behind rising health costs? Lots
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania)
Lots of us think we know why American health-care costs are rising faster than a speeding bullet, or at least faster than our GDP, incomes, and inflation. ..."Our prices are higher for everything," said Jonathan Oberlander, a University of North Carolina expert on social medicine and health policy. Oberlander and White argued in the New England Journal of Medicine last month for a system where all public and private insurers pay the same rates to doctors and hospitals. "What I would say is that if countries want to control health-care spending, then they should have spending controls," Oberlander said.

From Griffith to Carolina, Lohse still grinding away (Column)
The Post-Tribune (Gary, Ind.)
On more than one occasion I've had to bite my tongue when approached by someone who thinks being a sportswriter is a dream job. Not that I'm feeling sorry for myself, but the nightmarish hours have driven some of my colleagues to drink. ...While interviewing David Lohse, who has toiled for the University of North Carolina in sports information since 1979, I suggested his occupation might be the only one with worse hours in the writing profession.

State and Local Coverage

War's next steps will hit home in North Carolina
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As President Barack Obama huddles with top advisers about the future of Afghanistan, he must figure out how best to approach a troubling and complicated conflict. ...But an expert on Afghanistan at UNC-Chapel Hill said lawmakers ought to have a role in shaping policy on the issue. "All these discussions revolve around having a clear-headed picture of what the strategic goal is from a U.S. perspective: What do you want to happen in Afghanistan?" said Andrew Reynolds, a political scientist who visited Afghanistan frequently between 2003 and 2007.

Branch's Bill Clinton book source materials go to UNC
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
On Jan. 4, a new window into Bill Clinton's presidency will open at UNC-Chapel Hill. That's when a trove of source material Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch used for his new book on the Clinton presidency will become publicly available at the Southern Historical Collection at UNC-CH. Branch, a 1968 UNC-CH graduate, has a long relationship with the historical collection. The source materials — interviews, transcriptions, correspondence — that led to his prize-winning writings on Martin Luther King Jr., are already in the university's possession. Now, too, are the Clinton records.

Money Headed to Wind Power
North Carolina News Network
A report from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill says the best place to build a wind power farm would be 40 miles off the North Carolina coast.

Farming the wind (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
I was excited to read that Duke Energy and UNC-Chapel Hill are moving forward with placing a few wind turbines in Pamlico Sound. ...If we continue to use large amounts of electricity for our daily comforts, we need to actively pursue clean alternative energy sources. We are fortunate in North Carolina to have sufficient natural resources and dedicated researchers to explore and act on wind as an option to help meet our energy demands. (George Thompson, Durham)
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/story/123450.html

It's wild: Wrecks due to deer have surged in N.C.
The Charlotte Observer
As North Carolina's green spaces shrink, man and deer are running into each other at a record rate. A new study shows deer-related crashes reported to police hit a high last year in Mecklenburg and across the state, as new residents and increasing development gobble up habitat. ...Mecklenburg ranked sixth among N.C. counties last year, with 519 deer-related crashes. That's a 92 percent increase from 2002, according to UNC Chapel Hill's Highway Safety Research Center.
Related Link:
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/52593.html
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2926/73/

Kenan funding targeted
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The second phase of Kenan Stadium's expansion could begin as early as next summer, UNC athletic director Dick Baddour said Friday. The time line depends on the public university's ability to raise enough private funding and get approval from its Board of Trustees.
Related Link:
http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Kenan-s+Phase
+II+project+kicks+off%20&id=3811087-Kenan-s+Phase+II+project+kicks+off
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/unc-begins-sales-push-for-kenan-expansion
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2009/09/28/daily62.html

Devoutly pursuing profits, but bottom line is faith
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Corporate chaplains are an increasing presence in American workplaces - about 4,000 of them minister to workers nationwide, mostly in Southern states. ...An Arizona company was vindicated two decades ago in a federal appeals court ruling that set ground rules for workplace ministry, said UNC Chapel Hill law professor Glenn George. The federal court ruled that the private company could require its workers to attend devotional services as long as it paid the workers for the time spent in worship, and as long as an atheist employee was exempted from having to attend.

Let free speech thrive on campus - even if it's ugly (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Retired UNC-Chapel Hill professor Elliot Cramer is hardly known for his tact. But Chancellor Holden Thorp overreacted in dismissing Cramer as adviser to a student group for making a midnight wisecrack about shooting potential attackers.
Related Links:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/was-uncs-thorp
-heavy-handed-in-dismissing-ywc-advisor

Hospitals bar young from visiting
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Starting Monday, most area hospitals will begin barring children from visiting patients in an effort to stem the spread of flu, including the pandemic H1N1 strain that is currently circulating. ..UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and Rex Healthcare in Raleigh are barring visits from children under the age of 12.
Related Links:
http://news14.com/charlotte-news-104-content/615631/more-hospitals
-implement-visitor-ban-to-protect-against-flu
http://wake.mync.com/site/Wake/news/story/42677/some-visitors
-think-new-hospital-rules-go-too-far/

UNC series explores concept of diaspora
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Throughout the 2009-10 academic year, UNC is exploring the theme of diaspora, the movement of people of different national origins across the globe, in a series of performances, lectures and other events. The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History also is sponsoring programming that examines issues related to the African diaspora that dovetails with the campuswide exploration of that theme.

Garden to host Johnson drawings
The Chapel Hill Herald
The N.C. Botanical Garden will host an exhibit of detailed nature drawings made by North Carolina artist Robert Johnson, opening Monday and running through Dec. 21. "Notebook Pages from Nature" will display 30 of Johnson's 8x11-inch nature journal pencil/watercolor drawings as well as one 36x52-inch composite.

Talk discusses journalism
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The early years of journalism education at UNC will be the topic of a free public talk on campus Oct. 15. Tom Bowers, professor emeritus at UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will give the talk, this year’s Gladys Coates University History Lecture, at 5:45 p.m. in the Wilson Special Collections Library.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2913/68/

PEP founder speaking today
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Catherine Rohr, founder and chief executive officer of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP), an innovative and high-impact prisoner rehabilitation program based in Texas, will be featured speaker at a free public lecture and reception today at UNC.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2911/67/

Southern Spaces topic of talk
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Emory University American studies professor Allen Tullos will discuss “Southern Spaces: Critical Regionalism and the Digital Humanities” at 4 p.m. Oct. 13 at UNC.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2912/73/

Planetarium shows rock out
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Get ready to rock out this fall as the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center pulses with hit music set to choreographed multicolor laser imagery for the first time in five years.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2909/68/

Issues and Trends

Moody’s remains bearish on higher ed as financials sour
The Triangle Business Journal
College campuses, already the scene of job cuts, endowment losses and lowered financial aid, could face an even tougher fiscal 2011. So concludes an evaluation of the higher education industry by one of three major credit ratings agencies. ...“While I think that Moody’s is probably right about the overall higher education sector ... in North Carolina, we placed ourselves pretty well for this,” says Rob Nelson, University of North Carolina System vice president for finance.

UC Berkeley to pay consultant to find cost cuts
The San Francisco Chronicle (California)
UC Berkeley has agreed to pay a consultant $3 million to help the school find new ways to save money - an agreement that has irritated some faculty members whose pay is being cut this year. ...To help in that planning, the university has hired Bain & Co., Massachusetts-based consultant with offices in San Francisco. The company is also working with the University of North Carolina and Cornell University to reduce costs there.