uncnews.unc.edu

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

National Coverage

Cheerleaders take high-flying risks under untrained eyes
The Los Angeles Times
..."Right now, cheerleading is out of control," said Dr. Frederick Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina. "Kids are practicing all over the place without mats. They practice when they want to, do what they want to, and some coaches aren't certified and don't know what they're doing." Statistics confirm the danger. Cheerleading injuries resulting in emergency room visits have increased almost sixfold since 1980, to nearly 30,000 in 2008, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported.

Regional Coverage

Democrats face two bad options on health plan
The Washington Examiner (Washington D.C.)
Congress faces two politically unpalatable options on health care: Higher fines for working-class Americans who don't buy insurance or increases in spending and taxes after insurance providers predicted huge increases in premiums under the main Democratic plan. ..."Without better subsidies to make health coverage more affordable, it is difficult to have the strong individual mandate that the insurance industry wants as the price for accepting more regulation," said Jon Oberlander, a health care policy professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

It’s time to sideline players with head injuries (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Boston Globe (Massachusetts)
In a perfect world of public health, millions of parents would blitz football fields with the Hall of Fame fury of Ray Nitschke and Dick Butkus, storming sidelines to haul their precious babies away from bone-crunching tragedy. That is what should have happened after the National Football League’s own study found retired players age 30 to 49 have dementia at a rate 19 times that of normal men that age. Retirees 50 and older were five times more likely to have memory-related disease. This news comes four years after a University of North Carolina study found that retired players who had multiple football concussions had several times more prevalence of cognitive impairment than players who never had a concussion.

Bumped in the head? Take it seriously
The State (Columbia, S.C.)
...Concussions are an unseen epidemic, according to Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz, chairman of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons said 10 percent to 15 percent of high school athletes sustain a concussion each year.

Carolina moving ahead on wind
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)
Virginia officials have long discussed placing wind turbines off the coast, but the first towers in the region are likely to appear farther south - in North Carolina's Pamlico Sound. Duke Energy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently signed a contract to install one to three turbines in the sound west of Buxton and Avon as early as next year.

State and Local Coverage

University Day focuses on economic challenges
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill celebrated its 216th birthday Monday with a commitment to overcoming the economic challenges it faces and emerging as a global leader. ..."This was the beginning of public education in the United States, and it happened right here in Chapel Hill," Chancellor Holden Thorp said as he pointed out distinguished guests Bill Friday and Molly Broad, former presidents of the university.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/138869.html
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/no-pressure-chancellor
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/perdue_talks_efficiency_at_unc
http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12060
http://news14.com/charlotte-news-104-content/615971/university-day
-celebrates-history-of-unc-chapel-hill
http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/6198282/
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2960/1/

NC Botanical Garden’s New Education Center Opens
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
Frank Harmon Architect PA of Raleigh, NC, has completed the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s new and thoroughly “green” 29,656-square-foot Education Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Governor Beverly Perdue attended the dedication ceremony and praised the project for being slated as the first LEED Platinum certified building in the state.
Related Link:
http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12057
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2849/138/

Bullies stopped this time
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Brenda Holleman was stunned and sickened when she saw the supposedly funny "burn book" her daughter had heard about at school and looked up on the Web. ..."Back when I was in high school, we called them slam books," said Jane Brown, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor of communications who studies adolescent female behavior, among other things. "It's a way of establishing pecking order among peers, and when you're a teen, your peer group is everything."

Safe teen drivers get the spotlight
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
In the difficult campaign to stop teens from texting when they drive, state troopers employ old-school tactics: Scare 'em into submission. ...But researchers based in Chapel Hill talk about something else happening out there. After standing near high school parking lots to study 20,000 young drivers across the state, they're putting out an upbeat message. "Most of the time, 91 percent of the time, teens are off the phone while driving," said Arthur Goodwin, a senior researcher at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center. "That runs counter to what you hear about teens."

Legislature gettin' citified (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Wake County likely will gain two seats in the N.C. House of Representatives and a Senate seat after the next census in 2010, according to an analysis by UNC's Program on Public Life, with some help by bill drafting director Gerry Cohen.

Carry on with a program supporting returned soldiers (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Having served in combat in Vietnam and Iraq, I know first-hand the burdens our returning soldiers bear. In 2003-2005, I was privileged to lead North Carolina's largest reserve deployment since World War II. ...The Citizen Soldier Support Program based at UNC-Chapel Hill too, despite recent criticism, continues to provide crucial training and support for identification and treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). The portion of the Citizen Soldier Support Program that I have personally been involved with is providing immeasurable value to North Carolina's combat veterans. In my opinion this program must be continued if we are to honor our commitment to our returning soldiers and their families.

Coastal wind power (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
North Carolina is wisely dipping only its big toe into coastal wind power. The state, UNC and Duke Energy are planning to build as many as three enormous wind turbines in Pamlico Sound, between the mainland and the Outer Banks. If all goes well, the $36 million project could begin sending power into the electrical grid by this time next year.

Panel to focus on art, medicine
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The Health Sciences Library at the UNC-Chapel Hill will host a panel discussion Wednesday on the relationship between art and medicine. The talk, "Reflecting the Medical Sciences through Art," is held in conjunction with "Learned in Science, Explored in Art," an exhibit of paintings by Wolfgang Ritschel, professor emeritus at the University of Cincinnati.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2956/68/

Hulu CEO to speak
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar will deliver the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication's Roy H. Park Distinguished Lecture at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Gerrard Hall. Kilar's lecture, "Sex, Lies & Online Video: From Howell Hall to Hulu," is free and open to the public. Kilar, a 1993 UNC journalism school graduate, was named CEO of Hulu, an online video joint venture of News Corp., NBC Universal, the Walt Disney Co. and Providence Equity Partners, in June 2007 after nearly a decade with Amazon.com.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/2955/68/

HIV/AIDS Q&A offered Oct. 20
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Three medical experts will present a question-and-answer forum for persons interested in issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS and for those who are also infected with HIV/AIDS on Oct. 20 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. John Bartlett, associate professor of medical research for Duke Global Health, Joe Eron, UNC AIDS clinical trials principal investigator, and Harry Goforth, a Duke assistant professor of psychiatry, will participate in the forum at the Duke South Medical Student Amphitheater.

Issues and Trends

NCSU sacks head of alumni association
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
N.C. State University's interim chancellor has fired the head of the alumni association, saying the group was struggling financially and its membership had been stagnant for years. ...The alumni association at smaller UNC-Chapel Hill, meanwhile, has about 70,000 members and 35,000 life members. In a memo to (Interim Chancellor James) Woodward released by the university, (Dr. Lennie) Barton wrote that, using a 10-point scale with UNC-Chapel Hill's alumni association at the top, NCSU deserved a 6 but was gaining. He said that NCSU's membership program was just 11 years old, compared to a century for UNC-Chapel Hill's.

Bain's Past Work Could Shed Light on Its Methods
The Daily Californian (UC Berkeley student paper)
As Bain & Company continues its initial assessment of UC Berkeley's operational structure, its work at other universities could shed light on how the company will help facilitate cost-saving measures on campus. ...Chapel Hill is now undergoing discussions of how and what to implement from Bain's recommendations. Officials said they are hoping to save the campus between $89 million and $161 million annually. "We'll be pursuing all the options Bain suggested ... we'll be turning them upside down and reviewing them," said Joseph Templeton, former faculty chair at Chapel Hill.