uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

Applicants flock to the global village
The Financial Times (United Kingdom)
As a Washington DC-based political lobbyist, Vince Frillici may not seem the obvious candidate to enrol on an executive MBA degree taught across three continents. But half-way through his OneMBA degree with the Kenan-Flagler school at the University of North Carolina he has no regrets. “It’s already paying dividends,” he says. “I feel it is adding value for my clients already.” Mr Frillici, senior policy adviser with law firm Patton Boggs, is one of a growing number of managers who have chosen to study on a multicontinent programme when opting for an EMBA – an MBA for working managers.

Corporate view: ‘The company becomes a living laboratory’
The Financial Times (United Kingdom)
For companies mulling over whether to send up-and-coming managers on an Executive MBA programme, the question is simple: is it worth it? ...Naturally, the EMBA core curriculum gives participants a foundation in business: courses in finance, accounting, and marketing are standard. “Often we’re rounding out the skills of a person who’s already strong,” says Hugh O’Neill, the associate dean of EMBA programmes at University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School in Chapel Hill.

National Coverage

Beam Me to the Faculty Senate
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The days of face-to-face faculty meetings might soon come to an end. Colleges with several campuses are embracing videoconferencing systems for a range of faculty and staff meetings, to save money and fuel by reducing trips. ...Take one robotic system built by Henry Fuchs, a computer-science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It was inspired by the "animatronics" at Disney World—the moving and talking robots installed in the Hall of Presidents and other attractions. The animatronic robot that Mr. Fuchs is making with his colleagues can serve as a 3-D "avatar," or stand-in, for someone who cannot make it to a physical meeting.

Who Should Treat Breast Cancer? (Letter to the Editor)
The New York Times
It is true that breast cancer treatment has become too complex for the current models of care. The multiple specialties required make it impossible for a single individual, no matter how well trained, to deliver that care. The only solution is to put the patient at the center of the process. At many leading institutions, a multidisciplinary approach allows all relevant specialists to come together to see patients on the same day. (James P. Evans, Chapel Hill, N.C. The writer, a doctor, is director of clinical cancer genetics at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)

Regional Coverage

Jockey dies at Blue Ribbon Downs
The Tulsa World (Oklahoma)
A jockey riding in a horse race at Blue Ribbon Downs died Sunday after he fell from the horse. ...According to a four-year study by the Anne Waller of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina, “for every 1,000 jockeys you have riding, over 600 will have medically treated injuries.” She also told the New York Times that almost 20 percent of those injuries were serious head or neck injuries.

Parent launches program for families of premies
The American-Statesman (Austin, Texas)
...Constant doctors appointments, medical issues and financial pressure often cause parents to experience mental health problems, studies show. In a study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, researchers interviewed 30 mothers six months after their baby's due date and scored them on three post-traumatic stress symptoms: avoidance, hyperarousal, and flashbacks or nightmares. Of the those mothers, 28 had at least two of the symptoms, and 16 had all three.

Achieving Happiness: Top 10 positive emotions
The Capital (Annapolis, Md.)
To be happy, you must generate between four to six positive emotions for every negative feeling you experience. ...Barbara Fredrickson's research at the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at the University of North Carolina has revealed that there are 10 positive emotions that are commonly experienced. The most frequent is love, followed by joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration and awe.

State and Local Coverage

UNC injury center focused on safety
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Accidents happen. Bruises, sprains, concussions and even the occasional broken bone. For most people, these are an unavoidable part of an active life. But not according to scientists at UNC's Injury Control and Research Center. ...Director Carol Runyan defines injury as "trauma to the body that is the result of a transfer of energy in amounts that are too great of force or distributed in a way that the body can't sustain."

To do: grocery store
The Chapel Hill News
The future University Square is little more than a pile of ideas floating around town right now. Yet, you'd probably be safe betting a dollar that it will include a grocery store. ...The 12-acre tract fronting Franklin Street was purchased recently by the UNC Chapel Hill Foundation and a development partner, Cousins Properties, of Atlanta. Those firms have hired an architect, Boston-based Elkus Manfredi, to start crafting plan.

Week's End (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
...The Northeast Central Durham Community VOICE is a Web site, www.durhamvoice.org, and a newspaper written by local teens about life in that part of the city. ...The teens work on their writing, reporting and photography skills, mentored by journalism students and faculty from N.C. Central University and the University of North Carolina. The idea came from Jock Lauterer, a UNC journalism professor and director of the Carolina Community Media Project.

Wake, Mecklenburg stand to gain in House
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Wake County likely will gain two seats in the state House and one Senate seat after the census in 2010, according to an analysis by UNC-Chapel Hill's Program on Public Life, with some help by bill drafting director Gerry Cohen. Mecklenburg County is the other big winner, adding at least one and possibly two new House seats, according to the data.

Where the uninsured don't count (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Mehmet Oz helped organize what was described as the largest one-day, nondisaster-related, free clinic in American history. Held in Houston's Reliant Center, the operation drew more than 700 volunteers to serve, without fee, 1,784 patients. Oz explained he had chosen Houston because Texas has more people without health insurance than any state in the union. (Gene R. Nichol is a professor of law and director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Adult flu vaccine runs out
The Daily Advance
The regional public health agency has run out of the vaccine used to help adults fight seasonal flu and won’t be getting any more this season, a health official said Friday. ...Healthy Carolinians plans to work with students enrolled in the University of North Carolina’s School of Public Health students on completing the CHA by December 2010.

Officials still seeking fish kill answers
The Sun Journal (New Bern)
A large fish kill on the Neuse River in Craven County still appears to be waning, but talk continues about concerns surrounding the five-week-long event. ...“Although local health departments do not actively monitor water quality in the Neuse River, there are several agencies and organizations that do test our waters,” Harrelson said. He named the state’s Recreational Water Quality Program, Ferry Division and Division of Water Quality, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in conjunction with the University of North Carolina.

Women's medical records hacked
The Rocky Mount Telegram
Scores of local women have been warned that their credit might be at risk after a computer system being used for a breast cancer study was hacked at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. The Carolina Mammography Registry in Chapel Hill recently informed the women that a computer security breach in 2007 might have exposed personal information they did not know was sent to the registry.

PlayMakers' 'Opus' a masterpiece (Letter to the Editor)
The Chapel Hill News
Congratulations to producer Joseph Haj and his versatile UNC PlayMakers company for their production of "Opus" -- one of the most satisfying productions I have seen anywhere in the past few years. As a former theatre director turned jazz musician, I know I am impatient, opinionated, and often picky, yet I watched "Opus" with a growing sense of how perfectly the "pieces" of acting, design, and tech were fused in this PlayMakers production. (Chris Reynolds, Chapel Hill)

Issues and Trends

Town's rules meant to increase Halloween safety
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
In years past, the dress-up crowds that filled Franklin Street on Halloween could anticipate bumping into -- or, possibly more accurately, squeezing past -- costumed characters ranging from the Mario Brothers of video game fame, to Rubik's Cubes or Poison Ivy from the Batman cinematic series. Town officials don't want to see such creativity crash or the revelry rained on. But as they continue efforts to shrink the size of huge crowds that have spilled into the Franklin Street corridor for Homegrown Halloween festivities in years past, they are ratcheting up alerts to inform participants about changes to the fun event.

Up, down or just crazy, Gray is breaking the news
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A native of Roxboro and a 1991 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Robert Gray now works on the breaking news desk for the Fox Business Network. Gray has had an eclectic career in journalism, from launching a radio station in Prague to reporting from the New York Stock Exchange for Bloomberg Television.

Late student's UNC fraternity 'dumbfounded'
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity were "dumbfounded" by an autopsy report that said their president, Courtland Smith, was depressed and had discussed suicide with some friends.

UNC hiring waivers panned
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
University of North Carolina schools skip their normal hiring procedures with “disturbing” frequency, the group that represents state employees says. State leaders should make sure public universities are hiring the best-qualified faculty and administrators and avoiding favoritism, said Ardis Watkins, chief lobbyist for the State Employees' Association of North Carolina.