uncnews.unc.edu

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

National Coverage

Not Scared of Selectivity
Inside Higher Ed
Community college students can successfully transfer to some of the nation’s most selective four-year institutions and perform as well as those who start as freshmen, if they are given appropriate academic and social support, a new report on a five-year project by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation finds. The Community College Transfer Initiative, started in 2005, provided about $7 million over four years to eight four-year institutions — Amherst College, Bucknell University, Cornell University, Mount Holyoke College, University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of Southern California — in an effort “to promote sustainable, long-term increases in the number of high-achieving community college students from low-income families transferring to the nation’s selective four-year institutions.”

Low-Income Community-College Students Find Success at Selective 4-Year Colleges
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Low-income community-college students not only tend to excel academically but also often become student leaders after they transfer to a four-year college, according to a new report by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. ...To accomplish its goal the foundation has awarded grants totaling about $7-million to eight highly selective four-year institutions. They are Amherst College, Bucknell University, Cornell University, Mount Holyoke College, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Southern California.

When avatars meet for lunch
The Los Angeles Times
Science validates the notion that people with a strong social network live longer. It's not yet clear if the benefits apply to those who turn to the Internet for friendship. ...Finally, though, gooey sentiment has been backed up by science. In an analysis of data from 148 studies about the connection between health and social interactions, researchers from Brigham Young University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that people with strong social networks live longer than those without.

State and Local Coverage

Researchers recruiting Durham families for landmark children's study
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University are looking for expectant Durham County parents - and parents who expect to become expectant - to be subjects of a long-term, nationwide study of how children are affected by their environments. ..."This is a landmark study of environment and children's health," said UNC-CH sociologist Barbara Entwisle, one of the study's principal investigators for North Carolina. The researchers want to enroll women during pregnancy and follow them and their families until the children are 21.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/8294190/
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/9537654/article-Durham
-site-of-major-health-study?instance=homesixthleft
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3902/107/

UNC recognizes 3 who were first blacks to enroll
The Associated Press
Three African-American men who were the first to attend the University of North Carolina will be honored in a series of events. Thursday marks the 55th anniversary of a federal court decision which said the university could not prohibit Ralph Frasier, his brother, LeRoy Frasier, and John Brandon from attending the school.

Don't be alarmed, UNC: those fighter jets are just practicing (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Thursday morning, four fighter jets will blast through the skies over UNC-Chapel Hill, a dry run to gear up for Saturday. That's when they'll execute another fly-over to kick off the Tar Heel football season. The Heels kick off their home season at noon Saturday against Georgia Tech.

A healthy tailgate? (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
And now, from the No Fun At All Department....how to have a healthy tailgate. An eating disorders expert from UNC-Chapel Hill says tailgating can be pretty unhealthy, whaty with all the high-fat, high-calorie foods washed down by all those high-calorie adult beverages. So how do you eat better?
UNC Release:
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2010/September/how-to-tailgate-the-healthy-way
?utm_source=release&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=tailgate

Officials Test Preparedness For Nuclear Plant Accident
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
County public health officials and the N.C. Center for Public Health Preparedness are teaming up to conduct a household survey of county residents who live in the 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) of Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. Public health staff and selected volunteers will conduct randomly selected door-to-door surveys within the county on Friday, September 17 and Saturday, September 18. (The North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness is a program of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, the service and outreach arm of the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health.)

The death of the death penalty at hand? (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
Across North Carolina, newspapers, defense lawyers, crime victims, even prosecutors, are calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. In light of revelations that the State Bureau of Investigation offered false or misleading evidence in hundreds of cases, a moratorium isn't enough. All 159 of North Carolina's death row inmates should have their sentences commuted to life in prison without parole. (Frank R. Baumgartner is Professor of Political Science at UNC Chapel Hill and co-author of The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence.)

UNC adds football coach
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina's defensive line will have its own coach after all. UNC added assistant coach Charlie Coiner to replace departed assistant John Blake, head coach Butch Davis said Wednesday. Coiner will help with the defensive line and special teams, Davis said. Coiner joined the staff on Tuesday, nine days after Blake resigned. Blake, the former defensive line coach, is a central figure in the NCAA's agent-related investigation at UNC. Blake resigned Sept. 5, the day after the Tar Heels' season-opening loss to Louisiana State in Atlanta.
UNC Release:
http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091510aab.html

New Agenda for Bingham Facility
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC Associate Vice Chancellor Bob Lowman sent an email today to residents of the Bingham Township about the university’s plans regarding the Bingham Facility. The Bingham Facility, also known as The Farm, is an animal research facility. It currently houses about 60 dogs bred for research purposes. An expansion had been planned, but in August, the university relinquished a $14.5 million grant from the National Institute of Health.
Related Link:
http://wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=15873

Issues and Trends

'Times Higher Education' Releases New Rankings, but Will They Appease Skeptics?
The Chronicle of Higher Education
On Thursday the London-based Times Higher Education releases its new, and heavily hyped, World University Rankings. Nearly a year in the making, the rankings have been highly anticipated, if only to determine whether the magazine has truly delivered on its promise: to create an evaluation system based primarily on reliable, and quantifiable, measures of quality rather than on subjective values, such as reputational surveys.