uncnews.unc.edu

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

National Coverage

Keeping Young Minds Healthy
Time
...About one in five children in the U.S. suffers from some sort of emotional or behavioral condition, according to a new study led by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Among adults with confirmed ills, 50% were diagnosed before the age of 14 and 75% before 24. ..."Childhood is a canary-in-the-coal-mine time," says Dr. Lynn Wegner, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina. "If early signs of mental-health problems aren't correctly managed, they may stay with kids for life."

16 and Pregnant: Tuned-In Teens Are Turned Off by Teen Pregnancy
Time
The U.S. teen birth rate dropped a smidgen between 2007 and 2008, but still, on average, three of every 10 girls gets pregnant at least once by the time she turns 20.It's long been a public health crisis, with experts scratching their heads over how to preach safe sex so teens will listen. ...Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and Durham, N.C., research firm iRT divided 162 teens in Boys and Girls Clubs in North Carolina into groups that watched three episodes of “16 and Pregnant” and groups that didn't.

Juan Williams fired: pitfalls of the 'insta-opinion' age
The Christian Science Monitor
Juan Williams, the venerable NPR news analyst and civil rights era expert, joined a growing list of journalists fired for making bold statements on the air or online – in his case, telling Fox News's Bill O'Reilly that people in Muslim garb on airplanes make him "nervous." ..."This case reinforces the need for institutions like NPR ... to instill the elements of journalism ... and to be clear what the standards are for blogs and TV appearances," says Ferrel Guillory, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gene to protect against alcoholism? (Blog)
CNN.com
Feeling more drunk after a few drinks than your friends? It might not just be in your head. It could be your genes, and understanding it could help prevent alcoholism. Dr. Kirk Wilhelmsen, professor of genetics and neurology with the University of North Carolina, spoke with John Roberts this morning about his new study that identified an alcoholism gene that could protect someone from developing the disease.
UNC Release:
http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2010/October/scientists-find-gene-linked-to-alcoholism

Careers lost in fallout from UNC scandal
ESPN.com
About 10 days before the start of the season, North Carolina coach Butch Davis was informed 13 players would be held out of the LSU game as a result of a two-pronged NCAA investigation into athletes receiving improper benefits from agents or anyone else, and academic misconduct.
Related Link:
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/insider/news/story?id=5712008&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2f
insider.espn.go.com%2fncf%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d5712008

State and Local Coverage

UNC Creates Partnership to Help Military Personnel
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC has created a partnership with Fayetteville Tech to help veterans and active-duty military personnel make their way through college. A program at UNC called the Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program, or CSTEP, guarantees low-income students from community colleges admission to UNC as long as they graduate on time with an Associate’s Degree. UNC’s admissions director Steve Farmer says the new connection with Fayetteville Tech extends that help to members of the military.

Disabilities building opens today
The Chapel Hill Herald
The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities of the UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine will celebrate the opening of a new building at 4:30 p.m. today, at 101 Renee Lynne Court. ...Joseph Piven, director of the institute, said that the new building "will facilitate the institute's overarching aim to translate basic science and clinical research findings into real-world interventions in the community. It is our hope that with this new building, the Carolina Institute will be able to expand its contributions to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families throughout the state of North Carolina."

Camera detects early signs of blindness in diabetics
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness, but less than half of diabetics in the United States get the recommended annual vision screening. Physicians at UNC Family Medicine believe that doing vision tests during visits to primary care doctors could be the key to catching retinopathy – a diabetes-related disease that causes blindness – when it's most treatable.

Academic jobs scarce for doctoral grads
The Triangle Business Journal
Doctoral students and post-doc researchers probably will have to look beyond the field of academia if they want to land a permanent job in the current economy. ...“If you are a Ph.D., and you are thinking you want to get into higher ed as a professor, that market is kind of scary,” says Ray Angle, university career services director at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Students not sold on plans for their building
The Triangle Business Journal
UNC-Chapel Hill is gearing up for a $18.8 million renovation of the institution’s nearly 50-year-old student union, though a large part of the project could be derailed by students who will be asked to help pay for it.

Survey: UNC fans support Davis
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
A new poll indicates that UNC fans continue to support football coach Butch Davis. And so does a website, created just for that reason. According to a survey of North Carolina voters by Public Policy Polling, 41 percent of voters describing themselves as UNC fans approve of the job Davis is doing as coach, while 20 percent disapprove (39 percent were unsure).

Issues and Trends

Bowles 'reminds' schools
The Winston-Salem Journal
The president of the UNC system, Erskine Bowles, has reminded the chancellors at all of the UNC campuses that they can’t allow the use of the schools to support political candidates or issues. ...“Certainly that brought it to light, in terms of making it clear that there had to be a reminder for faculty and staff,” said Joni Worthington, UNC’s vice president for communications.