uncnews.unc.edu

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

National Coverage

Applications Rise (Yet Again) at Dozens of Selective Colleges (Blog)
The New York Times
No one can ever say for sure why applications rise (or fall) at a particular college or university in a particular year. Sometimes institutions make their own luck, deciding to blanket a high school graduating class with come-ons to apply; other times, the buzz may spread virally, taking on a life of its own. (UNC-Chapel Hill was included on the graph in this article.)
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4243/1/

Peace Corps' 2011 college rankings; D.C., Va. schools on top
The Washington Post
...Following are the top five colleges and universities in each undergraduate category, as well as the top graduate schools and a historical ranking. The numbers in parenthesis represent the number of alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers. Large colleges and universities: More than 15,000 undergraduates ...University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (94)...

Beyond BRICs and PIGS (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Wall Street Journal
Ever since Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the term BRICs in 2001 to refer to four rapidly growing economies—Brazil, Russia, India and China—economic and social analysts have been very much into the acronym game. (Peter Coclanis (PAC-Man) is professor of history at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.)

Commencement Speakers Announced: Emory, Franklin & Marshall, Northwestern, North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Inside Higher Ed
The following colleges and universities have announced their commencement speakers for spring 2011: ...University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Edward Osborne Wilson Jr., Harvard University professor and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4194/68/

Regional Coverage

Why Americans put off marriage (Column)
The Washington Times
Marriage is associated with wealth, health, longevity, happiness and sexual satisfaction, plus myriad benefits for children. ...These seven reasons come from a fascinating new book, “Premarital Sex in America: How Young Americans Meet, Mate, and Think About Marrying,” by sociology professor Mark Regnerus at the University of Texas at Austin and postdoctoral fellow Jeremy Uecker of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

State and Local Coverage

Consumers, providers talk against NC GOP challenge
The Associated Press
Health care providers and consumers joined House Democrats on Monday to criticize a Republican bill in the North Carolina Legislature that seeks to sink portions of the federal health care overhaul, saying it could prevent hundreds of thousands of people from obtaining health insurance. ...The federal law is too important to the more than 1.6 million uninsured people in North Carolina and other underinsured consumers to be scuttled, said Dr. Charles van der Horst, a professor at the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill who specializes in infectious diseases.
Related Link:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7931255

NC Dems, others protest GOP's anti-HCR mandate bill
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
House Democrats held a press conference Monday to protest the Republican leadership’s handling of a controversial bill aimed at rolling back federal health care reform. ...Dr Charles van der Horst from UNC School of Medicine called on state House Republican leaders to come up with alternative ways to fix the health care system. “The Republicans do not have a plan. They’ve never had a plan for how to take care of these issues,” van der Horst said “They’re wasting our taxpayers dollars here in North Carolina. They should focus on the issues that are important to North Carolinians, such as more jobs and balancing the budget.”

Local universities pulling students out
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University officials are scrambling to help evacuate their students stuck in strife-torn Egypt. Following the U.S. State Department's travel warning Sunday advising Americans in Egypt to leave the North African nation as soon as they safely could, flights out of Cairo have been scheduled for the two Carolina students and the Duke student based there.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9035222/
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2011/01/31/story-westerville
-woman-safe-in-egypt.html?sid=102

Chavis to cover Wilmington 10
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Civil rights leader Benjamin F. Chavis will return to Chapel Hill on Wednesday to discuss "The Legacy of the Wilmington Ten: 40 Years Later." The free program from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. will be held in the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at 150 South Road.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4262/73/

Talks cover civil rights, Great Migration
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Civil rights as seen in a 50-year study of Clarksdale, Miss., will be the topic of a free public talk by Francoise Hamlin today at UNC Chapel Hill. Hamlin, the Hans Rothfels Assistant Professor in History and Africana Studies at Brown University, will speak at 4 p.m. in the Royall Room of the George Watts Hill Alumni Center at 106 Stadium Drive.
Related Link:
http://wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=17300
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4261/73/

Duke ranks 20th in world for MBA programs; UNC tumbles
The Triangle Business Journal
...The Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill can no longer say that it has one of the top 50 – or even top 60. That’s according to the 2011 Global MBA Rankings, released Monday by the Financial Times of London. While Duke’s Fuqua held steady at No. 20 for the second straight year, UNC’s Kenan plummeted 16 spots, to No. 62, from its 2010 ranking.

New fitness routine takes time
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
You're a month into your new fitness program and you're not seeing the results you expected. Take a deep breath, then keep going. ..."Your entire body composition changes, not just the number on the scale," says Logan Washburn, fitness director for the UNC Wellness Center at Meadowmont in Chapel Hill.

UNC and Neighbors Discuss Bingham Facility
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC officials and Orange County community members came together to discuss changes that will made to UNC’s Bingham Facility in rural Orange County. ...UNC’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Bob Lowman says the meeting was a way for the university to rebuild trust with local residents. Changes to the research facility were a major discussion point at the meeting.

Issues and Trends

UNC's Ross Says 'Unnecessary Duplication' Focus Of System Review
WFAE-FM (Charlotte)
North Carolina lawmakers are dealing with an estimated budget shortfall of $3.7 billion. Higher education is one of many areas expected to be hit with cuts. To counter this, 13 of 17 schools in the UNC system are seeking a 6.5 percent tuition hike - the maximum increase allowed. WFAE's Marshall Terry talks to UNC System President Tom Ross about the budget challenges to higher education.