uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

Number of US-Muslim terror suspects down: study
Agence France Presse (Wire Service)
The number of Muslim Americans involved in terrorist acts dropped by more than half last year compared to 2009, easing fears that the minority group is being radicalized, a study showed Wednesday. ..."Since 9/11, there have been approximately 150,000 murders in the United States, more than 15,000 per year," said the study, led by University of North Carolina sociology professor Charles Kurzman.

Fed's Duke: current easing likely sufficient
Reuters (Wire Service)
A top Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday she does not think the U.S. central bank will have to extend its $600 billion bond-buying program beyond midyear, but economic weakness could force the Fed's hand. "If the economy does, as I expect it to, and continues to, grow at a moderate pace, then I think things will begin to come together," Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke said in response to a question about extending the bond-buying program after a speech at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler business school.
Related Link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110202-718083.html

National Coverage

Teen athletes' sudden deaths spur call for heart screening
MSNBC.com
...No one knows exactly how many teens experience sudden cardiac arrest each year. But data collected by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research suggests that 15 high school athletes die each year due to heart-related problems, said Frederick Mueller, director of the center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Experts scoff at Charlotte barbecue
The Associated Press
Everyone likes praise, but when first lady Michelle Obama listed "great barbecue" as one of Charlotte's virtues in hosting the 2012 Democratic National Convention, it was a tough chew for the state's slow-cooked hog experts. Barbecue? In Charlotte? One expert, John Shelton Reed, explained it in stark terms. He is a retired University of North Carolina professor and the co-author of "Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue."

Day by day, the war in the South
The Washington Post
The University of North Carolina’s Wilson Library plans to post a daily account of what was happening in the South on the same date during the Civil War 150 years earlier, according to the UNC General Alumni Association. The website is to be launched on April 12, the anniversary of the attack on Ft. Sumter in Charleston harbor. The site will use the library’s collection of archival materials, such as letters and eyewitness reports, to present the war as it unfolded to its official end with the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4196/73/

Regional Coverage

Digital-mammography report shows how profits can trump science (Blog)
The MinnPost.com (Minneapolis, Minn.)
...With so much money to be made, we can expect these kinds of stories to proliferate. “We are living in a time when a lot of medical interventions have been oversold, and [digital mammography] is another one,” Dr. Russell Harris, a professor and preventive medicine expert at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, told the center’s reporters. “What’s happened is that the people who make the machines, who benefit by selling newer machines, have triumphed.”

State and Local Coverage

Former professor reflects on the significance of DNC in Charlotte
North Carolina News Network
With the 2012 Democratic National Convention coming to Charlotte, North Carolina will become the political focal point in the month leading up to the 2012 elections. But a retired UNC-Chapel Hill history professor believes the convention being held in Charlotte is an indicator of the south's role in modern national politics. "It suggests that the south, unlike the years when there was a solid south -- a one party south, has become a national battleground," said professor William Leuchtenburg.

L.A. archbishop talks immigration at UNC
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As a 10 year-old boy working alongside Mexican workers in a Hollywood, Calif., poultry processing plant owned by his father, Cardinal Roger Mahony said he felt terrorized when the border patrol raided the business one day and intimidated workers with their guns. It was one of many experiences that made Mahony, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, the church's most outspoken advocate on behalf of immigration reform. Wednesday night he spoke about the issue to students, professors and fellow Catholics during a lecture at UNC Chapel Hill's FedEx Global Education Center.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4266/73/

Report: Zahra's Stepmom Was Married 7 Times
The Associated Press
...That likely means her marriage to Putnam was invalid, according to University of North Carolina School of Law professor Maxine Eichner. "If you're in a valid marriage and you get married again, and the first marriage hasn't been dissolved by either divorce or by being annulled, then the second marriage has no effect," Eichner said.

ACC schools making impact in recruiting
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
ACC schools, maligned for failing to compete for national championships in recent years in football, flexed their recruiting muscles Wednesday on national signing day. North Carolina put the finishing touch on a top-20 class by signing McKeesport, Pa., defensive tackle Delvon Simmons. He is rated the No.80 player nationally by Scout.com. "Today was a very good day," North Carolina coach Butch Davis said at his signing day news conference.

Up With Micro-Franchising At UNC
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC will host a team of experts this Thursday to discuss the advantages of global micro-franchising. ...Thursday’s panel is co-hosted by UNC’s Institute for the Environment and the Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise. Speakers include Jason Fairborne, the author of “MicroFranchising: Creating Wealth at the Bottom of the Pyramid,” and Malini Tolat of the Grameen Foundation, an international organization devoted to promoting microfinance as a sustainable solution to global poverty.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4269/67/

Training sessions focus on birth to 5
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The Early Childhood Faith Initiative launched a year ago is continuing to get the word out about how congregations can reach its littlest parishioners -- birth to age five. The effort is a collaboration between Durham's Partnership for Children and End Poverty Durham. ...First up is Kate Gallagher, director of the Frank Porter Graham Family and Child Care Program, who will speak on "Early Development: Brain, Language & Social-Emotional."

Duke ranks 9th in U.S. in 2010 giving
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
...UNC Chapel Hill ranked 18th in the amount of annual giving, according to the report, receiving $267 million in fiscal 2010. That was down 1.2 percent from the year before, but over a five-year period, donations were up nearly 49 percent at the school.

Wrong way to go smoke-free (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
So, now R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company wants to help smokers "break free" from tobacco? That statement should make parents, health care providers and smokers nervous. Last month, Reynolds promoted its Camel Snus (a "spit-free" tobacco pouch) with advertisements in national magazines that read "If you've decided to quit tobacco use, we support you," under a large "2011 Smoke-free Resolution" banner. Reynolds then offered its smoke-free snus as the solution. (Joseph Lee is a social research specialist with the Department of Family Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Researcher's demotion hurts UNC image
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Carney, a professor at the Oregon Health & Science University, watched with surprise as UNC-CH first tried to fire Yankaskas and subsequently demoted her and cut her salary after a hacker's infiltration of a research database she oversees. The university's investigation found that the 2007 breach endangered 180,000 patient files, including about 114,000 Social Security numbers.

Issues and Trends

Donations to Colleges Rose, if Only Slightly, in 2010
The Chronicle of Higher Education
In a clear signal that the economic recovery has not yet arrived on most campuses, private giving to American colleges last year barely improved after a precipitous drop the year before. Donations to higher education rose 0.5 percent during the 2010 fiscal year, according to findings of the annual Voluntary Support of Education Survey, which were released by the Council for Aid to Education on Wednesday. Adjusted for inflation, giving declined 0.6 percent.

UNC board member advises House speaker (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Bill Daughtridge, a member of the UNC system's Board of Governors, is now working as senior policy adviser for House Speaker Thom Tillis. It's an unusual arrangement, because members of the UNC board aren't supposed to work for the legislature, which oversees its budget. But in this case, Daughtridge is not drawing a salary, said Jordan Shaw, a Tillis spokesman.
Related Link:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/unc-board-has-a-man-in-the-speakers-office

GOP lawmakers seek to hold back incentives money
The Associated Press
Republicans pushed a bill through the state Senate's budget committee Wednesday that seeks to close budget shortfalls with both spending cuts and taking cash from places like tobacco trust funds and economic incentives. ...The bill would tap into dedicated funds for parks and recreation projects, farmland preservation and reserves in several government agencies. It also would take $4.7 million set aside for cancer research fund at UNC Hospitals, but the state would still be meeting its $50 million annual commitment to the fund, Stevens said.