uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

"Biofeedback" may help kids with urinary problems
Reuters (Wire Service)
...Dr. William Whitehead, who has used biofeedback (without the animations) in adults at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that animated types of biofeedback "are very useful in children and adolescents." In this new study, he told Reuters Health, the researchers "have really shown very clearly that this animated feedback can help children learn this response. Their attention span is more limited and their motivation is poorer (than in adults). I think animated biofeedback can help bridge that gap."

Political Data Miners Really Get to Know You
Voice of America
...BARBARA KLEIN: Daniel Kreiss is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina. Professor Kreiss says campaigns will increasingly combine information about what people do online and offline in their everyday life. DANIEL KREISS: "What I think is starting to happen now and is genuinely new -- although there were the first steps in this direction in two thousand eight -- is the increasing ability of campaigns now to sync their general voter databases with online user data that they’re getting from other sources."

National Coverage

Fountain of youth?
"Nightly News with Brian Williams" NBC
Dr. Norman Sharpless, professor of genetic medicine in the UNC School of Medicine was interviewed in this story about research being done at the Mayo Clinic about aging. Dr. Sharpless said that the research done on mice could have major implecations for humans.
Note: This interview was conducted from the Carolina News Studio.

Small Elections Drawing Big Money In Some States
"All Things Considered" National Public Radio
Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication, was interviewed by NPR's "All Things Considered" for a story on the Wake County School Board runoff election. Guillory spoke about the effect national political interests are having on local elections.
Note: This interview was conducted from the Carolina News Studio.

When Is A Moth Like A Hummingbird?
"Science Friday" National Public Radio
A hawk moth (Manduca sexta) feeds by hovering in front of flowers and slurping nectar through a proboscis, basically a body-length straw. To understand how these moths keep such a precise position in the air, Tyson Hedrick, a biomechanist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, tried destabilizing moths in a variety of different ways and tracked their responses using high speed cameras.

Foreign-Language Instruction, Digitally Speaking
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Wylder Fondaw struggled with an online Latin class in high school. So when he arrived at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this year, he hesitated at studying a language online. But the freshman had no choice: At his skill level, if he wanted to take introductory Spanish, an online class was the only option. Instead of showing up in class four times a week, Mr. Fondaw conjugates verbs on a computer program in his sparsely furnished dorm room. He attends a live class every Tuesday afternoon—but it, too, is virtual.

Regional Coverage

What drives serial entrepreneurs
The Miami Herald (Florida)
...“These are very elite people,” said Ted Zoller, senior fellow with The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and the director of the Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “They are the top of the heap, the entrepreneurs who are really sought after for their market insight, for their knowledge of opportunities, for their strategic contacts, and for their leadership abilities to organize teams and build companies,” he said.

How a poor economy could affect the Scott Walker recall fight (Blog)
The Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wis.)
...“If we have an unpopular Democratic president who is presiding over an unhealthy national economy, then that should help the Republican candidate for governor. If you have a Republican governor presiding over a bad state economy, that hurts the Republican governor. Those things do work against each other,” says Tom Carsey, a University of North Carolina political scientist who studies gubernatorial elections.

State and Local Coverage

Tracking touch-the-ground running
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Converts argue that running barefoot - or close to it - improves form and reduces injury. Could they be right? Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill are trying to find out. "Everywhere I go people ask me: 'What's the deal about barefoot running?' " said UNC-Chapel Hill physical therapist Michael Gross, P.T., Ph.D. Like many physical therapists, Gross has spent years counseling patients on orthotics and corrective shoes.

Building on progress in infant survival (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...That is why the Child Fatality Task Force is proud to partner with the UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health and the state Division of Public Health to convene an N.C. Equity in Birth Outcomes Partnership. This effort brings together leaders from many different sectors - including business and faith communities, economists, environmentalists and social scientists - to create and advance a comprehensive plan to reduce disparities in birth outcomes in our state.

Will session be about more than redistricting? (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Much speculation surrounds this week's return legislative session. We know they're coming back to clean up redistricting maps. But do they plan anything else? ...Complicating the picture are scheduled absences from a handful of lawmakers in the House and Senate, including Republicans and Democrats, who will travel to China on a trip sponsored by the Center for International Understanding at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Issues and Trends

Rising tuition: The cost may be too high
The News & Record (Greensboro)
...Some UNC campuses have reported there are more students who did not return to school this semester because they lacked the money. Nationally, average tuitions and fees increased this year more than 8 percent among public, four-year schools, according to recently released data from the College Board.
Related Link:
http://www.wral.com/news/education/story/10338352/

Huge tuition hikes not bad only for students (Editorial)
The Charlotte Observer
UNC system President Tom Ross nailed it when he met with the Observer's editorial board this fall: "We have to continue to be the university of the people," he said. "If we don't, we won't be economically competitive as a state." That's why potentially huge hikes in tuition at UNC's 17 campuses around the state are so troubling.

Officials in position to price middle class out of state colleges (Editorial)
The Star News (Wilmington)
...That article to the state constitution suggests that North Carolina leaders at the time understood the value of having an accessible system of higher education. Over the years lawmakers and university trustees have paid less heed to the sentiment behind the constitutional mandate to keep the state's public universities affordable. Now officials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are seriously considering a proposal to raise tuition and fees by 40 percent – $2,800 a year – over the next three to four years.