uncnews.unc.edu

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

National Coverage

Saving Lives, One Sports Injury At A Time
"All Things Considered" National Public Radio
The number of student athlete injuries has decreased greatly since the early 1970s thanks to the work and recommendations of Fred Mueller, longtime director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Mueller's ground breaking changes in high school pole vaulting and swim competitions have saved lives. Weekends on All Things Considered guest host host Laura Sullivan speaks with Fred Mueller about his latest area of concern: Cheerleading.
Note: This interview was conducted from the Carolina News Studio.

Two Ex-Jets Have Moved On, but Concussion Effects Linger
The New York Times
In 1992, Al Toon, a wide receiver for the Jets, became one of the early forecasters of the concussion tsunami that would strike the N.F.L. Toon retired at age 29 after sustaining his ninth diagnosed concussion. Thirteen years later, Wayne Chrebet, another Jets receiver, ended his career after sustaining the sixth known concussion of his 11 years with the team. ...According to a 2007 study by the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at the University of North Carolina, retired N.F.L. players who had sustained three or more on-field concussions were three times as likely to experience depression in retirement than other players.

Scientists seek clues about eastern US earthquakes as project spreads to Georgia, other states
The Associated Press
...In Georgia, instruments will soon blanket the state, allowing researchers to see for the first time how seismic activity is connected to other regions. “We will get some unprecedented high-resolution images,” said Lara Wagner, assistant professor of seismology and tectonics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It’s real science in the sense that we’re seeing things that nobody has seen before.”

Online Advanced Degrees: Right Choice for You?
Fox Business
...As with more traditional universities, students can look into federal financial aid, scholarships, and grants to help pay for online schooling, says Doug Shackelford, associate dean of MBA@UNC. ...“We’re at the front of a wave that’s going to transform education—this will not be unusual at all in five years,” says Shackelford. “I think it’s like a lot of things in the technology world; the world is changing rapidly and education is going to [follow].”

Students ‘do interfaith’ through universal language of music
The Washington Post
Say the word “interfaith” and the next word to roll off the tongue is probably “dialogue.” It’s hard to think of one without the other. But college students know there are other ways to communicate, and music may be chief among them. ...“Having a large interfaith event based around music is unique,” said Matthew Stevens, president of the Muslim Students Association at UNC Chapel Hill. “It allows people to reach out to one another in a new way. I haven’t seen it done in the area.”

The world needs more toilets
CNN
...Efforts to keep sanitation as low-cost as possible may also be part of the problem, at least for some consumers. Researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill working recently in Southeast Asia found that households prefer and are willing to pay for higher quality toilets, particularly when they are marketed as a symbol of prestige and modernity, rather than just a preventive health measure.

Regional Coverage

Concussions in sports a subtle threat
The Arizona Republic (Tucson)
...At the University of North Carolina, Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz uses accelerometers inside helmets. They are sensors that record and measure every hit absorbed on the football field and send the information to computers on the sideline. He discovered the average college player sustains “about 1,000 hits” to the helmet every season.

More obese children means more adult-type health problems
The Kansas City Star (Missouri)
...In a study published last year by University of North Carolina researchers, blood tests on obese children, some as young as 3, found signs of inflammation, which could eventually damage blood vessels and raise the risk of heart disease.

State and Local Coverage

Universities need to enable access for impoverished (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Record (Greensboro)
...But in UNC’s ongoing tuition discussion, we seem to be lost in a tedious numbers game of percentage points and dollar signs. On Thursday morning, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees voted to approve Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bruce Carney’s proposal to increase tuition for in-state students by 15.6 percent next year — a proposal that will lead to an increase of $2,800 over the next five years, a total hike of 40 percent.
Related Link:
http://www.reflector.com/opinion/fitzsimon/fitzsimon-opponent-higher-tuition-772411

A ruinous tuition hike (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
We've witnessed headlines of late, many thought we'd never see. UNC-Chapel Hill students face a "proposed 40 percent tuition increase" - story upon story proclaims. Charles Kuralt likely spins in his campus grave. Here's hoping no one tells Dr. Graham. Of course the move was not completely unforeseen. A legislature with no affinity for institutions of the public sector - even the nation's first public university - inflicted an astonishing 18 percent cut last summer. (Gene Nichol is the Boyd Tinsley distinguished professor at UNC's Law School and director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity.)
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/11/20/1653916/only-some-people.html

Non-profit soccer camp started by UNC student earns national recognition
News 14 Carolina
A UNC Chapel Hill senior from Charlotte scored People Magazine's Readers Choice Hero of 2011 award for developing a unique non-profit soccer camp. Gabriel Whaley's family couldn't afford to send him to a soccer camp when he was young, but he did not want to see that happen to other children. He started a camp called Kicking 4 Hunger which encourages campers to bring canned goods as their admission fee. The camp donates the items to a local food bank.

Hundreds brave chill to remember Eve Carson
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)
Hundreds of people gathered in the frigid morning air in Chapel Hill Saturday to honor the memory of Eve Carson. Carson was student-body president at UNC when she was murdered in March 2008. The Eve Carson Memorial 5K run/walk kicked off just after 9:00 a.m. Saturday. Proceeds from the event benefit the Eve Carson Scholarship Fund.
Related Link:
http://triangle.news14.com/content/649823/unc-students-lace-up-their-kicks
-to-honor-murdered-student-body-president

UNC Exhibit Examines Social And Historical Role Of Textbooks
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
An exhibit examining the social influence of textbooks in North Carolina’s history is now at UNC’s Wilson Library. The exhibit, which began earlier this month, looks at textbooks in North Carolina from the past 200 years. Director of Library Communications for UNC Judy Pantich says the exhibit is interesting because of the way it examines complex historical subjects.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/4900/73/

Parties agree: N.C. is key to 2012
The Charlotte Observer
...Mone Smith, 21, center, a senior at UNC Chapel Hill, completes a voter registration form outside Kenan Stadium before a football game. Voter turnout in North Carolina could be the decisive factor in the presidential election.

Which median barrier is better, cable or concrete? NBC-17 asks the experts
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
..."The worst kind of accident is a head on collision, that is the one that results in the most fatalities and the most severe injuries," David Harkey, the Director at UNC's Highway Safety Research Center. To avoid those collisions barriers are put in between busy roads of traffic, but which barrier is the best? "Concrete barriers are more likely to prevent a vehicle from ever crossing a roadway than a cable barrier but they are also dramatically more expensive," said Harkey.

Issues and Trends

NCSU trustees approve tuition hikes
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
The N.C. State University Board of Trustees Friday approved a proposal to increase resident undergraduate tuition by $330 for the 2012-13 academic year, the school announced. The increase will go to the UNC Board of Governors for consideration. The trustees also approved a proposal to allow the university to implement a one-time “catch-up” tuition increase that, if approved by the Board of Governors, would be implemented over the next five years.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/news/education/story/10398732/
http://www.ncnn.com/edit-news/7446-nc-state-university-approves-a-tuition-raise

A&T trustees approve tuition hike
The News & Record (Greensboro)
N.C. A&T students will see their tuition bills rise over the next five years under a plan the university’s board of trustees approved Friday afternoon. A UNCG tuition and fee committee this week also recommended increases on that campus.