uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

Obama to discuss cutting college costs
United Press International
Lowering college costs is key to improving U.S. competitiveness, the White House said ahead of President Obama's meeting with college and university heads. ...The invited college and university heads are generally from state universities. ...They also include University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp...

Youth and ambition
The Financial Times (United Kingdom)
...Despite the intention to expand Skema’s global outreach, Guilhon says the aim is not to compete with local schools, but rather to co-operate. So, the various campuses are open to students of that country and, conversely, Skema students can follow programmes designed with institutions that have local expertise – the US campus in North Carolina, for instance, was devised with North Carolina State University, UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University.

National Coverage

White House Invites College Leaders to Closed-Door Meeting on Affordability
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Several university presidents and chancellors will join President Obama for a private meeting at the White House on Monday to talk about affordability in higher education. ...But an official of a higher-education association, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the presidents and other leaders in attendance will include ...Holden Thorp, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...

The Obama Invite List
Inside Higher Ed
Who is headed to the White House today for the meeting with President Obama on college costs and productivity? According to a representative of a higher education association, the group will include ...Holden Thorp, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...

Obama and college presidents to discuss affordability (Blog)
The Washington Post
President Obama is scheduled to meet privately with a small group of university and college presidents Monday morning for a candid discussion about why higher education costs so much — and if that price tag is hindering accessibility and graduation rates. ...The short guest list has not been publicly released, but Insider Higher Ed (which broke this story last week) has cobbled together its own list that includes ...three public universities (University of Maryland at Baltimore County, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and California State University at Long Beach)...

Firebrand Attracts Votes in Congo, Dismaying West
The New York Times
...“The West sees Tshisekedi as intransigent, rigid in his positions, and radically populist,” said Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, a Congolese professor of African studies at the University of North Carolina, who worked briefly with Mr. Tshisekedi in the 1990s. “However, these are the qualities that endear him to the Congolese people, whatever the province, insofar as they see his positions as reflecting their deepest aspirations.”

Opioids May Be Overused for Chronic Stomach Pain
HealthDay News
Prescriptions for opioid painkillers to treat chronic abdominal pain more than doubled in the United States between 1997 and 2008, according to a new study. This large increase of prescriptions written at outpatient clinics is concerning for several reasons, said lead author Dr. Spencer Dorn, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina Medical School at Chapel Hill, and colleagues.

State and Local Coverage

Report: Thorp, Obama To Discuss College Costs
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting that UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp will be meeting privately with President Barack Obama Monday to discuss affordability in higher education. The White House has not confirmed the details, but according to the report, Thorp will be joined by at least five other university presidents and chancellors from across the country.

Meg Zomorodi is dedicated to improving end-of-life care (Tar Heel of the Week)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Meg Zomorodi's mother prepped her to be a nurse from a young age - sharing the gory details of her own days in the emergency room and teaching her the nuts and bolts of the human body. ...Zomorodi has centered her career on improving end-of-life care - as a nurse, researcher and teacher. She trains future nurses as a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she also helped establish a scholarship in her mother's name. More recently, she has led an initiative there to carve out new roles for nurses meant to improve patient care.

Hagan touts Peace Corps (Under the Dome)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Nearly 250 North Carolinians serve as Peace Corps volunteers. Since the Peace Corps was established in 1961, nearly 3,900 Americans from North Carolina have served as volunteers. UNC-Chapel Hill, which had 94 volunteers last year, is ranked third among large schools where volunteers have graduated before joining the Peace Corps.

Flying helmets may lead to rule change
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
More than 1,200 high school football players in North Carolina lost their helmets during games this season, mainly because of poorly fitted headgear. But helmets don't have to be dislodged for players to be in danger. Helmets worn loosely enough to fly off during play do not provide maximum protection against head injuries, says one of the nation's top experts on head injuries. "For the helmet to function as it is designed, it has to be tight," said Kevin Guskiewicz, chairman of the Department of Exercise and Sports Science at the University of North Carolina and a national expert on sports-related concussions.

In scramble for new jobs, states bid up incentives
The Charlotte Observer
..."States and localities have become more aggressive in their use of incentives, and at the same time ... companies have become a lot more aggressive in what they ask for," said Jonathan Morgan, a professor at UNC Chapel Hill's School of Government. "It kind of contributes to this slippery slope of, the more you offer in incentives, the more companies will demand."

Potential wind energy abounds off NC coast
North Carolina News Network
Experts in North Carolina have been busy discussing ways to bring offshore wind energy to the East Coast. Brian O'Hare of the North Carolina Offshore Wind Coalition said wind energy is a good fit for the state. ...Studies from UNC Chapel Hill and the National Energy Resources Laboratory show our state is uniquely positioned to be a regional leader in both renewable manufacturing and power generation.

Finding history down the drain
The Chapel Hill News
Crouching sensibly in jeans and flannel - this is an excavation site, after all - Anna Agbe-Davis carefully collects soil inside a 32-square-foot pit outside Vance Hall in UNC's McCorkle Place. The assistant professor of anthropology uses a sharpened masonry trowel to carve clean edges that help assess changes in the soil.

UNC doctors help baby with severe birth defects
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)
Doctors at UNC Chapel Hill are performing hours of surgery on a baby from India that was shunned by his biological family because of severe birth defects. ..."I looked at the pictures and I can remember thinking, 'I really want to do something for this family,'" said UNC surgeon Dr. John van Aalst. "It was a real visceral feeling."

Reopening a library, remembering a legacy
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...A special project from the UNC Chapel Hill Department of English and Comparative Literature researched portions of the Lee Collection to develop an exhibit that depicts the African-American child as illustrated in early 20th century literature. The exhibit will be on display in the coming months at the library.

Carolina Ballet's 'Nutcracker' boasts live magic
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
One of the key figures in the holiday ballet "The Nutcracker" is magician Dr. Drosselmeyer. This year, the Carolina Ballet will take the magical ballet one step further through live magic on stage. ...The classic story of the Nutcracker Prince starts this weekend at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall before moving to the Durham Performing Arts Center on Dec. 10-11.

Duke, UNC unite for second annual concert
The Chapel Hill News
The longstanding rivalry between UNC and Duke will be put aside for an evening as students in the UNC Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band join with the Duke University Wind Symphony to present the second annual "Two Shades of Blue" concert Monday.

Information is good; the timing is not (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Chapel Hill News
Does staring at a fetus allow women to make more informed decisions regarding abortion? According to North Carolina legislators and officials, it does. The Women's Right to Know Act requires a counseling session and 24-hour waiting period prior to the procedure. (Chassidy J. Hanley is a master's of public health candidate at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Seizure led to arrest
The Chapel Hill News
Eight months ago, a medical emergency became a life-changing event for a UNC associate professor. The day started like any other. Patrick Akos woke up early April 1 to write and answer emails.

Issues and Trends

Trustees approve tuition increases
The Daily Reflector
The East Carolina University Board of Trustees on Friday approved recommended tuition and fee increases of 9.5 percent for resident undergraduates and 9.9 percent for other students for the 2012-13 school year. The 13-member board was split, with five members in opposition. Some called for uniform increases for all categories of students.
Related Link:
http://www2.wnct.com/news/2011/dec/01/3/executive-council-proposes
-95-tuition-increase-at--ar-1667772/

NCCU tuition hikes worry students
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
...The NCCU Board of Trustees is expected to hold a special meeting this month to approve at least a 6.5 percent tuition hike, the maximum allowed according to UNC system guidelines. But with declining state financial support for North Carolina’s public universities, the system’s Board of Governors also has allowed the individual campuses to institute one-time “catch-up” supplemental increases, and the NCCU trustees are also weighing an additional tuition hike that would be spread out over the next five years.

UNC Asheville trustees recommend increase in tuition, fees
The Citizen-Times (Asheville)
UNC Asheville’s Board of Trustees is recommending a $500 increase in annual tuition along with increases in some fees for the 2012-13 academic year. The increases must be approved by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, which will likely vote on them in February.

Tuition hikes: Students must come first (Editorial)
The Times-News (Burlington)
Two of North Carolina’s premiere state-sponsored universities — the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and N.C. State University — have recently announced that they are adopting, or considering the adoption of substantial tuition and fee hikes in order to offset budget cuts forced upon them by the North Carolina General Assembly. Nearby the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is headed down the same path. Go ahead and expect the rest of the schools in North Carolina’s university system to follow suit.

Our university (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
North Carolina has long nourished higher education. We are the only state in the union that promised, by constitutional grant, that "the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense." (John Delafield, Apex)

Guidance on Diversity
Inside Higher Ed
The Obama administration has aligned itself strongly with the right of colleges to consider race and ethnicity in admissions decisions. Guidance issued jointly Friday afternoon by the Departments of Education and Justice states that diversity is an important educational goal, and that colleges should be able to use a variety of methods (including the consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions) to achieve diversity.

Three jurors needed in UNC murder trial
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Opening statements are expected to begin this week in the trial of a man charged in the death of the student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill more than three years ago.