uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

Obama Picks North Carolina to Win NCAA Title
Bloomberg News
President Barack Obama tapped the University of North Carolina’s Tar Heels as his pick to win the U.S. college basketball championship. Obama, a basketball fan who took U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron to the annual college tournament’s first game last night in Dayton, Ohio, disclosed his selection today on the ESPN cable sports network.

National Coverage

New Guidelines Advise Less Frequent Pap Smears (Blog)
The New York Times
The annual Pap smear, a cornerstone of women’s health for at least 60 years, is now officially a thing of the past, as new national guidelines recommend cervical cancer screening no more often than every three years. ...“We achieve essentially the same effectiveness in the reduction of cancer deaths, but we reduce potential harm of false positive tests,” said Dr. Wanda Nicholson, a task force member and an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “It’s a win-win for women.”

Most Women Need Pap Test Only Every 3 Years: U.S. Panel
HealthDay News
..."The most important point we want to make is that the highest-risk women are those who have never been screened or haven't been screened in over five years," said Dr. Wanda Nicholson, one of the lead authors of the guidelines and associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill.

For Afghans, Two Outrages, Two Different Reactions
National Public Radio
...Still, given that history, Americans should have known to treat the Quran with care rather than mistakenly incinerating it, Sina Samar, Afghanistan's human rights chief, said last week. "Anyone who has a basic understanding of the Quran would understand that to Muslims, the Quran is the way God enters the world," says Omid Safi, a religious studies professor at the University of North Carolina. "If you really want to think of what the Quran means to Muslims, don't think of the Bible — think of the very person of Christ."

Campaign Videos: A Time-Tested Election Tactic
"Morning Edition" National Public Radio
...Anne Johnston, a professor at the University of North Carolina and co-author of a book looking at how candidates use media techniques to sell their biography, says her favorite of these films is from President Nixon's re-election campaign in 1972. It highlights Nixon's success in opening up diplomatic relations with China, but it also shows something else.

Graduated driver's licenses: Opinions, policies vary
USA Today
..."For the state to say thou shalt do 40, 50, 60 hours is pretty much irrelevant because most parents are doing it anyway," says Rob Foss, senior research scientist and director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. Foss says that, in some cases, heavier penalties such as suspensions for young drivers serve only to "delay (teens') licenses and give them no chance to learn."

Art Museums Giving It the Old College Try
The New York Times
When it opens this fall, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University will be the latest in a series of new university art museums that have opened around the country. ...Harvard, Oberlin, the University of Oregon, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina and dozens of other colleges and universities have built art museums, too, according to Ms. Rorschach, and more are being built.

Regional Coverage

New Pap smear guidelines advise less frequent tests
The Boston Globe
Leading medical groups recommended new guidelines for cervical cancer screening Wednesday, advising against annual Pap smears in favor of screening every three to five years for most women ages 21 to 65. ...“Screening every three years is equally effective at finding cancers as annual screening, but it may be safer since it results in fewer false positive tests and fewer unnecessary treatments that could be harmful,’’ said Dr. Wanda Nicholson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, who served on the committee that wrote the task force’s recommendations.

State and Local Coverage

Obama picks Heels to win NCAA title
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
President Barack Obama has picked the Carolina Tar Heels to win the NCAA basketball championship – which could be a good omen for UNC fans. The last time The Fan-in-Chief picked Carolina was in 2009, when the Tar Heels went on to win the national title.

Hagan bill could speed approval process for drugs
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...It takes 10 to 15 years and more than $1 billion on average to bring a drug to market. The National Organization for Rare Disorders reports that of 7,000 known rare diseases, fewer than 250 have FDA-approved therapies. People die waiting for promising therapies, said John Vernon, an associate professor of health policy and management at UNC-Chapel Hill. A former senior economic policy advisor at the FDA, Vernon said the political consequences are much greater for the agency if a bad drug is approved and someone is hurt or dies.

Juvenile Justice
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill)
North Carolina is one of only two states where 16-year-old criminal suspects are automatically tried as adults. Proponents of raising the age to 18 have tried to get the law changed for years. This year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying to make it happen, but opponents of the change say we shouldn't try to do too much too fast. Host Frank Stasio talks about juvenile justice with Tamar Birckhead, assistant professor of law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill...

The Missing Martyrs
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill)
In March 2006, a former Tarheel named Mohammad Taheri-Azar drove an SUV through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's campus during the busiest part of the day. The Iranian-American hoped to kill as many people as possible in the name of jihad. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, but UNC sociology professor Charles Kurzman wondered, “if terrorism is as easy as renting a car, why don’t we see attacks like this every day?” In his new book, “The Missing Martyrs: Why There are So Few Muslim Terrorists,” he challenges misconceptions about Islam and violence. Kurzman joins host Frank Stasio to talk about both the real and perceived threat of Islamist terrorism.

North Carolina a target in GOP presidential battle
The Charlotte Observer
A day after a series of primaries failed to significantly change the Republican presidential race, North Carolina appeared poised to play a meaningful role in the contest for the first time since 1976. ...“The results … made it much more likely that North Carolina will be in play,” said Ferrel Guillory, a political analyst at UNC Chapel Hill.

UNC Chapel Hill landscaping taking a hit due to cuts
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
With this warm weather brings a struggle for one of the Triangle's biggest universities. Amid budget cuts, UNC Chapel Hill has seen its grounds crew budget slashed and jobs eliminated.

Preserving African American Family History (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As part of the African American Family Documentation Initiative, the Southern Historical Collection at UNC's Wilson Library will host an exhibit of photographs, letters, and documents from the newly acquired Lewis Family Collection. J.D. Lewis was one of the state's first African American broadcasters, starting with WRAL radio in the 1940s and moving to WRAL-TV when the station went on the air in December 1956.

Americans are the fattest people in the world (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
We’re No. 1, but this time, that’s not a good thing. Americans are the fattest people in the world. That’s what the OECD – Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – reported in its 2012 obesity update. The findings are enough to make you lose your appetite. (Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical associate professor in the department of health policy and administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Former UNC-CH tutor ‘had horrible lies written about her,’ attorney says
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The former UNC-Chapel Hill tutor who figured prominently in NCAA infractions found within the Tar Heel football program never talked with investigators, but she has been much talked about for the past 20 months. Now her attorney is speaking out, saying Jennifer Wiley, known in the NCAA infractions report only as “the former tutor,” is a “deeply religious” and “big-hearted” young woman who has been much vilified on Internet chat boards, and wrongly so.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/14/1931450/unc-starts-anew-with-spring-practice.html

Issues and Trends

NYT columnist blasts NCAA in Chapel Hill appearance
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Two days after the NCAA announced punishments for the University of North Carolina football program, New York Times columnist Joe Nocera told an audience on the Chapel Hill campus that the NCAA "should be blown up." Nocera has written extensively about his opinion that college football and basketball players should be paid.