uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

Peer pressure is part of texting and driving – teens can’t say no
The Christian Science Monitor
...Entitled “Distracted Driving Among Newly Licensed Teen Drivers,” the study was conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina and was the first “to use in-car video recordings to study teen distracted driving,” CBS News reported. The video clips were recorded “inside the cars of 50 families.” Recording was “triggered by certain events – sudden braking, an abrupt turn – during unsupervised driving” by both new drivers and “older, more experienced sibling drivers … resulting in 24,085 driving clips of 52 teens taken over a six-month period,” CBS News reported.

National Coverage

Obama to launch student loan interest rate effort
The Associated Press
President Barack Obama will make a three-state swing next week to call on Congress to prevent interest rates on student loans from doubling. ...While in North Carolina, Obama will also make his first appearance on NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" show. NBC says the show will tape a special broadcast Tuesday at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Related Links:
http://whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/20/obama-to-talk-student-loans-in-fallon-appearance/
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/obama-jimmy-fallon-show-week/story?id=16179982#.T5FwePWiiZQ
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/04/obama-to-do-jimmy-fallon-
show-next-week/1#.T5FvdPWiiZQ

Obama to Appear on ‘Late Night With Jimmy Fallon’ (Blog)
The New York Times
Jimmy Fallon is making a further statement about his up-and-coming status in late-night television by landing the first big late-night political appearance of the full-on presidential race: President Obama has agreed to be the guest on his show Tuesday night. NBC announced Friday morning that Mr. Obama will make his first visit to “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” Tuesday when Mr. Fallon takes his show to the University of North Carolina — not coincidentally, in an important swing state in the coming election.
Related Link:
http://thepage.time.com/2012/04/20/late-night-with-potus/?iid=sl-main-arenapage

‘Catastrophic’ Brain Injuries Rise Among High School Football Players (Blog)
The Wall Street Journal
A growing number of football players, especially in high school, are suffering from catastrophic brain injuries like subdural hematomas (blood on the brain), according to a report out this week from the University of North Carolina. While the number of kids with these brain injuries is small — 13 out of about 1.1 million high-school players — it’s the highest tally since the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at UNC started collecting the brain-injury stats in 1984, says Dr. Frederick Mueller, the center’s director and an emeritus professor of exercise and sports science.
Related Link:
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100289257
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5254/1/

Threat of Credit Downgrade Persists for Morgan Stanley (Blog)
The New York Times
Morgan Stanley‘s rebuilding efforts are starting to take hold, as it posted one of its strongest quarters since the financial crisis. ...“It really surprises me that Morgan Stanley didn’t move all its derivatives into the bank,” said Saule T. Omarova, a professor at University of North Carolina School of Law who has written about exemptions the Fed granted to banks in the crisis.

Essay: We’ve seen photos before like ones of U.S. soldiers with Afghan corpses
The Washington Post
...“It goes back to the beginning of time,” says Wayne Lee, professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of “Barbarians and Brothers: Anglo-American Warfare, 1500-1865.” “We have examples of paleolithic skulls that have been shaped into a drinking cup” to signify vanquishing of the enemy.

More Credits, More Clusters
Inside Higher Ed
The academic reform measures that National Collegiate Athletic Association leaders approved this fall have been held up as evidence that the NCAA takes education seriously. Higher minimum grade point averages and Academic Progress Rates, they say -- and stiffer penalties for teams that don't meet the academic progress benchmark that represents a 50-percent graduation rate -- back up the claim that players are, as NCAA President Mark Emmert puts it, "students who happen to be athletes," not the other way around. ...So say the findings of one study presented here Thursday at an annual conference hosted by the College Sport Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Newt Gingrich Secret Service Costs Taxpayers Big Money
The Huffington Post
Newt Gingrich is reportedly still getting Secret Service protection, which costs taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars each day. ...Just this past weekend, a University of North Carolina student reported that "several Secret Service agents stopped me in my tracks" when he tried to ask Gingrich a question about comments made by Roger Ailes.

State and Local Coverage

Obama to visit UNC-CH on Tuesday
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
President Barack Obama will visit the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Tuesday as part of a nationwide tour to promote lower interest rates on student loans, the White House announced Friday. He will also appear on a special broadcast of NBC’s Jimmy Fallon show taped on the campus featuring the musician Dave Matthews.
Related Link:
http://www.chapelboro.com/President-Obama-to-Visit-UNC-Tuesday/12898032

Obama to visit UNC Chapel Hill Tuesday
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said Friday that part of President Obama's visit to the Triangle Tuesday will include a stop at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said Friday that part of President Obama's visit to the Triangle Tuesday will include a stop at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

UNC expands Asian reach as NCSU merges textiles, fashion
The Triangle Business Journal
...The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will expand its partnership with the National University of Singapore, or NUS, by offering a B.S. degree in biology, the sixth joint degree offered by UNC-CH in Singapore and the first Bachelor of Science. The joint degree is designed as a four-year program, with classes both in Singapore and in Chapel Hill. The requirements for the degree map exactly to the existing B.S. in biology at UNC-CH and extend the general education requirement for NUS students. No new resources are required, according to a UNC-CH report.

UNC Opera to present free program
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC Opera will present a program for the Friends of the Library at University Mall Stage Monday at 7 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. Some of the best attended Friends programs have been the “Opera About Town” performances sponsored by Raleigh’s Opera Company of North Carolina. The programs featured singers who entertained and educated their audience while promoting the company’s upcoming production.

Beat Making Lab to present fundraiser
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
UNC’s Beat Making Lab will present “Hip Hop x Africa,” a benefit concert that aims to raise $5,000 for the Congolese nonprofit Yole!Africa. Beat Making Lab professors Pierce Freelon (of hip-hop and jazz quartet The Beast) and Apple Juice Kid (producer, drummer and DJ) will co-host the free event with several UNC student organizations in the Mandela Auditorium of UNC Chapel Hill’s FedEx Global Education Center today from 6 to 9 p.m.

Waller Lecture Cancelled
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC Institute for Injury Prevention Research’s Waller lecture “Changing the Code of the Street in Baltimore’s Most Violent Neighborhoods: Evaluating a ‘CeaseFire’-like intervention” has been cancelled. It was scheduled for 1pm Friday. Due to unforeseen circumstances Presenter Dr. Daniel Webster is unable to make it to Chapel Hill.

Issues and Trends

UNC fund to recruit, retain profs going dry
The Triangle Business Journal
The University of North Carolina has run out of money used to retain and attract prized professors. Officials at the university system confirm that they will ask the General Assembly to appropriate $10 million to replenish the kitty. The Faculty Recruiting and Retention Fund was established in 2006 with $5 million appropriated by legislators. The fund, which is dispensed at the discretion of the system president, received an additional $3 million in 2008 and $2 million in 2009. Now, just $9,601 remains of the $10 million total.