uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

President Obama Presses Congress on Student Loan Interest
Voice of America
Student loans and the interest millions of Americans pay on them have been getting a lot of attention recently. ...The administration says seven point four million students will be affected without a new law. This week, President Obama traveled to several college campuses. At the University of North Carolina, he talked about his own experience.
Related Link:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2012/0426/Obama-slow-jam-on
-Fallon-just-a-taste-of-epic-social-media-war-ahead

Obama Moves to End Deceptive Recruiting of Veterans by Schools
Bloomberg Businessweek
President Barack Obama will issue an executive order today aimed at protecting U.S. military veterans from predatory recruiting by schools. ...“You haven’t heard a Democratic president talk in such glowing or laudatory terms about military service probably in two generations since Truman,” said Richard Kohn, a professor emeritus of military history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Something for the weekend
Financial Times (United Kingdom)
...Daniel Cable a visiting professor of organisational behaviour at London Business School and Virginia Kay, a PhD student at Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill looked at two groups of individuals over several years, MBA graduates and applicants for teachers jobs. They found that candour, or as they describe it, self verification, does not diminish the chances of landing a job and could also be advantageous, as from the very beginning, the employer knows you for who you really are.

Reuters suit seeks data on Kleiner, Sequoia funds
Reuters (Wire Service)
The University of California could be forced to disclose closely guarded information on the investment performance of venture capital funds managed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital after a judge last week allowed a lawsuit over the issue to move forward. ...While even those top firms are not in a position to turn down all direct investments of public money, they can limit it to states and institutions with public-records laws and policies they consider favorable. For example, some public universities, such as the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia, have separate, private foundations for their endowments that do not have to disclose returns.

National Coverage

House GOP Bill Would Keep Stafford Loans Cheap, Cut Obamacare
U.S. News & World Report
..."Just to give you some sense of perspective—for each year that Congress doesn't act, the average student with these loans will rack up an additional $1,000 in debt," Obama said Tuesday during a speech at the University of North Carolina. "That's basically a tax hike for more than 7 million students across America...Anybody here [who] can afford to pay an extra $1,000 right now?"
Related Link:
http://www.freep.com/article/20120427/NEWS15/304270001/Obama-Romney-play-up
-humble-family-roots-to-connect-with-voters?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

Study Sheds Light on How Birds Navigate by Magnetic Field
The New York Times
Birds are famously good navigators. Some migrate thousands of miles, flying day and night, even when the stars are obscured. And for decades, scientists have known that one navigational skill they employ is an ability to detect variations in the earth’s magnetic field. ...Their report appeared online in Science Express on Thursday. Kenneth Lohmann at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who also studies magnetic sensing, said in an e-mail that the study was “very exciting and important.”

Winning Boosts (Athletic) Giving
Inside Higher Ed
Administrators often brush off critics who say intercollegiate athletics detract from a university’s educational mission by countering with the claim that successful sports teams bring more attention to the institution, and in turn more donations. ...The research, presented here last week at the annual conference of the College Sport Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, again linked athletic success to increased donations -- donations to athletic programs, that is.

Regional Coverage

DFW college students call on lawmakers to keep their interest rates from rising
The Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)
...When Obama spoke at the University of North Carolina this week, students used the hashtags #dontraisemyrates or #dontdoublemyrates to deliver their views about the caps on Twitter. The president said this week that many students who take out loans owe thousands of dollars when they graduate. The Project on Student Debt estimates that 2010 graduates carried an average of $25,250 in student loan debt. The average in Texas was $20,919.

'Airport city' plan includes hotels, businesses, focus on aerospace
9 News (NBC/Denver, Colo.)
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock announced plans for a major community surrounding Denver International Airport and areas just outside the boundary. ...Aerotropolis is a term first coined in the magazine Popular Science in 1939. It was championed again by University of North Carolina professor Dr. John Kasarda in 2000, who believed cities could use their airports and surrounding land to create business opportunities.

State and Local Coverage

UNC senior thrilled to introduce the president
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Most seniors hope to finish their college careers with a bang. But Domonique Garland, a UNC senior and elementary education major from Greensboro, never imagined she would close out her four-year run on such a high note – introducing the president of the United States before a standing room only crowd of more than 8,000 at venerable Carmichael Arena. “It’s been amazing,” Garland said in an interview Thursday. “I would have never imagined having such an opportunity. It was just a nice thing to happen, especially with me being a senior.”
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/04/27/2028653/john-d-bono-jr-sinking-into-debt.html

The brain, the game (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It may seem like a small number, but it is way too high. In 2011, 13 high school football players in the United States suffered catastrophic brain injuries. And after advances in equipment design and years of raising awareness among officials and strengthening supervision by physicians, that still is the highest number since an organization affiliated with UNC-Chapel Hill has been keeping track.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5254/71/

UNC dental school expansion to open Friday
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
The expansion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry is scheduled to open Friday, more than four years after construction began. The Koury Building, which adjoins Tarrson Hall, Brauer Hall and Old Dental Building at the corner of Manning Drive and South Columbia Street, will officially open its doors in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. Friday.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5265/107/

Koury Oral Health Sciences Building To Be Dedicated By UNC
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
The UNC School of Dentistry will dedicate a new education and research facility while honoring the man who contributed most of the private donor funds at a ceremony in the new building. “We have a beautiful new addition to our school opening up, says Dean of the UNC School of Dentistry Jane Weintraub. “It is a 216,000 square foot facility that is going to tie together our existing structures and really add to our ability to do wonderful research and education for many years to come.”

Latimer receives Morehead-Cain Scholarship at UNC Chapel Hill
The Richmond County Daily Journal
Gray Stone Day School recently announced that Hunter Latimer has accepted the Morehead-Cain Scholarship at UNC Chapel Hill. ...Morehead-Cain nominees hail from across North Carolina, the United States and internationally. Less than 4 percent of all nominees ultimately receive the scholarship, making the Morehead-Cain one of the most competitive merit scholarships in the country.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5280/75/

Chapel Hill honors students
The Charlotte Observer
Sixty-six UNC-Chapel Hill students were honored April 11 with the Chancellor Awards, the University’s most prestigious awards for academic achievement and leadership activities. The awards, created by donors, varied from certificates to plaques to cash. Six of the students were from the Charlotte area.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5247/75/

Universities feeling loss of stimulus grants
The Triangle Business Journal
...Accounting for $788 million in grants, UNC-CH took in more than the rest of the state universities combined, but it actually posted a 2 percent decrease from the previous year. That is due largely to the decrease in special grants made from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the stimulus bill, signed by President Obama in 2009.

UNC Hospitals on verge of expanding transplant unit
The Triangle Business Journal
The University of North Carolina Health Care System faces no opposition to its intention to expand its Bone Marrow Transplant unit by 50 percent through a $16 million expansion. Addition of the beds has been approved by state regulators for Orange County. If final approval is gained as expected, UNC will expand its BMT unit from 16 beds to 24 and relocate them to the first floor of the Neurosciences Hospital in Chapel Hill.

Medical offices seek security in aligning with networks
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...In March, the practice joined Triangle Physician Network, a nonprofit set up by UNC Health Care and Rex Healthcare. Garner Family Practice wanted to gain access to the network’s electronic records system and to increase its bargaining power with insurance companies, said Dr. Johnny Bagwell, who started the practice.

Young patients in ICU 20 percent more likely to get an infection
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
...Consumer Reports says parents must take an active role in their child's care at the hospital. They recommend keeping a record of how often the staff changes the catheter and its dressing, as well as asking if it is still needed. Two hospitals in North Carolina were part of the study. Hospitals were rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the best. UNC Chapel Hill Hospitals scored a three, and North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem scored a two.

Racial Justice Act an astonishing law
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
...But Robert P. Mosteller, a UNC Law School professor, said it would be wrong to simply dismiss the idea of racial bias in jury selection after a decision finding evidence of intentional discrimination on so many levels. If anything, he said, the judge’s decision should prompt similar large-scale studies in other states. “It’s illegal and people do it,” Professor Mosteller said. “It’s wrong. And he found it.”

Duke pair staking $150K to operate in Liberia, Sierra Leone
The Triangle Business Journal
...UNC-Chapel Hill law professor Tom Kelley, who has a lot of experience in west African conflict, couldn’t specifically comment on WAVA, but he says the risk could be very real. “While both of those countries (Sierra Leone and Liberia) are actually on positive trajectories right now, they’ve both had horrible, horrible political unrest in the not-so-distant past, just utter chaos – nightmarish chaos,” he says.

Young Early Voters Flock To Campus Voting Site
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
It’s just six days in to early voting in Orange County but Orange County Board of Elections’ Director Tracy Reams says the county has already had more than twice the number of voters than the early voting totals for the last primary. She says that’s due in large part to this year’s on-campus early voting site at Rams Head Dining Hall.

North Carolina Opera to present ‘Il Trovatore’
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
North Carolina Opera will present “Il Trovatore” by Giuseppe Verdi Sunday at 3 p.m. at Memorial Hall on the UNC campus. Timothy Myers, artistic director, will conduct and David Paul will direct. The semi-staged production will be sung in Italian with English supertitles.
Related Link:
http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/Il_Trovatore.mp3/view