uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

'Bath salts' act in the brain like cocaine
UPI
Bath salt mephedrone -- 4-methylmethcathinone or "meow-meow" -- acts in the brain like cocaine, U.S. researchers found. Dr. C.J. Malanga, an associate professor of neurology, pediatrics and psychology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said mephedrone and other potentially addictive stimulants "inappropriately activate brain reward circuits that are involved in positive reinforcement. These play a role in the drug 'high' and compulsive drug taking."

National Coverage

Lifting Up All Women
The Huffington Post
This week, the United States is hosting the 19th International AIDS Conference. ...We heard from Dr. Adaora Adimora, Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina, about the many social and economic factors that place African Americans at greater risk for HIV infection.

State and Local Coverage

Kenan Institute launches job development program for eastern NC
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
The Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will launch a $1.6 million center to promote business growth and job creation in eastern North Carolina, officials said Tuesday. The Center for Jobs and Innovative Business Development will be funded with a five-year, $642,949 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and $1 million in matching funds from the Kenan Institute.
UNC Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5452/107/

Airport to remain open another year
The Chapel Hill Herald
It appears the Horace Williams Airport will remain open for at least another year. UNC officials said this week that the airport will be open through July 2013 because of delays in the design of the Collaborative Science Building and infrastructure to support the building.

UNC Working to Save Native Species in Galapagos
WUNC-FM
The Galapagos is a chain of 13 large islands about six hundred miles from the coast of Ecuador. It was there, in 1835, that the British scientist Charles Darwin began thinking about how animals change over time. Since then, scientists have called the Galapagos a living laboratory – a place to study evolution and natural selection. Now, with 180,000 tourists visiting each year, experts say the living lab is in danger, and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill scientists are stepping up to help.

Tracking the Elderly
WUNC-FM
How do older adults maintain healthy, sustainable lives? How does the community they live in come into play? These questions reach into the spheres of urban planning, development policy, and public policy. Kendra Heatwole-Shank explored these ideas and more by keeping track of some seniors with the help of GPS technology. Heatwole-Shank is a PhD candidate in the Occupational Science and Therapy division at the School of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. She joins host Frank Stasio to talk about the study she designed to look for practical, on-the-ground solutions for livability.

Troylene Merrill: The importance of caregiving
The Chapel Hill Herald
Troylene Merrill knows about caregiving — as a giver and as a receiver. ... While in Chapel Hill, Troy and her caregiver-of-the-week stayed at SECU Family House, the 40-bedroom hospital hospitality house minutes away from UNC Hospitals that provides comfortable, convenient and affordable housing for seriously ill adult patients and their family member caregivers.

Astronauts to take green diet to red planet (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
We’re going green into space.NASA scientists are developing the menus that astronauts will depend on 20 years from now on a planned mission to a space station on Mars. Their diet will be the ultimate in sustainable. (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.)

Southern food photos on display in Chapel Hill
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Durham photographer Kate Medley’s work can often be seen while you shop at a Whole Foods store: Her portraits of farmers hang above the peaches or sweet potatoes they have grown. On the way to those assignments for Whole Foods and others, Medley would often come upon scenes she felt compelled to document. Those images of a grocery cart full of cantaloupes in a minimart, handwritten roadside signs and an heirloom seed collection are on display until Aug. 15 at UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South in Chapel Hill.

Carney: AFAM Scandal "Like...Meteorite Striking Chapel Hill"
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
A top UNC official says the continuing African and Afro-American Studies department academic fraud scandal is shocking—and the details that have been uncovered are far from the norm. "It's like some kind of giant meteorite striking Chapel Hill, as far as I'm concerned," says Bruce Carney, executive vice chancellor and provost at UNC. He’s coordinating the summer school investigation, which is where many of the aberrant courses where taught.

Issues and Trends

NC Biotech fellowship puts stress in spotlight
WRAL Tech Wire
Most people hate stress in the workplace. David Hubert, Ph.D., thrives on it. ... A native of Tell City, Indiana, Hubert came to North Carolina in 2000 after receiving his undergraduate degree at Indiana University in Bloomington. He completed graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007 and starting a postdoctoral residency there. That’s when he became intrigued with the new fellowship program being developed by NCBiotech.
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