uncnews.unc.edu

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

National Coverage

A Muslim and a Sikh Talk about Sikhism in the Aftermath of the Wisconsin Tragedy
The Huffington Post
In the aftermath of the tragic shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Omid Safi, Professor of Religious Studies at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and one of America's Muslim public intellectuals interviewed Simran Jeet Singh, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Religion at Columbia University whose work focuses on the life and memory of Guru Nanak.

Regional Coverage

Coaches Prepare For New Preseason Heat Rules In Maryland
WAMU-FM (Washington D.C.)
...Heat related deaths and injuries to high school athletes in preseason are on the rise. That’s according to the University of North Carolina’s Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury. Twenty high school football players have died from heat stroke around the U.S. since 2006.

State and Local Coverage

Dads can affect child's health at birth, study finds
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
It’s long been known that the behavior and environment of the mother during pregnancy can affect a newborn’s health. But new research suggests that a father’s behavior is important, too. Scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill have found that different parental occupations may bring increased risk of birth defects.

College students step into the field to help improve conditions for migrant farmworkers
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Altha Cravey, a UNC-Chapel Hill geography professor, said she witnessed the lack of child labor protections while researching the migration of Latinos to North Carolina. “I observed firsthand places that had small children exposed to dangerous chemicals,” she said. “It’s a deep tragedy to have this go on just so that we can have cheap food.”

Muddling through ‘mixed use’
The Chapel Hill News
...In North Carolina, its rare for a municipality to require a fiscal impact analysis for projects, said David Owens, a professor of public law and government at UNC’s School of Government. “It becomes a fairly expensive, complicated process if you do it right, to look at it very carefully in the context of that particular site, that type of development, what services it would demand, what services are available,” he said. “To do that kind of strategy takes time and money … it may not be worth the investment to do the detailed analysis.”

Chatham Walmart will generate 250 to 300 jobs
The Chapel Hill News
...(Dianne) Reid said a 2008 study by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School showed that 63 cents of every shopping dollar spent by Chatham County residents is spent outside the county. “This new store will hopefully bring some of that money back into the county,” she said.

Lacking Funding, UNC Facilities Languish Without Needed Repair
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Ongoing budget woes have affected operations at UNC in a variety of ways—and now, University officials say some buildings are falling into disrepair, with little to no money available for renovations. "Roofing, sprinkler systems, restructuring, walls that have to come down," says Karol Kain Gray, UNC Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration, listing the various problems at some University facilities.

Riding out a storm? Face heftier consequences
The Star News (Wilmington)
...Also, in response to a recent federal court decision, the legislation limits restrictions and prohibitions that municipalities can impose on dangerous weapons during a locally declared state of emergency, according to a summary of the bill by the University of North Carolina Institute of Government.

Yearbooks from 51 N.C. colleges, universities archived together online
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Yearbooks from 14 of the 17 UNC system institutions – plus 37 other schools – are now archived together online, thanks to a project based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library.

Institute opens DNA bank to outside researchers
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Initially, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was a partner in the project, he said, and subjects were recruited at one time through UNC clinics. Later recruitment has been done through the institute alone, he said, but the institute is still pursuing followup studies in collaboration with the university.

UNC profs: Af-Am courses exceeded norm
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
In May, an internal investigation at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill revealed unauthorized grades, forged signatures and other irregularities in 54 courses in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies.