uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

U.S. Investment in Africa: Making Up for Lost Ground (Blog)
Africa.com
...Notably, respondents to the survey tended to fault the U.S. most often for its foreign policy, in which a “hard power” approach is often emphasized. Dr. Margaret C. Lee, professor of African and Afro-American Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, suggests that the U.S. could begin to reform its image in Africa and elsewhere by emphasizing soft power that achieves results for Africans.

State and Local Coverage

UNC to have outside review of fraud case
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said Thursday it will have an outside review of alleged academic fraud at the school that's made national headlines in recent weeks. The probe will be lead by former Gov. Jim Martin.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5491/68/
Letter from Chancellor Thorp:
http://www.unc.edu/chan/chancellors/thorp_holden/120816-update.php

Former Gov. Jim Martin to oversee review at UNC
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
Former North Carolina Gov. Jim Martin will lead an independent review of additional academic irregularities that may have occurred before 2007 at the University of North Carolina, the school announced Thursday.

Former governor to dig deeper into UNC academics
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Leaders at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill have asked former Gov. Jim Martin to lead an investigation into academic improprieties at the school. Martin will coordinate with an outside consulting group and will report his findings to the UNC Board of Governors.
Related Link:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/iteam/unc-ch-appears-to-be-moving-to-
create-an-outside-panel-to-review-academic-fraud-case

More potential scandal at UNC-Chapel Hill (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The revelations just keep on coming. This latest, in the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill academic scandal, is a strange one. A link on the university website showed a transcript that some think is that of Julius Peppers, a star football player who also played basketball for the Tar Heels.
Related Link:
http://www.reflector.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-unc-needs-come-clean-1176517

Protecting UNC from its protectors (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Charlotte Observer
I love the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I attended the university for seven years, learned how to learn, found a fulfilling profession, met my wife of 53 years, made many lifelong friends and have gone back to drink from the Well again and again. My criticisms and suggestions are sincere, heartfelt and painful. (James Preston, UNC B.A. ’58, J.D. ’61, is a retired Charlotte lawyer.)

Controlling Gun Violence
"The State of Things" WUNC
Recent high-profile shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin and Texas are spurring public conversations about gun control, but is tougher regulations on our right to keep and bear arms an effective method for curtailing gun deaths? Host Frank Stasio talks about gun violence and what some local leaders doing to solve the problem with Durham Mayor Bill Bell; Scott Holmes, a defense attorney and member of the Durham Quaker Friends Meeting; Paul Valone, president of Grass Roots North Carolina; Jeff Welty, an assistant professor of public law and government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government; and Jeffrey Swanson, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University.

Cancer survivor turned UNC med student: 'I know what pain is like'
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
Wednesday is Katie Sims' first day of medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As she prepares to buy her first stethoscope, she reflects on its symbolism. "It means now I'm going to be able to make the same kind of impact on people that my doctors made on me," she says.

Digital Yearbook Project Shows College History, Celebrity Class Pics
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Have you ever wondered what Roy Williams looked like in college? Thanks to the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, you can now see the coach in all of his heavily side burned glory. A program at UNC library is working to digitize and preserve yearbooks from 51 North Carolina colleges and universities with copies dating all the way back to 1890.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5466/73/

Issues and Trends

Tuition truths at UNC-system schools (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Members of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors are right to be concerned about frequent and substantial tuition hikes. Although the UNC system’s comparatively low annual expenses continue to make some of its campuses “best buys” nationally, the tuition increases of recent years are undeniably burdensome.

UNC must protect financial aid levels (Editorial)
The News & Record (Greensboro)
Some members of the UNC Board of Governors are missing the bottom line on the question of who subsidizes whom when it comes to tuition. The taxpayers put up the big money. Meeting last week, the board debated whether to change a requirement that campuses set aside at least 25 percent of revenue from tuition increases for financial aid. Some members see this as unfairly asking some families to subsidize others. One even called it an involuntary charitable contribution for which a family gets no tax deduction.

For young immigrants who win deportation deferrals, what next?
McClatchy Newspapers
...New issues are creeping up, such as whether President Barack Obama’s order to prevent the deportations of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants pre-empts state polices that don’t allow illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses or pay resident tuition at public colleges and universities. “It’s fair to say that we don’t yet know what the impact will be, but will be reviewing the new federal program carefully in the context of N.C. law and university policy,” said Joni Worthington, a spokeswoman for the University of North Carolina system.