uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

Black History Month letters shed light on American slavery
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
A collection of letters showing the startling transformation of a 19th-century American woman, from an ardent abolitionist to someone who could write of blacks "they are an ungrateful race", will go on display in Norwich to mark Black History Month. ...The letters themselves will go on display in the Forum library in Norwich, on loan from the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina, and have also been made available digitally.

Why continue free meals in schools? (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Pacific Daily News (Hagatna, Guam)
...But, a 2006 Journal of the American Dietetic Association study concluded that "making universal-free school breakfast available" failed to change "students' dietary outcomes" or reduce the number of kids who skipped breakfast. Similarly, a 2006 Journal of Child Nutrition and Management study and a recent University of North Carolina study concluded that providing universal free breakfasts failed to improve academic performance.

National Coverage

Animals Suspected In Spread Of New Virus
The Associated Press
..."It's a logical possibility to consider any animals present in the region in large numbers," said Ralph Baric, a coronavirus expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Biologists now need to go into the area and take samples from any animals they can get their hands on, including camels and goats," he said. Baric said it was crucial to find out how widespread the virus is in animals and what kind of contact might be risky for people.

Scents and sensibility
The Economist
Jellyfish may not be most people’s idea of a tasty snack, but if you are a loggerhead turtle, they are top of the menu. ...Courtney Endres, a biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, however, thought the reptiles might be smelling such zones from afar. She knew from an experiment she conducted a few years ago that loggerheads have a good sense of smell.

State and Local Coverage

Search committee to find UNC chancellor set
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Wade Hargrove, chairman of the UNC Board of Trustees, announced Thursday that the search for Chancellor Holden Thorp’s replacement will begin next month. Hargrove, a Raleigh attorney, will serve as chairman of the 21-member search committee made up of trustees, students, faculty and staff.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/11598564/
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2012/09/27/local-attorney-to-chair-unc-chancellor.html
http://hamptonroads.com/2012/09/uncch-sets-chancellor-search-committee
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5595/68/

UNC seeks new leader during challenging time for public university presidents
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The search for Holden Thorp’s successor at UNC-Chapel Hill begins at a time of turnover and turbulence for public university leaders. A committee is scheduled to meet next week with UNC system President Tom Ross to launch its search for the next chancellor at the Chapel Hill campus. That committee, which includes trustees, faculty, staff, alumni and students, will ultimately recommend at least two candidates to Ross, who will make his choice.

Hard lessons (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
At one point during a Wednesday meeting with reporters and editors of The News & Observer, Holden Thorp reckoned the job of chancellor to be one that’s a lot more challenging these days. He said it in a resigned way, not complaining, but as one perspective on the four years plus that he’s occupied the job he’ll be leaving in June.
Related Links:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/28/2373595/costly-coordinators.html
http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/09/28/article/ed_hardin_unc_taking_a_
step_back_for_academics#nrcAnc_Middle2_Jump

AAU president: Top university leaders feeling pressure
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
It’s tough being a university chancellor these days, and nobody knows that better than University of North Carolina Chancellor Holden Thorp, who announced this month that he will resign in June after two tough years of academic and athletic scandals. And Thorp is not alone in feeling the pressure of running a modern research university, Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American Universities, told a gathering of university officials and faculty Thursday on the UNC campus, where he gave a lecture on the role of research universities in the 21st century.
Related Link:
http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2012/09/rawlings-all-is-pretty-well-here

Shuping-Russell takes stake in pharma spun out of UNC
The Triangle Business Journal
A drug development company with Triangle roots is making a $2 million bet that it can design a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. PharmatrophiX, a spinoff out of UNC-Chapel Hill, has raised $800,000 so far in the debt round, according to a securities filing.

UNC is still a force for good (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Carolina was the only college to which I applied while a student at Goldsboro High – UNC-Chapel Hill was my dream school. When I arrived, I was interested mostly in not living with my parents, enjoying newfound freedoms and pretty girls. Four years later, I was passionate about health policy and on my way to graduate school (also at UNC) and a career as a professor. (Donald H. Taylor, Jr., associate professor of public policy at Duke University, holds three degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill.)

A doctor’s passion; a region’s reputation (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Triangle Busines Journal
Don’t tell the 65-year-old Dr. David Clemmons to slow down. If anything, the UNC scientist and researcher is working harder than ever these days. Not because he really has to or because he does not have any hobbies he wants to pursue in his golden years, but because he loves his work.

Dentistry students begin focus on pregnant patients
The Chapel Hill Herald
The UNC School of Dentistry recently announced that it has instituted a new student clinic rotation for fourth-year D.D.S. students, which focuses on treating and triaging pregnant women. “Pregnant patients require certain methodology for comfort and safety during dental appointments, but most dental students don’t ever get exposure to them,” explained Rocio Quinonez, associate professor in the Schools of Dentistry and Medicine, Departments of Pediatric Dentistry and Pediatrics.

High Point health system joining UNC Health Care network
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
UNC Health Care is expanding its network of hospitals to include High Point Regional Health System, a money-losing hospital that it expects to turn around. Under the agreement announced Thursday, UNC has committed $150 million over five years for capital improvements at High Point Regional. It’s also allocating $50 million to establish a new community health fund that will award grants supporting health, wellness and prevention.
Related Links:
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2012/09/27/unc-health-care-to-manage-high-point.html
http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/09/27/article/high_point_regional_joins_unc_health_system
http://triangle.news14.com/content/664590/high-point-regional-set-to-merge-with-unc-health-care

The Spook Who Infiltrated Hollywood
"The State of Things" WUNC-FM
Writer Sam Greenlee’s controversial 1969 novel “The Spook Who Sat by the Door” told the story of Freeman, an African-American man with CIA training, a militant spirit and a seething anger at America’s racial and social injustices. ...This weekend, the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham is hosting a discussion of Greenlee’s book and the subsequent film with a panel of scholars. They include ...Charlene Regester, associate professor of African and Afro-American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Issues and Trends

Chapel Hill to regulate taxi fares
The Carrboro Citizen
Exactly how much taxis can charge has become a little clearer following the Chapel Hill Town Council’s unanimous vote Monday to approve an ordinance regulating taxis in town. The ordinance stems from a petition submitted by former UNC Student Body President Mary Cooper last October, in which she suggested a flat-rate taxi program for Chapel Hill. In her petition, Cooper cited inconsistencies in fare rates and public-safety concerns.