uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

Extra prenatal choline doesn't help kids' brains
Reuters (Wire Service)
Taking extra choline during pregnancy does not improve babies' language and memory skills, according to a new study. "I think eating the recommended amount of choline, which is just about a half of a gram a day for pregnant women, would probably do you well," Dr. Steven Zeisel, the senior author of the study and a professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told Reuters Health. "Going to high levels doesn't always give you improvement."

National Coverage

North Carolina town split over sheriff's treatment of Latinos
The Los Angeles Times
In this southern mill town, tortillas and bolillos are as common as Carolina barbecue sandwiches. Spanish-language advertisements tout Latino-owned restaurants, garages, churches and used-tire lots, and banners lining the downtown streets proclaim, "Preserving our heritage — promoting our future." ...In 2004, according to Hannah Gill, a researcher at the University of North Carolina, Johnson proposed that deputies visit the homes of people with Latino surnames to root out voter fraud.

Paul Frampton: Court in Argentina Convicts UNC Professor of Drug Smuggling
ABC News
A court in Argentina has convicted an Oxford educated University of North Carolina professor of attempting to smuggle four pounds of cocaine into the United States. Paul Frampton, a 68-year-old esteemed professor of physics and astronomy, says he thought he was flying to South America to meet with a bikini model but ended up getting caught in what they call a "honey trap."

State and Local Coverage

Week’s end (Editorial)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Having an undergraduate selected for the Rhodes Scholarship is a feather in the proverbial cap for any university. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has much to be proud of, with its 48th student selected this week. Senior Rachel M. Myrick of Charlotte was one of 32 Americans selected this year. She is a political science and global studies major who said she hopes to spend more time studying international conflicts and rebuilding firsthand.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5726/1/

Athletes and admissions: UNC-Chapel Hill’s procedure (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
During my eight years as admissions director at UNC-Chapel Hill, I have worked closely with the faculty of the university to develop and implement guidelines for the admission of student-athletes. I hope the following description will help readers understand what we do, how we do it, and why. In a typical year, our first-year class of 3,950 students includes young men and women from every part of North Carolina, almost every state in the union, and more than 25 countries. These students include budding leaders, scientists, poets, mathematicians, entrepreneurs, artists and journalists. (Stephen M. Farmer is vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

We want educational quality for student-athletes (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Your Nov. 18 front-page article “UNC tolerated cheating, insider says” questioned the integrity of the University of North Carolina’s academic support program for student-athletes. This charge was unfair to the counselors who are professional and genuinely care about the quality of education that student-athletes receive. And it was especially unfair to student-athletes who come to Carolina to get an education and play a sport. You ignored important information that the university provided and instead focused on the account of one person. (Steve Kirschner, Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Communications, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill)

Search for UNC-CH chancellor has 'fast start,' consultant says
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
The search for UNC-Chapel Hill’s next chancellor is in a quiet phase for the holidays, but already there has been plenty of behind-the-scenes activity. Listening to public input has been the first order of business for a 21-member search committee. Four public forums were held, and an online survey seeks the opinions of faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni and others by Dec. 15.

New laser treatments are life changing for burn victim
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
...Surgeons at the Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals repaired the deep cuts to her face and started skin grafts on her third-degree burns. “But we always had this nagging sense that we weren't doing enough for patients - we weren't addressing all of their cosmetic concerns,” said Dr. Scott Hultman, a UNC Hospitals plastic surgeon.

Agencies grapple with underuse of prescription drug database
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Prescription drug overdoses killed about 1,000 North Carolina residents in 2011, but doctors and pharmacists are not widely using a state database that tracks patients’ history with addictive drugs like Vicadin and Oxycotin. ...The process takes less than a minute, several doctors said. But because their office personnel can’t pull the files, some deem it a hassle to use, said Nabarun Dasgupta, a epidemiologist at the UNC Chapel Hill, who researches similar systems nationwide.

UNC work focused on Crohn’s disease
The Triangle Business Journal
Prep your gag reflex: A treatment candidate for Crohn’s disease is about to undergo clinical trials at UNC-Chapel Hill. It’s simple: Patients in the placebo trial get a tablespoon of saline. For those getting the actual treatment, dubbed TSO, that saline will be accompanied by eggs – the eggs of parasitic worms found in pigs, to be precise – and there are 7,500 such eggs per dose.

ER doctors at UNC Hospitals look for ways to relate, quickly, to patients
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Dr. Nikki Waller treats most of her patients in the emergency room with a common treatment: a rub to the shoulder, and often, a smile. “For emergency department doctors, it’s hard to connect with your patients. By definition you’ve never seen them before; there’s no existing doctor-patient relationship,” she said. “It’s very important to gain your patient’s trust, and we have to do that very quickly.” Waller, who is trained in emergency medicine, treats patients and teaches resident physicians as the assistant director of the UNC Hospitals Emergency Medicine residency program. She serves as an example for her residents.

Sex ed for health (Letter to the Editor)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As a North Carolina ob-gyn, I applaud the recent drop in our state’s teen pregnancy rate. I have many teenage patients, and I have seen how the state’s revamped sex education programs help young people make healthy decisions about their futures (“Progress on teen pregnancy,” Nov. 19 editorial). (Rebecca Mercier, M.D., UNC-Chapel Hill, Carrboro)

UNC professor convicted, sentenced in Argentina
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
A court in Argentina has convicted and sentenced a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor who was jailed there in January after authorities found drugs in his suitcase. Paul Frampton, a physics and astronomy professor, was sentenced to four years and eight months in confinement Monday afternoon.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/22/2499552/argentine-court
-convicts-unc-ch.html#storylink=misearch

Giving lags for NCSU, UNC against peers
The Triangle Business Journal
When it comes to gifts, donations and the size of their endowments, North Carolina’s two largest public universities don’t rank highly when compared to their peers. In terms of gifts and pledges for the 2010-11 school year, N.C. State University ranked nearly in the bottom quarter and UNC-Chapel Hill ranked well below the 50th percentile. Even when excluding private universities – which typically receive larger donations – UNC-CH still ranks in the lower half of its peer group.

Binge drinking not shrinking: UNC needs new approach (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
...According to results of the Core Drug and Alcohol Survey administered by the UNC Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, 37 percent of UNC students reported binge drinking (the consumption of five or more drinks in one sitting) in 1995. (Liz Chen is a first year master’s student in the Health Behavior Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.)

Diabetes epidemic calls for innovative solutions (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
The colored trees, falling leaves and crisp, cool air remind us that the holiday season is right around the corner. November marks a time of celebration, as we come together for Thanksgiving with friends and family. (Sarah Cooper is a 2014 master’s of public health candidate in the Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)

More eyes on Kupec’s spending (Editorial)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Matt Kupec, formerly the quarterback for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and then his alma mater’s chief fund-raiser, is now without a job and finds his name associated with problems that contributed to the premature return to the faculty of Chancellor Holden Thorp.
Related Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/22/2499546/da-says-probe-at-unc-ch-has-months.html

Issues and Trends

Carnegie Leader Calls for Presidential Commission to Guide Higher Education's Future
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The influential president of the Carnegie Corporation is working to build support for a new national commission of educators, business people, and civic leaders to be convened by President Obama "to work on the challenges facing higher education."

UNC tuition hikes are unacceptable (Editorial)
The Winston-Salem Journal
For UNC-Chapel Hill students and parents, the bad news came just in time for the holiday shopping season: Tuition is rising yet again. This time, the increase will be $600 a year, starting in fall 2013. It comes on the heels of even large annual increases in past years.

How should UNC teach in a quickly changing economy? (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The Charlotte Observer
...Professor James Johnson of UNC Chapel Hill says 54 percent of college grads under age 25 are jobless or underemployed. That makes one pause and ask whether we are preparing our students properly for the workforce. Getting a degree and a job are two important measures of success for both a student and a university, but they are clearly not the only measures. (Jeff Tarte, mayor of Cornelius and a N.C. senator-elect.)

Orange County bans smoking in public places
WNCN-TV (NBC/Raleigh)
Orange County Board of County Commissioners have voted to ban smoking in public places. The campus of UNC-Chapel Hill will not be affected by the new rule and will continue to operate under their own smoking ordinance.
Related Link:
www.wral.com/orange-county-bans-smoking-in-public-places/11800828/

Lovette appeals murder conviction
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Laurence Alvin Lovette, Jr., convicted last year of killing UNC’s student body president Eve Carson, has filed an appeal that the N.C. Court of Appeals is scheduled to consider Dec. 8.
Related Link:
http://triangle.news14.com/content/672774/lovette-appeals-eve-carson-murder-conviction