uncnews.unc.edu

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

International Coverage

Siemens Tackles U.S. Skills Gap with Apprenticeships
Bloomberg News
Siemens AG (SIE) said it had to start extensive apprenticeship programs in the U.S. as a shortfall of adequately qualified workers made it difficult to staff its gas- turbine factory in North Carolina. ...Siemens has tied up with the University of North Carolina’s Energy Production and Infrastructure Center, where it funds scholarships, and the Central Piedmont Community College, according to the company website. The generators and turbines produced at the Charlotte site range from 150 megawatts to 1,600 megawatts in size.

National Coverage

2013 Best Value Colleges from the Princeton Review
USA Today
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was ranked number two in the list of public colleges on this year's list of Best Value Colleges from the Princeton Review.

Top 10 best value public, private colleges (Video)
"Today Show" NBC
According to a new study, more than 26 million people are in debt after going to college. To offset the cost of higher education, the Princeton Review and USA Today took a closer look at the schools that will give you the most bang for your buck. Rob Franek of the Princeton Review discusses their findings.

Academic Counseling Racket (Opinion Column)
The New York Times
On the day after the Super Bowl, I got a call from Michael McAdoo, a 22-year-old defensive lineman for the winning Baltimore Ravens. I had been expecting his call for several weeks, ever since the North Carolina Court of Appeals refused to revive his lawsuit against the N.C.A.A. and the University of North Carolina, where he had played for two years before being declared permanently ineligible.

State and Local Coverage

UNC chancellor search moving to next phase
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A search committee working to find the next chancellor for UNC is set to begin the next phase of the process, narrowing the list of candidates. The committee met Tuesday on campus, mostly behind closed doors. Wade Hargrove, chairman of the UNC Board of Trustees and search committee, said it spent time reviewing the extensive lists of candidates being considered.

Artist to offer talk
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Los Angeles artist Toni Scott will present her multimedia exhibition “Bloodlines” with a free public talk at the opening reception Thursday at UNC Chapel Hill. The exhibit will be on display through April 26 at the Robert and Sallie Brown Gallery of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center. The reception and talk will begin at 7 p.m.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5830/107/

Business school offers summer program
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
An immersion program designed to develop the business leadership and entrepreneurial skills of undergraduate students from around the world will be offered this summer by UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. The five-week, for-credit program runs June 24-Aug. 2. It includes classroom instruction, guest presentations and networking with leading Kenan-Flagler faculty members and business representatives.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5791/67/

Alumni Association honors two
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A pioneering computer science professor and a former law school dean who helped the campus navigate turbulent times at UNC Chapel Hill have been honored with the General Alumni Association’s Faculty Service Award. The association’s board of directors presented the awards to Fred Brooks Jr., founder of UNC’s computer science program, and Dickson Phillips Jr., former law school dean and federal appeals court judge.
UNC Release:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5832/68/

In slow economy, they take a direct approach to sales
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
...Shaundria Williams of Durham said direct selling isn’t easy. Williams started selling Avon in 2011 as a way to make spending money, but also wanted to save for her daughter’s college tuition and quit her job. “I was living the dream of easy money,” said Williams, a human resources manager at UNC-Chapel Hill. She started by spending about $15 on samples. She set up a website through Avon and was connected to a local team leader. A few months later, however, the new mother was accepted into a master’s program and no longer had time to sell. The venture ended up costing her about $500, Williams said.

Pat McCrory's socialist notion about higher education and jobs (Opinion-Editorial Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
As a scholar who studies the former Soviet Union, I found Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposal to cut funding from liberal arts courses in higher education eerily familiar. McCrory said last week that state funds should not be used for courses that do not directly prepare students for well-defined occupational categories; instead, state money should go to programs that prepare students for jobs that “the market needs.” (Michele Rivkin-Fish is associate professor of anthropology at UNC-Chapel Hill.)
Related Links:
http://chapelboro.com/Reacting-to-Governor-McCrory%EF%BF%BDs
-Higher-Education-Remarks/9688715?pid=294139
http://www.hendersondispatch.com/opinion/x1733189419/Editorial-Bad
-pattern-is-evolving-for-McCrory

DA 'close to decision' on UNC academic scandal
WTVD-TV (ABC/Raleigh)
Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall told ABC11 Tuesday that he's "close to making a decision" on whether to pursue criminal charges in the UNC Academic Scandal, specifically within the Department of African and Afro-American Studies. The African and Afro-American Studies program was at the center of an investigation into alleged academic fraud involving Tar Heel football players.

Issues and Trends

Lovette to be resentenced for 2008 murder of UNC student body president
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Laurence Alvin Lovette, one of two people convicted of killing UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson in 2008, was too young at the time of his crimes to get a sentence of life without parole, the state Court of Appeals has ruled.
Related Link:
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8981060
http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2013/02/eve-carsons-killer-to-be-resentenced

Big-time sports tax breaks: 'How much does it bother you?'
WRAL-TV (CBS/Raleigh)
...The ACC’s $3.6 billion television deal is all tax free. The reason is the conference and all the member schools, such as Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, are nonprofits. The ACC's latest tax returns show the conference brought in $167 million and didn't pay tax on its $1 million in net revenue.

Recent graduates defaulting on student loans, study finds
The Triangle Business Journal
Recent graduates are increasingly defaulting on their student loans, according to findings from FICO Labs. It’s something that graduates from the University of North Carolina system should be aware of as tuitions are on the rise. ...The trends might not send shockwaves throughout the University of North Carolina System as strongly as some other systems because the North Carolina taxpayers have historically been generous to UNC System students, who have a debt at graduation below their peers in the ACC and around the nation.

Why the Online Ed MOOC Didn't Work
Inside Higher Ed
When word spread this weekend that a massive open online course about online education had to be suspended due to technology problems that left many students angry, officials from Coursera and the Georgia Institute of Technology were not available for comment. In interviews Monday, however, officials of both Coursera and Georgia Tech confirmed that the major issue concerned the ability of the 41,000 students to discuss topics in small groups, and that the technology for that feature indeed was not working.
Related Link:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/georgia-tech-and-coursera-
try-to-recover-from-mooc-stumble/42167