uncnews.unc.edu

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

National Coverage

Congress to get briefed on youth safety action plan
USA Today
...Kevin Guskiewicz, University of North Carolina researcher, said two of his three sons play football. He advocates teaching safe techniques and refinements in safety rules. He's involved with researching sensors that might help improve helmet design. "I really believe we can find a way to make the game safe," Guskiewicz said. He said he is confident the people who run football will have the wisdom to accomplish that and progress further beyond the days when players were taught to spear with the helmet and keep playing when they were seeing stars.
Related Link:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/safety-summit-initiatives
-should-target-youth-sports-020513

Scholars ask Supreme Court to preserve Voting Rights Act
NBC
With the Supreme Court hearing on the voting rights case out of Shelby County, Alabama less than a month away, the debate on the controversial Voting Rights Act is already heating up. A group of political science professors and law scholars have filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief documenting higher rates of prejudice and voting discrimination in areas covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. ...The consortium of professors who filed the brief include notable scholars such as Matt Baretto, co-founder of Latino Decisions, associate professor of Law at the University of North Carolina Kareem Crayton.

It's your fault: How our 'tribes' help create gridlock in Congress
CNN.com
If Congress has danced at the most perilous edges of brinkmanship, we the people helped push them there. ...In looking at election data from 1992, 2000 and 2002, political scientists Marc Hetherington of Vanderbilt University and Jonathan Weiler of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that places where spanking is more likely to be used to discipline children tend to lean Republican. Areas where timeouts are the norm tend to trend Democrat.

Sniper killing aftermath: 5 things to know about PTSD
CNN.com
...The study, conducted by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, examined 1,388 combat veterans. Researchers found that about 23% of those with PTSD and high irritability had been arrested for criminal offenses. But researchers also found that other factors unrelated to military service -- including growing up around violence or drug abuse -- were factors behind why some vets committed crimes.

Does Your Signature Reflect the Size of Your Ego?
Bloomberg Businessweek
Humility is a trait that B-school admissions officers say they prize, though research suggests they sometimes choose candidates who are anything but humble. But why waste time with rounds of applicant interviews when officers apparently have what they need to detect an inflated ego up front? The telltale metric: an applicant’s signature. That’s a logic path you could stumble down after reading new research from business professors at the University of Maryland and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

State and Local Coverage

Wake Forest, UNC, N.C. State among ‘best values’
The Winston-Salem Journal
Seven North Carolina schools are included on this year’s list of “Best Value Colleges,” released Tuesday by the Princeton Review. ...Four North Carolina schools made the best value list for public institutions, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, ranked second and sixth respectively. ...The UNC Chapel Hill took the second spot on the public schools ranking for its affordable tuition – $5,824 for in-state students and $26,576 for out-of-state students – and Chapel Hill’s relatively low cost of living. Room and board at UNC is under $10,000.
Related Link:
http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2013/02/05/wake
-forest-among-princeton-reviews.html

UNC Chancellor Search Process Producing Strong Pool Of Candidates
WCHL-FM (Chapel Hill)
The search for UNC’s next Chancellor has received a fine pool of applicants, according to the Search Committee’s Chair Wade Hargrove. “We’ve identified a number of qualified candidates,” Hargrove says. “We’re very pleased from the pool of candidates that have expressed an interest.”

Students want UNC to drop coal investments
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
A student group at UNC is calling on the university to divest its $2.1 billion endowment from the coal industry over the next five years. The UNC Sierra Student Coalition is holding a “teach in” today from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the Anne Queen Lounge at the Campus Y to educate students about “Y Campaigns.”

It could be worse (Column)
The Chapel Hill News
...The Department of Transportation is widening a short stretch of South Columbia Street. For decades the Town Council battled the state DOT and the university over plans for this curvy, two-lane strip of road. The town was adamant. We did not want the proposed five-lane highway the university and the hospital favored. Chancellor Michael Hooker agreed with the council and the result was a modest plan that would add a turning lane and improve pedestrian safety.

On the Table: Ways to relieve acid reflux (Column)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Get a grip on GERD. Those of you who are affected know what I mean. Gastroesophageal reflux disease is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints. It’s caused when stomach acid moves back up the esophagus – the pipe that your food goes down – instead of staying in your stomach where it belongs. (Suzanne Havala Hobbs is a registered dietitian and a clinical associate professor in the department of health policy and administration in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.)

Criminal Charges Still Possible For UNC's AFAM Department
WCHL-FM (Chapel Hill)
Orange County’s District Attorney Jim Woodall says he’ll have a decision whether or not to pursue criminal charges against the University of North Carolina’s African and Afro-American Studies Department by the end of the month.

Michael McAdoo to New York Times: UNC wasted my time (Blog)
The News & Observer (Raleigh)
Joe Nocera, a New York Times columnist who has expressed his disdain for the NCAA and infrastructure of major college athletics, wrote a column worth reading about Michael McAdoo’s academic experience at North Carolina.
Related Link:
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2013/02/05/74898/roses-and-raspberries-feb-6.html

Issues and Trends

Court denies Lovette’s appeal but sends case back for resentencing
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
Laurence Lovette Jr., who was convicted of kidnapping, robbing and murdering UNC’s student body president in 2008, will be sent back to an Orange County courtroom to be resentenced. The N.C. Court of Appeals issued its ruling on the case Tuesday morning, saying it was vacating Lovette’s life sentence without parole and sending the case back for another sentencing hearing.
Related Links:
http://www.wral.com/eve-carson-s-killer-to-be-resentenced/12066177/
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/05/2656983/
lovette-to-be-resentenced-for.html#storylink=misearch