Tagged: UNC-Chapel Hill

A new study out of UNC Chapel Hill's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute shows that high-quality early childhood education has dramatic effects on quality of life.

Dave DeWitt: In academic circles, the Abecedarian Project is renowned for its rare length. For 30 years, researchers have followed the same group of high-risk, largely African-American children. Half received intensive pre-school and child care; the other half did not.

North Carolina will play in its 4th consecutive bowl game later today. The Tar Heels take on Missouri in the Independence Bowl.

The last 18 months have seen major changes to North Carolina’s football program. And the state of transition will last one more game, as interim coach Everett Withers coaches the team despite the hiring of a new head coach.

Larry Fedora was chosen to lead the program, but Withers will coach the team at the Independence Bowl. Withers was a candidate for the permanent job, but didn’t get it.

Orange County and UNC Chapel Hill are working together to make productive use of a landfill gas. Methane originates from the decomposition of organic materials such as food. The collaboration will collect methane from the county's landfill and use it to produce electricity using a generator at UNC. Ray DuBose is the director of UNC Energy Services. He says projects like these are not without precedent.

The historic YMCA building on the Carolina campus will also serve as the home of a new Social Entrepreneurs initiative for students.  The Social Innovation Incubator officially opens in January and will provide space for three teams of students to nurture their projects.  Richard Harrill is the director of the Campus "Y" at UNC.  He says they are currently accepting applications from students who want to be the first residents to work out of the innovation incubator.

Doctors at UNC Chapel Hill want to improve the physical health of patients with severe mental illness. U-N-C's Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health has received a grant from the Duke Endowment to create a "health home" for patients with mental illness. Director John Gilmore says people with serious mental health issues like schizophrenia sometimes have trouble tending to their physical health. Gilmore says psychiatrists treating patients at the center will look out for other problems as well.