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(04/25/08 4:00am)
Democrats:
Walter Dalton
Why he's running: "I want to see North Carolina continue to move forward."
Background: Dalton has been elected six times to the N.C. Senate for Cleveland and Rutherford counties.
Why students should vote for him: Dalton wants to increase access to college through scholarships and continue working to ensure future jobs for students.
What makes him different: "I am the only one with a proven record of improving education and access to health care. . I am the only one who has that legislative experience."
(04/23/08 4:00am)
RALEIGH - Tuesday night's debate gave each of the candidates for the Democratic nomination for N.C. governor a free forum to respond to voters.
Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore were given no time limits as they sought to answer questions voters submitted on the WRAL Web site.
The candidates were also allowed to directly respond to each other.
This back-and-forth dynamic was especially pronounced during discussion of higher education policy.
Moore accused Perdue of voting for tuition increases during her tenure in the state legislature.
"We are going to work very hard not to raise tuition any more," he said.
Perdue then asserted that Moore had also voted for tuition increases in the past and urged that the discussion be refocused on the issues.
"People are tired of these distractions," she said.
Moore fired back, saying that his votes had been for small tuition increases to match cost of living prices while Perdue had supported more drastic increases.
In addition to higher education plans, both candidates outlined their priorities for the state.
Moore said that if elected he would focus on running state programs more efficiently while supporting business.
"Businesses are the backbone of this state," he said.
Perdue said she would help extend day care and health care programs for N.C. children and would support families whose homes had been foreclosed.
Both candidates emphasized that they would accomplish those goals if elected.
Moore said he would draw on his experience running the state treasury department while Perdue said new investments in education would help propel North Carolina forward.
The candidates later responded to "lighting round" questions ranging from driving cars on the Outer Banks to their positions on the death penalty.
According to statistics released Monday from Public Policy Polling, Perdue leads Moore, 45 percent to 36 percent. That marks the third week she has led by 8 to 10 points.
The tone of the debate was generally friendly, but neither hesitated to criticize the other's records.
Perdue has previously declared that she is running a positive campaign and will not air negative campaign ads.
"I'm not trying to run a positive or negative campaign," Moore told reporters following Tuesday's debate. "I'm trying to run a truthful campaign."
The debate almost didn't happen due to disagreements about who should broadcast it.
Perdue had initially accepted an invitation from WTVD television, while Moore had accepted an invitation from WRAL.
On Monday morning the Perdue campaign announced that she would participate in a WRAL debate.
"We wanted to make sure that the debate happened," said Justin Guillory, spokesman for the Perdue campaign.
He added that Perdue's camp was surprised by the Moore's campaign's unwillingness to change the debate venue after Moore had declared he would debate anywhere.
Perdue and Moore will debate again Thursday night.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/18/08 4:00am)
RALEIGH - In a town hall meeting Thursday, Barack Obama's campaign message was all about encouraging early voting.
Speaking to a sold-out audience at the Kerr Scott Building on the N.C. State Fairgrounds, his staffers announced that transportation would be available to take audience members directly to early voting sites.
"Don't have a car?" asked one campaign worker gearing up the impatient crowd before Obama's entrance. "We've got vans outside. We'll take you down to the polls."
During his talk, Obama said he is running for president because of the state of the country, specifically the economy.
"In such circumstances," he said, "we can't afford to wait."
Obama did not confirm whether he would participate in the N.C. presidential debate proposed by Hillary Clinton for April 27.
He noted that he has already debated Clinton on numerous occasions and pointed out that she declined the date his campaign had suggested.
He also took aim at Clinton's negative campaigning.
"That's the textbook Washington game,' he said.
Obama then brushed the imaginary criticisms off his shoulders to wild cheers from the crowd.
In response to a question from the audience, he added that he will not be as restrained against the Republican nominee as he is against fellow Democrat Clinton.
"If the Republicans come at me, I will come right back at them," he said.
Obama also proposed substantive goals for his first term in office, including instituting his health care reform plan and withdrawing troops from Iraq by 2009.
"It's the right thing to do for our safety and security," he said, adding that he also plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Anthony Lucas of Raleigh, who brought his school-age son and nephew to the event, said he was pleased by the answers and explanations Obama gave.
"It was great; he seems to be very sincere," Lucas said. "Education is key."
The rising cost of tuition is a primary concern for N.C. State sophomore Robert Perry.
"That's a problem for families," he said, adding that he is also worried about having access to health care in the future.
"We're here because we know a lot about Obama, and we're obviously Obama supporters," he said, referring to a fellow attendee.
Patrick Ayers, a junior from N.C. State University, said he was glad to see Obama's "sense of humor that no one really knows about."
"I've never seen him talk," Ayers said. "He's quite the speaker."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/10/08 4:00am)
A UNC-Wilmington professor who claims to be a victim of discrimination for his conservative beliefs will speak at UNC-Chapel Hill today about promoting a diversity of ideas on university campuses.
Criminal justice professor Mike Adams has been battling UNC-W since last year, when he filed suit against the university for harassment and discrimination after a promotion refusal.
Adams says the refusal stems from prejudice toward his religious and political beliefs.
UNC-W's motion to dismiss the suit was denied earlier this month.
(03/25/08 4:00am)
Barack Obama's presidential campaign has an early lead in setting up campaign infrastructure for the May 6 N.C. primary.
Obama's headquarters in Raleigh has been operating for about a week, said Katherine Lyons, a spokeswoman for the N.C. campaign.
The N.C. headquarters is not yet open to the public, but will be within a week or two. A Chapel Hill office at 504 W. Franklin St. officially opened Monday, Lyons said, and the Obama campaign intends to open more field offices.
The Clinton campaign has yet to establish an N.C. base of operations, although in a March 17 press release the campaign named Averell "Ace" Smith the N.C. state director. Smith was involved in earlier victories in California and Texas.
Heels for Hillary President Amanda Vaughn said her group will be canvassing and phone banking on behalf on Clinton and plans to coordinate get-out-the-vote measures with other N .C. student groups.
"I don't think (the Clinton campaign) realized how important North Carolina is until the last couple of weeks," she said.
N.C. State University political science professor Steven Greene said he thinks that Clinton might be campaigning with less urgency to be able to say she wasn't putting in her full effort.
"If you're afraid you're going to bomb on a test, you may go out and get drunk the night before," he said.
He also said the large N.C. concentrations of black voters and white-collar professionals in the Triangle area seem to favor Obama.
"Everybody has already put this state in the Obama column," he said. "Winning in the primaries is very much an expectations game."
But a March 19 survey from Public Policy Polling said Clinton has cut into Obama's lead in North Carolina in recent weeks.
After leading by 4 percentage points in a March 5 poll, Obama now leads 44 percent to 43 percent in a poll with a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.
Clinton is the establishment candidate, Greene said, and tends to rely on top-down campaigning through local Democratic forums.
In contrast, he said Obama is operating a grassroots campaign.
Lyons added that students are part of Obama's core coalition of supporters who weren't previously politically active.
"Sen. Obama is taking it very seriously," she said, referencing the youth vote. The campaign chiefly will ask student groups to work on registering voters.
Vivek Chilukuri, president of Students for Obama, said his group has been registering student voters on campus since Monday.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/19/08 4:00am)
As U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., gears up for her first re-election campaign, three main issues continue to dominate her work: immigration, military development and health care.
As an incumbent with approval ratings near the 50 percent mark, Dole has a good chance at earning a second term.
A Feb. 19 Public Policy Polling analysis revealed significant leads over the contenders for the Democratic nomination, N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, and businessman Jim Neal.
Dole led Hagan 50 percent to 33 percent and Neal 50 percent to 29 percent.
Fellow first-term senator, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has sung praises of his colleague's performance.
"Dole's a rock star. Sen. Dole has done a wonderful job of representing North Carolina," he said in an interview with The Daily Tar Heel.
"She's probably going to have very little problem in this election cycle, and she's got a tremendous list of accomplishments and involvement that she can run on."
Immigration enforcement
Dole's involvement has been most prominent in immigration issues, particularly the 287g program, a statewide partnership between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials.
Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president of the N.C. Sheriffs' Association, said that last year Dole notified the association of her work with federal immigration officials.
That work led to the creation of a statewide partnership between N.C. officials and federal authorities. 287g, the central part of that partnership, uses federal resources to screen those who have been arrested in order to uncover previous crimes or immigration violations.
"The idea is not to see how many people we can arrest; it's to discourage bad behavior," said Ron Woodard, director of N.C. Listen, an anti-illegal immigration group based in Cary.
"She's trying to point out that people should obey the law," he said. "We have a generous legal immigration policy, but we just can't take everybody."
287g received a boost on March 13, when the U.S. Senate approved an amendment sponsored by Dole that will provide $75 million to expand the program.
However, the program has its critics.
"I think it's a very bad step," said Attracta Kelley, an immigration law attorney at the N.C. Justice Center.
"If local law enforcement becomes federal agents, people won't report crimes against them."
Kelley said Dole has not made any positive immigration reform, citing her opposition to the 2006 immigration reform bill that would have established a temporary worker program and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the United States.
Kelley said Dole needs to work with Democrats more regularly and to try harder to make visas available and family unification possible.
Supporting the military
In a state with one of the largest military populations in the country, Dole has used her position on the Senate armed services committee to protect military personnel and to ensure the continued operation of N.C. bases.
Carol Hammerstein, spokeswoman for the Center for Responsible Lending, said Dole was active in fighting predatory lenders targeting military families.
"She was really firm on this," Hammerstein said. "She is obviously very concerned about issues with the military."
Dole sponsored a bipartisan amendment, made effective last October, which placed a cap on the interest rates paid by military personnel.
Burr also praised Dole's efforts on behalf of the military, citing her involvement with the 2005 version of the federal Base Realignment and Closure legislation.
BRAC recommended the closure or realignment of several military bases across the country, including Pope Air Force Base in N.C.
"I think you can look specifically at the BRAC process . and the fact that North Carolina was one of very few, if not the only, that grew in military presence in our state after BRAC, and that is because of her leadership on the armed services," Burr said.
Helping state hospitals
On the health care front, Dole has touted her work with the N.C. Hospital Association.
Don Dalton, NCHA spokesman, said that last year Dole helped postpone a change in Medicaid policy that would have eliminated millions of federal dollars for some state hospitals.
"She went above and beyond the call of duty," Dalton said, adding that the senator has addressed everything that NCHA has brought to her attention.
However, some other N.C. groups are critical of Dole's health care record.
"I think her term has been a disaster," said Adam Searing of the N.C. Justice Center, citing an increase in the number of uninsured North Carolinians and a lack of affordable health care. He also said he was unimpressed by her work with NCHA.
"That's nice, but that doesn't make a thing," he said. "For average North Carolinians it means nothing."
Searing was especially critical of Dole's vote against a bill to expand children's health insurance.
"Much worse than not doing anything, she has actually fought things designed to help," he said. "I'm surprised she hasn't gotten more grief about it."
Searing suggested that Dole take the lead from other Republican senators such as Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who led a bipartisan effort to pass the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Other achievements
In the agricultural sector, Dole worked toward the tobacco quota buyout, which compensated N.C. tobacco farmers who suffered under the federal quota program.
"It would have been an economic disaster had we not had it," said Blake Brown, a professor of agricultural economics at N.C. State University.
Brown said the reform brought $3.9 billion to North Carolina, which came from cigarette manufacturers and not taxpayers.
"Sen. Dole's office was very instrumental," he said. "She played a leading role."
Senior Writer Ariel Zirulnick contributed reporting.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/28/08 5:00am)
While statewide voter registration is up among all demographics, youth are more likely to be registered as Democrats.
About twice as many young people are registering as Democrats in the state, said Adam Sotak, organizational director for Democracy North Carolina, a nonpartisan voter mobilization group based in Durham. He added that youth registration overall is on the rise.
"If the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton primary is still in play come May 6, we could see record turnout," he said.
In Orange County, 5,020 18- to 24-year-olds are registered as Democrats, compared with 2,290 Republicans and 3,932 unaffiliated voters, said Orange County Board of Elections Director Tracy Reams.
Registration is up among all demographics this election cycle, she said. As of Wednesday, 91,622 voters were registered in Orange County - up from the 83,732 who registered for the 2004 primary.
Sotak said the increase is mainly due to competitive primaries.
"While I'd like to claim credit, in general it's due to that increased awareness and enthusiasm for the election," he said.
College-age voters grew up with the 2000 presidential election controversy and the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, making them more politically minded, Sotak said.
"What you're seeing is a group of people who are growing up realizing that they need to be civically engaged."
UNC Young Democrats started registering voters this semester. The group plans to have a daily presence in the Pit through the fall, said president George Drometer, adding that he is excited about the possibility of young voters turning the state blue.
"It will definitely be closer than it has been in the past," he said.
But the UNC College Republicans expressed doubt at that scenario.
"North Carolina is historically red at the national level," said Charissa Lloyd, chairwoman of the UNC College Republicans.
Lloyd said that the group will be co-sponsoring a registration drive with the Young Democrats and UNC Residence Hall Association later in the year and that Republican registration might pick up closer to November's general election.
Sotak said new voting laws that established sites for same-day voting have the potential to drastically increase youth turnout on May 6.
Students can simultaneously register and vote in the N.C. primaries in the Morehead Building on weekdays from April 17 to May 3.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/25/08 5:00am)
Information on social networking sites is increasingly leaking into the public arena as prospective employers and law enforcement personnel draw on online information to investigate students.
Jeff Sackaroff, University Career Services associate director, said his office recently discussed a case in which a student sat down for a job interview and was asked to explain a print copy of an online profile.
Sackaroff said questionable material on Facebook or MySpace accounts can be problematic for students seeking employment.
"It's become a real issue for career services," he said.
Colleges around the country are now asking students to think twice about what they put online.
"Making a good first impression now is not meeting someone face-to-face," said Kara Lombardi, senior associate director at Duke University Career Center. "We advise students to be thoughtful on what they put out on Facebook."
She said young alumni often voluntarily look through profiles of job applicants from their alma mater and then pass on findings to human resource departments. She said that she knows of at least one case in which a Duke alumna vetoed a potential job applicant based on an online profile.
Lombardi also said students can be at a disadvantage because of sites, such as JuicyCampus.com, where users post anonymously about other students.
"I think that the difference with social networking sites is that the information gets used for different purposes than people expect," UNC law professor Anne Klinefelter said.
There are ongoing debates in law school admissions offices about whether screening potential law school students online is relevant to applicants' potential, she said, adding that some argue that schools are obligated to look at all available information in order to determine who are the best candidates.
Eric Menhart of Cyberlaw, a Washington, D.C., firm specializing in Internet-related law, said that online profiles can expose inconsistencies in resumes.
That can be problematic, he said, citing students looking for positions on Capitol Hill. Potential employers can find information about previous jobs an applicant might have held with an opposing political party or organization.
"Virtually everyone who applies for a job these days is Googled," he said, explaining that online profiles can also put people's professional reputations at risk.
The boom in social networking sites has also created a host of legal issues that are still unclear.
"The law is always slow to address new technologies," Klinefelter said.
Menhart said posting personal information can also lead to cyber crimes such as identity theft when criminals gain access to personal information.
Freshman economics major Christine Solitario said she isn't concerned about strangers seeing her Facebook profile.
"I think it's OK. We have the ability to change what they see," she said. "If you have those pictures, you can put it so only your friends can see it."
But she said she is still aware that her information is online and accessible.
"It's still your private life, but at the same time it no longer becomes your private life because you put it online."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/18/08 5:00am)
Winston-Salem State University's Upward Bound program for at-risk high school students is getting back on its feet after being scaled back last summer because of funding issues.
The program is scheduled to begin tutoring and support services today.
"We are trying to set up our office," said Clarence McKee, director of Upward Bound at WSSU, adding that the program had no funding as of May 31 of last year.
WSSU's program is one of several statewide Upward Bound initiatives that temporarily lost funding when their grant applications did not meet the rigorous U.S. Department of Education review criteria.
"The (review) process is as good as it can be, but it's not perfect," said Susan McCracken, UNC-system director of GEAR UP, another federal program designed to increase access to college.
McCracken said that the standard cutoff point for scoring funding applications is high and that even a tenth of a point can determine who gets funding.
Last summer, a delegation representing several of the programs whose federal grants had not been renewed traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the programs with N.C. lawmakers, McKee said.
He described the trip as a successful one and said Winston-Salem's program funding was restored by Dec. 1.
McKee added that the delegation explained to the Washington officials that the mentoring and tutoring that Upward Bound provides is integral to North Carolina's youth.
"It really prepares a lot of students for a post-secondary education who wouldn't normally get the opportunity," he said.
Joseph Green, director of Upward Bound at UNC-Chapel Hill, also traveled to Washington, D.C.
Like the WSSU program, UNC-CH's Upward Bound grant was initially unfunded.
Green said he was able to meet with staffers from the offices of both N.C. senators, as well as the offices of Democratic U.S. Reps. Mel Watt and David Price.
"That was a really wonderful experience," Green said, adding that he was especially pleased with the support his program received from UNC-CH in the interim.
UNC-CH and its school of education stepped up to fund the program for the three-month period when federal funding was nonexistent, Green said.
"All of (the programs) had a lot of support from their administrations," McCracken said. "Some of them may have had more challenges than others."
McKee said WSSU had to let go of some of its Upward Bound staff during the unfunded period, cutting back to two employees.
But he expressed confidence that business would now continue as usual, declaring that the delay will not alter expectations for current students and new freshman recruits.
"I'm not anticipating any problems at all."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/15/08 5:00am)
Increasingly concerned about the risk of wildfires amid persistent drought conditions, Gov. Mike Easley signed an agreement with FEMA on Wednesday that would fast-track assistance in the case of a major disaster.
He also reinstated the statewide burning ban Thursday.
Although other states have similar agreements, North Carolina has never partnered with Federal Emergency Management Agency before.
"We never saw a need to apply," said Julia Jarema, public affairs director for the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.
N.C. officials are acting preemptively, said Brian Haines, public information officer for the N.C. Division of Forest Resources.
Normally the spring wildfire season starts in mid-March and lasts until May, but the persistent drought has pushed the time frame up, Haines said.
Before last weekend when high winds and downed power lines led to an outbreak of fires, the number of fires and acres of land burned in North Carolina had been relatively stable, he said. "This past weekend was sort of an anomaly."
Jarema said large-scale wildfires like those seen in western states are becoming a possibility in North Carolina.
"The state has a potential for that this year," she said.
If Easley chooses to apply for aid, federal funding will come in the form of the Fire Management Assistance Grant.
The grant could cover 75 percent of the total cost associated with fighting fires, so long as North Carolina exhausts state and local funds first.
The state also must meet spending thresholds of $491,000 for individual fires and $1.47 million for multiple fires.
While the partnership with FEMA is new to the state, burn bans have been used before.
Haines said the previous ban was lifted Jan. 1 after being instituted in October.
Another burn ban was in place from mid-August through September of last year.
The bans are lifted during periods of adequate rainfall, Haines said.
"These bans are common," said Robert Bardon, professor of forestry at N.C. State University.
Bardon said the bans help prevent fires resulting from human carelessness, such as cigarettes thrown out of car windows.
"Most of our wildfires are human- caused," he said.
Bardon added that droughts make wildfires especially likely because material on the forest floor dries out and becomes potential fuel.
But Haines said the No. 1 cause of N.C. wildfires was the careless burning of debris.
"(The ban) makes people aware of the fact that we are at risk for wildfires," Bardon said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/30/08 5:00am)
A UNC committee recommended Tuesday that the chancellor give the New Era Cap company an ultimatum to allow labor rights monitoring organizations into its Mobile, Ala., factory.
The Buffalo, N.Y.-based company produces baseball caps for several major universities. It has refused to allow the Worker Rights Consortium, composed of worker advocacy groups and universities that license their logos, to investigate claims of labor violations in the Alabama factory.
Several UNC students traveled to Alabama earlier this month as part of United Students Against Sweatshops' efforts to raise awareness of reported factory violations.
"Any pressure on New Era is positive," said Salma Mirza, an organizer for the campus group Student Action with Workers. Mirza traveled to Mobile with USAS. She is also a member of the University's Licensing Labor Code Advisory Committee, which made the recommendation Tuesday.
Derek Lochbaum, director of licensing at UNC and co-chairman of the licensing committee, said UNC is affiliated with both the WRC, whose investigation New Era resisted, and the Fair Labor Association, another global nonprofit.
Lochbaum said that companies typically distrust the WRC because they think it's biased and that student activists typically distrust the FLA because it includes corporations in addition to universities and labor organizations.
"At the end of the day, we all have the same goal," Lochbaum said, adding that all of the organizations usually work in concert.
Mirza said New Era has tried to prevent factory workers from organizing, firing some employees for supporting unionization.
A lack of job opportunities in Mobile makes employees hesitant to oppose management policies, she said. "We spent time in the community in Mobile. It's hard to find another job like the jobs at New Era."
The NAACP and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor union issued a report Monday accusing New Era of unethical practices, including racial discrimination.
"They utilized tactics to really scare employees away from collective bargaining and organization," said Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington bureau.
He also said New Era required its employees to watch anti-union propaganda.
Shelton said he hopes the management of the Mobile factory will ratify a contract with the Teamsters soon. A majority of the factory employees voted to unionize last year.
He also said he hopes that the factory will follow the same course as its counterpart in Buffalo, N.Y., where employees receive higher wages.
"If Mobile is able to do what Buffalo did, it will be the kind of company you want to do business with."
The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is only affiliated with the WRC, has already severed ties with New Era for not meeting WRC employment standards.
During the licensing committee meeting, Mirza proposed that UNC do the same but then amended her proposal at the suggestion of the committee.
The members voted unanimously to require New Era to consent to an audit by the WRC, the FLA or both by the time of their next meeting in February.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/25/08 5:00am)
A National Latino advocacy group has praised North Carolina's new initiative to combat an AIDS pandemic in the state's Hispanic population.
"We recognize the tremendous step taken by the North Carolina health department," said Guillermo Chacon, vice president of the Latino Commission on AIDS based out of New York, adding that the N.C. measure was a sign of hope.
Douglas K. Griffin, the special projects and minority initiatives coordinator for the HIV/STD prevention and care branch of the Health and Human Services Department, said that Hispanics account for 6 percent of North Carolina's population but that 8 percent of the HIV cases reported in 2006.
Jeffrey Engle, the North Carolina state epidemiologist, said the main purpose of the program was to combat the disproportionate number of Hispanics contracting HIV.
"We have to do better," he said.
He said the initiative is slated to last only one yeah but that typically these types of programs continue.
Engle said the initiative will take a three-pronged approach. Health officials will work to expand testing, get care to those infected and then encourage continued treatment.
"We have a fantastic opportunity here in North Carolina to prevent what happened in the African American community from happening to the Latino community," Griffin said.
He said that although the number of N.C. Hispanics with HIV/AIDS is growing, this is the time to tackle the problem while it's still manageable.
Douglas and Chacon met in Raleigh Wednesday with Hispanic leaders to discuss the course of HIV prevention in North Carolina.
Griffin said that it was important to avoid one-size-fits-all prevention messages, adding that the very first HIV awareness measures were aimed primarily at the white gay population and were not effective in the black community.
One of the difficulties associated with this initiative is the fact that the Hispanic community is a culturally diverse one, Engle said.
Griffin also emphasized the diversity of North Carolina's rapidly growing Hispanic community. He said the Hispanic population spans from the Middle class to migrant farm workers.
"(Knowledge about HIV) would be directly related to their educational level," he said.
Chacon said that HIV in the Hispanic community has received little attention in the past but that measures like the one being implemented in North Carolina are needed in every state.
A N.C. delegation will attend a national Hispanic leadership summit convened by the Latino Commission on AIDS in Washington, D.C. next week.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/23/08 5:00am)
The murder on Friday of a Duke University graduate student and a recent rash of robberies have prompted Duke officials to increase security measures.
Abhijit Mahato, 29, an engineering doctoral student from India, was shot and killed Friday night in his off-campus apartment, a few blocks south of Duke's campus.
Another student and a Duke employee were robbed at gunpoint Sunday night in separate incidents, both off campus. Another off-campus armed robbery of a student occurred on Jan. 12.
(01/18/08 5:00am)
Gov. Mike Easley announced the creation of a new task force Wednesday that is aimed at protecting agricultural workers from pesticide exposure.
The measure comes on the heels of an N.C. judge's recommendation earlier this month to lower the fine levied against Ag-Mart, a Florida-based tomato grower that exposed its workers to pesticide toxins. The $184,500 fine had been the largest in N.C. history.
Melinda Wiggins, executive director of Student Action with Farmworkers, a Durham nonprofit that works with college students in the Triangle area, said she welcomes the idea of the task force.
"Pesticide exposure is a huge problem," she said, adding that the Ag-Mart case has brought the issue to light. "If they work on a traditional farm in North Carolina, they will be exposed to pesticide."
Wiggins also said many advocates believe the pesticide exposure of Ag-Mart employees caused birth defects in the several of the workers' children.
But Bob Krieger, a toxicologist at the University of California at Riverside who specializes in pesticide exposure and risk assessment, said he thinks much of the fear of pesticides is overblown.
"The public is so poorly informed about pesticides, it makes great politics," he said.
He added that the risk of exposure for agricultural workers is minimal provided that workers follow label instructions and use proper equipment and clothing.
"They're at greater risk driving their car to work," he said.
He also said that certain groups of workers interact more directly with pesticides but wear more equipment to prevent toxic exposures and that normal day-to-day exposures are far below dangerous levels.
Sheila Higgins, manager of occupational surveillance for the N.C. Division of Public Health, said the state's increased scrutiny into pesticide practices is based on more than just the Ag-Mart incident.
"We're a prominent agriculture state," she said, adding that N.C. farms use a lot of pesticides and employ a large migrant worker population.
John Price, the director of the Office of Rural Health and Community Care at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said his office operates a farm worker health program and organizes outreach efforts designed to educate workers on appropriate ways to work with pesticides.
He said that pesticide exposure is not a common occurrence but that migrant workers occasionally show up at rural health centers saying they have been exposed.
Price said those who report exposure are hosed down and then brought to hospitals for further treatment.
Price was appointed to the governor's task force to serve along with state health, labor and agriculture officials. The task force will meet for the first time in February and will report back to Easley in May.
In a statement released Monday, Easley said, "We are bringing our top experts together to address this issue, and their recommendations will make North Carolina a national leader in this area."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/17/08 5:00am)
New measures undertaken to protect minors using the social networking site MySpace have drawn criticism for containing loopholes that could still allow children to be contacted by online predators.
N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper co-chaired a group of representatives from several states that reached an agreement Monday with the social networking site after two years of discussion.
But both national and N.C. child advocacy groups have concerns about whether this agreement goes far enough.
"This is a first step," said Teri Schroeder, founder and CEO of
i-SAFE America, a non-profit that deals with Internet safety education. "The jury's still out."
Cooper helped work out a deal with MySpace that would expand the age group whose online profiles are automatically set as "private" from 14- and 15-year-olds to include 16- and 17-year-olds.
It would also allow parents to submit children's e-mail addresses to prevent them from signing up.
Schroeder said her main critique is that MySpace has no way to verify the age of a child registrant.
She said her organization met with MySpace a year ago to discuss the digital authentication of children's IDs at the school level in order to prevent children less than 14 years old from obtaining MySpace.
She added that the networking site has not implemented the plan but that she believes it is the most effective way to protect minors online. "We still stand by that."
Karin Cox, the director of communications for the nonprofit Prevent Child Abuse N.C., said that the new safety settings are an improvement but that they could be sidestepped.
"It's a good thing for some kids," she said. "There isn't one answer to protect all kids."
In a press release Monday, Cooper stated social networking sites have grown rapidly but have only recently recognized the need to ensure children's safety.
UNC freshman Nicoya Langley said she thinks it's a good idea for MySpace to increase protection of minors' identities. She said it's easy to come into contact with just about anyone on the Web site.
"All it takes is just one MySpace message and there you go."
She said that while most students transition to the Facebook Web site once they enroll in college, she still uses her MySpace to talk to her friends from home who haven't graduated.
Langley added that ultimately children have to depend on their own judgment.
"You can't hide your child from the world forever."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/11/08 5:00am)
New recommendations from the N.C. attorney general to improve campus safety in light of the Virginia Tech shootings mirror federal gun control legislation signed into law Tuesday.
An N.C. task force on public safety recommended Thursday that the state legislature require involuntary commitment orders to be added to the national background check database.
The federal legislation provides financial incentives for states to take such action - adding their mental health records to the FBI's database of those ineligible to purchase firearms.
Capt. Bobby Collins of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said that he thinks the measure would be effective if adopted by North Carolina.
"Until that happens, we're going to be restricted," he said. "I think that there are some mental illnesses that should be reviewed on the issue of gun control. The benefit would be to the public at large."
The federal legislation was strongly influenced by calls for tighter gun laws after April's Va. Tech massacre.
The shooter in the Va. Tech incident, Seung Hui Cho, had a history of mental health issues that did not show up on his background check when he successfully applied to purchase a firearm.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who sponsored the nationwide bill, released a written statement Tuesday declaring, "This important legislation will close the wide gaps in our nation's firearm background check system."
But Capt. Ricky Buchanan of the Durham County Sheriff's Office is skeptical that the law would reduce gun violence in general. "I don't know what percentages of killers are mentally ill," he said. "People who tend to kill are going to kill."
Hannah Perry of Perry's Gun Shop, in Wendell, 10 miles east of Raleigh, said she supports the measure because it could help prevent some of the most extreme cases of gun violence.
But she added that potential gun customers already have to answer questions regarding their mental state and that gun shop owners can refuse to sell guns to those they think are mentally incompetent or dangerous.
She said her store has a college-age customer base, particularly with some student organizations at N.C. State University.
Randy Young of the UNC Department of Public Safety said that although this particular aspect of gun control wasn't a focus before Va. Tech, the University was considering increasing campus security measures before the shootings in Blacksburg.
"I think that a lot of recommendations made by the task force are initiatives that are being enacted by many universities, and UNC is one of them," he said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(11/28/07 5:00am)
DURHAM - New York Times columnist Paul Krugman spoke to a packed house Tuesday night at Duke University's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy.
As audience members spilled into back rooms and leaned over railings on higher floors to hear him, Krugman spoke about his new book and his vision for American social reform.
In "Conscience of a Liberal," Krugman discusses dominant themes in American political life, including racially motivated politics and the recent growth of the conservative movement.
"Today's Republicans are very different," he said, referring to the rightward shift within the party itself. He cited conservative organizations such as Fox News and the Heritage Foundation as examples of the transformation of the Republican Party.
He also said that in recent elections, Republicans have won by running on noneconomic themes, such as national security and that the American people did not necessarily support their economic and social goals.
"The public has never accepted the idea that Social Security and Medicare were bad things," he said.
Krugman peppered his talk with frequent political humor.
"A lot of us are nostalgic for the first George Bush," he said, eliciting laughter from the left-leaning audience.
But he stressed the reasons for liberals to be optimistic in the current political climate.
"'Conscience of a Liberal' is a happy book," he said. "We are not at all the same country that elected Ronald Reagan."
He added that a new progressive movement is challenging its conservative counterpart and expressed hope for the success of universal health care plans.
"I'm so optimistic that my friends are asking me if I'm quite OK," he said.
But he cautioned that liberals might not be ready to take on the challenges of reform. "I'm not sure that the Democratic politicians know what needs to be done," he said.
He said some of the obstacles to reforms like universal health care included "whimping out" and the inability to adequately mobilize coalitions.
Krugman also answered questions regarding globalization and economic inequality. He said he supports restoring the estate tax for wealthy Americans to its previously higher levels.
Besides writing for the Times since 1999, Krugman is an economics and international affairs professor at Princeton University.
But it was his opinion pieces that drew the crowd. Beth Silberman and Ruth Harman of Durham both cited their appreciation for his columns as motivation to come hear him speak.
However, Harman said she didn't agree with everything Krugman said.
"I question his optimism, based on the fact that inequality is getting larger and larger," she said.
Silberman said she was surprised by a couple of his points, particularly the view that race was the dominant factor that shaped American political history.
Patrick Rutter, a freshman public policy and economics major at Duke, also said he was intrigued by Krugman's argument regarding racial politics.
"I think the points he made about the political influence of the white Southern man were interesting," he said. "I'm from New Jersey, so I was completely unaware of the political influence this group of people had on our history."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(11/19/07 5:00am)
N.C. environmental groups have been challenging the expansion of Duke Energy's coal-fired energy program in Cliffside since the project was granted state approval earlier this year, and this weekend the debate captured the attention of one of NASA's top climate scientists.
NC WARN and the Carolinas Clean Air Coalition sponsored talks in Charlotte and Chapel Hill by James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, in response to the N.C. Utilities Commission's approval of one of Duke Energy's proposed plants.
Hansen has tracked Earth's temperature for decades, and Saturday he spoke at UNC's Friday Center about the effect plants such as the Cliffside Steam Station can have on climate change.
"We really have reached the point of a planetary emergency," he said, adding that carbon emissions are approaching a tipping point at which climate change will be irreversible.
Hansen said he supports a moratorium on all coal-fired power plants. Instead, he suggested, the nation should rely on energy derived from oil and gas.
He also said he was critical of the influence energy companies have on U.S. government policy.
"The democratic process still works," he said. "But there are special interests who have more sway than one person, one vote."
Volunteers at the Friday Center passed out postcards addressed to Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers requesting that the Cliffside project be canceled.
Tom Williams, a spokesman for Duke Energy, said Hansen, in opposing all coal-fired plants, must not understand that some coal-fired plants are better than others.
Coal-fired plants still supply half of all electricity used by Americans, and a quarter of the world coal supply comes from the United States.
"We have a statutory obligation to deliver power at the least cost possible," Williams said, adding that the new plant will actually improve emissions in all categories and use 88 percent less water than the project uses now.
But Hansen said such improvements do not justify continued use of coal-fired power plants.
Duke Energy plans to retire four older coal-fired plants and replace them with the new unit, which Williams said will provide jobs and increase the tax bases of both Rutherford and Cleveland counties, where the Cliffside plant will be built.
"We have had no local opposition," he said. "We have tremendous support for the project."
He added that the N.C. Utilities Commission said it would be imprudent to pursue natural gas when they approved the coal-fired plant.
Mike Nicklas, president of Innovative Design, a Raleigh architecture firm focusing on energy efficiency and sustainability, spoke Saturday at the Friday Center about other steps North Carolina can take to reduce energy consumption and slow climate change.
He discussed his company's efforts within the state to promote energy efficiency and said it was important to train engineers and architects at the university level in energy-efficient design techniques.
"This battle can be won," he said. "It can be won on an efficiency basis and a renewable basis."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(11/14/07 5:00am)
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina decided Monday to expel the Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte - the latest move in an ongoing debate about the church's acceptance of homosexuality.
Mitch Simpson, the pastor of University Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, said his church and the Myers Park church were both in a group targeted by the BSCNC for their affiliation with a Baptist group that openly welcomes homosexuals.
He said that group, the Alliance of Baptists, is just one of several, more liberal organizations that the churches associate themselves with.
"To some people, if you say 'Baptist,' they immediately think conservative or fundamentalist," Simpson said. "Myers Park and University Baptist would be far more left of center."
He said that during the past 20 years, the leadership of the BSCNC has become increasingly conservative. "This is not anything new."
According to a BSCNC press release, the Myers Park church came forward voluntarily saying they were in violation of the principles of the convention. The executive committee then met with the church leadership and subsequently recommended that the Myers Park church leave the BSCNC.
"The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has no desire to alienate or harm those who are practicing homosexuals," said Milton Hollifield Jr., executive director-treasurer for the BSCNC. "Our motive is to faithfully obey Holy Scripture regarding homosexuality."
Simpson said the move to expel the Myers Park church was symptomatic of a nationwide trend.
"North Carolina, Virginia and Texas held out as long as they could against the fundamentalist juggernauts," he said.
But the Convention's decisions will have little effect on individual churches' ministries. Simpson said all Baptist churches adhere to the practice of local autonomy and group themselves according to their own wishes.
"Being a Baptist has always meant freedom," he said. "The very audacity of the BSC to say we have a list of churches we are not happy with. . It's an honor to be asked to leave certain groups."
Simpson said the debate about homosexuality was both a national and international one.
He said the conservative leadership of the BSCNC was missing the point of the church. "We don't check political IDs or sexual IDs," he said.
Elizabeth Carlson, president of UNC's Campus Baptist Ministry, said the debate about homosexuality tended to be less important to the younger Baptist generation.
"As college students we tend to be removed," she said.
She said that the University ministry group represents a range of opinions and, while homosexuality is discussed, it is not a contentious issue.
While the BSCNC views homosexuality as a sin, Carlson said, there are many other sins in the Bible.
"I believe in the truth of the Bible. The church should be a redemptive community."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(11/12/07 5:00am)
With five major military installations and the fourth-highest military personnel presence in the country, North Carolina had a lot to pay tribute to this Veterans Day weekend.
Raleigh held its annual Veterans Day Parade on Saturday, while towns and counties sponsored local events throughout the state.
In Chapel Hill, UNC's Army ROTC held a ceremony Friday featuring Brig. Gen. Margaret Wilmoth, giving the cadets a chance to see what their lives might be like after they serve.
Wilmoth spoke to rows of assembled Army, Navy and Air Force cadets about the honor of military service and the duties of a soldier. She discussed military heroes from the past, including George Washington, emphasizing their character and strength.
"This strength is the strength of America," she said. "The act of donning a uniform is a deeply symbolic one."
Wilmoth acknowledged the sacrifices and losses that come with war but also emphasized the necessity to protect freedoms. "A soldier does not go into the politics surrounding war."
ROTC cadets looked on as military hymns were played and as veterans - who served in conflicts from World War II to the Iraq War - stood as their time of service was called.
Senior Sarah O'Callaghan, a cadet wing commander for the Air Force ROTC, said she has always wanted a career in public service, especially in the military.
She said the ceremony offered a glimpse of what her and her peers could face in a matter of years. "It just gives us a reminder of what we're going into as ROTC cadets."
Enrollment in UNC's ROTC program has remained steady despite continuing conflict in Iraq and a nationwide climate that has made it more difficult to recruit military candidates.
Cadets at UNC cited varying reasons that they signed up for the program.
"I definitely would love to have the honor that comes along with being a veteran," said sophomore Alex Miller, an Army ROTC cadet who said his goal after completing his service is to join the FBI.
Ray Vickery, a freshman Army cadet, said he joined the ROTC program to boost his resume and open up job opportunities.
Fellow cadet, junior Jeff Wright, said he also expects his enrollment in the program to open doors down the road. Wright, who plans to become a doctor, said the Veterans Day ceremony was a reminder of the importance of military service.
"To me, it's the greatest honor I could have to serve my country in this way," he said.
Events to honor veterans will continue throughout the week, including a breakfast Tuesday where those who have served in the military can discuss Veterans Affairs funding with U.S. Democratic Congressmen David Price, Bob Etheridge and Brad Miller of North Carolina.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.