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(10/29/07 4:00am)
A slightly revised State Children's Health Insurance Program bill passed the U.S. House on Thursday with too few votes to prevent another presidential veto, and N.C. health officials are left wondering how much money their programs could get from the federal government.
Two U.S. representatives from North Carolina who had voted against the first S-CHIP bill supported the revised version, which would expand the program by the same $35 billion proposed initially but would restrict that money to the poorest children - those whose families are below 300 percent of the federal poverty level.
U.S. Reps. Mike McIntyre and Bob Etheridge, both Democrats, initially voted against the first plan but voted with their party in its attempt to override President Bush's veto of that bill earlier this month.
"I have always supported the S-CHIP program and will do what is necessary to preserve it for the sake of children and families in need," McIntyre said in a press release.
But he also reiterated his reason for voting against the bill in the first place. The S-CHIP bill would expand children's health insurance coverage through an increased cigarette tax to which many Republicans and North Carolinians objected.
"My support of North Carolina's farmers and the economic well-being of our communities are well-known," said McIntyre. "That commitment has not changed with this vote for our children."
Republicans from North Carolina continue to oppose expansion of the program.
Ed McDonald, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., said Coble objected to both the increase in the cigarette tax and the bill's expanded insurance coverage.
Paul Cox, press secretary for U.S. Rep. David Price, D-Orange, said Price has been a supporter of the legislation all along.
Brad Deen, public information officer for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said he hopes the S-CHIP program will be renewed in some form since 85 percent of the state's version of the program, N.C. Health Choice, is federally funded.
The current iteration of S-CHIP is designed for families too wealthy to qualify for Medicaid but who still cannot afford private insurance, he said.
The N.C. program covers children in families whose incomes do not exceed 200 percent of the poverty level, and Deen said the newest S-CHIP legislation would not change that.
"We don't want to speculate on what may or may not happen," he said. "There may be a compromise, we just don't know."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/26/07 4:00am)
Despite recent publicity regarding Jim Neal's sexual orientation, the Chapel Hill resident's campaign for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., has not lost any momentum.
A recent opinion poll placed Neal in the same range as other potential Democratic candidates who lack widespread name recognition.
"This is not a question of personalities or people," Neal said. "The real issue before the people of North Carolina is who will represent them."
Neal said his campaign has received a favorable response since the affirmation of his homosexuality during a live blogging session Saturday.
He also said he has received solid financial support, particularly in the form of small-dollar donations.
Ian Palmquist, executive director of gay and lesbian advocacy group Equality N.C., said Neal is not North Carolina's first openly gay candidate.
The first openly gay candidate to be elected in the state was a Chapel Hill town councilman in 1987.
"I believe a quality gay candidate who is speaking to North Carolina voters can be elected," Palmquist said.
He also said his organization's research indicates that voters have little concern for a candidate's sexual orientation, even in traditionally conservative areas.
He cited the openly gay Sen. Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover, whose district voted 56 percent for President George Bush in 2004.
Neal said he was not concerned that his sexual orientation would be used against him by his opponents during the race.
"If they do, they do," he said. "If they don't, they don't."
But there's still the chance that Neal's sexual orientation could play a more prominent role in the election, said Jake Anderson, president of the UNC Young Democrats.
"There is the stereotype out there that the South is homophobic, but I hope this campaign proves that it is false," Anderson said.
UNC journalism professor Rhonda Gibson, who specializes in treatment of sexual minorities in the media, said sexual orientation is still a hot button issue in the South.
She said the press often mishandles coverage of a candidate's orientation.
"Sexual orientation does not equal sexual deviance, does not equal criminality," she said.
But she also said that Neal's candidacy is important because he is the first openly gay candidate from North Carolina running for U.S. Senate.
"(The media) cover it like any other first," she said. "Other than that I don't see why it's newsworthy."
Charissa Lloyd, chairwoman of the UNC College Republicans, said Neal's sexual orientation will have little impact on conservative voters, most of whom will vote for Dole regardless.
"I think the bigger issue is his lack of experience," she said.
Neal said public opinion shows otherwise.
"I have maintained a Democratic base," he said. "The big grab is for people who are undecided."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/17/07 4:00am)
Every year, the N.C. State Fair - with its quirky exhibits, spinning rides and fried foods - invokes expressions of enthusiasm, dread and everything in between from UNC students.
Just 30 minutes down the road from Chapel Hill, the fair is an accessible state institution that some students choose to forgo.
Among reasons they give for avoiding the fair are safety concerns, exacerbated for many by reports this weekend of a stabbing at the fairgrounds.
"I heard a guy got stabbed there Saturday night," freshman Ben Middleton said of the state fair. "That doesn't make me want to go."
But the rides, vendors and exhibits that have cropped up on the state fairgrounds since its inception in 1853 have become an annual tradition for many.
Patrice Graham, a junior from Raleigh, said she remembers the fair as a popular weekend destination for her and her hometown friends.
"It's the thing to do in high school, to go on a Saturday night," she said. "It's like an expose of N.C. crops and animals."
Memories of the state fair aren't as pleasant for all in-state students.
Sophomore Sydney Hess, who won't be attending the fair, said she remembers going as a child and not having the fun time her family had planned. "I remember crying and holding onto my dad's hand."
The state fair plays host to farmers, performers and vendors from across North Carolina, as well as students from state universities.
UNC freshman Christina Lynch said she went to the fair Saturday with her friends from Appalachian State and N.C. State universities.
She said her visit wasn't even tempered by an ambulance sighting that she later associated with that night's stabbing. The only thing she said could have improved her experience was if it had been longer.
"We got there so late, and the rides were so long," she said. "My favorite ride is definitely the Zipper."
The state fair features more than 100 rides this year, but Jennifer Nixon, fair public information officer, said college students typically are more attracted to edible offerings.
The innovative food introduced for last year's fair was fried Coca-Cola, and this year's featured treat is fried PB&Js.
"I'm excited for the fried food," said Bree Ensminger, a UNC freshman from Arizona who has never attended a state fair. "I'm going with some of my teammates on the softball team."
The prospect of fried cheese, candy bars, Oreos and Twinkies is less appealing for others.
"I've been to the Minnesota state fair," said UNC freshman April Padfield, who was planning on Tuesday to attend the fair that night. "I had macaroni on a stick. It was gross."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/15/07 4:00am)
Chapel Hill resident and UNC alumnus Jim Neal will be the sole challenger during U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's run for 2008 re-election. And some say Dole's incumbent advantage could be compromised by her continued support of fellow Republican President Bush.
Neal, a former financial adviser, said he was motivated to run because he is unhappy both with Dole's recent vote against a children's health insurance bill as well as with her support for Bush's agenda.
"Democrats in the state are screaming for someone to fight for them," he said.
"The reception that we've received statewide has been awe-inspiring."
Thad Beyle, professor of political science at UNC, said he believes Dole's support of Bush's agenda has hurt her in North Carolina during the last year.
But he said her approval ratings, which have ranged from 42 percent to 52 percent during the last year, have taken fewer hits than other candidates in similar situations.
"The president can't go out and help some of these Republican candidates," he said.
Despite Dole's fluctuating popularity, Beyle said her chances for re-election are good since no well-known candidate is challenging her.
Potential candidates N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, and Rep. Grier Martin, D-Wake, have made statements that they will not pursue the nomination.
Beyle said Neal's chances have improved for the upcoming popular elections, following several of Dole's unpopular public positions.
"That she supported the war in Iraq, that would be the biggest one," he said.
Mark Stephens, a principal consultant for the Dole campaign, said they are not worried by Neal's candidacy. He said Dole does not believe her support for Bush has seriously hurt her chances of re-election.
"Sen. Dole's opponents will try and make President Bush's ratings an issue," he said. But he added that fundraising is going strong, with $3.7 million raised for Dole in 2007.
Beyle said whoever secures the Democratic nomination must be able to raise a lot of money to match Dole's success.
Neal said his experiences raising a family and running a financial consulting business out of Chapel Hill have given him sufficient preparation to represent North Carolina, and he said he has no worries about fundraising.
"I have every confidence that I'll be able to mount a very aggressive campaign."
Neal said he is well-prepared to take on the challenges of representing North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, even though he has never held political office before.
"I'm not a politician," he said. "God forbid the day I'm labeled a politician."
Neal said former Sen. John Edwards, a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, proved with his U.S. Senate debut that a candidate with limited political experience can succeed in North Carolina.
"There are fresh faces, there are people like me," he said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(09/26/07 4:00am)
One federal grant to a state university, combined with proposed changes to No Child Left Behind, could reshape the way North Carolina instructs its non-English-speaking students.
UNC-Greensboro recently received a five-year, $1.4 million federal grant for its Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages project.
"North Carolina has a growing ESL population and needs to prepare teachers to teach all the children in their classroom," said Barbara Levin, professor of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at UNC-G.
Levin said many teachers want to reach out to their English as a Second Language students but don't know how. The TESOL project funds training of ESL teachers in Chatham County and Asheboro City Schools districts, both of which have high ESL populations.
"One-third of Asheboro City students speak Spanish. That in itself is a challenge," said Joy McLaughlin, director of Limited English Proficiency programs for Asheboro City Schools. "It will be a very different state in 20 years."
Asheboro City Schools has about 15 ESL teachers for 950 ESL students. McLaughlin said the system has used cultural diversity training to help those teachers better reach out to their students.
ESL teachers face roadblocks beyond the rapid population growth of ESL students.
Levin said many students reject their native language once they start school and begin learning English. That can create a lack of support at home, she said, and actually slows their English development.
"First-language literacy speeds up the development of second-language acquisition," Levin said. "That's a challenge because we don't have bilingual programs."
That becomes problematic when ESL students take standardized tests to assess NCLB standards. "As a subgroup they are often not doing well," Levin said.
N.C. ESL students must demonstrate growth on the IDEA English Language Proficiency Test on top of the standard reading and math tests given to all N.C. students.
"What's happening in North Carolina is that the IDEA Proficiency Test is so difficult that students are not performing as well as they used to," she said, adding that the increased difficulty arose when the test was amended to comply with NCLB standards. "No district in the state is exiting students (from ESL programs) the way they used to," McLaughlin said.
NCLB is up for reauthorization in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the education committee is considering amending the program.
Proposed changes include creating tests in students' native languages and extending the time that students remain designated as ESL students for standardized NCLB accountability purposes.
But McLaughlin said she believes the changes would be ineffective.
"Children don't read and write in Spanish," she said. "You should take tests in the same language you were instructed in."
Some N.C. districts are looking beyond ESL programs to improve scores.
"A lot of places are trying to do dual languages," McLaughlin said. "They have a more sustained effect on English-language programs."
Carrboro Elementary School, which failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards in the 2006-07 school year, has a dual-language program aimed at integrating the school's high population of ESL students with of the student body.
Collinswood Language Academy, an elementary magnet school in Charlotte, has been dual-language for 11 years. Students take classes in both English and Spanish, beginning in kindergarten or first grade.
Fifty percent of the school's students are learning English as a second language, and the school met all its AYP goals, Assistant Principal Nicolette Grant said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(09/19/07 4:00am)
North Carolina's military-oriented work force - it has the fourth-highest military presence in the nation - makes it an attractive locale for private contractors.
Several thousand people transition out of the state's military operations annually, creating a pool of attractive candidates for private security recruitment, said Scott Dorney, executive director of the N.C. Military Business Center.
North Carolina is home to the Army at Fort Bragg, the Air Force at Pope and Seymour Johnson bases, the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, also at Fort Bragg.
Col. Bill Buckner, chief of public affairs for Fort Bragg, said the military pumps money to the tune of $7 billion per year into the local economy.
The strong presence of the five major military installations in the state makes North Carolina appealing to government contractors, Dorney said.
But the U.S. Department of Defense's reliance on private contractors in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has many questioning how big a role they should play.
A mishandled firefight Sunday in Iraq has deepened the controversy about the role of private security contractors in military operations and has singled out a N.C.-based company.
The Iraqi government decided Tuesday to review its policies regarding foreign security companies after the deaths of several Iraqis on Sunday prompted threats to revoke the license of the Moyok-based Blackwater USA.
Blackwater is one of several private security organizations hired by the Department of Defense to assist the military.
But Dorney said the rise in government contracts with private security firms has been a positive development for the state.
"From an economic standpoint, that's very, very good," he said.
"We're seeing a lot of functions that were previously done by the military being done for DOD by contractors."
Military bases in North Carolina also reach out to private contractors to supplement force that might be sapped by deployment abroad.
Fort Bragg employs private contractors to man its gates, Buckner said.
"They've done an outstanding job," he said. "We have not had issues with those contractors."
Sara Vanderclute, public information director for Cumberland County, said Fort Bragg benefits the local business.
"It is the bedrock of our economy."
Vanderclute said the fort's military personnel are an integral part of the business community.
"When we watch the evening news at night, it's much more personal here," she said. "We see our customers."
And military-related business in North Carolina has more than just a local effect, said Donald Porter, executive director of the Raeford-Hoke Economic Development Commission.
He said it has helped bolster the economy across the entire state.
"You're talking about an industry that put $18 billion into our state last year."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(09/12/07 4:00am)
Legislation in the U.S. Senate requiring drug companies to report gifts to doctors has gained support from proponents of transparency but has frustrated drug companies.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a co-sponsor of the bill introduced this past week, said the measure aims to inform people of the possible outside factors influencing the decisions of their doctors.
"Right now, the public has no way to know whether a doctor's been given money that might affect prescribing habits," Grassley stated in a press release.
While five states and the District of Columbia have gift-disclosure laws, only Minnesota and Vermont fully publish data, said Allan Coukell, director of policy for the Prescription Project.
Coukell, whose organization lobbies to restrict pharmaceutical marketing, said drug promotion increases health costs.
But some drug companies have taken issue with the bill.
"I think this legislation is a solution looking for a problem," said Marjorie Powell, senior assistant general counsel for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Powell said the information that pharmaceutical-sponsored programs provide doctors is essential in making medications useful to patients.
"Otherwise they're just deadly toxins," she said.
The Physicians Payments Sunshine Act, as the bill is known, is part of a larger health care education trend, Coukell said.
"Medical students need to know what they're learning from their professors is based on medical data and not who bought lunch that week."
North Carolina has no state laws regarding disclosure of gifts to doctors, Coukell said. But the UNC Health Care System does follow its own policy that prohibits interaction with pharmaceutical and other medical supplies vendors from influencing care or prescription habits.
"It's an all-encompassing policy," said Dr. Brian Goldstein, chief of staff of UNC Health Care System.
Powell said that the Food and Drug Administration would continue to monitor closely pharmaceutical marketing with or without the legislation and that drug companies already follow their own internal policies.
"Gifts should be no more than a hundred dollars," she said in reference to her organization's code.
Coukell, on the other hand, said current measures simply are not enough, adding that drug companies spend $28 billion per year promoting their products.
Federal law already prohibits pharmaceutical companies from paying doctors to prescribe their medications.
Coukell said that disclosure doesn't always eliminate conflicts of interest.
"But it shines a light on them," he said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.