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(10/20/08 4:00am)
The debate on illegal immigration formerly a contentious one on the state and national levels has recently been nearly invisible on the national stage.Even in this state where senatorial and gubernatorial candidates have sparred repeatedly on immigration reform" national immigration reform has been little discussed.""The economy has really pushed everything else to the back burner"" said Tom Jensen, communications director of Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling.Ron Woodward, director of immigration reform group NC Listen, said he feels that illegal immigration is inevitably tied to the souring economy, making it a viable topic for debate in the national arena.Barack Obama is trying to have it both ways" and to some extent John McCain is he said. They talk about the poor and the worker" but illegal immigration has been terrible for low-skilled American workers.""If the election was last year" immigration would have been a much larger issue Jensen said. But when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was hounded for advocating for illegal minors to attend N.C. community colleges at a Greensboro rally in late September" the hubbub died down almost immediately.""Obama's position is probably out of the mainstream with North Carolina voters" but they trust him more on the economy" Jensen said.Paul Cox, communications director for Obama's N.C. campaign, said Obama's position on illegal immigration isn't new.He and Sen. McCain share the same position on this particular issue"" he said.Though presidential debates didn't hit immigration reform, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has made a point to actively dispute claims that he is sympathetic to illegal immigrants.However, his campaign Web site clearly states support of a path to amnesty as well as a separate concern for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors.I think that McCain in particular has been sort of feeling the effects of his … initial support and then" sort of backing away from immigration reform even saying that he wouldn't vote for his own bill" said spokesman Paco Fabian of America's Voice, a bipartisan national immigration reform group.McCain previously supported the Dream Act, a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrant minors to attend college or serve in the military and later apply for citizenship.That has created a lot of confusion within the electorate. We're not sure exactly where he stands anymore. We would all like to see that cleared up"" Fabian added.Immigration is also an important issue for the Latino vote, a sector of the electorate that Latino organizations say has been largely ignored by the presidential race.But U.S. Senate candidates N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue have discussed cracking down on illegal immigrants in their campaigns.Immigration remains a big issue for Latino and Hispanic voters" Fabian said. They care about the issues everyone cares about" but for them immigration is like a threshold issue.""State & National Editor Ariel Zirulnick contributed reporting. Contact her at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/20/08 4:00am)
The N.C. State Fair isn't all about the craziest rides and the deepest-fried foods. Look a little closer and the fair can become a real N.C. experience. Here is a top-10 list of things to do:1. Fireworks go off at 9:45 every night. Get in line early to watch them from one of the three Ferris wheels. You'll even be able to see the skyline of downtown Raleigh.2. Head down to the Pitzer Heritage Circle and enjoy one of the more relaxed parts of the fair: snacking on an apple dumpling and a cup of steaming cinnamon apple cider while listening to a genuine bluegrass band. Check the daily schedule for bands and show times.3. Make a stop at the Jim Graham Building to say ""hello"" to a representative display of the state's livestock. Pigs" cows and goats are awaiting your inevitable fawning.4. Visit the Village of Yesteryear to watch craftsmen dressed in colonial garb demonstrate their traditional southern crafts-making and give you a good talking-to about the benefits of hard work. From pottery to banjo carving to weaving all the crafts are on sale.5. While the 100-foot drop and the new Vortex might look like great ways to send your stomach full of fried food straight into your throat the softer rides that have always been a part of the fair like Alpine Bobs and the bumper cars make for a less nerve-wracking ride.6. There is a pig race at least once a day near gate 9. … What more is there to say?7. The demolition derby and tractor pull shows. It's impossible to mistake that revving of engines heard as far away as the roasted corn trailer. Check the schedule for times.8. Try to win a bear dressed in a Carolina hoodie by throwing bouncy balls into a bucket. Just be careful — you might end up spending more on this rigged game than the bear is really worth.9. Be sure to pick up a McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden sticker at the Commercial Building. Everyone you sit next to on the Ferris wheel will proudly be sporting one or the other.10. Take a load off your feet at the Folk Festival in the Folk Festival tent and watch clogging groups dance to live music.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/15/08 4:00am)
The N.C. Department of Correction is deciding how best to spend $2.5 million reforming a probation system which state and federal audits deemed broken.The 2 percent budget cuts implemented by Gov. Mike Easley don't directly affect public safety agencies — but the next year will still be tight.""We don't want to slow down on the priority projects"" said Robert Lee Guy, director of the Division of Community Corrections. Here we are trying to expand resources and at the same time we're going to have to cut and reduce spending. It's going to be a tough legislative session.""Last week" corrections officials presented their priorities to the N.C. General Assembly Joint Legislative Corrections" Crime Control and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee.They called for additional staff and an improved information sharing to help the overwhelmed system cope with high case loads.The shooting deaths earlier this year of former Student Body President Eve Carson and Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato highlighted the problems because the suspects were cited for previous probation violations.Audits conducted earlier this year by the National Institute of Corrections and Wake and Durham county probation offices yielded recommendations for reform ranging from changes in state criminal statutes to better communication.""The arrest alert … is our top priority. We've been working on that around the clock since the summer"" Guy said.The arrest alert, which will be ready for use at the end of November, will alert probation officers when a person in their charge is arrested.Right now, it could take weeks for a probation officer to find out when their charge violates probation — the case with Lawrence Lovette, a suspect in both Carson's and Mahato's deaths.The IT system would have caught everything"" said N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, co-chairwoman of the joint oversight committee. I'm hoping we can make a change.""The department is also looking to combine information systems so that magistrates and officers at every level will have access to the same criminal records.A pilot program is being conducted in Wake County by a local technology firm.The department's other priority is new staff. They decided last week to hire 20 officers and six supervisors.But Guy said he is concerned about officers' salaries. He plans to ask for a salary raise for them — probation officers are paid $6""000 less than the Durham Police force.""They have a morale problem. They really can't function"" Kinnaird said in support of a pay raise for probation officials. That affects public safety and the safety of the people who are working there.""The department's meeting next week will discuss further budget allocations.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/15/08 4:00am)
The N.C. Department of Correction is deciding how best to spend $2.5 million reforming a probation system which state and federal audits deemed broken.The 2 percent budget cuts implemented by Gov. Mike Easley don't directly affect public safety agencies — but the next year will still be tight.""We don't want to slow down on the priority projects"" said Robert Lee Guy, director of the Division of Community Corrections. Here we are trying to expand resources and at the same time we're going to have to cut and reduce spending. It's going to be a tough legislative session.""Last week" corrections officials presented their priorities to the N.C. General Assembly Joint Legislative Corrections" Crime Control and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee.They called for additional staff and an improved information sharing to help the overwhelmed system cope with high case loads.The shooting deaths earlier this year of former Student Body President Eve Carson and Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato highlighted the problems because the suspects were cited for previous probation violations.Audits conducted earlier this year by the National Institute of Corrections and Wake and Durham county probation offices yielded recommendations for reform ranging from changes in state criminal statutes to better communication.""The arrest alert … is our top priority. We've been working on that around the clock since the summer"" Guy said.The arrest alert, which will be ready for use at the end of November, will alert probation officers when a person in their charge is arrested.Right now, it could take weeks for a probation officer to find out when their charge violates probation — the case with Lawrence Lovette, a suspect in both Carson's and Mahato's deaths.The IT system would have caught everything"" said N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, co-chairwoman of the joint oversight committee. I'm hoping we can make a change.""The department is also looking to combine information systems so that magistrates and officers at every level will have access to the same criminal records.A pilot program is being conducted in Wake County by a local technology firm.The department's other priority is new staff. They decided last week to hire 20 officers and six supervisors.But Guy said he is concerned about officers' salaries. He plans to ask for a salary raise for them — probation officers are paid $6""000 less than the Durham Police force.""They have a morale problem. They really can't function"" Kinnaird said in support of a pay raise for probation officials. That affects public safety and the safety of the people who are working there.""The department's meeting next week will discuss further budget allocations.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(09/22/08 4:00am)
GREENSBORO — The first statewide student coalition to fight for undocumented immigrants' continued access to college met Saturday to draft a battle plan.The N.C. Coalition for College Access composed of representatives from almost all the UNC-system schools is hoping to organize on every UNC-system campus and N.C. community college before the end of the semester.Coalition members hope to have a network in place that can overwhelm any opposition in time for the beginning of the January legislative session. Members decided on a three-pronged strategy which will include direct lobbying of lawmakers in Raleigh" coalition building with community members and coalition building on college campuses.They are also hoping to hold a statewide student-led rally.""Don't fool yourselves to thinking that you're not in a fight 'cause you are"" said Paul Cuadros, a UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor and the author of a book on the South's Latino communities.The coalition was founded Saturday at the conference, held at N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University. The conference was initiated by UNC-CH's Coalition for College Access, which formed last spring to confront possible legislation during the summer session.This is not going to go away"" said UNC-CH junior Ron Bilbao, a founding member of the coalition.There are just going to be more bills. There's just going to be more hatred"" and we have to do something about it.""Undocumented immigrants are temporarily barred from attending N.C. community colleges — a motion that was supported by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue in August.The fear is that with either Perdue or her opponent — Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory" who has a similar stance on undocumented immigrants — elected" it will be easier for legislation permanently banning undocumented students to pass.""(Perdue) pushed to close this door" Cuadros said. If she's elected" she's not going to go back on her policy decision. Who's gonna open these doors? The students.""The UNC-CH Roosevelt Institution presented a report on Latino immigration policy and concluded that since the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States cannot be feasibly deported"" they must be educated.""We could end up creating a permanent underclass that can't work legally" and the cycle will just keep repeating itself" said David Bevevino, a member of the organization.Coalition members are determined to end that cycle.Cuadros emphasized the need for students and legal first- and second-generation Latino immigrants to take a stand. Fear of repercussions prevents undocumented immigrants from doing so.They don't hear from the Latino community" and you all can do things that the advocates cannot" Cuadros said.People are not expecting Latinos in North Carolina to have an impact. Imagine what it would do for the rest of the country if something happened here.""Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(09/21/08 4:00am)
CHARLOTTE — Approximately 20000 anxious yet optimistic people crowded the streets of downtown Charlotte to hear reassurances Sunday from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.With the future of a struggling economy at stake Obama promised voters that he would win a race that has been narrowing in the polls and if elected" fix the financial downturn.""I won't pretend that change will come easy — that we'll get out of this hole they dug for us overnight"" Obama said to the somber but energized crowd.Obama reiterated his economic plan and took the defensive, attempting to correct what he called false television advertisements from Republican presidential candidate John McCain.Don't be fooled by these ads now. They're trying to run the old okeydoke on ya"" he said, referencing Republican ads saying Obama will raise taxes for working families.You are more likely to get a tax cut under the Obama administration than under the McCain administration"" he said.After weathering the post-Republican National Convention slump, Obama leads 48 percent to 43 percent, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll from Sept. 17.L. Boykin of Camden, S.C., said that she doesn't take the polls to heart, positive or negative.Polls can present whatever picture they want to present. What's the point of getting nervous? I'm gonna go and vote and get that vote counted"" Boykin said.Still, others in the crowd used the words tense"" and ""anxious"" to describe how they felt in the last few weeks leading up to Nov. 4.""I'm excited about today — I'm apprehensive and concerned about the future. I just hope the momentum will continue"" said Star Bowens of Charlotte.Bowens referenced the economy, Obama's chief talking point Sunday, as her main concern.Every time I go to the gas pump" why wouldn't I support Barack Obama? Every time I go to the grocery store" why wouldn't I support Barack Obama?"" she said.In between his economic reassurances"" Obama drove home his key campaign message.""We need change that actually makes a difference in people's lives" he said. It's amazing to me that the folks who are running the show for the last eight years can with a straight face argue that they are agents of change" he said, referencing McCain's recent adoption of the term.Sylvia Russell, who canvasses for Obama, said she has encountered numerous unregistered and undecided voters.People are still stuck on this experience thing; they're not quite sure what to think of him. But they're also willing to give him a chance" she said.She added that she thinks people's ultimate choice will come down to the debates.Obama is on the defensive for the first time since he took the lead from former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Supporters are only becoming more determined to see Obama to the White House. We have to create as much positive energy as we can" said Dan Vermeer of Chapel Hill. It's not the moment to back away. We've come this far. We have to bring it home.""Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(09/08/08 4:00am)
In 1996 five UNC students died in a fire that burned the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house to the ground.In 2008 their members are still working to make sure that such a tragedy never happens again.Thirty UNC students including Phi Gamma Delta members are leaving today for Washington" D.C. to mark N.C. Campus Fire Safety Month by raising awareness of fire safety with lawmakers.""Fire safety is very important to every member of our fraternity"" said Phi Gamma Delta President Penn Clarke. Everyone in the house knows the details of the '96 fire. We know the names of the people who died.""The group will meet with congressional staffers Monday and hold a press conference Tuesday with legislators" including U.S. Rep. David Price D-N.C. whose district includes Orange County.Congressmen are used to parents fire victims fire professionals and major corporations advocating for greater fire safety said Jenny Levering" assistant dean of students for fraternity and sorority life.""But to hear that it's coming from the students' voice and the students' concern I think is something different than has ever been done before.""The students" mostly Greeks will be accompanied by Chapel Hill Fire Chief Dan Jones" Chapel Hill Fire Marshal Matt Lawrence and Levering.""We came together with the Chapel Hill Fire Department because they do stuff like this all the time" but they've never had students involved in it" Levering said.The idea for the lobbying effort came partly from the members at Phi Gamma Delta and partly from Bonnie Woodruff, who lost her son, Ben Woodruff, in the 1996 fire.Bonnie Woodruff has been a very strong fire safety advocate over the last 10 years since her son's death" Levering said. She said" ‘Wouldn't it be great if we went up and did some education in Congress?'""The group also will be joined by representatives from the University of South Carolina. Six USC Greek students and one Clemson student were killed last October in a beach house fire at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina.Because both fires took place in off-campus houses"" the group is advocating for legislation that will put pressure on local landlords to adhere to higher safety standards.""The majority of campus fire deaths occur in off-campus housing"" Lawrence said. So there are some legislative movements that would provide tax incentives for landlords to provide sprinkler systems in housing for college students.""After the 1996 Phi Gamma Delta fire" the Chapel Hill Town Council pushed the N.C. General Assembly to require all fraternity and sorority houses to install sprinkler systems by 2001" which 26 out of 32 of the houses did. The ones that did not were closed down.The N.C. General Assembly also mandated that all residence halls be retrofitted with sprinklers by 2012.""Off-campus housing is a point of emphasis for us"" Penn said. To do something to open people's eyes and to make people realize that these off-campus houses in Chapel Hill and other college towns need to be safer.""Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(09/03/08 4:00am)
In the middle of a particularly intense period of the 2008 hurricane season" officials gathered at the Carolina Inn on Tuesday to launch a natural disaster research center at UNC.The Center of Excellence for the Study of Natural Disasters"" Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management is one of 13 such centers funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The centers focus academic research on key challenges to national security.""One of the things higher education can do is show that we are focused on the great problems of our time"" Chancellor Holden Thorp said at the ceremony.Climate change presents a growing challenge to North Carolina coastlines, Thorp said when explaining his support of the center, which UNC competed against scores of universities to host.As our vulnerability continues to rise" the importance of the center grows more dear" he said.The center will team up with Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., and other institutions. It will receive $2.5 million from DHS annually for six years, after which the University will have to reapply to host the center for another six years.We believe we have invested very wisely in UNC"" said DHS Undersecretary Jay Cohen.U.S. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, was also present at the ceremony. As chairman, Price played a key role in securing funds for the centers, including the UNC center located in his own district.Price referenced Hurricanes Fran, Floyd and Isabel in emphasizing the state's familiarity with natural disasters and therefore its qualifications for hosting the center. Between 1980 and 2004, North Carolina experienced more billion-dollar disasters than any other state.By focusing on terrorist prevention and response" there's been a de-emphasis on natural disaster response and that needs to change Price said in regard to DHS.The department simply must rise to this challenge" and this research program will help us do that.""Research will focus on better prediction models for the strength and size of hurricanes and coastal engineering such as levees and dikes" said Rick Leuttich" a UNC marine sciences professor Leuttich will be the chief research investigator for the center. He is nationally recognized for his work in evaluating the vulnerability of the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina.""If Gustav had been 30 miles east" would we have had another Katrina? Probably" he said, when explaining the need to fill the gaps in research.Additional research will focus on why people move to coastal regions in the first place and how they respond to emergency situations.I am keen and interested in linking research to practice"" said Gavin Smith, who will direct the center and headed Mississippi's Katrina recovery in 2005.Disasters are about people and communities. It's not just about the ability to do research.""Contact the State & National Desk at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/29/08 4:00am)
Instead of merely regrouping after a three-month vacation, a student group found itself planning a summit on college access for undocumented immigrants at its first meeting of the year.
When the Coalition for College Access members left in May, their strategy for fighting anti-illegal immigrant education policy had some loose ends.
But one member spent part of his summer planning a statewide conference and sprung the event on the group at Thursday night's meeting.
"I know that's not what you expected tonight," the member, senior Nick Anderson, told the group as members delegated responsibilities for the summit.
"No, this is what I wanted," said junior Ron Bilbao, a coalition member.
N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper's controversial opinion that N.C. community colleges should ban illegal immigrants came days after the spring semester closed, making it difficult for Coalition for College Access to take immediate action.
"We scrambled in May because we were worried about the summer session," Bilbao said. "Now, we have a second chance."
Some group members lobbied legislators and attended N.C. Community College System meetings during the summer. They returned excited about getting involved again.
"Our administration and elected officials aren't going to stand up for this, so students have to lead this effort - so that our friends, our peers and people we don't even know, in the future will have the same education that we had," Bilbao said.
The coalition, composed of ESL tutors, Latino mentors, migrant farm worker advocates and immigrants, is scrambling to plan a statewide convention at N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University in two weeks.
Members plan to reach out to all 16 UNC-system college campuses to recruit a delegation from each school for the conference.
"We need students to take a stand - choose a side," Bilbao said. "The conference is a great idea to see each other across the state."
The coalition also plans to bring a petition advocating higher education access for undocumented immigrants it circulated last semester at UNC and other campuses.
The group hopes to use the summit for forming small enclaves of students who will lobby the N.C. General Assembly in January and present legislators with the statewide petition from UNC-system students.
The coalition also wants to lobby N.C. Community College System board members before the reconvenes in January. The board voted earlier this month for a closed-door policy toward undocumented immigrants until it conducts an independent study on the issue.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/25/08 4:00am)
References to the two men charged with former Student Body President Eve Carson's death appear in almost every recommendation from a federal review of the N.C. probation system.
N.C. Department of Correction officials traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to meet with the National Institute of Corrections and discuss future reforms to a probation system that allowed offenders Lawrence Lovette and Demario Atwater to slip through the cracks.
With 35 draft recommendations for amending state statutes and correcting management, training and communication practices, the final recommendations are expected to be released this week.
"Anything within our control we'll do in the short term," said Robert Guy, director of the Division of Community Corrections. "Then we're going to present a long-term plan to . happen in the next year and a half."
The report recommends changes in the state statutes regarding juvenile offenders.
The NIC stressed the need to allow for judges, lawyers and probation officers to view juvenile records in order to identify high-risk adult offenders.
Under N.C. statutes, Lovette's juvenile record wasn't public after he turned 16 and became an adult in the eyes of the system. When he was charged with larceny at 16 and convicted in January, he was treated as a first-time offender.
Durham District Court Judge Marcia Morey saw Lovette in her courtroom years before Carson's death when she sentenced him to a juvenile training school.
Morey said that when judges have access to juvenile records, they can make better sentencing decisions.
"The records are closed for the juvenile, so they treat teenagers as first-time offenders when in fact they may have a lengthy juvenile record," she said.
Lovette likely would have been labeled a higher-risk offender when he was tried in January had his juvenile record been considered as past offenses, according to the NIC report.
That would have meant more supervision and frequent meetings with his probation officer.
"Every day I think, 'what if?'" Morey said, adding that teens often get lost in the court's switch from juvenile to adult systems.
And even if the courts had known Lovette's juvenile record and given him a stricter probation sentence, it might not have made a difference, the report suggests.
The report identifies supervision failures by the probation system for both Lovette and Atwater.
In the months leading up to Carson's death, Lovette's probation officer failed to meet with him regularly and had not completed training.
The review recommends higher pay, expedited and more thorough training programs and greater supervision of probation officers.
"Resources should be raised - probation officers, court counselors shouldn't have to go out and get a second job to make ends meet," Morey said. "We're asking them to take on a very difficult job, a job that's not always safe."
In anticipation of the review, requested by N.C. Secretary of Correction Theodis Beck in July, the N.C. General Assembly set aside $2.5 million in the 2008-09 budget for recommended reforms.
The NIC will provide knowledge and tools to the N.C. DOC and coordinate communication between N.C. lawmakers and states already in accordance with the recommended statutes.
George Keiser, chief of the community corrections division of the NIC, said it's possible that legislators might not be open to recommendations from an outside federal agency.
"There is no quick, simple solution to most of the business issues that we take on," he said. "Particularly when we start talking about changing major statutory policy."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/21/08 4:00am)
Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue took a calculated risk when she hardened her policy against illegal immigrants.
At last week's meeting of the N.C. Community College System Board of Trustees, Perdue advocated to keep undocumented immigrants out of state-funded colleges.
Until then, Perdue had kept relatively quiet on the issue, saying that the state should follow the lead of the federal government.
Her statements last week put her position closer to that of her Republican opponent, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory. They've also put her at risk of distancing Democrats who might otherwise support her.
"There ought to be some concern on her part that she's alienating some of her base, that there are progressive Democrats in North Carolina that are angered by her decision," said Rob Schofield, director of research and policy development at N.C. Policy Watch, a nonpartisan public policy think tank.
But Schofield added that progressive Democrats probably aren't strong enough in number to significantly hurt Perdue's chances.
That didn't stop liberal BlueNC blogger James Protzman from saying he would shift his support to libertarian candidate Mike Munger.
Munger, a Duke University economics professor, came out of an Aug. 12 SurveyUSA poll with 5 percent to Perdue's 47 percent and McCrory's 44 percent. That poll was released one day before the community college decision.
No new polls have been conducted since the decision was released.
Although immigration reform is a controversial issue, many Democratic supporters say that alone won't change their mind on which candidate they choose.
"I don't think it's that big of an issue right now, said Melissa Price, vice president of Young Democrats of North Carolina.
"Everyone needs to look at the whole package. This is one issue, and everyone should step back and say OK, which candidate will give me the best bang for my buck?"
Schofield said he doesn't think the issue will carry much weight either, "which is why it mystified a lot of progressives as to why she decided to make such a splash with it.
"If you look down the list of issues that are important to voters, really of all political persuasions, illegal immigration is way down the list," he said.
And Price said that while she disagrees with Perdue's stance on immigration, she would continue to support Perdue.
"I think anyone would be foolish to waste their vote on a third party right now," she said. "I think Bev Perdue has a lot going for her."
Munger said Perdue's stance on immigration isn't the only issue that bothers progressive Democrats.
"Bev Perdue is going to the center in every way," Munger said, referencing her positions on gay marriage, capital punishment and immigration.
"A lot of progressives that were hoping this would be a changed election are disappointed that in order to win she appears to be fixed on just keeping everything the same."
Perdue spokesman Tim Crowley said he isn't worried about the issue hurting the campaign.
"We've actually heard a lot of positive support about Bev's stance on the community college issue last week," he said.
That the specific issue of illegal immigrant education has even come up in the state is rare, said Ann Morse, immigrant policy project director for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"North Carolina is taking on a really interesting debate around this - attendance hasn't come up very often (in other states)," she said.
State legislation prohibiting illegal immigrant enrollment is a possibility if Perdue is elected.
"Some lawmakers are already interested in that," Crowley said.
And immigration reform in the next federal administration could overhaul any decision that the state might make.
"It's entirely possible we'll have comprehensive immigration reform," Schofield said, adding that Perdue's stance might become irrelevant in the face of federal reforms.
Contact the State & National Desk at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/08 4:00am)
When the 17 UNC-system campuses were asked to respond by May with their plans to complete the goal that system President Erskine Bowles gave them in December, some campus task forces didn't think it would be possible to complete that goal.
(08/19/08 4:00am)
A slew of federally sponsored initiatives to expose illegal immigrants are slowly making their way through the states, while more comprehensive immigration reform remains uncertain.
Between a self-deport initiative, universal identification and an employee database, stakeholders on both sides are clashing over what type of immigration reform will be most effective.
"It's a very social problem and we need solutions from the politicians. They need to change the law and have immigration reform," said Delia Rabah, a member of the Federation for Ecuadorians in the Carolinas and a columnist for Mi Gente, a Spanish newspaper in Charlotte.
Rabah opposes the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program that encourages illegal immigrants to turn themselves in for deportation. The program is being implemented in Charlotte, as well as Santa Ana, Calif., San Diego, Chicago and Phoenix.
"I hope that no one turns themselves in," Rabah said. "I suggest no one do it. (Immigration officials) don't want to do their jobs looking for criminals, they want us to surrender ourselves."
Implementation of two federal programs also challenges illegal immigrants' ability to remain in the U.S. The federal Real ID Act of 2005 requires uniform driver's licenses and the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify program checks the legality of employees before they are hired.
Earlier this summer, the N.C. General Assembly passed a bill to oppose Real ID.
"I think that there's a lot that could be done, should be done that hasn't been done," said Rep. Nelson Cole, D-Rockingham, who sponsored the state legislation to oppose Real ID.
Although Real ID aims to deny driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and prevent terrorists from entering federal buildings or commercial flights, 19 states have opposed it due to privacy concerns.
"What Real ID is is a replacement for the borders. It is the fingerprinting of all Americans," said William Gheen, president of the local anti-illegal immigration group Americans for Legal Immigration.
"So many people latched onto Real ID believing it was to stop illegal immigration, and it's not," he said.
Rep. Cary Allred, R-Alamance, said he originally opposed Real ID due to privacy concerns, but changed his mind and voted against Cole's bill.
"I did not want to send a message that I supported any kind of terrorism," he said.
Parts of the Real ID standards were already implemented when the bill passed the General Assembly, and the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles was already seeing fewer Spanish-speaking applicants for licenses, Cole said. Further Real ID requirements will be abandoned in North Carolina.
E-Verify is a federal database that employers can use to verify the legal status of potential employees. Its approval is pending in Virginia and five states have enacted it.
There is concern that E-Verify could hurt states' economies by downsizing the workforce because illegal immigrants might leave if they can't find work. And a Cato Institute study on E-Verify found that one out of every 25 potential hires could be falsely confirmed as illegal to hire.
Cole said the process to immigrate legally exists but is broken.
"The part I'm having a problem understanding is at a federal level, the laws are that they don't enforce them," he said. "The opportunities are there, but nobody enforces."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/18/08 4:00am)
More reforms to campus safety are on hold until further funding comes from the N.C. General Assembly.
Most universities have installed emergency alert systems consisting of e-mails, text messages and siren alerts and are moving toward more comprehensive recommendations based on lessons learned from the April 2007 Virginia Tech shootings.
The 17 UNC-system schools are drawing from the system's Campus Safety Task Force report and a report by N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper, both released last year.
Among the priorities still to be funded are salaries for more campus counseling staff and case managers.
"We're waiting for the university general administration to finalize the safety budget, because what we're trying to focus in on now is filling some staff positions that relate to the UNC-system report," said David Rainer, associate vice chancellor for environmental health and public safety at N.C. State University.
The General Assembly granted about half of the requested $1.9 million for case managers and $1.7 million for counselors that the UNC-system Board of Governors put in their 2008-09 budget presented in April, said Rob Nelson, UNC-system vice president for finance.
The General Assembly has not specified the distribution of those funds among the UNC-system campuses, but Nelson said it should be finalized by late September.
The UNC system also is hoping to hire a point-person for campus safety by the end of the fall.
The next set of recommendations includes forming threat assessment teams, furthering video surveillance - a one-time cost of $1.65 million - and retraining faculty in medical records sharing and emergency preparedness, a recurring cost of $600,000.
These initiatives follow the new programs at UNC-system schools that alert students of emergencies.
UNC-Chapel Hill launched Alert Carolina this spring, which provides emergency messages via a Web site, sirens, text messages and e-mails.
Text message subscribers are up from 3,000 to 10,000 since the start of last semester, Mike McFarland, director of university communications at UNC-CH, stated in an e-mail.
"We hope others will sign up for text messages to help build the University's capacity to send such messages effectively during an actual emergency," he stated in the e-mail.
UNC-CH sent a text message alert after former Student Body President Eve Carson was shot in March. Appalachian State University also used its emergency text messaging this spring after a gunman was reported near campus, although that incident turned out to be a hoax.
Some schools just installed their emergency sirens. UNC-Wilmington successfully tested its sirens in July.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/25/08 4:00am)
Republican Elizabeth Dole's seat in the U.S. Senate has six challengers, two of whom have been campaigning hard against each other in the months leading up to the May 6 Democratic primary.
They are the Democrats who are trying to turn a red state blue, and their policy differences are stark enough to determine how blue that blue will be.
Jim Neal, a Chapel Hill businessman and UNC alumnus, and N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, have stepped up to challenge the status quo - both of North Carolina's current senators are Republican.
An April 14 Rasmussen report shows that Dole is leading Hagan 52 to 39 percent and is ahead of Neal 51 to 37.
Yet Neal and Hagan have complained equally regarding Dole's disconnect from her own constituency, claiming that she never comes home to truly represent the people.
"We want somebody to represent North Carolina's values, and I know what those values are having listened to people across the state for the last 10 years in this position," Hagan said in a recent interview.
But Neal, who has never been in politics before and has sworn not to take any special interest or PAC money - something that Hagan calls "unrealistic" - claims that Hagan is of the same brand of politician as Dole.
"We have to come up with a different cast of characters, and we're not going to fix it by sending a senator from Raleigh to try and replace a senator in Washington," Neal said in a recent interview, adding that the fact of the matter is that people in elected office, be it Raleigh or Washington, are not listening to their constituents.
Having traveled to 70 counties since his campaign began in October, and with 15,000 miles on his speedometer since February, Neal has learned that North Carolinians are mainly upset about one thing: the economy.
Neal said that people across the state have been talking to him regarding concerns about job security, health care costs, losing their homes and tax burdens.
"I've heard people wondering why our legislators in Raleigh and in Washington continue to vote for lowering taxes on the wealthiest Americans when middle class and poor Americans are hurting most," he said.
"It's a consistent theme: People in North Carolina are fed up with politics as usual."
Hagan's own grassroots travels, where she's joined in on door-to-door canvassing, have shed light on similar concerns regarding the economy.
"I went to a lot of barbecue restaurants, and the No. 1 topic is gas prices," Hagan said, relating the story of a teacher at a community college whose students were missing class because they could no longer afford to drive.
Hagan said she would combat those problems by engaging in more alternative-energy research and by ending subsidies to oil and gas companies. Neal is in favor of similar policies, while Dole has voted against such legislation.
Dole tends toward the conservative end of the spectrum. She favors strong immigration law enforcement, has supported the president's global war on terror initiatives, voted to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act and voted against the stem cell research bill.
Hagan and Neal are hoping to shake up such right-leaning votes in the Senate.
While Hagan voted in 2007 to cut income taxes to the wealthiest North Carolinians rather than cutting the sales tax, Jim Neal is in favor of taxing the wealthy.
Neal also promises to vote against funding for the war in Iraq, while Hagan wants to find a way to eventually pull out without cutting funds.
In terms of developing the N.C. economy, Hagan has voted to subsidize corporations who bring jobs to the state, while Neal emphasizes local development and loans to small businesses, stressing rural education as a must.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/25/08 4:00am)
Last year, UNC-system President Erskine Bowles pulled together the UNC Tomorrow Commission, a committee made up of a diverse group of stakeholders in the state.
They attended 11 community and 11 campus forums statewide to understand North Carolina's needs for the next 20 years, and how the UNC system can best meet them.
Seven findings were released in December 2007, citing what the state can accomplish in the next 20 years with the help of the system.
Each campus will submit its plan for the directive by May.
(04/16/08 4:00am)
About 50 people came to hear UNC Vice Chancellor for Public Service and Engagement Mike Smith give the same PowerPoint presentation he offered the day before.
The dual forums were intended to allow as many faculty, students and community members as were interested to learn about and comment on UNC-CH's multipronged approach to a systemwide initiative intended to help UNC meet the needs of the state.
UNC Tomorrow is made up of seven main findings ranging from global readiness to access to higher education.
Six committees appointed in February by Provost Bernadette Gray-Little must submit their compiled report to the UNC General Administration by May 1 on how UNC-CH will utilize new or existing programs to directly serve the needs of all seven findings.
"The proposals that are going forward are processes that are just starting," Mike Smith, also the director of the six UNC-CH committees, assured forum attendees.
"I know it's been frustrating to those who wish it had been more transparent or wanted more input," he added, emphasizing that the May 1 report will be more of a first draft rather than a finish line.
As Smith focused on the proposals for how to improve access to higher education, one forum attendee declared that access is important but not if students can't finish in a timely fashion or become eligible for graduate school.
Vicki Kowlowitz, of the School of Nursing, emphasized the need to begin the proposed Residential College Advising and Support Program - which would provide college advising to high school students in underserved regions of North Carolina - in middle school.
"Why is it high school and not middle school?" Kowlowitz asked. "That's really the critical time. By the time they get to high school, it's almost too late."
Students themselves had their own comments to make on the May 1 report in the hopes of being able to meet some of UNC Tomorrow's directives themselves.
"We invited student leaders to just gather their ideas about what they thought were the most important issues that the University and the state are facing," said Chris Belhorn, an executive assistant for Student Body President J.J. Raynor.
Belhorn said students saw a comprehensive public service database and a Center for Latino Studies as the most urgent priorities of the UNC-CH community.
"Students hope that this center will make a statement that UNC-Chapel Hill is committed to working with the Latino population in North Carolina going forward," he said.
The proposed public service database is similar to that suggested by the UNC Tomorrow response committee for university outreach and engagement.
"Ideas to increase collaboration among institutions across the state and among students and administrators at UNC were things that really were universal as I talked to students," Belhorn said.
E-mail ideas for Carolina's response to UNC Tomorrow to engage@sog.unc.edu.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/16/08 4:00am)
In the year since the Virginia Tech shootings, North Carolina universities have made changes to campus security.
Some new initiatives were part of ongoing efforts to evaluate how to keep students safe, while others have been prioritized after recommendations by two different campus safety task forces.
The system-sponsored UNC Campus Safety Task Force presented its findings in November 2007, while the task force appointed by N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper released a report in January.
(04/15/08 4:00am)
UNC-Chapel Hill has less than one month to determine how to bring North Carolina into the next century.
After holding one public forum Monday and another today, UNC-CH will submit its recommendations by May 1 for contributing to a systemwide mandate of serving the state.
UNC Tomorrow, the brainchild of UNC-system President Erskine Bowles, outlines how the system will contribute to the state's 21st century growth in terms of seven goals, including global readiness, access to higher education, public schools, health, the environment and public outreach.
(04/10/08 4:00am)
When Wahu Kaara ran for parliament in Kenya's December elections, she lost, but she certainly didn't give up.
Standing in front of more than 250 students Wednesday night in the FedEx Global Education Center, Kaara, in a voice charged with a passion that could be mistaken at moments for anger, discussed the need for integration in a country that fell into tribal violence after contested election results.
After dedicating her speech to Eve Carson's devotion to "making the world a better place," Kaara explained that Kenya is not the beacon of hope that so many people thought it was before the election devolved into the deaths of 1,500 people and the displacement of more than 600,000.
"Calm does not necessarily mean peace," she said. "The question of access to resources is a glaring, innate conflict that threatens to tear the social fabric of the Kenyan nation apart."
The country's disintegration became tangible in the number of deaths and displaced persons.
Students listened with rapt attention as the Kenyan high school teacher, politician, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, grandmother and executive director of the Kenya Debt Relief Network tried to piece together a convoluted history of how postcolonial Africa is suffering from neocolonialism.
"Kenya is a transmission line for resource extraction. . It is the world gateway to Anglo-American imperial interests," she said. "The nation is a sweatshop business littered with the blood of the faceless poor."
While Kenya's postelection violence surprised many who saw Kenya as the stable nation of East Africa, Kaara argued that while the country might be economically developed, its government plays into the hands of Western economic interests.
She said that keeps the nation socially underdeveloped and maintains a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.
"On their own, science and technology cannot guarantee social development," Kaara said, stressing the need for equity in food, health care and education.
Kaara said that the postelection tribal warfare between the ruling political elite Kikuyu tribe and the opposition Luo tribe is not the result of inherent tribal tensions in Kenya, but rather that tribal identity is used as propaganda by political elites to divide people over the real problem: access to resources and, in turn, a sustainable livelihood.
"Kenya is not a nation of tribes, it is a nation of people who are eating and those who are not eating," Kaara said in response to a student's question about the possibility that decentralizing power could lead to further tribal divisions.
"Kenya has no choice but to devolve and decentralize power over resources," she said. "The 'we versus them' topology says nothing about the explicit understanding of the political and economic machinery at play."
Students in attendance ranged from those interested in micro-finance to Millennium Village Project participants and even fellow Kenyans.
Matthew Kiplagat, a sophomore from Kenya, said he agreed with Kaara's assertions that tribal differences can be assuaged with economic opportunity.
"We just need the right people to lead, not opportunists. Most Kenyan leaders are opportunists," he said.
As Kaara made time to meet students during the reception, one girl simply thanked her for giving her hope, adding that "so many of us give up here."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.