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NC State University News Clips for Feb. 8-10, 2006

Compiled by North Carolina State University’s News Services, a part of the Public Affairs Office. Listed below are the current news clips. Click on the headline of interest to be taken to the full text. Click on “Return to Headline List” at the bottom of each clip or use the scrollbar to be taken back to this location.

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UNC board approves tuition, fee increases
UNC system, BOG, tuition

NATIONAL & REGIONAL CLIPS

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UNC board approves tuition, fee increases

Feb. 10, 2006
News & Observer, WVEC.com (VA)
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - The University of North Carolina Board of Governors on Friday approved tuition and fee increases for the 16-campus system of between 8 percent and 20 percent.

The board, with no debate, approved the increases that its budget and finance committee had recommended Thursday.

The tuition increases will bring in extra revenues of nearly $21 million for pay raises for professors and administrators and almost $19 million to help cover tuition bills for financially needy students. Another $6 million will be spent on student services, libraries, technology improvements and other priorities, university officials said.

The increases for in-state tuition and fees range from 8 percent at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and UNC-Pembroke to 20 percent at Appalachian State University.

Other schools and their increases are: East Carolina, 9.97 percent; North Carolina State University, 9.32 percent; UNC Greensboro, 10.13 percent; UNC Wilmington, 12.15 percent; and Fayetteville State University, 12.78 percent.

Out-of-state tuition and fees will increase from less than 1 percent at UNC-Pembroke to nearly 7 percent at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Zach Wynne of Appalachian State, the board's student member, said he supported the increases because he hoped they would limit campus budget cuts.

"There have been plenty of cuts," he said. "If students can support these proposals, they (legislators) will start to see that maybe they don't cut us so much in the future."

On Thursday, the student body treasurer at UNC-Chapel Hill had said students "overwhelmingly oppose" a $50 increase in the university's athletic fee, especially because the fee increased $100 last year. Daneen Furr also said the athletics department has new sources of revenue, including an advertising contract with Wachovia worth $9 million over eight years.

A change by the Legislature also allows campuses to charge out-of-state scholarship recipients in-state tuition rates. The change will benefit athletics departments and sports booster clubs.

James Moeser, the UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor, said the campus needed what it requested. With an annual budget of about $45 million, the department supports 28 sports programs. The fee, he said, would help support sports that are not the large money makers.

The board last year rejected campus requests for in-state tuition increases. This year, the board offered proposed increase limits for each campus.

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Post Sept. 11 fears create new markets for SAS Institute

Feb. 10, 2006
WCNC
By EMERY P. DALESIO
 © Copyright 2006

CARY, N.C. -- Just five years ago, it was possible for sailors sitting at computers to protect the Navy's worldwide computer network without crucial help from the system itself.

It was a busy job. Sailors had less than four seconds to decide if an attempt to infiltrate the network was serious, but it wasn't unlike watching cars zoom past on a highway, said Capt. Steven Carder, commanding officer of the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command. They move too fast to pick up much detail, but you can make out the model and where the cars are heading.

But since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, that's no longer possible. Today, there are up 1,440 probes of the Defense Department's computer network every second -- an overwhelming load for humans to observe, evaluate and, if necessary, respond. An essential part of the Navy's new defense system came from North Carolina-based SAS Institute, the world's largest privately owned software company and a firm that, even in this wired world, most people have never heard of.

Turns out, the same statistical tools that help department stores decide which customers to target with direct mail and help cell phone companies predict which customers will jump from one provider to another, and tells how much it's worth to try to keep them, is also pretty good at foiling hackers, fighting bioterrorism and hunting down terrorist money launders.

"What 9/11 represents to us was not only an opportunity to look at new product offerings, but an opportunity to extend current product offerings," said Jim Davis, the software giant's chief marketing officer.

Founded 30 years ago by a handful of faculty and graduate students at North Carolina State University, SAS is focused on the booming field of business intelligence, which includes "data mining" software that allows users to sift through massive amounts of data, make sense of it, and offer predictions about the future.

The company's work in homeland security is among its fastest growing offerings, but the secrecy inherent in the work, along with the highly technical nature of SAS software that's not as easy to define as consumer programs like Microsoft's Word and Excel, has kept it off the public radar.

"Since 9/11, a homeland security product has the potential to be very lucrative," said Colleen McCue, the former chief of the Richmond, Va., police department's crime analysis department. "I know people in the business community are thrilled with data mining and how it works, but this stuff has such tremendous potential for public safety analysis."

SAS, co-owned by billionaires James Goodnight and John Sall, nos. 51 and 133 on last year's Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans, doesn't disclose its profits. But the company said its revenues grew by 30 percent from 2002 to 2004, and SAS's anti-money laundering software catering to the post-Sept. 11 world has been one of its fastest-growing products. Revenues grew another 10 percent last year to reach $1.68 billion, the company said.

By about 2003, the Navy realized the speed of the Internet was too much for analysts to handle manually and more automation was needed to beef up the network's defenses, Carder said. Since Sept. 11, he said, it's become more important to find who is behind those endless attempts to hack into the Navy's network.

"We know we've got to deal with more data coming in bigger, better, faster," Carder said. "Everybody out there is a bad guy now."

As a key element of its new computer defense systems, the Navy uses SAS software to comb through information flowing through its networks around the globe, looking for evidence of someone seeking ways to stage a possible attack. The software allows Navy technicians to quickly check for trends and compare events to predict future attacks and respond before they start, for example, by customizing filters or shutting down potential points of entry.

National health departments in the Netherlands and Canada are among the government agencies around the world using SAS software to watch for outbreaks of illness that might be linked to bioterrorism, or an potential pandemic disease like avian flu.

Dr. Jeff Aramini, the senior epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada, is testing a system in the western Canadian city of Winnipeg that gathers and analyzes data from the city's hospital emergency rooms, calls to a nursing hotline, and over-the-counter medicine sales to predict respiratory disease outbreaks like a flu.

"It's pretty much in response to what's been going on in the past couple of years," said Aramini, whose agency is the equivalent of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. "These systems would play a dual role for natural events and bioterrorism events."

After Sept. 11, investigations found that the U.S. banking system made it too easy for terrorists to transfer funds in and out of the country. Under the USA Patriot Act, the Treasury Department now has the power to cut off the financial institutions of a foreign nation from the U.S. financial system if they fail to do enough to go after money launderers and terror financiers.

"The number of potential transactions and potential means for laundering money are varied, and the number of correlations in this are almost impossible to do manually," said Ricardo Bustamante, chief information officer for Banco de CrÄedito Peru in Lima.

The SAS software can pick suspicious patterns out of millions of transactions. Automation also ensures that corrupt employees don't look the other way when money-laundering is suspected, Bustamante said.

"We had a customer base that had a problem," Davis said. "So that presented a whole new market for us, one that we probably in 1998, 1999 we probably never would have guessed the size and the opportunity."

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"Da Vinci Code" roundtable highlights conference

Feb. 9, 2006
Raleigh Biblical Recorder
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

WAKE FOREST - More than 1,000 people ranging from high school and college students to seminary students, faculty and curious visitors gathered at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Feb. 3-4 to hear scholars discuss Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and the issues it raises regarding the reliability of the New Testament.

The roundtable discussion highlighted Southeastern's second annual 20/20 Collegiate Conference, an event designed to help students explore the implications of a Christian worldview and equip them to handle the difficult questions they will face on a college campus.

Featured in the panel discussion were Norman Geisler, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary; University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill professor Bart Ehrman, the chairman of the school's Department of Religious Studies; Duke University Divinity School associate professor of New Testament Richard Hays; and Southeastern professor of New Testament Andreas Kostenberger.

Southeastern President Daniel Akin said he believes this year's 20/20 Conference hit its mark in challenging students to know and defend their faith.

In addition to the roundtable discussion, the conference featured three elective seminars taught by members of the Southeastern faculty and local pastors, four plenary sessions taught by Akin and Geisler, and a fifth that featured Akin and Southeastern professors David Nelson and Bruce Little responding to students' questions.

During the roundtable discussion, the four panelists, though they did not find consensus on many issues - most notably regarding biblical inerrancy and the role of women in the church - did agree that The Da Vinci Code does not represent accurate history.

The book makes many claims that panelists noted are simply historically inaccurate and untenable, among them the assertion that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a secret marriage relationship that produced a child. The book also claims that Jesus was not regarded as God until the 4th-century Council of Nicaea.

"We all four, I'm sure, are going to agree that there are egregious errors," Ehrman said, noting numerous inaccuracies that Brown espouses such as the claim that the Roman emperor Constantine had a say in the canonization of the New Testament or that there were 80 gospels in circulation in the church's early history.

"The myth perpetrated by The Da Vinci Code may make good storytelling ...but it is just that, a myth," Kostenberger said, adding that someone must "hold Dan Brown accountable for selling fiction as historical fact."

Hays was even less complimentary of the book.

Calling The Da Vinci Code "dreadful literature," "full of egregious historical errors," "a teeth-grinding experience," and "deeply confused theologically," Hays noted that it also has a readily observable anti-Catholic bias.

"It is characterized from start to finish by a virulent anti-Catholicism, a terrible bias against the Catholic church as an institution," said Hays, who belongs to the United Methodist denomination. "I find this a deeply morally offensive view on these grounds, and I should make clear that I'm not a Roman Catholic."

"What does the runaway popularity of this novel say about our culture? Everybody loves a conspiracy. Many people in the U.S. would like to believe Christianity is a myth that was cooked up."

Geisler, who admitted that he was "dragged kicking and screaming" into reading the novel for the purpose of the roundtable discussion, said that the novel, while terribly inaccurate, does raise "the fundamental issue of the historicity of the New Testament."

"If the New Testament is an authentic book, historically reliable and giving us the truth, then, of course, this book is a bunch of hogwash," Geisler said. He also cautioned, "If you can't trust the New Testament...then you can't trust anything from ancient history."

With regard to the question of whether Christianity devalues the feminine, the panelists diverged in their opinions.

"I myself don't think traditional Christianity has celebrated the feminine," Ehrman said. "I absolutely agree that The Da Vinci Code gets most of this wrong, but not because the church has been a liberating experience for women. If men and women are not allowed equal roles, that implies superiority and inferiority."

Kostenberger disagreed, arguing from a complementarian perspective that men and women have an equal value and intrinsic worth that is not related to their position because they are made in God's image. Additionally, sinful abuse in the past does not invalidate Scripture's model for male headship, he said.

"It is true that many of the church fathers and the institutional church have devalued the contributions of women, but we should not judge Christianity by these shortcomings but by what the Bible teaches," Kostenberger said, adding that "we should stop putting men against women and follow the apostle Paul's formula in Ephesians 5 of men loving their wives as Christ loved the church."

Perhaps the most contested question for panelists involved the New Testament as it relates to history and reliability. While Kostenberger and Geisler contended strongly for biblical inerrancy, both Hays and Ehrman found that explanation wanting.

"While the New Testament gospels do bear witness to the historical record of Jesus, they bring a theological witness, not a historical witness, to record," Hays said, adding that the New Testament contains "factual discrepancies that cannot be swept under the rug by any honest reader."

Ehrman, an agnostic who said that he formerly held to scriptural inerrancy while a student at Moody Bible College, told listeners that he changed his position during his studies at Princeton University, realizing that "God did not want me to throw away my mind." He urged students to read the New Testament to judge for themselves whether it contains errors.

Geisler, who spoke after Hays, vehemently debated his contention that the New Testament contains factual discrepancies.

"I couldn't disagree more," Geisler said. "The gospels might not be history, but they are historical."

He added that in his many years of study, he had yet to be met with an insoluble contradiction such as Hays and Ehrman were alleging. Furthermore, to speak of Scripture's errors is to impugn the character of the God who gave them, he said.

"To say that there is a mistake in the gospels is to me a very arrogant thing for human beings to say," Geisler said. "Let God be found true and every man be found a liar. To say there are errors is to charge God almighty with any error, and I don't think anyone wants to do that."

Many of the students in attendance, like Megan McConnell, said that the 20/20 Conference was a beneficial experience.

"I came to 20/20 because I go to Providence Baptist Church (in Raleigh) and they strongly suggested that we come to get a better idea of a biblical worldview and to get a lot of truth explained," said McConnell, a 22-year-old North Carolina State University student. "I think a really important thing that (moderator David Nelson) said at the end was that you learn that you have a lot left to learn. So I definitely have realized that there's a lot out there and a lot of things to be examined and to continue learning."

McConnell said that she thought the Da Vinci Code roundtable discussion will be helpful in giving her opportunities to discuss her faith with those who have read the book and have questions about its content.

Likewise Clark Leonard, a 19-year-old N.C. State student, said that he encounters people with a different worldview on his campus every day.

"I work at the newspaper, so just hearing people talk - there's a lot of stuff that you can tell is not from the same worldview," said Leonard, who added that he hopes that what he learned at the conference will be useful in relating to these people.

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Theta Chi Fraternity’s Mid-Year Leadership Challenge coming to NCSU Feb. 10-11

Feb. 9, 2006
Carolina Newswire, dBusinessNews Triangle
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

RALEIGH, NC – Theta Chi Fraternity’s regional Mid-Year Leadership Challenge (MYLC) is coming to N.C. State University this weekend. The conference, scheduled for February 10 and 11, is expected to attract more than 100 undergraduate Theta Chi members from chapters in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky. A number of Theta Chi’s national leaders will be in attendance, including Chief Executive Officer Dave Westol (Beta Zeta/Michigan State), National Counselor Dana Richardson (Delta Psi/University of Kansas), Regional Counselors Chad Strelow (Theta Psi/University of Wisconsin) and Sam Prestipino (Iota Alpha/UNCW) and Leadership & Education Consultant Kyle Weaver (Zeta Sigma/University of Wisconsin).

“Brothers who attend our Mid-Year Leadership Challenge will learn how they can improve their chapter’s financial management, membership recruitment and retention, new member education, standards and other key areas of operation,” says Dave Westol, Chief Executive Officer of Theta Chi Fraternity. “These conferences are part of Theta Chi Fraternity’s ongoing commitment to leadership development and training.”

“We are excited that our international headquarters has chosen to hold this conference in Raleigh,” says Brett Gillies, president of NCSU’s chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity. “We look forward to welcoming our brothers to North Carolina State University.”

The Mid-Year Leadership Conference will be held February 10 & 11 at Broughton Hall on the campus of North Carolina State University. For more information contact Bill Russo, Theta Chi Fraternity’s Director of Leadership Development, at 317-824-1881.

About Theta Chi Fraternity
Theta Chi Fraternity was founded on Thursday, April 10, 1856 at Norwich University in Vermont. The fraternity, which is holding its 150th Anniversary Celebration at Norwich University in June 2006, currently has 127 active chapters and eleven colonies and interest groups. The Delta Rho Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity was installed at North Carolina State University on May 7, 1952. For more information about Theta Chi Fraternity, visit www.thetachi-ncsu.org.

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College seniors looking for jobs after graduation

Feb. 9, 2006
News 14 Carolina
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

RALEIGH) -- College seniors will soon head out into the real world. While graduation is still a couple of months away, it's not too early to be searching for that first job.

Carol Schroeder, the director of North Carolina State University's Career Center, talked to anchor Stacy Neumann about what college seniors should be doing to prepare for that first job.

Please view the video for this interview.

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Cary Residents Urged Not To Pour Grease Down Drains

Feb. 8, 2006
NBC-17.com
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

CARY, N.C. -- Town officials are working with North Carolina State University researchers to devise solutions to grease clogs in local sewer lines.

Officials also have started a public education program, dubbed "Beware of FOG," to discourage people from dumping grease down the drain. FOG stands for fats, oil and grease.

"There seems to be a direct correlation between our sewer mains and the arteries and veins in our bodies," said Leon Holt, of the Cary Public Works Department.

Just as cholesterol clogs arteries, grease from bacon, French fries and other foods gums up sewer lines. Pieces of coagulated fat get caught on tree roots and rough sections of pipe and keep building up, Holt said.

"It keeps building up and can build up into a completely hardened mass that will completely occlude the pipe over time," he said.

Repairing those clogs can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the extent of damage, he said.

Large food-service providers, such as hospitals and schools, are required to install grease collection systems. But continued growth around the area has aggravated the problem, Holt said, noting the grease from hundreds of townhomes is as bad as a few restaurants.

N.C. State researchers are working with the town on new pipe designs and new detergents to cut grease.

"A lot of those deposits ... are not just grease but combinations of grease and soap deposits that get harder and harder and harder over time," Holt said.

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Heating Bills Hit The Garden, Too

Feb. 9, 2006
Washington Post
By Adrian Higgins
 © Copyright 2006

In spite of the mild winter, greenhouse growers are seeing bills for heating go through the roof. The immediate effect this spring will be shortages of some plants at nurseries and home stores. In the long run, the gardener probably will have to dig deeper -- into the wallet, not the flower bed -- to bring home a trunkload of blooms.

Some growers didn't operate their greenhouses in January, to cut costs. Others have adopted strategies to try to buffer the effects of large increases in the prices of natural gas, propane and other fuels. "Supplies may not meet demand, because growers are starting greenhouses late," said Jim Franklin, owner of Maryland Plants & Supplies, a horticultural distribution company in Baltimore.

" Some things may become less available in the stores," said John Dole, a professor of horticulture at North Carolina State University. Growers may drop certain tropicals such as caladiums that require high temperatures, but only the most astute consumer will notice differences, he said, though there may be fewer staples, such as Easter lilies in April and poinsettias next fall.

The energy crunch has brought to a head a deeper crisis facing greenhouse growers, who have been squeezed on one side by sharply rising costs and on the other by fixed prices for their plants set by mass merchandisers who now dominate and control the marketplace.

In rural locations across the country, largely unnoticed by the public, greenhouses that typically occupy an acre or more produce everything from Mother's Day potted azaleas and hydrangeas to the bedding annuals, container tropicals, and vegetable and herb seedlings for spring planting.

Average costs for heating a greenhouse have risen between 50 to 70 percent north of the Mason-Dixon line and 30 to 40 percent below it, said Paul Thomas, a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia. In addition, he said, growers rely heavily on products made from or with fossil fuels, including rigid plastic glazing for their structures as well as plastic pots, hanging baskets, flats and tags, all of which have increased significantly in price, along with the shipping for materials arriving and leaving greenhouses.

"I can't think of anything that's a plastic derivative that hasn't gone up a minimum of 20 percent," said Franklin. His company supplies growers from New Jersey to North Carolina.

In addition to switching to cooler crops and delaying crops, growers are seeking to reduce the amount of time it takes to bring a plant from seedling plug to container plant ready for sale. A grower with state-of-the-art equipment might reduce a growing cycle from seven weeks to four, by careful application of nutrients and other stimuli, and by increasing the growing temperatures. The higher energy costs are offset by the greater frequency of crops. Inefficient growers have called it quits; others are being inventive. Dole knows of one nursery in North Carolina that has brought its old boilers out of mothballs and is using scrap wood for fuel.

In Denton, Md., wholesale grower Charles Lohmeyer is growing half an acre of pansies at 50 degrees and will start his regular spring crop in mid-February. "With the pansies you can grow them at a cooler temperature, but when the others come in, they have to be maintained at 65 degrees," he said. His propane costs are up 25 percent, he said. "It's hitting us pretty hard."

Thomas said that in the long run, consumers will have to accept higher prices if the industry is to survive and flourish. Greenhouse growers used to enjoy profit margins of 18 percent. Today there are far more players, a lot of production capacity and a cutthroat competition fostered by the mass merchandisers. The margins now, he said, are 3 to 4 percent.

Growers who had the money to buy long-term energy contracts before prices rose sharply are in much better shape than growers who are relying on the spot market, he said. He knows of one grower who "is looking at a guaranteed $15,000 loss" after he delivers his plants.

Slowly, the mass merchandisers are losing some of their purchasing power as low-ball bidders go out of business, said Thomas. "As more and more growers have the ability to say no, the price will go up," he said.

A related factor in all this is the weather during the spring season. Rainy weekends in the spring, which have been the pattern in recent years, reduce the number of people shopping for plants, who equate nice weather with planting. The drought at another peak moment, early fall, also kept shoppers away.

The mild winter has "given us a little bit of a break," Dole said. But Lohmeyer noted the weather has turned chillier this week and that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow a week ago. "I guess he was right," he said. "Another six weeks of winter."

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NC judge to rule on motion in basketball camp case

Feb. 8, 2006
News 14 Carolina
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

(RALEIGH) - A judge will decide this week whether to dismiss a lawsuit that claims hazing occurred at a Raleigh basketball camp because it was inadequately supervised.

The lawsuit names the Avery County Board of Education and Avery County High School officials. It says they negligently supervised students who assaulted teammates during the camp at North Carolina State University in 2003.

School board attorneys say state law gives their clients immunity. But lawyers for parents who filed the suit say the district waived immunity when it bought insurance.

Two Avery County High School students pleaded guilty to assault and hazing as a result of attacks on one of the younger boys at the camp.

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School board seeking dismissal of hazing suitNegligent oversight alleged in hazing at 2003 basketball camp

Feb. 10, 2006
Charlotte Observer, Winston-Salem Journal
By Associated Press and staff reports
 © Copyright 2006

NEWLAND - A judge will decide this week whether to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Avery County officials of negligently supervising students who assaulted teammates during a basketball camp at N.C. State University in 2003.

Attorneys for the Avery County Board of Education argued Monday that the lawsuit naming the school board and officials from Avery County High School should be thrown out because state law grants school districts sovereign immunity from lawsuits.

But the district waived immunity by purchasing insurance and should be held liable, said Michael Vetro, who represents the parents of one of the alleged assault victims in the lawsuit.

Judge James Baker said he will rule on the motion this week, Vetro said.

The plaintiffs reached a confidential agreement with N.C. State basketball coach Herb Sendek, who ran the camp, Vetro said. Two Avery County High School students pleaded guilty to simple assault and misdemeanor hazing in 2003, and other defendants were dealt with in juvenile court.

In response to the hazing, high school officials suspended the boys involved, approved a new hazing policy and punished members of its athletics staff.

The plaintiffs' son was one of 10 younger boys assaulted by his teammates, according to the complaint. The coaches considered the attacks "a rite of passage for the younger players in the Avery High basketball program," according to the lawsuit.

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Hunt leads brainstorm on reform of tax structure

Feb. 8, 2006
News & Observer
By Rob Christensen
 © Copyright 2006

Former Gov. Jim Hunt suggested an outline Tuesday for modernizing North Carolina's taxes, an effort that likely would take several years and face long political odds.

After two days of meetings at N.C. State University with 800 business and political leaders and economists, Hunt said one option would be an expansion of the sales tax to cover services and a cut in the corporate and personal income tax.

The sales tax expansion would be aimed at broadening North Carolina's tax base and providing a steady stream of revenue to finance the state's rapid growth. The cuts in the corporate and personal taxes would be designed to lure more corporations and wealthy individuals to the state.

"I think we ought to look at broadening the base of that tax to include services and then cut the rate on all of it," said Hunt, a Democrat who served four terms as governor and is now a corporate lawyer. "We have heard the economists say we are uncompetitive on the corporate income tax."

For the past several months, the Emerging Issues Institute, a Raleigh-based think tank created by Hunt, has convened teams of experts to study the state's tax structure.

State Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Democrat, is considering setting up a panel of economists, lawmakers and business people to study the state's tax system, said Amy Fulk, a spokeswoman.

But Gov. Mike Easley has been cool to the idea, noting that he appointed his own tax study commission in 2001 that resulted in the legislature closing some tax loopholes.

"The tax system has yielded revenues better than I thought," Easley said in an interview in December. "We closed a lot of loopholes."

Easley, a Democrat, said he was concerned about making the tax code more regressive. He said expanding the sales tax to include services would attract strong opposition and would not necessarily provide a more stable source of revenue.

"If you go to the barbershop where I go and talk about taxing services, the barbers will speak up," he said.

Forum organizers have said tax modernization is a long-term project and would face the best chance of happening after the next governor is elected in 2008.

The business community supports lowering the corporate tax, which at 6.9 percent is the highest in the Southeast, and lowering the top marginal personal income tax rate. At 8.25 percent, it is also the highest in the region.

Overall, North Carolina ranks 28th in state and local tax burden, according to the Tax Foundation, a Washington-based non-profit group that studies tax trends.

Expanding the sales tax to include services could be more difficult. Since the sales tax was enacted in the 1930s, there has been a broad shift away from manufacturing to services. An estimated two-thirds of economic transactions are no longer taxed.

But such a move would likely draw opposition from groups such as lawyers, doctors, pharmacists and media outlets that could become subject to the sales tax.

"The key is leadership," said Robin Dorff, executive director of the N.C. Institute for Politics. "A group of people probably with executive and legislative and bipartisan and business community ties is going to have to get out there and pull everybody together."

He added, "Politically, it's probably a long shot."

(Staff writer Andy Curliss contributed to this story.)

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NC Science Olympiad

Feb. 8, 2006
News & Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

Enloe and the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics finished 1-2 overall among high schools Saturday in the North Carolina Science Olympiad regional tournament at Wake Technical Community College and, pending the official results, will advance to the state tournament April 7 and 8 at N.C. State University.

Above, Enloe junior Ben Tan works with partner Ben Wang, leaning over him, on their vehicle in the Scrambler event. The device, with an egg attached to the front, had to be propelled from a falling mass and could not contain electrical or electronic items.

The top two middle school teams were from Durham Academy and Carnage Middle in Raleigh. Schools from Durham, Granville, Johnston and Wake counties competed in Raleigh, one of 11 regional sites.

The National Science Olympiad will be held May 19 and 20 at Indiana University.

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Durham Central Park hosts "Birdhouse", Grand Prize winner of the 2005 Rhein/Medall Prize for Community Art

Feb. 8, 2006
dBusinessNews
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

Durham - “Birdhouse”, the 2005 Grand Prize winner of the Rhein/Medall Prize for Community Art, has found a temporary home at Durham Central Park, where it will be on display through May 2006.

The stunning steel sculpture – a 16-foot tall tree brandished with 20 colorful birdhouses – was unveiled last November in the Sculpture Garden at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, where it was on display for several weeks. In May, “Birdhouse” will be placed on permanent display at Brightleaf at the Park, a 2,150-home master-planned community being built by Rhein Interests off Highway 70 and Sherron Road in Durham.

Meanwhile, Rhein/Medall Communities – the sponsor of the Rhein/Medall Prize – has loaned “Birdhouse” to Durham where it can be enjoyed by all.

“It was incredibly generous of (Rhein/Medall) to share this sculpture with the people of Durham,” said Allen Wilcox, President of Durham Central Park, Inc. The non-profit organization is playing an important role in Durham’s renaissance through efforts to revitalize the area north of downtown and feature community events and arts in the park. Hosting “Birdhouse”, Wilcox said, is “a great step to try to establish our identity as a place for public art.”

A win-win for all involved, “Birdhouse” – and it’s Durham debut – represent a confluence of efforts by private, public and corporate interests to support public art.

“Birdhouse” was designed by Beverly Ford, a senior at N.C. Central University who won the 2005 Grand Prize against dozens of designs submitted by students from the sculpture and design programs at N.C. State University, Meredith College, East Carolina University and N.C. Central.

The judging panel that selected “Birdhouse” as the 2005 Grand Prize sculpture design included Kim Rorschach, director of the Raymond Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Huston Pascal curator of modern art at the North Carolina Museum of Art, and Kate Arial, former director of Liberty Arts in Durham.

Arial was one of the first to suggest Durham Central Park as a fitting temporary home for “Birdhouse”. Liberty Arts is located next to Durham Central Park.

Jeremy Maronpot, a nationally renowned metal sculptor based in Durham, was commissioned by Rhein/Medall Communities to fabricate “Birdhouse”.

Al Frega, the artist and the professor at N.C. Central who mentored Ford, helped bring together Rhein/Medall and Durham Central Park. Frega is a member of the Durham Central Park board of directors, and “Birdhouse” was fabricated in his studios where Maronpot shares space.

“It’s a nice bunch of local connections,” said Wilcox, who hopes the sculpture will inspire other businesses to follow Rhein/Medall’s lead.

The Rhein/Medall Prize for Community Art accepts annual entries for outdoor sculptures with an environmental theme. In 2005, the contest awarded over $14,000 in prizes.

The 2006 Rhein/Medall prize for Community Art will award $20,000 to schools from Eastern North Carolina, and another $20,000 to university art programs in South Carolina, Charlotte and the western part of the state.

Rhein/Medall Communities will spend over $100,000 in the next year fabricating the designs for display in new communities in the Triangle and Charlotte.

The competition is the brainchild of James M. Medall, partner in Rhein/Medall Communities. “He’s about education and encouraging young people with big ideas,” said Vicki Medall, director of the Rhein/Medall Prize.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Wilcox. “If every developer had that kind of commitment, we’d have a lot more public art.” The City of Durham’s cultural arts master plan includes public art.

Rhein/Medall Communities is known for environmentally sensitive land planning that includes working with the natural topography of the land, respecting the natural beauty of the landscape and weaving open space into each community design. Also known for developing carefully thought out, innovative projects, Rhein/Medall Communities is dedicated to setting the standard for the industry by creating communities in all price categories that consistently offer superior value, designed to surpass the test of time.

For additional information, please contact Jim Medall (704) 527-2333 Ext. 103 or Glenna B. Musante at (800) 849-2118 Ext. 126. For more on the Rhein/Medall Prize, Rhein/Medall Communities, Rhein Interests, and Brightleaf at the Park, go to www.brightleafinfo.com

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Tiny phone, Web device grabs investors' interest

Feb. 10, 2006
News & Observer
By John Murawski
 © Copyright 2006

A pair of dot-com survivors were the only representatives from North Carolina at the Demo Conference for new high-tech gizmos this week.

ZinkKat, a two-man outfit based in Cary, debuted its remote cordless headset, Chili, at the two-day conference in Phoenix.

"Nobody's heard of us," chief development officer David Dubbs said of the two-year-old company. "We're in stealth mode."

The biannual Demo conference, which is in its 16th year, is viewed by some as the World's Fair of high-tech. It draws "the inner circle of technology influencers," said conference executive director Chris Shipley.

ZinkKat was one of 68 companies that exhibited products to investors and others. ZinkKat's Chili device was picked from among about 700 applicants because it was "a really cool idea," Shipley said.

Chili is a 4.5-ounce sliver of a communications device designed to liberate users from their computers. It lets them download music files, podcasts or Internet radio, or use the Chili earphones to listen remotely up to 400 feet from the computer. Chili comes with a wireless adapter that transmits music and podcasts to the device.

The Chili, which is targeted to teens, can also receive phone calls, and while it doesn't have a keypad, it can place outgoing calls by verbal cue.

In other words, it restores privacy to teenagers in their parents' home. With a Chili clipped to the hip, a teen can retreat to the bedroom and chill.

"This allows them the freedom to go wherever they want to go," said ZinkKat chief technology officer Trey Weaver.

Chili's primary competition comes from cell phones and MP3 music players such as the iPod. Motorola's Rokr and Sony Ericsson's Walkman cell phones let users download music files and listen through headphones. But Chili is designed as a remote listening device for home use, Weaver said.

He expects Chili to retail for $150 and go on sale before Christmas at stores such as Radio Shack, Best Buy and Circuit City. ZinkKat has a manufacturing agreement in Hong Kong, Weaver said.

ZinkKat is a private company financed by Weaver, Dubbs in California, friends and family, and a businessman in China. ZinkKat hopes the Demo conference will boost prospects.

"We got a whole pile of venture capitalists who talked to us ... about investing in the company," Weaver said. "In most cases, I think they're interested in funding you to get you to the next stage."

Weaver's home in Cary serves as the company's headquarters. Weaver and Dubbs, who once worked together at AT&T, contracted out some of the design work on Chili to two dozen former AT&T colleagues who now work for Indesign in Indianapolis.

Weaver moved to the Triangle in 2000 to run Lucent Technologies' project development lab at the N.C. State University campus. He left Lucent about four years ago when the company closed the lab.

They named the device Chili because its slim shape suggested a hot pepper. The ZinkKat name, however, was not inspired by metallurgy or a feline, but rather by the appeal of crunching hard consonants, Weaver said.

Of course, unorthodox names abound in technology. Other Demo exhibitors included Bones in Motion, Kosmix, Zimini and Zingee.

Some participants who showed up had really odd names that couldn't possibly catch on: Yahoo and America Online.

Staff writer John Murawski can be reached at 829-8932 or murawski@newsobserver.com

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Family farm workshop set

Feb. 10, 2006
Goldsboro News Argus
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

KENANSVILLE -- The Duplin Cooperative Extension will hold a workshop entitled "From One Generation to Another: A Comprehensive Approach to Farm Business Succession Planning" on Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at the Extension Center at Duplin Commons.

The workshop will provide a farm transition process overview for farm family members interested in learning more about the efficient transfer of farm operations between generations.

Instructors include Andrew Branan, executive director for the N.C. Farm Transition Network; Ted Feitshans and Gary Bullen from Agricultural and Resource Economics at N.C. State University; Virginia Tech associate professors Jesse Richardson and Alex White; and N.C. State Forestry extension leader Rick Hamilton.

A $10 workshop fee includes refreshments, lunch and workshop materials.

Pre-register by Feb. 13 by calling 910-296-2143.

The workshop is being sponsored by the N.C. Farm Transition Network, the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, Virginia Tech, Southern Center for Risk Management Education and the Golden LEAF Foundation.

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New Restaurant Just A Start For N.C. State's Centennial Campus

Feb. 10, 2006
WRAL.com
By staff report
© Copyright 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. -- It may be just a coffee shop, but when it opens Monday it will mark a turning point -- the very first business offering fresh food and drinks on N.C. State's Centennial Campus.

"When you have all these people -- over 1,600 employees, over 60 companies, and now you add 3,000 students -- they needed somewhere to eat,” said Centennial Campus representative Odessa Montgomery.

Centennial Campus is home to mostly research companies and government agencies. It used to only have about 300 students, but now there's 3,000 with the move of two engineering buildings to Centennial from the main campus.

“It feels like a college campus, not just a research campus,” said Montgomery. “It’s so nice to have students here."

Engineering Building One is complete, and Building Two is still getting some finishing touches. That’s just the beginning of a planned population boom.

"We have plans for three more engineering buildings for a total of five at Centennial Campus,” said John Royal of the College of Engineering. “We've relocated four departments so far, and we have six more departments to relocate."

There's plenty of land to grow on. The over-1,000-acre campus is only about 20 to 30 percent built.

"We're hopeful to see things like a library on campus, or a student activity center," said Montgomery.

A golf course, more condos, and a chancellor’s residence are all planned for Centennial Campus. The timing of the rest of the classroom buildings depends on funding from the state.

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Monsanto proposes natural refuge for Bollgard II cotton

Feb. 10, 2006
Southeast Farm Press, Checkbiotech.org (Switzerland)
By Forrest Laws
 © Copyright 2006

Monsanto is asking EPA to allow farmers in the Southeast, Texas and the Mid-South to significantly reduce the number of refuge acres they must plant when they grow the company’s Bollgard II cotton technology.

Currently, growers have two refuge options when they plant Bollgard or Bollgard II cotton: Option 1 requires a 20 percent or greater refuge of non-Bt cotton and Option 2 calls for a 5 percent non-Bt refuge that cannot be treated with insecticides for bollworm or tobacco budworm.

Both options — the first can be sprayed with conventional insecticides, except foliar Bts, to control caterpillar pests while the second cannot — were designed to provide a source of susceptible heliothis moths that can mate with moths that might become resistant to the single Bt gene in Bollgard cotton.

The requirements were suggested by a scientific advisory panel convened by EPA in the mid-1990s to develop strategies to prevent the development of resistance in bollworm and tobacco budworm to the technology.

But university and Monsanto researchers are saying that the refuge acres required to prevent target pests from developing resistance over time in the two-gene system of the Bollgard II technology could be much smaller than the number required for Bollgard.

The issue, researchers say, comes down to the number of alternate hosts available for the insects. Scientists have known bollworms can inhabit a number of plants, including corn, soybeans and grain sorghum. But they thought the number of hosts for tobacco budworm was limited — until now.

“We have good data from North Carolina and Georgia that show tobacco budworm can be found living on a number of crops and other plants,” says J.R. Bradley, professor of entomology at North Carolina State University. “I’ve even found them on my wife’s petunias in my backyard here in Raleigh.”

North Carolina and Georgia are two of the six cotton-producing states where Monsanto conducted studies over the last two years to determine the host range for bollworm and tobacco budworm. The tests, which use C-3 and C-4 assays to determine the insects’ food sources, were expanded to include southeast Texas in 2005.

“We’ve done two years of studies with bollworm, and we pretty well understand that bollworms (a) have a lot of hosts throughout the season and (b) they’re flying significant distances all season long so there is significant mixing from these alternate hosts,” said Walt Mullins, Monsanto’s technical manager for Bollgard and Bollgard II.

“We have solid reasons to believe there will be contributions on the bollworm side from hosts such as soybeans, peanuts, weedy hosts, corn, sorghum. All are contributing to the overall population, and we’ve been able to measure that with C3 and C4 analyses.”

The missing piece of the puzzle has been the tobacco budworm. Most scientists have assumed tobacco budworms would be mostly found in cotton and tobacco, especially during July, August and September when susceptible insects are needed to mate with resistant individuals to prevent resistance development.

But the tests in North Carolina and Georgia showed that 80 to 90 percent of the tobacco budworms found in those states were “non-cotton” moths; that is, they had been feeding on plants other than cotton.

“We found significant numbers of tobacco budworm moths in the study, but they were largely non-cotton moths all season long,” said Mullins. “We anticipated a certain degree of that based on tobacco as a host. But peanuts are also a fairly good host for tobacco budworms along with soybeans and the diversity of other, weedy hosts for that area.

“But what we were really amazed at was how much the cotton moth was getting drowned out by everything else that was going on. We knew there would be some, but we were really surprised at the magnitude of that number.”

In the Mid-South and southeast Texas, where growers tend to plant fewer crops besides cotton, the percentages of non-cotton tobacco budworm moths weren’t as high.

onsanto conducted the tests in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee in 2004 and added southeast Texas in 2005.

“Southeast Texas is where we saw some of the first pyrethroid resistance in tobacco budworm, and we decided we should include that region in the sampling as well,” said Mullins.

In what he called the “worst-case scenario,” university and Monsanto researchers saw no less than 10 percent of the moths that were non-cotton moths in any location all season long. The lowest numbers were found in southeast Texas and the lower Delta states.

“That means if you have 100 moths in the comparison at least 10 of those moths came from some other host than cotton,” said Mullins, “and, more typically, in Mississippi and northeast Arkansas it would be closer to 40 to 50 percent.”

Applying statistical analysis to those numbers means that you could be dealing with numbers of non-cotton moths as high as 10 percent or as low as 1 percent — if you want to be conservative, says Mullins.

From the time Bt cotton was introduced in 1996, entomologists have been using computer models to try to predict how soon and under what conditions tobacco budworms or bollworms could theoretically develop resistance to the single Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt gene contained in Bollgard cotton.

The primary motivation for developing Bollgard II, which contains two different Bt genes, was to enhance the resistance management value of the Bt product, according to Mullins. “It was broadly believed that if you put two genes in the plant that worked differently on the insect, you would reduce the probability of resistant insects surviving both genes and significantly decreasing the effective life of the product.

“If we’re talking only 1 percent of the tobacco budworm moths in the lower Delta being non-cotton moths, the model would suggest that the percent of the effective natural refuge that would be required based on the strength of the two-gene system would be .1 of a percent,” he said.

“So what we’re saying or what our proposal is saying is that when you look at the amount of refuge necessary that even in the worst case scenario given the lower end of the statistical significance of the number suggests that we still have significantly more refuge than what would be required to main efficacy for an extended period of time.”

Bradley says entomologists on the East Coast have long believed that cotton producers in the region had ample natural refuge or alternate hosts to provide susceptible tobacco budworm moths for mating with resistant months.

“But we told Monsanto we would not get into the public arena on this until they developed a data base that provided evidence of what was actually happening in the field,” he said. “Now we have the data base.”

Long considered one of the leading experts on insect pests in cotton, Bradley says the refuge requirement is more than just a theoretical issue for producers. “The fact is that the refuge costs us money — us being the grower,” he said. “And if there is no biological need for it, why burden farmers when they need to be doing everything they can to stay in business.”

Roger Leonard, research entomologist with the LSU AgCenter who conducted much of the bollworm/tobacco budworm host study in Louisiana, says he’s not ready to weigh into the natural refuge debate just yet.

“I’m on the fence at this point, but I’m willing to listen,” he said. “I have some concerns about the data being generated in the Southeast and Southwest, and I want to look at that data more closely before I start expressing opinions.

“I think the good news is that there are populations of these insects coming from somewhere other than cotton, and, even if we disagree with some of the findings, they’re still coming from somewhere.”

Mullins said the package Monsanto has submitted to EPA petitions the agency for a natural refuge option for all cotton from Texas east.

“You get west of Texas and you get into the pink bollworm area,” he said. “They’re basically in an eradication mode with the pink bollworm, and this data was generated specifically for bollworm and tobacco budworm.”

In February, Monsanto will conduct a series of meetings with university researchers and Extension entomologists, consultants and growers to make them more aware of what the company is proposing.

“We want to provide them with the opportunity to make comments either in support or opposition to the proposal. We expect EPA to appoint a scientific advisory panel to review the proposal in the spring or early summer, and we want everyone to be fully informed so we can have as broad a discussion as possible.”

Both Bollgard and Bollgard II technologies are scheduled to be re-registered in September, and EPA could announce a decision on Monsanto’s proposal that coincides with the re-registration decision.

Regardless of when the decision is made, growers must continue to follow EPA’s guidelines on Bollgard and Bollgard II. “This in no way means we are backing away from our commitment to be in compliance with the current refuge requirement for Bollgard and Bollgard II,” says Mullins.

Monsanto anticipates the refuge requirements for Bollgard will remain unchanged. “We will have to work through how we handle that interim period when we still have Bollgard and Bollgard II in the marketplace and appropriately address refuge requirements for both products.”

Leonard says he welcomes the meetings, which will be held on a state-by state basis in the Delta region. “We need to have some frank discussions,” he said. “Some of our consultants are skeptical about the information, and we need to thoroughly review the data to make sure we don’t do anything that would take this technology away from growers.

“This is a big deal. I’m not sure the public realizes how important this really is.”

e-mail: flaws@prismb2b.com

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'Economics of Fruit Production and Managing Risk' theme of South Jersey tree fruit meeting

Feb. 9, 2006
American Farm (MD)
By staff report
 © Copyright 2006

CLAYTON — “The Economics of Tree Fruit Production and Managing Risk” will be the focus of the all day South Jersey Tree Fruit Meeting on March 16. This year’s program, including lunch, will be held at the Gloucester County Office of Government Services Auditorium, 1200 North Delsea Drive.

Featured speaker will be Dr. Jayson K. Harper, professor of agricultural economics at Penn State University, whose Extension and research interests are in the area of risk management and crop production economics. Harper did the work on crop indemnification for peach growers in Pennsylvania when the plum pox virus was identified. He is also an authority on the value of alternative apple and peach rootstocks, costs associated with integrated crop management of fruit, and fruit crop insurance.

Harper will present two talks: “Economics of Reduced Risk Insect Management Programs for Peaches and Apples” and “Planning for Profit: Peach Cost of Production.”

Harper recently returned from a study leave at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand, where he did research on high-density apple production systems and orchard replacement economics.

He is the Mid-Atlantic resource person on peach economics as witnessed by his information on Rutgers Cooperative Research and Exension’s Peach Science Web site at www.rcre.rutgers.edu/peach.

Dr. Jim Walgenbach, fruit entomologist from North Carolina State University, will speak on “Comparison of Reduced-Risk vs. Convention Insect Management Program in Eastern U.S. apples.” Dr. Peter Shearer with RCRE will discuss “Incorporating New Products into Peach Arthropod Management Programs.” Dr. Joe Goffreda of Rutgers will discuss “New Peach Varieties that Can Make a Difference in Your Bottom Line,” and Dr. Norman Lalancette, tree fruit pathologist with RCRE, will present “Efficacy vs. Cost of Tree Fruit Fungicides: Are the Best Materials Worth the Money?”

RCRE agents and specialists will present other talks on cost effective weed management, integrated crop management and farm management.

The South Jersey Fruit Meeting is sponsored by RCRE of Gloucester County, and The New Jersey State Horticultural Society.

New Jersey CORE and category pesticide applicator units will be available at the conclusion of the meeting. Detailed information is available on the RCRE web site at http://gloucester.rcre.rutgers.edu. Additional information is by calling (856) 307-6450 Ext 1.

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Former Gov. Warner tries out campaign themes at forum

Feb. 8, 2006
WSLS.com (VA), WSOCtv.com (NC), Durham Herald-Sun (NC)
By staff report
 © Copyright 2006

Former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson got a chance this week to try out some of their political themes. Some observers believe the themes could help win over voters in Republican states such as North Carolina should Warner and Richardson make runs for the White House in 2008.

Both came to the Emerging Issues Forum at North Carolina State University at the behest of former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt, himself a moderate Democrat who served a record four terms as his state's top executive.

Warner said yesterday that voters don't want partisanship but rather honesty that people may need to make some sacrifices for government to achieve fiscal responsibility.

People are so anxious to hear the truth. A little bit of truth can go a long way in the American political process today," he said.

Richardson described his approach of tax cuts, education and economic development the "New Progressivism."

"Now you're going to hear from a Democrat that is going to say this: Cutting taxes is good, being pro-business is good. Putting more money in people's pockets is good," Richardson said Monday.

North Carolina's electoral votes last went to a Democrat in 1976 when Jimmy Carter won. With the state's population estimated to grow 52 percent to 12.2 million by 2030, winning or losing North Carolina will become more important as its 15 electoral votes grow.

Warner told forum participants he hasn't decided about a 2008 presidential run, "but I sure as heck believe that there is a wide, sensible center in this country waiting for one party to reclaim."

"I think the Democratic Party serves itself and the country if it ends up with candidates and ideas that are competitive in the whole country, and not just 16 states and then tries to hit a triple bank shot to win Ohio and Florida," he said.

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Editorial: Capping college costs

Feb. 9, 2006
Charlottte Observer
By staff report
 © Copyright 2006

Board should close holes in UNC tuition and fees proposalIf you have a kid (or a grown-up) in your household poised for college, you'll be interested in this: Today, a committee of the UNC Board of Governors will consider guidelines that will influence how much that education will cost you.

North Carolina needs a policy on tuition that is fair and consistent across its 16 campuses. The policy now being considered is reasonable. But that is not to say it is the right policy. The committee would be wise to stop and make some critical adjustments before going any further.

Here's how the plan would work. Each UNC campus would be authorized to increase tuition and fees so long as it kept student costs in the bottom quarter compared to similar universities nationwide. The tuition increase would be tied to a three-year rolling average of an institution's peers, as reported by a national compilation, the Washington State Tuition and Fee Report.

That makes sense. Yet there are problems.

For starters, the fees universities charge to pay off debt on special projects like student centers would not be considered in the equation. Neither would fees needed to operate those facilities. That's wrong. Students have no choice about those fees, so they should figure in the policy.

The policy also creates a different set of rules for the state's two research-extensive universities, UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State. It allows the Board of Governors, if they choose, to hand-pick the peer institutions used to calculate tuition at those campuses. That's wrong, too. The state's policy should work for the system as a whole.

The list of peer institutions for each campus is also suspect. In some cases it includes pretty high-priced private institutions. Most notable: Duke and Johns Hopkins are listed as peers for UNC. It is correct that Chapel Hill and rival Duke, 8 miles away, have comparable programs and compete for students and faculty. But a university that serves the public -- one generously supported by tax dollars -- should not price itself according to what an exclusive private institution charges students.

The committee should recommend these adjustments before it goes any further:
• Include in the student cost calculations all required fees.
• Make the rules uniform for all 16 campuses.
• Carefully consider how much weight the costs at private institutions should influence tuition and fees at North Carolina's campuses.

Student costs at some campuses, like UNC, have risen as much as 70 percent in 10 years. Individual campuses seek increases based on their own priorities. It's time the university system had a comprehensive, reliable system of setting tuition. These guidelines should be the start, not the end, of that process.

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Service tax draws loud groans

Feb. 8, 2006
Charlotte Observer
By Kerry Hall
 © Copyright 2006

Should North Carolina tax services as well as goods?

That notion was floated this week at a meeting attended by some of the state's most influential business and political leaders.

Currently, N.C. residents pay sales tax when they buy tangible goods, such as televisions or iPods, but not when buying services, such as medical care or legal advice.

Some economists worry the current tax system won't grow with the N.C. economy, which is increasingly dependent on service providers.
Sales tax revenues provide roughly one-fourth of state revenue. Yet as much of two-thirds of the state's economic activity is not subject to sales tax, said John Connaughton, an economist at UNC Charlotte. And shoppers are starting to spend proportionately more on services such as tax preparers and tummy tucks than on goods such as clothing.

" The two-thirds is the growing part," said Connaughton, one of four panelists who discussed modernizing the state's tax collection system at The Institute for Emerging Issues at N.C. State on Monday. The institute brought together more than 800 participants to discuss ways of financing the state's future needs.

" There is simply a much more stable and growth-oriented way ... than the system we have," he said. "If somebody's got a cash register, they should be able to collect sales tax."

Details on how a system would work are fuzzy, but the overarching idea is that the sales tax, which tops nearly 8 percent in Mecklenburg County, and possibly income tax rates would fall. In return, more activities would be taxed. Taxable activities could include doctor visits, financial advice and hair cuts.

Florida expanded its sales tax to include services years ago but retreated because of intense lobbying by service providers. Some states currently tax select services. Washington state residents, for example, pay sales tax on tanning and tattoos. New Jersey residents pay tax on hair transplants.

Many N.C. businesses, a growing number of which are service providers, protest such a change.

" It's ludicrous," said Steve Moore, owner of Steve's Carpet Care in Charlotte. "It's another hindrance on the customer and another bureaucratic mess."

" It would be very bad news," said Gregg Thompson, state director with the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents 15,000 small businesses in North Carolina. Thompson's group asked its members in a survey last year whether they would support such a sales tax. About 89 percent of those surveyed said no, he said.

" Small businesses, many of which are service providers, are struggling, especially with increases in fuel prices," Thompson said. "This would be another burden."

Charlotte attorney Marylin Culp wonders whether a sales tax on legal services would interfere with the constitutional right to counsel.
" I joke that I can't afford myself if I had to hire myself," said Culp, who works for Littler Mendelson's Charlotte office. "Would the addition of a tax increase the potential burden on an individual attempting to obtain representation?"

Connaughton said he didn't know the answer but that such details could be worked out.

Just how likely it is that North Carolina will expand the sales tax is unclear. North Carolina's tax system, which relies primarily on sales and personal income taxes, was created during the 1930s. But a group of state heavyweights, lead by former Gov. Jim Hunt, are taking tax reform seriously. That group met for two days this week in Raleigh to discuss how the state can pay for future services.

Joe Coletti, fiscal policy analyst at the conservative-leaning John Locke Foundation in Raleigh, said he doesn't expect the state to revamp the sales tax system anytime soon. But if lawmakers were to suggest taxing service providers, he said he'd support such an effort.

" In principal, I have nothing against a sales tax on services because whether you buy a lawnmower or have the neighbor kid cut your own, you're having your lawn cut," he said, "you're doing the same thing."

What's taxed
• Gas from the corner pump• Deli food at the local grocery store
• Tangible goods, including cars, clothing and computers

What's exempt
• Generally services are exempt, but laundry and dry cleaning services are taxable (in Mecklenburg • County at a combined state and local rate of 7 1/2%.)

RATES
Retail sales of tangible personal property are taxed 7 1/2 percent in Mecklenburg County.
Some items, such as boats, aircraft and modular homes, are taxed at lower rates.
-- Source: N.C. Department of Revenue

Economic Snapshot
Top contributors to North Carolina's gross state product • Gross state product in 2005: $353 billion
• Manufacturing: 21.8 percent
• Services: 20.3 percent
• Finance, insurance, real estate: 19 percent
• Government: 12 percent • Other: Agriculture, construction, transportation, utilities, retail trade
-- Source: UNCC

N.C. tax revenues
• Individual income tax: $7.4 billion
• Corporate income tax: $760 million
• Sales and use tax: $4.3 billion • Gasoline and highway tax: $1.8 billion

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Turner wins bid to build biotech center

Feb. 10, 2006
Charlotte Observer
By Adam Bell
 © Copyright 2006

Turner Construction Co. was awarded the contract to build the centerpiece facility of David Murdock's $1 billion North Carolina Research Center in Kannapolis, Murdock announced Thursday.

Work will start immediately on the 311,000-square-foot Core Lab Building, and should be completed in late 2007, according to Castle and Cooke Inc., Murdock's development arm. Groundbreaking is set for the morning of Feb. 23.

The facility will include specialty equipment in a core lab for basic analysis at the biotech hub, as well as a fermentation center for single-run tests of products. The labs and equipment will be available for rent by campus tenants, and the building is expected to be a major recruiting tool for the campus.

The building also will house a Dole Research Lab and temporary homes for UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State until their buildings on the campus go up.

Murdock is spending $120 million of his money to create a nonprofit foundation, the David H. Murdock Institute for Business and Culture, to build and operate the lab. About $100 million is earmarked for the lab, with the rest for other nonprofit work at the 350-acre campus.

The value of the construction contract was not disclosed Thursday.

At the height of construction, more than 200 people will work on the building, Turner general manager William Caldwell said.

New York-based Turner Construction has 45 offices nationwide. Its Charlotte office covers work in the Carolinas, including at least 12 offices in the Ballantyne Corporate Park in Charlotte, and serves as construction manager for Bank of America Stadium and the new Mecklenburg County Courthouse.

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Black hopes foundation will cover eye exams

Feb. 8, 2006
News & Observer
By J. Andrew Curliss, Rob Christensen and Barbara Barrett
 © Copyright 2006

Maybe parents won't have to pay for those controversial eye exams after all -- and they'll have House Speaker Jim Black to thank.

Black said Tuesday he will take a lead role in creating a private foundation to pay for eye exams of students entering school for the first time. They are now required because of a provision Black put in the state budget last year.

Black, an optometrist and Mecklenburg County Democrat, repeated Tuesday that he wants to change the law to allow students more time to get the exams.

Black said he does not want to see repeal of the law. Schools groups and pediatricians have criticized the mandate as costly and unneeded.

Black says he does not want children with vision problems to start school at a disadvantage. Requiring the exams by optometrists or ophthalmologists is the best way to ensure it, he says.

A spokeswoman for the speaker said Black is still working on details about the private foundation idea. But she said the goal is that families not covered by private insurance, Medicaid or other programs would not have to pay for the exams, pegged at about $100 each.

Part of the plan could include having eye doctors donate their time for the exams with the foundation paying for glasses, if needed.

N.C. love for Virginia guv

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner ventured into John Edwards' territory Tuesday and got the red carpet treatment.

At the invitation of former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt, Warner spoke to the the Emerging Issues Forum luncheon about how he revamped taxes in Virginia.

Warner and Hunt traded compliments that may have gone beyond the niceties that politicians often exchange.

Afterwards, Warner, a likely Democratic presidential candidate, spoke at the business school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and then went to a fund raiser at the home of Steve Lerner, a public relations/marketing executive with Capstrat.

Among those expecting to attend the fund raiser were Capstrat executive Ken Eudy, businessman John Crumpler and attorney Adam Abrams. The fund raiser, which cost between $100 and $5,000 to attend, is for a political action committee Warner will use to help Democratic candidates.

Tuesday night, Warner was to be the guest of UNC President Erskine Bowles at the UNC-Duke basketball game. He was ferried around by R.V. Owens, a former state Department of Transportation board member from Manteo, who raised money for Warner when he ran for governor four years ago.

Warner downplayed the idea that he was making a statement by coming to the turf of Edwards, a former senator and likely presidential rival.

"When Gov. Hunt asks me to come, I come," Warner said. "Not a bad day to come in -- UNC-Duke."

Lottery finds a home

After roaming from a worn DOT office building on Oberlin Road to a snazzy corporate park in Cary, the state lottery lined up permanent digs on Tuesday.

The lottery's new headquarters will move this summer to a vacant office building at 2100 Yonkers Road, near Capital Boulevard and the Beltline.

The 35,000-square-foot space will be leased from College Foundation Inc.

The lottery should move in in August. Until then, it's at 111 Corning Road in Cary, near Crossroads shopping center.

The lottery got approval Tuesday on leases for offices in Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville and Wilmington.

By staff writers J. Andrew Curliss, Rob Christensen and Barbara Barrett. Curliss can be reached at 829-4840 or acurliss@newsobserver.com.

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Black's and Decker's wild ride begins

Feb. 8, 2006
News & Observer
By Dan Kane and J. Andrew Curliss
 © Copyright 2006

Though it was nearly a decade ago, former state Rep. David Miner still has vivid memories of his time on the witness stand before the State Board of Elections as it investigated campaign contributions from the hog industry.

In a room packed with reporters, political observers and investigators from other agencies, Miner testified that he and two Republican House leaders had not cut any deals with the hog industry. The board later exonerated Miner and the others.

"It's like a roller coaster," said Miner, a Cary Republican who lost his seat in 2004. "You can't jump off. You've just got to hang on until it comes to a stop."

That's the atmosphere House Speaker Jim Black and former Rep. Michael Decker, the man who kept him in power, face if they take the witness stand in what election officials expect to be three days of hearings this week into possible illegal campaign activity. The hearings begin today.

The board is saying little about the investigation beyond identifying four campaign committees that are at the heart of the hearings: the campaign committees for Black and Decker, and political action committees for the video poker industry and optometrists. But judging by the 79 subpoenas the board has released, it's clear that the investigation will cover a lot of ground.

The board has subpoenaed roughly 55 people to testify, produce records or both, including Hertford County Democrats Rep. Howard Hunter and state Sen. Robert Holloman; Black's former unpaid political director, lobbyist Meredith Norris; his legislative executive assistant, Meredith Swindell; and his campaign treasurer, Virginia Kelly.

The board has called for personal and campaign financial records for Black, Decker, Hunter and Holloman. Bank records are requested of some campaign donors.

The subpoenas so far suggest the board is looking at two well-publicized issues first reported by Democracy North Carolina, a nonprofit campaign finance watchdog.

The first centers on the tens of thousands of dollars Black has received from the video poker industry. Black has protected the industry from a ban, saying video poker provides jobs for about 3,000 North Carolinians. Democracy North Carolina reported donations that came from people who later said they didn't know they had made them or had been told that they would be reimbursed for the contributions. The nonprofit also said it found evidence of anonymous donations and of a conspiracy to make illegal donations.

On Tuesday, the board released a subpoena requiring video poker operator Robert Huckabee to testify. Huckabee is president of Southland Amusements of Wilmington, which pulled most of its machines out of North Carolina over a year ago. A former chairman of the video poker industry's legislative committee, Huckabee has given about $30,000 in donations to Black and other state politicians in recent years.

The second issue centers on roughly $43,000 that Decker received in campaign contributions at the time he switched political parties. Decker did not report nearly $5,000 of that money -- including a $4,000 donation from the optometrists' political action committee -- until two years later. Decker's switch created a 60-60 deadlock in the House, and allowed Black to retain the speakership in a power-sharing agreement with Republican Rep. Richard Morgan.

Hunter and Holloman had also received an optometrist PAC donation at the time of Decker's switch, the PAC's campaign records show. Hunter has said he did not report his $500 contribution because he did not raise the minimum of $3,000 required to do a filing. Holloman, who could not be reached for comment, received a $2,000 contribution from the PAC that was not reported on his campaign filings.

The hearings guarantee another week of news regarding Black.

"This is getting hammered home repeatedly, and people are starting to connect the dots," said Andrew Taylor, a political science professor at N.C. State University. "It will be interesting to see how much more of this he can survive."

Staff writer Dan Kane can be reached at 829-4861 or dkane@newsobserver.com.

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