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Economist
Forecasts More Tobacco Quota Declines
Increases in the Brazilian tobacco crop and a growing crop in China are cutting
into future tobacco quotas for farmers in the United States, an agricultural
economist says.
Cree urged
to stay in area
Growth plans may lead to relocation
Group
wants to restrict lobbyists
An advisory council proposes limits on gifts to legislators and a ban
on free meals
UNC frats
lax about fire safety
Code violations alarm university, fire officials
Trusting
instincts is important
Staying Safe - Sexual Assault
Adidas
stripes suit Wolfpack
N.C. State's football team will give up the swoosh of Nike for the stripes
of adidas this fall.
Fayetteville-Based
AIT Introduces Firewall, Monitoring Services
AIT has released its two newest products—an individual server firewall and
a monitoring service—and says the company is continuing to develop an anti-spam/anti-virus
initiative.
NCSU and
CED Team to Highlight University Resources for Entrepreneurs
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and North Carolina State
University (NCSU) are hosting a special luncheon for industry executives,
venture capitalists and science and technology entrepreneurs on April 30 at
NCSU’s College of Agriculture & Life Sciences.
IBM Celebrates
40th Anniversary Of Mainframe; Invention Put RTP On Map
IBM Remains RTP's Largest Employer With About 13,000 Workers
Agency
Seeking Applications For Conservation Workshop
The Moore County Soil and Water Conservation District Board is offering an
opportunity for a Moore County student to learn about conservation through
a five-day workshop.
Do yourself
a locally grown favor
Vegetables at farmers markets and roadside taste better and may have more
nutrients
Scientists
question reports of massive ant supercolonies in California and Europe
A team of California scientists made headlines four years ago when it reported
finding one of the largest insect colonies in the world - a 600-mile-long
subterranean network of Argentine ants stretching from Northern California
to the Mexican border.
Merck
CEO Says Pharmaceutical Giant Ready to Start Work on Durham, N.C., Plant
Four months after a special legislative session put together a package to
lure pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. to Durham, the deal is done. And
it's going to cost about $2.7 million more than the state had estimated.
Life
in McClellanville suits Venezuelan couple
HISPANICS IN THE LOWCOUNTRY: SPECIAL REPORT
Random
Samples: Awards
Geneticist Trudy Mackay
Letter:
Ongoing Controversy over Pfiesteria
Readers of J. Kaiser's article "The Pfiesteria conundrum: More study,
less certainty" (News of the Week, 2 Jan., p. 25) may have missed the
fact that there is more certainty, not less, about the toxic microbe Pfiesteria.
Group wants to restrict lobbyists
April 8, 2004
News & Observer
By DAN KANE
© Copyright 2004
A special advisory council of state legislators, lobbyists and open government advocates agreed Wednesday to push for reforms that would make it harder for legislators to accept gifts, meals and other perks from special interests.
The N.C. Secretary of State's Advisory Council on Legislative Lobbying Policy & Regulation voted to require all expenditures made by lobbyists and their clients be reported, whether they represent private interests or public agencies.
The council also backed a ban on gifts to legislators of more than $25, and a ban on lobbyists paying for legislators' meals.
The council plans to discuss other possible changes before issuing a final report of recommendations that the council expects to send to the General Assembly, which reconvenes May 10. It will then be up to legislators to decide whether to turn the recommendations into law.
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall formed the council this year to address loopholes she and open government advocates see in the state's lobbying laws. One of the biggest, they say, allows lobbyists and their clients to keep secret any meals, travel, entertainment and other gifts that they give to legislators so long as no specific legislation is discussed.
Some of those undisclosed "goodwill" perks included a lobbyist's paying for some expenses for the Senate Democrats' caucus at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro in December 2002, and ACC basketball tournament tickets provided by UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University.
A proposal to end the loophole drew just one complaint: Rep. Danny McComas, a Wilmington Republican, said it should also cover lobbying of judicial and governor's administration officials. He was the sole opponent to the proposal, while the other legislator at the meeting, Rep. Pryor Gibson, a Montgomery County Democrat, did not vote.
The group also voted to end an exemption lobbyists and their clients now have that lets them keep from disclosing legislators they spent money on if there were 10 or more in the group.
In the first half of last year, lobbyists and those they represent reported spending about $120,000 on dinners, gifts and other lobbying expenses.
Much of the debate Wednesday centered on what constituted influence buying. Should inexpensive, innocuous items such as calendars and paperweights be banned when they curry no favor with legislators? Would a regional association of Head Start programs have to discontinue a breakfast with local legislators?
Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby, for example, spoke in favor of banning all gifts to legislators, but he changed his position after Gibson brought in a few cheap trinkets.
Gene Nichol, the chairman of the 20-member council and dean of UNC-CH's law school, said Wednesday's meeting suggests there is a consensus for tightening up the rules governing lobbying.
"It's stronger than I thought, originally," he said. "I thought you could take this group and split them down the middle, based on what they did for a living."
April 8, 2004
News & Observer
By JANE STANCILL
© Copyright 2004
CHAPEL HILL -- Fraternity houses at UNC-Chapel Hill should be among the safest anywhere.
They've spent millions on renovations in recent years, adding sophisticated sprinkler systems and fire alarms.
But lately, the Chapel Hill Fire Department has encountered scary reminders of the dangers within the majestic mansions.
On Feb. 26, fire officials almost didn't believe their eyes when they arrived at the Sigma Chi house. Frat brothers were shoveling several tons of wood chips into their basement for a beach party. The fire department gave an order -- remove the highly combustible wood chips by 5 p.m. or we'll shut you down.
The next day, firefighters found something perhaps even more disturbing at another house: Plastic foam cups were placed over alarm sensors to keep them from going off during a smoke-filled party.
The location: Phi Gamma Delta, where five UNC-CH students died in a Mother's Day fire eight years ago. That fire started with a smoldering cigarette in a trash can hours after a graduation party.
For Dan Jones, Chapel Hill's fire chief, the latest lapses are heartbreaking. "You fight this battle to protect them from themselves," he said.
The fire department and the university called Greek leaders to a special session last week to warn them about their safety records.
Deputy Fire Chief Caprice Mellon noted that today's college freshmen were in elementary school when the Phi Gam fire made national headlines. "They don't have any memory of it," she said. "We see a lot of apathy about fire safety in Greek housing."
The 1996 fire led to some of the most stringent Greek housing regulations in the nation. All fraternity houses must have sprinkler systems, each must have a designated student fire marshal, and fire safety training is done each semester. Educational sessions feature a film about the Phi Gam disaster.
The fire department also watches closely. Inspectors tour the common areas of houses each semester, though they aren't allowed to go into private rooms.
This spring, there were 102 violations at fraternities, down from 263 in the fall. Fire inspectors find fewer problems at sororities, where adult house mothers live.
Eddie Thomas, president of Kappa Sigma fraternity, says Greek leaders at UNC-CH are conscientious about fire safety. His house, which reopened last year after a renovation, had a perfect inspection in February.
"I think we're more aware than ever," he said.
But problems occur because fraternity officers change year to year, and new members have to learn what constitutes a fire violation, Thomas said. Inspection reports also can be "nit-picky," he added.
Others have raised questions about the consistency of the fire department's inspections.
"If one guy is noting it and another guy is not, it gets to be difficult to be compliant," said Jim Tatum, a Durham lawyer and chairman of the fraternity alumni advisers committee. "Our concern is [that] there be consistency so we can be consistently safe."
There will always be violations, Tatum said. "These kids are 18- to 22-year-olds. They're not perfect."
Still, he does not defend the recent behavior. He told fraternity members last week, "OK, let's don't get sloppy about this. We've made a lot of progress."
Warning letters
Jay Anhorn, director of UNC-CH Greek Affairs, said the university sends out warning letters to groups with an excessive number of fire violations.
"The best we can do is constantly educate and hold those accountable when they do make a mistake," he said.
Ultimately, though, the houses are owned by private corporations and don't fall under control of the university. At N.C. State University, about half the Greek houses are owned by the university and graduate students act as live-in monitors. Duke's fraternities and sororities are based in dormitories on campus.
Fire officials say the UNC-CH fraternities sometimes send any available members to the training sessions to avoid a $50 fine. Fire marshals also tend to turn over often.
Andrew Bridges, fire marshal at Sigma Alpha Epsilon, has held that duty for two years. "I tend to spend a lot of time on it, because I think it's important," he said.
Some alarm systems are just too sensitive, and they go off frequently, Bridges said. Each time that happens, the house must be evacuated and the fire department responds. That has led SAE to ban smoking in common areas, he said.
Walker Rutherford, Interfraternity Council President, said everyone has heard of the Phi Gam fire. But at the same time, "everyone in college who's 18 has the mentality, 'This won't happen to me.' "
After the February incident with the foam cups, the student fire marshal at Phi Gam was charged with tampering with fire equipment. Coulter Warlick, the fraternity president, said nothing like that will happen again.
"Everyone in the house was just completely appalled by it," he said.
At the rebuilt Phi Gam today, photos of the brothers who died in 1996 hang on the wall, and a pool table is dedicated to their memory.
Capt. Doug Kelly of the fire department, who was at Phi Gam in 1996, takes a hard line with today's students.
"I don't ever want to have to bag another body," he said.
April 8, 2004
News & Observer
By JONATHAN B. COX
© Copyright 2004
Durham County leaders are offering as much as $1.5 million in incentives to win expansion of Cree's semiconductor business over rival sites outside the state.
The company, which employs about 1,000 people in Durham, is considering a plan to increase its headquarters and chip manufacturing space by about 45 percent. The action could create 300 jobs.
Though Cree was born from research at N.C. State University and built in the Triangle, it is considering several locations for its growing operations. Among those seeking to attract the expansion are China, Georgia and Virginia, according to a March 25 letter from the county to state Commerce Secretary Jim Fain.
Durham leaders are pressing North Carolina for a package of tax breaks and other assistance to keep Cree's operations local.
"We want to retain a good company in Durham," said Ellen W. Reckhow, chairwoman of the Durham County Board of Commissioners. "If we are in competition with other places, it does create more of an urgency."
The commissioners have tentatively offered incentives worth $1.5 million to Cree, which makes chips used to light mobile phones, car dashboards and electronic devices.
County officials were concerned that the state, which this week approved incentives worth as much as $39 million to lure a Merck & Co. plant to Durham, was taking too long on a plan for Cree, said Joe W. Bowser, vice chairman of the commissioners. That prompted the letter to Fain.
"You can be assured that the state is committed to working closely with Cree to support the growth and success of this company in North Carolina," Fain said in a statement. He declined to comment on specific proposals.
Cree Chief Executive Chuck Swoboda wouldn't say what incentives the company wants, or what offers it has received from other locations. But he said North Carolina is showing a "genuine interest" in Cree's expansion.
The company is seeking to add several enhancements to its complex on Silicon Drive. In a plan approved in December by the Durham City Council, it proposed a three-story office building, a two-story addition to a chip making plant, a new warehouse and larger waste-treatment facility.
Durham commissioners could reimburse Cree for site improvements. The state could offer tax breaks for new jobs, worker training, research and new machinery.
Bowser said that Durham, which was hurt as the economic slump prompted layoffs, can't afford to lose Cree's expansion.
"This one is just as important as Merck," he said. "We need those jobs."
Fayetteville-Based AIT Introduces Firewall, Monitoring Services
April 08, 2004
LocalTechWire; TMCnet; Business Wire; Web Host Directory; TopHosts.com
By reporter name, staff writer
© Copyright 2004
FAYETTEVILLE – AIT has released its two newest products—an individual server firewall and a monitoring service—and says the company is continuing to develop an anti-spam/anti-virus initiative.
The firewall software for dedicated customers means an extra layer of security on top of protection already on the AIT network, the company says.
"Digital businesses consistently cite data integrity as their primary concern," said Clarence Briggs, chief executive officer of AIT, which is based in Fayetteville.
AIT's monitoring service for dedicated servers comes in two levels: an interface so customers can self-monitor the demands placed on their servers, and a customer notification system if systems or services go offline.
"These solutions provide small business with technology that is normally reserved for the large corporations,” said Kirk deViere, chief operating officer of AIT, “and they are priced affordably at less than $30 per month.”
Those are the latest additions in what Briggs calls "the year of innovation" for AIT. "As the hosting industry matures, so have customer demands,” he says, “so it is vital to be pro-active in supporting our customers' businesses.”
So far in 2004, AIT already has introduced a series of dedicated hosting options starting at $49 per month, integrated PayPal into its e-commerce software MCart, launched a search engine placement offering in partnership with Kanoodle, and formed partnerships with N.C. State University's Computer Training Unit and Fayetteville Technical Community College.
AIT also has integrated .NET and Cold Fusion hosting support into shared and dedicated offerings. Later this month, it is hosting an ASP.NET conference through the Microsoft Certified Partner Program and .ASP Hoster Program.
IBM Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of Mainframe; Invention Put RTP On Map
April 7, 2004
WRAL-TV
By Valonda Calloway
© Copyright 2004
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- What IBM created 40 years ago was a huge contraption only for businesses, but it led to the kind of computers many people cannot live without today. It also led to an explosion of growth in what used to be a wooded area, Research Triangle Park.
In 2004, people often deal with laptops, pagers, palm pilots or IBM Think Pads. But 40 years ago, cutting-edge technology included IBM's first mass-produced commercial mainframe.
"For the engineer who worked on that project, this was a whole new step, a new evolution in the way computers were being done," said Greg Moore, IBM director of development.
IBM is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the mainframe and everything it led to.
"It affects our everyday life. It's in your car. The car has lots of computer parts these days, so everything you do, all we touch is influenced by this," Moore said.
The mainframe also led to the growth of Research Triangle Park.
"The whole notion that North Carolina was a place for new technology didn't really become reality until IBM came," said James Roberson, of the Research Triangle Park Foundation.
IBM needed additional manufacturing capacity for the new mainframe and chose to locate in the fledgling RTP in 1965.
"What that said to the rest of the corporate world and certainly the government was that this is a place that has unusual resources," Roberson said. "We have these three great research universities that IBM was able to relate to, hire grads from, faculty involved from UNC, N.C. State and Duke."
IBM's mainframe ranged from nearly $3,000 to $115,000 a month. Today's Thinkpad is under $1,000.
Research Triangle Park was nothing more than a pipedream in the early 1950s when a committee was formed to work on a research area between the Triangle's three major universities. In 1957, the park was officially born, when an investor bought 35 acres of land for $700,000.
Those original 3,500 acres have since doubled in size. The park stretches 8 miles long and it is 2 miles wide. More than 130 organizations call RTP home, including the original tenant, the Research Triangle Institute, which opened in 1959. It is the same group that now has employees in Iraq, helping the country rebuild.
Within 10 years, RTP had 21 companies. By 1979, that number grew to 38. By 1989, 56 companies were located at RTP.
During the high-tech boom of the 1990s, 42 companies came to the area. Combined, the companies in the park occupy 19 million square feet of space, which is times the amount of space in Raleigh's current convention center.
IBM is still the park's largest employer with about 13,000 workers. Glaxo, Nortel, Cisco and the EPA round out the top five biggest employers. Forty percent of the park's businesses employ fewer than 10 people.
Economist Forecasts More Tobacco Quota Declines
April 7, 2004
Associated Press; WRAL-TV; Charlotte Observer; Greensboro News & Record; News & Observer; Wilmington Morning Star; WCNC, NC; WVEC, Va; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL
By staff writer
© Copyright 2004
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Increases in the Brazilian tobacco crop and a growing crop in China are cutting into future tobacco quotas for farmers in the United States, an agricultural economist says.
Tobacco growers already have had the amount of leaf they grow cut by half since 1997. They could have another 33 percent cut in quota for 2005 and lose another $200 million in income in North Carolina, said Blake Brown, an agricultural economist at N.C. State University.
Barring a federal buyout of tobacco quotas, an unforeseen buyer of stabilization reserves or a weather-related crop failure, "the big picture is that we're headed for a very difficult situation," Brown said.
In a forecast circulated this week, Brown said Brazil's tobacco crop grew by 40 percent this year to 1.49 billion pounds, which is three times the level of U.S. production.
"Global supplies of flue-cured tobacco will be generous this year, putting downward pressure on global prices and upward pressure on U.S. stabilization receipts. As a result, U.S. exports are expected to decline more and U.S. imports of flue-cured are expected to increase," Brown wrote.
Since 1997, U.S. production of flue-cured tobacco has decreased from 1 billion to 500 million pounds. During that same time period, production in Brazil has increased from 947 million to almost 1.5 billion pounds, he said.
In addition, he said, U.S. tobacco growers could get new competition from growers in China.
"Failure to achieve a tobacco buyout that allows the price of U.S. tobacco to decline likely will result in (the) emergence of China as a significant source for premium style flue-cured tobacco for internal use in China's growing premium-cigarette market and perhaps for export," Brown wrote.
If cigarette makers buy the same amount of leaf this year as they did last year, about 20 percent of the 2004 crop - or about 102 million pounds - will go into stabilization reserves. Those pounds would count against the amount that farmers can grow in 2005, he said.
Brown predicted a 2005 quota of 317 million pounds, a decline of more than 33 percent from the 482 million pounds that U.S. farmers are allowed to grow this year and less than one-third of what they could grow in 1997.
Farm receipts in North Carolina from tobacco sales declined from $1.19 billion in 1997 to $600 million in 2003. A 30 percent reduction in 2005 could cut receipts by another $200 million, he wrote.
Farm leaders said the forecast was another indication of the collapse of the Depression-era quota system and repeated calls for a buyout of tobacco quotas.
"If we have a 30 percent cut, the United States is no longer a predictable and reliable source of tobacco," said Peter Daniel, the assistant to the president at N.C. Farm Bureau.
"This underscores why a total and complete buyout of the tobacco-quota system is needed this year. The whole system is facing collapse."
Agency Seeking Applications For Conservation Workshop
April 7, 2004
Southern Pines Pilot
By staff writer
© Copyright 2004
The Moore County Soil and Water Conservation District Board is offering an opportunity for a Moore County student to learn about conservation through a five-day workshop.
The study will focus on management of wildlife and fisheries, soils, forests, water quality, nonagricultural uses for soils and watershed management. The Resource Conservation Workshop, scheduled June 25-July 2, consists of classes at N.C. State University and field trips in Wake County.
Sponsorship and fees will be the responsibility of the Moore SWCD.
A rising junior or senior interested in natural resource conservation will be eligible to attend. High school graduates are not eligible.
“This is a week of intensive study requiring a student with advanced maturity,” said a spokesman for the Moore Soil and Water Conservation District.
An examination will be given on the final day of the workshop.
Those attaining the highest scores will receive an award, with first- and second-place scorers receiving a college scholarship.
All applications must be received in the Soil and Water Conservation District office by April 14.
Applications should be mailed to the district office at P.O. Box 908, Carthage 28327. Questions may be answered by calling the office at 947-5183, extension 3.
District board members will make the Moore County selection after the April 14 deadline.
Do yourself a locally grown favor
April 7, 2004
The Charlotte Observer
By Suzanne Havala, staff writer
© Copyright 2004 The Charlotte Observer.
Do a farmer a favor and do yourself one at the same time. This spring, buy locally grown produce from small N.C. farms.
Small farmers need your support, and their fruits and vegetables are vital for your health.
Locally grown, seasonal fruits and vegetables are more nutritious because they come to your table within a day of being picked. That preserves vitamins that otherwise deteriorate in the days it takes foods to be shipped across country and stocked in supermarkets.
Plus, fresh, in-season foods just taste better. Produce trucked cross-country is often picked before it's ripe. Think about the difference in flavor between a hothouse tomato and one vine-ripened in your back yard.
So where can you get locally grown produce? Several places, including mini farmers markets brought right to your workplace.
I've talked about CSA farms in past columns. CSA stands for "community supported agriculture." Residents pay a local farmer a predetermined amount of money up front. In return, they get a portion of the harvest through the growing season.
Lists of CSA farms in North Carolina are available at the N.C. State University Cooperative Extension Web site: www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/csafarms.html, and through the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association at www.carolinafarmstewards.org.
Another good bet, of course, is a farmers market. North Carolina has permanent, state-sponsored markets in Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, the Piedmont Triad area, and Lumberton.
Information about the hours and locations of these markets is online at www.ncagr.com/markets/facilit/farmark.
In addition to state-sponsored markets, there are independent farmers markets, tailgate markets and roadside stands throughout many communities.
Now, there's another choice.
A direct marketing initiative run by the N.C. Department of Agriculture can bring a farmers market directly to you.
"We call it the `mini mobile farmers market,' " said Freda Butner, registered dietitian and nutrition marketing specialist for the NCDA in Raleigh.
"The idea is to reach more people with local produce, help support small farmers, and improve nutrition for groups who can't get fresh produce readily," Butner said.
This spring, mini markets will target hospitals, senior centers, retirement communities and nursing homes. A market set up at Duke Medical Center in Durham has grown from once a month to two to three times a week since its start in 2001.
Butner says organizations have to experiment to test the demand.
"The first day at Duke was a flop," said Butner. "It was snowing in April. After that, it took off."
Butner says mini markets can be set up to meet any size demand or even to coincide with special events, such as an employee appreciation day, Fourth of July bash, or a theme day. Cooking demos also can be arranged.
Butner will help organize and coordinate mini farmers markets at the outset, until an organization can put a facility organizer in place. She also helps with marketing and advertising.
In addition to bringing farmers markets to organizations, Butner also helps food service operations, including cafeterias at hospitals and senior centers, find sources of local produce.
"We're interested in providing the same service directly from the farmer to the food service organization," Butner said.
Consider working through your workplace to set up a mini farmers market. You'll do yourself, your co-workers and local farmers some good.
NCSU and CED Team to Highlight University Resources for Entrepreneurs
April 8, 2004
dBusinessNews
By staff writer
© Copyright 2004
Research Triangle Park – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) are hosting a special luncheon for industry executives, venture capitalists and science and technology entrepreneurs on April 30 at NCSU’s College of Agriculture & Life Sciences. The luncheon’s goal is to continue discussions that started during a collaborative event in September 2003 hosted by CED and NCSU’s Economic Development Partnership (EDP) – a function of the Office of Extension and Engagement.
"CED's continued partnership with N.C. State will increase awareness of university resources and also help lay the groundwork for future collaborations between entrepreneurial companies and faculty," said CED President Monica Doss. "North Carolina’s leading universities -- including N.C. State -- are answering the charge to become more involved in economic development and entrepreneurship."
During the kick-off event in September 2003, over 100 members of the entrepreneurial community heard comments from NCSU Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, CED Chairman Les Bethune and other university leaders on ways that entrepreneurs could take advantage of university resources. The event also featured concurrent focus sessions where leaders of individual NCSU colleges and campus units met with attendees to share specific activities, resources and collaborative opportunities in their area.
After receiving positive feedback from this program, NCSU and CED decided to organize a series of follow-up luncheons at specific NCSU colleges to allow university and business leaders to discuss opportunities in more detail. In addition to the April 30 event at the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, future luncheons are being planned at College of Physical & Mathematical Sciences and at other NCSU colleges.
For more details on this event and other upcoming luncheons, contact CED’s Corey Waters at cwaters@cednc.org or 919.549.7500 x125.
About NCSU’s Economic Development Partnership: NC State University, a land grant institution for the New Economy, delivers significant economic and social benefits through provision of knowledge and technology-based solutions to government, industry and the private sector. Funded research combined with teaching and extension produces innovations, which when transferred and commercialized, results in knowledge and wealth creation. Results include more competitive manufacturers, expanded resident corporate R&D, more local high-growth companies, increased technology commercialization and empowered communities throughout North Carolina.
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, located in Research Triangle Park, NC, is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in the greater Research Triangle region. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and monthly programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2004, is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 3,500 members representing 1,000 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. www.cednc.org
Trusting instincts is important
April 8, 2004
News & Observer
By SAMIHA KHANNA
© Copyright 2004
Recent student-led rallies were sparked by police reports that two women at Duke University were attacked in the same weekend last month -- one of them raped.
At first blush, the numbers reported to campus police look small: Other than the attacks this year, Duke had only one rape reported in the previous academic year; N.C. State University reports one sexual assault this year and three rapes in 2003; UNC-Chapel Hill has had no reports of rape or sexual assault this year.
But experts say because a majority of sexual assaults involve acquaintances, survivors will often seek counseling but will not file a criminal report. So statistics from organizations that assist victims tell a different story.
Interact's counseling work isn't confined to college campuses, but the Raleigh organization assisted 937 victims of sexual assault last year and more than 200 people so far this year, a spokesman said.
Because the majority of sex offenders target victims they know, the best prevention is to trust your instincts about people and situations, said Amy Wilkinson, coordinator for the Durham Crisis Response Center, a nonprofit resource for victims.
Relationships in which one person is controlling, insulting and doesn't respect "no" could be a sign of things to come, she said. If someone makes unwanted sexual advances, the victim should speak up immediately.
"We're conditioned to be polite, but politeness needs to go out the window if your instinct tells you something feels funny," Wilkinson said.
Prevention, such as locking doors and walking in groups after dark, can reduce the risk of attack, but such suggestions place the burden on the victim to stop something that is not in his or her control, she said.
Some targets of sexual assault have fought back and won. The most important thing to remember if you're attacked is not to freeze in fear, said Kathy Hopwood, founder of SafeSkills, a self-defense and martial arts center in Durham.
Hopwood said certain self-defense tips that have been popularly recommended aren't realistic, such as gouging an attacker's eye.
She also doesn't recommend trying to fend off an attacker by pushing two or three fingers into the depression at the base of an attacker's throat and pushing until the attacker chokes.
"In high-adrenaline mode, you have to think of things simply," Hopwood said.
Having taught self-defense since 1977, Hopwood instructs her students to first shout loudly to get their adrenaline flowing so they can better respond to the threat.
Then, a swift hit to a vulnerable area -- eye, nose or kneecap -- can be enough to escape, she said.
Also, the victim should make as much noise as possible and keep in mind that people respond well to directions in times of crisis. Instead of yelling for help, victims should yell for someone to call 911, Hopwood said.
If the victim is unable to escape the assault, he or she should avoid showering or changing clothes before reporting to police, Wilkinson said.
April 8, 2004
News & Observer
By LORENZO PEREZ
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH -- N.C. State's football team will give up the swoosh of Nike for the stripes of adidas this fall.
The university's athletics department is poised to sign a deal with the athletics apparel company that would provide uniforms, shoes and workout gear for coach Chuck Amato's team, N.C. State and adidas officials said Wednesday.
Financial details on the proposed three-year contract were not made available, but N.C. State senior associate athletics director David Horning said the deal is worth at least five times the amount that Nike provided the football team. That contract, which is set to expire, provided the team with about $38,500 in apparel and equipment each year, Horning said.
"This is pretty good for one sport," Horning said Wednesday.
Officials from adidas are scheduled to visit N.C. State next week to finalize the contract, which will include a personal apparel contract for Amato that's similar to the adidas deal that provides N.C. State men's basketball coach Herb Sendek about $200,000.
"We're all going forward with this," Amato said earlier this week. "It was the best thing for the athletics department to do what we're doing."
The men's basketball team and the Wolfpack soccer, track and field and cross country teams already have apparel contracts with adidas, but the university does not have an all-sports agreement with the company.
Three years ago, North Carolina signed an eight-year, $28.34 million all-sports contract with Nike that was believed to be among the most lucrative in college sports. Six universities, including Notre Dame, Tennessee and Nebraska, have all-sports deals with adidas to outfit all of their athletic teams.
"We're getting in pretty good company with those teams," said Horning, who added that N.C. State had not ruled out discussing an all-sports deal with adidas.
Travis Gonzolez, public relations manager for adidas USA, said Wednesday that "there are more benefits now than there have ever been" to all-sports deals with universities.
"I don't know if specific conversations have taken place," Gonzolez said of the likelihood of an exclusive all-sports deal with N.C. State. "I definitely think, as we move down the road, that would be more of a consideration."
Before adidas can consider expanding its commitment to N.C. State teams, it must first keep Sendek and men's basketball within the fold. The company's apparel contract with Sendek is set to expire in about three months, N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler said.
One of Sendek's main contacts at adidas, Sonny Vaccaro, has since gone to work for Reebok. Attempts to reach Vaccaro and Reebok officials to gauge their interest in outfitting N.C. State men's basketball were unsuccessful Wednesday.
However, adidas hopes to renew its contract with Sendek and his team, the only ACC men's team outfitted by the company.
"N.C. State has been a great partner in basketball," Gonzolez said.
April 2, 2004
Science
© Copyright 2004 Science.
Geneticist Trudy Mackay of North Carolina State University in Raleigh received the Genetics Society of America Medal last week for her work on the genetic and environmental factors affecting variation in complex traits.
Letter: Ongoing Controversy over Pfiesteria
April 2, 2004
Science
© Copyright 2004 Science.
Readers of J. Kaiser's article "The Pfiesteria conundrum: More study, less certainty" (News of the Week, 2 Jan., p. 25) may have missed the fact that there is more certainty, not less, about the toxic microbe Pfiesteria. Some Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) scientists and their collaborators had earlier concluded that Pfiesteria as a whole is not toxigenic and only physically attacks fish (1, 2), based on one strain of P. shumwayae, CCMP2089. Yet Pfiesteria has nontoxic as well as toxic strains (3), and expression of toxicity by toxic strains depends on culture conditions (4). Other laboratories have now shown that when cultured and tested appropriately (5, 6), strain CCMP2089 is ichthyotoxic.
Kaiser states that I declined to send these VIMS scientists toxic Pfiesteria culture. I had offered to provide them toxic culture and to show them how to grow it to express toxicity, if they would support the cost. Kaiser also describes me as not providing toxic Pfiesteria to the research community in general, although I have provided it to more than 40 scientists.
Kaiser does not mention the two recent publications on Pfiesteria effects on fish and mammals: A highly toxic Pfiesteria strain killed shellfish larvae as a toxic effect, without physical contact (7), and Pfiesteria toxin caused hippocampal damage in rats (8). Kaiser mentions only an unpublished study that, logically, found no evidence of health impacts from Pfiesteria because there were no toxic Pfiesteria blooms during the study.
Kaiser credits the VIMS scientists (1) for having found that Pfiesteria can kill larval finfish by physical attack, which colleagues and I had earlier published [(4), p. 200], and she asserts that I have attributed fish death from Pfiesteria only to toxin. I have described physical attack and toxin as important interactive factors [(9), p. 672].
Kaiser reports only negative findings about Pfiesteria amoebae. She mentions a study by Litaker et al. (10), who did not find amoebae in two P. piscicida strains (cultures 2 to 10 years old, of uncertain toxicity status) and, on that basis, concluded that the species does not form amoebae. She does not mention a peer-reviewed paper (11) with corrective information: Amoebae are minor to the toxicity issue; toxin is produced mostly by flagellated stages. Cultured toxic strains mostly have formed amoebae within the first few months after field isolation, and nontoxic strains rarely form amoebae. Kaiser describes a workshop presentation by P. Gillevet (VA Commonwealth Univ.), who did not find Pfiesteria amoebae in some estuarine sediments. She does not mention recent research from an international conference presentation: P. Rublee (University of North Carolina) tested estuarine sediments and obtained a positive signal for Pfiesteria by PCR. Amoebae from those sediments were cloned by my laboratory, cultured for eight weeks with cryptophyte prey in the absence of other Pfiesteria stages, and sent to Rublee, who confirmed them as Pfiesteria amoebae with PCR. Rublee then amplified and cloned 18S rDNA fragments, which were sequenced by another laboratory. The amoebae sequence was a perfect match to the sequence for P. piscicida zoospores (12).
Kaiser consistently fails to include new findings that are actually about toxic Pfiesteria, or does not emphasize their significance. The facts remain: Pfiesteria species have toxic strains. Their toxin adversely affects fish and mammals (5-8, 13). Further study is important, because it will provide the tools needed by resource managers and public health officials to mitigate impacts when there are more toxic Pfiesteria blooms.
JoAnn Burkholder
Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology,
North Carolina State University,
620 Hutton Street,
Suite 104,
Raleigh, NC 27606,
USA.
Regents support Fox for UCSD position
April 8, 2004
UCLA Daily Bruin
By Adam Foxman
© Copyright 2004
North Carolina State University Chancellor Marye Anne Fox was harshly reprimanded by the NCSU faculty senate last year, but this past conflict has not made the University of California Board of Regents hesitant to support her as the next chancellor of UC San Diego.
The regents are expected to confirm Fox as the new chancellor of UC San Diego in a special meeting April 12.
When news media discovered last week that Fox would be UC President Dynes' nominee for the San Diego chancellorship, her censure by the North Carolina faculty senate surfaced as a possible demerit on her otherwise strong résumé.
But both North Carolina faculty and the UC Regents agree that Fox learned from her mistakes and would make an excellent chancellor for UCSD.
In 2003, Fox fired two well-respected vice provosts and her provost resigned in protest. Soon afterward, the NCSU faculty senate voted 29-6 to reprimand her for her actions.
According to Philip Carter, past chair of the NCSU faculty senate, the senate's strong action was largely a result of the instability Fox's actions created in the provost's office.
"We were looking at our seventh provost in four and a half years," Carter said. "The faculty was quite upset at the lack of stability in that office, since the provost coordinates (many) of the academic programs."
Turmoil in the NCSU provost's office began to build soon after Fox took office.
When Fox became chancellor, she asked Phillip Stilles, the provost at the time, to resign. This was not a controversial move – Carter said the faculty assumed she wanted one of her own people in the office.
But concern about instability in the provost's office grew when the next provost, Kermin Hall, left after less than a year to become president of another university.
Then, when Stuart Cooper – the sixth provost, counting interim provosts – resigned after Fox fired his subordinates against his wishes, it was "the last straw," Carter said.
Though her faculty criticized her actions in extremely strong terms, faculty senators at NCSU say their relationship with the chancellor has improved since the censure.
"Chancellor Fox has put much more effort into building relations with the faculty this past year. She has devoted a great deal of time to listening to faculty leaders," said Dennis Daley, chairman of the NCSU Faculty Senate.
"I think she has learned from the mistakes of the past and is a better chancellor for it," Carter said.
"Personally, I would be happy to have her stay here," he added.
Several of the UC Regents said they are well aware of Fox's past, and they expect Fox to be confirmed without conflict.
"I do not expect any debate," said regent Velma Montoya, adding that Fox's decisive action could even be a mark in her favor.
"We are sure that she will do an excellent job at San Diego, and that she will work ... productively with the faculty senate in San Diego," said George Blumenthal, vice-chair of the UC Academic Senate, and a member of the search committee for the UCSD chancellorship.
Fox had never been a chancellor before she took the helm of NCSU, but there is universal agreement about the strength of her résumé.
In a letter to the UCSD community, UC President Dynes called Fox "one of the nation's most distinguished physical organic chemists," and before serving as chancellor of NCSU, she was vice president for research at the University of Texas, Austin.
Fox is also a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and she has received a national award for mentoring graduate students.
In addition, President Dynes' recommendation is very influential.
"As far as I understand, it is unusual to have the person that the president recommends not selected by the regents," said Matt Murray, student regent for 2003-2004.
Scientists question reports of massive ant supercolonies in California and Europe
April 8, 2004
Innovations Report; ScienceBlog.com; EurekAlert, DC
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
A team of California scientists made headlines four years ago when it reported finding one of the largest insect colonies in the world - a 600-mile-long subterranean network of Argentine ants stretching from Northern California to the Mexican border. According to the researchers, this "supercolony" is made up of billions of closely related workers - all direct descendants of a small group of Argentine ants that were accidentally introduced into California more than a century ago.
But new studies by Stanford University scientists are raising serious doubts about the existence of a single supercolony running through the Golden State. The Stanford team questions the notion that Los Angeles ants are descended from the same founding population as San Francisco ants, which live 400 miles away. A more likely explanation, they say, is that California has been infested by numerous colonies of genetically distinct Argentine ants during the last 100 years.
Challenging the supercolony paradigm is more than an academic exercise, says Stanford biologist Deborah M. Gordon. Argentine ants have had a major impact in many parts of the world, she says, and understanding how they reproduce and colonize is essential if scientists hope to develop realistic strategies that will keep their populations in check.
"Our data show that it’s not the case that the whole California coastline is one genetically homogenous supercolony," says Gordon, a professor of biological sciences. "We find a lot of genetic diversity here, which indicates that there were probably many introductions in the past."
An authority on ant behavior, Gordon has spent more than 20 years studying native and invasive species, including the Argentine ant, or Linepithema humile, which has displaced many of California’s indigenous ant species since it was first introduced in the state around 1900.
Common scents
For years, Gordon and other scientists have tried to figure out why these tiny invaders are such remarkably successful colonizers, not only in the United States but also in the Mediterranean and other parts of the world.
In May 2000, biologist Neil D. Tsutsui and his colleagues from the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) came up with an apparent solution (for California, at least). Their results, published in the May 2000 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), were based on genetic and behavioral experiments on worker ants in California and Argentina.
In field studies conducted in Argentina, the Tsutsui team observed that ants taken from different nests often fought when placed side by side in an experimental vial. But in California, the scientists found that ants rarely engaged in combat, even if they were collected from nests hundreds of miles apart.
Why would workers in Argentina exhibit intercolony aggression but their California cousins behave so downright friendly? The Tsutsui team turned to genetics for an answer. Previous studies of other ant species have shown that insects from the same colony don’t fight among themselves, because each one carries a common scent identifying it as a nestmate.
Could it be that laid-back California ants are all members of the same family, while aggressive workers in Argentina engage in territorial battles because they belong to different colonies that are genetically distinct?
To find out, the UCSD scientists compared the DNA of workers in California and Argentina by focusing their attention on microsatellites - short sequences of DNA that occur in unique patterns that are passed down from generation to generation. Unlike genes, microsatellites are nonfunctional and carry no genetic information that would affect the ant’s development or behavior. But because microsatellite patterns are inherited, scientists use them as genetic markers to determine if individuals from different populations are related.
Laboratory analysis by the UCSD team revealed that ants in Argentina had more than twice as much microsatellite variation in their DNA than ants from California. As a result of their greater genetic diversity, ants from different nests in Argentina do not recognize each other as family and therefore display territorial aggression, the researchers concluded.
But in California, all of the ants must be closely related because they’re so genetically alike, according to the UCSD scientists. That would explain why California workers hardly ever fight with one another - even if they’re from opposite ends of the state.
"We found that if ants are not genetically similar, they are typically aggressive toward each other," said Tsutsui, who is now on the faculty at the University of California-Irvine. He explained that the loss of genetic diversity in the California population probably began a century ago, when the state was invaded by a small population of Argentine ants whose offspring have continued to work cooperatively ever since.
"California’s Argentine ants are very genetically similar, probably because they share a common ancestry," Tsutsui said. "There had to have been at least 10 mated queens in the founding population a century ago, but it could have been much larger. It would be as if all of the people in the United States were descended from the Pilgrims who came here in 1620."
Instead of fighting, Tsutsui explained, each new generation of California ants works as a team - gathering food, wiping out competitors and building new nests year after year. The result: an enormous supercolony that currently extends from San Diego to Ukiah.
These findings "suggest a possible control strategy for the Argentine ant," Tsutsui and his co-authors wrote in PNAS. Their proposal: Consider introducing genetically unrelated colonies of Argentine ants into California to compete with the supercolony. By aggressively defending their territory, these new colonies "should decrease the density of Argentine ants, allowing native ant species to compete more effectively, thereby facilitating the recovery of invaded ecosystems," the scientists offered.
Genetic barriers
But introducing more unwanted ants into California is not a solution, say Gordon and her colleagues, arguing that there are major flaws in the supercolony theory.
"There’s a perception out there in the public eye that Argentine ants cover this wide, uninterrupted swath from San Diego to San Francisco," said postdoctoral fellow Krista K. Ingram. "But we’ve found that there are breaks in their distribution and barriers they do not cross."
In a study published in the journal Ecology last November, Ingram and Gordon analyzed the DNA of 768 ants collected from 48 nests in and around Stanford’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, a 1,200-acre research site located in the foothills above the main campus. The preserve is bounded by Sand Hill Road and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) - two imposing barriers, from an ant’s point of view. The SLAC facility is 1.9 miles long, 30 feet tall and 45 feet deep - a particularly formidable obstacle for an insect only an eighth of an inch long.
Using microsatellite data, Ingram and Gordon found obvious genetic differences between nests located inside the preserve and those on the opposite side of SLAC and Sand Hill Road, less than 300 feet away. These results contradict the UCSD study, which found genetic similarity up and down the California coast.
"How can they be genetically homogenous across wide, wide scales, when they’re not even genetically homogenous across hundreds of meters?" asked Nicole E. Heller, a graduate student in the Gordon lab who has conducted field research in Argentina and California.
"We suspect that the reason we got different results is that the UCSD lab relied on DNA microsatellite markers that look virtually the same in Argentine ants throughout California," Gordon noted. "In our study, we added different markers that are more variable, which made it easier to detect genetic variation among different colonies."
The genetic work at Jasper Ridge shows that there are definite barriers to gene flow, Heller added. "We’ve also found that the distribution of Argentine ants on Jasper Ridge is patchy," she noted. "There are places where you just don’t find any, so it’s not like they’re blanketing the entire state."
While agreeing that there are "big gaps" in the California population, Tsutsui maintained that the Jasper Ridge study did nothing to undermine the notion of a statewide supercolony.
"The big supercolony in California extends for almost 1,000 kilometers [600 miles]," he said. "Although it is not continuous throughout this length, it is technically a single big colony, because workers can be freely exchanged among different nests without triggering any aggression. That is, throughout this 1,000 kilometers, virtually all the nests that we looked at did not display territorial behavior toward each other."
But, asked Gordon, does it really matter if an ant in San Diego doesn’t fight with an ant in San Francisco, if they will never actually encounter each other in nature? "The UCSD lab argues that the lack of aggression among California ants can be explained by the lack of microsatellite variation," she said. "But our Jasper Ridge study revealed plenty of variation, so how can we say that genetic differences have anything to do with aggression?"
European ’union’
The Stanford study at Jasper Ridge reinforced an April 2002 PNAS study by European scientists, who reported unearthing an even bigger Argentine ant supercolony stretching from Portugal to Italy along the Mediterranean coast - a distance of about 3,500 miles. Unlike the UCSD researchers, the European team found a great deal of microsatellite diversity in the Mediterranean supercolony but also observed very little aggression among nests. How did they explain this?
"The argument by the European group ran like this," Gordon said. "The reason ants in the Mediterranean don’t fight is that, although they are genetically diverse, they have lost the diversity in the genes that are involved in recognition and thus don’t recognize each other as different. This runs counter to the argument made by the UCSD lab - that California ants don’t fight because they’re related and therefore don’t recognize each other as different."
The European and UCSD groups did agree on one point: The lack of aggression within the supercolony is the main reason Argentine ants have been more successful in the Mediterranean and California than in their native Argentina, where frequent territorial battles have kept the population in check.
But Gordon and her colleagues have found evidence contradicting that neat explanation. Heller, for example, has documented instances of both cooperation and combat among colonies in California. And in Argentina - where fighting prevails, according to the UCSD group - Heller observed widespread cooperation among densely populated colonies. Her findings raised questions about the hypothesis that aggressive ants have managed to keep Argentina’s native population in check.
"So it’s not simply a matter of native-versus-introduced or genetic diversity," Ingram said. "There are also ecological factors contributing to the ants’ success."
Gordon agreed, pointing to an experiment by North Carolina State University in which researchers were able to turn nonaggressive nestmates into combatants simply by changing their diet.
"It seems really clear that aggression in Argentine ants, as in most ants, is related to how they smell, and that seems to be related to food or environmental influences," Gordon noted. "Again, there isn’t any evidence that there’s any relationship between microsatellite diversity and aggression."
Science and media
Gordon and her coworkers maintain that too many researchers have accepted the supercolony theory without carefully scrutinizing the data. The Stanford team also is troubled by the recent spate of news reports in major American and European media presenting the supercolony theory as unquestioned fact.
"The image of a homogenous, continuous supercolony overshadows the important questions about invasive Argentine ants: specifically, where they’re actually invading, where they can’t invade and what happens after they invade," Ingram explained.
"This story has really captured the imagination of the public, and it’s somewhat frustrating," Heller said. "But it’s such a neat story, people sometimes don’t want to hear conflicting evidence."
Added Gordon: "I think real ants are much more interesting than the stories we make up about ants. We’d have better stories to tell if we started with the actual data."
Merck CEO Says Pharmaceutical Giant Ready to Start Work on Durham, N.C., Plant
Apr. 07, 2004
Miami Herald; N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
Four months after a special legislative session put together a package to lure pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. to Durham, the deal is done. And it's going to cost about $2.7 million more than the state had estimated.
Gov. Mike Easley was joined by Merck CEO Ray Gilmartin for the announcement Tuesday morning in the State Capitol's Old House Chambers. A few hours later, Gilmartin, talking to more than 100 Triangle pharmaceutical and health-care executives at a luncheon at the North Raleigh Hilton, said it had been important for Merck's new plant to be in the center of a research and innovation hub.
"Now, we're anxious to get going to build that plant," Gilmartin said. "We need the capacity."
The plant, which is expected to eventually employ about 200 in Durham's Treyburn Corporate Park, will make existing childhood vaccines against mumps, measles, rubella and chicken pox.
Merck had hoped to begin site preparation last month but was held up as state officials worked out the details of new incentive applications. The five-member economic investment committee approved Merck's first two applications -- for grants totaling $28.1 million -- at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Over the next four to five years, Merck will apply for another $11.3 million in incentives, including tax credits, tax refunds and worker training. That's about $2.7 million more than the state had projected after the legislature approved a site improvement and development program during a special session in December.
At the news conference in the State Capitol, Easley backed the incentive package by saying "securing this project will enhance North Carolina's international reputation in … [biopharmaceuticals] and catalyze new growth in the state."
Michael L. Walden, an economist at North Carolina State University, agreed.
"It's the industry many think the economy is going to build around," Walden said. "I don't know of anyone who likes using incentives, but realistically most states do, and if North Carolina is going to be in the hunt for industries, the prudent use of incentives money" has to be considered.
Durham isn't the only community that will benefit from the plant. Wilson, home to an oral drug plant that Merck opened there in 1983, also stands to gain. Under the terms of the incentives deal, Merck cannot close its existing operations in Wilson and must maintain 90 percent of the jobs there. The Wilson plant employs 500.
Jim Hunt, who was governor when Merck located its plant in Wilson just down the road from his farm, also attended Tuesday's luncheon, which was a health-care forum sponsored by the Institute for Emerging Issues. Hunt used the occasion to challenge Durham.
"Let's see who gets the best plant," Hunt said.
Merck has yet to buy the 256 acres in Treyburn, where the plant will be built. But the company has negotiated a price of about $11 million with the landowner, Terry Sanford Jr., said Merck spokesman Pat Witmer.
The $28.1 million in grants the state approved is earmarked to buy the land, prepare the site and support job development.
Site preparations are scheduled to begin in June, and Merck plans to start construction in the summer on three production buildings and one administration building.
The company expects to begin hiring production and technical employees in 2006, which will allow for more than two years of training, Gilmartin said. He expects the plant to be fully staffed by 2008, with manufacturing projected to begin in 2009. Although it is needed for existing vaccines, the plant also could end up manufacturing new vaccines in Merck's development pipeline.
The company, one of five remaining U.S. vaccine manufacturers, is betting on three experimental vaccines to boost revenue and profit during the second half of the decade, Gilmartin said.
Once the vaccines receive regulatory approval, said Richard Clark, president of Merck's manufacturing division, Merck can choose whether to make them in Durham or in West Point, Pa., a research, development and manufacturing campus that employs about 10,000.
Gilmartin would not say how likely it was that future vaccines would be manufactured in Durham but pointed out that the plant is being designed for easy expansion.
Life in McClellanville suits Venezuelan couple
April 8, 2004
Charleston (SC) Post and Courier
By MICHAEL GARTLAND
© Copyright 2004
MCCLELLANVILLE--The Cabreras fled one Hugo only to find themselves living in a town that another Hugo once laid waste.
The first, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, drove them from their homeland to the United States. After moving to the Lowcountry, they began hearing about the other Hugo, the infamous hurricane that ravaged the area in 1989. For them, it was unquestionably the lesser of two evils.
"Hugo Chavez -- he's most of the reason we don't go back to our country," said Maria Palma Cabrera, sitting on a narrow, cushioned chair in her living room. "We don't like to talk much about Hugo or politics because it's depressing."
Once the name has escaped her and her husband William's lips, though, it's hard for them to stop talking about a Hugo who they view as a plague on their native country.
Chavez's government has threatened to take away her father's land, she said. Strife between upper and lower classes is common and often violent.
"I'm not against him helping the poor people. I'm just against the way he's doing it," said William Cabrera, who came to the United States as a schoolteacher and now works as a translator.
In McClellanville, life is a lot less political, and while they represent a minority, the region as a whole is becoming home to a growing number of Hispanics.
Adjusting to life in the United States hasn't been difficult for the Cabreras. Whenever Maria Cabrera has a problem with a student in her class at Archibald Rutledge Academy, she knows just what to do: She walks to their parents' house to have a word.
"It's just like home," said the 30-year-old, smiling at how tight-knit the small town is. "One of my students misbehaves, I just knock on my neighbor's door."
Unlike many immigrants who come to America struggling to learn the language or find a good job, the Cabreras didn't have those concerns. William Cabrera, who first went to Columbia to teach as part of an exchange program in 1999, said the biggest adjustment for him was having to deal with students in American schools.
"When I came here, it was totally different," the 39-year-old said. "I didn't have a discipline plan."
In Venezuela, he didn't need one. Most students were adult professionals. In Columbia, they were teens hopped up on hormones and unaccustomed to the strict classrooms the Cabreras grew up with.
"I had a hard time in Columbia because it was in a rough neighborhood," said William Cabrera, who eventually lobbied his supervisors to transfer him closer to Charleston.
That same year, 2001, Maria Cabrera left her hometown to meet him. It was not her first time in the United States. Her father, a chemical engineer, had brought the family to the country years before when he was invited to teach classes at North Carolina State University.
For one year as child, Maria Cabrera studied with American children at a Raleigh school. "I still love my third-grade teacher and my ESL (English as a second language) teacher," she said. "I have a lot of nice memories."
Returning to Venezuela is a prospect the Cabreras have considered, but one that isn't realistic now. William Cabrera plans to write a book about McClellanville, and Maria Cabrera has her students.
If they were to return someday, Maria Cabrera has an idea: "Whenever I go back, I'll have a restaurant or a poetry cafe with all of Archibald Rutledge's work," she said referring the S.C. poet.