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Mulkey speaks at McKimmon Center
Local entrepreneur and alumnus speaks for Entrepreneur's Lecture Series
N.C. Universities
Tie Job Creation to Projects
North Carolina universities are attaching the potential to create new jobs
to their push for state lawmakers to fund major projects.
Economists
eye holiday shopping trends
Shopping is as much a part of the holidays as Christmas trees and Santa.
High tech
may find pearls in animal waste
Manure happens. But agricultural scientists aren't about to pooh-pooh its
potential.
UNC system
sells projects as job creation
Universities gear pitches to legislators who expect payoff for stressed state
Like
it or not, the ACC will never be the same again
In the early 1980s, Music Television had a successful advertising slogan -
"I want my MTV." With the weekend addition of Boston College to
the Atlantic Coast Conference, I've got a new slogan: "I want my ACC!"
Techie,
hippie vet get new looks
TLC's daytime makeover show features Raleigh pair
Jury:
Bloody evidence led to 'guilty'
Titillating testimony not a factor in conviction
Column:
UNC better wise up
I once heard a burly construction worker tell a rat-faced little drunk who
was bothering him, "Son, you're cruisin' for a bruisin'."
Obit:
R.A. Mabry
former director of Continuing Education
Mulkey speaks at McKimmon Center
Oct. 15, 2003
Technician
By Kenneth Ball, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 Technician.
"I didn't start my business to get rich," Barbara Mulkey said of her 10 years as an entrepreneur.
Whatever her motivations may have been, 10 years ago, Mulkey, an N.C. State alumnus and resident of Cary, founded what is now one of the fastest growing engineering consulting firms in the Southeast. Mulkey, president and CEO of Mulkey Engineers & Consultants, spoke at the McKimmon Center Tuesday afternoon. In her talk, "Barbara Mulkey: From Kitchen Table Leadership to Boardroom Success," she spoke on her experiences as an entrepreneur and an engineer.
Mulkey graduated from NCSU in 1977 with a degree in civil engineering, and received her master's degree in the same field in 1984. After holding various positions in the public and private sector, Mulkey founded her firm in 1993.
Her firm is involved in numerous high profile engineering projects in the area, including the Progress Energy project in Raleigh, the I-77/Tyvola Interchange and the Fayetteville Street Renaissance. Mulkey Engineers & Consultants has also worked on the Arther Ravenel, Jr. Bridge in Charleston.
"I think it's really cool that she's in a male-dominated field," said Anna Cook, a master's student in civil engineering, who describes Mulkey as one of her role models.
As one of few women in the civil engineering field, Mulkey overcame many obstacles during her career. However, she said she was able to balance the personal and entrepreneurial parts of her life to overcome adversity and become a very successful businesswoman.
Mulkey's talk was fifth in a series of lectures developed by the Office of Public Affairs and co-sponsored by the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program (EEP). Tom Miller, vice provost for distance education and learning technology applications and professor of electrical and computer engineering, opened the program Tuesday afternoon. Miller, founder and director of the EEP, started the Entrepreneur's Lecture Series as a result of his close involvement with NCSU graduates who succeeded in the business world as well as in their studies.
"These students were in many ways succeeding in spite of their education," Miller said, regarding some of the alumni that were invited to speak in the past.
Miller doesn't mean to downplay the value of the excellent technical education NCSU provides its students. Rather, he recognizes the importance of entrepreneurial skill in today's competitive marketplace.
"I can't teach anyone to be an entrepreneur, but if I can help unlock that tendency and help them understand their own potential then I think I've done my job," Miller said.
"I think this is one of those things they have at State that you might not always find out about, but you hear about it and say 'Oh, I think I'll go to that,'" said Gabrielle Serang, who attended an Entrepreneur's Lecture for the first time yesterday.
"It gets you away from sitting in the classroom," Branch Smith, a graduate student in civil enginneering, said.
N.C. Universities Tie Job Creation to Projects
Oct. 15, 2003
Associated Press, News & Observer, Charlotte Observer, Wilmington Morning Star, WRAL-TV, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL
By staff writer
© Copyright 2003 Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina universities are attaching the potential to create new jobs to their push for state lawmakers to fund major projects.
First came UNC Chapel Hill's request that the General Assembly this year to back $180 million in loans for a new cancer hospital. The lobbying put as much emphasis on the potential for 2,400 new jobs as the hope for saving lives.
UNC Charlotte is making a similar pitch for a new bioinformatics center. Officials say the center would bring comparisons to Stanford, MIT and Duke, implying that inventions in the new building could create a high-tech job boom.
"There's more pressure on public universities to be accountable. The state legislators are now coming back to public universities and saying, 'OK, what do we get for that?'" said Steve Mosier, associate vice chancellor for research at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
"Today, we know the governor and the legislature want to hear we're creating jobs."
The state university system is gearing itself to be able to make more of these claims. Public campuses are hiring vice chancellors specifically to team with private companies to turn more research into patents and jobs.
They're asking lawmakers to consider at least five building projects in the next year, including the facilities in Charlotte and Chapel Hill, that could require a total of $300 million in state backing. Part of the argument is that they will help create jobs, too.
More money is also available now. The Golden LEAF Foundation, a nonprofit that funds research with some of the state's $4.6 billion settlement with cigarette manufacturers, has received more than 150 applications from state universities. Each application has to project some potential economic benefit from the efforts.
The promise of jobs for money is not without risk, said Mike Walden, an economist at N.C. State who has applied for Golden LEAF grants.
Walden, who raises questions about many state investments in targeted fields like biotechnology, agrees it can be good for researchers to think about the practical effects of their research.
But like the investments of venture companies, some of the expensive research gambles may not pay off. And students encouraged to enter those fields are taking the same risk, Walden said.
"There's the risk we could be training students for an industry that doesn't pan out," he said.
Critics also say university supporters have figured out how to get state and federal grant dollars, but they haven't proved they create enough jobs for the money that's put in, especially in areas of the state that have been hit hardest with textile and furniture plant closings.
"If you look at where they're putting (economic development), that's not where we have the job loss," said Rep. Connie Wilson, R-Mecklenburg, who has been pushing the state to do more for workers laid off after the Pillowtex Corp. plant closed in Concord.
"I'm not saying the potential is not there. The success is not there."
Startup money for the projects was postponed in last-minute discussions before the legislature adjourned in July, but Senate leader Marc Basnight's office is still looking into them. Also, a committee considering economic development proposals is expected to draft legislation that includes some version of the proposals next year.
Proposals for UNCC, UNC Chapel Hill, as well as Western Carolina, Eastern Carolina University and UNC Asheville have the support of House Co-speakers Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, and Richard Morgan, R-Moore.
Economists eye holiday shopping trends
Oct. 14, 2003
News 14 Carolina
By Cle Pickett, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 TWEAN Newschannel of Raleigh, L.L.C. dba News 14 Carolina
Shopping is as much a part of the holidays as Christmas trees and Santa.
But for the past two years, the bad economy has forced many North Carolinians to become stingy little elves.
"One year we actually had a net reduction in spending which is very, very unusual,” said NC State economist Mike Walden.
But there are signs that things are looking up. In fact, Walden predicts retailers could have their best Christmas since 2001. "Right now I’m looking for Christmas spending to be up five to ten percent,” he said.
That’s thanks to shoppers who say their personal economic future is looking brighter. "I do expect to spend more money this Christmas because I’m making a lot more money than I was last Christmas,” said shopper Jeremiah Weatherley.
But just how much residents spend depends on where they live. Holiday spending is expected to be higher in metropolitan areas like the Triangle.
"Of course some of our rural areas like the Kannapolis area, Cabarrus County, other counties that have suffered losses in textile apparel employment,” said Walden. “They have not done as well so I would not expect to see Christmas sales as good there."
That explains why Billy Bostic from rural eastern North Carolina plans to hold onto his cash just a little while longer. "There's significant unemployment. There are lower paying jobs,” said Bostic. “I'm really not as optimistic as I was last Christmas.”
Although overall spending is expected to be up, Walden says it could be another two years before it's back to normal or as high as it was before the recession.
High tech may find pearls in animal waste
Oct. 15, 2003
Durham Herald-Sun
By Jim Shamp, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 Herald-Sun
DURHAM -- Manure happens. But agricultural scientists aren't about to pooh-pooh its potential.
In fact, about 400 of them are putting their heads together in Durham this week to figure out how to make good things from animal waste.
Think nitrogen and phosphorous for fertilizers, made without petrochemicals. Or manure fed to black fly larvae that are then harvested, dried and fed to swine as a high-protein meal. Or liquid biofuels to replace petroleum for internal combustion engines.
Those are among the technologies being tested at N.C. State University and other U.S. land grant institutions, as well as in several other countries, and that were shared at the Durham convention, which ends today.
Some of the academicians and entrepreneurs are even looking at enzymes and other additives for animal feed that can reduce phosphorous and virtually eliminate the acrid-smelling ammonia from urine-soaked feces. That could significantly reduce the odors that brand farmers as bad neighbors when developments crowd in on their homesteads.
Specialty vendors also demonstrated their wares at the conference, including such items as the "Mobile Mulcher," a big rotating compost bin mounted on a trailer frame. There was also an odor meter, resembling a trumpet-length cone placed over the nose with a dial on one end that's twisted open notch by notch until the waste smell is detected. It's used to enforce pollution laws -- and by those who want to avoid citations.
"There's no one answer for all of agriculture," said James Converse, professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and chairman of the animal waste symposium. "But this demonstrates that there's a lot of technology that we can apply to minimize environmental impacts."
Frank Humenik, an NCSU professor of biological and agricultural engineering and the coordinator of animal waste management programs, helped host the international event at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel. He's also hosting the N.C. Animal Waste Management Workshop at the hotel on Thursday and Friday.
Humenik has produced a "virtual tour" with 15-minute video presentations of more than a dozen commercial animal feedlots around the state that are testing innovative approaches to energy conservation, waste handling and pollution control.
He said the unusual technique was a far more efficient way to show conference attendees the farm programs than putting hundreds of people on buses.
Increasingly stringent regulations also forbid people from other states and nations from visiting livestock barns unless they meet minimum waiting periods, to limit the spread of highly contagious diseases, he said.
Most of the highlighted facilities feature technologies funded through a Smithfield Foods pollution settlement, he said.
Smithfield reportedly controls about 70 percent of the 10 million hogs marketed each year in North Carolina through company-owned complexes and contracts with about 1,200 growers. In July 2000, Smithfield entered into an agreement with the N.C. attorney general's office that required the company to spend $65 million over 25 years to develop and implement "environmentally superior technologies" to improve or replace existing lagoon-sprayfield technology.
"We're constantly looking for better, more effective ways to do things," Humenik said. "And we don't support people who don't follow our recommendations. ... For example, a few years ago, a big hog lagoon failed because it was poorly taken care of, and improper construction jeopardized its integrity, and it broke," he said.
"We don't support the bad actors. Some of us at NCSU have even testified for the prosecution in court cases involving problems from people not following our recommendations," he noted.
Humenik said the industry appears to be moving away from letting animal waste decompose, instead conserving it, using the nutrients and converting it into safe and useful byproducts.
"People often lose sight of the progress we've made," he said. "When I came to NCSU from Ohio State in 1969, we had pipes pouring liquid animal waste overflow from lagoons directly into nearby streams. We got that stopped with a law in 1972 and started using spray fields. Now we're moving away from those to new technologies, and we've also learned a lot about controlling odors that were often produced by undersized lagoons."
UNC system sells projects as job creation
Oct. 15, 2003
The Charlotte Observer
By Sharif Durhams, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The Charlotte Observer.
RALEIGH - UNC Chapel Hill officials asked the General Assembly this year to back $180 million in loans for a new cancer hospital, putting as much emphasis on the potential for 2,400 new jobs as the hope for saving lives.
UNC Charlotte is making a similar pitch for a new bioinformatics center and comparing itself to schools such as Stanford, MIT and Duke, implying that inventions in the new building could create a high-tech job boom.
The pitches from public universities help politicians who are expected to react to the state's job losses. And in a time of dwindling resources from the state, they help universities expand their research.
"There's more pressure on public universities to be accountable. The state legislators are now coming back to public universities and saying, `OK, what do we get for that?' " said Steve Mosier, associate vice chancellor for research at UNC Charlotte. "Today, we know the governor and the legislature want to hear we're creating jobs."
The state university system is gearing itself to be able to make more of these claims. Public campuses are hiring vice chancellors specifically to team with private companies to turn more research into patents and jobs. They're asking lawmakers to consider at least five building projects in the next year, including the facilities in Charlotte and Chapel Hill, that could require a total of $300 million in state backing. Part of the argument is that they will help create jobs, too.
More money is also available now. The Golden LEAF Foundation, a nonprofit that funds research with some of the state's $4.6 billion settlement with cigarette manufacturers, has received more than 150 applications from state universities. Each application has to project some potential economic benefit from the efforts.
The promise of jobs for money is not without risk, said Mike Walden, an economist at N.C. State who has applied for Golden LEAF grants. Walden, who raises questions about many state investments in targeted fields like biotechnology, agrees it can be good for researchers to think about the practical effects of their research.
But like the investments of venture companies, some of the expensive research gambles may not pay off. And students encouraged to enter those fields are taking the same risk, Walden said.
"There's the risk we could be training students for an industry that doesn't pan out," he said.
Universities started to see research become more profitable in 1980, when the Bayh-Dole Act let them patent research that the federal government pays for, as long as the schools try to market their technology. N.C. State University added to the attraction in 1987 by opening its Centennial Campus, now a 1,300-acre, 1,200-employee research park that has brought in $54 million in government and private research.
Using the N.C. State model, lawmakers gave other campuses permission to create their own "millennial campuses" three years ago. UNC Charlotte wants to mimic Centennial Campus with a research facility tied to Carolinas Medical Center-University. Appalachian State University, UNC Greensboro, N.C. A&T State University and Western Carolina have similar plans.
And when Senate leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, said a few months ago that a program to create jobs was the most important legislation the state could pass, universities came with proposals, including a request to borrow $180 million for the cancer center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Another $120 million would build a heart and stroke center at East Carolina University, an allied professions building at Western Carolina, a research park at UNC Asheville and the bioinformatics building at UNCC.
The new building would help UNCC improve its programs in cyber security (used to protect patents, bank records and other information), in opto-electronics (the use of fiber optics to transmit computer data) and engineering-related fields.
Startup money for the projects was postponed in last-minute discussions before the legislature adjourned in July, but Basnight's office is still looking into them, and a committee considering economic development proposals is expected to draft legislation that includes some version of the proposals next year.
The proposals for UNCC, UNC Chapel Hill, Western Carolina, ECU and UNCA have the support of House Co-speakers Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, and Richard Morgan, R-Moore.
"The university system has done a good job of making their case," said Black, noting lawmakers and voters approved a $3 billion building project three years ago that was backed by state bonds. Black said lawmakers were trying to figure out where the money would come from to support it. "If we're going to do that, we need to put a package together that everyone across the state can get behind."
Critics say university supporters have figured out how to get state and federal grant dollars, but they haven't proved they create enough jobs for the money that's put in, especially in areas of the state that have been hit hardest with textile and furniture plant closings.
"If you look at where they're putting (economic development), that's not where we have the job loss," said Rep. Connie Wilson, R-Mecklenburg, who has been pushing the state to do more for workers laid off after the Pillowtex Corp. plant closed in Concord. "I'm not saying the potential is not there. The success is not there."
Wilson also argued that a university system proposal to raise the cap on nonresidents from 18 percent to 25 percent leaves less class space for N.C. residents who need to be trained for new jobs. Supporters of raising the cap argue it can bring more potential high tech workers to the state.
J.B. Milliken, a UNC system vice president and lobbyist who is helping direct some of the changes, said they're merely an evolution of the land-grant university concept of the 1860s: the idea that the universities should help serve the needs of the state.
"The mission of the university doesn't change," Milliken said. "What changes over time is how that's manifested."
Like it or not, the ACC will never be the same again
Oct. 15, 2003
Wilmington Star-News
By Andrew Jones, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 Star-News
In the early 1980s, Music Television had a successful advertising slogan - "I want my MTV."
With the weekend addition of Boston College to the Atlantic Coast Conference, I've got a new slogan: "I want my ACC!"
So long, culture. So long, tradition. So long, rivalries. So long, fans' desires. So long, sensibility.
OK, some rivalries and traditions will be preserved, but as a whole, the ACC we once knew is gone.
Adding Miami and Virginia Tech was the right thing to do. Yes, certain traditions we've become accustomed to will be altered with the entry of the Hurricanes and Hokies. But those two schools make sense in the ACC.
They don't challenge the league's culture, which has contributed to a bond and unmatched kinship other conferences have longed for. Miami would have joined a decade ago. Virginia Tech has wanted in for a half century and its invitation was long overdue. Plus, Miami and Virginia Tech were out of place in the Big East.
But Boston College?
I have nothing against B.C. It's an excellent school with fine athletic programs. But B.C. makes no sense in the ACC. It has nothing in common with the other 11 members.
For me, watching B.C. take the floor for an ACC Tournament basketball game will be an abomination.
If I could creep into the afterlife for a brief stint, I would ask legendary N.C. State coach Everett Case - who took hoops to another level in these parts - his thoughts on the possibility of the B.C. Eagles facing Duke in an ACC Tournament semifinal game.
I can only imagine what Case's response would be. "B.C.? What's B.C.?"
Note that Case will be spinning.
The reason Boston College is coming aboard is so the financial coffers in Greensboro can whirl in cash like a cotton candy machine.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford says adding B.C. will mean better TV deals because of the Boston market and bringing in an entirely new region to ACC sports (how many New Englanders does he think will watch the noon Wake Forest-Georgia Tech game in October or the Tuesday night Virginia-FSU game in January?).
It also means that the league can play a lucrative football title game.
I understand the money stuff and recognize its importance. But I am simply not convinced Boston College will carry its weight and that the league will get more than $7-8 million for a title game.
As one high-level employee at an ACC school noted, asking each current member to make due with $1.5 million fewer dollars won't settle well and nonrevenue sports will suffer.
Dividing the pie by one more member isn't going to be received positively. And even if it works out financially it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.
And then there is the culture perspective from up north. Boston College is a charter member of the Big East and has been playing most of those schools for decades. Can you imagine what it must be like for B.C. fans to realize their rivalries with Providence and Connecticut are gone. Syracuse? Gone. St. John's? Gone. Villanova and Georgetown? Gone, gone!
While Virginia, Clemson and Florida State may be attractive nonconference hoops visitors to Chestnut Hill, they won't generate much excitement in January and February, months previously invigorated with battles against Orangemen, Huskies, Hoyas, and Friars.
But as B.C. President the Rev. William Leahy said this weekend, "The move to the ACC will generate greater revenues in the future."
So long, culture. So long, tradition. So long, rivalries. So long, fans' desires. So long, sensibility.
Boston College has faced the current nine ACC schools 24 times in men's basketball and 42 times in football. To get from Maryland, the northern-most ACC school, to B.C., one must travel through Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island before venturing into Massachusetts.
The ACC isn't leaving me and I'm not leaving it. But that doesn't mean I have to like the changes, and it doesn't mean I still can't wish for my ACC.
Techie, hippie vet get new looks
Oct. 15, 2003
The News & Observer
By Lilyn Hester, correspondent
© Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.
How did a self-proclaimed techie with no fashion sense and a girl-next-door hippie chick who shops at thrift stores end up in designer duds?
Raleigh residents Mark Kust and Eileen Kenney simply filled out an online survey for TLC's "A Makeover Story," in February, mailed some photographs and were chosen to share their fashion transformations on the popular show. Their episode airs Thursday at noon.
"We had to have been two of the scrubbiest looking people you could find," Kust said. "But underneath that, we're both really attractive. It made a whole lot of sense to try to revamp our looks. We were going to try anyway, when [Kenney] got the idea to sign up for the show."
The couple's motivation came from their career paths.
Kust, 34, is a chief information officer and founding member of the management team of ChemCodes Inc., a Durham specialty pharmaceutical company formed in June 1999. He holds master's degrees from Stanford and now is a student at Duke's Fuqua School of Business in the Executive MBA program.
During the dot-com boom, Kust's "techie look" was a winner in corporate boardrooms.
"When I worked at Dell in the '90s, I did presentations all over the world and when I walked into the room with a Stanford pedigree and long hair, any fears that they had about their systems ended. They thought 'This guy's got to know what he's talking about,' but in 2000, the mystique eroded and companies emphasized more traditional business values and appearance and the long-hair guy seemed, well, now, outdated."
Kenney, 30, who is in her fourth year at N.C. State University's College of Veterinary Medicine wanted to change her look because this, her final year, requires that she interact with both clients and their animals.
"Every animal is attached to an owner," Kenney said. "And the clients are looking at your treatment of the animal. The first impression is important on how someone judges you."
The episode was shot over three days in Raleigh and Chapel Hill in May. Camera crews followed Kust and Kenney, separately, while they shopped for new clothes and got new hairstyles.
Kenney's clothes were selected from Raleigh-based Beanie & Cecil, a boutique specializing in chic contemporary styles from European and American designers.
Sherry Raymond, store manager of Beanie & Cecil's store at The Lassiter at North Hills, helped Kenney with her clothing selections. She describes Kenney's new look as "work-oriented with an edge."
Kust's wardrobe was selected from Julian's in Chapel Hill. "We tried different moods, looks and tones on him," said Missy Julian-Fox, the store's co-owner. "He needed to express what he was about and, sure, clothes can be used as a medium for doing so. It was fascinating to see that 'Eureka' moment when he got it -- on how to put looks together."
Perhaps the biggest change is hinted at by the episode's title: "Shearing Off." Kenney's hair hadn't been cut in about three years and Kust's look was, well, unkempt. Douglas Carroll, of the Douglas Carroll Salon in Raleigh, created a new hairstyle for Kenney; Kust worked with the salon's stylists Tabitha King and Michelle Tabbert.
Now, months later, the couple said they are excited about their new looks. "Before I was kind of a business casual, long-haired, post grunge, wannabe rocker guy and now I call it a 'Chicago Club' look," Kust said.
"Clothes help make an impression," Kenney said. "At school, people didn't recognize me. There were teachers at the vet school that have known me for three years and when they figured out who I was, they would gasp, and some at the school even thought 'Who is the new girl?' "
Kust said that he enjoys shopping, much more than Kenney, and still pops in at Julian's to buy new clothes.
"People ask me all the time if I feel different, but I feel exactly the same," Kust said. "I'm an extremely confident person. I'm an extrovert and didn't do this because of low self-esteem. I did it for business and for people to feel more comfortable. Now with vendors and customer service reps, I don't get as many raised eyebrows, like, 'who's that guy who looks like a wild man.' I like my new look."
Jury: Bloody evidence led to 'guilty'
Oct. 15, 2003
The Charlotte Observer
By Mark Johnson, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The Charlotte Observer.
DURHAM - A gay prostitute and allegations of a similar slaying 18 years earlier did not tilt the jury to convict novelist Michael Peterson of murder, several jurors said Tuesday.
The blowpoke didn't matter, nor did the famous coroner, they said.
The most titillating evidence and testimony of the 14-week- long trial didn't budge the dozen decision-makers either way. For them, it all came down to the grisly photographs and the bloody body.
They had deliberated for 15 hours over five days, sometimes arguing and, at one point or another, every single one shedding tears, several jurors told a news conference Tuesday.
They weren't ready to announce a decision Thursday on whether Peterson murdered his wife, Kathleen Peterson, in December 2001, so they instead spent a restless night mulling it over, some even feeling sick.
"We ... wanted to take the night and make sure we were comfortable" with the verdict, said Kelli Colgan, 37, a nurse. "It wasn't a snap decision."
Lila Pennington, a retiree-turned-Hecht's clerk, said the 12 "had to sleep on it to make sure we were all in synch."
Several jurors said the group didn't consider whether Peterson may have killed Elizabeth Ratliff, a close family friend, in Germany in 1985. Other jurors nodded or expressed agreement. Like Kathleen Peterson, Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of a staircase.
"The stuff at 1810 Cedar Street (Peterson's house in Durham) was enough," one juror called out as several answered a question at the same time.
Peterson's lead defense lawyer, David Rudolf, announced his intention to appeal Friday, immediately after the verdict. He said the two main grounds would be Judge Orlando Hudson's decisions to allow evidence relating to Ratliff's death and Peterson's solicitation of a gay prostitute.
"They simply should not have been a part of this trial," Rudolf said. "I feel very good about our chances on appeal based on those elements. This is by no means over."
Most jurors who spoke Tuesday said their decision turned on the physical evidence: the autopsy, photos of the wounds on the back of Kathleen Peterson's head and the snapshots of her body in a pool of blood at the foot of a staircase.
The defense argument that she fell down the stairs just didn't hold up, they said.
"Something happened, and it was not a fall," said Paul Harrison, a computer operations supervisor at N.C. Central University. "Mrs. Peterson was beaten to death."
But probably not by the now infamous blowpoke that was repeatedly shown and discussed at the trial, several jurors said. There was too little space in the stairwell.
Jurors said they did not give any weight to prosecutors' contention that Peterson's dabbling in gay pornography and e-mail exchanges with a male escort -- screen name "Brad" -- prompted a rift between Michael and Kathleen Peterson. In fact, warehouse coordinator Keith Hall said they "could have done without" the testimony by "Brad," an N.C. State University sophomore named Brent Wolgamott.
The jurors never settled on a motive, though one suggested money might have played a role, considering Peterson's debt and insurance on his wife.
Another juror, Shirley Ferrell, a Duke University nurse, said, "For some reason ... an altercation happened in the stairwell, and we'll never know why. We didn't think it was pre-planned."
Premeditated, however, is a different story.
At least two jurors hesitated to convict Peterson for first-degree murder because the murder didn't seem premeditated ... until they reread the judge's instructions. Premeditation under state law could mean a matter of minutes or seconds.
"Once I read the instructions, premeditated wasn't a problem for me," Harrison said. "He had a chance to stop. He didn't."
Forensic scientist Henry Lee's national reputation did not sway the jury. Lee, brought in by defense lawyers to rebut state experts, was respected but largely dismissed for, among other reasons, not having conducted his own tests and, at one point, suggesting there was too much blood for Kathleen Peterson to have been beaten.
Special Agent Duane Deaver of the State Bureau of Investigation fared even worse at one point. Jurors found his blood spatter tests bizarre, including stomping on a piece of paper or bludgeoning a Styrofoam head covered in a wig.
"It just didn't seem very scientific to me," Blackwell said.
Defense lawyer David Rudolf's insistence that the jury visit the house may have backfired. At least two jurors indicated that, upon seeing the scene of Kathleen Peterson's death, they found it difficult to imagine her accidentally sustaining severe wounds in such a small area.
The jurors grew close, as might any group put through such a lengthy, common endeavor. That's why they wanted to face the news media together.
"We felt stronger as a group," Blackwell said. "These are my sisters and brothers. When you have a difficult task to do, it helps to have your family behind you."
If the trial didn't change their lives, it at least changed how they live. Many spent the four days after the verdict refusing to answer the phone or doorbell. If a strange car drove by slowly, they made sure the door was closed. During the trial, relatives cut articles out of the paper so that jurors would abide by the judge's order to avoid material that might color their decision.
Pennington received phone calls from her sister in New Jersey who watched faithfully on Court TV.
"She'd say, `Are you the one who did this or that?' " Pennington said.
The images that stick with them are the photos of the horrible wounds and the body. They'll remember seeing the agony on the faces of Martha and Margaret Ratliff, the college-age women whose mother was dead and who Peterson had raised as his own.
"I saw the children suffering," Pennington said. "I just wanted to hug them."
Charlene Gill, a 19-year-old Marshalls department store employee, never thought she would go through such an experience.
"It'll be with me the rest of my life," Gill said.
Hall learned from it. Before the trial, he didn't understand many things about the jury system, he said: "Now, I do."
Oct. 15, 2003
The News & Observer
By Dennis Rogers, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.
I once heard a burly construction worker tell a rat-faced little drunk who was bothering him, "Son, you're cruisin' for a bruisin'."
Listen up, University of North Carolina administrators. A state legislator says you could be cruisin', too.
"The legislature has given a lot of policy-making power to the university, and now they feel untouchable," said state Rep. Alex Warner, a Democrat from Cumberland County. "But we just might have to change that. They need to remember that the UNC system belongs to the people of North Carolina."
Warner is not just some blowhard politician flexing his muscles. He is chairman of the state House education committee and serves on the powerful appropriations committee. He is a veteran legislator who could cause UNC serious trouble.
What has Warner, a businessman and former educator, up in arms is talk that the UNC Board of Governors, which overseas the entire 16-campus system, is considering raising the maximum percentage of out-of-state students to 22 percent from 18 percent. That such a thing is even being considered has stirred a lot of heated emotion among folks, elected and otherwise, who have traditionally been generous supporters of higher education in this state.
The problem is, no matter how you crunch the numbers, increasing the percentage of out-of-state students reduces the percentage of seats available to the families who pay the university's bills with their taxes.
"Their tuition increases and now this out-of-state increase has been received very poorly in the legislature," Warner said. "This is the kind of thing that could turn the people of this state against their university. We can't let them do that."
"If they're not careful, the legislature might have to step in. Right now they're getting to keep a lot of money from research grants that used to go back to the general fund. We started letting them keep it when times were good, but that could change."
Last year, the "overhead receipts" that Warner is talking about amounted to $123.6 million. That ain't chump change.
The larger problem, Warner says, is that the university leadership, and particularly the top brass at UNC-Chapel Hill, has lost its connection with average North Carolinians who not long ago approved a $3.1 billion bond issue for UNC.
"The folks in charge over there now have made it a very different university," Warner said. "They're not as down to earth as [former UNC presidents] C.D. Spangler and Bill Friday. It's turning into more of a nose-in-the-air tea party. There's an air of arrogance."
For their part, UNC's leaders say they want to increase out-of-state enrollment to bolster the system's reputation and national rankings. UNC administrators are bothered by a report in U.S. News & World Report that says UNC-CH is only the 29th best major university in the country. They also say they want to improve the university's academic, cultural and geographic diversity.
U.S. News was the 37th largest magazine in the country in 2002, down from 33rd in 2001. It falls well behind Martha Stewart Living and just above the National Enquirer.
Columnist Dennis Rogers can be reached at 829-4750.
Oct. 15, 2003
The News & Observer
FRANCES FAISON HILL FOX OF DURHAM, NC died October 14, 2003 at the age of 95. She was born October 14, 1908 in Durham. She was a daughter of Annie Watts Hill and John Sprunt Hill, a prominent Durham family. Her family was known statewide for leadership, philanthropy, public service and a commitment to the needs of their community and had a significant impact on the development of Durham and the Triangle area. She was a granddaughter of Laura Valinda Beall Watts and George Washington Watts. Mr. Watts was an early Durham business leader and philanthropist.
She was a graduate of Duke University, class of 1931, and a 1935 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, attending medical school at a time when few women were entering the medical profession. She completed an internship in medicine at Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and an internship in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University. She served as a faculty member of the U.N.C. School of Medicine from 1939 1941, a two year medical school at that time.
She was married to Herbert Junius Fox, M.D., and together they owned and managed two large dairy farms in Durham County and a beef cattle operation in Orange County. During the 1960's they planned and built the Croasdaile residential community in Durham, using 500 acres of family farmland. Croasdaile was the first planned community in Durham and included residential home sites surrounding the Croasdaile Country Club, a shopping center, apartments and commercial properties.
Frances Fox had a keen business mind and maintained close involvement with her family business interests. She served as a member of the Board of Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company from 1946 1994. Her father, John Sprunt Hill, founded Central Carolina Bank as the Durham Bank and Loan Company in 1903. Her brother, George Watts Hill, Sr., served Central Carolina Bank and Trust Company as President and Chairman of the Board. She also served as a member of the Board of Home Security Life Insurance Company, a business started by John Sprunt Hill.
Her public service and philanthropy were primarily in areas of education and health care. She served as a member of the Watts Hospital Nursing School Advisory Board, the Salvation Army Home and Hospital Auxiliary Board, the Durham Technical Community College Advisory Board, the N.C. State School of Veterinary Medicine Foundation Board and the U.N.C. Nursing School Advisory Board. She contributed her time and financial support to the U.N. C. School of Nursing by establishing the Frances Hill Fox Distinguished Professorship in Nursing to ensure the continued strength and high quality of the curriculum. Durham Academy and Duke University have benefited from her philanthropy. Her contributions to Duke University include a full professorship in the Humanities and a rinity Student Scholarship. She established the Fox Family Foundation which supports local community needs.
Frances Fox held memberships in the Croasdaile Country Club, Durham; Roaring Gap Club, Roaring Gap, NC, and the William C. Coker Garden Club of Chapel Hill. She enjoyed farming, golf, walking, reading and travel with her husband and family. Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were important to her, and she was an inspiration to them.
She is survived by her daughter,
Susan Fox Beischer and husband, George, of Durham, and her son, Randolph Dudley
Fox and wife, Linda, of Hillsborough; her grandchildren, David Dietrich Beischer
and wife, Michelle; Thomas Gustav Beischer and wife, Lily; Randolph Lee Fox
and Greyson Hill Fox; and great-grandchildren, William Dietrich Beischer, Nicholas
Michael Beischer, Davis Faison Beischer and Zachary MingZi Beischer.
She was pre-deceased by her husband, Herbert Junius Fox, M.D., her brother,
George Watts Hill, Sr. and her sister, Valinda Hill DuBose.
The family wishes to thank her homecare givers, nurses, and longtime employees
for their loving care and devotion.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Sunday, October 19, 2003, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3639 Old Chapel Hill Road, Durham. The family will receive friends at the church following the service and other times at the home of Sue and George Beischer, 34 Appleton Place, Durham.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Durham Academy 3601 Ridge Road Durham, 27705; UNC School of Nursing, CB# 7460 Carrington Hall, Chapel Hill, 27599, or NC Veterinary Medical Foundation, NCSU Box 8401 Raleigh, 27695.
Arrangements under the care
of Hall-Wynne Funeral Service.
Oct. 14, 2003
The News & Observer
R.A. MABRY, 84, of Cary died at Clarebridge of Cary nursing facility on Tuesday, October 14, 2003. R. A. was born in Hickman, Kentucky to the late Alvin and Willie Major Mabry in 1919.
He earned a BS Degree at Western Kentucky University, MS Degree from the University of Kentucky, and PhD in Education from North Carolina State University. R.A. retired from North Carolina State University as Director of Continuing Education in 1982.
A funeral service will be held at 11 AM on Friday, October 17 in the Chapel of Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 200 SE Maynard Road, Cary, with entombment following at Raleigh Memorial Park Mausoleum.
R. A. is survived by his wife, Darian Nordan Mabry; sons, Randolph "Randy" Alvin Mabry of Largo, FL and Rodney Hugh Mabry and wife, Merle, of Tyler, TX; stepdaughter, Barbara J. Timberlake of Apex; grandchildren, Brad Mabry of Clearwater, FL, Patricia Heldman of Holiday FL, Melanie Mabry of Miami, FL, and Lisette Timberlake of Raleigh; two great-grandchildren, Bryce Mabry and Rhiannan Heldman of Florida.
The family will receive
friends, Thursday, October 16 at BrownWynne Funeral Home, 200 SE Maynard Road,
Cary from 6:30 until 8:30 PM.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Alzheimer's Disease Association,
Attn: Research, 400 Oberlin road, Suite 208, Raleigh, NC 27605.
Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Cary.