• NSF Grant to Fund Study of Origins of Plant DNA Replication
• Study: Plants Respond Quickly to Changes in Gravity, Environment
• NEWS TIP: NC State Expert Available to Discuss Disparities in Presidential Polls

Morgan, allies hear poll results
Michael Walden, agricultural and resource economics

New Granville school site: A river runs through it
Institute for Transportation Research and Education

Greene Youth Council holds first meeting
Cooperative Extension

Raleigh passes rule on landlords
The Raleigh city council endorsed extending agreements with the state and N.C. State University that allow their employees with a valid identification badge to ride city buses for free.

Outcome of robbery trial could allow death penalty in brothers' murder trial
tailgate shootings

Audit uncovers secret accounts at N.C. School of the Arts
Wolfpack Club

Letter to the editor: Overlooked issues
Anna Bigelow, philosophy and religion

Point of view: Travels with Cheney
J. Oliver Williams, political science

Now playing, free: Illegal movie downloading on rise
illegal downloading

Donation to NC State Mobile Veterinary Hospital
College of Veterinary Medicine

Death penalty sought in killings at college
tailgate shootings

Reaction from voters to veep debate
graduate student

Mean green: Plant threatens beaches
Task force warsn of vitex's invasive nature

Obituary: Dr. Doris Lucas Laryea
first African-American female with a PhD hired at NC State

Raleigh passes rule on landlords

Oct. 6, 2004
News & Observer
By SARAH LINDENFELD HALL
© Copyright 2004

RALEIGH -- Landlords who break city rules repeatedly will face new consequences starting in February.

The City Council voted 5-3 Tuesday to approve an ordinance that establishes a permit program for landlords who don't follow city codes.

Landlords who are placed in the two-year program will have to pay $500 a year and attend classes on how to be better landlords. The program also sets higher fines if codes are violated while a landlord is enrolled. Landlords ultimately could lose their right to rent the property, though the program allows for ways to rent again if they meet certain requirements.

The goal of the ordinance is to resolve problem rental properties, which residents say detract from their quality of life. Opponents have said all that's needed is more enforcement of existing city rules.

The ordinance will go into effect Feb. 7, giving city officials time to set up the program. The city will spend $50,000 to develop software for it.

Most of the council's discussion Tuesday focused on a one-sentence section in the 15-page ordinance.

The section, which council member Jessie Taliaferro proposed, says that landlords who can show that they did not cause the problems or couldn't have prevented them could be exempted from the program.

Officials said the provision would be difficult for staffers to administer. The ordinance already allows for appeals to the city's inspections director and council.

Taliaferro argued that she wants to help landlords who are dealing with a vindictive tenant.

But council member Thomas Crowder said the goal of the ordinance is to make landlords accountable. Landlords should use stronger leases and the eviction process, he said.

The council deadlocked on the issue twice. Taliaferro and council members Neal Hunt, Philip Isley and Mike Regan wanted to include the sentence. Mayor Charles Meeker, Crowder and council members James West and Janet Cowell didn't.

But the council needed five votes to win approval of the ordinance. And Taliaferro was the only council member willing to support it. So Meeker, Crowder, West and Cowell agreed to include the provision.

Meeker said that because the ordinance already allows for appeals, the language doesn't make any difference. Still, Crowder felt strongly about it.

"I'm going to support this under great protest," he said.

The vote comes after about two years of debate on the issue. Three groups, the Triangle Apartment Association, Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors and residents who sat on a task force studying the issue, unanimously endorsed the ordinance last week.

Elizabeth Byrd, a resident who sat on the task force, said the group didn't discuss Taliaferro's proposal. Byrd said she's concerned about it. Landlords should have strong leases and discussions with their tenants to ensure that the lease agreement is followed, she said.

"It puts out the idea that the landlord cannot control tenant behavior," she said.

For observers, Tuesday's vote was kind of a false ending. Because of a procedural rule, the council will consider the ordinance again at its Oct. 19 meeting, though no votes are expected to change.

IN OTHER ACTION, THE CITY COUNCIL:

* Voted 6-1 to approve a 30-day moratorium of a city law that requires nightclub owners to hire off-duty police officers to patrol their parking lots. The council's law and public safety committee sought the moratorium to give it more time to consider changes to the 1999 law. Records show the law is enforced sporadically.

Council member Jessie Taliaferro said the law arose from complaints in her Northeast Raleigh district and that she was concerned about not enforcing it. Council members said the police are aware of problem areas and that the law needs changes.

But Taliaferro, who was the lone naysayer, couldn't support the moratorium.

"Yesterday's no-problem could be tonight's problem," she said.

Council member Janet Cowell had left the meeting and did not vote on the issue.

* Set an Oct. 19 public hearing on an ordinance regulating what has been called "nonconsensual" or "predatory" towing. The proposed ordinance says that towing firms could not charge more than $85 for towing a vehicle and no more than $10 a day for storage fees. It also says that towing companies can't tow a vehicle away or charge a fee if the vehicle's owner returns before the wrecker has left the location.

The hearing will be at 2 p.m. in City Hall at 222 W. Hargett St.

* Endorsed extending agreements with the state and N.C. State University that allow their employees with a valid identification badge to ride city buses for free. The state's agreement would extend the deal until June. The state will chip in $33,000 in cash and $12,000 in in-kind services. NCSU's agreement will last for a year. It will make a $118,400 cash contribution and $18,000 in in-kind marketing and advertising. The city's transit authority also must approve the deals.

* Approved Wake Technical Community College's plans for its northeast campus. Plans call for 1 million square feet of space on 121 acres on the east side of Louisburg Road next to the Neuse River and north of Interstate 540.

The council also approved a separate request for approval of a plan for the first phase of development, which includes 167,000 square feet of space in four buildings on about 29 acres.

(COMPILED BY SARAH LINDENFELD HALL)

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Greene Youth Council holds first meeting

Oct. 6, 2004
Kinston Free Press
By MARK LINEBERGER
© Copyright 2004

SNOW HILL - Several local officials and politicians shook hands and worked the room Tuesday at the first meeting of Greene County's newest government board.

The fact that most board members can't even vote didn't matter in the least.

Members of the Greene County Youth Council were sworn in by Clerk of Court Sandra Sutton to become the first such organization in the county's history.

The 20-member board includes representatives from the county's middle and high schools, along with one home-schooled representative. It will function the same as any other county-appointed board, and will be subject to all state laws that govern public bodies. The youth council came about through the work of local officials, N.C. State Cooperative Extension and the Civic Education Consortium in Chapel Hill. County commissioners hope the new board will advise them on what younger people need from their local government.

"There has been a lack of participation among younger people in Greene County," said County Board Chairman Bennie Heath. "We hope this will foster an interest in the democratic process."

"Young people in North Carolina need to be exposed to government to develop as future leaders," said Kelly O'Brien, research and outreach director of the Civic Education Consortium. "They need to lean how the decisions of the commissioners impact their daily lives."

Council member Rebecca Dudley agrees wholeheartedly.

The junior at Mount Calvary Christian Academy said she's looking forward to leaning more about how government in her home county works.

"I just want to learn more about Greene County," Dudley said. "I want to learn about what goes into decisions made."

"I'm very excited having this in Greene County," said Kim Sawrey, council member and senior at Mount Calvary Christian Academy. "There's not always a lot for younger people here to do."

For the members of the council, this is their chance to be heard.

"I've always had an interest in leadership," said John Anderson, an eighth-grader at Greene County Middle School, "I've been looking forward to being a part of this board since I first heard about it."

While there's a lot the council wants to put on its plate, getting their fellow students to vote this year is No. 1 on the agenda.

On Election Day, the council plans to put a special polling station in every precinct for residents under 18. If students don't want to go to the polls with their parents, they can vote online.

Of course, the votes won't count, but county leaders hope the exercise will get young people interested in voting. Greene County is the smallest in the nation participating in the "Kids Vote" program.

"It's going to be good to see," said County Manager Lee Worsley.

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Morgan, allies hear poll results

Oct. 6, 2004
Charlotte Observer
By SHARIF DURHAMS
© Copyright 2004

SOUTHERN PINES - House Co-Speaker Richard Morgan's two-day retreat for political allies was subdued compared with the dust it stirred among the state's Republican activists.

Morgan, who is unpopular among party leaders for forming a co-speakership with Democrat Jim Black of Matthews, was denounced by state GOP Chairman Ferrell Blount before the meeting was held. The local paper, The Pilot, wrote of rumors Democrats were invited to a Morgan strategy session.

But the meeting was Republican only -- about lawmakers and candidates. And Morgan said the meeting was more about making good policy than politics.

"This is just a time to get focused," he said.

But politics was involved. Morgan had invited one of the nation's foremost Republican pollsters to Tuesday's sessions, where results of a statewide poll conducted last week were laid out.

The pollster, Linda Divall, argued the GOP can make gains in the state -- particularly in electing Patrick Ballantine as governor -- but that the party does have vulnerabilities. Those polled were skeptical of anti-tax pledges that candidates sign. And they think politicians sign them just to "fool" voters.

She described the move by lawmakers two years ago to retain a higher sales tax for two extra years as an "explosive issue," that more voters opposed (49 percent) than supported (45 percent.) The only type of tax increase backed by a majority of those polled was excise taxes, such as cigarettes or alcohol.

At the same time, those polled didn't want government services cut, and wanted more spent in education, Divall said.

"No one said voters had to be consistent," she said.

N.C. State University economist Mike Walden spoke on challenges to the state's tax structure, including the fact that consumers are spending less on goods and more on services. The goods incur an N.C. sales tax, while the services do not.

Walden told the lawmakers the state's economy should pick up steam in the next year, but that the tax structure causes problems. For example, he said, the state's tax brackets don't rise as inflation pushes up income. That floods a state's coffers when the economy is surging, but causes problems when it stops.

"That sets you up for a fall," Walden said. "It guarantees a budget shortfall during bad economic times."

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New Granville school site: A river runs through it

Oct. 6, 2004
Henderson Daily Dispatch
By CHARLIE RICHARDS
© Copyright 2004

OXFORD - The location of Granville County's third high school could put an end to the age-old jest that the people north and south of the Tar River can never get together.

Over the years, many a quip has been delivered about the river being too wide for the people of the two areas to meet or agree. The river separates two urbanized areas that constitute two different markets.

But a computer has determined that the mathematical "best" general location for the new school would be a circle that includes a segment of Interstate 85. And, also, that a river runs through it.

Superintendent Tom Williams stressed to the School Board Monday night that the computer has chosen only "the beginning point for study," and that possible school sites would not be limited to that circle.

Architects for the school system will now evaluate the computer's work as they conduct a full site selection process that considers roads, utilities, topography and land availability and costs.

But the starting point will be the circle drawn by the computer program at the N.C. State University institute that helps school systems with such problems. That work was based on school population projections and transportation needs.

Granville will build its third high school with bond funds voted by the people this year, part of a $35 million school building program. It will be expected to relieve both J.F. Webb High north of Oxford and South Granville High in Creedmoor. Both are already over capacity, with South Granville this year growing to more than 1,200 students, about the same as Webb.

Williams told the School Board there were no surprises from the work of N.C. State's computer program, since from the start administrators have known the new school would have to be between the two others in order to relieve both.

But the area designated by the mathematical model is virtually half way between the two.

And possibly to the advantage of the school system, it touches U.S. Highway 15 and other major roads as well as straddles Interstate 85.

There is no interchange with the interstate in that area, but perhaps of equal significance is that the circle includes the rest areas, which have water and sewer services from Oxford. Those services would be important to a school located in such a rural area.

As for the Tar River, it may not bring any advantage to a potential school site, but locating a school on or near that divide would certainly bring people together from both sides.

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Outcome of robbery trial could allow death penalty in brothers' murder trial

Oct. 6, 2004
Associated Press; Charlotte Observer; NBC 17; News 14 Charlotte; WCNC; Winston-Salem Journal; WSOCtv; WTVD; WXii 12; Akron Beacon Journal, OH; Atlanta Journal Constitution, GA; Austin American-Statesman, TX; Biloxi Sun Herald, MS; Bradenton Herald, FL; Centre Daily Times, PA; Charleston Gazette, WV; Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail, WV; Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA; Duluth News Tribune, MN; Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN; Fort Wayne News Sentinel, IN; Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX; Grand Forks Herald, ND; Guardian, UK; Kansas.com, KS; Kansas City Star, MO; Kentucky.com, KY; Ledger, FL; Macon Telegraph, GA; Miami Herald; Monterey County Herald, CA; Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC; philly.com, PA; Pioneer Press, MN; San Diego Union Tribune, CA; San Jose Mercury News, CA; San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA; Tallahassee.com, FL; Tallahassee Democrat, FL; Times Daily, AL; Times Picayune, LA; Tuscaloosa News, AL; Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA; Worcester Telegram, MA; WVEC; WAVY-TV, VA; Xposed.com
By staff report
© Copyright 2004

Two brothers accused of fatally shooting two men before a college football game will be tried for armed robbery - a charge that could allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty in their murder trial.

Timothy Wayne Johnson, 22, and Tony Harrell Johnson, 20, are jailed with no bond allowed in the shooting deaths of Kevin M. McMann and 2nd Lt. Brett Johnson Harman, a Marine, on Sept. 4. The victims, both 23, were shot to death in a tailgate area before an N.C. State University football game.

But the brothers will first be tried in connection with an Aug. 23 home invasion in Raleigh, said Susan Spurlin, an assistant district attorney in Wake County.

If the two are convicted, prosecutors may pursue the death penalty in the murder case: Under state law, one scenario under which a person charged with murder can be sentenced to death is with a prior violent felony conviction.

"We think it's important that a jury ... trying to make a decision about the appropriate punishment on the murder charge know about the criminality of their conduct prior to the homicides," Spurlin said.

Last week, police charged the brothers and three other men with the crime. Police said that $600 in cash, seven guns, car keys and cell phones were stolen from the home in revenge for the theft of $1,000 and cocaine from Timothy Johnson's apartment.

One of the stolen guns was used in the tailgate shootings, prosecutors said.

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Audit uncovers secret accounts at N.C. School of the Arts

Oct. 5, 2004
Associated Press; WCNC; Winston-Salem Journal; WVEC, VA
By GARY D. ROBERTSON
© Copyright 2004

RALEIGH, N.C. - The former financial chief of the North Carolina School of the Arts used secret bank accounts and land sales to divert hundreds of thousands of dollars for nonacademic uses, the state auditor said Tuesday.

The accounts, created within a school foundation, were tapped for $269,224 in expenses over a three-year period, including $15,000 in lease payments on a Cadillac sport utility vehicle, country club membership dues, phone bills and gifts, according to the auditor's report.

Checks originating from school accounts near the end of each fiscal year went into the secret accounts between mid-2001 and mid-2004. Improper bookkeeping entries also helped shift more foundation money to the accounts. Only a few people were aware of the accounts' existence, the audit said.

Although only some school administrators were implicated, state Auditor Ralph Campbell Jr. likened the deceptions to those that occurred at Enron Corp. before that energy company went bankrupt.

"Money was shifted between various entities to avoid detection and the rules that apply to the main enterprise," Campbell said at a news conference laying out nearly $1 million in questioned costs. "Today, Enron is financially and morally bankrupt. Our university system cannot and should not sink to that level."

The car was used by Joe Dickson, who resigned in July as vice chancellor for finance and administration at the Winston-Salem school, one of 16 campuses in the University of North Carolina system. The school, with students from eighth grade to graduate school, received $16 million in public funds last year.

Dickson, who also served as a leader on the N.C. School of the Arts Foundation, transferred the title on two pieces of land to another university-related entity called the NCSA Program Support Corp. without the knowledge of the foundation board, the audit determined.

Dickson also gave conflicting responses to auditors' questions, the report said. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Dickson for comment Tuesday were not successful.

The audit uncovers "willful, deliberate and intentional _ not accidental _ violations of the rules under which state agencies operate," Campbell said. As the investigation unfolded, he said, "answers given to our auditors ... were intentionally misleading and false."

The report said a portion of the $285,585 generated from the sales was used as a down payment on a new condominium that would serve as the chancellor's residence.

The 85-page investigative report, prompted after the auditor's annual review of school books determined excessive overtime or special payments to employees, is being reviewed by the State Bureau of Investigation and state attorneys for possible criminal wrongdoing.

The auditor's probe determined that one personnel worker had received more than $69,000 in overtime during a 27-month period. The worker's job paid her an annual average salary of $49,000, and much of the overtime was undocumented, Campbell said. The worker has since resigned.

The human resources director involved in this and other questioned payroll decisions also has stepped down from his job.

According to written responses provided to auditors, the School of the Arts, the school's foundation and UNC system are not disputing the bulk of Campbell's findings.

School chancellor Wade Hobgood said he was aware of some of the questioned payments, including the car lease and the club dues. He said it was within the scope of the foundation to cover those kind of expenses, but said he was not aware until recently the size of the expenses being covered or where the money was coming from.

"I was aware and actually supported some of the expenditures, (but) not at the magnitude that was paid," he said.

In a statement on the school's Web site, Hobgood apologized and said mistakes were made. Changes are underway and nearly $785,000 of the $981,444 in questioned expenses costs have been returned or located, he said.

Campbell said he will leave it up to other investigators to determine whether Hobgood is culpable.

Campbell recommended that UNC eliminate the budget flexibility the arts school currently receives from the General Assembly, which allows the school to create new positions and keep a portion of unused money at the close of each fiscal year.

That flexibility was abused by administrators as they shuffled money around, Campbell said.

To achieve absolute transparency, each UNC school should provide the Board of Governors with the financial records of its related foundations or entities, Campbell said.

That would include athletic foundations such as the Wolfpack Club at N.C. State and the Rams Club at UNC-Chapel Hill.

UNC system President Molly Broad said the Board of Governors has required annual audits of all university-related foundations in 1990. Broad said she would now require each campus chancellor to certify in writing that no university-related foundations are hidden from UNC administrators.

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Letter to the editor: Overlooked issues

Oct. 6, 2004
News & Observer
© Copyright 2004

I cannot for the life of me determine why the first presidential debate was advertised as a referendum on foreign policy.

Other than Iraq, cursory remarks about Russia's recent move back to totalitarianism, a nod to the devastation in Darfur and some discussion of nuclear proliferation, we heard precious little about any other world region. In particular, at a time when Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank include pullouts and incursions, we need to hear about some real leadership on this issue.

As a professor of Islamic studies at N.C. State University, I am deeply disheartened by the unwavering but undefined support for Israel, the tacit linkage of Muslims and terrorism and the failure to address more substantive issues of foreign policy that impact the way billions around the world live their daily lives.

Perhaps part of the blame for this single-issue debate belongs to moderator Jim Lehrer, who never asked either candidate about their perspectives on critical issues in any depth. Kerry came across as the more substantive and articulate, but I think both candidates were allowed to get away without dealing with the issues that will determine how the future of foreign policy will be conducted.

Anna Bigelow

Raleigh

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Point of view: Travels with Cheney

Oct. 6, 2004
News & Observer
By J. OLIVER WILLIAMS
© Copyright 2004

RALEIGH -- Republicans have reached back decades into John Kerry's early life to paint him as unfit now to lead the nation because of ideals expressed in his youth. Much of the attack has been led by Vice President Dick Cheney, who in his convention speech and on the campaign trail relies on a few arguably misguided actions in Kerry's youth to support the assertion that the Democratic nominee is unfit to lead the nation in an age of terrorism.

Ironically, both Cheney and Kerry in their younger years fitted well Winston Churchill's famous axiom. Paraphrasing Clemenceau, Churchill asserted that a young man who is not a liberal has no heart; a man who is 40 and is not a conservative has no brain.

I had the privilege of traveling around the country with Cheney when he was a young liberal -- at an important juncture in his life when he was mulling over a career in politics or deciding whether he would become a professor of political science.

The Dick Cheney I knew was an admirable young man who (like John Kerry) was idealistic, liberal and antiwar. He was among the young men and women of our generation who were compelled to study political science, a social science that embodies liberal ideals. Nineteen-sixties liberalism as an ideology was characterized by a high regard for the rights of all people, especially the dispossessed and the deprived; commitment to the possibility and the accomplishment of useful social change; and an acknowledgment that government is an essential agent of social improvement.

Cheney and I studied political science at the same time. He was a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin when I was at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1969, the two of us were selected to work together on a Ford Foundation field study of the American states. We visited state capitals, interviewed governors and documented public policies in states, which were then viewed as laboratories of democracy.

• • •

As young idealists, Cheney and I discussed our concerns and hopes about careers in political science and government. I was eager to return to Chapel Hill, complete a doctorate and teach political science. Cheney was excited about the possibilities of a job in Washington.

As a congressional fellow, he had met Donald Rumsfeld, the head of a new Office of Economic Opportunity created by the Nixon administration. Cheney told me that he believed there would never be an opportunity as great the OEO to work for the poor and to make government a catalyst for social change. I gave Cheney what in retrospect would have to be considered questionable advice: go back to Wisconsin and finish your Ph.D. There will always be a job in Washington.

But Cheney took the opportunity to become a special assistant to Rumsfeld. The two of them, in the Office of Economic Opportunity, were referred to in Washington at the time as the "pinkos" of the Nixon years. Although his official biography does not mention doctoral study at Wisconsin, Cheney is known in academia as an "ABD" (an acronym that stands for "all but dissertation," although students over the years have used it to mean other things).

In our travels around the United States, Cheney and I frequently discussed the Vietnam War. I knew that Cheney had avoided military service through multiple student deferrals. It was generally presumed at the time that a high-level job in Washington was a way of dealing with the "problem" of the draft.

(Full disclosure: I joined the Army Reserve. And I attended all meetings.)

• • •

Empirically, Churchill essentially was correct. For most people, youthful liberalism does lead to more conservative views in middle life. Youth is a time for developing the compassion, trustworthiness, honesty and principles that make up our character as people. In later life, personal paradigms have more to conserve -- investments, lifestyles and even psychological baggage. Of course, there is also the matter of the conservative young college students of today for whom "being stuck in the sixties is a no-brainer."

In their 20s, Dick Cheney and John Kerry would both have scored a 1 for "very liberal" on the 7-point scale that social scientists use to measure political ideology. Today, Kerry would be a 3 or 4 (from somewhat liberal to moderate) while Cheney most likely is a 7 (very conservative).

Kerry seems to have made a normal progression toward moderate views. Cheney, on the other hand, has flip-flopped from youthful liberalism to extreme conservatism.

It is theoretically suspect to think that political statements made in their 20s would shape the policy positions or leadership abilities of either Vice President Cheney or a President Kerry. One does wonder, however, why the idealism of Cheney's youth has not contributed to a compassionate conservatism that is a reality rather than a convenient campaign slogan.

(J. Oliver Williams is professor of political science at N.C. State University.)

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Now playing, free: Illegal movie downloading on rise

Oct. 6, 2004
DetNews.com, MI; Modesto Bee, CA; Record-Searchlight, CA
By David Ranii
© Copyright 2004

(SH) - The comedy "Napoleon Dynamite" is still playing in movie theaters, but David Merrifield recently watched it on a 17-inch computer screen in his dorm room with a couple of buddies.

The North Carolina State University freshman downloaded the movie from the Internet even though he knew he was violating federal copyright law. "I don't personally agree with it," Merrifield said.

That kind of attitude has Hollywood worried that illegal movie downloads will trigger a new horror production: "The Incredible Shrinking Profit." It's a fear that ripples throughout the industry, rattling film studios, theater chains and neighborhood video-rental stores.

"We are scared to death that what happened to the music industry is going to happen to us," said Curtis McCall, CEO of West Virginia-based Marquee Cinemas.

Illegal music downloads are thought to be the primary reason that global sales of recorded music have fallen for four straight years. But the movie industry is fighting to avoid such a scenario and create a happy ending instead.

So far, technological limitations have prevented movie downloading from entering the cultural mainstream, and Hollywood is hoping that it has learned a thing or two from the beating that the music industry suffered.

Movie theaters nationwide have been running spots featuring a set painter and a stunt man talking about how Internet piracy hurts them. The Motion Picture Association of America has been placing ads in college newspapers, including at N.C. State University.

The ads warn students: "You can click but you can't hide. If you think you can get away with illegally swapping movies, you're wrong."

Movie studios also are working with Internet service providers, including universities, to send cease-and-desist letters to offenders who are downloading unauthorized copies of movies. And they're hiring companies to create decoy files that look like downloadable movies but really aren't - designed to frustrate illegal downloaders.

"The Internet isn't the bogeyman in this equation at all," said MPAA spokesman Rich Taylor. "The Internet isn't the problem. It's how it is used."

Hollywood has learned from one of the mistakes the music industry made in its early efforts to combat Internet piracy, said Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff. For years the music industry resisted making song downloads legally available for a price.

But the movie industry already has passed that threshold: Companies such as CinemaNow and Movielink provide a legal way for consumers to download movies. But so far, the volume of legitimate movie downloads has been dwarfed by the illegitimate. "It's hard to compete with free," Taylor said.

Hollywood considers unauthorized downloading of films a serious problem, although it can't pinpoint just how bad it is. "By some estimates, there are 400,000 to 600,000 illegally downloaded movies every day," Taylor said.

Last year, a Forrester Research survey found that 22 percent of individuals between ages 12 and 22 - or about 11 percent of all consumers - admitted to illegally downloading a full-length movie. "It's pretty shocking," Bernoff said.

Within 24 hours of a movie's release in theaters, a bootleg copy typically is available over the Internet, said Mark Ishikawa, CEO of BayTSP, a Silicon Valley company hired by movie studios to detect illegal downloaders.

Many of these early copies are low-tech productions created by someone sitting in a theater with a digital camcorder, although quality copies are leaked out of Hollywood as well - occasionally, as in the case of "The Hulk," even before a film reaches the theaters.

For now, time is on the film industry's side. A song can be downloaded in a matter of seconds, but it takes two hours or more to download a full-length movie with a high-speed connection. It's not feasible for someone who relies on a dial-up modem to download a movie.

Advances in digital compression technology, however, are expected to steadily erode download times.

Because a broadband connection is crucial for movie downloads, much of the movie industry's public education campaign is focused on college campuses. Students are tech-savvy, hooked into fast networks and perennially short on cash.

In addition to running full-page anti-piracy ads in more than 100 college newspapers, the MPAA also has been working with university administrators to persuade them to discourage students from illegal downloading. They've been receptive, partly because it's illegal. Also, excessive downloading can make a university's Internet networks sluggish, Taylor said.

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Donation to NC State Mobile Veterinary Hospital

Oct. 5, 2004
AKC Gazette
By staff report
© Copyright 2004

The AKC Community Events Team, on behalf of all AKC employees, donated $1,155.00 to the NC State Mobile Veterinary Hospital. The funds are earmarked for the purchase of three sets of left-handed surgical instruments.

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Death penalty sought in killings at college

Oct. 6, 2004
NBC5.com, IL; Chicago Tribune; WLS, IL; WQAD, IL; Chicago Sun Times, IL
By staff report
© Copyright 2004

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A pair of brothers accused of fatally shooting two Illinoisans before a college football game will be tried for armed robbery -- a charge that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the brothers' murder trial.

Timothy and Tony Johnson, who face first-degree murder charges in last month's shooting at a North Carolina State University tailgating party, will be tried first in connection with a home invasion in August.

That means that if the brothers are convicted, prosecutors will have more ammunition to seek the death penalty.

Under North Carolina law, a person is eligible for a death sentence if he has a prior violent felony conviction.

"Obviously, the home invasions took place before the murders," Assistant Wake District Attorney Susan Spurlin said Monday. "We think it's important that a jury (that) is trying to make a decision about the appropriate punishment on the murder charge know about the criminality of their conduct prior to the homicides."

Timothy Wayne Johnson, 22, and Tony Harrell Johnson, 20, are both charged with murder for the killings of Kevin M. McMann of Chicago and 2nd Lt. Brett Johnson Harman (pictured, left), a Camp Lejeune Marine from Park Ridge, Ill., on Sept. 4. The men, both 23, were shot to death in a tailgate area outside an NCSU football game.

Last week, police charged the Johnson brothers and three other young men in a home invasion Aug. 23 in Raleigh. Police said the robbery was revenge for the theft of $1,000 and cocaine from Timothy Johnson's apartment.

On that night, police say, armed robbers stole drugs, $600, seven guns, car keys and cell phones.

One stolen gun was used in the double homicide two weeks later, prosecutors have said.

Johnny Gaskins, attorney for Tony Johnson, said he believes the decision to try the brothers first in the home invasion case shows prosecutors do not have much confidence in the murder case.

"I'm sure if they can get a felony on them, it'll make them look bad at the second trial," Gaskins said. "But they're not going to get a chance to change the facts in that second trial."

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Reaction from voters to veep debate

Oct. 6, 2004
Associated Press; Charlotte Observer; NBC 17; WCNC; Wilmington Morning Star; Winston-Salem Journal; Boston Globe, MA; Capitol Hill Blue, VA; Charleston Gazette, WV; Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail, WV; Duluth News Tribune, MN; Kansas.com, KS; Miami Herald, FL; MLive.com, MI; philly.com, PA; phillyburbs.com, PA; San Jose Mercury News, CA; The State, SC; WVEC, VA
By staff report
© Copyright 2004

(AP) — Voter reaction to the debate between vice presidential candidates Dick Cheney and John Edwards:

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Mean green: Plant threatens beaches

Oct. 6, 2004
Island Packet, Hilton Head Island, S.C
By JESSICA FLATHMANN
© Copyright 2004

With its small lavender flower and pleasant smell, the vitex plant might not look like a potential menace to Lowcountry beaches. But if it finds its way here, it has the ability to harm the dune system.

About two dozen people, including government officials, learned Tuesday how to identify the plant in an effort to keep it off local dunes.

Betsy Brabson, coordinator for the S.C. Beach Vitex Task Force, said the plant hasn't been reported on Hilton Head Island. But it has been seen at other beaches along the coast, including the Georgetown area.

Brabson said the plant was brought to the region by a North Carolina State University official, who thought it would help stabilize the beach and control erosion. Instead, the plant pushes out native dune plants, much like kudzu.

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Obituary: Doris Lucas Laryea

Oct. 6, 2004
News & Observer

For a copy of this obituary, contact News Services at 5-3470.

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