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Mustang vs. Corvette
Chancellor James Oblinger, Larry NielsenWhat you missed in last week's papers
Kannapolis Biotechnology CenterCoble covets House committee position
UNC system presidency, BOGFewer farmers are spring chickens
Michael Walden
Wanted:
Willing young farmers
Michael Walden, farming
Jobless
rate down slightly for 2nd month
Michael Walden
Low-tech,
cheap is their goal
College of Managment, conpetition for MBA students
The reel
eel
Cooperative Extension
Excerpt:
Nags Head Voters Guide
Institute for
Transportation Research and Education
Former
NC State instructor says "exterminate white people"
Kamau Kambon, Africana Studies
Professor
calls for genocide of white race
Kamau Kambon, Africana Studies
Footnotes
Muslim Students Association, fundraising to help Pakistan's earthquake victims
Coming
soon: Martha's neighborhood
Mitzi Montoya-Weiss, Martha Stewart homes
Venezuela‘s
nuclear energy plan makes US wary
Paul Turinsky, nuclear engineering
Comments
at NC State forum denounced as 'imitation Hitler
Kamau Kambon
North
Carolina's Turf Industry Conference and Expo travels to Winston-Salem
January 9-12
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Cooperative Extension
GARDENING
Q&A: Rhubarb won't flourish when summer is too hot
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Obit.:
Charles Eugene Anderson
retired faculty from Botany Department
Former NC State instructor says "exterminate white people"
Oct. 24, 2005
WCNC, Winston-Salem Journal, Charlotte Observer, Myrtle Beach Sun News (SC), News & Observer, WVEC (VA), WRAL., Dateline Alabama (AL), Lexington Dispatch, WSOC-TV, NBC 17
By staff report
© Copyright 2005
North Carolina State University has
distanced itself from comments made by an occasional instructor who recently
said blacks must "exterminate
white people off the face of the planet."
Kamau Kambon, an author who taught in N.C. State's Africana Studies program as recently as this past spring, made the comments Oct. 14 during a conference at Howard University in Washington, D.C., that was televised nationally by C-SPAN.
The conference was organized to discuss mainstream media coverage of racial issues after Hurricane Katrina.
Kambon explained how he grew up in Brooklyn and eventually began to wonder why so many of his black friends were dying. He concluded that the reason was systematic oppression by a society designed and run by whites.
"We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet to solve this problem ...," he said. "So we just have to just set up our own system and stop playing and get very serious and not be diverted from coming up with a solution to the problem, and the problem on the planet is white people."
Lawrence Guyot, a civil rights leader and speaker at the conference, immediately challenged the remarks, warning that blacks can't work toward full freedom with "racial fanaticism."
Opio Sokoni, a filmmaker and broadcaster who helped organize the event, also has distanced himself from Kambon's remarks.
Kambon, who owns a store in Raleigh called Blacknificent Books, said he was aware of the controversy but wouldn't comment on it.
Citing personnel laws, N.C. State officials refused to discuss why Kambon was hired. But they have denounced the remarks.
"This type of speech is counter to any reasoned discussion on the issue of race relations and is absolutely unacceptable in the N.C. State community," said N.C. State Provost Larry Nielsen, who oversees academic programs at the university.
He said Kambon taught at the school occasionally between the spring of 2001 and the spring of 2005.
N.C. State spokesman Keith Nichols on Sunday said Kambon taught at the school on an "as needed" basis and wasn't slated to return even before his comments on Oct. 14. Nichols said he didn't know why Kambon wasn't rehired this school year and couldn't discuss whether he'd ever be hired again by the university.
Oct. 24, 2005
Lone Star Times (TX)
By staff report
© Copyright 2005
Dr. Kamau Kambon, who taught Africana Studies 241 in the Spring 2005 semester at North Carolina State University, also said this needs to be done “because white people want to kill us.”
Addressing a panel on “Hurricane Katrina Media Coverage,” broadcast in its entirety on C-SPAN, Kambon told the audience that white people “have retina scans, they have what they call racial profiling, DNA banks, and they’re monitoring our people to try to prevent the one person from coming up with the one idea. And the one idea is, how we are going to exterminate white people because that in my estimation is the only conclusion I have come to. We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet to solve this problem.”
Oooookay, psycho. He’s still on the list of faculty at the Africana Studies department, by the way. Why not drop department chair Dr. Craig C. Brookins a line and let him know what you think of his employee?
[Hat-tip: Michelle Malkin]
Fewer farmers are spring chickens
Oct. 24, 2005
Charlotte Observer, News & Observer, Rocky Mount Telegram, Winston-Salem Journal, Myrtle Beach Sun News (SC), Lexington Dispatch
By AMANDA LINGERFELT
© Copyright 2005
ROCKY MOUNT - At 70 years old, Bobby Joe Fisher is planning his retirement from his Red Oak farm.
Fisher planted his first crop of tobacco in 1956, and he said he is not sure who will take over his farm, Bobby Joe Fisher Farms, when he retires.
"Both of my sons are bankers," Fisher said. "They don't want to farm. There wasn't much incentive for them to farm, and I didn't want to force it on them."
Statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show the average age of farmers is increasing, while the number of young farmers is decreasing. As older farmers approach retirement and have no one to pass their farms to, officials worry that farming could become a dying occupation.
"There's a need for a stable number of farm operators to produce our nation's food and fiber," said Andrew Branan, executive director of the N.C. Farm Transition Network. "Rural, state and national economies depend on farmers. "If you don't have enough people producing, we will go more and more toward depending on offshore resources for food, which I'm sure scares a lot of people," Branan said.
Keeping it in family
The N.C. Farm Transition is a state organization dedicated to helping older farmers transition their land to younger farmers in order to keep valuable land from becoming residential property, Branan said."Farmland that passes out of operator ownership is more likely to be converted, usually for residential use," he said. "The more farms we lose, the more jobs we lose in rural North Carolina. All of these things lead to a long-term reduction in our state's agricultural economy."
Only 3 percent of farmers in Nash County are under the age of 35, according to the 2002 Census of Agriculture. More than one-fourth of Nash County farmers are 65 or older. By comparison, that same age group constitutes only 3 percent of the U.S. labor force.
Brandon Moore, operator of Moore's Hog Farm in Nashville, said he can see the increase in older farmers.
"When I was going to school, I was the only one that I knew that farmed," said the 34-year-old. "Each time I talk with a farmer, usually I'm talking to someone who is 60 years old or so."
Susan Leggett, 26, operates Leggett Farms in Nashville with her husband, Brent, 30. The couple grows tobacco, sweet potatoes, cotton and soy beans on a 1,200-acre farm.
Leggett said she thinks young people are discouraged from farming because of the amount of work involved.
"It's more than just a full-time job, it's an all-time job," she said. "You work the farm during the daylight hours, and the other times, your time is spent in the office, record-keeping and accounting."
The Leggetts planted their first crop about a year ago, and Susan said she was nervous about starting her own farm.
"I think it was the fact of starting something new and not being able to have that paycheck every week or every two weeks," she said. "We only get paid three or four times a year, and that's what we are going to make. It's the uncertainty of not having a steady income."
Brent Leggett said he thinks young farmers are discouraged from farming because there are no incentives.
"We're steady all the time, giving incentives for businesses to come into the county," he said. "Farmers do more for the economy and the community than businesses. They are your volunteer firemen, your Ruritan members, church members."
At age 18, Allen Braswell of Nashville is one of the youngest farmers in the county. Because of his age, banks denied him loans because he lacked sufficient credit, he said.
"I haven't been able to borrow money, so I've had to save," he said.
Braswell grows produce on 10 acres that he rents from his grandmother. He pays for the farm by saving money from work with his father, an agriculture equipment machinist, and by helping other farmers pick cotton.
"It's just a dream I've had," he said. "I wanted to farm ever since I was big enough to know what farming was."
Recruiting youngsters
If young farmers aren't helped more by the government, there could be some rough consequences, Leggett said.
"If we don't do something to help encourage young folks, in 10 years, everyone's going to be beyond retirement age," he said. "A country that can't feed itself can't protect itself. The government needs to be more involved in helping young folks make the commitment to farm."
Brent Leggett is the president of the Nash County Young Farmers and Ranchers, a division of the N.C. Farm Bureau aimed at issues specific to young farmers. Groups like the Young Farmers and Ranchers and the N.C. Farm Transition are helping to recruit more young people.
"Over the last 10 to 15 years now, I think it's turning around some," said Kevin Kinlaw of the N.C. Young Farmers and Ranchers. "When we have our state conference, we'll have about 250 people. We used to only have about 70 or 80."
Michael Walden, a Reynolds distinguished professor of economics at N.C. State University, said he has also seen an increase in the number of students interested in farming.
Participation in the university's four-year degree program in agricultural business management and the two-year agricultural institute program has increased dramatically over the last 10 to 15 years, he said.
Oct. 24, 2005
News & Observer
By Tim Simmons
© Copyright 2005
Yes, N.C. State Chancellor Jim Oblinger and Provost Larry Nielsen do discuss more than the merits of interdisciplinary degree programs or the report of the academic affairs assessment planning team.
Oblinger and Nielsen have had a running debate over the merits of two classic sports cars, the 1967 Chevrolet Corvette and the 1967 Ford Mustang. Oblinger recently told students the coolest car of 1967 had to be the Corvette. Not so, countered Nielsen, the university's second in command. If you're talking sports cars of 1967, Nielsen believes it has to be the Mustang.
Here are their points and counterpoints:
Oblinger
"Look at the technology here. Should we compare the Corvette to Mustangs or every other car? The Corvette was just a cool car. It had a lot of power. It had great lines. The styling was superb.
"Some might try to say that about the Mustang, but it's not true. In terms of style, the Corvette pushed the envelope of American car styling.
"It was also harder to acquire. It was much harder to acquire. But now it's considered a bargain and a technological marvel.
"Of course, I don't have one, but that's another story."
Nielsen
"The Mustang came out in '64- 1/2, if I remember correctly. When I was in college, I had a friend who had a 64- 1/2 Mustang, a red one. I just loved to drive that car.
"When people saw me in that car, they would stop and stare. I was the king of the world when I drove that car. You just couldn't match the feeling.
Unlike the Corvette, it was also a sports car that people could afford. That's part of what made it so special. Unfortunately, that didn't include me. The car I got to drive was a '56 Chevy, one year short of a classic. The story of my life."
Oct. 24, 2005
Jacksonville Daily News
By KAREN MCCONKEY
© Copyright 2005
TRENTON - When Alexis Blanchard and her boyfriend, George Koonce, couldn't
find eel bait for a 2003 fishing trip, they decided they'd raise their own.
Two years, and many licenses and certifications later, the N.C. Eel Farm on N.C. 41 heading toward Comfort is a small but thriving enterprise filling a niche in the global eel market.
For Blanchard, taking the entrepreneurial plunge meant getting an education in aquaculture and marine biology. In fact, it seems Blanchard has gotten attached to the nearly 10,000 pounds of the slippery critters that leap from their tanks when she walks up.
"They're very social creatures," she said. "They like being with each other, which is why you'll see them all wrapped up in a knot together, like this," she said, gingerly pulling a few dozen apart in her net.
The American or "glass" eels grown for bait or for human consumption have long been considered a prize for sport fishing or for serving up with spring rolls and sushi.
"Native Americans ate eels and there are records documenting them showing Pilgrims or early settlers how to smoke eels. It probably helped keep them from starving," Blanchard said.
In fact, eels aren't unusual in parts of eastern North Carolina, Paul Dove, one of Blanchard's employees, said.
"When I was coming up, my mama would put eel in her fish stews," Dove recalled. "Just like fish, that's how they tasted."
Eels begin their lives in the Sargasso Sea where they are born and began their trek toward inland waters.
The eel cycle
It's the mysterious pull of fresh water that compels millions of clear blobs to swim ferociously from the Sargasso Sea to congregate with millions of similar blobs that one day will become glass eels like Blanchard's.
"Scientists don't really know why they are pulled to fresh water, but once they get there, you can see them in countless numbers," Blanchard said as she netted up a handful of small eels.
Blanchard's eels come from the only two certified sources available to commercial growers: Maine and Canada. They are brought in as elvers, minute versions of what they will one day become.
"They start out almost flat, and they are transparent when they're swimming toward fresh water," Blanchard said. "Once they get to the feeding stage, they start taking on color and become more round and pencil-shaped."
Blanchard and Koonce's farm supports the elvers in climate and temperature-controlled tanks. The optimal water temperature for eel growth is around 75 degrees, Blanchard said. If an eel remains in water that drops close to 60 degrees, it doesn't grow.
"Our operation here is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," she said. In addition to the regulated water temperatures, the eels also receive highly-oxygenated water and premium eel food.
The oxygen-rich water keeps them active and helps them grow, Blanchard said. "Eels absorb oxygen through their skin. Most people don't realize that if you keep an eel in a cooler under the right conditions, they'll remain alive up to a week not being in the water," Blanchard said.
Local market
The eel farm sells to many wholesale markets nationwide, Blanchard said. "In fact, the Neuse Sport Shop was one of our first customers."
"It's been a great resource for us," Russell Rhodes, Neuse Sport Shop president, said. "We never had a reliable supply until they started the business." The Sports Shop's eels draw a market of buyers and also provide entertainment for scores of school-aged children who flock to the tanks when shopping with the parents, Rhodes said.
In addition to fish and bait retailers, Blanchard also ships her eels to zoos and aquariums across the country. Some eels are for exhibits. Some are used for food. "We have several aquariums that are ordering our eels to feed their sea snakes," Blanchard said.
Like any farm operation, Blanchard had her ups and downs in the first two years of business. "It's a learning process, and I've made some mistakes," she said. "I've had a lot of help from Cooperative Extension and others with N.C. State or Marine Fisheries, so it's getting easier."
Walking along the rows of tanks, she laughs as splashing eels try to launch themselves from their confined area. The larger ones - the ones that will grow large enough to use for Asian cuisine - hover around the bottom of the tanks.
"Those are the ones you want for eating," she said. If she was ever squeamish about her first mouthful of eel, she doesn't let on.
"Smoked eel is delicious," she said, offering one staring blankly from a plate. "Have some."
Contact Kinston Karen McConkey at kmcconkeyfreedomenc.com
What you missed in last week's papers
Oct. 24, 2005
Charlotte Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2005
SUNDAY
• Even as financier David Murdock proceeds with his plans for a $1 billion biotech campus in Kannapolis, experts cite many impediments to transforming the old textile town into a world-class science cluster. There's lots of competition for too few top scientists, they say.
Murdock officials say response to their planned North Carolina Research Campus has been so strong that they just doubled the estimated impact: It now should draw 200 biotech companies in four or five years after the campus opens, they say, with 8,000 to 9,000 direct jobs and several times that in related work.
UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University are partnering with Murdock, along with his companies Dole Food Co. and Castle & Cooke Inc. developers. But many obstacles remain, biotech experts said: Plenty of states are gunning for biotech as "the next big thing" in economic development; creating a biotech community from scratch is hard, but is even more challenging outside the main clusters; and state lawmakers still need to sign off on $41 million in university-related funding for the project's first year, and $25 million annually after that.
Even after a cluster is built, biotech experts say, it could take a decade or more to bloom. And companies typically hire few employees, anywhere from five to 20 people. -- Adam Bell
TUESDAY
• Two Rowan County men accused in a brutal beating Sept. 28 are expected in Cabarrus County District Court next month.
William David Snyder, 30, of Salisbury and Christopher Allen Byrd, 27, of Rockwell were charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit armed robbery; robbery with a dangerous weapon; assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, inflicting serious injury; and breaking and entering a motor vehicle.
They were arrested in connection with the beating of Michael Honeycutt, 48, of Seattle in a men's restroom at a rest area on Interstate 85 North in Concord early Wednesday morning.
Honeycutt was in critical condition last week at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Byrd and Snyder are expected in Cabarrus County District Court on Nov. 7 for a probable cause hearing, Concord Police Maj. Allen Overcash said. -- lena warmack
THURSDAY
• Residents of the Odell community in northwest Cabarrus County who have been working to incorporate as a town got their first round of support recently from the town of Midland and a second boost last week from the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners.
The commissioners approved a resolution in favor of the effort. It will be sent to the state legislature to help make the residents' case for incorporating.
About 3,400 people live in Odell, an area primed for growth. One of the reasons residents have come together is so they can control the development sprouting up in their community, leaders say. Unhappy about traffic and crowded schools, they have pushed for lower housing density and tougher standards.
The residents got a petition signed by 450, or 15 percent, of the community's registered voters. -- VICTORIA CHERRIE
FRIDAY
• Despite controversy on the track and rising gas prices, attendance at last weekend's UAW-GM 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway was close to 140,000. That's a 4 percent increase over last year's total, track spokesman Jerry Gappens said Thursday.
The fans saw a record 15 caution flags during the race after a resurfacing project at the Concord track.
Seating capacity at the track is 160,000, Gappens said. He said the speedway was cruising toward double-digit growth in attendance this year before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck, jacking up gas prices and holding down the number of fans driving in from other states.
Fans like watching racing at night, Gappens said, and this year better understand NASCAR's playoff system, which is in its second year. -- Adam Bell
Excerpt: Nags Head Voters Guide
Oct. 24, 2005
Outer Banks Sentinel
By staff report
© Copyright 2005
For Mayor: Renee Cahoon · George Farah III · Carlton Priest "Buster" Nunemaker III; For Commission Seat: Brant Murray · Doug Remaley · Anna D. Sadler
This Voters Guide was compiled by the Dare County League of Women Voters to provide voters with information about the candidates running in the Nov. 8 Dare County Municipal Elections. The Guide is being published as a public service.
Anna D. Sadler for Commission Seat
Education: High School Graduate; Nursing School, Water and Wastewater Treatment Licenses, Real Estate Broker, GRI RRS
Occupation: Real Estate 23 years
Additional training and experience: Past Planning Board Member; Past Board of Adjustment Member, Member Septic; Task Force Initiative Committee; Member Transportation Task Force Committee; Past Member Dare County Board of Commissioners, Member of Albemarle Hospital; Board of Commissioners; Member of Dare County Tourism Board
Issues
1. On-site septic systems are a means to control density and these systems must be maintained. Thru Nags Heads septic program we encourage, with rebates, inspections. If repairs are needed we have loans available. To keep them efficient and friendly to the environment they must be maintained. We have an on-going study concerning storm water runoff however we have taken the initiative and funded this line item in the current budget. We have already addressed some concerns and will be working on others thru the coming months. With the new ordinance on "fill" it will require lots that have added a certain amount of fill to have engineered storm water retention plans. We continue to monitor the ocean outfalls and well sites throughout town, to determine if there are problems.
2. Growth, disappearing beach and traffic are certainly three of the most urgent issues facing us today and will be facing us both short and long term. How to deal with growth is difficult and must be planned in conjunction with our land use plan which takes into consideration what the public wants. Hopefully Nags Head will be hiring a group from NC State that will assist us in seeing where to curb and where to intensify. Traffic is affected by growth and the current transportation task force has received input from the Institute for Transportation Research and Education from NC State. We are hopeful this will offer some short and long term solutions we can implement such as the encouragement of "mixed-use" planning in some areas where you can walk to a shop or restaurant from your overnight accommodations, leaving the car parked. Also encourage different change over days for the week- stay visitor and ask that they bring less cars. More car pooling could be encouraged.
3. And the Beach, Our Industry. To re-nourish or not, that seems to be the question now days. If we do not, we stand to lose our industry, our jobs and most of all, our beautiful beaches. If anyone thinks the beach in its "natural state" is a great sight, they needed only to see the beach in front of Surfside and Seagull Drive after Isabel to realize there literally was "no beach" to see. Funding for all the above will have to be thru special assessments, thru impact fees, possible user fees and thru advolorum taxes.
Jobless rate down slightly for 2nd month
Oct. 24, 2005
Winston-Salem Journal
By Richard Craver
© Copyright 2005
The state's unemployment rate dropped slightly for the second consecutive month in September, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission yesterday.
The jobless rate declined to 5.5 percent in September from 5.6 percent in August.
The rate decrease was reported in a month in which the commission's two monthly data surveys provided mixed employment signals.
The number of North Carolinians counted as employed rose by 12.602 during September to a record 4.1 million, according to a survey of households taken by the commission.
Residents considered as unemployed declined by 5,343. The data is seasonally adjusted.
"Employment has continued to increase for the past three months," said Harry Payne Jr., the chairman of the commission. "North Carolina's labor force is also at an all-time high (4.3 million) - showing that both hiring and job-searching confidence is on the rise."
Not all of the news was good.
The commission's payroll survey of employers found that the state had a net loss of 10,500 nonfarm jobs.
There was a loss of 5,300 jobs in the trade, transportation, warehousing and utilities sectors, of which 3,200 were represented by food, convenience and grocery stores. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. has said it could cut as many as 6,000 jobs in North Carolina as it's pulling out of the state as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. The state also lost 3,400 jobs in manufacturing, 3,200 in government and 1,700 in educational and health services.
The leisure and hospitality services sectors had the largest increase in employment with a net gain of 3,900 jobs, along with a net gain of 2,500 jobs in the professional and business services sector.
Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University, said he believes that the household survey is the more relevant indicator of the state's employment picture.
"I think the job market is still good," Walden said.
"The household survey is more comprehensive in its coverage because it counts people working at established businesses, as well as workers at new businesses and self-employed folks. The payroll survey only counts workers at established businesses.
"So, a literal reading of the two surveys suggests jobs at established businesses fell while jobs at new businesses and self-employed jobs increased," Walden said. "This could very well be the case."
Michael Helmer, an economist with Economy.com who follows North Carolina, said that the decrease in nonfarm employment is a reflection of a state economy that already was slowing before the spike in energy costs.
"What remains the outstanding question is how much will the higher energy costs put a crimp in the plans of companies who were planning to hire prior to September," Helmer said. He added that higher energy or raw-material costs could compel some businesses to cut expenses by reducing staff.
Economists said that local retail hiring for the Christmas holiday season should be at normal levels despite weaker consumer confidence.
Jack Johndrow, the manager of the J.C. Penney store at Hanes Mall, said that he has plans to hire 60 to 70 seasonal workers, which is about the same as last year.
"We expect an increase in sales this year and expect the need for the extra help," Johndrow said. "I'm more concerned about sales in the first quarter of next year once the higher energy bills hit people in the mail."
• Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com
Oct. 24, 2005
News & Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2005
Symphony, choir to perform Beethoven
The 108-member UNC Symphony Orchestra and a 200-voice campus and community choir will perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at 8 p.m. Friday in Memorial Hall on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. Tickets are $15 and $30 for the public and $10 for Carolina students, available by calling 843-3333 or from the Memorial Hall box office on Cameron Avenue.
UNC scientists win eight NIH grants
UNC-Chapel Hill health scientists have won eight grants from the National Institutes of Health's competitive Roadmap program -- more than any other university. They also have new funding for a center to combat cancer through the latest in basic science technology.
UNC will receive $11.6 million under the Roadmap program and another $3.9 million to fund the first year of the newly established Carolina Center of Nanotechnology Excellence. The National Cancer Institute will fund the nanotechnology center.
Duke University won two grants in the Roadmap program, which is designed to speed medical research from the lab to the bedside.
SNCC the subject of panel discussion
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, organized in 1960 at Shaw University, will be the subject of a panel discussion, "Woke Up This Morning with My Mind on Freedom," at 7 p.m. today at the N.C. Museum of History at 5 East Edenton St. in Raleigh.
Former members of SNCC will discuss the legacy of the organization. The event, which will feature a film of a sit-in in Greensboro, is free and open to the public. RSVP by calling 807-7968.
Thousands raised for quake victims
Triangle university students raised more than $18,000 for victims of this month's earthquake in Pakistan. The Muslim student associations from Duke, N.C. State University and UNC-Chapel Hill co-hosted a fund-raising dinner, and the funds will go to Islamic Relief, an international aid agency.
The Muslim student associations, as well as Islamic Relief and the Islamic Center of Raleigh continue to collect funds. For more information, visit their Web sites: UNC Muslim Students Association at www.uncmsa.org, N.C. State Muslim Students Association at www.ncsumsa.org; Duke Muslim Students Association at www.duke.edu/web/MSA; and Islamic Relief Worldwide at www.islamic-relief.com.
Tami Tango Trio to perform Tuesday
The Tami Tango Trio will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Kenan Auditorium at UNC-Wilmington. Argentinean flautist Eduardo Tami, guitarist Pablo Fauaz and pianist Diana Ginzburg perform music that was an inspiration and an act of rebellion in the late 1800s. There is no charge for admission.
Coble covets House committee position
Oct. 24, 2005
News & Observer
By Rob Christensen & Jane Stancill
© Copyright 2005
U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, the veteran Republican from Greensboro, is eyeing
the chairmanship of the influential House Judiciary Committee.
The chairmanship will become open in January 2007 because Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin will be ineligible to seek another term as chairman under House Republican rules.
Coble, 74, is next in line in seniority after Sensenbrenner, but that is no longer a guarantee of getting the top job.
" Seniority alone in the Republican conference does not make the day," Coble said. "We should look beyond seniority. But seniority should be considered. You have to politic for it."
Coble says his most serious competition for the chairmanship will likely be from Rep. Lamar Smith, a 57-year old attorney from San Antonio.
If elected, Coble would become the first North Carolinian to chair a major House committee since Democrat Charlie Rose of Fayetteville was chairman of the House Rules Committee.
Name recognition
Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue is the best known of the potential 2008 gubernatorial candidates, according to a new poll.
Perdue, a Democrat, has a favorable rating of 33 percent and unfavorable rating of 8 percent with the rest either having no opinion or not knowing, according to a survey.
Among other Democrats, Attorney General Roy Cooper had a favorable rating of 23 percent and a 4 percent unfavorable rating, while state Treasurer Richard Moore had a 20 percent favorable rating and a 4 percent unfavorable rating.
Congresswoman Sue Myrick of Charlotte was best known among potential GOP candidates. She had a 25 percent favorable and 8 percent unfavorable rating. State Sen. Fred Smith of Clayton had a 5 percent favorable rating and a 2 percent unfavorable rating.
The poll also found that voters think the programs that need the most attention from state government are health care (22 percent), education (21 percent), taxes (18 percent) and jobs (17 percent).
The survey was conducted by Tel Opinion Research for the Civitas Institute, a Raleigh-based think tank. The survey quizzed 800 registered voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.
UNC counsel gets a raise
Leslie Winner, the University of North Carolina legal counsel, was among the top UNC officials who got a raise last week.
Winner advised the Board of Governors that its presidential search committee could meet in a recessed closed session to interview candidates for the UNC presidency.
The board gave her a 4 percent raise, from $174,814 to $181,807.
Union re-elects president
Jack Cipriani, the president of Teamsters Local 391, the largest union in North Carolina, recently won re-election to another three-year term.
The 57-year-old is a player in politics, with his union's political committee contributing about $250,000 per election cycle to N.C. candidates.
The local represents about 7,000 workers from Wilkesboro to Wilmington.
Oct. 24, 2005
News & Observer
By Amanda Lingerfelt
© Copyright 2005
For a copy of this article, contact News Services at 515-3470.
Oct. 24, 2005
News & Observer
By David Ranii
© Copyright 2005
Robert Malkin has visited many hospitals in Third World countries where a simple X-ray machine is an unaffordable luxury and surgery is mostly performed by candlelight because there's not enough fuel to power the generators.
Now Malkin is using his position as a biomedical engineering professor at Duke University to help.
He has challenged Duke students to devise a business plan centered around a new, inexpensive piece of medical equipment or medical technology, then build a prototype that delivers the goods.
The winner will receive $50,000 in seed money to turn the business plan into reality, a one-year salaried position at Duke that will pay about $25,000, and a mentor to help guide the business through the startup phase.
Contest applications are due next week, and the winner will be chosen in April.
" I like the fact that it's going to have an impact," said Zach Jones, a senior majoring in biomedical engineering who plans to enter the competition. "There's nothing else that I could do as an undergraduate that could have that kind of impact."
Some students have indicated the problems they plan to tackle.
One team is looking at providing cheaper oxygen tents.
Another is looking at combining several pricey devices that monitor vital signs into a single inexpensive unit that can be hooked up to an old TV set or computer monitor.
One team is looking at ways to quickly and cheaply get instruction manuals to hospitals whose donated equipment didn't come with a manual, or came with a manual that's in a foreign language.
Sai Sarath Chandra, a graduate student in engineering management, said his team is exploring two possibilities -- including inexpensive lights to treat infantile jaundice. "The ideal price point is less than $5," he said.
Although business contests are common on campuses across the country, Duke's -- dubbed Competition for Underserved and Resource Poor Economies, or CUREs -- is different.
First, the focus is on developing countries, not a top-of-mind market. Second, rather than zeroing in on hot new technology, often crucial for startup businesses, the emphasis is on using off-the-shelf parts to keep costs low.
Requiring that the prize money be used to start a business also is atypical.
" Most of these competitions, the money goes to the winner and you can use it for the business or not," said Beth Anderson, managing director of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke's Fuqua School of Business.
The contest rules stipulate that the businesses be nonprofit so that students can focus on the neediest populations, Malkin said.
The nonprofit world offers valuable training for business students, Duke professors say, such as addressing the needs of the market and the fundamentals of starting a new venture.
" Many of the same principles that apply to a for-profit business apply to a not-for-profit venture," said Barry Myers, who heads Duke's Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization.
Malkin heads a nonprofit, Engineering World Health, that delivers health-care technology and equipment to developing countries.
Each summer, the nonprofit trains students from all over the country to repair broken medical equipment, then sends them to Third World hospitals to put their training into action. Last summer, the 17 students who participated, including five Duke students, identified a lengthy list of technology needs. The CUREs projects are inspired by that list.
With its emphasis on costs, the competition isn't likely to produce breakthrough technology, but there is opportunity for innovation. Malkin said the team looking to produce oxygen tents has zeroed in on the fact that the tents are cheap to make but expensive to ship. The solution they're exploring is putting a vacuum-forming device in a van that travels from hospital to hospital, producing tents on arrival.
Although CUREs is a business competition, the need to produce a prototype requires business types to work with technical types. Interdisciplinary is what the academics call it.
The competition will involve teams of students, but the prize will go to the team leader, most of whom are expected to be MBA students or other business-oriented students, such as those in the graduate engineering management program. The bulk of the other team members will be engineering students participating as part of a class assignment.
The fact that the prize goes to the team's business leader offers a real-life lesson.
" In a normal business, you build the prototype and then dump the engineers -- and the businessman goes on," said Malkin. "That's life."
###
YOUNG MINDS DO GOOD
Using college students as a resource to attack real-world problems is becoming increasingly popular at universities.
N.C. State University recently unveiled a competition for MBA students that requires contestants to devise a solution for a problem faced by a large corporation.
Last spring, MBA students at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill served as consultants for Beard Hardwoods, a Greensboro lumber company.
As a result of those students' plan, the company began exporting to Mexico -- and has enjoyed much-better-than-projected sales.
The success of the program, which was developed with the state Department of Commerce, has prompted Kenan-Flagler is begin working with 10 companies, starting in January.
Edward Cornet, an adjunct professor at Kenan-Flagler, advocates students getting outside the classroom. "It's the hands-on experience that really builds your knowledge base."
Girl may lose arm after snake bite
Oct. 24, 2005
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© Copyright 2005
POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A 14-year-old girl may lose her arm after being bitten by a poisonous copperhead snake at school, authorities said.
The snake was caught in Valley Forge by a 17-year-old male student, who took it in a shoebox to a drama club gathering at St. Pius X High School on Friday, Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Ray Bechtel said. No regular classes were held that day, which was designated for staff development.
The boy was showing the reptile to other students when it bit the girl's finger, Bechtel said.
The girl, whose name was not released by police, apparently threw the snake across the room and the boy threw it outside. The snake was not found, but authorities were able to identify it because the boy photographed it with his camera cellphone, said Bechtel.
The victim was treated at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center about 45 minutes after being bitten, he said.
"The doctors said if it had been a half-hour longer she would likely have been dead," said Bechtel.
However, police said she could still lose her arm.
Police did not have an update on the girl's condition Sunday. She had been in very serious condition at Hershey Medical Center.
No charges were filed but police said they were investigating.
Copperhead snake bites are typically not fatal but are extremely painful and may cause extensive scarring and loss of limb use, according to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension of North Carolina State University.
Coming soon: Martha's neighborhood
Oct. 24, 2005
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By Margaret Lillard (AP)
© Copyright 2005
What could be better than waking up on Martha Stewart sheets in a Martha Stewart bed, drying off after your shower with Martha Stewart towels, gardening with Martha Stewart tools, and ending your day with a Martha Stewart recipe served on Martha Stewart plates at a Martha Stewart table?
Why, doing it all under the tastefully gabled roof of your Martha Stewart home in a complete Martha Stewart subdivision, of course.
Back from a prison stay, the omnipresent domestic diva has extended her brand yet again, partnering with developer KB Home to create a New England-style neighborhood of 650 houses in this affluent Raleigh suburb that seems to be embracing its longtime nickname, "Concentrated Area of Relocated Yankees."
There's no doubt that Stewart's name is popular with homemakers who snap up her linens and chairs, and turn for advice to her books, magazines and TV shows.
But is real estate too much of a "good thing?" Can the cachet of America's favorite household goddess really extend to people's most important purchase?
"I certainly hope so," Stewart said this week in High Point, N.C., where she was promoting the latest collection in her Martha Stewart furniture line.
"That's what KB is hoping, too - that because of the Martha Stewart name recognition for high quality and good design, that it will appeal to a lot of people, and they will come in and notice that we've paid attention to the lock on the window, the finish on the cabinet, the surface on the countertops," she said.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. and KB announced their partnership earlier this month, saying they would build Twin Lakes: Homes Created with Martha Stewart. Construction is just beginning in this suburb of 100,000, with model homes set to be ready early next year.
A KB Home spokesman said the company has already gotten about 650 "expressions of interest" from potential buyers. They will be able to choose from 12 models in townhomes and single-family dwellings, ranging from 1,300 to 4,000 square feet and with prices from $150,000 to $400,000.
Three house designs are based on homes Stewart owns in Maine and New York state, and options for interior features in all models - from wainscoting to light fixtures to paint colors and flooring - were chosen by Stewart's design team. She also advised on floor plans, including large laundry rooms, well-organized closets and space for indoor and outdoor entertaining.
While no one expects the Stewart name to make Cary or future developments planned for Georgia and Texas a magnet for Stewart devotees from across the nation, even a competitor acknowledges such tie-ins can make a difference.
"When they're making their decision in a homogenized landscape, you have to have something that sets you apart and sets you significantly in a better light than your competitor," said Rick Ohmann, vice president of sales for St. Lawrence Homes.
St. Lawrence has a similar co-branding arrangement with John Deere, which provided landscaping and lawn equipment for buyers in a subdivision in nearby Durham. Since it opened this spring with the Deere name and logo prominently placed on the entrance sign, 19 of the 51 lots have been sold.
Experts say the Stewart development, where top-priced houses will cost $100,000 less than in the Deere neighborhood, will add a touch of distinction to less wealthy consumers who like the prestige associated with the Stewart name.
"If this indicates it's a reflection of the superior taste of the house's owner, then they'll go for it," said Wilfred Amaldoss, an associate professor of marketing at Duke University. "If people believe she's of a higher social group and has better taste . . . it's an indication for them that they are also part of that group."
Mitzi Montoya-Weiss, a North Carolina State University marketing professor, lives in Cary herself and believes the suburb is the perfect market "filled with a huge bunch of conspicuous consumers."
Buyers will be "the newly well-to-do crowd. They are very aware of style, fashion in general. They've got extra income to spend," she said.
"Everything's a fad. It depends on what time frame you want to look at," she said. "Does a homeowner concern themselves with, 'How am I going to sell this house (in the future)?' Not always. I'm thinking about, 'I love this home and I want to live here now.' "
KB Home and Cary officials say they're not worried the development will suffer now or later from anything that might tarnish Stewart's image, such as her conviction and five-month prison term for lying to authorities about a stock sale.
Mayor Ernie McAlister said Stewart's handling of the matter, including her decision to serve her prison sentence while her conviction is appealed, will help it be viewed years from now as merely an aberration.
And Stewart herself believes that the reputation associated with her products will last even if her celebrity fades. To make her point, she gestured to the tastefully appointed showroom displaying her fourth collection of furniture.
"When you're sitting on this couch, you don't know it's a Martha Stewart couch unless someone tells you," she said. "But you can be sure it will last, it's well made, it's covered in beautiful fabric, it's comfortable and it fulfills the homeowner's dream of having a comfortable, practical, usable piece of furniture."
Comments at NC State forum denounced as 'imitation Hitler'
Oct. 24, 2005
WorldNetDaily (OR)
By staff report
© Copyright 2005
The organizer of the "Pro-Black Media Forum" in which a visiting professor at North Carolina State University said the solution to the problems faced by many blacks is the extermination of "white people off the face of the planet" has strongly denounced those remarks.
"I organized the Pro-Black Media Forum where Dr. Kamau Kambon made the comments about exterminating all whites while on CSPAN," Opio Sokoni explained to WND. "No one could have ever known that this former North Carolina State University professor would go off the cuff and make such immoral and unproductive remarks. We were all taken off guard – especially since he had said earlier that black people were not niggers but imitation niggers. If this is the case, his comments were not pro-black but imitation Hitler."
Venezuela‘s nuclear energy plan makes US wary
Oct. 24, 2005
Leading The Charge (Australia)
By Patrick Markey
© Copyright 2005
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela‘s President Hugo Chavez is approaching his wary South American neighbors about developing a nuclear energy program, raising questions in Washington about his atomic ambitions.
Chavez, a self-described socialist revolutionary fiercely opposed to the U.S. administration, says he wants to cooperate with Argentina, Brazil and possibly Iran to develop nuclear energy as part of his drive for regional integration.
But energy experts estimate it will take his government at least five years of studies, training and investment to develop a sustainable nuclear energy project in Venezuela, the world‘s No. 5 oil exporter.
"Nuclear energy is for peaceful purposes. We are not the ones developing atomic bombs, it‘s others who do that. We are not the ones who launch atomic bombs," Chavez told a Brazilian newspaper this week, dismissing fears over his proposal.
Venezuela‘s open support for Tehran in its clash with the United States and Europe over its own nuclear program has left Washington wondering about the motives behind Chavez‘s quest for atomic energy.
Ties between Venezuela and its main oil client the United States are already tense. The blunt-speaking ex-army officer has rattled Washington by allying himself with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and promoting his leftist ideas overseas.
Venezuela has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty limiting use of nuclear material and would have to follow safeguards from UN watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before any transfers of technology.
"We expect all countries including Iran, Argentina and Venezuela to adhere to nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty obligations," Jan Edmonson, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.
Flush with cash from oil revenues, Chavez has pushed to counter U.S. influence with energy deals with South American and Caribbean countries and strengthened ties with Iran, Russia and India to reduce reliance on the United States.
Iran is also interested in oil and aluminum deals with Caracas and Venezuela was the only country that voted last month against an IAEA resolution requiring Tehran to be reported to the Security Council over its nuclear program.
Chavez‘s initial announcement about acquiring nuclear technology with help from Iran met with wary reactions from Latin American neighbors worried about how the United States might view such cooperation.
Brazil and Argentina have the most advanced nuclear programs in South America. But while Brazil said it was uneasy about involving Iran, Argentina appears more willing to help Venezuela and already has experience exporting technology.
Venezuelan officials have given mixed signals about what they want and initially suggested they could use nuclear energy to power oil operations. But Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said the program is still in its infancy.
"We don‘t have any plans to buy a nuclear reactor. We are just evaluating where we could put one," he told reporters this week. "We would use it for electricity generation."
Ramirez said Venezuela had signed a deal with Argentina to supply cobalt for cancer treatment.
Nuclear energy experts reckon it could five to ten years before Venezuela manages to development a nuclear program that will require heavy investment in technology and also training and infrastructure to maintain the project.
"There is a big difference from going from chalk board academy to industrial practice, they will be very dependent on outside contractors." said Paul Turinsky, professor of nuclear engineering at North Carolina State University.
Venezuela had a small research RV1 reactor but that was closed more than 10 years ago and is now used for food processing irradiation, medical sterilization and research.
Scientists said a Canadian CANDU reactor used by Argentina was the most feasible for Venezuela as it would require no complex fuel enrichment and uses only natural uranium.
But to build a reactor with the average of around 700 megawatts to 1,000 megawatts of power Venezuela would have to go beyond Argentina and bring in other commercial partners from the United States, Canada or Europe, experts said.
North Carolina's Turf Industry Conference and Expo travels to Winston-Salem January 9-12
Oct. 24, 2005
Landscape Management (OH)
By staff report
© Copyright 2005
SOUTHERN PINES, NC — The Turfgrass Council of North Carolina invites turf managers from all segments of the Green Industry to its Turf Industry Conference and Expo in Winston-Salem, NC, January 9-12, 2006.
The event will be held at the Benton Convention Center and several of the surrounding hotels. The educational sessions have been developed by North Carolina State University faculty and staff. Seminars and workshops will cover breaking information on golf turf, lawn and landscape care, grounds maintenance, pesticide training and regulation, irrigation, sod production, sports turf management and business management.
The Turf Industry Conference is sponsored by: the North Carolina Sod Producers Association, the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America, the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association, the Eastern NC TGA, the Western NC TGA, the Piedmont GCSA, the Cape Fear GCSA, the North-South TGA, the Triangle TGA, the Sandhills GCSA, the Foothills LMA, the Carolinas GMA, the NC Sports Turf Management Association, the Turf Equipment Technicians Association of the Carolinas, the USGA, the NC Cooperative Extension Service, the NC Department of Agriculture and of course the Turfgrass Council of North Carolina's educational program committee.
The early registration deadline is December 15. Find out more at www.ncturfgrass.org or call 910/695-1333.
GARDENING Q&A: Rhubarb won't flourish when summer is too hot
Oct. 24, 2005
Richmond Times Dispatch
By RICHARD NUNNALLY
© Copyright 2005
Q. I lived in the North most of my life where rhubarb grows wild on the side of barns and garages. I have tried unsuccessfully to grow it down here. I had some in a raised bed, and it did OK for three years and then died. I'm willing to do another raised bed but would appreciate any suggestions you have for growing rhubarb in Richmond.
A. First, as soon as I agree that rhubarb doesn't grow well in Richmond, I'll get a pile of e-mails from gardeners who grow it. Of course, that's the great thing about living in the transition zone. We can grow traditionally Northern plants as well as traditionally Southern plants.
As you probably know, rhubarb doesn't do well in areas where the daytime temperature exceeds 90 degrees for long periods of time. Some years it does OK here, but most years it burns out.
You need to start with a 12-inch-deep trench, like you would dig for asparagus. Plant the roots in the bottom of the trench and cover them with compost or good garden soil.
As they grow through, cover them again. Keep repeating this until your soil reaches the ground level. This system should give you a deep enough root system to help the plants deal with our hot summers.
The soil pH could be a factor as well. While most of our soils are acidic, pH 4.5 to 5.5, rhubarb prefers a pH of 5.5 to 7.0. So you should get a test of the soil you plan to use in the trench.
Rhubarb also does best when planted in the spring, and be sure not to harvest for two years after establishment.
Q. We have a 3-year-old river birch in our front yard that was attacked by large insects in mid-September. They looked like bees and they were stripping the bark from the trunk of the tree. We've never seen insects like this before and wonder if you know what they might be.
A. The critters you've described sound like giant hornets. They strip the bark off birch trees and digest it to make their nests. These insects are about 1½ inches long.
They are also called cicada killers, because they will bore into the ground and lay their eggs on the larvae of the cicada.
If they strip off the bark around a small twig, they can girdle that twig causing it to die.
Otherwise, they are considered beneficial insects because they parasitize the cicada larvae. As long as they are not bothering you, you could just leave them alone.
Q. I bought a tree two or three years ago that was labeled Chionanthus virginicus. Of course, it was too small at that time to tell anything about its eventual form. I'm wondering if it will mature to be presentable because it looks so pitiful right now. I also wonder about the curling of the leaves, which doesn't seem to change regardless of the moisture or temperature.
A. Chionanthus virginicus is commonly called fringe tree. It is a slow grower and has an open canopy.
According to a fact sheet from North Carolina State University, the leaves are typically yellowish green and not showy.
The good news is, this plant is normally grown for its great blooms, not its leaves. It will take a few years to get the great blooms, but you'll have a pleasant surprise every May from that time on.
Q. I have a question about two Japanese holly bushes that died this summer. I bought the plants in April and they did fine until July. One died and the other is halfway dead. They didn't shrivel up all over; the progression started on one side of the plant, then migrated until the bush was dead. I thought I may not have given them enough water, but I haven't seen plants die in this manner before. Please help.
A. Since your hollies were just planted in April, it sounds like they just didn't survive the transplant. Of course, the summer heat and drought might have been contributing factors. The slow method by which they seemed to die would indicate root stress.
Therefore, the first thing I'd check is to see if the roots are still shaped like the container they came in.
If you pull up the dead plant, or the dying one, and it appears that the roots never broke out of the original root ball, that is probably their cause of death.
If that's the case, be sure to break up the root ball on the next ones you plant.
A fall planting should do better anyway, since your plants won't have to go through the stress of summer while they are trying to acclimate to your soil.
Richard Nunnally's column appears each Saturday in the Home & Garden section.
Send questions in care of the Flair Department, Richmond Times-Dispatch, P.O.
Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293 or e-mail your questions to home@timesdispatch.com
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Oct. 24, 2005
News & Observer
RALEIGH -- Charles Eugene Anderson, loving husband, father, grandfather and friend, died Thursday evening on October 20, 2005 at his home. Born on December 3, 1934 in Winfield, Kansas; he was the son of the late Lawrence and Winnie Anderson.
Charles is survived by his wife of 27 years, Bonnie Anderson; sons, Steven Anderson and his wife, Mary, and James Anderson; daughter, Tonya Anderson; stepdaughters, Sandra Justus and Lisa Rogers and her husband, James; grandchildren, Matthew, Crystal, Sarah, TJ, Reece, Kelly, Sydney and Alexis.
He was preceded in death by his beloved daughter: Gretchen.
Music was an important part of his life. He was with the Little German Band for 34 years. In addition, he played with other bands, including the Windjammer Band. He was also a part of the Connection Worship music team at Highland United Methodist Church.
Prior to three years on faculty at the University of Oklahoma, he attained his Masters and Doctorate from Purdue University. He was retired from NCSU Botany department after 30 years of teaching. In addition to his career in teaching and research, he served as a consultant in air pollution issues to a variety of government and corporate organizations.
After retirement, he continued teaching many in the community through his love of music and as God's servant, helping to heal people who had no where else to turn.
Family will receive friends on Sunday evening from 5-7 PM at Highland United Methodist Church 1901 Ridge Road.
A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Monday, October 24, 2005 at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, Hospice of Wake County, or Highland United Methodist Church.
Arrangements with Mitchell Funeral Homes and Crematory.