News Clips for October 30 - November 1, 2004

Jobs help fill apartments
Michael Walden, agricultural and resource economics

Is staff too old for airline?
Michael Walden, agricultural and resource economics

Retailers hopeful for upcoming holiday season
Michael Walden, agricultural and resource economics

Durham jobless rate dips: Sept. statistics also show fewer working
Michael Walden, agricultural and resource economics

Candidates should focus on the single women vote
Andy Taylor, political science

Bon Jovi Rocks Democratic Crowd
Michael Cobb, political science and public administration research

Voters' Voice: Bush Holds Lead Over Kerry
Michael Cobb, political science and public administration research

Footnotes
John Riddle, history

Prescribed fire projects kick off meeting
Heather Cheshire, forestry

Week in review
College of Design

People
College of Engineering

Biotech Center Turns 20 With a Jam-Packed Pig Pickin’
biotechnology training center

Getting involved
law school fair

Schools explore free music
illegal downloading

Health scare has students seeking pill
student health services

College Students To Get Antibiotics After Meningitis Outbreak
student health services

Hundreds Of Students Treated For Meningitis
student health services

Hundreds treated after college student diagnosed with meningitis
student health services

NC State Officials to Treat Students for Possible Meningitis Exposure
student health services

Health officials: No other cases of meningitis reported
student health services

Student health services offering free treatment due to meningitis case
student health services

UNC-CH Student Hospitalized With Meningitis
student health services

Meningitis patient in serious condition
student health services

Police: Monitor Student Internet Activity
student

Arts Notes: Symphony Chorus to perform
George Bireline, College of Design

Debunking Dr. K.
Nancy Mitchell, history

Wilson's 'Ma Rainey' burns bright
University Theatre

After three years of dismal job growth and a minor exodus from Triangle apartment communities, David Ravin and his colleagues at Crosland started weighing their options at Southpoint Village.

The Charlotte company had proposed building 289 apartment units at the mixed-use development in Durham. But by spring of this year, the thinking leaned toward more retail, maybe some townhouses -- but certainly fewer apartments.

"And we were on the fence for a little while figuring out when best to start," said Ravin, a Raleigh-based vice president for Crosland, which also is building 371 units at Oberlin Court in Raleigh. "We never thought about completely scrapping it. But with the data that keeps coming out, there's no reason why we won't be starting in the spring."

The data he's talking about is the improving vacancy rates of apartment communities in the Triangle. The lack of apartment construction and strong job growth has caused the apartment market to tighten to its healthiest point since 2000, according to a report by the Triangle Apartment Association.

Vacancy, which is typically lower in September because of the region's late-summer influx of students, improved to 7.9 percent in September from 10.1 percent six months ago.

While the market is good enough for Crosland to move forward, some landlords and developers say the market is still fragile because 3,496 units are under construction.

But the prospects of developers looking to move forward with proposed projects -- which hinge on job growth outpacing new supply -- could be improving. And landlords of apartment complexes under construction are optimistic.

In the past 12 months, the Triangle has created about 14,200 jobs -- almost double the number of jobs created in the previous three years combined. And economists expect between 15,000 and 20,000 jobs to be created in the next year.

"The economy is in a new expansionary mode that will last several years," said Michael Walden, an N.C. State University economist. "We're getting the impact of a better national economy. This area has all the ingredients that are necessary to do well in the new economy."

Despite the positive outlook, the market is expected to soften by at least 1 percent in the next six months. And if employment forecasts are amiss and developers begin construction on some of the 4,174 proposed units, the market could become looser still in the next year, said Brian Reece, a partner at Karnes Research, the Raleigh firm that conducted the market analysis for the apartment association.

"We haven't gone through an entire cycle in the single digits," he said. "If we end up throwing that product on line, it's going to sit there and all we're going to see is people in the market moving from one product to another product."

Slow recovery is good for renters, who are still being wooed by apartment complexes with months of free rent and lower monthly rents. Although the proportion of the apartment communities that are offering concessions to tenants has fallen from 80 percent a year ago to 74 percent, average apartment rents have also decreased, to $767 per unit, down $5 over the past year and $12 from September 2001.

"The market's not there yet," said Jennifer Moran, a regional property manager for HHHunt, which is building 300 units at Abberly Place in Garner. "Some places are still doing the two-month thing."

Also nagging the apartment market is the number of single-family home permits, which appears to be increasing in 2004, in part because of low interest rates that lure first-time homeowners out of apartments.

But that's not delaying the second 300-unit phase of Abberly Place, which will likely begin in 2006, Moran said. Nor is it spooking other landlords.

"People are still moving to the Triangle," said Rich Fox, vice president at Capstone Management, the Greensboro company that is handling leasing for the 278 units that are under construction at Featherstone Village in Morrisville. "There will still be some room for growth, and people developing apartment communities will do all right."

N.C. election season long on history

RALEIGH, N.C. - For a general election season shortened by redistricting litigation, politics in North Carolina this year sure were long on history.

Historic because a North Carolina resident was chosen a major party's vice presidential nominee for the first time since Whig Party hopeful William Alexander Graham in 1852.

Historic because GOP lawmakers spent millions fighting each other in the July 20 primary over the creation of a co-speakership in the state House.

And candidates went to great lengths to compare themselves or their opponents to past political figures, including Jesse Helms, Bill Clinton, and even Saddam Hussein.

On the eve of Election Day, here's a quick look back at some of the most memorable moments of the 2004 election season:

JOHN EDWARDS: The boyish-looking Raleigh attorney surprised a lot of people when the political novice beat U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth in 1998 and came within a whisker of becoming Al Gore's running mate in 2000.

So was it any wonder that his accelerated political career included a run at the presidency?

His populist message caught the ear of Democrats nationwide, but he only managed to win two primary contests: North Carolina and South Carolina, where he was born. Still, his second-place finishes left John Kerry with little choice but to choose him as his running mate.

Edwards returned home to a hero's welcome with Kerry on July 10 on the campus of N.C. State University in Raleigh. At least 19,000 people braved temperatures in the 90s to attend, making it one of the largest political events in state history.

EDWARDS' IMPACT: While Kerry and Edwards made several separate trips to North Carolina, the appearances diminished as the presidential campaign went deeper into the fall and it appeared North Carolina would remain in the Bush-Cheney column.

Hopes that Edwards could help the Democrats break their presidential streak here seemed to fizzle as the Kerry-Edwards campaign shifted resources to more competitive states.

SENATE FIGHT: After a relative blowout by Elizabeth Dole two years ago, the U.S. Senate race for Edwards' seat _ between Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Richard Burr _ reverted to North Carolina tradition: too close to call.

Bowles returned to the campaign trail after his 2002 defeat by Dole more relaxed and energetic. He replaced out-of-state advisers with people who worked with Jim Hunt and other state Democrats.

But he couldn't get away from his old boss Clinton. Burr's campaign began a post-Labor Day blitz of ads reminding voters of Bowles' past as White House chief of staff. They blamed Bowles for Clinton tax increases, trade deals with China and more welfare spending for immigrants.

Burr, on the other hand, received the blessing of Helms, the conservative icon, by speaking on his behalf in at least two rallies Down East.

MORGAN VS. RINOS: The GOP House primary races showed the wounds among state Republicans haven't healed after nearly a decade of fighting.

Supporters and opponents of the historic House co-speakership built by Rep. Richard Morgan, R-Moore, spent nearly $3 million leading up to the July 20 primary.

When it all cleared, four Morgan allies lost their races while only one of his opponents lost. Both sides declared victories, but it appeared that GOP members forgot to find candidates for a number of "vulnerable" Democratic incumbents.

The result: either Democrats will regain control of the chamber, or Morgan will keep a tenuous hold within the House leadership.

GOP PRIMARY: The most stunning campaign moment of the year in North Carolina came July 22, when Richard Vinroot decided not to call a runoff for the GOP gubernatorial nominee even though he trailed Patrick Ballantine in the six-way primary by only 1,509 votes.

Vinroot, who had vowed the day before to fight on and called Ballantine too moderate, arrived at state Republican Party headquarters a few hours after Ballantine's own news conference. His announcement surprised state party officials, who didn't have any Ballantine placards in stock when the news broke.

Vinroot said he did it so the party could unify and put resources behind defeating Mike Easley. But Ballantine remained at a significant fund-raising disadvantage to Mike Easley throughout the fall.

GUBERNATORIAL DEBATES: Ballantine threw down the gauntlet in the first few seconds of his first debate by saying he would be a champion of education. Easley came back with: "If Patrick Ballantine is a champion of education, then Saddam Hussein is a champion of civil rights."

Their relationship didn't improve much during their second debate, although they both managed to compliment each other's wives on camera.

PUBLIC FINANCING: Twelve of the 16 candidates for appellate court seats participated in the new voluntary public financing campaign program.

Supporters of the 2002 law, which give candidates general election money in exchange for individual fund-raising limits, call the plan a success.

Some candidates have complained that moving the races to nonpartisan affairs has made it more difficult to get their campaign message out with the money provided through the program.

Some 4 million North Carolina households also got a voters' guide to learn about the candidates for the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.

VOTING INTERESTS: Voter registration reached an all-time high in North Carolina as more 683,000 actual new residents _ also a record _ signed up to vote since October 2003.

And early voting at election offices statewide was expected to near 1 million participants _ more than twice the total from 2000, the first year of expanded absentee voting.

'A Southern drawl on the ticket would help us," Sen. Jon Corzine of New Jersey, the man in charge of a Democratic takeover of the U.S. Senate, said in June.

Which is why no group -- not even trial lawyers -- pushed harder to get North Carolina Sen. John Edwards on the ticket than his Democratic Senate colleagues.

It was simple math. Republicans hold a 51-48 majority, with Independent Jim Jeffords of Vermont voting with Democrats. Five of the open Senate seats were in the South.

But as it turned out, Edwards has largely ignored the Senate brawl and concentrated on the toss-up states where he and U.S. Sen. John Kerry are battling President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Even when Edwards has campaigned in states with hot Senate races, the Democratic candidates have often sought to disassociate themselves from the national ticket.

In North Carolina, Democratic Senate candidate Erskine Bowles showed up at only one event with Edwards, a rally in July at N.C. State University. And even then, Bowles did not appear on the stage with Edwards.

South Carolina Democratic Senate hopeful Inez Tenenbaum did the same as Bowles, appearing at Edwards' lone rally there but not allowing herself to be photographed at his side.

When asked why he hadn't campaigned with Edwards, Bowles said he wanted to be "a strong independent voice for North Carolina. I am going to work with whoever is in the White House, Democrat or Republican," Bowles said.

Translation: The Republicans are already clobbering me with ads tying me to Bill Clinton. I don't need to be connected with Kerry-Edwards as well.

"I think it's been negligible," said Dan Allen, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee in Washington.

But Democrats argue that Edwards is having a bank-shot effect -- helping the national ticket and thereby providing some wind behind Democratic Senate candidates.

"I think that Sen. Edwards' presence on the ticket was so desired and so wanted by the base of the party. ... His presence has helped our Senate candidates because it has fired up the base," said Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats and a Raleigh native.

Edwards said he believes his quest for the vice presidency has helped Democratic Senate candidates in places such as the Carolinas.

"We are competitive in North Carolina," Edwards said in a recent interview. "It is helpful to Erskine Bowles. I have campaigned in South Carolina with Inez Tenenbaum. I have been campaigning in Colorado with Ken Salazar. I've been with a number of campaigns in tough races."

In fact, Bowles and Tenenbaum are running strong races in states that trend Republican in Senate races.

But for those who envisioned that Edwards would be out standing side by side with Democratic Senate hopefuls on platforms across the country -- well, it hasn't happened.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Health workers on two local campuses will offer antibiotics to students who might have been exposed to meningitis.

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student was in serious condition with bacterial meningitis Friday as hundreds of college students were treated with antibiotics.

Jonathan Parker Davis, 18, was diagnosed Thursday with the disease, an acute infection of the brain lining that can cause permanent disabilities or death.

Health officials spent Friday retracing Davis' steps since Oct. 22 and notifying those who might be infected.

N.C. State University and UNC-Chapel Hill had administered 1,400 antibiotic pills Saturday to people who believed they might have come into contact with Davis.

Davis lives in Granville Towers, a private, off-campus dormitory at UNC-CH. He attended a party near N.C. State on Oct. 22.

Davis remained with friends at NCSU's University Towers after the party and attended the N.C. State football game against Miami on Oct. 23.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- More than 600 students at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University received antibiotics Friday as campus health officials tried to head off a meningitis outbreak.

UNC freshman Jonathan Parker Davis, 18, is in serious condition at UNC Hospitals after being diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis, a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord and can be fatal.

Davis attended an off-campus party at N.C. State last Friday that drew some 200 students. He also was at a mixer at Top of the Hill restaurant in Chapel Hill on Tuesday evening that was sponsored by the Tri Delta and Alpha Delta Phi sororities and the Alpha Tao Omega and Kappa Alpha fraternities.

Health officials on both campuses urged anyone at either of those events to seek medical treatment, and they set up clinics Friday to pass out the oral doses of Ciprofloxacin, the antibiotic for treating meningitis.

"I was a little scared. I think anyone would be," said Henry Nading, an N.C. State student who attended the Oct. 22 party on Chamberlain Road and picked up his antibiotics on Friday.

"The worry always in this kind of situation is that someone else will get the disease," said Dr. Mary Covington, director of student health at UNC. "This is a peculiar disease in the sense that many people become colonized with the bacteria, but very few people get sick."

UNC also sent teams of nurses to Granville Towers, the Chapel Hill apartment complex where Davis lives. More than 400 students were treated there, and the complex management sanitized the floor on which Davis lives.

"I feel a lot better about our health care system here at school since they actually came here to take care of us," one UNC student said.

UNC will continue handing out antibiotic doses from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, while N.C. State's clinic will be in operation from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

"It is so simple that, if there's a chance you've been exposed, you come in, fill out a questionnaire, we make sure you're not allergic and it's a single pill," said Dr. Mary Bengtson, N.C. State's medical director.

Orange County health officials said late Friday that lab tests show Davis has the second most common strain of bacterial meningitis, but it is one that isn't covered by a meningococcal vaccine. Exposed individuals who have received the vaccine still need preventive treatment, they said.

Davis himself had been vaccinated against meningitis in April. Officials haven't determined when or where he contracted the disease.

Even before the candy is handed out this Halloween, Christmas displays are taking over store fronts. Retailers are hopeful they'll see more green than red this holiday season.

"Anywhere you look in our store, it's exploding with Christmas!" said Crate and Barrel assistant manager, Tara Fisher.

Retailers are decking the halls even before the sugar rush of Halloween. It makes sense though. For most retailers, the gift giving season makes up a fourth of their sales.

Fisher added, "That's generally true for us. We see maybe a little less than a quarter of our sales in December only. So about a quarter of our sales are in November and December. After Thanksgiving, it just explodes!"

The National Retail Federation says the average consumer plans to spend a little over $700 this holiday season. That's up four and a half percent from last year; but not as high as the six and a half percent increase last year. Experts say a sluggish job market and soaring oil prices are to blame.

NC State economics professor, Michael Walden said, "We had a good job gain year last year, this year has been more mixed. We started out pretty strong. Recently it's more or less treaded water. So, I think the job market may put a slight damper on Christmas spending."

• $400 on their family
• $70 on friends
• $22 on co-workers
• $40 on other people like teachers, baby sitters and clergy
• $35 on decorations
• $25 on cards
• Approximately $100 on food and flowers

Shopper Elizabeth Carter said, “I've started pricing things, but I haven't started buying yet."

Carter plans to spend conservatively this year, looking for bargains where she can.

She continued, "I'm going to try and do a little bit at a time. I also feel like I haven't spent as much if I do it a little bit at a time, instead of the week before, buying a lot of stuff and dropping a lot of money."

Whether consumers buy gifts before Halloween, or the week before Christmas, it doesn't matter much to retailer as long as they make purchases.

The National Retail Federation also predicts four out of 10 shoppers will buy gifts online.

Hundreds of college students in Raleigh and Chapel Hill have been treated with antibiotics after a UNC-Chapel Hill freshman was hospitalized with bacterial meningitis.

Jonathan Parker Davis, 18, was listed in serious condition Friday in the intensive care unit at UNC Hospitals. He was diagnosed Thursday with the disease, an acute infection of the brain lining that can cause permanent disabilities or death.

Because bacterial meningitis can be spread through close contact, health officials spent Friday retracing Davis' steps since Oct. 22 and notifying those who might be infected.

If the infection is caught early enough, treatment is a simple one-time dose of the antibiotic pill Cipro. Student health centers will remain open today to offer the medication.

UNC Health Service had administered more than 500 doses of the drug through Friday afternoon. The N.C. State University Student Health Center had given more than 900 doses by 9 p.m.

The two schools are the focus of the treatment because Davis lives in Granville Towers, a private, off-campus dormitory at UNC-CH. He attended a party near NCSU on Oct. 22 at 611 Chamberlain Road.

"The disease we are talking about is a serious disease," said Dr. Mary Bengtson, director of the NCSU Student Health Services. "If there is a possibility that you had close contact with the individual involved, then it is reasonable to take the medication."

Health officials have compiled a short list of times when Davis might have infected others, beginning with the Oct. 22 party.

"It was a very crowded party," said James Kellermann, an NCSU sophomore who picked up an antibiotic after learning of the risks. "It was the kind where you couldn't move from one room to the next, there were so many people."

It is possible that students could contract the bacteria in such tight quarters, Bengtson said.

But the bacteria are more likely to spread through interactions such as kissing, sharing a cigarette, drinking from the same glass or using the same eating utensil.

Health officials are particularly interested in Davis' movements during the past week because antibiotics are most effective when used during the bacteria's early incubation period in the body.

Davis remained with friends at NCSU's University Towers after the Oct. 22 party and attended the NCSU football game Oct. 23.

Gibbie Harris, Wake County's director of community health, said it's not likely that anyone was infected at the game because Davis sat on a grassy bank near the field's end zone. At one point, he went to a first-aid tent because he was not feeling well. Workers there suggested he see a doctor.

Davis returned to UNC-CH and apparently resumed his routines after that, said Rosemary Summers, director of the Orange County Health Department.

He attended a social mixer at the Top of the Hill restaurant in Chapel Hill late Tuesday night.

The mixer, from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., was co-sponsored by four UNC Greek organizations: Tri Delta and Alpha Delta Phi sororities and Alpha Tao Omega and Kappa Alpha fraternities.

Those who ate earlier Tuesday at Top of the Hill or have been to the restaurant since are not in any danger, health officials said.

Students who lined up in the basement of South Granville Towers to get medication understood the chances of getting the disease were small, but many said the antibiotic brought peace of mind.

Health officials say most of the people who might have been exposed have probably been notified directly or through media coverage. But the circumstances of the NCSU party and the relatively long time period involved make it impossible to know.

"The only way to be sure is to wait two weeks and hope no more cases are reported," Harris said.

The UNC Student Health Service clinic, located between Kenan Stadium and the UNC Hospitals complex, will make antibiotics available between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. today and Sunday.

Information is also available at (919) 966-2281 between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The NCSU Student Health Center, located on central campus at 2815 Cates Ave., will make medication available from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. today. The center can be reached at (919) 515-2563.

More on meningitis and how it is spread can be found at http://studenthealth.unc.edu. The site will be updated through the weekend.

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student remained in serious condition with bacterial meningitis Friday as hundreds of college students were treated with antibiotics.

Jonathan Parker Davis, 18, was diagnosed Thursday with the disease, an acute infection of the brain lining that can cause permanent disabilities or death.

Health officials spent Friday retracing Davis' steps since Oct. 22 and notifying those who might be infected.

N.C. State University and UNC-Chapel Hill had administered 1,400 antibiotic pills Saturday to people who believed they may have come into contact with Davis.

Davis lives in Granville Towers, a private, off-campus dormitory at UNC-CH. He attended a party near N.C. State on Oct. 22.

Davis remained with friends at NCSU's University Towers after the party and attended the N.C. State football game against Miami on Oct. 23.

Many union members think they've figured out US Airways' goal in its latest cost-cutting proposals: to replace its graying workers with younger, cheaper versions.

The nation's seventh-largest airline has among the oldest work forces in the industry, which makes it among the most expensive.

This presents a dilemma, because the old-line carrier wants to remake itself into a low-cost airline. To do that, it needs workers to sacrifice some of the pay, benefits and work rules they've come to depend on. Essentially, some workers say, it's like asking a 20-year veteran to be paid like a 20-something.

The company, though, says its goal is not to drive out older workers; it is to survive. To do that, US Airways is emulating such low-cost carriers as JetBlue and America West, down to their pay and work rules.

The airline, which carries 90 percent of traffic at its busiest hub of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, is in bankruptcy court for the second time in two years. Unless it can get its labor costs in line with the low-cost carriers, US Airways says it could fail.

The debate over worker seniority has intensified since the airline filed for bankruptcy protection Sept. 12.

US Airways cited high labor costs, driven by an aging work force, as it argued in court earlier this month that emergency pay cuts for most union members were essential to its transformation plan.

The court let the company impose 21 percent pay cuts, which can be scrapped with voluntary concessions.

But under the company's latest cost-cutting proposals, some workers say they would be paid so little that no senior employees would think it worth their while to stick around.

The Communications Workers of America estimates a 34 percent pay cut for its customer-service-agent members. Fleet-service workers, represented by the International Association of Machinists, would see their top hourly wages cut to $15.20 from $19.49. The airline is also looking for the ability to outsource all CWA and fleet-service jobs.

US Airways is asking its flight attendants to take wage cuts of 15 percent, reductions in sick and vacation time, and assurances the union won't object to termination of its pension plan. It also seeks to create a new, lower pay scale for new hires.

"When you look at the last proposal, it was designed simply to change the work force over," said Mike Flores, 47, president of the local flight attendants' union and husband of a US Airways flight attendant. "There would be no reason for the very senior people to stay."

Because the airline would cut flight attendant wages by 15 percent, most of his co-workers would have to find other jobs, said Flores, who has 24 years with the airline.

One Charlotte customer-service agent, who didn't want his name used because he's already looking for a new job, said his pay wouldn't be enough to cover the bills for his two-child family.

Older workers are more likely to have children at home, which raises monthly bills. And if their pensions get terminated, there's no reason to accrue more years of service, Flores said.

The lowest-paid workers, such as flight attendants, customer-service agents and baggage handlers, are most at risk, unions say. They are viewed as more expendable than pilots or mechanics.

When comparing US Airways to low-cost carriers, it pays its average worker more. That's due almost entirely to its more experienced work force.

US Airways' most junior pilot was hired in 1988, and the most junior flight attendant has six years' seniority. Contrast that to JetBlue, for example, where no worker has more than four years. The airline started in 2000.

And even with the pay cuts, US Airways said its workers would still be making more than if they started over at a new airline at the bottom of the seniority pay scale.

No one has raised the issue of age discrimination. The company says the growth of low-fare airlines means lower labor costs industrywide.

To the notion that some airline jobs may no longer be viable careers, "that's the unfortunate reality of the marketplace," US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said.

The reason for a work force where the average customer-service agent has 19 years of experience: US Airways has laid off most of its junior workers.

In the heavily unionized airline industry, companies typically pay their union workers based on years of service. Of US Airways' mechanics, 99.6 percent earn the top rate, for example.

Jeff Battreall, a US Airways flight attendant with over 15 years' experience, sometimes finds himself on flights with attendants with over 40 years' experience.

"Every time I fly with them, I'll say, `Hey you know what, we got jet engines now.' They don't think it's funny."

Battreall, who's 41 and based in Charlotte, says he still loves flying and watching the lights of Las Vegas burst out of the darkness of the desert on descent or looking out the left windows at the Capitol while flying to Washington. He thinks he and his wife, another US Airways flight attendant, would continue working at the airline even with the proposed pay cuts.

Generally, studies show that more experienced workers are more productive than new workers, says Michael Walden, an economist at N.C. State University.

"Everything else equal, businesses do want a more experienced work force," he said. "But the big question is, is the company willing to pay for that, and is the customer willing to pay for that?"

DURHAM -- Durham County's unemployment rate hit its lowest level in more than three years last month, but economists say the employment picture for Bull City workers isn't clear.

The county's jobless rate was 3.2 percent in September, down from 3.8 percent in August, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission. Durham County's unemployment rate in September 2003 was 4.8 percent.

But the county's unemployment rate last month actually reflected fewer employed people than the month before. There were 1,065 fewer employed people -- either full time or part time -- in September than in August. The number of jobless people was lower, as well. Together, employed and unemployed workers make up the labor force.

September's labor force still reflected more employed workers than when the jobless rate was 3 percent in May 2001, according to the ESC. At that time, Durham County had 122,421 people with jobs. Last month, 125,901 Durham County residents were employed.

But September's smaller labor force distorts the jobless rate because it makes employed workers a bigger piece of a smaller pie, economists said.

Michael Walden, a regional economist at N.C. State University, said the labor force likely shrank last month as a result of students leaving their summer jobs and returning to high school and college.

"September is a strange month," he said. "We really can't extrapolate from September to say whether jobs are going to drop or increase for October, November or December because of the seasonal effect."

Even adjusted for seasonal effects, the labor force declined in North Carolina as a whole last month. The state's jobless rate was 4.8 percent in September, representing 3.96 million employed workers out of a total labor force of 4.16 million. In August, North Carolina had 3.98 million employed workers and a labor force of 4.18 million.

In the Triangle, the jobless rate was 3 percent in September, also its lowest point since May 2001. But just as in Durham, the Triangle's labor force shrank and there were 5,921 fewer employed people in the Triangle in September than August, according to the ESC.

A Charlotte economist attributed the labor force decreases to "discouraged" workers leaving the job hunt. The ESC only counts unemployed workers if they say they're actively seeking work.

"After a while, people get tired of being told no and drop out or find something else to occupy their time," said John Connaughton, TIAA-CREF professor of economics at UNC Charlotte. "They don't wind up as being unemployed or employed."

And while the county and Triangle's unemployment rates may be at three-year lows, they don't reflect the struggles that some workers face as they try to cobble together enough part-time work to pay the bills.

Paul Polinski, owner of The Dry Cleaning Station at Loehmann's Plaza, said that most of the 40 to 50 people he interviewed for his new store were "actively looking for jobs and trying to scrounge together whatever hours they could from whatever jobs they could."

The same was true for the five employees he hired for his business, which opened in early September.

Jobless rates also dropped dramatically to three-year lows elsewhere in the region in September, usually accompanied by a smaller labor force. Vance County's unemployment rate dropped to 10.7 percent from 11.8 percent in August. The county has had the state's highest unemployment rate for 15 of the past 18 months.

Person County's jobless rate dropped from 7.3 percent in August to 6.4 percent in September -- its lowest rate since December 2000. Meanwhile, Orange County's unemployment was 1.9 percent, down from 2.7 percent in August, Chatham County's rate was 2.2 percent, down from 2.7 percent in August and Granville County's unemployment was 5.4 percent, down from 6 percent the previous month.

Even without clear numbers from September, most economists agree that job growth will be slower going forward than it was earlier this year, Walden said.

While Walden said he's "cautiously optimistic" that oil prices will decline and that the threat of terrorism will ease, Connaughton was more concerned.

High energy prices and the increasing federal deficit could have immediate impacts on the economy, he said, adding that the leading economic indicators have declined for four months in a row. Three consecutive months of decline can signal an impending recession, Connaughton said.

"While it's not a guarantee, it's just too much of a potential impact," he said. "It's just too much to ignore."

CHAPEL HILL -- As health officials at UNC distributed antibiotics to students Friday, county health workers continued tracing the myriad interactions a UNC freshman had in the last two weeks that may have exposed others to bacterial meningitis.

Health officials said Friday that, so far, there was no sign that anyone else had contracted the illness.

"We don't have any indication that this has gone any further," said Rosemary Summers, Orange County's health director. "We really expect this to be confined to the UNC campus."

The student, 18-year-old Jonathan Parker Davis, was in serious condition Friday at UNC Hospitals. Meningitis, a viral or bacterial infection of the fluid around the spinal cord or the brain, can be fatal and often isn't diagnosed promptly because its symptoms are common ones.

Health officials have spent the last several days retracing Davis' steps to find and warn as many as possible of the people the ailing student may have come into contact with. The task took them from campus to a local restaurant and even to Raleigh, where Davis attended a party last week.

Last Friday, Davis was one of at least 200 people at a party at 611 Chamberlain Road in Raleigh, near N.C. State, Summers said. The following Tuesday, Davis attended a fraternity/sorority mixer at Top of The Hill, the popular brewhouse and restaurant on the corner of Franklin and Columbia streets in Chapel Hill. Summers said it wasn't clear how many people were in attendance that night.

Davis lives in Granville Towers, the private high-rise residence halls just off campus. Student health officials opened up a vaccination clinic there Thursday and Friday for concerned students. In the course of the two days, they distributed more than 500 doses of Cipro, an antibiotic.

"The 'M' word, meningitis, is always associated with a high degree of anxiety because it strikes healthy, young, college-age people," said Mary Covington, associate director of Student Health Services. "It is devastating when you get it. The key is to be cautious and give people antibiotics -- if they need it -- but not to create alarm."

Students at N.C. State were also warned of the dangers of meningitis, and those who attended the party last Friday were urged to seek treatment. As of Friday afternoon, no meningitis cases at N.C. State had been discovered, a university spokesman said.

Though contagious, meningitis cannot be transmitted from one person to another simply by a stray bump or touch. It can be spread, however, through coughing, sneezing or kissing, or through the sharing of food, drink or even a cigarette, health officials said.

Complicating matters, it is a malady with common symptoms. As with influenza, they can include fever, headache, chills or weakness. Other, more specific meningitis symptoms can include light sensitivity, neck stiffness, and a blotchy, reddish or purple rash.

And meningitis vaccinations don't always do the trick. In this particular case, Davis had received the vaccination and still fell ill.

"In some cases, the meningitis vaccination doesn't take," said Summers, the county health director. "Even if it works, it only covers 80 percent of the bacteria that causes meningitis. We don't yet have the exact type of strain, but yes, he was vaccinated."

UNC does not require its students to get a meningitis vaccination, but does strongly recommend it. It costs about $85 at the UNC Student Health Services office.

While many students sought out the antibiotics, there didn't appear to be too much panic on campus Friday. Some students said UNC officials did a good job of distributing information quickly to dispel rumors and make the facts of the situation clear.

"I'm not too concerned," said Blake Fallar, a freshman from Charlotte who lives in Granville Towers. "It's not too big a deal -- although it is for that poor kid."

Information on the meningitis situation is available on UNC's Web site at http://studenthealth.unc.edu. For more information about the situation, meningitis and its symptoms, call 966-6573 between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. or 966-2281 after hours.

Health officials are offering students free treatment after a UNC-Chapel Hill freshman was diagnosed with contagious bacterial meningitis.

Davis is still being treated for bacterial meningitis but his friends said he's improving.

As soon as the news broke, the university sent a team of nurses to the private dorm armed with anti-biotics.

"Today, Friday we're going back again with that same team of nurses to administer the treatment to anyone who feels that they came in close contact with the student," Bob Wirag, director of Student Health Service, said.

"I feel pretty good about it; you know I mean I have to go on what they say so, other than that, I feel pretty fine," Timothy Reese, a student at UNC, stated.

NC State health officials opened a meningitis clinic and encouraged students there to get treatment.

Doctors said even those who've had the meningitis vaccine need to get checked out.

Dr. Mary Bengtson explained, "The contact that a person should worry about would be direct face to face contact, or if the person had been ill with nasal or mouth secretions and had been coughing into their hands and had shook hands, if they shared a cigarette with that person, if they drank after them, if they kissed them."

Many students, including Avery McMurry at the clinic didn't even know Davis but they got the treatment just in case.

"He was apparently on the eighth floor of University Towers and we figured since the antibiotics free, we might as well come down here and take the extra precaution."

Both universities are working with Orange and Wake County Health Departments to ensure no one else gets sick.

Health officials said they're not looking for people who had casual contact with Davis, only people who had close contact.

(10/29/04 - RALEIGH) — Wake County health officials and NC State student health are in a race against the clock. It has been a week since a student contracted meningitis. Now they're trying to find any other students that might have come in contact with him, and get anyone exposed to go to the campus health department for treatment.

A case of bacterial meningitis has students and local healthcare workers on alert. Jonathon Parker Davis, 18, a student a UNC is infected with the bacteria. "It's a very serious illness. And no one should take this lightly."

Nearly 400 students at UNC got an antibiotic today, and NC State is also treating students on their campus. But Harris is focusing in on 200 students, who may have been at a party with Davis, on Chamberlain Road last Friday night. "We're hoping that those who were at that party respond and come in and get the medication."

Since the diagnosis, Harris has been re-tracing Davis' steps. After the party on Friday, she says he went to the Miami game on Saturday. She says that's when he became very ill and went to the doctor. "He went and stayed with a friend that's on the floor 2 doors down from me. And I heard about it today, because everyone on my hall was going to get the pill."

Meghan and Heather saw Davis in their dorm over the weekend, so they're picking up the antibiotic. "I panicked. I called my mom, she's a nurse and she said go get the pill."

Harris tells Eyewitness News that Davis probably had meningitis before he went to the party. "If we've not heard about other cases at this point, that's a good sign." But Harris wants anyone who came in contact with Davis to get treatment, because it could take up to 10 days for the symptoms to manifest.

Jonathon Davis is still in serious condition at UNC Hospital. Harris says his prognosis is still very uncertain.

The NCSU Student Health Center will be offering the preventive treatment at no charge for anyone, student or non-student, who was exposed. The Student Health Center will be dispensing treatment at the following times:

Thursday, October 28, until 9 p.m.;
Friday, October 29, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.;
Saturday, October 30, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

The NCSU Student Health Center can be reached at (919) 515-2563. All those needing preventive treatment should get their medication by Saturday, October 30, according to Gibbie Harris, Wake County Community Health director.

Meningococcal meningitis is a type of bacterial meningitis, a serious illness that causes inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. The bacteria is transmitted person to person through intimate contact such as kissing, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, smoking the same cigarette or drinking from the same glass of the person who has the disease.

Anyone showing signs of meningitis should seek medical care immediately. Symptoms include:

Fever
Nausea and vomiting
Severe headache
Sensitivity to light
Stiff neck
Red-red or purple-red rash anywhere on the body
Sleepiness
Confusion
Good hygiene and health habits can help prevent the spread of meningitis. This includes not sharing things that make contact with the mouth such as lip balm, cigarettes, food and drinks.

At the time of the 2000 election, there were about 45 million single women in the United States.

“As a single mother I've never had the time to focus on politics,” said Tia Harris. “Pretty much, I’m not interested in the things that the election is focusing on.”

But in the 2000 presidential election, 22 million single women didn't cast a ballot.

“We focus on soccer practice, cooking dinner, cleaning, working,” Harris continued. “I don't think we think it's a big deal because our issues aren't being addressed.”

That doesn’t surprise NC State Political Science Professor Andy Taylor. “One of the reasons that they're not turning out is because they don't feel any connection with the candidates. They've been talking about blanket issues, which really affect all of us, but not disproportionately affecting single women.”

A new study conducted for a non-partisan group called "Women's Voices. Women Vote." shows unmarried women have the largest potential for growth in registration and turn-out. That's 46 percent of all voting age women and 56 percent of all unregistered women. If they voted at the same rate as married women, there would have been six million more voters in the last presidential election. They could have changed the outcome of the 2000 presidential election and prevented issues like "hanging chads".

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 61 percent of eligible women voters cast a ballot in the last presidential election. Only 58 percent of men voted. That's the first time more women went to the polls than men.

Pilar Ybarra was one of them. She is a newcomer to voting. She voted for the first time in the 2000 election.

“I actually thought that we needed a change back then, and I really felt like maybe Bush was going to give us a good change,” she said.

“I think in some of the debates they've been talking about some of the issues that affect women, even the war effects women, leaving them to raise the families,” Ybarra said.

“Anything that could help out with raising children, helping with assistance financially getting medical, get these programs accessible to women that need them,” Harris said.

Taylor calls the election a giant jigsaw puzzle. He says there are other constituencies, including soccer moms, suburban fathers, single men, white Catholics and some Hispanic voters, that could be a swing vote this election.

“Because there's so many women in crisis right now, and for those women, the votes are far from their minds,” Harris added.

And that means, for another cycle, the non-voting block of single women could be neglected yet again.

RALEIGH -- Health officials have issued a warning to anyone who went to a certain party at N.C. State University in Raleigh last Friday. A person who was at the party has tested positive for a strain of bacterial meningitis.

Health officials said the party was Friday on Chamberlain Road in Raleigh. The 18-year-old man, identified as Jonathan Parker Davis, is a student at UNC's Chapel Hill campus.

Health officials warned anyone who may have come in contact with Davis in the past 10 days to seek medical care. The N.C. State Student Health Center will be offering free preventive treatment to students.

Symptoms of the illness include fever, nausea and vomiting, severe headache and stiff neck.

College students today think of their digital music collections the same way they think about diet sodas, cell phones and e-mail -- a vital part of everyday life.

The problem is, illegal downloading and song swapping is still rampant on college campuses, despite warnings and lawsuits from the entertainment industry.

Now, universities are striking deals with online music libraries in an attempt to get students to pick up new, legal music habits.

More than 20 campuses across the nation have already entered into arrangements with legitimate providers to offer students access to music online. This fall, Duke University freshmen were issued free iPod players in part to encourage legal downloading.

The UNC system this month announced a huge file-sharing experiment that has already started at four public campuses -- N.C. School of the Arts, N.C. A&T State University, UNC-Wilmington and Western Carolina University. Those schools offer on-campus students free access to hundreds of thousands of songs, with each campus using a different online provider.

The songs are free as long as they stay on the computer and the university is still using the service. If students want to buy music for permanent use on a CD or MP3, they pay a small fee.

NCSU and UNC-Chapel Hill plan to launch similar programs in the spring, giving students a variety of vendors to choose from.

The initiative is funded by a $200,000 grant from a major music label. UNC officials have refused to identify the corporate donor.

The idea is to give students a trial offer of free music downloading, with the hope that they will eventually agree to pay a small fee for the legitimate service. Students could then avoid legal trouble from entertainment companies and disciplinary actions by universities for copyright infringement.

"We're offering them a free, legal alternative for the time period to educate them about the issue," said Sean Ahlum, a marketing and computing consultant for UNCW's housing department.

The UNCW service, offered through a site called Cdigix, had logged 300 users and more than 10,000 downloaded songs as of last week, he said.

"A lot of students like it, because they're getting a lot of new music," Ahlum said. "Since it's free right now, they're not complaining."

"Waste of time," said Candice Sylvan, a sophomore at NCSU. Students may try the free campus service for a while, but they'll ultimately reject the notion of paying a monthly fee and 79 cents or 99 cents for each song, she said.

"Students will just turn away from that and go back to free sources," she said. "Everybody's just used to doing it for free."

It may be difficult to change downloading habits. A national survey last year by the Pew Internet & American Life Project said that among 18- to 29-year-old Internet users, 72 percent didn't care whether material they download is copyrighted. Among those who share computer files with other people, 82 percent said they didn't care whether the information is copyrighted.

Tom Warner, the UNC system's director of coordinated technology management, thinks changing student attitudes is just a matter of education.

He has been traveling the state explaining the pilot program, and he said students are receptive.

UNC campuses generally receive a few "cease and desist" notifications a week from the music industry. But systemwide, only a few subpoenas have been issued.

If a student is caught, university officials talk to the student and cut off access to the computer network for a period. That usually takes care of the matter, Warner said. Campuses see few repeat offenders.

Matt Calabria, student body president at UNC-CH, said students are clamoring for legitimate alternatives.

"My impression is they'd be more than willing to pay a few dollars a month for legal downloading," Calabria said.

Cody Grasty, a sophomore at Western Carolina, noted that students will be able to download music safely without worries about piracy or computer viruses, he said.

The six campuses will serve as test sites. After the trial run, surveys will measure student opinions and could lead to a permanent plan for a systemwide file-sharing service. The universities are not likely to use state dollars for such an effort, but could negotiate discounts for students.

The program is not just about rap or rock. The plan also will examine ways to deliver audio and video content for academic purposes. The project has a big backer in UNC President Molly Broad, who has tackled the issue of illegal downloading as a member of a national panel of leaders from higher education and the entertainment industry.

"Downloading will never go away," said Heather List, student body president at Western Carolina. "But we definitely need to find a way to do it where both the music industry and the people doing it are going to be happy."

Downtown Raleigh is about to get a whole lot hipper and it's not costing them a thing.

NCSU College of Design is bringing a design studio downtown. About two dozen undergraduate and graduate students will work out of the old building on the corner of Hargett and Wilmington streets that used to house the Upstairs Restaurant.

Downtown boosters are pretty excited about the prospect of a bunch of twenty-somethings rubbing elbows with the lawyers and lobbyists. They were quick to point out that other cities have seen residential and retail revitalizations after universitys have made similar moves.

That youthful energy, of course. Or as Tom Barrie, director of NCSU's school of architecture, put it:

"You get more of what we call a 24-hour city... We aren't 9-to-5. At the school of architecture, the lights are on all the time."

George Bireline retrospective ASHEVILLE - The Asheville Art Museum announces a retrospective of the works of North Carolina artist George Bireline (1923-2002).

"George Bireline: The Many Roads Taken" opens Nov. 5 with a dance party from 5 to 8 p.m. The party is free with museum admission.

A longtime professor at the School of Design at North Carolina State University, Bireline influenced several generations of artists. He rose to national prominence by the beginning of the 1960s and received numerous awards and honors, including the 1968 National Council of the Arts' award for the Southeast. His work is included in the permanent collections of a variety of museums including the Asheville Art Museum, the Mint Museum in Charlotte and the Hirshhorn Museum of Art in Washington, D.C.

The museum is located in the Pack Place Education, Arts and Science Center, 2 South Pack Square. Admission is $6 for adults and $5 for seniors, students with ID and for children 4-15 (children age three and younger are admitted free). For more information, call 253-3227 or visit www.ashevilleart.org.

Over forty wildlife biologists, fire managers, land management administrators, and researchers gathered in Manteo on Sept. 21-23, for a meeting to kick-off three years of cooperative research on prescribed fire on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and Dare County Bombing Range.

The research projects seek to provide fire managers across the southeastern U.S. with tools that integrate fuel loading (how much burnable vegetation is out there), fire emissions (what compounds are in the smoke), and smoke plume measurements and modeling (how much smoke comes from a fire and where the smoke is going). This will enable fire managers to improve smoke management decision making so that prescribed burning can continue to be used as a tool to reduce wildland fire risk, manage public lands, and protect the public.

The research funding was awarded through the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), a partnership of six Federal wildland management and research agencies that seeks to provide scientific information and tools in support of fuel and fire management programs, and the US Air Force Air Combat Command. The projects will emphasize the transfer of research findings back to land managers and policy makers. This will have immediate benefits towards reducing hazardous fuel on the Dare County mainland and protecting communities at risk from wildland fire, such as Stumpy Point, Manns Harbor, Mashoes, and East Lake.

Principal Investigators are Robert Mickler, Assistant Technical Director from ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc.; Christopher Geron, Environmental Scientist from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Gary Achtemeier, Research Meteorologist from the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station; Sue Ferguson, Research Atmospheric Scientist from the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station; and Heather Cheshire from North Carolina State University Department of Forestry. David Brownlie, Fire Ecologist for the Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Bryan Henderson, Conservation and Analysis Element Leader from Seymour Johnson AFB; and Scott Smith, Installation Forester from Dare County Bombing Range, are serving as the federal cooperators for the projects. Tom Crews, Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge Fire Management Officer, will be in charge of the operational planning for the prescribed burns.

September's kick-off meeting was held to facilitate coordination between the principal investigators and land managers, acquaint them with the research area, and provide a forum for other parties interested in the research results. Representatives came from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corp, U.S. Army, North Carolina Division of Forest Resources, The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina State University, and University of North Carolina. Forty-two people attended the panel discussions on the first day that laid out agency policies, research interests, and desired outcomes. Day two was spent in the field touring the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and Dare County Bombing Range looking at prescribed burn units and wildfire areas, fuel loading, bombing impact areas, and red-cockcaded woodpecker management areas. On day three, the principal investigators and local fire managers met to discuss logistics for conducting and monitoring the prescribed burns.

Principal Investigator Robert Mickler felt very optimistic with the projects after the kick-off meeting drew to a close. "We have several top-quality researchers and federal land managers involved from across the country that will be able to bring so much to the projects. The logistics are a bit daunting with having to get everyone together when the weather gets just right, but I feel confident that the local operational folks and the researchers will be able to pull these burns off." Fire Management Officer Tom Crews echoed Mickler's enthusiasm. "I have been trying for several years to get more research done on pocosins, our dominant local fuel type. The benefits to fire management that we can gain from this study will help us to greatly advance our planning and burning efforts. I'm looking forward to accomplishing the first prescribed burn in the research project this winter."

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Rocker Jon Bon Jovi entertained crowds at a Friday night rally for Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, becoming the latest in a string of celebrities being used by both Republicans and Democrats to swing voters into their camps.

From Bruce Springsteen warming up the crowd for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to actor and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger touring with President George W. Bush, politicians are banking on star power to translate into votes in Tuesday's elections.

People lined up outside Dorton Arena on the North Carolina State Fairgrounds Friday afternoon, hours before the doors opened for the Edwards rally. Although it was mostly partisan Democrats, a few local Republicans came out just to hear Bon Jovi play an acoustic set.

"I have a lot of Republican friends that are huge Bon Jovi fans, huge Springsteen fans, and they really kind of find it annoying that (Democrats) are kind of using (the singers') power," said Chris Dickson, a Bush supporter. "To bring out the vote is one thing, but to sway votes is another."

North Carolina State University political scientist Michael Cobb said it's hard to determine what makes a person vote -- and for whom -- so he's not sure all of the celebrity watching will have any impact at the polls.

"There's so much drama and excitement in a campaign normally that you can't isolate what one person is saying or doing from the larger environment," Cobb said.

Matt Devine, a senior at N.C. State, said he does notice which pop culture icons appear on behalf of various candidates.

"It's just like my neighbor putting a sign in their yard. Everyone's allowed to show their opinion," Hill said.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A student at North Carolina State University is under investigation after images of child pornography were found on a computer in a dormitory, authorities said.

Campus police and the State Bureau of Investigation are looking into the case, and no charges have been filed yet.

That type of case is why the Raleigh Police Department formed a Cyber Crimes Division three years ago, becoming one of the first law enforcement agencies in North Carolina to assign officers to work with computers. This year's city budget officially funded the unit for the first time, with four detectives and support personnel.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports 65 percent of Internet child pornography cases begin in computer chat rooms, so that's where police often begin their investigations.

"The Internet provides a level on anonymity that's never been offered previously," said Sgt Gary Hinnant, of the Raleigh Police Department. "You don't have a guy in a long coat lurking on the playground. He's lurking in a chat room."

The police often use a detective to pose as a 12-year-old in a chat room to locate possible predators, Hinnant said.

"We follow the digital footprint of the perpetrator," he said. "Sometimes, we hit a dead end and we can't finish, but more often we can ID the computer he was operating from."

It can take months to find the computer, analyze it and catch the predator. That's why police say parents are the best weapon against online predators.

"It's a very real problem. Parents need to be mindful of their children's Internet habits, mindful of what their kids are doing," Monroe said.

"I can monitor, and when she's at school, they filter, so I know it's not a problem," Latasha Monroe said. "There's trust. Once you build that bond with your child, if there's something they have a question about you can answer, they don't have to go looking for it."

Police recommend putting your home computer in a common room where supervision and guidelines are met, using Internet filters to block some Web sites, reminding children that people aren't always who they say they are online and ensuring children know how dangerous it is to give out personal information.

For more information on how to protect children from online predators, contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at www.missingkids.org or the Cyber Crimes Division of the Raleigh Police Department at www.raleigh-nc.org/police/cybercrimes.htm.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- While national polls show a razor close race for president, two surveys this week paint North Carolina as friendly territory for the incumbent.

This week's WRAL poll conducted by Mason-Dixon puts President George W. Bush ahead by nine points in North Carolina.

A new Voters' Voice Poll conducted for WRAL-TV, The News and Observer, WUNC-FM shows Sen. John Kerry a bit closer.

According to the poll, the Bush/Cheney ticket holds a six-point lead over the Kerry/Edwards team heading into Tuesday's election.

"It could be just random sampling noise. However, these polls are much closer together than they are farther apart. So, my guess is it's somewhere in between," said Mike Cobb, a political science professor at North Carolina State University.

Cobb points out that the president has kept his lead despite deep divisions over Iraq: Forty-six percent of those polled believe it was worth waging war in Iraq, while 48 percent say it was not.

More voters disapprove of the president's handling of Iraq than approve and only a few more think the United States is safer for sending in troops.

"Even if the idea that Iraq is not going well, it's not necessarily his fault or the alternative direction would be worse," Cobb said.

The polling expert said the bottom line is that North Carolina is still the Republican's state to lose.

"At the national level, North Carolina has been voting conservatively and Republican for quite some time. There's really no reason to believe that would be any different this election," he said.

Cobb said Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards will need to reverse nearly 30 years of political history to make it happen.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – To the sounds and sights of blue grass music and square dancing to the tastes of a pig pickin’ topped off with banana pudding, hundreds of people celebrated the 20th anniversary of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center on Thursday night in festive North Carolina style.

The grounds of the high-tech center, which has become the centerpiece of the state’s growing biotech, life science and pharmaceutical industry, were covered in part by two huge tents to accommodate the invitation-only crowd. Entrepreneurs, executives, politicians and service providers crowded tables lined with food and drink, smiling, laughing and talking about an institution that has truly become a success story.

“We have worked so hard – we just decided to have a party,” said a grinning Leslie Alexandre, the newest executive to run the Biotech center. The event came at a good time, too. As the Center turns 20, North Carolina has strengthened its position as a Top Five center for biotech and related industries with new state-backed training programs, some recent relocations and plant expansions, and much more.

“Everything is coming together,” Alexandre said. “Research is indicating that.

A recent student from The Milken Institute – “Biopharmaceutical Industry Contributions to State and US Economies” – projected that North Carolina will have more than 32,000 biotech workers by 2014, up 7,000. The state’s biotech sector already touches another 127,692 jobs beyond the 25,482 directly employed with pharma and life science firms, the study said. The average salary is $50,000.

However, that job growth estimate may be conservative if the state’s continuing drive for plants and jobs continues.

Charles Hamner, the Center’s long-time CEO who is credited by many as being a major force in the state’s biotech sector growth and retired before Alexandre took the reins, was bursting with pride as he worked the crowd. But Hamner was doing much more than reminiscing. He was looking to the future.

“We have the greatest infrastructure in the United States,” Hamner said. “We have a cluster of life science, animal science, biotech, forestry, medical research, contract research organizations. We have everything companies are looking for.”

With worker training programs in the works at North Carolina State University, NC Central and other institutions, including community colleges that he helped create, Hamner now has his sights set on drawing more manufacturing plants to the state.

“That’s the next big thing,” he said. Hamner, operating as a consulting who is “trying to help”, and others are pushing for $50 million in state funding to underwrite the North Carolina Life Sciences Development Corporation. If the effort is successful, the corporation can sell economic development bonds and help companies build plants.

“If we get this set up, we’re talking 15 plants in the next five years,” Hamner said. “We’re talking 6,000 jobs.”

While Hamner looked ahead, two of the state’s biotech pioneers took a moment to reflect about the past. The Center was originally charted by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1981, and it was needed, they recalled.

Robert Bell, a professor at Duke University Medical Center in the 1980s, and Max Wallace, a serial entrepreneur, were two of the pioneers who launched Sphinx Pharmaceuticals as the Biotech Center was launched by Governor Jim Hunt’s administration.

“There was no infrastructure here at all to help start a biotech or pharmaceutical company,” said Bell, who now is a venture capitalist at Intersouth Partners.

Wallace, who later helped start Trimeris and Cogent Neuroscience, chuckled as he, Bell and their wives recounted setting up Duke University’s first biotech spinout. Sphinx drew help from Dennis Dougherty of Intersouth, the pioneer of VC firms in the Triangle, and Sphinx ultimately went public in 1992 for $75 million.

Other companies have followed, and Wallace cited the Biotech Center’s efforts as being crucial to the region’s success.

“It’s played a big role in the development of the region,” Wallace said. “The Center has helped start companies, recruit companies, and has created a culture. I’ve traveled to Europe and the Far East, and wherever I go people ask me about biotech’s success in North Carolina. It’s bio-everywhere.

“I tell them it all started 50 years ago when Research Triangle Park was created and 20 years ago when the Biotech Center was launched.”

Like any industry, there have been ups and downs in the biotech center. Eli Lilly, for example, is shutting down its RTP facility. On the other hand, KBI is filling out a former semiconductor campus in Durham with its biotech research and manufacturing efforts.

Would North Carolina’s biotech sector be where it is today without the Biotech Center, Wallace was asked.

JOHN T. MCCARTER of Key Biscayne, Fla., and Marblehead, Mass., was recently elected president of the N.C. State Engineering Foundation Inc., the fund-raising arm of the College of Engineering for 2005. McCarter, who received his bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering from NCSU in 1973, is the former president and region executive of General Electric Power Systems Sales- Europe.

It seems the more things change, the more they really, really stay the same -- as in ancient herbal remedies dating to about 500 B.C.

At least that's the finding published recently in the Journal of Nephrology by John Riddle, a professor at N.C. State University who specializes in the history of medicine.

In a 2002 survey, 17.8 percent of diabetes patients hospitalized in Saudi Arabia were treated with herbal compounds almost the same as those listed in medieval herbal medicine recipes used to treat kidney disorders, Riddle reported.

An examination of several early medieval monastic medical manuscripts reveals that ancient herbal recipes to treat kidney disorders -- known today as diabetes -- included myrrh, cumin, fenugreek and aloes. A plant mixture of ales and cinnamon bark, for example, has a blood glucose lowering effect. A combination of ales and myrrh gums effectively increased glucose tolerance.

CHAPEL HILL -- A UNC-Chapel Hill freshman remained in serious condition late Saturday after being hospitalized with bacterial meningitis. Student health officials continued to urge students to take antibiotics if they suspect they could be infected.

More than 2,000 students at UNC-CH and N.C. State University have been given the antibiotic Cipro since Thursday, when 18-year-old Jonathan Parker Davis was diagnosed with the infection. Caught early, bacterial meningitis is easily treated; in advanced stages, it can cause brain damage, hearing loss or learning disability.

By Saturday, 1,118 students received Cipro at the UNC Student Health Service clinic and Granville Towers, a private residence where Davis lived.

"I was very, very impressed that they are taking this seriously," said Bob Wirag, director of the UNC Student Health Service. The clinic closed at 5 p.m., but health workers stayed until 7 p.m. to accommodate all the students.

Davis attended a party Oct. 22 near N.C. State University. More than 900 students there have received antibiotics. The N.C. State student health clinic will open Monday at 8 a.m.

RALEIGH--Musicality is August Wilson's forte. A prolific commentator on the struggles of blacks in 20th-century America, Wilson demonstrates a keen sense of the rhythms and idiosyncrasies of speech, recurring themes and dynamics.

So what better focus for one of his biting social commentaries than a blues band?

"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," which opened Thursday at N.C. State University, uses a recording session in 1920s Chicago as the landscape for an insightful exploration of power and manipulation, collaboration and individuality, and the complexities of establishing and maintaining harmony in music and life alike.

The play debuted on Broadway in 1984 and was revived on Broadway last year. It has lost none of its relevancy in the intervening decades, as America contends with the chasm between rich and poor, and with the racism and prejudice that plague the country still.

Patricia C. Caple, who heads university-based Black Repertory Theater, takes a dual role this time in her continuing exploration of Wilson's repertoire. She plays the title role and shares her directing duties with University Theatre director John C. McIlwee.

The production suffers none for Caple's divided focus. It has the fiery intensity that Caple has conjured from her cast in past productions, as well as the comedic timing and the powerful and believable physical interaction in ardor and combat alike.

Trumpeter Levee (Anthony L. Hardison) is the leading force, both in the script and in this production. A member of Rainey's backup band, Levee aspires to greater power. He wants to be a composer, a bandleader and, above all, in charge of those around him.

Such aspirations are not uncommon, but Levee pursues them to an obsessive and ultimately tragic degree. He is ruthless and faithless. And in one of Wilson's characteristically riveting monologues, we learn why.

Hardison is ideal for the part. He is enormously charismatic, yet vulnerable and petty. And he is a musician, as are his cast mates, to an impressive degree.

Ronald A. Foreman's Toledo, the pianist, is a solid foil to Levee. A philosopher at heart, Foreman is as adept at irking Levee with good-natured humor as he is at making peace with his politically fueled analogies.

Mandez Sanders is a bit too affected vocally as the bassist Slow Drag, but he captures the character's comical defense mechanisms, especially in his facial expressions. Phil A. Reese II's Cutler, the trombonist, rounds out the band well, dramatically and musically.

Caple may be tiny, but her Rainey looms large, from her extravagant clothing to her confident singing and her seething profanity.

The remainder of the cast is of varying ability, but none so weak as to detract from this powerful production, which weaves frustration, pain and humor into a seamless composition. Rainey and her musicians may never attain the command they dream of, but Wilson and Caple clearly have.

LAW SCHOOL FAIR: N.C. State University will host the third annual Inter-Institutional Law School Fair from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Monday in the Talley Student Center Ballroom. The event is open to anyone interested in attending law school. Information: Mary A. Tetro, 515-5830 or mary _tetro@@ncsu.edu.

There's a lot of good news in downtown Raleigh these days, and to the mix add this big story: The N.C. State University College of Design is opening an urban design studio in downtown come February. Developer Greg Hatem is subsidizing rent on a building he owns on South Wilmington Street, the university is paying a share for the space, and Raleigh will be all the better.

Better still is the fact that these students, enrolled in one of the nation's top design schools, can offer their

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