NC State Homepage

NC State University News Clips for November 27 - December 1, 2003

Compiled by North Carolina State University’s News Services, a part of the Public Affairs Office. Listed below are the current news clips. Click on the headline of interest to be taken to the full text. Click on “Return to Headline List” at the bottom of each clip or use the scrollbar to be taken back to this location.

IN-STATE CLIPS

NATIONAL & REGIONAL CLIPS

Click here to be taken to the CLIP ARCHIVES

How hard is it to buy American?

Nov. 30, 2003
The News & Observer
By Chris Serres, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

In a shoe store in Williamston, Richard Bir rested his weary legs and accepted defeat.

The real estate appraiser, who had sworn never to buy foreign-made shoes, had just asked the salesman to retrieve a pair made in Mexico. The $49 purchase ended a two-week odyssey in which Bir roamed the aisles of five department stores in three cities, including Smithfield and Greenville, in search of dress shoes made in the United States.

buying american
The patriotic impulse to buy American products has a long, sometimes violent, history.

Historians trace the idea to the 1760s, when thousands of colonists swore off British products to pressure Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act and other trade duties. Occasionally, mobs would form and hurl dirt, break windows and spread graffiti on businesses that sold British goods.

Hypocrisy was widespread, labor historian Dana Frank says. Thomas Jefferson publicly swore off imports but ordered British goods for his home. The upstanding Boston merchant John Hancock declared his opposition to British products but secretly trafficked in them.

The Great Depression brought the next wave of patriotic buying. In late 1932, newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst decided that a "Buy American" campaign was the answer to high unemployment. Every day for two months, his 37 daily papers ran at least one article -- and sometimes three or four -- promoting the idea. The effort climaxed in the Buy American Act of 1933, which required the federal government to buy U.S.-made goods whenever feasible.

But the modern movement really dates to the 1970s, when global competition led U.S. firms to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers. This time, the unions led the way. After imports began to roil the garment in industry, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union launched a "Buy Union, Buy American" campaign in 1971.

Auto workers echoed that theme in the 1980s, when Japanese imports forced the "Big Three" automakers to cut 500,000 jobs. Slogans such as "Buy American: The Job You Save May Be Your Own" began appearing on bumper stickers.

Racism often accompanied the campaigns, Frank says. To disparage foreign imports, Hearst portrayed Asians as sneaky, cunning and plotting to subvert the U.S. economy. In 1982, two autoworkers beat a Chinese man to death with a baseball bat after one of them lost his job.

Chris Serres

what labels say
In the mid-1990s, USDrives Corp. stamped the words "Well Made in the USA" and an American eagle on the CD-ROM drives it sold.

There was just one problem. Although the drives were assembled in the United States, the parts were foreign-made. Federal authorities accused the Fremont, Calif., firm of deceptive advertising and ordered it to stop using the label.

Under federal trade rules, any product advertised as "Made in the USA" must be manufactured in the United States and be composed primarily of parts made here. The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces labeling rules, cites examples of products that do not fit the definition at www.ftc.gov. For instance, a table lamp assembled here with an imported base could not carry the made-in-America label because the base is a major component.

A company can also violate the rules by suggesting, through images and slogans, that its foreign-made product is manufactured in the United States. A company cannot, for instance, produce an ad that features a manager describing the "true American quality" of work produced overseas.

Except for cars and textile goods, no law requires products sold in the United States to carry labels with the extent of their U.S. content. But a company making such a disclosure -- "60 percent U.S. content," for instance -- could face penalties if it is false.

Chris Serres

the public pulse
Are you willing to pay more to "Buy American"?

Women in International Trade posed that query to 850 adults this year. Nearly half said they were not willing to pay anything more. Among the willing, the average dollar amount they would spend has fallen each year of the poll.

Year Average

1998 $48

1999 $40

2003 $30

(WOMEN IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

"I believe in buying American products, but it's getting tougher and tougher to find them," Bir said.

This Thanksgiving weekend, millions of Americans are pouring into malls and department stores to begin their holiday shopping. They will scoop up television sets made in Taiwan, baby toys from China and boxer shorts from Bangladesh. Most people will base their buying decisions on price, quality and features.

Yet a growing minority of shoppers will be scanning the undersides of boxes and turning shirt collars in search of "Made in USA" labels. They share a common conviction, considered foolhardy and idealistic by some, that everyday buying decisions will boost sales among U.S. corporations and that, in turn, will help to curb high unemployment, a soaring trade deficit and the exodus of manufacturing jobs overseas.

In many cases, their buying choices will be breathtakingly few.

The retail giant Wal-Mart, which up to the late 1990s touted a "We Buy American, Whenever We Can" campaign, does not carry a single U.S.-made video recorder or stereo at its supercenter in Clayton. At the American Eagle Outfitters in Triangle Town Center, there are shirts and jackets made in Pakistan and the Philippines. Major supermarket chains now sell catfish from Vietnam and tomatoes grown in Holland.

And in the midst of the three-year economic downturn, millions of American shoppers have been buying cheaper foreign-made products.

From January to September, Americans bought $366 billion more in goods and services from other countries than it sold to them, a record.

"It's a vicious cycle," said Michael McCully, an economist at High Point University. "Cheap imports are destroying jobs [in

the United States], yet that means consumers have less money to spend, which is part of the reason why [people] are buying more foreign products."

But the "Buy American" movement is far from dead.

At www.BuyAmerican.com, which carries 7,000 U.S.-made products, sales have tripled and newsletter subscriptions have increased five-fold during the past year. To protect domestic industry from cheaper imports, Congress is considering legislation that would cut back sharply the amount of foreign content allowed in U.S. military goods and provide a laundry list of items that only American companies could supply.

And just this month, the Bush administration announced plans to restrict Chinese clothing imports, a move that some trade experts say could ignite a trade war between the countries.

In the past, trade disputes have provoked a backlash against foreign companies, said Dana Frank, a labor historian at the University of California at Santa Cruz and author of "Buy American: The Untold Story of Economic Nationalism."

"The 'Buy American' movement thrives on an 'us vs. them' mentality, and you're starting to see that sentiment build again," Frank said.

Not so simple

But the lines between U.S.- and foreign-made products have become increasingly blurred, and even people committed to buying American find it a real challenge. Goods assembled domestically are often made of components made elsewhere. It's often difficult, if not impossible, to determine where a product comes from.

The automotive industry is one example. Toyota is Japan's largest auto manufacturer, yet its popular Camry is made in Georgetown, Ky., and its Tundra pickup in Princeton, Ind. In all, 60 percent of the vehicles Toyota sells in the United States are made here. Ford Motor, based in Dearborn, Mich., makes the Escort in Mexico. And the Buick Regal is made in Canada by General Motors Corp. of Detroit.

Making matters even more complex, some vehicle models are made in more than one country. Some two-wheel-drive Chevrolet Suburbans are made in Mexico, for instance, while four-wheel-drive Suburbans are produced in the United States.

Under U.S. customs law, all imports must bear their originating country's name. But the rules exclude about 80 categories of products, from cigarettes and flowers to sawed lumber, vegetables and some types of coffee.

Scott and Arlene Truax of Cary decided to stop buying imported goods several years ago, disturbed by news reports about overseas sweatshops. They are also concerned about North Carolina's manufacturing industry, which has shed 160,000 jobs since January 2000.

But buying American has been a struggle for the couple. In the market for a wooden dining table, they searched a dozen stores in Raleigh and several in High Point, the self-described "furniture capital of the world," but almost two months later were unable to find a U.S.-made table in their price range. They ultimately bought a cherry wood table made in China and sold through Sofas & Seats Factory Outlet of North Carolina in Raleigh.

More recently, the couple scoured the Triangle for a meat thermometer for their Thanksgiving turkey. They found seven different models -- every one came from China.

"There is a great reward when you're persistent and you demand [an American-made product] and find it," said Scott Truax, a lawyer who is studying accounting at N.C. State University. "You can, down the line, influence where things are produced. But how many people really have the time to follow through on their principles?"

No safe assumptions

Searching the label for the name of a U.S. company is not enough. General Electric's plastics division is based in Pittsfield, Mass., but many of its 11,000 employees are in other countries -- from New Delhi, India, to Bangkok, Thailand. Sunbeam Products is based in Boca Raton, Fla., but its microwave ovens are made in China.

For Donald Probst, general manager of BuyAmerican.com, tracking what is made in the United States requires "constant vigilance," he said.

The Pittsfield, Pa.-based company contacts its vendors at least twice a year to ensure that products offered on its Web site are made here. Probst recently scratched Kodak's disposable camera after the Rochester, N.Y.-based firm moved production to Asia. The "Moravian Star" Tiffany lamp was dropped after a customer found the words, "Made in China," on the box.

"Frankly, we're understaffed," Probst said. "Some companies will move production overseas and not even tell us, which makes this very difficult to track."

In the past, advocates of buying American have argued that small, independent stores are more likely to carry domestic goods. But Roger Simmermaker, author of "How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism," said that is no longer a safe assumption.

"You can walk into an independent store and see just as many foreign labels as a big chain," he said.

Fabric stores are a prime example. So many U.S. textile mills have shut down that it is next to impossible to run a fabric store without buying material from overseas, said Jean Petersen, owner of Etcetera Crafts in Cary. Some firms manufacture cloth in the United States then have designs printed on it overseas.

To illustrate, Petersen unfurled a roll of fabric printed with American flags, which was wrapped around a cardboard bolt. On one side of the bolt was a U.S. manufacturer's name; on the other side, a "Made in Korea" label. Just 20 percent of the fabric Petersen buys is U.S.-made, compared with more than 50 percent when she started the business three decades ago.

"I'm terribly sorry for the people who work in the mills who are losing their jobs," Petersen said. "But if you want to buy good, 100 percent cotton fabric, then it's probably going to come from overseas."

A moral duty

Frustrated with the proliferation of imports, some shoppers have stopped searching for the "Made In USA" label on many items.

"If I buy a television or a stereo or VCR, I don't even look at the label," said Jean Houghtby, an accountant from Raleigh. "I just assume it's made overseas."

Others, such as Stanley Gantman of Raleigh, believe consumers have a moral duty to buy American goods.

Last month, Gantman learned that his former employer, Square D, a maker of circuit breakers and other electrical components, had shut down its Knightdale plant and moved production to Mexico. The plant closings will continue, he predicts, if people continue to buy foreign products.

"I don't want this to be a nation of hamburger flippers and hair salons," he said. "My question is: If we keep losing all these jobs, then who's going to buy all this foreign stuff?"

Staff writer Chris Serres can be reached at 836-4906.

Return to Headline List

401(k) fees often obscure

Nov. 30, 2003
The News & Observer
By Chris Serres, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

When Ward Condelli learned recently that mutual fund companies were charging billions of dollars in unnecessary fees, he decided to investigate his 401(k) retirement account.

The research associate at Durham Public Schools combed through four years' worth of quarterly account statements, but found no mention of fees. He dug up his 401(k) enrollment packet, which had colorful charts describing the mutual funds offered in the plan. But still, nothing about fees.

"I know fees are lurking in here somewhere," said Condelli, 57, who lives in Raleigh. "I just can't find them."

This year, 42 million Americans will contribute a portion of their paychecks to 401(k) retirement plans, largely because of the tax benefits. Yet many have no idea how much they are paying in fees to the companies that administer the accounts and to the mutual funds offered in them. Even those who bother to check frequently cannot find the information.

Fees were not a large concern when 401(k) accounts were generating double-digit annual returns, thanks to a booming stock market. But average fund balances have declined each of the past three years, and workers are increasingly worried whether they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

In addition, it has become increasingly clear that mutual funds, which are offered through 401(k) accounts, were not keeping their noses clean. Several of the nation's largest mutual fund companies, including Alliance Capital and Janus, have been accused of giving their large clients special trading deals, while overcharging individuals.

This year, mutual fund investors will pay an estimated $18 billion more in fees than they should, according to an analysis by John Freeman, a professor of business law at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Workers who participate in 401(k) plans can usually find out how much they are being charged, but it requires some effort. In some cases, the only way to get information is to request it directly from the 401(k) plan administrator. Relying on quarterly account statements is not enough.

"As far as fee disclosure is concerned, 401(k) plans are still in the dark ages," said Martha Sadler, director of national retirement consulting at RSM McGladrey, an accounting firm based in Bloomington, Minn. "Companies are, more often than not, disclosing the bare minimum."

For instance, many 401(k) plans charge fees to cover the cost of setting up and administering an account. Most companies pay these charges on behalf of their workers. But about one-third of all companies that offer 401(k) accounts deduct these fees directly from the accounts of their participants. Depending on the size of the plan, employees can pay $10 to $50 a year in administrative fees.

Yet many employees are unaware these fees even exist, largely because companies rarely disclose them on account statements, Sadler said.

Most of the fees paid by 401(k) participants go directly to the giant mutual fund companies, such as Fidelity Investments, that offer mutual funds within the plans. And these fees are increasing. Last year, for every $100 invested in their funds, mutual fund companies collected $1.43, up 20 percent from $1.19 per $100 in 1994, according to Morningstar, a Chicago-based research company.

But here, too, information is difficult to find. Most 401(k) plan providers update their participants each quarter on the size of their account balances and how much they have contributed. The fees paid, however, are subtracted from the returns of the funds and are usually not itemized.

"Companies do a great job disclosing performance" data, said Stewart Gooding, vice president of client service at Plansponsor.com, a retirement plan consulting firm based in Greenwich, Conn. "But it's up to the individual to get information about fees."

In addition, a growing number of 401(k) plans have begun offering "life cycle funds," which automatically shift toward a more conservative investment mix as an investor's retirement date draws closer. These funds are designed for people who don't want to take the time to regularly tweak their portfolios.

Investors, however, are paying for the convenience. Most life cycle funds actually consist of a basket of mutual funds managed by an investment company. Investors must pay that company a fee on top of existing fees for the underlying funds. Charges on some of these funds can eat up 2 percent of annual returns.

Even a slight increase in fees can have a big effect on an investor's retirement balances.

A person who invests $50,000 in a 401(k) account with an average annual return of 8 percent and annual fees of 0.5 percent will retire after 30 years with $437,748, according Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm based in Lincolnshire, Ill. If that person invested the same amount in a 401(k) plan that charged 1.5 percent a year, the amount saved would be just $330,718 -- a different of $107,030.

Because mutual fund fees are based on a percentage of the amount invested, older workers with more in savings have the most to lose. The average 401(k) account balance of investors in their 60s was $106,689 in 2002, compared to just $15,035 among participants in their 20s, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington.

"People frequently underestimate the importance of fees," said Charles P. Jones, a finance professor at N.C. State University and author of "Mutual Funds: Your Money, Your Choice" (Financial Times Prentice Hall, $23.95).

When account statements are inadequate, workers should not be afraid to ask their employer for information about fees, Sandler said.

Most companies will provide employees with copies of mutual fund prospectuses, which list the fees and returns of funds offered in a 401(k) plan. And employers should be able to describe how much the plan provider is deducting in administrative fees from individual accounts.

"You ought to be able to get answers," Sadler said. "And if they can't get you an answer, keep asking."

Investors who are frustrated with 401(k) fees would be hard-pressed to find a better investment alternative, say financial planners. Contributions to 401(k)s can be deducted from annual income reported on federal and state taxes. And the plan grows tax-free until the money is withdrawn, typically after retirement, when the investor is in a lower tax bracket.

Investors should stick with their 401(k) plans but search for fund families, such as The Vanguard Group, that charge low fees, Freeman said.

"Sometimes, you're trapped and you might only have a few fund options" in a 401(k) plan, Freeman said. "But when you do have a choice, you should try to go with the fund with the lowest fees."

Return to Headline List

These bears see the world

Nov. 29, 2003
The News & Observer
By T. Keung Hui, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

RALEIGH -- Beth Suber's students have trained with U.N. weapons inspectors in Austria, administered anthrax vaccines in Washington, D.C., and dangled inches from sharks at Sea World Orlando.

Rex, Max, Sue, Lucy, Belkie and Sammy have done it all. And they will even cuddle and say "I love you" to their fellow sixth-graders at Leesville Road Middle School in North Raleigh.

"He's loveable, and he's cute," sixth-grader Allison Hunter, 12, said as she looked at Rex, who had just returned from a trip to a space scientist in El Paso, Texas. "And he's stuffed with beanies."

After all, who doesn't love stuffed bears?

For the past two years, Suber's sixth-grade science classes have been sending bears as their "classmates" to scientists who have taken them around the world. The scientists have sent back pictures and letters, sometimes written in the bear's voice, about what they have been doing.

Suber said she came up with the idea after hearing about other teachers who sent bears around the world for geography projects. But she adapted it so that students could see scientists at work on everyday tasks.

What started with just one bear has grown to seven. She said she hopes to have as many as 15 to 20 bears out at a time. She said she hasn't had any problem finding scientists to take the bears.

"We've had so much wonderful cooperation from scientists who want to help," Suber said. "We've even heard from scientists who have heard about the project from others and who want to participate."

She has been particularly successful with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which needed more bears than the classes had.

In addition to training with weapons inspectors and vaccinating workers who clean anthrax-contaminated buildings, the bears have gone to Kazakhstan in the former Soviet Union to conduct workshops on child safety and to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to screen travelers.

This year, Suber received a fellowship from the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Science and Technology at N.C. State University. With the help of her mentor, NCSU professor Bob Beichner, she has reached more scientists and focused more on career possibilities for students.

At the start of the school year, students received a packet containing information about science careers. Students picked their top five choices, and Suber has tried to match them up with places to send the bears.

Working with the bears is a welcome change for the students.

"It's cool learning about science and careers because I'm interested in science," said Amanda Daley, 11, as she wrote a letter she will send with Belkie to a scientist at NASA.

Kevin Carney had thought his science class would be all about labs and chemicals. Instead, he is sending Sammy to an industrial engineer at Disney World to learn about designing rides.

"I like looking into the future to see what things might be like," said Kevin, 12. "I can look at careers now and see if that's what I'd want to do."

This is ultimately what Suber said she hopes her students will get out of the experience. "It's been very satisfying and fun for the students to see what scientists do in their daily lives and see what impact they have," Suber said. "A career in science is not for everybody. But it's important if our students can see the possibilities."

Staff writer T. Keung Hui can be reached at 829-4534.

Return to Headline List

A new man at the top

Nov. 27, 2003
The Salisbury Post
By Jessie Burchette, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The Salisbury Post.

A Rowan native and former research assistant at Piedmont Research Station has been named as the new superintendent of the facility on Sherrills Ford Road.

Joe K. Hampton of Laurel Springs will succeed retiring superintendent Raymond D. Coltrain who managed the station for 13 years.

Piedmont, originally established in Statesville in 1903, was moved to its current location that includes 1,044 acres in 1954.

The appointment was announced Wednesday by interim Agriculture Commissioner Britt Cobb and Dr. Steven Leath, interim director of the N.C. Agricultural Research Station at N.C. State University.

Hampton comes to Salisbury from the Upper Mountain Research Station in Laurel Springs, where he has been superintendent since 1988.

He worked at Piedmont for seven years as a research assistant and unit manager before his move to the Upper Mountain facility.

"Joe's extensive knowledge of poultry science and his previous experience at this facility will enhance the outstanding research being done with poultry at this station," said Cobb.

Piedmont is home to a joint N.C. State University and Duke University medical study using poultry to determine possible means for detection and treatment of human ovarian cancer.

Hampton earned a bachelor's degree in poultry science from NCSU. A lifetime member of the N.C. Cattlemen's Association, he recently was appointed to the board of directors of the American Angus Association, a first for a North Carolinian.

Leath also cited Hampton's years of experience in crops and research at Laurel Springs. "It is this breadth of knowledge and experience, combined with his outstanding ability to interact with our research faculty that makes him an ideal choice for this position."

At the Upper Mountain Station, Hampton spent considerable time focusing on producing the best Fraser firs possible for the Christmas tree market.

Piedmont is one of 18 agricultural research facilities across the state managed by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services operating with N.C. State University and N.C. A&T University.

Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254.

Return to Headline List

School briefs: Schools official joins state board: Culbreth Middle sets science day

Nov. 30, 2003
The Durham Herald-Sun
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003 The Durham Herald Company.

CHAPEL HILL -- Culbreth Middle School is holding its sixth annual Science Symposium Day from 8:30 to 11:10 a.m. Thursday.

Based on their interests, students have been assigned to listen to speakers from various fields of science. Presentations will include a question-and-answer period.

Presenters come from the Raleigh Museum of Natural Sciences, the Kenan Institute for Engineering, UNC, Duke University Medical Center, N.C. State University, Zoo Fauna, Colorlume Inc., N.C. Botanical Garden, Advanced Energy, Piedmont Electric, the Morehead Planetarium, Sphinx Laboratories and Culbreth Middle School.

The presentations will focus on defibrillators and pacemakers, the multiplication of bacteria, zoo animals, reptiles and amphibians, fiber-optic lighting, exploding volcanoes, insectivorous plants, a bicycle that produces energy, dog communication, electricity safety, prescription drug development, genomics and computer graphics, shark attacks and physics.

In the afternoon, Neil Schulman, author of the book and the screenplay "Doc Hollywood," will give a presentation to each grade level, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Return to Headline List

Growing community holds water workshop

Nov. 29, 2003
The Durham Herald-Sun
By Jordan Bartel, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The Durham Herald Company.

PITTSBORO -- As the population of Chatham County continues to grow, and with new developments poised to dot the 15-501 corridor, protecting the county's water resources will be the theme of a workshop set for next week.

The workshop -- "Protecting Water Quality as Your Community Grows" -- is open to the public and will include speakers discussing watershed planning, subdivision designs that can protect water quality, low impact development and the importance of stream buffers. The registration fee is $15.

Glenn Woolard, the director of the Chatham County office of N.C. Cooperative Extension, said the workshop has been in the works for about a year. It is the first water-quality workshop of its kind in the county, and sponsors include N.C. Cooperative Extension, N.C. State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

He said the workshop will discuss tools and strategies to protect water quality as growth and development issues emerge in the county.

"There is a misconception that if we have growth and development that water quality will be impacted in a negative way," Woolard said. "There will be an impact, but there are tools to use so our water quality is maintained."

The workshop comes as officials continue to work on a proposed ordinance to regulate the development of "compact communities" in Chatham County.

Eight speakers will hold sessions at the workshop, covering everything from current trends in Chatham County's water quality to an overview of watershed planning and the conservation of urban water supplies.

"There has been a lot of interest in it," Woolard said. "There are a lot of different options and tools and people don't understand that these tools are available and that development can be done in a more environmentally friendly way."

A water-quality extension associate from N.C. State, Laura Lombardo, organized the program, and state grants paid for it.

"Chatham County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state and what you find there is basically a rural county with a lot of urbanization going on," Lombardo said. "Hopefully this workshop will help people try to understand how to maintain a rural character and where to focus their growth."

At the workshop, Lombardo will speak about low-impact development, which includes new approaches for siting development, managing stormwater runoff and improving erosion and sedimentation control.

She said the workshop would also consider different models of development -- including the clustering of homes more tightly together to allow more open space and the use of high-density mixed-use developments -- and how each type of development can be built to protect water quality.

"We will demonstrate that there can be purposeful planning where you have a development, taking into account critical habitat and lands, just so it doesn't happen willy-nilly," said Lombardo, who has been with the biological and agricultural engineering department at N.C. State for six years.

"I've often heard people say that you can't have development and environmental protection at the same time," she added. "You can never have 100-percent protection, but there are ways to lessen the impacts and that's what we are trying to teach here. There are ways that people can mitigate the impacts so that they are not as pervasive and damaging to local streams and the environment."

In addition to citizens of Chatham County and its surrounding areas, Woolard said organizers invited Chatham County's elected officials, area developers and small business owners, and officials from counties that are part of the Triangle J Council of Governments.

"We hope that, along with the public, we will get the interest in elected officials because they need to hear these new ideas," Lombardo said. "It is important that they are open to new ideas and willing to work with people who want to try these practices."

Return to Headline List

County fights owner over lion

Nov. 28, 2003
The News & Observer
By Eric Frazier, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The Lexington Dispatch.

Julie Plott says she moved to Davidson County specifically because she found a suitable, secluded location to breed and research endangered and threatened animal species.

When she located a house for sale on 61/2 wooded acres off Swicegood Road in Tyro last year, she thought it was just right for her. She says the first thing she did was talk to the county manager and planner to be sure what she planned would not violate any county regulations.

"I meant to be private and that's what I intend to be," she explained.

But it didn't take long after Plott built an enclosure for Sasha, a 450-pound lioness she has owned since the feline was a cub, to attract more attention than she wanted.

When Sasha roars, she scares the neighbors.

"I'm sympathetic to their concerns," Plott said. "It's not every day that a lion moves into town."

Plott installed an 8-foot wooden perimeter fence to keep out prying eyes and mischievous trespassers, like the television news crews that showed up without her permission.

Shielded from view is a 2,000-square-foot fenced area where Sasha lives with a 45-pound Welsh Corgi mixed-breed dog named Mo. The two animals have been together for six years, Plott said, as an ongoing experiment in interspecies bonding.

"I operate a business as well as a nonprofit organization," she explained. "My animals are not kept as pets, but rather they are used in breeding programs or in behavioral research studies."

Plott studied zoology at North Carolina State University and received her bachelor of science in recreation management from Appalachian State University. Her concentration was in outdoor experiential education. She is a member of the Feline Conservation Federation, the Simian Society of America and the American Association of Zookeepers.

Through her business, Ambassador Exotics, Plott raises captive-bred exotic animals and prepares them for human interaction at environmental education facilities.

Among her current animals are two African servals, three cotton-top tamarins, two Greater African bush babies, an owl monkey and two goats.

The yearlong moratorium has so affected that part of her operation that she had to go to work at her father's store in High Point to replace the income. Being away also takes time from her research.

"Through my nonprofit, The Zoological Studies Foundation, I research practical ways for animal care facilities and owners of captive species to provide environmental enrichment for their animals," Plott said.

She disagrees with some animal rights activists who believe no wild animals should be captive. As natural habitats disappear, she believes it is inevitable they will be bred in captivity, and she is interested in discovering ways to improve their quality of life. She said her mission is to be a "good steward of God's creatures."

Plott said she has not only been harmed by the moratorium but will be severely affected by the ordinance if it is adopted in its present form.

"I have taken every effort to ensure the public's safety and the well-being of my animals," she said. "I exceed all the regulations. I could have spent about $5,000, but I spent $20,000."

The enclosure is constructed of 9-gauge chain-link fencing that is 12 feet tall. The 4-inch poles are sunk in concrete below the ground. Entry requires passing through two doors, and each lock has a different key.

"This is a 100 percent no-contact facility," Plott explained. "Nobody has to touch her."

The den looks like an 8-by-8-foot outbuilding with no windows. It has double-guillotine doors on each side. The first door is made of chain link fencing material, the second of heavy wood backed by metal plating. One set of doors are designed for a transport cage to be fastened to it when the lion is removed from the enclosure, as was the case Oct. 6 when Sasha had to have a full hysterectomy. Plott said she discovered ovarian tumors have caused the lioness to roar more than normal in past months.

Asked if there was a possibility the lion might escape if a storm blew a tree down, collapsing the fence, Plott said it was very unlikely. She said the lion goes into the den whenever there is a storm because the noise frightens the animal.

"She wouldn't go anywhere," Plott assured. "Lions are very territorial. This is her home."

She also pointed to the secondary 8-foot wooden fence, which she said the lion is incapable of leaping over and cannot climb because the front paws are declawed.

Sgt. Rusty Everhart, a county animal control officer, said he has visited Plott's facility. He called her safeguards "more than adequate."

"She's got a class act," Everhart said. "She's really gone above and beyond what most folks ever think of doing."

Plott has followed the development of the ordinance from the beginning and attended most of the committee meetings. She has many points of disagreement with the final draft but hopes specifically to see an exemption extended to USDA-licensed facilities like hers.

"I am in agreement that Davidson County should have reasonable exotic animal ordinances that limit the ownership to USDA licensees of certain larger exotic animals, such as lions and bears," Plott said. "This ordinance confuses the issue between pets and animals that would, should or could only legally be owned, bred or exhibited by permitted and licensed businesses and organizations."

Return to Headline List

Hemp, hemp, hooray? No way, says DEA

Nov. 30, 2003
The Durham Herald Sun
By Christopher Kirkpatrick, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The Durham Herald Company.

DURHAM -- Durham's Gale Glenn could rightly be called the hemp lady.

No, not that kind of hemp, she says; it's the kind that can be harvested to make clothes, paper and other textile products, the kind that produces the longest and strongest natural fibers in the world. But because it's in the cannabis family, along with marijuana, it's illegal.

As a former Kentucky tobacco farmer, Glenn sees industrial hemp as the perfect money-making alternative crop. From her Durham home, she has been lobbying Congress, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the White House for years.

"It's an illegal crop, even though it's grown in 35 Western countries ... because the DEA is convinced it is a stalking horse for illegal marijuana. We've been working in a concerted effort for about eight years to legalize it as an alternative crop," said Glenn, who is vice chairwoman of the North American Industrial Hemp Council.

"I feel like I'm watching a goose dancing around on hot coals looking for a place to lay the golden egg," she said. "I really think there's going to be some hemp millionaires in the future."

The issue has acquired renewed vigor because several state legislatures have passed resolutions to push for the crop's legalization. Recently, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers from Hawaii sent President George W. Bush a letter urging that a legal distinction be made between a crop grown as an illegal drug and an industrial crop grown for textile manufacturing.

'A kind crop for farmers'

With the decline in tobacco production, empty warehouses and the continuous search for alternative crops, hemp makes sense, Glenn and others say.

She points out that the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science at N.C. State University sponsored the International Hemp Forum in November 2001, and several NCSU professors recently sent a grant proposal to the Golden LEAF Foundation, which spends tobacco settlement economic development money.

The proposal was rejected.

Hemp is "biodegradable; it's a very kind crop for farmers. As a matter of fact, it's a farmer's dream crop -- you just drill in the seed and some fertilizer. It can grow any place you can grow corn, so it's a universal type of crop," she said. "It's an ideal rotation crop. You just need a little bit of fertilizer, no chemicals, and very low labor. Four months later, you can go back into the field and cut it and bale it. It's very useful for manufacturing.

"It seems to me that because it's so useful in so many industries to make so many products ... it'd be ideal for North Carolina, because we have all of these empty warehouses," she said.

Hemp as an industrial product has its high-profile supporters, including longtime consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who said the crop had seen a resurgence around the world.

"In recent years, industrial hemp has experienced a renaissance. Farmers throughout the world are growing hemp in countries, such as France, that have never banned its cultivation, and in countries, such as Canada, that strictly regulate hemp production to guard against even the most remote possibility of illicit marijuana production," Nader wrote. "The United States, on the other hand, lags far behind. Due to bureaucratic red tape and overzealousness on the part of the Drug Enforcement Agency, industrial hemp cannot be commercially grown in the United States."

The DEA also is waging a battle against any form of imported hemp in the marketplace, including seeds, oil and other food products.

In 2001, the agency ordered a ban on hemp-derived foods, saying they ran afoul of the federal Controlled Substances Act. A lower-level federal court stayed the directive, and the battle continues in higher-level courts. Supporters, such as Glenn, say food products and other uses should be exempt from federal substance control laws, just as poppy seeds found on bagels are exempt.

Poppy plants are the basis for heroin production.

DEA spokesman Ed Childress said that because the fight over hemp's food uses is still in the courts, he could not comment. But he said the DEA's position is that because hemp is illegal, it cannot be grown in the United States.

"There's really no differentiation between hemp and marijuana. It is a controlled substance at this time, and until such time as the law changes, it will be enforced," he said. "The FDA, Health and Human Services and the DEA do studies and they get back together and they decide on a policy. It's all based on science. It's not based on opinions or politics, unless you're talking about the other side.

"The DEA is so demonized, and all we're doing is enforcing the law," he said.

Return to Headline List

NCSU wins education grant

Nov. 26, 2003
The Triangle Business Journal
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $431,500 to The William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University.

The grants will help fund an NCSU team that will partner with Cary-based SAS Institute to assess the state's Impact program, which provides for the personnel, resources, access, professional development and student instruction to produce technologically literate students by the eighth grade.

NCSU's College of Education is building The Friday Institute building, which is scheduled to open in 2005 adjacent to Centennial Campus Middle School on the university's Centennial Campus.

Return to Headline List

N.C. loses 'irreplaceable' expert on building codes

Dec. 1, 2003
The News & Observer
By Dan Kane and Lynn Bonner, staff writers
© Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

Deputy Insurance Commissioner Grover Sawyer was one of the state's top experts on the building code, and he worked hard to help people understand and comply with it.

Two years ago, he was one of several outspoken insurance department officials who pointed out potential dangers in the way N.C. State University and UNC-Chapel Hill were circumventing state oversight on the expansions of Carter-Finley Stadium and the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center, respectively.

The universities had temporarily turned over the buildings to nonprofits that could do the work with little state oversight.

When legislators found out, they amended construction laws to prevent the practice.

"Grover was truly an unsung hero, working hard for the Department of Insurance and for all North Carolina citizens," Chief Deputy Insurance Commissioner Dascheil Propes said.

Sawyer, 57, died a week ago after an extended battle with cancer.

A Pasquotank County native and NCSU graduate, he worked for the state insurance department's Office of the Fire Marshal for much of his career and was head of the engineering division when he died.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Long called him an "irreplaceable" resource for citizens and local governments across the state when it came to interpreting building codes. Early in Sawyer's career, he led the creation of the Code Officials Qualification Board, which sets standards for code officials across the state.

"No one could interpret the code more accurately and more fairly than Grover Sawyer," Long said. "But more than that, Grover was a good friend."

Sawyer is survived by his wife and son; another son died in 1996. To honor his memory, his family requested that people give blood.

Marshall stars in fraud ad

Another Council of State member hit the airwaves with a high-profile public service announcement this month.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is warning about securities fraud in a television and radio ad. Marshall does not appear in two other ads on the subject, said her spokesman, George Jeter. Money for the production came from a settlement with Merrill Lynch last year in which conflicts of interest between investment banking and research programs were alleged. The state Agency for Public Telecommunications produced the ads.

Council of State members have been in heavy rotation on television this year. Attorney General Roy Cooper and state Treasurer Richard Moore also made ads. These public service announcements often draw criticism because they put the politicians' names and faces in front of voters at no cost to them.

Marshall said the securities fraud warnings, which the office has produced in previous years, have no connection to her plans to run for re-election next year.

"Families get together at holiday times and talk about finances and estate planning," she said. "It is just a good time to talk about investments and giving and those kinds of things."

Compiled by staff writers Dan Kane and Lynn Bonner. Kane can be reached at 829-4861.

Return to Headline List

People: NC State University

Dec. 1, 2003
The News & Observer
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

Jo Allen of Raleigh has been named interim vice provost for the Division of Undergraduate Affairs. Allen has served the division since 1999 as assistant and then associate vice provost.. A native of LaGrange, Allen received her bachelor's degree in English from Meredith College, her master's in English from East Carolina University and her Ph.D. in English from Oklahoma State University. While there, she was a Clinton Keeler Fellow and the recipient of the International Society for Technical Communication Scholarship.

Chris Brown, director of the N.C. Space Initiative and associate professor of botany, has been elected president of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology. The society, founded in 1984, is the scientific organization promoting all aspects of gravitational and space biology research, education and outreach. Brown also serves as associate director of the N.C. Space Grant Consortium and director of the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Gravitational Genomics at NCSU.

Return to Headline List

Footnotes: Ideas sought on NCSU police

Dec. 1, 2003
The News & Observer
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

The public can have a say in the reaccreditation of N.C. State University's police department. Assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies will be on campus this month to make sure the department meets professional standards.

Agency employees and the public have two opportunities to comment. The first is at a public session at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 in the ballroom of the Talley Student Center, 2610 Cates Ave. in Raleigh. People also can call 513-1799 between 1 and 4 p.m. Dec. 9. Written thoughts may be sent to Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, Inc., 10302 Eaton Place, Suite 100, Fairfax, Va., 22030. For information, call Capt. Joseph W. Goodrow, the accreditation manager, at 515-5916.

Return to Headline List

Pepsi gets beverage deal at A&T

Nov. 30, 2003
The Greensboro News & Record
By John Newsom, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The Greensboro News & Record.

GREENSBORO -- Pepsi: It's the cola for N.C. A&T, at least for the next five years.

A&T has signed an exclusive deal with the nation's No. 2 beverage company, which means Pepsi will be providing the sodas and juices served at the university's dining halls and athletics venues and in vending machines.

The deal -- which guarantees A&T at least $1.6 million during the next five years -- has A&T officials singing about the joy of Pepsi. A few students, however, are disappointed that they will be part of a Pepsi-only generation.

"I don't like Pepsi," said Rebecca Wilson, a junior who keeps some of her favorite drink, Sprite, in her car. "Whenever I get really thirsty, and there's nothing in my car, I'll drink some water."

Student complaints aside, the exclusive deals between universities and soft-drink companies have been boons for both. Since Pennsylvania State University signed the first such contract with Pepsi in the early 1990s, hundreds of colleges and universities have gone with a single beverage maker. A spokesman with Pepsi-Cola North America estimates the company has "over 100" partnerships with the nation's colleges.

At least nine of the state's public universities have exclusive soda deals. That number includes UNCG, which has been with Pepsi for at least the past 15 years. Winston-Salem State University is a Pepsi school. N.C. State, the state's largest public university, signed a contract in July with Coca-Cola after five years with Pepsi.

The deals give the schools money and other gifts but mean the colleges must banish drinks made by other vendors. (There are exceptions: UNCG's convenience store in the Elliott University Center still can sell Coke products, and A&T can sell and give away its famous Aggie Water, which is bottled locally.)

Why the proliferation of these exclusive-rights deals?

One word: Money.

N.C. State's new deal with Coke is worth at least $8.4 million for five years. UNCG makes at least $225,000 per year off its deal with Pepsi. Its new contract, signed in 2001, netted the school a one-time $50,000 donation to its fund to buy equipment for its new science building.

Contracts typically also include some up-front cash payments, contributions to student scholarship funds, money for student internships and athletics scoreboards, which a school gets to keep after the contract ends.

The exclusive deals are more lucrative for the colleges. According to an informal UNCG survey of other state universities, the commissions that schools pocketed from single-drink vending-machine sales ranging from 48 percent to 53 percent. For schools that split their business among two or more companies, commissions ranged from 25 percent to 40 percent.

"What you give up is the variety," said Mike Byers, UNCG's director of auxiliary services. "But you get better returns."

Unlike state dollars and tuition proceeds, soft-drink money is unrestricted. That means the schools can spend it however they want.

Some schools, including UNCG and A&T, pour the bulk of their beverage money into student scholarships. UNC-Chapel Hill uses the $695,000 it gets each year from its non-exclusive Coke deal to retire the debt taken out to refurbish its dining halls.

The soft-drink makers get something out of these deals, too: Advertising space in basketball arenas and football stadiums and inside game programs and on the back of ticket stubs. They also get a marketing edge in environments dominated by 18- to 22-year-olds because an exclusive deal with, say, Coke, means no Pepsi products are in sight. College students represent a large chunk of the youth market that soft-drink companies crave because young adults spend money and are deciding their future consumer habits.

These exclusive deals "are multifaceted," said Dave DeCecco, a spokesman for Pepsi-Cola North America.

"It's about becoming part of the college communities and part of students' lives," he added. "Getting involved with college students now can help us in the future. Maybe people will remember us down the road."

George Suddath, vice president for corporate affairs at Pepsi Bottling Ventures in Raleigh, which holds the contracts with A&T and UNCG, said too much is made of the marketing angle. For his company, it's about making money. These deals turn "a modest profit" for the company, which makes and distributes Pepsi products in much of eastern and central North Carolina.

Suddath noted that the colleges are the ones insisting on the exclusive deals. "We're perfectly satisfied to have a dual arrangement," Suddath said. But when an exclusive deal comes available, it makes sense to put together a lucrative package in hopes of landing that business.

If not, Suddath added, "you can end up like our competitors did and lose a customer (A&T) they've had for 10 years for at least the next five years."

At A&T, the decision to go exclusive was an easy one. Before, the university was making about $100,000 a year on beverage sales. So, it sought bids from Coke and Pepsi. The Pepsi deal was a clear winner, said David Hoard, A&T's vice chancellor for development and university relations.

"It was a significantly better deal," Hoard said. "There wasn't a lot of discussion."

The deal gives A&T about $140,000 at the start of every contract year. This money, as well as proceeds from drink sales, will go toward A&T's student scholarship fund and its FUTURES initiative aimed at improving the university.

But not all students cheer these deals, especially when a campus goes from Coke to Pepsi or vice versa.

Every time State switches soft-drink vendors, which happens every five years there, about 20 to 30 people complain about the new choice, said Art White, the university's associate vice chancellor for student affairs. But most on the campus of nearly 30,000 students seem to take the change in stride.

"It's good for the university," White said of State's new deal with Coke. "It's not good for the person who doesn't like Coke."

At A&T, about 120 students have signed a petition protesting the change in the Memorial Student Union. Their major concerns are the sudden lack of beverage variety in the campus convenience stores and in the vending machines in the academic buildings. The top issue is the loss of 35-cent fruit juices, which were banished when Pepsi moved in. "The price was perfect for a college student," said Jocelyn Hadrick, a junior electrical engineering major from Norristown, Pa. Hadrick said she drinks plenty of those cheap little juices while working late in McNair Hall, home of the engineering department.

On this day, Hadrick sipped a 12-ounce Pepsi with her lunch. She is not a big fan of carbonated beverages, but it was the cheapest drink she could find.

"It's my fault," Hadrick said, "for not liking water."

Return to Headline List

Fashion court

Dec. 1, 2003
The News & Observer
By Karen Guzman, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

Before the Charlotte Bobcats take to the basketball court next fall, one detail must be absolutely perfect: the fledgling NBA franchise's uniforms.

Bobcats officials are keeping the design under wraps, but they're hinting the uniform will break new sports fashion ground.

"Our goal was to create something unique without creating something outlandish," says Chris Weiller, Bobcats' executive vice president for corporate affairs. "It's going to be a little bit different, but not too different."

The team's caution is well-placed. In the NBA and in the world of professional sports in general, uniforms are a franchise's calling card. They hold the power to both rally -- and revile -- the public.

Case in point: the Dallas Mavericks' ill-fated experiment with a glittery silver road look in October. Fans didn't like the way it shimmied across their TV screens, and the Mavericks pulled the uniform after just one game.

In a similar vein, the Boston Celtics amazed longtime watchers when they trotted onto the court this season in white sneakers, after decades of dark footwear. Tradition-loving Celtics fans, however, have embraced a little white on their boys in green.

Charlotte's former NBA team, the Hornets, were lucky, too, when fans gave a thumbs-up to the groundbreaking purple-and- teal uniforms that UNC alumnus and menswear designer Alexander Julian whipped up for the team.

Knowing the fan base and the marketing potential of uniforms, the Bobcats are taking no chances.

"The uniforms are a huge part of the development of a team's identity," says Weiller, who has been instrumental in developing what he calls the four elements of team identity: uniform, name, colors and logo. "We spent a lot of time soliciting the input of the community to create the right identity," Weiller says.

Uniform color and cut say a lot. Players need colors that are bold, but not menacing, and a cut that's flattering yet functional. Tradition and innovation often vie for dominance, with teams wanting to stand out -- just not too far out. Most play it safe, but occasionally a player steps out, triggering trends that go beyond the court. Michael Jordan singlehandedly changed the length of NBA and men's streetwear casual shorts when he let his down.

Charlotte clothier Cary Mitchell, dresser of dozens of NBA and other pro athletes, helped design the Bobcats' uniform and choose the colors, which include a shade of dark orange-red that Weiller says is a pro uniform first.

Secondary colors are silver, black and steel-gray blue. The primary orange-red is a bold, businesslike shade, strong, serious and unique. The public indicated it wanted the new team to stand out from the NBA pack, Weiller says.

Colors not only help a team stand out, but they also make a statement. The Bobcats' silver, black and steel-gray blue accents -- colors seen elsewhere in pro sports -- are visual touchstones for NBA fans. When paired with the distinct orange, the result is a message of brave departure, of the familiar infused with new and vibrant blood.

Reebok is creating prototypes. Weiller expects the jersey to hit stores in May or June.

College teams create their signature looks with great care, too. While the colors are generally the school's colors, design elements vary and are periodically updated.

N.C. State University's women's basketball team signed on with Nike to produce all its clothing this year and took the opportunity to tweak the fit.

"It's more for a ladies' team," says Brenda Keene, director of athletic equipment for Reynolds Coliseum. "The shoulder cut is much shorter so it's not coming off their shoulders. It fits like a woman's jersey should fit." The shorts, too, have been tweaked for a better fit and warm-up pants legs are more tapered.

NCSU's thinking is right in step with the times. Some prominent female athletes, most notably tennis titans Venus and Serena Williams have dared to feminize their outfits to celebrate the strength and grace of women.

"I think it's very classy," Keene says.

Basketball teams, of course, aren't the only ones who painstakingly design their uniforms. When Shaw University's Bears returned to the varsity football field this fall for the first time since 1978, the team was in sleek rich burgundy and white uniforms, designed by former head coach Gregory Ruffin.

"He ordered all of them by his design, even down to the helmet. That was his personal touch," said current head coach Deondri Clark said.

Other than functional concerns such as ventilation, comfort and a smart look that will give players a shot of confidence, Clark admits he doesn't dwell on style details.

"We're not big on the fashion part," he says. "We just want to look nice and ... play good ball."

Staff writer Karen Guzman can be reached at 829-4752.

Return to Headline List

Letter to the Editor: No disrespect

Nov. 30, 2003
The News & Observer
 © Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

Professor Michael L. Walden related student academic performance to the importance of smaller class size and consideration of the socioeconomic characteristics of students in his Nov. 16 Point of View article "Smaller classes pay off."

Walden did not say that the main reason for small class sizes is to attempt to solve the discipline problem that exists in all our public K-12 classrooms, although he mentioned that a smaller class size helps teachers "to maintain classroom control."

At the university level, the onus of learning lies entirely with students. A grade reflects not only knowledge in a particular academic area, but also responsibility, commitment and determination. These qualities must be slowly developed from K-12 and achieved by the time of graduation.

Our public schools must be places of not only academic learning but also where character-building is an integral part of the curriculum. Students' disrespect towards teachers and/or their peers should not be tolerated. Unfortunately, many students are not ready or able to function in a normal, academic environment.

The School of Science and Mathematics in Durham and any good military school serve as excellent models for our public schools. Students who are motivated, disciplined and ready to learn should attend the former type of school. Those who need to gain appreciation, motivation and respect ought to be sent to the latter.

Let us not waste time and money with solutions that do not address the real problems faced by our teachers, which have lead to the catastrophic exodus of teachers from our classrooms.

Moorad Alexanian
Wilmington

Return to Headline List

Letter to the Editor: Moribund defense

Nov. 30, 2003
The News & Observer
 © Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

Fur-bearing animals raised on fur mills or trapped in the wild suffer greatly. People of good will might wonder whether buying fur coats or fur-trimmed clothing breaches any moral boundary. Is the suffering of the animals justified when consumers buy fur for reasons of comfort and fashion?

Larry Hertzberg, owner of Hertzberg's Furs, thinks he has the answer. "The cavemen wore skins," he observes (Nov. 23 Sunday Journal article "Activism that's out of fashion"). "We (humans) have a long history of wearing dead animals."

So there you have it. If we want to know what those of us alive today should do, all we need to know is what out forebears did in ancient times.

No one really believes this. The last I heard, Hertzberg and other area fur retailers do not live in caves. Do not heat their stores with an open fire. Do not live without electricity or forgo the use of automobiles powered by internal combustion engines.

If local fur retailers depart so radically from our forebears when it comes to these many circumstances of daily life, why should their customers follow the ancient custom of wearing "dead animals"? Hertzberg does not say. Prospective customers should honor his silent wisdom and ask him.

Tom Regan
Raleigh

(The writer is professor of philosophy, emeritus, at N.C. State University.)

Return to Headline List

Feature: A century of Western movies

Nov. 27, 2003
United Press International, Newsday, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald, Dallas Morning News, Denver Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kansas City Star, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, San Jose Mercury-Star, Indianapolis Star, Hartford Courant, Mobile Register, Arizona Republic, Newark Star-Ledger, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Honolulu Advertiser, Youngstown Vindicator, Harrisburg Patriot.
By Dar Haddix, staff writer
 © Copyright 2003 United Press International.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- This year marks the 100th anniversary of what is considered to be the first Western movie: "The Great Train Robbery," released Dec. 1, 1903. From silent films to singing cowboys to spaghetti Westerns, this hardy genre has seen a lot of changes in the last century but has managed to endure. But are films like the current Kevin Costner feature "Open Range" the last gasps of what was once a staple of American cinema?

Several successful Westerns have been released since the genre's heyday: Western comedies like "City Slickers," and "Blazing Saddles" to classics like "Silverado" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

"Westerns are allegedly the only true American art form," said radio personality "Mr. Movie," Steve Friedman. Friedman, who gave a lecture on the genre's anniversary at the Smithsonian on earlier this month, said although one-quarter of all movies made in America have been Westerns, only three have won Oscars for Best Picture.

Westerns are "definitely the most popular genre in terms of classic movies," according to Charles Tabesh, senior vice president for Turner Classic Movies. TCM is in discussions with a movie house chain to once again show classic movies, including Westerns, on the silver screen, Tabesh revealed. TCM is also active in film preservation, a serious issue for Westerns as many already have been lost.

Some debate whether "Train Robbery" was the "first" Western. "The Pioneers" and "Kit Carson" were earlier releases, but neither was as "dynamic" as "The Great Train Robbery," said Scott Simmon, author of "The Invention of the Western Film" and a professor of English and co-director of the Film Studies Program at the University of California.

While most films were shown on nickelodeon machines, "Train Robbery" was projected and shown at carnivals and fairs to large audiences, says Michael Zam, creative writing professor at New York University and Western movie enthusiast. He described how "people actually screamed" as the movie started and ended with a gunman appearing to fire directly into the camera, and therefore right at the audience. But the film was an instant hit: "Westerns became a very popular genre right away," he said.

Westerns were also successful because many people in the genre's early years had grandparents who settled the West or were familiar with the phenomenon, Friedman said. And movies communicate in the "universal language" -- pictures -- so immigrants could understand them.

Westerns also have themes and characters that "resonate" with a variety of audiences, Friedman said. Besides the hero and the villain, there is the troubled stranger trying to forget his past; the protagonist who's "gotta do what I gotta do;" teamwork; self-sacrifice; and the "anti-hero," a protagonist who isn't wholly good but is relatively better than other characters.

While some women such as Barbara Stanwyck got good roles, in general, "The Western has always had a terrible time with women," Simmon said. He indicated that the best female roles were in the noir Westerns after World War II, when women did more than "cling to the hero and offer up the futile possibility of a pacifist solution," such as Joan Crawford in the Western cult classic "Johnny Guitar."

Mexicans, African-Americans, Native Americans and other non-whites were also often portrayed to their detriment -- if at all -- in Westerns. Simmon describes how Native Americans in many early films represented "native decline and 'civilization's' advance," he said.

Many Westerns are remakes of older films or stories, Friedman said; for instance, "The Magnificent Seven" is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai."

One of the best ways to understand Westerns is seeing a Western satire, Friedman said. " Rustler's Rhapsody," his favorite Western satire, incorporates all the clichés into a really good movie, he says.

But what defines a Western? A poll by True West magazine showed that readers "expect a Western movie to be set in the West in the 19th or early 20th centuries, and to have the good vs. evil theme that has been a staple of Western novels and movies since the 1902 publication of Owen Wister's 'The Virginian'," wrote the magazine's managing editor, R.G. Robertson.

Others think Western motifs make the Western, said Richard Slatta, the "Cowboy Professor." Slatta, author of several books on Western culture including "The Cowboy Encyclopedia" and "The Mythical West," and professor of history at North Carolina State University, calls "Star Wars" a "space Western."

Westerns had a powerful effect overseas as well, leading stars like Anthony Hopkins and Sean Connery, who grew up in Wales and Scotland, to want to be cowboys, Friedman said.

America isn't the only country with cowboys, nor the only one that has idolized them in movies. "Latin American filmmakers, especially in Argentina, have mythologized their gauchos and frontier experience in much the same way that we have ours," Slatta said.

TCM is showing several Westerns on Saturdays this November, and lists some of the greatest Western movie stars on its Web site, such as John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, Gary Cooper, and Robert Mitchum, as well as important Western directors and their contributions, including John Ford, Cecil B. De Mille, and Sam Peckinpah.

From roughly the '30s to the late '50s, studios produced "A" and "B" Westerns. Though B movies had smaller budgets and shorter production times and A Westerns portrayed "ponderous history," B Westerns spoke of Depression-era issues that audiences could relate to, such as poverty and land rights, Simmon said. B Western heroes are also the best remembered, said R. Philip Loy, author of "Westerns in American Culture, 1930 to 1955" and professor of political science at Taylor University in Indiana.

In fact, "dust bowl conditions, gangsters of the 1930s, World War II and the Cold War were all used in plot lines for Westerns," Loy said.

In the 1960s, Italian director Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars," considered the first "spaghetti Western," launched Clint Eastwood's movie career and created the "anti-hero," whose mixed motives reflected the social changes of the '60s, Jeff Stafford said in an article on the TCM Web site.

The West as depicted in movies was based more on fiction, legend and stereotype than fact, more of a "West of the imagination," Loy said. The real West is generally understood as the area west of the Mississippi River, from about 1865 to World War II, Loy said. But, every state once had its own Western frontier, Simmon said. The West was not so much a place as a "time/space continuum," Simmon said.

For example, Roy Rogers' Westerns featured automobiles, airplanes and rockets at the same time he rode his horse Trigger dressed like a cowboy and carrying two guns, Loy said.

Another big difference is that most towns had gun confiscation laws, whereas in most Westerns "everyone is armed to the teeth," Slatta pointed out. And, "women did not spend all their time swooning and waiting around to be rescued by a heroic male," but rather participated in a "full, vital" range of activities on the frontier, he said.

But if Westerns were made to be entertaining, then why worry about accuracy at all?

"For those of us who like history, we find the errors to be annoying -- a great many people, especially younger people are introduced to the history of the Old West through movies," Robertson said. True West magazine recently published a list of the 50 most historically accurate Western movies.

By the late 1960s, changed attitudes toward race and gender resulted in the death of the "classic" Western, Simmon said.

Heroes became "more complex and less heroic," Loy said, "probably the most noteworthy change in Westerns over the last thirty years of the 20th century."

Over time, the genre also lost ground due to the expense of making Westerns, the advent of television and the trouble that younger audiences have relating to Westerns, Friedman said.

In the end, does the Western have a future? Opinions differ.

"I think Westerns are dead," Loy said. Slatta sees Western heroes as being replaced by "action" heroes.

Simmon said despite "honorable" attempts such as "Open Range," the most interesting recent Westerns "use the contemporary landscape of the West to comment on the traditional genre and then to strike out in new ways," in films such as Terrence Malick's "Badlands" in 1973 and Sherman Alexie's "The Business of Fancydancing" in 2002, Simmon said.

"The landscape of the West still has great stories to tell on film, but probably not through traditional genre films," he said.

But for Western traditionalists, the essence of a Western is still "John Wayne on a horse," Robertson writes. And, Western or not, "I think a good story is always going to find a market," he said.

Return to Headline List

Public: Food-origin labels a COOL idea

Nov. 28, 2003
The Wausau Daily Herald (Wausau, WI)
By Kyle Gearhart, staff writer
 © Copyright 2003 Gannett.

Most Americans would be willing to pay more for locally-grown food, but a bill that would provide money to enforce country-of-origin labeling is stuck on the shelf in the U.S. Senate.

The 2002 Farm Bill required meats, fish, fruits and vegetables on the shelves of local grocery stores to tell consumers what country they came from. It set a deadline of September 2004 for labeling to begin.
But the Republican-controlled House of Representatives pulled money in its budget bill to enforce the measure, and it's unclear whether country-of-origin labeling, or COOL, has enough support in the Senate to restore the money.

Dozens of other countries label their produce and 71 percent of Americans would be willing to pay more for food that is grown locally, according to a 2003 study done at North Carolina State University.

"I want consumers to know where their food and meat is coming from," said Leonard Bayer, owner of Country Fresh Meats in the town of Bevent. "Hopefully it will help them be better informed and support American agriculture production. We have the safest food supply in the world because of our inspections and the approach of farmers."

Bayer, whose meat shop has been open 20 years, is a strong supporter of local and American farmers. And he says his customers at the Wausau Farmers Market ask more questions about the pesticides or hormones used in locally grown foods.

"There's more interest today in people wanting to know where their food and meat came from," Bayer said. "You don't know what type of chemicals and growth (hormones) are in imported foods. I've seen more interest now than there has ever been."
For Bayer and other advocates, it's really a question of choice. Labels tell consumers where their cars, clothes, detergents, video-game systems and compact discs are made. They think that the food Americans put in their bodies should be labeled as well.

"It's an educational tool," said Sue Beitlich, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union and a dairy farmer near La Crosse. "It's so they can find out where their food is coming from. You can tell by the label where the meat is born and raised."

The COOL law requires beef, pork and veal of U.S. origin to be born, raised and slaughtered in the United States. The legislation also requires labels for vegetables, fruits and peanuts, but exempts processed foods and food prepared in restaurants.

The Wausau/Marathon County Chamber of Commerce has endorsed COOL legislation, and so have U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, and Wisconsin Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl.

The chamber became involved after the topic came up at Partnership for Progressive Agriculture meetings. Local farmers and farm advocates support the legislation unequivocally.

"The biggest thing is that food supply is a quality and safety issue," said Randy Brunn, a ginseng farmer and agronomist from the village of Marathon. "Other countries are allowed to use drugs and pesticides that are not allowed here. That is becoming a concern. If it's locally supplied and locally processed, you know where it comes from."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 11.5 percent of the beef consumed in the United States in 2002 was imported, and about 18 percent of the fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables consumed were imported.

Bayer expects the legislation to cost him a little bit more for the meat he sells his customers. But for him it's worth it. When he opens a second Country Fresh Meats store in Weston in a couple months, he plans to post signs telling customers where the meat came from.

"I want nothing from Canada or Mexico," Bayer said. "It might cost more, but we're going to pay because we want to support the American farmer and give the customer the best product."

Return to Headline List

Feasting hinges on worldwide markets

Nov. 26, 2003
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Rachel Melcer, staff writer
 © Copyright 2003 St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

As they sit down to their Thanksgiving feast, most Americans don't realize they're eating from a "global garden."

The meal on many tables today is more than a commemoration of the 1621 dinner shared by Pilgrims and American Indians. It's far removed from the romantic image of local bounty and family farms.

Each bite is the byproduct of a worldwide supply chain and modern machinery, breeding and biotech, supply and demand. The meal is a celebration of America's relatively cheap, abundant food supply, made possible by all of these factors.

That's what we really should be thankful for, experts said.

"We pretty much take our food supply for granted. . . . We can eat in the global garden," said Joseph Uhl, a food marketing economist at Purdue University. "You only have to go to a country where that's not the case to appreciate what we have here."

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 10 cost an average of $36.28 this year, up from $34.56 in last year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, which conducts an annual nationwide survey of supermarkets.

The price has increased an average of 1.6 percent a year since 1986, when the survey began - "well below annual increases of 4 percent per year in the overall cost of living for the same period," said Robert Young, the federation's chief economist.

"That's something worthy of thanks," he said.

And the bounty goes beyond price. Food is tailored to our tastes.

Missouri fields may be frozen, but produce arrives fresh from far locales. Centuries of breeding provide cranberries for relish and sweet corn to suit our palates.

Genetically modified corn and soybeans grow in abundance, providing inexpensive ingredients for processed foods and animal feed. The crops fatten factory farm-raised Broad Breasted White Turkeys that meet demand for more white meat than dark, but bear little resemblance to their wild kin.

"People who don't spend very much time in the kitchen, we tend to go back in the kitchen (on Thanksgiving) and cook what our moms and our grandmoms used to cook. The big, white-breasted turkey is what we're used to," said Sherrie Rosenblatt, spokeswoman for the National Turkey Federation based in Washington.

Turkeys are a $7.8 billion industry in the United States, she said. About 269 million turkeys are being raised this year - three times as many as in 1970 - and about 30 percent of that is consumed on Thanksgiving, according to federation data. Eleven states raise the bulk of American turkeys, led by North Carolina, Minnesota and Missouri.

Exports help keep the industry financially healthy. The United States sells abroad the dark meat and parts not valued at home. Mexico and Hong Kong are the largest buyers.

"The price of food for American consumers is being set in worldwide markets," Uhl said. "We're talking about an international food industry today."

Yet few consumers know much about it.

"Our images of Thanksgiving come from this myth of the bountiful earth and the land" right outside our doors, said Tom Hoban, a professor of sociology and food science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. "But we really are pretty far removed from that now."

Hoban, who studies food culture and attitudes, found that consumers have high regard for "family" farmers and little for "corporate" farms. But "those distinctions are really a figment of people's imaginations," he said.

Most growers work for corporations, and few modern operations are small. Farming is industrialized, computerized and tightly managed.

"People still think about Farmer Jones out there milking the cow, and that doesn't happen so much any more," Uhl said.

At the supermarket, consumers are generally concerned with convenience, wholesomeness and variety, he said. After that, decisions are based on price. People largely trust the government to keep the food supply safe.

Even on controversial issues, such as the adoption of genetically modified foods, many consumers are uninformed.

About 70 percent to 75 percent of processed foods in stores contain GM ingredients. But, in a survey released in September by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, just 24 percent of people said they believed they had eaten GM food; 58 percent said they had not. The Pew initiative, based in Washington, is a nonprofit research organization.

Yet there is a growing movement toward becoming more connected to our food. Sales of organic products are steadily rising, leading to the success of specialty stores and farmers' markets. It is an expanding niche.

Buying organic or locally produced "heritage" foods also is more expensive. The traditional Thanksgiving meal set out by the American Farm Bureau Federation, but made up of organic and natural ingredients including a natural turkey, cost $68.76 at a local store. Replace the natural turkey with a certified organic turkey, and the total meal cost $84.76.

"You're supporting some pretty expensive habits" selecting food that way, Uhl said.

"You get to make your choice. I think that's the point about Thanksgiving," he said. "You have lots of choices, and you get to decide what you want to do and how to spend your money. And the fact that you have the money to make those choices is the blessing."

Return to Headline List

Pact falls short of goals

Nov. 28, 2003
The Richmond Times-Dispatch
By Kirsten B. Mitchell
 © Copyright 2003 The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

WASHINGTON - If all had gone as planned, Carson Kerr likely would have thought twice before lighting up her first Marlboro at age 14.

If all had gone as planned, Kerr's home state of Connecticut would have spent more than a sliver of a tobacco-industry windfall - $114 million this year alone - on keeping kids like her from smoking.

All did not go as expected after a landmark settlement between cigarette companies and states.

Five years ago, the nation's top four tobacco companies agreed to pay $206 billion to 46 states to cover previous costs of treating sick smokers. Four states - Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi and Texas - reached separate agreements, bringing the total to $246 billion.

The states, which dropped lawsuits against the industry in exchange for payments over 25 years, pledged to spend the money helping smokers quit and discouraging kids from starting. In most states, that didn't happen.

Kerr, who moved in the middle of ninth grade to live with her father, quickly found friends at her new school who introduced her to Marlboros, the nation's top-selling cigarette.

"I just found they were a good way to relieve my anger when I was stressed out," said Kerr, a soft-spoken sophomore.

Connecticut, meanwhile, used some of its share of the settlement money to cut local property taxes by $100 million and to plug a hole in the state budget.

The state also sold more than $700 million in future settlement payments to investors in exchange for an upfront payment of $300 million. At least 19 states have done the same.

Other states used tobacco settlement money to build roads, pay for juvenile boot camps and help children learn to read.

"This is what gives politicians a bad name," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., recently called the tobacco agreement "settlement lite" because it fell short of its goals.

. . .

The states have become the "largest stakeholders in the tobacco industry" as a result of the settlement, said Tommy Payne, executive vice president for external relations for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

"The states clearly have a vested financial interest in how the companies are doing," he said. That's because the payments are based in part on market share and sales volume.

Just four states - Arkansas, Delaware, Maine and Mississippi - pay for tobacco prevention programs at minimum levels recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a recent report from a coalition of health groups.

Since 2000, smoking rates have held steady among middle-school pupils but dropped by nearly one-fifth among high-school students, according to the America