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NCSU officials ask fans not to change national anthem's lyrics
James Oblinger, chancellor; Tom Stafford, student affairsNCSU holds its fall commencement ceremony
fall commencementPhoto: A high degree of devotion
fall commencementChucky Brown Graduates from NC State
fall commencementPitt could absorb revenue loss from buyout, but not others
Blake Brown, agricultural and resource economicsEngineering students fare well at NCSU competition
Bill Fortney, engineering; 2 plus 2 programGetting involoved: Brotherhood Celebration
Brotherhood CelebrationRaleigh Officials Look At Life After CIAA
Plan To Develop Land Around RBC Center In WorksCharlotte offers more for fans
Carter-Finley Stadium; Wolfpack ClubTask force recommends better background checks
UNC system; securityPeople: Corrections
Campus Police, student hacking online police blotterPoisoning case may be delayed by another trial
tailgate shootingsSuspects In NCSU Tailgate Shootings To Face Death Penalty
tailgate shooting
Tailgate
victims blamed
tailgate shooting
Poisoning case may be delayed by another trial
Dec. 15, 2004
Associated Press; Charlotte Observer; Durham Herald-Sun; News 14 Carolina; WCNC; Winston-Salem Journal; WTVD; WUNC-FM; Myrtle Beach Sun News; WVEC, VA
By staff reporter
© Copyright 2004
The trial of a woman charged in her husband's arsenic-poisoning death may not be held until 2006 because one of her lawyers represents a defendant in a murder case scheduled for trial in July.
Attorney Joseph B. Cheshire V represents both Ann Miller Kontz, who is accused in the December 2000 death of Eric Miller, and Timothy Johnson, who is charged with shooting two men to death at the Labor Day weekend tailgate party at an N.C. State football game.
Wake County prosecutors said Tuesday they will seek the death penalty against Johnson, 22, and his brother, Tony, 20. The two are charged with murder in the deaths of Kevin M. McMann of Chicago and 2nd Lt. Brett Johnson Harman, a Camp Lejeune Marine from Park Ridge, Ill.
McMann and Harman, both 23, were shot to death in a tailgate area outside an NCSU football game.
Timothy Johnson's trial has been scheduled to start the week of July 4; his younger brother's trial has been scheduled for Oct. 17.
Wake Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Donald W. Stephens said Tuesday the Johnson case takes precedence over the Kontz case because it is a death penalty case and the Johnson brothers have been in jail longer.
Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against Kontz, 33, who is being held in jail with bail set at $3 million. The Johnson brothers were arrested Sept. 5. Kontz has been in jail since Sept. 27.
"It's unlikely we'll be able to schedule (the Kontz case) for trial any earlier than January 2006," Stephens said during an all-day hearing to schedule trials in murder cases.
A more specific trial date for Kontz probably will be decided the week of Feb. 7, the next time prosecutors, defense lawyers and Stephens meet to schedule murder trials.
Dec. 15, 2004
Associated Press; Asheville Citizen-Times; Charlotte Observer; Greensboro News & Record; NBC 17; News 14 Carolina; News & Observer; Wilmington Morning Star; Winston-Salem Journal; WRAL; WTVD; WXii 12
By staff reporter
© Copyright 2004
Officials at North Carolina State University have asked student groups to stick with Francis Scott Key's lyrics when they sing "The Star Spangled Banner."
Pregame performances of the anthem at NCSU sporting events have prompted Wolfpack fans to scream, "Red!" in sync with the line "And the rockets' red glare," as a tribute to their favorite team's color.
When the guest singer ends with "and the home of the brave," those same fans substitute "Wolfpack" for "brave."
It wasn't until after North Carolina State's football game in Charlotte against East Carolina that the practice drew complaints.
Chancellor James Oblinger's office received 10 e-mail complaints after that Nov. 27 game about NCSU fans chiming in during the performance of the anthem.
"When you get that many at one time, it makes you pay attention," said Tom Stafford, NCSU's vice chancellor for student affairs.
Some complaints came from East Carolina fans and others from Wolfpack fans, Stafford said.
Stafford's office has asked NCSU's band leaders and student government leaders in recent weeks to discontinue the practice at home basketball games. The school's athletics department and the Wolfpack Club, the school's athletics booster organization, have passed similar messages along to the Student Wolfpack Club.
Suspects In NCSU Tailgate Shootings To Face Death Penalty
Dec. 15, 2004
NBC 17
By staff reporter
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for two brothers accused of killing two friends at an tailgating party near a North Carolina State football game.
Tony and Timothy Johnson each face two counts of first-degree murder.
Investigators say they shot and killed Brett Harman and Kevin McCann in September outside a football game.
Both men will be tried separately. Timothy Johnson's trial is scheduled to start first.
Engineering students fare well at NCSU competition
Dec. 16, 2004
New Bern Sun Journal
By K.J. Williams
© Copyright 2004
Budding engineering students from Craven Community College recently placed in the top third in a design competition for freshmen at North Carolina State University.
Their instructor, Bill Fortney, noted this was an accomplishment, particularly since the engineering program is new this fall to the community college, both at its New Bern and Havelock campuses.
"There was actually a lot of excitement at state about how well these students did," Fortney said. The Nov. 23 contest was limited to students taking the Introduction to Engineering course, which Fortney teaches. Twelve students from the Havelock branch and five from New Bern took part.
Four designs placed in the competition. Students were given some basic information to a design problem and told to create a working model.
Students from the two-year distance education engineering program, known as 2 plus 2, along with students taking more advanced classes at Havelock, competed against 1,200 NCSU freshmen in Raleigh and other 2 plus 2 students from Lenoir Community College.
Under the 2 plus 2 program, students can transfer to NCSU for their junior year with all their credits transferring. Twelve students from the Havelock branch participated with five New Bern students.
Two teammates, who have earned their associate degrees and who are taking additional engineering courses at Havelock, said they took first-place for a plastic model rocket that went higher than the other rockets, according to mathematical calculations.
It won even though it was stuck in a tree, said student Dwight Turner.
At first, Turner and other team members were disheartened, when their entry lodged into a tree branch, but they were told they could still win if their design bested the others, which it did, Turner said.
The design involved a lot of work, said team member Cliff Hargett Jr.
"I felt like it was a big accomplishment because we put in a lot of long nights working through trial and error Â…," said Hargett, who repairs electronic components at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, working alongside engineers.
Turner and Hargett's team placed first among a field of 114 teams
A second-place winning team made a miniature bubble machine that resembled a Ferris wheel. As the wheel spins, a miniature fan blows air through circles, creating bubbles. There were 45 other teams in that competition.
Two different teams placed for their design of a trebuchet.
Student Chris Stroud said his team took second-place for its design of a trebuchet, which he said is similar to a catapult, except it uses counterweight and gravity power instead of a spring-loaded arm.
In two separate launches, Stroud's team came closer to hitting its mark than 94 other teams.
"I learned engineering tactics about how to go about something that I never thought possible," Stroud said.
Student Bobby Terry, who was a member of the trebuchet team that took third-place, said working with a team gave them more ideas to focus on and weed through, resulting in second-place.
Fortney, who works for NCSU, said his students' success proves that it's not just high grade point averages that make an engineer. The community college admits students without considering grade point averages, and it saves students money on tuition.
By contrast, the average grade point average for engineering students at NCSU is more than 4.0, Fortney said.
Terry said the program offers them the "same advantages as those who are much smarter than us on paper."
For Adam Fisher, the program means he's saving a "boatload of money."
Raleigh Officials Look At Life After CIAA
Dec. 16, 2004
NBC 17
By staff reporter
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Local officials are developing plans to attract athletic events to the RBC Center to make up the loss of the $11 million generated annually by the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament.
The CIAA on Tuesday announced that the tourney would be moving to Charlotte in 2006, ending its five-year run in Raleigh.
The Capital City still attracts its share of amateur sporting events: 56 have been held in town this year and 24 are already booked for next year, in addition to the slew of local college athletic events and any hockey games the Carolina Hurricanes might play.
"If you ask folks nationally who are in this industry, I think the majority would say and would agree that the Raleigh area and the Cary area are absolutely top-notch sports markets and one of the strongest sports destinations in the nation," said Scott Dupree, of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.
But local officials are eyeing big prizes, such as regional NCAA basketball tournament games, and believe the best way to attract them is by putting more visitor amenities in the areas around the RBC Center.
They note that the CIAA was drawn to Charlotte, in part, because its new arena is located near a slew of downtown hotels and restaurants.
"Of course, everyone would like to see a hotel facility of the level that would be compatible with a convention center-type hotel so we can go to the next level with NCAA playoffs (and) hockey tournaments," said Michael Weeks, a Wake County commissioner and a member of the Centennial Authority, which owns the RBC Center.
"To take that type of event and bring it to the RBC Center, it's going to take more hotels and amenities around the arena," Weeks said.
The Centennial Authority is working with 25 nearby landowners, including North Carolina State University, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the State Fairgrounds and private individuals, on a plan to develop property around the arena, he said. They hope to have a working plan within a year.
Meanwhile, Dupree and the visitors bureau staff keep trying to land events for the arena and the area.
"We continue to do what we do every day anyway, which is to research, to meet with event rights-holders and owners, to study events and prospective events and potential events that might be a good fit for Raleigh and go out and find those events and bring them to our market," he said.
Charlotte offers more for fans
Dec. 16, 2004
News & Observer
By SARAH LINDENFELD HALL AND JOSH SHAFFER
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH -- When the CIAA basketball tournament leaves Raleigh for Charlotte in 2006, it will be played in a downtown arena within walking distance of hotels, restaurants and clubs.
Meanwhile, Raleigh's RBC Center sits isolated on Wade Avenue, with not much more than a parking lot and office parks a stroll away.
One of its prime tenants, the Carolina Hurricanes, has an uncertain future, with the National Hockey League and its players locked in a labor dispute.
And some experts question the future of suburban arenas as more cities build downtown sports complexes.
The RBC Center once was hyped as the centerpiece of a future "Meadowlands of the South" -- an entertainment district with hotels, restaurants and shops, as well as Carter-Finley Stadium. But three of the sports teams that play at the suburban Meadowlands complex in New Jersey -- the New York Jets of the National Football League, the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New Jersey Devils of the NHL -- are now trying to escape to more urban settings.
Still, local leaders insist the RBC Center can compete.
They cite its easy access off Interstate 40, massive parking lots and proximity to downtown Raleigh, Cary, Research Triangle Park and Raleigh-Durham International Airport. They say they will find events to replace the CIAA tournament.
"This will not cause us to close our doors," said Davin Olsen, the RBC Center's vice president and general manager.
Downtown effort
In Raleigh, the decision to build outside of downtown is almost 20 years old.
In 1984, then-Mayor Avery Upchurch formed a study committee to explore the feasibility of an N.C. State University basketball arena downtown. A year later, the group reported that it wasn't practical.
"We worked exceedingly hard to try to get it to work out, and nobody would buy it," said K.M. "Charlie" Bryant, former executive secretary of the Wolfpack Club, N.C. State's athletics booster group, who sat on the committee. Bryant stands by the choice of the current site.
Still, the idea wasn't abandoned. Some, including City Council member Charles Meeker, who is now mayor, continued to push for downtown.
But they were up against officials at NCSU and the state, who were set on the current location next to Carter-Finley Stadium, where the land was cheap and there was no need for a parking deck.
"I recall going to a meeting with Mayor Upchurch with the then-chancellor and athletic director, attempting to have the university agree to have it come downtown, and couldn't get it done," Meeker said.
Former council member John Odom also was a downtown proponent.
"There was a fear it wouldn't get done" if it went downtown, Odom said. "A lot of times, when we make decisions out of fear, it's not the right one." Odom eventually agreed to the West Raleigh location, and he said it's doing well now.
Trend shifting
In the 1970s, sports venues like those at the Meadowlands sprouted in the suburbs as people fled the cities. But over the past decade, as more cities have tried to revive their downtowns, they have looked for an arena or stadium to bring people there.
Some urban planners say enthusiasm for the suburban arena, despite its advantages, is petering out.
"You're on the losing side of the trend here," said Brent Ryan, urban planning professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
The trend toward downtown stadiums started in Baltimore with Camden Yards, the Orioles' old-style baseball park built against the side of an aging warehouse.
Cleveland followed with Jacobs Field, Ryan said, and many cities chased after downtown parks and arenas that carried more mystique than a sportsplex off an interstate exit.
When Charlotte needed a new arena, the thinking leaned toward downtown from the start.
"It was a slam-dunk -- period," said Carroll Gray, president of the city's Chamber of Commerce.
The unanimity is strange, he said, because the city avoided downtown arenas for decades. "The presumption was, you don't go downtown," Gray said. "Too much traffic."
But when the city was bidding for a National Football League team, the league urged a downtown field, having seen traffic disasters spawn outside of suburban stadiums tied to interstates.
Still, suburban stadiums attract big-name teams in some parts of the country.
The NHL's Phoenix Coyotes started playing in nearby Glendale Arena last year, and a new stadium for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals is scheduled to open in the same suburb in 2006.
High hopes for center
The area around the RBC Center might never have the appeal of a downtown arena, where visitors can shop, eat, sleep and cheer on their teams without getting in their cars.
Suburban-style development, with mostly offices and some apartments, shops and restaurants, is planned there instead.
Developers say a sour economy slowed new projects in the area in the past five years. And what's driving development now isn't the arena as much as the location and the extension of Edwards Mill Road.
"I think it's poised for good growth over the next five years because of the economy and because of Edwards Mill opening up," said Rex Thomas, president of Grubb & Ellis|Thomas Linderman, a Raleigh commercial real estate firm.
Thomas' firm has announced plans for offices and an upscale restaurant near the center.
A Cary partnership led by Tim Smith and Julian "Bubba" Rawl expects to hand over plans for about 170 acres across from the arena to the city in the next 90 days. Rawl said they will include offices, residences and retail but, for now, no hotel.
The Wolfpack Club is making preliminary plans for the 21 acres it owns next to Carter-Finley Stadium.
At the same time, the city is doing more planning for Southwest Raleigh, including the arena area. Michael Weeks, chairman of the long-range planning committee for the Centennial Authority, the public board that oversees the arena, said it will play a major role in that work.
Plans for four-star hotels in Raleigh and Cary, along with the new downtown Raleigh convention center set to open in February 2008, will help the RBC Center's prospects, said Scott Dupree, sports marketing director for the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A couple of years ago, Dupree said, officials were considering bidding to host the NCAA Women's Final Four basketball tournament. The arena fit all the requirements, but there wasn't room in Raleigh for other events held in conjunction with the tournament. And the hotels were not adequate.
"There are still lots of sporting events that are good fits for that building," Dupree said. "It's seriously a great venue, and this is a good market that loves sports."
NEW ARENAS IN U.S. CITIES
Some recent major sports stadium projects
GUND ARENA
HOME TO: Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Barons
OPENED: 1994
LOCATION: Downtown
FLEET CENTER
HOME TO: Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins
OPENED: 1995
LOCATION: Downtown
M&T BANK STADIUM
HOME TO: Baltimore Ravens
OPENED: 1998
LOCATION: Downtown
CONSECO FIELDHOUSE
HOME TO: Indiana Pacers
OPENED: 1999
LOCATION: Downtown
PHILIPS ARENA
HOME TO: Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers
OPENED: 1999
LOCATION: Downtown
PAUL BROWN STADIUM
HOME TO: Cincinnati Bengals
OPENED: 2000
LOCATION: Downtown
GLENDALE ARENA
HOME TO: Phoenix Coyotes
OPENED: 2003
LOCATION: Suburban
WACHOVIA CENTER
HOME TO: Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers
OPENED: 1996
LOCATION: A few miles outside downtown
(Researchers Becky Ogburn and Lamara Williams-Hackett contributed to this report.)
Dec. 16, 2004
News & Observer
By ANDREA WEIGL
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH -- Defense lawyers for Timothy Johnson dispute the claim that the two men he is accused of killing were peacemakers in an altercation that preceded their shooting deaths during an N.C. State University tailgate party.
Raleigh lawyers Joseph B. Cheshire V and Brad Bannon said the victims, Kevin M. McCann of Chicago and 2nd Lt. Brett Johnson Harman, a Camp Lejeune Marine from Park Ridge, Ill., assaulted their client's brother some time before the shooting, and then instigated another confrontation and assault right before the shooting.
"Every fight that happened that day, from what I read in the state's evidence, was instigated by, caused by and started by the victims," Cheshire said Wednesday.
Johnson, 22, along with his brother, Tony, 20, are charged with first-degree murder in the killings Sept. 4 of Harman and McCann. On Tuesday, prosecutors said they plan to seek the death penalty for both Johnson brothers.
Wake Assistant District Attorney Susan Spurlin, who is prosecuting the case, insists the victims were not the instigators. "It is the state's contention that they were not," Spurlin said.
Ultimately, Spurlin said, the factual dispute will be decided by a jury when Timothy Johnson goes on trial the week of July 4.
"We believe there is substantial evidence supporting the charge against both of the brothers," Spurlin said.
Account disputed
On Wednesday, Cheshire and Bannon gave their account of the shooting after an article Tuesday in The News & Observer repeated what they believe is an inaccurate version of what led to the killings.
The lawyers dispute the portrayal of Harman and McCann as "peacemakers" who interceded when others fought with Tony Johnson in an earlier dispute, and that the shooting itself was one of mistaken identity.
The portrayal came from Harman's brother, Rob Harman, and a family friend, Pat Mulkerrin, a Chicago police officer, who say that is what investigators told them after the killing.
The lawyers also dispute earlier reports that Timothy Johnson and his brother were together during the first altercation and afterward went to get a gun and returned to the scene in a car, which was based on witness interviews. Prosecutors now say Tony Johnson was alone during the first incident and Timothy Johnson stayed in a nearby tailgate area where he had a gun in his car.
Cheshire and Bannon say witness statements prove the victims caused the fights.
"Their own friends say Harman and McCann chased him down, beat him inside the car, beat him outside the car," Bannon said. In a letter to the newspaper, Bannon and Cheshire wrote, "Simply put, McCann and Harman were the aggressors in that altercation, not peacemakers."
One of Tony Johnson's lawyers, Johnny Gaskins, agrees.
"There's just no question that the guys who were killed were the ones who started this thing," Gaskins said. "Somehow this thing has gotten the total wrong spin on what happened out there."
At the time of the killings, the Wake County Sheriff's Office provided few details to the news media.
However, a few days after the killing, Harman and Mulkerrin shared an account of what preceded the shooting as told to them by investigators: Tony Johnson drove recklessly through the pre-game tailgate area off Trinity Road. One N.C. State student reported being hit in the leg by Johnson's car, which then went on to hit several cars.
Harman and Mulkerrin said investigators said that a crowd of people went after Tony Johnson and that the victims intervened, helped Tony Johnson get back into his car and get away from the area. At some point later, Tony Johnson tried to attack McCann with a broken beer bottle. Harman tried to intervene and was shot in the neck by Timothy Johnson. McCann then tackled Timothy Johnson and also was shot, they said.
On Wednesday, Spurlin said that when Tony Johnson returned, he was the aggressor. "He prompted an altercation that involved he and his brother, which resulted in them murdering two unarmed people."
The defense version
Cheshire and Bannon tell a much different version of the second altercation:
Two hours after the reckless-driving incident, the victims noticed Tony Johnson walking around the tailgate area and began a shouting match with him. Harman and McCann, along with about six of their friends, approached Tony Johnson, who was alone. Tony Johnson walked back where Timothy Johnson was tailgating, with Harman, McCann, and their friends following him.
All four men involved were intoxicated at the time, Cheshire said.
Tony Johnson broke a bottle and began swinging it at those following him. At least one witness says two people in the group following Tony Johnson also were holding broken beer bottles. At that point, Harman broke away from the group and tackled Tony Johnson into the tailgate of a pickup truck, and they began rolling down an incline.
"Seeing his brother pursued by a group of seven or eight people and physically attacked by one of them, Tim Johnson went into his car to retrieve a gun that had been in his car since he arrived that day at the fairgrounds," according to the lawyers' letter. "Witnesses reported that Harman was still on top of Tony when Tim shot Harman. In that same instant, Tim was approached and grabbed by McCann and shot him."
Bannon said, "Tim Johnson wasn't involved in either of the fights until his brother was attacked."
Pitt could absorb revenue loss from buyout, but not others
Dec. 15, 2004
Greenville Daily Reflector
By staff reporter
© Copyright 2004
Pitt County will easily absorb the loss of tax revenue stemming from the buyout of tobacco allotments, officials said, but some neighboring counties will feel more of a bite.
The buyout means quotas, designated amounts of tobacco allowed to be grown, will no longer exist. Counties were able to tax the quotas, and their loss means an income source for tobacco-growing counties across the state will disappear. Diverse counties like Pitt, with tax base growth producing more than $1.5 million in new revenue a year, will likely weather the change easily. However, counties with smaller industrial and commercial tax bases are facing greater stresses.
"We are looking at hard times ahead because of the tobacco buyout," Martin County Commissioner Al Perry said recently.
Quota was established during the Depression to regulate the amount and price of tobacco grown nationwide. Because it is historically linked to property values, local governments are allowed to tax it, said Mitch Smith, Pitt County Cooperative Extension director.
The tobacco buyout signed into law in October ends the quota system, so there will be nothing left to tax, said Glenn Cutrell, Pitt County tax assessor.
Pitt County collected about $233,000 in taxes from quota this year, Cutrell said. That is less than a half-cent of the county's tax rate, he said.
"We'll have growth in the tax base that will offset (the quota tax losses) as well a growth in our sales tax," County Manager Scott Elliott said.
However, smaller counties will feel greater pressures because of the loss.
Even if Greene County's tax base grows and its tax collection rate increases, the tax rate will have to be increased 1.8 cents to make up for the lost revenue, County Manager Lee Worsley said.
Martin County officials estimate they will lose $112,648 in tax revenue. That equals about one cent of the county tax rate.
Martin officials are unsure how the revenue loss will be handled when planning begins for the county's 2005-06 budget.
"I'm going to try to find ways to make it up," Commissioner Tommy Bowen said. "I don't know how we will recoup the funds, except by attracting industry."
Bowen and Commissioner Mort Hurst say they don't want a property tax increase.
The buyout will bring money to farmers and quota holders in the counties, but county governments won't be able to tax it directly. While the state and federal governments will be able to claim various income and capital gains taxes on the money, counties don't have that sort of taxing authority.
Congress authorized a payout of $10.1 billion to quota holders and farmers to end the program. Thirty-eight percent of the money is expected to come to North Carolina.
While millions of dollars will come into tobacco counties like Pitt, Martin and Greene, it's not clear how it will benefit the counties.
"Anytime there is an influx of cash it has potential to do good things, but in this case, I'm not sure." said Stan Crowe of the Martin County Economic Development Corp.
Crowe said he expects many farmers will use the money to pay off debt they have accumulated over the years.
"The county will lose if the money doesn't turn over in the county," he said.
BUYOUT MEETING
Tobacco specialists will discuss updates on the buyout program during a half-day program Thursday at the Pitt County Agricultural Center.
The event, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., will feature specialists from the N.C. State University Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, said Mitch Smith, Pitt County Cooperative Extension Service director. No pre-registration is required.
Economist Blake Brown will provide a status update and overview of the buyout program.
Gary Bullen will discuss the economics of tobacco production with a focus on the cost of production.
Guido van der Hoven will present information to help farmers determine if they should receive their buyout payment in a lump sum or opt for a 10-year payment program.
Call 902-1700 for more information about the program.
Editor's Note: Brenda Chamberlain and Angela Harne of Cox News Service contributed to this report.
Task force recommends better background checks
Dec. 15, 2004
Greenville Daily Reflector
By staff reporter
© Copyright 2004
CHAPEL HILL Applicants to University of North Carolina campuses should get tougher screening and some should undergo criminal background checks, according to a university task force convened after two female UNC Wilmington students were killed this year.
The panel also recommended creating campus safety committees, conducting campus threat assessments, training campus staff to spot potential threats and standardizing background questions on forms.
East Carolina University already assesses the campus for threats and has a campus safety task force, said Garrie Moore, vice chancellor for student life. Moore also served on the UNC task force.
"We perform a campus evaluation each year," Moore said. "We literally walk the campus with the staff and students to assess areas that might present a threat to the safety of the campus community."
Representatives from ECU's safety task force, student life and members of the Student Government Association check to see if there is adequate lighting, whether bushes along walkways need to be trimmed to improve visibility and whether new sidewalks are needed, Moore said.
ECU officials addressed security concerns after two rapes were reported on campus earlier this year. Security cameras were installed at each of the residence halls and officials are looking to develop an electronic panic button and locator that can be carried on a key chain.
In issuing their recommendations Tuesday, members of the safety panel went out of their way to emphasize that their investigation showed the 16 campuses in the state university system are generally safe places.
The vast majority of UNC students will not be directly impacted by or become the victim of a violent crime while enrolled as a student on a UNC campus,'' the report said.
The task force was created by UNC System President Molly Broad, who plans to send its recommendations to the system's campuses for implementation.
In each of the UNC Wilmington cases, a male student was charged with killing a female student. In one case, a student was killed at her apartment complex by a man who had been ordered by a court to stay away from her.
The other case, a woman's body was found in the dorm room of a male student who lived in the same building.
Research showed that the crime rate on UNC campuses is one-sixth that of the statewide crime rate, said Bobby Kanoy, task force chairman and UNC senior associate vice president for academic and student affairs.
According to the group's report, more than 250,000 students have enrolled in UNC schools during the past three years; of those who committed crimes on campus, just 21 had a criminal record. Of that group, 13 did not disclose the background in their application.
Another of the task force's recommendations would bar students with pending campus judicial cases from formally withdrawing from school before the case is resolved, Broad said. That would prevent students from leaving school to hide the problem.
Kanoy said officials are working to create a system to screen applicants against a national college admission database and a locally created database of UNC students who have been suspended or expelled.
The university system also hopes to team up with community college and public school officials to broaden its ability to track students with criminal backgrounds.
Moore doesn't suspect that ECU will have to eat any of the costs associated with the changes in applications.
"There is a cost associated with these changes," Moore said. "However, we have not narrowed the cost down specifically, but the Office of the President has committed to providing the necessary resources to address these issues."
Such screening could help catch students who lie on their applications about prior school attendance to cover up disciplinary or criminal problems.
Admissions officials said they also will start giving closer scrutiny to students who have a gap between finishing high school and applying for college.
Background checks would be conducted through a private service, unless the Legislature makes state resources available, Leslie Winner, general counsel of the university system, said.
Winner said even if an applicant has a criminal background it does not necessarily mean their application will be rejected. In most cases, an applicant would be given an opportunity to explain their history and a threat assessment might be conducted.
If somebody has a string of rapes, we would not admit them in the unlikely event they're out of prison,'' Winner said, adding that armed robbery also would raise serious concerns.
George Dixon, retired N.C. State admissions director and a consultant to Broad, said he didn't think more than a handful of students would raise flags and require closer scrutiny.
We can't be sure that no one will ever slip through,'' Stephen Farmer, admission director at North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said. That's not an achievable goal.''
Chucky Brown Graduates from NC State
Dec. 15, 2004
WTVD
By Erin O'Hearn
© Copyright 2004
(12/15/04 - RALEIGH) — N.C. State added 2,800 names to its list of alumni today as the university held its fall commencement this morning. Nearly 20 years after arriving on campus, Chucky Brown received his diploma.
The former N.C. State hoops star was among the proud graduates to walk across the stage today. This is a day Brown and his family will never forget.
"I never knew what it would mean and the feeling I have I really can't explain it," Chucky Brown said.
There are familiarities for Chucky Brown in this arena – the roar of the crowd, the contrasting college colors and the support of family – but there are no basketballs here, scoreboards or refs. His cheerleaders are more subdued.
It's been nearly 15 years since Brown left N.C. State for the NBA and put his education on hold, and today Brown finally received his degree – a first for his family and an example for his daughters.
"I want to be able to tell them you got to go to college because I did it and now I can talk a little junk to them about going to college." Brown said.
While the satisfaction of the day is overwhelming for Brown, so is the emotion for him and his mother. Brown's father is suffering from prostate cancer.
"My husband is very sick and he couldn't come." Mother of Chucky, Minnie Brown, said.
Brown's father was not the only influential person in his life that couldn't be here today – Coach Valvano had always stressed to him the importance of excelling off the court.
"I just wish he was here to see it." Minnie Brown said.
Brown would like to see himself back at N.C. State some day – as coach of the Wolfpack – a goal his mom says in now in reach.
"A whole different life ahead of him, he has that degree," Minnie Brown said.
NSCU holds its fall commencement ceremony
Dec. 15, 2004
News 14 Carolina
By staff reporter
© Copyright 2004
More than 2,800 smiling students have graduated from North Carolina State University.
The university held its fall commencement ceremony Wednesday morning at the RBC Center in Raleigh.
The students received a variety of degrees ranging from associates to doctoral.
Twenty-eight people were also recognized for having a perfect 4.0 grade point average.Some students said the reality of graduation is just hitting them.
Valedictorian Jeffrey Jones said, "I don't think it really hit me until this morning driving in that I was finished with my undergraduate career at North Carolina State. I'm pretty excited about it. My dad is probably more excited about it than I am."
A 1960 graduate, R. Scott Wallinger, delivered the commencement address.
Getting involved: Brotherhood Celebration
Dec. 16, 2004
News & Observer
By Joyce Sykes
© Copyright 2004
BROTHERHOOD CELEBRATION: Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, will deliver a lecture titled "2004: A Race Odyssey" at 1 p.m. Friday in the Witherspoon Student Center Cinema at Cates Avenue and Dan Allen Drive on the main campus at N.C. State University. The lecture is free and open to the public. Information: 515-3607.
Photo: A high degree of devotion
Dec. 16, 2004
News & Observer
By Chris Seward
© Copyright 2004
Cutline: Richard Efird shows his Wolfpack pride as he received his bachelor of science degree in zoology during N.C. State University's graduation ceremony. NCSU conferred more than 2,800 degrees Wednesday at the RBC Center in Raleigh.
For a copy of this photo, contact News Services at 5-3470.
Dec. 16, 2004
News and Observer
By staff reporter
© Copyright 2004
A brief Dec. 8 in the City & State section incorrectly stated which N.C. State University student was being targeted by prosecutors for hacking into the college's online police blotter and posting bogus entries. David Travis Oakley, 26, of Willow Spring is cooperating with prosecutors in building their case against Jonathon Lee Hamilton, 23, of 1303 Kent Road in Raleigh, who is charged with felony accessing computers.
Dec. 16, 2004
News and Observer
CARY -- Natalia Romanova, age 49, Cary, died Sunday, November 28th. She was a poplar teacher of Public Administration at NCSU from 2003 2004.
A Celebration of Life Service for Natalia will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, December 19, 2004, at New Life Church, 111 Towerview Court, Cary, (919) 467-3456. The church is at the intersection of James Jackson and Towerview Court, which is on James Jackson between Cary Parkway and NW Maynard.
Condolences may be sent to the family through our website,www.tetrickfuneralhome.com.
Tetrick Funeral Services, Johnson City, TN 37604, (423) 610-7171.