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Knoxville, Tenn.: Until last year, the food-sciences department at the University of Tennessee's flagship campus here brought in little federal grant money, about $200,000 a year. The department was hamstrung by universitywide budget problems that left nearly half of its faculty positions unfilled for years, sparse funds for travel, and paltry stipends that failed to attract top-notch graduate students. Then, one of the department's professors was awarded state funds to start a research center on food safety. It was one of nine centers across the university system for which lawmakers pledged $30-million over four years in an effort, common among states in the late 1990s, to help colleges better compete for federal grants. In return, researchers at Tennessee had to promise to match the state dollars four to one, by obtaining outside grants worth at least $120-million. The new Food Safety Center used the state dollars to hire freshly minted Ph.D.'s, buy new equipment, and enhance graduate stipends. In its first six months, the center more than tripled what the department typically received in federal grants each year. But now, with Tennessee mired in the worst fiscal crisis in its history, the dollars for the research centers are in jeopardy. And while professors at the centers plan to carry on with their research, they agree that they'll probably lose out on some federal grants without the state dollars that have recently covered overhead costs. "It's very frustrating," says F. Ann Draughon, co-director of Knoxville's Food Safety Center. "We try not to think that this could all end. We hope that the legislature will see our value and realize that they are getting a better than four-to-one return." Tennessee is one of 37 states facing a budget deficit for 2002-3. After years of riding the dot-com boom and the tax revenues it generated, the fiscal condition of the states has turned anemic almost overnight. Twenty-six states have already raided their rainy-day funds. Eight states, including Tennessee, have tapped their share of the national tobacco settlement. While there are signs that the nation may be coming out of the recession, it could be this fall before many states see the effects of any upturn, says William T. Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "There will be a lag," Mr. Pound says, "so states are going to be more conservative in budgeting this year, until they see things getting better." Although nearly every state is facing budget difficulties, some are worse off than others. Revenues have plunged in California, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin, while Tennessee's fiscal health is approaching critical condition after years of falling tax receipts. The projected budget deficits for 2002-3 are staggering: $5-billion in New Jersey (20 percent of its budget), $5.7-billion in New York (6.5 percent), and as much as $17-billion in California (17 percent), its largest shortfall since World War II. To make ends meet, lawmakers are taking aim at higher education. As a result, some campuses have frozen hiring even though they expect record enrollments this fall, as more students turn to college to escape the bad economy. Others are proposing some of the biggest tuition increases in a decade. And lawmakers are cutting funds for research that they pledged only a few years ago to spur economic development. "Higher education tends to be used as the balance wheel in bad times, and once again that's true," says Mr. Pound. The California State University System, for instance, anticipates enrolling 16,000 more students this fall, a 4-percent increase. Last fall, the 23-campus system underestimated its new enrollment by some 8,000 students, leaving it scrambling to find classroom space and professors. Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, has promised to provide at least enough funds to accommodate growth at the state's public colleges, which will mean some $80-million in new money at Cal State alone. The university system also plans to raise out-of-state tuition by 15 percent, to about $9,900, the first increase since 1991, which will bring in some $13-million. College leaders are also banking on the state's voters to approve $1.65-million in bonds this fall for construction and renovation projects at Cal State, the University of California, and the community colleges. What happens to the rest of the new budget requests for higher education will depend largely on a revised spending plan that Mr. Davis is scheduled to release in May after reviewing new revenue projections. But Cal State's chancellor, Charles B. Reed, says he is more concerned about the university's budget for 2003-4. "This year, we'll be okay," he says. "Next year is what we really have to worry about, because the Legislature won't have all those budget tricks they used this year, like refinancing debt." Last month, about 500 college students marched to the steps of the state Capitol in Madison to protest the higher-education cuts. One group of students even delivered empty piggy banks to Senate offices, with a note listing their demands. Their top concern was tuition. Gov. Scott McCallum, a Republican, has proposed a 10-percent increase, while the Senate provided money to lower that to 8 percent, a difference of only $30 per student. A priority for university officials is to maintain state support for public-private partnerships that have been started on the Madison and Milwaukee campuses in recent years. Lawmakers had pledged millions of dollars to the projects, which require the universities to match the money with private funds. The State Assembly's spending plan, however, would renege on that promise, university leaders say. At the Madison campus, the additional funds have been used to hire new professors, improve academic advising and library resources, and renovate buildings. In Milwaukee, the money is set aside for outreach programs with the city's public schools, to encourage economic development, and to improve the health of residents. Jay L. Smith, president of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, noted at a board meeting this month that when the university system was founded 30 years ago, the state provided half of its operating budget. Today, it provides a third. "Higher education has become a lower state priority," Mr. Smith said. "It's a problem because the university is one of the primary levers that the state can use to fuel state economic growth." Repeated attempts by Gov. Don Sundquist, a Republican, to enact an income tax have encountered stiff opposition. Last year, lawmakers abandoned the latest plan after more than 200 protesters broke windows and chanted "no new taxes" while banging on the doors of the Senate chamber in Nashville. The deadlock over tax reform here has forced public colleges and other state agencies to cut budgets and beg for more money, while papering over problems for another day. Adjusted for inflation, state appropriations per full-time student in Tennessee fell by more than $1,300, or 24 percent, between 1995 and 2000, the largest drop in 15 Southern states. As a result, public-college tuition rose by 36 percent in the last three years alone. Campus buildings remain in disrepair; the state says nearly $736-million is needed for a backlog of repairs and new construction on college campuses. The financial problems couldn't have come at a worse time. The state projects that the number of residents going on to college will rise by 12,000 in the next decade, an increase of 30 percent. That estimate could go even higher if voters approve a referendum in November to create a lottery to finance merit scholarships, as Georgia has done with the HOPE scholarship. "Our back is to the wall," Governor Sundquist said in an interview this month. "We obviously can't go on like this much longer. We must fix this unfair tax system and one of the new major investments has to be higher education." Such talk notwithstanding, college officials remain pessimistic that a solution will be found in this election year, with control of the governor's mansion and the legislature up for grabs. Instead, they have begun preparing plans for making do with less from the state. Those proposals include some politically unpopular ideas such as capping enrollment, limiting new academic programs, and ending state support for sports programs. Until the revenue situation is resolved, higher-education officials say, they can no longer focus on a long-held goal of getting more state residents to pursue a college degree. They must direct their attention instead to maintaining quality for the students already enrolled. "It's harsh," says Richard G. Rhoda, executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, which oversees colleges in the state, "but access is taking a back seat to better serving the students we have." Keeping faculty positions open, however, has decimated the ranks of regular, full-time professors. A study by the university's Faculty Senate found that adjunct professors taught 40 percent of all courses during 2000-1, with adjuncts shouldering a particularly large share of the freshman- and sophomore-level courses. The university has lost 88 tenure-track positions in recent years, about 8 percent of its total. "We spend $4-million on temporary instruction," says Loren W. Crabtree, the university's vice president and provost. "Some portion of that needs to be turned into regular appointments." Another priority is finding a way to improve the pay and benefits of graduate teaching assistants. Last year, the university dedicated $1.2-million to increase stipends that had been as low as $7,000 a year in some departments. A few science departments frequently lost their top candidates because of the low pay. The new stipends "make us roughly competitive," says Mr. Crabtree, bringing the base salary to between $10,000 and $12,500, depending on the length and type of work, with some departments adding even more from other funds. Despite the gains, Nathan Hammer, president of the Graduate Student Association here, says that teaching and research assistants still lack benefits offered to graduate students at some other universities, such as health insurance and fee waivers. University officials say they would like to spend at least another $1-million on graduate students to help pay for benefits and reduce their workload. Stipends "are more than just a dollars-and-cents issue," Mr. Hammer says. "To become a top research university, we have to be able to attract good young minds." That drive to reach top status was a goal of the Knoxville campus's former president, J. Wade Gilley, who worked to secure state funds for the nine research centers, including the Food Safety Center here. Over all, the centers have garnered $53-million in outside grants in their first year. Similar centers established at Tennessee's regional colleges in the mid-1980s by the former governor, Lamar Alexander, to bring national recognition to the state are also at risk. For the most part, higher-education officials say, the programs at the regional colleges have worked, giving relatively small institutions in the state the ability to compete for federal and private grants. At Tennessee Technological University, for example, nearly three-fourths of all external research grants come from three research centers in engineering. Together, they attracted $4.5-million in research funds in 2000-1. "It would be a traumatic experience for the university to lose these centers," says John Peddieson Jr., a professor of mechanical engineering at the university. "We have truly achieved what the centers were supposed to achieve." Without the centers, professors at Tennessee Tech fear they may have difficulty attracting new faculty members to the campus, in Cookeville, since many newcomers are seeking research opportunities. Most of the university's graduate students are also supported through the outside grants. In a draft report this month, the panel called for capping the enrollment of freshmen in the fall of 2003 and eliminating state funds for remedial education at the universities by 2007. It also recommended raising the bar for new academic programs by requiring campuses not only to show "extraordinary need," but also the ability to pay for the program through existing funds or other sources. Finally, it suggested that state support for athletics programs be phased out over four years beginning in 2003-4, a move that could save $30-million annually. (The state's only self-supporting athletics program is at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.) "We've been waiting for the cavalry to come to save us for three years," says Mr. Rhoda, the commission's executive director. "We have to realize it's not coming." Here at the University of Tennessee, Ms. Draughon, co-director of the Food Safety Center, is counting on the state even as she worries about recruiting new faculty members for a project that may not exist in a few months. If state funds dry up, she predicts, some faculty members may leave. Annual turnover rates for professors at some campuses in the system are as high as 24 percent, officials say. "Other universities will see what we have done with these funds," Ms. Draughon says, and may raid the university's faculty to start similar programs on their own campuses. "People need constant encouragement and stimulus. So the legislature is playing with the future of the university by leaving us on edge."
Red Hat Inc. (Durham, N.C.) -- This software company named Chief Executive Officer Matthew Szulik to the additional title of chairman. Mr. Szulik, 45, succeeds co-founder Bob Young, who will remain on the board. Mr. Young, 47, plans to spend more time on his new company, Lulu Inc., which is based in Raleigh, N.C. The company also named Marye Anne Fox to the board. Ms. Fox, 55, is the chancellor of North Carolina State University. Her addition expands the board to seven.
Phillip Munoz's Law and Justice class at N.C. State University is known for frank discussions about controversial topics, but a student's remark in class Feb. 19 has sparked charges that the university turns a deaf ear to racially offensive speech. Najja Baptist, a black student, has filed a complaint against a white student who told him during a classroom exchange to "go back to Africa." He contends that her remark constituted racial harassment and violated NCSU's student conduct code. Baptist also has complained that Munoz and other university officials failed to take swift action against the student. NCSU administrators say they will not comment on the incident while they are investigating it. Baptist has taken his case to student newspapers and college radio stations. On Monday, about 100 people, mostly students, listened to Baptist and others decry racism at a rally in NCSU's Brickyard. "That 'go back to Africa' statement was a personal attack," Baptist said after the rally. "It was based on my race." The student who made the remark could not be reached Monday for comment. Munoz agreed in an interview that her remark was inappropriate. He said that it came in response to Baptist's claims that America is a racist nation, and that he chastised the student right after she said it. "I immediately stopped the discussion and called for class to be quiet," Munoz said. "Raising my voice, I said everyone needed to be quiet and that, in this class, all discussion must be civilized." Baptist said Munoz had made him the target of that admonition, because he was looking at Baptist as he delivered it. Munoz denies that. Munoz said he attempted to talk to Baptist about the incident outside of class. Baptist said he would not talk with Munoz unless his adviser, Floyd W. Hayes III, an Africana studies professor, was present. The following week, about 15 students who were not members of Munoz's class entered the classroom and stood in silent protest. Baptist and Hayes now say the student who made the remark should be suspended and placed on probation. They say that the university officials who took no action should be reprimanded for violating NCSU's policy on investigating complaints of racial harassment. University officials said they can't comment on the investigation of Baptist's complaints. But they are taking steps to measure racial tolerance on the campus. On April 25, the university has scheduled a campus dialogue on race at the Witherspoon Student Center. William E. Leftwich III, who served as deputy assistant defense secretary for equal opportunity in the Clinton administration, will serve as mediator. In the fall, the university plans a racial climate survey, said Linda Brady, dean of the College of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
The U.S. Senate could discuss soon whether the federal government should have greater authority on negotiating trade agreement. Now, North Carolina Senator John Edwards is unveiling his own proposals. North Carolina’s textile industry shedding more jobs last year than any other state. "There's really no way we can compete with the low wages in other countries," N.C. State textiles student Time Cherry said. "Whatever they can do to keep jobs in America and keep the unemployment down, whatever needs to be done they need to do what they can." Senator Edwards plan could mean more help soon for the North Carolina textile industry. Edwards’ plan would offer stricter terms on foreign-trade deals involving textile and apparel. Ti would offer new investment resources to communities hit hard by textile layoffs and it would offer more help to laid-off workers. "Under this plan they would automatically qualify for benefits," Edwards said. "They don't have to go through all the red tape, all the bureaucracy that Washington has. They will qualify instantly." The new plan is very pleasing to some students interesting in protecting the textile industry. "I'm glad that they are trying to put a hand in keeping the textile industry here and try to give our name a little bit better reputation," textiles student Laura Gibson said. Edwards said he’ll push his plan as the Senate looks at new trade agreements. He did not say whether he will support fast-track legislation for free trade only that he would support a fast-rack bill that contains many of the elements of his economic plan.
On April 25 at 10 a.m., N.C. State will host "A Campus Dialogue on Race." Held at Witherspoon Student Center, the event is free and will consist of a student panel that will discuss the impact of race against a backdrop of incidents that occurred in a political science class in February. A facilitated group dialogue will take place and then be opened to the audience. William Leftwich III, former deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Equal Opportunity under the Clinton administration, will moderate the discussion. During his tenure, Leftwich directed the development of equal opportunity policies throughout three military departments and 14 Department of Defense agencies. In addition to his other efforts, Leftwich participated in Clinton's "One America Conversations" Initiative on Race. He subsequently received commendation from Defense Secretary William Cohen. According to an NCSU press release, Provost Stuart Cooper noted, "As an academic community, we have a responsibility to help students, faculty and staff to learn to engage in constructive racial dialogue. We are dedicated to free expression and debate as a means of seeking knowledge and understanding, and to the principles of civility, respect and tolerance that must guide our discussions and debates, both in the classroom and in our larger community."
This year's U.S. Senate race is a story of the haves and have-nots -- the money-rich campaigns of Elizabeth Dole and Erskine Bowles versus a field of candidates running shoestring campaigns. Dole and Bowles have vacuumed up most of the political money in North Carolina and have used their national connections to gather donations from contributors around the country. Dole, the former U.S. transportation and labor secretary, had raised $5.3 million as of March 31, while Bowles, the Charlotte investment banker and former White House chief of staff, had raised $3 million, according to financial reports the campaigns were required to file Monday. In both instances, Dole and Bowles were among the national leaders -- if not the leaders -- in fund raising for non-incumbent Senate candidates in their respective parties. None of the eight other Democrats or six other Republicans running for the seat now held by Republican Jesse Helms seemed likely to come even close to raising the amount of money that Dole and Bowles have raised. Jim Snyder, a Lexington lawyer who is Dole's most visible opponent in the Republican primary, raised $47,710 in addition to loaning his campaign $83,000 last year. In the Democratic primary, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall raised $405,370, in addition to loaning her campaign $56,000 last year. State Rep. Dan Blue of Raleigh, a former state House speaker, raised $347,332. Andrew Taylor, a political science professor at N.C. State University, said Dole's and Bowles' dominance in money raising is not surprising. "Those two people are extremely well-known not just in state party circles but across the country," Taylor said. "They can raise money nationally rather than just within the state. Money tends to follow success. As a result, some contributors are making bets on who is going to win." Both candidates are well connected to their parties. President Bush held a fund-raiser for Dole in Charlotte in March. A Bowles fund-raiser was held at the home of Vernon Jordan, the high-powered Washington lawyer who was an adviser to President Clinton. Bowles' contributors read like a who's who of the Clinton administration, ranging from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. But both candidates benefited from more than just big names. The Dole campaign reported that 53,000 individuals have contributed to her effort. The Bowles campaign said two-thirds of its money was generated inside the state. The big money has enabled Bowles to run more than $600,000 worth of TV political commercials so far, while his Democratic opponents have not yet been able to go on the air. Dole's large war chest has enabled her to hire a sizable campaign staff, produce a slick campaign video, and tour the state in the comfort of a Winnebago. The other candidates hope to counter the big-money advantages of Dole and Bowles by running grass-roots campaigns. But Taylor said Bowles' money advantage is "bad news" for Blue and Marshall. "It makes it difficult for them," Taylor said. "In the last two Democratic primaries for major state-wide offices -- the 1998 Senate primary and the 2000 gubernatorial primary -- we see that money has been able to trump connections and support from core Democratic groups." In the 1998 Senate primary, Raleigh lawyer John Edwards used a major financial edge to defeat Chapel Hill lawyer D.G. Martin. Two years later, Attorney General Mike Easley outspent Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker in the 2000 Democratic primary and was later elected governor. As of March 31, the Dole campaign reported that it had $2.6 million cash on hand and a debt of $399,850. Bowles had $1.6 million on hand and a debt of $44,794. Marshall had $135,946 on hand and a debt of $57,311. Blue had $76,037 on hand and no debts. Snyder had $6,212 on hand and debts of $87,244. Reports for the other candidates, including former Durham City Council member Cynthia Brown, were not available Monday.
RALEIGH -- North Carolina State University has won approval to award MBA degrees -- a major step in the university's wish to be counted among the nation's top technology-focused business programs. The university is changing the name of its flagship business degree from the obscure Master of Science in Management, or MSM, to the coveted Master of Business Administration. The decision was made by University of North Carolina System President Molly Broad's office on April 5. "There's no doubt that being able to use the MBA label will be more attractive to students and to employers," says Jon Bartley, dean of the university's College of Management. "Not having an MBA program has always posed somewhat of a problem for us." Employers are more familiar with -- and some would argue more enamored with -- the Master of Business Administration name. "I think it just adds some value and understanding in the business community to what the (NCSU) degree is all about," says Jim Beck, chief executive of Raleigh-based Capital Bank. Beck chairs the College of Management's board of trustees, which supported the name change. "I think it's a plus for the students," says Beck. The shift could be a recruitment boon for the relatively new college, which was created in 1992. About 60 full-time and 150 part-time students are enrolled in the MSM program. The typical graduating class numbers about 75, and the college has a goal of graduating 200 MBA students annually by the end of the decade. While the college has honed its curriculum in recent years, applicant interest has leveled off. When prospective students came calling for information about an NCSU MBA, admissions officials found themselves explaining the MSM. "That would be the end of the conversation," Bartley says. Despite the name change, the content of the program remains the same. The cost of the degree will rise by $2,500 per year in fall 2002 and 2003. The increases reflect growth of the program and were not triggered by the MBA offering, says college spokeswoman Sara Frisch. Students will be hit with additional university-im-posed tuition increases. With the changes, in-state MBA students will pay an estimated $6,500 a year in tuition and fees. Estimates for nonresidents are $18,200 a year. Those costs compare to $28,200 in annual costs for an MBA at Duke University. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in-state MBA students pay $9,155 annually while out-of-state students pay $21,105. NCSU's degree was packaged as an MSM to appeal to students shopping for something beyond a traditional MBA, Bartley says. The MSM was positioned as a niche offering that draws from the university's strongholds in technology, science and engineering. But the weight the MBA carries has prompted other universities to desert the MSM. For example, MIT made the change in 1994; Carnegie-Mellon followed in 2000, swapping a Master of Science in Industrial Administration for an MBA; and Purdue University won approval last year for a similar conversion. Students graduating from the program in May will decide whether their degrees read MSM or MBA.
The economic slowdown could mean more land changing hands near Research Triangle Park. Virginia real-estate investors Steve and Art Sandler are putting 101 acres across Cornwallis Road from Research Tri-Center, a warehouse park they own, up for sale. The Sandlers bought the land, 85 acres of it in RTP and 16 in Durham County, in 1998 for a research park. Plans have changed. "They want to have someone else develop it," said Jim Anthony, president of AnthonyAllenton Commercial Real Estate in Raleigh, which is marketing the property. The Sandlers have been investing in massive residential projects in Wake County, including Wakefield Plantation and Falls River. They tried to sell the 350-acre TriCenter campus last year, but a potential buyer backed out when IBM said it was shrinking its space. The land for sale backs up to GlaxoSmithKline's campus. Anthony said he had just started to market the land, but that some biotech companies -- one sector that that hasn't been dragging during the past year -- might be interested. Just a bit to the east on Cornwallis Road, CB Richard Ellis is looking for buyers for a 177,000-square-foot JDS Uniphase plant. The company said last month that it was considering moving out of the plant because of poor business. Curtis Dean with CB in Raleigh is looking to fill the factory and sell three adjacent parcels totalling 110 acres. * * * * * Jacksonville, Fla.-based The Haskell Co. starts construction this month on a 52,000-square-foot laboratory building across Avent Ferry Road from N.C. State's Centennial Campus. The lab will be split into 10 parts for university classes in engineering, chemistry and biology. The project is the first awarded by NCSU for "design-build," meaning the winning bidder is responsible for both designing the building and seeing it built on schedule. Normally, universities go through a bidding process for architecture services and then hold a separate bidding for construction companies. * * * * * SIG Pack Services Inc., owned by Swiss Industrial Group, is moving to 33,323 square feet under construction at Parker Business Center near the Outer Loop and Capital Boulevard. SIG, which repairs and upgrades packaging machinery, is moving from a 21,000-square-foot flex building at another Parker Lincoln development, Lincoln Park Central in Raleigh.
David Rendall, former Nortel networks executive and telecommunication industry analyst and retired GlaxoSmithKline executive Sam Straight have joined the N.C. State University College of Management in volunteer consulting roles to work with students and faculty. David Rendell is entrepreneur-in-residence and Sam Straight is executive-in-residence for the Supply Chain Resource Consortium at the college.
This is the most recent in a series of occasional stories about the state's role in advancing technology. WASHINGTON: Scientists are laying the groundwork for a future in which legions of micromachines could enter the body and hunt down individual cancer cells, where computers are a hybrid of living DNA and man-made components, and in which much of the work of the world goes on at a scale invisible to the naked eye. These ideas and thousands of others - from the mundane to the miraculous - are coming out of a new field called nanotechnology, a broad term for creating machines and products on an incredibly small scale. It's already much more advanced than just theoretical scribbling on a chalkboard. Scientists are building structures with individual atoms the way that a carpenter might work with two-by-fours. Many researchers, government officials and venture capitalists are saying that over the next few decades, the effect of such inventions on society may dwarf what has happened in the computer or telecommunications revolutions. Skeptics see a dark side to such a future. Humans may well be able to make such products, they say - but may not be able to control them after they're unleashed on the world. The excitement over nanotechnology has been fueled from high places. President Clinton created the National Nanotechnology Initiative in 2000 and increased financing. The government spent about $100 million on nanotechnology research in 1997, and that increased to $422 million in fiscal 2000. The Bush administration is requesting $710 million for fiscal 2003, with $201 million of that earmarked for the Department of Defense. "It now has national prominence," said Gerald Iafrate, a professor of engineering at N.C. State University. Iafrate and fellow N.C. State professor Denis Gray are part of a review panel that plans to report to the National Academies of Science this summer on progress and problems in the National Nanotechnology Initiative. They agree that the potential is enormous. "Nano-kinds of breakthroughs and developments will be happening in almost every field, and every technology," said Gray, a professor of psychology who's involved because even nanotechnology's strongest supporters agree that there are moral and ethical issues to consider. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have created tiny bicyclelike gear systems - ones so small that they could fit on the period at the end of this sentence. Last October Lucent Technologies said its scientists had created transistors made of organic compounds from single molecules that set the stage for a class of high-speed, carbon-based electronics. Other labs - including IBM's - are working on computers based on living cells. Behind all the work is the idea of getting to the most fundamental level of construction. "Because we know that everything is ultimately made of atoms, when you put the atoms together in the best possible way, you will get an object which will have the best possible structure and behavior," said Richard Smalley, a scientist at Rice University who won a Nobel prize for his nanotechnology work. "When we talk about a carbon nanotube, we believe it is the ultimate strength, ever, that we'll get out of anything," Smalley said last month in Washington. "To the extent there are answers available in our universe to most of the pressing material needs of humanity, they will be found by putting matter together at the ultimate level of finesse - on the nanotechnology scale," he said. Many nanotechnology applications will be in the medical or computer fields, but others will change things as basic as the clothing people wear, Iafrate said. Iafrate, a former director of the Army Research Office at Research Triangle Park, was part of a bid by N.C. State to land a five-year, $50 million contract with the U.S. Army to create an Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. The N.C. State group lost to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last month. Some of the projects in the works include soft clothing that can transform into a rigid cast if a soldier breaks a limb, and paper-weight chain mail. Ned Thomas, a professor at MIT and the director of the new nanotechnology institute, envisions an army of super soldiers. "Imagine the psychological impact upon a foe when encountering squads of seemingly invincible warriors protected by armor and endowed with superhuman capabilities, such as the ability to leap over 20-foot walls," said Thomas. The leaping ability would come from "building up energy storage in shoes," he said, adding that MIT researchers have recently created materials that are "better than human muscles." Bill Joy is a co-founder of computer company Sun Microsystems, and a senior scientist for the company. That kind of background hardly fits the profile of an anti-technology Luddite, which is part of the reason that Joy's article published in Wired magazine in April 2000 sent shock waves through the nanotechnology world. "The new Pandora's boxes of genetics, nanotechnology and robotics are almost open, yet we seem hardly to have noticed," Joy wrote, adding that by 2030 it will probably be possible to build quantities of machines a million times as powerful as the personal computer of today. Many scientists believe that nanotechnology will spawn machines that are self-replicating and Joy worries that would take control out of human hands. These tiny, vastly powerful machines, Joy says, could make humans obsolete. "Given the incredible power of these new technologies, shouldn't we be asking how we can best coexist with them? And if our own extinction is a likely, or even possible, outcome of our technological development, shouldn't we proceed with great caution?" Joy wrote. Gray said that the National Nanotechnology Initiative includes a call for social-science research on such issues, and people who would examine the pros and cons of the technology. "We don't know what's going to come out of the pipeline, but if you start getting people thinking about (things) now, debating them, and looking at what the implications might be, your chances of not being surprised and not having some bad outcomes are better," Gray said. Iafrate agreed that "the most important things to concern yourself with are ethical issues," but said that doesn't mean that stopping research makes sense. "You know, that's not a practical way to approach investment in science and technology, because one's conjecture about what may happen in 20 or 30 years is never right," he said. Iafrate said that some of the debate reminds him of such unfounded worried from years ago that computers would start an atomic war by accident. "You're bound to have situations where you have systems beginning to fail, in areas where you were expecting them to do one thing, and they do another thing. And that could bring, in some cases, catastrophic harm to society," he said. "But this is something we're always going to have to manage in society - just how much man in the loop you allow. In nanoscience and technology, I don't see it as an issue." Gray said that there is time to debate the most challenging technology, and for society to adjust to a new world. "Some of the issues like combining living organisms with mechanical are much further downstream." "It really gives you a sense of the fire that's on with nanotechnology, and what some people really think might be the big pay dirt," he said. "It will start with medicine, but actually move into clothing, and housewares, and automotive, travel." Visions of nano-fortunes to replace the crumbled dreams left from the recent collapse of high-technology stocks are being pumped up in the business world. "This will be bigger than the Internet and more far-reaching," an article in Forbes magazine said. "It will create vast new wealth. It will destroy a lot of old wealth. And it will shake up just about every business on the planet." Nobel laureate Smalley said that some of the hype needs cooling down. "Most of this is going to take 20, 40 years to evolve. It takes great patience," he said. Iafrate said that some of potential gains for business and society may come from places people are overlooking. After losing its bid to MIT for the military program, the group at N.C. State is trying to start an institute for textile nanotechnology through its College of Textiles. Much of the research that N.C. State did in trying to win the Army nanotechnology contract ties in to a struggling North Carolina industry. "Interactive textiles that heat or cool the body on command," Iafrate said. "Interactive textiles - they really mean smart textiles. It detects a chemical environment, and it reacts to that. And you want to be able to do this on a molecular level, and you want to be able to put these into the marketplace." The goal, he said, is to find a niche for an old industry, one that brings growth, allows the work force to rally around it and gets local leaders to stop thinking of textiles as just socks and underwear. "We were doing it for the soldiers, and we said 'Why not do it for the state of North Carolina, and the community at large?'" Iafrate said. "On my worst days there are something like 10 to the 11th-power cancer cells in my body, and lately, now, it's down to maybe 100 million," he said. "For diseases like this, there is only one solution. And that is you have to somehow take something, and in that something will be trillions of little nano-objects." The objects have to be free to roam the body and distinguish cancer cells from healthy ones, and then kill each diseased cell. "Cures to virtually all diseases will be had on the nano scale," Smalley said, adding that developments are many years away. Nanotechnology offers wonderful possibilities, Iafrate said, but the world needs to be cautious. "I'm glad the government is moving forward, even though there is a voice on the dark side," he said. "You have to listen to that." Kevin Begos can be reached in Washington at (202) 662-7672 or at kbegos@mediageneral.com
It's not always fun being a pest. I realize that's hard to believe when you catch a glimpse of the smirk on the face of that mosquito that just went to lunch on your blood supply. Or, maybe you've had the joy of spying one of those multi-legged, wormy-type things on your carpet -- quite pleased with his warm and fuzzy new home. When I decided to call the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill my home, oh, a few years ago, I had no idea what my future held -- save going to the freshman class beer bust in the woods behind Craig dorm. Plenty of choices were out there: History -- boring; math -- too hard; English -- then, what?; foreign language -- forget it. A business or economics degree was out of the question. Heck, the Vietnam War was raging, and students were marching on the business school building. I could've been hurt trying to go to class. So I decided to become a pest. Clearly, when I chose journalism, it wasn't for the money. No, I wanted to be a pest. At least that's the way we're perceived by public servants or business executives who try to pull off deals without taxpayers or investors knowing about it. This may sound trite, but the reason we're pests is because taxpayers have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent, how elected folks are behaving, and whether scams are being pulled off by companies in which they've invested. Remember Enron? The folks at North Carolina State University must be thinking the reporters and editors at The Business Journal have risen to the level of major-league pestdom because of a story we broke and have been following for a couple of months now. We reported that a handful of NCSU vice chancellors had filed incorporation papers for a limited liability company that would operate as a charity. One of the university's lawyers told us the LLC would operate a $65 million hotel, conference center and golf course project the university intended to build on Centennial Campus. The lawyer, one James Green of Charlotte, also told us that NCSU intended to operate the facility as a charity -- thus hoping to avoid having to pay income or property taxes. Folks at the university did not take kindly to our first story. They dealt with us much the way you might deal with a bug trying to get into your house. Stay inside, don't open the door, keep the windows closed tight. One of the stories we published pointed out that some folks -- including private-enterprise types who operate hotels, conference centers and golf courses -- don't like the idea of a taxpayer-supported entity going into competition with them. Imagine that. Finally, we did receive a visit from Bob Geolas, the director of Centennial Campus, and Deborah Griffith, the public relations director for the university. Their prime message was two-fold: First, the university does intend to pay all applicable taxes; secondly, the university intends to move forward with this project. Hallelujah, the tax question finally was answered -- though I still can't figure out why it took six weeks to get an answer to a very simple question: "Are you going to pay taxes?" Even now, though, other questions remain -- the competition complaint, for example, and whether a state-supported institution could end up being stuck with a money-losing recreational project. "I've looked at their pro forma," one Triangle business insider told me. "And, I can tell you this: That's one big white elephant they want to build on Centennial Campus." I don't know if this is going to be a money-loser, and it's not my job to make that judgment. But I do know that private developers didn't want to take the risk of building it -- and that's one giant red flag. Another red flag is the stealthy nature in which this affair has been handled. For example, when the NCSU trustees considered, and approved, the creation of the LLC in April 2001, the matter reportedly was not included on the meeting agenda. Red flags indeed abound about this project. Should it be built? Again, I don't know. But I do know this: Taxpayers and potential competitors have a right to have their say. And now, thanks to a bunch of pests, they have that chance.
This hourlong show will feature an in-depth look at clinical and research programs of Drs. Babetta Breuhaus, Dr. Anthony Blikslager, Dr. Brian Gilger and Dr. Marc Wosar, all of CVM. It will air April 16 at 10 p.m.; April 17 at 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., April 20 at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.; April 21 at 5 a.m., and April 27 at 2 p.m.
... Plantsmen's Tour, Anything but Magnolias: 1:00 p.m. April 18, J.C. Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh. Go on a tour led by Todd Lasseigne, the assistant director of JCRA. Learn about magnolias in the evening, then come learn about everything else in the garden during the day. For more information, call (91) 515 3132 or e-mail www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum.
The Encore Center of N.C. State University's Division of Continuing Studies is accepting reservations for an Oct. 22-24 trip to New York focusing on immigrants. The center offers noncredit programs for adults over 50. Tours will include the Statue of Liberty, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Chinatown, the Empire State Building and the United Nations. Included is a walking tour of lower Manhattan, and an afternoon will be spent at Ellis Island's American Family Immigration History Center. Cost of this study trip is $795, which includes air fare, transportation around the city, meals, lodging and the services of an experienced guide. A $350 deposit is due before May 1. Call 515-5782 for a free catalog or visit www.ncsu.edu/encore.
MR. GEORGE E. BEVILLE, Sr., 84, of Raleigh died peacefully at his home Saturday, April 13, 2002 surrounded by his family and friends. He was born on July 2, 1917 in Effingham County, Georgia to Emmitt Cassidy and Lottie Pauline Beville. George fought for his country serving in the 1st Army Combat Ordnance Company 666, 8th Infantry in World War II landing on he beaches at Normandy and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. He worked for many years in the accounting department at North Carolina State University. Upon retirement from NCSU, George attended Southeastern Theological Seminary receiving his divinity degree. He faithfully served as a leader and deacon at St. John's Baptist Church. He served for many years on the Board of Directors of the Cued Speech Center. George loved to write, most notably poetry and prose. He was a wonderful man; much loved by his family and friends and will be greatly missed. George is survived by his wife of 55 years, Lucille Boykin Beville; two sons, George Emmitt Beville, Jr. and spouse Louise Campbell of Apex and Glenn Beville of Raleigh; two daughters, Lynda (Lucy) Beville Kay and spouse David Kay of Raleigh and Barbie Edwards of Colorado; and grandchildren, Jonathan, Clay and Sherry Beville of Clayton and Jeremy and Lindsay Kay of Raleigh. A celebration of his life will be held at 3:00 p.m. at St. John's Baptist Church, 1615 Oberlin Road, Wednesday, April 17, 2002 conducted by Dr. Richard Wynne. Burial will follow at Pinecrest Memorial Gardens.The family will receive friends Tuesday, April 16 from 7-8:30 p.m. at McLaurin Funeral Home, Highway 70 West, Clayton. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. John's Baptist Church, 1615A Oberlin Rd., Raleigh, NC 27608 or Hospice of Wake County.
WENDELL -- Dr. Jack Eugene Bailey, 50, of 266 Wythe Lane, Wendell, NC, died April 12, 2002 at Duke Medical Center. He was a participant in a clinical trial for a possible cure for Myodisplasia Syndrome, an otherwise incurable bone marrow disorder. Through his death, he hoped that his "one more data point" could provide scientists with more information. Jack developed his personal passion for science as an undergraduate at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas, while working on an environmental impact study of the Trinity River. That experience, and the mentoring he received while doing it, kindled a lifelong love for active learning and a commitment to helping young people. Jack continued his education at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, where he was granted both a Master's degree and PhD in Plant Pathology. In 1980, he began his career as a Professor, researcher, and an Extension Plant Pathologist in the Department of Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, where he had primary responsibility for peanuts and small grains. Jack made notable innovations in the area of plant disease forecasting through the development of original computer models and weather sensing equipment. His methods for rating the likelihood of plant disease outbreaks, based on cumulative weather data, are now common agricultural practice. Jack had a unique ability to explain complicated concepts with persuasive clarity. The primary goal for all of his research was to provide better nutrition for the people of the world with the least possible negative impact on the environment. That led to participation in applied research projects in developing countries, including: Ghana, Mali, China, Russia, Thailand, Australia, The Philippines, and, most recently, Korea and Nica- ragua. Closer to home, it led him into countless public school class- rooms, where he volunteered his time to introduce children to the excitement he felt about creative, scientific discovery. Jack's life was marked by zest for each day, great good humor, and kindness to all. He was a devoted husband, father, and friend. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Rebecca Young Bailey; sons, Grant Bailey of Raleigh, NC, and Burke, Trent, and Gaines Bailey of the home; brother, Sid Bailey and his wife Mindy of Murfreesboro, TN, and brother, Blake Bailey of Tyler, TX, and Nan Bailey of Tyler, TX; five nieces, five nephews, and manyloving friends. His parents, Blake E. and Jenna F. Bailey of Fort Worth, TX, preceded him in death. Memorial services will be held Saturday, April 20, 2002, at 11 a.m. on the grounds of the Bailey home with dinner following for all. Directions can be found at http://www. birthmarkdesigns.com/bailey.html or by calling the Art Department at Meredith College at (919)760-8332. The family requests that whenever you make your annual donations to your favorite charities, that you always think of Jack, and add an additional amount in his memory.
States With the Biggest Deficits Take Aim at Higher Education
Explosive Growth in California
The decline in California comes after several years in which the state's public colleges actually received more than they had requested from lawmakers. Now, higher-education leaders in the state hope to avoid a repeat of the last recession, in the early 1990s, when severe budget cuts led to tuition increases and enrollment losses. This time around, explosive growth is causing additional strain.Far Apart in Wisconsin
Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, lawmakers expect to begin hammering out an agreement this week on a higher-education spending plan for 2002-3. The two houses in the Legislature remain far apart on any deal as they struggle to fill a $1.1-million hole in the state budget. The Republican-controlled State Assembly has advocated cuts for the 26-campus University of Wisconsin System totaling about $108-million, while the Democrats in the Senate have proposed a $20-million reduction. The system now receives $893-million per year from the state. Sales Taxes Lagging
In Tennessee, the situation is even drearier. Unlike Wisconsin, California, and many other states, Tennessee failed to reap most of the rewards of the late-1990s economic expansion. Why? It is one of only a handful of states that lacks an income tax. And sales taxes -- which account for 75 percent of what Tennessee brings in -- tend to grow more slowly than income taxes do in a strong economy. Now, even sales-tax revenues are lagging here, hurt in part by catalog and Internet sales. The state estimates that it lost $360-million last year in taxes on items bought over the phone or on the World Wide Web. A 'Slow Bleed'
At Tennessee's flagship institution, in Knoxville, the state's continuing budget crisis has caused a "slow bleed" for the last decade, says Emerson H. Fly, the university's acting president. During that time, administrators and professors have become adept at moving money around to avoid hacking major programs. Faculty positions have gone unfilled to pay for departmental expenses, such as travel and guest speakers. A fund to encourage more interdisciplinary programs was cut to raise graduate-student stipends. Cuts to Remediation, Athletics
Inevitably, most higher-education officials agree they won't be able to continue to do it all. For the past year, the state higher-education commission has been studying how to squeeze more money out of existing appropriations. NO RECOVERY
Although there are signs that the national economy is coming out of the recession, the fiscal picture for state governments seems to be getting worse. Who's News: Red Hat Inc. (Durham, NC)
Student's remark sparks racism cry
Edwards targets textiles in economic plan
N.C. State student panel to discuss race
Bowles, Dole lead in fund raising
NCSU ready to offer MBA degree
REAL DEALS: RTP land up for grabs
IN BUSINESS: Business Doings...
Small Miracles: Micromachines are being developed that may offer mankind great benefits - or threaten its very existence
The science
Even without understanding the details, some of the research provides a glimpse into an astounding new world.The dark side
Thomas isn't the only person talking about nanomaterials that are "better" than their counterparts in the human body, but such possibilities are setting off ethical and moral alarm bells.The money
As in the not-too-distant past with all things Internet, venture-capital investors are buying nanotechnology ideas on blind faith, Iafrate said. The hope
Smalley, who has cancer, said that the idea of injecting millions or trillions of tiny machines into the body isn't out of line compared with some of the problems humans face. My turn: Buzzing, biting at the heels of officialdom
Animal Operation
Spring! Those great plant sales are calling
Garden events
The Exciting World of Magnolias: 7:30 p.m. April 18, Room 159, Kilgore Hall, NCSU Campus, Raleigh. Pat McCracken of McCracken's Nursery will discuss the research and breeding aspects of evergreen Magnoliaceae and will talk about the newest breakthroughs in deciduous magnolias. His talk is a Friends of the Arboretum Lecture. Admission is $5 for nonmembers, free for members. For more information, e-mail www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum or call (919) 515 3132. TRAVEL: Off to Ellis Island
OBITUARY: Mr. George E. Beville, Sr.
OBITUARY: Dr. Jack Eugene Bailey