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ANNE FAWCETT
N.C. Lottery
Foes Make for
Unlikely Team
Lottery opponents make for
strange bedfellows, but those
beds are fertile grounds for the
movement.
Although lottery supporters often
group the opposition as ultra-religious
Bible-beaters, those against a lottery
span a broad ideological spectrum.
No matter what your political affili
ation or ideology, they’re sure to have
an argument that appeals to you.
All of their arguments appeal to me.
Former UNC-system President Bill
Friday is one of the leaders of the anti
lottery movement and himself
engaged in a bipartisan effort. A mem
ber of the Democratic Party, Friday
has formed an alliance with former
GOP gubernatorial candidate Chuck
Neely to oppose the potential state lot
tery.
No one denies that a quality educa
tion for North Carolina’s schoolchild
ren is an important goal. Lotteries are
simply poor public policy, from fiscal
reasons to social ones.
Analysis from The John Locke
Foundation, a conservative/libertarian
think tank, shows a lottery would gen
erate much less revenue than Gov.
Mike Easley claims.
John Locke Vice President for
Research Roy Cordato said for the lot
tery to gross the kind of money Easley
claims, half of the households in North
Carolina (a high proportion) would
have to play the lottery and spend
SB7O each year.
Depending on the cost of a lottery
ticket, that could potentially amount to
buying one or more tickets each day
for a year.
It’s highly improbable that would
happen, at least after the lottery’s thrill
is gone.
Chris Fitzsimon, executive director of
the Common Sense Foundation, a liber
al think tank, agreed that the gover
nor’s predictions are unreasonable.
“There’s not a billion dollars that
people have stuck in their mattresses
that they’re waiting to spend on the
lottery,” he said.
Liberal lottery opponents cite stud
ies showing that those most likely to
play the lottery are low-income resi
dents in poor neighborhoods.
Cordato also said he agrees with
this assessment of the lottery, although
it’s not his greatest concern.
A 1999 study by the National
Gambling Impact Study Commission
showed that people making less than
SIO,OOO each year spend twice as
much money on the lottery as those
making more than SIOO,OOO.
In relative terms, the wealthier per
son spends only one-twentieth the
amount of his income that the poorer
person spends.
And because the poor are the big
spenders, government targets advertise
ments toward those most desperate to
get rich quick, even though their
chances of winning are one in millions.
“The lottery would put the state in
the position of encouraging, in fact,
misleading people into misusing their
money for a chance that’s one in 10
million,” Fitzsimon said.
Increased funding for education
seems like a political inevitability, but
Fitzsimon and Friday are counting on
public discussions of the lottery policy
itself to inform voters and their repre
sentatives of a lottery’s pitfalls.
“Ultimately, when the debate is on
the actual policy of the lottery and not
what you’re going to spend it on, I
think it’s an easy decision that the lot
tery is the wrong way to go,”
Fitzsimon said.
And lottery critics from every ideol
ogy agree that a state lottery is the easy
way out for lawmakers who don’t want
to explicitly raise taxes or reallocate
funding from other areas.
The diversity of opposition to a lot
tery gives credibility to the effort. The
opposition movement cannot be
pigeonholed as liberal or conservative,
cold-hearted or paternal.
The movement is logical, practical
and in support of sound public policy.
Its spokesmen have loud voices that
should break through the emotional
ism and desperation portrayed by lot
tery supporters and should appeal to
N.C. residents’ rationality that a lottery
is the wrong choice for this state.
Columnist Anne Fawcett can be
reached at fawcetta@hotmail.com.
UNC Plan Provokes Commissioners' Concerns
By Ben Gullett
Staff Writer
The Orange County Board of
Commissioners voiced concerns
Tuesday that University plans to expand
could strain schools, the transit system
and the environment
UNC officials presented the board
with the plan for the development of the
97.9-acre Horace Williams land tract,
which is expected to include research,
commercial and residential facilities.
Economy
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Rural Farmers Left Behind 'jr
In High-Tech Revolution
By Faith Ray
Assistant State & National Editor
For centuries, farming and small
businesses shaped North Carolina’s
economy. As other states boomed,
North Carolina’s more agrarian focus
left it economically stagnant.
But that image is quickly changing
to one of rapidly growing businesses,
low unemployment and big money
associated with high-tech industries.
North Carolina is no longer solely
characterized by its once endless
tobacco fields, hog farms and reliance
on agriculture. It is becoming a mecca
for the technologically savvy.
Hundreds of high-tech industries
have moved into the state, leaving in
their wake agricultural sectors that are
struggling to survive and dividing the
state along economic lines.
The New Economy
Marchela Roca, spokeswoman for
the N.C. Department of Commerce,
said the growing technological sector
has opened up “a great deal of oppor
tunities in our state to become compet
itive.”
The new economy has been influ
enced greatly by N.C. universities,
which have enticed recent graduates
to begin their career paths in Research
Triangle Park -one of the country’s
pre-eminent technological centers.
John Lucy, spokesman for Triangle
area IBM, said the “continual flow” of
the state’s university graduates pro
vides a large work force for high-tech
companies and contributes to the
state’s low unemployment rate.
Lucy also attributed the success of
Less-Experienced BOG
To Take Helm in June
By Koen de Vries
Staff Writer
As the UNC-system Board of
Governors prepares to deal with issues
such as re-examining its tuition-setting
policy and weathering a state budget
shortfall, it soon will experience a per
sonnel transition that will leave more
than half its members with little or no
BOG experience.
When new BOG members are sworn
in during the June
meeting, 17 of the
32 voting mem
bers will be serving
their first terms.
Nine will be
only two years into
their first four-year
term, and eight
will be newcom
ers. The eight new
members were
“There’s a greater turnover on
the board now. ...It will take
a while for the newcomers to
come up to speed. ”
Priscilla Taylor
BOG Member
elected this month by the N.C. General
Assembly.
The BOG consists of 32 voting mem
bers, half selected by the N.C. Senate
and half selected by the N.C. House.
Members are not allowed to serve more
than three consecutive terms.
BOG Chairman Ben Ruffin, who is
serving his third consecutive term, said
he is confident that the inexperience of
the board will not hinder its operations.
The commissioners cited county con
cerns, such as transportation and school
growth, as key factors UNC officials
should consider when planning the pro
posed expansion.
Commissioner Stephen Halkiotis said
he is concerned that large-scale growth
at the University would bring new stu
dents to Orange County schools.
“The county commissioners have a
legal responsibility to provide schools,”
Halkiotis said.
“Please keep in mind that what you
the technology industry to the “great
partnership fostered by the relation
ships between the universities, the
government and the community.”
IBM first moved to Research
Triangle Park in the mid-1960s and now
has more than 50 buildings and
employs more than 15,000 people in the
Triangle, making it the largest IBM hub
in the world. The impact of the new
industries was evident a decade ago
when, at the urging of IBM execu
tives, Interstate 40 was routed to run
through RTP.
“The advent of a good
transportation network
was necessary,” Lucy
said. “IBM suggested
extending (1-40) through
the park to develop its
maximum potential.”
Other companies and
industries have followed
suit and made North
Carolina home, contribut
ing to the birth and expan
sion of new urban centers.
The influx of these busi-
A State
Divided
A four-part series examining the
social and cultural differences
in North Carolina.
Tuesday: Technology
Today: Economy
Thursday: Racial Makeup
Friday: Politics
nesses has come about because the state
sensed a need to remain competitive -
nationally and worldwide -as the glob
al economy made a dramatic shift
toward modem technology, Roca said.
Struggling to Survive
In the midst of North Carolina’s eco
nomic boom, the agricultural founda
tion that once supported the state’s
economy is being obscured by the shad
ow of anew technological revolution.
Chris Beacham, research director
for the N.C. Rural Economic
Development Center, said the growth
“They bring a variety of experience
with them,” Ruffin said. “Most of them
have served on a trustee board at a uni
versity.”
He said that while learning the spe
cific BOG nomenclature will be diffi
cult, the board has a system in place to
familiarize new members with the
board.
“We have prepared a good orienta
tion,” Ruffin said. “And all new mem
bers will have to travel around to all 16
schools. We also
have our own ori
entation so that
when they start
coming to meet
ings in July, they’ll
really get
involved.”
Priscilla Taylor,
a second-term
BOG member,
said it took her a
year to get used to serving on the board.
“It takes a while to understand the
budget, how campuses operate," Taylor
said.
She said in the past the board con
sisted of more experienced members,
pardy because of more stability in state
politics.
“There’s a greater turnover on the
See BOG, Page 7
News
do has an impact on what we have a
legal mandate to do.”
Commissioner Barryjacobs said he is
concerned that the development does
not place enough emphasis on mass
transit use but instead would allow com
muters to use their own vehicles with
limited restrictions.
“This still seems like 20th-century
thinking about transit,” he said.
Jack Evans, a professor in the Kenan-
Flagler Business School and special
assistant to the chancellor, presented the
of RTP has put a strain on some rural
communities. “Half of North
Carolinians are not participating in
the development of the state," he said.
Beacham said many students from
rural communities go on to study at
universities and do not return home,
resulting in a loss of potential resources
for rural areas.
Jim Knight, spokesman for the N.C.
Department of Agriculture, said it has
become virtually impossible.for some
one to enter the agricultural field.
Knight said farmland
prices have soared as
new industries and cor
porations, needing
more land as their busi
nesses grow, have
extended their reach
into rural areas of the't
state, making it nearly
impossible for individu
als to purchase farm
land. “Farming is not a
viable economic profes
sion,” he said.
“(Companies) dangle
huge sums of money in front of farmers
and pay five, 10, 20 times what farm
lands are worth.”
Creating a Balance
Despite the current economic success
of technological advances, many North
Carolinians still live in poverty. The
state has struggled to provide adequate
health care and access to education.
Beacham said there are no easy
solutions for bridging the economic
divide and noted a need to look
beyond “just money" for answers.
He said the state is working to attract
Panel Mulls Reparations' Merits
By Elizabeth Parrott
Staff Writer
Five UNC professors with diverse
specialties gathered Tuesday night in a
forum arranged by the Organization for
African Students Interest and Solidarity
to discuss reparations as a part of
UNC’s Africa Week 2001.
The panel forum dealt with many
issues raised in David Horowitz’s ad,
which recently ran nationwide in col
lege newspapers. The ad presents rea
sons why reparations are unrealistic for
blacks in America.
Senior Adaure Achumba, who
helped organize Tuesday’s event, said
Horowitz’s ad sparked the forum, which
involved a discussion of reparations in
African countries for slavery, apartheid
and colonialism.
Achumba directed the exchange
between professors Harry Watson,
David Newbury, Lisa Lindsay, Harry
Amana and Perry Hall, as each gave
their opinion on reparations to blacks
and Africans. The specialization of each
professor varied, enabling diverse opin
ions and solutions on the topic of repay
ment.
Amana, a journalism professor and
acting director of the Sonja H. Stone
Black Cultural Center, began the dis
cussion by giving a brief history of the
government’s role in addressing slavery
grievances and his view of the extended
legacy of slavery.
“When people say that the remains
proposal to the commissioners and said
he recognizes these concerns.
But Evans also said the expansion is
still in the early stages of planning and
that the impact on schools or transit
could not yet be determined.
Evans told the commissioners the
University plans to use the tract to devel
op “bio-tech/human genome research
and commercialization.”
The expansion would gready add to
the 575-acre main campus. This expect
ed growth has angered some residents
businesses to rural areas and added that
the educational system will have to be
improved to make this a reality.
In the last several years, legislative
leaders have unveiled several propos
als to attract more teachers to the
state, including a plan approved last
summer by the General Assembly to
increase teacher pay statewide.
Some rural areas have managed to
profit from the new economy because
of close business relationships with
urban cities. “Income generated in
RTP brings back money to rural com
munities,” Beacham said.
But many rural towns, especially
those built around tobacco and other
crops, are striving to find a place in the
new economy. Even family-owned hog
farms that used to dot the eastern half
1 of the state have been swallowed up by
large corporations. “Some communi
ties have been hit hard,” Roca said.
Promising Prosperity
Today it is unclear how many North
Carolina residents will adjust to the
ever-changing economy, but Gov.
Mike Easley vowed in his inaugural
address to bring economic prosperity
to all comers of the state.
“Many communities have strong
and robust economies, while others lan
guish,” Easley said. “North Carolina
values require that we all work togeth
er to spread our success - not by talcing
wealth from any region, but by creating
opportunities and expertise in every
region until we include every family in
every county in North Carolina.”
The State & National Editor can be
reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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Professors David Newbury and Perry Hall listen to Professor Harry
Amana speak at a reparations forum held by 0.A.5.1.5. for Africa Week.
of slavery are not with us, well, the
remains of segregation are still with us
and that is a legacy of slavery,” he said.
Amana said he opposed giving blacks
individual reparation payments but that
he supported a government-established
fund for blacks to go to such causes as
education.
Watson, a history professor with a
focus on the American South, presented
a different opinion, finding actions to
end inequality among economic classes
more feasible. “It is more constructive to
Wednesday, April 18, 2001
who fear the University’s expansion
could infringe on the community.
But Evans said environmental impli
cations are being addressed.
“Environmental planning is very
much at the heart of things that we’re
planning out here,” he said.
Halkiotis said he is pleased that the
the University plans to develop the area
with minimal disturbance to the existing
community.
See DEVELOPMENT, Page 7
Students'
Work Airs
On UNC-TV
The first segment of the
three-part documentary
aired Monday and focused
on hog farming pollution.
By Rachel Clarke
Staff Writer
Student producers, cinematogra
phers and writers crammed into UNC
TV studios Tuesday, rushing to edit
their air pollution documentary in time
for its 7:30 p.m. airing today.
The documentary, which will be
shown on UNC-TV during the televi
sion newsmagazine “North Carolina
Now,” is the last segment in a three-part
series examining air pollution through
out North Carolina.
The students wrote, filmed and pro
duced the segments for their documen
tary television class in the School of
Journalism and Mass Communication.
“I’m very excited,” said graduate stu
dent Tania Zeigler, who produced
tonight’s segment. “We’re having a
viewing party for all the students.”
The first part of the series, which
aired Monday night, focused on the air
pollution associated with hog farming in
the eastern part of the state.
“It’s a controversial issue," said Dan
Childs, a graduate student who pro
duced the first segment. “Every hog
farmer refusedto talk to us.”
Childs said he worked around the
dilemma by using a written statement
from the N.C. Pork Council.
He said solving problems such as
these required that all the students
involved be very industrious.
“I think that everyone involved put
in time above and beyond classtime -
even more than we thought would be
involved,” Childs said.
Although the three segments cover
the same topic, they don’t need to be
watched together, said Tom Linden,
Glaxo Wellcome distinguished profes
sor of medical journalism and the
instructor for the class. “They each
stand alone.”
The segment that aired Tuesday cov
ered air pollution in urban areas and
was produced by Steve Baragona, a
graduate student in medical journalism.
Senior journalism major Nora El-
Khouri wrote the script
See DOCUMENTARIES, Page 7
argue for measures to eliminate eco
nomic inequality without regard to
color,” he said.
Newbury and Lindsay, both history
professors specializing in African histo
ry, focused on reparations to Africans
from Western countries.
Newbury opened his comments by
explaining major flaws in Horowitz’s ad.
He then discussed a solution to repay
Africans by implementing the concept
See FORUM, Page 7
3