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Global health watchdog
wants flu virus destroyed
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON Thousands of sci
entists were scrambling Tuesday at
the urging of global health authori
ties to destroy vials of a pandemic
flu strain sent to labs in 18 coun
tries as part of routine testing.
The rush, urged by the World
Health Organization, was sparked
by a slim, but real, risk that the
samples could spark a global flu
epidemic. The vials of virus sent
by a U.S. company went to nearly
5,000 labs, mostly in the United
States, officials said.
“The risk is relatively low that a
lab worker will get sick, but a large
number of labs got it, and if some
one does get infected, the risk of
severe illness is high and this virus
has shown to be fully transmissi
ble,” WHO’s influenza chief, Klaus
Stohr, told The Associated Press.
It was not immediately clear why
the 1957 pandemic strain, which
killed between 1 million and 4 mil
lion people was in the proficiency
Scrashy perjury charge nixed
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A fed
eral judge said Tuesday she would
dismiss three peijury charges from
the 58 total counts against Richard
Scrushy as jurors got an in-depth
look at the vast fortune prosecutors
say the former Health South CEO
made because of a huge fraud.
Opening court after a break for
jurors, U.S. District Judge Karon
Bowdre granted a defense motion
to bar jurors from hearing evidence
about Scrushy’s sworn statement to
an investigator from the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Scrushy
was charged with three counts of
perjury for allegedly lying during the
statement, given in 2003.
Bowdre told jurors they would
have “three fewer charges to deal
with” because of her ruling, which
BASKETBALL
FROM PAGE 1
well done and reflecting so well
upon themselves and upon us.”
Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange,
followed, comparing basketball to
the legislature before introducing
Williams.
“You have to work as a team,
the shots you take have to be good
shots, and sometimes you just
need good defense,” said Hackney,
a UNC graduate.
Williams, who won his first
national title last week after
returning to his alma mater two
years ago, told the crowd how
proud he was of his players and
how hard they had worked.
“They are a very gifted group of
individuals, and the only reason
they’re the 2005 national cham
pions is because they worked as a
team,” he said.
“It’s something our players
will remember for the rest of our
lives.”
Williams and the team were
honored with a plaque from the
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test kits routinely sent to labs.
It was a decision that Stohr
described as “unwise,” and “unfor
tunate.”
That particular bug was “an
epidemic virus for many years,”
Stohr said from the U.N. health
agency’s headquarters in Geneva,
Switzerland. “The risk is low but
things can go wrong as long as
these samples are out there and
there are some still out there.”
The 1957 strain has not been
included in the flu vaccine since
1968, and anyone born after that
date has no immunity to it.
Dr. Nancy Cox, chief of the
influenza branch at the federal
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention in Atlanta, said her
agency was notified of the situa
tion Friday morning. She also said
officials strongly doubt someone
deliberately planted the danger
ous germ or that this was an act of
bioterrorism.
“It wouldn’t be a smart way to
gutted the government’s perjury
case. Bowdre said she would release
a written order later.
Outside court, Scrushy lawyer
Lewis Gillis said Bowdre’s ruling
marked “a great day for the defense,”
which claimed that civil investigators
with the SEC improperly assisted the
Justice Department in its criminal
probe of Scrushy. “The defense has
been able to knock out three other
major counts in this case,” he said.
U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said
the dismissal “does not impact the
strength of our accounting fraud
case.”
Scrushy was initially named in an
85-count indictment in 2003, but
that was replaced last year with a 58-
count indictment that consolidated
some of the original charges and
added new ones, including peijury.
General Assembly presented
by House Speaker Jim Black,
D-Mecklenburg, and Senate
President Pro Tern Marc Basnight,
D-Dare.
“We do hope that all these men
will come back next year,” joked
Black, referring to reports that
junior Rashad McCants will go
pro next year and the rumors that
others might follow.
After statements by a few leg
islators and no debate, the resolu
tion passed after only a few min
utes with 47 votes in favor and
none opposed.
But the team wasn’t just brought
to Raleigh for its skill on the court.
Lawmakers also wanted to recog
nize the players for their academic
achievements, Rand said.
Under the NCAA’s new aca
demic standards, which penalize
schools for players who drop out
of good academic standing, the
Tar Heels received a perfect score.
They were one of only a few top-25
teams to do so.
“They represent the best of what
an athlete can be,” said Sen. Ellie
From Page One
start a pandemic to send it to labo
ratories because we have people
well trained in biocontainment,”
she said.
The concern over the shipment
of pandemic flu virus to thousands
labs renews questions about the
safe handling of deadly germs
an issue that led to toughened
U.S. rules after anthrax was sent
in the mail in 2001, killing five
Americans.
Most of the flu samples 3,747
were sent starting last year at the
request of the College of American
Pathologists, which helps labs do
proficiency testing. The last ship
ments were sent out in February.
Dr. Jared Schwartz, an offi
cial with the pathology college,
said a private company, Meridian
Bioscience Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio,
is paid to prepare the samples.
The firm was told to pick an
influenza A sample and chose from
its stockpile the deadly 1957 H2N2
strain.
Besides perjury, Scrushy was
charged with conspiracy, fraud,
money laundering, obstruction of
justice and false corporate report
ing in the first case of a CEO being
accused of violating the Sarbanes-
Oxley Act, passed in 2002.
Scrushy could get what amounts
to a life term and be ordered to for
feit as much as $278 million in assets
if convicted, without the perjury
counts.
As testimony resumed on the
money-laundering charge, a gov
ernment consultant testified Scrushy
received bonuses of $13.5 million
from early 1996 through 2002 for
meeting financial targets set out
in Health South’s business plan.
Scrushy got another $34.5 million
under a bonus plan for management,
he said.
Kinnaird, D-Orange, after the
chamber passed the resolution.
“I hope that they appreciate
that they hold a special place in
our hearts for not only being the
best in athletics but the best in
academic achievement.”
After the passing of the resolu
tion, Williams posed with lawmak
ers and UNC Chancellor James
Moeser for pictures, departing
with the team soon afterward as
dozens of fans followed seeking
autographs.
Hackney, who was on Franklin
Street for the championship wins
in 1982,1993 and last week, said
after the session’s end that the
resolution was part of a tradition
worth continuing.
The General Assembly honored
the previous two UNC teams that
took home the national title.
“It’s our leading state univer
sity. ... It’s just appropriate that
we honor the people who made it
possible.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
ZONING
FROM PAGE 1
staff is exploring ways to exempt
Carolina North from acreage lim
its, and Alderman Alex Zaffron
suggested that anew and purely
commercial zone be used.
Alderman Mark Chilton added
that the town has not been specific
about where it wants to see commer
cial development. Until it reaches a
decision, plans for Carolina North
BANQUET
FROM PAGE 1
Scott was second, and Jawad
Williams went last. He said the 8-
20 season “broke me down, (and)
I didn’t want to play basketball any
more,” but closed by saying, “When
we came in, people pointed their
fingers at us. Now they just point
those fingers straight up in the sky
BRUTON
FROM PAGE 1
proud of our students.”
Many of those in attendance
learned of the event through class
listservs, and several said the dis
cussion helped enliven their regu
lar curriculum.
“I’m really glad I came because
the class, you know, it’s sort of dry
STUDENTS
FROM PAGE 1
it provides the council with guar
anteed student input.
“There’s obviously a lot going on
(on the Maryland campus) that we
didn’t know about,” she said.
The Athens-Clarke County
Commission in Athens, Ga., used to
have a similar position —but Jean
Spratlin, commission clerk, said it
has been vacant for quite a while.
But students at the University of
Georgia say they do not passively
watch the commission’s actions.
Andrew Dill, a UGa. senior
and co-chairman of the student
government association’s external
affairs committee, said his group
serves as a liaison between stu
dents and local politicians.
The group does have its strug
gles, Dill said. Sometimes tedious
government meetings don’t always
appeal to students.
“At some points, it’s hard to get
students to sit through a meeting
for five or six hours,” he said.
The process for town-gown
communication in other college
towns is not as formal.
Officials in Ann Arbor, Mich.
home of the University of Michigan
said they have no official student
liaison to their city council.
The story in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is
a similar one.
City Clerk Stan McCracken said
that some University of Alabama
students have been involved in local
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and other areas will stay tenuous.
Locals are also worried about
what dense commercial zoning
will mean for the peace and quiet
of existing neighborhoods.
“My main concern about
Carolina North is that nobody
really knows how traffic is going
to work,” Vanke said.
A possible compromise for
Carolina North might be creating
purely residential areas to house
University employees, Broun said.
because we’re No. 1.”
Earlier in the evening, UNC’s
coaches presented individual
awards for the season, and Felton
and May were named co-MVPs
after receiving an equal number
of votes from their teammates.
That means both Felton’s No. 2
and May’s No. 42 will hang in the
rafters as honored jerseys.
But another, more important
sometimes,” said sophomore Julie
Soforenko, referring to her trans-
Atlantic policy course. “This was
really engaging, and I feel like I
got a lot out of it because he’s so
knowledgeable and a very vibrant
speaker.”
The impression was apparently
mutual, with Bruton offering plen
ty of praise for those who put forth
challenging queries.
politics but that the town does not
have any seats on its council specifi
cally allotted to students.
McCracken was quick to point
out that the council does not turn
a deaf ear to students. Tuscaloosa’s
council is split into districts, one of
which the fourth includes the
UA campus.
“The council member who
represents that area takes a great
interest in the student body,”
McCracken said of Lee Garrison,
who represents that district.
A fine blend
Chapel Hill’s approach to the
issue has a taste of its own. It seems
to be a mix of the programs that
have worked elsewhere —with a
unique Tar Heel twist.
For starters, Chilton said, the
UNC student body president typi
cally appoints a liaison to work
with local government officials.
The position was created in the
late 1980s as a compromise to a
request for a permanent student
seat on the council, he said.
“It seemed that (a permanent
student seat) would not be pos
sible ... because it would require a
change in state law,” Chilton said.
But the effectiveness of the
post is debatable. Students typi
cally get involved only when they
have a stake in town government’s
actions, Chilton said.
Council member Mark
Kleinschmidt shared similar sen
“The village idea is great if it’s
planned well,” Vanke said.
Several aldermen said com
mercial districts should only go
on main roads where the town can
feasibly support them.
“The reality is that there are
only a few places with the infra
structure to support commercial
zoning,” said Mayor Mike Nelson.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu
piece of fabric will forever grace
the Smith Center ceiling as well,
commemorating the 2005 national
champions.
Said Roy Williams, “For those of
you leaving our program... there’s
going to be a big banner up there
for the rest of your life.”
Contact the Sports Editor
at sports@unc.edu.
“I found that since coming to the
United States, American student
audiences are, I think, a lot more
informed about the European
Union than a lot of European
student audiences would be,” he
said. “I was asked some questions
I hadn't thought of before.”
Contact the State id National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
timents, saying many students shy
away from local politics because
they think they don’t know enough
to participate.
But he said council members
always want to hear student input,
especially on town boards and
commissions.
“The sitting council is eager to
appoint students,” he said.
Despite Kleinschmidt s enthu
siasm, the council has yet to make
a formal decision on requests for
permanent student membership
on boards affecting them, such as
the transportation board.
In November 2003, then-
Student Body Secretary Frances
Ferris asked the council to reserve
a student seat on such boards.
Kleinschmidt pointed out that
the turnover in the student body
would make it difficult for the
council to oblige the request.
But both he and Chilton said
they would not be surprised to
see another student elected to the
council in the future.
“It could happen again quite
easily,” said Chilton still the only
UNC undergraduate ever to sit on
the council.
Kleinschmidt made it clear that
the opportunity for a student to
serve on the council is available.
“I don’t think there is a per se
resolve by the Chapel Hill elector
ate to deny a student a seat.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
5