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Law cuts lobbyists’ influence
BY ELIZABETH DEORNELLAS
STAFF WRITER
“ Lobbyists in North Carolina will
face tougher regulations under
anew law signed by Gov. Mike
Easley on Friday.
The law, which will take effect
Jan. 1,2007, aims to hold both lob
byists and lawmakers more account
able for financial disclosure.
- The rules close the goodwill
loophole, which required lobbyists
tb disclose money spent on law
makers only when a specific issue
was discussed.
Under the new legislation, all
spending more than $lO must be
reported.
The law also creates a “cooling
6ff period” that bars legislators
from becoming lobbyists within
•six months of leaving office.
“It will slow down the revolving
door between legislators and lobby
ists,” said Ferrel Guillory, director
6f the UNC-Chapel Hill Program
on Southern Politics, Media and
Public Life.
■ “It’s a step —an important step,
(but) it’s important to say, too, that
it is not the end of lobbying.”
He said that professional lobby
NOMINATION
FROM PAGE 1
fo submit information, including
memos she has written and cases
she has represented, both as a pri
vate lawyer and during her time in
the White House, Gerhardt said.
William Marshall, professor in
the School of Law at UNC-CH, said
Miers’ confirmation process will be
more difficult than that of newly
minted Chief Justice John Roberts.
“The stakes are somewhat higher.”
Because Miers is nominated to
fill O’Connor’s seat, she is in place to
either continue or end O’Connor’s
foie as a critical swing vote.
Democrats might fight harder
now than they did for Roberts’ bid to
replace the late Chief Justice William
Rehnquist, Marshall said. Roberts
was confirmed 78 to 22.
“(Miers’) record is so unclear that
who will be pleased with the nomi
nation will take some time to work
out,” Marshall said.
Miers’ lack of judicial experience
is not uncommon for Supreme Court
justices, he said.
Rehnquist, a U.S. assistant attor
ney general when he was nominated
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9
ists will learn to adapt and that the
public and the media still will have
to remain vigilant.
And he said the new legislation
creates more accountability and
should raise public awareness of
government spending and public
confidence in their legislators.
John Hood, president of the
John Locke Foundation, said the
law will force legislators and lob
byists to be more accountable for
expenditures.
“Lawmakers will now have a rea
son, an excuse really, to say, “No, no
thank you,’” he said. “The bill cre
ates incentives for both lobbyists
and public officials to make better
decisions.”
Christie Barbee, president of
the N.C. Professional Lobbyists
Association, said the law will not
substantially change how lobbyists
work with the General Assembly.
But the section of the legislation
that regulates executive branch lob
bying is completely new, and Barbee
said there is a lot of confusion as to
how it will be interpreted.
“That is the area of the bill that
needs the most work,” she said.
Bob Phillips, executive director
in 1972 by President Richard Nixon,
had no judicial experience before
beginning his term.
Bush emphasized Miers’ loyalty
to the Constitution and the laws of
the nation in announcing her nomi
nation Monday morning.
During his address, Bush praised
her judicial restraint.
“Miers will strictly interpret our
Constitution and laws,” he said. “She
will not legislate from the bench.”
Miers received both her bachelor’s
degree in mathematics and her law
degree from Southern Methodist
University. Miers, 60, is single and
has no children.
If confirmed, Miers will be the
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1 73 East Franklin Street, Chapel Hill
News
of Common Cause North Carolina,
said he thinks the bill will be effec
tive, but it could be stronger.
Phillips said he supports extend
ing the cooling-off period to at least
a year and prohibiting lobbyists
from contributing to campaigns.
Phillips also said he feels North
Carolina should move toward
spending limits similar to pro
grams in other states.
For example, he said Kentucky
limits lobbyists’ spending to SIOO
per legislator per session.
Phillips said South Carolina’s
“no cup of coffee” policy goes even
further, forbidding lobbyists to
give anything of value to a public
official.
“I do believe there is far too much
money in the system,” he said.
Phillips said the excess of money
spent on lobbying contributes to
public cynicism and apathy.
There is a perception that money
creates influence on the legislative
process, he said.
“This is not healthy for our
democracy.”
Contact the State (3 National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
third woman to serve on the Court.
O’Connor became the first when
she was appointed by President
Reagan in 1981. Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg still is serving.
The Supreme Court opened for
the 2005-06 session Monday faced
with a long list of controversial cases.
The issues that could be discussed
include assisted suicide, military
recruitment, abortion rights and
the use of DNA evidence in death
penalty cases.
O’Connor will continue to serve
until her replacement is confirmed.
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Board looks to expand program
BY LEYLA BALLANTYNE
STAFF WRITER
Orange County Board of
Education members received a
report on the possibility of expand
ing language programs at the
board’s Monday meeting.
Orange County Schools are on the
cutting edge for second-language
programs it is one of the few sys
tems in the nation to implement a
program in elementary schools.
The program was initiated last
year in order to ease the transition
into middle school and create a more
comprehensive language program.
Beverly Griffin, a Spanish teach
er at Efland-Cheeks Elementary
School, emphasized the importance
of introducing a second language at
an early age.
CAROLINA FIRST
FROM PAGE 1
programs and operations, and
funds also went toward endow
ments and capital, said Peter
Vaughn, Duke’s executive director
of alumni and development com
munications.
While private universities have
long relied on donations as a major
part of funding, similar initiatives
at public universities mark a more
recent trend, Vaughn said.
“They are particularly new in
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“The younger kids just acquire
it,” she said. “They immediately
respond.”
Educators hope that if languages
are introduced at a younger age, stu
dents will acquire proficiency earlier,
giving students the option of taking a
third language in high school.
Rebecca Garland, associate
superintendent of curriculum and
instruction, said, “Students who
choose to be exposed to a third lan
guage would probably have advan
tages over students who did not.”
But introducing second-lan
guage programs in elementary
schools requires a curriculum
change. Time spent studying other
disciplines must be sacrificed.
Trading classroom time tradi
tionally spent learning math and
the areas of public universities,” he
said. “But the privates have been
doing it for a long time.”
Leaders at top universities real
ize the potential of private funds,
he said.
“It makes sense,” Vaughn said.
“All of these places have national
constituents, and a lot of their
alumni don’t live in the state of
North Carolina and don’t support
them through state taxes.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
English causes many to feel uneasy.
There is a concern that students
will not be as adequately prepared
in these areas.
But some say studying a second
language can help performance in
other areas.
“The problem is fitting it all in,”
Garland said. “Our students are
spending two and a half hours a
day learning English.”
In addition to time constraints,
budget issues pose a problem.
Despite those limitations,
Garland expressed her hopes for
the future.
“We would love to
see an Asian or Pacific
Rim language added at high school
or middle school level,” she said.
“If that’s where the economy is
growing, in the Asian part of the
world, that student would enter
college or the business world with
an advantage.”
Many board members were con
cerned about the dwindling num
ber of students interested in taking
French classes.
“I’ve had some conversations
with French teachers in high
school, their numbers are shrink
ing considerably,” Garland said.
“We need someone looking at
what’s happening with that.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
5