• Home Schoolers • College Doors Close Greet Model Teacher C A R O L I N A On Legal Residents Cameras Clock Speeders ‘The Language Police’

Volume 12, Number 7 A Monthly Journal of News, July 2003 Analysis, and Opinion from JOURNAL the John Locke Foundation www.CarolinaJournal.com www.JohnLocke.org Victims of Neglect, North Carolina’s Buildings Crumble

State faces a backlog State’s political leaders of $1.3 billion in repairs; raided the reserve fund funds diverted elsewhere for their own projects

By PAUL CHESSER By DON CARRINGTON Associate Editor Associate Publisher RALEIGH RALEIGH tudents and faculty at North Caro- ven though there was a $500 million lina Central University in Durham backlog of needed repairs and reno- S are learning to live with leaks from E vations, in 1996 legislative leaders its buildings’ old steam heating system. secretly diverted $21.3 million of repair Moisture seeping into the walls and leak- money for pet projects. age from the roofs has spawned outbreaks The money was distributed to about of mold in several of NCCU’s classrooms 250 nonprofit or local-government organi- and dormitories. zations without any formal application pro- Because the state’s Repairs and Renova- cess. tion Reserve has been drastically Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Demo- underfunded for at least three years, the crat, and former House Speaker Harold university is patching with operating funds Brubaker, a Republican, allotted themselves — or in some instances, is closing buildings. 45 percent of the money. Then-Gov. Jim In Raleigh, even the State Capitol build- Hunt was given a 10 percent share for hav- ing proved no match for neglect. Plaster in ing his budget office write the checks. its dome, soaked by rainwater that leaked After a news story by Carolina Journal in inside, cracked and fell into interior walk- early 1997 exposed the scheme, several ways. Now, contractors are busy repairing major newspapers also ran stories about the the damage. hidden slush fund and editorials con- The same can’t be said, though, for the demned the process. rest of the state’s deteriorating buildings and grounds. The State Construction Office The scheme estimated that nearly $1.3 billion is needed for repairs and renovations on its proper- Before its passage, legislative budget ties. writers made a last-minute change to the Carolina Journal photo by Richard Wagner Critics of North Carolina’s political lead- 1996 continuation budget bill. Following A construction worker carries plywood used in the erection of scaffolds inside the State Capitol. ership say the problem stems from a mis- the section dealing with expenditures for placement of priorities rather than from a repairing state buildings for fiscal 1996-97, lack of money. reverted to the General Fund $39.5 million was 1998-99, when lawmakers appropri- a paragraph was added that read, “Funds “It’s pretty obvious as you look at the of the $100 million from the reserve. The ated $145 million. earmarked in the 1995-96 fiscal year for the plant that the money has not been allocated next year, the General Assembly earmarked Allocations for the reserve are supposed Repairs and Renovations Reserve but not for basic repairs,” said state Sen. Richard $125 million for the reserve, but $116.4 mil- to equal 3 percent of the replacement value appropriated are hereby appropriated. The Stevens, a Cary Republican who was Wake lion was reverted to help balance the gen- of the state’s buildings ($14.7 billion as of Office of State Budget and Management County manager from 1984 through 2000. eral budget. Of the remaining $8.6 million August 2000), but only if a credit balance may allocate these funds for land acquisi- “Instead of funding repairs, [legislators] that was spent on repairs in 2002, $7 million exists at the end of the fiscal year. The tion, matching federal funds, State grants, raised taxes and added programs.” paid for security upgrades at state adminis- university system receives 46 percent of the and grant-in-aid.” The recent trend began in 1999 when the trative buildings in Raleigh and $1.6 mil- money, and the state’s other buildings get No specific amount of money was men- state was hit with a natural disaster in the lion paid for an air-conditioning system at 54 percent. Agencies submit their priori- tioned and few legislators noticed the form of Hurricane Floyd. Then, Gov. Mike the Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth tized lists of capital needs to OSBM, which change. When asked why the money was Easley took office in 2001 and was almost City. The museum has yet to open. then recommends to the Joint Legislative reappropriated with no strings attached, immediately faced with a budget deficit. The legislature allocated no money for Commission on Governmental Operations then-Budget Director Marvin Dorman told repairs and renovations in fiscal 2003. As of the projects that should be funded. CJ, “The General Assembly had a desire Repair funds redirected mid-June, House and Senate budgets con- Many agencies, knowing the state’s bud- that the money be spent on things they tained $50 million for the 2004 reserve, but get would likely eliminate reserve funding, wanted it spent on.” In 2000, $60 million of the $150 million whether the money would survive in the didn’t submit requests for repairs for the The checks started flowing in the fall of allocated for the state’s Repairs and Reno- final budget was still in question. coming year. But the State Construction 1996, just before the general election, which vations Reserve was redirected to hurri- According to the Office of State Budget cane relief. In 2001, when the state first and Management, the last year the Repairs realized its recent budget problems, Easley and Renovations Reserve was fully funded Continued as “Legislators Criticize,” Page 3 Continued as “Politicians Diverted,” Page 3

Term Limits for NC State Legislators? The John Locke Foundation NONPROFIT ORG. Contents 200 W. Morgan St., # 200 U.S. POSTAGE Favor 72% Raleigh, NC 27601 PAID Oppose 20% RALEIGH NC PERMIT NO. 1766 Not Sure 8% Calendar 2 State Government 3 Education 6 Higher Education 10 Local Government 14 Books & the Arts 18 Opinion 20

% of N.C. Respondents in Oct. 2002 JLF Poll Parting Shot 24 C A R O L I N A Contents

ON THE COVER • Lindalyn Kakadelis writes that a recent • Randal O’Toole writes that data from the JOURNAL report on public opinions about public edu- 2000 Census show that at least 94.6 percent •A total of $1.3 billion is needed for repair cation affirms the obvious. Page 7 of the United States is rural open space. and renovation of state buildings and prop- Page 16 erty. Observers say the problem stems from • Karen Palasek reports that, based on vari- the setting of wrong priorities rather than ous studies, it appears that small high • An interview with former U.S. Navy sub- lack of money. Page 1 schools surpass larger ones when it comes marine captain Scott Waddle. Page 17 Richard Wagner to academic achievement. Page 8 Editor NORTH CAROLINA THE LEARNING CURVE HIGHER EDUCATION Paul Chesser, Michael Lowrey •A bill that has passed the state House • Kory Swanson reviews the book The Lan- Donna Martinez would turn what was intended to be a tem- • Two ideas under discussion in the state guage Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict Associate Editors porary state authority into a permanent legislature would make it more difficult for What Students Learn by Diane Ravitch. bureaucracy having expanded responsibili- legal residents of the state to be admitted Page 18 ties. Page 4 to the University of North Carolina. Karen Palasek, Jon Sanders Page 10 • Reviews of the books Creative Destruction: Assistant Editors • While defenders say the state’s political How Globalization Is Changing the World’s leaders have only followed the national • Faculty salaries in the University of North Cultures by Tyler Cowen, and How the Dis- trend in raising taxes to fill budget holes, a Carolina system compare well with those mal Science Got its Name by David Levy. Andrew Cline, Roy Cordato, Charles Davenport, Ian Drake, new report suggests that North Carolina is of their peers, according to a study released Page 19 Tom Fetzer, Nat Fullwood, almost alone in enacting large-scale tax in- in May by a Virginia public-policy think John Gizzi, David Hartgen, creases every year since 2001. Page 4 tank. Page 11 OPINION Summer Hood, Lindalyn Kakadelis, George Leef, Kathryn Parker, • Taking personal responsibility when trag- • A report from the Cato Institute suggests • An editorial on the Jayson Blair scandal Marc Rotterman, R.E. Smith Jr., edy strikes may not be easy or popular, but another method for paying for higher edu- at the New York Times and the troubling Jack Sommer, John Staddon, it is still the most honorable course of ac- cation other than student loans: human downward spiral of newspaper journalism George Stephens, Jeff Taylor, tion, says the former captain of a subma- capital contracts. Page 12 in general. Page 20 Michael Walden, Karen Welsh rine that struck and sunk a Japanese fish- Contributing Editors ing boat two years ago. Page 5 LOCAL GOVERNMENT • George Leef writes that grade inflation ought to be a high concern of college ad- Jenna Ashley, Jonathan Jones, EDUCATION • A General Assembly bill expected to be- ministrators, but there is little evidence that Hans Hurd, Paul Messino come law in late June authorizes the Char- they are willing to fight to stop it. Page 20 Editorial Interns • Winston-Salem hosted more than 8,500 lotte-Mecklenburg police department to North Carolina parents and students in expand its use of cameras to catch speed- • Michael Walden writes that in a new re- May at the 19th annual North Carolinians ers. Page 14 port two economists debunk many myths for Home Education conference and book about urban sprawl. Page 22 fair. Page 6 • Cities in North Carolina are losing sched- uled airline service. Aside from the state of PARTING SHOT John Hood • According to the National Center for Edu- the economy and the aftereffects of Sept. 11, Publisher cation Statistics, adults who complete less fundamental changes in the airline indus- • Paul Chesser writes that Rhode Island than a secondary education earn about 67 try make it unlikely that passenger flights contributes nothing of value to the nation Don Carrington percent as much pay as working adults who will again grace airfields in several of the and ought to be absorbed by Connecticut Associate Publisher earn a high school diploma. Page 7 state’s cities. Page 15 or Massachusetts. Page 24

Published by Calendar The John Locke Foundation 200 W. Morgan St., # 200 Raleigh, N.C. 27601 (919) 828-3876 • Fax: 821-5117 Education Reform Leader to Speak at Headliner Luncheon www.JohnLocke.org

isa Graham Keegan, chief executive dent of Public Instruction on a platform of Bruce Babcock, Ferrell Blount, officer of the Education Leaders rigorous academic standards, annual test- John Carrington, Hap Chalmers, Council, will be the guest speaker at ing, stronger accountability, and school Sandra Fearrington, Jim Fulghum, L William Graham, John Hood, a John Locke Foundation Headliners lun- choice. She won handily and was re-elected Kevin Kennelly, Lee Kindberg, cheon at noon Sept. 8. The event will be at in 1998 without opposition. Robert Luddy, William Maready, the McKimmon Center at North Carolina As superintendent, Keegan maintained J. Arthur Pope, Assad Meymandi, State University. general oversight of Arizona’s annual $4.5 Tula Robbins, David Stover, Keegan was named chief executive of- billion K-12 budget and served on the state Jess Ward, Andy Wells, ficer of the Education Leaders Council in boards for education, universities, commu- Art Zeidman May 2001. She is one of the nation’s most nity colleges, and charter schools. Board of Directors prominent and outspoken education reform Her insistence on stronger accountabil- advocates. She has gained national atten- ity and use of technology-based solutions tion for her focus on student-centered fund- led to the development and implementa-

CAROLINA JOURNAL is a monthly journal ing and academic improvement and her tion of a state-of-the-art system to electroni- of news, analysis, and commentary on state passionate belief that every child can learn. cally track K-12 financial and academic data. and local government and public policy Keegan’s policy expertise and her his- She advanced teacher-driven academic issues in North Carolina. tory of successfully implementing state- standards — standards that were nation- level education reforms have gained her ally praised for their clarity and rigor — and ©2003 by The John Locke Foundation national accolades, frequent media atten- withstood numerous assaults on her an- Inc. All opinions expressed in bylined ar- tion, and made her a sought-after education nual testing program. ticles are those of the authors and do not reform expert. She fought successfully for the creation necessarily reflect the views of the editors of Carolina Journal or the staff and board of She has testified frequently before Con- of school choice, including Arizona’s land- the Locke Foundation. gress, state legislatures, and education or- mark charter school and tuition tax credit ganizations. laws, which together led to Arizona’s No. 1 Material published in Carolina Journal Keegan was a founding member of ELC rating in the Manhattan Institute’s annual may be reprinted provided the Locke Foun- in 1995 and a key architect of the Education Freedom Index. dation receives prior notice and appropri- organization’s growth from a small group The cost of the luncheon is $20 per ate credit is given. Submissions and letters of reform-minded state school chiefs to an Lisa Keegan of the Education Leaders Council person. For more information or to prereg- to the editor are welcome and should be organization of national prominence. Un- ister, contact Summer Hood at (919)828- directed to the editor. der her leadership, ELC’s membership grew ents. 3876 or [email protected]. Readers of Carolina Journal who wish significantly, both in numbers and diver- Prior to ELC, Keegan served for more to receive daily and weekly updates from CJ sity. than a decade as a state official in Arizona, Shaftesbury Society editors and reporters on issues of interest to ELC today is the nation’s only “action” where she led the state’s education reform North Carolinians should call 919-828- think tank for education reform. It has mem- movement. Each Monday at noon, the John Locke 3876 and request a free subscription to bers in more than 30 states. ELC is on the She was elected to the Arizona House Foundation plays host to the Shaftesbury Carolina Journal Weekly Report, deliv- front lines of education reform at the fed- in 1990 and served two terms. Society, a group of civic-minded individu- ered each weekend by fax and e-mail, or eral, state, and local levels, with a member- During her tenure, she served as vice- als who meet over lunch to discuss the visit carolinajournal.com on the World ship that includes governors, state school chairman and chairman of the House Edu- issues of the day. Wide Web. Those interested in education, chiefs, state boards of education, individual cation Committee and authored much of The meetings are conducted at the Locke higher education, or local government should also ask to receive new weekly e- state and local school board members, busi- Arizona’s education reform legislation in offices in downtown Raleigh at 200 W. letters covering these issues. ness leaders, charter operators, district su- the early 1990s. Morgan St., Suite 200. Parking is available perintendents, principals, teachers, and par- In 1994, she ran for state Superinten- in nearby lots and decks. CJ C A R O L I N A July 2003 JOURNAL North Carolina 3 Legislators Criticize State Priorities on Building Maintenance

Continued From Page 1 areas of state government are no less sig- nificant. The Department of Health and Office still keeps an extensive list of Human Services says it needs $238 million repair needs for its properties across the in repairs and renovations for its facilities state. throughout the state. The state budget of- If money is provided this year, funding fice requested $98 million for DHHS from from the Repairs and Renovations Reserve the 2001-03 biennial budget for repairs, is expected to be used to complete work on which wasn’t provided through the reserve. the Museum of the Albemarle. According The budget office also said the Depart- to The Daily Advance of Elizabeth City, the ment of Justice and Public Safety needs state has already spent $7 million on the about $106 million almost immediately for project. The museum needs an additional property repairs. Nearly all of that ($100 $5 million for the completion of interior million) is needed for prisons and juvenile work before it can open. Rep. Bill Owens, an delinquency facilities. Elizabeth City Democrat, told The Daily State Auditor Ralph Campbell went a Advance that he thought funding for the step further, reporting in an audit in May museum would be in the budget. that the state should build three new juve- nile prisons because its five existing ones Little in direct appropriations are safety and security hazards. While repairs and renovations are obvi- Besides the Repairs and Renovations ous necessities, state agencies are asking for Reserve, the legislature funds capital more money for new-construction projects. projects (defined as repairs, renovations, OSBM said more than $1.6 billion is needed new construction and infrastructure) to meet those needs. For example, among through appropriations in the budget. How- DHHS’s requests are the planned replace- ever, repairs and renovations to existing ment of Dorothea Dix and Umstead mental properties rarely get hospitals, at a cost of $40 funded in that way. million. The Department That doesn’t mean of Environment and lawmakers were reluc- “That’s like a family Natural Resources said it tant to engage in capital saying we want to have needs $7 million to spending. Almost $1.3 all the fine things, but detoxify the Warren billion was appropriated County landfill. over the last 10 years for we can’t repair our Not all requests for capital projects. In addi- house.” new projects appear to be tion, the state is obligated as urgent. The Depart- to pay off $3.1 billion in — Sen. Fred Smith ment of Agriculture higher-education bonds wants $14.6 million for a that were approved by voters in 2000. Over- multipurpose exhibit building at the North all in the last 10 years the state has commit- Carolina State University Fairgrounds. The ted to $6.64 billion in general obligation Department of Commerce wants to add a bonds for mostly new capital projects. conference center at the Wanchese Seafood In recent years appropriations for capi- Industrial Park on Roanoke Island at a cost tal projects reflected the legislature’s bud- of $250,000. Carolina Journal photo by Richard Wagner get struggle. Since 2000 only $48 million Scaffolding fills the interior of the state Capitol’s dome, where workers are repairing plaster. was earmarked for those items, and that Misplaced priorities? amount included only matching funds so need, as did Campbell in a recent audit, for cation, safety, and health of its citizens. the state could receive federal money for Some lawmakers blame state leaders for both the Smart Start and More at Four “All that can be done in an effective and environmental and crime-control projects. funding inefficient programs, unaccount- prekindergarten education programs. Both efficient way that will allow us to maintain able nonprofit organizations, and unfilled men said the programs have too much over- our buildings,” he said. Woeful conditions state job positions. Those programs, they lap and are inefficient. say, were funded at the expense of the Smart Start’s budget was $193 million The bright side? Stevens bemoaned the faltering heating, state’s existing properties. “That’s like a last year, while More at Four started with ventilation, and air-conditioning systems family saying we want to have all the fine $36 million. Many of the dollars from both Stevens said that as Wake County man- in many aging state buildings, especially at things,” said Sen. Fred Smith, R-Johnston, are directed to the same local centers that ager he placed “a lot of emphasis on repairs NCCU. Repair requests for those systems in “but we can’t repair our house.” administer the two programs. and renovation of buildings. We always the state’s universities alone exceed $135 “We’re going to fund over 5,000 empty “If it feels good and sounds good, we do tried to do the basics,” he said. “You can million. positions,” Smith said. “Nobody’s in those it without looking at the cost-benefit ratio lose a building over not maintaining a roof.” “That’s just basic maintenance,” Stevens jobs.” and the timing,” Smith said. “Just like fami- Stevens is serving his first term in the said. If air-circulation problems aren’t ad- Smith questioned the state’s $750 mil- lies, government has to do the right thing.” Senate, and is embarrassed by the condition dressed the state can expect more mold to lion in annual payments to nonprofit orga- Smith said the government’s priorities of the Legislative Office Building, where he accumulate in its buildings, he said. nizations, many of which have little or no should be to care for people who can’t care works. He tries to be optimistic, though. The backlog of maintenance in other government oversight. He also doubted the for themselves, and to provide for the edu- “We did get new duct tape on the carpet, I’m told,” he said. CJ Politicians Diverted Money to Slush Funds Through Secret Arrangements

Continued From Page 1 Waxhaw, $200,000; Gaston County Art & Granville Medical Center foundation in of Pinehurst to help buy a new fire truck. History Museum, $50,000. Oxford and $100,000 to Fuquay-Varina for But like the Whalehead Club, disbursement involved all legislative seats. Basnight, The largest beneficiary of Basnight was downtown revitalization even though, at of the money was stopped after news re- Brubaker, and Hunt periodically composed the Pavillon Treatment and Renewal Cen- the time, the town had no specific plans for ports and editorials exposed the secret a list of organizations and the amounts each ter in Polk County, a new substance-abuse how to use it. spending. group was to receive. Basnight gave allot- facility for business professionals. The cen- Brubaker sent $250,000 to the Brevard From his share of the slush fund, Hunt ments to Democrat senators only. Brubaker ter was started by the late Charles Hayes of Music Center, a privately owned summer directed Dorman to send a $1 million check directed money based on the recommenda- Greensboro, a major political contributor music camp. When questioned about the to the privately owned Exploris Children’s tions of a few Republicans and a few Demo- and chief executive officer of Guilford Mills. money, camp director Gary Hines told CJ, Museum in downtown Raleigh. The crat House members that had voted for him On Oct. 26, 1996 — a few days after receiv- “The main auditorium needs renovation museum’s boosters, though, had already as speaker. ing the $1 million check — Hayes, his fam- and we were having a tough time raising been successful with a more direct raid on ily, and business associates donated $40,000 this type of funding.” the Repair and Renovation Reserve fund. The recipients to Basnight’s political campaign. Brubaker also sent $100,000 to the Core On Nov. 13, 1996, the Joint Legislative The original list of spending obtained Sound Waterfowl Museum in Harker’s Is- Commission on Governmental Operations, Basnight’s disbursements totaled about by CJ also included $600,000 for the land, $20,000 to the Richland Elementary a committee cochaired by Basnight and $9.6 million and included projects such as: Whalehead Club building on the Outer School Parent/Teacher Association, and Brubaker, approved a list of expenditures the Richmond County Historical Society, Banks in Currituck County. Basnight pulled $500,000 for the Museum of the New South for repairing state buildings. The largest $100,000; Richmond County Fine Arts Cen- that project from the list after news stories in Charlotte. expenditure on the list was $3.9 million to ter, $500,000; Richmond County Arts Coun- about the secret spending surfaced. At the request of Rep .Richard Morgan, “renovate” an old state carpentry shop at cil, $20,000; Andrew Jackson Museum in Brubaker directed $100,000 to the Brubaker approved $100,000 for the Village what became the Exploris site. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A 4 North Carolina JOURNAL

Around the State Rural Internet Access Authority was intended to be temporary ‘Whole New Bureaucracy’ May Now Last Forever • Remarks on June 3 by U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona drew the ire of Rep. Rich- By PAUL CHESSER ard Burr, R-5th, who is the leading Associate Editor GOP candidate for Sen. John RALEIGH Edwards’s seat in 2004. The Wash- bill that has passed the state ington Post reported that Carmona House would turn what was testified at a House Energy and Com- A intended to be a temporary merce subcommittee hearing on state authority into a permanent bu- smokeless tobacco and “reduced reaucracy, with expanded responsi- risk” tobacco products, and was bilities. The legislation, sponsored by asked whether he supported “the Rep. Joe Tolson, D-Edgecombe, pre- abolition of all tobacco products.” serves the Rural Internet Access Au- He responded that he “would sup- thority, created in 2000 through a bill port banning or abolishing tobacco that was sponsored by Sen. Eric Reeves, products,” and that he sees no need D-Wake. The law that established the for them in society. RIAA required the authority to be dis- Burr’s statement the following solved Dec. 31, 2003. day called Carmona’s remarks “ri- “What we don’t want is to create a diculous.” He said that in light of the whole new bureaucracy that lasts for- surgeon general’s comments, he ex- ever,” Reeves told The News & Ob- pects antitobacco crusaders to pur- server of Raleigh in June 2000. sue a ban on tobacco “with a brand Tolson’s bill would create the E- new zeal.” NC Authority, which continues the Burr warned those in the “to- work of the Rural Internet Access Au- bacco community” who think they thority. The nonprofit was established Sen. Eric Reeves (left) sponsored legislation in 2000 that created the Rural Internet Access Authority, can live with additional regulations to “manage, oversee, and monitor ef- which was to be dissolved in 2003. Rep. Joe Tolson (right) wants to make the authority permanent. to “be careful what you ask for. Af- forts to provide rural counties with ter all, in certain circles ‘regulate’ high-speed broadband Internet access.” tinuing it as a new state agency is a bad idea. band service. She said the state underesti- actually means ‘ban.’ Never forget Among its goals: “What they’re creating is a bureaucracy mated the amount of time required that some in Washington have • Local dial-up Internet access from that doesn’t need to be created,” she said. “I think what happens is when you get fought…to ‘regulate’ tobacco right every telephone exchange within one year; Those “loose ends” are to provide for into this,” she said, “it’s a huge state and out of existence.” • Affordable high-speed Internet ac- the continuation of the RIAA website and to there’s still a lot to be done.” cess available to every North Carolina citi- complete work financed by about $13 mil- Supporters of the bill believe the au- •A study by the Fluor Corpora- zen within three years; lion in authority grants, said Dwight Allen, thority should be maintained to oversee tion, one of the world’s top design- • Significant increases in ownership of executive director of the North Carolina any future private or federal grants it might build firms, found that North Caro- computers, web devices, and Internet sub- Telephone Cooperative Coalition, which receive, then distribute. The authority, lina can boast that it has some of the scriptions promoted throughout the state. opposes the bill. which started with $30 million in funding strongest economic incentives in the The legislation also expands the “We’ve asked [RIAA] if there’s some- from the nonprofit MCNC, is expected to Southeast. The company measured authority’s oversight for broadband Internet thing else they want to do,” he said. “We have about $700,000 at the end of the year. the economic development incen- access to include “distressed urban areas.” haven’t heard.” Patterson said she expected E-NC wouldn’t tives and tax structure of 13 states, Sen. Virginia Foxx, a Banner Elk Re- But Jane Smith Patterson, executive di- need any state money for at least three and determined that the Tar Heel publican who serves on the Information rector of the RIAA, said the authority has years. Allen said if E-NC continued to get state ranked first in incentives for a Technology Committee, said the RIAA has yet to complete all of its goals. She said that grants it would self-perpetuate. sample general manufacturing only “some loose ends” to tie up to com- at the end of last year, only 49 percent of “Our point,” he said, “is that [expand- project, second for what Fluor called plete its original mission. She’s willing to let potential rural customers in the state had ing broadband] is something we think is a “super project,” and fifth for a the authority finish its work, but said con- the opportunity to get affordable broad- going to be done by the private sector.” CJ research and development project. According to the study, North Carolina’s corporate tax burden ranked third highest for the general North Carolina Among the Most Tax-Happy States project, 10th highest for the “super” project, and sixth highest for the R&D By CAROLINA JOURNAL STAFF project. Reported by the Triangle RALEIGH Major Statewide Net Tax Increases Enacted in 2001 an Business Journal. hile defenders say the state’s po- litical leaders have only followed Arizona Millions of current dollars, annualized $486 2001 • Gov. Mike Easley announced the national trend in raising taxes Arkansas $180 2002 W California $1,373 in mid-May the first recipient of to fill budget holes, a new report suggests Connecticut $122 North Carolina’s new economic in- that North Carolina is almost alone in en- Indiana centives program. Computer chip acting large-scale, broad-based tax increases $951 Kansas $237 maker Infineon Technologies North every year since 2001, which may help to Massachusetts $755 America Corporation, based in San explain why the state’s economy continues Michigan $259 Jose, Calif., will add several posi- to lag the national average. Nebraska $83 tions at offices in Cary. The com- The John Locke Foundation used sur- New Hampshire $84 pany, which already employs 70 New Jersey $420 $1,079$1,499 veys from the National Conference of State North Carolina people in Research Triangle Park, Legislatures and the Rockefeller Institute of $690 $343$1,033 Ohio $260 could receive as much as $9.5 mil- Government in New York to identify 20 Oklahoma $101 lion in tax breaks if it maximizes and states that have enacted major, statewide tax Oregon* $67 SOURCES: Rockefeller Institute of sustains for 11 years the number of Pennsylvania $570 increases in either 2001 or 2002. The report Government, National Conference of Rhode Island jobs it adds under its agreement with notes that several additional states, includ- $24 State Legislatures, NCGA Fiscal Research the state. The agreement calls for the Tennessee $933 ing North Carolina, are also considering tax Vermont * Oregon enacted a tax cut in 2001. company to reach annual perfor- increases in 2003, though it is not yet pos- $20 Washington $130 mance targets for adding positions. sible to judge the outcome. $0 $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 $1,200 $1,400 $1,600 Each year that Infineon meets those Among 20 tax-increasing states, said goals, it will receive a grant equal to Locke Foundation President John Hood, 65 percent of the personal state with- only New Jersey and California have en- North Carolina’s record for raising taxes, vate-sector workforce actually lost 150,000 holding taxes created from the new acted larger tax increases than has North particularly on income, helps to explain jobs during the period from mid-2001 to jobs. Carolina (see chart). Adjusting for the size why our economy continues to underper- early 2003 — dwarfing the losses of any In recent years the company has of the state, Hood found that only three form,” Hood wrote. comparable state. cut about 5,000 positions, and April states — New Jersey, Indiana, and Tennes- He noted that since mid-2001, North Hood observed that even in Tennessee, 29 announced it would further re- see — enacted larger tax increases per per- Carolina’s personal income growth, at 3.98 where lawmakers enacted a tax increase in duce its workforce by up to 900 jobs. son than North Carolina in 2001 or 2002. percent, has lagged its neighbors’ 5.03 per- 2002 approaching $1 billion, the state’s tax The cuts are part of a larger restruc- Furthermore only two states, New Jer- cent, and the national average of 4.23 per- burden remains significantly lower than turing plan to return the company to sey and North Carolina, enacted major tax cent. Also since mid-2001, North Carolina North Carolina’s. profitability. Infineon employs about increases in both years, and of those only lost 119,000 jobs, or more than one-third of “Potential entrepreneurs and investors 2,700 people at eight United States North Carolina is likely to enact another all the net job losses in the South. must pay one of the highest income tax rates locations, and employs 30,000 world- major tax increase in 2003 — the third year At the same time, North Carolina saw in the United States if they choose North wide. CJ in a row. more growth in government employees Carolina, while in Tennessee their income- “The fact that few states have matched than any of its neighbors. The state’s pri- tax rate is essentially zero,” Hood said. CJ C A R O L I N A July 2003 JOURNAL North Carolina 5

‘It’s all about how you get up and endure the crisis’: Waddle Commander Does the Right Thing After Submarine Tragedy

By JONATHAN JONES Waddle hired private le- all came crashing down, however, in a mat- Editorial Intern gal counsel and traveled ter of minutes, he said. RALEIGH to Japan to meet with fam- “Everything good was brushed away aking personal responsibility when ily members of the crew- following the incident,” he said. As a com- tragedy strikes may not be easy or men who died. manding officer in the Navy, his account- Tpopular, but it is still the most hon- Describing the colli- ability was absolute. Anything that went orable course of action, says a retired Navy sion as an accident, wrong was ultimately a reflection of his officer who commanded the submarine USS Waddle accepted full re- performance of professional duty. Waddle Greenville when it struck and sank a Japa- sponsibility and spurned said that being a leader, both in public ser- nese fishing boat about two years ago. the advice of those advo- vice and private life, requires responsibility Cmdr. Scott Waddle (Ret.) was in charge cating for him to stay si- not only when “riding the crest of the wave,” of the nuclear-powered submarine when it lent or to disperse blame. but also when the unthinkable occurs. collided with the Ehrime Maru on Feb. 9, Although there were ex- 2001. Nine of the boat’s crew were killed as cuses available, duty and Life after the Navy it sank in a matter of minutes off the coast responsibility demanded of Pearl Harbor. The tragedy made interna- full, open disclosure. “It He described the collapse of his Navy tional headlines and thrust Waddle into a was important to tell the career as “devastating.” Without his strong media firestorm. Waddle described the trag- truth,” he said, “because faith in God, Waddle indicated all hope edy and the path his life has taken since the it must be heard to deter- might have been lost in the wake of the incident at a John Locke Foundation lun- mine what happened and ensuing investigation, now closed with his cheon June 9. why.” honorable discharge. His will to move for- “I had millions of questions,” he said. Admitting mistakes ward continuously draws strength from a “The odds are much greater than winning and taking responsibility, deeply rooted Christian faith as well as the any type of lottery. Those few minutes were especially in the most unconditional love of his wife and daugh- the greatest challenge of my life. I can live public of forums, was not ter, he said. with the loss of a ship, but not the loss of life. easy, Waddle said. But it These days, Waddle works as a senior In the end, a horrible wrong occurred.” was the way he was project manager for A.B.B., Inc. of Raleigh. raised, and more impor- Waddle speaks at the John Locke Foundation luncheon. He also devotes his time to a variety of Waddle’s book tant it was the right thing community service interests, the Boy Scouts to do. The actions of others often have pro- was vital he firmly establish his authority in particular. He said someone could still Waddle’s book, The Right Thing, details found influence on the shaping of values and set a positive example for his crew. offer many meaningful contributions to the the tragic event and the difficult days that and leadership ability, he said, because we Leading the crew of a submarine required service of others despite seemingly insur- followed. While a military investigation often learn to do what is right by imitating self-reliance and the setting of a model oth- mountable personal distress. ensued and the newly inaugurated Presi- those we admire and respect. ers would want to follow. Waddle spent “When you get knocked down, it’s all dent George W. Bush faced his first major When he took command of the many months building a team of 140 mili- about how you get up and endure the cri- foreign-policy challenge as president, Greenville in March 1999, Waddle said, it tary personnel that he took great pride in. It sis,” he said. And doing the right thing. CJ We Want Less!

Concerned About Issues Such As Taxes, Regulations, Property Rights & Patient Choice in Health Care?

Thousands of your fellow North Carolinians are, too — that’s why they have joined North Carolina Citizens for a Sound Economy to fight for less government, lower taxes, and more freedom. They are making their voices heard. North Carolina CSE members protest state Fighting for the People’s Agenda tax increases at an August rally in Raleigh.

North Carolina Citizens for a Sound Economy holds politicians accountable for their votes on taxes, regulations, and other issues. Its aggressive, real-time campaigns activate a grassroots army to show up and demand policy change.

And it gets results. CSE has helped to defeat three large tax increases in North Carolina and defended property rights, parental choice, and individual freedom before the state legislature, county commissions, city councils, and elsewhere.

Here’s what some are saying about Citizens for a Sound Economy:

• “They have been doing a great job all over the country educating people.” — President George W. Bush

• “CSE is a great organization . . . The hundreds of thousands of volunteer activists that are members of CSE are vital to this country’s economic prosperity.” — U.S. Rep. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem

• “You guys are everywhere! CSE is a great organization. CSE, thanks.” — Sen. John McCain Get Involved! Join North Carolina CSE NORTH CAROLINA and Make a Difference!

115 1/2 West. Morgan St. Raleigh, NC 27601 www.cse.org 1-888-446-5273 July 2003 C A R O L I N A 6 Education JOURNAL

NC News in Brief Former N.Y. Teacher of Year Speaks in N.C.

• Sen. Fern Shubert, R-Union, Schools prolong childishness and discourage learning, Gatto tells home-schoolers has been at the center of a dispute over the role of the legislature in teacher licensing policy in North By KAREN PALASEK Carolina. The controversy sur- Assistant Editor rounds S931, “An Act Eliminating RALEIGH the Portfolio Requirement for inston-Salem played host to Teacher Certification.” S931 was more than 8,500 North Carolina ratified May 28 and sent to Gov. W home schoolers in May who Mike Easley for his signature June were attending the 19th annual North Caro- 2. The bill was cosponsored by linians for Home Education conference and Sens. Andrew Brock, R-Mocks- book fair. The gathering sells out a dozen ville, and Shubert. area hotels at least six months in advance S931 not only removed the and draws speakers with credentials from teacher portfolio requirement, it around North Carolina and the nation. also provided that the State Board Retired teacher John Taylor Gatto was of Education could not add any featured in three conference lectures. Gatto new requirements for teacher li- is a 26-year veteran of the New York City censure, except with the consent of public school system. He received the New the General Assembly. York City Teacher of the Year Award many Teacher portfolio require- times during his career, and in 1991 was ments for licensure have been un- named New York state teacher of the year. popular with teachers. The board On July 25, 1991, while he was still teacher has favored the portfolio require- of the year, Gatto announced in an op-ed to ment in the past, however, as has the Wall Street Journal his decision to quit Easley’s office. teaching . Easley vetoed the bill June 9 but, said “he did not oppose the A teacher, but not an educator bill’s broader intent.’ The real controversy over fi- “I may be a teacher, but I’m not an edu- nal approval surrounded Section cator,” Gatto’s Wall Street Journal statement John Taylor Gatto was New York City teacher of the year and state teacher of the year. 4: “No new requirement added by said. “I’ve taught public school for 26 years, the State Board of Education to the but I just can’t do it anymore. For years I begins. Childishness and boredom allow dren, Gatto said. teacher certification process may asked the local school board and superin- schools to continue to function, he argues. In order to educate them, he would be required for licensure now or tendent to let me teach a curriculum that “Cellblock style confinement” in class- have to send them out of the schools. in the future without explicit leg- doesn’t hurt kids, but they had other fish rooms, an unhealthy fast-food diet, artifi- islative authorization.” Easley said to fry. So I’m going to quit, I think,” he cial isolation from everyone except their age Guerrilla education he would refuse to “let the State wrote. group, and a collection of disjointed activi- Board’s hands be tied…” the News Gatto’s long teaching career included ties that pass as curriculum, “[plunge] chil- Gatto’s frustration with the stifling con- & Observer of Raleigh reported. “some of the worst, and also some of the dren into the trancelike state which bore- ditions in schools led him to try guerrilla Former Gov. Jim Hunt said of Sec- best” New York city schools. He taught in dom produces.” education instead. In Dumbing Us Down he tion 4 ,“I don’t think many people Harlem and Spanish Harlem, as well as on Instead of youthful energy and open- tells the story of his Lab School program. in the Legislature knew what was the Upper West Side of Manhattan. ness to new experiences, Gatto said, school “For five years I ran a guerrilla pro- in there.” In The Curriculum of Necessity: What children are “selfish, irresponsible, envious, gram where I had every kid, rich and poor, Afterward, Shubert held a Must An Educated Person Know? Gatto inconsiderate, and whining.” smart and dipsy, give 320 hours a year of press conference and expressed wrote, “It took me about a decade to real- They are also bored. “Bored, bored all hard community service.” concerns over both the veto and ize that schooling and education are con- the time,” Gatto said. Why don’t schools en- The school was “in chaos,” and the pro- Hunt’s statement that the legisla- cepts that are at war with each other.” courage resilience, curiosity, and the traits gram was allowed to run under Gatto’s ture was ignorant of S931’s con- What would make an award-winning that have traditionally meant success in supervision. It was cheap, and enormously tent. “The legislature has every veteran like Gatto decide that the education Western society? Because these traits pro- successful. It was closed down as soon as right to tell the State Board what system delivers too much “system” and too mote maturity, and maturity is inconsistent “stability” returned, Gatto reports. they can and cannot do,” Shubert little education? with the school system as we know it, he Guerrilla education means training said in an interview with the NC said. children to be and think in ways that regu- Education Alliance. She cited the Teacher and author lar schools can’t tolerate. legislature’s constitutional charge Boredom and the school model “Getting outside the box isn’t hard,” to “supervise and administer the Gatto is the author of Dumbing Us Gatto said. “Think of it this way: Well- free public school system.” Down, The Guerrilla Curriculum: How to Get The American school system is based schooled people are trained to reflexively Easley’s press release, Shubert an Education in Spite of School, The Under- upon a 19th-century Prussian model de- obey; train yours [children] to have inde- said, “mangles and misquotes the ground History of American Education, and signed to regiment and homogenize stu- pendent judgment…” School leaves chil- constitution.” “Basically, what the other books on schooling and education. dents as much as pos- dren no time for solitude, governor did was to insult me and The subject of Gatto’s first NCHE con- sible, Gatto and many so they dread being every other legislator,” she said. ference talk, “Discouraging Genius: the other education scholars It took me about a de- alone. Shubert detailed the legisla- Paradox of Extended Childhood,” blends have argued. Gatto has sent stu- tive history and extended debate themes from his books. In Dumbing Us The Prussian model cade of schoolteach- dents off to apprentice- over the bill in her discussion with Down he wrote, “…I’ve come to believe that was designed to produce ing to realize that ships, to jobs, and to go the North Carolina Education Al- genius is an exceedingly common human a functional and submis- schooling and educa- fishing, instructing them liance. quality, probably natural to most of us.” sive citizen. Independent to leave the city and just The disagreement between the Some of the “unlikeliest” kids he thought would disrupt tion are concepts that spend time alone. legislature and the board over taught, according to Gatto, occasionally the system, and was sys- are at war… The opportunity for teacher licensing also leaves teach- demonstrated true human excellence — tematically discouraged. solitude lets them “learn ers in the middle. The North Caro- insight, wisdom, justice, resourcefulness, This meant separat- to enjoy their own com- lina Educators Association, which courage, and originality. ing children from the in- pany. ” Compulsory-at- represents teachers in the state, did But what Gatto experienced in the sys- fluences of family and church, and segre- tendance laws promote the shallow inner not attend Shubert’s press confer- tem of education didn’t fan those sparks. gating them into groups that were similar life of a perpetually bored person, Gatto ence after the veto. The union also Instead, it routinely extinguished them. in immaturity and age. said. failed to answer emails from “I began to wonder, reluctantly, American schools have adopted the Gatto identified many people who be- Shubert’s office asking for their po- whether it was possible that being in school regimented, segregated approach to school came well-educated in home schools. They sition on the governor’s action. itself was what was dumbing them down.” modeled by the Prussians. include David Farragut, in charge of a war- The board held an emergency It is a system designed to eliminate ship in his teen years, George Washington, meeting, in which several mem- The paradox of extended childhood youthfulness and create “trancelike bore- who taught himself geometry at age 11, and bers were absent, and voted 8-0 “to dom,” Gatto said. Francis Collins, the head of the human ge- remove the portfolio requirement, Gatto has been retired from the teach- “Children and their parents are told nome project. Collins studied almost no sci- defusing a potential fight between ing profession for 12 years. He has used that that ”if they show up and shut up, every- ence before college. He learned how to think Easley and the legislators who time to study schooling and education. The thing will be fine,” in the words of Virginia and how to learn in school at home. wanted to override his veto,” the conclusions he draws both alarm and dis- teacher Patrick Welsh. Keeping the spark of genius from be- N&O reported. No plans for fur- turb him. Mind-numbing conditions, according ing smothered is a priority for Gatto. ther action have yet been an- “The recent history of American school- to Gatto, create order and predictability in “If that happened to you… it’s the most nounced by the legislature. CJ ing is a history of childishness, deliberately schools. They don’t lead to an education. important thing in the world that you don’t imposed,” his “Discouraging Genius” talk Those were the conditions that hurt chil- let it happen to your kids,” he said. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Education 7

NC Minority 8th Graders: Years Behind Whites in Learning Educators Continue 3.50 3.50 3.50 Latino 3.20 Black To Live in Denial 3.00 umper stickers have a way of affirming the 2.50 obvious. Have you seen this one? “IT IS 2.50 2.30 2.20 2.20 BBETTER TO LIVE IN DENIAL THAN NOT TO LIVE AT ALL.” 2.00 1.90 This captures the epitome of narcissism in our society. Bumper stickers often bring attention to 1.50 issues with hyperbole or double meanings. What’s amazing is there are people who really believe this SOURCE: statement! However, folks who do live in denial and 1.00 Education refuse to recognize their con- Trust, Winter dition have a serious prob- 0.50 2002-2003 lem, and really do not live at all. Talk with anyone who works with hurts, habits, and 0.00 hangups. He knows the first Science Math Reading Writing step in recovery is recogniz- ing that there is a problem. A few months ago, a re- port was released that con- Upper-level degrees linked to higher long-term income firmed the denial that pre- vails in public education. Public Agenda is a polling Lindalyn and research organization, Kakadelis Early Achievement Signals Future Success not a conservative group. They recently released “Where We Are Now: 12 Things you need to Know By KAREN PALASEK tional average on the 2000 NAEP. Average may not be ‘pro- about Public Opinion and Public Schools.” Assistant Editor ficient,’ however. The National Center for Education Sta- This report lays out the opinions of various RALEIGH tistics reported in “The Condition of Education 2003” that education stakeholders on issues ranging from stu- ccording to the National Center for Education Sta- in 2000, only 27 percent of U.S. eighth-graders were “pro- dent testing and achievement to teacher compensa- tistics, working-age adults who “complete less ficient” in mathematics. Proficient is defined by NCES as tion and parental involvement. What caught my than upper secondary education” earn about 67 “solid academic performance for each grade assessed.” A attention were not the results of the report but the percent as much pay as working adults who earn a high Latino and black students both made progress from dramatic disparity of the opinions of the stakehold- school diploma. The statistics, from the NCES report “Com- 1990 to 2000 on the eighth-grade NAEP math assessment. ers. parative Indicators of Education in the United States and In 2000, 25 percent fewer black students, and 46 percent The report verified that there is an enormous Other G-8 Countries: 2002,” also show that students who fewer Latino students, scored “below basic” on the test. gap between the way parents and teachers rate high complete high school are more likely to stay in the labor “Below basic” means that the student does not necessarily school graduates, and the way that employers and force. Students who complete a first college degree can understand the overall meaning of concepts and the sub- college professors view them. When asked, “Based expect to earn 180 percent more than those who only fin- ject, cannot draw inferences, and cannot generalize out- on your experience, how would you rate the public ish high school. Time in school is money, the NCES report side a specific example. schools?” A total of 73 percent of parents and 93 confirms, at least if a student earns a degree. percent of teachers rated public schools “excellent” A recent Education Trust report, “Education Watch: Achievement and degrees or “good,” but only 42 percent of employers and 39 Achievement Gap Summary Tables: Winter 2002-03,” dem- percent of professors agreed. Almost half of em- onstrates that both Latino and black students are years’ The average black eighth-grade student in North Caro- ployers and professors thought that schools expect worth of learning behind average white student achieve- lina enters high school 3.5 years behind the average white students to learn too little, while less than 22 percent ment in the eighth grade in North Carolina. Using National classmate in science, 3.5 years behind in math, 2.2 years of teachers and parents felt the same. Assessment of Educational Progress data, the Achievement behind in reading skills, and 2.5 years behind in writing The most disconcerting statistic addressed Gap Summary displays learning gaps in science, reading, ability, according to the NAEP results. Latino students are whether a diploma meant that the typical student math, and writing. 1.9 years behind in science, 2.2 years behind in math, 3.2 had learned the basics. While teachers, students, The “Education Watch: North Carolina” companion behind in reading, and 2.3 years behind in writing. and parents overwhelmingly said the diploma had to the Achievement Gap Summary de- Of the three groups, Latino students significance, fewer than 40 percent of employers and tails high school and college completion had the highest graduation rate in 2000, professors said high school graduates had learned rates for Latino, white, and black stu- with 74.2 percent of students earning “on …Data suggest that the basics. Many teachers, parents, and students dents. The North Carolina data suggest time” diplomas. White students gradu- might be living in denial until after graduation, that large learning gaps in the eighth large learning gaps in ated at a rate of 72.9 percent, and blacks when the student faces the real preparation of higher grade may predict less success in com- at 64.2 percent. eighth grade may pre- education and the real world of work. pleting high school and college degrees. In the report “Measuring Up 2002”, One reason for this dichotomy may be a philo- Exceptions do exist, however, as Latino dict less success in EdTrust calculates that for its five “top sophical belief about the focus of colleges of educa- graduation rates show. states” in the nation, 54 percent of high completing high school tion. Eighty-four percent of education professors Since income is so strongly corre- school freshmen enter college within and college degrees. say it is “absolutely essential to encourage prospec- lated with academic accomplishment, four years. tive teachers to be lifelong learners.” Excuse me, but failure to finish high school almost cer- North Carolina sends 39 percent of “lifelong learners” should be a generally accepted tainly consigns an individual to low future earnings. The its high school freshmen to a U.S. college within four years. value for every citizen, not just teachers. income boost that comes with a college degree is signifi- Eighty percent of college freshmen in North Carolina re- Fewer than 20 percent of education professors cant, but it is lost to students who don’t complete the re- turn for their sophomore year, which compares favorably thought it is “absolutely essential to produce teach- quirements. Eighth-graders who are very far behind in aca- to the 83 percent that return from EdTrust’s top five states. ers who stress correct spelling, grammar, and punc- demics are less likely to attain either of these levels, the Six-year matriculation is becoming more common at tuation.” North Carolina’s Department of Public EdTrust data suggest. universities, and EdTrust looked at four-year and six-year Instruction and North Carolina colleges of educa- graduation rates in North Carolina. At the University of tion must embrace this view. Tenth-graders scoring NAEP levels and academic gains North Carolina at Chapel Hill, data from 2001 shows that at grade level in grammar dropped from 37.5 per- 82 percent of whites, and 90 percent of Latinos who en- cent in 1991-92, to only 8 percent in 1998-99. Only “on time” completion, with a diploma or degree tered as freshmen graduated in six years. Blacks gradu- Denial will prevail if folks don’t look at the facts, as the result, was counted in the “Education Watch: North ated 64 percent of entering freshmen in six years from UNC- are unwilling to change, or wait until their pain Carolina” report. High school graduation was “on time” if CH. Among four-year college programs, 69 percent of exceeds their fears. Until the money flowing to the the students received a diploma after four years. College whites, 60 percent of Latinos, and 51 percent of blacks suc- education monopoly is disrupted, it seems that the freshmen who received a four- or six-year degree, depend- cessfully earned their degrees. status quo will continue. The fastest way to improve ing on the institution and course of study, were also “on Over all, Latino students had greater success in ac- this system is to open it to the free market and time” recipients. quiring diplomas and degrees during the years studied competition. Maybe we need another bumper sticker: North Carolina’s elementary students have made some than did black students. With the exception of the six-year impressive gains, according to the “Achievement Gap Sum- UNC graduation rate, white students completed degrees “WHEN SCHOOLS COMPETE, KIDS WIN!” CJ mary.” Black, Latino, and white students all advanced dur- at a higher rate than either Latino or blacks. ing the 1990s, according to the latest NAEP math and read- The Education Trust reports didn’t attempt to explain ing scores. Eighth-grade math scores showed North Caro- the data. But taken as a broad picture, the data “paint a Kakadelis is director of the NC Education Alliance. lina posting the largest gains nationally for all three stu- fairly representative picture of who makes it through col- dent groups. Eighth-grade math scores were above the na- lege,” the authors say. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A 8 Education JOURNAL

School News: Nation 400 to 800 students per school may be the ideal size Small High Schools Excel In Quality and Safety • The New York Times reports that some states are lowering stu- dent testing standards. In the face By KAREN PALASEK of sanctions for failure to meet the Assistant Editor adequate yearly progress provi- RALEIGH sions of the federal law No Child hy has entrepreneur Bill Gates Left Behind, the Texas State Board vowed to commit billions of of Education amended scoring pro- dollars to the public education cedures on the new statewide W system? Gates is a committed advocate of achievement test. small schools, and part of a growing cho- After seeing the initial results, rus of voices calling for scaled down, safer, the Times reports that board mem- and more effective secondary education. ber Chase Untermeyer said, “The The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation results were grim.” Shortly after- has underwritten about $2 billion worth of ward, the board “voted to reduce projects since 1994, aimed at creating small the number of questions that stu- public high schools, in the 400 to 800 stu- dents must answer correctly to dent range. pass it.” Business Week’s recent picks of the top Other states are in a similar 100 high schools in America lend support dilemma. Michigan’s standards, to Gates’s view. Top-ranked International known to be among the highest in Academy, in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., enrolls the nation, would have pushed 521 students in ninth through 12th grades. 1,513 schools into the “needing The average size of a top-five high school improvement” category, the report in Business Week’s list is 641 students. The said. Michigan reduced the per- range stretches from Stanton Prep, the larg- centage of students who must pass est at 1,461 students, to tiny Paxton High, its English test to still be considered at 170 students. “adequate.” That move reduced to North Carolina’s Myers Park High small high schools as ones that keep enroll- pact on minority and low-SES [socioeco- 216 the number of schools that School, in Charlotte, was ranked No. 7 in ment below 800. The cost savings theoreti- nomic status] students than on students in would encounter problems due to the nation. At 2,497 students, Myers Park cally associated with large schools have general,” the School Size report states. Re- English alone. According to the is more than 70 percent larger than any been overstated, or don’t exist at all, accord- searchers have observed that low-SES stu- Times, Colorado and Ohio are also other school in the top 10. In all, six North ing to cost-effectiveness studies. Phillip dent attitudes are particularly sensitive to considering ways of adjusting stan- Carolina high schools appear among the top McKenzie’s 1983 analysis shows that aver- school size. dards to keep more schools in com- 100 schools in the rankings. They include age costs “decline, reach a minimum, and As Robert Jewell observed while ad- pliance with the federal law. Enloe, Providence, East Chapel Hill, then begin rising ” as enrollment increases. dressing questions of education equity Harding University, and East Mecklenburg The optimal size is much smaller than ear- “…we may be acting contrary to the inter- • The Associated Press re- high schools, in addition to Myers Park. lier believed, McKenzie’s numbers show. ests of all concerned by organizing our pub- ported that the U.S. House voted The Institute for Education and Social lic education system in a manner which to support a ban on forced medi- Increasing school and district size Policy at New York University studied costs assigns high proportions of minority cation of schoolchildren. In a 425-1 at New York City high schools, comparing youngsters to large schools within very vote, representatives passed a bill For decades before the 1980s, schools small and large institutions. The NYU study large school districts.” intended to “make sure schools do and school systems were undergoing a scale revealed that small city schools have higher Large schools don’t generally outper- not coerce parents into medicating transformation. Not only were individual per-pupil expenditures than large schools, form small schools academically. Half of the their children.” The medications schools getting bigger and bigger, so were but noticed that the small schools were research comparisons showed that small are designed to alter behavior, and the districts that served schoolchildren and graduating a significantly larger percentage schools produced as many academically ad- have been required for some chil- their families. Kathleen Cotton reported in of their students. As a result, the small vanced students as did large ones. Other- dren as a condition of attending a 1996 study “School Size, School Climate, schools incur a lower cost per graduate. wise, small schools outperformed larger classes. Children are most often and Student Performance,” that “the total Small size, according to the Cotton sur- ones. prescribed the psychotropic drugs number of elementary and secondary pub- vey, promotes a feeling of Wake County’s Ritalin or Adderall. lic schools declined 69 percent — from “belongingness” and re- “Small Schools, Big House speaker Dennis Hastert, about 200,000 to 62,037 — despite a 70 per- duces students’ sense of Changes” study of 2000 R-Ill., spoke in favor of the bill, cent increase in population” between 1940 alienation. Small schools …either as dropout echoes the Cotton re- named the Child Medication Safety and 1990. According to a study by H.J. also have better atten- search on school grades, Act. The lone vote in opposition to rate or graduation rate, Walberg, the number of school districts dance and lower dropout test scores, and honor roll the ban came from Rep. Susan across the United States shrunk by 87 per- rates. As Cotton wrote, the holding power of membership. It also notes Davis, D-Calif., who stated that “it cent over roughly the same period, falling “Measured either as a that smaller schools do a was a solution in search of a prob- smaller schools is con- from 117,108 in 1940, to 15,367 by 1992. The dropout rate or gradua- better job of retaining stu- lem.” dominant themes almost everywhere were tion rate, the holding siderably greater than dents. “Current research to become bigger and more centralized in power of small schools is that of large schools. still shows smaller school • In a possible sequel to the name of efficiency and opportunity. considerably greater than environments to have Zelman vs. Simmons-Harris, the By 1994, as Cotton noted, average that of large schools.” lower dropout rates and Supreme Court agreed to consider school enrollment was five times its 1940 The Cotton survey reported on 49 stud- better student involvement in extracurricu- another voucher question. Educa- level. Elementary schools, which had aver- ies that considered school size and its ef- lar activities,” “Small Schools, Big Changes” tion Week reports that the issue con- aged 123 students, now averaged 650 stu- fect on performance, attitude, and behav- reiterates. cerns the constitutionality of dents. High schools in 1940 were closer to ior. Of these, 31 linked smallness to higher The Cotton survey states that “both per- voucher programs that offer funds the 350 to 600 range, at their largest. High achievement, 19 to better student attitudes, sonal and academic self-regard are more to private secular schools, but not schools with 2,000 to 3,000 students are now 17 to increased extracurricular participa- positive in smaller schools.” Michelle Fine, to private religious ones. commonplace in some urban and suburban tion, and 14 linked smallness to fewer dis- psychology professor at the City University The immediate question sur- areas. cipline problems and better social behav- of New York, said, “[S]mall is just a vehicle rounds a legal appeal in Locke v. Plans for new Wake County schools ior. for doing other rigorous, accountable Davey, in which a student was “de- generally agree with Cotton’s 1996 calcula- One interesting finding from the sur- work.” nied a state merit scholarship be- tions. According to the “Plan 2000 Mid-Pro- vey documents the fact that a greater per- While North Carolina did well to place cause his chosen major was ‘pas- gram Update,” new Wake County elemen- centage of students participate in extracur- six schools among the top 100 nationally, toral studies’.” tary schools are being built for 601 to 748 ricular activities at small schools. With its top-ranked schools are atypically large. “This is ‘Private School Vouch- students. Middle and high schools are large fewer students, each is “more valuable” to All of the six top-100 schools in North Caro- ers: Reloaded,’ if it were a movie,” as well. Heritage Middle School in Wake the life of the school, whether in clubs or lina have student populations over 1,200. said Barry Lynn. Lynn is the execu- Forest is planned for 1,293 students, and student government. New York has 30 top-100 schools on the tive director of Americans United Knightdale High projects 1,604 students. Achievement and safety are critical is- Business Week list. Just 25 percent of those for Separation of Church and State. Student capacity in new construction sues in contemporary high schools. Per- are larger than 1,000 students. Excluding the Davey sued the state on the doesn’t include the trailer classrooms that sonal attitudes and higher interpersonal New York City metropolitan area, about one ground of free exercise of religion, are sometimes added in a school’s first year esteem play a role in school safety. Less van- top-100 school in 10 is larger than 1,000 stu- lost, but won his appeal in the 9th of operation. dalism, theft, substance abuse, and class- dents. Circuit in San Francisco. room disruption, among other negative Without some statistical tests, it’s hard The next Supreme Court term Small schools vs. large schools behaviors were reported in 14 of the sur- to know whether North Carolina would begins in October, and litigants veyed assessments. And minority students have more top rankings with smaller high anticipate a summer 2004 decision “Small” is not a precise term when it fare better, researchers found. “To put this schools. But in students with large gaps in in the matter. CJ comes to school size. Researchers have ar- a little differently, …researchers have found achievement, research confirms that small rived at a consensus, however, and refer to that large schools have a more negative im- schools do make a big difference. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Education 9

Girls’ development matches school expectations Boys Losing on All Fronts in the ‘War’ Against Them, Researchers Say

By KAREN PALASEK achievement were Harvard professor Assistant Editor of gender studies Carol Gilligan, psy- Comparison of Male and Female Percent of Total in Each Category RALEIGH chologist Mary Pipher, and the t’s a bad time to be a boy in America, American Association of University 75 75 Males wrote Christina Hoff Sommers in the Women. They portrayed American 70 Females opening of her book The War Against girls as “lacking in self-esteem,” “un- I 65 Boys . She says that we “are turning against able to find their own voice,” and un- 60 56 57 boys and forgetting…that they are respon- der-accomplished due to an “anti- 55 sible for much of what is right in the world.” girl“ system that favors boys. And 50 Michelle Conlin’s Business Week article, boys were problems themselves, the 45 44 43 “The New Gender Gap,” reports on boy- AAUW claimed. According to the 40 girl achievement rates in schools and col- AAUW-commissioned study “How 35 30 SOURCE: leges. Boys are either falling behind girls, Schools Shortchange Girls,” boys 25 25 National or failing to make equivalent progress in a were culturally “bound in a straight- 20 Center for wide range of areas. Thomas Mortensen of jacket of masculinity.” 15 Education the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportu- To remedy this, a “boy project,” 10 Statistics, nity in Higher Education, writes in What’s centered at Tufts University, adopted 5 2000 Wrong With Guys? that “over the last 30 the bold mission of “Reinventing 0 years, nearly all of the progress in educa- Boyhood.” Director Barney Brawer Special Education College Entrance College Graduates tional attainment has been achieved by fe- told Education Week at the time that males — almost none has been earned by they had “deconstructed the old ver- males.” sion of manhood, but hadn’t yet con- According to Business Week, the female- structed” a new one to replace it. sumption in schools to this conflict. “Ritalin — and emotionally. ”Biologically, he needs to-male ratio for entering freshmen at the is a response to an artificial social context about four recesses a day, but he’s lucky if University of North Carolina is now 60-40. The Boy Code that we’ve created for children” Wolpe said. he gets one,” Conlin writes. “Even the The North Carolina Statistical Profile 2000 According to Business Week’s ‘New Gender nerves on a boy’s fingers develop later than data show that of 111,459 students who en- In myriad areas, academic, social, and Gap,’ the United States now consumes more girls’, making it difficult to hold a pencil tered North Carolina high schools in 1997, emotional, researchers see evidence that that 80 percent of the world’s production and push out perfect cursive,” Katz says. 33,098 girls graduated in 2000. Graduating boys are “languishing.” The messages that of the psychotropic drug Ritalin, mostly in Every Department of Education Survey girls represent about 30 percent of the 1997 confront young males leave men guilty, dis- doses to American boys. It has reportedly and NCES report since the 1980s documents entering class. The 29,916 male graduates connected, and without culturally accept- been called “the new K-12 management female academic progress, with little male make up 27 percent of entering high school able outlets. William Pollock, professor of tool.” progress to match. Women outpaced men freshmen. psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Pollock, in Real Boys, says that “boys in reading, writing, the arts, and music. author of the book Real Boys: Rescuing Our themselves are falling behind their own They had fewer school suspensions, fewer What’s wrong with guys? Sons From the Myths of Boyhood, articulates functioning and doing worse than they did successful suicide attempts, higher comple- one source of friction in the unspoken rules before.” Between behavior problems and tion rates in high school and college, took Mortensen notes that men represented that every boy must live by — what he calls medication, many more boys than girls more advanced coursework, were sus- 58 percent of college graduates in 1969, but The Boy Code. wind up in special education. On average, pended and held back less often, and were just 44 percent of that group by 1999. Na- The Boy Code dictates that a male “be boys comprise 75 percent of each special ed far less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD tional data on male-fe- independent, hide your class, a trend of 20 or more years. or be prescribed Ritalin. The only surprise male college entry mim- feelings, be tough. Feel in this is that the girls’ performance comes ics the UNC data. Accord- free to show your anger, Boys may be the fragile sex as any surprise. ing to the national Center It’s that boys them- but not your pain.” As Many researchers conclude that we for Educational Statistics, selves are falling be- Tom Klaus in Talking Sommers wrote in The War Against Boys need to adjust the education system to fit Nationally, 56 percent of With Boys About Sex that “it has become fashionable to attribute the way that boys mature. Helping boys college freshmen are hind their own function- states ”Real Boys, and pathology to millions of healthy male chil- “feel less like misfits” may keep them en- women. Women in- ing, and doing worse hence Real Men, don’t dren.” Sommers, a philosophy professor gaged — with school, family, and with so- creased their participa- than they did before. feel anything,” and W. H. Brady Fellow at the American ciety. Boys’ tendency to “disengage” harms tion in college by 20.5 per- The conflicting man- Enterprise Institute, notes that in modern women as well as themselves, Mortensen cent from 1967 to 2000. — William Pollock dates contribute to boy America “the problem with boys is that they argues. Males who drop out wind up in Over the same period, confusion. “A boy today, are boys, say the experts. We have to make low- and no-skill work, or are financially men’s participation grew through no fault of his them more like… girls.” dependent on their partners. Marriage and just 3.8 percent. own, finds himself implicated in the social Science and brain research confirm that the family suffer. In the 1970s, boy-girl standings were crime of ‘shortchanging’ girls,” Sommers boys and girls have real developmental dif- Boy-girl differences make a world of reversed, or so the story goes. The blame wrote in 2000 in The War Against Boys. Be- ferences. The New Gender Gap emphasizes difference, says Michael Gurian in Boys and went chiefly to the boys, or at least to a claim havior and attitude problems often surface points raised both by Sommers and by Girls Learn Differently. Halting the intellec- that girls suffered because of a male-domi- in school. Paul R. Wolpe of the Center for Lillian Katz, early-childhood education ex- tual and social decline of men in America, nated culture. Chief architects of what be- Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania pert. Boys develop more slowly than girls, he says, means giving up the idea that “gen- came the “girl project“ to promote female attributes at least part of the Ritalin con- both physically — fine motor coordination der is just a social function.” CJ

C A R O L I N A Weekly Report Center for Can local governments deliver good for Executives Local quality services without raising taxes? JOURNAL Innovation North Carolinians looking for the answer to that question need look no Carolina Journal Weekly Report for Executives is your antidote to New Ideas for Governing North further than the Center for Local watered down media coverage of state politics and policy. North Carolina’s Cities and Counties Innovation, headed by Thomas Carolina has hundreds of newspapers. But from those hundreds of Stith. Its mission is to identify and papers, only a handful of reporters are assigned to Raleigh. And 200 W. Morgan St., Suite 200 promote efficient, effective solutions how many of them do you think write from a free-market frame of Raleigh, North Carolina 27601 to problems in local government mind? using such tools as competitive contracting, new technologies, and In Carolina Journal Weekly Report, you get unfiltered weekly cov- activity-based costing. erage of state government from experienced reporters who have actually read the Federalist Papers. Our reporters attend commit- tee meetings and interview lawmakers face-to-face, so you get the Hon. Thomas Stith To obtain more information about CLI, stories firsthand. To subscribe, email [email protected] or call Director, Center for Local Innovation and subscribe to Prism, its weekly e- (919) 828-3876. Member, Durham City Council letter, call 919-828-3876. July 2003 C A R O L I N A 10 Higher Education JOURNAL

Bats in the Belltower Proposals favor illegal immigrants and out-of-state students O! the offenses that were giv’n! Policymakers Mull Changes That Would Cut The Weenies That Be at the Uni- versity of Massachusetts are consider- ing changing UMass’s mascot again. In North Carolina Citizens’ Access to UNC 1972 UMass’s athletics squads were known as the “Redmen” — which was By JON SANDERS offensive to Native Americans. March of this year. “It comes from Moscow, So with a nod to American — not Assistant Editor from Russia. It comes straight from the pit to mention local — history, the UMass RALEIGH of hell. And it’s cleverly disguised as hav- wo ideas under discussion in North mascot became the Minuteman. But ing a tender heart. It’s ripping the heart out Carolina would make it more diffi- that’s a problem because, as Athletic of this country.” cult for legal residents of the state Director Ian J. McCaw told the online T Riddle’s criticism of that idea was char- to be admitted to the University of North news site MassLive, the design com- acterized as “immigrant bashing” and “cul- Carolina. pany consulting for UMass “expressed turally insensitive” by Hispanic lawmakers The first is a bill before the state Senate Houston Chronicle. some concern with the single-gender quoted in the to extend in-state tuition rates to illegal im- ethnicity of the Minuteman, and the migrants and other noncitizens. Senate Bill fact that he’s carrying a firearm.” Fewer NC students at UNC-CH? 987, currently before committee, would Tomahawk chopping amend the General Statutes to extend resi- The second idea under discussion was dent tuition status to any “individual who first proposed in UNC-CH’s newly released (i) has attended school in North Carolina Meanwhile, Florida State Univer- academic plan (www.unc.edu/provost/ for at least four consecutive years and (ii) sity received an endorsement of its academicplan03.pdf), now before the has received a high school diploma from a supposedly “offensive” Seminole mas- university’s trustees. It urges trustees to school within North Carolina or has ob- cot from one Max Osceola, acting chief “Reassess the implications of the 18 percent tained a general education diploma (GED) of the Seminole Tribe. According to the cap on undergraduate out-of-state stu- issued in North Carolina.” South Florida Sun-Sentinel April 3, dents.” If the trustees agree, they would Sponsored by Sen. Eric Reeves, D- Osceola gave the Florida Legislature “a have to gain the UNC Board of Governors’ Sen. Eric Reeves sponsored S.B. 987, a bill to Wake, and cosponsored by Sen. Tom message of support for the students approval, then be accepted by the legisla- extend in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Apodaca, R-Henderson; Sen. Fletcher L. and alumni about the school’s spirited ture, for the proposal to become policy. Hartsell, Jr., R-Cabarrus; and Sen. Jeanne H. but “students who would raise the bar for tradition, in which a man dressed up According to the UNC-CH plan, the Lucas, D-Durham, the bill is similar to last everyone.” as Chief Osceola charges down state’s current cap “is more restrictive and year’s failed Senate Bill 812. That bill, in- That sentiment animated the editorial midfield atop an Apaloosa horse and rigid compared with those governing UNC- troduced by Sen. William N. Martin, D- in The Daily Tar Heel of May 29. Editorial plants a spear on the field as a part of a Chapel Hill’s peer campuses.” Worse, some Guilford, would have required illegal im- writer Jeff Silver wrote that despite UNC- pregame ritual.” Dressed in “a brightly of the brightest students in N.C. go out of migrants to have only two years’ atten- CH Chancellor James Moeser’s vision of colored Seminole jacket,” Osceola told state for a college education. As a result, dance at a N.C. high school and a diploma making UNC-CH “the best public univer- legislators that, “Members of the Semi- “the University must decline admission to in order to qualify for in-state tuition. Lucas sity in the nation” (Moeser’s words), “the nole Tribe do not consider it deroga- thousands of exceedingly bright out-of- is the only one among SB 987’s sponsors to well-read annual U.S. News & World Report tory, demeaning or insulting.” state applicants whose presence on campus have also sponsored last year’s measure. would add to the geographic, intellectual, rankings… have not provided Moeser with Exit stage left In late May, Hispanic activists protested artistic, and cultural diversity of the student any evidence that his plan is working, with outside the General Assembly in favor of population, as well as offset the ‘brain drain’ UNC-CH hovering at fifth place among the measure. public universities for years.” Silver contin- Only a leftist with the keen atten- of North Carolina talent to other states.” The issue of granting undocumented ued, “So how can UNC-CH move up, both tiveness for his audience’s needs as UNC-CH wants “relief from the current individuals resident tuition levels is before in the magazine’s rankings and in general?” Phil Donahue could view an invitation out-of-state enrollment cap.” several state legislative bodies, and it has The answer: “The UNC-system Board to deliver a commencement address at In an interview with The News & Ob- been passed by some states, including Cali- of Governors must allow the University to a major research university in the server of Raleigh on June 2, UNC Board of fornia and Texas. The issue was quashed in increase the number of out-of-state students United States as an opportunity to Trustees chairman Tim Burnett said the cap Virginia in November it enrolls each year,” Silver writes. “First and teach the graduates “what liberals be- should be raised to 25 2002 when the attorney foremost, the excellence of the student body lieve.” Given the timing of the speech, percent. general, Jerry W. Kilgore, is hampered significantly by the 18 percent the subject matter and, as always, Don- Not enrolling the chil- Burnett laid out sev- issued a memo stating cap.” ahue’s trademark breathy, bug-eyed, eral cases for raising the that Virginia’s public col- dren of out-of-state Raising the out-of-state enrollment cap staccato-for-sloths method of empha- out-of-state enrollment leges and universities from 18 to 25 percent, however, is essen- sizing IMPOR…tant points , one would alumni ‘makes it kind cap. He said that an “ef- should not admit illegal tially the same as lowering the in-state en- be sorely pressed to manufacture a of hard to get them to fective argument with immigrants and should rollment “cap” from 82 to 75 percent. It more emblematic instance of that all- the legislature” would be reserve their slots for le- stroke a pen across a would effectively be a real cut in in-state too-familiar campus mix of leftist dull- if UNC made the case gal residents and taxpay- enrollment. For UNC-CH’s in-state enroll- ness and condescension. That and left- check.’ based on “the diversity ers. ment (the total number of in-state students) ist faux-martyrdom — Donahue’s factor,” meaning increas- In November 2001, not to decline under that change, it would proof of the trampling of free speech ing the proportion of out- officials at the City University of New York have to increase its overall enrollment by in America was, after all, MSNBC’s de- of-state students would “enrich greatly” the reversed a long-standing policy giving il- at least 9 1/3 percent. cision to cancel his low-rated show. education “experience” of those N.C. stu- legal immigrants access to in-state tuition Cutting in-state enrollment would also Once the booing began, Donahue de- dents who do gain admission to UNC-CH rates. CUNY’s vice chancellor for legal af- appear counter to one of the key issues be- clared that he “obviously ha[d] made by that diversity. Burnett noted also that fairs, Frederick P. Schaffer, said the policy hind the higher education bond issue: a a few enemies” and joked about hav- “we have 15 other campuses that provide a violated federal immigration law. The New pending enrollment increase in North Caro- ing to enter the federal witness-protec- baccalaureate curriculum, so everyone’s not York legislature later voted to extend in- lina. For example, the Sept. 15, 2000, N&O tion program. going to get into Chapel Hill.” state tuition back to illegal immigrants who Burnett also cited the familiar justifica- quoted UNC President Molly Broad telling No such thing attended high school in New York for two tion that “our education system is the best Rotarians in High Point about the bond is- years and applied for admission in a pub- economic engine we have” and that “the sue: “But this is not as much about bricks lic New York institution within five years and mortar as it is about providing oppor- One of Donahue’s suggestions to brainpower of our citizens is the future of of receiving a diploma. tunity for your children, grandchildren, and NCSU grads was to “Take a liberal to this state” in order to make the case for The federal immigration law that great-grandchildren, and fueling the lunch.” Credit him for a new tack on “giv[ing] them [sic — the antecedent is ‘our CUNY’s vice chancellor argued the policy economy of North Carolina.” Also, a pro- an old “liberal” favorite: sloganeering citizens’ although the intent is clearly violated was passed in 1996. It reads in part, bond brochure entitled “Higher Education: for that mythical free lunch. ‘UNC-CH students’] the best education we “An alien who is not lawfully present in the can.” Shaping North Carolina’s Future,” pub- A tale of two headlines United States shall not be eligible on the The latter justification seems almost at lished by the UNC-CH Office of Govern- basis of residence within a state (or politi- odds with Burnett’s third justification, in ment Relations and NCFEO, said the bond cal subdivision) for any postsecondary edu- would “enable Carolina to welcome a pos- The May 27 listing of stories for Or- which he argued “we have a lot of alumni cation benefit unless a citizen or national sible enrollment increase of 5,000 new stu- ange County in the online version of who are living elsewhere and doing well of the United States is eligible for such a dents over the next ten years.” the Durham Herald Sun had these two and wanting their children to do well.” This benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and As for the UNC-CH report’s concern stories almost back-to-back: “$1B and argument was the money factor, especially scope) without regard to whether the citi- about “brain drain” and having to turn counting: UNC hits landmark” (which “[a]t a time when we’re relying on more zen or national is such a resident.” away “exceedingly bright out-of-state ap- begins “It’s official. UNC is a billion- private money.” Because “we have to turn During the deliberations in Texas, Rep. plicants” because of the current cap, the aire… the university’s capital cam- [children of those out-of-state alumni] away Debbie Riddle, R-Houston, drew activists’ DTH of April 1 reported that Steve Farmer, paign reached the $1 billion mark, plac- from Carolina,” Burnett said, “that makes fire for criticizing the idea. “Where did this senior associate director of admissions, de- ing the school in some elite company.”) it kind of hard to get them to stroke a pen idea come from that everybody deserves scribed UNC-CH’s incoming freshman and “State budget knife to cut deep at across a check.” free education, free medical care, free what- Burnett added, “We’re not talking class as “the strongest academically in Uni- UNC.” CJ ever?” she asked in the El Paso Times in about an alumna with a dimwitted child” versity history.” CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Higher Education 11 Salaries for UNC System Faculty Compare Another Summer Favorably Among Peer Institutions in Region Reading Dud at UNC

By JENNA ASHLEY ast year, the University of North Carolina at Editorial Intern Comparing UNC Faculty Pay, Adjusted for Purchasing Chapel Hill’s summer reading program man- RALEIGH Power, With Those of National or Regional Peers L aged to stir up controversy and even litigation aculty salaries in the University of by choosing Michael Sells’ Approaching the Qur’án as North Carolina system compare well the book incoming freshmen were expected to read. F with those of their peers, according to School Faculty Adjusted National The problem with that book, which overlooks Islam’s a study released in May by a Virginia pub- (Category) Level Salary Peer Avg. propensities toward intoler- lic-policy think tank. The study, “Compen- NC State Full $ 91,700* $88,600 ance and violence, was not sation of Campus Faculty: How Virginia (DRE) Assoc. 66,900* 62,900 that it was promoting reli- Compares Within the Region,” was pub- Asst. 58,200* 53,300 gion, but that it was a waste lished by the Thomas Jefferson Institute UNC-Chapel Hill Full 102,200* 88,600 of the students’ time. With (www.thomasjeffersoninst.org) and con- (DRE) Assoc. 71,300* 62,900 so many great books avail- ducted by Pope Center for Higher Education Asst. 59,600* 53,300 able, why bother with one Policy analyst Jon Sanders. It compares fac- that just slaps a smiley face ulty salaries and compensation at colleges on the serious problem of and universities in Virginia with those at peer School Faculty Adjusted Regional militant Islam? institutions nationally or regionally. (Category) Level Salary Peer Avg. This year’s choice is no The Jefferson study adjusts 2001-02 sal- better, and arguably it’s East Carolina Full $79,800* $80,300 ary data compiled by the American Associa- worse. Incoming freshmen (DRI) Assoc. 62,900* 60,700 tion of University Professors according to are assigned to read Barbara Asst. 53,300* 49,800 area cost-of-living data from ACCRA, an as- Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Jon Sanders sociation of chambers of commerce, in order UNC-Greensboro Full 82,300* 80,300 Dimed: On (Not) Getting By to compare “institutions’ salary and compen- (DRI) Assoc. 60,500 60,700 in America. The book re- sation averages in terms of purchasing Asst. 51,700* 49,800 counts the author’s experiment of abandoning her power.” It looks at 443 institutions in total, Appalachian State Full 72,700* 66,800 writing career for a few months to live as a low-paid comparing them according to their peer cat- (M1) Assoc. 60,400* 54,300 worker. She worked as a waitress, a maid, and as a egories as specified by the Carnegie Foun- Asst. 49,100* 45,400 Wal-Mart sales associate. The work she found tiring, dation for the Advancement of Teaching. the conditions often unpleasant, and the pay barely Fayetteville State Full 72,900* 66,800 Universities in the category of doctoral/re- adequate for a no-frills existence. Very enlightening (M1) Assoc. 62,300* 54,300 search-extensive are compared with national — “(Not).” Asst. 53,800* 45,400 peers, and universities in the rest of the cat- The dull, sometimes whiney narrative is capped egories - doctoral/research-intensive, mas- NC A&T State Full 70,400* 66,800 off with a chapter that rants against free-market capi- ters I, masters II, baccalaureate-liberal arts, (M1) Assoc. 60,800* 54,300 talism. For example, Ehrenreich complains that the and baccalaureate-general — are compared Asst. 53,900* 45,400 working poor can’t find affordable and convenient with peers in Virginia’s “competitive re- NC Central Full 81,000* 66,800 housing because the wealthy buy up all the land for gion”: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, (M1) Assoc. 62,700* 54,300 “condos, McMansions, golf courses, or whatever they Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, Asst. 53,500* 45,400 like.” It’s just unenlightened griping without a hint of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North UNC-Charlotte Full 87,100* 66,800 sober economic analysis — an infomercial for the lib- Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. (M1) Assoc. 64,500* 54,300 eral welfare policies she favors. The study examines salaries and com- Asst. 56,500* 45,400 Approaching the Qur’án was a waste of time, but pensation for three levels of faculty, assistant Nickel and Dimed is truly pernicious. The book is de- professor, associate professor, and full pro- UNC-Pembroke Full 78,200* 66,800 signed to lead readers to believe that there is some- fessor. It ranks the results, gives each (M1) Assoc. 57,300* 54,300 thing “terribly wrong” with the United States because category’s average adjusted salary or com- Asst. 48,900* 45,400 life is not easy for the poor. While Ehrenreich does not pensation, and also shows where the 60th UNC-Wilmington Full 72,200* 66,800 expressly advocate more government redistribution percentile falls in each ranking. The reason (M1) Assoc. 56,600* 54,300 and intervention in the management of business, there for showing the 60th percentile line is be- Asst. 49,600* 45,400 is no doubt that she intends to sow those seeds. Hav- cause, as the report explains, “Virginia policy Western Carolina Full 71,600* 66,800 ing incoming students read this feeble book makes it has been for years to strive to ensure public (M1) Assoc. 58,900* 54,300 seem as though UNC-CH is pushing a leftist, govern- university instructors receive a salary of at Asst. 49,300* 45,400 ment-enhancing agenda, rather than trying to enhance least 60 percent of their peers.” student knowledge and reasoning ability. UNC-Asheville Full 66,800 67,800 The crucial aspect in the Jefferson study The topic of poverty in the United States was re- (BLA) Assoc. 49,800 53,500 is its comparison of salaries that have been cently examined by two excellent economists, W. Asst. 42,000 43,800 adjusted for purchasing power. The author Michael Cox and Richard Alm, in their book Myths of explains that the flaw in “comparing raw Elizabeth City State Full 56,400* 52,900 Rich and Poor. If UNC-CH were interested in intellec- [salary] averages at one campus to another” (BG) Assoc. 44,300 44,300 tual diversity, it could have had students read both is that “geographic areas differ in terms of Asst. 41,100* 38,000 books and then compare them. Unfortunately, the cost of living, sometimes dramatically.” The Winston-Salem State Full 73,400* 52,900 summer reading committee decided that students report notes also that “pay is just one of the (BG) Assoc. 63,600* 44,300 should read only the book that draws a negative con- many factors that go into a professor’s deci- Asst. 52,800* 38,000 clusion based on a tiny sample of personal experience, sion of where to teach” and that the study rather than one that draws a positive conclusion based “makes no pretenses of being able to quan- An asterisk (*) denotes salary above the 60th percentile among national or on a wide-ranging evaluation of economic data and tify either institutional quality or any of the regional peer institutions. trends. many other factors that go into deciding Perhaps, however, it isn’t too late to salvage some- where to teach.” Salaries in italics are below the regional peer average. thing from the wreckage. The UNC-CH administra- As Jefferson Institute Chairman and tion could decide to require the Cox and Alm book President Mike Thompson explained in the Categories are: DRE = Doctoral/Research University–Extensive; (or some other book that argues against welfare and foreword, adjusting salaries according to DRI = Doctoral/Research University–Intensive; governmental intervention) in order to provide a coun- purchasing power “give[s] our public policy M1 = Masters I University; terweight to Nickel and Dimed. The cost would be small leaders, our business leaders, and the media BLA = Baccalaureate University–Liberal Arts; and the intellectual benefits considerable. the ability to compare salaries and compen- BG = Baccalaureate University–General. But of course, that idea wouldn’t get a moment’s sation in a fair manner where the purchas- consideration in Chapel Hill. The solution, therefore, ing power of the dollar was equalized.” The region is Virginia’s “competitive region,” made up of the following: is to turn to private enterprise. I suggest that one of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Vir- the non-leftist student organizations on campus seek UNC pay well above peer averages ginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Caro- financial support so that it can make copies of Myths lina, and Georgia. of Rich and Poor available to students who aren’t con- As the accompanying table shows, UNC tent to hear just one side of the story. It might also be system salaries in 2001-02 — with few ex- Source: Jon Sanders, “Compensation of Campus Faculty: How Virginia possible to email incoming students during the sum- ceptions — were not only above peer aver- Compares Within the Region,” published by the Thomas Jefferson Insti- mer to let them know that there are books such as ages, but also would have met the Virginia tute, April 2003. Myths of Rich and Poor that they might want to read public-policy goal. Only at UNC-Asheville along with Nickel and Dimed. were faculty salaries below their peer aver- Moeser promised to continue choosing “provoca- ages. Salaries for associate professors at tive” books after last year’s uproar. I think he ought UNC-Greensboro and Elizabeth City State University were and assistant professors were not only above the regional to focus on finding books that are intellectually broad- only slightly above their peer average. or national average, but also in the upper 40 percent among ening instead. CJ For the other UNC schools, salaries for full, associate, their peers in every category. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A 12 Higher Education JOURNAL

Course of the Month Report: Human-Capital Contracts Unlike Parrots, Anthropologist’s Needed for Higher-Ed Financing Students Don’t ‘Think Critically’ By JON SANDERS man-capital contracts, would be an “equity- Assistant Editor like investment” through “a contract by RALEIGH which an individual obtains resources to t many N.C. universities, an in- exam. Following are questions 37-39 report from the Cato Institute sug- finance his or her education by committing troductory anthropology course from that exam, with the “correct” an- gests an alternative method for a percentage of his or her income for a pre- A would deliver on a promise swer given in bold: Apaying for higher education than defined period of time after graduation.” similar to the University of North Caro- student loans: human capital contracts. What this means is that the amount the lina at Chapel Hill’s Anthropology 10 37. In the video, Greetings from Iraq, the The report, “Human Capital Contracts: investor will receive during the predeter- course description: filmmaker demonstrates that U.N. ‘Equity-Like’ Instruments for Financing mined “repayment” period will be uncer- sanctions mandated following the Gulf Higher Education,” written by Miguel tain. It could be less than their investment, ANTH 10: GENERAL ANTHROPOLOGY War of 1991 Palacios of the University of Virginia’s Bat- but just as easily it could be more. The An introduction to anthropology, the science a. effectively weakened Saddam ten Institute, explains the advantages of graduate’s interests are aligned with the of humans, the culture bearing animal. Top- Hussein’s dictatorship. human-capital contracts over student loans, investors’ — if he does well, they do, too. ics considered: human evolution and biologi- b. produced rampant inflation. using the idea of education financing as “Human capital contracts are conve- cal variations within and between modern c. resulted in dramatic increases in mal- investment in human capital. Higher edu- nient for students and investors for at least populations, prehistoric and historic devel- nutrition and related diseases among cation offers investment returns, but they four reasons,” Palacios writes. “(1) they re- opments of culture, cultural dynamics viewed children. vary widely, owing to the student’s dili- lieve the student from any uncertainty analytically and comparatively. d. made basic medicines and hospital gence in completing his studies, his skills, about being able to make fixed loan pay- supplies difficult or impossible to ac- and his field. ments, (2) they virtually eliminate default Under lecturer Alison Greene, how- quire. As Palacios writes, “The difficulty in due to financial distress, (3) they are means ever, this introduction to anthropology e. ANSWERS “b.,” “c.,” and “d.” are valuing the investment and the illiquid na- and needs blind, and (4) they give a sub- became “a daily diatribe against [Presi- all TRUE. ture of the asset makes student loans very sidy to those who most need it during the dent] Bush’s Iraq policy,” according to risky for lenders. Therefore, private-sector repayment period.” the March 2003 Carolina Review 38. According to material presented in loan institutions have stayed away from fi- Palacios lays out several issues of hu- (www.unc.edu/cr). In a May follow-up, lecture written by a retired military nancing education in the past.” man capital contracts for investors, among Publisher Steve Russell cited examples weapons, munitions, and training ex- Rapidly rising costs of, and demand for, them being the freedom to construct differ- of Greene’s commandeering the course pert, ______are “weap- higher education have, however, created a ent types for different fields of study and to attempt indoctrination. Greene ons of mass destruction” (WMD). In need for new methods of finance beyond also concerns over the legal framework pro- showed a film entitled Greetings from Iraq, contrast, ______are subsidized federal loans, as now there are tecting the investors. He also notes that the on the suffering of Iraqi people after the “area denial” and or terror weapons. capable students who lack the resources to idea is already beginning to take hold. “My first Gulf War. She assigned the book a. only nuclear weapons; chemical and finance their education. Building on ideas rich uncle currently funds students using Guests of the Sheik, which discussed life biological weapons of Milton Friedman, Palacios argues for the human capital contracts,” he writes, “Oth- in a Shiite Muslim village in southern b. only nuclear and biological weapons; creation of “an instrument that allows in- ers plan to follow.” Iraq (a book that in itself is not out of the chemical weapons vestors to share in the success of students, The report is online at www.cato.org/ purview of even a general anthropology c. nuclear, chemical, and biological as well as their failures.” His solution, hu- pubs/pas/pa-462es.html. CJ course), but she did so apparently to have weapons; land mines an excuse for “injecting more political d. only nuclear and chemical weapons; material into the course.” Greene also biological weapons introduced as course text an email from e. only chemical and biological; nuclear a friend of hers identified only as a “re- weapons CAROLINA JOURNAL Publisher tired military expert” who “appears to claim that nuclear weapons are the only 39. Using the definition above in com- weapons of mass destruction” — but she bination with the findings of U.N. John Hood Garners Praise neither distributed the email to the class weapons inspectors, it is possible to nor clarified its author’s qualifications. state definitively that Iraq clearly Greene’s course has also been dis- ______“weapons of mass for His Most Recent Book: cussed online in PoliticallyRight.com destruction.” (www.politicallyright.com/May2003/ a. possesses, has used, and intends the article4.htm). UNC-CH masters student future use of Chris Speck wrote that Greene “would b. does NOT possess lecture on [the Iraq war] directly, or make c. has exported off-hand comments if her lectures did not d. intends to supply terrorist groups Investor Politics deal specifically with Iraq. She showed with The New Force That Will Transform American Business, the class antiwar websites such as e. formerly possessed but now has de- www.iraqbodycount.com.” stroyed all of its Government, and Politics in the 21st Century Speck interviewed several people in the class. The following comments are In the May issue, CR publisher taken from Speck’s article: Steve Russell interviewed Greene by “John Hood has produced a timely and informative account of the most • “On the very first day of class she telephone. According to Russell, significant demographic shift of this century — the rise of a shareholder told us that she was against the war in In the telephone interview, Greene democracy in America.” — Jack Kemp Iraq and that she intended to make this quickly dismissed student concerns, al- a topic of discussion… In some lectures though she acknowledged that “a small “Investor Politics is chock-full of interesting historical anecdotes, clever she would spend a half an hour talking number have been expressing upsetness.” about Iraq’s weapons program” When asked specifically about her students’ policy analysis, and surprising musings.” — National Review • “If she didn’t talk about Iraq in negative perceptions of the materials every class, she did it at least once a present in class, she said, “What I present “John Hood offers many astute observations about the reasons govern- week… I told her that I would like to see in my teeny tiny bit of time has turned out ment social programs are imperiled.” her teach both sides of the argument, and to be too controversial, too hard for them, — Greensboro News & Record she told me that she felt she only had too upsetting, too threatening.” It would enough time to present one side. She said appear that she believes that the concerned that students can always turn on CNN students are not intelligent enough to ap- “I highly recommend Investor Politics to any reader interested in under- to get a more pro-American view.” preciate her methods. “A lot of people com- standing how our government turned into an entitlement trough.” • “I remember one time when she ing from North Carolina high schools do — Kevin Hassett, AEI was discussing [iraqbodycount.com] and not have experience thinking critically,” one guy raised his hand and asked where Greene later said. the site was for the civilian casualties that Apparently more do than Greene “Hood has delivered a thoughtful and very engaging text that will help had been used by Saddam as human expected, thus the “upsetness” over, in move the debate from last century’s entitlement-dependent view of shields, and she basically dismissed it one student’s words, her “turn[ing] the society to the country’s Jeffersonian roots of self-reliance” and didn’t pay attention to him.” class into a political machine” and that — Chris Edwards, Cato Institute • “In a class that I’m paying for, that he “didn’t sign up for POLI 41,” the dis- is part of a requirement, I would like to gust over testing based on an unsup- have a teacher that is more unbiased.” ported and unverified personal email What CR termed “the most egre- message, and the complaints that, in Look for Investor Politics in bookstores or at www.TempletonPress.org. gious example of Greene’s fixation on another student’s words, she “throws Iraq” was a section on Greene’s midterm stuff out without empirical support.” CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Higher Education 13

Campus Sex Studies Obscene Classes in the Interest of Salvation, If Not Research

By JON SANDERS “salvation experi- Universities, save in sanctioned for devoting office time and re- Assistant Editor ence” of the pitiable their promotional sources to the pursuit of pornography, sex RALEIGH yet enticing wretch. material to parents professors get paid for it. They get sent to his spring Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox The academy Issues in of high-school se- the porn conferences to “research” and meet News’ “The O’Reilly Factor,” de- takes this aspect niors and select com- their favorite porn stars. And their supreme Tvoted several segments to the ob- quite seriously. Con- Higher munications with perk is being allowed to share their predi- scene goings-on in a human sexualities class sider the American students, parents, lections with dozens of newly “legal” young at the University of Kansas. Viewers were Association of Uni- and legislators, no adults every year. (Speaking of that “legal” told how Professor Dennis Dailey showed versity Professor’s Education longer regard them- — one of the prime concerns of the confer- “highly explicit” material including nude vaunted Alexander selves as places of ences is lowering if not eliminating that images of little girls, said he understood Meiklejohn Award learning but places limit, to open preteens minds, of course.) how some could be pedophiles, held a for Academic Free- of research. Yet un- It’s difficult to tell which justification is “wheelchair sex day” in class, showed por- dom, which is given dergraduates, while prime. It isn’t easy to look past the cult-of- nographic films, compared one photograph infrequently and only, according to the not sophisticated enough to do the grunt sexuality quotient, with its self-serving proc- of a female’s spread genitals to the Virgin AAUP, “in recognition of an outstanding work, pay the bills, and society at large lamations of open-mindedness. The other Mary, and made obscene gestures to stu- contribution to academic freedom.” The (curiously referred to by the students as reasons are compelling in their own right, dents who demonstrated offense. AAUP gave the award twice in the 1990s: to “the real world”) expects them to get an however. Any one of those actions would war- State University of New York at New Paltz education. Fortunately, it sees a degree as It may even be that convenience is the rant a review likely leading to suspension President Roger Bowen in 1998 and to an acceptable proxy for an education. Uni- most important, and as it is also the most or firing by the university as it dealt with Nassau Community College President Sean versities need only to change their formerly unspeakable, the other justifications could the outcry from feminists, activists for the Fanelli in 1995. Bowen’s “outstanding con- rigorous degree requirements to much be merely excuse-fishing in the anything- disabled, Catholics, or civil rights activists, tribution to academic freedom” was de- looser ones, and students can still get those goes scumpond of postmodern academe. let alone the public at large — if the professor fending (on the grounds of “the time-hon- degrees without taxing too much of the Regardless, they all share a common were in any other discipline. Professors in ored tradition of [academic] free expres- professors’ research time and also be able to weakness — the fact that such teaching is other subjects have been investigated for sion”) SUNY-New Paltz’s conference en- sign up for more interesting courses in the radically divergent from what “the real sexual harassment for far less. In sexuality titled “Revolting Behavior,” which featured process (which are less taxing of their time, world” expects from a college education — studies, however, gratuitous offensiveness a panel on sadomasochism, pornography, too). and therefore a common foe: anyone who is regarded as necessary to teach the class demonstration and hawking of sex toys, the College kids love talking about them- fills the real world in on their dirty secret. because sexuality studies aren’t about in- antics of a bisexual stripper, free lesbian sex selves, about celebrities, and about sex. Not Witness what the two award-winners of the struction, they’re about reforming society. manuals (and some for sale), even a pam- coincidentally, the most rapidly expanding 1990s had done — fought valiantly in the Like drill instructors building soldiers by phlet on how to clean up after “Blood Let- college “disciplines” are gender and aftermath of public knowledge. first tearing down their former selves, sex ting Sexual Activities.” Fanelli was defend- ethnicity studies (the study of me), pop- Thus it matters not whether O’Reilly “scholars” tear down their students’ exist- ing a human sexuality professor who had culture studies, and sex studies. and others like him are lucifers or just party- ing ideas of sexuality and morality before come under fire for, among other things, Tangential to the above, there’s also the poopers; it matters that they are there at all. filling them with their salvatory notions of showing slides of an American flag inserted matter of convenience. Whereas others, even For in Justice Brandeis’ cogent observation, sexual licentiousness. This they accomplish in a penis and of a penis in a hot dog bun, other professors, would get fired and even “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” CJ through shock and revulsion techniques assigning students to visit gay bars or inter- that are obviously inappropriate, not to view prostitutes, and urging females to dis- mention actionable, in any other classroom. cover their own sexuality by either mastur- The standard justification for these bating or urinating on a mirror. courses is to “open students’ minds” — an Again, those were the only contribu- open-ended catch phrase arrogated from tions of the past decade that the AAUP old panegyrics to the idea of Education deemed outstanding enough to honor. itself and misapplied to the attempted de- There are, of course, more reasons than struction of students’ morality. Indeed, a just sexual evangelism behind the courses. key reason for the courses is to impose the There’s homosexual activism, for one. In sex profs’ own morality, where iniquity is 2002 a report issued at the behest of Univer- abstinence, unrepentence is virginity, her- sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Execu- esy is “saving oneself for marriage” (which tive Provost Robert N. Shelton urged revis- not only limits one’s sexual exploits and ing “existing courses to include material partners but also constrains one to only a relevant to Sexuality Studies,” developing A Daily Web Site Providing a State Perspective one-partner, heterosexual experience), sal- “new courses in Sexuality Studies,” and on 9/11 and the Current International Crisis vation is acceptance of the doctrine of abso- establishing a “Program in Sexual Studies lute sexuality, and spiritual growth is one’s under the auspices of the Office of LGBTQ From the John Locke Foundation progress in accepting and sampling from Life & Study” — “LGBTQ” being the report’s all areas of what they call a “continuum of acronym for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, sexuality.” Evangelism is pornography, es- transgender and queer-identified.” Recent Articles and Columns Spotlighted on NCAtWar.com Include: pecially films, which often focus on the There’s also the beer and circus aspect. ¥ Military historian Victor Davis Hanson discusses why the United States prevailed so rapidly in the Iraq War and why this bodes ill for other terror states.

¥ North Carolinas economy, hurt further by wartime deployments, awaits help from Washington, where disagreements about tax cuts block a stimulus bill.

¥ Dr. Andrew Taylor, NCSU political scientist, on the likely impact of the war on North Carolina politics.

¥ As U.S. Marines from Camp Lejeune participate in the right-hand push to Baghdad while Airborne soldiers from Fort Bragg play key roles to the west.

¥ Gov. William Yarborough, former head of Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, distinguishes terrorism from legitimate armed resistance.

¥ Locke Foundation President John Hood discusses the military history of other, more ill-fated incursions up the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to Baghdad.

¥˚Moderate Muslim clerics preach peace in Durham and Greensboro while a former Black Panther leader calls First Lady Laura Bush a murderer at Duke.

For the latest news, analysis, and commentary on the war on terrorism, visit what National Review once named its Cool W eb Site of the Day located at www.NorthCarolinaAtWar.com or www .NCAtWar.com. July 2003 C A R O L I N A 14 Local Government JOURNAL

Town and Country Picture That: Traffic Cameras Multiply

Tax cuts urged in Rockingham Legislation allows Charlotte to become first city in N.C. to catch speeders on film

About 80 people, most of them wearing “I support a tax decrease!” By DONNA MARTINEZ Trying to save stickers, filled the Rockingham Associate Editor lives is a noble inten- County commissioners’ chamber in RALEIGH tion, but that mindset Wentworth on June 10 to ask its hen some North Carolina cities is part of the problem, members to cut government spend- began using cameras to catch cautioned Harper, ing and lower taxes, the News-Record W drivers running red lights, pri- who formerly worked of Greensboro reported. vacy advocates expressed concern that Big as counsel for the Ju- “The people who pay the bills Brother had found a home at busy intersec- diciary Committee of are asking you to reduce spending,” tions around the state. But a General As- the U.S. House of Tommy Harrington, an Eden lawyer, sembly bill expected to become law this Representatives and told the commissioners. “Not doing session authorizes the Charlotte- has testified before so would indicate that the county Mecklenburg police department to expand Congress about red- government is unconcerned with the its use of cameras to catch speeders. That light cameras. “There problems of county people.” has civil libertarians fearing that Big Sister are good reasons to Harrington is one of a group of is joining her nosy sibling to infringe fur- do this and use them people that presented the commis- ther on citizens’ right to privacy and the more,” he said. “All of sioners with a petition seeking tax presumption of innocence. this adds up to mis- cuts. They gave the commissioners “This is just a couple of steps away from sion creep. Now is the another 1,000 signatures a week cameras on 24 hours a day,” said Jim time to say no, this later, on June 10, bringing the total Harper, a Washington-based lawyer and isn’t the North Caro- to 3,000 signatures. The list included editor of Privacilla.org, a 3-year-old online lina I want,” he said. County Tax Assessor Charlie Tho- think tank that researches and writes about Sen. Phil Berger, mas. privacy issues, including photo radar en- R-Rockingham, con- After receiving the first petition, forcement. Harper said that while there’s curs. “If you allow the commissioners scrapped plans to no expectation of privacy on a public street, nature of the problem build a new courthouse and asked the scenario developing in North Carolina to allow you to ignore the county manager to provide them represents “the Big Brother infrastructure.” long-established with a revised budget that included And, he cautions, don’t be surprised if it rules, you’re heading a property tax rate of 65 cents per continues to grow. “The next step is more down the wrong $100, down from the current rate of cameras at more places, more pictures of road. It’s a bad prece- 69 cents per $100. Even with a 65- more things.” dent to be setting,” cent rate, many homeowners, who Berger said. have seen property values rise on Trying to reduce accidents Public safety out- average between 20 and 30 percent weighs privacy con- this year, would pay higher taxes. Not so, says Boyd Cauble, executive cerns as long as the The speakers at the meeting assistant to Charlotte’s city manager and cameras are used in urged the commissioners to reduce the person who lobbied for the bill on be- an appropriate man- the property tax rate below 65 cents half of the city. He said this effort is simply ner, said Rep. Martha per $100. Most speakers listed the a way to reduce traffic accidents and speed- Alexander, D-Meck- litany of problems facing the county: ing in areas with high incidents of one or lenburg, one of the Red-light cameras paved the way for other electronic enforcement. Unemployment is up to 8.7 percent; both problems. “I see this as expanding the bill’s primary spon- industries continue to leave; and technology of radar in speed enforcement. sors. “Speed kills. It’s a major problem in battle, these fees. If it’s costing citizens more home foreclosures continue to rise. You have an appeals process, so I don’t buy Mecklenburg County. The police feel it will money, what’s the difference whether it’s a that argument,” Cauble said of concerns be a major help to them,” she said in de- fee or a tax? The result is the same,” Eddins 1,000 attend Stokes hearing about privacy. fense of the bill. said. The bill gives the Charlotte- But Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, Cauble ardently disputes that the city Residents angered by a Stokes Mecklenburg police department the author- disagrees that a one-size-fits-all fine will ef- has a financial motivation, but he admits County budget that includes cuts ity to implement a three-year pilot program fectively deter speeding. To do that, he ex- it’s a tough sell. “I know it’s hard to get and changes to the schools’ budget using radar-activated cameras in police ve- plained, the amount of the fine should in- people to believe that this is not a revenue June 10 demanded that Sandy hicles stationed around its jurisdiction. The crease with the severity of the infraction. enhancement issue,” he said. In fact, Cauble McHugh resign from the county program is expected to begin in early 2004 Rucho reserved his strongest condemnation questions whether the ticket fines will cover commission and from her post as and is set to end in July 2006. Its effective- of the bill for what he described as its fun- the program’s costs. After expenses are interim county manager, the Win- ness will be evaluated by damental flaws. “It flies paid, any net profit is destined for the local ston-Salem Journal reported. comparing pre- and post- in the face of the Consti- school system, he said. More than 1,000 people at- program accident data in “The next step is more tution. You have to prove Cauble estimates start-up capital ex- tended a public hearing on the the areas outfitted with yourself innocent, take a penditures of $200,000 to buy two or three Stokes County budget. Some ques- cameras, Cauble said. cameras at more day off work and maybe cameras and, perhaps, special vans. tioned McHugh’s experience in put- Fourteen locations places, more pictures lose money to do it,” he But that’s just the beginning. Officers ting together a budget, and others have been selected based said, describing the ap- will need special training, the program will called for commissioners Joe and on their accident history, of more things.” peals process. “We have be advertised in local media, and 3-foot by John Turpin, who are brothers and congestion, and speeding — Jim Harper the right to face our ac- 3-foot warning signs will be produced and often vote with McHugh to form a tickets, said Keith Privacilla.org cuser. In this case, the ac- posted 1,000 feet on either side of the speed majority, to stand on their own on Bridges, public affairs di- cuser is a camera, not a traps. While the city will own the equip- issues. rector for the Charlotte- person.” ment, it may contract with a private firm The Turpins and McHugh, all Mecklenburg police de- Regardless, Alex- for photo processing and mailing of tick- Republicans, have pledged that they partment. The law stipulates that a specially ander maintains there have been few prob- ets, yet another cost. won’t vote to raise taxes. The $32.8 trained police officer must operate and lems with the citations issued for red-light Cauble said a final tally is difficult to million proposed county budget rec- monitor the equipment whenever it’s be- photo radar offenses and, therefore, there’s calculate at this point. ommends keeping the current tax ing used. How fast is considered speeding? no reason to expect problems with the new While the bill applies only to Charlotte, rate of 62 cents for every $100 of That’s up to the officer’s discretion, as it is program. Berger agrees with Eddins that it may well property value. now, Bridges said. She cites anecdotal evidence from follow the path of red-light cameras and ex- The budget is a political ploy so Once the officer determines the speed friends who have told her the red-light cam- pand to other cities and towns. “I’d be sur- that they can say that they passed a at which drivers will be considered in vio- era warning signs force them to pay spe- prised if it didn’t spread,” Berger said. balanced budget with no tax in- lation, the cameras will be set to photograph cial attention to their driving. “Hopefully, Where will photo enforcement end? crease, said Todd Martin, principal vehicles exceeding the limit. A $50 ticket, it will be the same with this,” she said. Eddins isn’t sure and he’s hesitant to con- of Mount Olive Elementary School. in both English and Spanish, will be mailed template what may come next. But at this He asked for McHugh to resign and to the registered owner, along with the in- Spreading to other cities point, Alexander isn’t concerned about the said that it appeared that McHugh criminating photo. The owner can either impact her bill may have on paving the way did not consult with Commissioner pay the fine or appeal it. Rep. Rick Eddins, R-Wake, shares his for even more uses of cameras to monitor Leon Inman, who is a retired assis- “We want to slow them down. That’s colleagues’ concerns about privacy and citizens. They’re already with us, she said. tant principal, or schools Superin- what we’re getting at here,” Bridges said, wonders whether the program will even- “Think about where cameras are; we have tendent Ron Carroll before putting pointing to the 64 people killed in traffic tually spread to his district. He also sees a them more places than we probably know.” together her proposed school bud- accidents in the area during 2002: 49 vehicle financial motive in the bill, pointing to the Alexander is right, Harper said. “We get. CJ occupants and 15 pedestrians. “We’re not fact that tickets generated by the cameras have to push back. Is this the end result we spying inside your car,” he said, when will result in the fine but not in insurance really want?” he asked. “Ordinary people asked about the privacy issue. or driver’s license points. “It’s a constant should be talking about this.” CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Local Government 15

Passenger Enplanements at North Carolina Airports by Year Local Innovation Bulletin Board

City 1996 1998 2000 2001 Asheville 248,501 284,239 277,189 256,215 Charlotte 10,892,494 11,400,748 11,469,282 11,548,952 Fayetteville 165,140 167,505 149,214 131,286 NYC Crime Rates Explained Greensboro 1,292,951 1,306,003 1,402,168 1,317,519 Greenville 47,423 52,151 44,856 34,536 uring the 1990s, crime rates in bottles are reporting 20 percent to 60 Hickory 28,615 26,856 16,010 NS New York City dropped dra- percent drops in their sales. Beverage Jacksonville 66,632 64,574 38,279 29,349 Dmatically, even more than in industry executives are confounded that Kinston 15,573 16,038 NS NS the United States as a whole. Violent Germans seem sufficiently enraged by New Bern 65,791 65,284 85,639 77,726 crime declined by more than 56 percent the new law to give up drinking beer. Raleigh 3,138,402 3,561,792 5,191,077 4,890,606 in the city, compared to about 28 percent The new law was meant to stem the Rocky Mount 14,417 12,240 NS NS nationally. Property crimes tumbled by growing popularity of disposable con- Southern Pines 21,437 25,915 17,751 11,986 about 65 percent, but fell 26 percent na- tainers. Businesses that accept the re- Wilmington 119,231 235,923 255,782 233,881 tionally. turns report growing mountains of Winston-Salem 11,005 11,055 NS NS How did the Big Apple do it? Ac- bottles and cans because there is no na- cording to researchers at the National tionwide system in place to handle them. Notes: Charlotte and Raleigh include substantial amounts of connecting passengers. Bureau of Economic Research, a single “For Germany, where recycling is NS: under 10,000 passengers a year and/or service dropped. percentage point decline in the jobless practically a national religion, govern- rate decreased burglary by 2.2 percent ment regulation is plentiful and plan- and motor vehicle theft by 1.8 percent. ning is prized, the tumult has come as A 10 percent increase in the mini- something of a shock,” observers report. Flights unlikely to return mum wage translated into 3.4 to 3.7 per- Reported in the New York Times. cent fewer robberies and 6.3 to 6.9 per- cent fewer murders. In my tribe Five N.C Cities Lose Air Service However, the most effective crime reduction strategy was an increase in the Researchers are noting a new migra- By MICHAEL LOWREY changes in population and income. number of criminals arrested for felo- tion pattern. They say an increased num- Associate Editor nies, according to the study. Felony ar- ber of people are moving to places that CHARLOTTE Regional jets arrive rest rates rose 50 to 70 percent in the have lifestyles or attitudes similar to their ecember will mark the 100th anni- 1990s. When the number of arrests for own. Many people say they are moving versary of the world’s first air- While the state of the economy and the burglars rose by 10 percent, the number to a city that “feels right,” not necessarily plane flight, which took place at public’s reduced willingness to travel after of burglaries fell by 2.7 to 3.2 percent. the one with jobs that pay the most. For D When the arrest rate of robbers rose by example, the black population of the Kitty Hawk. To commemorate the event, Sept. 11 have shaken the airline industry, the state is conducting a yearlong celebra- many smaller communities would have had 10 percent, the number of robberies fell Atlanta metropolitan region increased tion. While flight has tremendously changed difficulties retaining air service even in bet- by 5.7 to 5.9 percent. In the case of mur- by 460,000 in the 1990s, nearly double the society, cities in North Carolina are losing ter times. The large-scale introduction of der, the decline was 3.9 to 4 percent; in number of any other metro area. scheduled airline service. Aside from the “regional jets” is causing sweeping changes the case of assault, 2 to 2.4 percent, and Demographers point out that Aus- state of the economy and the aftereffects of in the industry, including the elimination of for motor vehicle theft, 5 to 5.1 percent. tin, Texas, attracts liberal-minded soft- Sept. 11, fundamental changes in the airline service to many smaller cities. Reported in the NBER Digest, Janu- ware developers, while conservatively industry make it unlikely that passenger Traditionally service to secondary mar- ary 2003; based on Hope Corman and inclined tech geeks head for Dallas. flights will again grace airfields in several kets has been provided on 19-50 seat turbo- Naci Mocan, “Carrots, Sticks and Bro- Today’s fastest growing metropoli- of the state’s cities. prop aircraft such as the Jetstream 31, Beech ken Windows,” Working Paper No. 9061, tan areas have expanded by becoming In 1999, 14 North Carolina cities had 1900, and de Havilland DHC-8. Regional July 2002, National Bureau of Economic magnets for talent, fueling the develop- scheduled airline service. They were jets, in contrast, typically seat 50 to 70 people, Research. ment of places such as Austin, Atlanta, Asheville, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greens- and are faster and have greater range than and Raleigh-Durham, in the South; Min- boro, Greenville, Hickory, Jacksonville, turboprop aircraft. German bottle deposits neapolis and Chicago in the Midwest; Kinston, New Bern, Southern Pines, Ra- In May, US Airways placed an order for Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle leigh, Rocky Mount, Wilmington, and Win- 170 additional regional jets. Its commuter A new deposit law on cans and in the West; and New York, Boston, and ston-Salem. Today, Hickory, Kinston, Rocky partners already operate 110 of the aircraft. bottles has sharply reduced beverage Washington in the East. Mount, Southern Pines, and Winston-Sa- The company noted : sales in Germany, just when that Conversely, “low-tech” cities such lem no longer have service. “The RJs also will enable us to increase country’s economy may be on the brink as Springfield, Mass.; Youngstown, Ohio; Flights from most North Carolina cities hub feed by adding new markets that were of recession. Syracuse, N.Y.; Cleveland, Buffalo, and are limited to service to US Airways’ Char- too distant for turboprop aircraft, and re- Since the first of the year, customers Pittsburgh, have lost significant num- lotte hub, where passengers can connect to place current turboprop flying, which will have had to pay a deposit of one-fourth bers of people ages 20-34. flights to many other cities. Asheville, please many customers who prefer jet air- to one-half a euro, about 29 to 58 U.S. More than one-third of cities lost Wilmington, and Fayetteville feature ser- craft. Regional jets will allow us to replace cents, on all carbonated soft drinks as members of this age group in the 1990s, vice from both Delta and US Airways. Char- and complement larger jet aircraft on routes well as beer sold in cans or plastic bottles. experts report, while cities such as Aus- lotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh all are served with poor to marginal performance, which That compares to a deposit of a nickel tin, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, by a variety of airlines, which provide an then can be redeployed to operate in more required in some U.S. states. and Atlanta witnessed population ex- even wider range of destination choices. profitable destinations, such as the Carib- The wholesaler that handles half of plosions often far in excess of 50 percent bean and on other routes where we cur- German canned drinks says its sales are composed entirely of this age group. The economy and Sept. 11 rently do not fly.” off by 20 percent. Makers of cans and Reported in the Washington Post. CJ The airline had already started flying to The airline industry has always been both Little Rock, Ark., and Montreal from cyclical. In good times, more business and Charlotte on 50-seat regional jets. It has just individuals have the discretionary income begun offering nonstop service between to fly. Conversely, in bad times, there’s less Wilmington and New York City’s La demand for air travel. In addition to a weak Guardia Airport using a regional jet. The economy, people’s willingness to fly has carrier is also replacing larger Boeing and been diminished by the events of Sept. 11. Airbus aircraft with regional jets on flights An October 2002 survey showed that between its Charlotte hub and St. Louis. air travel on routes of 200 to 400 miles was As more regional jets enter service, they CarolinaJournal.com is Your Daily Launching Pad to down by 22 percent in the year after Sept. will replace turboprops on the routes from the Best North Carolina News, Analysis, & Opinion 11. The Boyd Group, a Colorado-based avia- Charlotte to the eastern part of the state. tion consulting firm, projects that airline Given their larger size and higher operating traffic in the United States will not return to costs, a substantial amount of demand must ¥ Reports and columns on the legislature, politics, culture, and local its 2000 levels until about 2008. exist for such service to be profitable. government from Carolina Journal editors and reporters. Airlines have reduced or eliminated With typical costs and revenue yields, marginal routes in these tough times. The three regional jet flights a day would re- ¥ Carolina Journal Publisher John Hood’s exclusive “Daily Journal.” Hickory area has been hard hit, with an quire roughly a combined 100 passengers unemployment rate currently at 8.1 per- to break even. Allowing for reduced flight ¥ Timely links to important stories and editorials from the state’s major cent. In Rocky Mount, the unemployment schedules on weekend and holidays, 30,000 newspapers, magazines, and other media organizations. rate reached 9 percent in April 2003. For passengers a year would seem a minimum much of 2002, the region experienced more number to sustain even minimal regional ¥ Instant access to state & national columnists, wire reports, and the than 10 percent unemployment. jet service. John Locke Foundation’s other public policy web sites. Service to these smaller markets, which Given recent market patterns, whether are near, respectively, Charlotte and Ra- more than seven airports in North Carolina See what Spectator magazine called “Matt Drudge with Class” leigh, was halted in 2001 and 2002. Service can consistently generate such passenger And Get Informed About Your State — At CarolinaJournal.com is unlikely to resume, barring significant levels is an open question. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A 16 Local Government JOURNAL

From Cherokee to Currituck Another ‘Smart Growth’ Myth: U.S. OKs Charlotte’s Light Rail; U.S. Is Running Out of Space Construction to Start in the Fall

perennial argument for “smart or urban clusters are counted as “ur- growth” and compact urban ban.” At the same time, a town of 1,000 By MICHAEL LOWREY Cumberland revaluation development is that we are people is obviously not “rural open A Associate Editor running out of open space. But how space.” CHARLOTTE At least every seven years, state law much open space is really left? Data Conservatively, only those areas he Charlotte Area Transit System requires that counties revalue properties available from the 2000 Census show outside of any “place” can be consid- has received federal environmental for tax purposes. This year, Cumberland that at least 94.6 percent of the United ered rural open space. But it is clear that approval of the first of its five transit County did its required revaluation. States is rural open space. large portions of the rural places are also T lines, setting the stage for construction to Before the revaluation, the county had The Census Bureau counts popu- rural open space. begin soon. At the same time, a local group among the highest property tax rates in its lation and land area in a variety of cat- Together, urbanized areas, urban was protesting the proposed routing of an- region, at 92.5 cents per $100 in valuation. egories: clusters, and rural places occupy 5.4 other rail line, which might require the relo- Property tax revenues came to $113.4 • Urbanized areas include contigu- percent of the nation’s land, while ur- cations of hundreds of graves in two his- million last year. Allowing for a typical 2 ous areas of 50,000 people ban areas alone cover just toric cemeteries. percent increase in revenues because of new or more at densities of 2.6 percent. Rural open With federal environmental approval, construction, county officials estimated the 1,000 people per square space thus covers 94.6 per- CATS is expected to act quickly to buy land tax should bring in $115 million this year. mile or more; cent to 97.4 of the land. along the future 10-mile light-rail line. The With the new property values, that trans- • Urban clusters in- On a state-by-state ba- route will run from uptown Charlotte south lates to a tax rate of 88 cents per $100 of clude contiguous areas of sis: along South Boulevard to just short of Inter- (reassessed) valuation. 2,500 to 50,000 people at • Four states — New state 485 in Pineville. County Commission Chairman Tal densities of 1,000 people Jersey, Massachusetts, CATS has also recently received word Baggett told The Fayetteville Observer the 88- per square mile or more; Connecticut, and Rhode Is- from the federal and state governments cent rate “appears to be revenue neutral.” • Places include, in ad- land — are 30 to 40 per- that they will fund a portion of the work on “That’s what we promised to taxpay- dition to the above, any in- cent urbanized and, count- the line. The federal government will pay ers, and we didn’t know what that figure corporated area or other ing rural places, 40 to 44 for half the cost, and the state government was going to be, other than it would be concentrations of people percent developed; will pay for another one-fourth. The re- lower,” he said. identified by the Census • Delaware and Mary- Randal O’Toole maining one-fourth of the cost is paid for by Still, revaluation does create winners Bureau. land are 15 to 20 percent an additional half-cent sales tax for transit and losers. Those whose property value Specific definitions of urbanized and 18 to 23 per- in Mecklenburg County. Construction is went up less than the average amount may these and other census terms can be cent developed; expected to start this fall see lower tax bills. Those found at www.census.gov/geo/ • Florida is 11 percent urbanized on the $371 million living in areas with faster- www/tiger/glossary.html. and 16 percent developed; project, with completion Relatives of those bur- than-average property More than two out of three Ameri- • Six states — Ohio, Pennsylvania, expected in 2006. value growth are likely to cans live in urbanized areas. These ar- New York, Tennessee, New Hampshire, The line will have 14 ied in Elmwood and be paying more. eas collectively cover 2 percent of the and North Carolina — are 6 to 10 per- stations, though only the Parkwood cemeteries The county estimates nation’s land area. cent urbanized and 10 to 13 percent de- seven farthest from the are strongly protesting that the average property Counting urbanized areas and ur- veloped; city center will have park- has appreciated by 11.7 ban clusters together, nearly four out • All other states are less than 7 per- ing lots. This is in keep- any plan that requires percent over the past of five Americans live in an urban set- cent urbanized and 10 percent devel- ing with the system’s de- graves to be moved. seven years. ting. Urbanized areas and urban clus- oped. sire to have light rail serve The Fayetteville Ob- ters cover 2.6 percent of the nation’s Although California is the nation’s as a means of redevelop- server estimated that for a land. most populated state, it is hardly run- ment the area along the corridor into higher- homeowner with a property formerly val- Remaining places account for just ning out of land. More than 94 percent density, more transit-dependent commu- ued at $150,000 that increased the average 4.4 percent of the U.S. population, but of Californians live in urban areas, nities. Government and private facilities, amount would see his property taxes in- they cover 2.8 percent of the land. Ob- which cover just 5.1 percent of the state. such as libraries, medical offices, and recre- crease by from $1,388 to $1,474. viously, their density When rural places ation facilities will also be encouraged near is far lower than ur- are added, no more transit stations. A number of trolley cars Surry County school funding fight banized areas and ur- Ohio, Pennsylvania, than 8.6 percent of will also run along a two-mile segment of ban clusters. the state is devel- New York, Tennessee, the light-rail line. Having three school districts in one The average ur- oped. The second transit line to be built is county offers a real sense of competition banized area has and North Carolina are Since Califor- expected to be from uptown Charlotte to and choice in education. It can also lead to, nearly 2,700 people 6 to 10 percent urban- nia’s rural places the towns in the northern part of Mecklen- as recent events in Surry County demon- per square mile, and have an average den- burg County. CATS has selected commuter strate, a lot of bickering about money. the average urban ized and 10 to 13 per- sity of just 93 people rail equipment for the route, which is ex- Surry County is one of the few counties cluster has about cent developed. per square mile, most pected to be built along existing railroad in the state that still has more than one 1,500 people per of its land area prob- routes. school district. In addition to the Surry square mile. But the ably qualifies as rural Community protests, however, may County schools, Mount Airy and Elkin each average place (outside of urban areas) open space. influence the system’s exact routing. Along- have their own school districts. has just 133 people per square mile. The nation’s second-most popu- side the railroad tracks in uptown Charlotte The county commission recently ap- lated state, Texas, is even less heavily lie the historic Elmwood and Pinewood proved a $59 million bond referendum, with Non-urban places developed: 2.7 percent urbanized and cemeteries. Relatives of those buried there $50 million to be split among the three 5.0 percent developed. are strongly protesting any plan that re- systems based on average daily member- In many cases, this is because small Unfortunately, data from the 2000 quires graves to be moved. ship and the remaining $9 million going to towns have large corporate boundaries, census are not comparable with num- “It’s morally unacceptable that they the city school systems for improvements at only portions of which are occupied. bers from the 1990 census because the become a victim of their own success,” said their high schools. This is most noticeable in Alaska, where Census Bureau changed many of its Mecklenburg County Commissioner Jim As might be expected, the county school many cities have legal boundaries that definitions. Puckett to The Charlotte Observer. system objected, and refused to support the include thousands of square miles of Among other things, urbanized ar- The Elmwood and Pinewood cemeter- referendum unless the remaining $9 mil- unoccupied land. As a result, the den- eas were redefined to exclude many un- ies were first used in 1853 and contain the lion was split based on enrollment as well sity of Alaska’s non-urban places aver- developed areas. This led, on average, graves of some of the city’s most prominent or it got an equivalent amount of money. ages just 7 per square mile. to a 10 percent increase in population citizens. The county then agreed to provide the extra Non-urban place densities in Ari- density of urbanized areas. Nancy Pethel, who has relatives buried money over time, though not as part of the zona, California, Hawaii, Montana, Despite growing populations, the in Pinewood cemetery, was even more blunt bond package. Nevada, and Wyoming average 30 to 2000 census reported many areas were in her comments to the newspaper. “They This prompted the Surry County Board 100 people per square mile. smaller than measured by the 1990 cen- don’t have a feeling for those who have put of Education to ask for a guarantee in writ- In all other states except Nebraska, sus. The new data are probably more all their work and time in Charlotte, North ing for the extra money. “We’re just asking non-urban place densities range from accurate, but it is hard to tell from them Carolina. Their invested interest is no more them to stand by what they have already 100 to 500 per square mile. Nebraska is how fast land is being urbanized. CJ than the dollar sign, and I don’t believe you said,” Surry County school board member the only state whose non-urban places can make a comparison between the dead Earlie Coe told The Mount Airy News. approach urban densities: 805 people and the dollar sign.” If the county does not provide the guar- per square mile. Randal O’Toole is senior economist with the Those seeking to preserve the cemeter- antee, it will continue to oppose passage of So are places “developed”? The Thoreau Institute (www.ti.org) and the au- ies note that up to 945 graves could be the referendum. In the alternative, the Surry Census Bureau counts them as “rural.” thor of The Vanishing Automobile and affected by the commuter rail line. A recent County schools would support a $50 mil- Only people living in urbanized areas Other Urban Myths. rally attracted more than 100 protesters to lion bond package split on the basis of aver- the cemeteries. age daily membership. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL CJ Interview 17 Cmdr. Scott Waddle: Overcoming the Storm With Faith

By JONATHAN JONES fessional reputation. Whatever humiliation interview or the intent of the interviewee. marines and nuclear vessels throughout the Editorial Intern or embarrassment was secondary. Nine So there were multiple challenges, and un- Navy was a rigid adherence to protocol. Ad- RALEIGH lives were lost. The most important objec- fortunately, I don’t believe the Navy was herence to procedures in that way some- cott Waddle was the captain of the tive to me was to determine the truth and as well-prepared in this particular instance times took the human element out of the submarine USS Greenville when it ultimate cause as to why that horrible event as they could have been. equation and made it very difficult for S surfaced and accidentally sank a happened. If you look at what happened in the Air people to grow. When you’re constantly Japanese fishing boat off the coast of Pearl Force with the friendly-fire case, an unfor- berated and criticized, and positive feed- Harbor about two years ago. Nine of the CJ: How much damage control did the Navy or tunate event where Canadian troops were back isn’t used, people will work effectively boat’s crew were killed, and the tragedy Pentagon try to engage in and to what extent killed on the ground as a result of friendly under what I would call that adverse con- dominated headlines around the world for did this compound your difficulties, and that of fire. The Air Force, I believe, did a much dition for a short period of time, primarily weeks afterward. your crew, in dealing with the event? better job in releasing information as best out of fear. Waddle was interviewed by CJ on June they knew. I know that Charles Gittins, my 10, a day after he spoke at a John Locke Waddle: From the public affairs and media attorney, is also representing those officers. CJ: In the book you write about not taking one Foundation luncheon. control perspective, I am critical of the Navy And they are experiencing the same chal- moment with your wife and daughter for and how they handled lenges that I did with my former service. granted. What would you say to someone who CJ: Your book is titled it. I believe that if you It’s a difficult place to be. All of that is in has not undergone a life-altering experience like The Right Thing. In the look at the timeline, this the big media puzzle, and that’s why yes- you have? context of the tragic event accident took place at terday I made the comment that the actions of February 2001, what ex- 1:43 p.m on a Friday af- our defense team took were heralded as Waddle: My perspective on life has actly did the right thing ternoon in Hawaii, 7:43 being a great media planned strategy. There changed dramatically as a result of this in- mean? p.m. on the East Coast was some strategy involved, but it wasn’t cident. Things that once were important are where the Pentagon is with the intent to manipulate public opin- not quite as important anymore. Events that Waddle: Telling the located. Late at night, ion. It was to get the facts out there, unpleas- would normally bother me don’t impact in truth and being account- Friday evening, most ant as they may be, early so that it was less the way they used to. Getting cut off by able for my actions and people were gone, look- painful later on in the inquiry. someone or aggressive driving, someone the actions of my crew ing for the weekend. It’s that is rude, it’s easier to think, “go ahead,” regardless of where mis- probably not the time CJ: What’s the nature of the relationship you and accommodate. I enjoy the company I takes might have been when you’re going to have with the men with whom you served? Do visit with more; I cherish that time more so made. One thing about have the A-team to you now have a sense of closure? now than I did before. I hope this experi- commanding at sea is combat a media crisis. ence can somehow impact the lives of oth- that responsibility and This was a media crisis, Waddle: A sense of closure came when I ers favorably. If anyone is experiencing accountability are abso- a global event that was took my trip to Japan in December 2002 at challenge in their life, difficulty, or even lute. It’s something that communicated around my own expense to fulfill a promise I made great success, this is a story that can help Scott Waddle can’t be delegated. A the world literally to the families. I had been promised by Ad- achieve a little bit of focus and learn some commanding officer, the within an hour of the miral Fargo, then serving as commander things of value as a leader, spouse or fam- individual that serves in that position, ulti- accident. There was no way possible the and chief of the Pacific Fleet and is now ily person mately ends up as the focal point for both Navy could attain the facts they needed to serving as the commander of the U.S. forces good and bad. And on that day a very tragic put into place damage control efforts, con- in the Pacific, that at a time deemed appro- CJ: How was your transition back to private life? accident took place where the captain of tain the problem, get in front of the wagon. priate the Navy would support my travel that submarine, which was myself, ended The Navy was behind this the whole time. to Japan. I asked for their help, saying I did Waddle: It was rough at first. The military up being the focus of international and do- As a result, it did have an adverse impact not have the financial means to get there. is very structured, and work in the corpo- mestic media attention. on the relationships the United States had Ultimately, I did make it to Japan in Decem- rate sector, although my experience is lim- with the Japanese government at the time. ber, although it was a year and two months ited, is certainly different than what I was CJ: How difficult was it to carry through with There were other issues: comments after I retired from the military. That event used to in the military. There’s a camarade- what you knew was your duty, in practical from a colonel stationed at Okinawa weeks was to fulfill a promise and to meet with rie that exists in the military because they terms, outside of just what you knew was right? or months before my accident that were off families I did not have the chance to apolo- serve side by side, not on intimate terms, color and fueled the angst of the Japanese gize to personally in April 2001. That event but they are very close. You are very much Waddle: I would say probably the most dif- people living on that island and they called helped me in closure. a part of another person’s life for a long ficult event in my life. This didn’t require for the removal of U.S. military forces. It’s About the relationship with my crew, period of time. When on a submarine en- one single act of accountability; it required not an occupation, just a military presence, they no longer exist aboard the USS closed in an environment with 140 men, multiple acts. For a period of two to three something negotiated Greenville. With a turn- that is the case. My crew was my family. I weeks before the court of inquiry was held with surrender at the end over rate of about 30 per- knew more about them and they about me in Pearl Harbor, the official inquiry and fact- of World War II. The very God is a source of cent per year, almost all than anyone in my workplace knows. finding body into the cause and contribut- fact we have a continued strength. When every- crew members who had It’s safe to say the majority of the people ing factors, there was a lot of media specu- military presence is served with me are gone where I work don’t know who I am, where lation. The National Transportation and something that is not ap- thing else is gone, and and off the ship. But of I’ve come from, what I did before, and Safety Board interviewed folks as part of preciated by the Japanese nothing else is left… those I was close to, I still know nothing about me. Most people don’t an independent investigation separate from people. It is, however, keep in touch with them, care. The rules are different; the interests are the Navy’s, and some of their facts weren’t when fears of escalated faith is a remarkable not on a daily basis, but different in the corporate sector. You have necessarily truthful. That tended to sensa- war arise with North Ko- source of strength. I’m there to offer help, ad- a human resource department tasked to tionalize and feed the media frenzy. It made rea then the Japanese vice, mentorship on their take care of human-related issues. my position very difficult and challenging. people are more than careers. On a submarine, the officers have to ab- It wasn’t just one single act of being ac- willing and pleased to have us there. You sorb those challenges. The captain’s job on countable or standing in front of the media can’t have it both ways. CJ: What is your definition of effective leader- a submarine is multifaceted and not just to say I am responsible for the acts of my ship? limited to taking charge and leading a ship crew. It was working with my attorneys to CJ: How does this play into the role of the out of port into battle and back home. Lead- make sure the facts as I saw them and knew Navy’s media responsibilities? Waddle: Effective leadership means taking ership is something that can be used in any them to be were put on the table. It was cor- care of your people. That includes quality- vocation, crisis, family environment. It’s a roborating information and checking Waddle: It was a very difficult hand they of-life issues, their professional develop- tool that if used properly and effectively is against technical databases from informa- were dealt. The fact civilians were on board ment and growth. It includes mentoring very good. There’s positive leadership in tion we could acquire. It was telling some and that wasn’t disclosed immediately, but them to grow and assume the next positions the military, and there’s positive leadership of the painful truths that existed. came out as part of a NTSB inquiry, was of responsibility. It’s establishing standards in the corporate sector. There’s bad leader- I can tell you that looking at the overall embarrassing for the Navy. that have some flexibility, not rigid adher- ship in the military, and there’s bad leader- scheme of things and the timeline it would Instead of full disclosure as the military ence to standards, but standards in place ship in the corporate sector. lead one to believe that I was rushed, I was knew it at the time, information was re- that allow individuals to question and im- hurried. As a result, I cut corners. A pru- leased in an effort to try to not cause a lot prove upon standards such that the entire CJ: You have spoken and written about the role dent man would come to that conclusion. of overall concern because the Navy wasn’t process as a whole is better. It’s fostering of faith in your life, how it helped you through As an independent assessor, I would too. sure what the public response would be. teamwork and camaraderie. It’s taking all the accident. What changes have come to you in Knowing that I was there, part of that plan, There’s a long-standing relationship the the basic elements that Maslow stated were this area since then? integral in that decision process, I know military has with the media and it’s not one important: providing shelter, security, food, what I thinking, what I did, what I thought that’s favorable. From the time I was in the and all of the basic needs. It’s also building Waddle: God is a source of strength. When what the outcome would be. As a result I Navy as a young officer I was taught not on those needs and helping individuals everything else is gone, and nothing else is had to be true to myself, true to my crew, trust the media. You don’t trust the media, grow collectively and as singles. Trust is left on the table, faith is a remarkable source and true to my maker. because what you say could be skewed and important. Being a good listener is equally of strength. In my case, I have a question- And so all of those things culminated words turned against you, taken out of con- important. You have to give feedback and ing attitude, as there is an element of the in doing what was right, standing tall, be- text. Always offer a live interview and one listen to the information that sometimes is unknown. But at times when it is very dark ing accountable, being responsible, and not that’s not recorded, out of fear sound bites not pleasant. and you are alone, and that element of un- shirking that responsibility despite what- could be taken and provide a phrase or The difference between my leadership certainty is overwhelmingly powerful, it is ever personal costs there may be to my pro- statement that’s contrary to the theme of the style and what was in place on other sub- nice to fall back on. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A 18 Learning Curve JOURNAL

From the Liberty Library Book Review

• In The Generation of Trust: How the U.S. Military Has Regained the Language Police: Blowing the Whistle on Texts Public’s Confidence Since Vietnam, David King and Zachary Karabell • Diane Ravitch: The Language Police: How bias in texts and test passages. A strange show that the newest generations of Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn; amalgamation of left-wing political correct- Americans, Generation X (born 1961 Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher, 255 pps $24. ness and right-wing religious fundamen- through 1975) and especially talism infuses the guidelines, “guidelines Millenials (born after 1975), trust the BY KORY SWANSON that aim to create a new society, one that government — and the U.S. military Contributing Editor will be completely inoffensive to all par- in particular — more deeply than RALEIGH ties.” their Baby Boomer parents ever have. onservative readers of Diane And the only way to get there is through Relying on extensive polling data, the Ravitch’s The Language Police will heavy censorship. authors note that the increased con- take no solace in her alarming and The bias guidelines are promulgated fidence in the leaders of the military C saddening exposé of how left-wing politi- by four agencies: educational publishers, since the end of the Vietnam War is cal correctness and right-wing religious fun- test development companies, states, and an anomaly as trust in most other in- damentalism (the language police) have dis- scholarly and professional associations. stitutions has declined. Baby torted and damaged American public edu- Each agency’s guidelines significantly over- Boomers remain highly suspicious of cation. lap with each other. the military because of what they saw For Ravitch has written an indictment These guidelines are developed, Ravitch in Vietnam when they were coming about a basic assumption dear to many says, as a “form of preemptive capitula- of age. Yet children born since the conservatives: that by censoring what chil- tion” that shields each agency against de- mid-1970s grew up with a very dif- dren read, parents, and like-minded educa- termined advocacy groups. Without any- ferent picture: a more professional tors, can change society to reflect their thing to object to, adoption by the states of all-volunteer force and markedly bet- worldview. a publisher’s textbooks stands a greater ter battlefield performance. Pub- Within the context of the world of text- chance. lished by the American Enterprise book publishing, this comes crashing down The consequence of these guidelines is Institute, see www.aei.org for more on publishers as a demand that they shield that it has become policy to regulate what information. children from words and ideas that contain would be the envy of the grand masters of writers are permitted to say about specific what the censors deem the wrong models communism and fascism. groups or topics in society. What is written • The Gulag, the vast array of So- for living. “With enough censorship,” must be acceptable to all sorts of interest viet concentration camps, was a sys- Ravitch writes, “the language police be- How has this happened? groups, Ravitch says. tem of repression and punishment lieve they might create a perfect world.” These groups, in turn, are invited to whose rationalized evil and institu- Ravitch finds this basic assumption — Ravitch deftly cuts through the noise review, and in most cases, censor, passages tionalized inhumanity were rivaled that controlling the content of what is read and exposes a situation that allows the lan- that pertain to them. If a group does not like only by the Holocaust. Since the col- in public schools will create a perfect world guage police to have an undue influence on what is written about them or about a topic, lapse of the Soviet Union, dozens of — to be nonsensical for two primary rea- American public education. it gets changed to language that is accept- memoirs and new studies covering sons. First, schools do not control or domi- At the heart of the matter is the state able. aspects of that system have been pub- nate every aspect of a child’s life. Children textbook adoption process. There are more Censorship is not an issue in this pro- lished in Russia and the West. Using are influenced by their families, their friends, than 20 states, including North Carolina, cess. What is at issue is that the textbooks be these new resources as well as her their communities, their religious institu- that have statewide adoptions. But two written in a sensitive and inoffensive man- own original historical research, tions, and especially popular culture. “Much states, Texas and California, are the most ner. Textbooks written in conformity with Anne Applebaum has written Gulag: as they [the censors] hope to limit what important states because of the size of their the guidelines ensure a conformity of lan- A History, a fully documented ac- children see and hear,” Ravitch says, “they school systems. What these two states de- guage and thought. count of the Soviet camp system, do not have the means to do it.” cide has a significant impact on the fate of As Ravitch says: “With the best inten- from its origins in the Russian Revo- Further, for Ravitch, censorship, for individual textbooks and their publishers. tions, the publishers have consented to a lution to its collapse in the era of whatever purpose, should be repugnant on As Ravitch explains, this cartel-like be- strict code of censorship.” glasnost. Published by Doubleday, its face “to those who care about freedom of havior warps the publishing marketplace learn more at www.randomhouse. thought, to those who believe that minds by putting too much power in the hands of What can be done? com/doubleday. grow sharper by contending with challeng- California and Texas. It raises the cost of ing ideas.” publishing, favors publishers who have the There are three things that need to be • In Off with Their Heads: Traitors, In this, Ravitch is clearly in the camp of deepest pockets, and drives out small pub- done to rid American public education of Crooks, & Obstructionists in American those who argue, as Dorothy Sayers does in lishers. There are now four main publishers the regime of censorship. Politics, Media & Business, syndicated her classic 1947 essay, The Lost Tools of Learn- in the textbook market. Only one of them is First, Ravitch calls for an end to state- columnist and political analyst Dick ing, “that the sole true end of education is American-owned. based textbook buying. Morris points an accusing finger at simply this: to teach men how to learn for Ravitch says the text- She wants to see a true the many ways the public has been themselves; and whatever instruction fails book industry “now op- “Much as they (the marketplace develop lied to and misled, pickpocketed, and to do this is effort spent in vain.” erates like a procurement where responsibility for endangered. Whether it’s Bill Clin- And in vain, we pursue an educational process rather than a com- censors) hope to limit materials used in the ton, who ignored mounting evidence protocol that, as Ravitch says, is a “flight petitive market place.” what children see and schools is given to teach- of impending terrorist catastrophe from knowledge and content…[that] has In this environment, hear, they do not have ers and local schools. Pub- throughout the 1990s, or members of harmed our children and diminished our it is easy for aggressive lishers would have to be Congress, who quietly sold democ- culture…it is a systemic breakdown of our pressure groups, no mat- the means to do it.” responsive to literally racy down the river in exchange for ability to educate the next generation and to ter how small and unrep- — Diane Ravitch thousands of prospective lifetime incumbency, Morris “rips the transmit to them a full and open range of resentative, to threaten a buyers, not just a single cover off the cowardly and duplici- ideas about important issues in the world.” textbook company with state school board. tous figures who have sacrificed Ravitch is passionate that freedom in humiliation and loss of market share by Deregulating the textbook adoption pro- America’s interests for their own.” education must prevail: “Intelligence and lobbying states not to adopt textbooks to cess would create a competitive market. More at www.harpercollins.com/hc/ reason cannot be developed absent the judg- which these groups object. Second, Ravitch calls for complete trans- aboutus/imprints/regan. asp. ment that is formed by prolonged and “It is the leverage in the two big states,” parency. “The strongest protection for cen- thoughtful study of history, literature, and Ravitch says, “that has enabled extremists sorship,” she says, “is public ignorance.” • Inspired by newspaper clip- culture, not only that of our own nation, but to manipulate the states’ requirements to fit But the public has a right to know what pings he kept about two former Afri- of other civilizations as well.” their own political agenda.” Texas was publishers, the states, and the federal gov- can dictators accused of cannibalism, known for years as the state where conser- ernment are doing to educational materi- Italian journalist Riccardo Orizio set Censorship and textbook industry vatives had great influence on the choice of als. out to track down tyrants around the textbooks. In California, publishers had They must be forced to bring their deci- world who fell from power — to see The problem is that this assumption, strict social prescriptions to meet if their sions regarding educational materials be- if they had gained any perspective on that controlling what is read in public books were to be considered. fore the public for its scrutiny. their actions, or if their lives and schools will create a perfect world, has be- The bottom line is that if a textbook Finally, Ravitch calls for teachers who thoughts could shed any light on our come ubiquitous. Ravitch calls it “silent publisher wants to sell books, then it has to are actually educated in the subject matters own. The results of his efforts are censorship.” Like the frog in a pan of water offer a product that is bland and noncon- they teach. Well-educated teachers would chronicled in Talk of the Devil: Encoun- being heated so slowly that it does not troversial. And how does a publisher know not need to rely on textbooks for their sole ters with Seven Dictators. “Chilling notice that it is being boiled, silent censor- what these guidelines are? source of information about a topic. Well- and comical, rational and absurd,” ship has come to dominate public educa- educated teachers are natural enemies of Orizio’s book brings into focus for- tion with nary a squeal from the American Language police and bias guidelines censorship. gotten history and people viewed as public. But beating the scourge of censorship, evil incarnate. From Walker & Com- The language police have ingeniously The chapters on bias guidelines boggle Ravitch says, can only be accomplished if pany, see www.walkerbooks.com for implemented a social engineering scheme the mind. Ravitch found that bias guide- we have the will to fight it. more details. CJ that is endorsed by publishers, the states, lines are ubiquitous in the textbook indus- She desperately wants to believe that and the federal government. It is a feat that try. The guidelines go beyond eliminating we have the resolve. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Learning Curve 19 Book Review Creative Destruction: Cowen Explodes Myths of ‘Native’ Cultures

• Tyler Cowen: Creative Destruction: How time decreasing diversity among cultures. So the notion that there are “authentic” Globalization Is Changing the World’s Cul- Using the example above, when Chinese cultures turns out to be erroneous. But even tures; Princeton University Press; 2002; 171 add American pop music to their cultural if we arbitrarily denominate the current pp.; $27.95 mix, they now enjoy a wider range of choices. cultures of China, Trinidad, the Navaho, However, in doing so, the difference be- etc. as “pure,” so what? Does it follow that By GEORGE C. LEEF tween Chinese and American cultures has Western antiglobalists are doing those Contributing Editor decreased. That bothers some cultural “pur- people a favor in trying to protect them RALEIGH ists,” who think it akin to species extinction against contamination from Western influ- f you go to one of the periodic anti- when “we” start to contaminate the “au- ences? Cowen has no patience for that argu- globalization tantrums of the Left, one thentic” cultures in other parts of the world. ment, writing that “poorer societies should I of the gripes you will hear is that glo- not be required to serve as diversity slaves.” balization means “American cultural hege- Poppycock about “pure” cultures That’s what the elitist position comes down mony.” That is, when “we” build to. People in all those exotic places with McDonald’s restaurants or sell designer Cowen treats the cultural purist posi- their quaint, “authentic” cultures should be jeans in culturally different nations, we’re tion with disdain. First of all, there aren’t denied the opportunity to adopt aspects of guilty of undermining, if not destroying, really any pure cultures. With many inter- Western culture that they would like, in the indigenous culture. Culturecide is nearly esting illustrations, he demonstrates that order that some elitists can bask in the warm as bad as genocide, and we had better stop what we may think of as authentic native glow of knowing that they have helped it! cultures are the products of considerable protect against the ravages of capitalism. cross-cultural exchange, usually having Besides its resounding call for a laissez- Trade’s impact on culture taken place long before people were paying faire approach to culture, Creative Destruc- attention to the phenomenon. Consider the tion has a delightful side dish for the reader: The protesters have never thought steel drum music that is associated with some embarrassing truths about one of the deeply about the relationship between cul- Trinidad. Where did the steel drums come most overrated men of the 20th century, ture and trade (for that is all globalization from? The answer is that American military namely Gandhi. Gandhi railed against In- comes down to — ever-widening trade), forces brought many with them during dian purchases of British textiles, calling but Tyler Cowen certainly has. In his latest them better off, to enrich their cultural lives, World War II. The “authentic” music of them “defiling,” and “our greatest outward book, the George Mason University eco- and to increase their menu of choice. Just as Trinidad was based on bamboo percussion, pollution.” He insisted that Indians, no mat- nomics professor carefully analyzes the trade typically makes countries richer in which the Trinidadians happily abandoned ter how poor, to burn their foreign gar- impact of globalization on culture and finds material terms, it tends to make them cul- when American steel drums became plenti- ments. Evidently, Gandhi regarded Indian that, as Schumpeter said of the process of turally richer as well.” We are used to hear- ful. weaving as “authentic” and foreign textiles competition generally, it’s a case of creative ing the antiglobalist crowd rant about “cul- Similarly, Cowen points out that Na- as somehow a desecration of Indian cul- destruction. When the people of Culture A tural domination,” but the spread of cul- vaho weavers hardly have a culturally pure ture. Cowen has sport in pointing out that encounter the range of arts, products, tech- tural influence is not a case of “ours” some- product. Their dazzling geometric designs “Western technologies provided critical nologies and so forth of Culture B, they may how taking over “theirs.” It is a matter of were not indigenous to the Navaho culture, pieces of the economic network behind In- end up abandoning some aspects of their individual actions. If Chinese teen-agers but were borrowed from the ponchos of dian handweaving.” Gandhi comes off like culture for things they prefer from Culture like listening to Western pop music rather Spanish shepherds living in northern a cranky authoritarian. B. But those choices should not be lamented, than traditional Chinese music, for example, Mexico, designs which the Spanish had Antiglobalist windbags need “issues” Cowen argues. that isn’t domination. It’s peaceful change. adapted from the Moors. Moreover, once to grumble about. The supposed destruc- He begins with a crucial insight: “Indi- Cross-cultural exchanges, Cowen machine-spun yarn and chemical dyes be- tion of native cultures is one of those issues. viduals who engage in cross-cultural ex- points out, have the effect of increasing came available, the Navaho eagerly experi- Thanks to Tyler Cowen for showing that it’s change expect those transactions to make diversity within cultures while at the same mented with and began using them. nothing but hot air. CJ Book Review The Dismal Science: Exposing Victorian Opposition to Free Trade

• David Levy: How the Dismal Science Got were the Irish and blacks whom they con- men. They also held that the greatest happi- its Name; University of Michigan Press; sidered to be sub-human and incapable of ness principle of the utilitarians was equiva- 2001; 320 pages; $52.50 self-governance. lent to Christianity’s golden rule. Slavery The unapologetic pro-slavery views of violated both precepts because on the one By KAREN I. VAUGHN Carlyle and Ruskin come as a shock to the hand, slaves were suffering unhappiness Guest Contributor modern reader. While not completely un- and redressing their ills would increase ARLINGTON. VA known to literary scholars, such ideas tend utility, and on the other, no one would or about 150 years, economics has to be wrapped in a blanket of silence. Levy choose to be enslaved himself so no one has been known as the “dismal science.” removes the blanket and exposes such writ- a right to enslave others. F While perhaps few remember that it ings as Carlyle’s, “Occasional Discourses This review can barely scratch the sur- was Victorian writer Thomas Carlyle who on the Negro Question.” In this odious es- face of Levy’s scholarship. For instance, coined the term, the phrase invokes sympa- say about Jamaican former slaves, Carlyle there is no room to do justice to his claim thy from those who find economic theory claims that blacks are incapable of manag- that Dickens’ novel Hard Times must be difficult and mundane. What most people ing freedom. Emancipation of Jamaican read in conjunction with Harriet Beecher do not appreciate, however, is the reaction- slaves, he argues, has left them bewildered Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin to fully under- ary, even abhorrent context within which and unwilling to work. The only solution is stand the nuances of the text. The same is Carlyle made his famous pronouncement. to re-enslave them while reforming the laws true for the essay wherein Levy explores In this important book, David Levy to encourage more benevolent masters. the implications of Adam Smith’s conten- provides an exhaustive and authoritative While the call for re-enslavement was tion that humans are the only species that account of that context. Levy exposes a extreme, Carlyle’s view of blacks was cen- trades with one another and that trade is a shocking truth: The Victorian literary op- tral to the critics of capitalism. They argued function of speech and reason. Hence, Levy position to political economy had less to do that rather than worry about the conditions argues, Smith’s system of economics shows with the dreariness of economic theory than of far distant sub-humans such as Jamaican trade to be the logical starting point of eco- it had with the consequences of free-market blacks, it is more important to be concerned nomic theory and not rational choice, an economy. That is, these Victorians (includ- working classes in Britain through essays, about the plight of the fully human if low insight almost lost to 20th century econo- ing in addition to Carlyle, John Ruskin, and letters and novels, they were demonstrat- status British working class. Capitalism, mists. to some degree, Charles Dickens) despised ing a humanitarian concern absent among they argued, renders British laborers worse While the arguments of this fascinating the flourishing of a market economy be- economists of their day. Levy shows that off than black slaves (a claim that Levy book can be difficult and the reasoning cause it provided more goods to the lower the underlying view of humanity and soci- proves false), and so their improvement sometimes elusive, the importance of the classes and fostered equality of people re- ety that motivated these Victorian critics takes precedence. message and the light it sheds on the rela- gardless of class or race. was not so appealing as we were led to Such reactionary ideas did not go un- tionship between the foundational assump- Levy’s thesis is as surprising as it is believe. challenged. Levy shows that at this time, tions of economic theory and a benevolent provocative. Generations of students have Often pointing to the middle ages as a slavery was opposed by a coalition between view of human association make it well been taught that the Victorian critics of paragon, they believed that society was utilitarians (including the classical econo- worth the reader’s effort. CJ capitalism were the good guys, the defend- composed of a natural hierarchy wherein mists) and Evangelical Christians. ers of the working class against the cruelties the lower orders are to be cared for by their Despite their differences, both groups of early capitalist exploitation. By calling betters to whom allegiance and deference is believed that there was a single human Karen Vaughn is professor of economics at attention to the miserable condition of the owed. At the bottom of the social hierarchy nature, implying a universal equality among George Mason University. July 2003 C A R O L I N A 20 Opinion JOURNAL

Grade Inflation: We Should Care

ast year, Harvard Professor Harvey Mansfield made headlines when he de- L nounced the amazing degree of grade in- flation at Harvard — 91 percent of the students graduated with honors — and stated that he would in the future issue two sets of grades. One would be the official grade re- ported to the admin- istration. The other would be the grade that he thought the student had actually earned. Few students greeted the new policy with enthusi- asm. Grade inflation certainly is not unique to Harvard, though. It is rare to find a school that isn’t in- George Leef fected with it. Duke Professor new government programs that could be attributed to their Stuart Rojstaczer has made quite a study of grade Editorials handiwork. To increase their chances of success, journalists inflation and has a website showing the trends at a systematized their approach to coverage. After their stories large number of schools. Go to were published, reporters badgered politicians to see what www.gradeinflation.com to see for yourself. At the public’s servants intended to do about the grave social SCANDAL SHEETS injustices the stories had uncovered. Politicians, fearful of UNC-Chapel Hill, for example, the average grade rose from to 2.39 in 1967 to 2.98 in 2001. Rojstaczer’s media backlash and unfavorable publicity, introduced leg- data demonstrate that grade inflation is prevalent Newspapers practice ‘civic journalism’ islation that would fix the “crisis.” Then the reporters at schools large and small, public and private. wrote stories explaining what Senator So-And-So had done, OK, but should we care? Some people don’t or had failed to do. Following the “news” coverage, edito- think so. Education gadfly Alfie Kohn calls grade he Jayson Blair scandal revealed a lot more about rials reinforced the newspapers’ lobbying campaigns. inflation “a dangerous myth” and dismisses the today’s newspaper business than journalists would idea that anything is amiss by claiming that if Tlike to admit. Journalists suffer self-delusion grades are rising it’s because college students are Sure, Blair showed how stupid editors at even a news- getting better and better. paper as big and revered in the industry as The New York Somehow, though, journalists who ventured into the Anyone who is familiar with today’s college Times can be. Since the scandal broke, columnists from brave new world had to find a way to assuage their con- students, however, knows otherwise. Students to- coast to coast have had a field day either assailing or sciences and to mitigate criticism that they were compro- day, on the whole, study less than students of past defending affirmative action. And publishers across the mising the core principles of their profession. Rationaliza- generations, yet think themselves entitled to good land have told editors to scrutinize their hiring policies and tion allowed journalists to do that. They told themselves grades anyway. As Peter Sacks explained in his personnel-management practices. and admitted to the public that journalists were no differ- book Generation X Goes to College, the typical college But, the fact is, just as blindly and tragically, newspa- ent than ordinary folk; they harbor prejudices, and their student today views himself as a consumer buying pers for several years have been follow- work, naturally and inescapably, was a product — a bachelor’s degree. Just as with the ing other policies of social engineering bound to reflect their foibles. purchase of a pair of shoes or a CD, he expects to get that have severely damaged their cred- They must renounce Like a sinner half committed to re- it with a minimum of “hassles” such as reading, ibility. subjectivity and re- pentance, journalists believed that mere writing papers, and enduring criticism for any Sometime in the late 1980s or the recognition, and admission, of those in- academic shortcomings. No, it certainly isn’t the 1990s, editors got the notion that their store a culture in the fractions would appease their own pangs case that rising grades are deserved because stu- newspapers were old-fashioned. Jour- newsroom that em- of guilt and silence their critics. Such dents are superachievers. nalists thought they weren’t contribut- introspection would appear to be com- There are several good reasons why we should ing enough to society, or certainly, not braces core journalis- mendable. But, as any member of Alco- regard grade inflation as a problem. raising social “awareness” among the tic values… holics Anonymous will attest, self-analy- For one, there is the matter of motivation. If ignorant masses. In the grand scheme of sis is useless unless it’s backed up by students know that everyone gets A’s or B’s, many things, journalists mused, there was a sincere, day-to-day commitment to will decide that the benefit of trying one’s hardest much more important role for them to play in world affairs change. simply isn’t worth it. Why slave away over a paper than simply to report current events. The world needed The New York Times, mostly because it had no other for an A when a feeble, sloppy effort gets you a B? saving, and journalists believed, surely, they were quali- choice, confessed its sins. Its executives promised that they Why miss out on all the campus fun for that addi- fied to become saviors. would conduct a full review of its hiring policies, its use of tional grade point? anonymous sources, and its procedures to double-check Second, giving higher-than-deserved grades The age of ‘civic journalism’ accuracy. Later, its two top editors resigned. is a kind of fraud. Undeserved grades convey That, alone, is not good enough. The New York Times — misleading information to prospective employers No more inverted pyramid, they decided, that’s old and other newspapers that idolize and practice its brand of and future schools. The purpose of having grades hat. No more “just the facts, ma’am” reporting. So long, journalism — must dig deeper if they hope someday to is to distinguish among students regarding their objectivity. regain any shred of the public’s trust. academic achievements. By compressing everyone Shaping public policy — adhering to a leftist agenda — They must renounce subjectivity and restore a culture at the top of the scale, grade inflation makes it hard became standard operating procedure at many of the in the newsroom that embraces core journalistic values to separate high achievers from those who are nation’s large newspapers. Some in the newspaper busi- such as accuracy, integrity, and fairness rather than guile, mediocre. ness called it “civic journalism.” Others referred to it as persuasiveness, and overbearing social consciousness. They Third, because grade inflation is not uniform “enterprise” reporting. must eradicate advocacy from their news pages. Then they among academic fields, it tends to lure students Most readers and practitioners of traditional journal- must institute systematic procedures that prevent activism into those areas where professors are known to be ism called it propaganda. from returning. easy graders (generally the “soft” disciplines like The philosophy grew as newspaper conglomerates Blind allegiance to racially based affirmative action English and education) and repel them from areas continued to buy newspapers across the country, and triggered the scandal at The New York Times. Howell Raines, where rigorous standards have not given way smaller papers adopted the liberal agenda. “Comfort the its executive editor, admitted as much in a talk to his staff. (such as math and physics). Consequently, we afflicted and afflict the comfortable” was the battle cry. Because of that allegiance, Raines and other editors at the wind up with a population less familiar with the Anecdotal leads and dramatic storytelling became the newspapers allowed, and actually encouraged, Blair to kind of thinking that goes into science — an igno- modern journalists’ tools that would effect change and violate traditional journalistic values. rance that political demagogues often capitalize help shape public policy. To ensure their messages would Executives at many other newspapers fear they, too, on. be noticed, journalists decided that no longer should they have been following affirmative action’s path toward scan- Grade inflation ought to be a high concern of relegate their opinions to the editorial pages. No sir. The dal. They say they have launched internal investigations. college administrators, but there is little evidence new journalists decided they should parade their preju- While they’re at it, they might want to investigate and that they are willing to fight to stop it. CJ dices in the news pages — preferably in huge centerpieces reconsider their radical transformation from being objec- on the Front Page. tive conveyors of information to becoming shameless pro- They measured their achievement by the number of mulgators of propaganda. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Opinion 21

the country and a growing and costly regulatory burden, North Carolina is poorly positioned for the dynamic NOT SO HOT changes now working their way through the economy. Protecting old industries and paying a few big companies State Needs a Tiff State attracting few growth companies to site their plants in our state (for a few years) aren’t vi- able options for long-term economic development. Nor is subsidizing more students to obtain more degrees or re- — about TIFs mid all the evidence of North Carolina’s lacklus- searchers to publish more papers. ter economic performance — the lowest growth North Carolina should be where the investors and en- orth Carolina policymakers desperately A rate in the region, the highest rate of job loss in trepreneurs of the future want to live, work, and build new need to have a tiff about TIFs. That’s tax- the region and one of the worst in the United States, etc. — businesses. It isn’t. Let’s do something about that before N increment financing, by the way. It’s a de- comes another indicator that speaks directly to the state’s it’s too late. vice regularly used by local governments in other bias against investment and enterprise. states to issue government debt without a vote of Business Week magazine publishes an annual ranking the people. It involves designating a zone and al- of the top 100 “hot growth companies” in America. Selected lowing rising property values within that zone to from a national database of 10,000 publicly traded corpo- pay off bonds with higher property-tax collections. rations, these firms exhibit strong growth in sales, earn- SPREE-FREE? For decades now, local officials in North Caro- ings, and return on capital. They form the dynamic core of lina have been trying to get state lawmakers in Ra- a changing economy — the enterprises that are at the fore- Explaining North Carolina’s budget woes leigh, and then state voters in a referendum, to front in replacing the job and investment opportunities amend the constitution to allow localities to use TIFs being lost in older industries. to finance “economic development” projects such Not a single North Carolina company made the list in ur new friend Elaine Mejia, fiscal policy analyst as parking decks, sports arenas, and convention cen- 2003. at the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center, has ters. For decades now, they’ve failed. Most recently, Ours is the 11th most-populous state in the union. In Owritten a new report that purports to disprove the General Assembly recent decades, our economy has outperformed the aver- the notion that a “spending spree” during the 1990s set submitted the question to age. North Carolinians have gotten used to thinking of the stage for the state’s recent budget woes. voters in a 1993 referen- themselves as progressive, as a leading force for new ideas The paper is short, fact-filled, and admirably to the dum. It was defeated. and endeavors in the South. But in the Business Week sur- point. Longtime observers of the public-policy scene in But in May, the N.C. vey, out of 23 “hot growth companies” in the region, none Raleigh will note that Mejia’s center, part of the N.C. Jus- Senate voted 43-2 for an- was a North Carolina-based enterprise. Florida and Ten- tice and Community Development Center, has been a other referendum. Too nessee boasted five apiece; Texas four; Alabama, Virginia, sometime sparring partner and a sometime ally of Caro- bad. TIFs are a bad idea and Maryland two each; and South Carolina, Georgia, and lina Journal’s publisher, the John Locke Foundation. for several reasons, but even lowly Louisiana one each. On this issue, we must spar. the key one is that they Was this just a fluke? Not likely. While North Carolina’s The paper offers two main contentions. First, what would likely enable local John Hood record in attracting “big fish” facilities from elsewhere has appears to have been significant growth in North Carolina politicians to insert their been spotty, its record in cultivating startups and entre- state spending during the past decade was almost entirely power – and their tax-free bonding ability – into preneurs has gotten downright appalling. For example, due to Medicaid growth. And second, even when Medic- risky economic endeavors far outside the proper Gov. Mike Easley, former Gov. Jim Hunt, and the General aid is included, the amount of growth is so underwhelming scope of government. Assembly have worked together to expand the state’s pre- that it couldn’t possibly explain the predicament that state TIFs are supposed to be worth the trouble be- viously modest offerings of targeted tax breaks, govern- lawmakers are debating. cause they enhance local economies in some way. ment grants, and other “incentives” to mostly large corpo- The gist of our disagreement with Mejia is her choice But careful research in states with a long history of rations. A recent survey by the Fluor Corporation ranked of starting dates for her analysis. Here’s a brief fiscal his- using TIFs has failed to show this. For example, two North Carolina’s incentives as the most generous among tory lesson. North Carolina posted dramatic spending researchers at Iowa State University examined their 12 Southern states for manufacturers and No. 2 for “super growth during the 1980s. Then in 1990-91, the state endured state’s growing use of TIFs. From 1989 to 1999, the projects.” a recession. The 1991 session of the state legislature brought number of TIFs localities more than doubled, and But another recent study, this one by the Washington- a combination of spending restraint and tax increases to the total value of property within TIF districts rose based Small Business Survival Committee, ranked North address projected budget deficits over the next two years from $650 million to $4.2 billion. But property val- Carolina dead last in the region for fiscal and other poli- (fiscal 1991-92 and fiscal 1992-93). ues rose outside the districts, too. cies affecting small businesses and entrepreneurs. After these two years of nominal growth (and a slight “The TIF ultimately is supposed to increase and decline when adjusted for inflation and population enrich the tax base through job growth, population A clash of economic philosophies growth), the state budget took off like a rocket. Then, start- retention or growth, earnings gains and trade en- ing in 2000-01, another recession brought another series of hancement,” they concluded. “But between 1989 This is more than just a political or legislative struggle budget deficits — with which state politicians are still grap- and 1999, our analysis shows TIF-increment spend- between large and small companies, or between those on pling today. ing at the county level has not yielded measurable the inside of the political process and the majority on the Mejia’s tracking of the fiscal trend begins in 1990-91, and distinct fiscal, economic or social outcomes.” outside. It reflects a difference in philosophy about how and thus captures two years of recessionary budget de- They also found that the system was forcing tax- and why economies prosper. clines (in real, inflation-adjusted terms). It ends in 2002-03, payers outside of TIF districts to shoulder a dispro- One notion, deeply embedded in the minds of many after two more years of budget declines (again, in real portionate cost of providing government services. politicians because of their faulty education in economics terms). In between, from 1992-93 to 1999-2000, the state’s A similar study of TIFs in the Chicago area and history, is that free enterprise is inherently unstable General Fund budget grew at a rapid rate, up 27 percent found that their use was, at best, simply shifting and incapable of fostering good, long-run decisions. Its ad- even after adjusting for inflation and population growth. development and job creation around within the herents believe that the main impediments to growth can During this period, by the way, the budget expanded by city, not creating net new jobs. Statewide, a sepa- and should be “fixed” by government. 25 percent when Medicaid is excluded, so it can’t be blamed rate study by Lake Forest College and University They want the state to “invest” public dollars into new for most of the growth. of Illinois researchers found that Illinois cities with- ventures, into research centers, into various ways of subsi- A longer-term analysis is also illustrative. From 1981- out TIFs grew faster than cities with them. dizing what they believe to be the “industries of the fu- 82 to 2001-02, state spending nearly doubled in inflation- The issue of TIF bonds for “public” develop- ture.” They acknowledge that raising taxes has some eco- adjusted, per-person terms. ment is intertwined with a larger one about gov- nomic cost, but they believe that spending the proceeds The statistics in the Budget and Tax Center report aren’t ernment assistance for business. The main reasons on public education, public construction, and even public incorrect. But they don’t tell a full and meaningful story why politicians want more ways to issue debt are services like Medicaid can more than offset the deleteri- about North Carolina government growth. Lawmakers did 1) it’s a way for private companies to gain access to ous effects of taxes. Many politicians contend that a state go on a spending spree — in the 1980s — and then enacted tax-free bonds and 2) there are money-losing can be “progressive,” and its economy prosperous, only to the largest tax increase in state history to force taxpayers projects, such as sports arenas, that companies want the extent that its leaders are willing to “pay for it” through to clean up their mess. Then, without sensing the irony, to exploit but not have to pay for. raising taxes. they went on another spending spree in the 1990s, and In both cases, to provide corporate welfare is to This is the ruling philosophy of the political class in again enacted major tax increases in 2001 and 2002 to try warp the market. Why should projects with politi- Raleigh, reflecting not only near-unanimous Democratic to clean up their latest mess. cal connections be able to divert investment from belief but a goodly number of Republican believers, as well. No, the rapid budget growth of the 1980s didn’t per- deserving private projects simply on the basis of a And to put it generously, it is contradicted by sound theory sist into the early 1990s. And, no, the rapid budget growth tax break? And why should any taxpayers be com- and real-world experience. of the 1990s didn’t persist into 2001 and 2002. North pelled to finance the activities of multi-million-dol- The alternative view — and the one currently in vogue Carolina’s boom-and-bust fiscal cycle is striking, when the lar sports teams or tourism industries? in most of our neighboring and competing states — is that data are viewed in context. TIFs don’t represent the potential downfall of high tax rates discourage entrepreneurs and investors from One last point: a Deloitte Consulting study for Gov- North Carolina, but they will set a bad precedent building new growth industries. Core public services do erning magazine found that from 1996 to 2000 — the pe- and, like so many other dubious schemes, they will help economies grow, but their value isn’t infinite. riod during which state spending really ramped up na- raise public expectations of economic growth that Policymakers must make hardheaded decisions about gov- tionwide — North Carolina ranked second in the United will not be met. Here’s hoping the N.C. House de- ernment spending, informed by sound economics and con- States in average annual budget growth, at about 7 per- bates the issue more thoroughly. CJ stitutional principle. cent, compared to a national average of about 4.75 per- If throwing government dollars at education, research, cent. Now, North Carolina is the only state that is consid- planning, and the public-sector equivalent of stock-pick- ering a third straight year of significant tax increases (New Hood is president of the John Locke Foundation, pub- ing was a viable strategy for economic growth, then the Jersey joined us in raising taxes in 2001 and 2002, but is lisher of Carolina Journal, a syndicated columnist, and history of the world during the past half-century would considering only major gambling taxes this year). host of “Carolina Journal Radio,” now broadcast each have been dramatically different. It’s not a pretty picture, no matter how one tries to week on a dozen stations across the state. With some of the highest marginal income tax rates in dress it up. CJ July 2003 C A R O L I N A 22 Opinion JOURNAL

Editorial Briefs

Farmers harvest insurance payments

Crop insurance allows farmers to protect a season’s production of nearly 100 commodities, on more than 200 million acres, against nearly any misfortune. Although it is a government program, private insurance companies market the policies, collect premiums, pay claims, and make large underwriting profits. Currently, 18 insurance companies partici- pate in the program, and they make up one of the most profitable parts of the property and casualty industry, says insurance-rating company A.M. Best. About 800,000 farmers now purchase federal crop insurance. This fiscal year, reflecting payments for the 2002 drought, farmers as a group are collecting about $3.75 for every $1 they spent on crop insur- ance. The cost to taxpayers for crops that failed in 2002 hit $3.9 billion, up 75 percent from what the program cost in 2000. Although crop insurance was supposed to replace ad hoc disaster-aid bills, President Bush signed a $3.1 billion bill in February for drought and other recent losses. It sweetens the payout for farmers who bought crop insurance. Those who didn’t buy crop insurance for the 2002 season can Economists Debunk Myths of Urban Sprawl get aid if they promise to purchase insurance in the next two years. By MICHAEL L. WALDEN self-interest — that is, pursuing lower-cost land and greater The Agriculture Department occasionally en- Contributing Editor housing space — there can still be negative consequences of dorses insurance offerings that practically invite RALEIGH these choices. Three often mentioned bad results from farmers to fail. One deal in Texas in 1999 insured prawl is a word that has acquired a negative conno- sprawl are greater commute times, reduced open space, watermelons planted in the fall. But weather stacks tation in our language. Mention sprawl and the and increased air pollution. the odds against melons planted at that time of the S immediate image in most minds is of subdivisions Glaeser and Kahn address each of these head on. year. South Texas farmers planted lots of fall mel- gobbling up farmland and pristine forests and causing Regarding commute times, they reveal a startling statistic. ons, lost much of the crop, and reaped a total of $21 commuters to sit in time-wasting traffic jams to and from Average commute times to work are actually greater in million in insurance payouts. work. Many politicians say they are for “smart- more dense metropolitan areas than in less- “Rampant fraud goes on in crop insurance,” growth,” which is a kind of fuzzy, ill-defined dense areas. A big reason is the inflexibility of says Bill Mateja, an assistant U.S. attorney in Lub- alternative to “nasty” sprawl. mass transportation systems more commonly bock, Texas, who won convictions of five cotton Unfortunately, there has been little dis- used in high-density metro areas. Mass-tran- and wheat farmers accused of falsely collecting passionate, logical analysis of the causes and sit systems can’t deliver commuters from the $700,000 under the program. consequences of sprawl. But no more. Now doors of their residences to the doors of their Reported in the Wall Street Journal. there is a new study from the prestigious work destinations. National Bureau of Economic Research that Therefore, the total time of commuting Deductions subsidize expensive homes increases our understanding of sprawl. In using a mass-transit system includes the time Sprawl and Urban Growth, economists Edward of getting to the transit stop, the time on the Tax deductions intended to encourage Glaeser and Matthew Kahn debunk many of transit vehicle, and the time getting from the homeownership nationwide are working to subsi- the myths about sprawl with rigorous analy- transit stop to the destination. Autos are more dize expensive areas. sis and empirical investigation. time-efficient on the first and third compo- Buy a home in an expensive East or West Coast Sprawl is simply low-density develop- nents, and may also be more efficient on the city and you will be showered with decades of tax ment. Rather than economic activity being second component when the multiple stops savings, primarily from the mortgage interest de- concentrated in central, high-density places, Michael L. Walden of mass transit systems are considered. duction. Buy a home in Peoria or Pittsburgh, and households and businesses are spread across Glaeser and Kahn also show it’s incorrect you’ll get nothing, because deductible interest or the landscape in lower-density subdivisions and commu- to claim sprawl has significantly reduced the amount of property taxes are so much less. nities. open space in the country. Only 5 percent of the country is After reviewing median home sale prices in The driving force behind low-density development is developed. The amount of land devoted to forests has 125 urban areas and calculating the tax benefits households. Urban economists have long taught that house- actually been increasing. Furthermore, if residents desire buyers would receive, researcher Scott Burns dis- holds face a fundamental trade-off in their residential more open space in their neighborhoods, they can accom- covered that in the 25 lowest-price areas, anyone location. They can live close to work and shopping on land plish this by voting for more public spending on park space buying a median-price home would receive virtu- that, because of its accessibility, is more expensive. In this or by participating in land trusts. Although low-density ally no tax benefit. case, commuting costs will be low, but housing costs will be development is related to greater automobile use, techno- If you bought a median-price home in Fargo, high, thereby motivating less consumption of housing logical advances have caused air pollution levels to fall in N.D., you would enjoy total tax savings of $67 over space. Or, households can live farther from work and shop recent decades. Glaeser and Kahn call this the “greening of two years; every year thereafter, your tax savings on cheaper land, allowing them to afford more housing the automobile.” Automobiles are more environmentally would be zero. Buy a median-price home in places space but forcing longer commutes. friendly today than ever before, and the reductions in like Daytona Beach, Fla.; Topeka, Kan.; or El Paso, In horse and buggy days, when time costs of commut- pollutant emissions per auto have more than offset the Texas, and there are no tax benefits ever. ing were high, most households except farmers lived close increase in driving. Looking at the other end of the price scale, to work and shopped in high-density dwellings. There was The Glaeser and Kahn study makes clear households Burns found that homes in the 25 most expensive nothing romantic about living in crowded apartments on have generally benefited from sprawl. Indeed, sprawl has areas of the country range in median price from top of shops — it was a matter of economic necessity. resulted from residents consciously making decisions to $516,400 in San Francisco to $189,900 in the Minne- The development and proliferation of the automobile improve their standard of living. Certainly, low-density apolis-St. Paul area. dramatically changed the economics of this trade-off. Com- living isn’t the choice of every household, as witnessed by San Diego, the fourth most expensive area mutes that were previously unthinkable were now pos- the increase in inner-city living by some middle- and (Orange County, Calif., and Boston rank second sible. The auto allowed households to “have their cake and upper- income households in recent years. But developers and third, respectively) has a median home sale eat it too.” The auto allowed households to move out of realize most households will trade a longer commute for price of $379,300. dense central cities, buy cheaper land, and therefore con- more living space. Assuming a 3 percent down payment, a 5.5 sume more space, and still have a reasonable commute to Any efforts to artificially limit sprawl will reduce the percent interest rate, a 1 percent of market value work and shopping. Plus, over time, many jobs and shop- well-being of households, especially households that tax rate and a 30 percent tax rate, San Diego home ping followed households to the suburbs and reduced their haven’t attained the dream of a single-family home in a buyers can expect tax benefits of $59,161 over a 23- commuting time. low-density development. Such a move would be replac- year period — 15.6 percent of the purchase price. Critics of sprawl argue that the government contrib- ing the dreams of the many with the plans of the few. CJ Buyers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, the 25th- uted to this low-density development by subsidizing roads. ranked area, receive $17,134 in tax benefits over 18 Not so, says Glaeser and Kahn. The vast majority of high- years on median-price homes — the tax benefits way spending (70 percent) is financed by user fees in the are worth 9 percent of their original purchase form of gasoline taxes. In contrast, the subsidy rate of Michael L. Walden is a William Neal Reynolds distinguished price. public transportation is much higher. professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Eco- Reported in the Dallas Morning News. CJ Even if one accepts that low-density development has nomics at North Carolina State University and an adjunct occurred as a result of households making choices in their scholar with the John Locke Foundation. July 2003 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Opinion 23

Franken incensed by ‘conservative bias’ A Message for Liberals Seeking Media Coverage: Bring It On!

By DONNA MARTINEZ liberal playbook: spit venom, call those who disagree with liberal candidates and issues. Enter AMI, the organization Associate Editor you names, and above all, avoid discussing the facts. they believe will lead to endorsement of their policies by RALEIGH As part of his O’Reilly rant, Franken said he believes overwhelming numbers of Americans. It hasn’t occurred admit it. I’m a C-SPAN junkie. I don’t recognize the conservative bias dominates the media, a ridiculous notion to them that communication isn’t their problem. It’s the pop divas and Hollywood stars that stare out from the for sure, and he put viewers on notice that the Left isn’t opposite. The more people learn about their message, the I grocery store checkout line, but I can going to take this perceived unfairness any more likely they are to reject it. recite the bios of the main players in the longer. Conservatives have missed the most significant point Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill scandal from That’s when I laughed. Not at Franken’s of the AMI announcement as well. Instead of welcoming a memory. It’s not uncommon to find me in lame antics, but at the prospect of him, and new debating opportunity, some have launched into ex- front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn others like him, speaking out more frequently planations of why another left-leaning think tank isn’t watching the latest congressional hearings on behalf of liberal ideas. Think about it. The necessary, citing laundry lists of liberal media bias and the into who knew what, and when, in the never- more air time these people are given, the more dominance of the Left on college campuses and within ending supply of government scandals. uninformed they look. His verbal attack seemed influential nonprofit groups aligned with Democrats. Several weeks ago, I settled in for an to be a first strike of what may be coming soon True enough, but the most savvy thing conservatives afternoon of what C-SPAN does best: laid- from leaders of the Left who think they’re can do is welcome the opportunity to expose liberal ideas back author interviews, this time from Book being shortchanged in the media and public for the ineffective and outdated social and economic poli- Expo America 2003 in Los Angeles. But in- policy debate. cies they are. Not since Bill Clinton lectured the country on stead of the usual talking-head session, the Donna Martinez This fall, well-connected doom-and- what the definition of “is” is, has the Right received such a live forum featured comedian Al Franken gloomers will open the doors of a liberal Wash- gift. The institute will no doubt receive national exposure hammering Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly ington-based think tank dubbed the American and media credibility from the get-go. Its representatives with accusations of lying and misleading the public. Majority Institute. will be guests on talk shows and town hall meetings from Franken, revered by the Hollywood Left, spewed, sput- Championed by former Clinton Chief of Staff John coast to coast, all leading up to the 2004 presidential elec- tered, and gesticulated in what could have been a “Satur- Podesta and others, AMI is the latest attempt to convince tion. This exposure to liberalism’s shortcomings will be day Night Live” skit. Like many elements of that tired Americans the country needs more money for more pro- vivid, helping to create an understanding of the opportu- program, Franken showed poor taste and wasn’t funny. grams, for even more people. nity and compassion of conservatism. It seems that conservatives are Franken’s targets in his Hard to believe, but liberals have concluded that their Personally, I can’t wait. The more the AMI crowd new book, LIES, And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair impact has diminished because their message is being explains its liberal message, the laughter Al Franken will and Balanced Look at the Right. Wade through the histrionics blocked by conservatives. If a level playing field existed, hear from future audiences won’t be because of his jokes. and Franken’s C-SPAN act was a textbook example of the they surmise, voters would flock to the polls to support They’ll be laughing at his ideas. CJ Universities Use ‘Diversity’ to Rob Individuals of Intellectual Property

By R. E. SMITH JR. Harmony, unity, solidarity — true integration, we are prohibit behavior that “destroys the environment of toler- Guest Contributor told, are goals of the fanciful. Academic seers want to ance and mutual respect.” WILMINGTON permeate every part of higher-education programs with Actually, the university seeks to destroy the environ- niversity officials believe they have the power to their utopian world view. The visionaries are on a quest to ment of free exchange, honest expression, and open dis- foster America’s ideal vision of diversity. They make presumably unfavored students feel “comfortable,” sent. “Diversity,” as promoted at universities, stigmatizes U presume to know that vision. Yet, none exists and achieve a “higher degree of tolerance for all cultures.” minorities, polarizes the campus, and has nothing to do beyond academia. They see themselves using their pre- Academia would build a facade suited to their particular with a multiplicity of thoughts and ideas. sumptive power to instruct Americans who don’t have purpose — an idealistic scheme to impose on others their The diversity movement is a tentacle of the socialist academic foresight. So goes current wisdom spawned at remorse and feelings of inadequacy. Yet their ploy is nebu- octopus. Horowitz defines socialism as “a plan for morally the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and other lous and undefined. sanctioned theft” — taking what others have produced. colleges. Meanwhile, the real world goes on. It functions well The university, once a place that demanded excellence, Academic foresight, it seems, demands greater ethnic without forced manipulation. People work out their differ- elevated knowledge, and encouraged heterogeneous intel- focus on campus. The mission payoff, they say, will eradi- ences; they learn to deal with imperfection. Faculty and lectual thought, is being stolen from us. Increasingly, the cate “lingering consequences” of unequal treatment suf- students don’t need a nanny-university controlling activi- higher-educational process is being subverted. False pre- fered by some minorities, and the “most onerous effects of ties, deeds, and even words that might offend. mises, lower expectations, and subversive policies are re- birth into unfavorable circumstances.” The burden of life is Most universities now have speech codes that are placing the old order. assumed to be too much for some to bear, so universities themselves offensive. All should be offended by the sug- The aim is to reconstruct the academic environment must insulate what they presume to be poor, weak souls gestion that “diversity” be codified. But a more insidious into victim identities and group preferences with their from potential insults and other perceived transgressions. problem exists. separate courses, departments, and programs. Rather than The feudal view from higher-education visionaries is Horowitz said utopians must destroy the old order unified, campuses are being split apart by a forced, unnatu- based on looking back in order to see Utopia ahead; what before they can install a new one. Socialists throughout the ral system. former communist David Horowitz has described as “a globe have tried to stamp out existing societies to impose The unique identity of the individual and personal vision to nowhere.” Correcting past and perceived injus- their invariably oppressive plots. thinking is being taken away. Since all thoughts and ideas tices by imagining perfection reminds us of other failed and The newest code word for that revolutionary solution originate with individuals, subverting them to groups, in discredited, impractical socialist projects. But it still lurks in is “diversity.” Eli Lehrer, in his article “Unfree Speech” in essence, is a kind of thievery — the taking of our intellectual academia. Here collectivism has safe haven. The public The American Enterprise, cites an example of suppression at property. Hopefully, this vision will not stand the test of university is rarely scrutinized. the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They time. CJ Letter to the Editor: Author Rebuts Review of ‘Equal Rights for All’ To The Editor: note on Page 30 the core ideological differences between veneer of scholarship, to attack a Republican Populist the two writers. For Hobbes, the primary human urge is to ideology. His political technique does not work well in the I am grateful to George Stephens for reviewing my dominate others, while for Locke, it is to accumulate prop- context of Carolina Journal because the Journal and the book, Equal Rights For All. Special Privileges For None. Prin- erty. I go on throughout the book to compare and contrast Locke Foundation have a 13-year track record of clean, ciples of American Populism. It is gratifying to think that he the two writers. There is nothing in my book about an credible scholarship. Thinly veiled partisan attacks in this found the subject matter interesting. “equivalency” between the two authors. context are easily detected and defused. Stephens makes several errors of scholarship in his Third, Stephens alleges that I am wrong in my presen- My book is about the conflict in America between the review which must be corrected to avoid a taint on the tation of Madison’s advocacy of the Senate as a preserve for cultural values of individualism and collectivism. I use the credibility of Carolina Journal, if left unchallenged. the wealthy aristocrats. Madison played the decisive role in historical experience of the agrarian populists as a tableau In the first instance, Stephens states that I made a the compromise that created the U.S. Senate. Stephens upon which to draw out what happens when common factual error in citing Madison as the author of Federalist suggests that Madison’s initial advocacy of the Virginia citizens with an individualistic ethos seek greater control No. 71. Stephens fails to truthfully denote that my citation Plan should be given greater historical primacy than over political decisions, especially those decisions which is a direct quote on p. xi, properly citing Gordon Wood’s Madison’s work in securing the final outcome. If Stephens involve the concentrated holdings of wealth and private book, The Creation of The American Republic: 1776 – 1787, is in possession of some historical evidence to suggest that property of social groups with a collectivist orientation. (UNC Press, 1969). p. 599. Madison did not broker the deal, as it emerged, then Greater citizen participation in those types of political Stephen’s failure of scholarship to correctly note this Stephens should immediately bring that new, previously decisions is obviously a great source of concern to a liber- citation, but attributing it to me, is compounded by his unknown evidence to the light of the entire academic tarian property rights advocate, like Stephens, whose pri- factual confusion over the authorship of Federalist No. 71. world. mary orientation is that those with the greatest amount of Gordon Wood ascribes the authorship of No. 71 to Madi- Stephens is a property rights libertarian, who has a property should have the greatest political power. son. definite point of view of history, and a definite political Second, Stephens alleges that I “equate” the political agenda. He has used the occasion of his review in Carolina Thomas E. Vass philosophy of Hobbes and Locke. This allegation is false. I Journal to promote his libertarian agenda, under the thin Swift Creek, NC July 2003 C A R O L I N A 24 Parting Shot JOURNAL Rhode Island: A Pipsqueak Pilferer of History State that should be dissolved makes much ado about nothing; copy of the Bill of Rights belongs to N.C.

By PAUL CHESSER about my very favorite state.” Trying to make good, And what is the point of the Pawtucket Red Sox? This Associate Editor Dellinger chalked up his appreciation for the little state that Triple-A club is the farm team for its parent in Boston, RALEIGH could to its “feisty quality.” which is less than an hour’s drive away. Why settle for uke University law Professor Walter Dellinger I understand the good professor’s desire to smooth inferiority? was right when he said, “We could have done ruffled feathers, but intentional or not, his first remarks These examples may seem trivial, but let’s get to the Dwithout Rhode Island.” Not need to be amplified, not disavowed. most important reason to eliminate Rhode Island: rampant only could we have done without it, Sure, exuberance in the public liberalism. Little Rhody can’t even elect entertaining liber- but we can still do without it, and it square can sometimes be a positive als like Tip O’Neill, Michael Dukakis, and Barney Frank, all would be best for the country if we get thing, but in the case of Rhode Island, of neighboring Massachusetts. rid of it immediately. there is hardly any “quality” in its No, Rhode Island voters keep sending Patrick Kennedy Duke’s constitutional specialist ut- feistiness. Usually its obstinacy is only back to the U.S. House, perpetuating Papa Ted’s leftist tered his remarks in the context of a for obstinacy’s sake. The word “feisty” legacy in the most mundane of packaging. Not only are statement to The News & Observer of is derivative of the word “feist,” which they contributing to the country’s destruction, but they are Raleigh about the recovery of North Webster’s defines as “a small, snappish boring it to death as well. Carolina’s stolen copy of the original dog” — how appropriate in this case. And the only Republican that can get elected in Rhode draft of the Bill of Rights. Island is a liberal one. Voters there repeatedly sent John “North Carolina’s copy of the Bill Least and dead last Chafee to the U.S. Senate until he died in 1999, and now of Rights is uniquely important,” continue to impose his son Lincoln upon us. Dellinger said. “We’re the state, with Being a Rhode Islander means you Worse, Rhode Island’s politics may be more corrupt Rhode Island, that held out and de- bear the inferiority complex that comes than Chicago’s. Last June, Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci clined to join the union until there was with living in the state that is dead last was convicted of racketeering conspiracy by a federal jury. a Bill of Rights. We could have done in importance. Presidents never visit He had been re-elected in 1991 after a previous term as without Rhode Island, but we were there, except to shut up the “snappish mayor. His earlier tenure ended after he pleaded no contest hardly going to be a contiguous union dog” once every 10 years or so. T.F. in 1984 to charges of beating his wife’s lover with a fireplace with a foreign country between South Carolina and Vir- Green Airport is a semipopular destination for travelers log. In 1998 former Gov. Ed DiPrete was convicted on 18 ginia.” trying to avoid the hassle of Logan Airport in Boston, charges of racketeering, bribery, and extortion. For Rhode which is where people would rather go. Green is even Islanders to elect anybody colorful, I guess he must be a Rumblings in Little Rhody billed as “The Hassle Free Gateway to New England.” In criminal too. other words, “the airport to use when you want to go It’s time for the federal government to dissolve Rhode His remarks caused an uproar in ruinous Rhody, where somewhere else.” Island’s power structure and make it part of Connecticut or a state senator sponsored a resolution that protested What celebrities has Rhode Island contributed to popu- Massachusetts (it’s not worth splitting). This pipsqueak Dellinger’s comments, and declared the diminutive state’s lar culture? Ruth Buzzi, David Hartman, and the Farrelly state contributes nothing of value to the rest of the nation, (imagined) important role in the founding of the nation. brothers — whoopee. and in fact needs to be protected from itself. CJ The proclamation passed and was sent to Dellinger, who How about sports Hall of Famers? Do you remember immediately backpedaled and said, “As a constitutional Gabby Hartnett, Frank Frisch, and Nap Lajoie? Shake those historian, I have always considered Rhode Island just cobwebs out of your brain. Paul Chesser grew up in Rhode Island.

Host Tom Campbell Chris Fitzsimon Barry Saunders John Hood

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