• EMOs Follow HMOs • Title IX Hammers In Educational Market Male Sports Programs

Scotland County Schools C A R O L I N A Crichton’s ‘State of Fear’

Volume 14, Number 2 A Monthly Journal of News, February 2005 Analysis, and Opinion from JOURNAL the John Locke Foundation www.CarolinaJournal.com www.JohnLocke.org Student Loses Privacy Battle With NCSU, Professor

a graded assignment. I cited the very per- Protest of personal test sonal, private nature of the information, and made the case that such matters were leads to NCSU student’s often discussed only within relationships rejection, trespass charge of trust. I pointed out to Dr. Robinson that I did not really know her.” Also during the meeting, Robinson and By SHANNON BLOSSER Boren discussed his academic future and Contributing Writer the fact he intended to apply to the educa- RALEIGH tion counseling program. Boren recognized hen the 2001 spring semester that Robinson held an important role in began at North Carolina State whether he would be accepted into the pro- W University, Robert Boren was a gram. student looking forward to beginning his “I assured her that I was not trying to pursuit of a master’s degree in education ruffle any feathers, that I wanted to do well counseling. Little did Boren know, how- in her class and that I felt I needed to do ‘A’ ever, that one interaction with a professor work,” Boren wrote. “I told her that I was would lead to his grades being altered on aware she would play a role in whether or his application, his chances at graduate edu- not I would be admitted into the program. cation crippled, his pleas for answers about She nodded that I was correct.” those being ignored, and his being threat- ened with arrest for trespassing. When to hold ‘em, fold ‘em A nontraditional graduate student, Boren wanted to enter NCSU’s education Nevertheless, Boren stuck by his objec- counseling master’s program. Boren was tion to her assignment, and “at some later taking courses in preparation for this pro- point Dr. Robinson ran out of patience and gram, including ECD 540: “gender issues in told me that the present situation reminded counseling,” taught by Dr. Tracy Robinson. her of a song by Kenny Rogers,” he said. She was also in charge of the education “Looking me right in the eye and quoting, counseling program. she cautioned me, ‘You got to know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em.’ She Up close and personal said it stern-faced, and I felt warned.” Boren said he asked Robinson what At the beginning of the semester, would happen if he chose not to answer the Robinson gave Boren and her other stu- inappropriate questions. Robinson told him dents in the Monday-evening course the he’d fail the assignment, which would di- class syllabus. A writing assignment was minish his overall grade. due at the start of the next class, she told the Boren said he left the meeting stunned class. The assignment was a “personal nar- and “feeling extremely ill-treated [and] even rative” to be worth 15 percent of each more convinced of the impropriety of” the student’s final grade. It required students assignment. On the advice of a friend, he to answer personal questions relating to phoned Dr. Amy Halberstadt, an NCSU their gender and sexuality. psychology professor and a sexual harass- The assignment began: “What is your ment resolution officer. gender? What is your sexual orientation? Boren completed the assignment, which Who have you told about your sexual orien- was graded as Robinson had told them, tation?” Follow-up questions asked students according to the nature of their answers and to discuss societal discourses as well as on her estimation of whether each student common values to their sexual orientation. Carolina Journal photo by Jon Sanders had given complete answers. Boren received Boren found some of the questions to be Poe Hall, where Boren was cited for trespassing, looms over North Carolina State University. one of the lowest grades in the class. One too personal, inquiring about private infor- question asked, “On a scale of 0-10 (0 being mation he believed no professor, no matter The meeting and the aftermath more than 10 minutes,” Boren said. complete comfort; 10 being total discom- the class, had any business asking. “This is “At our meeting, I began by calmly fort), indicate your comfort level with this the professor saying ‘let me get in your Boren met Robinson in her office a few expressing my discomfort with Dr. assignment. Please discuss your response.” business,’” Boren said. days before the assignment was due to dis- Robinson’s assignment,” Boren wrote in In reply, Boren wrote a page and a half on Robinson, who now operates Robinson cuss it. Boren described the meeting as pro- his Web site, www.abuseofpowerat his “misgivings surrounding this assign- Counseling Services, an online counseling fessional, but he said Robinson seemed in- ncstate.com. “I shared my view that it was service based in North Carolina, did not attentive to his concerns about the personal inappropriate to require students to dis- respond to repeated requests for comment. narrative. The meeting “couldn’t have lasted close their sexual identities in the context of Continued as “Problems Multiply,” Page 3

NC Should Spend Gas, Car Taxes On. . . The John Locke Foundation NONPROFIT ORG. Contents 200 W. Morgan St., # 200 U.S. POSTAGE Only Roads 57% Raleigh, NC 27601 PAID Other Items, Too 38% RALEIGH NC PERMIT NO. 1766 Not Sure 5% 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. 2004 JLF Poll Parting Shot 24 C A R O L I N A Contents

ON THE COVER HIGHER EDUCATION • An interview with University of North JOURNAL Carolina sociology professor Dr. Christian • At one time, Robert Boren held hopes of • While Title IX has provided more oppor- Smith. Page 17 becoming a graduate student at North tunities in athletics for women, it has done Carolina State University. But that was be- the opposite for men. Page 10 THE LEARNING CURVE fore he ran afoul of a professor, had his grades changed, was denied entry into • Given the U.S. Supreme Court’s failure • Paul Messino reviews the book State of Richard Wagner graduate school, and was charged with tres- to clarify the constitutionality of racial pref- Fear by Michael Crichton. Page 18 Editor passing. Page 1 erences, the issue continues to roil nation- wide. Page 11 • Reviews of Who’s Looking Out for You? by NORTH CAROLINA Bill O’Reilly, and For the Survival of Democ- Paul Chesser, Michael Lowrey • Jon Sanders writes that the Foundation racy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis Donna Martinez • Eastern North Carolina Natural Gas is for Individual Liberty’s Guide to Free Speech of the 1930s by Alonzo Hamby. Page 19 Associate Editors winding down its pipeline construction on Campus gives a shot in the arm to aca- project in 14 northeastern counties with an demic freedom. Page 11 OPINION Karen Palasek, Jon Sanders ambitious crossing of Currituck Sound, a Assistant Editors three-mile underground tunneling that par- • Parades, music, drama, prayer breakfasts, • Paul Chesser writes that Jim Goodmon, allels Wright Memorial Bridge. Page 4 and speakers helped University of North owner of Capitol Broadcasting, is just your Carolina schools celebrate Martin Luther standard, decent guy. Page 20 Chad Adams, Shannon Blosser, • Gov. Mike Easley and state Senate Presi- King Jr. Day. Page 12 Andrew Cline, Roy Cordato, dent Pro Tem Marc Basnight are locked in • Editorials about pollution trends in North Charles Davenport, Ian Drake, a fight over a small airport in Currituck LOCAL GOVERNMENT Carolina and mathematics performance Tom Fetzer, Bob Fliss, County. Page 5 among U.S. teens. Page 21 Nat Fullwood, John Gizzi, • Clint Willis isn’t bitter toward Scotland David Hartgen, Summer Hood, Lindalyn Kakadelis, George Leef, EDUCATION County voters, even though they didn’t re- • Michael Walden writes that the demise Kathleen Linder, Marc Rotterman, elect him to the county Board of Commis- of the federal tobacco program is a prime R.E. Smith Jr., Jack Sommer, • It’s time for medical HMOs to step aside, sioners. He regrets only that he couldn’t put example of the ultimate triumph of eco- John Staddon, George Stephens, because the educational market, with an the brakes on residents’ growing property nomic forces over political control. Page 22 Jeff Taylor, Michael Walden, estimated $350 billion potential value, is tax burden. Page 14 Karen Welsh ready to let EMOs make their debut. • George Leef writes that out-of-state tu- Contributing Editors Page 6 • Good news is the cause of bad news for ition is a bargain at the University of North local government and civic leaders when it Carolina, and that the state’s taxpayers de- • Recently released test results showed that comes to the state’s yearly William S. Lee serve a break because of it. Page 23 Jenna Ashley Robinson, Paul Messino, Brian McGraw the most advanced American students com- Act tier designations, in which a stronger Editorial Interns pared unfavorably with their peers in other local economy can reduce incentives for PARTING SHOT countries, underlining the importance of business investing in and state aid to a providing appropriate education to the county. Page 15 • CJ Parody: A study by the Office of State most gifted students. Page 8 Personnel revealed that women make less • Chad Adams says if you compete with than men and female-dominated occupa- John Hood • Two recent studies examined curriculum Dell in North Carolina, you are subsidiz- tions are ”often paid less than male-domi- Publisher and teaching practices in K-12 English and ing your competition simply because you’re nated jobs even if they require the same or math, and find that even the best states of- paying taxes that Dell won’t have to pay. greater amount of education, experience, Don Carrington Associate Publisher ten come up short. Page 9 Page 15 and responsibilities.” Page 24 Calendar Published by The John Locke Foundation 200 W. Morgan St., # 200 Raleigh, N.C. 27601 (919) 828-3876 • Fax: 821-5117 Pipes to Discuss Single-Payer Health-Care System in March www.JohnLocke.org

n Wednesday, March 2, the John enegger’s transition team in 2003. Bruce Babcock, Herb Berkowitz, Locke Foundation will host a lun- Pipes is a member of the Mont Pelerin John Carrington, Sandra Fearrington, cheon featuring Sally Pipes, presi- Society, National Association of Business Jim Fulghum, William Graham, O dent of the Pacific Research Institute, who Economists, and the Philadelphia Society. John Hood, Lee Kindberg, will speak about America’s health-care sys- While in Canada, she was a member of the Robert Luddy, William Maready, tem. Canadian Association for Business Econom- J. Arthur Pope, Assad Meymandi, Pipes is the chief executive officer of ics (president for two terms) and the Asso- Tula Robbins, David Stover, Jess Ward, Andy Wells PRI, a San Francisco-based think tank ciation of Professional Economists of B.C. Board of Directors founded in 1979. Prior to becoming presi- The cost of the luncheon is $15 per dent in 1991, she was assistant director of person. The event will begin at noon at the the Fraser Institute, based in Vancouver, Brownstone Hotel in Raleigh. For more in- Canada. formation or to preregister, contact the Locke Pipes addresses national and interna- Foundation at (919)828-3876 or events@ Carolina Journal is a monthly jour- tional audiences on health care, women’s JohnLocke.org. nal of news, analysis, and commentary on issues, education, privatization, civil rights, state and local government and public policy and the economy. She has been interviewed issues in North Carolina. “Carolina Journal Radio” on “20/20,” “The Today Show,” “Dateline,” ©2005 by The John Locke Foundation “Politically Incorrect,” “The Dennis Miller The staff of Carolina Journal co-produces Inc. All opinions expressed in bylined ar- Show,” “Beyond the Beltway,” “The Week a weekly newsmagazine, “Carolina Journal ticles are those of the authors and do not in Review,” and other prominent programs. Pacific Research Institute’s Sally Pipes Radio,” which is syndicated on 20 radio sta- necessarily reflect the views of the editors of She has written regular columns for tions across North Carolina. You can visit Carolina Journal or the staff and board of Chief Executive, Investor’s Business Daily, and ion pieces on the issue of drug importation. CarolinaJournal.com to locate an affiliate in the Locke Foundation. the San Francisco Examiner. Her opinion Pipes has held a variety of positions in your area. Also, subscriptions to a monthly pieces have appeared in The Washington both the private and public sectors. In Brit- CD containing selected episodes of the pro- Material published in Carolina Jour- Post, Financial Times of London, Los Angeles ish Columbia, the Ministry of Consumer gram are available by calling (919) 828-3876. nal may be reprinted provided the Locke Foundation receives prior notice and ap- Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento and Corporate Affairs appointed her direc- propriate credit is given. Submissions and Bee, and Orange County Register. tor and vice chairman of the Financial Insti- “The Locker Room” letters to the editor are welcome and should A Canadian residing in the U.S., Pipes tutions Commission. She also served on the be directed to the editor. writes, speaks, and gives invited testimony Vancouver City Planning Commission. Every weekday, and sometimes on the at the national and state levels on key health- Pipes serves on the board of the Inde- slow news days of Saturday and Sunday, Readers of Carolina Journal who wish care issues facing America. Topics have pendent Women’s Forum, the national ad- staff and friends of the John Locke Foun- to receive daily and weekly updates from CJ included the false promise of a single-payer visory board of Capital Research Center, dation discuss breaking news on an Internet editors and reporters on issues of interest to system as exists in Canada, pharmaceutical the board of advisors of the San Francisco weblog called “The Locker Room.” Presi- North Carolinians should call 919-828- pricing, solving the problem of the unin- Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, dent John Hood and Carolina Journal writ- 3876 and request a free subscription to Carolina Journal Weekly Report, deliv- sured, and strategies for consumer-driven and the State Policy Network President’s ers and editors monitor political and cul- ered each weekend by e-mail, or visit health care. Advisory Council. She has served as a tural developments in North Carolina and CarolinaJournal.com on the World Wide Over the past year, she has participated trustee of St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation in across the nation, and write short commen- Web. Those interested in education, higher in prominent debates and public forums, San Francisco, as a commissioner on taries throughout each day and post them education, or local government should also testified before five committees in the Cali- California’s Commission on Transportation on the website immediately. To get a free- ask to receive weekly e-letters covering these fornia Legislature, appeared on television Investment (CTI), and as a governor of the market, conservative perspective on break- key policy issues. programs, participated in talk radio shows Donner Canadian Foundation. She was a ing news each day, visit “The Locker Room” nationwide, and written several dozen opin- member of California Gov. Arnold Schwarz- at www.johnlocke.org/lockerroom. CJ C A R O L I N A February 2005 JOURNAL North Carolina 3 Problems Multiply After Run-In With Professor, Student Says

Continued From Page 1 noted, it was “low enough to single- Boren objected. This remedy, he wrote, handedly take me out of the running, espe- “was to exempt the three deans from hav- ment.” He wrote that allowing students to cially given that it was her track of the ing to defend their actions, and send me Timeline of events maintain personal privacy “would in no program.” Furthermore, Robinson had writ- back to rely on them for fair treatment.” He way hinder the instructor from challenging ten in her evaluation that Boren “evidences wrote Fox that he considered her remedy Robert Boren has battled with NCSU her students to examine these issues in their some interpersonal and academic irregu- inadequate. Fox responded by withdraw- officials for four years over alleged pro- lives.” larities that are a source of concern.” But ing Boren’s grievance, saying he is unwill- fessional misconduct by a professor and Boren also wrote that he could “envi- when Robinson had written that, she had ing to participate in “activities designed to the mishandling of a grievance charge, sion non-heterosexual students still strug- had only the one, 10-minute interpersonal address student grievances.” which ultimately led to a trespassing or- gling with their identity feeling especially exchange with Boren. Carolina Journal sought comment from der from the university that was dismissed threatened by this assignment, and anguish- Boren suspected his application had NCSU Legal Council David Drooz on spe- in Wake County Superior Court last year. ing between lying about their orientation been sabotaged because of his disagree- cific aspects of Boren’s grievance case against Here is a timeline of the major events: and revealing it before they are ready.” He ment over the personal narrative assign- Robinson and NCSU officials, but Drooz • Jan. 8, 2001: ECD 540: “gender is- received no credit for this ment. He alerted NCSU of- refused to comment because of federal laws sues in counseling” begins answer because he didn’t ficials about the discrep- regarding student information. • Jan. 17, 2001: Boren meets with use the 0-10 scale. ancy in his grades, but Professor Robinson to discuss her home- “I made my feelings rather than investigate, they The trespassing order work assignment asking students about known and got hammered simply told Boren that he their sexual orientation. They also dis- for it,” Boren wrote. would not have been ad- With no administrator willing to look cuss Boren’s application to NCSU’s gradu- Throughout the semes- mitted into the program. into the alteration of his grades, Boren de- ate education counseling program. ter, Boren said, he never “Actually, they are cided to seek answers on his own from the Robinson is in charge of that program. missed a class, kept up with agreeing with me,” Boren Education Department. • Jan. 22, 2001: Due date of the “sexual the reading, and saw his said. “I wasn’t going to get NCSU, however, disagreed. On Jan. 31, orientation” assignment, worth 15 per- grades steadily improve. in anyways because I was 2002, NCSU Chief of Police Thomas Younce cent of the final grade. Nevertheless, he said, he sabotaged.” told Boren that his presence in Poe was • January 2001: Boren applies to continued to receive hostil- Boren said he decided “disrupting the workplace” and “creat[ing] graduate education counseling program. ity from Robinson. She to seek relief through the an atmosphere of concern among the em- • March 23, 2001: Boren’s applica- made remarks in class that school’s grievance process. ployees.” If Boren returned to Poe he would tion denied. Boren later learns that his seemed aimed at him. She He studied the policies and be arrested for trespassing, Younce said. grades had been altered on his transcript singled him out “as the sub- discussed the procedure The only way to avoid arrest, Younce told and that Robinson had given him a nega- ject for what I experienced Robert Boren with school officials. He Boren, was for him first to report to the tive evaluation. as an exercise in humilia- wrote to Dr. Kathryn NCSU police and present proof that he had • April 27, 2001: Boren notifies Dean tion.” Once, he said, “she gave me points Moore, dean of the NCSU School of Educa- an appointment on campus approved by Moore of his grievance against Robinson. and then took them back on the mid-term tion, about his grievances against Robinson. the dean. • May 9, 2001: Informal grievance exam.” Later, she asked students to “think He cited the personal narrative assignment, Boren asked Younce who had com- meeting among Boren and Dean Moore, about a situation where you felt power- her attitude toward him in class, and the plained and why and said he intended to Dean Sowell, and Assistant Dean less,” adding, “How about applying to get apparent sabotaging of his graduate school appeal the trespassing order. “I can share Wheatley. Robinson does not attend. into graduate school and not getting in?” application. with you that they consider your visits in- • May 17, 2001: Boren decides to seek Robinson made that remark April 16. Anona P. Smith, assistant director for timidating; your continued requests for the a formal resolution of his grievance. By then Boren had been notified that his student services, scheduled a meeting be- same information raise a concern in their • July 2001: Boren is told that application to grad school had been turned tween Boren, Moore, Robert Sowell, dean minds; and that they were beginning to feel Robinson is off campus and cannot at- down, and that Robinson had given a low of the Graduate School, and Jack Wheatley, harassed,” Younce wrote to Boren Feb. 18, tend a grievance hearing until mid-Au- evaluation on it. He also discovered that his associate dean of the College of Education. 2002. “Whether you intended your actions gust. Delay would prevent Boren from overall grade-point average had been Robinson was not scheduled to attend. At to be intimidating or harassing or not, it was attending fall classes. Boren learns changed on his form. Robinson knew of that point, Boren was seeking an informal perceived to be by the staff.” Younce re- Robinson is teaching on campus. He files Boren’s failed application when she made resolution to the situation. sponded that Boren’s request for an appeal a grievance with then-Chancellor Marye the remark, because she had turned down a The meeting took place with no real had been denied — even though Boren had Anne Fox over Moore, Wheatley, and request from her department head, Dr. action from the school, other than holding a not yet made the request. Smith’s obstruction. Fox instructs the Col- Stanley Baker, that she meet with him and meeting between Wheatley and Robinson In March 2002, even though Younce’s lege of Education to hear the grievance Boren to discuss it. to discuss the assignment, so Boren sought reply gave the outcome the appearance of a against Robinson but does nothing about a formal resolution. Smith, Wheatley, fait accompli, Boren did appeal the tres- the administrators. Boren objects to what Application and grievances Moore, and Vice Provost for Equal Oppor- passing order with David Rainer, associate he thinks an inadequate response. Fox tunity and Equity Joanne Woodward all vice chancellor for environmental health withdraws Boren’s grievance, saying he Boren’s application for graduate school told Boren that the process would not be and public safety. Rainer upheld the tres- is unwilling to participate in “activities was rejected March 23, 2001, for the given timely, because Robinson would not be at passing order. designed to address student grievances.” reason that he was “[n]ot competitive with NCSU during the summer and therefore In May 2002, Boren learned from Asso- • Jan. 31, 2002: Boren warned for current applicant pool.” Boren requested to not be available to meet for a hearing. ciate General Counsel Eileen S. Goldgier trespassing on campus. Thomas Younce, review his application packet. What he saw Boren later learned that Robinson had that the complaining witness leading to chief of police for NCSU, tells Boren he is angered him and prompted a question that been teaching on campus that summer. He Younce’s trespassing order had been Younce “disrupting the workplace and has cre- NCSU administrators still refuse to com- wrote Woodward and Smith that NCSU’s himself. Boren hired a lawyer and appealed ated an atmosphere of concern among the pletely answer. summer session course listing showed the NCSU decision in Wake County Supe- employees” and that, to avoid arrest, Boren had completed his last two years Robinson teaching “cross-cultural counsel- rior Court. Boren must report to the NCSU police of undergraduate study at NCSU with a ing” in Poe Hall. He also wrote that, “I have In April of last year, Judge Stafford first with proof that he has an appoint- 2.94 GPA and his overall GPA was 3.025. more than lost confidence in the handling Bullock ruled that NCSU’s decision to ban ment on campus approved by the dean. For his major, his GPA was 2.89. Inexplica- of this matter by the College of Education.” Boren from Poe Hall was wrong and re- • February 2002: Boren asks Younce bly, however, on his application, the GPAs Smith wrote back. “Dr. Robinson is teach- versed the decision. Bullock wrote that who complained about him. Younce says listed for both were the same: an even 2.50. ing summer school this session; however NCSU “acted in an arbitrary and capricious the staff perceived Boren’s actions as in- Who changed his GPA? No one at NCSU she is not working for the College of Educa- manner” in issuing the trespassing order. timidating and harassing. will tell him. tion but is employed by the McKimmon • March 25, 2002: Boren appeals the According to documentation given to Center,” which is part of NCSU. The case continues trespassing order within NCSU’s griev- Carolina Journal, Boren received strong ance process. The associate vice chancel- evaluations from those at NCSU who re- Chancellor reviews grievance Since the trespassing charge was dis- lor for environmental health and public viewed his application as well as recom- missed, Boren has still been unable to find safety upholds the order. mendations from those who knew him. In July 2001, Boren filed a separate griev- out exactly what happened to his grades. • May 11, 2002: Boren learns that the Boren also noticed the sample work that he ance against Moore, Wheatley, and Smith He has continued his efforts through letters complaining witness cited by Younce was submitted along with his application had for deliberately obstructing his rights un- with the NCSU Board of Trustees, who Younce himself. not been seen. His letters of recommenda- der the Grievance Procedure for Students. informed him that it was not an issue for the • Oct. 23, 2002: Sowell writes Boren tion included one from a vice president at Following NCSU policy, he sent it to Chan- trustees to consider. He even approached that, even with correct grades, he would another university, and the following from cellor Marye Anne Fox. UNC President Molly Broad and others not have entered the graduate school. a professor within the program, who wrote: Fox and Boren exchanged letters, but within the UNC system, to no avail. Boren • April 23, 2004: Trespass order “I’ve had Robert now in two classes. He Fox seemed unconcerned by and unwilling is no longer in school and works in the against Boren thrown out by Wake County received an A in Career [Counseling] and to look into Boren’s allegation of obstruc- Raleigh area. He has started a Web site, Superior Court Judge Stafford Bullock. an A+ in Theories [and Techniques of Coun- tion by the administrators. She proposed www.abuseofpoweratncstate, to address • Spring 2004 to present: Boren has seling]. With his permission,” the professor that the “only meaningful remedy” would some of the issues that occurred because of continued to write to NCSU trustees and wrote, “I will use Robert’s Career case study be to instruct the College of Education “to his struggles with NCSU. University of North Carolina officials, in- paper as a model for future classes.” give you a hearing as promptly as pos- Boren said he is not sure what legal cluding UNC President Molly Broad, Nevertheless, Boren’s evaluation scores sible,” a decision that would mean “there is route he may take against NCSU. “I want seeking to learn who changed his grades were 76, 69, and 60.5. The noticeably lowest no need to proceed with a grievance hear- them to be held accountable for their ac- and why it was done. score was from Robinson, and as Boren ing against” Moore, Wheatley, and Smith. tions,” he said. CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A 4 North Carolina JOURNAL

Around the State Using state bonds, ENCNG is tunneling under Currituck Sound

North Carolina’s tax system is Gas Pipeline Grows Despite Lack of Customers an incoherent hodgepodge of penal- ties and subsidies that unnecessarily By PAUL CHESSER infringes on personal liberty and Associate Editor causes the state to be much less pros- RALEIGH perous than it otherwise could be, astern North Carolina Natural Gas is according to a new policy report re- winding down its pipeline construc- leased in January by the John Locke tion project in 14 northeastern coun- Foundation. E ties with an ambitious crossing of Currituck Dr. Roy Cordato, author of Lib- Sound, a three-mile underground tunnel- erty and Economic Growth: Principles ing that parallels Wright Memorial Bridge. for Reforming North Carolina’s Tax Sys- But it is not clear how many customers tem, says the state needs radical re- exist on the Outer Banks who are eager to form, and the two most important convert from their present energy suppliers concerns for state lawmakers when to natural gas. The prospect of persuading designing tax policy should be to hundreds of commercial consumers is en- minimize the extent to which taxa- ticing to the struggling gas utility start-up, tion intrudes on people’s liberty and which made burrowing 30 to 40 feet below to maximize prosperity and economic the sound’s floor worth the risk. growth. Cordato is the vice president “What it may boil down to is, what kind for research at the foundation. of residential and commercial demand is As a remedy, Cordato writes that there on the Outer Banks?” said Mark Stultz, policymakers should begin to change director of public relations for the Natural the tax system with an eye toward Gas Supply Association, a trade group based the following long-term goals: in Washington, D.C. “Usually (infrastruc- • Replace the current income tax with ture buildup) is not done unless there is a flat rate “consumed income tax.” some guarantee of return on investment.” • Abolish the corporate income tax, which is a hidden tax on workers, Aggressive on Outer Banks consumers, and shareholders. • Eliminate all special tax breaks for John Monaghan, general manager of new or existing businesses. ENCNG, said the company has aggressively • Eliminate differential sales tax rates pursued potential customers between Kitty and special excise taxes. Hawk and Nags Head, but he said he didn’t • Eliminate the sales tax on business know how many commitments the com- purchases pany had. “Some types of taxation are more “I can’t tell you the number,” he said. damaging to freedom and prosper- “We have people calling on customers all ity than others,” Cordato wrote. “It is the time now.” clear that our current system has been Giselle Rankin, a lawyer for the N.C. developed without any attention to Utilities Commission Public Staff, a state this fact and without an understand- agency that represents consumers in all util- Dept. of Transportation Graphic ing of how socially damaging a poorly ity rate cases before the commission, said designed tax system can be.” Eastern North Carolina Natural Gas’s pipeline will parallel the three-mile long Wright Memo- many consumers in Dare County were “am- rial Bridge, from the Currituck County mainland at Point Harbor to the Outer Banks. Because taxation inherently in- bivalent” about natural-gas service as it terferes with both personal freedom was being considered in the late 1990s. De- “That’s tiny by any standard,” said sidized financing to pay for (operations) and economic decision-making, spite that, she said the Outer Banks “is one Thomas Catlin, vice president of Maryland- either,” Catlin said. Cordato said, policy makers need to of the most (economically) feasible pieces” based Exeter Associates, which provides Plans for a merger of ENCNG into Pied- be vigilant about not only how much of the 14-county project. economic and financial consulting services mont support the contention that those op- revenue is being generated but also Another constraint that ENCNG has as in the areas of public utility regulation. erational expense planning fell dramati- how those revenues are collected. He it deploys its 750-mile pipeline system is According to some gas industry trade cally short. said North Carolina’s tax system re- North Carolina’s “use it association officials, gas At an APEC meeting in October com- wards some activities and penalizes or lose it” law, which re- service infrastructure is pany officials said, “Piedmont’s ability to others by placing multiple layers of quires a gas utility to pro- usually not built unless fund [ENCNG’s] operations is limited.” taxation on saving, investment, and vide service in all the “What has happened new customers are able Minutes from a March 30, 2004 APEC board entrepreneurship. The current sys- counties where the Utili- to pay for the new lines. meeting state that the “current forecast tem also relies on forms of taxation, is you’ve got invest- ties Commission has “That’s usually how shows ongoing operating loss(es).” the best example being the corporate granted to it franchise ments where they’re a distribution network is income tax, that are completely hid- rights. ENCNG holds the not paying for them- established,” Stultz said. Circumstances beyond control den from those who pay. rights to Dare County, “There has to be a public While Cordato outlined some selves.” —Utilities con- where most of the Outer service demand.” Piedmont and ENCNG officials blame sweeping changes that would bring Banks lies, but the com- sultant Thomas Catlin “The gist of what has the poor economy, the effects of the Sept. 11, North Carolina’s tax code into better pany has yet to reach any happened there is you’ve 2001 terrorist attacks, and unusually high conformity with freedom and pros- part of the county. The heavily developed got investments where they’re not paying fuel prices as reasons for the lack of custom- perity goals, he said steps can be tourist community on the state’s barrier for themselves,” Catlin said. ers. taken short of complete adoption of a islands holds the most promise for gas de- “It’s a challenging environment out traditional flat-tax, which would help mand in Dare County. Taxpayers, customers to foot bill there,” said David Trusty, a Piedmont move the state in the right direction. ENCNG was formed four years ago spokesman. “There are a lot of things exter- One way to eliminate the bias against through an equal partnership between the Because of the lack of customers and nal to our control.” saving and investment is to exempt Albemarle Pamlico Economic Development projected operating losses that are expected Rankin supported Trusty’s contention. interest from taxation. Corporation and Carolina Power & Light, for the foreseeable future, Piedmont Natu- “A lot of that is beyond their control,” “This is something that could be now Progress Energy. ENCNG received ral Gas wants to absorb ENCNG’s custom- she said. “It is not really their fault.” done in a piecemeal fashion by creat- $188.3 million of $200 million in voter-ap- ers into its statewide ratepayer base. If per- Rankin said market studies in 1999 and ing ‘special niche,’ tax-free savings proved bond funds to construct a natural- mitted by the Utilities Commission, a merger 2000 did not exaggerate the number of ex- and investment accounts for things gas pipeline through 14 northeast counties, would mean that state taxpayers would pected customers or gas consumption. But like primary and secondary educa- where the population was too sparse to foot the bill for paying the bonds and all of she could not predict whether the Public tion, health care, home ownership, justify the project otherwise. Piedmont Piedmont’s customers in the state would Staff would support or oppose a “roll-in” etc.,” Cordato wrote. Natural Gas Co. purchased Progress bear the burden of the northeast opera- rate case for ENCNG into Piedmont. “The idea would be to systemati- Energy’s gas interests, including ENCNG, tional shortfall for years to come. Even though operating losses were be- cally move the tax code toward a two years ago, and committed $22 million When the Utilities Commission origi- coming unmanageable, Monaghan said more neutral stance.” for pipeline construction. nally approved ENCNG to receive the fran- there was no consideration given to slow- He said the North Carolina Gen- chise and the bond funds in 2000 and 2001, ing pipeline construction. eral Assembly in 2005 has an oppor- Number of customers ‘tiny’ members told the company it would be able “The bonds were provided to build the tunity to reduce the anti-productiv- to recuperate up to $15 million in opera- project,” he said. ity bias in the income tax by doing The number of customers for natural tions and maintenance losses over eight “They can’t use the bond money for nothing, by allowing the top rate of gas in ENCNG’s territory has not progressed years in future rate reviews. operational costs,” Rankin said. 8.25 percent to fall back to 7.75 per- as much as company officials had hoped. Typically, for established utilities, that About $146 million of the $188.3 mil- cent in July, as it is scheduled to do. CJ Monaghan said ENCNG has more than 800 is not permitted. lion in bond funds has been paid to ENCNG customers in the northeast so far. “It sounds like there’s not enough sub- so far. CJ C A R O L I N A February 2005 JOURNAL North Carolina 5

Separation of powers at the heart of the issue Easley and Basnight Fight Over Currituck County Airport Land

By DON CARRINGTON said he made the decision based on another Associate Publisher provision in the state budget requiring the RALEIGH state to sell $40 million in surplus property ov. Mike Easley and state Senate to help balance the state budget. “So you’re President Pro Tem Marc Basnight sitting here trying to figure out exactly what Gare locked in a fight over a small they intended. You would assume that they airport in Currituck County. intended to be restrictive, so you can meet The fight involves all three branches of the other obligations within that same docu- government — the legislature that makes ment,” Easley said. laws; the governor, who executes the laws; But the acreage Easley deeded to the and the judicial branch, which has been county in December contains more than the asked to settle a lawsuit filed by Currituck official airport layout plan on file with the County. The case is scheduled for Feb. 8, but Federal Aviation Administration. That plan sources expect the losing side to appeal. was prepared for and approved by Curri- The 2004 state budget bill contained a tuck County in November 2000. The airport provision that said, “The State of North acreage is not listed on the set of drawings, Carolina shall convey to Currituck County, but CJ calculated the acreage from that draw- for consideration of one dollar ($1.00), title ing to be about 160 acres. News reports to the land on which the Currituck County have said that Easley offered Currituck airport is situated.” Currituck County has County 160 acres in November 2004. been leasing a site from the state since 1972 Easley has yet to explain how the legis- for $1 per year. The lease was to continue Carolina Journal photo by DON CARRINGTON lation that he has since labeled as “restric- through the year 2028, but Currituck offi- An aerial view shows the general layout of the Currituck County airport. tive” gave him the authority to transfer an cials want to actually own the land so they additional 45 acres for industrial sites. could sell or lease some of it to private According to the state laws covering termined the correct acreage, another Eas- As far as not sending the 205-acre deed businesses. The lease documents describe the transfer of real property, every pro- ley spokeswoman, Sheri Johnson, re- through the Council of State, Easley told the the site as “400 acres, more or less,” and posed conveyance of state land, includ- sponded to the Elizabeth City Daily Ad- AP that “the attorney general said they containing the Currituck County Airport. ing conveyance by gift, shall be submit- vance. “We don’t comment on pending liti- didn’t need to because (the sale ) was in the Basnight, D-Dare, contends that the state ted to the governor and Council of State gation,” the paper reported Jan. 5. legislation. So I just signed the deed.” was to transfer all the contiguous state- for their approval. The council is made A day earlier an Associated Press re- Former State Supreme Court Chief Jus- owned land around the airport, a 531-acre up of the nine independently elected porter got Easley to talk about the issue. tice Burley B. Mitchell Jr., now in private tract, to Currituck County for $1. He and state officeholders — the lieutenant gov- According to the news service story, Easley practice, is representing Easley. Attorney Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank, inserted ernor, state treasurer, state auditor, com- said the legislation wasn’t clear and offi- General Roy Cooper will represent the the land transfer into the 2004 state budget missioner of labor, attorney general, cials in his administration decided the law Council of State members. Currituck County bill. secretary of state, commissioner of in- required only the property on which the has hired the Poyner & Spruill law firm to On Dec. 1, 2004, Easley quietly deeded surance, superintendent of public in- actual airport is situated. The governor also join Morrison. CJ the county 205 acres including the runway struction, and commissioner of agricul- and land intended for proposed commer- ture. The governor and the council meet cial development. He offered to sell the monthly to approve state real estate remaining 326 acres to the county for $1 matters and perform certain other statu- million. Currituck County officials claim tory duties. they were shortchanged and filed a lawsuit Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry The John Locke Foundation Blog seeking to force Easley to transfer the entire said that she wrote Easley on Sept. 23 tract. and asked him to put the airport matter The actual size of the airport site re- on the agenda for the Oct. 5 council mains unclear, since it has been described meeting, but she never received a re- Just Go Right In. . . in various documents as 160 acres, 205 acres, sponse. She doesn’t understand how 400 acres, and 531 acres. the governor could take action outside The airport history is also murky. An the law. “To transfer land without Coun- To the Best Place on the Web airport study commissioned by Currituck cil of State approval does not appear to For No-Holds-Barred Commentary County officials in 2000 said that the air- be legal,” she said. On State and National Affairs strip was constructed by the federal gov- ernment during World War II, abandoned Currituck’s position after the war, and offered to Currituck “The Locker Room” is a daily blog of insights, news links, County for $1, provided the county main- Currituck’s complaint was filed Dec. 7 debates, crosstalk — and more than a few jokes — from the tain the airport and surrounding property. in Wake County Superior Court. The case staff, fellows, and scholars of the John Locke Foundation. That account then claims that the county was assigned to Judge Howard E. Man- declined the offer because it could not af- ning, Jr. The complaint seeks a declaratory ford the upkeep, and that the state took over judgment and asks the court to issue a writ Here’s some of what you missed if you weren’t among the many the facility. Several news sources have re- of mandamus. The declaratory judgment thousands of North Carolinians who took a visit to “The Locker peated a similar history. involves a restatement of the facts, the rel- Room” last month to see what was going on: While the federal government may have evant laws, and a clarification of the issues used the facility, research by Carolina Jour- where the parties disagree. nal indicates a different history. The origi- A petition for writ of mandamus is • Quotes from old Cary Grant movies. nal tract of about 1,300 acres was purchased essentially a request by Currituck County • N.C. State students calling their prof a “hardcore hippy.” by the state in 1942 from a Dr. H. S. Willey for the court to compel Easley and the Coun- • Libertarians arguing for and against school choice. and wife Mary for $10,350. A map that cil of State members to perform their official accompanied the deed indicated that a por- duties — to properly convey the entire 531- • Why labor unions hate merit pay. tion of an existing landing strip was part of acre tract to Currituck County after the • Lessons about taxes from the ancient Sumerians. that property. Since the property has appar- required approval of the Council of State. • Boxing gloves and body armor for cockfighting. ently never changed owners as an airport, Manning issued an order Dec. 14 that Easley may have some wiggle room in de- requires Easley and the Council of State • Martin Luther, Blogger Extraordinaire. fining what makes up the airport. members to appear before him and show • Sport-utility vehicles and Oscar the Grouch. cause as to why a writ of mandamus should • Global warming causes global cooling, “scientists” say. Illegal deed? not be issued requiring them to transfer the entire tract. • A town that may ban leaf blowers (hint: it’s got a college). While the issue is not specifically • Why someone needs to clip Britt Cobb’s fingernails. mentioned in the Currituck County Easley’s defense • Mozilla vs. the PC Monster, without subtitles. complaint, some think that Easley may have violated state law when he trans- CJ has asked the governor’s office for • President Bush’s call for global freedom — and a dissent. ferred the 205 acres, because the Coun- any documentation from the attorney • “Varroa Destructor” and other cool names for bee predators. cil of State had not approved the trans- general concerning the legality of the deed, action. “The deed appears contrary to and for any comments on the issue. Easley the statute. Going through the Council spokeswoman Cari Boyce said they had no Now You Have the Key to Locke: of State appears to be the sole mecha- documents and she offered no other com- nism for transferring land,” Currituck ments. www.JohnLocke.org/LockerRoom County attorney John Morrison said. When asked how the governor had de- February 2005 C A R O L I N A 6 Education JOURNAL

National News In Brief Educational Management Organizations Bush urges better schools Investment analysts compare opportunities of EMOs to HMOs 25 years ago President Bush has begun a sec- ond-term drive that he said would im- By KAREN WELSH showed its first prove the American high school, urg- Contributing Editor profit in 2004. This ing the same testing and consequences RALEIGH will probably reju- he used to shake up earlier grades. venate the issue, In his first major education speech t’s time for medical HMOs to step Jack Clegg, CEO of since winning re-election, Bush touted aside, because the educational market, Nobel Learning his plan to require annual testing in I with an estimated $350 billion poten- Communities, math and reading for students in ninth, tial value, is ready to let EMOs make their once told Business 10th, and 11th grades. debut. Week. “If Edison Schools would have to give a na- Writer Barbara Miner of the makes it,” he said, tional test to 12th-graders at least ev- Multinatonal Monitor reported EMOs, or “it will open the ery other year, Knight Ridder News- Educational Management Organizations, is floodgates.” papers reported. the term Wall Street is using for private Milton Fried- About half of the states already re- companies wishing to manage public man, a senior re- quire some type of testing for seniors schools. “Proponents of privatization say search fellow at the before they can graduate. Bush's pro- that if you like HMOs, as many on Wall Hoover Institution posal would add tests only for those Street do, you’ll love EMOs,” she wrote. and winner of the states whose current tests fall short of “The industry’s backers are fond of com- 1976 Nobel Prize his plan. paring public education to the health-care in Economics said Improving high schools has sud- industry of 25 years ago, before the nation- only good can denly become a talked-about topic, wide ascendancy of HMOs.” come from privat- with calls of alarm from the president, The time has come, said Mary Tanner, ization. “Our el- the nation's governors, employers, and former managing director of Lehman Broth- ementary and sec- college professors. The reason: Many ers. “Education today, like health care 30 ondary educa- high school students are not ready for years ago, is a vast, highly localized indus- tional system college or work after they graduate, if try ripe for change,” she said at an educa- tional industry conference. “The emergence needs to be radi- Students at National Heritage Academy in Grand Rapids, Mich., get they get that far. instruction at a school computer. of HMOs and hospital management com- cally restruc- Ex-principal fears gang panies created enormous opportunities for tured,” he wrote in investors. We believe the same pattern will an editorial for the Washington Post. “Such rather than addressing the challenges of a reconstruction can be achieved only by under-funded and socially-overburdened A former Charlotte-Mecklenburg occur in education.” privatizing a major segment of the educa- public schools, and large classes that pre- high school principal, charged with One only needs to look at the current tional system, by enabling a private, for- vent teachers from giving the appropriate falsely claiming he was assaulted on economic indicators to see this is true, said profit industry to develop that will provide attention to those students in need of indi- campus, now fears he’s the target of a Roslyn Mickelson, professor of sociology at a wide variety of learning opportunities and vidualized instruction.” gang after someone set fire to his yard, the University of North Carolina at Char- offer effective competition to public Many opponents to privatization go his lawyer said, The Charlotte Observer lotte.” There is a growing venture capital schools.” beyond Farrell’s statement, believing the reports. industry in anticipation of the privatization of education,” she said. “People in the se- entire movement to be a “right-wing con- Someone set the fire in the front curities industry see the trend and they are spiracy.” The People for the American Way yard of the home of Michael Faulkner Loss of local control lining people up.” reported that the underfunded No Child in York County, S.C. Faulkner told po- In the article, Friedman blamed the cen- Left Behind Act affects the ability of schools, lice he saw the letters “DEI” on fire in tralization of school districts, away from districts, and states to meet the educational the yard, which he interpreted as a Charters in North Carolina local community control, for the demise of improvement goals established by the Bush gang-related saying of “Destroy Every- The concept of privatization is not new the educational system. administration and is setting up schools for thing In sight.” to North Carolina. The state’s charter school “About 90 percent of our kids now go failure. The organization also said millions Reid James, Faulkner’s lawyer, laws have allowed for-profit companies to to so-called public schools, which are really of dollars in educational funds are being di- said his client’s family was “scared to operate publicly funded schools. not public at all but simply private fiefs pri- verted to private, pro-voucher advocacy death” and that he had advised Faulk- At one point, privatization was also in marily of the administrators and the union groups. ner to buy a shotgun. mainstream public officials,” he said. “I be- Writer Steven Miller said the No Child James said he told Faulkner that schools. An article by Ron lieve that the only way to Left Behind Act has rigid goals, which the suspicious fire could be a prank. Hasson in the Goldsboro make a major improve- amounts to deliberate sabotage. “The pur- But the defense lawyer also said it “Our elementary and News-Argus said the ment in our educational pose of NCLB is to set up public schools might be retaliation for Faulkner’s out- secondary educational Wayne County Public system is through privat- for privatization,” he wrote for the People’s spokenness about gang activities at Schools gave Edison system needs to be ization to the point at Tribune. “Once schools start failing, Waddell High School in south Char- Schools Inc., a nation- which a substantial frac- privatization will be raised as the only pos- lotte. radically restructured” wide for-profit school tion of all educational sible option. Privatizers already claim that Faulkner was indicted in early management company, a — Milton Friedman, services is rendered to in- ‘business’ and the ‘free market’ can do a January by a grand jury on a felony ob- five-year contract in the dividuals by private en- better job of educating children, can do it struction charge after reporting in No- Hoover Institution late 1990s. terprises. Nothing else cheaper and can make a profit by keeping vember 2003 that he was attacked Although the company received acco- will destroy or even greatly weaken the the difference. They actually expect us to while confronting three Latino men lades for its performance; bringing innova- power of the current educational establish- believe that the future will become better painting graffiti on campus. tion, creativity, and higher test scores to the ment — a necessary pre-condition for radi- and more stable if we end public educa- Faulkner resigned as principal a district’s most struggling schools, the school cal improvement in our educational system. tion.” month later. board unanimously voted to rescind the And nothing else will provide the public Carl Harris, associate superintendent of Teachers for astronomy classes contract after three years, citing rising costs schools with the competition that will force Instructional Services for Durham Public as the main factor. “I was an early supporter them to improve in order to hold their cli- Schools said the lean toward for-profit pub- of the Edison project,” Board Member entele.” lic schools has provided a wakeup call to Educators are responding to the George Moye reportedly said. “But at the Friedman also said school vouchers are educators. state’s recent decision to remove as- time, we were told this would be a wash: an effective way to bring a transition from “Privatization did point out that par- tronomy as a physical science require- We wouldn’t spend any more at the schools a government to market system. He said ents will go to whatever extremes necessary ment in Cabarrus County Schools, the than we already were.” support for free choice of schools has been to afford their children a good education,” Independent Tribune reports. Hasson also said Superintendent Steve growing rapidly and will sweep the coun- he said. “I think the whole issue of quality Most educators are upset about the Taylor thought that an ongoing clash with try like a wildfire, and nothing can hold it education is something every parent wants mid-year decision, but some question the state assistance team brought in to help back. for their child.” the state’s declaration that astronomy the low-performing schools in the district Walter C. Farrell, professor and associ- Harris said educators need to accept the is not a physical science requirement. was also a factor. Taylor told the reporter ate director at the Urban Investment Strat- role of creating changes to the educational Joe Heafner, astronomy and phys- this “caused a hardship for the school staff egies Center in the Kenan Institute at the system. “Public schools are beefing up their ics instructor at Catawba Valley Com- to live up to two sets of standards that were, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, response to No Child Left Behind with a munity College in Hickory, said if the at times, incompatible.” disagrees. “Vouchers and other privat- focus on local communities becoming in- state bans astronomy courses from the Many naysayers thought this setback, ization initiatives are little more than a mod- volved,” he said. physical science arena it should also along with several others across the coun- ern day ‘medicine show’, claiming to be “There is now a bigger push in public ban physics courses. try for Edison Schools Inc. would spell the elixirs for the educational success of poor, schools that offers many diverse programs Bill Tucci, section chief of math and end of privatization. Edison Schools is one mostly ethnic minority public schoolchil- for kids. It’s not something that public science at the Department of Public In- of the largest for-profit organizations, serv- dren,” he said. “Some politicians and other schools are ignoring. We are meeting the struction, said DPI does not dispute ing 157 schools and 250,000 public school school privatization proponents focus on needs of all our kids and parents and chal- that astronomy falls under physical students in more than 20 states. Edison was these ‘snake oil’ remedies as the solution to lenging kids to be successful. We need to science. CJ able to rebound, however, and the company the complex problems of urban education stay focused and true to that.” CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Education 7

What Works Best in Education Misplaced Priorities Middle-School Students Grade Teachers Slow School Progress By PAIGE HOLLAND HAMP Contributing Editor he controversy surrounding the Charlotte RALEIGH Mecklenburg Schools’ assignment plan contin- housands of dollars are spent each T ues to mount. As I reported in January’s col- year evaluating and training teach- umn, the Swann Fellowship (representative of the T ers. The goal is to improve teaching Swann plaintiffs during their landmark court case), is methods so students learn better and achieve calling for an end to the CMS choice program, advocat- more. Opinions about which program to use, ing instead for a mandated assignment plan. To sup- the best curriculum, and learning styles domi- port their view, the Swann Fellowship recently re- nate these reports. Teachers, principals, busi- ported data on each Charlotte Mecklenburg elemen- ness leaders, legislators, and parents spend tary school in their weekly education journal. Not hours in meetings working on solutions to surprisingly, the data revealed that schools with higher improve how young people learn. poverty levels had poorer performance, less-experi- When American students rank close to enced teachers, higher teacher turnover, and more the bottom internationally, we should spend student attrition. significant time and energy to fix the prob- While the data are uncon- lem. Perhaps, though, we are making it more tested, interpretations for what complicated than it needs to be. After talking caused it vary greatly. The with a group of middle-school students from Swann Fellowship blames the Daniels and Wake Forest Rolesville Middle plight of high-poverty schools schools, the answer is really much more on the current parental choice simple. Good teachers respect their students, assignment plan. I disagree. I are competent, and — they make learning believe that the choice plan re- fun. vealed what already existed, starkly identifying failing Respect, caring go a long way schools, and highlighting the Lindalyn vast achievement gap between Kakadelis From these students’ perspective, the poor, minority students and No. 1 requirement for being a good teacher is their more financially privileged peers. to be genuinely respecting and caring about It’s no great secret that schools with higher pov- your students. “I think when teachers care erty rates tend to have lower achievement scores. CMS about us and are respectful of us as people, it Emma Holland and Brittany Williams volunteer at a school event. is no exception. Due to CMS’ parental choice plan, makes us more relaxed and able to learn,” parents were able to apply for high-performing schools, eighth-grader Natalie Parker said. “Some teachers spend Students want to have a little fun leaving poorer schools under capacity, with less-expe- all their time yelling and some are just mean. I can’t learn rienced teachers, and higher teacher turnover. Is any- when I’m afraid of the teacher.” In the wake of all the standardized testing it seems that one surprised that families and teachers do not stick Brittany Williams agrees. “When teachers spend the many teachers have forgotten that you won’t create any around when schools perform poorly? whole period telling us what is wrong with our work and lifelong learners if you don’t make it fun. Teachers who When I was first elected to CMS’ Board in 1995, I never seeing the good, it doesn’t make you feel like you can spend entire periods reading to the students from books or requested reading scores based on a student’s resi- or want to learn,” she said. giving endless notes not only make education boring but dence (not school). I was greatly disturbed to learn that Taking the time to share their own life experiences with also difficult for their students to learn or retain informa- only 30 percent of urban children were reading on the students, asking them about their inter- tion. These young people think any subject grade level. Over the past 10 years, CMS has become ests and hobbies and understanding that no can be fun, even vocabulary, if teachers make poorer and more racially isolated. Yet, overall student one is perfect are some of the ways these an effort. achievement is increasing. Since 2002 — the beginning young people know a teacher cares about “Ms. (Barbara) Shuch has this really fun of the parental choice plan — 83 percent of all CMS them. vocabulary game that makes it easy to re- elementary schools have increased in academic achieve- Natalie, Brittany as well as another class- member my words,” Conner Gonet, a stu- ment. Currently, more schools have 95-plus percent of mate, Emma, all think their Algebra teacher, dent at Daniels, said. students performing at grade level than in 2002. Of the Brendan Williamson, is one of the best teach- “If I just had to write a list and look up 14 schools with achievement trending downward, 11 ers they have ever had. Mrs. Williamson, the words I wouldn’t remember nearly as declined less than 11 percentage points, while only who teaches at Wake Forest Rolesville Middle much.” three schools have declined significantly. Clearly, the School, obviously respects and enjoys her Bolton also scores big in the fun depart- system is performing much better than it did in 1995. students. ment. Lorena Millian really enjoys her social The problem with the logic of groups like the “Ms. Williamson is great. She doesn’t studies class because Bolton makes it excit- Swann Fellowship is that parents will exercise choice, scream and yell at us,” Emma said. “If we do ing. no matter what. If they are unhappy with their man- something wrong, she talks to us in a polite “I don’t learn very well when teachers dated assignment, parents will not look to a school manner, and asks us to correct our behavior.” Joey Pacquette spend the whole class reading out of a book,” board to tell them what to do. If they have means, they Her students know she really likes teaching, Lorena said. “Mr. Bolton is really funny and will choose to homeschool, enroll a child at a private and they admire how energetic she is and how she is makes lots of jokes, which helps you remember the things school, or relocate to a higher-performing school dis- always willing to help. he is teaching you about.” trict. The reality is that high-poverty, low-performing schools will always struggle to attract students and Wanted: competent teachers Active learning works best qualified teachers. So, what can be done to turn these schools around? Competence was another key trait students identified All of the students agreed that they retain much more We ought to pay teachers based on merit, with teacher in good teachers. Tom Bolton, an eighth-grade social stud- information when a teacher engaged them in active instead salaries reflecting the challenges within the school, not ies teacher is someone the students think of passive learning. If they were to de- some archaic pay plan in Raleigh. Until such flexibility really knows his stuff. When asked to sign what happened in the classroom comes, the local supplement should be used to reward describe a competent teacher, Joey they would have lots of hands-on work, instructors who go to challenging neighborhoods. Ul- Pacquette said: “You can tell when a “But if we do a cool and not so much bookwork. They would timately, each school needs to isolate and address teacher really knows their subject. Like experiment, work in also nix the busy work and excessive whatever factors hinder student achievement. Con- Mr. Bolton, they can talk for hours with- groups, or do role-play- note-taking, which they find boring. sider the practices of a charter school located in a rough out notes and share stories and ideas that “When I get bored I don’t focus,” Lorena Miami neighborhood. Children come to school with- make it so interesting.” ing it is amazing how said. out sufficient rest, so the schedule is adapted to meet Another sign of competence the stu- much I can remember.” Emma agrees. “If we spend all pe- their specific needs: the school day begins with sleep- dents identified was the ability to clearly riod copying notes everyday it gets mo- ing, followed by food, discussion of the latest neigh- explain the subject matter to students. — Emma Holland notonous and you really aren’t absorb- borhood crises, and then academics. “Ms. Williamson really knows how to ing the information,” she said. “But if we We should not be in the business of excusing poor present the information,” Natalie said. do a cool experiment, work in groups or performance based on demographics. Schools need to “She is very clear and explains things in a way that we can do role-playing it is amazing how much I can remember.” learn to work with the students they are given. How do all understand.” It is remarkable how much students can learn if they we get there? I believe genuine success for all school Emma admits that math has not been her favorite look for answers in the right places. Not only are these systems will result from a combination of parental subject in the past, but Williamson makes it easy to learn. solutions simple, they are also very inexpensive. Respect choice, school leadership with the flexibility to get the “Mrs. Williamson is always eager to teach us, which makes and fun are free, but we must find teachers who under- job done, and individual schools that make strong us excited to learn. She also doesn’t mind going back stand they are critical to students’ education experience. academic gains. We should accept no less. Our stu- through a problem if we get stuck,” Emma said. “She also Competence requires hiring teachers who are experts in dents, especially those coming from economically dis- never makes us feel stupid. She is confident that her stu- their subject areas, which might mean revamping college advantaged homes, deserve better. CJ dents can learn no matter what.” teaching programs. CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A 8 Education JOURNAL

More Education Briefs Policies, politics at play Districts seek summer leniency Gifted Education: No Playing of Favorites

State education leaders expect to By MAXIMILIAN LONGLEY can force the hands of those with privilege be swamped by requests from school Contributing Editor and power. I proudly embrace Gallagher’s… districts asking to be excused from a DURHAM accusation that I am arguing for political new law that prevents schools from he Program for International Stu- and economic changes in society as much beginning their fall terms before Aug. dent Assessment at the Organiza- as, or as a basis for, educational change. To 25, according to The News & Observer tion for Economic Cooperation and do otherwise is, to me, naive and self-de- of Raleigh. T Development recently released the results feating.” Sapon-Shevin suggested that, in- Districts with a history of of a test given to 15-year old students all stead of gifted programs, schools should weather closings can get an exemp- over the world to evaluate their ability to implement “curricular and pedagogical re- tion if they want one. Sixteen of the apply mathematical knowledge to real- forms such as whole language, portfolio 28 systems that qualified for the ex- world problems. American students came assessment, a focus on multiple intelli- emption are seeking it. behind 25 countries and ahead of only eight. gences, thematic instruction, or multilevel Nearly all of the 16 systems seek- Even the most advanced American students teaching.” ing a waiver are in the mountains. compared unfavorably with their peers in In 2003, Gallagher partially agreed with Granville and Vance counties, north other countries. These results underline the the egalitarian critique so far as certain types of Wake, are the only ones in central importance of providing appropriate edu- of gifted-education programs are concerned. North Carolina planning early open- cation to the most gifted students. What Gallagher distinguished between educa- ings under the weather exemption. policies does North Carolina have for gifted tional policies that are “uniquely appropri- In adopting the calendar law last education? ate” for gifted students and programs that year, the legislature allowed excep- are a good idea for all students, gifted or tions for schools that frequently must Gifted legislation, local effects not. In an article published in the 2003 edi- close because of bad weather, for tion of the International Handbook of Gifted- year-round schools and for special The General Assembly codified cur- not come solely from local initiative, but ness and Talent, Gallagher lists “enrichment” educational programs that the calen- rent state-level policy on gifted education was most affected by state policy. In addi- among the activities that would benefit all dar restrictions would compromise. in 1996. A report, prepared in response to tion to the 1996 law, there was the ABC students. He also lists “[i]nquiry, discov- Four small districts in Eastern the urging of the Assembly, had called for education accountability initiative and the ery, problem solving, and creativity.” “Ac- North Carolina — Beaufort, Martin, “model sites” to try out approaches to gifted statewide tests. Gifted programs, as Brown celeration” and “ability grouping” are Perquimans and Scotland counties — education. The State Board of Education summarized the responses, were “compro- among the programs that are specially suited also are asking the State Board of had set up such model sites in 1994, and the mised and overshadowed” by statewide for gifted students. Education for permission to begin new legislation of gifted education was a mandates governing general education. James H. Borland, an education profes- earlier. The four districts don’t have response to the experience with these sites. sor at Columbia University’s Teacher’s Col- weather concerns, but their leaders According to the law enacted by the Debate over gifted education lege, heads the gifted-education graduate say they need an exemption to better Assembly, each local school board must program. In an essay entitled The Death of serve high school students. develop a plan for teaching students who One of the leading egalitarian critics of Giftedness, a contribution to a book he him- The state board could vote on the are “academically or intellectually gifted.” gifted education is Mara Sapon-Shevin, pro- self edited called Rethinking Gifted Educa- requests in February. The Depart- The specific contents of the plan are up to fessor of Inclusive Education at Syracuse tion (in which Gallagher’s 2003 essay, cited ment of Public Instruction is recom- the local board, so long as it meets certain University’s Teaching and Leadership De- above, was also included), calls for a “para- mending approval for 25 of 77 basic standards, such as training teachers in partment. In her work, especially her 1994 digm shift” in the gifted-education field. schools statewide that have sought a the needs of gifted students. If parents think book Playing Favorites: Gifted Education and Borland calls for abolishing the categories waiver. that their child was wrongfully denied a the Disruption of Community, Sapon- of “gifted” and “learning disabled.” Instead, gifted classification, or that the local school Shevin said gifted programs tend to benefit he advocates “making differentiated cur- School applications changed board’s gifted-education plan has been im- white, affluent children, thereby reinforc- riculum and instruction the norm for all properly implemented with regard to their ing social inequality. Sapon-Shevin in par- students,” apparently by letting students To make their admissions process child, they can demand that an administra- ticularly was critical of “enrichment” pro- advance in any subject based on their mas- fairer, Hillsborough Elementary tive law judge decide the case. The judge’s grams (sometimes called “pull-out” pro- tery of that subject, regardless of their age. School officials are changing the way decision is final. grams) that provide additional instruction parents apply to send their children According to information available on to gifted students above and beyond what NCSSM: an all-gifted school to the popular year-round school, ac- the Genius Denied Web site, there were is in the regular curriculum. She argued cording to the Herald Sun of Durham. 139,041 students identified as gifted in the that all students, whether classified as gifted One of North Carolina’s distinctive con- Instead of standing in long lines 2000-2001 school year. A total of about $45.4 or not, should have “enrichment.” tributions to gifted education is the North to enroll their children, parents will million was spent in that year on gifted Some boosters of gifted education share Carolina School of Science and Mathemat- now have to mail forms to the Orange education, out of an overall education bud- criticism of “enrichment or pull-out” pro- ics, authorized by the legislature in 1978 and County Schools’ central office. Offi- get of $9.67 billion. grams. Jan and Bob Davidson of the opened in 1980. NCSSM is one of the cials have also eliminated an essay While state law mandates that local Davidson Institute for Talent Development, country’s earliest residential high schools portion of the application, saying it school boards develop policies on gifted which seeks to assist gifted students, in- for academically gifted students. NCSSM discouraged some parents — such as education, the boards have a broad range of dicted gifted education in the United States. is a residential high school for 11th and 12th those who don’t speak English well discretion as to what form of gifted educa- In their book Genius Denied, the Davidsons graders. It is “an affiliated school of The — from applying. tion to make available. Surveys conducted summarize their overall experience with University of North Carolina,” and gradu- Now, the application process will in 2000 by Elissa Brown, a graduate student gifted programs: “Gifted education is ates who go to study at a UNC campus are be more “fair and equitable, so that at the College of William and Mary, asked largely haphazard, ineffective, and under- entitled to a full tuition grant. everyone who is interested will have the heads of the various gifted programs in funded; it is more style than substance and Carol O’Dell, a teacher at NCSSM who an equal shot,” district Superinten- North Carolina to assess the impact of the rarely provides what gifted kids truly need: heads the faculty council, has circulated dent Shirley Carraway said. gifted-education laws. In general, respon- work that challenges them to the extent of data purporting to show a 35-point decline The decision grew out of a dis- dents, in Brown’s summary, said the role of their abilities in an environment with other in the average SAT scores of graduates, even cussion between Carraway and the gifted-education specialists, after the 1996 kids who love to learn.” though the average remains the highest of school board, which has spent years legislation, “mov[ed] away from direct ser- The Davidsons said all “pull-out” pro- the state’s high schools. She has also ques- pondering whether, and how, it to ex- vices to gifted learners and towards sup- grams, giving gifted students some “en- tioned the adoption of a trimester system pand the district’s year-round pro- porting the classroom teacher as a resource richment” on top of the regular curriculum, at NCSSM. O’Dell’s teaching contract was grams. or consultant.” are academically dubious, don’t meet the terminated by the school administration as Hillsborough Elementary is the At the same time, the surveys revealed needs of gifted students, and tend to be the of the next school year. A letter explaining district’s only year-round school, fol- differences in the kind of education offered result of educators trying to pacify parents her termination cited, among other charges, lowing the board’s vote last spring to to gifted students, depending on their grade of gifted students. her circulation of “data protected by confi- close a similar program for students level. Gifted students in kindergarten James J. Gallagher, senior scientist at dentiality laws and school policies.” O’Dell at Stanback Middle School. through third grade were generally kept in the Frank Porter Graham Child Develop- is appealing her dismissal, and if she per- At the same time it simplifies the the regular classroom. In the fourth and ment Center at the University of North sists in her appeal, her case will ultimately application process, the district is fifth grades, while generally kept in regular Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a leading ex- reach the school’s Board of Trustees. looking at ways to draw more minor- classrooms, gifted-education specialists pert in gifted education, replied in 1996 to Dr. Myra Halpin, a chemistry teacher ity students to Hillsborough Elemen- who served as consultants to the regular the criticisms of Sapon-Shevin and others. at NCSSM, has had occasion to talk to edu- tary. teachers supposedly helped gifted students. Gallagher said that the critics were, in ef- cation professionals throughout North Although more than 50 children The sixth through 12th grades tended to use fect, holding gifted children hostage to Carolina, and the “biggest criticism” she are on the school’s waiting list of, ability grouping. In the ninth through 12th broader plans of social change. hears of NCSSM is from high-school admin- none of the school’s current students grades, the most widely used program Reiterating her concerns in 2003, Sapon- istrators who fear that losing their top stu- are Hispanic, according to the N.C. aimed at gifted students was Advanced Shevin replied directly to Gallagher. She dents to NCSSM will cause their own Department of Public Instruction. Of Placement, in which students take college- acknowledged that “simply eliminating schools to have a lower average score on the 396 students who attend class level courses in high school. gifted programs won’t bring about social tests, a concern Halpin deems unfounded there, 18 percent are black. CJ Respondents to Brown’s surveys justice or educational equity. But — and because only a few students from any given thought that change in gifted programs did this is a large but — raising that possibility school will end up going to NCSSM. CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Education 9

Grading the States on K-12 Math Curriculum & Teaching Grading the States on K-12 English Curriculum & Teaching

6% 8% 10% 6% 22% 8%

A=4.0-3.5 6% A=4.0-3.5 10% B=3.49-2.7 6% B=3.49-2.7 30% 28% 30% C=2.69-1.71 28% C=2.69-1.71 44%

National NC Score =1.82 D=1.7-1.3 38% National NC Score =3.05 D=1.7-1.3 8% Average=1.59 Average=2.41 F=1.29-0.00 22% F=1.29-0.00 8% 44% 38%

Source: Thomas B. Fordham Source: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, 2005 Foundation, 2005

N.C. gets a B in English, but rates a C in math teaching and curriculum No Child Left Behind More Effective In English Than in Math

By KAREN PALASEK to many states with truly dismal reports. more successful in English than in math. 2000 and 1998 to a C in 2005. Duke Univer- Assistant Editor David Klein’s “Math Standards” summa- “Overall, they do a far better job of address- sity President Richard Broadhead, himself RALEIGH rizes state reports under the subhead “Glum ing listening, reading, and writing skills an English professor, lamented the effects wo recent nationwide studies have Results.” According to Klein, who is a pro- and strategies than five years earlier,” the of an inadequate K-12 preparation in math examined curriculum and teaching fessor of mathematics at California State authors state. and science among American college stu- Tpractices in K-12 English and math, University, Northridge, “the essential find- The progress in English does not ex- dents. In a recent News & Observer of Ra- and find that even the best states often come ing of this study is that the overwhelming tend all the way through the K-12 years, leigh interview, Broadhead said, “Ameri- up short. The companion studies, “The State majority of states today have sorely inad- however. High school curriculum and texts can students don’t measure up in those of State Math Standards” and “The State of equate math standards. Their average grade in English are seriously lacking in first-rate fields to students in some Asian countries State English Standards,” were both spon- is a high D-” English was better, with a literary content, and students may never be — largely because they aren’t interested.” sored by the Thomas B. Fordham educa- national average grade of C. exposed to examples of good literature, The new Fordham Foundation report tional research Foundation. especially dramatic literature, in their high suggests that students simply aren’t pre- The new studies should give educators, Since NCLB: success in English school years, the authors report. “More than pared to succeed in higher math and sci- parents, and policymakers an idea about half of states do not even acknowledge ence. The biggest fault in mathematics teach- whether and how well the federal No Child Even where there is significant progress, American literature in their standards…” ing, said Klein and the research team, is far Left Behind law is pushing states in the most states are nowhere near the standard they note. And only four have identified too little emphasis on learning fractions, direction of more effective practices and of excellence that federal enough specific content paper-and-pencil calculations, functions, di- higher student achievement. An earlier education officials hope to to constitute a “good vision, quadratics, and derivation of for- Fordham Foundation report from 2000 pro- achieve. Only 10 percent “Unteachable stan- high-school literature mulas. vides the basis for comparison. of states earned A’s in En- curriculum.” The reason: By contrast, students use calculators These new English and math studies glish; six percent earned dards let everyone off NCLB has focused pre- too early, and rely far too much on patterns, were conducted by independent scholars in A’s from Fordham in the hook, especially dominantly on grades “manipulatives,” estimation, and probabil- each field. They tried to identify what is math. university faculty in- three to eight until this ity. The authors note, “the attention given different, as well as what is the same, about North Carolina point. to patterns in state standards verges on the schools and teaching since the introduction earned a B in English volved in teacher “Strong on skills, obsessive.” of the No Child Left Behind law. teaching practices and cur- preparation.” weak on content,” was The antidote must start early. Students Each state in the study earns an overall riculum, but earned only the theme of The must memorize basic number facts early, grade based on criteria that mark improve- a C in math teaching and practice, accord- Fordham report on English. In addition, spend more time with fractions, multistep ment or stagnation in educational progress. ing to Fordham. researchers complained of “unteachable problem solving, and mathematical reason- Iowa, which has no statewide standards, The North Carolina B in English placed standards,” such as this one from Connecti- ing before they attempt calculus. did not participate in either study. Idaho it on a Fordham Foundation “honor roll” of cut: “discuss, analyze, and evaluate how Although the recommended antidotes had no year 2000 data for English. Rankings only 20 states that earned an A or a B in that characters deal with the diversity of human do not include specific changes for math and grades, then, reflect information gath- subject. The C in math for North Carolina is experience and conflict.” teachers, “State of State Math” suggests ered from 49 states plus the District of Co- well above the national average grade of D, “Unteachable standards let everyone replacing the authors of low-quality math lumbia. but a “big decline” compared to 2000. North off the hook, especially university faculty standards with mathematics professionals, For North Carolina, the reports are gen- Carolina scores were higher than the na- involved with teacher preparation, ” the “people who thoroughly understand the erally positive, but less encouraging when tional scores in both subjects. authors conclude. subject of mathematics.” These suggestions we consider that the national rankings of Reformers now know that efforts to North Carolina suffered a “big decline” emphasize the importance of subject-area 12th in English and 13th in math are relative improve math and English have been far in its math grade, dropping from an A in mastery for teachers. CJ

Today’s Study Questions:

Do We Need Standardized Testing? Should Parents Have More Choice of Schools? Do Good Teachers Get Paid Enough? Does North Carolina Have a Solid Curriculum? Your Home on the Web for North Carolina Public Policy Are School Districts Equitably Funded? The John Locke Foundation’s brand new, completely redesigned home page is your best source of research, analysis, and information on the critical public You can look up the answers to these and other questions policy issues facing North Carolina state and local governments. in North Carolina education policy by visiting NCEducationAlliance.org, the site of the North Carolina A fully searchable, comprehensive database of reports, studies, briefing Education Alliance. Each day it brings you the latest news papers, datasets, press releases, events notifications, and articles can provide headlines, opinions, and research reports on one of the an excellent starting place for those drafting legislation, researching policy most critical issues facing our state and nation. issues, preparing news stories, planning political or lobbying campaigns, or seeking information with which to be an informed voter and citizen. Go to www.NCEducationAlliance.org February 2005 C A R O L I N A 10 Higher Education JOURNAL

Bats in the Belltower Enforcement of Title IX Still Harming Who’s being nickel and dimed? Men’s Teams, Sparking Another Lawsuit The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill interrupted its appeals for more state cash (you know, because By SHANNON BLOSSER the university is cut to the bone with only Contributing Writer In other athletics news: NCAA rules to require college sports programs the essentials left to cut) long enough to CHAPEL HILL to graduate at least 50 percent of its student-athletes announce it had finally hired someone or more than 30 years, Title IX of the to fill a brand-new administrative po- Education Amendments has been A new NCAA rule would require col- number of student-athletes, including sition. heralded as the reason for the in- lege sports programs to graduate 50 per- transfer students that graduate. Federal Among other places, the an- F crease in the number of women’s athletic cent of their athletes or face scholarship graduation rates, which will be used to nouncement was carried in The programs across the country and provid- reductions. calculate the Academic Performance Chronicle of Higher Education’s ing opportunities for women such as soc- The new rule was approved during Rate, do not include transfer students. “Comings and Goings” section in De- cer star Mia Hamm, alumna of the Univer- the recent NCAA Division I Board of Di- “The penalties are strong, and they cember. sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to rectors Meeting in Texas. The program cre- will hold teams accountable and lead “Emil J. Kang, former president compete on the college level. ates an Academic Performance Rate that to increased academic success for stu- and executive director of the Detroit But while Title IX has provided more programs would have to achieve to avoid dent-athletes,” NCAA President Miles Symphony Orchestra, has been named opportunities in athletics for women, it has the scholarship reduction and other pen- Brand said. the first executive director for the arts done the opposite for men. A federal guide- alties. Currently, the score is set at 925 or The NCAA also discussed histori- at the University of North Carolina at line intended to prevent discrimination the equivalent of a 50 percent graduation cal penalties in connection to the new Chapel Hill,” the Chronicle reported. among the sexes in education has done just rate. The score will be adjusted annually graduation rule. Those would take ef- “Mr. Kang, 36, will be in charge of cre- the opposite in college athletics. Title IX re- to ensure it equals the 50 percent equiva- fect in 2006. ating a comprehensive performing-arts quirements have been used as the reason- lent. Under current discussions, the first program just as the university is reno- ing behind cutting athletic opportunities for According to the NCAA, 51.2 percent year a team’s graduation rate fell be- vating and expanding three of its per- men, while at the same time increasing op- of all Division 1 schools have at least one low the 50 percent level, it would re- forming-arts venues. His salary will be portunities for women. program below the 925 score. Sports most ceive a warning letter from the NCAA. $170,000.” affected are football, men’s basketball, and A second year of violations could lead The announcement was, to use a Substantially proportionate baseball. to the NCAA implementing recruiting nifty academic-sounding term, decon- Scholarship reductions, which last for and financial aid limitations against the structed at The Locker Room It has all been done because of the “sub- one year, could begin in 2005-06 or 2006- team. After the third year, the NCAA (www.johnlocke.org/lockerroom), the stantially proportionate” test — one aspect 07. The maximum amount of scholarships would review the team’s Graduation blog of the John Locke Foundation. of a three-pronged test used by the Educa- that can be reduced is 10 percent, which Success Rate and consider ruling the In his post, Jon Sanders, a policy tion Department’s Office of Civil Rights to for football would be nine and basketball team ineligible for the postseason. Fol- analyst for the Pope Center for Higher determine whether a school is in compli- two. lowing the fourth year a team would Education Policy, made a nod to a no- ance with Title IX regulations. Under that The NCAA created a “Graduation lose its NCAA membership. torious UNC-CH Summer Reading prong, the OCR considers a school in com- Success Rate” formula to examine the — Shannon Blosser Program selection — Barbara Ehren- pliance with Title IX if the male-female ra- reich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not)Bill tio of its student-athletes is similar to the Fletcher Getting By in America. Sanders male-female ratio of its enrollment. noted that “$170,000 for a brand-new The other two prongs are the “history used the proportionality test to cut men’s the case saying the NWCA does not have administrative position at UNC works and continuing practice” prong, whereby teams, such as track and field and wrestling. standing. out — if you try to split the distribu- a school demonstrates that it has a history The College Sports Council recently Moyer said he understands proportion- tion as equally as possible — into: One and continuing practice of expanding ath- filed a lawsuit against the Government Ac- ality is not the lone reason for the decline million, one hundred thirty-three thou- letic programs to the underrepresented gen- countability Office for what it believes were in wrestling program over the years, but it sand, three hundred and thirty-three der, and the “fully and effectively” prong, inaccuracies in a 2001 GAO report on Title is a large factor. In the past five years, 19 (1,133,333) each of Nickels & Dimes, whereby the school shows that it is fully and IX. The lawsuit alleges that the report did wrestling programs have been added. Some plus one extra nickel.” effectively meeting the athletic interests and not correctly account for decreases in men’s schools will not add wrestling programs Pope Center Director George C. abilities of the underrepresented gender. teams. because of football, which has a large num- Leef found “another way (whether it’s To be considered by the OCR as in com- NCAA statistics show that men’s cross ber of male athletes, Moyer said. more hostile or mocking, I’m not quite pliance with Title IX, a school needs to sat- country leads the list of the most dropped “As long as this quota system is in sure) of looking at the cost of the Arts isfy only one of those three prongs. programs in the last 15 years — 183 pro- place, it’s a tall order,” Moyer said. Director salary at Chapel Hill.” The problem is, as Gerald Reynolds, grams cut. Indoor track (180), golf (178), ten- Marquette University, Moyer said, is Noting that “On the average, assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in nis (171), rowing (132), outdoor track (126), the poster child for what he believes is North Carolina taxpayers pay $843 2003 in a “Further Clarification” of the swimming (125), and wrestling (121) are wrong with Title IX implementation. The dollars in state income tax,” Leef ex- OCR’s Title IX enforcement, the OCR let it other men’s programs that have been cut wrestling program was self-supporting for trapolated. “That means that almost be known it favored the “substantially pro- mainly because of the way Title IX is en- seven years, while the school would pay for 202 taxpayers will devote their whole portionate” test as the only “safe harbor” forced, Pearson said. incidental costs. The program was cut be- income tax liability to paying for the standard to meet to avoid further OCR scru- “We do support Title IX,” Pearson said. cause Marquette did not meet the quota that new director.” tiny. “We think there is good reason to keep Title the proportionality prong required. “‘Open to All’: Title IX at Thirty.,” a 2003 IX. It can continue to protect women. We “How did that decision benefit Drop and give me twenty report by the Secretary of Education’s Com- want to change it so that it doesn’t harm women?” Moyer asked. “It does everything mission on Opportunity in Athletics, said, men. Proportionality doesn’t help women.” that Title IX is supposed to prevent.” Shortly after announcing the selec- “If a school claims it is in compliance un- Pearson, a former wrestling coach at In his 2003 “Clarification,” Reynolds tion for new UNC-CH post of arts di- der one of the other tests, the Office will Princeton, said that in some cases men and wrote, “OCR hereby clarifies that nothing rector, UNC-CH’s news service put out scrutinize that claim more carefully since women athletes train together. When a male in Title IX requires the cutting or reduction the following factoid: “the North Caro- compliance under either of these parts is not sport is cut due to proportionality, the of teams in order to demonstrate compli- lina General Assembly’s appropriation a safe harbor.” women’s program that compliments the cut ance with Title IX, and that the elimination per in-state student at Carolina is Reynolds wrote that the OCR had given program is left without the training assis- of teams is a disfavored practice.” $17,132.” schools the erroneous belief “that they must tance. Though the battle to reform Title IX leg- According to Leef’s eminently use- take measures to ensure strict proportion- “I’ve talked to women’s coaches and islation has been largely concentrated on ful technique of examining UNC ex- ality between the sexes. In fact, each of the asked them what is important to them,” college athletics, Pearson said the struggle penditures, then, it takes more than 20 three prongs of the test is an equally suffi- Pearson said. “What they care about is fair could soon to turn to high school sports N.C. taxpayers to put just one student cient means of complying with Title IX, and access to facilities and equivalent funding where administrators are using roster man- from N.C. into UNC-Chapel Hill. CJ no one prong is favored.” for their teams, travel budgets and recruit- agement and proportionality to cap oppor- Reynolds added that “OCR encourages ing budgets — the reasonable things that tunities for men. schools to take advantage of its flexibility, the men’s teams are getting.” According to Pearson, there are 3.9 mil- and to consider which of the three prongs “In general, especially the women’s lion male athletes in high schools across the best suits their individual situations… Each sports that have a male equivalent, they country, compared to 2.8 million female ath- of the prongs is thus a valid, alternative way want to see some reasonable reform,” Pear- letes. for schools to comply with Title IX.” son said. “If you want to get proportionate, you Of the male sports that have been cut have to eliminate 1 million high school male New Title IX lawsuit over the years due to proportionality, wres- athletes,” Pearson said. tling has received the largest attention. For now, Pearson and Moyer said they Eric Pearson, executive director of the Pearson said that is because wrestlers and will continue to fight for Title IX reform, the College Sports Council, a coalition of the wrestling community are the most or- end of the proportionality requirement, and coaches, parents, and former athletes , and ganized. The NWCA has sued the Depart- equal access for both genders. Mike Moyer, executive director of the Na- ment of Education over Title IX enforce- “Our ultimate goal is to find a more tional Wrestling Coaches Association, have ment, a case that is on appeal to the Su- faithful interpretation that helps women seen firsthand how college administrators preme Court after lower courts dismissed without hurting men,” Moyer said. CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Higher Education 11

Two Years After Landmark Court Ruling, Striking a Blow for Issue of Race Preferences Continue to Roil Academic Freedom

By JON SANDERS for future classes, “considering such attributes as leader- he new year has presented “academic free- Assistant Editor ship potential, student activities, socioeconomic back- dom” with a grave new threat. The Founda- RALEIGH ground, and demonstrated academic achievement.” T tion for Individual Liberty has published its n June 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases UGA officials put efforts instead in recruiting minor- Guide to Free Speech on Campus. The guide gives a shot concerning racial preferences in Michigan higher edu ity students, under such initiatives as trying to reach them in the arm, however, to academic freedom. I cation, Gratz v. Bollinger (on preferences used by the earlier in high school and holding admissions receptions Academic freedom, of course, is what intolerant University of Michigan) and Grutter v. Bollinger (on prefer- in different regions in the state. For some exceptional stu- faculty and administra- ences used by its law school). The court ruled against out- dents, UGA also waived application fees. tors governing many right racial preferences in admissions while it ruled in fa- The court’s ruling in Grutter, however, renewed inter- public universities call vor of considering race in admissions so long as it is used est in Georgia in returning to the use of race in the admis- their efforts to stifle as only one of “pertinent elements of diversity.” sions process. Officials formed a Freshman Admissions speech on campus. When But the court appeared to suggest that the constitu- Task Force to investigate the proposal. Recently, however, they consigned free ex- tionality of considering race in admissions will sunset af- task force members had to announce that they could not pression to only certain ter 25 years have passed. The majority opinion held that, solidify a plan to return to race-conscious admissions in zones on campus, such as “We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial pref- time for the fall 2005 semester. Texas Tech’s “gazebo,” erences will no longer be necessary to further the interest Task force chairman David Roberts, UGA history pro- that was academic free- approved today.” fessor, told the Associated Press that while “we’d all like dom. When a University Given the court’s failure to clarify the constitutional- to see this done this year,” there was “no point in doing of North Carolina at ity of racial preferences, the issue continues to roil nation- something that won’t hold up in court.” Chapel Hill instructor en- wide. The University of Georgia, which has a race-neutral gaged in racial and sexual admissions process in accordance with an appeals court In Michigan, preferences up for a vote in 2006? harassment and discrimi- Jon Sanders ruling, is now considering returning to racial preferences. nation against a student In Michigan, lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit on On Jan. 6, Michigan Civil Rights Initiative Executive in her class because she didn’t like what he said in a behalf of thousands of white and Asian applicants who Director Jennifer Gratz (of Gratz v. Michigan), Michigan state class discussion on (her topic) “Why do heterosexual had been rejected by the University of Michigan while it Rep. Leon Drolet, and American Civil Rights Coalition men feel threatened by homosexuals,” faculty in her was using the race-preference system that the court struck President Ward Connerly announced that the MCRI had defense claim she deserved the “academic freedom” down. Also, a civil rights initiative has gathered enough finished collecting signatures to place an amendment be- to have done so. When the University of Alabama votes to place a referendum on the ballot that, if approved, fore voters that would end race and gender preferences in decided the First Amendment wasn’t good enough would end race and gender preferences in that state. public institutions in Michigan. The MCRI announced that and wrote a speech code so intrusive and subjective The American Association of Law Schools hotly de- it had collected 508,202 signatures, well more than the re- that it even prohibited “demeaning” speech, they did bated race preferences at its winter meeting when a pro- quired number of 317,757. so in the name of academic freedom. fessor presented a study finding that preferences in law The amendment, which will be placed on the Michi- And it’s for the sake of academic freedom that schools harmed black students. University of California at gan ballot in 2006, has faced significant opposition since it some faculty members at N.C. State wrote in anger Los Angeles law professor Richard H. Sander opened a was first proposed in 2003, shortly after the Grutter rul- against David Horowitz’s Academic Bill of Rights, a raucous debate when he presented his research, which was ing. As early as July 2003, Michigan Rep. John Dingell sent movement that uses the same language as the Ameri- published in January in the Stanford Law a heated missive to Connerly. can Association of University Professors did in its Review. Sander found that race prefer- “The people of Michigan have a original protection of academic freedom. They com- ences brought in black students into The OCR has received simple message for you: Go home and plained about its “carefully chosen language” that schools in which they were more likely complaints of admis- stay there. We do not need you stirring “does not fully expose the agenda behind it.” Why, than their peers to struggle academically, up trouble where none exists,” Dingell it’s so cleverly written that it protects everybody’s rights! causing them to drop out at higher rates sions discrimination by wrote. He concluded with, “So Mr. How insidious! or graduate with less hopes of passing Virginia, Maryland, Connerly, take your message of hate and Likely they will bristle against FIRE’s Guide as the bar exam. Sander’s presentation at- fear, division, and destruction and leave. well (available at thefireguides.org). Students who tracted so much attention that a larger William and Mary, and Go home and stay there, you’re not wel- know their rights aren’t as easy to cow. FIRE is fond room had to be found to hold the crowd. also N.C. State. come here.” of quoting Justice Brandeis’ observation that “Sun- As The Chronicle of Higher Education Nevertheless, the MCRI successfully light is the best disinfectant.” Light also vanquishes has reported, the Education Depart- completed a petition drive to place an the darkness and makes it easier to see. ment’s Office of Civil Rights is involved in preference-re- amendment on the 2004 ballot, but that drive was chal- Consider this nugget from the Guide: “the First lated complaints in several states, including North Caro- lenged in court by Citizens for a United Michigan and the Amendment grants individuals and groups an enor- lina. The OCR recently negotiated a settlement with Wis- Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and mous amount of autonomy and authority not only consin officials to open a state scholarship program to all Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means to define their own message, but to express it in cre- students, as opposed to only minorities. The OCR had in- Necessary (also known as BAMN). ative and even in controversial ways.” That’s worm- vestigated the program following a complaint about dis- Those groups argued that the MCRI’s amendment was wood to academic freedom. It means, as the Guide crimination in the program filed in 2001. Because the schol- worded deceptively, by which they meant that by ending explains, “those who seek to censor and indoctrinate arship program excluded certain applicants according to racial preferences, it would also end “affirmative action”. the campus community can accomplish their goals race, it appeared to Wisconsin Department of Public In- They also objected to the text of the proposed amendment only if individuals acquiesce, if they consent to cen- struction lawyers to violate part of the court’s ruling in the being placed on the back of the petition and contained an sorship by their silence.” Michigan cases, and Wisconsin chose to negotiate a settle- objectionable “Introduction” to boot. They also said that The Guide to Free Speech on Campus was written ment with the OCR rather than fight the complaint. the front of the petition contained a “misleading summary” by FIRE’s David A. French, Greg Lukianoff, and The OCR also has opened an investigation into allega- of the proposal. Harvey A. Silverglate. In discussing free speech, the tions that the University of Virginia discriminates against In March 2004, a lower court found those arguments authors chart its history and the philosophy white applicants in admissions. Similar complaints have persuasive and invalidated the petition drive, saying the undergirding it. They tell why free speech is so im- been lodged with the OCR against Virginia’s law school, petition language wasn’t an accurate description of the portant to individual liberty. And, crucially, they the law school of the College of William and Mary, the Uni- amendment if it were to succeed. The MCRI appealed the show students how to fight for their speech rights, versity of Maryland’s School of Medicine, and North Caro- ruling and received unanimous support from the Michi- rhetorically and, if necessary, legally — providing nu- lina State University. gan Court of Appeals in June. The appellate court ruled merous examples from FIRE’s own cases. that “all doubts as to technical deficiencies or failure to The Guide tackles a range of speech issues stu- Race-conscious system may return to Georgia comply with the exact letter of procedural requirements in dents face on campus. A few of those include: speech petitions… are resolved in favor of permitting the people codes against offensive or harassing speech, libel, Since fall 2002, the University of Georgia has not used to vote and express a choice on any proposal subject to compelled speech, compelled payment for speech race and other nonacademic factors in its admissions pro- election.” with which one disagrees, free speech zones, religious cess. The other factors are place of residence, socioeconomic The decision came too late, however, for measure sup- expression, satire, controversial speech, obscenity, status, and legacy status (whether an applicant’s relative porters to collect enough signatures to place it on the bal- double standards, and unequal access. attended Georgia). At present, applications at UGA are lot in November 2004. So they began a new, 180-day sig- A passage in the new Guide’s preface hearkens weighed according to high-school grades in 16 core courses nature collection period in July, whose overwhelming suc- back to John Milton’s call to “Let her [truth] and false- and standardized-test scores, with grades being given twice cess was announced in early January. hood grapple, who ever knew truth put to the worse, the weight of scores. Specially skilled applicants with ap- In announcing the success of the petition drive, Gratz in a free and open encounter.” As the authors note, titudes in such areas as art, music, computing, and athlet- thanked all those who helped make it succeed. “I wish I “Milton’s words — meant for the particular context ics receive exceptions. could personally thank each of the nearly half million of seventeenth-century England — rise above their The university dropped use of those factors after the people who signed the petition; the over 1,700 individuals historical setting. If any institution on earth should U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued a ruling who volunteered or contributed time, support, and re- be ‘the mansion house of liberty,’ trusting in ‘a free that struck down the university’s use of race as one of the sources; and the many full-time staff circulating and pro- and open encounter’ of truth and error, it should be factors it considered in deciding among applicants. cessing petitions,” Gratz said. higher education in a free society.” In announcing the new admissions process, UGA Presi- David Waymire of Citizens for a United Michigan told That is a keen blow to academic freedom, but a dent Michael F. Adams said the university may, given more the Chronicle of Higher Education, “We’re going to scruti- welcome strike for academic freedom. CJ time to review the decision, alter its admissions process nize the petitions very closely.” CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A 12 Higher Education JOURNAL

Course of the Month UNC Schools Celebrate King Flagship Public University Struggles With Music, Drama, Democrats With ‘Experiential Education’ By JON SANDERS UNC-Wilmington’s featured speaker Assistant Editor was Robert Bullard, whose work on “envi- RALEIGH ronmental racism” includes the books High- here’s an episode of “The change current courses or create whole arades, music, drama, prayer break- way Robbery: Transportation Racism and New Simpsons” in which Bart and new ones that offer such experiences,” fasts, and speakers helped Univer- Routes to Equity and Dumping in Dixie: Race, T Lisa submitted a script to their Smith said. P sity of North Carolina schools cel- Class, and Environmental Quality. favorite cartoon show, “Itchy & Smith told Ferreri that, “It’s a mat- ebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. East Carolina hosted civil rights activ- Scratchy,” in their grandfather’s name, ter of changing the culture a bit, so de- UNC-Greensboro hosted NAACP head ist and comedian Dick Gregory to deliver who subsequently is hired. The head of partments and faculty are thinking Julian Bond to deliver the keynote address its keynote address. UNC-Chapel Hill the animating studio introduces about how to offer experiential educa- of its celebration. In December, Bond spoke hosted Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr., Grandpa rather rudely to the other writ- tion to their students. Every depart- at the 22nd annual “Brotherhood Celebra- director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns ers, all young men lounging about, with ment will need to think about this.” tion” at N.C. State, where he accused the Hopkins Children’s center. the directive that from then on, they As has been noted in past CM col- Republican Party of serving “right wing” Western Carolina hosted Tonya Will- would be taking their cues from him be- umns, giving college credit for “public extremists, seeking to reverse civil rights, iams, general counsel of N.C. Senate Presi- cause he has something they couldn’t get service” is nothing new to UNC-CH. A and reaching out to what he called dent Pro Tempore Marc Basnight. UNC- at their fancy schools: “life experience.” look at just the social and economic jus- “Talibanistic” voters. He noted that in the Charlotte’s celebrations included a candle- One of the animators pipes up, in a tice minor and APPLES student-run 2004 presidential elections, all the states of light vigil addressed by UNCC alumnus twerpy voice: “Actually, I wrote my the- learning program (the acronym is for the old Confederacy supported George W. and former professional basketball player sis on life experience, and —” before he Assisting People in Planning Learning Bush. He said that “[Republicans] have di- Pastor Henry Williams. is shouted down by the studio head. Experiences in Service) will provide vided more voters than in any other time.” Among historically black UNC schools, This episode CM was reminded of by numerous examples. But college credit N.C. State’s keynote speaker was long- Elizabeth City State hosted Bismarck a recent Durham Herald Sun article. It’s for “life experience” — normally that’s time Democrat Party activist Donna Brazile, Myrick, a decorated war veteran and about the new curriculum at the Univer- the realm of the diploma mill. who started as a deputy campaign manager former U.S. ambassador. Fayetteville State sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For Just a few months ago, CM recalls, a for Jesses Jackson and later worked in the hosted Capt. Trudy L. Caldwell, U.S. Sen- those unfamiliar with the flagship pub- college in North Carolina lost its ac- presidential campaigns of Michael Dukakis, ate legislative liaison for the Army and lic university, UNC-CH is an unusual creditation for going too far down that Bill Clinton, and Al Gore. former FSU student body president. N.C. place where outside criticism of courses primrose path. As reported by The Appalachian State University hosted A&T State featured the drama “The Meet- is a grave, hostile threat to academic free- Chronicle of Higher Education Sept. 3, Chuck D as its keynote speaker. The former ing” in which Martin Luther King meets dom, but inside work to prevent new 2004, Barber-Scotia College of Concord, rapper last year performed at a notorious Malcolm X in a Harlem hotel, and held nu- courses is upholding academic freedom. N.C. had its accreditation rescinded MoveOn.org fund-raiser, where he warned merous public-service events. It’s also a place where conservatives’ owing to “[a] series of academic and fi- of “eight years run by a Colon, a Bush, and N.C. Central’s celebrations included a money is considered tainted — unless it’s nancial problems [that] were topped off a Dick.” He also said that “Americanization keynote address by Marc H. Morial, head first laundered through the General As- by the granting of bachelor’s degrees is like McDonaldization” and, according to of the National Urban League. Winston-Sa- sembly. to 28 adult evening students who had Matt Drudge, “appear[ed] to refer to Ameri- lem State featured musical performances, Back to the Herald Sun article. Writ- not met graduation requirements. can government under Bush administration dramatic readings, and recordings of King’s ten by Eric Ferreri Jan. 2, it discusses (They had been granted questionable as ‘cancer of civilization.’” speeches. CJ problems UNC-CH is facing in trying to credit for ‘life experience.’)” implement its new curriculum by fall Even more recently, the online Trin- 2006. The addition of a fourth required ity Southern University of Plano, Texas, foreign-language course is the main was hit with a civil lawsuit alleging problem; it has apparently posed a sig- consumer fraud and illegal e-mail mar- nificant logistical challenge. There is, keting. The trigger of the lawsuit was however, “one other, smaller problem” when, the Chronicle reported Dec. 8, facing the university: Implementing the Trinity Southern determined that one “life experience” component of the new Colby Silcox had “life experience… suf- UNC-CH curriculum. ficient for not only a bachelor’s degree Ferreri reported that according to Jay but also an M.B.A. (for an additional Smith, UNC-CH history professor and $100).” Payment of the additional fee For more than 12 years, Carolina Journal has provided its associate dean for undergraduate cur- resulted in a transcript for Colby list- ricula at the College of Arts and Sciences, ing “four semesters’ worth of business thousands of readers each month with in-depth reporting, this “new, experiential education compo- classes, including management ac- informed analysis, and incisive commentary about the most nent” is “proving just a bit difficult to sell counting, organizational behavior, and pressing state and local issues in North Carolina. With a to faculty.” total quality management.” particular emphasis on state government, politics, the General “The new component requires stu- Colby is only 6 years old. Assembly, education, and local government, Carolina Journal dents to take a course with a ‘life experi- Furthermore — and this concern ence’ element to it — like public service, may be irrelevant now in this Age of has offered unique insights and ideas to the policy debate. field research or some other ‘real world’ Diversity, and if so, we promise to en- experience,” Ferreri wrote. “The trick roll in sensitivity training tout de suite— Now Carolina Journal is taking its trademark blend of news, now is getting faculty members to Colby is also a cat. CJ analysis, and commentary to the airwaves with a new program — Carolina Journal Radio.

A weekly, one-hour newsmagazine, Carolina Journal Radio is hosted by John Hood, publisher of Carolina Journal, and features a diverse mix of guests and topics. Education reform, tax policy, the state legislature, affirmative action, air pollution, freedom of the press and the courts — these are just a few of the subjects that Carolina Journal Radio has tackled since the program began production in May.

Currently broadcast each weekend on 20 commercial radio stations – from the mountains to the coast – Carolina Journal Radio is a one-of-a-kind program that seeks to inform and elevate the discussion of North Carolina most critical issues, and to do so in a fair, entertaining, and thought-provoking way.

Thomas “Tommy the Poop Engine” Chatterfield holds aloft his Master’s in Soil Manage- ment with a minor in Insectology. Beside him is companion animal and fellow graduate For more information or to find an affiliate of Carolina Journal Smokey, who received an M.B.A. and who graduated mowma cum meowde. Radio in your community, visit www.CarolinaJournal.com. February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Higher Education 13

What if a conservative in the classroom pokes fun? Satire, Humor, and Mockery: Time-Honored, Western Tests of Ideas

By JON SANDERS (not all) faculty at Aristotle, to put it not spent in the struggle to end sexism or Assistant Editor the University of mildly, saw the mat- racism are wasted.” A chuckle means an RALEIGH North Carolina at ter otherwise. injustice goes unremedied. ifficile est saturam non scibere. So Chapel Hill that a Issues in Aristotle saw laugh- wrote the Roman satirist Juvenal. conservative might ter as so incisive that Who could resist the urge? D In English, that means, “It’s diffi- broadcast what Higher he considered it the cult not to write satire.” they’re teaching, only way to test the Apropos of that, UNC-CH associate Democritus, the “laughing philoso- and that they’d be seriousness of an professor of women’s studies Karen M. pher,” was described by Laurence Sterne as mocked for it. It al- Education idea. Booth wrote in to the N&O Dec. 19: “They “trying all the powers of irony and laugh- most sounds as if “Humor is the [the Pope Center] have condemned the cre- ter to reclaim” the town of Abdera, “the vil- they know they only test of gravity, ation of programs designed to make our est and most profligate town of Thrace.” can’t defend in pub- and gravity of hu- education more accessible to racial and eth- lic what they teach. mor,” Aristotle nic minorities… I am sure that if UNC cre- “One of the oldest literary forms” wrote, “for a subject which will not bear ated a disability studies program — some- Humor: the “only test of gravity” raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will thing that [Charles] Dickens’ [Tiny] Tim “The satire of philosophic nonsense is not bear serious examination is false wit.” could have used — Sanders, with the Popes’ one of the oldest literary forms,” George Consider what some at UNC-CH have Aristotle’s test would require the mock- blessing, would make it his immediate task Mason professor of law F. H. Buckley wrote said recently about the criticism from the ery to have a point to it or else be consid- to ridicule and condemn it.” in his book The Morality of Laughter. But Pope Center for Higher Education Policy ered “false wit.” But take note that he re- What thinking individual could resist Buckley also wrote of “[t]he need for a and the possibility that UNC-CH will have garded an inability to take a joke as “suspi- the urge to ridicule? Horatian playfulness” in satire, because a program in Western civilization sup- cious.” Tiny Tim needed… a disability studies “bitter satire is simply not amusing.” ported by the Pope Center’s benefactor, the There are those who program? Now that is a Why is amusement necessary? Because, John William Pope Foundation: resist laughter, Buckley curious justification for a as Buckley argued, “There is no laughter • “Judith Bennett, a professor of medi- said. The Puritan, for ex- Modern Puritans are new academic program without a butt, and no butt without a mes- eval history and Western civilization, said ample, fails to laugh at a flagship state institu- sage about a risible inferiority.” Concern- teaching in a Pope-funded program would “through an excessive suspicious of laughter tion, isn’t it? ing the satirist’s need, “laughter serves as a make her feel like ‘Art Pope is sitting in the concern for moral or po- because it distracts And academic pro- bonding device between wits and listen- back of the classroom.’” — Jane Stancill, The litical duties.” Remember people “from the seri- grams are created ex- ers.” News & Observer of Raleigh, Nov. 25 H. L. Mencken’s famous pressly for the purpose of That is important because “[w]hether • “She [art professor Elin O’hara jest about Puritanism? ous business of rem- making education more they recognize it or not, those who laugh Slavick] said she had hesitated showing “The haunting fear that edying injustice.” accessible to racial and are moralists, because they uphold a set of some artwork in her classroom, for fear of someone, somewhere is ethnic minorities? comic norms,” he said. a political organization putting ‘a plant in happy.” If that is how they “Our laughter identifies a set of comic my classroom that will tell on me.’” — Jane Apply it to Buckley’s observations that justify academic programs, then no won- vices, and the sting of laughter contains its Stancill, N&O, Dec. 13 “The modern Puritan devotes himself to po- der they oppose Western civilization! That’s own sanction for transgressors,” Buckley • “On the contrary, the only climate of litical rather than religious duties” and that just time wasted studying history, politics, said. “When we turn that signal about to ‘fear and protest’ at UNC is that fostered this Puritanism “is particularly pronounced philosophy, art, literature, language, etc. It’s ask how we might immunize ourselves by the mocking, hollow attacks leveled by in the academy.” not academic — it’s not solely designed to from laughter, we reveal a set of comic vir- the Pope Center and its supporters.” — Does that not explain this spectacle of remedy sexism and racism! tues.” Kimberly L. Dennis, UNC-CH graduate self-righteous professors carping about Then one wonders: Say, which special For that reason, Buckley wrote that student, letter to the N&O, Dec. 19 mockery and fearing political infidels in the group’s accessibility to education was whereas “[l]egal and moral rules are con- • “The problem is the tone of hostility, classroom? boosted by the departments of chemistry, cerned with duties to others, but the prin- of mocking… It’d be one thing if it were Modern Puritans are suspicious of physics, and history? Are there discrete ra- cipal beneficiary of laughter is the butt him- incisive criticism. Bring it on. But the mock- laughter, Buckley wrote, because it distracts cial, ethnic, and gender groups that are self.” ing, vicious hostility, it really bothers me.” people “from the serious business of rem- naturally attracted — bound by their genes What prompts this brief survey of — UNC-CH English professor Reid Bar- edying injustice.” and skin color, as it were — to biology and Western philosophy toward laughter is this: bour, the Herald-Sun of Durham , Nov. 15 As they see it, people are “given a fi- math? There is, apparently, a real fear among some Is mockery not incisive criticism? nite number of minutes to live, and those No, of course not. It is to laugh. CJ

Visit www.PopeCenter.org for a wealth of information on higher education in North Carolina

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• Reports and columns on the legislature, politics, culture, and local Your Home on the Web for North Carolina Public Policy government from Carolina Journal editors and reporters. The John Locke Foundation’s brand new, completely redesigned home page is • Carolina Journal Publisher John Hood’s exclusive “Daily Journal.” your best source of research, analysis, and information on the critical public policy issues facing North Carolina state and local governments. • Timely links to important stories and editorials from the state’s major newspapers, magazines, and other media organizations. A fully searchable, comprehensive database of reports, studies, briefing papers, datasets, press releases, events notifications, and articles can provide • Instant access to state & national columnists, wire reports, and the an excellent starting place for those drafting legislation, researching policy John Locke Foundation’s other public policy web sites. issues, preparing news stories, planning political or lobbying campaigns, or seeking information with which to be an informed voter and citizen. See what one Raleigh paper called “Matt Drudge with Class” Februry 2005 C A R O L I N A 14 Local Government JOURNAL

Town and Country School Funding Bullies County’s Taxpayers Navy: OLF foes misread e-mail Unique formula ensures schools get plenty, rest of county settles for leftovers

Opponents of a Navy plan to build By DONNA MARTINEZ a landing field in eastern North Caro- Associate Editor lina are distorting an e-mail from an en- RALEIGH vironmental planner in their zeal to kill lint Willis isn’t bitter toward Scot- the project near Pocosin Lakes National land County voters, even though Wildlife Refuge, the Navy complained they didn’t re-elect him to the in a new court filing. C county Board of Commissioners in Novem- Lawyers for the Navy and for en- ber. He regrets only that he couldn’t put the vironmental groups and a pair of coun- brakes on residents’ growing property tax ties trying to block the proposed out- burden. His hard feelings are reserved for lying landing field filed dueling court what he thinks helped get him booted from papers Jan. 10 in advance of a U.S. Dis- office: his opposition to the county’s 42- trict Court hearing on the merits of the year-old “school floor” law. case, the Winston-Salem Journal re- ported. County’s onerous property tax Opponents want a federal judge in Raleigh to block construction of the Willis told residents the 1963 state law, landing field, on a site in Washington which applies only to Scotland County, and Beaufort counties, until the Navy places an undue financial burden on prop- does another site selection and takes a erty owners by requiring them to fund lo- closer look at effects on the nearby cal schools at a specific level. He points to wildlife refuge. the property tax rate imposed to meet the The Navy wants to build the land- mandate as evidence. Scotland’s rate is the ing field on 30,000 acres where squad- highest among its neighbors at $1.10 per rons of F/A-18 Super Hornets would $100 of assessed value. “I told them what practice carrier landings. Opponents they needed to hear,” Willis said. “We’ve Scotland County High School is the largest schools funded with the special tax policy. complain that the Navy did not ad- been stuck with that thing since ’63. It has equately consider the harm to migra- grown so out of proportion to other dis- He wasn’t alone in his concern. Accord- ate from required funding if the commis- tory birds at the refuge and the threat tricts, it’s just ridiculous.” ing to Willis, things were so serious that sion and school board agree that “extraor- to pilots posed by collisions with The Center for Local Innovation’s 2005 commissioners and school board members dinary economic circumstances” exist. Be- masses of birds. By The Numbers report shows that for fiscal asked for help from Sen. William Purcell cause of that, Purcell said he was surprised Opponents who have seized on an 2002-03, Scotland’s property tax collections (D), who represents Scotland County in the to receive a letter from county commission- e-mail in which a Navy environmen- per capita were $497.75. As a percentage of General Assembly. The agreed-upon com- ers six months after the law was passed, tal planner complained to a colleague income, that’s 2.34 percent. Others in the promise legislation modified the 1963 fund- asking him to introduce a bill to allow Scot- of having to “reverse engineer” the region were lower. Moore County: $424.50 ing formula but did not repeal the law. New land County citizens to vote on whether the search for an landing site have misin- and 1.32 percent; Richmond County: language gave the county budget relief by floor law should remain in effect. That let- terpreted what the planner was saying, $355.32 and 1.68 percent; Robeson County: dictating the 2002-03 local expenditure at ter was followed by one from the school the Navy said in its filing. $282.74 and 1.54 percent; and Hoke County: $8.7 million, not $10 million. However, be- board requesting the exact opposite — that The planner was not complaining $270.79 and 1.53 percent. ginning with the 2003-04 year, Scotland he not introduce a bill allowing a local vote. that the process had been set up to force The 1963 law dates to the merger of the would be required to give its schools the Purcell said he and Scotland County’s other the selection of the eastern North Caro- City of Laurinburg and Scotland County $8.7 million base, plus an amount equal to legislators at the time discussed it and de- lina site, the military said. Rather, he school systems. The goal of local officials the change in current expense expenditures cided not to proceed. “It hadn’t even been was unhappy that political pressures was to ensure the new system would re- of North Carolina’s low-wealth counties. through one cycle,” he said. “This is what were forcing Navy planners to include ceive what they deemed an appropriate lo- The reprieve was welcome, Willis said, they asked for and this is what we gave unsatisfactory sites in Virginia. cal contribution: the state’s average per- but it was only a band-aid. Purcell dis- them.” If they don’t like it, he emphasized, pupil expenditure. No other county is re- agreed and said he thinks there will always a bypass mechanism is already in place. U.S. agency backtracks on rail stricted this way. They determine local be people who think that the law is unfair Willis didn’t argue that education school funding through budget negotia- and that taxes are too high. He is adamant wasn’t a priority. In fact, he said Scotland The Federal Transit Administra- tions between commissioners and the the schools need the floor law to prepare County’s schools were “first class.” The tion has changed its rating of the school board. the county’s children to compete for jobs. problem, he said, is the county can’t con- Triangle’s proposed commuter rail ser- Among the area’s challenges, he said, is teen tinue to pay for it. In early 2004, Willis was vice from “recommended” to neutral, Lion’s share to schools pregnancy, a high number of single-parent the commission’s budget officer and saw saying it cannot endorse the $695 mil- households, and recent job losses. “Money the predicament firsthand. He and other lion project until it resolves new doubts Over the years Scotland County’s edu- does make a difference in education,” he commissioners met with school board about its benefits, the News & Observer cation expense has grown, as has the prop- said. “It’s not the total thing, but it is im- members and presented numbers to illus- of Raleigh reported. erty tax rate to support it, portant.” trate the financial dilemma. Then they The Triangle Transit Authority, and the frustration of According to state asked the school board to invoke the floor which hopes to start running com- some residents. Bill “They laughed at us. figures for the 2003-04 law’s tough-times provision and accept less muter trains in 2008, is counting on fed- Grogan of Concerned Basic education is criti- year, Scotland County’s money. “They laughed at us,” Willis said. eral funding to cover 61 percent of the Citizens for Good Gov- total per-pupil funding “Basic education is critical, but they won’t system’s cost. Without that money, the ernment said the 250- cal, but they won’t from federal, state, and come to the table.” Carolina Journal made project is dead. member group has been come to the table.” local dollars (excluding repeated attempts to speak with Scotland Federal officials are not question- trying to overturn the law capital expense) was school board members but was unsuccess- ing how fast TTA trains will run or how for years. He said that the — Clint Willis $7,991. Its neighbors had ful by press time. many people will ride them. Instead, high tax rate hurts busi- former commissioner total funding ranging they are skeptical about how slow the ness recruitment efforts from $6,651 in Robeson Other departments sacrifice alternatives would be. and that other public services are short- County to $7,004 in Moore County. The state They told the TTA in late Novem- changed because of the emphasis on average was $7,010. Left with no wiggle room in the educa- ber that they didn’t think the region’s schools. Scotland’s students outperformed kids tion budget, other county services took the highways would be as choked with Scotland County’s finance officer re- in Hoke, Robeson, and Richmond counties, hit last year. The sheriff’s budget was cut traffic in 2030, with cars and buses ports that 54 cents of the $1.10 assessment as measured by scores for that period in the by about $172,000. To accomplish that, the moving at a snail’s pace, as local trans- is funneled to schools and 56 cents to gen- state’s ABC accountability program. How- sheriff delayed hiring four deputies for six portation planners have predicted. eral services. The schools also receive about ever, while Scotland County spent 14 per- months and purchased three cruisers in- If the federal agency decides the $400,000 per year from fines and forfeitures. cent more in total funds on each child than stead of five. Other county departments benefits are not worth the cost of build- In fiscal 2004-05, a total of $9,670,297 will Moore County did, Moore’s students were consolidated and three employees ing the tracks and operating the trains, be given to the school system by the county. achieved at a higher level. The percentage were laid off. Funding for the arts council, it will issue a “not recommended” rat- The law has stirred debate for decades, of students scoring at or above grade level the African-American Heritage Committee, ing. That would set the Triangle project but in 2002, things came to a boil when on end-of-grade tests in Scotland County and the Indian Museum was stopped. back at least a year; the TTA would county commissioners faced a financial and was 82.1 percent in reading and 89.6 per- Willis predicts the new board of com- have to overhaul its proposal and try psychological milestone: a $10 million bill cent in math. Moore students scored 87.2 missioners will have little choice but to raise again for federal approval in 2006. for its schools. Willis said that in a county and 90.8 respectively. the tax rate again to meet the school floor TTA officials said they would try where many residents are of modest means mandate in 2005-06. But despite the finan- to regain their “recommended” rating — 2002 per-capita income was $21,284 — Commission, school board at odds cial implications and opposition, both Willis by mid-March, in time to stay on sched- that was an ominous prospect. “We were and Purcell said local support for the school ule with major construction and spend- at an impasse,” Willis said. “We could not With community support, it is possible floor is strong. What’s more, if Scotland ing planned for this year. CJ afford another increase. It was going to to bypass the floor law. A provision in the voters ever get the right to vote on it, both wreck the budget.” 2002 legislation allows the county to devi- predict it is likely to be upheld. CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Local Government 15

2005 William S. Lee Act County Economic Development Tiers Tier 1 Most Depressed, Tier 5 Most Robust Dell Scores, Others Tier 1: (21) Alleghany, Beaufort (-), Bertie, Edgecombe, Gates, Graham, Halifax, Hertford (-), Hyde (-), Jones, Martin (-), McDowell (-), Northampton, Perquimans, Richmond, Scotland, Tyrrell, Vance (-), Warren, Washing- In N.C. Pay the Tab ton, Yancey am a tremendous fan of ACC basketball. I love the Tier 2: (12) Anson, Bladen (+), Burke, Caldwell (-), Caswell, Cleveland, Columbus, Mitchell, Robeson, Rocking- spirit of competition, the unpredictable outcomes ham, Rutherford, Swain (+) Iand the emotion of the fans. I was reminded of that love not long ago when I visited the General Tier 3: (33) Alexander, Ashe, Avery, Camden, Catawba (-), Cherokee (+), Chowan, Clay, Currituck, Dare, Assembly. Yes, I watched as elected officials and Duplin, Gaston, Granville (-), Greene (+), Hoke, Jackson, Lenoir, Macon, Madison, Montgomery, Pamlico, business types from various locations marched into Pasquotank, Person, Polk, Rowan (-), Sampson, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Transylvania, Wayne, Wilson, Yadkin (-) the legislature with big “JOBS” buttons on. They pa- raded and cheered as the $242 million Dell incentives Tier 4: (16) Alamance (-), Cabarrus (-), Craven, Cumberland, Davidson, Guilford (-), Harnett (+), Haywood, package was rolled out by the Easley administration. Lee, Lincoln, Nash, Pender (+), Pitt, Randolph, Watauga, Wilkes The game’s outcome was already known, but the Tier 5: (18) Brunswick (+), Buncombe, Carteret (+), Chatham, Davie, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Henderson, pomp and circumstance was Iredell, Johnston, Mecklenburg, Moore, New Hanover, Onslow (+), Orange, Union, Wake pretty funny. Frowns abounded as serious ques- (+) = moved up a tier in 2005 vs 2004. (-) = moved down a tier in 2005 vs 2004. tions about the lack of trans- parency in the offer were asked. Low murmurs were Incentives Adjusted Within William S. Lee Act heard as queries about what other states were doing were ignored. It was almost as if bad calls were being made County Tier Classifications Released Chad Adams by one of the refs. But when it was done, By MICHAEL LOWREY aiding poorer counties, with most of credits generated in North Carolina defeated Virginia for a Dell plant in Associate Editor better off counties and for things besides job creation. the Triad area $242 million to $30 million. It was a CHARLOTTE In the first year of the Lee Act, 10 counties were trouncing! And Forsyth County won the next round of hen is good news the cause of bad news for local categorized as tier 1. In the program’s 10th year of exist- giveaways, defeating counties like Guilford and government and civic leaders? When it comes ence, eight of the counties — Bertie, Graham, Hertford, Alamance with an odd mixture of land swapping and W to the state’s yearly William S. Lee Act tier Hyde, Northampton, Richmond, Tyrell, and Warren — giveaway money to the tune of $37 million. designations, in which a stronger local economy can re- again find themselves placed in the most economically So, who really won? I think the answer is obvious, duce incentives for business investing in and state aid to a depressed category. Mitchell and Swain counties have in a word, Dell! Dell essentially has to pay no corpo- county. improved somewhat; in 2005 they are classified in tier 2. rate or property taxes for about 20 years. Thus, if you “If you want to continue to qualify, your incentive is to The department’s own review of the program found compete with Dell in North Carolina, you are subsi- keep your tier designation,” said Chad Adams, director of that most of the tax credits were generated in richer, not dizing your competition simply because you’re pay- the Center for Local Innovation at the John Locke Founda- poorer counties. ing taxes that Dell won’t have to pay. tion and a Lee County commissioner. “This is always a “Although the WSL Act’s five-tier system apportions But the real problem with this game is that the true quandary for counties.” substantially higher incentives to businesses in economi- costs and benefits are never really calculated. It’s all Since its creation in 1995, the Lee Act has been one of cally distressed counties, firms in larger and wealthier Tier about the supposed 2,000 jobs created and the multi- North Carolina’s major economic development programs. 4 and 5 counties have earned a large majority of the credits plier effect that economic developers say will create Under the act, businesses can quality for tax credits by in absolute terms,” the report says. “Business in the Char- thousands of additional jobs. Missing in the debate is creating jobs, engaging in research and development, pur- lotte, Piedmont Triad and Research Triangle regions gener- an assessment of the fiscal impact on local govern- chasing new machinery and equipment, or making certain ated between 73 and 94 percent of the total WSL Act job ments and the lack of equal treatment of all companies other types of investments. For Lee Act purposes, the state creation, worker training, M&E and R&D credits reported under the law. places counties into one of five categories, labeled tier 1 between 1996 and 2001.” Let us deal with the local government impact first. (worst) to tier 5 (best), based upon how well they are doing The report also notes that the 25 largest users of the It is well known that residential areas tend to pay for economically. The higher the classification, the smaller the program claimed $59 million in Lee Act credits in 1999, about 75 percent of the services they receive. Thus the amount of state tax credits available for creating new jobs 2000, and 2001, 37 percent of all credits generated during property taxes on a typical house cover about 75 or investing in a given county. the period. percent of the costs of schools, law enforcement, social The tax credits associated with the different tiers cur- Just because a company is eligible for a tax credit does services, and other local services. The remainder is rently are: not necessarily mean it can actually make use of it. State tax paid for by sales taxes and property taxes on industrial • Tier 1: $12,500 tax credit per new job created and a 7 regulations impose restrictions on when and how the cred- and commercial property. If Dell isn’t paying those percent tax credit on new machinery and its can be taken, limiting both the actual taxes and 2,000 folks who work there have families, equipment. cost to taxpayers and the usefulness of then municipal officials have to make up the differ- • Tier 2: $4,000 tax credit per new job and The department’s own the credits to businesses. ence in higher taxes to pay for the growth in the school a 7 percent tax credit for machinery and Credits may be used only to offset system, etc. But again, nobody watches the game after equipment expenditures more than review of the program up to half of a business’ franchise and the deal is done. $100,000. found that most of the corporate incomes tax liabilities. The Second, in a truly capitalistic system, all busi- • Tier 3: $3,000 tax credit per new job tax credits are gener- credits can be carried forward only a nesses pay their share of the property, sales, and state created and a 6 percent credit for machin- limited number of years — five to 15 taxes. Thus competitors should be treated equally ery and equipment investments over ated in richer, not depending upon the category — and regardless of their success or failure. With incentives, $200,000. poorer counties. require that the investment or jobs be the government is in the process of picking who wins • Tier 4: $1,000 tax credit per new job maintained. and loses by setting different tax standards for one created and a 5 percent credit for machin- The N.C. Department of Revenue company over another in the name of job creation. ery and equipment purchases over $1 million. reports that on the tax returns it processed in 2003, 616 Dell is a global leader in PC production. But is • Tier 5: $500 tax credit per new job created and a 4 percent taxpayers generated $175,543,475 Lee Act tax credits. In the North Carolina better off with Dell than IBM? Or are investment tax credit for machinery and equipment invest- same year, taxpayers used only $79,334,636 in credits, most we better off with Dell than the hundreds of small ments over $2 million. of which where generated in previous years. businesses in the state that compete with Dell? I would The state adjusts tier rankings yearly based upon popu- In that year, 56 percent of all Lee Act credits generated argue that the state government should want them all lation growth, per-capita income, and unemployment rates. were for machinery and equipment purchases. The other to be equally successful. But that is not the case here. In 2005, 25 of the state’s 100 counties changed tiers. Ten significant credit-generating activities were research and PC manufacturers other than Dell will be paying a counties improved by one level, while 14 went down a development (24 percent of total credits) and job creation greater share of taxes per unit produced than Dell. level. Hertford County went down two levels. (18 percent). The percentages were similar for credits How is that remotely fair? claimed. It sounds nice to say, “we brought new jobs here.” Myth and reality State policymakers, meanwhile, are increasingly using But it would sound better to say, “We’d love to have the Lee Act tiers as a means tests to determine local commu- your business, and we promise never to take money “The tier designations help ensure that our less-pros- nities’ ability to fund projects. For example, the 2000 state away from you to give to one of your competitors.” perous counties have the tools they need to attract eco- community college bonds require that counties in tier 5 That’s the way it should be. In ACC clashes, you nomic development to their communities,” said N.C. Com- match state construction funds. Counties in the lower tiers always get to see performance numbers like shooting merce Secretary Jim Fain in releasing the tiers for 2005. “At did not have to match state dollars. percentages and blocked shots. But in the incentive a time when our state’s economy is challenged by an “Obviously counties want to be successful economi- game, nobody seems to be keeping score, much less ongoing restructuring in the global marketplace, it is more cally, but success is not rewarded by the Lee Act, it is having to prove there is anything worthwhile in giv- important than ever that we give every community in our punished,” Adams said. “Thus if a county finally climbs up ing away money in the long run. If you have to state the resources it needs to succeed.” to a tier 5 designation its ability to continue that climb is compete with Dell and you’re in this state, the legisla- The reality of the Lee Act is rather different, however, punished, kind of like adding weight to a marathon runner ture has just put you on the injured reserve list. CJ from Fain’s statement. The act has proven ineffective in at the end of a race.” CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A 16 Local Government JOURNAL

Local Innovation Bulletin Board From Cherokee to Currituck Mecklenburg County Tries Rapid Growth Continues To Unplug Cable TV Franchisee obust population growth con- Use tolls, not highway taxes tinues to sweep the nation’s By MICHAEL LOWREY in northern New Hanover County and Southern and Western states, Using highway tolls, not taxes, is the R Associate Editor Wallace in Duplin County. according to new estimates released by most-efficient way to fund transporta- CHARLOTTE CSX continued to serve Wilmington the Census Bureau. tion infrastructure, writes Ken Green and ecklenburg County and Time- via a different rail line, which enters the city The U.S. population July 1, 2004 was Niels Veldhuis of the Fraser Institute. Warner Cable are locked in a from the west. 293.7 million, up 1 percent from July 1, Government provision and maintenance dispute over the terms of the “That was the analysis again in 1994 2003. If that growth rate holds, the na- of roads and other projects, they say, M franchise agreement under which the com- when we decided to donate that corridor to tion will have 311.7 million people in suffer from a number of disadvantages pany serves 17,000 customers in unincor- the state,” Lyman Cooper, a former CSX 2010. That would put growth for the when compared to private markets: porated portions of the county. In the latest executive who continues to advise the com- decade at about 10 percent, compared • Lack of fairness: Taxes take money twist to the long-running saga, Mecklenburg pany, said to The Wilmington Star. “And with 13.2 percent in the 1990s. from people who never use certain roads County has begun legal proceedings to drop that would be our analysis now.” Nevada was the fastest-growing while it subsidizes others such as truck- the company, a move Time-Warner likens Cooper noted that the company’s view state for the 18th consecutive year. ing firms, who impose the most wear on to “extortion.” could change if government picked up some Massachusetts, meanwhile, lost the highways they travel. At the core of the dispute are what of the cost of operating the line. population for the first time in more than • Lack of incentives: Government obligations Time-Warner inherited when it “It’s a different thing entirely when we a decade. transportation agencies have no incen- bought out the county’s original cable fran- talk about public-private partnerships,” he California remained by far the most- tives to complete projects on time or on- chisee in 1995. County officials contend that said. “Even so, there will have to be a dem- populous state at 35.9 million. Foreign budget. the original franchisee had agreed to pro- onstrated benefit to CSX.” immigration fueled much of its growth • Environmental impact: Fuel taxes vide a high-speed data network linking State officials estimate the cost of re- in the past year. But California continues are arbitrarily fixed and don’t send a about 600 public buildings. They think that storing the 28-mile stretch of track at $81 to lose more residents to other states signal to motorists regarding the envi- the cables fees paid to the original company million. Iit would take about three years than it gains from the rest of the United ronmental or congestion impacts of their from 1982 on included payments toward after funding became available before trains States. daily driving. the network, though they admit they can- could again run on the line. Colorado, long one of the top desti- By contrast, tolls raise tax revenues not document their contention. The county nations for people leaving California, from consumers based on the services rejected Time-Warner’s network offerings Mussels threaten roadwork lost more people to other states than it they use, which is a fairer, more environ- as inadequate and said it spent $17 million gained for the second year in a row. mentally friendly approach that also of public money to replicate what the com- In an effort to keep construction of the Immigration and births, however, avoids wasteful governmental spend- pany should have provided. long-awaited U.S. 70 bypass south of pushed its population up 1.2 percent, to ing, Green and Veldhuis say. Time-Warner officials regard the Clayton on track, the Johnson County Com- 4.6 million. Big population gains in other county’s claims as being without merit. Sue mission has voted to expand an environ- Western states such as Idaho, New Fighting vermin Breckenridge, a company spokeswoman, mental protection district. The U.S. 70 by- Mexico, and Utah may indicate that some said to The Charlotte Observer that the pass is the second major road project in the of Colorado’s appeal is fading, say ob- Almost half of the nation’s poor live county’s claims “are no more than a veiled state to face difficulties in obtaining federal servers, as roads become clogged and in vermin-infested housing, yet New attempt from the county to extort current permits because of potential water-quality housing prices increase. York City’s attorney general, along with and future technology threats to endangered North Carolina’s population was five other state attorneys, are suing the that it is clearly not en- freshwater mussels. projected to be 8,541,221, up 120,000 com- federal government for using pesticides titled to.” The county has re- Johnson County’s ac- pared to a year earlier. The bureau esti- in public housing units. “We are confident tion came at the request mates the state has gained about a half- The attorneys general say they want that we are going to pre- jected Time-Warner’s of N.C. Department of million residents in total since the April to promote “integrated pest manage- vail, and we are looking offerings and says it Transportation officials, 2000 census. Births exceed deaths by an ment,” which means using several means forward to a judicial hear- spent $17 million to who hoped to put the estimated 43,902. The state also gained to control pests, including pesticide use. ing in front of an impar- project up for bid in May. nearly 30,000 immigrants from other But these taxpayer-funded “consumer tial judge,” she said. replicate what the com- The NCDOT’s hand was countries. North Caro- advocates” seem more Breckenridge noted that pany should have built. in turn forced by the U.S. lina remained a popu- interested in their own the company has never Fish and Wildlife Service. lar destination for re- Only three states irrational quest to had a franchise revoked. The Fish and Wildlife Ser- locations within the eliminate chemicals, Federal law makes it difficult for a lo- vice is one of a number of environmental United States, with gained more popula- observers say. cality to change cable service providers. agencies whose approval is needed for work 46,000 more people tion than North Caro- According to the The county or municipality would have to on major road projects to begin. The federal moving into the state U.S. Centers for Dis- lina through internal show that the incumbent provider failed to agency would consent only to the bypass than moving out. Only ease Control, vermin live up to the terms of its contract, provided being built if more area were made off- three only states migration from July 1, pose major problems substandard service, did not met a locality’s limits to development to protect the dwarf gained more popula- 2003 to July 1, 2004. for public health. needs, or made an unreasonable contract wedge mussel. tion through internal Asthma affects about proposal. Johnson County expanded the size of migration from July 1, 6 million children na- Aside from the data network issue, an environmental protection area to cover 2003 to July 1, 2004. tionwide, and cock- county officials contend that the move is the entire length of the bypass. No building Population estimates for North Caro- roach-related asthma and allergies dis- warranted because the company has been is allowed in the protection area within 50 lina counties and municipalities come proportionately affect poor, minority slow to provide financial data for audits, feet of a stream. The move also restricts the from the state’s demographics unit. Data children living in the inner city. slow to repair outages, and that it needs to amount of land that can be paved. for 2004 won’t be available for a few Rats, which can carry more than 70 offer better telephone customer service. The new regulations irk a number of more months. Figures for July 1, 2003, different diseases, frequently bite the The dispute has no immediate effect on local residents, including one of the area’s however, show both areas of rapid popu- hands and faces of children under the Time-Warner’s separate franchise agree- most prominent developers. Sonny Johnson, lation growth and population loss within age of 5 while they’re sleeping. A Los ment with Charlotte, under which the com- owner of Son-Lan Development, said at a the state. The population of 15 of the Angeles hospital reported that African- pany serves about 184,000 customers. The public hearing that government should com- state’s 100 counties grew by 7 percent or Americans and Hispanics accounted for city contract comes up for renewal in 2006, pensate landowners for the reduced land more between 2000 and 2003. Leading all rat bites treated by the hospital dur- and officials had hoped to combine the city values the protection zone would cause. the way was Union County, whose popu- ing a three-year period, Dr. Pamela and county contracts. Charlotte and Meck- “For DOT to hold a gun at Johnston lation was by 16.9 percent over the three- Nagami said. lenburg County share a cable administrator County’s forehead and say, ‘You’ve got to year period. The National Organization of Afri- and audits have been conducted jointly by do this’ — that really bothers me,” Johnson At the other extreme, 13 counties can-Americans in Housing reports that the two governments in recent years. said. “When Johnston County ducks, it’s lost population between the 2000 census household pests are one of the top three catching me in the chest.” and July 1, 2003. problems affecting minority and low- Second Wilmington rail line? A proposed U.S. 74 bypass around Growth patterns were often uneven income residents in inner cities, and that Monroe is in limbo over concerns about a with a metropolitan area. Overall, the the use of pesticides poses a small risk State transportation officials are look- different endangered freshwater mussel, Charlotte area’s population was up by compared to the greater risk of vermin- ing into the possibility of re-establishing a the Carolina heelsplitter. While the pro- 7.6 percent. The population of one of the related health problems. second rail corridor into Wilmington. The posed new road itself would not affect mus- five counties in the region, Anson, actu- The lawsuit could give a victory to move would primarily be aimed at provid- sels, the Fish and Wildlife Service and oth- ally fell between 2000 and 2003. And rats, mice, and cockroaches, but create ing improved freight access to the port city. ers are concerned that growth caused by the while Mecklenburg County grew by 7.9 further health problems for the public In the 1830s, track was originally laid bypass might adversely affect water qual- percent over the three-year period, neigh- housing residents. into Wilmington from the north. In 1985, ity. boring Gaston County’s population was Reported by the Competitive Enter- CSX determined the route was unprofitable Environmental groups are seeking set- up by only 0.5 percent. prise Institute. CJ and abandoned the line. The company backs of up to 200 feet along creeks to pulled up the tracks between Castle Hayne ensure the species’ viability. CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL CJ Interview 17 Christian Smith: Reassessing Causes, Truth of Secularization

By CAROLINA JOURNAL STAFF ern a society becomes, the less religious it and fortunes created. People had the money to do RALEIGH becomes. like the founding of new colleges. ocial observers have long considered the And it characterizes that in different secularization of American public life ways, but it conveys the general sense that Smith: Yes they did. S over the past century or so to be an secularization is natural. It is inevitable. It is The founding of research universities inevitable and natural outcome of moderniza- just the by-product of an evolutionary pro- was modeled on the German university, tion. cess and there is nothing to be done about it. which was highly secularized. So there were But Dr. Christian Smith, a professor and And it almost carries the stamp of it as a sources of resources that the church really associate chairman of sociology at the Univer- right and good thing to happen for modern didn’t have control over. That created a sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is the societies. space for people who didn’t like the Protes- author of The Secular Revolution: Power, tant Establishment to try to roll it back — to Interests and Conflict in the Secularization Hood: In your mind, one of the things that that have an autonomous, more secular view- of American Public Life, which challenges explanation ignores is the role of moral human point of things. this view and fundamentally reassesses the his- agency — you know, actual people deciding, They really labored. They intentionally torical and theoretical causes to secularization. “Let’s change things,” and then the process they worked — in the analysis of our book it Smith’s current primary research project is went through to do that. In this case, it was a shows they intentionally worked to under- the National Study of Youth and Religion, which conscious decision to secularize institutions. cut the authority of religion in many of is investigating the religious and spiritual prac- these public institutions. tices and commitments of contemporary U.S. Smith: That’s right. When you are reading adolescents. secularization theory and you think about Hood: In the little time we have left, when you The role of religion in shaping the lives of it long and hard you come to see it has lots use the term secular revolution, it kind of sug- American youth has been inadequately under- of flaws. gest something that has happened — something stood and appreciated by many of the people and One of them is that it doesn’t specify that is over. And yet is it really the case that all communities who work with youth. who are the agents. Who wanted this to of our institutions, or many of these main cul- The project employs a mix of survey and happen? Who carried it out? The whole tural institutions, have been thoroughly secu- Dr. Christian Smith interview methods to examine the influences of thing is sort of overly determined. So the larized? Or is there sort of a movement away religious commitments and practices in shap- science and religion as perfectly compat- idea of a secular revolution is to look at from that? ing the social, moral, and spiritual lives and ible, as reinforcing each other. secularization from the point of view of a outcomes of youth. It is designed to provide the social movement theory or a social revolu- Smith: No. The book explains that no revo- first nationally representative, broad, descrip- Hood: I should mention — I sort of feel com- tion theory. You have to think who were the lution is ever complete. No political revolu- tive mapping of the religious beliefs, commit- pelled to mention that there was a famous essay aggrieved people? Who were the actors? tion is ever total. There is always ongoing ments, and practices of U.S. youth. on this by a man named John Locke called “The Who mobilized? Who were the activists? struggles and there are vestiges of the old Smith is also the author of Disruptive Reasonableness of Christianity.” What kind of political opportunities did regime that are around. Religion: The Force of Faith in Social Move- they have? What kind of material resources In different parts of our society, reli- ment Activism and Christian America? Smith: Yes. John Locke. John Locke is part did they benefit from? gion is clearly more influential or present What Evangelicals Really Want. of this whole larger story here. than in other parts. In higher education the Smith recently visited the John Locke Foun- Hood: That is an important point. I found inter- government will fund things it won’t fund dation and discussed his new book on secular- Hood: Right. esting, in your conversation about this, the at the elementary level for various kinds of ization, and his research project, with Carolina notion that there are lots of people throughout reasons that have to do with religion. Journal’s John Hood. Smith: But in the United States, the Protes- history who are social activists, who are trying So it is not a total and complete revolu- tants had constructed science and religion to accomplish things, but they fail because the tion, but the idea of the image of a secular Hood: You title your book The Secular Revolu- as very compatible. opportunity doesn’t really exist. revolution is to emphasize struggle for tion, so maybe we should start by simply defin- And higher education consisted mostly In this late 19th, early 20th century period power over authority over socially legiti- ing what that means. of religious colleges spread all around the you had these great amounts of economic growth mate knowledge in institutions. CJ country where the curriculum, what was Smith: OK. If you study secularization you being learned, what was being taught was can look at it over a long period of time from a very much Protestant point-of-view when secularizations unfolded. But this — seeing life from a Christian perspective book, The Secular Revolution, focuses on the and trying to form character in its students. time period between 1870 and 1930 as a A college president would have typi- crucial moment when the cally been a clergy mem- public institutions in the ber. The board would United States, science, “When you are read- have been lots of clergy Attention City & County Officials higher education and so people. They were sup- on — the media — were ing secularization ported by their denomi- And others with a strong interest in local government issues transformed and re- theory, and you think nations and so on. ligion’s role in them. about it long and hard, So the secular revolu- Hood: I’ve been reading tion is the displacement you come to see it has about Francis Wayland, for You now have some handy new ways to track the latest news, analysis, of religious authorities lots of flaws.” example, who I guess would commentary, and policy research on city and county governance. out of those public insti- be an example of this. He tutions and replacement was a theologian — a fa- The Center for Local Innovation, a special project of the John Locke with more secular forms of authority. mous theologian, but he was also instrumental Foundation, has launched a new website: www.LocalInnovation.org. at that time in leading the American higher- Hood: And we might be even more specific, I education system. Updated daily with headlines, opinion columns, interviews, and links gather, in the case of the secularization process to new studies from a variety of sources, LocalInnovation.org is a in America in that going into that 1870 or so Smith: Yes. Many, if not most, of the liberal great place to start your day if your interests include such issues as period, these religious institutions and indi- arts colleges that are around today got their local taxes and budgets, land-use regulation, privatization and competi- viduals who were in power and who had author- start as religious institutions. tion, transportation policy, annexation, and other local matters. ity in academia or politics or journalism — these were Protestant elites? Hood: All right. Well, let’s talk then about the process of change from this starting point as was Also this summer, the John Locke Foundation unveiled the first in a Smith: Yes. This is focused on the case of the suggested in the introduction. Lots of people series of specialized pages within www.JohnLocke.org devoted to United States. And in the United States, have assumed that secularizing these institu- regional news and issues in North Carolina. Its “JLF-Charlotte” page is public institutions were dominated by what tions — colleges, newspapers, social discussion, regularly updated with original articles and links to other news and we call the Protestant Establishment. Prot- political discussion — was just a natural thing estantism had a lot of influence. Catholics that happens. information about Charlotte, Mecklenburg, and surrounding cities and were largely excluded from that. Jews were counties. In the future, similar pages will be devoted to the Triangle, largely excluded, so it was very much a Smith: Yes. the Triad, and other parts of North Carolina — so stay tuned! Protestant-controlled cultural, institutional order. Hood: And as you said, there was this idea that as science grows, religion must shrink because Hood: And the way that would manifest itself they are incompatible. But in your case — the would be in what ways? In staffing of colleges? way you describe the story it isn’t something What colleges taught? The nature of the media evolutionary. discussion about the life of America at that time? Smith: In social theory all of this change is Smith: Right. Well, there would have been explained by traditional secularization a view of science that would have viewed theory, which basically says the more mod- February 2005 C A R O L I N A 18 Learning Curve JOURNAL

From the Liberty Library Book review

• Why do well-educated antiwar activists call the president of the United State of Fear: Creating Environmental Disasters States “the new Hitler” and argue that the U.S. government orchestrated the • Michael Crichton: State of Fear; Harper global-warming scare develops with the Sept. 11 attacks? Why does Al Gore Collins; 2004; 603 pp; $27.95 help of sensationalized journalism and un- believe that cars pose “a mortal threat checked, nonprofit eco-organization to the security of every nation”? In By PAUL MESSINO growth. But, perhaps most important of all, other words, why do smart people fall Editorial Intern is the intimate connection between grant for stupid ideas? The answer, Daniel J. RALEIGH supplier, scientific researcher, and peer re- Flynn reveals in Intellectual Morons: ost Michael Crichton novels are viewers. In other words, the scientific pro- How Ideology Makes Smart People Fall for decorated with beautiful cess itself is suspect. Stupid Ideas, is ideology. Flynn shows M women, page-turning action se- With their bulging pockets, nonprofit how people can be so blinded to real- quences, roller-coaster-sized plot twists, and eco-organizations are able to supply grants ity by the causes they serve that they extraordinarily heroic protagonists pitted for numerous scientific studies. Although espouse bizarre, sometimes ridiculous, against equally dastardly villains. Crichton’s the creation and allocation of grants does and often dangerous positions. The latest novel, State of Fear, is not extraordi- not guarantee a desired result from a scien- most influential social movements nary, at least not in these respects. What tific study, it can influence how data is have spawned ideologues who do not does separate this novel from its literary conveyed to the public. care whether an idea is good or bad, cousins is its truism for the modern world. Everyone, scientists included, approach true or false, but only whether it can Our society, as Crichton writes, is in a situations with a certain frame of mind. serve their cause, Flynn says. Learn state of fear, where “there is always a cause Scientists, in particular, may begin their more at www.randomhouse.com/ for fear. The cause my change over time, but research with a desired goal; in the case of crown. the fear is always with us [because] fear global warmists, they start with a presup- pervades society in all its aspects. Perpetu- position that man-made pollutants cause • To most observers — including ally.” rising global temperatures. Naturally, the many conservatives — the so-called This being said, Crichton’s novel does numbers cannot lie. If a scientist was at all Republican Revolution of 1994 was well to locate a current and insidious source interested in remaining employed, his stud- anything but revolutionary, and the of fear as well as its prime propagator. completely. Rather, it is his intent, as well as ies would reflect the data obtained. Instead, Contract with America that propelled Much of the novel develops a modern ori- Crichton’s, to merely show that scientific the numbers are arranged to tell a certain the GOP into power was just a gim- gin for this on-going fear in society through studies can provide us only with raw data story, which is then spelled out in the con- mick. But in The Enduring Revolution: the works of nonprofit, environmental or- and not some prediction for the future. clusions of studies. These conclusions can How the Contract with America Contin- ganizations. Since the early environmental Although raw data shows us that on be manipulated to predict a global catastro- ues to Shape the Nation, Fox News re- movements in the 1970s, nonprofit eco-or- average, worldwide temperatures are phe without invalidating the data gath- porter Major Garrett turns this conven- ganizations have absconded vast amounts higher (except for Antarctica, which is get- ered. tional wisdom on its head, revealing of wealth. ting colder), this rise is small and more than how the Contract with America and the Through their litigation, they have both likely represents a natural global trend. No Press validates junk science Republican Revolution changed lives secured their propriety in one is sure how much of in startling ways. The Republicans the world and ensured an effect man-made pol- With the help of the press — always have fundamentally altered the ap- their livelihood in shap- With the help of the lution has on this warm- hungry for a good story — a manipulated proach to taxes, national defense, ter- ing public policy and ing trend, which, by the conclusion becomes a factual headline. rorism, welfare, entitlements, health opinion. Coupled with press — always hun- way is only a fraction of a Voilà, instantly portent is fact. care, education, abortion, gun control, the current trend of jour- gry for a good story — degree Celsius. Crichton is quick to point out that this nalism to report the most What the data can tell subtle manipulation of fact can also be uti- and crime, among other issues. Garrett a manipulated conclu- concludes from his research that devastating and sensa- us, however, is that in lized by industry. Yet, more often than not, America is a vastly different place af- tionalized stories regard- sion becomes a fac- high-density popula- environmentalists are the ones to cry foul ter the Contract than it was before it. less of their veracity, en- tual headline. tions, localized surface when an industry-sponsored study reveals Also from Crown Forum Books. vironmental groups na- temperatures are higher. less than disastrous conclusions about the tionwide succeeded in It’s called the urban heat effects of global warming. • Despite facing the constant grim perpetuating less-than-truthful claims about island effect. This, of course, makes sense. Because, as Crichton says “it is never a reality of terrorism, the Israeli economy the degradation of the environment. High-density populations occur when large good policy for the fox to guard the hen is surprisingly robust. How do busi- Operating under the precautionary amounts of people are crammed into a rela- house,” he recommends that eco-studies nesses in Israel stay viable in a chaotic principle — the belief that it is better to tively smaller space, usually cities. In order should be conducted more like medical stud- environment, and how do they rebuild prepare for the worst even if the reasons for to support the high population density, ies. Medical studies require double-blind in the wake of destruction? Based on believing that the worst might arise are cities tend to use more reflexive building experiments as well as rigorous peer re- in-depth personal interviews con- unsubstantial, or at least dubious — these materials, such as asphalt and concrete, views before their value is assessed. Many ducted in Israel by author Dan groups are able to turn the heads of which bounce back the sun’s rays into the ecological and climatology studies do not. Carrison, Business Under Fire: How Is- policymakers and citizens. Unfortunately, low-lying ozone around cit- Or at the very least, they do raeli Companies Are Succeeding in the Face some of the most vocal policymakers and ies. Higher temperatures re- not require rigorous peer re- of Terror — and What We Can Learn from citizens in support of this principle are the sult. Localized, higher tem- view before they are pur- Them offers inspirational and instruc- least-informed. peratures, that is. veyed to the public. tive stories about the techniques Israeli So the question becomes, Almost unequivocally, companies have used to thrive in the Waging environmental terrorism if the data gathered by scien- this novel is a must read for face of extraordinary adversity. Packed tists shows that worldwide anyone even remotely inter- with first-person accounts from CEOs, Taking the reader from the Artic, to the temperatures seem to be ris- ested in the global-warming managers, and in-the-trenches employ- southwestern United States, then to the can- ing by only a minuscule debate. Told in a style that is ees who have “been through it all.” nibalized island of Gareda, Crichton uses amount, but maybe higher in both captivating and enter- More at www.amanet.org. the characters’ travel time to not only ex- localized, high-density popu- taining, State of Fear will leave plain how eco-terrorists plan to disrupt lation pockets, why does the the reader second-guessing • On a cold morning in December various climate patterns across the globe, average American believe the hearsay of global-warm- 1944, a platoon of 18 men under the but why they must do so in order to stay that global warming is a ca- ing alarmists. But, even be- command of 20-year-old Lt. Lyle Bouck financially afloat. John Kenner, almost om- tastrophe waiting to happen? Michael Crichton yond this crucial gift, were huddled in their foxholes trying nipotent when it comes to environmental To checkmate alarmists, Crichton truly gives the desperately to keep warm. Suddenly, fact, is a professor of Geoenvironmental Crichton begins by defining global warm- reader a glimpse into the bureaucratic, so- Hitler had launched his bold and risky Engineering at MIT as well as an agent for ing. Global warming is only a theory. It is a cial, and legal conundrum of the post-mod- offensive against the Allies and the the Center for Risk Analysis, a vaguely theory that “increased levels of carbon di- ern world. small American platoon faced the main described agency that tracks down eco-ter- oxide and certain other gases are causing an “Because, like it or not, we’re in the thrust of the entire German assault. rorists. increase in the average temperature of the middle of a war — a global war of informa- Vastly outnumbered, they repulsed Citing numerous factually sound stud- earth’s atmosphere.” The increase in tem- tion versus disinformation. The war is three German assaults in a fierce day- ies (in fact, Crichton makes sure that the perature is caused by the so-called “green- fought on many battlegrounds: Newspa- long battle, killing more than 500 Ger- reader understands just how sound these house effect.” Certain gases that create a per op-eds. Television reports. Scientific man soldiers and defending a strategi- studies are by including a forward to the high-level ceiling that traps heat, similar to journals. Websites, conferences, classrooms cally vital hill. In dramatic prose, Alex novel explicitly indicating that all footnote a greenhouse, purportedly cause this effect. — and courtrooms, too, if it comes to that.” Kershaw brings to life the story of references are real), Kenner debunks many In this state of fear, decisions are made America’s most inspiring stories of of the widely circulated “facts” pointing to Tainted scientific process not from fact, but out of fear that is propa- World War II, in The Longest Winter: The the catastrophic affects of global warming. gated by those who have the power to influ- Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of Although Kenner is quick to correct the With this clear definition, Crichton ence not just policy, but our daily lives. CJ World War II’s Most Decorated Platoon. mistakes of such characters as Peter Evans, slowly ratchets down the extremism syn- Details at www.perseusbooksgroup. the novel’s emerging hero/lawyer, and the onymous with the theory of global warm- com. CJ loudmouth movie star Ted Bradley, he does ing into something more feasible and con- Paul Messino is an intern with the John Locke not discredit the theory of global warming formable to fact. In part, the reason for the Foundation. February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Learning Curve 19

Book Review Who’s Looking Out for You? A Critic Who Knows the Value of Money

• Bill O’Reilly: Who’s Looking Out for You?: war, and little more. called, “I hate lawyers.” O’Reilly basically Broadway; 2003; 213 pp; $24.95. As for the politicians, O’Reilly thinks complains how the legal profession is that Bush loves people and would look out crooked and overpaid. He may have some- By JOHN PLECNIK for you, if it were possible to get his atten- thing on the crooked angle, but in the opin- Guest Contributor tion. But, Bush is a child of the status quo ion of this law student, O’Reilly crying over DURHAM and no reformer. O’Reilly thinks former the average lawyer’s salary makes about as ill O’Reilly, host of Fox News President Bill Clinton genuinely cared about much sense as Bill Gates whining about Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” “the folks.” However, Clinton cared even overcompensated talk-show hosts. B judges a veritable who’s who of more about polls and appearances, talking In Chapter 8, O’Reilly tackles the ongo- American powerbrokers in what may be a good game but, in actuality, doing little or ing controversy of race relations, empha- his most provocative rant yet, Who’s Looking nothing. As for Hillary Clinton, O’Reilly sizing the disadvantages suffered by mi- Out for You? Seemingly, no one is safe from has “pounded [her] into pudding because norities while attacking self-interested “The No Spin Zone.” O’Reilly takes great she is definitely not looking out for you…” leaders such as Jesse Jackson and Al pleasure in psychoanalyzing the motives of In his words, “of all the active politicians in Sharpton. He also argues that “racial witch- everyone from President Bush to the America, I consider Mrs. Clinton to be the hunters,” those who seek to label even the Clintons. And O’Reilly does more than ask most dangerous.” He believes that Hillary clumsy or politically incorrect as racists, questions. He passes judgment faster than wants to buy the presidency with entitle- have scared off potential reform. the activist judges of the 9th Circuit. ment programs and pork-barrel spending. O’Reilly tries to educate us by example Barely over 200 pages in length, most In Chapter 4, O’Reilly states that today’s in Chapter 9, when he describes his greatest readers should be able to finish Who’s Look- corporate media is not looking out for you, mistakes. They include gossiping about fel- ing Out for You? in one sitting. Very pithy, and renders his verdict on several networks low employees at work, trying to fight in- Mr. O’Reilly. Notably, the text is chocked and television personalities. Naturally, justice alone, and failing to anticipate fore- full of our “humble correspondent’s” fa- Eminem and the New York Times get poor seeable problems. By contrast, O’Reilly’s vorite words and witticisms. O’Reilly-isms reviews for corrupting our youth and pro- self-described secret to success is based on such as “swells” (to describe wealthy indi- moting socialism, while Fox News is re- three foundations: “personal discipline, viduals) and “elite media” (in reference to lence, drunkenness, sex, uncontrolled an- galed as the patriotic network of the work- education, and persistence.” CBS, the New York Times and practically ger, or vile language… and so on, then they ing class. A little self-promotion never hurts. In Chapter 10, O’Reilly bids his fans every forum but Fox News) are used with are ‘looking out for you,’ their child. With the benefit of hindsight, O’Reilly’s farewell with a few final, painfully obvious frequency. Regular viewers of “The O’Reilly In Chapter 2, O’Reilly accuses America review of Dan Rather is rather (no pun pieces of advice. He recommends honest Factor” may feel a strong sense of déjà vu as and France of harboring the two most self- intended) ironic. He describes Rather as “a self-examination, getting a good education, they flip through this book, and not just absorbed populaces in the world. He tries hard-news kind of guy,” who “likes facts maintaining physical health, and living an because of the familiar style. I might tune in to debunk the belief that selfishly looking that are unshakable.” independent, yet tolerant, lifestyle. Thank once or twice a week, but could easily recall out for No. 1 is a profitable policy. He O’Reilly argues that faith is a healthy you, Dear Abby, err, Mr. O’Reilly, it never most of the stories O’Reilly referenced. In argues that success requires a strong net- thing in Chapter 5, citing a study from Duke occurred to me that a healthy mind and fact, he scatters many long, block quotes work of true friends, and that they will only University that found that those who prayed body were good things. from his old columns throughout the text. look out for you if you look out for them. regularly had healthier immune systems. Taken as a whole, Who’s Looking Out for Stylistically speaking, “Who’s Looking Chapter 3 contains O’Reilly’s evalua- He also takes shots at the ACLU and liberal You? is an entertaining read laced with Out for You?” is a relaxing read. O’Reilly tion of the federal government and a litany judges for fooling the American people into valid, if conventional, wisdom. O’Reilly writes as he speaks. Sentence fragments of famed politicos. Not surprisingly, the believing that the Founding Fathers wanted does take some controversial stands on and a sense of urgency convey the author’s author deems the United States to be the an actual separation of church and state, as politics and the role of government, but unabashed opinions. Substantively, it greatest nation of the world. O’Reilly, how- opposed to forbidding the establishment of nothing is new to his regular readership. would be an understatement to say that ever, theorizes that our government is not a national religion. My verdict on O’Reilly’s 10-chapter dia- O’Reilly is a master of stating the obvious. “looking out for you,” and was never de- In Chapter 6, O’Reilly criticizes the elite tribe: It’s worth the read, but not $25. Visit To illustrate, in Chapter 1, he lays out the signed to. He believes that our Founding media for its negative coverage of the Iraq your local library, instead. CJ “Ten Commandments of Effective Fathers wanted to provide their country- war, and outlines his reasons for support- Parenting.” If parents (1) make time for men with the opportunity to sink or swim. ing the removal of Saddam Hussein. their kids; (2) mete out proportional pun- According to O’Reilly, the federal govern- Chapter 7, entitled “You Have the Right John Plecnik is a law student at Duke Univer- ishments; (3) refrain from displays of vio- ment is good at collecting taxes, waging to Remain Silent,” might as well have been sity. Book Review For the Survival of Democracy: the New Deal, a New Era of Sobriety

• Alonzo L. Hamby: For the Survival of duced to paper,” Hamby says, “the Roose- Thus, when Hamby asks, “Did not gov- with the WPA but also with higher income Democracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World velt record was hardly impressive… But ernments engage in a social good by giving taxes and higher excise taxes on cigarettes, Crisis of the 1930s; Free Press; 2004; 492 pp; Roosevelt was impressive. His charisma, employment to those who needed it?” the tires, bank checks, movie tickets, and tele- $30 hardcover rhetorical talents, and dynamism made the answer is not “yes,” as he implies, but maybe phone calls than they would have been New Deal more than the sum of its parts.” not because cash that was given to employ, with no WPA and lower income and excise By BURTON FOLSOM, Jr. Such separating of the president from his say, street pavers in Ohio, lost the chance to taxes. Guest Contributor record is strange, but it is a step up from employ radio makers in New Jersey or tex- According to the League of Nations HILLSDALE, MICH. exalting both Roosevelt and his record tile workers in South Carolina. In other World Economic Survey 1938/39, the re- he latest New Deal synthesis is For (which is more consistent, but wrong on words, jobs were merely transferred from covery rates from the Great Depression were the Survival of Democracy by veteran two counts, instead of just one). one group to another. much better in France and Britain than in Thistorian Alonzo Hamby of Ohio Part of the problem here may be What this means in terms of analyzing the United States. In 1938, France and Brit- University. What makes Hamby’s research Hamby’s weakness in economic analysis. policy is that when Hamby writes in one ain combined had only 14.7 percent unem- design different is that he describes the “Whatever else the [Roosevelt] administra- paragraph that the federal subsidy to veter- ployment and the United States was barely development of Franklin Roosevelt and the tion had done,” Hamby says, “however ans in 1935 “pumped about $2 billion into under 20 percent. In that international con- New Deal in an international context. Spe- many benefits it had delivered to Ameri- [the] economy” maybe he should let the text, Roosevelt’s New Deal seems to be less cifically, Hamby weaves the American nar- cans, it had not ended the Depression.” reader see in the next paragraph that a tax than, not more than, the sum of its parts. rative with events in Britain and Germany When Hamby says, “however many ben- increase that same year raised tax rates on Nonetheless, For the Survival of Democ- in the 1930s. efits it had delivered to Americans, it had top incomes to 79 percent (four years ear- racy is a step forward because Hamby, a Hamby is at his best developing the not ended the Depression” he seems sur- lier, the top rate had been only 24 percent). mainstream historian, is willing to criticize characters of Churchill, Baldwin, Hitler — prised — as though New Deal programs The two events need to be discussed to- much of the New Deal and some of Roose- and of course those New Dealers that sur- clearly delivered “benefits” but did not in- gether because they function together. velt’s actions and motives. Hamby, in his rounded Roosevelt. His brief biographies flict costs as it “delivered” the benefits. Hamby discusses the programs, but rarely bibliography, even praises Gary Dean Best, help make the book readable and interest- Henry Hazlitt, a New York Times colum- bothers with the taxes that transferred the whose book Pride, Prejudice, and Politics is ing. nist during the 1930s, repeatedly reminded money out of taxpayers’ pockets to pay for the best modern critique of the New Deal In interpretation, Hamby’s book is a bit Americans that whenever a New Deal pro- them. that we have. As we move away from the of a puzzle. He does not fully accept the gram conferred cash upon a lucky recipient The task of those who would defend New Deal era, the quality of history written laudable accounts of Roosevelt that have it had to secure the cash from an unlucky Roosevelt and the New Deal is to address about that era is beginning to improve. CJ dominated American historiography; but taxpayer. Thus, all jobs created by the WPA, these transfer payments with all of their neither does he reject them. He concedes CCC, or PWA took capital from consumers ramifications. When Hamby concludes, “the that the New Deal programs failed to im- that could otherwise have been used to WPA would endure until 1943, doing far Burton Folsom, Jr. is Charles Kline professor of prove the American economy, but he finds build factories or to buy sweaters, radios, or more good than harm,” he should explain history and management at Hillsdale College in Roosevelt to be a capable president. “Re- paint for the house. why Americans were allegedly better off Michigan. February 2005 C A R O L I N A 20 Opinion JOURNAL

Standing Tall Against A Tide of TV Sleaze

ong before the FCC condemned the likes of Janet Jackson’s titivated nipple and L Howard Stern’s sleaze, Jim Goodmon usually stood alone when he pre-empted simi- lar antics that could have aired on his television stations. His most recent intervention came when Fox Broadcasting Co. sent “Who’s Your Daddy?” to all its affiliates, which Goodmon’s Capitol Broadcasting determined was inappropriate pro- gramming for the com- munity he serves: the Tri- angle. The 90-minute spe- cial, which ran Jan. 3, fea- tured a woman given up for adoption at birth who was to be reunited with Paul Chesser her biological father. The program’s “twist,” as Fox explained it, was that the woman must pick from among eight men claiming to be her father in order to win $100,000. If she guessed wrong, the imposter won the prize — but she picked right. a zero-tax package to IBM, Merck, GD, Bayer, Glaxo, Cisco? The show’s premise offended many adop- Editorials Who will pay the taxes?” tion organizations, whose leaders criticized Fox However, the governor’s appointee at Commerce rec- for its alleged insensitivity. Capitol Broadcast- ognized that the political benefits for Easley’s re-election ing officials, after they previewed the program, were too irresistible. consulted with professionals and heard from DEALING WITH DELL “Special session date: 11/4,” Fain wrote in his notes, concerned viewers, agreed that the show “but announce special session before election.” trivialized adoption. Shameful demands, government secrecy Not surprisingly, state legislators were kept in the dark Instead, the company’s Fox affiliate, WRAZ/ about the background of the deal and were forced to vote Fox 50, broadcast the documentary “I Have on it after less than a day’s deliberation. They were told by Roots and Branches: Personal Reflections on Gerlach and Fain that any changes to the special legislation Adoption.” ov. Mike Easley and his loyal lieutenants — chiefly for Dell would kill their agreement with the company. The The company, under Goodmon’s leader- his economic advisor Dan Gerlach — have put on targeted tax breaks passed by a large margin. ship, has stood its ground against seedy net- Ga proud public face since they put together a $242 Last May Carolina Journal reported that major corpora- work programming for years when other affili- million incentives package to induce Dell Computer Corp. tions like Dell often engage in the practice of extracting as ates have spinelessly spread whatever pap they to place an assembly facility in Winston-Salem. much public money as possible from state and local gov- received. Since reality television blossomed early But behind the scenes their statements and actions, ernments in exchange for placing facilities in their loca- in the decade, Capitol Broadcasting often aired along with those in the Department of Commerce, suggest tions. Indeed, large businesses now trade notes on “how substitutes because many of the shows “exploit a twinge of embarrassment about the truth behind the to” milk governments for as much as possible, as was the institution of marriage.” whole sordid negotiations. illustrated in a seminar in March 2004 called, “Turn Your The practice began with Capitol’s pre-emp- How else to explain why Commerce officials and the State Government Relations Department from a Money Pit tion of Fox’s “Who Wants to Marry a Multimil- governor’s office shrouded the deal’s details in secrecy, into a Cash Cow.” Clearly companies such as Dell, and lionaire?” in February 2000. The following Janu- preventing any changes through legislative debate, until it execs such as Thompson, know how to play that game. ary WRAZ refused to broadcast “Temptation safely passed the General Assembly? And how else to “It’s hard to look at this and say after this [seminar] that Island,” after the station learned “that one of the understand why both offices delayed and obstructed ac- any corporation is really playing it straight with the state of couples that would be ‘tempted’ to break up cess to public records about the state’s Dell negotiations for North Carolina,” state Rep. Paul Luebke, a Durham Demo- their relationship are the parents of a young two months after an agreement was reached? crat, said in the CJ story. child.” The truth is, the administration should be embarrassed If members of the legislature knew Thompson’s atti- In March 2003 “Married by America,” which about the way they swallowed almost whole-hog Dell’s tude and demands, would they have voted differently? If threw five instantly engaged pairs of strangers nakedly greedy demands. A company they knew there appeared to be no real together on a “romantic estate,” fell to Capitol vice president, Kip Thompson, saw the competition from any Atlantic state for Broadcasting’s ax. “While WRAZ-TV/Fox 50 state’s desperation and exploited it, ac- The governor and his Dell’s desired eastern plant, intended to realizes that reality programming has become cording to Commerce Secretary Jim Fain’s people should be em- be closer to its large population of cus- very popular… the station has made a decision notes: tomers on the East Coast, might they that it will not broadcast reality programming • “Two thousand jobs,” Thompson barrassed about the have amended the incentives? that demeans marriage,” the company said in a reportedly told Fain, “shouldn’t you be way they swallowed The public and their representatives press release. happy with no revenue?” Dell’s nakedly greedy may never know, because North The decision spared Capitol — the only • “If we made a decision today, we Carolina’s public records law permits affiliate owner who blocked out the show — a wouldn’t come to NC. Here’s what it’ll demands. the state’s dealmakers to seal documents hefty FCC fine. Each of Fox’s other 168 affiliates take: 1) free land; 2) free building; 3) no until economic development negotia- was fined $7,000 for broadcasting an April 2003 taxes; 4) training at $5 million; 5) participation in creation tions are completed. That allows North Carolina officials to “Married by America” episode that featured of future value in the community.” hide the potentially distasteful and embarrassing aspects bachelor and bachelorette parties, including • “Your taxes are not friendly. Know you’re proud, but of such pacts — such as political motives, brash rhetoric, sexually graphic scenes with topless strippers it doesn’t work. …Never been more perplexed. Don’t think and weak counteroffers — until it’s too late to do anything whose breasts were pixelated. N.C. wants us.” about them. Capitol also refused to broadcast the July • “Not wowed here not sure state’s stepping up. Part of the solution is found in legislation supported by 2003 program “Cupid” on its two CBS affiliates Really is going to take some signif(icant) state participa- the North Carolina Press Association, which will be vigor- in Raleigh and Wilmington, because the show tion.” ously lobbied for in this year’s legislative session. The bill “tempts the final contestant to propose mar- • “…If a state like NC can’t get after this, I’m worried would require openness of all meetings related to eco- riage for a $1 million dowry.” for our country — there’s a certain amount of patriotism nomic incentives and public access to all records through- Now that the four major networks — ABC, here.” out the negotiating process. CBS, NBC and Fox — own almost all their • “20-year program of no tax… That’s my line in the “It is hard to argue that secretly negotiating hundred- television affiliates, the few independent own- sand.’” million-dollar deals and asking lawmakers to appropriate ers such as Goodmon are left to demand at least However, Commerce officials paused only momen- tax dollars to pay for them — without knowing the true cost minimal standards of decency. Or at least em- tarily to consider the implications on other taxpayers. and other important details of the deal — is good govern- barrass those networks when they demonstrate “Politically dangerous,” wrote one Commerce official ment,” NCPA counsel John Bussian wrote in the that they have no standards. CJ in handwritten notes dated July 9 of last year, according to association’s newsletter. the Winston-Salem Journal. “Probably overestimated im- And it will be hard to argue why the public shouldn’t pacts. Is it economically feasible in the long run? Do we give know what government is doing with its money, either. CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Opinion 21

about one-fourth from transit users. Sidewalks and bike paths don’t cost much but capture virtually no direct user WAR ON SUBURBS revenue. The Extrapolations But doesn’t it cost more to extend government services Futile effort costing us money & freedom to the suburbs? Not really. Some services get more expen- sive as housing densities decline, but others are costlier in Are Exaggerations high-density urban cores. Crime rates, for example, are t is time for North Carolina and its various local typically higher in “new urbanist” and “smart growth” communities to halt their war against suburbia. It is communities, all other things being equal, meaning greater t birth, my youngest son, Andrew Jackson I costly and counterproductive. It is also futile: The costs to both the public and private sectors. Hood, (we’re historically fixated in my fam- suburbs are winning and will continue to. Careful research suggests that suburban development A ily) weighed about 8 pounds, 8 ounces and It’s a war across a number of fronts. In transportation is probably the only form that actually does “pay for itself” was about 21 inches long. Now, at age 4 1/2, the Little policy, state officials are plowing billions of tax dollars into — generating more tax revenue than it necessitates to be General tips the scales at about 34 pounds and is a bit mass transit projects in Charlotte, the Triangle, and else- sustained. Lower tax burdens appear to be associated with over 3 feet tall. So he’s had an average weight gain of where that offer little prospect of moving large number of lower densities, for example, not the reverse. almost 6 percent for every month he’s been alive and, North Carolinians around and will worsen traffic conges- The message to those who war against suburbia is as befits his namesake, kicking. tion and air pollution in the state. clear: surrender. You are wasting our money in a losing and Naturally, I’m overjoyed. No longer need I worry What’s worse, this money is being sucked out of useful wrongheaded cause. about my financial security. By my calculation, by investments in such functions as maintaining and expand- the time Andrew reaches the age of 22, he will weigh ing our state’s desperately needed highway capacity, par- 400 pounds and be more than 11 feet tall. He’ll be the ticularly in fast-growing communities (which is another greatest football and/or basketball player in history. term for suburbia). If he gives me just a sliver of his endorsement con- At the local and regional level, planners and bureau- NEXT STEPS tracts, I’ll be sitting pretty. crats are waging war against residential and commercial What, you say, I’m mistaken? But I am just freedom (yet another term for suburbia) by seeking to Time to take welfare reform to a new level projecting a current trend into the future. Govern- impose growth boundaries, density quotas, and other re- ment policymakers do it strictions on land use that will make housing less afford- all the time. They call it able, worsen traffic even more, and chase people and t bears repeating: The 1996 welfare reform bill enacted extrapolation. It is often businesses away to friendlier climes. by a Republican Congress and (eventually) signed by just exaggeration, which This is worse than a pointless exercise. It is regressive, I Democratic President Bill Clinton has been one of the leads to exasperation. elitist, and obnoxious. most successful pieces of federal legislation ever enacted. A good example of the Forecast to cause massive amounts of poverty and suf- phenomenon is how Dubious downtown development schemes fering, the bill’s demand for time limits, work requirements, former Gov. Jim Hunt and and other policies at the state level resulted in a dramatic legislative leaders of both parties behaved during Meanwhile, many cities are squandering additional decline in welfare caseloads across the country, continu- John Hood tax dollars on a variety of dubious schemes to entice or ing even during the 2000-01 recession when one would the 1990s. Marveling at coerce people and businesses into downtowns (which in- have expected a rising unemployment rate to reverse it. annual revenue growth herently means enticing or coercing them out of the sub- The decline since 1996 has averaged 52 percent, with sev- that approached 10 percent, they decided to put this urbs). eral states breaking the three-fourths mark. perpetual-motion tax machine to work funding many In Charlotte, political insiders have a plan to spend Wyoming has led the way with a mind-boggling 90 new, expensive programs. They added billions to the more than $100 million subsidizing uptown arts and cul- percent decline, best appreciated by looking at the actual school budget, expanded Medicaid, created Smart tural facilities while spurning the idea that the uptown numbers: about 5,000 households getting cash welfare in Start, plowed millions into economic development, taxpayers who would disproportionately benefit from the 1996, just 332 households getting it in 2004. and approved billions in new debt — all the while expenditure should take on most of the financial responsi- There is less evident progress in another important shrugging off a string of court losses that required bility. Make everyone in the county and state pay, they say. goal, reducing the out-of-wedlock birthrate and removing hundreds of millions of taxes to be paid back. In Raleigh, officials are going to spend hundreds of the disincentives to marriage. Still, the trend lines are mod- But then, as perpetual-motion machines tend to millions of tax dollars building a new convention center, estly positive, with the out-of-wedlock birthrate leveling do, the revenue engine sputtered to a halt in 2000-01. subsidizing a private hotel, and ripping up a downtown off in the general population and improving a bit among The 1990s revenue spurt had been unsustainable, pedestrian mall to make way for through traffic — a mall black families. much of it related to capital-gains realizations from that the city had previously had constructed, again with On poverty, the news is primarily what didn’t hap- surging stocks. Suddenly, North Carolina was faced gobs of the taxpayers’ money, in a failed bid to stimulate pen. There was no massive increase in destitution and mis- with what became a series of billion-dollar-plus defi- downtown development. ery, contrary to the predictions of some Democratic politi- cits, resulting in painful tax increases. Other cities from the mountains to the coast are pursu- cians and activist groups. Poverty declined in the late 1990s, A more recent, and delicious, case of extrapola- ing similar policies, building sports arenas and civic cen- then rose a bit during the recession. The net change comes tion exaggeration occurred when the Triangle Tran- ters, all intended to draw people and money from “else- to millions of fewer Americans in poverty than when the sit Authority, asking the federal government to fund where,” wherever that is. bill was enacted, with particularly impressive results for 61 percent of a proposed $700 million rail system, These schemes are pointless. North Carolinians aren’t black families. claimed that without it the average commuting time unique in preferring to own rather than rent, and to have In North Carolina, our Work First model isn’t excep- by bus from Raleigh to Durham would reach nearly their own lawns and breathing space rather than living in tional by national standards, though our rate of decline in 4 hours, 20 minutes by the year 2025. Federal trans- someone else’s archaic, urban dream world. dependency ranks fourth among Southern states. One ap- portation officials, in a shocking and perhaps brief Suburbanization in its modern form has been going on for proach the General Assembly did take, back during a brief burst of rationality, reacted with skepticism. Words more than a century, in the United States and around the period of fresh thinking in the mid-1990s, was to devolve like “unbelievable, beyond comprehension” were world. some power to counties to come up with their own wel- used. In February, they might downgrade the Tri- Think “sprawl” (which is a pejorative term and should fare-reform strategies, which appears to have generated angle rail project from “recommended” to “not rated,” never be used in a news story, by the way) is an American some useful ideas. constituting at least a delay if not a denial. phenomenon? Only in the sense that Americans are further Overall, the Cato Institute’s recent report card on wel- Triangle transit officials purport to be perplexed. along, and happier with, modern living arrangements than fare reform gave North Carolina a “C.” We are neither a They say they are just extrapolating current math- Europeans and Asians are. leader nor a laggard. ematical trends out into the future. Perhaps their Cities such as Paris may be nice places to visit, but Where to go next? State policymakers should consider math is correct, but their logic is not. Human beings declining numbers of people choose to live there. It has lost several options. First, we need to tighten up the definition aren’t numbers on a page. They are alive and reac- a quarter of its population in the past half-century. Even in of “work” to ensure that cash-welfare recipients are mov- tive. Obviously they are not going to spend nearly Europe, an increasing share of residents is choosing autos ing as quickly as possible into permanent employment. nine hours on a bus each day to commute back and and suburbs over trains and townhouses. That’s more determinant of their future prospects, and forth to work or school. Faced with such a prospect, Think that the suburbs are an artificial creation of those of their children, than completing various govern- they’ll change where they live, work, or attend school. corporate conspiracies and government subsidies? Wrong ment job-training programs with, let’s face it, dubious Assuming that said officials aren’t simply thick again. Most people honestly prefer to live in detached- records of achievement. as a brick, my suspicion is that they were really trying dwelling, auto-dependent suburban communities rather Second, we need to extend the model for reforming to invent a high enough benefit claim, in terms of than dense, urban communities suitable for walking or cash welfare (time limits, work requirements, etc.) to the hours of travel time saved, to justify a rail project that taking transit. much-larger array of non-cash welfare programs that are makes little sense on the merits. You can see this in evident market patterns as well as far more costly to taxpayers, perpetuate the cycle of de- Of course, sound judgment in these matters re- in opinion surveys (a recent national poll found 83 percent pendency, and discourage the family and social sector from quires a keen grasp of logic and statistics. If the issue preferring the suburbs and 17 percent the “urbs” given the playing their important and irreplaceable role in address- could wait another 15 years, I’d recommend a con- choice of two equally priced homes). ing the unwise decisions and unhealthy behaviors that are sultation with Andrew’s older brother, the Little the main causal factor in long-term poverty. Conqueror (Charles Alexander Hood). Based on the The lifestyle that swallows subsidies The Charlotte Housing Authority is reportedly con- rate at which 7-year-old Alex has been adding to his sidering a time limit for tenancy in public housing. That vocabulary and math skills since kindergarten, I It is urban living, not suburban living, that benefits would be a good start. project that by age 22 he will know every word in the most greatly from taxpayer subsidies. If public-assistance programs can be justified at all in English language (about two million, including all It costs about 20 cents per passenger mile to commute a free society with limited and economical government, scientific terms) and will have computational skill by car, a cost that is almost entirely paid for by drivers their function is to preserve public order and safety by al- exceeding that of any computer in existence. (externalities associated with air pollution and the like leviating emergencies and short-term destitution, as the Even so, he’ll probably still be borrowing money account for only about 1 cent per mile). By contrast, transit eminent John Locke himself proposed in the late 17th cen- from his brother, the sports star. CJ costs about four times as much per mile and recoups only tury. It cannot be allowed to become a way of life. CJ February 2005 C A R O L I N A 22 Opinion JOURNAL

Editorial Briefs

Fathers prefer sons

Since 1941, men have told pollsters by more than a 2-1 ratio that they would rather have boys for their offspring. According to a new paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, these preferences di- rectly influence decisions to marry and divorce. The authors analyze statistical evidence based on the U.S. Census from 1940 to 2000 and state databases. Even after accounting for family size, they find that women with only daughters are to 2 to 7 percent more likely to have never been married than women with only boys. For those having an ultrasound test, first- time mothers carrying a boy are much more likely to be married at delivery. Apparently, this effect is not limited to the United States. In developing countries such as China, Viet- nam, Mexico, Colombia, and Kenya, all-girl families are more likely to experience divorce and to have additional children than all-boy families. Divorced fathers are more likely to have custody of their sons. This preference for sons could matter more in the future. As technology improves, it will be easier to determine a baby’s sex. This might cause larger cul- tural and social problems as the gender ratio destabi- lizes.

Dollar drop not a surprise

The recent fall of the dollar is not a surprise, said Stephen S. Roach, chief economist for Morgan Stanley. It is the logical outgrowth of an unbalanced world economy, and America’s gaping current account defi- cit. Roach argues that these global imbalances are a The Inevitable Fall of the Tobacco Program shared responsibility. America is guilty of excess consumption, whereas the rest of the world suffers By MICHAEL L. WALDEN competition. For a collusive oligopoly to maintain its high from insufficient consumption. Contributing Editor price and high profits, it must regulate all major firms in the Consumer demand in the United States grew at RALEIGH industry. But it’s precisely the high price and high profits an average of 3.9 percent from 1995 to 2003, nearly ongress recently passed historic legislation that that motivate outside entrepreneurs to enter the industry double the 2.2 percent average elsewhere in the in- ended the 70-year-old tobacco program. Tobacco and compete with the oligopoly. dustrial world. Meanwhile, Americans fail to save C growers and agricultural groups largely supported For U.S. tobacco growers, the new competition came enough, whereas the rest of the world saves too much. the legislation as a way to adjust to the current realities of from foreign countries such as Brazil and Zimbabwe. In The personal savings rate in the United States was just tobacco economies and to assist tobacco-growing regions. recent years these countries developed tobacco crops of 0.2 percent of the disposable income in September But how did a program that was politically untouch- comparable quality and sold them at rates under the U.S. 2004, down from 7.7 percent as recently as 1992. able in North Carolina as recently as 20 years ago come to prices. And not only did these foreign producers take away America’s consumption binge has its mirror im- its demise? I’ll argue it’s a prime example of the ultimate foreign sales from U.S. growers, but they also entered the age in excess savings elsewhere in the world. For triumph of economic forces over political con- U.S. market. By 2000, foreign-grown tobacco now, the United States draws freely on this reservoir, trol. made up half of U.S.-manufactured cigarettes. absorbing about 80 percent of the world’s savings. The tobacco program was developed in The U.S. tobacco oligopoly also had to This cannot continue indefinitely and thus, the dollar the Depression years of the 1930s as a way to contend with the reduction in cigarette con- is beginning to fall. help farmers who were suffering from low sumption. Smoking declined from 43 percent Roach argues that as the dollar declines there will prices. In fact, the tobacco program was just of U.S. adults in 1966 to 23 percent in 2002. be gradual rise in interest rates that will dampen U.S. one of several similar programs developed Because of these forces, the federal gov- consumption and stimulate domestic savings rates. for most major crops. ernment continually reduced the production Foreign imports will become less attractive to Ameri- The idea behind the program was simple. of U.S.-grown tobacco. In just the last seven can consumers, forcing Asia and Europe to stimulate Limit the production of tobacco, and the price years the production of flue-cured tobacco domestic demand to compensate. As foreign imports will rise. It was expected growers could make was cut in half. Revenues from growing to- decline and the trade deficit should narrow. more money selling less tobacco at a higher bacco in North Carolina were likewise cut by Reported in the New York Times. price than selling more tobacco at a lower almost half over the same time period. price. The government controlled production So tobacco growers saw the writing on by limiting who could grow tobacco (only the wall. Future cuts in production and rev- Income gap overrated Michael L. Walden those holding a government provided “allot- enues were expected. They wanted the pro- In 2002, the Census reported that the top 20 ment”) and capping total production (called gram to end as long as they could receive percent (quintile) of households held about 50 per- the “quota”) each year. In economics lingo, the tobacco some compensation for dismantling their collusive oli- cent of the national income, while the bottom quintile program effectively established a collusive oligopoly. In gopoly. The negotiations over the past couple of years were held 3.5 percent. In other words, the top earners had such a market structure, a limited number of firms agree to about the value of this oligopoly. about $14.20 of income for every $1 at the bottom. production totals and a price target. Member firms do not The result was the tobacco buyout. Beginning in 2005, However, the Heritage Foundation said these results compete on price. Collectively, the member firms expect the tobacco program will be eliminated and there will be no do not account for a number of factors: higher profits than if they openly competed. federal restrictions on growing tobacco. In return, current • After-tax/post-benefit incomes: The top quintile Collusive oligopolies are illegal in the United States tobacco allotment holders in North Carolina are expected pays 82 percent of total federal income taxes, while (although not worldwide — OPEC is an example of a to receive $3.8 billion over 10 years, with cigarette compa- lower-income earners pay 1 percent and receive the collusive oligopoly) unless they are specifically sanctioned nies providing the funds. bulk of social safety net benefits. by the federal government. The federal government ap- Collusive oligopolies inherently have the seeds of their • Household size: The top quintile accounts for proved the tobacco collusive oligopoly and the govern- own destruction. Economics — here the motivation of 25 percent of the population, while the bottom quintile ment actively participated in the oligopoly by establishing competitors to challenge the oligopoly — usually will win. has 14 percent. the production limits and grower shares of total produc- Sometimes collusive oligopolies will collapse from within • Work performed: The top quintile performs tion. when members “cheat” on their production allocations. over a third of all paid labor, while the bottom per- For decades, the program worked well for growers. This has been a long-standing problem in OPEC. forms only 4.3 percent. Tobacco became a very profitable crop, and tobacco rev- Experts think the tobacco buyout may cut the number When taking these differences into account, the enues pumped billions of dollars into the North Carolina of tobacco farmers in North Carolina by 75 percent. Ironi- income distribution gap is not as large as commonly economy. If the program missed its price target, excess cally, however, because the remaining tobacco farms will thought. Adjusting income for taxes and benefits, the tobacco would be taken “off the market” by a grower- be larger and more efficient, the amount of tobacco grown top quintile has $8.60 for each $1 at the bottom. financed agency in order to move the market price to the in North Carolina may actually increase and cigarette Controlling for population, the top 20 percent of target price. Curiously, because the program kept tobacco prices may fall. CJ earners have $4.21 of income for every $1 at the prices higher than they would have been without the bottom. Accounting for work hours on top of these program, it actually curtailed smoking to some degree by other factors, the top quintile earns $2.91 in income boosting the cost of cigarettes. Michael Walden is a William Neal Reynolds distinguished pro- for every $1.00 at the bottom. CJ Then what brought the tobacco program down? It’s the fessor at North Carolina State University and an adjunct scholar same thing that can bring down any collusive oligopoly — of the John Locke Foundation. February 2005 C A R O L I N A JOURNAL Opinion 23

Even his enemies couldn’t deny him Jesse Helms: the U.S. Senate Will Miss an American Original

By MARC ROTTERMAN women in the cruelest gulags for doing what Americans do As a U.S. senator, Mr. Helms had both guts and back- Contributing Editor everyday — speak their minds. This he hated most of all — bone. His political challenges and often hard-line tactics on RALEIGH for Sen. Helms is a man who has spent his life working for subjects were not picked for their “soup de jour — issue of n this era of “big-government conservatism” and blow- freedom. the day appeal.” Sen. Helms was never ruled by polls. He dried politicians, it seems to me that it would be From his endless diatribes on Cuban dictator and wasn’t someone who “jumped on the bandwagon” — he I instructive to reflect once again on former Sen. Jesse “thug” Fidel Castro, to his early warnings regarding Manuel was the bandwagon. Helms — the man and his career. In the opin- Noriega as a “narco-terrorist” — to his end- If Sen. Helms challenged the action of an entity in their ion of many conservatives, only President less criticisms of the United Nations’ policies, performance of duty — as he did the United Nations’ lavish Ronald Reagan had more impact politically in which resulted in many reforms, Sen. Helms bureaucracy by refusing to approve the payment of Ameri- the last half of this century than did North left an American legislative legacy that we can dues — he did it on principle. It wasn’t because some- Carolina’s Sen. Helms. will not seen again in our lifetime. body thought this issue would “move numbers back home.” Sen. Helms can truly be said to be one of He could have cared less. He did it because that is what he Learned how to rule the rules the most outstanding of the Cold War war- believed he should do. riors. He has consistently stood up against the When Sen. Helms looked at the arts funding for what Early on, Sen. Helms knew that he had to former Soviet Union and China. Some liberals in his heart he believed was offensive art. His point — learn the rules of the Senate to be effective. tried to discredit him as a mean-spirited bully anyone can buy whatever they want and hang it on the wall Often the senator has told people that knowl- and a hard-liner. But his passion against com- — but he was going to fight to be sure that they spent their edge was one of the keys to success in the munism has never been a source of embar- personal money for it and not the American taxpayers’. If Senate. In a News & Observer of Raleigh article rassment to him. He wears these criticisms that ruffled feathers — he didn’t give a hoot. in 2001 he said, “If you don’t know the rules Marc Rotterman like medals. somebody can come in who knows the rules Stop and think for a moment of the faces A bulldog, but a lovable one and cut you to ribbons.” of those people in the crowd who looked on as Reagan “When I woke up and found out I was elected, I started challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to “take down this wall.” Sadly too often Sen. Helms the man is often profiled studying the rules,” Sen. Helms said. “When I got there, Now remember that without Sen. Helms’ support in 1976 differently and less kindly than, say, fellow conservatives Robert Byrd and Jim Allen — both Democratic senators — that moment may never have taken place. such as Reagan. Maybe former Secretary of State Madeline they tortured me, and meanwhile I did everything I could. Albright summed up how he has been portrayed as color- Dick Russell told me, if you really want to learn the rules, Laid the foundation for Reagan fully as anyone… ”Jesse Helms was one of the kindest, preside over the Senate. So I presided over the Senate.” most infuriating, politest, most aggravating and nicest Sen. Helms’s support for Reagan against Gerald Ford politician I had to deal with in the United States Senate.” A mortal enemy of communism creating a 52-48 margin in North Carolina in the primary Albright also noted that she and Helms had worked was a lifeline to Reagan’s troubled candidacy — getting together to expand NATO, reorganize the State Depart- Philosophically, Sen. Helms, a strict anticommunist, him on to Kansas City. It was Sen. Helms’s support and ment, and reform the United Nations. (News & Observer 8/ knew instinctively that communism was a politically de- political capital that helped set the stage for the 1980 26/01) funct philosophy that was deplorable in its repressive presidential victory of Reagan. Very few people in the Senate interns and pages loved him. People on the nature but also immoral in its attempts to rob individuals United States who understand political dynamics will opposite side of the issues usually feared but respected of their rights to practice a religion of choice or ever argue against that fact. him. Conservatives adored him. And the institution of the experience the opportunity to leave something behind at The “conservative revolution” that followed — as some U.S. Senate will never be quite the same without him. CJ their death to better the future for those they loved. see it — assisted dramatically, setting the stage for the wins He understood the desperation of those who embraced of many others who have followed from the state house to a doctrine that robs their own people of hopes and dreams. the halls of Congress — to the presidency in the years to Marc Rotterman is a senior fellow at the John Locke Foundation He reviled a philosophy whose reality was to toss men and follow. and treasurer of the American Conservative Union. Give the state’s taxpayers a break Out-of-State Tuition Is a Bargain at University of North Carolina

By GEORGE C. LEEF charged. Out-of-staters wanting to go to the University of served. A price increase at each university would seem Contributing Editor California face tuition of $17,000. The University of Geor- sensible. RALEIGH gia is considerably less costly at $11,800. redictable as the falling of autumn’s last leaves, Other North Carolina universities December brings news that the state’s budget has a Thinking About Pricing P big deficit, that the UNC system claims that it needs We could also compare the cost of attending UNC with a lot more money, and talks of tuition increases. So UNC’s nonresident tuition is neither especially high the cost of attending other schools within the state. Educa- Brad Wilson, chairman of UNC’s Board of Governors, nor especially low, but that doesn’t mean that it is optimal. tionally (and culturally and athletically, too), Chapel Hill has said that he is against any tuition increases for residents UNC might be overpricing or underpricing its educational and NC State think of themselves as peers of North this year. I don’t agree with his characteriza- wares. Neither is desirable from the taxpay- Carolina’s top private colleges and universities — Duke, tion of tuition increases as a “financial arms ers’ standpoint. Wake Forest, and Davidson. race” — having students pay more so taxpay- A key question is whether UNC has to Tuition and fees at Duke will take a $30,000 bite out of ers don’t have to shoulder so much of the cost turn away prospective customers at its cur- your bank account. Wake Forest and Davidson are just is not akin to an arms race — but let’s put that rent rates. If a business has a product or ser- slightly less. True, not everyone has to pay full sticker price aside. vice for sale and finds that there is more due to reductions called “financial aid,” but it’s still true What about tuition for nonresidents? demand for it at the price it has set than it can that for a non-resident, UNC is a bargain compared to the North Carolina law states that tuition satisfy, that’s a clear signal that the price is too state’s top private institutions. charged to out-of-state students is to be “com- low. North Carolina is near the top in the percentage of parable to the rates charged nonresident stu- Suppose that a restau- expenditures on public higher education dents by comparable public institutions na- rant charged only $10 for a that come from government appropria- tionwide…” great steak dinner and had So UNC’s nonresident tions. Based on statistics in The Chronicle That’s pretty vague language, leaving to keep turning away cus- of Higher Education, more than 48 percent plenty of leeway for the board to charge what George C. Leef tomers because it didn’t tuition is neither espe- of the money spent on our public col- it thinks is optimal. have enough room. The cially high nor espe- leges and universities comes from tax- Currently, nonresidents pay about $17,500 at Chapel owner would quickly realize that he cially low, but that payer dollars, sixth-highest in the nation. Hill, compared to $4,400 for residents. should raise his price. By contrast, Virginia funds its state That is the situation that some UNC doesn’t mean that it is higher-education system relying on tax- What do other public universities charge? campuses face. For the 2003-4 academic optimal. payers for only 30 percent of the money. year, Chapel Hill had more than 10,300 Michigan manages with only 26 percent. What are the nonresident tuition rates at some “com- nonresident applications. Due to the out- That suggests that North Carolina parable” public universities? Nonresidents who want to of-state enrollment cap, it could accept only 1,986, of whom could, and I believe should, do much more to apportion the attend the University of Virginia have to pay substantially 619 enrolled. expense of the state’s higher-education system to willing more — almost $23,000. Tuition for nonresidents is higher At NC State, there were 3,260 nonresident applica- payers and donors, thereby taking some of the pressure off still at the University of Texas — more than $27,000. An- tions; 1,814 were accepted and 432 enrolled. At the other our badly squeezed taxpayers. Increasing tuition rates for other pricey state “flagship” school is the University of UNC campuses, there was far less of a spread between nonresidents is one way to do so. CJ Colorado, at nearly $21,500. applications and acceptances. Not all state universities are more costly than UNC. What this suggests is that the sizzle of the steaks at Nonresidents of Michigan pay about $14,000 to attend the Chapel Hill and to a lesser degree NC State is attracting a George C. Leef is executive director of the Pope Center for Higher University of Michigan, only twice what residents are big crowd of would-be diners, many of whom can’t be Education Policy and a contributing editor to Carolina Journal. February 2005 C A R O L I N A 24 Parting Shot JOURNAL It Doesn’t Pay To Be a Woman, State Study Says Battle of the sexes: Personnel Office finds women still fall victim to chauvinism, unfairness on payday

By MISSY MANLY piece of my legislative career.” Gender Studies Correspondent A female student at the University of North RALEIGH Carolina-Chapel Hill said women have recent study by the Office of State Personnel waited long enough for equality and sug- revealed that as a group, women make less than gested immediate action. “I know the state is A men and that female-dominated occupations are short on money and I am tired of tuition hikes ”often paid less than male-dominated jobs even if they to balance the state budget. I think state law- require the same or greater amount of education , experi- makers should immediately reduce the sal- ence, and responsibilities.” ary of all overpaid male workers and increase Among the specific findings were that females make the salary of underpaid female workers.” up 48.9 percent of the total state workforce but occupy 71.5 A female state employee in a clerical posi- percent of the low-wage jobs. The study did not account for tion suggested job swapping to increase un- experience that may explain why the average salary for a derstanding of the plight of women. Under white male accountant II is $51,891 and the average for her plan, male employees in male-dominated white females is $50,490. occupations would trade jobs with female The authors also concluded that the report could not employees in female-dominated occupations. answer the question, ”Does a glass ceiling exist in North When asked whether she thought this would Carolina state government for female employees?” hinder productivity, she said, “What do you Women are waiting on the government to respond to their plight. mean?” A call for no action When the concept of productivity was A high-ranking employee in Gov. Mike Easley’s admin- further explained, she said, “Maybe, but I don’t really care. We discussed the study results with a number of citi- istration said she was not concerned about the disparity. Even if the job swapping doesn’t generate some under- zens and public officials. Some of the responses follow “These studies have been periodically conducted for as standing from the men, I just think it would be a good idea below, but the identities of the respondents have been long as I can remember. They generate a little press cover- to get away from my boring job for a while.” withheld to protect them. age and then everyone forgets about them. I am a great A Republican member of the state House from Raleigh example of how a woman can get as much money as a man. Drastic measures told CJ he was tired of the state wasting money on these In fact, I work for the gov, but make more money than him. studies. “Even though there are several female state em- So what’s the problem?” she said. A Democrat state senator from Fayetteville who over- ployees in my district they always vote for Democrats. A female Democrat state House member from Wake sees the state employee health plan had one of the most Why should I worry about their career choices?” he said. County was disturbed by the results. “The results of this bizarre solutions. He said he will propose amending the A retired business executive from Dare County said study really bother me. I came to the General Assembly health plan to include reimbursement for sex-change op- that people should spend more time making career choices. primarily to help working women, nonworking women, erations, but only from a male wishing to become a female. “If you are concerned about making a lot of money, pick a women who sometimes work, women who often miss “We know there are a number of folks out there who are high-paying occupation, get the proper education, and work because they are women, and working families headed just not comfortable with their gender. These types of work hard or bribe a politician. I am tired of whiney by women. What kind of woman am I if I cannot fix the operations are becoming more popular. We can use this employees who want me to pay for their poor career disparity situation?” she said. “I will introduce bills , form situation to help change the statistical disparity between choices.” study commissions, and make this disparity the center- male and female state workers,” he said. CJ

Host Tom Campbell Chris Fitzsimon Barry Saunders John Hood

Whether it’s politics, education, taxes, growth, or the legislature, the issues that affect North Carolina are important to you, so…

THE NC SPIN NETWORK (Partial) very week, hundreds of thousands of NC SPIN has been called ‘the most E WLOS-TV ABC Asheville Sundays 6am intelligent half-hour on North Carolina TV’ North Carolinians watch NC SPIN for a full, WWWB-TV WB55 Charlotte Sundays 11pm and is considered required viewing for all-points discussion of issues important to WJZY-TV UPN46 Charlotte Sundays 6:30am those interested in state and local politics. the state. Politics. Education. Growth. WHIG-TV Indep. Rocky Mount Sundays 10am, 7pm Taxes. Transportation. WRAZ-TV FOX50 Raleigh-Durham Sundays 8:30am If your organization has a message for WRAL-TV CBS Raleigh-Durham Sundays 6:30am CEOs or government and education A recent poll showed 48% of North WILM-TV CBS Wilmington Sundays 11am leaders, NC SPIN’s statewide network is Carolina ‘influentials’ — including elected WXII-TV NBC Winston-Salem Sundays 7:30am the place for you to be! Call Carolina officials, lobbyists, journalists, and business WRXO-TV Indep. Roxboro Saturdays 6pm Broadcasting (919/832-1416) for advertis- leaders — watch NC SPIN, with 24% saying WCTI-DT UPN48 New Bern Sundays 5:30 pm ing information. they watched the show ‘nearly every week.’ Cable-7 Indep. Greenville Fridays 8pm Tuesdays 6:30pm Saturdays 9pm Mountain News Network Sundays 9:30am (WLNN Boone, WTBL Lenoir) Mondays 7pm