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One on One
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Charlie Soong -- North Carolina's link to China's history[Apr. 18, 2005] Some North Carolinians feel that competition from Chinese manufacturers is a big reason why they or some of their friends have lost their jobs recently. If they are right, part of the problem might have started right back here in North Carolina more than a hundred years ago. I found out about this close connection between China and North Carolina as a part of a Chinese language course that I am taking at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill.
By D. G. Martin Also:
Our State Magazine 
The Lottery, Act 2: It's not over until it's over[Apr. 11, 2005] "So, the lottery passed the House. When can we buy our tickets?" Some people were asking this question last week after the North Carolina House passed a bill that would establish a state run lottery. The vote was 61 for and 59 against. Folks who watch North Carolina politics give the political skills of House Speaker Jim Black credit for the result. Somehow, he gained the support of several legislators who had previously opposed the lottery.
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The "Reeducation Lottery" - not worth "selling out" for[Apr. 3, 2005] North Carolina legislators are poised to sell out. It is really not such big news when politicians sell out by giving up an important principle or position in return for something else that seems more important. Selling out is part of the marketplace of representative government where, in order to achieve some important goals, a politician has to compromise on other, perhaps less important, ones.
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Discretionary funds: Who's responsible?[Mar. 28, 2005] Who is responsible for the "discretionary funds" we have been reading about-the ones are budgeted to state agencies with the understanding that certain legislative leaders would direct how they would be spent? We blame the politicians, of course.
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Politics and barbeque - a North Carolina mixture[Mar. 21, 2005] Will the General Assembly pass a law making the Lexington Barbecue Festival the state's official barbecue festival? Probably not. But a bill introduced in our legislature recently would, if passed and signed by the Governor, do just that. The Davidson County legislators who introduced the bill claim that Lexington is already designated as the "Barbecue Capital of the World" and that the city's annual festival already draws more than 150,000 people.
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Introduce a bill and get your name in the paper[Mar. 14, 2005] It is that time of year at the General Assembly building in Raleigh. It is "Introduce a Bill and Get Your Name in the Paper" season. With a total of 170 legislators and a very tight leadership group in charge most of the time, most legislators quickly learn that, as individuals, they cannot get much done. They have to build alliances and earn seats at tables in the small conference rooms where most of the important decisions are made.
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Our State Magazine
Selling North Carolina businesses on Muslim fundamentalism[Mar. 7, 2005] "I am a fundamentalist Muslim." I thought this woman must have been joking. She was talking to a large group of North Carolina business leaders gathered in Cary to hear about the advantages of doing business in her country. Her name is Rafidah Aziz, the Minister of International Trade and Industry of the Southeast Asian, Muslim majority, country of Malaysia.
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Dealing with the elites - cultural and political[Feb. 28, 2005] Well, we finally did it. At least that is what I first thought when a friend pointed me to an article in last week's "The New Yorker." The article referred to "cultural elites" and then mentioned only three specific areas associated with such elites - "Hollywood, Washington, and Raleigh-Durham."
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John Edwards's new platform[Feb. 21, 2005] "The university ought not to be giving him a platform to run for President-and then paying him for it." A few people around Chapel Hill were registering this complaint about John Edwards' new part-time position at the UNC Law School. He is the first director of the law school's Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. This job was created especially for him and pays $40,000 a year.
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A North Carolinian in charge at Habitat[Feb. 6, 2005] Last week, thousands of North Carolina volunteers for Habitat for Humanity were shocked to learn that its international board had dismissed its charismatic founder and long time leader, Millard Fuller. In this stressful time, Habitat is fortunate to have a North Carolinian to serve as its leader until a successor for Fuller is identified. Davidson resident Paul Leonard is Habitat's interim CEO, living temporarily and working at Habitat's headquarters in Americus, Georgia.
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The lottery, tuition, and Robin Hood[Jan. 31, 2005] Maybe Robin Hood really was a hero. He robbed from the rich in order to give to the poor. At least that is the way the story goes. A Robin Hood theory of public finance is gaining a toehold in North Carolina governmental and public university finance. The new Robin Hood rule goes something like this: "If a good cause needs the money, it is okay to break faith with basic principles to get what is needed."
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Let's welcome the controversy[Jan. 23, 2005] "This one is not going to be controversial like the others." My friend was talking about the new selection for UNC-Chapel Hill's next summer reading program, "Blood Done Sign My Name," by Tim Tyson. As a part of the program, the university asks all of its incoming students to read the same book during the summer before classes begin. Then during orientation, the students, led by faculty and staff, discuss the book and the issues it raises
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History and the eternal, ceaseless quest for truth[Jan. 17, 2005] A few months ago a favorite high school teacher, Myrtle Kiker, sent a message to me with a question. "What is the best history of North Carolina--one that I can recommend to a friend who wants to know more about her new state?" I have been thinking about how to answer her. Two books have to be on the list for her to consider. "North Carolina Through Four Centuries" by William Powell is the best recent, comprehensive, one-volume history of our state. Also, H.G. Jones's "North Carolina Illustrated" helps make history's lessons easier to understand by accompanying them with more than 1100 images.
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Remembering where our names come from[Jan. 10, 2005] Go, Tar Heels, go! Twenty thousand basketball fans were shouting this cheer in the Smith Center in Chapel Hill last weekend. How many of them had any idea where the name came from? And, while UNC-Chapel Hill has appropriated the term for its athletic teams, the term properly applies to any North Carolinian. We are proudly the Tar Heel State, and every one of us is a Tar Heel-even those of us who didn't go to Carolina.
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Can the Democratic purists live with the Democratic pragmatists
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