breaks the news

Blog moved

2008-08-27T23:58:00.001-04:00

I've moved to a new site to have more flexibility. Check it out at www.dunnreporter.com.

Soldier Comes Home

2008-08-15T22:13:00.001-04:00

Blog moved

2008-08-09T12:33:00.002-04:00

I've moved to a new site to have more flexibility. Check it out at www.dunnreporter.com.

A downside of Internet culture

2008-08-07T17:27:00.003-04:00

On the front page of The News and Observer today appears this article, the latest in a recent McClatchy series on John Edwards regarding the tabloid article accusing him of having a love child.

The fact that the N&O and Charlotte Observer felt the need to write these stories shows that traditional media outlets are trying too hard to fit in to the "blogosphere" news climate.

There is still not a shred of evidence that Edwards was having an affair with the woman, besides the Enquirer's pronouncement. But across the Twitter-verse, etc., came questions of when the "mainstream media" would cover this story.

Excuse me, but why should they have to? Are newspapers also going to follow up on "REVEALED: WHY O.J.'S AGENT FINALLY BETRAYED HIM," or "Newbie parental units Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have pleaded with paps not to shoot whilst visiting Down Under."

Just because there was a lot of activity online about the topic doesn't mean the traditional media must cover it. Why, at a time of crisis, should standards be lowered?

The story linked to at the beginning of this post is the most legit coverage I've seen of the scandal. If party leaders indeed are considering snubbing Edwards, that's news. But the politicians and the news media who bought into this rumormongering just haven't figured out how traditional publications should respond to the Internet.

Newspapers are struggling to survive, so many think they need to have all the coverage that the blogosphere has. That's a thought that's pushing the industry under. The Enquirer has its audience. The N&O has a different one.

We read newspapers for vetted and checked information. We read supermarket tabloids for rumors. North Carolina's McClatchy papers should remember that.

"Flashing" my resume

2008-08-06T21:43:00.004-04:00

So my Flash project, done with Sprout, is finally complete. It's a way to present my resume and clips.

See it here.

What do you think?

Talking shop on my last day

2008-08-04T18:42:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, today was my last day at the St. Pete Times. I will miss it dearly. I feel blessed that I got to work with supremely talented people. For the past five years, I've read the SPT regularly and told myself those are the people I'd like to emulate. It was like a dream to work alongside them.

I went to the editorial board meeting today for one last hurrah. In the room with me:

Phil Gailey, editor of editorials, former political reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Miami Herald, Washington Star and New York Times.
Tim Nickens, deputy editor, former political editor and AME at the SPT.
Bill Maxwell, editorial writer, professor and columnist.
Jon East, ed writer, Tar Heel, local government and education extraordinaire.

Despite their nearly 150 years of combined experience, on this day they wanted to grill me on the future of journalism.

They did not grow up with computers, and to them it was a big deal that I and many in my generation did.

I told them that the future of newspapers lies in two main things:
1) Changing focus from a newspaper to a news organization.
2) Having a clear online strategy.

It sounds simple, and in essence it is. The first part is mainly just accepting that change is coming. It's hard for some people, and I understand. I, too, love the feel of a newspaper in my hands. I'm starting a collection of front pages. But my true love is journalism, and it doesn't matter the platform. News organizations can't be scared of change.

The online strategy is the hard part. Right now, I don't know of very many papers that have one. They're flailing about trying to see what will stick. And currently, the changes being made aren't exactly the right ones.

My ideas aren't earth shattering. The "online desk" needs to be integrated into the newsroom, though keeping programmers on staff is a good idea. Beat reporters need to weave in social networks. Reporters need to focus on investigative journalism and quality over quantity. Ad departments need to use Google's targeted advertising infrastructure to make online ads profitable and to partner with sites like Craigslist.

Now, these are not new and are very simplified. If you're reading this blog, you probably think I'm an idiot. And they didn't knock the socks off the editorial board, either. Instead, they were most impressed that I am not scared of the current climate and changes.

"If your generation can get in some of these leadership positions, maybe we can keep this truck on the road," Gailey said to me.

I've met a lot of talented and intelligent young journalists on Twitter and through blogs. I know we can right this ship.
..........................

Special thanks to people at the Times I haven't yet mentioned. Thanks to Sydney Freedberg for friendship, support, an autographed book and showing me some cool public records tricks. To Dolly Brosan for Pop-Tarts and positive thoughts. To metro editors Tom Scherberger, Graham Brink, Sandra Gadsden and Pat Farnhan for putting up with me. To Matt Waite for getting on my feet in programming.

And of course, to Jake, Jackie, Darla, Dagny, Mariana, Eddie, Sara, Dominick, Tom, Michael, Corinne, Nomaan and Lauren for being awesome friends.

Johnny Cash and journalism

2008-08-03T12:41:00.004-04:00

I put on my Cash playlist as I was packing up my apartment today, and one song of his struck me as a decent vision for journalism. It's his famous one, "Man in Black."

Here are some excerpts:

"I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.
...
I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white."
........................................

Sure, it's idealistic. But it's not a bad mindset for journalism. It's a long-standing axiom that newspapers should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. This song ain't bad for inspiration.

But of course, newsrooms today feel like another Johnny Cash song. It's not quite so inspirational.

"Well they're building a gallows outside my cell
I've got 25 minutes to go
And the whole town's waitin' just to hear me yell
I've got 24 minutes to go
Well they gave me some beans for my last meal
I've got 23 minutes to go
But nobody asked me how I feel
I've got 22 minutes to go
Well I sent for the governor and the whole dern bunch
with 21 minutes to go
And I sent for the mayor but he's out to lunch
I've got 20 more minutes to go
Then the sheriff said boy I gonna watch you die
got 19 minutes to go
....
With my feet on the trap and my head on the noose
got 5 more minutes to go
Won't somebody come and cut me loose
with 4 more minutes to go
I can see the mountains I can see the skies
with 3 more minutes to go
And it's to dern pretty for a man that don't wanna die
2 more minutes to go
I can see the buzzards I can hear the crows
1 more minute to go
And now I'm swingin' and here I go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!"

Issuu test: Anson Dorrance lawsuit

2008-08-03T12:14:00.001-04:00

Which one looks better, Issuu or Scribd?

This one's Issuu.

Get your own - Open publication

Scribd test: Six key local gov beat records

2008-08-02T05:18:00.003-04:00

Maybe I'm late to the wagon, but I just discovered scribd. It allows you to easily embed documents into Web pages. I'm kind of excited.

Let's see if this works. If so, you'll see a primer on what documents to get if you work the local government beat, courtesy Michael Mansur of the KC Star.

Key local government records - Upload a Document to Scribd

Big ups to the Hurricane

2008-08-01T01:46:00.002-04:00

Last night, the Miami Hurricane launched a revamped Web site.

The paper is finally free from the shackles of College Publisher, basking in the freedom afforded by WordPress.

Want to use a video as the dominant image? Go right ahead. Customizable widgets? Yep. Clean layout? Definitely. Here's the editor's post on the new capabilities.

I must say I am jealous. I hope their project sparks more college newspapers to create their own content management systems.

How hard is it, really? I'd like to know.

Save the Herald-Sun

2008-07-30T19:39:00.004-04:00

A loss of about 10 jobs at a sub-30,000 circulation paper won't make many waves in the journalism world, not this year.

But the announcement at The Herald-Sun in Durham, N.C. is very bad news. If you don't want to register, the News and Observer story is here. It's another round of layoffs for a paper that has already been suffering from dismal morale and declining quality for several years.

It used to be a scrappy little family-owned paper that was truly a part of the community. But when I interned there last year, I had my pick of desk and phone. Paxton bought the paper a few years ago and they slashed the newsroom into pieces and installed a new editor from out of state.

For some reason, it thought it could compete with The News and Observer. It offered wire-stuffed feature sections and spent pages and pages on national and international content. Meanwhile, the managing editor and several more reporters flew the coop. They were reduced to running straight press releases to fill the metro front.

The only good coming of the announcement is that two of the features sections will be canceled. That's a first step. Editor Bob Ashley also says they've added a reporting position, but I'm skeptical. That probably means they filled one that has been vacant for months. There are only three or four metro reporters left.

And this quote from Ashley's column is troubling: "We'll be asking more of editors as we restructure our editing and production, but I'm confident we have a new structure in place that will handle those tasks while strengthening our reporting capacity."

What in the world kind of structure is that? And asking more of editors is like asking an anorexic to get skinnier.

If the paper wants to survive, Ashley needs to do much more, and quickly.

1) The current Web site is unusable. There is no dominant art, there is no order to stories listed, there's no search capability and there's absolutely no interactivity. There are free tools out there that could make this site 1,000-times better than it is now. It wouldn't take much. It could also spread the paper's reach phenomenally.

2) Ditch the AP. There's really no reason for it. I don't think there are any readers using it to stay abreast of world issues. Use the money to hire another reporter or two.

3) Start acting like a community paper and not a metro paper. Cover the stories that the N&O doesn't. Cover the neighborhood issues. Get out and ask people what they want to read about. Force reporters to live in the city if you have to. The Raleigh paper has far from a monopoly on news from the Bull City. If The Herald-Sun can make itself the true record of Durham, it will draw back readers.

4) If reclaiming Durham seems to daunting a task, then refocus on the bureaus. There's very little competition in Person and Granville counties. A few more dedicated reporting hours and a strategy could really open up those areas.

5) The paper desperately needs a good investigative series. It's really been rocked since the Duke lacrosse case, when it really caught heat for the editorial board buying in to District Attorney Mike Nifong's view of things. The Herald-Sun really needs a old-fashioned report to boost its credibility and visibility.

.................

I'm not trying to knock the ol' H-S. I love the people there and I really want it to succeed. But to keep it from dying, the paper must change its focus.

You've met your match

2008-07-30T03:41:00.001-04:00

Unleash the hounds!

2008-07-30T01:15:00.001-04:00

This picture sums up my view on good journalism.

Example of a great video

2008-07-29T12:58:00.003-04:00

When I got to hear a lecture from Al Tompkins, he showed this video as an example of quality video journalism. Since it nearly brought me to tears, I thought I'd share it.

Stylistically, I like it because it lets the characters tell the story. There's not a whole lot of voiceover. I'm particularly impressed by the audio of the little girl's shoes clacking. It uses the quotes well to convey emotion.

What do you think about it?

The System Is Down

2008-07-29T11:48:00.002-04:00

Whenever my favorite Web sites go down (cough cough TWITTER cough), I can't help but think of this song, courtesy Homestar Runner.

What curmudgeons have to offer

2008-07-25T11:16:00.006-04:00

Some of the "anti-curmudgeon" vitriol has gotten out of hand. I've expressed my frustrations with "crusty irascible cantankerous old persons full of stubborn ideas," but it seems that an entire generation of journalists has been branded with this death-mark.

But as the news industry rapidly transforms, as the older generation is pushed out or bought out, we all should hope that some of their qualities stick with us.

It is easy to hate on John Talton's piece called "When I hear the term 'citizen journalist,' I reach for my pistol." Basically, the title sums up the tenor of the article.

But he makes some good points. A central tenet of my beliefs on the future of journalism is that if news companies want to survive, they must offer something of value that can't be provided by bloggers, or by Google, or by a dude with a Flip video camera. It's old-fashioned reporting.

"An over-reliance on e-mail can take away the human contact, where journalists can detect nuance and shading and that golden moment where the news really slips out. Companies and government have been effective in exploiting the Internet to disseminate their particular spin on stories; it’s tempting to use it and leave it at that," he writes.

That means going through the documents, calling the sources and calling them out on their B.S., going and actually seeing for yourself. That won't happen in front of a computer screen, and that sure won't happen through crowdsourcing. People have jobs and lives. This one's ours.

Another quality that the so-called curmudgeons have is a particular mindset rooted in cynicism. I love a reporter who hangs up the phone and yells "They are so full of crap!"

My favorite quote remains "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." But the Internet mentality can make it easy to forget. If we're just getting the first word out immediately and moving on to the next breaking thing, we're not doing our jobs. And we will die.

Sure, you can Twitter the breaking news, shoot some compelling video and get the news on the Web and updated frequently, but if you're not analyzing the budgets of the emergency responders or or requesting communication between government officials on the matter, what have you done that somebody looking out his window couldn't?

You can have a Google map labeling the path of destruction, but if you haven't walked into the flooded house and talked to the family, what have you really added? You can have a forum for residents to decry a local company that polluted the water, but if you haven't gone through the government's economic incentive files on that company, how much have you really done?

These are simplistic examples, but I believe my point stands.

Now, I am in no ways defending newspaper executives. They often are the worst types of curmudgeons. Leadership across the industry in best adapting to the Internet has been horrendous, with little planning and even less strategy.

We need a lot more input from young journalists on how to use the new platforms we've been afforded. But as newspapers are hemorrhaging older journalists across the country, the loss is greater than easily evident.

At my internship, I've helped a few older reporters set up an RSS feed reader or learn advanced functions in Excel. But they've clued me in to some old-school avenues of reporting that will add incredible value to my stories.

While we are caught up in our new toys -- and I include myself in this -- we risk forgetting where we came from.

Who will stress the importance of Woodward and Bernstein shoe leather or the green eyeshade of Sydney Freedberg?

Temper the anti-curmudgeon revolution with the realization that many of them have a lot to teach us. News companies will survive, but only if we meld old techniques with new technologies.

Have you seen this man?

2008-07-23T21:52:00.008-04:00

An ominous alert has come from the Chapel Hill police. It asks for help in finding Charles Benjamin Harrison, who was last seen this morning.

White male, 5' 10'', 260 lbs. Drives a dark gray GMC Yukon with license N.C. XWP-2922.

From the alert: "Mr. Harrison may be a danger to himself."

Hopefully he will be found and given the help he needs. If you see him, call police.

manatee rap REMIX

2008-07-23T20:23:00.001-04:00

Snooty returns because honestly, who hasn't done a milli remix?

Alleged robber arrested in Raleigh

2008-07-23T14:51:00.003-04:00

The man Chapel Hill police suspect of robbing a man at gunpoint while he took money from an ATM on Tuesday has been arrested in Raleigh.

The alleged robbery took place here shortly before 3 p.m.:

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From CHPD press release: "The victim was walking back to his vehicle when he saw the suspect in a vehicle parked beside of his. The suspect, later identified as Keith Robert Webster, Jr., had a shotgun on his lap and demanded money from the victim. The suspect also demanded that the victim withdraw more money from the ATM. The suspect then fled the area in a vehicle."

Chapel Hill police are still seeking information on two robberies that occured July 20. Those with information are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 942-7515.

The Manatee Rap

2008-07-21T18:32:00.001-04:00

Enjoy!

Chapel Hill police want info on armed robberies

2008-07-21T15:32:00.003-04:00

The Chapel Hill Police Department is seeking information on two armed robberies that occured last night, one near the Varsity Theater, one at the Wachovia at University Mall.

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From the CHPD press release:

Robbery 1) At about 6:31 pm, two male subjects were walking south in the alley near the Varsity Theater heading toward East Franklin St. They were approached by a male who produced a shotgun and demanded money. The suspect then walked north toward East Rosemary St. The suspect was described as a young black male between 20 and 25 years of age, thin build, and about 6 feet tall. He was wearing a black baggy shirt and dark colored baggy pants.

Robbery 2) At about 6:41 pm, an individual was in her vehicle using the ATM at Wachovia Bank at University Mall. She observed a car pull up beside her. A black male then got out of the car and approached her vehicle. The suspect produced a shotgun and demanded money. The description given was similar to that given in the first incident with the addition of a baseball cap. The suspect drove away in a “beat up” older model 80s 4-door, dull gray primed or unpainted sedan.

Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call the Chapel Hill Police Department at 968-2760 or Crimestoppers at 226-CRIM(E).

N&O lists best N.C. athletes by number

2008-07-20T12:59:00.004-04:00

The News and Observer today released their database of the best N.C. athletes, one per uniform number 00 to 99.

See the list here. An exhaustive collection of videos showing N&O sports writers explaining their decisions is here.

Congrats to my classmate Tyler Hansbrough for owning the number 50 in North Carolina -->

Here are my main quibbles:

4) Please don't ever mention the name J.J. Redick to me again. He's just not that good (reference This is why you suck video). Anybody else the paper mentioned would have been better: Luke Appling, Baseball Hall of Fame; Darian Durant, UNC football; John Kasay, Carolina Panthers football

5) Josh Howard with #5? He hasn't done anything with his career yet. He was just OK at Wake Forest. I'd give Tony Womack the nod here.

10) Ron Francis at 10 is a tough call, but a good one. He really made hockey a sport in North Carolina.

42) Why have Lee Petty? You already have Richard on there. Give 42 to Sean May or Jerry Stackhouse or Elton Brand for crying out loud.

A quote for the haters

2008-07-20T12:39:00.002-04:00

A quote from Teddy Roosevelt, via Howard Owens:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Carrboro apartment complex towing tenants' cars

2008-07-19T14:31:00.002-04:00

Residents of the Abbey Court Condominium complex are outraged over a new policy in which apartment managers are having tenants' cars towed if they don't look nice enough.

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The situation is serious. Management e-mailed the police saying they were concerned about a riot breaking out.

Here's an excerpt from an e-mail sent from the Carrboro police chief, Carolyn Hutchinson, to town manager Steve Stewart.

"Apparently, Management is towing cars that do not "look good." In other words, if your vehicle has dents, needs paint, or has a cracked windshield, Management will not issue a permit to park and Management will tow the vehicle. As you might imagine, Abbey Court residents may not have the means to drive a pristine vehicle, but many are paying their rent, and now are unable to get a permit to park in their own home parking lot. Then, their vehicles are towed from the lot; they're responsible for the towing fees; and they have no car to get to work, etc."

Tenants with existing permits are also being asked to reapply for them, and some are being denied. Allegations of racism are flying.

Aldermen Jacquie Gist and Dan Coleman have described the situation as lousy. Expect the issue to come up at the next Board of Aldermen meeting.

Read more e-mail correspondence on the topic here.

N.C. Assembly wants gays to be bullied?

2008-07-18T11:29:00.003-04:00

An anti-bullying bill that once had widespread support in the N.C. General Assembly is now dead after "sexual orientation" was added to the list of reasons kids might be harassed at school, The News and Observer reports.

The bill would have required school districts to set anti-bullying procedures and policies, and require districts to report bullying statistics to the state.

But after anti-gay groups, including the Christian Action League and the N.C. Family Policy Council, came out against the bill (claiming gay-rights groups would use the law to try to gain more rights), it lost the support required for it to pass. It was sent back to committee and will likely not be voted on this term.

Chapel Hill Starbucks to close

2008-07-17T22:40:00.004-04:00

One Chapel Hill Starbucks will be closing down as the company shuts down 600 stores across the United States. Ten are in North Carolina, with half of those in Charlotte. The full list is in PDF format here.

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Final word on intern craziness

2008-07-17T10:29:00.003-04:00

I actually have journalism to produce today, so this will be the last thing I write about the brouhaha I caused by my "Intern writes about layoffs" post.

The information is out there now to people who need to know. The reason I posted the story in the first place was to tell concerned co-workers what plans were in the works. The conversation should have been about what responsibility company management has to fill employees in on potential changes.

If you're an anonymous commenter or a Twittering armchair quarterback wanting to call names and criticize me for taking the post down, you can kindly go to hell.

If I wanted to be a desperado ruckus-causer, I could have. But alls I want to do is report the facts in the best way possible.

Now I've got news to write.

Dirty words in the N&O

2008-07-17T10:10:00.003-04:00

Hard to believe The News and Observer is still running this picture. Can't they read what it says?

Appeared in yesterday's story on anti-gang legislation passing the General Assembly.

It's time to find new "gang" file art.

Auditor criticizes Dept. of Health

2008-07-16T11:14:00.001-04:00

A new State Auditor's report criticizes the Department of Health and Human Services -- Division of Health Assistance.

Report here: http://www.ncauditor.net/EPSWeb/Reports/Performance/PER-2008-7238.pdf

Analysis coming soon.

UNC alert: Strong armed-robbery at Morehead Planetarium

2008-07-12T12:51:00.008-04:00

About 2 a.m. Saturday near Morehead Planetarium
Victim struck from behind, wallet stolen, minor injuries
Was walking from Franklin Street back to campus with two friends

From UNC alert system:

SAFETY ALERT - STRONG ARMED ROBBERY REPORTED SATURDAY NEAR MOREHEAD PLANETARIUM

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Public Safety is warning the campus community to stay alert and take extra safety precautions in the wake of a reported strong-arm robbery on north campus just before 2 a.m. today (July 12).

Two suspects were described as black males, both in their early-to-mid-20s. One of the two suspects is also described as 5 feet, 8 inches in height, with a medium build, wearing khaki cargo pants, a white tank-top shirt, and a baseball cap. No further description of the second suspect was given. No weapons were used in the robbery.

A 23-year old male UNC student was walking back to campus from Franklin Street with two individuals he had met while in a restaurant downtown. When the victim reached the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Building, one of the two suspects reportedly struck him from behind, knocking the victim to the ground. The suspects continued to strike the victim before fleeing on foot with the victim's wallet and a small amount of cash. The victim suffered minor injuries which were not considered to be life-threatening.

Coach Williams, get control of your players!

2008-07-11T20:56:00.002-04:00

Dear Coach Roy Williams,

As a loyal Tar Heel fan since before I could read chapter books, I can't help but be concerned with the conduct of a few basketball players.

First, Ty Lawson is arrested for driving after drinking underage, violating noise ordinances and driving with a revoked license. As you probably know, his court date is pending.

Now, Marcus Ginyard had to turn himself in after missing a court date for a noise and driving violation. He had to post $150 bond.

We need you to help them see the famed Carolina Way.

Sincerely,

breaksthenews

University, college town violent crime per person

2008-07-11T14:58:00.007-04:00

In many ways, campus safety measures have worked. The rate of violent crimes on campus pale in comparison to the violent crime rate in the surrounding town -- even in so-called "college towns."

Here is the per capita rate of violent crime (number of violent crimes/population).

Towns were chosen based on their similarity to UNC-Chapel Hill and their recognition as a "college town."

You can match up the town with its university by paying attention to the state names.

I created this data (year 2005) by compiling reports from university police departments for the universities and from FBI crime data for the towns, while working on this story in the aftermath of Eve Carson's death. Per capita crime is determined by dividing the number of violent crimes by the univerity's or town's population.

This graph shows the number of violent crimes at UNC and UVa. for 2005. Keep in mind, this is just a one-year snapshot, and does not reflect the overall safety or crime trends of the campuses.

UNC-system shenanigans

2008-07-11T11:12:00.005-04:00

In the wake of the uproar over Mary Easley's 88 percent raise, N.C. State University will review more than 800 of its employment contracts. School officials claim they "misinterpreted" the rule requiring raises of more than 15 percent or $10,000 be approved by the UNC Board of Governors.

The governor's wife (image on the right) taught law at State on a 3-year contract, which just expired. School administrators said her new contract, for 5 years at $170,000 per, amounted to a new job and thus did not need BOG approval, though Easley would keep the same job title.

Now NCSU will review the raises for its 822 employees with similar contracts based on a limited term.

The problem? The BOG doesn't meet again until September, and NCSU wanted to get hiring decisions wrapped up. Was it misinterpretation that caused this kerfuffle or was it a bid for convenience?

Perhaps the BOG should have a special session during the summer, or a need-based teleconference, to approve the rare raises that require them.

In other BOG news ...
The N.C. School of the Arts will also be renamed the University of North Carolina School of the Arts beginning Aug. 1. The N.C. Senate passed the measure unanimously after the Board of Governors recommended the change, saying people need to know that it is part of the UNC system.

No word on whether people will now be more confused and think the Winston-Salem professional school is now part of UNC-Chapel Hill.

Chapel Hill: Sports capital of the country?

2008-07-10T13:33:00.003-04:00

ESPN has named Chapel Hill one of the 20 finalists of its "Titletown USA" contest, joining the likes of New York, Boston and Detroit.

In six essays posted on its site, ESPN attributes the designation to UNC's dominance in basketball and soccer, as well as the scores of renowned athletes it has produced (see Jordan, Michael). But it also gives a shoutout to the fans.

"To get to the essence of what makes Chapel Hill great, one has to view the rabid fan base. UNC has its own color, Carolina Blue, and everyone in Chapel Hill bleeds that beautiful color," wrote a user known only as heels4life07.

Let's examine Chapel Hill's candidacy. First, let's agree that we're really only talking about UNC. The rest of Chapel Hill is, for the most part, sports-free. And aside from a few professors, the residents of Chapel Hill are not sports fans. We import the rest of the fans from across the country.

That means that the fervor of UNC students was enough to vault Chapel Hill into the top 20 sports cities in the country. Quite a compliment.

The full list can be seen here. Online voting will run from July 24 to 26.

Non-shock: Edwards would "seriously consider" VP

2008-07-09T10:38:00.007-04:00

Backtracking from earlier indications, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) said he would seriously consider a place on the Democratic presidential ticket or in Barack Obama's potential cabinet, CNN reported.

Though critics might hit his lack of experience in office, he definitely has political campaign experience. And he has put more years in the Senate than Obama.

He might just be a good pick for Obama. In the twilight of the primary campaign, Hillary Clinton really scored points against Obama for her more populist focus and appeal, something that Edwards has by the bushel. Edwards' strong message of "change" fits in well with Obama's campaign strategy. And Edwards is not one who must seize the limelight at every moment.

We'll see what happens.

More than 25 percent of high-paid UNC profs are in OBGYN

2008-07-08T17:21:00.004-04:00

In the 2007 fiscal year, 40 professors at UNC-Chapel Hill made at least $300,000 in base salary. Here is the data graphed by academic department.

Looks like OBGYN folks have a lot of good prospects.

Raw data is available here. Data was compiled from the Office of Institutional Research's official documents.

U.S. median rent prices

2008-07-08T16:33:00.005-04:00

Data is available for every county and metropolitan area in the United States. You can search by state, city or county. Data is from the 2008 fiscal year, provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Rent prices are in dollars.

The database is sortable by every variable by clicking on the column header. You can use that to find the lowest or highest rents in a certain area.

You can search the database in a new window here.

A day at Poynter

2008-07-08T09:28:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, the merry band of St. Pete Times interns got to spend the day at Poynter, that grand mecca of journalism. Unfortunately the batteries were dying on my video camera, so I didn't get much video. And it was a long day, so in this post I'll hit the highlights.

Al Tompkins, of Al's Morning Meeting fame, spoke about video and focusing on story.

An acronym for a good video subject is COOL: colorful, outgoing, opinionated and lively. You can add accessible if you want.
Film both the action and the reaction.
Make sure it's steady.
Make sure it's well-lit.
Get real good natural sound; "mic the dog" if you have to.
Make the soundbites memorable and emotional. "You'll always remember what you feel better than what you know.
Every story should be able to boil down to three words: noun, verb, object. When you change the words, you change the story.
Drop "gold coins" throughout the story to reward the viewer.
Silence adds power in video.

We chased down Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar on our lunch break for a random conversation. He autographed my notepad.

Create time to write.
Envision how the story will appear on the page.
Look for the "parts" of the story as you are in the field. Ex: "That will make a great end quote!"

Next up was Kelly McBride, ethics group leader.

Our rules sometimes get in the way of good journalism.
Make an ethical decision process. Values --> principles --> actions.
Ask why rules exist when you confront them.
Establish ground rules with sources. Source relations are more dangerous to independence than advertisers/political pressure.

Finally had a presentation from Ellyn Angelotti, about social media sites. I decided to follow her on Twitter. Here are some cool things I did not know about:

Swivel: upload data and create blog-embeddable charts and graphs. I'll have one up on this blog shortly.
Use Poynter's del.icio.us page to find awesome stuff.
Google Trends will tell you what's hot on the Web.

It was a good day.

Bears are the #1 threat to America

2008-07-07T23:34:00.002-04:00

There's no real reason to post this. I just enjoyed it.

No curmudgeons

2008-07-06T00:34:00.002-04:00

I wholeheartedly support the "no curmudgeons" movement.

Calling out advertising managers

2008-07-05T16:28:00.002-04:00

Every day I read all the depressing news about journalism and the metropolitan newspaper. I gaze at my navel along with the rest of the journalists and work to improve content. I've built social networks around my beat, I've adopted Twitter, blogging, Facebook distribution, even FriendFeed. I've taught myself audio editing, videography and some HTML. Most of us have.

And it seems to be working. I've noticed more traffic coming to my blog and to The Daily Tar Heel's site, and nationwide newspaper Web site views are up, too. The New York Times site has a reach of 13.9 million unique visitors, according to Nielson research. Hell, even the Honolulu Advertiser gets 216,000.

But revenues are down. Why is the blame laid solely on the journalists' backs? It is our job to get people reading the news, and those numbers are higher than ever. As I see it, it is the advertising department's job to transfer that into dollars.

It's telling that even after 10 minutes of Google searching, I was unable to find even one site describing an innovative way to advertise online. Not even one bemoaning the sad state of advertising efforts.

The latest College Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers, Inc. newsletter has nothing. After some digging, I found that the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association is going to offer 1-hour Webinars on growing online advertising. But the tone betrays a lack of urgency.

Advertising departments are seeing layoffs, too. Where is the widespread rallying on their end?

I don't know much about advertising, but I've got a few ideas for them. How about utilizing Google's information collection powers to offer higher-valued targeted advertising? How about having advertisers sponsor a social network or Facebook widget? Something. Anything. But I haven't been able to find any sort of conversation out there, so I must assume they're just sitting around twiddling their thumbs.

We're holding up our end of the bargain. It's time for ad managers to pick the lint out of their navels too.

When Buffett Meets Sinatra

2008-07-04T18:46:00.001-04:00

Latest video, for a story running Wednesday.

UNC enemy dead today

2008-07-04T16:40:00.002-04:00

Former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, who represented North Carolina for more than 30 years, died today at age 86.

Revered by Republicans and loathed by Democrats in his prime, he was remembered by Gov. Mike Easley (a Democrat) as "national force able to deliver for his constituents" in a statement.

His relationship with UNC was much different, and very racial. His first senate campaign, in 1950, against renowned liberal and former UNC President Frank Porter Graham was called "the most overtly racial campaign" since 1900. He was on the record saying the civil rights movement was infested with commies and moral degenerates.

When the state was considering building a zoo in Asheville, Helms opposed it. "We ought to put a fence around this zoo of Chapel Hill and charge admission," he said.

He's also reported to have said UNC really stands for the "university of ni***** and commies."

Though it's not necessary to stomp all over the grave of the recently departed, we must be careful not to romanticize the man who brought so much vitrol to N.C. politics.

Subscribe to breaks the news

2008-07-03T17:28:00.001-04:00

If RSS isn't your thing (if it is, scroll down to the bottom of the page and go for it!), I'm going to start sending out weekly updates through an e-mail newsletter. You can sign up on the right-hand side of the page.

Watch your cars near UNC

2008-07-03T16:14:00.004-04:00

UNC campus police officers are being pulled off regular patrols to keep an eye on the park-and-ride lots at the Friday Center and on 15-501 after a rash of thefts targeting vehicles' catalytic converters, according to NC Wanted.

Police say the 20 converters that have been stolen were likely taken to be sold as scrap metal, for their platinum, palladium and rhodium.

A recent letter to the editor at the DTH said it costs $1,800 to repair the damage.

UNC officials are also looking into hiring off-duty officers to patrol the lots or installing security cameras. But for now, fewer cops are patrolling campus to deter violent crime.

Teachers in trouble

2008-07-03T13:38:00.014-04:00

Quick links to searchable databases:
North Carolina teachers in trouble

The following sortable database contains the names of N.C. teachers who have been disciplined by a certification committee or school board. The offense can range from minor troubles (e.g. failure to repay student loans) to gross misconduct.

Check to see if your child's teacher hasn't been cited.

The information is compiled by the non-profit National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. Search in a new window by clicking here.

Seabirds

2008-07-02T18:39:00.001-04:00

My first real news video.

Chapel Hill arrest records 2006-2008

2008-07-02T15:43:00.011-04:00

I've uploaded a database with all arrests made by Chapel Hill police from 2006 through March 2008.

View the database here.

The data comes from this PDF from the Chapel Hill Police Department we requested at The Daily Tar Heel. I made the database as I worked on this story, about violent crime on college campuses in the wake of Eve Carson's murder.

Chicago, the street musical

2008-07-01T21:30:00.001-04:00

Chancellor Holden Thorp begins term -- what do you want to know?

2008-07-01T11:31:00.002-04:00

Chemistry professor Holden Thorp officially took over as chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill today, after being selected for the position in May. He'll spend the day meeting with student leaders and his cabinet.

I will be covering Thorp extensively this school year. Here are a few of the issues I will focus on:

Issue 1: Thorp comes in with the least administrative experience of any previous chancellor, but the most significant fundraising experience. Stories will discuss the trend in higher education toward hiring people with more businesslike backgrounds.

Issue 2: How will Thorp reach out to his cabinet ? They all said they weren't leaving. What's different under Thorp?

Issue 3: Faculty retention is going to be a huge issue. People said Thorp did a good job with keeping faculty in the chemistry department, but this is obviously a bigger job now. What's his plan, and how has he communicated with deans in this regard? And has he met with deans in other regards? How is he going to work with the faculty council?

Issue 4: How is Thorp going to reach out to the student body, most of whom had never heard of him?

Issue 5: How does Thorp reach out to town leaders (Mayors Foy and Chilton especially)? He had not had any experience with them in the past. When Moeser took over, the big issue was the campus master plan. Now it's Carolina North and University Square.

........................................

What would you like to see? What is important to you?

Air Tran/Air travel rant

2008-06-30T12:32:00.003-04:00

I spent the weekend in Chicago, which was incredible. Photos and video will be up shortly. But after being awake for 28 hours, I had to get this off my chest.

I got to the Midway airport around 6 p.m. for my 7:30 p.m. flight. Turns out it's delayed an hour. Went and checked on the connection in Atlanta to Tampa, and they assured us that all connecting flights will be held, since it's not that long. Not bad; I have a Sunday Chi-Trib, so it's all good.

When I got to Atlanta, the plane to Tampa had already left. I wait a half-hour in line to see what I need to do now, and just as I'm nearing the front of the line, the airline lady up and decides she's done working for the day and leaves.

After another half-hour wait in a different line, I'm told that I can't get a flight to Tampa until Tuesday afternoon. And that one might be overbooked as well. But I'm given a nifty pink voucher, good for "the best deals" at local hotels. Yeah, $50 a night (plus tax) for a hotel room I shouldn't even have is a fantastic deal.

My mind begins calculations. Staying: $50 x 2 for hotel, $15 x 2 for parking in Tampa, $100 x 2 for lost wages at work. Renting a car: $250 plus gasoline.

I misrepresent my age and rent a car at 1 a.m. and begin the long drive down I-75. If I had looked up the route on the map, I might not have done it. Turns out to be 550 miles.

I'm good for the first two hours or so. At 4 a.m. I hit a wall. I haven't eaten anything, and my arms and legs have no strength and my head starts spinning. Luckily a Diet Pepsi Max and peanut butter crackers get me through that.

Anyway, it's a long drive. It wasn't smart to do. But I made it. I had to stop every 50 miles or so to walk around and throw water on my face. At least my boss took pity and let me go home.

I won't fly Air Tran again.

Close-range shotgun blast killed Eve Carson

2008-06-30T11:25:00.002-04:00

UNC student body president Eve Carson used her hand to defend herself from a shotgun blast that went into her brain, killing her, the autopsy report released today shows.

The report is available for download (PDF) here.

The report syncs up with the confidential witness statement released Friday.

Daily Tar Heel story here.
News and Observer story here.

Carson abducted inside home, witness says

2008-06-27T12:44:00.011-04:00

UNC-Chapel Hill Student body President Eve Carson was abducted inside her home, not as she left for campus, according to a witness report made public today.

Carson was found shot to death about 5 a.m. on March 5. Demario James Atwater, 21, and Lawrence Alvin Lovette, 17, are charged with first-degree murder in the killing.

Most telling evidence revealed today:

Police recorded a conversation between Atwater and a confidential witness in which Atwater discusses the crime.
Atwater admitted to police to being in Carson's vehicle and to be the man pictured using her ATM card in a surveillance photo.
Receipt generated by an ATM using Carson's card found in Lovette's house.
Shotgun shells and multiple sets of car keys found at Atwater's house.

The witness is known only to be a female who called police March 11. She said she had been in contact with a man referred to as "Rio," presumably Atwater. Another witness confirmed his identity.

According to the witness, Atwater and Lovette entered Carson's home through an unlocked door and forced her into the back seat of her Toyota Highlander. They then drove to an ATM.

The witness said that Atwater and Lovette took $1,400 from Carson's bank account, a figure confirmed by investigators with bank records. The witness also said that both suspects shot Carson multiple times with different weapons.

Investigators express confidence in the credibility of the witnesses several times in the report, based on their ability to discuss details confirmed by police that weren't released to the public.

It was previously believed she was abducted as she left for her on-campus office because of her roommates' statements that she had planned to go there and police reports that her laptop had been found in the office.

The warrants can be read here.
Link to the News and Observer story.

Final feedings of the pelicans

2008-06-26T22:04:00.001-04:00

On July 1, a Florida law will go into effect prohibiting the feeding of pelicans, proven to change their migration patterns. The Pier Bait Shop in St. Petersburg has for decades sold fish to tourists to feed a loyal herd of pelicans.

Playing with pelicans

2008-06-26T18:11:00.001-04:00

While working on a story about a law prohibiting feeding pelicans, I stalked some tame ones. Video to come later.

Stuff Journalists Like

2008-06-26T12:58:00.002-04:00

Great post from one of my favorite blogs, 10,000 words.

Feeding off of the popular Stuff White People Like blog's list, it has a list of Stuff Journalists Like.

1. Messenger bags
2. All the President's Men
3. Blackberrys
4. Holiday sweaters
5. Seinfeld
6. AP Stylebook
7. Vests with large pockets
8. Free food
9. Correcting bad grammar/typos
10. "This American Life"
11. Button-down shirts
12. Action figures
13. Exclusives
14. Credentials on lanyards
15. Small cars
16. Debates
17. Baseball caps
18. Blogs
19. Anchorman
20. Reporting overseas
21. The New York Times
22. Coffee
23. Telephoto lenses
24. Conferences
25. Lists
26. Standing up for the little guy
27. Cake
............................

Have any to add? Have any other lists you'd like to make/see?

Update on Chapel Hill suspicious package

2008-06-25T10:11:00.003-04:00

10:15 a.m. -- The Durham County Sheriff's Department Bomb Squad detonated a package that had caused the intersection of Rosemary Street and Henderson Street to be closed last night for four hours.

Chapel Hill police got a call about 6:30 p.m. yesterday reporting that a white male in his early 20s placed a "suspicious" package in the middle of the intersection then walk away "in a suspicious manner" before leaving in a Volkswagen Jetta, according to a press release.

Police have not said what was in the package, or why the decision was made to detonate it. They are still investigating.

Chapel Hill goes nuts today

2008-06-24T21:06:00.002-04:00

Crazy stuff going down in downtown Chapel Hill today.

First, a guy jumps from Top of the Hill. His fall was slowed by an awning, and he was conscious as he was taken to the hospital.

Next, the intersection of Rosemary and Henderson was closed because of a suspicious package. Fire department on standby as it was investigated.

Will I recognize the place when I get back?

Any word from y'all down in the Southern part of heaven would be much appreciated.

Journalists need to quit whining, start changing

2008-06-24T16:44:00.005-04:00

I am tired of all the doom and gloom in journalism.

The industry is going the same direction as current events. Bo Diddley, Tim Russert, George Carlin.... meet Tribune, McClatchy and MediaNews.

I'm tired of Sam Zell and inch counts, layoffs, death watches and dire warnings against entering the profession.

I wasn't brought up to sit around and bitch. If something's broke, I was taught to try to fix it.

Everyone knows there aren't any quick fixes. And most have accepted that it will take a change in mindset and a full embrace of the Internet's vast possibilities. But still the lamentations come from people claiming they are too old to learn or newspapers are too doomed to survive.

To them I say: Throw your passion into adapting or get out of the way.

We are no longer just newspapers. We are news brands. Please don't squander your brand's respect by marginalizing the product. Capitalize on the name and search engine rankings.

When news breaks, become the only place your clients turn to. Instead of turning on the local news for updates, make them log on to your Web site. Post updates as they happen. Use Twitter and RSS feeds to get the news in their hands as quickly as possible. And make sure people know its there.

Don't throw video on your site for the sake of having video. Too many crappy videos, and people won't click on them anymore. We've got better story tellers than TV stations do. Show them up on news with a visual angle. That doesn't mean slave over video editing for hours and hours. If you're covering a fire, get images and video of the blaze up as quickly as you can.

Make your site everyone in your area's home page. Make your unique content easy to find and able to be spread. Provide a place for readers to discuss the issues important to them, to meet people in their community and even to complain about newspaper coverage.

I realize I haven't said anything that hasn't been said before, but that should be a comfort. The future of newspapers has already been imagined. It has yet to be implemented.

Newspaper editors: get it done or get out of the way.

Gasoline Hunter

2008-06-24T09:20:00.001-04:00

Gas prices are high. How long will it take for Dominick's fill-up to cost $100? Here's part one.

Wake budget woes are simple in comparison

2008-06-23T20:09:00.002-04:00

The Wake County school system will likely have to cut $15 million from its existing programs after the county commissioners were not able to fulfill the system's request, the News and Observer reports.

Another $24 million was cut in proposed programs, including pay raises for teachers, more foreign language classes and services for academically gifted students.

It is a true worry for the system, already grappling with exponential enrollment growth. It's one of the first true budget crises, though. Previous debacles have involved getting a bond passed for new schools and whether to switch more schools to year-round.

But such woes do not even compare to those of Florida, where the entire state is struggling to cut enough money.

UNC will likely need outside money

2008-06-23T11:46:00.011-04:00

The UNC administration is encouraged by a N.C. House proposed budget that fully funds the dental school building's construction.

It's probably just false hope.

Though the remaining $69 million is in the House version of the budget, the University Gazette states, that budget must be reconciled with those of the Senate and Gov. Mike Easley. It is still unknown if they have laid out any money for the dental school.

The General Assembly gave UNC $25 million to begin the building last year.

But with all the projects UNC begins, there is less money to go around.

The school is asking for $16.9 million for the law school and $19.5 million for a biomedical research imaging center. The House only proposed giving UNC tiny fractions of that amount: $3.5 million and $4 million, respectively.

Incoming chancellor Holden Thorp will have a big job on his hands in making up the differences.

Campus safety money unlikely for UNC

2008-06-20T12:57:00.005-04:00

The UNC system has requested the N.C. General Assembly to appropriate it $11.7 million annually and a $17.5 million one-time grant to strengthen the mental health systems at the 17 campuses, the News and Observer reports.

The money would be used to hire more counselors, psychiatrists and case workers who would funnel students who need help into appointments. It would also hire about 80 police officers.

They won't get their wish.

Gov. Mike Easley's budget set aside $5.6 million annually with $5.4 million one-time money. The House's proposal had $6.4 million in annual money and $6.49 million one-time.

Dail remains in serious condition

2008-06-19T10:18:00.002-04:00

THURSDAY 10:15 A.M. -- UNC sophomore B.J. Dail remains in serious condition at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital after suffering head and leg injuries in a pick-up truck accident Sunday night.

Dail, 20, pitched for the Tar Heel baseball team last year, but was suspended early this year for violating team rules. No word has been given on how full a recovery Dail is expected to make.

UNC system favored by Senate plan

2008-06-18T17:52:00.004-04:00

UNC-system faculty would see 3.4 percent raises this year, more than the 2.75 percent raises that the rest of the state's employees will receive this year, if the budget recommended by the N.C. Senate is approved.

The Senate plan also includes an extra $20 million for the 16 schools, much different from the $18.5 million cut that the House and Gov. Mike Easley proposed.

State Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Henderson County Republican, told the News and Observer that he voted against the budget because it gives priority to the UNC system over public schools.

"It looks to me like it's still the Cold War and we've copied the Russian system," Apodaca told the Raleigh paper.

The Senate budget gives only one-quarter of the budget increase the House gave to cover rising fuel costs. The two houses will now have to reach a compromise, which they hope to do by July 1.

UNC student in serious condition after truck accident

2008-06-17T15:31:00.004-04:00

UPDATE 10:15 A.M. WEDNESDAY -- Dail was upgraded to serious condition yesterday, from critical. Statement from UNC baseball coach Mike Fox: "B.J. Dail and his family are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. We wish him the best and pray for a quick recovery."

TUESDAY -- UNC sophomore B.J. Dail is in stable but critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital, according to the Cape Cod Times.

Dail, who attended Millbrook High School in Raleigh, pitched for the Tar Heels baseball team last year. He was suspended earlier this season for violating team rules and did not travel to Omaha.

He was thrown under a Ford Ranger pick-up truck driven by one of his teammates on the Brewster Whitecaps Cape League team late Sunday night, suffering head and leg injuries.

The driver, Ryan Woolley, 20 and a sophomore pitcher on the University of Georgia team, pleaded not guilty to charges of operating under the influence of alcohol resulting in serious bodily injury, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and minor in possession of alcohol. Dail and Woolley had been drinking beer together that evening, police said.

Ways to cut costs

2008-06-17T15:11:00.003-04:00

I've developed a few tricks to save money that I thought I'd share. A newspaper intern's salary does not go very far.

Instead of using zip-lock bags, use the bags your newspaper comes in. Some papers even come double wrapped!
Cut the top off of plastic milk jugs or soda bottles and use them as trash cans.
If you spill water on the floor, use it as an opportunity to spot clean.
Stock up on napkins and plastic utensils at fast-food restaurants. To-go boxes are also very versatile.

I'm sure I'll be driven further pretty soon.

Porn on state time at N.C. State, NCCU

2008-06-17T10:27:00.005-04:00

One N.C. State University employee and two N.C. Central University employees were fired for using state-owned computers to download pornography, illegally distribute movies and music and other ethical violations, two State Auditor's reports reveal.

The operations and systems analyst at State and the database administrator and the information technology manage at Central were found to have such material on their work computers. All are in the Information Technology Services departments.

The investigation began with the Central employees, one of whom implicated the State employee.

The State employee was found to have porn hidden in sub-folders in an attempt to hide the files. He also attempted to render the state-owned computer inoperable just before the auditor's office attempted to search it. He also admitted to downloading movies two to four times per week and creating a "stockpile" to distribute and said he used the state-owned computer because it had a faster connection than his personal one.

The IT manager at Central was found to have 68 hits with his user name to nudetube.com on his state-owned computer, but would not give an explanation. He admitted to using a DVD ripping program to create illegal copies of movies while at work.

He was also found to have bought a digital camera, GPS device, and HDTV screens using what he described as "end-of-the-year money." He said he did it because "likes toys."

The database administrator admitted to have downloaded more than 100 movies on his work computer and said he knew it was illegal. He also said he downloaded porn on a "semi-regular" basis and would transfer it to an external hard drive to take home. He learned the downloading method from a former ITS employee -- now at a different university-- who was known as the "movie guy." He also listed a computer science degree on his resume that he did not actually complete.

Chancellors James Oblinger at NCSU and Charlie Nelms at NCCU said in response letters that the school would look into developing controls to keep such problems from happening again

Paid WHAT for gas?

2008-06-16T22:00:00.002-04:00

I just put 16 gallons into my Pontiac. Cost me $64 even. Does it take you as long as it took me to let that number sink in?

Like most people in the country, gas prices have caused me to adjust my driving habits. When I would go out for a burger normally, now I just make me a Cup O' Noodles. I can just afford to drive to work and back.

Prices are just going to go higher. I won't be able to afford a car with more gas mileage for two years, when I graduate and (hopefully) get a job that pays a livable wage. Between now and then, this country needs rapid and drastic change. The technology is there (see Honda FCX).

What we need is visionary leadership. Somebody who will demand the country invest in nationwide hydrogen fuel stations and subsidies to make such cars affordable. Somebody who will invest in research to make hybrid vehicles accessible to the masses.

Sure it will be painful. So is every change, and so is the country's predicament right now. The current government is focused too much on maintaining our current way of life. But that way of life has proven again and again unsustainable. This is history in the making. This is the time when America needs to change its vehicles.

We're doing it with TV. Why not autos?

Tar Heel trio to stay

2008-06-16T16:54:00.002-04:00

It's official. Danny Green, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson will play for the UNC men's basketball team next year, joining AP player of the year Tyler Hansbrough. Head Coach Roy Williams made the announcement.

"I stepped back and asked them to make their own decisions," Williams said (and the DTH reports). "I'm very pleased with their decisions because I get to coach them for another year. I'm also pleased that they went through the process and gained valuable information."

Thoughts on UNC/U-Square/Granville Towers

2008-06-16T15:04:00.002-04:00

The purchase was certainly unexpected, and the fallout will be fascinating to watch. Here are a few of my initial musings:

The Kenan family likely approached the University about buying the land. General James Kenan was a founding member of UNC's board of trustees, and just about every son has given millions of dollars. My guess is they didn't want to hold on to the property any longer, and knew the University could do something with it.
The Town of Chapel Hill then probably freaked out about possibly losing its tax revenue. That was foremost on the minds of most frequenters of Orange Politics. To appease the masses, the University agreed to purchase it through a proxy -- the UNC-Chapel Hill endowment fund. That also allows the University to operate the property more like a business.
The University already doesn't have enough money to renovate its current dorms, most notably Hinton James and Craige. Adding a few more high-rises in Granville wouldn't help things. But it is helpful for a University looking to expand enrollment.
I can't see UNC letting some of the smaller boutiques in University Square renew their leases. The school already uses most of the space there as offices; it will probably just take over the rest in 2009. Guess they'll have to move to Carrboro.
Carolina North would have been enough for new chancellor Holden Thorp to deal with on the town-gown side. Throw in the recent retirement of Downtown Partnership executive director Liz Parham, and you have the makings of a brouhaha.

UNC basketballers to decide today

2008-06-16T13:41:00.003-04:00

UPDATE 4:30 P.M.: ESPN is now reporting that Ellington and Green are definitely coming back, with Lawson undecided. Fox Sports has not backed off its report.

UPDATE 2 P.M. : Fox Sports is reporting all three players will return to school.

UNC men's basketball standouts Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Ty Lawson have until 5 p.m. today to pull out of the NBA draft if they so choose.

My guess is Ellington and Green will come back. Lawson would be dumb not to, considering his DUI and bum ankle, but I think he will stay in the draft anyway.

UNC to buy Granville, University Square

2008-06-13T13:18:00.005-04:00

UPDATE 4:15 P.M. -- UNC-Chapel Hill announced plans today to purchase the University Square shopping center and Granville Towers, a popular off-campus dormitory.

The University has not yet revealed plans for the 12-acre property on Franklin Street, which was owned by the Kenan family, a long-time UNC benefactor. The sale will close by July 1, 2009 for $45.75 million. The school said it will continue to pay taxes on the parcel, which cost an annual $868,279.

University Square is mostly made up of small boutiques and office space. Thirty-five-year-old Granville Towers has three high-rise buildings that house about 1,300 UNC students.

“The University Square-Granville Towers complex is a sound strategic investment for the University with great potential for playing a larger role in downtown revitalization,” Chancellor James Moeser said. “We want to explore all options for using the property to meet the University’s needs, while also benefiting downtown Chapel Hill.”

UNC said it will honor current leases.

Big Blogs

2008-06-12T18:33:00.002-04:00

Today, I joined the ranks of big-time bloggers at the St. Pete Times. Exciting stuff.

I now write for the Fueling Station and Bizarre Florida blogs. Check 'em out.

Electoral map

2008-06-10T17:32:00.001-04:00

Here's mine:

Make your own.

The Zoo

2008-06-09T20:49:00.001-04:00

My favorite video I've made so far!

Terrorism wore silk

2008-06-01T17:31:00.001-04:00

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article549521.ece

Hilarious.

My latest editorial.

On a roll

2008-05-29T23:14:00.000-04:00

Edit number three in today's paper!
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article529874.ece

Second edit

2008-05-28T19:37:00.000-04:00

My second editorial ran today! Woo-hoo!
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article527854.ece

My mom said I sound wise in it. Always nice to have mama's approval.

Bay Rays: 70s Night Boogie -- Dispatch 5

2008-05-25T16:01:00.001-04:00

I'm in the Times!

2008-05-25T15:42:00.000-04:00

My first editorial ran today.

Exciting stuff.

The Lizard Hunt -- Dispatch 4

2008-05-24T15:03:00.001-04:00

First day of work -- Dispatch 3

2008-05-19T23:35:00.001-04:00

The first day was mostly paperwork and orientation, but it was a blast! I start my first real day of work tomorrow.

In search of Publix -- Dispatch 2

2008-05-18T21:52:00.001-04:00

The next exciting report from St. Pete. I start work tomorrow, so more interesting stuff will be coming soon. Don't y'all worry.

St. Petersburg -- Dispatch 1

2008-05-17T17:45:00.001-04:00

Well, I'm settling in and I made this video as I drove around the city.

BOE reprimanded for nepotism

2008-05-13T11:53:00.003-04:00

A temporary employee with the N.C. Board of Elections was forced to leave his position after the state auditor's office determined that his hiring violated the state's policies on nepotism.

The temporary employee was the husband of a BOE deputy director.

The auditor's report, released today, states that although the State Personnel Act only covers permanent employees, it is recommended that temporary employees follow the same standards.

The problem, from the report:
"In her position, the Deputy Director oversees all administrative operations at the Board of Elections including the voting equipment function. As such, the Deputy Director possesses the power to influence the hiring, promotion, and salary administration of her husband as a temporary employee. Further, failure to avoid nepotism could lead to concerns within the Board of Elections regarding favoritism that may affect employee morale."

The husband left his job April 21.

Holden Thorp, UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor

2008-05-08T21:37:00.002-04:00

Thorp, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-CH, will be the school's 10th chancellor.

He was unanimously approved at 2 p.m. today at the UNC General Administration building following a months-long, $100,000+ national selection process.

Holden Thorp to be next chancellor

2008-05-08T10:25:00.002-04:00

Thorp, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-CH, will be the school's 10th chancellor, The News and Observer reports.

It will be officially announced at 2 p.m. today at the UNC General Administration building.

Check back for video.

UNC Chancellor search to end

2008-05-07T11:53:00.001-04:00

The school's 10th chancellor is expected to be announced at tomorrow's Board of Governors meeting.

Unnamed sources have listed Mike Smith, UNC's head of engagement, and Phillip Clay, chancellor of MIT and a UNC grad, as the finalists.

We'll see at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
...............................

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Life happened.

RIP Eve Carson

2008-03-06T18:58:00.002-05:00

Chapel Hill police said today that UNC Student Body President Eve Carson was shot to death early Wednesday morning.

Tomorrow's DTH will be devoted to Eve.

I'll write about how the DTH did everything in the next few days. I'm still running on adrenaline, but about to run out of that.

NCCU official busted

2008-02-12T10:21:00.000-05:00

The assistant provost at North Carolina Central University, Franklin Carver, was found to have improperly given thousands of dollars of university funds to an undergraduate student, Carver's nephew and the nephew's girlfriend, according to a state auditor's report released today.

He was also found to have made personal purchases on a university credit card. Carver has been removed from administrative responsibility, the university stated in the report.

The auditor found that nine payments, amounting to $36,041, were improperly authorized by Carver between August 2003 and March 2004. Seven of the payments were cashed, totaling $15,341. Carver, who forged signatures to authorize payments, will be required to repay the university.

The money was taken from United States Department of Health and Human Services funds associated with the Minority Biomedical Research Support and the Overcoming Racial Health Disparities grants.

The finding will be sent to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District, the district attorney for North Carolina Judicial District 14 and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Another twist? One of the women to whom Carver directed payments was involved in an "amorous relationship" with Carver, in violation of university policy.

RIP

2008-02-11T01:41:00.002-05:00

A great man died this night.
Ken Galloway, my grandfather, died shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday, succumbing after a series of medical crises. He was 75.
He was born on a farm in Iowa on July 11, 1932. He enlisted in the Marines and lost his right eye on a battlefield in Korea. He spent the rest of his career as a salesman for Hauck, living in Chicago, Pennsylvania, and Lexington, K.Y.
He spent his later years in Apex, N.C., enjoying bike rides on the Tobacco Trail, selling strawberries (and getting paid with them) at local Buckwheat Farms, attending Marine Corps reunions and taking his granddaughter to lunch at Taco Bell.

He leaves behind a loving wife of 55 years, Lorraine. She described him to a friend as her "saving grace." He married her when she was 18, giving her a fulfilling life.
He leaves behind a loving daughter, my mother, Amy. The two were very close. She drove him to all of his doctors' appointments and comforted him though his final moments.
And he leaves behind three extremely loving grandchildren, me, my brother Zachary and my sister Caroline.

He helped the boys make Pinewood Derby race cars for Cub Scouts and humming bird feeders for the backyard. He threw baseball and Frisbee on the lawn, encouraging his grandsons by calling them "weenie arms." He helped Zachary start a fledgling lawn mowing business.

When I was 8 years old and visiting his house in Lexington, he bought every painting I, suddenly an entrepreneur, made him for 25 cents each, and gave me $1 for a short narrative of his career in the Marines. He celebrated every birthday with fellow July birthday boy Zachary. He took Caroline out selling Girl Scout cookies, then treated her to dinner. And he didn't mind when she changed the television from the basketball game to Disney Channel.

He constantly gave of himself, and asked nothing in return. He never complained, even when he couldn't walk more than five minutes because of poor circulation in his legs. He still climbed up a mountain trail to see the peak with his grandchildren.

He will be given a military burial with a 21-gun salute later this week.
................

Please pray for my grandma and my mom, if you are of the religious persuasion. And even if you're not. They need all the strength they can get right now.

Charlie bit my finger - again !

2008-02-08T22:45:00.001-05:00

I just thought I'd entertain you with the cutest (and one of the funniest) videos of all time.

Fan-boy Edwards

2008-02-07T00:56:00.001-05:00

Now that John Edwards is out of the presidential race, CNN is reduced to announcing his appearance at UNC basketball games (the latest of which I refuse to announce the score to).

"The game was held at the Dean Dome, a few miles from Edwards' home in Raleigh. Edwards, chatting with another basketball fan, sported his familiar blue shirt and blazer look. Jack sported a North Carolina t-shirt."

Coach K

2008-02-06T19:41:00.001-05:00

The DTH sports guys have caught major heat (nearly 100 negative comments as of 7:40 p.m.) for a graphic predicting a Dook victory and a pronouncement that the reviled Coach K has the advantage over Roy Williams.

The sports guys' explanation is that the choice was meant to represent that Coach K's offensive scheming is better suited for this game than Williams's offensive or defensive arrangements. Still, many UNC students and alumni found the prediction blasphemous.

Here's what they wrote; judge for yourself:

"Learning from a subpar offensive season last year, Krzyzewski has utilized a guard-heavy, fact-paced system to turn things around. Duke hasn't hit many roadblocks and has seemed to buy into the system more each game. A spotty UNC defense could struggle."

Faison not getting an invite?

2008-02-06T01:24:00.000-05:00

N.C. State Representative Bill Faison represents a portion of the newly annexed part of Carrboro. At tonight's Board of Aldermen meeting, the other reps (Joe Hackney, et al) were approved to be invited to a legislators' breakfast. The vote to approve Faison was pushed back.

Check Thursday's Daily Tar Heel for more on this.

Barbecue cookies and roving hunters

2008-02-06T01:09:00.001-05:00

A UNC grad, who works in the Department of Radiology, is set to find out if she won a national prize for her barbecue cookies.

I will pay $5 to anybody who can post the recipe for a more outlandish (yet still tasty) treat.

...............

The unincorporated part of Orange County has had some trouble with hunters coming close to residences. This is the first story I got solely off my new police scanner. I love that thing.

Rat Auction

2008-02-05T03:18:00.000-05:00

RIP Ramshead Rathskeller.

Anybody get anything cool at the auction?

What would you like to see?

2008-02-02T14:32:00.001-05:00

I've started getting comments on a lot of my posts, which is great. Unfortunately for most of you it won't give me your names or e-mail addresses, so I can't address your concerns individually.

Some have asked me to expand into more areas. What would you like to see with this blog? What would you like me to investigate? In short, what would you like to see?

Send me your thoughts at andrewmdunn@gmail.com or comment on this post. If you do, please leave me some way I can contact you.

I look forward to improving this site.

Dangerous corner?

2008-02-02T12:14:00.000-05:00

Be careful at the corner of Sunset Drive and Rosemary Street across from Carburritos.

There have been several incidents there in recent days, most involving illegal drugs. The most recent: Alonzo Danielle Cassidy, 31, was arrested for allegedly selling counterfeit cocaine.