North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 04/10/1995

Tonight how well do our school children know their geography. Good evening I'm Mary Lou Hart charge glad you could join us on this Monday evening. I think you're really going to like tonight's program. Our Maria Lundberg will visit with a musician who has overcome the odds to play his joy the piano. Also tonight you'll find out how good you are edgy or free as we take you to a state wide competition for kids. And you'll meet a man very familiar to you if you watch Nightly Business Report Fred Warshaw will discuss his latest book with us. But first tonight mapping the globe. Last Friday students in all 50 states the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories were all testing their knowledge of geography. They were participating in the state level competitions for the National Geography Bee producer Erica

Starr attended our state's competition and brought back this story. Easter Island although politically a territory of Chile is culturally part of which region of Oceania. The room is silent as the audience anxiously awaits the judge's decision. We're going to accept their national standards. With tensions rising from the gun thing has gone on now the environment in schools across the country the standards mandate that students possess certain geography skills by the end of four eight and 12 grades North Carolina is doing their part to compare are you to meet the standards by hosting a state level competition at the National Geography Bee for fourth through eighth grade this year. Competition was held at peace college in Raleigh. National Geographic sponsors it now they put up the money along with the Chrysler

Corporation and National Geographic World magazine the first competitions at the school level and then you have school winners from about 900 schools in North Carolina. They can turn all the school winners take an exam. Those exams are sent to National Geographic. They're graded and the top hundred or in this case the top hundred three were then sent to the nines were sent to me and they were invited to the state final. Questions for the competition were compiled by the National Geographic Society and reviewed by a panel of educators. One of the judges said I sent the booklets to them to preview ahead you know and one of the judges said to grab some of his colleagues in the geography for me one of the universities and he didn't get a lot of answers to some questions. So this time they're tough. As a part of the competition contestants were asked to identify areas on the map the historic or literary events took place. Could you name the island located between Jamaica and cologne.

I played her Hannah Johnson of Ravenscroft school was certainly a tough one to eliminate But she says all you can do you will study hard and then it just kind of was luck of the draw on what questions you got not only did Hannah make it to the top five but there was some added pressure because she was the only girl because I knew the focus would be kind of amazing how well I could do compared to all the guys. When we pick the sides you kind of tell that the guys are a little bit nervous and it was nice because Ive seen it a couple years and they've been like one girl after three long hours of questioning two finalist we may 8th grader Benjamin Bellew of Central Middle School and seventh grader Matthew Leonard of noble middle school the student with the correct answer to this question will be the next state champion. Which one of the Great Lakes of North America has the lowest surface level elevation. BENJAMIN And Matthew write down their answers to the final question. Matt you're right you're

the great dancer it is like Ontario beer you Matthew learned the name 1995 State bee champion I was kind of nervous that my answer wasn't going to be right in word a little but it only said that it was in the I was the champion not like owners can't believe it was really exciting and I learned some some about geography because some of the questions I didn't know the answer to. It was really exciting. I was very nervous during the preliminary round and once he made it to that point and I saw how poised he was in the final round I was fairly confident. But you always know it's the luck of the draw and you don't know whether they'll get a really tough one or whether it's one you know you've heard them discuss before. We have Southern Association accreditation at our school today and Mr. Moore our principal was in a meeting and I just called the school and I said this is an emergency Mr. Moore

should be called out of the meeting so that I can personally speak to him and I said I have something for you to take seven Association tells him We have a state winner in the geography. He was so excited he almost cried when no tears for Benjamin found him in great after the competition. If you think you make it that far to the top five. No not really. I didn't even think I'd make it that far personally. Didn't even think you'd make it to the top five so how did you feel when you made it to the top two. Shocked but happy. It's just that you have so many choices to choose from when you have a question like there and then you think you know it but then you just like you know and then something else comes to you. It's not going to make it this far anyways. As the winner of the state level competition Matthew along with his school teacher have won an all expense paid trip to the nationals in Washington D.C. where the finals moderator will be none other than Jeopardy genius Alex Trebeck.

Well there's a lot of pressure on them being that their prize for the winner of the national competition will win a $25000 college scholarship. How does that make you feel. Very nervous and hopeful to know I would be thrilled for him to have passed. That would be wonderful for him. Well I'm really excited about it and I hope I can represent North Carolina well in the nationals. This is one kid who won't have any trouble finding his way to Washington D.C.. Well indeed Eric and congratulations to Matthew. The National Geography Bee finals will be a prime time PBS special on Wednesday May 30 first. You can catch it here on U.N. see TV that night at 8:00 p.m. and root for the home team. Because of the thousands of hours spent practicing professional musicians usually assume their bodies will automatically respond when it's time to play their instruments. But what if someone woke up one day and that wasn't the case. Tonight Maria Lundberg shares the story of one musician who faced a health crisis and overcame

it. To hear him play Bill Gordon comes across as the epitome of a professional pianist. After receiving his music degree he moved to New York City and began making a name for himself primarily playing jazz and rhythm and blues but in 1079 he found himself facing a problem that threatened to end his musical career set on a play one morning. And this finger in my left hand would lock into place and the other fingers wouldn't drop. And I assume that I had slipped on my hand funny or something like that but it didn't go away and it got worse and I went to all these different doctors and medical people and they most and said there was nothing wrong with it. So Bill was forced to adapt his style of playing.

So I wrote a lot of music that didn't didn't go down they went this way instead. Also I stopped playing a lot with my fingers and played with my hand. Unfortunately Bill Gordon's condition kept getting worse. In 1988 he finally got the help he needed from the Miller Institute for Performing Arts in New York City. By this time the coordination problem prevented his left hand from doing something as simple as playing a series of notes going down the scale. The diagnosis was a neurological disorder called focal dystonia. No one's exactly sure what it is but it seems to be something from the central switching office between there and whatever you're trying to do the signal just can't get through. Some people seem to think it's part of the overuse syndrome where as a musician you play something over and over and over again many times to to get it really ingrained so you really hear exactly how it's supposed to feel in your hand. So the way they got me around it was OK you have to stop playing for a while which is not really what I had in

mind. And they said you're going to have to play just a few minutes a day. And I would play I had to do these very specific things and getting a very clear image in my head of exactly what I was going to do and then doing it unbelievably slowly and then every three or four days I could increase by a minute. So gradually over a period of about so I'd say six or eight months I was able to play up to about an hour. You know what they did was sort of non surgically rewire me. And my attitude because I was you know I think that the people who get into these things you know we get so upset about it and we start to feel very hopeless about it. And so the physical becomes also this sort of this problem in the soul and then you have to work with both of those. For one year a bill Gordon went through rehabilitation exercises that was about five years ago today. The condition has pretty much disappeared and he is once again performing composing and doing what he considers to be the most important thing of all teaching. OK.

Lester you've really made me a much better musician a much better teacher watching out for these things and making sure the people who was there their bodies in a way that's comical in the ballpark. Bill Gordon's ailment is one which has ended the careers of many promising musicians. And even though his experience was a traumatic one he feels very fortunate to be a survivor. And I'm very lucky because I'm apparently I'm one of the few people who'd actually overcome those things to me have a real miracle. That's great. Even on a day when I'm not playing very well I'm usually fairly happy that I'm still plugging anything. Beautiful Well Bill Gordon has a very full schedule these days in addition to teaching. He performs

most Sunday evenings at Kassa Carbone restaurant in Raleigh and he recently recorded a wonderful collection of songs on a CD called a little romance. Bill says the recording marks another outcome of his rehabilitation. It's a symbol of hope for others afflicted with a focal dystonia. Well coming up our guest will discuss his new book The patent wars. But first Elizabeth Hardy who's in for Michel Louis tonight has the latest on some new research into the so-called Gulf War Syndrome. And she has the rest of our statewide news as well Elizabeth. Thanks Mary Lou good evening everyone. North Carolina will be one of the biggest losers under a plan to combine federal funding for welfare programs into block grants. Our state will lose two hundred and nine million dollars in federal money for cash welfare payments over the next five years under the funding formula in the block grant bill already passed by the U.S. House. That's 12 percent of the state's current spending for direct payment programs for all welfare spending including Child Protection child care nutrition programs. North Carolina would lose 1.2 billion dollars during the

same five year period. Block Grants would be capped based on how much money States paid out in welfare between 1992 and 1994. But North Carolina's population has continued to grow faster than the national average. Meaning that the number of people seeking welfare in the state will continue to rise. Researchers at Duke University are a step closer to unraveling the mysterious illnesses that have affected many soldiers who served in the Persian Gulf War. At least 37000 veterans have reported illnesses following their service in the Gulf. Drug researchers say a combination of the anti nerve gas pills and insecticide compounds given to soldiers by the Army calls nervous system damage in laboratory animals. There's been no solid link established yet between the chemical mixture and the illnesses. Duke says their theory is a strong one. The movement to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons appears to be building momentum in North Carolina. There are now four different bills pending in the general assembly which will allow the adults to carry concealed weapons providing they have a clean

criminal record. I will see if I am training one of the bills that sponsored by Republican Senator Don Kincaid who argues that criminals will be less likely to attack their potential victims if they're armed. That apparent effect on crime statistics statistics and states which already permit concealed weapons has been mixed. Governor Jim Hunt says he knows he's operating from a position of weakness as he tries to convince the Republican controlled House of Representatives to expand Smart Start on says the program for preschoolers which allows local groups to determine what services they'll offer as the kind of block grant the GOP is always touting. He claims Republicans are opposing the Smart Start expansion because they want to hurt him politically. Well the Republicans countered that they want proof the program works before they vote to expand it. The governor says that in the 32 counties where Smart Start exist 10000 children have received daycare services for the first time 22000 have had health screenings and fifteen hundred parents have participated in child development classes. Dry weather continues

throughout the state and the far risk remains extremely high for service officials say a statewide burning ban remains in effect since the ban went to effect last week state firefighters have responded to over 500 fires involving more than thirty three hundred acres. Weather reports are calling for some rain but not until mid week what seemed like a good solution to rising electric rates in the 1970s has left many North Carolina cities in debt. Twenty years ago some local governments bought shares in nuclear and coal fired power plants then being built by Duke Power NCP NL. But over the years the expected growth in demand for electric power did not materialize. Why the cost of building the nuclear plant skyrocketed. Now those cities find themselves paying off six point two billion dollars in bonds by charging higher utility rates to residents and businesses. This week marks IBM started its anniversary in Research Triangle Park 30 years ago Friday IBM announced plans to build a 10 million dollar plant and employ

1000 people. Despite layoffs and restructuring in recent years IBM still employs about 10000 workers in the triangle. Why savers has tested its new fruit flavored drinks in the North Carolina market for almost a year now because Winston-Salem based company says it will begin marketing them nationwide. The drinks come in five flavors that resemble the fruit tastes of Lifesavers hard candy. The stock market vents today in slow trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about five and a half points to close at forty one ninety eight point one five gainers lead decliners by a narrow margin as two hundred and sixty one million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The Standard Poor's 500 index was ahead by half a point and the Nasdaq composite index rose six and a half. The market managed a modest gain despite some leftover worries about the dollar and inflation. But many analysts say investors are on the sidelines waiting for government inflation figures to be released later this week. And now for some stocks of North Carolina interest.

Nations fighting for superiority with guns tanks bombs and missiles is what typically comes to mind when you think of war. Well our guest tonight believes that the new battlefields are in the world's courtrooms where companies fight for exclusive rights to ideas innovations and inventions. He is Fred Warshaw.

You might recognize him from his commentaries on Nightly Business Report which airs here on U.N. CTV. He is also the author of nine books his latest is called the patent wars the battle to own the world's technology. And Fred thank you so much for being here tonight. Tell me a little bit about your background I understand you live here in North Carolina and that you have a career not only as an author but in television as well. Yes I produce television documentaries I started 20 odd years ago with series on CBS called the 21st century. And I've been an independent television producer after leaving CBS and I produced documentaries about science and technology and medicine so that face is familiar that's why five wins going how do I know that man. Also now you've got a new book out in the patent wars what what inspired you to write this book. Well the the economic engine that drives the global economy is intellectual

property patents copyrights trademarks trade secrets and the Wealth of Nations which was originally a concept created by Adam Smith some 300 years ago said that a nation wealth rested upon. Colonies raw materials and mercantile ism. Today a nation's wealth depends upon its ability to innovate to develop ideas to create new products to bring them to market. When you use that term patent war I mean that's it. Is it because new ideas in technology is just coming fast and furious these days it was so important to get a license on that idea. Well the technology base that our civilization is based upon has grown enormously since the end of World War Two and A originally a patent was sort of a measure

of our nation's intellectual capabilities. And many many companies especially those in high tech. Didn't even bother to patent many ideas because they didn't think it was worth the trouble. And most of the courts were anti monopoly and therefore anti patent because a patent is a monopoly in this country for 17 years once it's been granted to own the exclusive rights to that invention or idea. But what has happened is the competition among nations to sell new products and new technologies has become so fierce that those ideas and innovations must be protected. There has been a system in place it's been encouraged and in fact stated in the Constitution that we must have a system to encourage the development of the Arts and Sciences for the benefit of people

in the United States. So the patent system was designed to develop and to enhance the production of ideas and art in the arts and the sciences. Copyrights for example protect this program protect my book protect movies protect literature patents protect technology medical products. But then the world has become so competitive we between the Japanese and the Germans and the Brits and the rest of the developed world. The world is so competitive that the ability to protect one's innovations is really essential to the economic well-being of that nation. Tell me then what it. The term refers to and when you say patent piracy. Well we have just narrowly averted a trade war with the

Chinese because in China and in many other developing nations they simply infringe our patents and copyrights they rip off our products without paying royalties to the patent owners. The situation became so severe in with the Chinese that we were prepared to put of for a billion dollars in economic sanctions against the Chinese in order to stop this. The problems involved. Let me frame it this way. We have a hundred odd billion dollar trade deficit each year. Another words we buy more products from the rest of the world than we sell to them. Now our intellectual property based. Sales to the rest of the world is in excess of 60 big dollars

alone. Now that accounts for probably half to two thirds of all of our exports. But the world rips off another 60 billion dollars of American products in other words they copy software without paying for it. They make CD-ROMs of us movies and music and records without paying for it. They make drugs that were invented in the United States without paying for them. That 60 the odd billion dollars if you added that to our exports and the money would to come back to the United States to its rightful owners or to the people who produce the products. The result would be that the trade deficit would be cut in half immediately. Well and that's the impact that it would have honest you know as a country but I'm sure there's a lot of folks who are sitting at home saying well how does this affect me in my everyday life it really does hit home doesn't it.

Well there's virtually no product that we use especially if you're looking at high technology there's certainly no pharmaceutical that we use that isn't at some point or other protected by patents. Patents do run out however. But virtually all of our utilities that the entire quality of our lives is based entirely or almost exclusively on intellectual property our ability to develop and innovate new ideas new products new technologies to create new jobs to enhance the quality of our lives and to create an economic climate that fosters jobs. Well Fred and you can learn more about that in your newest book the patent wars the battle to own the world's technology. And Mr. Wirtschaft it's really been a pleasure to meet you thanks for being on our program tonight. Thank you all. The

URL and here's what we're working on for you for tomorrow night. Legislative correspondent Adam Hochberg will examine a controversial bill in the general assembly to eliminate teacher tenure. And it's the time of the year when everything's blooming and time to plant that spring garden will give you some helpful hints on how to choose the right plants for your garden. Tomorrow night and a quick programming reminder. Now this coming Thursday night on North Carolina now we will dedicate our entire show to the subject of teen drinking and driving. Now our message is not to scold teens but rather to make students and parents aware of the problem. And we'll talk with experts on how to solve it. So that would be a very important show that we encourage you all to watch especially

you teens and parents. That's all for now we'll see you tomorrow night. Good night. Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Rick.