North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 03/11/1998

It's Wednesday March 11. Tonight the case that was born in North Carolina now. Good evening everyone welcome to this Wednesday edition of North Carolina now I'm reading the tray. If you've been enjoying our Made in North Carolina series then you're really going to enjoy tonight's installment. We're going to span 100 years of soft drink history to bring you the story behind the cola with its origins here in our state. Plus our guest tonight is here to tell you about a very special program that's taking place at the Akron art museum that's all coming up later. But first a century ago a pharmacist in New Bern came up with a new soda fountain drink that soon swept the country. Now it's one of the largest selling soft drinks in the world and its name Pepsi. That

company is planning a gala birthday blast in April to celebrate 100 years of the taste. Born in the Carolinas Kelly McCann takes a look at how it all started. Teddy Roosevelt Rough Riders charged up sand on him and a new music called Ragtime was the. At that time pharmacists across the country were whipping up new drinks containing the cola nut and the coca leaf which is where cocaine comes from. Back then I thought it was good for you but right here in New Bern at a drug store on that corner a pharmacist was cooking up something different. He was concerned about the health effects of the coca leaf and his drink didn't have any. His name was Caleb Brattle. Our member Mr. Brad. Light yesterday Lyla Taylor of Newbern was just a young girl when Bratton was pouring free samples of his new drink from a jug in front of his drug store.

He didn't call it you know not to mad knowledge he called it his cola. Would you like some of my own luck. And we would go and say yes. And he would pull up this little chip up. And. We were just happy. Good day. Brads drank as it came to be known became so popular Bratton decided to sell it nationwide. He changed the name to a Pepsi Cola and the taste born in the Carolinas quickly became an American favorite Pepsi claim to cure nervousness and make it more cheerful. Well it certainly did a lot for Caleb Reddam but a sugar crisis in World War one forced Reddam to sell his stake in Pepsi for $30000 candy sales when Charles just took over and came up with an idea that would save Pepsi from extinction. Sell twice as much for the same price. Take it back to last

five days much too fancifully. The 12 ounces for a nickel floor was a huge success and today Pepsi relics are worth a fortune including this stall holder made in 1909. If I sold it the day it would sell for over $7000. When the last one auction sold for Sunday 500 so I assume this would do even better this is what one of the best I've ever seen of the of the very few that are around a stronghold. No no right to celebrate its 100 years Pepsi is throwing a birthday bash to Newbern complete with parades and entertainments fireworks skyrocketing Pepsi costume characters like Brad I'm will be here for the weekend. So we've got a lot to offer. Brad is going to be kind of a brat and will be here certainly he'll be visible every place for the way again. Who knows maybe even Elvis will show up a Pepsi drinker himself. Legend has it he wants washed bottles at a Tupelo Pepsi plant.

And according to historians Otis Blackwell was inspired to write the tune all shook up when he saw Elvis walk into a room shaking a bottle of Pepsi. The song hit number one in 1957. And you remember the year the Pepsi Generation A. Man or a. Man. It was 1963. That same year Pepsi introduced a diet cola. Do you remember what they called it. Diet. How do you know. The push to launch that went flat so to speak. They changed the name to diet Pepsi which had a lot more success and so did the song written for it. The song was such a hit Al Hirt recorded it in fact Pepsi's and has over the years have become a part of the American landscape from the first TV ad in the 40s.

To the 70s and this Pepsi classic. Soon Pepsi was popping up on television shows that it. Brought back a lot and feature films I wanted to capture. I've got one of the bottle for the movie Back to the future to the bottle shoots out the counter so look out. I've got one of those bottles and in the 80s Ray Charles sang a new phrase into the English language. You got the right bang bang bang was in 1984 Pepsi made history paying a record amount. Five million dollars for an entertainer to endorse its

product. Who else but Michael Jackson. Even to the taste one of the Carolinas doesn't set you on fire. Newborns Pepsi museum will give you plenty to drink him. Most of this belongs to collector Bob Stoddard who has more Pepsi stuff than almost anyone in the world including one of the first Pepsi cans dated 1949. The metallic flavor change of flavor Pepsi sleaze cans that do very well it was until 1960 the Pepsi got cans again. Looks like Motorola. 100 years of memory what happens to people trying to drink. Well what this is a Pepsi town and start life for NL. So anyone who comes here I think they'll find Pepsi anywhere they look and that should be there.

The Pepsi exhibit opens tomorrow at the bank of the Arts in New Bern and the celebration weekend runs April 3rd through the fifth that weekend Pepsi will honor Native North and South Carolinians who have made outstanding achievements in the past 100 years. Coming up an art museum project that's offering visitors a truly religious experience. But first let's head over to Mitchell Lois for a summary of the events making news around our state. Hello Meche. Hi there Marina. Good evening everyone. Topping our news losses reported by some of the state's largest health maintenance organizations is leading to speculation that some HMO olds may pull out of the Tar Heel State. State department of insurance records show back to back losses reported by nearly all the major HMO OLs and the fast growing Triangle region of the state. Kaiser Foundation health plan recorded one thousand ninety seven losses totaling Twenty one million dollars after losing 16 million in 1996. Likewise health source the triangle's largest HMO lost four point two million dollars last year. Industry

analysts say most of the industry will be looking for rate increases of up to 15 percent. Observers say they also expect to see more HMO is pushing to cut what they pay doctors and other providers. The State Department of Transportation has an extra month to hand over documents requested by federal agents investigating the department. The FBI extension gives the deal to until April 16th to produce the subpoenaed records. The FBI is looking into cases of ethical conflicts and political patronage at the Department of Transportation. In addition federal investigators have subpoenaed 13 current and former deal t officials attorneys for the Transportation Department say they will respond to four subpoenas by Tuesday of next week but declined to identify which people subpoenaed will be stepping forward. Leaders from North and South Carolina will meet later this month for a conference to seek solutions to common problems. The conference call the Carolinas United we stand is being billed as the first time the Carolinas have come together to collaborate since they were split in 1729 attending the conference will be

education and economic development professionals. Legislators and political leaders border Organizers say the two states share many common bonds opportunities and challenges and their futures are linked in many ways. A legislative mandate aimed at increasing earlier graduations at state universities appears to be slow in taking hold five years after the institution of the mandate. Only four of the 16 U.N. system campuses have met the 15 credit hours per semester standard for all students university system Vice President Gary Barnes says schools are meeting the goal of increasing the number of students graduating in four years. However low course load numbers still worry officials who want fewer students waiting five or more years to complete their degree. And now for a look at tomorrow's weather. Another cold day across the state highs will be mostly around the 40 degree mark. Expect even colder temperatures in the mountains. However sunny skies will prevail over most of the state but the western part of the state will see partly cloudy skies. And in business news heavy truck manufacturer Freightliner has announced a major expansion plan

at three plants in Rowan and Gaston counties. Company officials say the growth will add 945 new employees to its current central North Carolina workforce Freightliner will reportedly boost truck production by 25 percent up to 150 units per day. And the Rowan County plant is expected to manufacture a new model that will allow trucks to carry 15 percent more freight without adding weight. Freight line is Rowan County plant is the company's largest manufacturing facility. Job cuts are coming to Motorola. The company says it will close its semiconductor manufacturing plant in Research Triangle Park by the end of the year leaving three hundred seventy two people out of work. A spokesman for Motorola says the company is shifting away from single plants and moving toward manufacturing campuses. Motorola says it will try to relocate employees to facilities in Texas Arizona and Virginia. And Governor Jim Hunt has ordered the state's rapid response team to help with retraining and job replacements. Seeley Incorporated is relocating its corporate headquarters to North Carolina. The maker of the

pasta repeated mattresses leaving Cleveland Ohio in favor of Randolph County in the Piedmont. The mattress maker will construct a brand new corporate office building as well as purchase and renovate an existing furniture remanufactured manufacturing facility. Seeley also operate a show room in High Point and a betting plant in Lexington. The new operations will mean about 300 new jobs for Randolph County. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. Have you ever wanted to explore a religion other than your own. Well they actually an art museum on the

campus of u and C Chapel Hill is making that possible. The museum is hosting a project called the New World Religions project. Recently museum curator Ray Williams sat down with Shannon Vicary to tell us more about the program. Ray Williams thank you so much for joining us tonight. When people think of the Akron art museum I think of course of great works of art but probably not religious information. Why did you all decide to embark upon this project dealing with world religions. Well it's really come about from working in the collections and talking with Vizard's about him early teaching experience for me was looking at an Italian Renaissance altarpiece and talking to a group of North Carolina eighth graders about the Renaissance in style stylistic change and and in the middle of the conversation somebody raised their hand and said But who is that lady in the blue dress that in all of these

pictures. And I thought. We need to back up a little bit. It's very important for people to know that these are pictures about Mary and Jesus and that their original context is a religious context and that it's to communicate to the Catholic faithful in Italy. And so that was sort of a first hint that there's a an education job to be done no matter what the visitors religious background is. I think it's important for everybody to know about the great religious teachers who is Jesus who is Muhammad who is Buddha. This is basic cultural information and it becomes particularly relevant in this time in North Carolina when things are changing so rapidly and there's likely going to be Hindu and Buddhist and Muslim and Jewish people in the room. It's a new

challenge. How then is the Ackland going to tackle this project how are you going to investigate the world religions and then present this information to the community. Well we have a variety of strategies and basically one of the things that we're trying to do is pull together different people from the community to present their own perspective. And the museum almost becomes a forum for the exchange of ideas and perspectives. I like to think that the museum can foster some interfaith dialogue and understanding. And so we of course draw on the expertise of scholars in the university and have gotten great assistance from people like Professor Joanne Waghorn in Religious Studies who can bring a scholarly expertise on Hinduism. But we're also seeking out people in local faith communities who can speak from their own personal

experience. So I'm meeting with rabbis and the priest at the local Hindu temple. Bringing all this together is central to what we're doing because well the advantage of teaching in an art museum is that it's a neutral safe space where people can learn new things and not feel like anybody's trying to convert them. The disadvantage is. If you're looking at something from the 12th century you may be left with the idea that Hinduism just died out long ago and far away. So core to this project is reminding people that Hinduism is a living religion. And it's alive right here in North Carolina. That's the aspect that I find really intriguing and not only are you looking at how these different face are living in North Carolina but you're also putting together a curriculum for the schools to use. How are you doing that.

Yes well first of all I'm starting with a standard course of study which is through the State Department Public Instruction looking at what social studies teachers are required to teach. And throughout since 1900 and actually throughout the social studies curriculum there are these moments where teachers are told You really need to teach about religions about religions in Asia or Africa or Europe. But get some religious content in there. And yet I think we all know it can feel scary. Well if it can feel like scary territory to initiate these conversations with youngsters and people have felt sometimes unsure and I think that the museum by responding to the social studies curriculum by using works of art as the conversation openers because people want to know why it is that good to have such long arrow you know why is that lady wearing the blue dress. Those kinds of questions come from the

objects. Then we start filtering in scholarly practitioner perspectives and ultimately try to create. Posters that we can send out to the schools lesson plans support the social studies curriculum and ultimately multimedia resource that teachers can hear in a few clips. It all started piecing together in a way that support teachers in this very important work. All right Williams It sounds like you and the museum have a huge task ahead of you but it sounds like an interesting one and we thank you very much for coming with us. Thank you. The five faves represented in that project are Judaism Christianity Islam Hinduism and Buddhism. If you would like more information on the world religions project you can contact the Akron Art Museum at 9 1 9 9 6 6 5 7 3 6.

That does it for us here at North Carolina now we're getting out of here early tonight to make way for festival 98 our annual fund raising campaign. Our special in-studio guest this evening is Roger Williams So you want to stay tuned for that and please join us tomorrow for North Carolina. Have a great night.