North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 04/08/1997

It's Tuesday April light. Tonight the future of fiberoptics is in North Carolina now. Hello I'm married I'm a tri Thanks for joining us for this

Tuesday edition of North Carolina now on this evening's program we'll hear about a growing concern surrounding our state's poultry industry a disease that is killing young turkeys. Our guest will be a scientist from NC State who is part of a research team searching for a cure. And Marie Lundberg introduces us to a high school theatrical group that is winning national acclaim. But first up tonight we focus on a high tech industry that's really making strides here in our state. The high tech high wage fiber optics industry is flourishing here in North Carolina. Fiber optic cable is not only the backbone of the Internet and the vast web of corporate data sharing networks but it's also the vehicle of choice for telephone systems and cable television signals. Garner has more now on our state's fiber optics industry. Global demand for high speed Biber optic communications cable is growing by a whopping 20 percent a year. In North Carolina that means rapid expansion of an already thriving industry and more high paying jobs. These

tiny glass fibers carry information transmitted by light waves instead of electricity and they carry so much more information at such higher speed than copper cable that telephone cable TV and computer networks are becoming dependent on an ever increasing supply. Our state produces some 60 percent of the world's optical fiber and around 40 percent of the planet's fiber optic cable. It's an even bigger percentage of U.S. cable production. In 1906 the fiber optic industry in the United States produced about 11 million fiber kilometers of optical fiber cable. And I would estimate that probably 70 to 75 percent of that product came from North Carolina in Wilmington Corning is expanding what is already the world's largest optical fiber plant in Research Triangle Park Sumitomo electric light wave and Lucent Technologies are producing both fiber and cable in the hickory Catawba Valley

area fiber optic cable manufacturing is growing so fast that the area is becoming known as telecom Valley major names based in the area are C core Alcatel and Comm school. Corning is also building a major new fiber plant near Charlotte. Economic developers are excited by wages approaching double the average manufacturing rate other North Carolina industries especially textiles and apparel are facing heavy offshore wage competition. The telecommunication industry is growing by leaps and bounds and it's really very capital intensive very knowledge intensive. And that's one area where we're finding a competitive advantage in North Carolina. The need for heavy investment should hold down the number of new companies getting into the field. And most of the well-established manufacturers are already in North Carolina. Even non wired systems don't pose a threat according to James Smith Patterson who's a senior advisor to Governor Hunt on science and technology satellite and wireless are also important.

But once you get into buildings or you get into campuses you still are going to need fiber optics in order to. Facilitate the kind of networking that you need in the 21st century economic inducements including all kinds of tax credits and even outright grants have helped attract and hold fiberoptics manufacturers in North Carolina near Hickory for example Catawba County gave nearly a half billion dollars worth of property to Alcatel Alcatel had to agree to invest forty five million dollars during the next five years. Is there part of the bargain. I would venture to say that Alcatel has been well in excess of 100 million dollars invested now Akon says such inducements go far beyond being a bleak necessity driven by keen competition for such industries. That is a good deal for the taxpayers. We try to focus our incentives on return so we can get a return on investment and we want to do that with companies that are using technology that are on a strong growth pattern and are in an industry that has a.

Growth Tran that reaches well out into the future. North Carolina not only hosts manufacturing but is also a prime consumer of fiber optics technology and the fiber optics. This is really like the paved road out there. Otherwise you've got a lot of dirt roads I sort of liken it to that with the typical kind of wired wiring you have. So fiber optics is very important for any kind of advanced information network. In fact there isn't a spot in eastern North Carolina that's more than 12 miles from a fiber optic network. And this is something I think the states have a responsibility in because we have the power of the state to leverage deployment of more advanced networks into the rural areas. What's come to be known as North Carolina is information highway is often viewed as a means of trying to gather far flung rural school systems to enhance education. But in fact it has a much broader application especially for business.

We're seeing a greater need in all sectors of business to have broader bandwidth capabilities not only for. Data transmission but also for voice and video. And there's only one way to do that today and that's through the information highway technology because of the sophistication of North Carolina's network. Companies are coming to the state to develop and test a specialized information systems for business. There really is only one place. Advanced telecommunications telecommunications companies can come in the U.S. to do this type of work and that is North Carolina. Recent technological competition has clouded predictions about whether information will be delivered to neighborhoods and ultimately individual homes through fiber copper or coaxial cable. But for a place like that could top a valley area with lots of different types of cable manufacturers. It's a win win situation. It doesn't really matter which OB them wins because we make them all as one of our industry leader says there's a war going on out

there and we make bullets. To give you an idea of relative information carrying capacity consider the fact that two strands of fiber optic cable each is thin as a human hair can transmit twenty four thousand telephone calls simultaneously. By comparison a bundle of standard copper wires four inches thick would be required to carry that same information. Well still ahead find out what's being done to stop the disease having a major impact on our state's poultry industry. But first let's turn to Mitchell who is at the North Carolina now news desk for a summary of today's statewide headlines. Good evening match. Thanks Maria. Good evening everyone. Topping our news a judge's order will keep sensitive tobacco industry documents sealed indefinitely for science Superior Court Judge William Freeman made the ruling today the injunction blocks the Liggett Group from unsealing secret tobacco industry papers. According to the judge the tobacco industry could substance sustain irreparable damage if he were to permit the release of the records.

Tobacco industry lawyers had argued Look it was part of the tobacco industry defense team at one time and the release of the documents would violate the attorney client privilege. Governor Hunt has come down in support of a moratorium on new and expanded hog farms. The governor's position calls for a two year moratorium doubling the original one year proposal put forward by Representative Richard Morgan of Moore County. Speaking today at a packed news conference in Raleigh Huntsville down his proposal a contingent from the hog industry expressed their views as the governor spoke. But Hunt made sure to go beyond singling out only the hawg industry as he delivered the news. Today I called and said they could be here for you and expand to ensure that our environment gets pollution and so that we can take to take an objective look at the impact of the hog industry. Oh my goodness it is black.

Say that pollution that use rivers or the rivers just come home from somewhere or get it that's a minor part of truth is it becomes income housing development comes of course as it comes in the OT projects. He comes from a lot of different sources. If the General Assembly and X Hunt's proposal for the full two years the moratorium would run through July 1999 the tentative Senate approval has been given to a bill barring the use of genetic testing to discriminate. The measure would prevent insurance companies and employers from using genetic testing information to discriminate against health insurance customers or employees. In some states genetic testing and counseling have been used to deny health benefits and have reportedly cost some people their jobs. Looking ahead to tomorrow's weather 50 and 60 degree temperatures a forecast for Wednesday the warmer areas of the state will reach into the low 60s. Expect cooler

temps in the mountains partly to mostly cloudy skies are on tap for tomorrow. Be on the lookout for sprinkles during afternoon hours. And in business news Governor Huntsman has a buyout of the North Carolina Road company will lead to increased freight service and pave the way for mass transit trains. The state already own 75 percent of the company which has been embroiled in a controversy over leasing rights with Norfolk Southern. The governor's plan would buy all about a million privately held shares at a cost of 71 million dollars. The agreement is contingent on shareholder approval and funding from the General Assembly. North Carolina roll road controls three hundred seventeen miles of track between Morehead City and Charlotte. A Stanley County judge is open the way for an environmental group to move forward with its lawsuit against Carolina so like Corporation the group Stanley Citizens Opposed to toxic chemical hazards filed suit opposing the plant's air emissions permit changes. Last month the count the company counter sued for a preliminary injunction and

$10000 in damages against the environmental group. Carolina so light burns hazardous waste fuel and making concrete aggregate products. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. A mysterious disease is making its way through North Carolinas turkey farms.

The disease first referred to as spiking mortality but now called Pem. This poses no threat to humans but is deadly to young turkeys. The disease which cost the poultry industry 55 million dollars last year impairs the immune system of the young birds. Our guest tonight is a member of a comprehensive research team assembled at NC State to find a cure for this disease. She is Donna Carver. Dr. Carver Welcome to North Carolina now. Thank you. Tell me about this disease that was had some guests on from NC State about a year ago at the time they referred to it as spiking mortality now it's called Pams why the name change. Well PMS is a very much. A better descriptive term of what actually happens with the disease. It stands for Polt into riotous mortality syndrome and this disease affects primarily poults which are very young turkeys. It causes into riotous which is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and it causes mortality

so the new name is very much more descriptive in terms of what happens what types of birds are affected spiking mortality basically just said that there was a spike in mortality and you can get that with a lot of different diseases. So where and when did Pam's first become a problem in North Carolina. PMS first became a problem in Union County in 1991 and it remained localized in that area until about 1994. And at that time it spread to other parts of the state and two adjacent states. So now is it something that we've been able to get a handle on or is it still spreading. It's still spreading I would say. We don't have any real good data. Prior to 1996 and last year we actually did some tracking of the incidence rate and we have some data on the incidents last year and we'll use that as a benchmark to see where we are this year and we need to say that we don't have any idea of where we are this year yet because

this is something that happens in the summer time correct so we're really waiting for it to happen. Yes we will sprog start seeing cases if it follows the historical pattern we'll see cases around mid-May they will continue the incidence will continue to get worse or higher until about mid-July and then by mid to late September it will go away. So if we're not seeing cases of the disease yet this year why are we hearing so much about it in the news now. The reason is that one of the large companies integrated Turkey companies in the western part of the state. One of their strategies to try to combat this disease is to decrease the density of the number or numbers of farms in a specific area and in order to do that they have decided to not place birds on 42 farms in the area. And so it's a huge economic impact both for the growers in that area and also for just the local economies.

So tell us about this research project underway at NC State of which you are a part. What approach are you taking to find a cure for this disease. Well this is a multi-factorial disease and we are taking a multifactorial approach. I am trained in epidemiology so I am primarily focusing on looking at Risk factors for the disease and trying to identify those and then we can manage the risk of a farm coming down with the disease. Other people on the team are pathologist just immunologist and they are all looking at other things. We have our ologist that's looking screening the number of viruses that have been found in these birds to try to determine which one if there is one is setting these birds up. We know that there's a bacterial component as well. We also have some immunologists that are just trying to characterize what is happening to the immune systems of these birds.

So how far do you have to go yet. I understand that you've made great strides in your research so far. Tell us about that. We we know a lot more about the disease now than we did in 1991. We still don't know what causes the disease. And that hampers our efforts because without a cause we don't have a diagnostic test. It's not easy to go in and determine early on which forms are going to be affected and which ones aren't. So we have a ways to go in terms of controlling the disease but hopefully you know some of the viruses that are being screened now will hopefully you know be the causative agent. And once we can come up with that causative agent it shouldn't be too long in terms of being able to develop diagnostic tests and and find hopefully a cure. How big of an impact is this disease on the turkey industry in our state. Well last year it was estimated that basically it cost the industry

55 million dollars and the latest estimates that off saying on the industry as a whole is something like five hundred eighty million dollars a year so that's about 10 percent loss of about 10 percent of the income for the industry so that's that's a huge impact. All right well Dr. Carver I wish you well in your research and I thank you very much for being with us tonight. Thank you. Moving on now to another topic. Students in high schools all across North Carolina compete against each other in many areas including athletics and academics. Sometimes it can be tough for smaller less influence schools to hold their own against their larger neighbors. But in western North Carolina producer Maria Lundberg found a small school that has stepped into the spotlight of achievement. North Carolina's mountains draw thousands of visitors each year who come to appreciate the

scenic beauty of the region. Often the most enjoyable spots are those off the beaten path in charming little mountain communities. Dr. Phil is a small town in a rural Jancee County but there's something big happening here and it's the pride of the entire community. I think these are members of the mountain Heritage High School drama team. They attend the only high school in a county which has just 15000 residents. But these students are high achievers. After winning a regional competition they competed for the North Carolina theater conferenced state championship in December 1996. I go into a deli at lunchtime to buy a sandwich and the guy tells me they don't have to strive. The group took on 18 drama teams from across North Carolina and mountain heritage. The smallest school in the competition brought home the title

that when qualified them to compete in Miami Florida in March in a national competition against teams from 10 other southeastern states. Once again they were very successful winning one third of all the awards. Their drama teacher Alisa Bryant laws believes that the small school environment has helped her students excel. Everything is so close here in this almost little microcosm here at the school when everybody knows what everybody else is good at or not good at. And when you get a group of people who I don't want to say don't don't fit in but don't feel comfortable in any of those areas they're not comfortable on the basketball court or they're not comfortable. Painting or they're not comfortable tearing or they're whatever they can't find the niche. This is a place where even if you can't find a niche you

found one because you're accepted there. And there's that almost Brotherhood and sense of camaraderie that makes them count on each other. For students like Jeremy Smith the drama program makes a big impact on me whenever I came to the school I never really had anything that I was really interested in and I didn't. And so that led to like you know motivation in classes and everything else you know. And once you get interested in something you know you start getting most of it motivated. And I think drama does that. I think we you know instilled with qualities in here that you know you have to work hard and you have to. We like to succeed in here. And so I think I think from his life and other areas in life I can see like into the future more and see that I can really do something and I have hope that something can be I can do something to make a difference. Although these students spend many hours outside of school rehearsing their performances

the dedication and hard work they put into drama carry over into other areas of school. The same day that they had the public performance of the play before they went to Miami. We had an assembly that afternoon and that was for part of it was for the induction of the National Honor Society. And you could almost take the cast from this play that they to a national competition. And that was your inductees in the nation a lot of sense that. I mean I nick and drying all of Iraq. Just Schlitz most plays performed by the students like these one act vignettes are complex pieces. But Bryant laws chooses the material purposefully. My first love is literature. And so the plays that we to that I choose for them to do are plays that are great pieces of literature. We spend an incredible amount of time

looking at the play as a piece of literature and exploring the different levels of meaning there. And why a character does what he does in relationship to each other and in relation to his whole lives. We study it and we see maybe the souce or social messages that are they are or even if it's not a social message but it's the artistry of literature and they see the parallels in the symbols and go oh that's so cool. And then they just developed this love for that piece of literature and they want to do that. I've done some shows that you can't do that with that they are just this is literal. This is funny. There's nothing here to discuss. Let's just talk about character. And those are fun to do but I never get the for from the cast that. But you can get when they have to think. Thank you brother you should do that. I do not go anywhere and I was doing that much

for the students involved in the drama program here are gaining self discipline confidence and an appreciation for the rewards of hard work. But in addition to their impressive collection of awards and honors they have achieved something even more rewarding. A very special bond with members of their community who made it possible financially for the students to compete in Miami. That was wonderful but by far the richest thing from this whole experience has been to see those very same giving people out here because it's one thing to say Yeah we'll support the schools take this money but it's a whole different thing to actually come and see what it is that everybody's applauding. And our normal houses are 50 to 60. And for this place to be full it was the richest part of it all. The mountain heritage Houghton Heritage High School drama students have been

participating in drama competitions for the past five years. During that time they've brought home more awards than any other school and have competed at the state level four out of five years. Their accomplishments prove that with hard work and determination the little guy can finish first. That's our program for tonight thanks for watching please join us tomorrow when Velma Lennon will be our guest. She is the state president of the AARP American Association of Retired Persons. Michel Louis examines a program in Wilmington designed to give those on welfare a step up by improving their quality of life. Also tomorrow we'll learn more about North Carolina Central University. Meantime Have a great night. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Good night everyone.