North Carolina Now; Episode from 1999-05-13

It's Thursday, May 13th, tonight finding a more environmentally friendly way of disposing of hog waste in North Carolina, now. A good Thursday evening to you. I'm Arita Matray. Thanks for joining us tonight for North Carolina now. The tensions in China are putting into question a long planned and highly-tounted banking conference that a La Palachia state is scheduled to hold in Shanghai in two weeks. The chancellor of La Palachia state will be here to discuss the situation. But first, to a controversy brewing here at home. State lawmakers may soon be debating a bill that would extend North Carolina's moratorium on hog farms. The measure is part of Governor Hunts' comprehensive plan to phase out the state's 3,000 hog waste lagoons, long criticized for polluting the environment. But there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the plan, as John Arnold reports both environmental

and poor producers are voicing concerns. The yellow police tape that fluttered across this dirt road in Dupland County last month marked yet another PR nightmare for the state's embattled hog industry. The wall of a nearby waste lagoon broke, allowing more than a million gallons of hog waste to escape into a nearby swamp. The farm's owner, Murphy Family Farms, immediately found itself on the defensive. The company claimed the lagoon had been checked the night before, and appeared to be in good shape. All of that leads to the suggestion that there may be some suspicious behavior involved. I think it could have been vandalized, or we think that's a possibility. But a two-day investigation by the SBI and the state division of water quality turned up no evidence supporting that accusation, and instead determined that tree roots, likely weakened the lagoon wall, causing it to rupture. Compared to other hog waste spills, this one caused minimal damage.

There were no significant fish kills, and the spill was contained in the nearby swamp. But the finger pointing threw more fuel on an already raging fire controversy. Four years, environmentalists and the hog industry have been fighting over how to handle the thousands of tons of hog waste produced every day. Many people think the current method of collecting the waste in open air lagoons, then spraying it onto surrounding fields, is inadequate and dangerous. There's concerns of groundwater contamination. There's concerns of runoff from spray fields. There's concerns from direct discharges when a lagoon bust. A lot of unknowns. What hog industry officials say there are just as many unknowns surrounding Governor Jim Hunts' plan to phase lagoons out. The governor recently called for a 10-year conversion of hog waste lagoons to a new, more environmentally friendly, technology for handling waste. The problem is, it's unclear what that technology will be.

So as we're talking about phasing out the lagoon system, which is used nationwide, which has been used for as long as anybody can remember, a lot of farmers fear that if they're forced to phase out the lagoon system, there really is going to be nothing for them to use to treat the waste that's produced. Beth M. Mumford is Director of Public Affairs for the North Carolina Port Council. She says farmers are being thrown into an unfair situation. After all, hog lagoons were mandated and permitted by the state. Now, the farmers may be asked to not only convert their lagoons, but to pay for that conversion as well. So if the farmers are going to be forced into some undeveloped, unproven technology, there's a, you know, we feel that the state is going to have to pay for that. Governor Hunt says hog farmers and taxpayers should share the cost of the conversion, which will likely be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. That's a prospect that doesn't sit well with many taxpayers, taxpayers like Joe Johnson.

It's a problem no doubt that we're all going to have to deal with because it's here now. Joe recently drove us down the dusty lane in Dupland County that leads to his home, one that has gradually been surrounded by hog houses. 21 of them holding thousands of animals. Johnson says his quality of life has been destroyed. The penetrating odor, he says, is unbearable. And he fears one of the nearby lagoons could one day break, causing an environmental disaster. And yet that the governor is wanting me to out of my tax money pay for that lagoon, setting over there, I've paid for it for 10 years. And boy, I'll just let me hush on that situation. But Joe Johnson isn't quiet when it comes to discussing the root of his predicament. His beef is not so much with the hog producers who have, in most cases, followed the letter of the law. Joe's problem is with the people who make the law, the governor and the general assembly. In fact, the government has received plenty of criticism from both sides of the fence,

from pork producers who say lawmakers have acted too rashly, and from environmentalists who say they've acted too slowly. They've taken the issue seriously, but they've taken it cautiously as well. So what we've seen is progress, but incremental progress. Dan Whittle is senior attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund. He says governor Hunts 10-year phase out plan may be too long, but that it's on the right track. The idea is to set performance standards for hog farms. Producers could then pick any new technology they wanted, as long as it meant those environmental standards. Whittle says this would encourage competition among the scores of scientists who are developing new hog waste technologies. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of people who think they have the answer. There are probably dozens of promising technologies. Where's the original to control? Many are being researched here at North Carolina State University, by scientists like Dr. Jason Sheet.

He has developed a system that would digest the hog waste and turn it into methane gas, which in turn could be used to produce electricity for the farm. I think it's about time we need to think any other alternative technology. I won't say my technology is the best, but I think at least it's one of the possibilities. One of technology and should be tested or demonstrated and let the farmers to pick. While Dr. Sheet works to get funding for his project, the honey administration will be evaluating performance standards and a slew of other new technologies. Hunt is also calling for a two-year extension on the hog farm moratorium, while new systems for handling waste are developed. Those in the pork industry remain skeptical, but say they are open to the idea of new technology, as long as it is developed scientifically and not politically. We would love to find something that is more efficient, more cost-effective, easier to manage. At the same time, that's not an indictment of Lagoon in Sprayfield.

It's just that if we can do something more effectively, we would like to know what it is. The Raleigh News and Observer reported today that a contractor for Murphy family farms pumped waste into the lagoon the night before it broke, according to the report, investigators don't know whether that pumping had anything to do with the break. Initially, a farm spokesperson had said the lagoon was not being used. Meanwhile, state Senate leaders announced last month that they're working on a comprehensive environmental bill that would include, among other things, an extension on the hog farm moratorium, but the bill has yet to be introduced. Well, coming up on North Carolina now, how the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade is affecting Appalachian State University. But first, here's Mitchell Lewis with today's statewide headlines. Good evening, Mitch. Thanks, Marita. Good evening, everyone. Topping the news, Vice President Al Gore made a stop in the Tarheal state today, where he announced that North Carolina will be receiving about $900,000 in federal grants.

The money will be used for transportation projects designed to help welfare and low-income residents find and keep jobs. 42 states are receiving portions of the federal initiative, totaling $71 million. In addition to announcing the grants, Gore made stops in Raleigh and Charlotte to raise money for his presidential campaign. And the federal government is also helping out North Carolina police departments. 17 departments across our state are receiving grants from the Clinton administration to hire more officers. The grants are part of the Clinton's initiative to put 100,000 new officers on the streets nationwide. Since the start of the program, North Carolina police and sheriff's departments have received nearly $121 million. The UNC Board of Governors will consider a proposal this week that would use bonds to pay for renovation and construction of the system's 16 campuses. UNC System President Molly Broad and State Treasurer Holland Boils are proposing the state issue-limited obligation bonds to the university system. The bonds would not need voter approval,

and the universities would pay them back through dorm rents, food receipts, and parking fees. It's expected to take up to $6.9 billion to refurbish and expand all of the universities. Two House Republicans are vying for the Minority Leadership Post being vacated by Representative Leo Dottry. Representatives Richard Morgan of Moore County and Art Pope of Wake County are the leading candidates. Dottry is resigning from the position to focus on his campaign for governor, but will retain his house seat. House Republicans will select a new Minority Leader on Tuesday. And now for a look at tomorrow's weather, cooler temperatures are on the way. Highs in the mountains will be in the upper 50s to mid 60s. The rest of the state should see highs in the mid 60s to around 70. Rainy conditions are likely statewide for Friday. In business news, RGR Nabisco has presented a plan to split its domestic tobacco unit from its food business. Chairman Stephen Goldstone says the separation will be good for shareholders because they will receive one share of RJ Reynolds tobacco stock and one share of Nabisco stock.

RGR Nabisco will also provide more than $400 million to protect underfunded pensions of the tobacco company. Some company officials feel the split was necessary because the potential liabilities of the tobacco operations undervalued RGR Nabisco's food business. The spinoff of the two companies should be completed by June 15th. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. In Beijing, China, police are allowing cars and pedestrians to travel freely around the

embassy district for the first time since four days of angry Chinese protests against the U.S. Embassy. The protests were sparked by the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in the Balkans. U.S. officials say the American Embassy in China will remain closed until at least Monday. And China's state-run news media is still filled with anti-American rhetoric. This diplomatic nightmare is complicating a planned international banking conference between Fudan University in Shanghai and Appalachian State University for the end of this month. And here to update the situation is the chancellor of Appalachian State University Dr. Francis Borkowski. Dr. Borkowski, good to see you again. Thank you. Thank you, Merida. It's good to be with you. So tell us the status of this conference. Are you planning on going? Oh, yes, we are. In fact, this morning we received a letter from the Vice President of Fudan telling us that they were looking forward to having us come and indeed one little

important piece of information that the mayor of Shanghai was looking forward to being with us at a reception. That's an important piece of information because it means that the conference is blessed by the government. And a lot of work has gone on at Fudan universities to bring through the conference 70 Chinese bankers to meet with our 30 bankers. And so they obviously at Fudan and the business community wants this conference to materialize. And at this point in time it seems that what has happened is now behind and we're moving on ahead. Now this conference stems from Governor Hunts' trade mission to China last year. Tell us more about what is going to be taking place and just some of the activities that you anticipate. There will be a number of comments, addresses, remarks by our bankers to the Chinese bankers. There will be panel discussions to talk about issues dealing with Pacific Rim, United States banking problems, trade issues, any number of areas that could further enhance

the reform of banking in China. And also of course we're interested in developing closer relations between the business community in North Carolina and China. It is a vast market as everyone is aware. And I do believe that the Chinese business community where the United States now has 40 billion dollars invested in China sees the nurturing of that relationship is very important to the economic vitality of the future of the country. So I think we will be embraced with open arms. I think the events will be productive. And it could be truly a seminal event. 20 years from now, 25 years from now as the economy of the country changes and as the country moves to a free market economy and to a free enterprise system. It is feasible that someone doing a PhD could look back on 1999 and see the turning point in Chinese American relations in terms of the

business sense to be pivotal on this conference. And this is not the first venture that Appalachian State has had with Fudan University. In fact, your relationship goes back a few years. Tell our viewers about how this relationship got started. Let me even go back a little further if I may. And that is that my predecessor, Chancellor Emeritus John Thomas, forged a relationship with Shen Yang in Northeast University in the northern part of the country. And Appalachian to our knowledge was the first university in the United States to teach the satellite to China back in the early 80s. So we've had a longstanding relationship there. Our College of Education, for example, has faculty from the high school in Northeast University coming now currently at Appalachian. And as we have developed that relationship, it's opened up the doors to other opportunities. A few years ago, because her nephew received a degree at Appalachian, probably the most influential woman and certainly the most influential educator in China, Madame Che Shida, came to Appalachian

and we developed a very positive warm relationship with her. She invited us to come to Fudan University where she was the president, had been the president. And we developed this relationship where we now have 10 to 15 students from Appalachian, studying Harvard cases, dealing with Pacific Rim, United States business problems, and an equal number of Chinese students doing that. And then in May, our students go to Shanghai and match up with the Chinese students. This is a program supported by Bill Holland of United Dominion. And out of that came the nurturing of this relationship with Fudan so that they asked us, Appalachian, over major business schools in the country, to co-host this conference on banking reform. Well, an exciting opportunity for your students. Let me ask you something else that's going on with Appalachian State. And that is the relationship that you're developing with the community colleges in the area in order to facilitate reaching out to more students at your campus.

Yeah, we have, we signed just a few weeks ago an Appalachian Learning Alliance. And that is to offer upper division classes and graduate classes in the community colleges. We've had positive relations with the community colleges for a long period of time. But it did seem to us that we could expand upon the opportunities for the students who want to be Appalachian students in the region and indeed hold off on the enrollment bulge in Boone and at Appalachian and to take the academic programs out to the community colleges. Now there are a lot of issues yet to be dealt with but the community college presidents have been just terrific in working with us. President Martin Langkester and President Broad have both signed on and endorsed the Appalachian Learning Alliance. And we look forward to very productive relationships there in offering programs that meet the market demand of the students in the community colleges. And as you know, with the enrollment projection, somewhere between 48 and 50,000 net new students in the next eight

years, we want to be able to be responsive as a public university to them. But Boone can only take so many people. And consequently, it seems incumbent on us to take the courses to them. All right. Chancellor Borkowski, thank you so much for being here tonight. Safe travels to you. Thank you, Marie, to very much. Okay. Now if you would like more information about Appalachian State, you can contact them via the internet at www.appstate.edu. The Museum of World Cultures at UNC Wilmington honors what it calls living treasures. The first ever woman named to the list is a basket maker, Billy Ruth Suddeth of Bakersville. Shannon Vickery takes us to the mountains of western North Carolina to meet her. The first basket ever made was in August of 1983. And I remember that because it's like one of

those profound experiences. It's a date, if you will, that would live an imp for me. It's also the day 52-year-old Billy Ruth Suddeth found her calling and started carving out a new life for herself. It felt so right. I think it was the rhythm and the the fact that it was something I could do, but it just I connected with it. Now 15 years and more than 7,000 baskets later, it still feels right as Suddeth works to perfect her craft. Her baskets can be seen in the Smithsonian's Rennwick Gallery as well as galleries worldwide. But despite all of the international acclaim that's accompanied her work, Suddeth says what attracts her to basketry is the craft's simplicity. Unlike say a potter or a glass blower that has a lot of material and equipment needs with baskets, all you really need are your hands. And I think manipulating the material

is primarily what I found so fast ago that you start just with a spoke or a rib or something that's straight from a vine or a plant or a tree. And just the way you do your overs and your unders and you're connecting it in shape and pull and tug and push that you create this object. It's just sort of fascinating. I think to see it evolve. Much like the evolution of her own work. When Suddeth first started making baskets, she was working full-time as a school psychologist. But in those early days, she found herself suddenly getting much more attention for her spare time craft than her professional career. I would say within a year time was becoming a real problem in terms of how was I going to do this professional job and make these baskets. And it got to the point that after maybe three or four years that I truly had to make a decision about which way

I was going to go with this. So Suddeth quit her job and took up basketry full-time. She says she finds the inspiration for her work just outside her window. I like to think that I make baskets that don't hold your objects but hold your interest. And at this point, I guess some of my more museum quality pieces, that's what you would put in it would be your interest. Suddeth uses a mathematical principle called the nature sequence to guide the intricate design she weaves into her baskets. The same principle first discovered by a mathematician named Fibonacci. It was a mathematician in the 13th century who figured out the numerical sequence that occurs throughout nature. And it simply put us a proportion theory. So I use all of those proportions in my baskets to create the number of elements I'm going to use to begin construction, the type of weave. In my baskets, the patterns that you see are the same proportions that you

would see in the spiral of a seashell or a pine cone or a flower petal. And I think it's very appropriate since all the materials I use are natural. I like to think that I'm into my red and black phase. And in this dipot, the basis for this gorgeous red color is henna. And my grandmother used to actually dye her hair with the same color. Suddeth uses her talents in every step of the basketry process. She even dies each read she weaves into her baskets to make sure she gets just the right color and effect. One of the things that struck me so forcefully with Billy Ruth Suddeth, she said no matter how inexpensive a basket is that you pick up its handmade, you can't make baskets by machine, you have to do it by hand. So someone sat there and did that. And I guess

that's what we're trying to do is encourage people to keep sitting there and doing that. I don't know, it's probably singularly the greatest honor that I would ever get because it's in North Carolina and being recognized, you know, where you create your work is so, so special. Almost as special as the feeling she gets while creating a basket. Well, I like it. I like the rhythm of it. It's much like playing a musical instrument or whatever because I feel like with the binacci numbers and this before she's the sequence that I use and I'm sitting here creating music. And although you can hear the sounds of this, you might not really hear the music that I hear. I found the last 15 years unbelievable in terms of all the things that have happened, all for the love of a basket, but I'm still in all of people's response. And I hope that never goes away because I think that's what inspires me.

And North Carolina has been honoring the heritage and workmanship of traditional crafts people for more than 10 years. And that's all we've got time for tonight. Thanks for joining us. Good night.