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

The the tonight you know alternative for students not succeeding in regular classroom. Good evening I'm Mary Lou Hart chart. Thanks for joining us. Have you been sneezing a lot lately are

your eyes watery. If you can answer yes to all these questions you'll want to stick around. We'll talk with an allergist on how to survive the spring in North Carolina. We'll examine a school developed to educate students who haven't had a lot of success in mainstream classrooms. And we'll continue our look at coastal management. First tonight though education. There's a bit a great deal of discussion during this legislative session about making school safe and several bills have been introduced to address this issue. One component in the equation is alternative schools. Tonight reporter Maria Lundberg examines the role of these programs and how they provide some kids an opportunity for success outside of the traditional school setting. Most of North Carolina's teenagers go to school each day in a building something like this one. While many students do well and achieve great success in this environment it may not be the most conducive place to learn for some students if they're lucky they'll have the option of attending an alternative school.

This may not look like a traditional school building but don't let the exteriors fool you. For the students who come here this school offers hope and a chance for a much brighter future. Let's look at the map and see where you see rice. This is the Tar River Learning Center in Rocky Mount. 50 students in grades six through 12 attend this alternative school. They're here for various reasons. Some were previously expelled for discipline problems or didn't attend school regularly. Young mothers find this setting more compatible with their needs. Many of these students would be likely to drop out of school entirely without an option like this. We offer a second chance for students who have not found success in the traditional setting. And I think a big part of their ideas. We are a smaller school much smaller and so there's much more individualized attention given to the students and we can address their needs. I think much better than a larger school can.

Because of the small class size and individual attention there is a supportive family atmosphere at the school and although academics are very important this school is geared to work through problems which interfere with successful student performance. Most of the students that come here come here with very little or no self-sustaining. And that's at the root of a lot of the problems the attendance problems the behavior problems because they have lost all their selfless thing. And so that is our first goal is to build up the suit itself a sting to make them feel good about themselves. And once that starts happening you see a difference a day later and we celebrate little successes anything that happens that is a success for student where they celebrate together as a family. According to students it's that caring atmosphere that enables them to succeed here. Students like Sheffield Vick who was suspended from her previous school for fighting the teacher's day have you know they understand your problems instead.

Phil Richardson used to get into fights and failed classes. Now he gets AIDS and says the support here has made a big difference. He describes what he's proud of me when I get into the show. My chin is in bringing all of my grades back up so that they could have been with a shooter. I'm just happy that I'm succeeding now. Nicole Foreman is another success story. She dropped out of school at 15 then had a child but realized she needed a high school diploma to get a good job. She says this school has given her the chance to turn her life around. When I was in school I wasn't bad in school but I was really making good grades and I think it involved a lot of things. But here I've got involved in everything and it's made me really want to be here. This school has really made me want to go to college because the teachers tell me you know push me tell me that I can do it. Students must apply for admission to the Tar River learning center If accepted they sign a performance contract which indicates their commitment to work to the best of their

ability. It's not a place where you send students as a punishment. It's a place where they apply and get accepted hopefully as a reward. And what you end up doing is having people who are contributing because they've graduated and they have their credentials to enter the workplace as opposed to people who sometimes become dependent on the system. And so it's an investment that I think will produce many many dividends down the road. But the bottom line is we've got to do something for these students. If we don't they're going to be victims of the system. There are 131 alternative school programs in North Carolina. Most are funded by a combination of state and local funds. Currently bills are under consideration by the state legislature to allocate money for school districts to begin or expand alternative programs. Senator Roy Cooper is a strong supporter of the bill's. Our kids are so important. And even though this is a difficult budget year we are committed to say schools will be very

disappointed if we don't get some funding for alternative schools this time. And I hope that we can provide that money because I do think it's critical for those who are really struggling to keep their alternative schools afloat and for those systems who want to start alternative school systems excuse me alternative schools. They need that financial help from the state educators who work with these students on a daily basis strongly agree that it's a worthwhile investment. We have a responsibility to educate our children and to provide the manes to educate me. And it's very obvious that there are some students that cannot make it in a regular school setting. And I think if we can save some of these kids and give them the opportunity to graduate and to go on to be productive citizens. And it's most definitely worth it. Alternative Schools serve the needs of many types of students for example in addition to the regular school day at the Tar River learning center. There's also an extended

program in the evening for high school students who need additional credits to graduate on time. Legislation to provide funding for alternative schools is currently under discussion in House and Senate committees heading east tonight. North Carolina has many unique ecological systems along its coast. Unfortunately many of them have been destroyed or permanently altered by development. In tonight's report from the coast Dick Hatch looks at the state's effort to acquire and save the few remaining unspoiled areas of our coast including the maritime forest at Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks. This sandy stretch of barrier island near Wilmington may have been the first part of the American coast to be seen and described by Europeans. This is Mason Bear Island. The last undeveloped barrier island of any size on the North Carolina coast. The initial sighting would have been in March 15 2014 when the Italian explorer Giovanni de Verrazano visited the area and described what was probably the North Carolina coastline between the Cape Fear

River and Wilmington. Hello I'm Richard Hatch onboard the Hatteras yacht nitwits. Mason bar island is an unspoiled jewel of North Carolina's coastal Reserve system with cruising the North Carolina coast on the nitwits. As part of the year of the coast celebrations the observance marks enactment 20 years ago of the coastal management act. One effort of coastal management has been to acquire fragile unspoiled sites like Mission bar island and hold them for everyone including the wildlife that lives there. The North Carolina coastal Reserve System was created in 1983. Since then the state and federal government have spent 14 million dollars on land for North Carolina's coast to reserve Florida spends many times that amount in a single year. Some of the best scenery on the North Carolina coast is found in the protected areas at the reserve sites at currituck banks Buxton woods the Rachel Carson reserve it both from you the island

Mason bar island Zeke's island and baldhead woods. Since 1981 the state has carried out a successful beach access program which along with a coastal Reserve has provided much needed public access to beaches and coastal waters. Many more unspoiled beaches and do need and deserve protection. Although we have one of the greatest estuarine systems in the world not a single reserve site has been acquired on the rivers leading to the Albemarle and Pamlico Sound. Most of our once great maritime forests have been cut in bulldozers. The state has managed to acquire forest sites only at Buxton woods and Bald Head Island. The town of Nags Head and the Nature Conservancy on the Nags Head woods. The second largest remaining maritime forest on the North Carolina coast is Kitty Hawk woods the town of Kitty Hawk owns the biggest part and his own that the conservation the town has graded the state a conservation easement on another

four hundred sixty two acres which protects that portion from development. The state is working to acquire a nearby one hundred forty four acre tract and will manage both areas as a nature preserve. But the town's policy is own privately owned sites in the forest have not been rigidly enforced and commercial development has continued with frequent zoning changes. This area that you see here is going to be developed for a time sharing in its recreational development. This tract of land is bordering the conservation easement of Kitty Hawk was it's going to be used. Many families coming through here they're supposed to be only two hundred times show units that will be developed more low shed light on the outer banks maybe as waged a one woman battle against the zoning changes that have allowed development to creep over more and more of the forest. The maritime forest is something that is unique because it is unlike any other for stealing. It has the ability to withstand the erosion

of salt and the ocean and is also an anchor and Nags Head and can be hot because it keeps our land in here. Our land here from eroding away when we have hurricanes and north eastern So it's definitely a vital part of this area and it's being chipped away at. You obviously have a strong feeling about this. Why do you have such a special feeling for your temper. I've grown up on the Outer Banks and I've seen it go through rapid development. We keep resigning our areas for residential and for commercial. We're not going to have another forest such as this maritime forest laughed. Did you have a favorite spot. Yes it's the area behind my home. I live in Kitty Hawk and it's the area while mine is right now there are wetlands back there as well. And it was just beautiful it's very much much more needs to be done to preserve the unique areas all up and down our coast. The problems include a shortage of money a lack of coordinated planning and frequently

public apathy. The coastal futures committee will recommend a steady reliable and substantial source of state funds be dedicated to buy a critical coastal natural areas and more beach and coastal water access sites. But one of the most effective ways to save treasured coastal areas is for citizens to get involved. Both Mason island and commuter island were preserved because of citizen action. Other areas along the coast need and deserve such protection. Acquiring them for the public is usually a question of money. The coastal Futures Commission will recommend a stepped up acquisition program by the state. Two programs will be recommended one to protect sensitive areas and one to restore areas already damaged by development. This means the legislature would have to appropriate more money to go along with federal and private funds. Most people who love our coast land think this would be a very good investment. I'm Richard Hatch on board the Hatteras yacht nitwits cruising North Carolina coastal waters. In my

next report we'll look at the future and trends and population and development in the coming decades. I invite you to join me in this year of the Cults. You can still walk through a maritime forest it too of North Carolina's coastal reserve sides. Banks encourage the county and Buxton woods in Dare County. The current bank side is in North Carolina's national research Reserve. And we can send you a brochure on these and other beautiful places in coastal Reserve System. Send us a self-addressed stamped envelope to NC now P.O. Box 1 4 9 0 0 0 RTP NC 2 7 7 0 9 dash forty nine hundred. Coming up those flowers are pretty to look at but not so pretty if they're causing your allergies. We'll talk with an expert in a few minutes but first Michel Louis is out with the latest on a bill to stiffen DWI penalties for young drivers. Plus the rest of today's statewide news Michel. Thanks Marilou. Good evening everyone. The National Transportation Safety Board

is considering a complex mix of factors in determining the cost of last summer's crash of a U.S. Air jet in Charlotte. Federal investigators who researched the crash told the NTSB during a meeting in Washington D.C. today that something called Elevator illusion may have caused the cockpit crew to push the plane's nose down during a violent storm. The illusion makes people think they are tilting backwards. The DC 9 crash during an attempt to pull out of an unsuccessful landing attempt. Thirty seven people died in the accident. Other factors being considered as contributing to the crash are severe weather actions of the crew and miscommunication between air traffic controllers and the crew. Today at the General Assembly the House passed a bill that stiffens DWI penalties for drivers under 21 years old drivers under the legal drinking age caught with any alcohol in their system would lose their licenses for a year. Representative Sam Ellis suggested that the loss of driving privileges would deter young drivers from drinking without the added stigma of a DWI conviction

on their records. He tried to amend the bill to allow the record of these offenses to be expunged after one year. So you lose your license for one year. You're walking if you drink that one beer and get caught. It's a very serious thing but you're not permanently damaged by the stigma of having that conviction on your record. Ellis's amendment failed and the bill passed ninety nine to six. It now goes to the Senate for deliberation. Another controversial measure was approved in a House committee today. Republican Larry Justice's bill would cut all state funding to an agency that assisted lawyers defending or appealing death penalty cases. Justice maintains that the Death Penalty Resource Center helps attorneys to create obstacles to the swift handling of these cases. What I think and what a lot of people think that the resource center really does is it creates appeals by finding reasons from for war trials. However supporters of the Resource Center said that the state is required to provide counsel in

these cases and to allow for the right of appeal. Representative Billy Richardson said that the resource center provides necessary assistance to attorneys who may never have handled a death penalty case and might otherwise make errors at trial or on appeal. Yes it's going to extend the process. You might if you have fewer lawyers willing to take cases you'll have fewer and fewer good lawyers competent lawyers willing to try. Justice had the votes to get his bill passed in committee. It now goes to the House floor where it's also expected to pass. The House also passed a bill requiring American flags to be displayed on all North Carolina classrooms. The legislation also requires that students be encouraged to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each morning before classes begin. Schools are encouraged to get local organizations to donate the flanks they need to help keep the costs they might incur because of the new legislation to a minimum. Sixteen communities across North Carolina will share a nearly 4 million dollars in federal grant money to improve their standards of living. Governor Jim

Hunt announced the grants which will be used to build affordable housing for low income families. Construct daycare centers initiate job training and support other local projects. The money will also be used to plan projects such as creating community centers developing a retail center and converting a historic building into a domestic violence shelter. In addition to providing much needed services and facilities for low to middle income areas the projects will also create nearly 300 jobs as well as retain another 295 jobs. In business news for municipalities a filed a federal complaint against Duke Power. The complaint accuses Duke Power of charging too much for electricity. For a city Concord Dallas and kings mountain by power wholesale from Duke and then sell it retail to customers at issue is how much profit do should make on the deal. Duke Power has until April 19th to formally respond to the complaint. North Carolina and South Carolina are making efforts to erase the dividing border and increase tourism.

The two states opened a joint visitor center on Highway 25 between actual and Greenville yesterday area congressman tie two ribbons together to symbolize the state's coming together on the venture. Representative Charles Taylor said that residents of the area do not recognize the boundaries and often work en banc across state lines. Taylor encourages developers to follow suit. The Dow Jones industrials have set another record high closing above the 40 200 mark for the first time. The Dow gained 33 points to close at forty two a one point sixty one on volume of 330 million shares. The Standard Poor's 500 index gained more than 3 points and the Nasdaq composite index dropped about four points. And now for some stocks of North Carolina interest. Springtime in North Carolina the trees are budding The flowers are blooming and

people are sneezing. Yes springtime is allergy season and while the flowers and greenery are beautiful to look at they also cause our eyes to water. Here to talk about springtime allergies in North Carolina is Dr. C. Edward Buckley an Allergy and Immunology specialist at Duke Medical Center. And Dr. Buckley thank you so much for being here tonight. I for one am glad that you're here to ask you a lot of questions about allergies because for the first time in my life I am suffering from allergies here in North Carolina. Do you find there are a lot of patients like myself that have lived in the state perhaps for a brief period of time and are having problems for the first time. Yes it takes about a year to two years to become sensitized to the abundant Flora we have here in North Carolina all those much like bars and trees which are thought about. And then if you're capable you become sensitized and they begin to cause at least minor symptoms in many folks. Well I know a lot of our viewers know that about two weeks ago two week ago I was really having trouble talking and that's because the allergies hit me. Are the allergies coming

earlier this season for some reason. I think they are a little bit earlier. The oak pollen season actually began several weeks ago today for example we're seeing probably the first of the pine pollen that's that's that's out. So it's a little bit more protracted than it usually does on that and yellow film all over the tops of our cars right everything is on your patio in your car in your front porch. That's right everything you're sweeping away is then going right back into your nose and causing your allergy problems is never actually not pine pollen is very very heavy. And if you can see it it's not hurting you. It's only the things that get into the air that are a problem. Pine pollen only becomes a problem when it gets on the ground. The protein the antigen the allergen gets diluted by do or natural water it goes into the powders and then gets back into the air. It has to be in the air before it can bother you. So would we be welcoming the rain then at this point or no. A little rain would help. OK. But on the other hand a little rain would make things grow a little bit more abundantly

and after it dries then you're back where you were before. It's that vicious cycle isn't it. I'm imagining though that you stay busier this time of the year or allergists like yourself. Allergist are generally busier during the spring pollen season. We see mostly complicated problems so it stays pretty pretty even throughout the whole year. Is it a little bit more severe this year though because it has begun so much earlier. I think the duration is the primary key there are the severe it is probably about the same but all of us are bothered by things that nag us and continual over time more than things that are here today and gone tomorrow. Now if I lived in the mountains of North Carolina or along the coast rather than the central part of the state would I be seeing different effects as far as allergies. Yes you'd see symptoms probably later in the year in the mountains where it's cooler. The kinds of plants that are involved would be different. Primarily hardwood trees and here on the coast Coastal Carolina the Piedmont

is more grass and some of the shrubs and trees we have in this area so it is directly related to the buds that we're seeing on the trees and the actual trees themselves blooming. Is that right. Yes it's the flour which is the sort of the sexual part of reproduction of the plant. And as one Wagga said when you've got hay fever you've got your nose stuck in the sex life tree. Biologically that's precisely on purpose. Oh well what do we do bad to help ourselves get through that. Most folks will find a lot of relief from some of the ober over-the-counter medications. And if the symptoms are of short duration they can go for a few days then that's perfectly adequate treatment. If they're more severe or if they are impairing ordinary function in any way then physicians primary care physicians have many good remedies for seasonal symptoms. Are there any things that we I guess should have done or can even do now to sort of catch ourselves as a preventative measure so that it doesn't get worse for us this allergy season.

Well I think the season is limited. OK. And the nature of the natural history of the plant and the biology will end the season for you if you're sensitive to tree pollen here in another few weeks. So it's just you got to get through it is that right. And unless you're sensitive to grasses and wee and things that persist throughout the whole growing season then your symptoms should be limited so you'll know in a few weeks whether or not it's just simply an allergy or you know you may need to go to a specialist like yourself Dr. Buckley and perhaps get an allergy test is that right. If you have protracted symptoms and they persist over time. Then the conventional wisdom and what we're now finding is that if we do things to prevent the sensitivity by immunizing you already sensitized your goal as its goal that we can actually cut your chronic use of medications by about two thirds for most folks in this day and age that's a considerable cost savings. Yeah that certainly is. Well Dr. Buckley you've certainly given us some wise advice this evening and I hope everyone has a better time getting through this allergy season thank you so much for joining us this

evening. You're welcome. Well Mark your calendar for tomorrow night Adam Hochberg will report in from the state legislature about a bill to take state funding away from the Death Penalty Resource Center. Now that's a state agency that assists lawyers defending capital cases. Also we'll talk with the newest state senator will be visiting Dan page in his new office of the state legislature. And Dick Hatch will discuss management of our coastal issues will take you to the

coast once again tomorrow evening. We thank you so much for joining us and inviting us into your homes tonight. We'll see you back here tomorrow night at 7:00. Goodnight everyone.